English Language Arts
K-8 Elementary & Middle School
Writing & Listening
Learning to Print - Alphabet: Homework: Watch video and complete Letter Packet practice. Students hand in worksheets of letters they have mastered. Students find a word they can read that starts or contains that letter to share with the class and create a flashcard. In class, students sign up to demonstrate a mastered letter on the whiteboard. Students share and read a word that starts or contains. Up to 4 can demonstrate letters in a day. Work in groups for sorting and matching activities based on letters completed.
Sight Word List practice - Grade 2
Homework: Watch video, checking off which words you were able to read by sight.
In Class: 20 minute sessions:
Group 1: (student practiced all the words) Activity: use the words in a sentence. Activity: In a reading passage, find the sight words and grab a word badge.
Group 2: Students who struggled will start with practice on the sight words, using flashcards.
Switch:
Group 1: Sight word snatch. As you listen to a story, snatch the words you hear in the story that are part of the word list. Then read a passage with sight words, underlining the words you find.
Group 2: Practice using the words in a sentence. In a reading passage, find the site words and grab a word badge. When done, move to group 3 for site word snatch.
Poetry: Grade 6 Homework: Watch teacher videos on poetry styles (Haiku, Acrostic, Concrete, Rhyming, . Pre-write at least 2 poems. Students write and create poem document, edit their own poems, choosing 3-5 different types. Submit for review/acceptance. Students read their poems and create audio files (.mp3). Student posts poem and audio file in kidblog or create eBook. Student can also post on wiki, or add to portfolio and share.
Haiku Poem - Grade 7
Homework: Watch video to get started writing a Haiku.
Write your Haiku poem.
In Class: Watch improving your Haiku
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPomxQyFC10
Work on finalizing your Haiku -
Read out loud to group and get peer review. Finalize your Haiku and share.
Writing Prompts: Grade 6
Day 1
5 minute writing activity daily. Add to your story every day with new writing prompts
Writing Prompts
Day 3
5 minute writing activity daily. Add to your story every day with new writing prompts
Video
When Summer Comes Poem - By Maddie S
When Summer Comes - Maddie reading her original poem:
HS ELA - Reading, Critical Thinking
Close Reading Instructions - Non-Fiction
Monthly reading of articles - Non-Fiction
Reading Expository Text
Flip: Create or use video to explain elements of Expository Book.
Use Reading Notebook to post your responses. Complete as you watch the video.
Use Reading notebook to post signal words with your own definition/explanation
Socratic Seminar
Student led discussion of reading topic or book with specific rules
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/flipped-classroom-learning-upside-down-beth-holland
Beth Holland
Website Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s2hDe93y_o
Expository Text
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEYvd1oFo6I
Critical Thinking Rules & Question starters:
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/flipped-classroom-learning-upside-down-beth-holland
Video
Consider this scenario for a 55 minute class period.
- 15 minutes - students collaborate in groups to demonstrate their understanding of the previous day's reading
- 30 minutes - students read aloud and act out scenes
- 10 minutes - teacher highlights key concepts from the text
- Homework - students re-read what was covered in class, actively taking notes and preparing to share knowledge during the next class meeting
The example Animoto video was used to demonstrate the concept to an 8th grade class.
What if class time had been used to read out loud and experience the reading instead of analyzing it? For example, when teaching Macbeth, I wanted my students to understand Shakespeare's language, the vocabulary, and the significance of key quotes and concepts. However, in focusing on these mechanics, they missed the fact that Macbeth was a play full of adventure and drama. What if I had flipped Macbeth so that we'd used class time to experience Shakespeare as a sort of "theater in the round," and used homework as a way for students to reread and analyze the text?
What if students created a mini-project each day to showcase their active reading and illustrate their knowledge of key concepts such as in the example below? These students used Animoto -- video creation tool -- to summarize the previous day's reading, demonstrate their understanding of vocabulary, identify key quotes and make their active reading strategies visual.
Every day, for the first ten minutes, students in this eighth grade class collaborated on these videos. They could use only photos of their books, and the theme had to match their content. The students then shared their creations with the class, giving them ownership of the content, establishing them as experts, and allowing their teacher to quickly assess their understanding before continuing with the current day's theatrical reading.