Literature Circle Discussions

I LOVE literature circles! I love to hear the discussions, and I love to hear my students get excited about literature.  I wanted my literature circles to have more rich discussion and to be more structured so that they were on task  and getting things done (every teachers dream...).  I created role cards and discussion guides to make sure that all students were engaged during literature circles.  I also made self-assessments and peer assessments to hold them accountable.  My classroom during literature discussion has truly transformed!

You can find this literature circle packet HERE!

-h

Discussion Cube

With Common Core at a forefront in education today and also just an emphasis on higher-level discussion in the classroom, it is important to create an environment where students can learn to back-up and support their thinking.  We do a lot of discussing in my class, but I have been trying to work with my students on keeping the conversation going and having meaningful discussion.  We do sentence starters, and sometimes I even record my kids discussing and let them watch it to focus on what they need to improve on.  A new technique that I have started is this discussion cube.  When the conversation wanes or gets stuck, they just roll the cube and continue with the discussion.  This has helped to show my students how to carry on a discussion, and it has also encouraged some really deep conversations.

This resource is provided HERE!

-h

New Items

It has been FOREVER since one of us has posted, but we have been busy little bees teaching teaching teaching! I just wanted to share a couple things that have been going on in my classroom recently.  We are an IB school, so I am always trying to find ways in the classroom to discuss the IB learner profile or promote IB attitudes.  These are basically just good characteristics that we encourage our students to encompass.  I created these fun IB interactive cards for each of my table groups.  After we do an activity or lesson, I have the students pull out the envelope with the cards with it and cooperatively choose an IB attribute of the learner profile that they had to use.  They have to be able to back up their answer because each group chooses one representative to stand and deliver their card.  Then we have a short classroom discussion on their characteristics that they had to demonstrate in order to be a communicator, thinker, risk-taker, etc.  Below is a picture of what some of the cards look like.

These cards with the instructions are located HERE!

Even if you do not work at an IB school, it would be fun to put character words on these cards or words that you want to promote in your classroom.

Edmodo and Discussion

Edmodo is obviously a great resource to use in the classroom in many different ways.  I just wanted to share one way that I use Edmodo and how I use it to promote discussion.

Edmodo is a great way for students to discuss their self-selected reading text.  I created small groups with in my class group.  These groups are heterogeneous so that the students can gain information from each other and learn about a variety of different books.  By grouping the student heterogeneously, the students can build off of each other, gain vocabulary, and learn about books that they might not even be capable of reading.

Basically, every week I post a question or a topic for them to discuss about what they are reading.  The students have to post about their book and then respond to two other people's posts within the week.  Not only is this pushing their reading to the extra step, but it is integrated reading and writing.  It is also a great way to promote literature discussion.  Sometimes, I even post something during the week to get them thinking at a higher level if their discussion seems to be surface level.  The students participate in literature circles online through technology!  They love getting to share what they are reading and learning about other good books from fellow classmates.

Just a quick idea!
-h

Word clouds in the content areas

Who knew word clouds could have so many uses? Earlier, I posted about using word clouds as an activating strategy. Another way that I use word clouds in my classroom is when learning content area vocabulary. After learning vocabulary words in Social Studies, the students got in groups and made a list of words that describe their designated vocabulary word. Then they created a Wordle using Wordle.net. I printed these off for an activity the next day. At the beginning of the next lesson, I posted the student-made wordles around the room and numbered them. The students then did a silent activity where they walked around the room and wrote down which wordles they thought went with each vocabulary word. We discussed their responses, and I wrote the word on each wordle. I kept these posted until their assessment. This ended up being a great way to review vocabulary in a visual fashion.

-h

Early Finishers

I have always had the question about what to do with students after they have finished an assignment or test/quiz. This year, I finally feel like I have perfected activities for early finishers.

Below are pictures of my differentiated early finisher chart. There is a pocket labeled with each subject area plus some extra topics. I create assignments or activities for the topic we are studying for each subject area. This is not as hard as it seems because there are a ton of resources on the Internet, and I tend to create general activities like word sorts with vocabulary that can be easily interchanged. I also plan some in depth, application activities for some pockets. The cool thing is that there are always two pockets that you never change. You can add to them if you want but you don't have to switch them out. I will explain those below. The kids know that after they complete something, they are not to be idle. They have to get something out of the early finisher chart. They love it though because they get to choose what they work on and there are TONS of options. Students are always extending their learning which is the best part! Check the pictures out below! Below the pictures are explanations of each pocket.

Reading: Can switch items out for current curriculum.  I always have blank graphic organizers in that pocket for them to fill out.  They can always fill these out for their SSR books or other books they are reading.

Writing:  I have 3 composition notebooks in that pocket.  Each composition notebook has an example test writing prompt on it with the exact instructions that they will see on their state end of the year test.  Students write in the notebooks responding to each prompt.  Then I glue a new prompt on them when most of my students have responded to it.

Social Studies: For each Social Studies unit, I create or find a choice menu for that unit.  There are so many different types of activities that the students can do provided on the menu.  An example is, "Act out something important from the time period that we are studying.  Write a script first, and then have a friend video it with a Flip Camera."

Science:  I have a word sort activity with their vocabulary words from the current unit.  Again, this is interchangeable to each unit.

Math:  I have practice sheets, word problems, and games for the current unit.

Scramble with Students:  This is just some fun with words! They are game sheets like Boggle or Scramble with Friends on the iPhone.  Students are only allowed to complete one a week because they are not specifically content related.  They do make the students think about how words work though and sometimes they are pretty hard.  I have a competition going each week for the student who can get the most points.  These always stay in that pocket.

Choice Menus:  These also always stay in that pocket.  They are very general choice menus having to do with the students weekly affix words or vocabulary or novel choice menus that they can do with any book.  General options can be put in this pocket.

In Progress:  Student work that is in progress goes here.  They are not to leave the classroom without putting it in the In Progress pocket otherwise I will never see it again.

Completed:  Obviously, student completed work goes here.

Hope you find this useful!

-h

Dancing Geometry with the Cupid Shuffle

Hi, we've decided to venture off with our own blogs! Please go to teachitivity.blogspot.com to find my new post related to dance. See you there. 

I did this my first year teaching but thought I would share it with everyone. For the kids who beat on tables, sing, and couldn't care less about math, this is the perfect way to teach transformations in geometry.

Part 1: Students trace their footprint on large paper and then recreate their footprint using rotations, reflections, and translations.
Part 2: Introduce the lyrics, song, and the ORIGINAL dance.
Part 3: Students work together to choreograph/create steps and hand gestures to help them remember the vocabulary terms and communicate the dance to others well.

Here's the link to the youtube video of the original Cupid Shuffle. Hit the chorus and the lyrics work PERFECTLY: Original Cupid Shuffle video

Have fun!!!! We had a blast learning geometry this way and my kids still remembered the geometry concepts by the end of the year. This was one of my favorite things I've ever done in the classroom.

-K :)