30 Days/30 Posts Tip #2 - Story Time for Big Kids

TIP #2 - If you think story time is just for elementary, then think again! I've been using story time in my middle school classes for years, and it never gets old. If my lesson is feeling a little dry, and I'm even putting myself to sleep, I just call out "Story time!" Everyone breaks into a smile as they move from their seats to the floor. Sometimes they moan a bit about having to sit on the floor, but they secretly love it.

Excerpts from YA books are perfect for this. So are children's books, short stories, magazine articles, and anything else that goes along with what we're learning. I've found that students' attention spans can handle about 5-10 minutes of listening to me read. They can also handle a few minutes of discussion about the reading, but that's about it. Anything past that becomes a discipline challenge.

Today I chose two entries from Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl to go along with our study of WWII and the Holocaust. I projected a slide on the board behind me with pictures of Anne, the yellow star, and the secret annex in Amsterdam. The kids were hanging on every word, and we had longer, more in-depth discussions than usual because they really connected with this topic. I can guarantee they'll remember more from today's story time than from the notes we took yesterday.

Here's what works for me:

• Introduce the idea as a throw back to the good ol' days in elementary school. I even jokingly refer to it as kindergarten story time and myself as the library story lady. Kids buy into this much better if they know they;re not actually being treated like little kids. It's just something different...and chance to get out of their seats and avoid "real work" for a few minutes. It's just for fun, and they know it (even though an AMAZING amount of learning takes place anyway).
• Pull up a chair, any chair, and have the kids sit on the floor in front. Some try to stay in their seats...I cajole them into cooperating if there isn't a good reason why they need to sit in a chair.
• Once everyone is seated, the regular classroom rules for attentive listening apply. I don't let them get away with lying down, braiding hair, whispering to neighbors, etc.
• Keep the reading material as high-interest as possible. There are so many good books that have lessons to teach about the cultures and historical events we discuss in geography. I'm working on a list for a future post...but there are just SO MANY!
• GeoMysteries are perfect for story time. They are short stories about a real person, place, or event, and they end with a question. The kids have to guess the answer. I usually have them play 20 questions, and they get pretty good at deductive reasoning.

30 Days/30 Posts Tip #1 - READ ALL ABOUT IT!

I've been blogging for years, but my posts have always been few and far between. SO, in an effort to change that, I'm committing to 30 days of posting about one teaching tip. I'm not actually sure I have 30 whole entire tips to share but we're about to find out...

Tip #1 - Adding daily, high-interest reading to my social studies classroom is one of the best decisions I've ever made. I usually use ReadWorks passages, but sometimes I write my own just for fun. I choose short, interesting passages that are related to the region we're studying in geography, and I assign 5-10 minutes of silent reading time. Then the kids write 2-3 "smart facts", which we discuss after I've taken attendance and prepared for the beginning of class. So far, the kids really seem to enjoy it...probably because I absolutely love it and tend to be ridiculously enthusiastic about every smart fact they share. Here are some ideas for making this work in your classroom.

1. Choose passages on or below your students' average reading level. ReadWorks gives a level for each passage. Offering differentiated articles to students on higher and lower levels would be ideal if you have time to organize it all.

2. Students can read ReadWorks articles online if they have access to devices in class. You can set up free class accounts and assign individual passages or Article-a-Day sets for kids to read. You can also have them write entries in their own Book of Knowledge (provided on ReadWorks) instead of writing on paper.

3. A class set of articles and notebook paper answer sheets work just as well if you don't have enough devices for everyone. Some days I don't have Chromebooks in my class, and the kids are just as happy to read paper copies of the articles.

4. Look for articles about weird, amazing, or out-of-the-ordinary topics that probably won't be in a textbook. We read the Article-a-Day set about European composers, and it really caught my kids' interest. They wanted to look up YouTube clips of Beethoven, Chopin and Brahms to share every day. It's a good day when a middle school kid can't wait to tell you about the Wagner piece he heard on a movie last night at home!

5. Protect the silence of reading time and walk around the room occasionally to see what the kids are writing for smart facts. The students who are staring off into space, or chatting with a neighbor, will get the message and at least look down to read a few sentences.

What are your thoughts on getting kids to read in the social studies classroom? Please share in the comments section below!

Red Ribbon Week - You're the Key to the Future

I have amazingly creative hallmates who came up with the best idea for our Red Ribbon Week hall decorating contest. The paper door opens to reveal career options, and the keys reveal career goals the kids want to pursue...instead of wasting time on drugs, of course. Way to go Ms. Kapura and Ms. Hendren! And our kids did a great job with their keys, too!!

