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How To Select and Use Paired Texts for Teaching Reading

How To Select and Use Paired Texts for Teaching Reading

In my previous post on the Benefits of Using Paired Texts to Teach Reading, I discuss the advantages of this brain-based teaching method. It’s no secret that offering ways for students to making connections — text to text, text to self, and text to world — is an opportunity to exercise higher order thinking skills. Teaching shouldn’t happen in a vacuum, even though sometimes it does as we stress to move units along the conveyor belt, more acceptably known as pacing guides. Often and unfortunately, we teach one skill and move quickly onto the next. Confession: I don’t teach that way. Everything must build and connect from unit to unit, text to text, and skill to skill. That’s why paring texts is so important, and in this final post in the series, I want to share the practical, actionable ways that I select and use paired texts for teaching reading.

1) Select texts that have related themes.

Most standards now require something to the effect of, “Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.” In fact, in the CCSS, theme is mentioned in the second anchor standard for reading: “Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development.” There is no denying that teaching theme is an important part of teaching reading. Over the years, I’ve noticed that when teaching theme with one text, students do slowly grasp the concept. But, when I add that next layer of a paired text and ask them to consider what universal message the texts share, that’s when the light bulbs ding on. Since texts can have multiple themes, you’ll want to pick the one that is most overarching and/or universal — And the one that you really want students to focus on for the duration of the unit and possibly the one they will focus on for their final culminating task.

In my Lord of the Flies unit, for example, we read Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “We Wear the Mask,” and I ask students to synthesis between the novel and play how the concept of hiding behind a mask emerges as a theme.

How To Select and Use Paired Texts for Teaching Reading, Lord of the Flies Unit

2) Select paired texts that provide authentic and relevant background information.

When I start a unit that requires a bit of background information for students to fully understand the setting, conflict, etc., I like to provide that information. Rather than “read” a Power Point lecture to them, I bring in an article or excerpt from a history book that provides the content they need — only they are doing the work extracting that information instead of me just reading it to them. Sometimes, I can’t always find one text that does the job, so I’ll write up a faux article using several sources. If you have accelerated students, that would be an excellent task for them to do.

For example, when we read Their Eyes Were Watching God, I want students to understand the historical context of the Muck Bowl, so they can fully appreciate the conflict Tea Cake and Janie experience. Here I used several sources to craft this faux textbook excerpt. On the worksheet, I ask students questions about the historical content itself, and then they apply that information to the novel.

How To Select and Use Paired Text for Teaching Reading

Fire is such an important element in the novel Fahrenheit 451, so I don’t want students to miss its value as a literary element; thus, that understanding is further enhanced by gaining scientific knowledge about how fire works. From the first page, we track fire as a motif throughout the novel, and then near the end, I bring in a scientific article that explains how fire works. By then, they have a full picture and lots of textual evidence to make connections.

How To Select and Use Paired Texts for Teaching Reading

3) Select paired texts that represent another point of view or voice.

One of the benefits I mentioned the first post in this series of using paired texts for teaching reading was that pairing texts allows for diversity. If your curriculum calls for authors who are too close in ethnicity, gender, etc., pairing a text can open the door for more diversity. It also allows students to see themselves and see topics from different points of view.

In my Trifles unit, I pause to read Paul Laurence Dunbar’s “Sympathy.” Not only does this poem connect based on theme, but it relates the experience of being trapped from a Black man’s point of view — totally different from the white female author’s voice in the story. We can discuss how anyone can feel trapped and for so many different reasons. This type of paring really does open students’ eyes and free up higher levels of learning.

How To Select and Use Paired Texts for Teaching Reading

4) Select texts with intertextuality.

Intertextuality might be an unfamiliar word, but it is a very common practice in the literary world. There is certainly “nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The term was first coined by the Bulgarian-French philosopher and literary critic, Julia Kristeva in 1966. According to Kristeva, when readers read a new text, they are always influenced by other texts, which they have read earlier. When a writer borrows from other texts while writing his/her own, he/she attaches layers of meanings to his/her work as well. When that work is read under the light of the others, it gives it a new meaning and interpretation.

