Reflecting...

Blogging in general is a great way to express feelings and thoughts. It is also a wonderful way to communicate and form relationships. The blogging experience here has been a little damaged due to the amount of time allotted per day to one person who is in school herself, a first year teacher, a single mother of three little boys...I could go on. Seriously, time can turn a meaningful experience in a fly buzzing around your head, or maybe that is just life in general.

Actually, blogging is fun and useful. I incorpated a classroom blog into my Pre-Ap English class syllabus. The students were very excited to keep an online classroom journal. We had high hopes for this learning tool. Unfortunately, all blog sites are BLOCKED from the school internet. There are a few students who do not have access to home internet service, so this classroom project was eliminated. We were all very disappointed.

I can see how helpful the blogging process can be as a tool for learning and communication. Blogging is a great way to incorporate technology and literacy. I enjoyed reading all the posted blogs and they have been very insightful and helpful. The ideas on other bloggers pages are very creative. I am so appreciative of their sharing. As time goes on, I hope to remain blogging on this site from time to time. I look forward to keeping up with others on theirs as well.

YOU YOU YOU Activity

This activity was a getting to know you activity, but also it was used to teach symbolism and five paragraph essay writing.

Each student chose either a black or white piece of cardstock paper. Then I provided them with marker, art supplies, various shapes and objects. They also had a questionaire with three questions. What is most important to you in your life? What makes you feel special? What can you not live without? They answered the questions on the paper, and then I had them illustrate something to symbolize their answers on the cardstock paper. They were also required to have their name on the front of the paper and to be as creative and imaginative as possible. After they finished the poster, the students wrote an essay about what was most important to them in their life using each of their symbols as a starting point for each body paragraph. This was a great activity. The student enjoyed the illustration part. It also helped the students with exceptionalities or the students who are not great writer represent their self and creativity in another way. Besides, drawing, gluing, cutting and coloring is FUN!!! It is also LEARNING!

I hung some of the posters outside my door at school. The students love to see their work posted on the walls.

I hung the rest of the posters in my classroom. They cover the entire back wall.

Fable Activity - Folklore Genre

This activity worked very well with my students, so I thought I would share.

I went to www.aesopfables.com and printed six fables from Aesop. I made out a packet of questions...one question on each page, stapled together...four questions and four pages all together..this would be activity one. I put the students in groups of two or three and gave each group a fable to read and a set of questions. They had 13 minutes to read and answer each question. The questions were all regarding the text. The questions were as follows: 1. what genre is your text? How do you know? 2. What is the moral of the fable? Prove your answer using examples from the text. 3. Think about the moral of your fable. Now, recall a time in your own life that your experience, heard about or saw on tv where this same more was portrayed. Explain. 4. Compare and Contrast the protagonist and antagonist in the story using a venn diagram. Prove your answer by giving examples from the text.

Then, I had a set of questions on the interwrite board..to break the monotony and to change the lighting and sensuality of the room. The students had 8 minutes to complete Activity Two. This activity was another set of questions, which were as follows: 1. Identify figurative language in your fable. Prove your answer by giving examples from the text. 2. What is the point of view of the fable? Prove your answer with text from the fable. 3. Describe the imagery in the fable. What senses do the images appeal to? Prove your answer.

After Activity Two was over, I switched the interwrite board to Activity Three. The students had three minutes to finish Activity 3. Actvity 3 was as follows: Paraphrase your fable in two sentences.

After Activity Three was over, they were to begin Activity Four. Activity Four was as follows: Pretend you are writing a childrens' book. Your fable is next in line to be printed. Illustrate the moral of your fable as best inferred from your reading and understanding. They had 4 minutes to complete this activity. Afterwards, they chose a report to stand up and tell their findings from the activities.

This was a very active and urgent excerise. The students did finish the activities, and I got a great response from them. They were fully engaged the entire time. This activity provided as a gateway to higher-order thinking. I will definitely implement it in other ways as we progress.

THE OUTSIDERS...

There is so much that can be said about this timeless classic. I was extremely excited about getting the opportunity to teach this novel. I prepped for a month preparing to teach one of my first loves..The Outsiders. It was on the curriculum for seventh grade at another school...I ended up not taking the job there because of location. I hoped that my preparation efforts would not be wasted, and I could teach it to my seventh grade class at my current job. Unfortunately, they teach it in eighth grade because of contraversial content. :( A lot of my students have already read the book, though. They, too, enjoyed it immensely.

Number the Stars

I read this book for my book talk assignment. I am trying to get it ordered for my students to read at the end of the year for their holocaust novel. My English classes will read this one....I am also debating over The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. This is a remarkable book. I love that the story is told through the eyes of a 10 year old girl. I think my students will enjoy it as well.

The images in the novel are intriguingly vivid. Lowry does an excellent job portraying the surrounding of the Johansens' through the eyes of Annemarie.

FOUR STARS!!!

I know that when I have mentioned my students reading this the opinions have varied...the most common statement has been, "That is usually done in sixth grade. It is a fanatastic novel." I take from that the language may be a little immature, but the majority of the books in our library are sixth grade level and below. I think it will be fine. We can have mature, seventh grade conversations....regardless of the reading level. I strongly believe that literature can be taught at various level of thinking over and over again to different audiences. I am excited about the book!

double team

Ms. Davis (Mandy Davis) and I are team teaching a Seventh grade English class. This is new to both of us despite half of the year is almost over.

I had a class of three students, and it was decided that those students could be moved into another class and we switched my prep period...BAM...Mandy and I are co-teaching. The literacy coach tried to get them to do this earlier in the year, not sure why they finally decided to do it, but I am glad. I am eager to see how it will go. I think it will be an adjustment for the students, but helpful to them because they will definitely get more one on one attention. Mandy and I can also collaborate on lessons better. Let you all know how this goes! We are determined to turn our class into English experts.