Joining the TOOL Community

I am extremely excited to have joined the TOOL Community. I'm always on the lookout for great minds to pick and ideas to borrow. I get really excited about incorporating new ideas into my classroom to keep my kiddos on their toes and the brains running. I originally began this blog in August to keep track of great ideas (or things to avoid next year), so I wasn't always reinventing the wheel. I'm thrilled to see what new things I'll be able to learn! Check out openteachertraining.org to join!

Awesome Language Arts Links

If you are like me, I'm always on the hunt for new sources of ideas, engaging texts, and motivating activities. Below are some of my favorite sites that have been amazing resources for me in addition to not requiring me to reinvent the wheel, because, let's face it, who has time for that nowadays??

Odell Educational Research
This site has great informational comparative text sets. The set up is very similar to DBQs and allows kids to pull from multiple sources to answer an overarching question in addition to questions for each specific text.

Newsela
How did I ever get by without this site?? Newsela is awesome for informational texts particularly because you can change the Lexile level to differentiate for your students whether they need to be challenged or remediated. Many of the quizzes also come with quick reading check quizzes which serve as great informal assessments.

Ereading Worksheets
This site has added more and more awesome activities every year as well as aligned most everything to Common Core which makes it even more user friendly. Currently using the character analysis worksheets for my warm-ups, and they are great!

English for Everyone
Another great site for everything Language Arts.

Writing Center
This is a great site for everything writing and editing. From commonly misused words to argument analysis, it provides a plethora of mini lessons to incorporate into the classroom.

Literary Devices
This is where I have my students go for definitions and examples.

Carson-Newman College Poetry Website
Love this site for short poems, particularly if I'm having students compare two poems for a particular literary element.

Bright Hub
I love Bright Hub because it gets my creativity going and gets me looking at lessons and ideas in a new way that I hadn't considered before.

And a Little Bit of Organization to Round Out the Night :)

Best thing I ever stumbled upon was month calendars from the Dollar Tree. They come two to a pack with the month signs sold separately. I bought a pack of each and had my awesome media specialist laminate them. I then took the small circle magnets and put several on the back of both the calendars and the month signs. While I use to take up so much space on my board listing all the upcoming events and assignment due dates, I now am able to give students a two month outlook on what's coming up. This works out especially well for students that struggle and need a more concrete view of how much time they have left to pick up the pace before grades are due. I feel this also gets students into a routine of looking at the board daily for what's going on as well as serving as a reminder to write in their own planner about upcoming projects, tests, quizzes, etc. 

Student Blogs with Pfeffer's "Dead and Gone"

Student Blogs

So during the first 40 minutes of each day, all students in our school attend an academic achievement period for either remediation for acceleration based on their quarter grades and the previous year's standardized test scores. This is the first year I've taught acceleration instead of remediation, and I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself. I've always stuck to a solid routine of reading comprehension lessons mixed with a couple of work days for students to get help on outside writing and reading assignments (I get students from the entire grade level, not just my team). However, having never planned for an acceleration group, I was a bit stumped. Since we just adopted new textbooks this year, I had the pleasure of ordering new novels and was excited to order the sequel to Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life As We Knew It, Dead and Gone. 

What I really liked about Pfeffer's first two books in this series is that they are both independent but content related. They can be read independently or one right after another. At first I debated about having students split into two groups and half read Life As We Knew It and the other half read Dead and Gone. However, since I didn't have quite as much time as I would have liked, I decided to have everyone read the same novel, and when we rotated in 4 1/2 weeks, I would try out both novels at the same time.

Students were required to complete in class reading and/or check the book out and take it home. Quite a few of my students chose this option once they got about 20 pages into the novel. It's quite a difficult read to put down. When we had discussions in class, students often commented about how they just couldn't imagine what it would be like to have lived through a similar situation. With an emphasis in writing this year, I wanted to come up with something more than just write an essay or a reflection. I wanted something my students could tap into creatively or for those that loved science.