Thus, intertextuality is the relationship between texts, especially literary ones. In fact, it can be argued that every text is a product of intertextuality. It’s that feeling of Deja vu: You’ve read this somewhere before. Well, you likely have. Essentially, intertextuality is the retelling of an old story or the rewriting of popular stories in a different set of contexts. It is not a remake, though, as in the instance of one of the Hunger Games books being made into a movie or the various remaking of every Disney movie ever from cartoon people to real people. It’s also not allusions to other texts, either, as in the way Collins infuses elements from Fahrenheit 451 or Greek Mythology in The Hunger Games. However, the entire concept and plot of The Hunger Games is a modern retelling of Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery — that’s intertextuality. Another example of intertextuality is between Miller’s The Crucible and Jodi Picoult’s Salem Falls: modern setting, same plot, conflict, and themes. More examples include:

  • Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby retold in Sparks’s Dear John
  • Shaw’s Pygmalion created into My Fair Lady and again into the movie Miss Congeniality
  • Shakespeare’s Hamlet rewritten into The Lion King
  • Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet retold in the Twilight Series
  • Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus 
  • Anderson’s The Snow Queen refashioned into the beloved Frozen

Because you must experience both texts from beginning to end to fully grasp and evaluate the intertextuality, it can take some planning in how to pair these types of texts in the classroom. If it’s a movie remake, that’s the perfect way to close the unit. Ask students to make a Venn diagram to compare/contrast the differences or have them create a mirrored set of plot charts. I’ve also shared the modern versions as part of my First Chapter Friday readings and had students check out the paired text. You could also do it for out of class reading for advanced students or as summer reading, as well.

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5) Select paired texts to advance a character study.

The characters are why we read: we fall in love with them, we love to hate them, we want them to survive, we share in their triumphs, we feel their joy and sadness. Selecting paired texts to teach characterization is an excellent way to enrich the reading experience. You can have students compare how the two main characters handled situations different and why. You can have students study the way the author chose to develop them: point of view, descriptions, voice, and more. Sometimes you can compare characters in different texts from the same author or characters from two entirely different texts. It depends on your purpose.

How To Select and Use Paired Texts for Teaching Reading

In my A Rose for Emily unit, I bring in a nonfiction article about a woman who couldn’t let go of her dead family member either and a poem from Emily Dickinson wherein the speaker wishes to be alone. Here, I’m making the story relevant and extending our study on characterization: What motives do they share for this behavior and why? Why do they choose isolation? This technique opens up a whole new world of analysis.

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A post shared by Julie – English Teacher (@juliesclassroomstories)

It’s important to conduct a close reading of each text individually first before comparing texts or integrating the information from the layer. Teach the process; teach students how to compare/contrast and explain why. We want students to be successful and really experience the higher order thinking that studying paired texts can offer, so we have to be prepared to teach those skills explicitly first. This means it could actually take a week or more to walk students through close reading and annotating each text individually, especially if it is going to be part of an in-class unit. Check out my Textual Analysis Worksheets if you don’t teach these texts I shared. You’ll find tools for comparing your favorite text pairs.

How To Select and Use Paired Texts for Teaching Reading

Aside from all the standards that are covered when you begin adding layers and pairing texts to teach reading, imagine the doors that you’ll be opening up for students — doors (in the form of novels, articles, movies, poems, etc.) that they may have never “walked through” before. As English teachers we love reading and know it’s value; pairing texts to teach reading is just a sneaky way to share that love ♥ Speaking of sharing — please drop your favorite paired texts for teaching reading in the comments below!

Faulkner's Fast Five Blog

Love this content? Join a group!  There are already tons of ideas, freebies, and fabulous teachers in my new groups, and joining is simple.  Just click over to the following links, answer a few questions, and voila! Thanks again for following along my classroom stories and small-business journey. I really do hope you to see you over in my new “backyards” where we can chat and share all things English and Yearbook.

Written by: Julie Faulkner, 2020

Filed Under: close reading, Creative English Lessons for Teens, Middle and High School English Lessons, Reading Strategies, secondary English Teachers Leave a Comment

End-of-Year Reflection: Top Five Classroom Success Stories of 2019

Teaching Reflections for 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, 2018), and choosing only five memorable teaching moments is always so hard, but here goes: My top five classroom success stories of 2019!

This year in review…

Teaching Gatsby for the first time in forever and writing the unit plan for it.  A little bit Disney Frozen on the brain here, but it works.   In the past, I had taught The Great Gatsby mainly in parts or just as a movie-viewing experience.  So this time around when I was able to teach the novel as a whole to my group of junior honors, I was very excited to unpack everything it has to offer.  Most students love the idea of the 1920s and the mystery of Gatsby, so I just played off of that enthusiasm. I started the unit with problem-solving questions and station rotations that introduced the time period and the novel.  Once we began reading, I loved having students track the colors, do guided close reading exercises, and analyze the characters. We closed with a “My American Dream” project, and it was really incredible to see what students aspire to become.  I was very pleased with the way the unit turned out. Check out my complete unit, my movie-viewing guide, and my escape game here. 

