tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42215055591878419342024-03-19T04:47:32.467-04:00Mentoring in the MiddleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger453125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-47325111734643188342024-03-17T05:00:00.209-04:002024-03-17T05:00:00.130-04:00Master book clubs and literature circles: ELA teachers want to know!<p><i>This is the time of year when many ELA teachers are looking to get students into books. Do you run a Literature Circle? Or a Book Club? </i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkygXk1W1NirffpsbQfAjQzaKohEH6awxs1K8V1fywUGXlbEL96fM8bmpzaZbhSdgwNQJBtWUbeQC9VHQtGUiflwMRFX7P-oyQ3ypoGhZbny_SQUNuvgv-Ku2U7uLYNCUG1-8Qq22gblS4gBt-MDjkajvlwcsmfsEeGNY66WcmppRM2iUmn28I4CW9Hw/s1080/Book%20Clubs%20or%20Lit%20Circles.blog.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="students sitting in book clubs and literature circles" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkygXk1W1NirffpsbQfAjQzaKohEH6awxs1K8V1fywUGXlbEL96fM8bmpzaZbhSdgwNQJBtWUbeQC9VHQtGUiflwMRFX7P-oyQ3ypoGhZbny_SQUNuvgv-Ku2U7uLYNCUG1-8Qq22gblS4gBt-MDjkajvlwcsmfsEeGNY66WcmppRM2iUmn28I4CW9Hw/w320-h320/Book%20Clubs%20or%20Lit%20Circles.blog.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There's really only one major difference between book clubs and literature circles, but that one change makes a big difference in the way your groups run. I have done both, and although I prefer one over the other, most of the time I make my decision based on what I think my students can do.</div><p><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: x-large;"><b>Literature Circles</b></span></p><p>Literature Circles are small groups of students who choose the same book to read together. Each member of the group has a specific role to play. The roles you choose for the group help determine the direction you want the group to go in. </p><p><span class="iconos" id="a534" style="background-color: white; background-position: -120px -1240px; border-radius: 17px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c3e50; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: "apple color emoji", "android emoji", "segoe ui emoji", notocoloremoji, "segoe ui symbol", emojisymbols; font-size: 30px; height: 40px; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: none; width: 40px;" title="Electric Torch">🔦</span>I like to compare Literature Circles to working on a project together. Every student has a specific role and they come together to create something really interesting. They can learn a lot from each other because each person is approaching their task from a different perspective.</p>📌You can assign students their roles for the entire time or have them switch up each time they meet. That really depends on the age of your students and how well they collaborate.<p></p><p>These are some of the roles you can use:<br /></p><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><i>Discussion director</i> - comes up with questions for the others to discuss, things this person found interesting.</li><li><i>Word Wizard </i>- finds interesting or unfamiliar words and helps students figure their meanings out</li><li><i>Summarizer</i> - summarizes the main ideas behind the chapter or part read </li><li><i>Connector/Connections Maker</i> - makes connections about the book to other books, events in the world, or to themself</li><li><i>Character Analyzer - </i>looks at character traits and how characters grow or change through the course of the book</li><li><i>Travel Tracer/Monitor </i>- if it applies to the book, this can be a fun way to look at maps and build some background knowledge about locations around the world.</li><li><i>Illustrator </i>- illustrates a scene from the chapter that struck them as visually rich</li><li><i>Time Keeper/Coach</i> - keeps everyone on task and makes sure everyone has a chance to join in the conversation</li><li><i>Predictor/Inferer </i>- if this is a skill you're working on, you might want to have someone make some predictions and inferences</li></ul></ul></div><p>📌This list contains more roles than a typical group should have. I like to keep my groups to no more than 5 students, so you would need to choose which Literature Circle roles you want students to have.</p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Book Clubs</b></p><p>There are several ways that you can run book clubs and again, your decision should be based on how collaboratively and critically your students approach their tasks.</p><p>As a rule, book clubs are a bit more informal, where students come together to discuss the book and initiate and keep the conversation going. But these are sixth graders, so that's asking a lot.</p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #2c3e50; font-family: "apple color emoji", "android emoji", "segoe ui emoji", notocoloremoji, "segoe ui symbol", emojisymbols; font-size: 30px; text-align: center;">🔦</span>I like to compare Book Clubs to a group of students talking about a movie they've recently seen. Each person brings a different perspective, based on their personal experiences, and everyone has an equal chance to speak. That being said, I've had some groups that have worked effectively together and others that have not. </p><p>📌When that happens, I try to have discussion questions ready for the book they're reading. The questions get them started and they usually can go from there. </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I have many resources with <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mentoring-In-The-Middle-With-Marion-Piersol-miller/Category/-128214-Reading-Novel-studies-298594" target="_blank">chapter questions or book study guides</a> if you're interested.</li></ul><p></p>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-85161453173801860322024-03-10T05:00:00.033-04:002024-03-10T05:00:00.145-04:00An informational reading passage about the man behind St. Patrick's Day<p> <i>Do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day in your classroom? Have your students read about <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/St-Patricks-Day-Reading-Passages-and-Comprehension-Quizzes-St-Pattys-Day-6524982?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=St.Pat3.10.24" target="_blank">the man </a>and have them separate fact from myth.</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/St-Patricks-Day-Reading-Passages-and-Comprehension-Quizzes-St-Pattys-Day-6524982?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=St.Pat3.10.24" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="a rainbow, clovers, and a pot of gold, symbols to represent St. Patrick's Day" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjov2guyLt17vIezPjyzldXRI8nf6dPX_Q28r_tmZSj-wUo5bjeZ6m16sL3BO7Qj7-hhfKRS7zDebLjhznKHSjg30pJZ7DtgA7hMbWBtkuJ9liB7Q2wStrRzJMA9YxnIaen3m2bavkcRknx3q-MY1-Uguach5qM2w0OETjy3rQGKUN84wOVxSu_pAncYlg/w320-h320/St.%20Patrick.blog.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><i><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large; font-style: normal;">The Man</b></i></h4><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">St. Patrick was a real person who lived in the 4th and 5th centuries, although he wasn't Irish. He grew up in England and was kidnapped and enslaved in Ireland for six years. Deeply religious, he heard a voice telling him to escape, so he went back to his home in England. When he heard another voice telling him to return to Ireland, he trained as a missionary and lived in Ireland for the rest of his life, converting men and women to Christianity.</span></p><p><i><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large; font-style: normal;">The Myth</b></i></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Snakes? Leprechauns? Parades? None of that is true (well, the parades are, but they were started in a Spanish colony in Florida!)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">There were no snakes to be banished from Ireland.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">And leprechauns? Well, to the Irish, they weren't happy-go-lucky little people, they were cranky little shoemakers!</span></p><p><i><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large; font-style: normal;">Do you want your students to learn more?</b></i></p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; min-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Let your upper elementary students celebrate St. Patrick's Day by learning a few things about this man who lived more than 1500 years ago. I created a differentiated reading comprehension passage that comes in digital and pdf<span style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-weight: 600; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> </span>versions to best fit your needs. </span></p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; min-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; min-height: 1.3em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <span style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/St-Patricks-Day-Reading-Passages-and-Comprehension-Quizzes-St-Pattys-Day-6524982?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=St.Pat3.10.24" target="_blank">St. Patrick's Day Reading Passage</a></span> also includes</span></p><ul style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; line-height: inherit; list-style-position: outside; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 40px;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">2 versions for differentiation</span></li><li style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: disc; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">9 multiple-choice questions: words in context, making inferences, and nonfiction text structure.</span></li><li style="background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style: disc; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Short-answer question: students consider the use of folktales in creating "larger than life" stories.</span></li></ul><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/St-Patricks-Day-Reading-Passages-and-Comprehension-Quizzes-St-Pattys-Day-6524982?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=St.Pat3.10.24" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="a rainbow and green hat to represent St. Patrick's Day" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii5n-3Mmv7kvVcre851gMvLL6iIFxxogMhCYT36sAlHxGtuT7CWraVb5xFlBV_mFV1yEx0PWzA9sMqrM2dwzvZyfnkG7FJKuy1dyhQFapeILB44CUyB5ql8HgnPv7Uh-PPQZYkzdOGyiYnxXXak-tSphmI4CdUfpXEP8B84zeVbIZSGqENUXxtjLLN2wI/w320-h320/1.2024.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-79230998193171491232024-03-03T05:00:00.056-05:002024-03-03T05:00:00.133-05:00How to Make Some Plans Now for a Collaborative March Madness Reading Challenge!<p><i>There are lots of good reasons to get your students involved in a March Madness Reading Challenge. I'm giving you three because I want to keep this post readable!</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/March-Madness-Reading-Challenge-with-Book-Brackets-and-Bulletin-Board-5292628?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=3.12.23" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi28CWw3RfkWMXpPwN2CTZqD6XQYoNodR5eQIjg4y44buDhmyzH8wgVbkgW7BFMcVDFyAKcC1GzFc0qbuY1PQMq91rNaKCik6P9x2XJVipPtOBb2vxlUta12hReWoEUwgFonR6NxmktF7s3ntWcbBzW2OPoFg2B_9vB0LJtmykWzaehJKO5m8ceBvib/s320/March%20Madness.blog.2023.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large; font-style: normal;">Why take on March Madness Book Brackets?</b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><span style="font-style: normal;">It's that time of year when kids are getting restless and teachers are exhausted. Am I right? I always felt like the end of February and the beginning of March lasted about 100 days! </span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><span style="font-style: normal;">Mixing things up a bit is a good thing to do at this time of year. This is the kind of project where you watch your kids take off and you're pleasantly surprised!</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><span style="font-style: normal;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">You're giving students choices</b></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><span style="font-style: normal;">You know that choice is important for kids. And maybe you've been doing it since the beginning of the year and your kids have it down pat. Or maybe not. The good news is that there's enough structure in creating book brackets that your students will be engaged in the project(s) they need to do.</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><span style="font-style: normal;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Students are competitive!</b></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="font-style: normal;"><b style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;">T</span></b></b></span></i><b style="color: #0b5394;"><b><b><b><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;">he energy i</span></b></b><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;">n the room rises when kids are playing Gimkit, Kahoot, or Quizlet, right? Well, that's true in March when they have to convince their classmates that their favorite book of the year should be everyone else's too! </span></b></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></b></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Look at the reading skills they're working on!</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Okay, so there's a fourth reason. </span><b style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;">Think of all the March Madness reading activitie<i>s </i>you could come up with. Well, I did it for you. </span></b></b><span style="font-style: normal;">To make their first pitch, students have to </span><i>summarize</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. Later, they need to </span><i>visualize</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, and later still they need to </span><i>become their character</i><span style="font-style: normal;">. Talk about figuring out </span><i>point of view</i><span style="font-style: normal;">! And through it all, they work on their public speaking and persuasive skills.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><ul style="font-style: italic;"><li><span style="font-style: normal;">If you want to read a more detailed explanation of what I've done, you can read about how the March Madness Book Tournaments I held for my 6th graders worked <a href="https://mentoringinthemiddle.blogspot.com/2020/03/march-madness-book-tournament.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">If you'd like to try a tournament and don't have the time to create one yourself, my <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/March-Madness-Reading-Challenge-with-Book-Brackets-and-Bulletin-Board-5292628?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=3.3.24" target="_blank">March Madness Book Tournament resource </a>has everything you need for each week: lesson plans, graphic organizers, plus bulletin board letters for a display!</span></li><li>Click on the picture below for more information!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></li></ul></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/March-Madness-Reading-Challenge-with-Book-Brackets-and-Bulletin-Board-5292628?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=3.3.24" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-nkWVLxre2Vl0LOrVpY9BWm4ASd1ZhWLz8LVRPiQEtvsSN04UIZ3jvCLzUhcXY_yoN7AFcb3-uzwyRqyYqpYcp8mtgCreDOcEqcl0tZ339fEbGXNTstyLH82J4ba0CG2eViSHWcaA4hmaNaebka7JjB2m2PsNgxlohPTil-eSn4e2BfgiKLrDPsfgmZo/w320-h320/1.2024.png" title="colored paper basketballs on the wall" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-9980587480627918722024-02-25T05:00:00.133-05:002024-02-25T05:00:00.122-05:005 free products for your 5th and 6th graders to prepare for state testing<p><i>True confessions: this time of year was the hardest for me as a teacher. I was tired of grey, cloudy days, it felt like spring would never get here, and going through training for state testing? Well, you know.</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDBOBCD6Cu6_UrmrMcBiTGtsUBjlNbie6L14GYAOMhsTAgW27i_6FPYy_Sw7fSFgtr5d2facjYbYqVkhhqZQhBxEIdiPSUWHVQT2prV9_9EM07zMH43sRcmcUvqz8ashXl8rYJ-FZAAcU8yFBmE4SCKmcqp4rYbUN_YUt07jc9Svb9LxkmJU0XIkKdaLc/s1080/Hello%20Spring%20Freebie.blog.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDBOBCD6Cu6_UrmrMcBiTGtsUBjlNbie6L14GYAOMhsTAgW27i_6FPYy_Sw7fSFgtr5d2facjYbYqVkhhqZQhBxEIdiPSUWHVQT2prV9_9EM07zMH43sRcmcUvqz8ashXl8rYJ-FZAAcU8yFBmE4SCKmcqp4rYbUN_YUt07jc9Svb9LxkmJU0XIkKdaLc/s320/Hello%20Spring%20Freebie.blog.png" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Would you like some free resources to help you through the spring? I know that this time of year can be stressful for 5th and 6th graders (and teachers) until all that standardized testing is over.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Could you use:</span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 28px;"><li aria-checked="false" aria-level="1" dir="ltr" role="checkbox" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: top;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">✔ A free lesson that you can use right now </span></p></span></li><li aria-checked="false" aria-level="1" dir="ltr" role="checkbox" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: top;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">✔ A free resource that you can use to review skills for testing</span></p></span></li><li aria-checked="false" aria-level="1" dir="ltr" role="checkbox" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: none; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; vertical-align: top;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">✔ A free resource to use after testing is over</span></p></span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: inherit; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Take advantage of these free resources, all designed for 5th and 6th graders, from some wonderful teacher-authors I know.</span></p><p><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">You can choose the one you want, or take advantage of all five. It’s totally up to you. You can even choose none of them, although that would make me a little bit sad. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><span face="Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2c3e50; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="iconos" id="a589" style="background-color: white; background-position: -280px -1360px; border-radius: 17px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c3e50; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: "apple color emoji", "android emoji", "segoe ui emoji", notocoloremoji, "segoe ui symbol", emojisymbols; font-size: 30px; height: 40px; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: none; width: 40px;" title="White Down Pointing Backhand Index">👇</span>Click on each of the resources below!