Faulkner's Fast Five

Creating Classroom Success Stories

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Group Membership
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • Success Stories

End-of-Year Reflection: Top Five Classroom Success Stories of 2018

It seems to me that 2018 has been quite the long year… but then again it does feel like I was just rounding the corner of 2018 not too long ago, and here we are already at 2019.  One of the most important things we can do as teachers is reflect, and so that’s why I love this annual blog post.  It’s been my new year tradition for the past several years (2015, 2016, 2017), and choosing only five moments is always so hard, but here goes: My top five classroom success stories of 2018! This year in review…

1) Read-o-Lution: Reading is the hallmark – the cornerstone – of any English classroom, but let’s face it: In today’s time, even reading can sometimes take a backseat to everything else we cover. And with our teens walking around with tiny TVs in their hands at all times streaming the latest Netflix Original or watching the newest Youtube sensation, there isn’t much reading going on.  I started the second semester (Jan 2018) with a focus on reading and having my juniors make a reading resolution or “read-o-lution” after studying an article about the importance of reading. If you are a Common Core state, you can use the reading passage from Appendix A to discuss the importance and value of reading. If not or if you just want something ready-to-go for the new year, I have this super simple informational hot topics lesson on how Reading Is Good For Your Brain. Throughout the year, I implemented my Article of the Week program, too (another blog post to come on that this year but you can get the materials for it here now).  We also read more full-length short fiction texts in class, and my honors students read an out-of-class novel for book clubs.  (See more about my book clubs here).  I also set up a mini classroom library, and students checked out books all year long that way.  I left their poster up the rest of the semester, and many students truly did make efforts to take reading more seriously and achieve their reading resolution.

2) Podcasts:  I love introducing students to something new, and surprisingly Podcasts were actually kinda new to my students. They had, of course, heard of them, but they never really listened to them. Again… why would they when they could just watch something on the tube?  I actually used Podcasts two ways this year. First, with my yearbook staff, we listened to a Podcast crime series when we finished our book.  Up and Vanished (Season 1 carefully edited) was the perfect way to get my staff engaged. They completed a casebook to keep track of their listening and crime solving. That casebook is free in my TeachersPayTeachers store.  Second, in my English class, we did some spooky Podcasts from Lore during Halloween, and students took notes on a podcast worksheet I created.  (Get those here.)  Then, they wrote their own spooky stories.  My students wrote some really amazing stories: We had many laughs and many spooky cold chills, too! Readers of my email newsletter Teaching Tidbits with Julie Faulkner got that activity for free back in October. Be sure to sign up for that email at the bottom of the page, so you don’t miss anymore goodies. You can also see some of my Podcast suggestions via this link over to my Facebook page at Julie’s Classroom Stories.

3) Victorian Tea Party: Another focus I had this past year was on careers.  Whether students were going straight to a career or college after senior year, I still wanted them to be focused on their futures in terms of where will they work when it’s all said and done. I’ve found that this year especially, my students are so uncertain about what they want to do, and they don’t even really have any idea what’s out there.  I’m going to be adding a few more career-based lessons in the new year to possibly help students get a better idea of what their options are and what might be a good fit for them. But this project was an interesting way for students to really think about who they are as a person and what they’d like to become — just like our gal pal Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion/My Fair Lady.  Hats are a huge symbol in this text, and I wanted students to not only understand and recognize that symbol and it’s role in the characterization, but I also wanted them to make text-to-self connections as well.  I loved seeing how their hats turned out, and it was a fun way to make a class party text-based.  See this activity and all the instructions here in my TpT store.

4) Sieve and the Sand Experiment: I’ve lost count how many times I’ve taught Fahrenheit 451 over the years, but this year I did something new that I’d never done before: a science experiment.  No we didn’t burn anything… though it alarms me how many people want to burn books as part of teaching this unit. (Insert “I dunno” emoji here.)  This was actually an experiment that brought the text to life and helped students get hands-on with Bradbury’s choices.  I hid a few “surprises” in the sand for students to find, but ultimately, my goal of them being able to use the experiment as a jumping off point for discussion during book club meeting was super successful. I was really proud of how they went back to the text to see what Bradbury said and truly analyzed Montag’s memory.  Get my 451 unit here.

