Right after the graduation exam, my students did a very good job with literature circles for our novel studies. Since they returned from Spring Break, I was expecting the same level of participation, but my classes came down with a serious case of "spring fever." Their attitudes changed drastically, and their participation in discussion groups and wikispace discussions were not acceptable to me. I've had to change the pace a bit and just let my students create. For our final project of the…

Continue

This year I am letting my Geometry classes take a different approach to the unit on Transformations.  The assignment consisted of the followning:

• Read the chapter on Transformations and determine the meaning of "Refections/Translations/Rotations/Symmetry/Tessellations/Dilations"
• Prepare a poster or powerpoint giving an example of each Tranformation
• Present to class (explain why your example represents the term)

This assignment represents the…

Continue

We read fiction a lot in the classroom. It increases student interest in reading (if it's something relative to their lives), and they want to know what HAPPENS. This nine weeks, after finishing The Outsiders, I handed my students a copy of the nonfiction work, Teenagers Preparing for the Real World. They are enjoying it because he is a multimillionaire giving them good, common sense advice on how to be a successful person. His focus is not on the financial success, but on a balance of… Continue

All of my English classes over the course of the year complete a RAFT Model, do jigsaw reading projects, exit slips, anticipation guides, story impressions, 3-2-1 models, rersponse journals, use graphic organizers and do Think-Pair-Share activities. The students enjoyt the RAFT Models (we do book jackets) because they get to be creative and artistic. My students also enjoy jigsaw reading. It is a great way to get through a short book quickly and the students really respond to it. Their…

Continue

Alg 1:For their before activity my students wrote a brief paragraph on what they believed Quadratics were.  Then for the during they got into small groups and read through ch 10, focusing on key terms and processes.  Next they had to discuss what they found to be important information.  For their after, they made a poster containing all the important information on quadratic that they had gathered; these are displayed in the hall.   My Alg 2 with Trig class did the same activity just a… Continue

As my AP English Literature students begin our unit on short fiction, I start off BEFORE the reading of the first story ("How I Met My Husband") with an anticipation guide that includes characteristics of fiction and items pertaining to the story itself. The students complete the guide, then we talk about fiction/non-fiction. DURING the reading, we discuss literary and fictional elements as they appear. AFTER the reading of the story, the students complete the "after" section of the… Continue

This month my Alg 1 classes started by writing what they believed a Quadratic Equation was, how to solve it, etc.  Then they broke into groups and read through ch 10 on Quadratics.  Writing down what they as a group found, discussed and determine what important information on quadratic equations.  Lastely, they discussed their findings as a class and hung their work in the hall way.  My Alg 2 with trig classes also did this activity but on inverses, solving radical equations, and function… Continue

One day a week, starting last week, my students began utilizing wikispaces for discussing topics of interest as related to their assigned novel. They are able to collaborate with students from other classes who are reading the same book. Check out the following sites:

 

http://lettersmymotherneverread.wikispaces.com…

Continue

In AP English Lit, we are reading Fences by August Wilson. Before the reading, the students complete a storyimpression using terms key to the understanding of the setting of the play. During the reading, I select a quote as a bellringer each day, and we predict who said it and the context of the quote. Then we discuss it again when we see it in our reading that day.  After we finish reading the play, the students create their own creative product based on the theme of a fence. I play a… Continue

Now that the graduation exam is over, my reading classes are participating in Literature Circles. My students were asked to sign up for one of the following novels: Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush by Virginia Hamilton, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys, or Letters My Mother Never Read by Jerri Sueck.

 

Each day, my students are assigned chapters to read along with Before, During, and After reading activities to guide their reading & discussions. I…

Continue