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://mentoringinthemiddle.myflodesk.com/figurativelanguage" target="_blank"><img height="296" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/VmdpOUyVzWZ-fnMB_JTCI-HvB7Bok9GcnK406UqzndDJhjn231WtTkQsULfT_USx-RBwYb7S28RithE1lU6n_X0Hvk-8YyoVNOFJX1DlMra2ZfSLGpPoY2lxIro9NobsiQgq9q7p2Qa4C46pL4wIT1Y=w296-h296" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;" width="296" /></a><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><a href="https://teachingscience.us/free-food-web-worksheets/" target="_blank"><img height="320" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/KrMa5B5ZRdF0P-iAWev7l6vmXrA7_gkajN7d-mQuR7h9QoNHQU3-xJjEMi-85Su9c3oQ-xbPIorImVprRE4qgZkPlAJtI07imdqxj7Q--xz-02vwoEGyZANwxNu0ZGuq_2Cb52dBaxeMZFgfoKmxOAQ=w320-h320" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: right; white-space-collapse: preserve;" width="320" /></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://protonpriest.myflodesk.com/micl638kj9" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; white-space-collapse: preserve;" target="_blank"><img alt="Free product for 5th grade science test prep" height="320" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/f9GzbVnLAduNfFRZ2TT99G8HFrks7_a0JRnZXRdGZkOPcJVSQbvgXFlLhFokEmSOYYDxhhARicI9MZ7cmuyYJUJRrAoQub35jiI2ViaSFcqdrQwfhwoh4VzNYPhHe90mikgO7BBnKEzcckAGyUdBuDI=w257-h320" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" title="5th and 6th Grade Science Freebies" width="257" /></a><span id="docs-internal-guid-542e47c6-7fff-942a-c2e7-74340c651f18"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="border: none; display: inline-block; height: 298px; overflow: hidden; width: 238px;"><a href="https://a-math-mission.myflodesk.com/x7ldqjme9h" target="_blank"><img height="294" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/3ECeUhYuLCXvECVYjUZse3_QFt4eCHBeSXU6fDOHpBwELXrcTj148SDUKgey_VePWkwBZ1XwGXIWApYCWHC0b6fVVTHUO3n7cSse1KgZhH5NAflMJT4m9w76SFY8onEtoE5GpZ45w9AD9gj4WKyfWIY=w267-h294" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; white-space-collapse: preserve;" width="267" /></a> </span></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="border: none; clear: right; display: inline-block; float: right; height: 557px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; overflow: hidden; width: 624px;"><a href="https://timesavingteachertools.com/ancient-china-geography-landing-page/" target="_blank"><img height="557" src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/s17qLN8YBkCd3CT0nbYpaiAvbW4vQFkzYfAmTkazG7NMqxKvWL3_mhjY4xdPdtAl_K_MEStOmx0uuBz7o_7PrsBD5eCrPHSkJgYIc7-TvqX7lLi0WRmvyrz77JA0GL9QQeBhhrBYy76qN_qjWlTioQY" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="624" /></a></span></p>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-15846674847641777222024-02-18T05:00:00.239-05:002024-03-07T14:43:29.986-05:00Three fun poems that will bring curiosity into your 6th grade classroom<div style="background-color: white;"><i style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; text-indent: -1em;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large; font-style: normal; text-indent: 0px;">A Poem for teachers too, perhaps?</b></i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; text-indent: -1em;">I ask them to take a poem</i></div><div class="o-vr o-vr_12x" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 60px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="c-feature" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border: 0px; line-height: 1.231; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="c-feature-bd" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border: 0px; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="o-poem isActive" data-view="PoemView" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>and hold it up to the light<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>like a color slide<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>or press an ear against its hive.<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I say drop a mouse into a poem<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>and watch him probe his way out,<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>or walk inside the poem’s room<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>and feel the walls for a light switch.<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I want them to waterski<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>across the surface of a poem<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>waving at the author’s name on the shore.<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>But all they want to do<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>is tie the poem to a chair with rope<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>and torture a confession out of it.<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>They begin beating it with a hose<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>to find out what it really means.<br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0;" /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Introduction to Poetry by Billy Collins</i></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-weight: inherit;">I had to laugh when I read this poem. We sometimes do this to our students when we teach poetry, don't we? I remember trying to help my students make sense of <i>Ozymandias, </i>as they learned to annotate poems<i>.</i> Oh, my!</div><div style="background-color: white; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-weight: inherit;">Ultimately, it's more fun for us and better for our students if we can "waterski across the surface of the poem" observing the details here and there, rather than beating it to death. Our students might be more willing to move beyond Shel Silverstein if we do.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; font-weight: inherit;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Poems that make you smile</b></div><div style="background-color: white; font-weight: inherit;">Here's the poem, <i>Oranges,</i> by Gary Soto.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-weight: inherit;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>The first time I walked </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>With a girl, </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>I was twelve, </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Cold, and weighted down </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>With two oranges in my jacket. </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>December. </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Frost cracking </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Beneath my steps, my breath </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Before me, then gone, </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>As I walked toward </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Her house, the one whose </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Porch light burned yellow </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Night and day, in any weather. </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>A dog barked at me, until </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>She came out pulling </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>At her gloves, face bright </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>With rouge. I smiled, </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Touched her shoulder, and led </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Her down the street, across </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>A used car lot and a line </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Of newly planted trees, </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Until we were breathing </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Before a drugstore. </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>We Entered, the tiny bell </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Bringing a saleslady </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Down a narrow aisle of goods. </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>I turned to the candies </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Tiered like bleachers, </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>And asked what she wanted - </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Light in her eyes, a smile </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Starting at the corners </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Of her mouth. I fingered </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>A nickel in my pocket,</i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>And when she lifted a chocolate </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>That cost a dime, </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>I didn't say anything. </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>I took the nickel from </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>My pocket, then an orange, </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>And set them quietly on </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>The counter. </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>When I looked up, </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>The lady's eyes met mine, </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>And held them, knowing </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Very well what it was all </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>About. </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Outside, A few cars hissing past, </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Fog hanging like old </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Coats between the trees. </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>I took my girl's hand </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>In mine for two blocks, </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Then released it to let </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Her unwrap the chocolate. </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>I peeled my orange </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>That was so bright against </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>The gray of December </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>That, from some distance, </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>Someone might have thought </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i>I was making a fire in my hands. </i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="background-color: white;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Poem lyrics that challenge</b></div><div style="background-color: white;"><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This poem takes a little bit of work to understand because of the language. <i>There is no Frigate Like a Ship</i> was written by Emily Dickinson in 1873. But it's worth digging into! </span></span></b><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Give students the meanings of the four unknown words and let them see what they come up with. </span></span></b></div><div style="background-color: white;"><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></b></div><div style="background-color: white;"><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This might be a good poem for partners or small groups to read together. It might be fun to have them draw what they see when they understand what Dickinson was saying!</span></span></b></div><div style="background-color: white;"><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">frigate=ship</span></span></b></li><li><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">coursers=hunters</span></span></b></li><li><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">traverse=roaming, walking</span></span></b></li><li><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">oppress=suffering.</span></span></b></li></ol></div><div><b style="color: #0b5394;"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;">There is no frigate like a book</span><br style="color: black; font-weight: 400;" /><span class="indent-single" style="color: black; display: inline-block; font-weight: 400; text-indent: 20px;">To take us lands away,</span><br style="color: black; font-weight: 400;" /><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;">Nor any coursers like a page</span><br style="color: black; font-weight: 400;" /><span class="indent-single" style="color: black; display: inline-block; font-weight: 400; text-indent: 20px;">Of prancing poetry.</span><br style="color: black; font-weight: 400;" /><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;">This traverse may the poorest take</span><br style="color: black; font-weight: 400;" /><span class="indent-single" style="color: black; display: inline-block; font-weight: 400; text-indent: 20px;">Without oppress of toll;</span><br style="color: black; font-weight: 400;" /><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;">How frugal is the chariot</span><br style="color: black; font-weight: 400;" /><span class="indent-single" style="color: black; display: inline-block; font-weight: 400; text-indent: 20px;">That bears a human soul!</span></span></i></b></div><div><b style="color: #0b5394;"><i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><span class="indent-single" style="color: black; display: inline-block; font-weight: 400; text-indent: 20px;"><br /></span></span></i></b></div><div style="background-color: white;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Other Poems that move 6th graders</b></div><div style="background-color: white;"><i style="font-weight: inherit;">The Road Not Taken </i><span style="font-weight: inherit;">by Robert Frost</span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-weight: inherit;"><div><i>I, Too</i> by Langston Hughes</div><div><i>The Wind</i> by Robert Louis Stevenson (good for teaching point of view)</div><div><i>Still I Rise</i> by Maya Angelou</div><div><i>Lend a Hand</i> by Anonymous</div><div><i>The World's Fastest Bicycle</i> by Kenn Nesbitt</div><div><i>Mother to Son</i> by Langston Hughes (this one ended up on our state test some years ago)</div><div><i>Stormy Sunday </i>by Sharon Waller Knutson (good for alliteration)</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/POETRY-Poetry-Writing-Comprehension-Personal-Narrative-in-Poems-6014822?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=Poetry" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPINoWMItOG9TS5LGg_pW46V8oaEcN39kf8a2tDQN6jnqbfyEhfKf_8M5IXYpVVnDOa5pSH93xXGu7akos9B4SeTywi0yz_i7jKHdwbCfXBSMQ_DgzB-tohsB4i_6htAhZyyQoXF27M1k4LA_KI3NLzYdrPwm4V_V9UDcgydXgN7Eay7irZaH0odbgadk/s320/My%20Life%20in%20Poetry.C.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/POETRY-Poetry-Writing-Comprehension-Personal-Narrative-in-Poems-6014822?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=Poetry" target="_blank">Here's a fun exercise for your students</a>. Have them tell about their lives by writing - or using lyrics from poems or songs - to explain their setting, themselves as a character, and their rising action</div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="o-grid" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="o-grid-col o-grid-col_10of12" style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline; width: 638.365px;"></div></div>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-15479115251996697802024-02-11T05:00:00.003-05:002024-02-11T05:00:00.125-05:00House Arrest: Because Timothy was eye-rolling before it was cool <div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915;">Stealing is bad.<br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Yeah.<br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">I know.<br /></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">But my brother Levi is always so sick, and his medicine is always so expensive.</span></span></i></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/House-Arrest-by-KA-Holt-Novel-Study-Guide-Reading-Comprehension-Questions-3893682?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=House%20Arrest%202.11.24" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="a hand holding a gavel like a judge would hold; for the novel House Arrest by KA Holt" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-CEegRJSASo7gq0BfeRgBZWkCW9X4g7qfsF7AhUefpjuA_XvEp8kORKIgpAFfbb2xDDSQA1bNJM28E8JKUxDy6VeqPAKR6nP-e1P96rL_ES5N9369n8iwkSbl0Cwj2NDPecScecbdXjJm7H_x7wE51DpxI5m6_59gjliai0WE7TxH42wIk76tkLaA0CM/w320-h320/House%20Arrest.Cover.png" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">I didn’t think anyone would notice,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">if I took that credit card,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">if, in one stolen second,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">I bought Levi’s medicine.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">But someone did notice.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Now I have to prove I’m not a delinquent, I’m not a total bonehead.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">That one quick second turned into</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">juvie</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">a judge</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">a year of house arrest,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">a year of this court-ordered journal,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">a year to avoid messing up</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">and being sent back to juvie</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">so fast my head will spin.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">It’s only 1 year.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Only 52 weeks.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Only 365 days.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Only 8,760 hours.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">Only 525,600 minutes.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1e1915; margin: 0px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1e1915;">What could go wrong?</span></i></span><p></p><p>This sums up why your students should read <i>House Arrest</i> by K.A. Holt. The fact that it's written in first person AND in verse should do nothing to persuade them further. </p><p style="text-align: left;">I mean, a thoughtful but impulsive boy who wants to help his family? Could your students relate to him? I know mine could. It was so easy to get drawn in. </p><p style="text-align: left;">And that's the thing. You read the description and your brain goes to "bad kid." But once you realize that his baby brother Levi is so sick, that his dad abandoned the family because this was too hard for him, and that his mom is doing her best to keep it all together, you realize that Timothy is really a "good kid."