Teaching The Great Gatsby

Island challenges for Lord of the Flies.  I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun teaching The Lord of the Flies was after I decided to create the challenges. I had wanted to do something like this for a while with Flies, but never got up my nerve.  Finally, I just dove in and did it. I am SO glad I did.  Read more about all the challenges on this post.  Get my entire unit plan here. 

Teaching The Lord of the Flies

Teaching The Lord of the Flies

Teaching The Lord of the Flies

Vacation Bible School. It seems like VBS makes my greatest hits list every year, and that is fine with me. I enjoy the themes, the decorating, projects, crafts, and energy created by a week of studying the Word with kids.  This year’s theme was The Incredible RACE. We traveled all around the world learning about different cultures and God’s love for us.  We decorated our hallways like an airport and our classrooms like the inside of an airplane and the country we traveled to each night.  What an awesome trip!

Teaching Vacation Bible School

Teaching Vacation Bible School

First Chapter Fridays.  As soon as I saw this idea from my friend Lauralee over at The Language Arts Classroom, I knew I had to work it in somehow.  Each Friday, I would start class with one chapter, or a piece of a chapter, from a book that I thought my students would be interested in. I related the books to holidays as well.  See all the books I shared over on my Instagram, and I also took it up a notch by including pictures of our weekly destinations because my classroom library theme is “Books are an Adventure.”  See the video of me explaining my weekly process here, my classroom library set up here, and get my classroom library materials free here. 

Building a Classroom Library

Christmas Nativity bible escape games with the younger students.  If you’ve been reading my blog for very long, you know how much I love escape games for the classroom.  I create them every chance I get, and my high school students love them. This year, I was working with the PreK-4th grade students on Wednesday nights at church, and we were planning to study Paul’s escape from prison.  I was in charge of the activity rotation, so of course, I thought – escape game! Since it was December, it only made perfect sense to do an escape game for the Christmas Nativity story. I ended up creating two games: one for the PreK-K level and one for the 1st-4th grade level. It was completely worth it.  I always enjoy it when my high school students are playing, but I can’t even tell you how much fun it was playing the break out games with my “littles.” None of them had ever played one before, but they figured it out quickly and ran with it.  Grab these two games here. 

Classroom Escape Games, Preschool, Nativity

I would love to hear about your greatest teaching moments and classroom success stories this year. Share below!

Love this content? Join a group!  There are already tons of ideas, freebies, and fabulous teachers in my new groups, and joining is simple.  Just click over to the following links, answer a few questions, and voila! Thanks again for following along my classroom stories and small-business journey, and I really do hope you to see you over in my new “backyards” where we can chat and share all things English and Yearbook.

Cover Image Credits

Filed Under: bible themes, Christmas, Christmas lessons, church event, Creative English Lessons for Teens, Escape Games, Great Gatsby, literature ideas, Middle and High School English Lessons, novel, novels, secondary ELA, secondary English Teachers, secondary lessons, teacher ideas, teachers pay teachers, teaching ideas, teaching strategies, teaching tips, Vacation Bible School Leave a Comment

Lord of the Flies Island Challenges for Each Chapter

 

Each time I teach a novel, I try something different.  I love teaching Lord of the Flies, and this past year I decided to give island challenges a try.  Let me tell you… best decision I made for teaching this novel! I taught the novel out of class and hosted book clubs each Friday. (See more about my book clubs here.)  Fridays, then, were when we did our challenges, discussions, and quizzes. I’m so excited to be sharing these chapter-by-chapter island challenges with you.  I worked really hard to find or design challenges that would connect either with the theme or conflict of the chapters, so they wouldn’t just be “random” fun things to do. I really wanted the challenges to be both meaningful and fun.  They are also a blend of mental and physical challenges, which we found to be perfect for a mixture of winners due to so many different abilities in the class.  Because there are 12 chapters in Lord of the Flies, I’ll be breaking my traditional “Fast Five” format to share them all with you.  Excited yet? Ready to get lost on an island adventure? Come and get your feet wet and your toes in the sand!

