interactive lesson Archives - Faulkner's Fast Five

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

Formula for Classroom Success Series Post #3: Interactive and Real-World Strategies

I’m continuing the series today on Classroom Success Strategies. Today’s post is a two-in-one tip for interactive and real-world teaching strategies. At the bottom of the post, feel free to link up with your own favorite strategies in the comments section. Link products, ideas, etc.!

In the fast-paced world of today’s teen, I am always looking for new and different ways to appeal to my students. I don’t always expect everything to be fun all the time, but I know that I’ll accomplish more if my students are engaged. If you are on the cusp of branching out into the interactive world of teaching strategies, or even if you are well-versed, perhaps my take below will spark you to get interactive this week!

1) An interactive lesson doesn’t have to be silly. I think a lot of times, especially
high school teachers, think that interactive lessons are akin to playing games
and are silly. Granted, I’ve seen some
that are. To me, an interactive lesson can be anything from using task
cards with individual students or in a group setting to making human
MLA citations! If you wanted to bring in a little silly with the serious, play a funny song or have students race the clock! It really depends on
your style and, of course, what your goals are for the class.

2) An interactive lesson doesn’t have to take a long time in class. I
like to chunk my classes into segments – usually about 15-20 minutes each. This is usually an excellent structure for my daily grammar bell ringer routine, lesson intro, interactive/group work, and individual
task. Sometimes my “real-world” connection
is simply a relatable video as a set activity or a funny grammar mistake from my growing collection of pictures.
Other times, my real-world connections are more project-oriented, take a
while longer, and give students time to work in groups, process through
problem-solving strategies, and employ critical thinking skills. If you wanted to experiment with longer projects, start small. One really
successful project I’ve done is my Earth Day Info Text and Real-World Project,
which is perfect for April. In this Earth Day
themed lesson, students compare and contrast the presentation of a similar theme
or topic across genres (different types of writing) to explain how each genre
shapes the author’s presentation of the theme. Next, they use their
problem-solving skills to raise awareness of the need to be good stewards of
the earth. Students love getting “their hands dirty” with this
real-world project and presentation, and you will love that they are critically
thinking about the world around them while demonstrating their understanding of
key CCSS. Perhaps, you will give
it a try!

Earth Day Paired Text Reading Lesson, Speech and Poem with

3) An interactive lesson doesn’t have
to be hands-on or project-oriented. In
order for a lesson to be interactive, it doesn’t have to be a full-blown
project or even something where students move around. An effective and purposeful whole-group discussion
or guided small-group discussion can take the attention off the teacher and
make it more student-centered and interactive. I also think when a student is 100% engaged in
his/her learning, that’s pretty interactive, too. I like to give case studies and short research
projects where students are responsible for extracting the information about
the assigned topic on their own, and then they give a presentation. If you wanted to be more adventurous and try something interactive while keeping students focused, my students enjoy readers’ theater or role playing. I love keeping a box of costume props
handy when we are reading some favorites like The Crucible, Macbeth, Beowulf, or Trifles. It doesn’t take but a few minutes, and it’s
great for those out-going students.

4) An interactive lesson doesn’t have
to be labor-intensive for the teacher. The idea behind an interactive or real-world
lesson is that students are going to be doing most of the work and hopefully, they will be more engaged – which takes the pressure off of the teacher. One quick way I review
before a test involves a small ball that we toss around the room. In fact, I
call it Ball Toss Review – creative, right? Each student
must answer a question about the topic, and then he/she gets to toss the ball to
whomever he/she chooses. I don’t have to
prepare anything, but the students are on their toes thinking and
responding the entire time. Technology is another
excellent way to get students more involved, and it may or may not involve a little prep work.
Especially when technology
is involved, most times students will dive right in. I love my newest Google-Drive eWorksheets for
poetry, which are a super-cool tool for bridging the gap between today’s teens and poetry!