While googling, I came across Dr. Susan Louise Stewart's college syllabus for an Adolescent Literature course at Texas A&M that included a blog activity for this book. Being a typical teacher and habitual idea thief, I immediately jumped on the idea she presented. I gave my students the option of creating a blog in which they wrote as if they were experiencing the similar events as mentioned in the novel, or they could decide to take a research perspective and discuss possibilities of what it might be like should our moon disappear altogether, move further away, or, as in the story, move significantly closer to Earth.

EVEN MY NON-READERS GOT INTO THIS ASSIGNMENT!!!!

My students ended up using SimpleSite.com due to some last minute technical snafus the IT department was working out with the internet filters. My first choices out of shear user friendliness would have been Blogger.com or Weebly.com. However, SimpleSite.com worked just as well, and students were able to navigate it quite easily.

I really gave students free reign to design their websites in whatever way they felt most connected with what they wanted to say in their blogs. I was amazed at the time and attention students paid to the backgrounds of their webpages, the graphics they included, as well as the details of their actual posts. Once we are completely finished on Thursday, I will post links to some of the student blogs to give you an idea of what they were able to accomplish in about 4 class periods of computer time.

All in all, students read for 2 1/2 weeks and spend 4ish class periods blogging. While I would love to have more time, we rotate AAP classes every 4 1/2 weeks, so I'll get my next batch of kiddos in on Friday.

Until then, happy blogging :)

Verb Mood: You mean verbs can be happy and sad??

This is pretty much the reaction my students give me when I introduce verb mood- perplexed looks, some giggles, some eye rolls. You get the picture. Once I get into what verb mood is and subsequent definitions, I finally begin to see the light bulbs come on amongst my kiddos as they realize they've seen these types of sentences somewhere before. Indicative looks quite similar to declarative, and they are already familiar with imperative and interrogative sentences. Conditional and subjunctive verb moods are really the only ones that I have to cover as a result.

In an attempt to have my students understand the changes in wording between the various types of verb mood, I had them create verb mood posters. I gave them each an indicative sentence which they had to manipulate to form each of the other four types of verb mood. They also had to include a picture that represented the change in meaning of each type of sentence. The results were amazing! I gave a test the day after this project was due, and 82 out of 88 students passed! The test also included active and passive voice, but I was still thrilled.

Below is the example I made to demonstrate to my students what I was looking for.

Here are some of the posters my kids created.

HERE are the directions and rubric handout I gave my students. As you can see, I included another example to ensure they understood what I was looking for. My goal is to allow students to fully own the grade they earn.

Writing Workshop: Day 1= Epic Fail

After reading a plethora of pins and checking out numerous blogs about writing workshops, I decided to give the writing workshop a go this year for the first time. I gathered up all the handouts I wanted to give my students to refer to while writing including making each student a writing workshop folder. I even printed the handouts in rainbow order just so my students would know which order to use them in for easy reference.

What I quickly realized was that my students were too overwhelmed with the whole let's get down to writing a RAEECE paragraph (check out earlier post on RAEECE writing). I also realized that that feeling of being overwhelmed was quickly leading to frustration and to shutting down on learning in general.

So what started out as a plan to write a solid RAEECE paragraph a day, quickly turned into a mini-lesson on thesis statements (the R+A). The second "AHA" moment I had was that I had totally overlooked the emphasis almost all the blogs had placed on mini-lessons to start out each day of the writing workshop. I missed the "MINI" part. Instead of focusing on one part of RAEECE, I tried to cram the entire paragraph into a mini-lesson which was an epic fail and clearly defeated the entire point of a short 10-15 minute mini-lesson.

After Day 1, I ended up having students practice writing RAEECE thesis statements with practice prompts. We did several more together as a group, and then students practiced in small groups with independent practice occurring after that. The outcome was a thousand times better than what I had imagined. My students went from writing thesis statements such as "Yes they should add new food to it because they should" to "After reading the article, "Possible changes coming to school lunch menus," schools should consider adding more food choices for students to improve their own healthy choices. Students were able to replace vague pronouns with specific language from the prompt as well as include a Global Idea for an answer.