Pre-Challenge: Have your students get in groups. These will be their island factions for the rest of the reading.  I let them pick, but I was teaching this novel to older students with specific friends groups, and I liked letting them work with people with whom they felt comfortable. Plus, it added to the tension in competitions among groups.  No group was more than 4 students.  Then, they picked a name for their group, a symbol, and a motto.  On the first day of the unit before I even handed out books, we did this and they made their group “flags” or posters.  I hung these “flags” on the board, and this is where I would put their stars when they won challenges.  I usually had a first and second place, but everyone always had to finish the challenges.

Also on this first day, we did a pre-reading challenge, which is a survivor game that comes in my Lord of the Flies Teaching Unit.

https://juliefaulknersblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/flies-island-challenge-posters.mp4

 

Chapter 1 Island Challenge: Frequently Confused Words Maze

I absolutely loved this interactive maze challenge. The boys in the novel go out searching the island in the first chapter, and the creepy vines only add to their confusion and fright in trying to find their way around, so having my own students participate in a maze made perfect sense.  I found this activity from EoLA Ruth, and it’s brilliant.  In this commonly confused words maze, students are challenged to find the answers to the worksheet by searching around the room (and in the hallway) for the hidden clues.  EoLA Ruth has everything done; it really was print and go, and it challenged even my older students.  Get it here.

Commonly Confused Words II Kinesthetic Maze | NoRedInk Aligned

Chapter 2 Island Challenge: Build a 3D Map of the Island

For this challenge, students had to use textual evidence to build a 3D map of the island.  By this chapter, the boys on the island have begun to figure their way around a little better, and Golding has given us some very specific descriptions.  I set a timer and awarded first place to the group who finished their map first and correct.  This 3D map activity is no prep, and it’s included in my Lord of the Flies complete teaching unit.

Chapter 3 Island Challenge: Building a Hut STEM Challenge

To coincide with the boys’ island experience, I challenged my students with a fun STEM-oriented tent-building activity.  Everyone received the same supplies: a plate, piece of construction paper cut in half, 4 tooth picks, four straws, one fruit roll up, 6 mini pretzel sticks, a long piece of plain tape, and I used jelly beans as people. I don’t think I’d do people again.  The three categories were Most Aesthetic, Most Functional, Most Creative/Thoughtful Intent.  The tents had to fit on the plate and be only one tent.  I had a few other teachers come in and judge.

Chapter 4 Island Challenge: Figurative Language Throw-down

I used the figurative language worksheets in my Lord of the Flies teaching pack for this challenge and had kids race against the clock and each other to get the most correct. You can’t miss Golding’s beautiful use of language, and this was a good, quick challenge.

Chapter 5/6 Island Challenge: Building a Parachute STEM Challenge

This chapter introduces the fallen parachute soldier, so I went with another STEM challenge.  For this activity, students had to use certain supplies and build a parachute that would float the longest. If I do it again, I’ll also add a prize for one that goes the farthest.  Supplies: plastic bag, piece of felt, piece of aluminum foil, pieces of string, a long piece of tape, and a unicorn that had to be secured to it.  We went to the bleachers to drop them off, and I can’t even tell you how much fun this was!

https://juliefaulknersblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/parachute.mp4

 

Chapter 7 Island Challenge: Worm Dig

By this point the novel, things are getting messy… nasty and dirty are taking over – the island is transforming and so are the boys.  For this challenge, I bought extra large cups of chocolate pudding and sour gummy worms. I ran it kinda like a minute-to-win-it came.  One student per group volunteered, and without any hands, they had to remove all the worms from the “dirt.” They also had to clean up the worms, so no dumping out the bowl and winning. The group with the most – and cleanest – worms out in a minute won.

Chapter 8/9 Island Challenge: Pin the Tail on the Piggy

At the climax of the novel, it was only fitting for students to experience a pig hunt, of course! So, I went classic with this one, and we played pin the tail on the piggy. Each group got one tail, one minute, and one try to get the tail as close to the marked spot as possible.  I had one person per group and each person went one at a time, and their group could help, but other groups were yelling out to make chaos.  Oh, and we did create hurdles for them to tackle as they crossed the room. It couldn’t be too easy, right? We did have a tie, sort of, so I had those groups go all at once for the win. Let me just say, they did battle it out.

Chapter 10 Island Challenge: Quiz Scores

During each book club, we would also take a quick quiz, and I used an average of the groups’ scores.  Quizzes can be found in my Lord of the Flies teaching unit.