Going Places

I may or may not have used this bulletin board theme last year (and maybe the year before). BUT, in my defense, I really love it! Even my Pinterest search didn't result in any ideas I liked better...at least not enough to spend more time cutting letters. So here it is...again!

And my bookshelf is full of books that will help me bring geography alive in my classroom! Don't get me started on the importance of using literature in the social studies classroom. That's a whole other set of blog posts for another day.

Then there's this little gem hanging over my desk. I tore out full-page maps from an old atlas, printed and glued giant, grey letters to spell EXPLORE, punched holes in the corners, and hung them on rick rack. VOILA! Super cheap, easy craft - my kind of classroom décor.

Find a Geographer - AWESOME "Getting to Know You" Activity

I don't know about you, but I can't believe August got here so quickly! And not just the beginning of August - the MIDDLE of AUGUST. School starts in four days, and I just opened my classroom door today to dust of the tables and dig out all the things I threw in a closet the last day of school. I told myself all year long that I would take the whole summer for myself and my family...and I DID!

So, summer was amazingly fantastic, but I have to admit I had a moment of minor panic when I got to school today and remembered all the things I needed to do to get ready. And there are also professional development meetings to consider. SO I'm officially in last minute hurrying mode, which is (I hope) when I do my best work.

Luckily, I've been creating items for my brand new Teachers Pay Teachers store:

SOCIAL STUDIES THE WRITE WAY

So I do have a few things ready to go for the first week. One of my favorites - and the one I plan to use the first day - is a people hunt called Find a Geographer Who... 

It's FREE on my TpT store! Follow this link and download it for FREE today. I would be ever so grateful if you could also leave four stars and a vote. I'm a TpT newbie and need all the stars and votes I can get! Follow my store if you'd like to see my new products as I add them throughout the year.

Social Studies the Write Way

I started teaching 7th Grade World Geography two years ago, and I absolutely love it! After several years of ELA, teaching social studies has been a refreshing change. I haven't completely abandoned my roots, though. Social studies is best taught through books and stories, so I'm on a mission to effectively combine the two for the good of my students.

This summer I'm working on opening a Teachers Pay Teachers store called Social Studies the Write Way. There's a lot to learn about how to prepare my products and put them in the store...and I mean a LOT to learn! It's an empty store at the moment, but I think I'll be ready of offer my first few products tomorrow. It's been an adventure so far, and I can't wait to see where this leads in the future. Hopefully it'll lead to more consistent blogging...but we'll see how that goes once school starts again!

Word Web

This is the first year I've felt like my class has really learned to use Greek and Latin roots and affixes...thanks to the Word Web idea that I stole from a colleague.

My students add a new entry in their Morphology Dictionaries (can be purchased on TPT from Ladybug Teacher Files) every day. Then we choose one or two words from the examples list to put on the web. My Word Web is a long dry-erase board with words written on construction paper and held up by homemade magnets (Dollar Tree adhesive photo magnet sheets covered with colorful card stock - cut into squares on a cutting board).

The kids got really excited about choosing words to add and drawing the connections with other words on the web, so I let them pretty much take over the operation. It wasn't until a class visitor took a picture of the web and put it on Twitter that I realized it had become more of a word jungle. I fixed the connections and added labels to some of them.

Each word is connected with a colored line according to the key in the corner of the board.

The best thing about this wall is the discussions the kids end up having about words. They see words in their self-selected books and come up to ask me if the word fits with the root we studied. One girl asked me the other day why we have this wall. Before I could answer, three of her friends jumped in and explained it perfectly. "If you know these word pieces," one friend said, "then you can figure out what big words mean and use them in your writing."

"Fun" With Note-Taking

Taking notes is a necessary evil in school, but recording facts and ideas doesn't have to be all THAT bad. I tell my students that it can be "fun"...and then I define it as "school fun," which isn't the same as "Disney World fun." Here's how we do our Cornell notes:

Left Side - Record central idea, essential question, etc. Our focus statement is called SWBAT (Students Will Be Able To...). The rest of the space can be used for the thoughts and questions students have as they take notes.

Middle - Bulleted notes from the teacher or information source

Bottom - Summarize main point at the end

Internal and External Conflict

Whole class lesson and group practice:
I drew a stick figure on the whiteboard and started with an explanation of internal conflict. I had the kids meet with a group for 2 minutes to write internal conflicts on Post It notes and put them on the board. I read them out loud and wrote the ones that were correct INSIDE the t-shirt I drew for my stick figure. We repeated the process for external conflict, and I wrote the conflicts OUTSIDE the stick figure with arrows pointing to him. Students took notes on copies of stick figures (with clothes so we could show internal conflict).

There was a boy stick figure, too, but I didn't get a picture.

Independent practice:
We just finished a story about a girl with a several internal and external conflicts. I had the kids draw a stick representation of her and then use the story to record conflicts.