After practicing in class and out for the next two days, my kiddos definitely had a much firmer grasp on what a thesis statement is and what should be included. I was even more amazed with my struggling students that really seemed to understand and even be the first to volunteer when practicing on the board.

So what was my lesson learned for this round? Mini means just that, MINI! If I can't get through the lesson in 15 minutes tops, it's not mini.

What are some of your best mini lessons for writing??

A Few More Pages for My Teacher Binder

I've completed several more pages for my teacher binder in addition to what I posted last week.

Rosters- Using MS Excel, I created a team roster as well as a roster for each individual class which will be printed out and added to the binder.

Lesson Plan Pages: I plan to print these out on paper that is somewhere in between the flimsy printer paper I typically use and card stock that is a bit too thick. I'll keep you posted on what I find. I am also going to print the lesson plan pages front and back so that when you open to a week, Mon-Tues is always on the left and Wed-Fri is always on the right.
Mon/Tues Lesson Plan Pages
Wed-Fri Lesson Plan Pages

Calendars in Month View: I just added this feature tonight when I realized that I didn't have enough room on my lesson plan pages to include meetings and other goings on that I need to know for that day. While my preference would be to have it all on the same page, honestly, I just write too big. So, the next best thing was to create some month calendar pages in MS Publisher. These will be the very first section in my teacher binder.
August-May 2014 Month Calendars
*** We go back crazy early in August, so we also get out before Memorial Day in May :)

Obviously, this binder can be customized to whatever you feel is essential and important to keep in one place. What are some items you would include in your ultimate teacher binder????

Getting Organized: Better Late Than Never

Ideas always come to me when  I least expect them. Since I am crazy ADD, I'm always jotting down notes or leaving memos on my KEEP APP on my phone. 

On the way home from Atlanta today, I kept thinking about how I could streamline all the paperwork I have to keep up with including student information, bell schedules, attendance, sub plans, etc. While I have a current system in place, I want to move more towards having everything in one place. Pinterest has a wealth of pins the ultimate teacher binder; however, after perusing probably close to 100 pins, I finally settled on making my own, since many ideas on Pinterest are elementary school based and include way more information than I would ever want in the binder. I want it to be simple and user-friendly. So here is essentially what I came up with thanks to some awesome graphic templates by Mel Stampz:

Cover Page

Table of Contents

Attendance (I have one for each period I teach)

Teaching Schedule

This is as far as I got today, but I will update as I finish the other template pages. Since I teach two content areas, I like to keep all my plans on the same page for each day, so I can plan cross-curricular activities more often. It also allows me to keep a better perspective on what's going on for the week. Ideally, I like to be able to see my lesson plans for the week, meetings, school activities/events, and any other goings-on occurring that week, so I don't get surprised. No one likes mentally preparing to go make 500 copies only to be reminded at the last minute that you have a previously scheduled parent conference, AND you haven't filled out the parent conference paperwork yet. Not at all how you wanted the day to go, or end in my case since I have end of the day planning. Forgotten meetings can definitely throw off my momentum which is why I'm determined to get all my proverbial ducks in a row this year. So here's to getting organized; better late than never :) 

Happy Labor Day Weekend!!

Putting All the Pieces Together: Reading, Grammar, and Writing

We just finished up our third full week of school, and I am definitely ready for this long weekend. However, every year I tell myself I'm not going to bring work home on holiday weekends, but..... I always do. This weekend's load includes 120 RAEECE paragraphs, 90 comma tests, 90 conjunction quizzes, and 30 Georgia Studies quizzes. The ironic part is that I'm excited to see how my kiddos did on their first major test and to see how much they've improved on their writing. Using Kelly Gallagher's ideas for incorporating grammar instruction through "Sentences of the Week" based on "Articles of the Week" and creating an evidence-based response, I have really seen kids begin to connect the proverbial dots when it comes to reading and writing and identifying important grammar elements to emulate. This is one of those "AHA" moments I wish I would have figured out before now.