Chapter 11 Island Challenge: Theme/Quote Sort

This challenge is again geared toward testing the students’ understanding of the content of the novel now that we’ve almost made it through to the end. For this challenge, I chose to use my theme and quote sorting activity. They raced against the clock and each other to get the most card matched correctly. Each group got one set of cards. They can be found in my Lord of the Flies teaching unit.

Chapter 12 Island Challenge: Escape Game

What’s an island survival novel without an “escape off the island” game? I wanted so badly to create a quick mini escape game of my own, but time was running thin. So, luckily I found an awesome digital game from English Bulldog that worked very well.  I hadn’t ever used a digital escape game before, but I was really impressed with the clues and content.  My students enjoyed it, and it was the perfect way to end the island challenges.

 

For each set of three chapters, I did prizes (extra points) for the people in that group. I used different colored stars to track the wins.  Then, I did an overall winner at the end, and they got a more festive prize.  I really enjoyed creating and conducting the island challenges, and my students enjoyed participating.  I think the videos and pictures show that, but when one of my class-clown athletes said, “What do you have for us today? You’ve really made me be excited to come to class,” it took my breath.  It was a lot of work, but if a few little games can get kids wanting to read and come to class, I’ll do it every day, all day.  #worthit

Grab my full complete Lord of the Flies teaching unit!

Lord of the Flies Unit Plan, William Golding

 

Love this content? Join a group!  There are already tons of ideas, freebies, and fabulous teachers in my new groups, and joining is simple.  Just click over to the following links, answer a few questions, and voila! Thanks again for following along my classroom stories and small-business journey, and I really do hope you to see you over in my new “backyards” where we can chat and share all things English and Yearbook.

 

Written 6/2019

Filed Under: Creative English Lessons for Teens, literature ideas, secondary classrooms, secondary ELA, secondary english classroom organization, secondary English Teachers, secondary lessons, teachers pay teachers, teaching ideas, teaching strategies, teaching tips 3 Comments

5 Ways to Keep Students Tuned-In at the End-of-the-Year

5 Ways to Keep Students Tuned-In at the End-of-the-Year

It’s getting to be that time of year when things get a little crazy – a little sideways.  Students – and teachers – are starting to tune out!  So hopefully, these ideas will make these end-of-year days less stressful, and more fun. Plus, these 5 ways to keep students tuned-in at the end-of-the-year are all student-centered and standards-based, so the kiddos stay engaged, and your job is easy. Join me for a fun recap of 5 ways to keep students tuned-in this time of year. Perfect for any secondary education classroom.

1) Make It Real

When the CCSS started to roll out and there was so much emphasis placed on nonfiction, I’ll be honest – like many other “old English teachers” – I was nervous about giving up so much class time to those texts over my beloved classic fiction texts.  Now, I love finding nonfiction texts that stand alone and/or that pair with my fiction.  And, honestly, the kids LOVE it when they know it’s real.  Students really “tune-in” with nonfiction because sometimes it’s so hard to believe that it is actually real! Sometimes I have them go searching on their own for real information – like in my mini research project on banned books in my Fahrenheit unit.  Or other times, I’ll pair the info for them and have them dig into the material in class like in my lesson on the LeRoy HS outbreak after we read Act 1 of The Crucible. Also, take a look at several bundles of hot topics informational text lessons I have ready-to-go. Whether you teach English or not, finding ways to bring in the “real-world” aspect of your subject matter really gives your topic purpose, and I find students are much more likely to buy-in.

Hot Topics Informational Text Lessons: BUNDLE, Set 1, 5 Ways to Keep Students Tuned-In at the End-of-the-Year
Hot Topics Informational Text Lessons: BUNDLE, Set 2, 5 Ways to Keep Students Tuned-In at the End-of-the-Year

2) Make It Personal

We all know that secondary students can be ah hem… self-centered. (Bless) So anytime they get to talk about themselves, there’s interest.  When my seniors read Fahrenheit 451, they do a generational Interview project as part of their reading tasks for the last section of my Fahrenheit unit.  They – and their grandparents – really enjoy the project and the students learn so much about their families and themselves. Another way to make it personal and keep kids tuned in is with poetry that speaks to them.  In my treating senioritis poetry pack, I’ve selected several poems that draw on students’ personal experiences and the follow up activities ask students to reflect on their past, present, and future. Another teacher shared this classroom success story about my poetry pack: “With less than a month left for the Seniors, they are losing their focus in class quickly. These are great assignments that keep them engaged and challenge them to keep at it. This is also great for Poetry Month (April). My student’s actual poems (from the extension activities) are being published in our campus newsletter to celebrate it.” Anything you can do as part of a lesson or short research project that allows students to make connections with their own lives will add a layer of interest they won’t be able to resist.

