Class Matters Coming Soon

DAYS AWAY FROM LAUNCHING: CLASS MATTERS

Since I am always concerned with What Teachers Want besides What Teachers Need, whenever the chance arises, I ask classroom colleagues these two questions. Although a fine line exists between Want –desires for a  satisfying  career- and Need- what is necessary for a successful career, all too often during a school term, we teachers know the lines cross instead of remaining parallel. Statisticians rely on quantitative answers. Me? I prefer qualitative knowledge - what I learn from my colleagues. The following list reveals  some of the answers to years of asking, “What do teachers Want?”.  I have compiled  CLASS MATTERS: Planning, Teaching, and Managing Secondary Classes to meet the wants and needs of my classroom colleagues leading students in grades 6-12.

1. Students should come to school ready and excited to learn.

2. I would be a happy camper if students completed their homework on time. I assign it so they can increase their knowledge, and so I can see how I can help them understand what we are studying.

3. Oh, to never again hear, “Oh, that’s right. We’re having a test today. Well, I forgot to study.”

4. When I ask for their thoughts and analysis, I don’t want students to answer what they think I want to hear. I want them to think and to share their thoughts.

5. What is  most aggravating is that it’s usually the kids who don’t turn their work in on time who complain when I don’t hand their papers back the very next class. How is this respectful?

6. Can they please, please get to class on time? It’s not fair to the others when I have to repeat what I have already covered.

7. Although my colleagues and I work together to follow the criteria set by the Program of Studies and how to weight our grades, we have different class rules., and that should be respected by students, colleagues, administrators and parents.

8. Students need to understand that school rules are in place for their safety and well-being and to create a positive and courteous learning environment. Running in the halls, texting, listening to music on their IPods, or whatever, foul language and dressing inappropriately for school are detrimental to this goal.

9. All I ask is that students just try in each aspect of school life, be it academic, social, behavioral, or extra-curricular areas.

Not only does this collection include handouts and printables to meet  both your wants and needs in these three areas, but it  offers posts that suggest how, when and why the  various  focuses will be most useful to you.  Although  some of the information here is self-explanatory to rookie and veteran teachers,  other ideas become clearer with  a short discussion. And sometimes …sometimes we just need  enlightenment on how to use  a new item because we just. don’t. have. a. free. brain. cell. to. think. about. it.

This 100 page teacher resource is divided into sections: Planning, Teaching, and Managing. Within each segment I have interspersed blogs to show  teachers  how to efficiently create lesson plans, classroom rules, and behavior standards. Numerous teaching ideas , handouts and classroom management forms will  meet many of your wants and needs. In the final pages, I invite you to take a break from all of your planning and organizing, and to kick back and relax with  two posts: A Labor Day Lesson: A Contemporary Tale, and In Defense of Teenagers.

Stay Tuned, and remember- 

CLASS Matters, and CLASS MATTERS always matter.

Connie

teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Connie

facebook.com/TeachitWriteLessonPlans

Language Arts - What's So Important? A Coordination and Subordination Activity

When trying to show the importance of ideas, speaking tends to be so much easier. Word choice- along with the chance to instantly replace words for clarity- a tone of voice that expresses which ideas are emphasized, and even the speaker's body language work together to create sentences where thought coordination or subordination are evident.

Writing, though, is much more difficult. The writer has many rough drafts, but one final opportunity to demonstrate which thoughts show coordination, and which ones reveal subordinate ideas.

For example, maybe I want to show that Zelda's and Bubba's responsibility about homework is the same. I would write, "Zelda and Bubba both turn in their homework ninety percent of the time."
(I bet that their teacher is happy with this excellent data!)

But what if I want to emphasize that Zelda is more responsible than Bubba? I might write, "Although Zelda is conscientious about always meeting homework deadlines, Bubba is undependable about completing his assignments.

That information in that sentence is correct, but the emphasis is on Bubba's lack of responsibility because this idea is in the Independent Clause- always the clause that shows the most important idea.

This activity, "What's so Important? A Coordination and Subordination Activity" offers Middle School and High School students three different activities to practice showing What is So Important.

What's So Important? A Coordination and Subordination Language Arts Lesson is aligned with the Common Core standards and Bloom's Taxonomy, but will easily meet the needs of individual state's benchmarks.