</p><p style="text-align: left;">This book put me in mind in some ways of <i>Out of My Mind</i>, where initially, it feels like a child's physical challenges create almost insurmountable obstacles. And that's where Timothy finds himself at the beginning of the book, which is his journal. The one he has to write in every day. </p><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Boys don't write in journals,<br />unless it's court-ordered.<br />At least, this is what I've figured.</span></i><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">I<br /></span></i><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have<br /></span></i><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have nothing<br /></span></i><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">to say.</span></i></div><p style="text-align: left;"><i>I'm not allowed to have nothing to say.</i></p><p style="text-align: left;">Get this book for your classroom library! It's a quick read with a powerful impact! Want some thought-provoking questions for class discussion? Check out <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/House-Arrest-by-KA-Holt-Novel-Study-Guide-Reading-Comprehension-Questions-3893682?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=House%20Arrest%202.11.24" target="_blank">my resource</a> for it on TeachersPayTeachers.</p>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-73462025864441826952024-02-04T05:00:00.292-05:002024-02-04T05:00:00.126-05:00Teaching Point of View: How to Help Kids Understand Perspective<p><i>One of my favorite activities to do when teaching point of view, is to have students take the book they're reading and rewrite a section from a different point of view. </i></p><p><i>That works really well when students get a good perspective of the reasons why authors write from different points of view. And that takes a little bit of working through!</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMl_6WUqjWeqhB71bOdGlhPT5uIxeXScuu2Dc9mGY_08Mvnh1NaCC9bZOGBXJXfRnbKOy2ICo8vDKLCjWU7Y_s3eUGjJQSBiIjUyPG9i2reiifyEBtFb1F8_sCrbAK3j04PfPjszHsR1Zz8tE_mra9XFyhgsqNzB1S75aHGJp-D4dDjIiuQHSicXsSdc/s1080/POV.blog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="a stack of books for teaching students point of view" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXMl_6WUqjWeqhB71bOdGlhPT5uIxeXScuu2Dc9mGY_08Mvnh1NaCC9bZOGBXJXfRnbKOy2ICo8vDKLCjWU7Y_s3eUGjJQSBiIjUyPG9i2reiifyEBtFb1F8_sCrbAK3j04PfPjszHsR1Zz8tE_mra9XFyhgsqNzB1S75aHGJp-D4dDjIiuQHSicXsSdc/w320-h320/POV.blog.png" width="320" /></a></div>It can be a lot of fun to discuss perspectives in books and watch your students think about the differences between first-person, second-person, third-person limited, and third-person omniscient, and then explore why an author might have written from that point of view.<p></p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Let's Get Started</b></p><p><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Start with the basics. Make sure students know (and by know, I mean write down) the meanings of each point of view. In my district, we only taught first-person and general third-person point of view in 6th grade, but I would recommend these four.</span></span></b></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">First-person: One of the characters tells the story. The reader may or may not know what other characters are thinking or feeling. The reader is "inside the head" of the person telling the story. <i>Commonly used words: I, me, mine, my, us, our, ours</i></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Second-person: Not frequently used in fiction although there are some examples. Second-person puts the reader into the story, almost like you are taking a tour of the book. You are treated as part of the action. <i>Commonly used words: you, your, yours</i></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Third-person Omniscient: The narrator can reveal the thoughts and feelings of all the characters in the story. The narrator knows what's happened to characters in the past, what they are feeling, and maybe even what will happen in the future.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Third-person Limited: The narrator reveals the thoughts and feelings of only one character but only has information for the scene that is being read at the time. <i>Commonly used words: he, she, they, their, it, him, her, them</i></span></li></ol><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><span style="font-family: Architects Daughter;"><b> <span style="font-size: x-large;"> <span style="color: #0b5394;">Point of View beginning activities</span></span></b></span></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW2g5cwxrqQ" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="540" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC6L6GtpssAnDhorfU24A1rtOh57GEWHYdXzKkB2uZljX8ClsypaT-6Lv1VxU4XKM3zdFmEHpIvU7bV0aWZLhG0llEl3lSbg4ljcFPuJF2G_xIF-Xc6YV3Rzw1HoVSW_dHLPSvV9ZqjK6acl1SR_jWhsfsdnxJxXC2Oifg2rxvMEt71QT5eNR2UK_JosA/s320/POV%20Blog.PNG" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />Start with something easy like this. Watch the video <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW2g5cwxrqQ" target="_blank">Glued</a> and have students discuss how the video would have been different if it had been told from the boy's point of view. </span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Are you reading a book aloud to your students? Put them into small groups and have them determine the point of view of the book. Have them take a scene and describe how it would have played out differently if it was told from another perspective.<br /></span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Architects Daughter; font-size: x-large;"> <span style="color: #0b5394;"><b>Point of View examples in books</b></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are some examples of books told from various points of view. If you have enough books, set them out at tables in random groups, and have students figure out which point of view they're told from. If you only have a few, read a passage from each and let students determine the perspective.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">First-person: <i>Zlata's Diary </i>by Zlata Filipovic; <i>Wonder</i> by R.J. Palacio (told from several 1st-person points of view); <i>The Hunger Games</i> by Suzanne Collins; <i>Towers Falling </i>by Jewell Parker Rhodes; <i>The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle</i> by Avi; <i>Out of My Mind</i> by Sharon Draper; <i>House Arrest</i> by K.A. Holt.</span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Second person: <i>Goodbye Stranger</i> by Rebecca Stead tells the story from two perspectives, of which one is 2nd-person; <i>Choose Your Own Adventures; </i>and the <i>You Wouldn't Want to be </i>series.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Third-person omniscient: <i>From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler</i> by E.L. Konigsburg: <i>The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe </i>by C.S. Lewis; <i>The Ranger's Apprentice series </i>by John Flanagan.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Third-person limited: <i>The Giver</i> by Lois Lowry; <i>Harry Potter series</i> by J.K. Rowling; <i>A Wrinkle in Time</i> by Madeleine L'Engle; <i>Refugee</i> by Alan Gratz; <i>The Only Road</i> by Alexandra Diaz; <i>Lines of Courage</i> by Jennifer Nielsen.</span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Do you know of any other books that show point of view well? If so, please share them in the comments below!</span></li></ul></div><div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mentoring-In-The-Middle-With-Marion-Piersol-miller?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=Feb2024sale" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="hearts in red and pink" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOQitYs44DNwccnTCf_kR0K_4KwKU6gItkxF-AeTNPdWnT5UELXKwU1myYTbz-6PBSE2ktAYDh3KvCe6PlegsEIcUl2E_uS-XfdRguwMKAAnlt0YyqsM8ZWjlznt9ty2bYhT9o87hXAZDv0A3zgqee7Z9IyCSa75oXRwxtnFlyRxMc7ItBksvSNef6F2Q/w320-h320/TpT%20Feb%20sale24.SM.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">TeachersPayTeachers is having a sale on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. If you use the hashtag #Febsale24, you'll get 25% off all of my resources. Including this <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Point-of-View-Color-by-Code-Activity-Color-by-Number-ELA-Review-7340281?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=Feb2024sale" target="_blank">Point of View Color by Code</a> resource.</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Point-of-View-Color-by-Code-Activity-Color-by-Number-ELA-Review-7340281?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=Feb2024sale" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="a worksheet and the accompanying coloring sheet for a Point of View Color by Code resource" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT6_s3cXzANV1jUJgsrCUzQNvsuPtAxSkbS-hNybRxPWDN891HUBrBN6YNTDtBQdRpJLfE06Xh-Rz_7BZ1AwoM4nvG2e_pU6hCnIcVx71BntLmZJ2vnGNMyXNE-80TTxwFyaEt1K1FJ5jpCGzEyYWoMG-3HW_15NY1E5el2NjAimHL43LQ4K8mMCquGCM/w320-h320/1.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Point-of-View-Color-by-Code-Activity-Color-by-Number-ELA-Review-7340281?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=Feb2024sale" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigZCsut0FSDi6xz3zdi-f2TSnJbQkMNoSQxYsQKwt8vDyQyzehYl4ewMDfOL7NdKjJCYlLt1mv0M3eg__a95Q67IpjDJp2m121FjLqvmR9AgCpYwnom99o-1_ePukdBKjO-TjIACvwl3Xpudc7DUaHeo-yzOClnMV2IKFtunN7pM-qghvQD9uxnvLFtiU/w200-h200/POV.thumbnail.1.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Point-of-View-Color-by-Code-Activity-Color-by-Number-ELA-Review-7340281?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=Feb2024sale" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFeWqTMpZFRI3L7c1yqAgrkpIODIwUMWUcVbLgEY6ezmGMMPzAH51KGvenzivgbo9BUdPBskrYF7AdHETua-ftB4laOBP9cZW52toLDMa-HWywL9Iw68R7w8epaqfuOeky1d60r-1_1pNAfbDuBJBqq1j5dHlSZi3XI8O8iYRYA3iazXoqLwyZXwumEIM/w200-h200/POV.thumbnail.2.png" width="200" /></a></div></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Students read 67 different sentences and determine the point of view. Then they color in the picture according to the directions. </span></div></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">You get an Answer Key but it's self-correcting because students can compare their picture with the key. It's a great way to practice what they've just learned!</span></div>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-90155637986287062262024-01-28T05:00:00.097-05:002024-01-28T05:00:00.129-05:00Making Ancient Civilizations cool. Because Cleopatra was queen of the side-eye.<p> <i>Ancient civilizations can be fascinating for students if you include projects, timelines, activities, maps, and other cultural projects. This blog post is a compilation of random resources and projects I have used to make ancient history come alive!</i></p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Cleopatra, the original teen queen</b></p><p>My students' fascination with Cleopatra came from just a few books that I had in my classroom library, but once one of them started reading, they passed these few books around. They found more in the school library, but "Ms. Cleo" was a hot topic for a while! </p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Cleopatra Rules: The Amazing Life of the Original Teen Queen by Vicky Alvear Shecter</i></li><li><i>Cleopatra VII, Daughter of the Nile, Egypt, 57 B.C. by Kristiana Gregory (part of The Royal Diaries book series)</i></li><li><i>You Wouldn't Want to Be Cleopatra: An Egyptian Ruler You'd Rather Not Be by Jim Pipe and illustrated by David Antram </i></li></ol><p></p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Make a human timeline</b></p><p>I was fascinated to teach about ancient cultures. Sixth graders don't have a good sense of time, so creating timelines or talking about thousands of years in the past wasn't a concept they easily grasped.</p><p>That's one of the reasons I made a human timeline with my students at the beginning of our studies. They were usually blown away by how much happened in a relatively few years when compared with the evolution of life on this planet. We usually went out to the fields by our school to do it. Representing 40,000 years takes a lot of space! </p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Research your own history</b></p><p>As we explored some of the dominant ancient cultures, my students would tell me about relatives who still lived in those countries, or that they thought they had a certain ancestry in their background. Because I was both an ELA and Social Studies teacher, it made sense to combine those two and let students <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Social-Studies-Country-Heritage-Research-Project-Digital-and-PDF-5353514?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" target="_blank">research their backgrounds.</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Social-Studies-Country-Heritage-Research-Project-Digital-and-PDF-5353514?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDH8gefIsBpti2SVmWRcplFWAtFy-maqtbebCeyrLzc-qcoE-KsiuizXwwDcwqQlAqbrW0_Wn6uKG9FaygEPzxeHzoPmoFfghwewmQvVFaQEoHHxnnLd7nbXZVDcTnxqI-EImecV_8K3S5jellHloJldTq7KtohhYQesSbUoR6V11jiZH8uvpq1ooP10c/w200-h200/1.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Read related passages</b></p><p>What were the differences between cowboys and Samurai? Do you study ancient Japan? Let your students make the connection between the <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cowboys-and-Samurai-CYPHER-GAME-Informational-Passage-Social-Studies-ELA-10100420?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" target="_blank">rugged guardians of the Wild West and the noble guardians of their ancient homeland.</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><span><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cowboys-and-Samurai-CYPHER-GAME-Informational-Passage-Social-Studies-ELA-10100420?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" target="_blank"><img alt="A Samurai and a Cowboy" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz6yPy6lv6owOLruH3ObFIgs30VQ2xcwJ3wz9MQEMLkuWPBQ1eWPlS_tSckEgDsqwKdmPCDKLExV7eRTAZkZaXPweLKU1YOK7ptof21B5JpU8Gc4e9d_uVJGJYW8q6iznkQ9XnWC_ysO6tnr-ZF9S0irwTMr8OwjkDW5yQBAnhoQJ1eR3cXNlJrU9CkZU/w200-h200/1.png" width="200" /></a></span></div><p>Mary Jenkins, a colleague, friend, and Social Studies teacher, loves ancient history. She wrote several blog posts about how to use vocabulary and primary source documents in the ancient history classroom. Take a look!</p><h1 style="margin-bottom: 11.25pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; margin: 0in 0in 11.25pt;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: blue;"><a href="https://timesavingteachertools.com/7-social-studies-vocabulary-activities/" style="font-weight: normal;">Translating
Ancient History: 7 Favorite Middle School Vocabulary Activities</a></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><a href="https://timesavingteachertools.com/7-more-ms-vocabulary-activities/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Translating Ancient History: 7 MORE Middle School
Vocabulary Activities</span></a></span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://timesavingteachertools.com/lets-talk-primary-source-dbqs/." target="_blank">Primary Source DBQs in the Ancient History Classroom</a></span></span></li></ul></h1>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-56164416301754677432024-01-21T05:00:00.202-05:002024-01-21T05:00:00.124-05:00Adventure to Mars: Because all 6th graders want to go there, right?<p> <i>I recently learned that STEM, which is sometimes called STEAM to include the arts, has now changed to STREAM to include reading. </i></p><p><i>Which makes perfect sense to me! <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Space-Planet-Mars-Unit-Novel-Informational-Passage-STEM-Activity-Challenge-10383787?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" target="_blank">Studying about Mars </a>can happen in Reading or in Science, and blending them together makes my heart happy!</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Space-Planet-Mars-Unit-Novel-Informational-Passage-STEM-Activity-Challenge-10383787?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Mars in the background with 3 resources for sale in front of it" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik4ZkmbR7JHSc0n4jxApnaUkF-Ond4uan4urkPYqTVzvWAoMNyPLQjgg855YdZ7Oes1-KSnQDKKLkB3P8EToOzgzgtNu6jNooM71kvwECvBUY9ITlCy6Ua7Oz14K8Au_WwqAyLX517tl039GJkHxxnnL_6UpG3kPOymBl7r5mdi62Mpxc_h7Ueq4E3KOw/w320-h320/1.png" width="320" /></a></div><p><i>Let me take you on my Mars adventure!</i></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #2c3e50; font-family: "apple color emoji", "android emoji", "segoe ui emoji", notocoloremoji, "segoe ui symbol", emojisymbols; font-size: 30px; text-align: center;">🚀 </span><i>First, I should tell you that I love all things space-related. I'm Team Space all the way!</i></p><p>Years ago, my students and I read about NASA's work to get rovers to Mars. That passage led to lots of curiosity and made me realize that we needed to dig deeper. It was in April after state testing, and I knew the combination of reading and hands-on activities would make for a lot of happy students.</p><p>We had fun!</p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Get a rover to Mars</b></p><p>After much discussion about space and space travel (and some great videos from the International Space Station), we were ready to make our own Mars landers. </p><p>The students worked in groups of three and had a ton of fun, trying out ideas and testing them, all in preparation for LAUNCH DAY!</p><p><span face="Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2c3e50; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="iconos" id="a339" style="background-color: white; background-position: -480px -760px; border-radius: 17px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c3e50; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: "apple color emoji", "android emoji", "segoe ui emoji", notocoloremoji, "segoe ui symbol", emojisymbols; font-size: 30px; height: 40px; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: none; width: 40px;" title="Direct Hit">🎯</span><i>I found that groups of four were too large. Someone wandered off or got frustrated that their ideas weren't being used. Three seemed to be the perfect number.</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Project-Based-Learning-Activity-Build-a-Mars-Lander-STEM-Challenge-Space-10808550?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Two students working on a Mars lander project" border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieXsvSvIp0VqyOfpoB6uB4hH-ENo249kCJ7M8dtVBenyl6VueVBniWXMbABCSKnnB9w-hSTAssZEd4PbIDx1y4btBwiqQzDwyRv819l-JE7XhBl7MaViZDMqRboH5FVwCF0xmTs73W_AT7Oi4_VjOcIaIpMzgww1nHTg3KN7buhiSWNBur-RUiJ24KsRY/w320-h240/Mars%20landers1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Testing and retesting the landers.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Project-Based-Learning-Activity-Build-a-Mars-Lander-STEM-Challenge-Space-10808550?