Digital Poetry eWorksheets Analysis & Comprehension for An

5) An interactive lesson doesn’t have
to cost you anything. Sometimes it may seem daunting to buy game pieces, cut and laminate game cards, or prepare online worksheets or discussion boards for students. If your time and resources are limited (of course they are), there are plenty interactive ideas that are completely free. If you are in the middle of a writing unit, have students complete a 4-square peer review. Students fold a piece of notebook paper into four squares and review each other’s paper for the thesis statement, grammar/spelling, organization, and language. With April being poetry month, another fun and free hands-on idea is to have students write Characterization Poems for the piece of literature you are currently studying. Just beg and borrow to get a few magazines, and you’ll be set. If you have a bit more time, a smart device, and time to print and cut a glass set of Plickers, you will love the results. Even Plickers are mostly free, and would be excellent way to jazz up your traditional exit tickets.

I don’t think every single lesson, every single day needs to be interactive. Sometimes, teachers come down with
the “activity-itis” syndrome. I’ve been guilty of it myself. See more of my thoughts about that here.
The most important thing to keep in mind for a successful lesson is that it
just needs to be on purpose. More on that topic in another post in this series.
Stay tuned!

If you are looking for more interactive ideas right now, I wrote an entire blog post here a while back that describes several ways to engage secondary students in the classroom.

Benefits of Using Task Cards in Middle and High School

Using task cards in middle and high school can be hugely successful. Interestingly, I was using “task cards” in my high school English class before I knew they were called that – and way before they looked so cute! If I needed to guide a particular group on a topic or break up the assignment, I would often just grab some colored index cards and a sharpie and begin assigning the tasks, differentiating, or reviewing! Now with the wonderful world of technology 🙂 and access to tons of programs, task cards can come in any form or fashion. Here are 5 ways and reasons to use the task cards strategy at the middle and high school level.

#1) Differentiation and Scaffolding: Task cards offer teachers and students many benefits. Teachers need easy, but effective ways to meet the needs of all students who come to the table with all different ability levels. Task cards can easily be used to tailor instruction and reinforcement to those needs.

–You choose who gets which card, and that can be done without the students’ knowledge of that choice. All of my response to text task cards are written in two levels and are clearly labeled in the file. Pictured below are two examples from my poetry and speech task cards. If you head over to my TeachersPayTeachers store, you’ll be able to get a couple of these free in the preview file.

– One directive per card helps students focus.

–If students or groups of students are working through a set of cards, they set their own pacing. Here different groups of students are analyzing poetry, but one group only has one card, while the other group has two cards.

–Some cards can have suggested answers or clues, while others are more open-ended.

–Some students or groups can be assigned one or more depending on their needs.

– Task cards just by their nature provide individualized instruction and scaffolding because they allow for effective chunking of material. For example, when I teach writing, we use task cards to guide analysis of model papers during the pre-writing process and task cards to provide directives for revision and editing during the phases of the writing process.

#2) Discussion & Collaboration: Classroom discussion is very important for classroom culture but also for understanding. I believe students need to read about it, talk about it, and then write about it. Task cards provide a direct focus for talk topics where needed.

–Students can see cards first to prepare individually before small or whole group discussion.

–Guides whole group discussion. Take a look at these fun Emoji Accountable Talk Stem Puppets They offer a accountable talk stems for students to respond to or use during discussions.

– Can require students to produce a larger product together. For example, if you want students to write a paragraph, give each group a task to complete a certain section of the paragraph. When they put their work together, they have a complete product.

– Can even be used with large class sizes. See how I make it work:

Using Task Cards in Stations
How-To: Using my task cards in stations with large groups. (I apologize in advance for the wacky focusing on this video. IDK. LOL!) #iteachenglish #highschoolenglish #iteachhighschool #literature #teachingstrategies #taskcards
Posted by Julie's Classroom Stories on Sunday, April 8, 2018

#3) Games and Review: Play traditional games (board games, card games, beach ball toss, etc.) with task cards for your subject. Below students are reviewing ELA vocabulary using vocabulary cards from my 100 words every high school English student should know pack in order to move their pieces around a game board I whipped up for fun. Give each group a set of task cards, and in order to take a turn, each student had to answer a question on one of the cards. The rest of the group had to agree with the answer before they could move on. Groups or students could also have a recording sheet that they turn in or use as a study guide.