Middle School and High School students will find that their verbal and written misunderstandings will diminish when they master "What's So Important".

Download this Language Arts Grammar Activity from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Language-Arts-Whats-so-Important-A-Coordination-and-Subordination-Activity-1185877

Your students will be thrilled when you, "Please don't let us be misunderstood." 

I paraphrased these words from the song written by Bennie Benjamin for Nina Simone (1964) and also sung by The Animals (1965), and Santa Esmerelda (1977).

Happy Teaching,

Teach it Write

Building Powerful Academic Homes

Language Arts Activity - Tripping Through Time

In this 4-page Free activity, Tripping Through Time, students use their thinking and writing skills to show their understanding of the character, conflict and other elements of literature in the piece that they are studying through narrative writing. 

As the character of their choice from the reading, they are transported to a totally unfamiliar time and geographic area. After researching this different time and place, the students will write a personal narrative comparing and contrasting both societies. Their responses must reveal the point of view of the character that they chose to personify, not their own.

The students’ completed writing will show their comprehension of the reading, of the material that they gathered in their research, and they will strengthen their higher level thinking skills.


Download this FREEBIE from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Language-Arts-Activity-Tripping-Through-time-1174672

Happy Teaching,

Teach it Write

Building Powerful Academic Homes

Language Arts Activity - "Predicting Outcomes"

All people, real and fictional, have experienced the Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda dilemma at least once in their lives. With this FREE lesson, Language Arts Activity - "Predicting Outcomes", students dig into this Choice/Consequence quandary that a specific character experiences throughout a story. 

The chart that students complete for this activity will show the round and dynamic qualities of the character as well as how the person  acts and reacts to the Plot/Conflict.

Introduce this activity during the latter part of the Rising Action or when enough information about the character has been given. In completing it, students exhibit their range of thinking skills from knowledge through evaluation. 

The written segment allows them to show their understanding of all aspects of the character elements of literature as well as their analytic and critical-thinking skills. The oral response/discussion aspect enables students to exercise and develop their speaking and listening skills.

This Common Core aligned activity has students, remembering, thinking, applying, analyzing,

writing, evaluating and speaking. Their motivation is tweaked  by the age old, "Woulda', shoulda', coulda'" dilemma.

Download this FREE activity from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Language-Arts-Activity-Predicting-Outcomes-1152153. The Teacher Notes page details the Who, What, When, Why and How for this lesson as well as the selected Common Core Standards and Bloom's Taxonomy choices.







Happy Teaching,

Teach it Write

Building Powerful Academic Homes

Language Arts Activity - "Taking a Break"

Language Arts Activity - "Taking a Break"

Just a moment ago, I turned my back to my window as a chill ran up my spine.  Why?

Because it is March 3rd and the "...weather outside is frightful," (From Let it Snow). Here in the suburbs northwest of Washington, D.C., snow in falling, and falling, and falling.  The wind is circling the street hunting for a face to face confrontation. Like the vast majority of the country, we are experiencing yet another Weather Event, this one bears the name,Titan.

Although  all of the school districts in a 50+ radius of my home office are cancelled today, many of you, my teacher colleagues, have splashed, slid and pushed a path into your classrooms for the first Monday in March. What do you do when those lessons that fanned your teaching flames in the fall and that kept your teaching passion warm during most school days of this endless winter now seem as drab lifeless as the arugula on that tuna sandwich you squeezed onto the top shelf of the Teacher Lounge fridge last Friday?

If it's impossible to actually pack your bags and set off for a sun-soaked sandy beach along with a few good friends, at least take a mental break. 

Ask your students to envision their own Fantasy Vacation mental break, too, but instead of enjoying themselves with a few of their real friends, they are hanging out with three fictional characters.

This engaging lesson is a terrific Any Time During the Year Recap to assess your students' comprehension, understanding and analytic skills of the material that they have read so far this school term, On dreary days when  any R & R seems far, far away, it offers a needed getaway for your students- even if they are only jet-skiing through their heads. 

For this activity, students will decide on traveling companions for their dream vacation. They will ask three characters from books that they have read for school assignments this year to join them on this fantasy trip. 