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="A Mars lander ready with a plastic bag parachute and part of an egg container" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5BkwfZudf9C7WeRBT9_nczciDSg9BCZBP4VUhGNmwbQA-7KirCB_MnLO87uPMG5Ot_ySE1tPCSXVGojP8IffwpGVh66hnoRS96YZ7BuNnRVGzI04qaqgKQ2cr2RvG939Ly6FX7kFZvzK92j3bVOf7f7jLRPdHMmSY3RRlONsl74QYXwaEt75uHdWFbH8/w240-h320/Mars%20landers4.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Measuring to make sure all criteria are met.</div><br /><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Fiction and nonfiction about Mars</b><i><br /></i><p></p><p>I wrote about <i>A Rover's Story</i> by Jasmine Warga <a href="https://www.mentoringinthemiddle.com/2023/09/A-Rovers-Story.html" target="_blank">here</a>. I love that book! It's a super way to make something like space travel understandable. The fact that the rover is totally anthropomorphized? That much more special!</p><p>I made a novel study guide that you can see <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Rovers-Story-by-Jasmine-Warga-Novel-Study-Guide-Book-Companion-Space-10359204?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Rovers-Story-by-Jasmine-Warga-Novel-Study-Guide-Book-Companion-Space-10359204?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="A rover on Mars" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaNIl8Jj2qnSh8RTQ6dfcqzyQ1T6YwuzePLKNiEu88JZ6R4maEmB5IOvXXjpP_VpL3K8skbFaQwL6tk0iznrFwdvCT_BZ-wi1MRhAwnQpnKmkTiV4AeLRWaUHha0J2hj22LarSpTaqWFhBonqVcESz-0MSmWWdClBL69vN6d9BvDLs4SuptaztuRD_js8/w320-h320/1.png" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p>I thought it might be smart to pair a fiction book with a nonfiction passage about NASA and rovers. That has mazes to solve while rereading the passage.</p><p>You can see that <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Planet-Mars-MAZE-ACTIVITY-Informational-Reading-ELA-Science-Space-10294236?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Planet-Mars-MAZE-ACTIVITY-Informational-Reading-ELA-Science-Space-10294236?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="a rover on Mars at night" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcf5Cgd3zkbfrPyrbPiAzqvC63QGOyS9aIWmLpBJg6H9dAphtEFdQwbShatk_MpWcRltFU42SPmTHG9WULEcMxjXYYlPETXMDBiYqCKezpWg8bFmjW9BCTtRbLIkq5XOvrvnfbADGoQOwWs1Z8PMjoFwCdQRKIgLUc8NO1B4M24MVgqwjjyf8-3OQtYus/w320-h320/1.png" width="320" /></a></div><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Make a Mars lander</b></p><p><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's the <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Project-Based-Learning-Activity-Build-a-Mars-Lander-STEM-Challenge-Space-10808550?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" target="_blank">resource</a> to build a Mars lander.</span></span></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Project-Based-Learning-Activity-Build-a-Mars-Lander-STEM-Challenge-Space-10808550?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="A golden egg descending with a golden parachute" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZjDsYGTLW1H4h9MirWPxc7ivOBpNPupeAB0XU20N5Ggjg_TPgOoy2_ivt_0DmnG8cVWtUNzxcK0609SLLKgbk5qumkHPw78IL1raME4tEQSpxthhj4naveab2QMPOmkEFUCMloXTp_DWlaSOK3kvR8PWSIrYv6y9RLukxxcEz7ytk29hLT5qik-58wg/w320-h320/1.png" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div>And the best part?<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Space-Planet-Mars-Unit-Novel-Informational-Passage-STEM-Activity-Challenge-10383787?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Background is Mars, in front are three resources about the planet" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGOlmFBiXXAyAEDASKhClss-Woha6a1Q5sNlDOhOSE6ioPVgWrEC59DLVl9R6QS67qaR7tQwdPuU14INKjnDVeu-g1ZxZOPs7XNrSW3TfjnZ6TlMa0vANg1OWb76sTI6P_nBujrSlf9Iz4HXZ_KGHvmo_V6W4pbhzDifV6rvTU98vQzqArHiI_2DP5tc/w200-h200/1.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /></div><div>You can buy all of this <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Space-Planet-Mars-Unit-Novel-Informational-Passage-STEM-Activity-Challenge-10383787?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.21.24" target="_blank">in a bundle</a> for 20% off the individual listings. </div><div>AND I've just planned 6-8 weeks of your teaching life.</div><div><br /></div><div>You're welcome. <span style="background-color: white; color: #2c3e50; font-family: "apple color emoji", "android emoji", "segoe ui emoji", notocoloremoji, "segoe ui symbol", emojisymbols; font-size: 30px; text-align: center;">☺</span><br /><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;"><br /></b><p></p></div>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-63117853162956099362024-01-14T05:00:00.077-05:002024-01-14T05:00:00.127-05:00How to use RACES to strengthen your students' writing<p><i>Teachers and students can be helped by using the RACE writing strategy to produce high-quality responses to questions with solid text-dependent analysis.</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKoDgvvsOT85t-uR-26zinj8zRHEU4r64BjokBDOmlOmoFERqNjcK_Vw14SQ8UUVEyiEIptVNwCeEFG-eK9Wgg3aebpJoVVNlLiNgbl6ntaOWR4qgm0g-EeNu3gdccBJXi_RQcV8Ickkufv4dujRPbTV0H13DLY5J1ZUPvRa2uZtorFMVrHQnVFm64OQ/s1080/RACES%20for%20TDA.blog.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKoDgvvsOT85t-uR-26zinj8zRHEU4r64BjokBDOmlOmoFERqNjcK_Vw14SQ8UUVEyiEIptVNwCeEFG-eK9Wgg3aebpJoVVNlLiNgbl6ntaOWR4qgm0g-EeNu3gdccBJXi_RQcV8Ickkufv4dujRPbTV0H13DLY5J1ZUPvRa2uZtorFMVrHQnVFm64OQ/s320/RACES%20for%20TDA.blog.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>You've seen it before. A student - okay - maybe a couple of students - look at you with that wide-eyed-deer-in-headlights look and say "I don't know what to do!" Or they push the paper away and stare out the window. </p><p>Text Dependent Analysis. </p><p>It can be so hard.</p><p><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: x-large;"><b>What does RACES mean in writing?</b></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Pangolin; font-size: medium;">R= Restate the prompt</span></b></span><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Pangolin; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: medium;"><b>A= Answer the question in your own words<br /></b></span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: medium;"><b>C= Cite text evidence or examples<br /></b></span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: medium;"><b>E= Explain and give details<br /></b></span><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: medium;"><b>S= Summarize what you wrote</b></span></div><p>But some kids just can't get past GO. And you know once they do, they'll be fine.</p><p><br />But right now?<br />They're stuck.<br /><br />What's a teacher to do? I created these, with some help from released items from several different states.</p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">What are some important RACES tips?</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li> "R" is usually combined with "A." </li><ul><li>You restate the prompt and answer the question in the first sentence.</li></ul><li>"A" means that you must answer ALL parts of the question, not just some</li><li>"C" means that you need to provide examples from the passage</li><li>"E" means that you need to explain how the example you cited supports their answer</li><li>"S" means that you summarize what you wrote in a sentence or two</li></ul><div><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">What do you focus on at first?</b></div><div><ol><li>MODEL, MODEL, MODEL - assume your students know little about this process unless your entire school is using this as a model. </li><li>Your students grow in understanding and what didn't make sense last year may make sense this year. Allow for changes in understanding. </li><li>EXPLAIN what <i>restate</i> and <i>cite</i> and <i>evidence</i> mean</li><li>Teach the steps one or two at a time. It's a lot to make sense of!</li><li>PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE<i> - </i>all parts, all year long</li><li>The biggest challenges for my students were restating and explaining</li><li>Color-coding parts of responses can help</li></ol><ul style="text-align: left;"></ul></div><div><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Learn from my mistakes!</b></div><div>I used examples that I found on the internet and from Teachers Pay Teachers. None of them were wrong, but they just didn't look anything like what my students needed to know.</div><div><br /></div><div>For example, I used short passages that had <i>who, what, why, or when</i> questions. All of the passages had those kinds of questions. </div><div><br /></div><div>But when I looked at release items from my state tests, there were no questions. They were all statements. My students weren't sure what to do!</div><div><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Two things I did that helped:</b></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>We needed to work on <u>restating the prompt</u>. So I took released items from several states, copied the prompt, and had students work just on that. They didn't need to have read the passage. They just needed to figure out how to get started. </li></ol></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><ul><li>You can find the <a href="https://mentoringinthemiddle.myflodesk.com/opoexjllk9" target="_blank">FREE link </a>to those here when you join my email list.</li></ul></ul><div><i>A note: I taught in Pennsylvania and the state got very particular about how students responded to the prompt. "I think" or "I know" were no longer acceptable. They wanted no evidence of a student's opinion, only text evidence.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Your state may or may not be similar. Make sure you are teaching your students how they need to respond to state prompts. In either case, their writing will also be strengthened for all the times when state testing is not involved!</i></div><div><br /></div><div><span> </span>2. I made <a href="https://mentoringinthemiddle.myflodesk.com/opoexjllk9" target="_blank">a detailed RACES form</a> for my students with sentence stems to help them. It might help your students, too! You can get that<a href="https://mentoringinthemiddle.myflodesk.com/opoexjllk9" target="_blank"> FREE copy</a> here.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>I hope these help strengthen your student's responses to text-dependent analysis.</div>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-15956442359304105402024-01-07T05:00:00.212-05:002024-01-07T05:00:00.130-05:00It's important to review genres with students again (or for the first time)<div style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-size: 14px;">Teaching genres at the beginning of the school year makes sense. But I'd argue it makes as much sense to review it - or teach it - when you come back from winter break. You and your students are familiar with books at your grade level now, and their understanding of genres can be deepened.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">s<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Genre-Notes-and-Activities-Book-Tasting-Task-Card-Sort-Activities-801377?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.7.24" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="A stack of books to learn about genres" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEb-18IFRAj_N_gkfsuhcq8tCnT7E6JIKTH0bs7F4cbg9xgoYBBL5CpRjBOxlvB2YHVYDoejIUq8wk1XtJECxq84I-7QJ0Ri6qJKDFyqklC5FtpIIbqdTYh6jAIwATDzkexn-9bQy5fJdhPVwWfyyeqwyNMu8ovrfumoM4hnsCelbUgv_cpKUVxghrNmE/w320-h320/Genres.blog.png" width="320" /></a></div><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Genre Activities - Activating Strategies</b></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Here are some great activating strategies that get kids up and moving - or thinking - about genres they like, and why</span></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Discuss your favorite kinds of books and ask students about theirs</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Mention a genre and have students line up across your classroom, with one end being "Never want to read it" and the other being "It's my favorite genre."</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Have students give the names of books they've recently finished, and as a group, come up with the genre.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Describe a genre without naming it and see if students can identify it.</span></span></li></ol></div><p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.52)" face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large; white-space-collapse: collapse;">Genre Lesson Plans</b></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Objective: Students will be able to identify and differentiate between various literary genres based on their qualities</span></p><p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.52)" face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">- CCRA.R.5: Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text relate to each other and the whole.</span><br style="--tw-border-spacing-x: 0; --tw-border-spacing-y: 0; --tw-ring-color: rgba(59,130,246,.5); --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; border: 0px solid rgb(229, 231, 235); box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Poppins; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;" /><span style="font-family: Poppins; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">- CCRA.R.6: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.</span></span></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Introduce the concept of genre and explain why it's important: <i>Today, we're going to learn about genres of fiction and nonfiction books. A genre is a specific type of writing that follows similar rules. You might have some ideas about specific genres that you like. </i>(I've sometimes found kids say they don't like a particular genre before they've discovered a book that changes their mind!)</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Give them notes on each genre that you want them to know. The ones I used for 6th graders were: </span></li></ol><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Adventure</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Biography and Autobiography</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Drama</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Fantasy</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Graphic Novels</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Historical Fiction</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Mystery</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Myths</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Nonfiction (this could be broken up into Narrative, Explanatory, and Descriptive)</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Poetry</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Realistic Fiction</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Science Fiction</span></li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;"> </span><span style="font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">3. Break students up into groups and have them identify books that you put in front of them. You could do this </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">as a book-tasting and have the books already set out around the room, or just break students up into groups and hand them a few books. Listen as they work together to see where they look for clues.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;"><span> </span><span> 4. Have students share their results with the class. Or maybe only share the ones they struggled with (many books cross into several different genres. When that happens, I suggest they look for the dominant one. When all else fails, I go to library websites and look there.</span><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Poppins; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;"><span><span> </span><span> 5. Exit slip (optional) - give students the title of a familiar book and have them explain the genre and why.</span><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Genre Extension Activities</b></p><p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.52)" face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Give students a variety of short texts and have them identify the genre and why</span></span></li><li><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.52)" face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Use task cards and have students work together to identify genres</span></span></li><li><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.52)" face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-family: Poppins; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Create a book-tasting event with books sorted by genre. Give students 3 - 5 minutes at each station. They need to pick up a different book every minute (time them) and see if there are any they want to try! <i>This was a very popular activity in my classroom and students either carried their iPads with them to take pictures of interesting books or their Books To Be Read list to write them down.</i></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Have students imagine how different a book they've read might be if it were written in a different genre. Write a brief description of what that change would read like. Or write about why the author might have chosen to write in the genre they chose.</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">With a partner or small group, have students create a new genre. They must explain why their genre would be read by students and what familiar themes it would have.</span></span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">I hope this has given you some ideas about how to teach or review genres with your class.</span></span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: Poppins;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve-breaks;">Want to do this but don't have the time to create everything? <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Genre-Notes-and-Activities-Book-Tasting-Task-Card-Sort-Activities-801377?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.7.24" target="_blank">Look no further than this resource</a> which also provides a variety of graphic organizers to meet students' needs.</span></span></li></ul></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Genre-Notes-and-Activities-Book-Tasting-Task-Card-Sort-Activities-801377?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=1.7.24" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="A stack of books with a type of genre on the edge of each book" border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIgOA4E1VTWsS1WC0fZQfuRRuJwZuUs6dnwek06GRl7ojNMLd7un5dtwutyOa4qz3YmvN-1buRhGaxt02jqXTPMlG_xHiO021nwNUMHTG9eE1GYcs6Qn7bvK4y9FxWtCAIZ5EaBhqUwnNFztdW5p-StOX7grWKBm0_L1pju-nzibUDi0Hr4BrmxUaI0AU/w320-h320/1.png" width="320" /></a></div><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.52)" face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span><p></p>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-57147258081003897012023-12-10T05:00:00.117-05:002023-12-10T05:00:00.138-05:00Three Christmas/Winter activities your students will find fun!