Crazy about Newsela.com

If you have not heard of this website then you are missing out! It's a great way for your students to read non-fiction relevant news articles. The website also offers comprehension quizzes (short and sweet- 5 questions max) for them to answer after they have read the article. The questions center such things as determining main idea and drawing conclusions...whoop whoop! Just the kind of practice these youngsters need! 
You can also track your students progress whenever they take a quiz. It's a beautiful thing. 

:)

Teaching with Songs- Like totally OMG

My middle schoolers love when their nerdy, not cool teacher says something that somehow paints me in a somewhat hipper light in their eyes. I mentioned having seen Jay Z in concert and this totally rocketed me to awesome status in their eyes. Of course they weren't even born when Jay Z was putting out his first album but whatever..still cool.
They love me even more when I use something they deem cool in an actual teaching lesson. I pull out a Katy Perry song or reference Annoying Orange and ding ding ding- they are engaged!!!

Here are a few lessons and ideas that will keep your middle schools entertained and-even better- learning!!!

Using songs for a Socratic Circle:
If you have not tried Socratic Circles or seminars then you are missing out on something HUGE. Socratic circles help your students dive DEEP into a text by making connections, asking thoughtful questions and thinking about multiple perspectives. Here's a quick video to catch you up on how they work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pGVR6ZF_2M:

My students had been reading and analyzing a few non-fiction texts about perseverance and overcoming obstacles. P.S-If you need a great place to get non-fiction texts teentribune.com is a great resource. 
I paired an article a disabled girl becoming prom queen with the song Katy Perry's roar. 
Before their socratic circle I asked the children to come up with questions that somehow connected the two texts. What resulted was an amazing conversation that revolved around metaphor, author's purpose and believing in yourself. These are 11 and 12 year olds talking about literary terms and life issues in the same setting. It was a beautiful thing. 

Other songs that are great for Socratic Circles include: Taylor Swift's Mean, Katy Perry's Firework, Michael Jackson's The Man in the Mirror, Black Eyed Peas- Where's the Love, Bette Midler's The Rose, & Rihanna's Umbrella
Any song that you can pair with a non-fiction relevant text is going to give your student's a great text to relate to and understand it's relevance! 

Taylor Swift Songs:
OK. I have to admit I'm 33 and I love Tay Tay like any other 12 year old girl. She is such a gifted writer and English teachers can really utilize her songs as a great way to teach similes, metaphor and other types of figurative language. My favorite Taylor Swift song activity is using her song Red as a writing activity.  
Step 1- Give your kids the lyrics to Red. Play the song for them and have them pay attention to the colors. Discuss how colors can be tied in with emotions. Discuss mood  and what the author feels when writing. 
Step 2- Play it again and have them write down what each color word means to them.
Step 3- Put the kids in groups and give them (secretly shhhh don't let the other kids know what color they have) a color. Have them list words that describe this color
Examples- Red- (love, passion, anger, hearts, breaking up) Blue (sad, loneliness, depression, peaceful, calming, losing a puppy) 
The kids will have a great time debating what they think each color represents. 
Step 4- Once they have finished, have each group share out. Students can add more words to the color. This is a good time to discuss the mood Taylor Swift was trying to convey when she wrote this song. 
Step 5-After this, have each child pick a color and write about that color but not including the  They can there share whole group or with partners or groups. The fun part is having to guess what color they are writing about! 


Finally, I know, I know What Does the Fox Say? is super annoying BUT...if you show this funny Annoying Orange video to teach Personification AND Onomatopoeia you will be a rock star in their eyes. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J19z4VTCR9M

I know my kids love it!!

OK OK enough typing..I have to go give two little monkeys a bath! 

:)
P

Snowball fight in 90 degree weather!

It is certainly not feeling like Fall in good old central VA. We have been hitting above the 90 mark all week. Today for a quick vocabulary review  we decided to cool off by having a fun "snowball fight" with the kids vocabulary words. It was a blizzard of post its and the 6th graders loved it. 

Each student was given a post it note and instructed to put their name on it. Next, they had to pick one of the four vocabulary words from their Article of the Week and either illustrate one of the words or describe it without using the actual vocabulary word.

Then we formed a circle, I counted down and BAM!

Snowball fight.

When it was over, they had to find the person whose snowball they had caught and guess what word it was.

It took about 5 minutes and was a great way to review our words!

Book Recommendation Lists

I have made it to the 3rd day of school! It's shaping up to be a great week. All  of my babies are as sweet as can be and I think, "think" most of them like to read! Whoop whoop.. yesterday we went over our Independent Reading expectations and created our first anchor chart about what IR time looks like.

I also let them peruse (love that word) our classroom library. The line to check out books was extremely long in all of my classes! I'm so excited that they were excited about books!

Today, we head to our school library where our fabulous librarians will introduce them to even more great books. Below is a book recommendation resource for you. I printed off lists of books to help students who are looking for just the right book. Also, there is a sheet below (thanks Lindsey) that they can use to add even more great books to the list!

Happy Thursday! 