End of Year Poetry, Surviving Senioritis, Poetry Month Act, 5 Ways to Keep Students Tuned-In at the End-of-the-Year

3) Make It Interactive

I have to admit that I’d never used puppets in the classroom before with high school students, but now that I have, I can’t stop.  I also have to admit that it was partly my students’ idea to conduct the first puppet show I ever conducted.  When my seniors read The Canterbury Tales, I had made little cards with the characters on them. I wanted each student to read and research about that character to share with the class.  One student was holding up her card and thought she was being funny when she said, “We should do this as a puppet show.” I said, “Actually, that’s a great idea. Yes, we should.” That night I glued Popsicle sticks on the cards and borrowed a puppet curtain my mom had made for my nieces.  Voila!  The next day we had a puppet show!  After that, I let my emoji addiction get a little more out of control, and I made emoji puppets for accountable talk, review, point of view, and more! See my Facebook post about them. If you don’t have puppets for your class, then just consider what topic you teach that students to re-enact or role play. For an extra layer of rigor, have the students write the scripts, too!

Escape games are super hot right now, too, and you can find them in just about any subject and grade level. The end of the year is the perfect time to give one a try for review or just for fun.  I’ve made full-length games for some favorite stories I teach, and I recently started to make mini escape games that last 30 minutes! All of my games are designed so that you can use a physical lock box that you buy premade or make yourself or digitally with Google.  I love using the physical lock box for students, and I’ve created this quick video tutorial just in case you’ve wanted to try it, but have been a little apprehensive about it. When I conduct an escape game in class, I have 100% participation and engagement. It doesn’t get more tuned-in than that!

4) Make It Project-Based

Projects don’t have to be a lot of work for you. Nor should they be a lot of work to prep.  One year I wanted something new and fun for Earth Day, so I rummaged through my junk drawers at the house and had student create uses for the various items.  The skills we covered? Propaganda, Info-Text Analysis; Speaking and Listening, Presenting.  That project is for sale here! This time of year, my yearbook students also work on projects to keep them busy until the books come back.  They would be excellent for a yearbook class, business, art, or technology class.  I’ve also successfully done short research projects, and I have a ton of those available as well on a variety of topics.

Earth Day Paired Text Reading Lesson, Speech and Poem , 5 Ways to Keep Students Tuned-In at the End-of-the-Year

5) Make It a Movie Day

Let’s be real for a minute.  We can’t always show a movie, but if we are talking about getting tuned in, well, we can’t ignore the obvious.  If you missed my post about how to incorporate media effectively, click here to go check that out.  I will say that my seniors are going to be watching The Hunger Games next week.  Why in the world, right? It was their idea – and it wasn’t because they just wanted to watch it randomly.  In fact, they’ve been asking me all along our 451 unit if there’s a sequel to Bradbury’s magnum opus.  (Can we pause to just say how awesome it is that they want to read MORE 451?!?!?) Then one day, it dawned on a student that there was quite a bit of intertextuality between 451 and THG.  I had noticed the parallels before because I love THG! He made a pretty good case for it, so I thought this would be a fun way to end the unit. They’ll have to write something showing those parallels, of course.  Plus, I’ve got you covered for tons of movies with ready-made, standards-based movies guides. All you need to do is get the DVD and press play. Click over to my other blog post, as well, with more Tips for Teaching with Movies.

Here’s to a great rest of the year. Comment below with ways you successfully keep students tuned-in at the end-of-the-year.

Love this content? Join a group!  There are already tons of ideas, freebies, and fabulous teachers in my new groups, and joining is simple.  Just click over to the following links, answer a few questions, and voila! Thanks again for following along my classroom stories and small-business journey. I really do hope you to see you over in my new “backyards” where we can chat and share all things English and Yearbook.

Updated 2021, written by Julie Faulkner

Filed Under: classroom success stories, Creative English Lessons for Teens, crucible lesson ideas, earth day, end of year, end of year lesson ideas, engaging students, interactive learning, interactive lesson, literature ideas, Middle and High School English Lessons, secondary classrooms, secondary ELA, secondary english classroom organization, secondary English Teachers, secondary lessons, teachers pay teachers, teaching ideas, teaching strategies, teaching tips, the crucible Leave a Comment

Heart to Heart with Secondary School Teachers February 2016 Blog Hop

Thank you for joining us on this Valentine’s Day Blog Hop where some great secondary teachers are sharing confessions from the heart about teaching!
1) I like when former students come
back to visit me or see me in a restaurant and say hey! It’s always funny
because they don’t know if they should call me Julie or Mrs. Faulkner. They
usually choose Mrs. Faulkner!
2) I like having student work to hang
on my walls because I hate making bulletin boards. I’m even guilty of having a
cute activity planned but run out of time in class to do it, so I send it home
for extra credit just so I can hang it up!