<p> <i>I know. You're hanging on as best you can. Doors are being decorated, kids are decorating themselves, and you don't want to be *that* cranky teacher.</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinePbtLysFWM2BO154V74NW70ewVQseMWaJf6y5SQJ8O7b1i-DEucG98c_10s5BiZZTjvGxdoB9e9cbr5Jpa9PoH_H2_YgTV6X26qik_v4lvR5pgOxkMM3kdY4Nr6XR3-cGMGue52NhAdfkHGHswyQMjA4Qge8IoazpjoO6xaml4nD1nm7oTZkmXu9sUY/s564/Christmas%20meme.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="564" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinePbtLysFWM2BO154V74NW70ewVQseMWaJf6y5SQJ8O7b1i-DEucG98c_10s5BiZZTjvGxdoB9e9cbr5Jpa9PoH_H2_YgTV6X26qik_v4lvR5pgOxkMM3kdY4Nr6XR3-cGMGue52NhAdfkHGHswyQMjA4Qge8IoazpjoO6xaml4nD1nm7oTZkmXu9sUY/s320/Christmas%20meme.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Here are three seasonal activities that your 6th graders will actually find cool. Shh...don't tell them they're still working!<span face="Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2c3e50; font-size: 15px;"> </span><p></p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Roll-A-Poem-Writing-Activity-popular-Christmas-songs-Poetry-6279627?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=12.10.23" target="_blank">Have your students do this poetry activity:</a></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Roll-A-Poem-Writing-Activity-popular-Christmas-songs-Poetry-6279627?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=12.10.23" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBrEIpef_UPApHvg-GlDYpOa0s1AK6iJU2TSmjHXiCXhKWJsMWI3eO5i68r84GOm-5kPTNVav2-HKhTiStnt3TrvATx-cCaYioopUBiTUK1QxOVKpQSo5GLAuFYWcHuHZG9zYz-rOPGXjEQycK4Us7ewTsB-lUbsuqzCYvJ7RvxeenW0XsDYIcMDWsSVY/s320/1.png" width="320" /></a></div>Using songs from Ariana Grande, Sia, Pentatonix, Stevie Wonder, Darlene Love, and Faith Hill, students roll dice to show what songs, lines, and specific words they're to use in the poem they write.<p></p><p><span face="Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2c3e50; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="iconos" id="a323" style="background-color: white; background-position: -520px -720px; border-radius: 17px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c3e50; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: "apple color emoji", "android emoji", "segoe ui emoji", notocoloremoji, "segoe ui symbol", emojisymbols; font-size: 30px; height: 40px; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: none; width: 40px;" title="Microphone">🎤</span>The links to the songs are provided, so why not listen to them as your students work!</p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Trees-Reading-Writing-Passages-with-Questions-Differentiated-5967230?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=12.10.23" target="_blank">Real or artificial? They decide!</a></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Trees-Reading-Writing-Passages-with-Questions-Differentiated-5967230?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=12.10.23" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEsZMDWkSEGrZq9qjRo9KVUERm-UlvZb70kJTRjLR4BbeyP9N_guNReJswGEOzcZNDt5xWDcNfwXm8FAMa-_hEcWuCmfN2MjRicxzfaksupDRTCfKhw0tJW09EJFpbOI0U-BfiDtZ31Lu6kwUpwR17VbtHK-tbdrlBT28tCtWV_1eY-Mz0fkZT8ogTg_g/s320/1.png" width="320" /></a></div><span face="Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2c3e50; font-size: 15px;"> </span><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;"><span class="iconos" id="a692" style="background-color: white; background-position: -680px -1000px; border-radius: 17px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c3e50; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: "apple color emoji", "android emoji", "segoe ui emoji", notocoloremoji, "segoe ui symbol", emojisymbols; font-size: 30px; font-weight: 400; height: 40px; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: none; width: 40px;" title="Christmas Tree">🎄</span></b>Read passages from two points of view - is it better for the environment to buy a real tree or an artificial one? Your students read the passages, answer comprehension questions, and then make a case for what they would do.<p></p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Giftwrap-Stand-PBL-Project-Based-Learning-Activity--7398366?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=12.10.23" target="_blank">Hands-on with a creative, real-world PBL!</a></b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Giftwrap-Stand-PBL-Project-Based-Learning-Activity--7398366?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=12.10.23" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjaGnJ5mjQvRAiUhR4txckxUYrmthzemjv8ARv-fG-uo0bkG6Hdx21R7JWZm5PKgI54p7hTeeH3QBZIkUceQxwQA-TR2rjE1cH3ghRDi3EizBLsuifgxk55u83Ka6y7O8JUMY-8yNr7CEWVjkj6BotjG8lv9BW3Nmi96T9C7-IoDfTnDozl7z3yLXFrQ/s320/1.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span class="iconos" id="a693" style="background-color: white; background-position: -680px -1040px; border-radius: 17px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c3e50; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: "apple color emoji", "android emoji", "segoe ui emoji", notocoloremoji, "segoe ui symbol", emojisymbols; font-size: 30px; font-weight: 400; height: 40px; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: none; width: 40px;" title="Wrapped Present">🎁</span><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Perfect if you have at least a week for students to work on this, it's a great way to blend real-world math problems, design ads, posters, store signs, and wrapping paper. Project-based learning activities are a super way to let students be creative and academic!</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><br /></i></span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>I hope you get some time off to relax and recharge over the winter break! I'm taking some time off to spend with my family, so I'll see you in the new year!</i></span></span></b></div><p></p><p></p>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-9593669350744880912023-12-03T05:00:00.060-05:002023-12-07T15:51:47.013-05:00An amazing book about how the first tree got to Rockefeller Center<p> <i>You can read picture books to sixth graders. For fun. To teach a lesson. To expand their horizons. </i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpC9sLsnEjjCnQ9dQBMyiVJuD3aanh1I7Zqngvd5a6BKwyrChxRREgxUGKu1NyOz3AatuRc8GIDs7xsyZsAvm4-G_rW5jPlnzEz5D9IfNofwlggwlINwF00S44VufJwTvB14c1cXvro7_AuI-GkQOVMBdPj3K7EMiaxOMp-D3zogBZRz5Mf_o5KmHE3aE/s1080/The%20Carpenter's%20Gift.blog.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpC9sLsnEjjCnQ9dQBMyiVJuD3aanh1I7Zqngvd5a6BKwyrChxRREgxUGKu1NyOz3AatuRc8GIDs7xsyZsAvm4-G_rW5jPlnzEz5D9IfNofwlggwlINwF00S44VufJwTvB14c1cXvro7_AuI-GkQOVMBdPj3K7EMiaxOMp-D3zogBZRz5Mf_o5KmHE3aE/s320/The%20Carpenter's%20Gift.blog.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><i>The Carpenter's Gift</i> by David Rubel is a perfect picture book for upper elementary and middle schoolers. </p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Here's Why You'll Love it: </b></p><p><span face="Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2c3e50; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="iconos" id="a172" style="background-color: white; background-position: -600px -360px; border-radius: 17px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c3e50; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: "apple color emoji", "android emoji", "segoe ui emoji", notocoloremoji, "segoe ui symbol", emojisymbols; font-size: 30px; height: 40px; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: none; width: 40px;" title="Evergreen Tree">🌲</span>Rubel tells the story of a poor family during the Depression who cut down pine trees on their land to sell in New York City on Christmas Eve. When evening comes, they have a few trees left, so they give them to the men who helped them unload the trees earlier that day.</p><p><span face="Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2c3e50; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="iconos" id="a172" style="background-color: white; background-position: -600px -360px; border-radius: 17px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c3e50; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: "apple color emoji", "android emoji", "segoe ui emoji", notocoloremoji, "segoe ui symbol", emojisymbols; font-size: 30px; height: 40px; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: none; width: 40px;" title="Evergreen Tree">🌲</span>That generous gift comes back to them on Christmas day when those same men show up to help build a better home for them.</p><p><span face="Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2c3e50; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="iconos" id="a172" style="background-color: white; background-position: -600px -360px; border-radius: 17px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c3e50; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: "apple color emoji", "android emoji", "segoe ui emoji", notocoloremoji, "segoe ui symbol", emojisymbols; font-size: 30px; height: 40px; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: none; width: 40px;" title="Evergreen Tree">🌲</span>The young boy who accompanied his father into the city takes one of the pine cones and plants it near his new house. Years later, the tree has gotten too big, and when he hears that Rockefeller Center is looking for a Christmas tree, he donates it to them.</p><p><span face="Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2c3e50; font-size: 15px;"> </span><span class="iconos" id="a172" style="background-color: white; background-position: -600px -360px; border-radius: 17px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #2c3e50; cursor: pointer; display: inline-block; font-family: "apple color emoji", "android emoji", "segoe ui emoji", notocoloremoji, "segoe ui symbol", emojisymbols; font-size: 30px; height: 40px; margin: 5px 0px; text-align: center; text-shadow: none; width: 40px;" title="Evergreen Tree">🌲</span>And then, after Christmas, they share what they did with the tree. They donated the wood to Habitat for Humanity, to be used for building someone else a new home.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;"><i>This is a tree that keeps on giving! </i></h4><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Have your students do this:</b></p><p></p><ul><li>Write a letter from a child whose home had some of the wood from that Christmas tree</li><li>Research what Habitat is doing in your local area</li><li>Figure out how long it takes to grow a tree that's typically selected for Rockefeller Center</li><li>Go to the <a href="https://www.habitat.org/stories/rockefeller-center-christmas-trees-journey-habitat-home" target="_blank">Habitat for Humanity website </a>and read more about this generous Christmas tradition that started in 2007.</li></ul><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: x-large;"><b>STEM Challenge:</b></span></div><div><br /></div><div>Give your students a STEM challenge to build a tree - the tallest, the one that can hold the most decorations, you decide! You could use:</div><p></p><ul><li>toothpicks and gumballs.</li><li>nuts, bolts, and washers</li><li>pipe cleaners</li><li>construction paper</li><li>paper bags,</li><li>pompoms</li><li>craft sticks</li><li>Q-tips</li><li>straws</li></ul><div>This would be a fun activity for students to finish up with!</div>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-47815225243898737852023-11-26T05:00:00.116-05:002023-11-27T12:53:17.282-05:00Jump into December with project based learning and some great ELA giveaways<p><i>Welcome to December, that exciting time filled with fun interruptions, and such high student energy that you're paddling as fast as you can just to keep your head above water! </i><span face="Lato, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #2c3e50; font-size: 15px;"> </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://media.giphy.com/media/P3CqZjJtnuwcbv8lEB/giphy.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A duck paddling as fast as it can in the water doesn't have to be a teacher in December!" border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://media.giphy.com/media/P3CqZjJtnuwcbv8lEB/giphy.gif" width="200" /></a></div><br /><span face="Graphik, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">This <i><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Giftwrap-Stand-PBL-Project-Based-Learning-Activity--7398366?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=11.26.23" target="_blank">Set Up a Gift-Wrap Stand </a></i>Project Based Learning (PBL) is great for the weeks leading up to Christmas. What a great way to have students solve </span><span face="Graphik, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: var(--ds-font-weight-strong); line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">real-life math </span><span face="Graphik, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">problems, read and respond to </span><span face="Graphik, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: var(--ds-font-weight-strong); line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">writing and grammar</span><span face="Graphik, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">, and </span><span face="Graphik, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; background-repeat: no-repeat; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: var(--ds-font-weight-strong); line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">design </span><span face="Graphik, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">ads, posters, and store signs! </span><p></p><p><span face="Graphik, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">Project-based learning is a great way to let students be creative and academic, reviewing multiple skills in a fun, hands-on project. It's perfect for 5th, 6th, and 7th graders.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Christmas-Giftwrap-Stand-PBL-Project-Based-Learning-Activity--7398366?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=11.26.23" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Wrapped presents show how upper elementary and middle school students can create a giftwrap stand" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj46Eql8sHTAH-Mu3_1uaSOl9Vr1FyWcLS2NZAJceAiUor_9sYpV8ogJe4bhW2PF3tUrZcVe0MQQpiAcI4eKDRuwGFMGv7o3kwDw0hM4f7YqprpNQmyN_XixEYvjMAP47ieuPzH-tcRRd8b6K3nYvUucmXWI4c_OX4yV1E4FZIYIljSpFfQKK55KcAG-Ko/w320-h320/1.png" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Here's Why You'll Love it </b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span face="Graphik, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;">It's a great gift for your Math teaching partner - students work on this for a week = no lesson plans </span></span>🎁</li><li><span face="Graphik, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;">It's a great gift to yourself! </span></span>💝</li><li><span face="Graphik, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;">It's hands-on, which kids enjoy </span></span>👍</li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;">Allows for collaboration if you have students work with a partner or in small groups </span></span>🙌</li><li><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;">Students love being creative! </span></span>🎨</li></ul><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">8 Days of ELA Giveaways coming soon! </b><ul><ul><li style="text-align: left;"><i>Join my mailing list by clicking <a href="https://mentoringinthemiddle.myflodesk.com/de97t460qm" target="_blank">here</a>. I'm going to be celebrating 8 days of FREE ELA Giveaways in December, and you're going to want to get your hands on those helpful resources that you can download and use immediately!</i></li></ul></ul>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-51044371009586685512023-11-19T05:00:00.210-05:002023-12-28T12:17:12.346-05:00Active Reading Strategies that Help Drive Learning to the Next Level<p><i>A little back story here. </i></p><p><i>Some years ago, I taught a group of students who identified themselves as struggling readers. And I noticed something about them. They just seemed to like learning with their hands more than any other way. </i><i>I wondered if there were ways I could incorporate active movement into improving their reading skills. </i></p><p><i>T</i><i>hese were kiddos who loved to race dirt bikes, could take apart motors, or loved to draw. What struck me was how little I had paid attention to their learning strengths based on tactile intelligence. </i></p>I was working with some of them during a WIN (What I Need) period and when they saw the workbook we were supposed to use, they groaned. Some had used it before and it was clear there was no love there. So we put it aside and created interactive notebooks. They loved them! Something about cutting and pasting made them happy. <br /><br />That got me thinking. Could there be a way for these kids to learn comprehension skills by <i>doing</i> first, <i>before </i>reading? <div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: x-large;"><b>A Reading Skills Scavenger Hunt</b></span></div><div><div>I created a Scavenger Hunt to find causes and their effects. These kids knew I was trying something new with them, and they were grateful not to be drilled with worksheets, so when I told them they were going to walk around the school with a partner - and that I'd better not hear anything negative about doing that - they were on their best behavior!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggy0kZWjmhHG7Er2PAFyUn_k8aKXmBfSj5N7VstOQ9JCk2M2wAX2iS1O_GQ_XNMxc7rv9jzH-qhPbKqQlLWaB4btNJe0bc3i9KVTy-vlxM_qGY-x3nJPU-gvpH7w_GScImgpk5Bs_CWl4996obD5uuCgdiCFPFqBAXacZRwqmXNqx9dpscO8HP6CYNxyM/s1080/Students%20in%20hallway.SM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggy0kZWjmhHG7Er2PAFyUn_k8aKXmBfSj5N7VstOQ9JCk2M2wAX2iS1O_GQ_XNMxc7rv9jzH-qhPbKqQlLWaB4btNJe0bc3i9KVTy-vlxM_qGY-x3nJPU-gvpH7w_GScImgpk5Bs_CWl4996obD5uuCgdiCFPFqBAXacZRwqmXNqx9dpscO8HP6CYNxyM/s320/Students%20in%20hallway.SM.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>If you don't want students too far from you, keep them nearby; this can even be done in your room.</div><div><br /></div><div>Working collaboratively with a partner, they had to find <i>real-world</i> examples of cause and effect. </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>If you push down on the switch by the door, the lights in the classroom go off. </i> </li><li><i>If you push the button on the big silver box in the hallway, water shoots up out of the tube. </i></li><li><i>If the water is shooting up, you can bend over to take a drink.</i></li></ul></div><div>At the time, I didn't know if real examples would translate to the written word, but I was willing to try. The scavenger hunt led to lots of interesting discoveries which they excitedly shared with each other when they returned.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then, I had them sort out the causes from the effects on paper. They worked on this individually and then shared it with their partner so that if there were questions, they could figure them out together. Surprisingly, there were few questions.