Title – Box of Me
By – K Tharaldson
Primary Subject – Other
Grade Level – 6 – 8

On the first day of school in the fall, I come with a shoe box filled with items that are important in my life so that I can introduce myself to the classes I teach. After I tell them about myself, my first assignment is to have each student put together their own “Box of Me” to introduce themselves to the rest of the class. They have to have a minimum of five/maximum of eight items and the items have to fit in the box.

If they are skateboarders, they can use a miniature skateboard or a picture from a magazine or use two talents and draw a picture of the item. I have had students roll up a jersey for sports, bring in a dance slipper, and a flattened cover of a pizza box to share. You would be surprised what they can get in the box. I always caution them NOT to bring in anything valuable.

I take a picture of each student while he/she is talking and we use the picture later in the year in a Pride type bulletin board or for other projects.

Why I like it?

I love it because it is a great way to get students to know each other. It is a great way to get to know your students. I have done this lesson before, but I called it Me Box instead. I will definitely use this in my classroom the first week of school. It is also a great lesson to use in an advisory class.

http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/99/civilwar/index.html

Lesson Plan for eighth grade Social Studies class

Description of lesson:

The Civil War through a Child’s Eye lesson focuses on the use of historical fiction and primary sources to expand students’ perceptions of the Civil War era. Literature and photographic images reflect, communicate, and influence human perspectives of historical events. Specifically, the unit helps students to view the Civil War era through a child’s eye, rather than from an adult perspective.

Following an introduction to the Civil War using photographic, daguerreotype, and non-fiction sources, students read Paul Fleischman’s Bull Run in Readers Theater format. Next, students examine and interpret primary source images of Civil War era children.  Then, students reveal their understanding of a child’s perspective in a literary portrait. In sum, this lesson integrates reading, writing, and US history standards.

How would I use this lesson?

I actually just used this lesson plan in my eighth grade Social Studies class. I had the student view a power point of children of the Civil War, and I had them do Literary Portraits on one of the pictures from the power point. The literary portraits were exceptional. I was very impressed with this lesson and so was my master teacher. I used two class periods to do this lesson plan with my EC/Regular class, and I used one class period with the AG class. Students enjoyed this lesson, and it made the Civil War very relevant for them.

Students looked at the images of the children form the Civil War and then they created a first person account from the character in the picture. Most of the literary portraits I received were extremely creative and impressive.

We are all familiar with writing research papers. Some people may enjoy writing them while others may find it boring and irrelevant. I think we could keep the research paper in schools, but we should definitely incorporate alternative methods to writing research papers. We could teach both the traditional way and we could always be looking for new ways to allow students to write research papers. This article does a great job of explaining alternative ways to teach students to write research papers. It is important for teachers to learn new ways like this because we want to give our students opportunities to learn in different ways. In this article the author talks a lot about teaching through having students write a multigenre paper. This is an awesome way of breaking out of the traditional research paper, and it might work perfectly in the classroom. If it did not, the teacher could always go back to the traditional research paper. I would enjoy the multigenre paper more than I would enjoy the traditional research paper. I would use this in my classroom, and I think students would enjoy this method more, as well. I like how the multigenre paper would have several different forms of writing all in one paper, like the author describes them.

1. Isn’t it possible to keep the traditional research paper and use the multigenre paper in the classroom?

2. Do you think students today would enjoy writing multigenre papers rather then traditional research papers?

3. Do you think the author’s ideas of using alternative methods for teaching students to write about their research would be more relevant to their lives?

Summary:

“I” poems are an excellent way for students to learn how to establish their voice by writing in first-person. “I” poems are the perfect tool to help students learn how to write in the first-person. I have recently been working with seventh and eighth grade students, and they need all the help they can get when it comes to writing in the first-person. I think reading and writing go hand in hand. The “I” poem gives the students a chance to write about what they are reading, and they will be prompted to think more in depth by writing the “I” poems. This article did a great job of telling about “I” Poems and their functions in the classroom. I would use them in my classroom. I think they could be used in all four core classes, and I think they are a great tool to get students thinking deeper about what they are reading in school. The article tells us that “I” poems are used as a way for students to build background knowledge before reading a novel. From working with students during my internship, I would agree. I think that “I” Poems would keep students more engaged in the classroom and on the subject.

Thinking questions:

1. Are “I” Poems a good tool for teaching students how to write in the first-person?
2. Couldn’t “I Poems be used in all content areas?
3. Isn’t the use of “I” Poems an easy way to be interdisciplinary in the classroom?

