As my eighth graders discussed the theme of growing up in the novel House on Mango Street, I had them connect the idea to their own lives—How had they grown up? Especially in the transition from sixth to eighth grade? Continue reading
Figurative language is so complicated, yet so much fun! I created this AMAZING (okay, I might be bragging just a little, but I’m super excited!) resource to teach students. It is a scaffolded set of notes that includes examples, pictures, and even song clips for learning figurative language in more ways than one! Continue reading
Another extension activity! This time I made the students think creatively and outside the box. Continue reading
Today my 6th grade co-teachers and I held a Boring Words Funeral for the overused, boring, ‘2nd/3rd grade’ words in our vocabulary. This was a very somber event. Students and teachers wore black. We brainstormed a list of words that we would bury and no longer use for the remainder of the year. We wrote these words on note cards, placed them in burial shoe box, then lined up outside the door. Continue reading
Just last week, my co-teacher introduced me to ClassTools.Net, an excellent resource for teachers! This website has interactive diagrams, models, games, and activities for all ages! Continue reading
My Honors kids have been struggling with thesis statements. They have great ideas, they just aren’t articulating them into arguments. And thus their papers (and grades) are suffering. So I decided to do something a little different for their Old Man and the Sea papers. I wanted to help them out. Continue reading
Okay, this sounds a lot harsher than it actually was…sort of.
Over the summer, my Honors kids were to read a biography/autobiography of their choice and write a paper demonstrating their understanding of the book and reflecting on how dramatic events often change a person’s life. Continue reading
Take a picture/photograph and write.
This strategy is related to Writing from Image [Ekphrastic]
The assignment: to focus on a specific object or image, and then concentrate on how to write about this image/picture in a descriptive way.
This strategy gets the students to start thinking about figurative language, symbols, similes, connections, etc. Continue reading