</div><div><br /></div><div><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">From scavenger hunt to informational text</b></div><div>The next day, I gave all of my students a passage on the Dust Bowl. I had created two similar texts, filled with causes and effects, differentiated for reading. They had a short worksheet to fill out, to help find support for causes and effects in the passage.</div><div><br /></div><div><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Success?</b></div></div><div>I was very pleased with these students' improved understanding of this particular reading skill! So much so, that I developed another, similar set of activities for comparing and contrasting.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was important for me to remember that students all learn differently, and while classrooms are mostly designed for visual and auditory learners, there are ways to reach other kinds of learners without too much effort.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: center;">If you would like the resource that I created for my students, click <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Cause-and-Effect-Scavenger-Hunt-766040?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=11.19.23" target="_blank">here</a> or on the picture. <img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4sTW7P-d9Hm0MWdofU59tDzWxX7rfu5qeL7SMEzL6L1t-2SzmABwjYK0m4YdXIrBYpt9Dy1sdFhYHrJAKduLd9l78WPhpGpZFJNMePyUaCIBZLRD5SUxTzZVrn0EmD01AI5dY_6yNr3js3IV57BPkPFWc8MgLai8OknAoGVMqfuPdRXu2qASkxBb8d0M/s320/1.png" style="text-align: center;" width="320" /></li></ul></div>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-80863493911724542512023-11-12T05:00:00.112-05:002023-11-12T05:00:00.133-05:003 Fun and Creative Thanksgiving Activities for 6th Grade Students<p> <i>You've moved beyond Halloween but kids know there's another break coming up! Here are 3 fun and creative Thanksgiving activities that keep nurturing the skills you're working on with your students right now. Perfect for those days when there's so much on your plate! And they're all ON SALE now!</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fall-ELA-Activities-Color-by-Code-Word-Search-Crossword-Puzzle-November-8653674?utm_source=myblogsale&utm_campaign=11.12.23" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJcP29RYfsDQYOhGE3RgKPtPlCxkWuPzlC_R8Xrt3RHpy32IXHgEdi5yMdJnQ1qg6RMpFJS52TCot5gCb8o2eiSGbkcioNFRnOY0MHgzYknt3fqFOLOcWFf6IX3of3thrhhwOATTzQGwBNJndD7_s9Y6vayVHFDj0dPRL1v5RSfOkyvnNBOOZMd7C9mAA/s320/November%20ELA%20Review.C.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fall-ELA-Activities-Color-by-Code-Word-Search-Crossword-Puzzle-November-8653674?utm_source=myblogsale&utm_campaign=11.12.23" target="_blank">This ELA Activities bundle</a> is perfect for centers, individual or partner work, or early finishers. Are you facing a lot of interruptions this month? Then click on this perfect ELA review that can be picked up and put down at random times. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My students always enjoyed chances to color and to work on crossword or word search puzzles.</div></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Thanksgiving-Persuasive-Writing-Activity-Persuasive-Essay-5010168?utm_source=myblogsale&utm_campaign=11.12.23" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGt4Xk7tghw2HLdtAV5kz1puk1ETOAHfYP5nQC1zGhknsIhWOnkKilT653hAm9iWSJgrEKwW0hDjiFFZGWd3lg4QkXxULftVtIR33TCMmhX8fSjMDTJxEHTp6uwdboEsaIyYBzjXGQXY4lH0OU8XRLRdlAj9rewYfsv6TCRoCIQTv45lTppHiyeQotG-k/w320-h320/1.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Kids love finding ways to <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Thanksgiving-Persuasive-Writing-Activity-Persuasive-Essay-5010168?utm_source=myblogsale&utm_campaign=11.12.23" target="_blank">keep the turkey from being stuffed</a> for Thanksgiving! <i>She's been losing weight for six months now, and she doesn't want to break her record. Stuffing has too much bread and she's got gluten problems. His favorite football jersey won't stretch over his big belly.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Everything you need to get kids smiling and writing (how often do you see those two words together?) is included!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/November-ELA-Reading-and-Writing-Activities-Fall-themed-Thanksgiving-8714324?utm_source=myblogsale&utm_campaign=11.12.23." style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGJuUCKJ2Utx3k_tlAofDfjdKi2eHsuxI7mMpe9_1P3Q9vqdfdlUp6-eIc_6nI5godJOpvicmsfDpUuTA0WxRUf4Ye729hmYKpv59SwSMMaWglI7CTyGYnFKOq1fibcRaoblbPtiKav3KkHk7cjKD4PpEccLsoDWOaihyphenhyphenyF_6MqP-CatJ6Dj5Y_PAY8M/s320/1.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/November-ELA-Reading-and-Writing-Activities-Fall-themed-Thanksgiving-8714324?utm_source=myblogsale&utm_campaign=11.12.23" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">This bundle </a><span style="text-align: left;">includes the two previous resources and also a reading log for Thanksgiving break. Let your students choose where and how they want to read. Then, celebrate with apple cider and pretzels when they come back to school!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Graphik, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px;">✅ </span><span face="Graphik, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And the best part? These resources are on sale for the next 48 hours!</span></span></div>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-64438380718399521752023-11-05T05:00:00.223-05:002023-11-21T07:31:44.283-05:00Why teach figurative language in isolation? Use great examples from novels!<p> <i>Teaching figurative language is funny. We want kids to recognize the different types, and so we show them poems and song lyrics and they begin to recognize the styles.</i></p><p><i>Let's go beyond memorizing types of figurative language and use novels to show how they enrich and enhance descriptions!</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRhkQp4A7ihm_dkJ-iUmu40JH7M0wU0hd0YOWD6GVx8LAXQr45FFNSCMcrUKnDTTmBRmbuBkuvMuugPWiuAotbs9p54UqzN1EizcOPb1hYWAwiTG0lfoY0z6CoPFmTRFRh32S-m5rtgb_uxu0WbD4EN5IH97m-BWKcBuM1TuBFDGaUsNzd3bOby_I5cj8/s1080/FigLanguage%20with%20novels.blog.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Use novels to teach figurative language, squirrel with an acorn" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRhkQp4A7ihm_dkJ-iUmu40JH7M0wU0hd0YOWD6GVx8LAXQr45FFNSCMcrUKnDTTmBRmbuBkuvMuugPWiuAotbs9p54UqzN1EizcOPb1hYWAwiTG0lfoY0z6CoPFmTRFRh32S-m5rtgb_uxu0WbD4EN5IH97m-BWKcBuM1TuBFDGaUsNzd3bOby_I5cj8/w320-h320/FigLanguage%20with%20novels.blog.png" width="320" /></a></div><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Why do we teach figurative language?</b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Think about what understanding figurative language does! It helps students understand and analyze the language and imagery used in novels. It builds background knowledge and encourages deeper comprehension and critical thinking skills. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">It improves writing ability. When students become more comfortable with figurative language they can start to use it in their own writing, adding depth and richness to their descriptions (which can sometimes be lacking.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">It improves reading ability. As students figure out this sometimes-more-nuanced language, they make more sense out of what they're reading.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Pangolin;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-size: xx-large;"><span>Best places to find figu</span></b><b style="color: #0b5394; font-size: xx-large;">rative language</b></span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Start with stories rich in figurative language. Here are some I've used that are chock-full of figurative language examples, but there are many other books to choose from!</span></li><ul><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Pony</i> by R.J. Palacio</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Curse of the Mummy</i> by Candace Fleming</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Eleven</i> by Tom Rogers</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Front Desk</i> by Kelly Yang</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus </i>by Dusti Bowling </span></li></ul></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Pick out some passages that feature figurative language and post them on your board or read them aloud. Discuss with your students how that language helps create more vivid pictures in the reader's mind. You might want to have students talk about what they envision in their heads.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Let students use their independent reading books to find examples of figurative language there. You might want to share with the class, or perhaps have students create drawings of what they visualize.</span></li></ul><div><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Decode and discuss figurative language examples</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Read some passages aloud and dissect them together. Break down the idioms, personification, metaphors, similes, and hyperbole (and any others you want to target) into categories.</span></span></b></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;">Discuss what they actually mean but also what you know they mean. Look at how they enrich a story! </span></b><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;">For example, <i>You're driving me up a wall</i> has a literal and a figurative meaning.</span></b></span></li><li><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Encourage your students to play with phrases - draw them or chart their literal and intended meanings. </span></span></b></li></ul><div><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Partner or small group work</b></div></div><div><span><ul style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><li><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Have your students continue with the book you're reading, or with their own independent reading books. Make a figurative language list of what they find and identify each one.</span></span></b></li></ul><div><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">One-pagers and figurative language journals</b></div><div><span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><li><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;">Your students can create a one-pager using their independent reading book. Have them draw a character or setting or the theme - whatever the figurative language most describes.</span></b></li></ul><ul style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><li><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;">Or have them write a new story using some of the figurative language from their book</span></b></li></ul><ul style="color: black; font-weight: 400;"><li><b style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: black; font-weight: 400;">If you want, have students create a journal where they keep track of figurative language they hear, read, or sing along to.</span></b></li></ul><p></p><div>There are many ways to unlock the door to your student's imaginations and expression. These are some that nurture a passion for reading and writing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Want some other ideas to get your students reading and writing? <span style="font-family: inherit;">✅ Grab these </span><a href="https://mentoringinthemiddle.myflodesk.com/dmr819sqkn" style="font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">fun, FREE writing prompts</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> when you join my email list!</span></div></span></span></div></span></div>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-85444473700302380692023-10-29T05:00:00.119-04:002023-11-01T13:27:21.391-04:00Unmissable 6th Grade Novels That Every Student Should Dive Into<p><i>Here are four novels that I think are worth considering for your upper elementary and middle school students. I read them a few years ago and they still have stayed with me. Don't miss letting your students read them!</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioU6OmO7biDYEVMhxvJyIqzbV_V-MRc94sygWSWHY4jp8oCuM8Dli_8mGqPOK_gpxnsa-7JPdiFcqrWw1YpwnuSI2K80BBpImEfCQH0XEREmsQCGToUQf7b7JDGN9Rcxx7sZ83Lf447zpWx9BCtJLmzmR6nfJK9R7WMY2fr1YHVdhrl7gknh3B2cDl0MQ/s1080/4%20Unmissable%20books.blog.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioU6OmO7biDYEVMhxvJyIqzbV_V-MRc94sygWSWHY4jp8oCuM8Dli_8mGqPOK_gpxnsa-7JPdiFcqrWw1YpwnuSI2K80BBpImEfCQH0XEREmsQCGToUQf7b7JDGN9Rcxx7sZ83Lf447zpWx9BCtJLmzmR6nfJK9R7WMY2fr1YHVdhrl7gknh3B2cDl0MQ/s320/4%20Unmissable%20books.blog.png" width="320" /></a></div><p><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: x-large;"><b>The Skin I'm In</b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">This book was written more than 20 years ago and it's still every bit as relevant today. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I found it hard to put down. Maleeka is a dark-skinned, smart, poor girl. She wears clothes her mom makes (poorly) for her. When her best friend lends her clothes to wear, she's thrilled. Until Char asks her to give them back. In front of a group of kids. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Into that mix walks a new teacher, Miss Saunders, a well-traveled, intelligent teacher with a <i>big blotch of white </i>on her face. But she's comfortable in the skin she's in. And slowly, she teaches her students to accept who they are, too. Enough so that Maleeka finally decides to be who she is and confront the bullies in her life.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">The Thing About Jellyfish</b></span></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ali Benjamin wrote this book in 2015 and it was a National Book Award Finalist.</span></p><p><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.52)" face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Imagine a book told from Suzy's point of view, that includes conversations she has with her deceased friend, Franny. Mix in some wisdom from Mrs. Turston, Suzy's 7th grade Science teacher, in the form of the stages of a science experiment. Which are metaphors for Suzy's life. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Throw in a lot of scientific facts about jellyfish. And a kid - Suzy - who decides to stop talking. Add a divorced mom and dad, and a brother with his boyfriend, and you have the makings of a novel that is an interesting read. </span></p><p>You can read a fuller <a href=" https://www.mentoringinthemiddle.com/2017/10/the-thing-about-jellyfish.html" target="_blank">review of the book</a> here.</p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Finding Langston</b></p><p><i>"Never really thought much about Alabama's red dirt roads, but now, all I can think about is kicking up their dust. I miss the hot sun on the back of my neck and how now the racket of cicadas, seems like no sound at all. At the end of a school day. 'fore I had to get home and do my chores, I could take my time walking just as slow as I pleased without someone pushing past and cutting their eyes like I was a stray dog come asking for scraps."</i> </p><p>You meet the protagonist, grieving his mother after he moved to Chicago in 1946 with his father. Chicago holds nothing for him as far as he's concerned. School is okay, but there are bullies and lots of kids who call him "Country Boy" for the way he speaks and dresses.</p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;"></b></p><p>It is only when he runs from those bullies and gets lost that he discovers a branch of the Chicago Public Library. And his world opens up in a way he never imagined.</p><p>You can read the rest of the <a href="https://www.mentoringinthemiddle.com/2021/04/Finding-Langston.html" target="_blank">review here.</a></p><p><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: x-large;"><b>The War that Saved My Life</b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">When England first realized that London would face bombings by the Nazis in 1939, the government made an effort to move women and children, and later, just children out to the country where it was safer. Teachers were recruited to "do their duty to country" by escorting classes as though they were going on a field trip, and staying with them until they were all taken in by new families.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Ada - born with a club foot and hated by her mother for it - runs away with her brother Jamie to be part of the evacuation. Standing in the room waiting to be chosen, she and Jamie end up not being selected. So they are taken to a home where Susan Smith is told to do her civic duty by taking them in.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">But Susan knows nothing about raising children.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">And yet, somehow, she sees in Ada what no one else did. And slowly, but surely, Ada learns to give herself the grace to live into who she was meant to be.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">You can read the <a href="https://www.mentoringinthemiddle.com/2020/09/the-war-that-saved-my-life.html" target="_blank">full review of that book here</a>.</div><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Full novel study guides for these books and more can be found in my <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mentoring-In-The-Middle-With-Marion-Piersol-miller/Search:Reading%3A+Novel+Studies" target="_blank">TeachersPayTeachers store</a>.</li></ul><p></p>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-82564676120215912442023-10-22T05:00:00.035-04:002023-12-29T15:57:29.813-05:00Can Kids Change? Inspiring Students to Embrace Positive Traits with books <p><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Here are two phrases I don't like: "It is what it is" and "That's just how I am." Why don't I like them? Mostly because they seem like an excuse to not do the work. "It is what it is" feels like someone is saying, "sucks to be you, now let's talk about me."</i></p><p><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">And "that's just how I am" feels like the implication is "And I'm not going to do the work to change myself. Even though changing might be just what I need to do."</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span color="rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.52)" face="Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwM_YE9HBD8j2JQMT-ACiFfQRYf8XnH-EREz1Sc68XUAbb8mkvaFez8s1s-56TdZK-ffoeRtfBWTcI-JD6X_z7rruhXlOgVUXEldXriGixrYJMd15r5ZNHaet9r7X5CG3sK2OF03Gy98R9gF56EdaGMQPPcEkEI2DA2Gs8mwm-7J7axLJpXBIVC8hpwXQ/s800/Character%20Traits2.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwM_YE9HBD8j2JQMT-ACiFfQRYf8XnH-EREz1Sc68XUAbb8mkvaFez8s1s-56TdZK-ffoeRtfBWTcI-JD6X_z7rruhXlOgVUXEldXriGixrYJMd15r5ZNHaet9r7X5CG3sK2OF03Gy98R9gF56EdaGMQPPcEkEI2DA2Gs8mwm-7J7axLJpXBIVC8hpwXQ/s320/Character%20Traits2.