 Jessica Caldwell

Name of Strategy: Think-Pair-Share

Source (Where did this come from?): Reading Quest.org

Link to the Strategy:

http://www.readingquest.org/strat/tps.html

According to Reading Quest this is how you would use think-Pair-Share in the classroom;

What Is Think-Pair-Share?
Think-Pair-Share is a cooperative discussion strategy developed by Frank Lyman and his colleagues in Maryland. It gets its name from the three stages of student action, with emphasis on what students are to be DOING at each of those stages.

How Does It Work?
1) Think. The teacher provokes students’ thinking with a question or prompt or observation. The students should take a few moments (probably not minutes) just to THINK about the question.

2) Pair. Using designated partners (such as with Clock Buddies), nearby neighbors, or a deskmate, students PAIR up to talk about the answer each came up with. They compare their mental or written notes and identify the answers they think are best, most convincing, or most unique.

3) Share. After students talk in pairs for a few moments (again, usually not minutes), the teacher calls for pairs to SHARE their thinking with the rest of the class. She can do this by going around in round-robin fashion, calling on each pair; or she can take answers as they are called out (or as hands are raised). Often, the teacher or a designated helper will record these responses on the board or on the overhead.

Explain what part of the standard course of study is addressed by this activity.

 1.02 Explore expressive materials that are read, heard, and/or viewed by:

1.02 Explore expressive materials that are read, heard, and/or viewed by:

• making connections between works, self and related topics.
• comparing and/or contrasting information.
• drawing inferences and/or conclusions.
• determining the main idea and/or significance of events.
• discussing print and non-print expressive works formally and informally.

Explain why you think this strategy will work. How does the strategy help your students learn?

I think this strategy will work because it creates a chance for students to discuss the content. It is also a good tool to use for accountability. We practiced this strategy when we went to Chapel Hill for CMLA, and I think it worked nicely. It was done a little differently. The Instructor posed a question to the whole group, and then we raised our hands when we had an answer. Then each person got a partner and discussed it with them and we went around the room partnering with different people. When you finished talking to one person you moved on to the next person who was raising their hand.

 Jessica Caldwell

Name of Strategy: 3 – 2 – 1

Source (Where did this come from?): Reading Quest Strategies Making Sense in Social Studies

Link to the Strategy:

http://www.readingquest.org/strat/321.html

Give a thorough description of the strategy and how it will be implemented. This should be a summary of the strategy according to the original source:

According to Reading Quest:

What Is a 3 – 2 – 1?
The idea is to give students a chance to summarize some key ideas, rethink them in order to focus on those that they are most intrigued by, and then pose a question that can reveal where their understanding is still uncertain. Often, teachers use this strategy in place of the usual worksheet questions on a chapter reading, and when students come to class the next day, you’re able to use their responses to construct an organized outline, to plot on a Venn diagram, to identify sequence, or isolate cause-and-effect. The students are into it because the discussion is based on the ideas that they found, that they addressed, that they brought to class.

How Does It Work?
Students fill out a 3-2-1 chart with something like this:

3 Things You Found Out
2 Interesting Things
1 Question You Still Have

Now, that’s just the suggested version. Depending upon what you’re teaching, you can modify the 3-2-1 anyway you want. For instance, if you’ve just been studying the transition from feudalism to the rise of nation-states, you might have students write down 3 differences between feudalism and nation-states, 2 similarities, and 1 question they still have.

Explain what part of the standard course of study is addressed by this activity.

1.03 Interact appropriately in group settings by:

• listening attentively.
• showing empathy.
• contributing relevant comments connecting personal experiences to content.
• monitoring own understanding of the discussion and seeking clarification as needed.

Explain why you think this strategy will work. How does the strategy help your students learn?

I like this strategy because I am very chaotic and it is a good organization tool. This will be a good way for me to get all of my students work in a neat fashion, which will help with my lack of organization skills. I also love to use Venn diagrams and this is a good way to organize that. We did something similar to this in Dr. Thornton’s class and it helped me to stay on task because I knew I had to be accountable for these three things. I think it will keep my students on their toes in a way that won’t overwhelm them.

Name of Strategy: “I” Poem

Source (Where did this come from?): Trathen’s Reading Resources

I went to Reading Resources—Trathen, then I clicked on the teaching grammar link, and then I clicked on Parts of Speech Mini Lesson

Link to the Strategy:

http://www.ltl.appstate.edu/reading_resources/Parts_of_Speech_Mini_Lesson.htm

Give a thorough description of the strategy and how it will be implemented. This should be a summary of the strategy according to the original source:

This is a strategy that can be used in order to present a part of speech to students. Writing this poem will help to get students investigating the part of speech the teacher is trying to teach.

