secondary lessons

Best of 2017

It’s been my tradition the past few years to reflect on my best teaching moments of the year. I’m so fortunate to get to work with such amazing students, so it’s hard to pick just a few moments that have been amazing! But I have selected five times throughout the year when I have been most proud of my students! Plus you get to see some more snapshots of the resources from my store that I use in my classroom.

The American Dream Project – There are SO many possibilities for teaching Gatsby. When I have time in my schedule, I love to have students complete the “Making Your American Dream Come to Life” project to end our Gatsby unit. The details, instructions, and rubric are all in my Gatsby complete movie guide. I do hope all their dreams come true!

Vacation Bible School Maker Fun Factory – This year my husband, mom, sister, dad, and I had the task of teaching the nightly lesson to our church’s vacation bible schoolers. Our church had chosen the theme of Maker Fun Factory: Created for a Purpose. We knew we wanted to convey the message that each kid was created for a purpose and God is working on them – shaping and molding them to be something great. So… we transformed our classroom, where students could come and hear the lesson every night, into the inside of a machine! I crafted the lesson each night to tell the story of an important bible character who did great things because they were sensitive to God’s call and were willing to fulfill the plan and purpose He had for them. Those people, our precious church members, dressed like the bible characters, entered as a special delivery, and told the story from their point of view. Each night, the students couldn’t wait to enter the Fun Factory, and they were talking about going into the machine forever! See my entire catalog of kids for Christ materials here!

Break Out Escape Box Games – I had been seeing and hearing about break-out games and escape rooms and even people using them in the classroom, but I’d never seen or done one before. I knew it was something I wanted to try, but I have to admit, I was really apprehensive. So, I attended a training, and the facilitator conducted a game with us, and after that, I knew it was something I had to try with my students. This semester, I’ve done several, and my students are crazy for these games! Since I felt there was such a huge learning curve for me to figure out how to conduct one of these games in my classroom, my escape box games are super user-friendly. They include a simple print-and-go pack of clues for students, three ways for you to play the game, and a video tutorial where I explain everything to you! I have several already prepared for you in my store, so if you are ready to unlock some fun, check them out! All my escape games can be found here!

Canterbury Tales Puppet Show – I’ve never done a puppet show before with my secondary students, and certainly not any seniors. But when I was deciding how to teach the Tales in a modern and engaging way, for some reason a puppet show came to mind! I assigned students in my class one of the tales, and they had to read (from the Prologue) about that character. Everyone took notes on his/her travel log during the show! Then using the super cute clip art puppets I made and a puppet show curtain I borrowed from my nieces, voila! We had a puppet show. My students really got into it, and other teachers have shared their success stories with it, too! The puppet show materials can be found in my Canterbury Tales complete teacher’s guide.

Generational Interview Project with Fahrenheit 451 – When my seniors read 451, the project I assign during part 3 of the book is inspired by the passage where Granger reflects on how his grandpa influenced his life because of the things he was able to do and leave behind. I ask students to close read that passage and answer a set of questions. Then they are required to interview a person several generations older than them and write a report of that interview to share in class. I encourage them to interview a grandparent, and most do. When my seniors presented this year, it was overwhelmingly impressive how many of them took it seriously… and personally. When your seniors cry during a class presentation, you know it just got real. All the materials to conduct this close reading lesson and interview project can be found in my 451 Close Reading Lessons pack or in my 451 Complete Teacher’s Guide.

Please share in the comments below what you tried this year that worked!

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Keeping Kids Tuned in at the End of the Year: A Secondary Linky

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! Join me for a fun recap of some ways to keep students tuned in this time of year. I’m sharing tips for secondary English classrooms, and since that’s where my experience stops, I’ve enlisted the help of other secondary teachers in all subjects to link up great ideas below!

In a middle or high school English classroom, this is an excellent time of year to start that novel you’ve been wanting to teach or to try a new project. So hopefully, these few ideas will make those even more creative for you! Plus, they are all student-centered and standards-based, so the kiddos stay engaged, and your job is easy!