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>Maybe this is a bit harsh, but I feel like people use these as a kind of "Get out of Jail" card for questionable behavior. <div><br /></div><div>But guess what? That's the way you used to be? You can change. And maybe we can use books for teaching character traits to help us.<div><br /></div><div><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Use characters as role models for behavior?</b></div><div>Can we look at characters in books as models for the kind of behavior we'd like to see in our students? Yes. Identities are a mix of our opinions, memories, thoughts, and expectations - ones we hold for ourselves and ones that others hold about us.</div><div><br /></div><div>Have you or your students ever read a book and you absolutely connected to a character? Like they understood you - or you marveled at how confidently they reached conclusions, and wished you could be more like that? </div><div><br /></div><div>There is a lot of research to show that the more students read - and the greater variety they read - the more empathetic they become. Who knew that reading about ninjas and refugees could turn us into emotional warriors?!</div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 31px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">How to teach character traits</b></span></p>Back in February, I wrote about using <a href="https://www.mentoringinthemiddle.com/2023/02/character-traits-with-novels.html">books for teaching about character traits.</a> That might be a good place to start.</div><div><br /></div><div>Use picture books to teach about character traits. </div><div><br /></div><div>Or, better yet, use your read-aloud to explore the protagonist's character traits and how they lead the character to the decisions he or she made. Discuss the character's actions, the consequences of those actions, and how those actions ultimately contributed to the resolution.</div><div><br /></div><div>Have students reflect in writing about how their own actions can lead to consequences in real life. They might connect to the character from the book or not.</div><div><br /><div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 31px; text-align: left;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Explore character traits and actions in small groups</b></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; line-height: 31px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Divide your class into small groups and give them a scenario from the book. Have them:</span><ul><li style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">role-play the scene with a focus on how their actions led to the resolution</span></li></ul><ul><li style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In their groups, discuss alternative choices the characters could have made. How would those choices have changed the resolution? </span></li></ul><ul><li style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Share those ideas as a class. Let students reflect on their own behaviors and how they make decisions.</span></li></ul></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 31px;"><div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: x-large;"><b>Reflective journaling</b></span></div>Independently, let students pick one of the scenarios that resonated with them. Have them write first about the character's actions and the consequences. Then, let them make a <i>Text to Self Connection</i> and reflect on a time when their actions influenced the outcome of a situation.</div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 31px;">If you're comfortable, students could discuss those in small groups or with the whole class. </div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 31px;"><br /></div><div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 31px;">Reading lets us <i>put ourselves in the character's skin</i> and allows that to shape our actions!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Character-Traits-BUNDLE-Lessons-and-Activities-8602894?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=10.22.23" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIFhOEYI-aJzUDTHv4zQeNDS48yZpJPypFNz_svrkKSSsTkcjlPWQ002N4rSYtrfjV6T8arvLuBgZsBiMkzSuRRl9CIokdf9hiD5PkjCTfxEHo9SyFvxm4d_ESHe1bXlO7X_xZzkrUL_J9B3F2jMA9jzgNWf3Ua21Ax5ogOSHReAoanEGA3nBOTRyet_I/s320/1.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Character-Traits-BUNDLE-Lessons-and-Activities-8602894?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=10.22.23" target="_blank">Character Traits bundle</a>, including videos, text, and a color-by-code review, might be a good place to start!</div><p></p></div></div>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-76230403436960706922023-10-15T05:00:00.239-04:002023-10-15T05:00:00.128-04:00Spooky Halloween writing that'll have your 6th graders begging for more. Really!<p> <i>"Are we writing today?" </i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>"No, not today. We write on Fridays, remember?</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i>{Insert sad face}</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>How many times do your students ask to write in your class?</i></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Halloween-Writing-Activity-Guided-Descriptive-Writing-Story-2863561?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=10.15.23" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb9dd9w1l3Y1QwGvvNCkxsLXY4-0qMo3ZoCD195kWMItlhv87wz7lqdvOSETjJFTeq1uFpf8vueRlLfYKlcO5sZ-DWrmkAMo1pDbOG7ajrAbTShqBgZJsSjblNuUJr1bfS_Gr1WrU9oixf_zYGEPIdyXnps7ecejV8ECxFDCtDF-9lk6P2Css-9cSY/s320/Halloween.blogpost.png" width="320" /></a></div><p><i>A <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Halloween-Writing-Activity-Guided-Descriptive-Writing-Story-2863561?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=10.15.23" target="_blank">Halloween writing assignment</a> that your 5th and 6th graders beg to work on? </i></p><p><i>Yes, please! </i></p><div><div><i>With <b>a week's set of lesson plans</b> that are handed to you?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Umm, yes! Let's get started!</i></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"> <b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin;">Getting started on spooky Halloween writing:</b> </span></div><div style="direction: ltr; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.31in; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: -0.31in; unicode-bidi: embed; word-break: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i> </i><i>“Close your eyes. Imagine that you are walking home from a friend’s house. You live about a ten-minute walk away. It’s dark now and you’re heading home. Can you picture it? Visualize what this looks like in your head. </i></span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>As you are picturing this, start to jot down responses to these questions."</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Halloween-Writing-Activity-Guided-Descriptive-Writing-Story-2863561?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=10.15.23" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="Halloween writing activity" border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQY_ksJ9xyyGJDG-Rxm_-AglSmERAgie9l-Ji3cVqQk8K2sPBEVcGf0pmYquKfYWfmWwKBmCY3IwJJWsAOUU1YulVILxRreq3kuGuWnLWvEpKHXZx2qF5_H8WYY0RGZZ7d5hfmTj8DNLw/w240-h320/Slide9.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Keep going and journaling: </span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Each step of the way, you lead them through visualization, and then another next set of questions.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I wrote along with them and shared what I'd written, after the first set of questions. That really helped students who weren't quite sure how to get started. We kept the questions up on the board for a while so that students could add to or tweak what they'd already written.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">There's something about the scaffolding questions that gives kids so much confidence! Their writing is more descriptive and they don't tend to get as stuck. And your reluctant writers? Oh, my word! Pages and pages. (This gives them so much more to work with when it's time to edit.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Set the mood with spooky music:</span></b></div><div style="clear: both;">Play (mildly) spooky music to get them in the mood! Students begged to turn off the lights and pull down the blinds. They loved it! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Want to give it a try? Click <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Halloween-Writing-Activity-Guided-Descriptive-Writing-Story-2863561?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=10.22.23" target="_blank">here</a> to take a closer look! This writing activity provides you with a <i>week's worth of lesson plans!</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Halloween-Writing-Activity-Guided-Descriptive-Writing-Story-2863561?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=10.15.23" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivJq_MMDeP9SXa3g433d5mN96GehX8UxNqQn3jvoTJBb0rkipj2KXehy2DndQVzM_SBdsqdS5j2RxUS441ucfYKH68oPaNcGQVB3HapZufyPbeHkki1o20JinILS5tYJoEab9nbgtKf5GTdYDk0cYadli0Lf84wiflXnSiq7aUFdpX_qapNN347Yko/s320/1.png" width="320" /></a></div></span></div></div>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-60095108805641607252023-10-08T05:00:00.172-04:002023-10-08T05:00:00.133-04:00How I used mentor sentences for 6th graders and saw tremendous growth!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mentor-Sentences-Strengthen-Writing-Skills-with-Sentence-Building-2938100?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=10.8.23" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM0iDinTzdNkOMKmmHnPccletzoTQmFZRpm54qCYdm7BzFjyozstpbfA4H2-yQDrdLJ4XfUw7wrihS2mN-N9xIzJFvspMuTD_ThIMnmm18hpCb7CBVUG2AdozU81AyYYwro97UlsMf3sngq2_hSKHzwHfNvpbEgHs3M9WW7h_9CIm6M0kZy7C11qmLKFg/s320/Mentor%20Sentences.blog.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div>
<p><i style="font-style: italic;">Hi, my name is Mikey and I'm going to tell you my story....</i><i style="font-style: italic;"><br /></i>
Does that make your hair stand on end? I cringe inside when I see upper elementary and middle school students start their writing like this.</p><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">What are Mentor sentences?</b><br />Mentor sentences are well-written sentences from books (I use ones from popular books kids are familiar with) that students can imitate. They provide well-crafted examples from published authors, and if you take the time, you can explore the craft and mechanics of what makes them so strong.<br /><div><br /></div><div>When I tried mentor sentences with my 6th-grade students, I was floored by what a difference it made in their writing! They sparked students' creativity and gave them inspiration to experiment with different writing styles and techniques.</div><div><br /></div><div><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">How to start using Mentor sentences</b></div><div>I always started by talking about books. <i>What makes you want to keep reading a book? Does the first sentence have to grab you? The first few?</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Those "grab-you" sentences are the ones you want to imitate. Use them as your guide.<br /></i><br />And then I share a few mentor sentences examples with them.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr4gS9FtH1hpflWTOqHH1soAQJcG_iMiTUSJ7Dt5Qs64akzOuO90z1goJYuVHWdyehri4lbWrWwj2hgjk3SuyBBelzDih8vyA9E8V66NiXwbCMnPFj20P3NGeMWbfmxOgiANqXkHNVFN_k-Fd7WiBxnyUFc4qOPPqQzqMoylsYcfZmyIqsgIcabVAXNR0/s1080/Forblog1.png" style="font-style: italic; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr4gS9FtH1hpflWTOqHH1soAQJcG_iMiTUSJ7Dt5Qs64akzOuO90z1goJYuVHWdyehri4lbWrWwj2hgjk3SuyBBelzDih8vyA9E8V66NiXwbCMnPFj20P3NGeMWbfmxOgiANqXkHNVFN_k-Fd7WiBxnyUFc4qOPPqQzqMoylsYcfZmyIqsgIcabVAXNR0/w162-h162/Forblog1.png" width="162" /></a></div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
From <i>Restart</i> by Gordon Korman:<br />
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<i>I remember falling.</i><br />
<i> At least I think I do. Or maybe that's just because I know I fell.</i><br />
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I start asking questions. <i>What do you think happened to this person? Did he or she just fall down or was this somehow a "big" fall?</i> As they begin to infer, students realize how many different ways this story could go!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8e25_5dmkUrRMmC3ODjQt8QmZPpHiC0VvofA_hVvr0yFBoBEY-vaYEFHs0hO9AYV_FTS4s8YuprOd5idWde7FwzIThdcxhjfE06dbWHfRGZkIDBcsZBxcK7tps6jgmmzN6ubR4T_OHXih_uwF80t7Nuy7NXXck6A0T9WwG7mP5_R0osHG3iUyz_ZEtwE/s1080/Forblog2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8e25_5dmkUrRMmC3ODjQt8QmZPpHiC0VvofA_hVvr0yFBoBEY-vaYEFHs0hO9AYV_FTS4s8YuprOd5idWde7FwzIThdcxhjfE06dbWHfRGZkIDBcsZBxcK7tps6jgmmzN6ubR4T_OHXih_uwF80t7Nuy7NXXck6A0T9WwG7mP5_R0osHG3iUyz_ZEtwE/w160-h160/Forblog2.png" width="160" /></a></div></div>
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From <i>If I Stay </i>by Gayle Forman:</div>
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<i>Everyone thinks it was because of the snow. And in a way, I suppose that's true.</i></div>
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Again, questions about the mentor text examples. <i>What do you think happened? When someone mentions that it was "because" of the snow, what does that make you think happened? Could <u>you</u> start a story that was "because" of something?</i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoDvMD2iYuKxESkAyhlccXFYVxNSOcMMqQBGb0WK6n4qWRhgfvYFyHsrFRdU_qZLiBuHX-V4y7uTvGSlv_-57_kIjJtlA5yVudjJIAsMoDEWdxTm3bKGpQrdKOxh7QK-EumlCahU-prDOYcS16fb6c-RLsJVeF7glDWZ4fd4O7Mesao1YLFmYHXlEoT84/s1080/Forblog3.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoDvMD2iYuKxESkAyhlccXFYVxNSOcMMqQBGb0WK6n4qWRhgfvYFyHsrFRdU_qZLiBuHX-V4y7uTvGSlv_-57_kIjJtlA5yVudjJIAsMoDEWdxTm3bKGpQrdKOxh7QK-EumlCahU-prDOYcS16fb6c-RLsJVeF7glDWZ4fd4O7Mesao1YLFmYHXlEoT84/w168-h168/Forblog3.png" width="168" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
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One of my favorite examples for 5th and 6th graders is from <i>Out of My Mind</i> by Sharon Draper (this is actually from the second chapter.)</div>
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<i>I can't talk. I can't walk. I can't feed myself or take myself to the bathroom. Big bummer.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Students' eyes widen as they hear those lines. Their brains are working, trying to figure out how they can reconfigure those mentor sentences into something of their own.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Next steps</b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As a class (or you could do this in small groups) we explore the sentences, looking at the parts of speech and talking about what "grabbed" us. In the previous case, students love that the sentences are so short. Periods create a different impression than commas do!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
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Scaffold their first tries so they aren't overwhelmed. I give my students something that looks like a Mad Lib, with keywords deleted. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I let students share some of their ideas. It doesn't just help them, but it gives the other students ideas about the wide range of possibilities available to them!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Set them free to create their own sentences</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The final step is to take away the scaffolding and let them write in that style for a minute or two. Again, I let them share what they've written. As a writing community, we give each other feedback.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As other students give feedback, you see ideas take shape. And not just with the person sharing. As you glance around the room, other students are erasing, rewriting, and narrowing their word choices, too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had a large whiteboard in the back of my room, so I encouraged students to put their sentences there so that others could use them for ideas.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">From then on, the goal was just to provide writing time for students to keep going.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The beauty of <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mentor-Sentences-Strengthen-Writing-Skills-with-Sentence-Building-2938100?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=10.8.23" target="_blank">using mentor sentences</a> is that they work for fiction and nonfiction texts! Use them before you have students begin writing informational or argumentative passages, too.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mentor-Sentences-Strengthen-Writing-Skills-with-Sentence-Building-2938100?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=10.8.23" target="_blank"><img alt="Cover of Mentor sentences product showing a student writing" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgud8ZxKLYUQLeCWXLaG2gT6Erv5F8oh8dOB8mLbPHlA0F9us-qLzuFjaC962qHBRWMg4JpbJcIZvuNhUr8TRy5T0-VsHNcav6SuQxzG_x6GYtg2XTmh_nfb_JMYrcJUdnF_qhxL0upAdRVVUx051LtJjAFIoK-eSXl-NNGZTiFd1Bj_Q4et59uuVdOYfM/w320-h320/1.png" width="320" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Don't have the time to research good sentences for your students to use? I've got it made for you, so if you don't have the time right now, use <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mentor-Sentences-2938100?utm_source=blogpost&utm_campaign=first%20lines">this product</a>. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Would you like more specifics on how I used these with my students? <a href="https://www.mentoringinthemiddle.com/2016/10/improve-your-students-writing-with.html" target="_blank">Click here to read about what my 6th graders did.</a></li></ul></div>