P

____________Books 

	Synopsis
Title:
Author:
Recommended by:

	Synopsis
Title:
Author:
Recommended by:

	Synopsis
Title:
Author:
Recommended by:

Great Back to School Motivational Videos

The day they put a projector in my room was one of the highlights of my teaching career. Not really, but FINALLY, it's 2013 and my room "almost" looks like it's in the right century.  I don't show videos everyday but YouTube can definitely be a powerful motivational and educational tool. Below, I have listed a few great video clips to help our student's ease into the school year with a more positive attitude. Many thanks to my fellow coworkers for finding some of these! 

This video will certainly make you smile on the first day of school. Yes really it will! It's beyond adorable and you could literally reach in and squeeze their cheeks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP9yEVqbfvM

There are a few bad words in this video (probably better for high schoolers) but you can't help but get excited when watching it (and have a tiny urge to be an engineering student at  GA Tech!)

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/21/if-this-video-of-a-freshman-giving-an-absolutely-epic-convocation-speech-doesnt-pump-you-up-check-your-pulse/

This is really a Honda Civic commercial but ignore that for a moment. It's also a fantastic message all students need to hear as they begin or continue on their journey through school. It also reminds me of how I used to drive my own little Honda Civic around while working full-time and going through college. Thanks Honda!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIiH0hAO-U0&feature=youtu.be

Pay  it forward. Enough said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT-HBl2TVtI

:) P

Writing Contests for the 2013/2014 School Year

Making  writing assignments relevant to your students is the only way to truly inspire them to dig in deep and create a high-quality product they can truly be proud of.  Writing contests offer an exciting way to accomplish this.  Below I have listed a few for the upcoming 2013/2014 school year. Many of these contests have amazing prices ($1000-say what?) and chances for students to publish their writing in an online or print format. I am so excited to introduce these to my students and make it a part of my writing curriculum this year.

The YES Magazine National Student Writing Competition asks students to read a non-fiction (yay Common Core!) socially relevant article and respond to a prompt regarding the article. Winners will have their response published in YES magazine in their print edition and online. TEACHERS win a classroom set of YES posters.

Due Date for teacher registration is October 18th and student submissions are due November 22nd.

Totem's Head Story Contest is an exciting (and 21st century skills) chance for a student to create an amazing fiction story using an interactive webpage. Students must start their story with this line "So there I was.." and following several steps complete a 1500 words or less adventure story that models Poe or Hitchcock. My kids are going to rock this assignment out.

Due date for submissions is December 31st.

The Letters to Literature contest from Read.gov combines  reading with a writing assignment and offers a $1000 reward.  Yes please! Students must write a letter to an author of a book, poem or speech and tell them how the text affected them personally. The best part? It has to be a persuasive letter!! I'm so excited I could crush a grape!

Finally, The Legacy Project is offering the Listen to a Life Contest for students ages 8-18 years old. Students must interview a grandparent (or grand-friend) about their life and write a 300 word story about this person and their legacy. Grand Prize? A computer! I swear!

All of the websites include previous winner entries to use as exemplars for students. These are great ways to show students what a high quality WINNING piece of writing looks like. We can't reach the top bar until we know how high we need to jump!

Have a great weekend! Work week starts on Monday!! I am spending the weekend with my high school best friends and the boys in Baltimore for an Orioles game and a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium.

One last summer hurrah before reality begins!

:) P 

More Classroom Pictures!

Technically, I am not supposed to be back at work until next week but today felt like a full work day! Now I am awake and wired, thinking of the gazillion things I have to do at school. It's going to be a long couple of weeks. The good news is I have finished setting up my classroom. Here are a few pictures:

The hanging folder holder on the right contains Absent Folders/Samples of Figurative Language/ Grammar Examples/Quotes/Editing Checklists & Genre Book Lists. Schedules for Reading and Writing Days are next to it.

 The pictures above the counter  are different reading strategies and writing traits. I will create anchor charts for these throughout the year as well. My entire back wall is blank. This is where the anchor charts will go. I am going to post writing contests on the Contests Wall.

My desk. Hopefully I can really make an effort to keep it like this all year long! If not, at least I have a picture to remember it before it gets paperwork thrown up all over it! The file box on the window holds papers I need to file and papers I need to print. Their is a TO DO list for each day of the week next to it. It's a sticky dry erase sheet. So cool!

This is where my three class blocks will turn in their work. The white drawers are for Read Aloud Notebooks.

The Graffiti Wall is where students will put interesting quotes they find while reading their IR books. Students will put favorite book recommendations under the Books We Love board. On the far right (you can only see one) are 3 pieces of chart paper titled Books We've Read. This is where the students will put down EVERY book they read this year. I hope to make it a friendly competition amongst the classes.  The empty shelves will house Writing Binders. There is a small whiteboard and marker where children will sign out when they leave the classroom for the bathroom or whatever else.

 My co-dept chair/partner in crime Lindsey sent me this great YouTube video to share on the first day of school. It is so RELEVANT and really something our middle schoolers need to really hear and hopefully will motivate them to really push themselves this year.

I hope this helps!

:)
P