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 that over my beloved classic fiction texts. Now, I’ve changed my tune completely. 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. 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.
Make It Personal – We all know that secondary students can be ah hem… self-centered. So anytime they get to talk about themselves, there’s pretty good buy-in. My seniors just completed my Generational Interview project as part of their reading tasks for the last section of my Fahrenheit unit. They – and their grandparents – really enjoyed the projects and the kids learned so much about their families and themselves. This was an out-of-class assignment, but they did share in class. Now that’s an easy prep! 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.
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. 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!
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.
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, and since I don’t show the 451 movie because it’s so old and not even worth the time, I thought this would be a fun way to end the unit. They’ll have to write something showing those parallels, of course!

Also, if you haven’t already followed over at my Facebook page, I’m doing a promo right now to give away The Shack when I reach 200 followers over there! You’ll need to follow and then go comment on that post, so I can enter your name!

End of Year Reflection: Best of the Best 2016

Last year at this time I did my first ever “Greatest Hits” linky as a reflection of the moments from 2015 that stuck out to me the most, and I kept track all year waiting to do it again! Needless to say, I am super excited to share these ideas with you – and this year they happen to all be things I tried for the first time. And… they are all things I fell in love with and will most definitely do again! So yes, even after 13 years in the classroom, I am still adding, tweaking, and trying new things! I hope these ideas inspire you to try something new in 2017!

1) The Green Light – Sometimes when I teach Gatsby, I get to teach the entire book, and other times I’m crunched for time and only show the movie and do close readings. Either way, I get my Gatsby fix and the kids love it! This year I just did the movie because our town was ravaged by an F3 tornado, so we missed several days at the end of the year. I knew I wanted to amp it up just a little and bring something special – as a little highlight – to the end of the year since our students had been through so much this month. I have to say I am IN LOVE my Gatsby green light display. Here’s how to DIY:
a) I projected a picture of the light on the dock that I found on Google images onto a piece of butcher paper taped on my Activboard. Once I traced it onto the paper, I just painted it with acrylic paint. It’s cheap and dries fast. I used black and gold to make it Gatsby-glam, of course. I painted the bulb inside green and added green glitter. The dock was even easier to make. I just drew lines with a Sharpie and painted in between with brown acrylic paint. I laminated the light and dock. Next, print the quotation “Gatsby believed in the green light” on green paper. Make the display and hang it up before the beginning of the movie/unit so students are curious and aware the entire time. For the “rays of green light” I just trifolded pieces of green construction paper and cut them.
b) As we neared the end of the movie, I gave students a sheet of excerpts to close read from the novel with all the green light passages. (This sheet and lesson, along with several American Dream exercises, can be found in my Gatsby movie guide.) I sent the sheet home with the QR code to a video link, which is a compilation of scenes with the green light from the “new Gatsby” movie. Students had to complete that assignment and be ready to discuss the next day. Boy, were they ready…. I had been talking up the green light the entire time and had my wall display ready all along, so they were itching to discuss!!
c) After the discussion, students completed the American dream prompt, and then I gave them the ray to write their own “hopes and dreams” on. Some wrote what they wanted to do after high school, and others wrote how they wanted to bring light to others’ lives. They did an amazing job.
d) Hang up the green rays and stand back and enjoy!

2) Yearbook Light Bulbs – Every year my yearbook staff does some sort of holiday event for everyone to enjoy. Last year we had a Halloween YearBOOk celebration with fun games. This year we made Christmas light bulbs for everyone in school: students, faculty, and staff. Each yearbook staffer has a list of students (so every student in the school is personally tracked for coverage), and they personalized every bulb by hand-writing the names. I scored a sale at Family Dollar on mini candy canes, so we stapled one to each bulb, too. We stayed for an hour after school one day and taped them to the correct lockers (our AP gave us the locker list), and teachers’ classroom doors. The next morning when the students came in, they were really surprised and thankful! It was a small way to say, “Hey, we are thinking of YOU, and we wanted to brighten your day!” Here’s how to DIY:
a) Get a list of everyone in your school and divide them up. Also, get the locker and room numbers!
b) Find a cute light bulb clip art and place them two on a page. Write in a cute note, and copy and copy and copy.
c) Find candy on sale!!
c) Cut, cut, cut and sign, sign, sign and staple, staple, staple! Another tip is to write the locker numbers of the back of each bulb before hanging them.
d) Organize a day to tape up the bulbs!

