I’m so glad I didn’t give up on what is now one of my favorite activities Since I began teaching seven years ago, I’ve learned that sometimes it may be necessary to try a new technique, a new curriculum unit, or simply a new idea more than once in order to fairly assess its effectiveness.Continue reading “Writer’s Workshop for Middle School”
Tag Archives: Education
I’m still using and really, really liking Planbook
Here’s my follow-up post about my online lesson planning I’m still using Planbook! Every day, I can enter my lesson plans for the next day, the next week, the next month, and even the next year. If I like how I did something, I just copy it into the future and voila! it’s done. (ClickContinue reading “I’m still using and really, really liking Planbook”
NaNoWriMo, my students, and my historical nonfiction project thingy
You gotta start somewhere. I’m finally doing NaNoWriMo with my students. Well, sort of. All during November, about fifteen students ranging from fifth- through eighth-grade arrive in my room after school and write for forty-five minutes. I only know a little about what they’re writing. That’s because I’m busy working, too, on my ownContinue reading “NaNoWriMo, my students, and my historical nonfiction project thingy”
My one and only complaint with the Missouri Learning Standards
They just seem a little vague. Last week, one of my students came across the term “hyperbole” on a vocabulary assignment. “What does hyperbole mean?” he asked. Wow, I thought. Five years ago, my students knew that term. Why? Because I taught it to them, along with other common figurative language techniques. Why? Because they wereContinue reading “My one and only complaint with the Missouri Learning Standards”
A Poetry Project that Draws Connections Between the Fires at Triangle Waist Co. and World Trade Center
The Essential Questions: How can history inform public policy? How do people prevent past tragedies from reoccurring? Based on those essential questions (developed with help from our school’s art teacher, Joan Edgmon, by the way), I’m sure that some may think I’ve forgotten that I teach Language Arts. They may even wonder if I’m actuallyContinue reading “A Poetry Project that Draws Connections Between the Fires at Triangle Waist Co. and World Trade Center”
His Google Doc will “disappear”
There’s a long list of middle school distractions to get through before Eric’s story will be finished. Don’t buy a house in Oklahoma. That was the first line of an essay resting on the screen of a laptop checked out to Eric, a seventh-grader in my middle school language arts classes. It stopped me inContinue reading “His Google Doc will “disappear””
When sixth-graders are asked to “Confirm Their Humanity”
Are there really robots out there writing poetry? It seemed like a crazy request last week when my students were uploading their poems to a publisher of youth poetry. After writing poems about their favorite places… in a comfy chair in their bedroom, on a sturdy branch in an oak tree in their backyard,Continue reading “When sixth-graders are asked to “Confirm Their Humanity””
The One-Word Summary
It’s one of the most specific and structured assignments my students do. One of my favorite activities to do in my language arts classes is to assign one-word summaries. These quick assignments are an easy way to encourage kids to think deeply about a text, including its theme or gist. I assign one-word summaries forContinue reading “The One-Word Summary”
Contest #12: Fleet Reserve Association’s Americanism Essay Contest
Here’s a new contest you may want to check out. A former student told me about this contest, which I don’t have any experience with. It’s one I’m totally new to, but thought I would add it to my blog’s contest list anyway. It might be something I can invite or encourage a few studentsContinue reading “Contest #12: Fleet Reserve Association’s Americanism Essay Contest”
Our Field Trip to a Local 9/11 Memorial
Plus: a few things my students didn’t know about 9/11 On Wednesday, Sept. 12, I took my eighth-grade students to a local college to view the 9/11 memorial there. I have wanted to do this for a couple of years and finally, this year the stars aligned: my lesson planning fell into place, a fewContinue reading “Our Field Trip to a Local 9/11 Memorial”