Here's the basic run-down of Sentences and Articles of the Week:

Prior to Monday, I choose an current event article from NewsELA or Vale Middle School's Articles of the Week. I try and keep in mind what we are learning in Georgia Studies or what my students might be learning in science to reinforce cross-curricular connections.
The 2-3 sentences I pick out for my sentences of the week all have a common grammar connection. 

Sometimes I choose the grammar concept based on our curriculum map or what I see my students struggling with when writing. For example, for the first Monday's SoW, I chose to cover prepositional phrases and predicate adjectives to demonstrate to students the difference between their idea of a simple sentence and what a quality detailed simple sentence COULD look like. 

Here are the SoW Directions that I have my students copy down. For the first week, I chose an article on the 5-Second Rule. If you're students are anything like mine (teenagers in general really :), germs on the floor won't make them hesitate a second for a dropped piece of candy. 

Here are the SoWs I used the first week based on the 5-Second Rule article. Also included are the SoWs from the 2nd week on an Amelia Earhart article. Both articles were taken from the NewsELA website. 

I had intended for week 2 to focus on verb mood, something that is quite new to students, and what, I figured, would take a considerable amount of time to recognize in texts and use correctly in their own writing. However, the grammar fates dictated something quite different. After reading through some of their written responses from the 5-Second Rule article, I quickly realized that my little doodlebugs had no idea how to use commas correctly. And I really mean, they had absolutely no idea. I had kids putting commas before and after subordinating conjunctions in complex sentences, no commas with coordinating conjunctions, commas before "is", etc. It was bad. So, those first writing pieces dictated the grammar concept I focused on in the Amelia Earhart article. 

After going over the grammar component, we focus on the article. I was a bit skeptical when Gallagher mentions in his book, Write Like This, that the kids like seeing the SoW sentences when reading the AoW, but he was so right! It also motivates my students to pay attention to how the author is writing and incorporating grammar. When we read the Amelia Earhart piece, they were very quick to point out other examples of commas and what rules they applied to. This type of classroom conversation has never taken place in my room before. 

During the second week of school, I also introduce annotation for printed texts. I teach students to use the BUQ2C Method: Box headings and subheadings, Underline main ideas and key details, Question mark unfamiliar words or phrases, and Comment on the gist of each paragraph or section of text in the margin. We annotate the first article together, so they can see my thought process in how I determine what gets underlined, circled, and how I choose to make/word my comments on each section of the text. After reading Gallagher's book, I realized I don't do nearly enough modeling for my kids, so they see the thought process that goes into writing and revising. Another goal for the year :)

Several years ago, the other two Language Arts teachers and myself all began teaching our kids how to write in RAEECE Format. It's a short paragraph response that includes text-based evidence and an MLA citation. This is a starting point for our kids that gives them that solid jumping off point, but also allows for expansion later on as they become more confident in their writing. In our county, writing in all content areas is our learning focus goal for this year. As a result, all teachers on the 8th grade hallway utilize this RAEECE model to ensure continuity in students' writing no matter what the student is writing about in any given class. 

I know I've included a lot of information in this post. To summarize:

• Monday: 

1. Warm-Up (Bell Ringer): Sentences of the Week- comma usage
2. Article of the Week
1. Annotate
2. Discuss
3. Short video: Amelia Earhart
3. RAEECE Response
1. Amelia Earhart Example: Based on the article, "Enhanced photo could solve Earhart disappearance mystery," what do you think might have actually happened to Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan?

Throughout the rest of the week, my warm-ups consist of having students create sentences with specific requirements focusing on comma usage. For example, I might have them create a sentence that begins with a transition and includes a list or series. Groups work together to come up with the best, most detailed sentence. If it's correct, I reward them with a pass of their choice (5pt, free lunch seat, late homework pass, etc). 