3) Lord of the Flies Crowns – This year I taught Flies for the first time with my regular track seniors. I wasn’t sure how they would like it, but as we got into it, we all realized how perfect the timing was to make text-self and text-world connections. I’m sharing about one of the final projects we did because, honestly, it give me cold chills. I wanted them to truly get the theme and title connection juxtaposed with their own lives, so I came up with this crown idea. (Everything can be found in my NEW Lord of the Flies unit plan!!) Here’s how you can DIY:
a) After reading Chapter 8, we did a paired info text reading to get some background on the Beelzebub allusion. (paired reading and notes included in my plan)
b) I gave students a crown (template included in my plan). They wrote/drew things on the crown that are “lording over” their lives. I told them to be honest – even knowing they are 17-18 year olds and being aware of what I could get. However, I did tell them they could be anonymous. Then they cut out the crowns, and we hung them up in the room for the remainder of the book.
c) On the day – or next day – you finish the book, get a paper shredder in your classroom. Once the boys are rescued, they are not only physically rescued from the island, but also they are symbolically rescued from those demons in their lives. Students take their own crowns and we had a shredding ceremony to symbolically indicate that they can be rescued from those demons in their lives, too. — Cue cold chills here. —

4) Macbeth “Witch-Inspired” Tasting Party – Who isn’t always looking for a way to bring snacks to class, right??!!? This year I decided I would surprise my seniors with a few little snacks one day! In fact, my students actually inspired my choices with their creativity during the first part of Act 1 when they were making their text-based Witches’ Party Invitation (included in my Macbeth unit plan). Here’s how you can DIY:
a) After reading the opening scenes of the play where Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches, I have students complete the Party Invitation activity. They are always so intrigued by the weird sisters anyway, and this gives them a chance to close read and be creative! They have use the text to inspire the food, games, decor, and more!
b) Shop for Mountain Dew (Witches’ Brew), Bugles (Witches’ Fingernails), and thumbprint cookies (Pilot’s Thumbs). Local bakeries usually have these you can order. BTW: Only followers of my monthly email newsletter got the cute food labels for free couple of months back! You’ll want to sign up HERE so you don’t miss anymore goodies!
c) After reading Act 1 and 2, I always pause to show a on-screen adaptation of the play. When students came to class that day, they were surprised, delighted, and thankful to see I had brought their ideas to life!

5) Writers’ Notebooks – I’ve actually tried the writing portfolio thing a couple times a couple of ways. This time around, I’ve improved my process, and it worked wonderfully. It’s kinda of a morph between a portfolio, data tracker, and interactive notebook. The premise is simple: Students keep all their writing in one place so they can keep up with it, and we can all see growth. Here’s how to DIY (the new and improved way):
a) Students buy – or you can provide – a one subject spiral notebook. I took a piece of ribbon and a large plastic coated paper clip to make a bookmark. I needed a bookmark because each time they wrote an essay or paragraph in it, I wanted to be able to flip right to what I needed to grade without flipping forever. I had them put their name in Sharpie right on the front.
b) Here’s where the “interactive notebook” piece comes into play, but not really. It’s just some cutting and gluing! On the first day, I gave them some key sheets I wanted them to keep up with: the data tracker (sold in my TpT store and pictured below), my marking codes annotation sheets, state writing rubrics, self-evaluation sheets, and graphic organizers. That way they always had them in one place. Throughout the semester, we added notes here and there. Even when it was a bigger task and I used the rubrics I make to give points based on state rubrics (pictured below), they just stapled those at the end of the essay, so it was all in one place.
c) As students wrote essays and constructed responses, I left marks right on the pages. One tip is to have them write on the fronts only if you are going to be giving feedback. It made it so easy for me to flip back to previous writing to see if they were gaining and taking my advice from previous tasks.

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Best of 2017

Keeping Kids Tuned in at the End of the Year: A Secondary Linky

End of Year Reflection: Best of the Best 2016

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