Lessons+from+CCS+LA+Teachers

This is a lesson for //The Dying Detective//, a story adapted from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is a screenplay in the purple Prentice Hall Literature textbook. The attachments are a pre-reading activity as well as a post-reading study guide. -- Karen Heilman

This is a Smart Board presentation. The pictures are links. Click on the green dots. Limericks are a fun celebration of Poetry month- April! from Carrie Bartlett I read in a book a few years ago how valuable it is to teach students to pick out main ideas in text and summarize them in their own words. I created a template that I photocopy on both sides of the paper that forces students to be concise, as there isn't much room for summary. Students may summarize the chapter, the day's reading, or a specific set of pages, depending on your objective. This is also a great tool to use for reading conferences: I circulate around the room, check papers, and conference with students about their reading on the spot. Students seem to value the immediate feedback. Rocquel Erman

There is also a song analysis activity that I do with my poetry unit. It is a good way to incorporate media in the Language Arts classroom. It also reinforces many Language Arts objectives. Kids love this. Rocquel Erman

This is a lesson we used as a center when we were doing novel studies. The novel studies we were covering included Hatchet, The Hunger Games, and Holes so we had our students go through centers with the theme of survival. They thoroughly enjoyed this lesson and it sparked a lot of interesting conversation amongst our 8th graders. (Lindsay Gaines)I

I Have used the work menu tocenter-like activities and differentiation in the classroom. This idea was adapted to fit the students after observing a Bonlee teacher. The attached file has 3 different levels: AIG, EC/ESL, and regular ed. The activities all focus on the targeted objectives or strategies but the reading level of selections, etc are different based on the targeted group. JGibson/CMS

This is a lesson to introduce Point of View to students. It is fun for the kids and teaches them how to look at what they are reading from different perspectives. (Carrie Smith)

Submitted by Michelle Hayhurst from Silk Hope School Literature Circle Booklets: These can be used at any grade level. I included two types of jobs. You may like one more than the other. I make enough pages of the daily sheets so there will be one page per chapter or daily reading assignment. The "jobs" sheet serves as the inside cover of the booklet. I have also included a title page for the booklet. I divide my class into groups of 4-6, combining some of the easier jobs if a group has less than 6 members. We spend the first day making booklets, filling in daily reading assignments and assigning jobs and questions. Make sure no one in the groups have the same job and that all of the jobs are covered each day. The following day students begin by reading the assigned chapter or pages for the day, silently and alone. When students finish the reading they immediately begin the job that they have for the day. The last 15 minutes of class is reserved for group discussion. Each group member takes turn sharing his/her job and questions with the group. I circulate around the room listening and keeping them on task. Grading these things can take a long time. So, I have began taking up their booklets while their reading and grading the previous days work for each of them. This provides feedback for them, in case they aren't following directions, and it makes grading a lot faster. When they complete the assignment I only have to grade the last day and total up all of their point for a final grade. I hope this will be useful to someone!!!!

Jennifer Jourdan 7th Grade- Dazzling Reading Project

Through StudenTales publishing company, every seventh grade student had the opportunity to write and have his/her own book published and bound in hardcover. The company sends publishing kits for $1 per student. Every student who turns in a publishing kit receives a free copy of the published book. Families can pre-order additional copies; many gave them as gifts. Attached is the sheet I used to kick-off the publishing project. (Amy Gilleland, HMS)