Day 2: Numbers and QR Codes

Numbers and Me

After stumbling upon Kelly Gallagher's book, Write Like This, I got quite motivated at the last minute this summer and began scanning Pinterest for anything pertaining to writing. I came across a great activity, "Me By Numbers". You could potentially modify this activity to fit onto an 8 1/2 x 11 or  poster board. Some similar activities even had students creating math equations to equal the number that then described them in some manner. 

While I did find this activity prior to the beginning of school, time got away from me, and I never got around to using it with my students. However, what I'm thinking of is having my kiddos do this at the end of the year as a reflection project to see how far they've come. I'm thinking of having them include numbers such as the number of writing assignments they've completed or the number of times they wanted to give up but kept going. I want them to reflect on moments they thought about giving up but pushed on. This is still an idea in progress, but you get the gist of it. Next year, I plan on having students do this activity at the beginning and end of the year and compare. 

QR Codes

Haven't we all heard about these, seen these, and maybe even ignored these by now? So as of this year, I'm officially hooked (line and sinker). Since so many of my kids have smartphones with guaranteed internet access, I created QR codes that take them everywhere from my teacher webpage, online textbook page, and even our school website. I then have students bookmark or create a shortcut on their home screen (or one of their other screens) for easy access. 

QR Codes also came in handy for my parents during Parent Orientation. We send a newsletter home during Open House before school starts, however, I hadn't stumbled upon QR codes at that point, so I used our Parent Orientation Night to condense our team newsletter to one page and add the QR codes (right). On the left is a student version I handed out prior when I was first practicing using QR codes. My students love anything that allows them to use their phone. 

I used the following website to create my QR Codes for Free!!

• Go to the website
• Paste in your URL
• I download my codes so I can copy and paste them to whichever documents I'm using. This also allows you to modify the actual size of the QR code. 

Both Apple and Android phones have QR Code Reader Apps for Free as well.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

First Week Reflections

In Georgia, we are well into our first month of school having gone back on July 31st and the students on August 6th. I've had quite a while to reflect on what I did the first three days (we started back on a Wednesday), and I have realized I need to come up with a new game plan for my kiddos. At the end of each school year, I always have such grand plans to spend my summer getting super organized, type up all my lesson plans (for the first time ever), and come up with awesome back to school activities for those days before the kiddos get their textbooks. What ACTUALLY happens is several bags of school books, notebooks, and other items are relegated to a corner of my home office or bedroom for at least the first month of summer. Every day I glance at the corner and tell myself that "tomorrow" I will get down to business. Right, never happens. Well, it does happen about two days before pre-planning is about to start, and the panic attacks set in as I realize that I haven't cracked open those now dusty bags all summer. But I digress.

A fellow 8th grade teacher shared her ice-breaker handout with me, and since I wasn't super excited about my brown bag activity, I eagerly took her up on the handout. It required students to get other student signatures for summer activities and hobbies that took place last summer. My students were quite receptive to it. What I realized went wrong is that they really enjoyed learning about what everyone signed off on. Sure I spent time going over some of the more interesting activities such as "Traveled off the continent" and "Likes to sew, knit, or crochet." However, next year I plan to allow kids to get into small groups and really analyze each other's responses to see what they had in common, what were their differences, and develop some new friendships. This activity is especially great for my classroom as we live in a high military area and are always getting in transfer students from other states. As we can all empathize, middle school is not the easiest place to walk in and be the "new kid" yet again. This activity definitely has the potential to offer students a sense of camaraderie, even if they only just met through allowing students to make connections and find commonalities. But none of that happened this year because it didn't occur to me to put students in groups to let them see what they had in common. So that's goal #1 for next year :)

THIS (made by Tales of Teaching in Heels) is very similar to what I did as an ice-breaker. The main difference is that my activities were in list form with lines for student signatures, but you get the idea :)