5) Character Stockings: About once a year I can get it together to make a huge reading display outside my classroom door.  I wish I could do it more often, but quality over quantity, right?  This year, we were inspired by Fahrenheit 451 to design a hearth and decorate it for Christmas.  I drew the outline for the hearth and printed up the stockings using clip art.  Several of my students drew the fire and bricks and put on the finishing touches with paint. Each student then chose one character from the novel and designed a stocking for that character using text-based details.  I LOVE the way it turned out!! I’m so proud of it, I’ll probably be “one of those people” who leave their Christmas decorations up year-round. LOL!

As you can probably see, this year was about all about a focus on reading — fiction and nonfiction. I wanted students to see the value in reading and truly immerse themselves in it. Making text-to-text connections, text-to-world connections, and text-to-self connections really taught students to dig in and read closely. I think the reading focus paid off: Just seeing students doing more guided reading in class and independent reading out was fulfillment enough, but we also saw major improvements in ACT reading scores with students making gains of 5-6 points on the reading section and some students scoring 30+. That sounds like a great year to me! Share your best moments of 2018 below, and here’s to having your own classroom success stories in 2019!

Sign up for my monthly newsletter – “Teaching Tidbits” – that is delivered directly to your email inbox each month.  Each month you’ll get announcements, tips for teaching, updates on new and revised resources, and, of course, an email-only exclusive FREEBIE!

Filed Under: ACT prep, Book Clubs for Secondary Classrooms, books, Christmas, Christmas lessons, classroom decor, classroom parties, classroom success stories, classroom teaching strategy, close reading, holiday lessons for high school, informational text articles, Lesson Ideas, Reading Strategies, real world connection, secondary classrooms, secondary ELA, secondary English Teachers, teacher ideas, teaching strategies, teaching tips Leave a Comment

Host a Gatsby Party: End of Year Literary-Themed, Text-Based Classroom Parties

It’s that time of year – the end of the year. And that means classroom parties.  My students always ask for a party of some sort, so several years ago I decided I would allow them to have a party – on one condition – it must be literature based.  We always study The Great Gatsby at the end of the semester, and, of course, it doesn’t get much better than that to inspire a party.  If you are thinking about doing the same, here are a couple of ideas for planning your Gatsby party! (These tips can be easily applied to hosting a literature-based party for any text, and I’ve even provided a few more stories at the bottom that might work if Gatsby’s not on your reading list.)

 1) Reading/Watching the Full Text: Because the purpose of the party is to make the literature come alive and have students step right into the pages of the book, it is crucial that they understand the mood and time period of the story.  I don’t usually have time on a block schedule to have students read Gatsby, but we do watch the film to experience it.  I use various resources from my movie guide throughout the film to make watching more rigorous.
The Great Gatsby: Movie Viewing Guide, Questions, Quiz, Su
 
2) Close Reading the Party Passage: In Gatsby, we read a section of Chapter 3 to the quote “Good night, old sport. . . . good night.”  The party scene here is very descriptive, so it’s excellent for having students go through and chart what the characters experience.  We make a list of what colors are mentioned, food, music, drink, even décor.  I also use this time to discuss figurative language used, other literary elements of the passage, and what purpose the party serves to the text as a whole. You can do the close reading before the end of the text or after you have finished it completely. I especially like doing the close reading from the novel with the movie because it exposes students to the text.
 
3) Planning: Once have students have noted what the text itself says, we then go back and make a new column for how we can adapt that to our classroom. With Gatsby specifically, we can’t bring any bubbly to school, so we discuss options for what to bring.  The same is true for the food. We let the text inspire what we can bring to class, so students must get creative. For example, in Gatsby, it mentions “glistening hors d’oevre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pasty pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold.” So students bring finger foods and turkey sandwiches, for example.
4) Hosting: I bring a tablecloth and other various glamorous decorations to enhance the atmosphere.  Of course, I play 20’s jazz music and music from the “new” Gatsby movie soundtrack.  I also want students to “dress” the part as closely as we can do a Gatsby party, but with some obvious boundaries. I do teach in a rural school, so I have to keep that in mind when considering what students have access to.  They are welcome to “create” some Gatsby inspired outfits to wear, but the text does give some specific examples: yellow dresses, blue and white suits, and bright primary colors. I encourage students to at least wear a nice top that fits into one of those categories.
 5) Managing:  I do have a rule that you must bring something to go through the food line.  Most times we have plenty, but the very few times that I have someone not bring something, I do let them go through at the end.  Again, I do teach in a rural area, but during the planning process, we plan things that are doable for everyone.  For example, we do need napkins, and sometimes people will even go in together to bring a bigger item.  Another thing I do on party day is schedule a project to be due. We are on a block schedule, so 90 minutes is a long time for students to be partying.  At the end of Gatsby, my students are required to do an American Dream project, so they present those the first half of the class, and then we eat the second half. See how my American Dream project turned out here!