Doodle Splash

I've found that students who say they don't like to read are also the ones who say they don't see the story like a movie in their heads. Good readers can see the events in their minds as they read. This is a great activity to help kids visualize what they're reading.

Doodle Splash:
We listened to a short story, All Summer in a Day, and created doodles IN ORDER to represent events. They were allowed to use a few words for labeling, but most of the story must be told with doodles. I told them that by the end of the activity, they should be able to retell the story to a friend using only the Doodle Splash page. Here are some samples.

Teaching Plot

1.  Whole class lesson:

After reviewing plot elements with a plot mountain diagram from our workbooks, we created a plot mountain for the Goldilocks and the Three Bears story. I retold the story and wrote the elements on the whiteboard with the kids' input.

2. Group practice:

Groups read a children's book out loud.

Then they drew a plot mountain and added events from the story in the correct places.

When they presented, I discussed any misconceptions and had them make corrections.

 3. Independent evaluation:
Students created a plot mountain in their STAR notebooks and recorded elements of a story we had read together from the textbook. After checking the first group, I decided I needed to read the story out loud again and stop to let students make a list of events first. Then they could decide where the climax was and put all of the elements on the mountain. That worked MUCH better!

Word Pictures for the First Day

I've been meaning to share this activity since the beginning of school LAST year. Ugghh...I'm the slowest blogger ever. Lucky for me, the first day of school tends to roll around again, so I get another chance to post it!

My friend/fellow teacher/mentor/new neighbor, Ms. Jones, has her kids create this "word picture" of themselves on the first few days of school. Not only is it a great way for the kids to introduce themselves (and keep busy on those wild and crazy first days of school), but the pages also serve as bulletin board material...possibly for the rest of the year!

Time: 2-3 hours 
Materials:
- Notebook paper (for brainstorming)
- White copy paper
- Thin markers
- Colored pencils

1. Have students brainstorm a list of as many words as they can think of that could tell something about themselves. The words can be nouns, adjectives, or verbs...as long as they tell about the students interests, values, dreams, family, hobbies, talents, etc. (School appropriate words, of course!)

2. Once the kids have a LONG list of words, they are ready to make their pages. Hand out white copy paper and make sure they have access to markers and colored pencils. The markers are bolder, but the colored pencils allow them to be more artistic.

3. Explain the objective - "Today, class, you will create a page that tells me all about YOU." - or something like that. The student's first name on the page should be prominent. The rest of the page should be filled with words from the brainstorming list. Students should use only WORDS and/or WORD ART. There should be as little white space showing as possible once they've finished. Remind them that these will be displayed for everyone to see, so they need to take their time and be creative with the placement of words on the page.

4. Voila! Now you have a stack of student work to display! You can put them all up at once or hang a few at a time throughout the year...depends how many students and how much space you have.

Here are a couple of examples close-up:

Books, Books, and more Books!

It's still summer...and I'm going to enjoy every fun, lazy, sunny minute of it...but I have to admit I'm getting excited about next fall. I LOVE books...I LOVE reading, writing, and talking about them. So I don't mind giving up a few days of my summer to attend a workshop...Literacy Lab with Ken Stamatis, a man who loves books even more than I do! I'll be posting Lit Lab ideas and activities throughout the year. Here is Ken's "So Many Books, So Little Time" list for 2012-13. Looks like some great summer reads. The Lost Crown, about the Romanov princesses, will be on my Nook before the day is over! I took these crooked pics with my phone. Click HERE for a nice, neat (straight) PDF of the list.

.

.

Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

Here are some illustrations my 6th graders made to show the correct and incorrect placement of modifiers. I took the pictures with one of our new classroom iPads...very exciting...more on the iPads later...

I found a ball walking home.

A woman was walking a dog in a blue dress.

Removing each other's fleas, the zookeepers watched the monkeys.

I found a dollar walking home.

Punctuating Dialogue

Punctuating dialogue is hard...even for adults. Most sixth graders still string together quotes, one right after another, in a dialogue choo choo train.

This hands-on activity from Miss Nannini on Teachers Pay Teachers helped my students a TON when we studied quotation marks in our punctuation unit.

I copied and laminated six sets of the sentence strips on different colored paper...one set per group.

Then the students (2-3 per group) arrange the quotes, the dialogue tags, and the punctuation marks on the floor.

After awhile, they figured out they could leave the punctuation in place and just plug in different quotes and dialogue tags.

Once they created ten sentences, they copied the sentences into their S.T.A.R. notebooks. I've seen drastic improvement in the dialogue punctuation since we did this lesson. Definitely worth the time!

