Life is not about finding yourself.
Life is about creating yourself.
Life is not about finding yourself.
Life is about creating yourself.
Humanities: An Introduction to Literacy and Social Science: Click here for a very basic overview of my literacy and social science program for the middle school grade (we call it Humanities).
Common Sense Media: This site offers a lot of guidance for families concerned about the appropriateness of media for their children. It covers movies, books, music, television shows, video games and other such. It is not judgmental, but informative--balance what they say with what both parents and kids write. Every family has different concerns and values, and Common Sense Media is a great place to start the conversation at home.
Humanities Targets: At Darling Writing and Humanities Targets you can find many of the targets used for literacy. It is very detailed, but with Proficiency Based Learning (PBL) we will focus on just a few standards at a time until students are ready to fly solo. Also note the hyperlinks within that lead to writing exemplars at the bottom of the page. Other targets may be added as we grow.
Notes: We use Three Column Notes in class. They are easy, can grow as new information is collected and are used at the high school and college level. They also adapt nicely to use on a computer. Here are videos on each element and how to create and use three column notes:
Three Column Notes: An Introduction to the Concept
Three Column Notes: Focus
Three Column Notes: Evidence
Three Column Notes: Analysis
Here is a slide show taking students through the process one step at a time. Check it out here.
How to Write a L-E-A-F Paragraph with Bob and Sally: Here is a PowerPoint on how to write a LEAF paragraph, starting with the evidence and working from there (like a detective). You can access it by clicking here. It's a good overview of what we are looking for in a paragraph.
Here are a series of videos that break the process down into steps:
How to Write an Essay: These brief videos break down how can write an essay. Check out those areas in which you might struggle. You will have to adapt the basic procedure to your own assignment and needs, but it's a solid place to start.
Essay: Claim
Essay: Introduction
Essay: Conclusion
These slideshows take you step-by-step, line by line to write paragraphs that make up an essay. How To PowerPoints:
The basic overview of how to write a five paragraph essay can be found here
Here is a step-by-step on writing a supporting paragraph. This is on Harry Potter.
To write a supporting paragraph, here are two other presentations (Kipling and Economy) so you can see how the basic formula repeats..
A more practical step-by-step presentation on how to write an Introduction and Conclusion is at this link. This one is on Harry Potter.
Here is another step-by-step presentation on how to write an Introduction and Conclusion when comparing your life to Literature. Read it to see how every essay is the same formula.
If you open the slideshow in another tab from the document you are writing, you can go step-by-step, slide-by-slide and write your essay.
News Sources: We live in times that require informed citizens. Here are a few places to start.
Vermont Digger: An online news source all about Vermont: https://vtdigger.org/
The New York Times: Our nation's paper of record. An excellent source for news and current events. All the news that is fit to print: http://www.nytimes.com/
Newsela: A current events site that adjusts to your reading level. Check it out here.
Reuters and Associated Press (AP) are two sources that a spectrum of other news services use, from the progressive to conservative. Why? They tend to stick to the facts as they happen.
Research Resources: Click here and you will be taken to a page with links to great resources. Use them before wildly throwing yourself into the World Wide Web. Whatever your source, be critical. Remember, we use multiple sources to confirm what any one source claims.
Word Count in Books: Every week a student should read 25,000 words. Reading Length and Renaissance Advanced Book Finder both have solid search engines that offer total words.
Poetry LEAF Paragraph-O-Matic: If you need a bit of guidance on writing a good paragraph about poetry, this simple fill-in-the-blank guide will do the trick. Note: It won’t get you to the standard, but will set you up quite well. You only need to make the words your own. Click here for a copy.
Spent: The Game: Spent is an online game that puts players in the shoes of a mentally stable adult who is suddenly jobless, and challenges players to keep their families from falling into homelessness. Click here to play the game.
White Noise Generator: Distracted by chatter and other sounds of the school day? Visit SimplyNoise and choose between white, pink and brown noise. Add oscillation to your "mix", put on headphones and you are ready to focus on your writing.
Other Noise Generators: YouTube has many long "videos" of white noise sounds and music that will block out the world and allow people to focus. Everyone is different (Mr. Darling enjoys 8 hours of dishwasher noise). Start with this playlist and explore from there.
Sharing Cracker: The end of this year is a time to celebrate. Here is the information about the Sharing Cracker we are making to mark the occasion.
Run-on Sentence Assessment: Click here for a simple quiz on fragments and run-on sentences. After you get the results, read about the ones you missed.