Here is the example given on the website:

Explain what part of the standard course of study is addressed by this activity.

Competency Goal 6 of the 7^th grade English Language Arts Curriculum: The learner will apply conventions of grammar and language usage.

• Objective 6.01 Applying the parts of speech to clarify language usage.

Explain why you think this strategy will work. How does the strategy help your students learn?

I think that this strategy would be very helpful to me as well as my students. I think that grammar can be tricky and it is easy to forget certain things in grammar. I think that part of the reason it is so easy to forget rules in grammar, such a part of speech, is that it can be boring. Grammar is typically presented in a formal, traditional, and boring way. I think that using this poem is a new and interesting way of teaching a particular part of grammar. I would definitely use this in my class room. Before reading this strategy I had never heard of the “I poem.” I think it is a very engaging way teachers can teach students different parts of speech.

Narrative writing for multilevel learners

Jessica Caldwell

Name of Strategy: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: From Image to Detailed Narrative pre reading and post reading strategy

Source (Where did this come from?):

Traci Gardner
Blacksburg, Virginia

International Reading Association: Copyright 2002–2009, IRA/NCTE. All rights reserved.

Link to the Strategy:  This is the link to the website: http://www.readwritethink.org/ This is the link to the strategy: http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=116

Give a thorough description of the strategy and how it will be implemented. This should be a summary of the strategy according to the original source:

According to this strategy, the old cliché “A picture is worth a thousand words” is put to the test in this lesson. The teacher will distribute or show a picture that tells a story and then encourage students to brainstorm words and ideas about the image before writing a story that tells background on the image or extends details on what has happened.

Explain what part of the standard course of study is addressed by this activity.

6^th grade Competency Goal 1The learner will use language to express individual perspectives drawn from personal or related experience.

1.01 Narrate an expressive account (e.g., fictional or autobiographical) which:

• uses a coherent organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, and context.
• tells a story or establishes the significance of an event or events.
• uses remembered feelings and specific details.
• uses a range of appropriate strategies (e.g., dialogue, suspense, movement, gestures, expressions).

7^th grade Competency Goal 1The learner will use language to express individual perspectives in response to personal, social, cultural, and historical issues.   1.01 Narrate an expressive account which:

• creates a coherent organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, and context.
• orients the reader/listener to the scene, the people, and the events.
• engages the reader/listener by establishing a context and creating a point of view.
• establishes the significance of events

8^th grade Competency Goal 1The learner will use language to express individual perspectives through analysis of personal, social, cultural, and historical issues.   1.01 Narrate a personal account which:

• creates a coherent, organizing structure appropriate to purpose, audience, and context.
• establishes a point of view and sharpens focus.
• uses remembered feelings.
• selects details that best illuminate the topic.
• connects events to self/society.

Students will

• demonstrate knowledge of the characteristics of narratives (e.g., sequence, storytelling).
• explore connections between images and words.
• use detailed vocabulary to write their text.

NCTE/IRA Standards

3 - Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

6 - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.

12 - Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Explain why you think this strategy will work. How does the strategy help your students learn?

I think this lesson plan is perfect for multilevel learners. It would be especially helpful to teachers who had English language learners in the classroom. Students can do this lesson at their own pace, and in their own language if necessary. This would be both a pre reading and post reading activity. It would be a pre reading activity because the students would view the picture before they started writing and reading their narratives. Then the actual writing of their narratives would be considered the post reading strategy. The pictures will be used to inspire students to write their narratives. And according to the author of the lesson, it will expand student’s knowledge and understanding of the world. I definitely think this lesson is a good idea. I think that the use of a picture as a text is a good idea and it will break up the monotony of using actual writing as text.

Name of Site: You Tube and Teacher Tube also had this video

Link to Resources:

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvp-kZeoWW0]

Source (Author–if available):

Identify the teaching topic of the materials–be specific. Identify the population of the students (grade, course):

I chose this video to be used in 6^th- 8^th grade advisory groups

Give a brief description of how the materials would be used:

I would show this video to my advisory group, and then I would ask them to discuss the video and their reactions to it.

Explain why you would use this material with your students. How will the material help your students learn the topic?

After my advisees discussed the video, I would have them journal about it. I would give students questions such as; do you know someone that has been effected  by something like this, have you aver posted a picture and wished you could take it back, ect. I would have them talk about what they wrote about and discuss the possible problems with posting certain pictures. This is a relevant topic because adolescents are using things such as Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. They are posting pictures on these sites and they need to be aware of the dangers and implications of posting pictures that are risky.