• Who will they take? 
• Why them? 
• Where will they go? 
• How will these people help them have a perfect trip?

Students must detail their responses to these questions so the reasons behind their choices are clear.Their explanations for these selections must reveal which physical, emotional and personality traits made them desirable trip mates.

Escape Storm Titan. Let your mental meanderings take you away to your dream getaway with some interesting and novel companions.

Download this FREE activity, with detailed Teacher Notes, from
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Language-Arts-Activity-Taking-a-Break-248681

Happy Teaching,




Enjoy this an hundreds of other free and priced lessons on
 http://www.pinterest.com/TheBestofTPT/free-lessons-priced-lessons-the-best-of-teacher-en/

Literature Task Cards

Literature Task Cards

This product offers teachers a set of Elements of Literature Task Cards when they want their students to

• reinforce, 
• review and 
• develop their understanding of a text, and to 
• work on expanding their comprehension/higher thinking skills and /or writing aptitudes.

The elements of literature: Plot/Conflict, Character, Setting, Theme, Symbols, Tone and Point of View as well as a set titled, My Insights, are each represented by six color-coded task cards that reveal questions for students to explore their comprehension of the text. The points that they address cover:

• Understanding/ Remembering 
• applying knowledge 
• analyzing ideas 
• evaluating situations
• characters' actions, and 
• composing original pieces based on the text.

These cards are beneficial for individual, small group or whole class study and discussion, for in-class writing and for homework. 

Inspire your students to build powerful academic homes with these 48 Language Arts Literature Task Cards.

Download this engaging product from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Language-Arts-Literature-Task-Cards-1131263

Happy Teaching,

Teach it Write

Building Powerful Academic Homes

Language Arts Activities - "Writing About Reading"

Writing About Reading

A folder that we teachers love to feed is the one where we collect topics for writing about reading.  We can never have too many ideas to students to write when their brain isn't sparking any thoughts, or when we want them to write to a prompt. My newest set of activities,Writing About Reading, offers teachers two new activities

 

1. "Quotation Journals: What did the character say?  What did the character mean?" Note: this is terrific for nonfiction pieces as students can explore the author's point of view, tone, etc., and
2. Writing Journal Topics  Note: 30 writing ideas.

As with the majority of my product, a Teacher Notes page details the Common Core Standards and Bloom's Taxonomy objectives that apply to this packet. It also explains What is being taught, When, Why and How regarding Writing About Reading.

Students can use these for Warm-Up writing, after a discussion to reveal their understanding, for a short answer assessment (the teacher selects a topic), for a small group discussion, for a, "Who Said That?" quotation review game, as a class closure assignment, for homework, or for whatever teachers think would fit the needs and abilities of their students.

When students have the chance to Read text, to Think about it, to Write about it and then to Speak about what they read and wrote, they will remember so much more about what they are studying. At the same home run!


Download Writing About Reading from my TpT store http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Language-Arts-Activity-Writing-About-Reading-1118924

Thank you to The 3AM Teacher for the wonderful Free borders-http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Frames-Backgrounds-by-The-3AM-Teacher-196582

Happy Teaching,











Middle School Lesson Plans, High School Lesson Plans, Language Arts Lessons, Writing Lessons Reading Comprehension, Writing Skills, Thinking Skills

Language Arts Activity – “C’mon in to My House”

C’mon in to My House

Every house has a story. Every student has a number of  stories. In Part 1 of this product, Language Arts Activity – “C’mon in to My House,” students will relate the details of one situation that took place in their current home, or another where they have lived. They will use the elements of literature to guide their thinking and writing.  After this, they will analyze how these elements form the framework of a family and their home.

In Part 2, students will follow the same directions, but this time, with a character from the story that they are studying. At the end of this segment of the activity, students will analyze how all of the elements work together to build a story’s structure, just like they work together to compose a family and their home.

For each segment of this activity, students will also draw the floorplan for the homes that serves as the setting for that part, and will include the characters that played a part in the situation. They should add any other embellishments that they feel are integral to the situation, and which help illustrate their summaries.

This activity requires students to touch on each of the five parts of the Bloom’s Taxonomy wheel: Remember/Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate and Create. It is also aligned with Common Core Standards, which may be adapted to a state’s specific standards.