See
those cork strips pictured where I hang student work up in the hallway? Here’s
how I did it to get a quick and cheap alternative to those expensive bulletin
board strips. Just get the square cork boards that in come in packs at the Dollar
General or Staples and cut them into strips. Hot glue them to the wall, and voilà!
You have instant cork strips for a couple of bucks.
3) I’m always afraid of having a typo
or spelling error in my worksheets or lessons since one of my favorite things
is it to find them in the real-world!
Grammar Fails in Real World, Bell Ringers Proofreading, Ta
Grammar Fails from Real World, Bell Ringers Proofreading,
4) Keep Calm and Have a Red Coke is
my motto. Is it bad that when my students see me drinking a “red coke” they
know it’s been a bad day?
5) Probably one of my favorite things
about teaching is creating lessons and activities that students enjoy and can
connect to. I love trying new teaching strategies or texts. I have a few texts that
I teach over and over each year, but I’m always rotating others in and out
because something in the class, news, or world inspires me to develop a
lesson. That keeps me busy, but I like not being stuck in a rut! See all my other goodies in my teacherspayteachers.com store!
An InLinkz Link-up

Filed Under: classroom decor, coca cola, coke, Creative English Lessons for Teens, free keep calm, grammar, real world connection, Uncategorized, Valentine's Day 8 Comments

Treating “Activity-itis” (Assessing and Adding Value and Quality to Activities)

Class time is precious and limited. With so many standards to cover and stakes being so high, it is imperative that everything we put in front of our students be standards-based, purposeful, and designed to drive and assess student growth.  Over the years, I’ve reflected on some activities that I’ve done with students and realized that maybe just maybe 🙂 some of them were “fluff” in terms of standards. Don’t get me wrong. Some assignments are fun, make personal connections, or meet other goals.  However, some are just not designed to do much other than keep students busy or produce something cute or trendy for a social media post.  In the past, I have certainly been afflicted with “activity-itis.” This post explains how to assess and add value and quality of your classroom assignments and activities. 

The Symptoms of Activity-itis:

The students have no idea why they are doing the activity. You could probably argue that there will always be students who are clueless in a sense that they aren’t trying. In this case, the problem goes much deeper.  There are times when I dive right into a lesson or activity and just don’t tell my students why we are doing it or what it connects to.  If I just forget to tell them, that’s one thing, but if I can’t answer the questions “Why are we doing this?” or “What are they learning from doing this?” then why are we doing it? Why are we building a model of a fire-proof house with our 451 unit? Guilty. Why are we drawing a picture of our favorite character in The Lord of the Flies? Guilty again. Instead, let’s trace the symbol of fire throughout the novel and analyze how it changes.  Let’s read an informational text about how fire works and make literal and symbolic connections.  If we want students to get to know characters, let’s have them create a body biography with text-based descriptions.  Just making some tiny, purpose-driven adjustments can spark huge changes in students’ growth and understanding.

The students are busy, but there’s no challenge.  I suppose this could happen for a couple of reasons, but like I said before, class time is precious and limited.  Coloring, watching movies, listening to a podcast — just for the heck of doing it or because everyone else on social media is doing it.  I actually use and sell resource for these types of activities; however, there is always something students are doing that is skills based.   Yes, coloring and movies make excellent brain breaks and sub plans, but even then, I just can’t get behind vacuous time-fillers.  If students are coloring in my class, they will be editing sentences in order to color by number. If they are watching a movie, they are analyzing structure and style.  More on using movies effectively in this post.  If we are listening to a podcast, we are making connections, analyzing plot, or more — we aren’t just doodling. There is always something that can be done to up the ante with any assignment.  