</div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-20036098493443491132023-10-01T05:00:00.058-04:002024-02-29T15:38:45.505-05:00How this Innovative STEM challenge will prompt students to appreciate the printing press<div style="text-align: left;"><i>I could see it in their eyes. Yeah, Johannes Gutenberg created the movable type printing press. </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>So what? <br /></i><i>Don't you know we have internet?</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Yawn.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPROq6uIJws0nnyT5A1HnsvnX3VmC5PwT-Aqxjwq20a6ZJ8NlS70KqCTRdjIgb12Keh_HlfIpWfG5LFtSKhirOUgzEe-Xw-hsDpyjxCGq_NIshd0Rfb4Z7-E5waiGkToJ7XBUWxi6pQQ/s1600/STEM+Challenge_.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="560" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQPROq6uIJws0nnyT5A1HnsvnX3VmC5PwT-Aqxjwq20a6ZJ8NlS70KqCTRdjIgb12Keh_HlfIpWfG5LFtSKhirOUgzEe-Xw-hsDpyjxCGq_NIshd0Rfb4Z7-E5waiGkToJ7XBUWxi6pQQ/s320/STEM+Challenge_.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">A fun STEM challenge</b></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div>How could I help them see that this was a revolution in human understanding?</div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIECTc8bEaiouODWeFoyOpsWVdhdnYR_Oq8lcrrGWHTAPk4jZVGRPJt4q2_ZsCf_K0vPQvgvS6GP13iNRjKoHfDrb7fDPZ6jsKc-I38pqO_eFgN-eyWFCGMnk0Mu7SuR0Cex0N0-g_WEE/s1600/IMG_0207.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIECTc8bEaiouODWeFoyOpsWVdhdnYR_Oq8lcrrGWHTAPk4jZVGRPJt4q2_ZsCf_K0vPQvgvS6GP13iNRjKoHfDrb7fDPZ6jsKc-I38pqO_eFgN-eyWFCGMnk0Mu7SuR0Cex0N0-g_WEE/s200/IMG_0207.jpg" width="150" /></a><br />They needed to see that it was more complex than just carving out some letters.<br /><br />I needed them to make one.<br /><br />Here's what I did. And what you can do, too. You don't need much: Masking tape, styrofoam, rubber bands, a few craft sticks, some washable markers, and a sheet or two of paper.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTVueQouE_J5BSOEpApFc49wKgu7N-MNxaTJgnRe_07r3orMTNLDdXLCVCZRsAEFnDOuMbvNB5DAfm5Y1Wu3hus9obwh302mcMALllXBOU99UcHhdZocDe3MP18j8DGDCPe8F-5JAjaIM/s1600/IMG_0208.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTVueQouE_J5BSOEpApFc49wKgu7N-MNxaTJgnRe_07r3orMTNLDdXLCVCZRsAEFnDOuMbvNB5DAfm5Y1Wu3hus9obwh302mcMALllXBOU99UcHhdZocDe3MP18j8DGDCPe8F-5JAjaIM/s200/IMG_0208.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6PP1z2RNF8g56Bgu6sEvt-sZl7NIPatlEQ17CvFR5uEHCaBmlnNzXqKl3SpYaxBPWI6Z1jWrFnZ7i_rItEsAh_Sf-R6kAWrGmwgGaVjUMp-PuTA5tUlppivwHY7SyfAG_mG-RKc4mwg/s1600/IMG_1139.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6PP1z2RNF8g56Bgu6sEvt-sZl7NIPatlEQ17CvFR5uEHCaBmlnNzXqKl3SpYaxBPWI6Z1jWrFnZ7i_rItEsAh_Sf-R6kAWrGmwgGaVjUMp-PuTA5tUlppivwHY7SyfAG_mG-RKc4mwg/s200/IMG_1139.JPG" width="150" /></a>The directions were simple. Take the supplies and find a way to print all of your names on a piece of paper. Some kids realized right away that they needed to count how many letters were duplicated in their names. Those letters only needed to be made once and then re-used.<br /><br />Others made a letter for every letter in each name. Letters were carved into styrofoam with craft sticks or scissors. Or tape was put on craft sticks and letters were written directly on it. Some students assembled their letters on tape or on craft sticks, while others stamped the letters one by one.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXYw8pkGEkEuVmyfqDlAK4avfle1jWrfv0mypRXDuIxgmcrC-Pipojl-E1rub_jpgzxbbAjZy2vqKk1QypF048VGnyqGk34I1T7k7UQ_0_5Po88qCSCl_MRzSM7JAoJlOhLF6uRMT4e8/s1600/IMG_0205.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHXYw8pkGEkEuVmyfqDlAK4avfle1jWrfv0mypRXDuIxgmcrC-Pipojl-E1rub_jpgzxbbAjZy2vqKk1QypF048VGnyqGk34I1T7k7UQ_0_5Po88qCSCl_MRzSM7JAoJlOhLF6uRMT4e8/s200/IMG_0205.jpg" width="150" /></a> They learned some lessons the hard way. Names had to be written backward; letters had to be created backward! I wouldn't accept an "N" with the slanted line going the wrong way.<br /><br />Each class took about 45-50 minutes to print all their names. </div><div><br /></div><div>But the "WOW" factor was when we talked about the printing press the next day. </div><div><br /></div><div>They might be part of the social media generation, but they appreciated a little more how important this achievement was.</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Could you use some <a href="https://view.flodesk.com/pages/60e0bc35cdca6d29586fc4f2" target="_blank">FREE help with Main Idea and Detail</a>?</div></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://view.flodesk.com/pages/60e0bc35cdca6d29586fc4f2" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: right;" target="_blank"><img alt="Two students reading books" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotTd2RuXmzQhT9ZLObuMXKjbE2tdqt3idHb9uZbW6suAW5nHNRCD8uQlhnMEwjGoy7EymFzxVWkALio390ACzbEE-vHoVJ7j3C9sG3uGG37NtIHaKqJCcidZQiJGnnPQwtVn67EuoGSCIuSAi35PBKgUtV-sMLPz5NMg6FlGr5d5R1lDvnQOysMyYFHM/w200-h200/Main%20Idea%20and%20Detail%20freebie.png" width="200" /></a></div><div></div>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-80061605637924607942023-09-24T05:00:00.126-04:002023-09-24T05:00:00.129-04:00Do you have to grade everything? Goodness, no, and here's why! <p><i>Raise your hand if you've brought your teacher bag home for the weekend loaded with papers to grade, and it lived in your car all weekend. </i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR-C1Vd82ULhizp6hQ2ysQ-mFADnFGK8-2_1CSpW5MPB_oqeUBXAiqfoPEOlsheNMTMECywmG1rwGFq_O1CTy6WWa1N4Q6SGxUXKsugcxaWRlujkQnSyZCOWfcgapf-pnclBh4brVajWWVcfYePGgXiGwjauOJUu8-gl_fbvTHyIOkV5pgrYSXef3sBN8/s1080/Grading.blog.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A teacher holding a laptop asking if you have to grade everything" border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR-C1Vd82ULhizp6hQ2ysQ-mFADnFGK8-2_1CSpW5MPB_oqeUBXAiqfoPEOlsheNMTMECywmG1rwGFq_O1CTy6WWa1N4Q6SGxUXKsugcxaWRlujkQnSyZCOWfcgapf-pnclBh4brVajWWVcfYePGgXiGwjauOJUu8-gl_fbvTHyIOkV5pgrYSXef3sBN8/w320-h320/Grading.blog.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>I'm not here to talk about online grading systems vs. paper. This post is about whether you have to do *all the things.*</p><p>Leaving your bag in the car all weekend may be your first indication that something needs to give. Your students do a lot of work in the process of learning and not everything needs to be returned to them. Some of it is just practice. </p><p>If you feel that you must grade, then follow the suggestions that several veteran teachers I know have provided.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Select a few responses to check, say 3-5 problems or sentences. Don't give the work a grade, but instead provide feedback, so this becomes a formative assessment of their learning. <a href="https://www.amathmission.com/destroy-the-need-to-check-every-paper-students-complete/" target="_blank">That's a suggestion from Lisa at <i>A Math Mission</i> along with other tips you might want to read about!</a></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Sometimes it's nice to use digital products that grade for you and Google and Boom cards are two easy resources to take advantage of!</li></ul><p></p><p>Lisa has a number of <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/A-Math-Mission-By-Lisa-Yeip/Search:self+checking" target="_blank">self-checking resources in her math store</a> on TeachersPayTeachers.</p><p>So does Mary Jenkins in her store <i><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Middle-Grades-Math-With-Mary-Jenkins/Category/Task-Cards-Self-Checking-Digital-and-Print-402412" target="_blank">Middle Grades Math with Mary Jenkins.</a> </i></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Do you use Interactive Notebooks with your students? I did. It took students a while to get the cutting and gluing part of it, but once they did, they used them all year long!</li></ul>Lynda of <i>Teaching Science with Lynda R. Williams</i> talks about how she grades them. I like that her philosophy is similar to Lisa's as she suggests how to have students focus on one important item for you to grade. You can read <a href="https://teachingscience.us/grading-interactive-notebooks/" target="_blank">her suggestions here</a>.<p></p><p>Ginny of <i>Polka Dots and Protons</i> has also come up with a grading system for Science notebooks. You can read <a href="https://www.protonpriest.com/2017/08/new-free-product-on-tpt.html" target="_blank">her suggestions here</a>.</p><p>I hope this brief blog post with lots of links has shown you a way to lessen the overwhelm of feeling like you need to grade all the things!</p>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-5802089830404077322023-09-17T05:00:00.193-04:002024-02-05T15:40:16.932-05:00Use the 5 types of context clues for emerging vocabulary<p><i>"I don't know what that word meant so I just skipped over it."</i></p><p><i>"Can you pronounce it? </i></p><p><i>Nope? </i></p><p><i>Okay, how about any hints as to its meaning? Do you see any context clues? It's okay if you can't pronounce it and it's even okay if you don't know the specific meaning of the word, as long as you get the gist of it. That's key."</i></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://view.flodesk.com/pages/64de6292ca259e13f0890320" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="context clues notebook pages with colored pencils" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd_MmKJLa-hTDdPoe5wBP4X9abmFoXnvjOvBeuIClpYQB4mXpWw5aEBXhYxHS51Z9iN7KB17j1xMLjcDEWkAs-uCUHAZz3FE6nZjnVX41iFGHoVhkWUQdiiOU9Iz6E78DntWV684pw_IbBWO10AWVsHSQb9X7j5jVJU6T0JA9TjQOT0xcDtWc8zOKzmQ4/w320-h320/Context%20Clues%20.png" width="320" /></a></div>Learning how to use clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary seems like it should be pretty easy. I mean, middle-grade authors often provide context clues right in the sentence. But children who don't understand the process often don't know what to look for to help themselves out. <p></p><p>This is why teaching them the specific context clues techniques helps them so much. The more metacognitively aware our students are, the more they assimilate this kind of clue-searching into their daily reading.</p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Teach them IDEAS for context clues</b></p><div data-paragraph="true">Here are a few practical tips you can use to help your students crack open word meaning 🔨 using context clues!</div><div data-paragraph="true"> </div><div data-paragraph="true">🔨 Teach them the importance of the words. I like to explain that the author wrote the words - all of them - for a reason. As readers, it's not our job to pick and choose what words to read and what words to skip. It's our job to read all the words and put meaning to them. </div><div data-paragraph="true"> </div><div data-paragraph="true">A great activity to help make this point is to use student writing as an example. Grab some samples and read them aloud to the class but just skip over words every now and then. Chances are the meaning will be lost and the class won't quite understand what the writer was trying to say. Plus, the actual writer is likely going to make sure you know that what you read is NOT what they wrote. In fact, if you do this a few times you just might end up with a class that is a little frustrated because you are not reading correctly.</div><div data-paragraph="true"> </div><div data-paragraph="true">When this happens you have them right where you want them! {<i>Go ahead chuckle to yourself in the background. You've earned it!} </i>This is the perfect time to explain that skipping over words is not a reading strategy - but context clues are.</div><div data-paragraph="true"> </div><div data-paragraph="true">🔨 Lay the expectation for using context clues. The goal is to help them understand what they are reading, not be able to write a word-for-word dictionary definition. This one thing alone takes away the pressure of those unknown words and makes students much more willing to try. </div><div data-paragraph="true"> </div><div data-paragraph="true">🔨 Students often skip the word because they don't know what else to do. Give them a system and help them practice using it. I like to use IDEAS to help my students determine word meanings. </div><div data-paragraph="true"><br /></div><div data-paragraph="true">I - Are there words in the sentence that will allow you to make an INFERENCE about the word's meaning?</div><div data-paragraph="true">D - Is there an explanation in the surrounding text that provides a DEFINITION?</div><div data-paragraph="true">E - Does the text provide an EXAMPLE that will help you figure out the meaning?</div><div data-paragraph="true">A - Is there an ANTONYM used to contrast the unknown word?</div><div data-paragraph="true">S - Is there a SYNONYM used to compare or explain the unknown word?</div><p>Teach your students this acronym and watch them start to make sense of emerging vocabulary.</p><p>Grab this <a href="https://view.flodesk.com/pages/64de6292ca259e13f0890320" target="_blank">FREE interactive notebook page</a>, a one-page context clues reference worksheet that uses IDEAS. Your students can use it as a resource all year long!</p><p><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Context-Clues-Color-by-Code-Activity-Vocabulary-Review-Coloring-Page-7154193?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=9.17.23" target="_blank">Here's a resource that lets them color</a> while they practice.</p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"This was great practice while changing up the method in which we normally use context clues. Such a good resource for a filler day or a sub day."</i></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>"Love this resource! My students really enjoyed this activity. Definitely recommend."</i></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Context-Clues-Color-by-Code-Activity-Vocabulary-Review-Coloring-Page-7154193?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=9.17.23" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="context clues coloring page activity with crayons" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0zMBQ5Dyaqgdxbsl-wi8Yns50aHw_U9Dj1Mm0eqBK1hlOajTEv0aK0Mb5se8TbOdW6M_nl7BkXy-fY14Ras-Ja9OR1WnxTvrt3DXNpq5qSJGEDp8KzeDAZdXGYn_sDKDqj0uaf4TFUE2M6qJ_LWEqOlFvBQ_nO-U1Dic-NeJP-1ZLA1g__B99WXqUtM/w320-h320/1.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>There's also a <i>fun free </i>game I recently found called <a href="https://edtechmrbrown.com/context-clues-climber" target="_blank">Context Clues Climber</a> that you might want to try with your students!</p><p>Other resources that focus on context clues:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iHi5OmUWxxetMfZiAV8OgcMd6k2O-JKVCp7AJa8tnHPfGpKHLVE9dVuMy3n6YqbvKJJ8i4WFYlVaCbr2xNNsk9t4RxNnNXZSNLa2doNYGMkvaEGoEHIyUt6ZgRelAGNk6Rs5uro9BBFVGecdg37e6Yi2kRBdDm5QrpNkxzRNJqJlCKVLO0Lb3FPcT7o/s500/WrinkleinTime.Google.C.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iHi5OmUWxxetMfZiAV8OgcMd6k2O-JKVCp7AJa8tnHPfGpKHLVE9dVuMy3n6YqbvKJJ8i4WFYlVaCbr2xNNsk9t4RxNnNXZSNLa2doNYGMkvaEGoEHIyUt6ZgRelAGNk6Rs5uro9BBFVGecdg37e6Yi2kRBdDm5QrpNkxzRNJqJlCKVLO0Lb3FPcT7o/s500/WrinkleinTime.Google.C.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Boom-Cards-Words-in-Context-Vocabulary-Review-Tool-6256002?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=9.17.23" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="a young girl working on a laptop on a context clues activity" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpRo22rNIG2akU9eDX6nxyfWaBqzxqViaFj1wG5kYBN6IrslhdUWQIgw1Fo0saC56ShFQCraZILxUgeDYv5ngNxuj5PncLWrBMCfhG9fQtlFgn6vXthzc8102aPgNxYbqHi5hNTbcxXn3OVRaaEOlF48F7JVXwhyWtkYntQvNzRiMOOCm0ia8FJJYrliU/w200-h200/1.png" width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Wrinkle-in-Time-Vocabulary-BOOM-Cards-using-context-clues-6390505?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=9.17.23" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;" target="_blank"><img alt="purple picture of outer space for A Wrinkle in Time Boom cards activity" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFD3NP2Rkf3agcfPOEhKbeA-Ph5etRjbfbMhb4kWUaSe1s_ZPrdp_lqb42qagiDy7ec8HIzEQXGmBwMbadvlxDJMgiQlAAUUgzCgO5wx7VljG-TZX-SzRZYMfUSKlgByLU_lt1RyPmqB2tVMWwSpj2J7N2NTps2wCBJFy7pUDOR7gswlRmR69Y30JLPXQ/w200-h200/WrinkleinTime.vocab.C.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Vocabulary-Words-for-A-Wrinkle-in-Time-Self-correcting-Google-Slides--6392877?utm_source=myblog&utm_campaign=9.17.23" target="_blank"><img alt="stars in the sky for A Wrinkle in Time context clues google activity" border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3iHi5OmUWxxetMfZiAV8OgcMd6k2O-JKVCp7AJa8tnHPfGpKHLVE9dVuMy3n6YqbvKJJ8i4WFYlVaCbr2xNNsk9t4RxNnNXZSNLa2doNYGMkvaEGoEHIyUt6ZgRelAGNk6Rs5uro9BBFVGecdg37e6Yi2kRBdDm5QrpNkxzRNJqJlCKVLO0Lb3FPcT7o/w200-h200/WrinkleinTime.Google.C.png" width="200" /></a><span> </span></div></div>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4221505559187841934.post-746947091720437382023-09-10T05:00:00.104-04:002023-12-29T15:54:18.294-05:00Unlocking the Power of Pictures: How to Use Visuals for Effective Inference Making<p><i>It looks like there's a horrible storm. Maybe a hurricane knocked down that house. I can't figure out what that man is carrying on his back, but maybe this is a grandfather, a father, and his son.</i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ_Yvc6j69t6IebLYeaUwDW4nGmGTWLsXIsB9Kj-5Z6gFqI7e-Ncl1hK2MEbgxDqEEU2vffNaRipu-LaIO3TfWozda3I7f4z9aibjTAt5RfkMYGLwYFhrO8qB7WZhBOTcq2Hw4m83CekACgYbqne-LufuYfO1PFtoT0VYFLyWb9HStG-MIdd8Q-4nV2nk/s960/Slide3.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ_Yvc6j69t6IebLYeaUwDW4nGmGTWLsXIsB9Kj-5Z6gFqI7e-Ncl1hK2MEbgxDqEEU2vffNaRipu-LaIO3TfWozda3I7f4z9aibjTAt5RfkMYGLwYFhrO8qB7WZhBOTcq2Hw4m83CekACgYbqne-LufuYfO1PFtoT0VYFLyWb9HStG-MIdd8Q-4nV2nk/s320/Slide3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Why Teach Inferencing with Pictures?<br /></b><p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 16px;">In </span>your digital classroom where information is available at the click of a button, it is crucial for students to comprehend the words on a page and also develop the ability to infer and draw meaningful conclusions. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">This is especially true for upper elementary students, who are at that critical stage in their academic development</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">One of the most effective ways I've found to enhance inferencing skills in students is by using pictures for teaching inference. By incorporating carefully selected pictures into their learning experiences, <span style="font-size: 16px;">you can stimulate critical thinking, promote creative expression, and foster a deeper understanding of complex concepts.</span> </span></p><p><b style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Pangolin; font-size: xx-large;">Where do you Find Pictures for Inference?</b></p><p><span style="background-color: white;">We are in such a digital age that you can simply search "unusual pictures to infer from" and you'll find tons of great pictures to work with!</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white;">Make sure that:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white;">students can clearly identify most items in the picture</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">there is some question about what's going on or why it's happening</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">this picture would generate good discussion in your class</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">the picture should generate questions</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">there is evidence in the picture to guide them to some answers</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">students can come up with a reasonable conclusion</span></li></ul><p></p><p><a href="https://www.mentoringinthemiddle.com/2019/01/photos-inference.html" target="_blank">Click here to read about the pictures I used and how I used them in my classroom.</a></p>Mentoring in the Middlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09766062877239431093noreply@blogger.com0