 

 

 

Get my lesson plan and guide for FREE! Click the thumb below for an instant download.
Other notable parties in literature:
-Bilbo Baggins’s Eleventy First Birthday Party from The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien
-The tea party in Pygmalion (When I do this one, I have students make hats that symbolize who they are to wear to the party.)
-The ball in Romeo and Juliet
-The Victor’s Tour Party in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
-A Jane Austen ball

-The Mad Hatter’s tea party in Alice in the Wonderland

-Ichabod Crane is a hungry fellow in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

If the novel or story you are studying doesn’t have a full-blown party scene, as an alternative you could have students trace the food mentioned in the book and use that as inspiration.  For example, the dauntless cake in Divergent.  Another approach would be if the text you are reading has a party scene but details are lacking (as in some mentioned above), have students research the time period and host the party based on those findings.

Eat up!

Filed Under: classroom parties, end of year lesson ideas, Uncategorized 8 Comments

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Medium
  • Pinterest

Categories

Latest on Pinterest

  • Lord of the Flies Unit Plan
  • Teaching Poetry BUNDLE, Analysis and Assessment, Printable and Digital Get set to teach poetry with this bundle of creative and rigorous tools for teaching, analyzing, and assessing poetry. I pull out the games for bell ringers, fillers, or brain breaks, and the worksheets and task cards are perfect for analyzing a paired poem when I'm teaching a larger unit!
  • Lord of the Flies Unit Plan
  • Teaching Poetry BUNDLE, Analysis and Assessment, Printable and Digital Get set to teach poetry with this bundle of creative and rigorous tools for teaching, analyzing, and assessing poetry. I pull out the games for bell ringers, fillers, or brain breaks, and the worksheets and task cards are perfect for analyzing a paired poem when I'm teaching a larger unit!
  • Movie Analysis Worksheets, Printable and Digital, Distance Learning These 10, no-prep movie analysis and comprehension worksheets in printable and digital format are an excellent modern and engaging activity to have students take ownership of their learning and dig deeper and closely read a film as a text. Make the most out of your movie-viewing experience with these standards-based options for analysis and accountability. end of year teaching ideas, education, lesson plans, last days of school
  • Teaching Poetry BUNDLE, Analysis and Assessment, Printable and Digital Get set to teach poetry with this bundle of creative and rigorous tools for teaching, analyzing, and assessing poetry. I pull out the games for bell ringers, fillers, or brain breaks, and the worksheets and task cards are perfect for analyzing a paired poem when I'm teaching a larger unit!
Follow Me on Pinterest

LATEST ON FACEBOOK

This message is only visible to admins.
Problem displaying Facebook posts. Backup cache in use.
Click to show error
Error: You cannot access the app till you log in to www.facebook.com and follow the instructions given. Type: OAuthException
Julie's Classroom Stories

3 months ago

Julie's Classroom Stories
NEW on the Blog:: How to host successful classroom discussions in your middle and high school English classrooms!! juliefaulknersblog.com/how-to-host-successful-classroom-discussions/ ⁠#teachingenglish #juliesclassroomstories #classroomsuccessstories #iteachenglish #highschoolenglishteacher #teachinghighschool #highschoolteacher ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Julie's Classroom Stories

3 months ago

Julie's Classroom Stories
Right?!? But at least it’s Friday. #tgif #fridayfunny ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Julie's Classroom Stories

3 months ago

Julie's Classroom Stories
Interested in a research-based vocabulary review game? My students love playing the fly-swatter game, so when I ran across this study, I was pretty intrigued. digilib.iain-palangkaraya.ac.id/2105/1/Shella%20Aprilia%201501121028.pdf ... See MoreSee Less

digilib.iain-palangkaraya.ac.id

digilib.iain-palangkaraya.ac.id

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Julie's Classroom Stories

3 months ago

Julie's Classroom Stories
Hope you've had a great Valentine's Day! ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Julie's Classroom Stories updated their profile picture.

3 months ago

Julie's Classroom Stories
Julie's Classroom Stories ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Latest on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 · Website Design By Jumping Jax Designs

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Group Membership
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • Success Stories