#4) Gallery Walks, Scavenger Hunts, Quests. and Stations: Lessons that involve movement can sometimes be overwhelming to create and produce, but for Kinesthetic students, especially, movement enhances learning. Pretty much any student, though, enjoys the opportunity to move around during class. Task cards make these types of activities much more attainable because they are easier to create and/or manage.

–Cards are posted around the room/hall for a gallery walk. Never tried a gallery walk? Want some fresh tips? Click over to take a look at this FREE video tutorial where I explain how to set up and manage gallery walks.

–Assign students certain numbers to complete or do them all.

–Set time limits.

–Students record answers on sheets.

– Use them in stations or centers. Here’s a quick video where I explain how I developed impromptu centers using my poetry task cards in station rotations. Get the FREE poetry recording sheet here.

Poetry Stations Using Task Cards
Enhance poetry analysis with poetry stations using task cards! It's super low prep, and it gets students involved in rich, deep poetry discussions. Get my poetry task cards @ https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Poetry-Analysis-Task-Cards-Comprehension-Prompts-Any-Poem-1115584
Posted by Julie's Classroom Stories on Saturday, April 8, 2017

– Add QR codes for a self-checking function or to add a quick video tutorial.

— If you want some ready-made station labels to get going with task cards in your classroom, check out my station rotation kit with five fun designs.

#5) Going green with task cards The trend is certainly moving toward more technology in the classroom that is student-centered. Task cards offer so many opportunities for teachers to convey both lesson content, practice, and assessment because they are so flexible.

– 1:1 schools

– via Google Slides or Google Classroom in the lab, group device, or on their own devices. All of my response to text task cards are now available in Google Slides format. You can get them here.

-Nearpod student led or in homework mode.

-Classflow with student response systems or on their own devices

-Kahoot for whole class review and gaming. I love putting my Real-World Grammar Fails Task Cards in Kahoot to use at bell ringers or fun test-prep review! They come in large pdf and large jpeg mode for easy uploading in this format, so there’s no extra work for you. See more about my experience with Kahoot at this post!

– Single iPad used via Apple TV, Smart TV, or Boxlight to share task card work. Below students were correcting sentences with some grammar task cards. In order to share with the class, I used the mirror feature on my iPad with my Apple TV, so the entire class could see the original sentence from the task card as each group explained the corrections that needed to be made.

I would love to hear how you use task cards in your middle and high school classrooms, too! Leave me a comment 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.

Updated 2020

Teaching September 11 with Poetry

Over the years I’ve noticed that my students are getting further and further away from knowing what happened on September 11, 2001, and feeling the weight of its magnitude on our nation’s history. I was in college when the towers were struck, and I remember sitting on the bed in my dorm room feeling crushed and scared and praying for every family affected by that senseless act of terrorism. I will never forget how I felt. Now, over a decade later, we are still impacted by choices and decisions made that day. Each September, I try to pause for a quick lesson in honor and remembrance of our freedom in America. Teaching September 11 can be tricky, but with poetry, it is much more manageable and meaningful. Here are 5 reasons why I love using poetry to teach the events of September 11.

Covering Standards with Poetry

One thing I love about poetry is that it packs a big punch. So many standards can be met when teaching just a tiny poem. Theme and use of language are two standards that might be hard to teach with a larger text, but they are much more manageable when examining a poem. Specifically when dealing with tough issues such as the terrorism and loss on September 11, theme is an important discussion — what do we need to learn from this event… from history, so it doesn’t repeat? These are pertinent questions to ask, and they are perfect questions for understanding and inferring theme.

In both of the lessons I’ve linked at the bottom of this post, theme is heavily examined, and because theme is so universal, a poetry study is the perfect type of lesson to make connections across texts as well. In my lesson plan for “True-Blue American,” students will explore the idea of entitlement v. gratitude and how that fits into their role as an American. The subtle ironic tone of this lesson will challenge your students to reflect on their own lives and choices. Its ultimate goal is for students to be able to delineate how theme develops and how two different texts can share the same theme. By the time they’ve finished looking at the poem, you’ve met numerous standards in depth. Then, when you add the additional texts and other exercises, you’ve taught even more standards — in a meaningful and authentic way.