The activity steps too far out of its subject, isn’t grounded in standards, or isn’t connected to any prior or future learning.  I think this one creeps up a lot in English class because we do so much with texts that we feel we need to introduce.  When I first started teaching The Crucible, I felt I had to tell students everything they needed to know about Puritans before we started the unit. Then I had to spend another day or so talking about the 1950s.  Then, yet another day was spent covering the elements of drama.  A week or more had passed and we hadn’t even started reading the text; and my kids were bored and over it.  Eventually, I stepped back and asked myself, what I am I doing wrong? I love this play so much, but the kids hate it. Then, I realized: it wasn’t the play they hated, it was the presentation.  Wow.  So, how did I fix it? I asked myself one question: Why am I teaching this play? The answer?  It wasn’t so they could learn the history of the Puritans. It wasn’t so they could understand the 1950s.  It is so we could analyze a true hallmark in the canon of American literature — for the literature, to see how an author can craft a story that conveys both so creatively and expertly that we really don’t need much else than the text itself.  In that regard, the only intro material I kept was one short informational text article about McCarthy and a quick vocabulary lesson on allegory. Then, we just dig in. I let the text do the talking. I developed questions, prompts, close reading exercises, and activities that drove students further and further into the text.  The result? Students who enjoyed the play more than ever before, and students who were mastering standards. More ideas on how to start a unit here.

Treating "Activity-itis" (Assessing and Adding Value and Quality to Activities)

The activity lack true engagement and/or collaboration.  Students aren’t talking at all or aren’t talking about the actual task. How many times have you overheard students saying “What’s for lunch?” or “I have to work this afternoon” during an activity?  Sure, students get off task with even the best designed activity. However, a key symptom of activity-itis is students who are off-task.  If I have students in groups, what I really want them to be able to do is collaboration, bounce ideas off each, and share out.  I want them to even learn to hear different ideas and defend their own answers.  I love to have students think first, and talk second, so they have something prepared when they join the group. Task cards are hugely helpful with getting kids thinking and giving them direction.  More ideas on using task cards in the classroom here.

  • Response to Text, Speech Task Cards, Textual Analysis Speech Task Cards for English, History
  • Response to Text, Poetry Task Cards, Textual Analysis Poetry Task Cards for English, History

There is no assessment, the assessment isn’t a challenge, or there is a discrepancy between the assessment and the activity. If at the end of the day, I’ve done a lesson and can’t measure if the students really “got it,” then I’m pretty much in panic mode.  For me, it can be as simple as asking them. Other times, I’ll have a worksheet they have to complete. Other people like to do the ticket out the door. Another issue here is when the assessment only asks the students to regurgitate what they’ve already been told in class and there’s no application to show their learning. It’s very important that students can apply the skills they’ve be taught, so you can see if it stuck. I almost never give a final exam on the story we’ve read in class where students recall details of the story. That doesn’t assess their hopefully newly acquired knowledge of plot, characterization, or symbolism. Rather, they will write about it, do another project with it, or read a shorter text and answer questions that test those skills. Whatever you choose, again, it needs to be purpose-driven, and truly measurable. 

The Cure:

  1. Design, discuss, and post essential questions to drive planning and measure learning. For more tips on creating essential questions and creating standards-based lessons and activities, take a look at my CC standards aligned depth of knowledge chart where I’ve aligned every ELA standard 9-12. More on using essential questions here.

2. Student self-reflection.  This isn’t always easy, but with particularly reluctant groups, I have success with my weekly reflection task cards that come in my student-directed data pack. More on data collection here.

3. Think about the end goal when planning. In other words, plan backwards.  In order to help myself remember this important piece, in every one of the teacher planners that I design, I have a reflection page at the end of the month. It reminds me to pause and reflect on what we accomplished and need to work more on. More on planning backwards in this post. 

4. Assessment and measurement that are consistent and align with the skills.

5. Make connections to prior and future learning. This can be done effectively if you work inside of units where a big picture is evident. A KWL chart activator is perfect tool for making connections. I also love to do the 3-2-1 strategy.

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A post shared by Julie – English Teacher (@juliesclassroomstories)

Yes, there are crazy-day schedules, half days, sub days, or sick days, or any number of random odd days occasionally when we need a quick low-stakes, no prep activity, but even those days need to be utilized to matter.  Ultimately, I now evaluate each lesson and activity I plan for its standards-based value.

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Filed Under: activityitis, classroom teaching strategy, Creative English Lessons for Teens, crucible lesson ideas, data tracking, discussions, secondary ELA, secondary English Teachers, secondary lessons, skills-based teaching, standards-based activities, Task Cards, teacher ideas, teaching ideas, teaching strategies, teaching tips, title 1 conference 1 Comment

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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

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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

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