After they complete this activity, students will understand, and be able to discuss how the composition of their family and home, and  the framework of a story are connected by the elements of literature.

As always, a Teacher Notes page that provides the Common Core and Bloom's Taxonomy standards and includes the What, When, Why and How to Teach details is included.

Download this Language Arts activity from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Language-Arts-Activity-Cmon-in-to-My-House-1107073


Happy Teaching,






ELA Middle School Lesson, ELA High School Lesson,  Elements of Literature,  Analytic Writing, Expository Writing, Bloom’s Taxonomy,  Common Core Standards

A Novel Idea to Celebrate President's Day

If a character from a novel could be the president of the United States, who would you choose?  Who would your students choose?

This project is a great way to engage students in a presidential campaign, an inauguration, or to celebrate President's Day in February. For this project, each student chooses a character from a novel to run for President of the United States. 

This character can be from a book they read in class or from their independent reading. All information that the students include must reveal the author's presentation of this character as well as the student's analysis and interpretation of the person. 

Students will create a whole campaign for this character.
Criteria: 

• The requirements to be covered are detailed on the first page of this handout. 
  
• Final Project Format- Students choose one of three options
• a PowerPoint presentation 
• a webpage presentation 
• a Poster Board presentation

Standards:

• All of the facets of Bloom's Taxonomy: comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation and knowledge are addressed. 
• This activity focuses on the  Common Core Standards for Literature: R 1, 2, 5, 8 W 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9 SL 1, 4, 5 L 1, 2, 3, 5, but teachers may choose their state's corresponding standards. 

The project should take a month to finish if all of the suggested writing is required. Teachers should alter these requirements to fit their time frame and their students’ skills and abilities. Students may start it in class and complete it for homework. If teachers want to spend a shorter time on this project (1-2 weeks depending on class time/homework time allotted for completion), they can divide the students into groups of 3-4. Each group will decide on a character to run for President and will divide up the required work into equal parts.

If time permits, a final Speaking and Listening activity could be a debate between two characters with the

most opposing views. For projects done individually, each student whose character is chosen can present his/her material and argue the issues. If either character chosen was a result of a group project, the members of the group can decide who presents which material. In this case, each student should have equal time.

* Page 2 offers detailed Teacher Notes.
Download this President's Day activity from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Activity-Hail-to-the-Chief-192533

Which character will each of your students choose to be the next President of the United States?


Happy Teaching,

Valentine's Day Activities Duet - "Characters + Conflict = Comprehension"

Love may be entwined hands, an arm in arm stroll on a sunlit beach or a conversation showing forgiveness.
The desire for love might fan the flames of revenge, loneliness or fury.

With this Valentine's Day duet of activities, students will bolster their reading comprehension by analyzing character and conflict in the literature that they have studied in school.

Activity: Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Make Me a Match

 For this Valentine's Day Freebie, students will choose the Best Couple of the Year from characters in any book or story that they have read for a class assignment over the years. At least one woman and one man must be from the piece that they are currently reading in class. 

Students complete an About Me card for each character they choose by using facts from the stories and by making inferences using the information that they have gathered from the books they read. Next, they analyze their answers and choose who would make the best match with the greatest chance of forming a permanent relationship. Finally, they defend their choices by explaining their decision. 

This is a fun way for students from grades 5-12 to show their reading comprehension and critical thinking skills.

Total Pages 3  Answer Key  N/A  Teaching Duration  1 hour

Download this $1.50 activity from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Activity-Matchmaker-Matchmaker-Make-Me-a-Match-199326.

Activity: Valentine's Day- You Sent What??? Cards

Valentine’s Day isn’t always an occasion showcased by happy hearts, aromatic bouquets of flowers and luscious boxes of chocolates. Because of various conflicts, peoples’ words and actions might be prompted by feelings of revenge, sadness and selfishness instead of forgiveness, joy and giving. 

In this activity, Valentine's Day You Sent What??? Cards, students must consider the characters and their conflicts in the fiction or non-fiction work they are currently reading or in any other literature that they have read this year in school (teacher’s choice). 

Their finished project will show how these characters would handle Valentine’s Day.

