Get to know your in-class and remote learners quickly Thanks to Spark Creativity! for this awesome “biographical one-pager” idea that I used last week when school started on Thursday. Read this blog post for all the details and printable downloads. As a mentor or example, I projected mine (see above) on the whiteboard and weContinue reading “This Back-to-School One-Pager Works Wonders”
Tag Archives: Education
The New York Times Announces Its 2020-21 Student Writing Contests
And get this: most are now open to middle school students! Yes! The student writing contests hosted by The New York Times’ Learning Network are back! In addition, most are now open to U.S. middle school students starting in sixth grade (for international students, ages 13-18). A couple of weeks ago, I wrote this postContinue reading “The New York Times Announces Its 2020-21 Student Writing Contests”
Use this ‘Hamilton’ article to teach six poetic devices
Thank you, Wall Street Journal, for this amazing resource Buckle up, poetry lovers! This Wall Street Journal article, written by Joel Eastwood and Erik Hinton and published on June 6, promises to brighten your poetry lessons with some Broadway style. The article showcases the hip-hop/musical theater/American history mashup known as Hamilton, written and created byContinue reading “Use this ‘Hamilton’ article to teach six poetic devices”
Headline Poetry and Serendipity
It’s okay to go with the flow… or not Concrete Prayers Concrete prayers Repel, repel A doomed self-regard & remake common children into Hydrangea tides. When creating a headline poem, it’s okay and good to let the words find you. Another way to say it: don’t insist on finding the word you think you need.Continue reading “Headline Poetry and Serendipity”
The New York Times Announces Two New Writing Contests
Both ask students to record their lives in the year 2020 Last Thursday, I attended a webinar titled “Giving Students a Voice: Teaching with Learning Network Contests.” It was hosted by The New York Times’ Learning Network. Teachers from around the world gathered online to get the skinny on a total of ten student writingContinue reading “The New York Times Announces Two New Writing Contests”
Six Writing Prompts for AOW Assignments
Offer students more ways to respond If you’re a fan of Article of the Week (AOW) assignments and student choice, then this post is for you. Side note: If you’re unfamiliar with the AOW assignment, scroll to the bottom first for a quick explanation and here’s a link to my post about how I useContinue reading “Six Writing Prompts for AOW Assignments”
Unapologetic and Afrocentric: The Bluest Eye
Toni Morrison claims the center of the world This is a follow-up post to the original one I wrote on The Bluest Eye by the late Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison. I concluded that post discussing the benefits of second and multiple readings of texts in order to fully and more completely grasp their messages.Continue reading “Unapologetic and Afrocentric: The Bluest Eye”
A Mentor Text for Treasured Object Poems
“Poem to My Yellow Coat” by Lucille Clifton Last winter, I wrote a post about a fun, creative activity called Treasured Object poems. Click here for that link. In that post, I included three student-written poems that former students had written. One was about turquoise Converse shoes, another was about a piano, and another aContinue reading “A Mentor Text for Treasured Object Poems”
“Why Do We Read Such Depressing Stuff?!”
Especially in times like these??? My students have told me the following list of nonfiction books is depressing. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank Flesh and Blood So Cheap by Albert Marrin The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass 102 Minutes by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn Night by Elie WieselContinue reading ““Why Do We Read Such Depressing Stuff?!””
Distance learning idea: Two crowdsource history sites need your students’ help
Add a touch of PBL to distance learning Students thrive when what they do is REAL. And by real, I mean that their work actually has a purpose not just within the walls of the school building, but beyond those walls in the real world. When students know that real people are going to consumeContinue reading “Distance learning idea: Two crowdsource history sites need your students’ help”