Using Interactive Notebooks for Research Reports

 Our school has a BIG research paper project for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders every year. The 6th grade topic is wild animals. We usually use research folders with pockets folders for note cards and source cards, but I decided to try using the interactive notebooks to organize our information. Overall, it was a huge success but  I learned a few things the hard way that I won't repeat next year. Here's what DID work:

1. Gluing in the research requirements page and outline at the beginning of the Unit 5 Research section. The research requirements page lists all of the due dates and expectations, and parents sign it before we begin the project.
2. Gluing in 3-4 source cards. The kids had to use one encyclopedia, one nonfiction book, and one website from a list of approved websites.
3. Using Post-it notes as note cards. The 3x3 lined notes gave the kids room to write the topic, source number, one fact, and the page number. They could fit 6 notes on one page. We only used the fronts of the pages so they wouldn't get heavy and tear out of the notebook. I had the kids leave 3 pages for each topic (characteristics, behavior, and environment), but 2 would've been plenty.
4. Writing the rough draft after the notes pages. The final draft had to be typed and turned in separately, but everything else was kept in the notebook.

Outline and notes on plagiarism

Source cards. Each student had one encyclopedia, nonfiction book, and website source.

Note cards. The lined Post It notes worked great!

This kid chose more colors.

These note cards were very artistic. I love it when kids put their own spin on an assignment!

Word Wall

I finally have my word wall up and running. It's not as fancy as the ones I've looked at online, but it works. I have the words divided into categories by unit on the bulletin board. The kids have an alphabetical "portable word wall" in their S.T.A.R. notebooks with the same words. They put the page numbers beside each entry so they can find the notes or definition of that word in their notebooks - kind of like an index.

Words are from Marzano's Building Academic Vocabulary

Portable word wall in the back of the S.T.A.R. notebook (from Cheryl Sigmon's website)

More STAR Notebook Pages

 

The writing process foldable and quiz the kids took when we finished the unit

The foldable showing the definition and picture/example of the word

Title Page for Unit 2: Parts of Speech

"Noun Town" to show understanding of the different types of nouns

The Table of Contents (in front of the "Lessons" section)

Teaching the Writing Process...With Interactive Notebooks

I found a fun Powerpoint presentation on a slide share website called The Writing Process: Five Important Steps. I tweaked it a little to create my own presentation, and we've spent the past several days practicing the writing process in my class. The activity began with a play dough animal that the kids created:

Then we took notes about prewriting on the teacher side of the notebook (right side). The student side response (left side) was to choose any of the prewriting techniques and record ideas for stories about the play dough animal. Students who didn't bring play dough simply drew an animal on the student side - like the girl did in the example below. She chose mapping for her prewriting response:

The second step is drafting. We took notes about that, always beginning with the S.W.B.A.T. (Students Will Be Able To) objective statement at the beginning of the notes. The students then chose one of their story ideas to develop. The result is below:

The third step is revising, which proved to be very difficult for sixth graders. We took revising notes on the same page as the drafting notes. Then I put the students in critique groups to write suggestions for improvement on post-it notes. Their suggestions were often about capitalization, punctuation or spelling mistakes - which are actually editing suggestion rather than revising. We stopped to share ideas for revising their stories to make them more interesting, but I think many of them still don't get it. We'll just have to spend extra time on that step in each of our writing projects this year...maybe it'll sink in eventually.

Editing and publishing notes in class tomorrow...

Procedures, Procedures, Proceures

I only took one year off from teaching, but it was long enough to forget how tedious it is to teach and practice procedures at the beginning of school. I know everything will fall into place one of these days, and we'll be on a roll by...well...maybe by Christmas.

We set up our Interactive Notebooks this week...not a task for the faint of heart. I don't color my hair, but I'm pretty sure I'll have to pay to cover up the gray by the end of the year. Anyway, here's how I decided to go about it.

 This is our bookcase of S.T.A.R. Notebooks. I started with the printables and ideas from A Teacher's Treasure. I've had the training to use Interactive Notebooks in science and social studies, and I loved using them in those subjects. But I wasn't sure how to begin with a language arts IN. The Teacher's Treasure blog helped me a TON! I'm using her S.T.A.R. tittle because I love what it stands for - Students Taking Academic Responsibility. That is our goal, after all!

I used the title page printable as a cover. Next time, I'll change "Grade" to "Class Period." I only have one grade level, but six different class periods. This is my Master S.T.A.R. book that kids can use as a reference if they get behind.

I tweaked the rubric to fit my class. The first section is for bell ringer and exit slip activities. I call them Hooks and Sinkers. There is one Hook and Sinker page per day - Hook goes on the top half and Sinker on the bottom.

We just did the main Unit Lessons section yesterday, and I don't have pictures yet. I'll post them next week.