A Teachers Notes page lists the Common Core Standards that fit this activity, as well as the Bloom's Taxonomy terms students will utilize to complete the project.  A Student Directions page details the assignment.Valentine's Day You Sent What??? Cards allows students to increase their comprehension levels by combining their understanding of the character and conflict elements of literature with higher level thinking skills.

This engaging activity will appeal to a wide cross-section of students, from grades 5-12.

Total Pages 4  Answer Key N/A Teaching Duration2 Days

Download this $2.00 product from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Activity-Valentines-Day-You-Sent-What-Cards-522845

These two activities will increase students' comprehension homes, will keep them loving learning and will create smile after smile for teachers and students.

Happy Teaching,

Engage Students' Inner Critic with the Academic Awards for Literature

People love to play critic, no matter the entertainment venue. From Broadway to live concerts, or from the TV screen to the Silver Screen, everyone loves to chime in the conversation with their personal Rants and Raves. The 2014 Golden Globes are history and the Gammy's are primed for airing on January 26th. With the Academy Awards nominations announced, movie lovers now have until March 2nd to make a case for their favorite thespians and movies.

On that note, who are some of teachers most ardent critics?  Adolescents. True, they rant about books they designate as, "Boring," but they also rave about a story or a character that they love. This is the perfect time for students to channel their Inner Critics so they can complete the Academic Awards for Literature. In this lesson, their mission is to choose the best literature, from both fiction and narrative non-fiction that they have read as the recipients for this year’s honors.

The categories for the awards are based on the elements of literature: Characters, Settings, Plots/Conflicts, Symbols, Themes and Point of View). Students may consider only books-fiction or nonfiction- that they have read for academic study or for individual reading since the beginning the current school year. 

NOTE: If teachers want to add a Selected Short Subject category for essays and other short non-fiction such as journalism pieces, this will address a school district's non-fiction requirements in regard to Common Core criteria. For this award, students will need to evaluate the piece for how well it meets the criteria for a particular type of writing, i.e. Descriptive, Informative, Cause and Effect, Persuasive.

Here is a condensed form of the directions. More detailed guidelines are presented on the Teacher Notes and with the Student Directions included in this 5-page activity. 

Student Directions:

1. Write the Category title and your Choice for the Best in that category in the given spaces on the certificate.
2. Under that information on the awards certificate, explain and support your choice in a short paragraph while following the points under Writing Criteria. 
3. Make sure that your writing specifically details the criteria for each category. 
4. After the writing segment is finished, you will defend one or more of your selections during a class discussion.

The criteria for Fiction and Narrative Non-fiction offers students points to ponder about each element of literature as they consider how to explain the who, what, where, when and why behind their choices. Example: Characters (Types of characters are in the parentheses): Does the character grow and change (dynamic), show different sides to his/her personality (round), stay one-dimensional in his/her personality (flat) or show no mental/emotional and/or spiritual growth (static)? Is the character: major, minor, the protagonist or the antagonist? Are the characters believable and or sympathetic? Do you care what happens to them?

After they choose their recipients for each award, students are to fill in the certificates. Here are six of the twenty categories

• Best Fictional Female Character
• Best Fictional Male Character
• Best Supporting Fictional Female Character
• Best Supporting Fictional Male Character
• Best Non- Fictional Female Character
• Best Non-Fictional Male Character

For their explanation paragraphs, students must state the award recipient as well as the title and author of the text. To defend their choices, each of their explanations must include three examples along with supporting details that justify the choice and that add clarity to the student's reasoning.

The Teacher Notes page lists the Common Core Standards that pertain to this activity as well as the Bloom's Taxonomy terms students will utilize.

Download this offering: Presenting the Academic Awards for Literature, from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Activity-Presenting-the-Academic-Awards-for-Literature-523512. Although it costs $2.00, this activity will engage students for as long as teachers give them to complete the assignment. As another benefit, students must show what they remember as well as how to analyze, evaluate and apply their knowledge to an original creation. Their comprehension, writing and reasoning skills will enjoy a win-win-win situation.

Trivia Question: What was the origination for the term, Grammy?  Include it in your comment. I had no idea until I looked it up this morning.

Happy Teaching,