Close Reading and Annotating Poetry

I think of close reading as dissecting a text in stages — stepping into the four corners of the text multiple times with different goals each time. First, we read for just the main point or to summarize. (I use my SWBST strategy.) We also go ahead and catch any unfamiliar words here, too. I usually play an audio version of the poem for this round, if one is available. I always provide a highlighter and encourage them to make notes in the margin. Next, I have a student volunteer to read it again aloud, and here they looking for deeper meaning, language usage, word choice, and tone. If students have a new purpose each time, I’ve found they are less likely to get “bored” with looking at the same text multiple times. After students have worked individually with the texts, we have a group discussion. To reinforce their ideas and model strong annotating, I will get a blank copy of the text and annotate under my document camera as they discuss and share. In the “True-Blue American” poetry lesson since we were ultimately leading up to comparison, after annotating, I provided them with a thematic Venn diagram on which they recorded their analysis.

Another approach I like to use for annotating is the guided annotations technique. Basically, I give students prompts to point their attention to certain details that they should notice and note. This is a perfect strategy for differentiating for students who are learning to annotate. My “We Grow Accustomed” lesson plan includes guided annotations right on the page. See more information about using guided annotations at this Instagram post.

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Collaborating and Discussing Poetry

Academically productive talk has become a staple in my classroom the past few years. I admit that I was so unwilling to even try it at first, but as a Common Core Coach for my state, I felt highly obligated. Once I began to realize the value in it – students talking about texts and ideas to prepare them for their own individual task, to learn how to express themselves accurately, to form rebuttals purposefully and respectfully – I was sold. When I conducted the “True-Blue American” poetry lesson, I tried something new– the interactive anchor chart. The two forms of text we were comparing were a poem and a video lecture/talk. I wanted to make anchor charts for each type, but I didn’t want to just stand up in the front of class basically writing answers for them. Instead, I formulated 4 questions about each genre and gave them a few minutes to work individually. I’ve written a host of questions for analyzing poetry in task card format that are in printable and digital form. You can grab those here. Second, students collaborated with their shoulder partner about their responses. (Watch a quick tutorial about shoulder partners here.) The next step is where the interactive anchor chart comes in. Each group got one sticky note and was assigned to be the expert on one of the questions. They wrote their answer to that one question on their sticky and placed it on the anchor chart in the designated space. To review the answers, I read them out loud and we added and deleted ideas as necessary. This strategy could work with any type of situation where you want students to have notes about a topic and maybe they have some prior knowledge you could activate. Plus, they were doing the work- not me.

Making Personal Connections with Poetry

Some of my students are usually slightly familiar with what happened on 911, but it’s generally pretty foggy. I know that their history teacher is covering the facts, so I don’t usually need to take time to do that. However, I did want to do something and as an ELA teacher, and a thematic approach with textual analysis seemed fitting. While these poetry lessons could work for many other patriotic holidays or just as a stand-alone mini unit, I did it to bring up issues surrounding the events at Ground Zero. Most of the time, we are so focused on skills and objectives, that we forget to make text-to-self and text-to-world connections — and that is where the real magic happens. I like that these lessons allowed us to do that. To close the lessons, then, I give students a creative prompt. In the “True-Blue American” lesson, they designed a flag that illustrated what it means to really be a true-blue American. In the “We Grow Accustomed” lesson, students drew a picture that reflected light and hope. Looking at what they wrote and drew makes me proud to be a teacher in this great country.

Our actions and words affect other people and make this world we live in what it is – for better or worse. Poetry is one tool we have in our teacher toolbox that can allow us to share light and hope with our students while teaching standards as well. I hope that in my classroom I can do a few things that achieve both objectives.

“True-Blue American” Poetry Lesson

“We Grow Accustomed” Poetry Lesson