Teach it Tuesday: Language Arts Gems

This is going to be a quick post to give a few ideas on some of my favourite activities for language arts right now:

Partner Reading

I started doing this activity last year with a novel study and it has become one of my favourites. It is so simple but allows for some great opportunities! I pair kids up (we have AB partner magnets with their names so that’s quickest for me to do in the morning after attendance) and they read the assigned chapters out loud to each other switching at the paragraph or page, their choice.

Things I love about it:

• The sound of 15 kids reading out loud (but quietly) at the same time!
• How easy it is to just read with a partner that you don’t know well (I’ve noticed much easier than having a discussion at the middle school level)
• The ability to poke my head in and listen to kids read – for assessment or enjoyment!

Beginning, Middle, End Writing

Reluctant writer writing away

This activity is originally from 6+1 Traits of Writing but I’ve adapted it a bit to fit with in class and tutoring. For one of the students that I tutor, this is the only activity that I’ve done where he has willingly sat down and wrote almost a page! Basically you just give students the beginning, middle, and end of the story and they fill in the rest.

Things I love about it:

• It allows for creativity without that feeling of being totally lost in options that can come with creative writing
• It can be adapted to different interests and situations (for tutoring we threw in the dogs name – always a hit!)
• This activity can easily be accessed by students of different ability levels as a quick write with guidance
• I think already having the ending there takes away the pressure of getting your story to the end and helps students write

Quote and Note

I’ve written about this one before (here) but it continues to be a favourite! I haven’t been able to get as in depth into this one this year due to time constraints but it has still been rather effective after a lot of scaffolding to get them to the right spot.

Things I love about it:

• The concept is simple for students to understand but the writing you get can be really in depth
• Again, it allows students to access at what level they are at
• It really helps me to get a good idea of students comprehension of the novel we are reading

What are some of your classroom favourites these days?

Teach it Tuesday: Poems for Two Voices

I learned about this particular poetry style in one of our classes at university. I think it was based on this book in case you are interested in reading more or finding examples.

This was my lesson plan for Remembrance Day last year in my Grade 8 English class. Although Remembrance Day was yesterday (or Veteran’s Day in the USA) I think this would still be a powerful lesson for your students this week – Or adapt it to fit a social studies unit!

Poems for Two Voices – An Introducation

These poems are written in three columns that have been spaced out. Each of the outside columns represents a different speaker and the inside column is words/phrases that are said by both speakers. There are a few examples in the book mentioned above and I’ve made up a few of my own with classes. I usually introduce these poems by having the class read one together – half represent one voice, half the other, and we all read the middle together. It is very powerful when you hear everyone come together for the middle lines.

Remembrance Day Activity

After I introduced the poetry style we spent some time talking about the different views we could take to write a poem for Remembrance Day. The students did a great job at coming up with a variety of different people from whom they could write with a (relatively) accurate perspective.

Some examples to help guide your class discussion:

• Child in Canada now/Child during the war
• War Veteran/Young Soldier
• Young Soldier/Mother or Father of Young Soldier
• Soldiers on either side of a war (takes some talk about respecting both sides)

And there are of course many more examples you can come up with – My class was very multicultural and some students took on viewpoints in regards to their heritage (e.g. Korean War). I really enjoyed seeing the different ideas that my class came up with.

Once we had a list of ideas they got to work on their poems and then we had time to share them aloud at the end. Here is one of my favourites from the day:

PDF Version: Poems For Two Voices

Extensions:

When I do this project again with students I will take more time to develop the poems and allow for editing and final drafts. I think that this would be a very powerful read aloud during a Remembrance Day Assembly.

This assignment could easily be adapted to fit many different Social Studies units as well as other subjects (there is an example poem in the book about Ice Bergs and Polar Bears that directly relates to environmental studies).

I would love to hear how you end up using this lesson – Leave a comment below!

My “Someday Job”…

So around here “Back to School” fever is just starting to set in. This involves waiting impatiently by your phone for calls about jobs, thinking about lesson planning, trying to fit in those last few “must do’s” of the summer and all the rest!

In amongst that I’ve started working summer camps as I needed a little bit of income after a summer of not working. The camp I’m running is a food prep/nutrition camp offered throughout the city at a very low cost to families. I was a little nervous stepping into the role as it isn’t within my realm of experience but I have really loved the mix of teaching and summer camp that it has brought. It’s really started me thinking about what my ideal teaching job would be. Now being a new teacher in a tough district means I will take pretty much anything and everything in the next couple of years until I build up my seniority but until then I can dream about my “Someday Job.” My “Someday Job” isn’t the for sure be all end all of my teaching career because I change my mind about what I want to do daily if not hourly; my “Someday Job” is just the job that I want to do for sure for at least a year because it has the components of a lot of my favourite aspects of teaching.

A “dream job” kind of feeling…

So what would it be?

Grade: 7/8

I absolutely LOVE middle school! Most people I tell that too look at me like I’m a little insane but the ones who don’t, the ones who “get it”, just nod and agree because there really is no place like it! Every middle school I’ve been in has been different but there is something at the core of this age group that I just absolutely love. Grade 6 is a little on the young side for me so I’ve ruled that out. I absolutely love both grade 7 and grade 8 for very different reasons so I think a grade 7/8 split class would be my favourite (and yes I know most people don’t wish for split classes but I like the balance of combining age groups!)

Subjects: Math, French, English (and maybe Phys. Ed)

Math is my favourite subject to teach because I love using manipulatives, working out problems and watching those “Aha!” moments. French is a new one to this list – over the past year it quickly became a favourite because of the flexibility of the curriculum and the ease of tying it in with my passions in global education. English or Language Arts makes this list easily because I love watching students develop their communication skills and I love how much insight and connection you can gain through a subject that you can easily relate to their passions. And then there is PE… I love physical activity, sports, nutrition, and health education in general but I haven’t had too much opportunity to teach it at the middle school level. Elementary PE I could do in a heartbeat but I think I need some more professional development to feel totally comfortable with PE at the middle school level.

Other factors…

When I get this job I think I’d like to know at least 2 weeks before school starts so the panic isn’t as crazy as the “one weekend to plan everything” kind of stress. I don’t really care what school I’m at as long as I get to work with some of the amazing staff that I know in our district. Also, I’d obviously like to have a classroom right next to Karley so we can team teach, idea share, and blog about it all – We know that you readers would love this too right? Come on school district!

So what about you…

Are you in your dream job or “someday” job right now?

What grade/subject would it be? Or what school would it be at?