ALA's Banned Book Week ignites oral and written conversations

This Sunday, September 24th,  begins the American Library Association's week-long celebration of the "Right to Read."They are focusing this year's celebration on the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances," (https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/United_States_of_America_1992.


This is a perfect time for students to explore their right to read what they want, when they want. They are shocked when they hear that some schools ban fairy tales written by the Grimm brothers such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (violence and sexual innuendo-Snow White lives with seven men), and Little Red Riding Hood (violence and alcohol infractions-underaged Little Red carries wine to her Grandmother). Then their attention is hooked when they find out that they have probably read at least one banned book since they started their formal education, and more than that through their independent reading.

In many elementary, middle, and high schools, teachers are often required to offer a second "safe" book when a controversial fiction or nonfiction book will be taught. Some do so just to keep possible challenges at bay. I remember being shocked when I found out that a parent of a student at a magnet school for only extremely high achieving high school students challenged the teaching of Ken Follett's, Pillars of the Earth. Her upset began at the start of the book when a number of medieval men and women were traveling between towns on foot and one of the women stopped along the side of the road to give birth. She felt this description was too graphic for her high school senior involved in the study of geriatric illnesses.  In support of the right for teachers and administrators to choose what books their charges will study, many high schools in the same district started "We Read Banned Book" clubs for staff and students at their schools.

This list of the "Ten Most Commonly Banned Books" on the Butler University site (http://libguides.butler.edu/c.php?g=34189&p=217684) would decimate many middle and high school English program of studies if a person or group chose to challenge their inclusion in the district's students education. 

1.  1984 (George Orwell)
2. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
3. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
4. The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
5. The Great Gatsby (F.Scott Fitzgerald)
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou)
7. Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
8. Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey)
10. To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)

Although many books are challenged by a person or group, not all of these are restricted in some form, such as not permitted in the school library or kept to specific grade levels, nor do they end up being banned-not allowed in school libraries or programs of study.

My product, "Writing Activity - Banned Books Research Project," gives students the chance to choose a banned book to read-with parental permission- and to research the reason(s) it has been banned.  Students will explore various facets of book censorship in schools to become more proficient in their reading, critical thinking and writing skills. Whether they choose to investigate the legal, historical, moral or societal aspects of this issue is up to each individual student and his/her personal interest in this topic. In order to illustrate the points for book censorship in the schools, students will read a frequently banned or challenged novel, either from the included list, or a choice of their own. Next, they will research when, where and why it was challenged or banned.  In the last part of the paper, each student will develop his/her opinion on whether the book should be banned or restricted, using points from the paper to support his/her conclusion. 

Here is a student project and five websites for teachers to use to plan their introductory discussion. Students will not only find the sites informative for their research, but will also uncover other links that will aid them in their investigation. Besides Teacher Notes, this packet offers a Permission Slip form students must get signed for the book they will read and research, specific project requirements for students, a list of 60 commonly banned books, and much more. Here is the link: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Activity-Banned-Books-Research-Project-321767 $3.00

Banned Books links:

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks

http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/censorship/bannedbooksthatshapedamerica

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks

http://libguides.butler.edu/bannedbooks?p=217686

http://libguides.utoledo.edu/bannedbooks/banned-challenged-books

Students love to argue their viewpoint about the unfairness of restrictions- and they almost always find some aspect of a limitation unfair. This project 

Shows them how to research and support an argument by exploring the fundamental right to read, Helps them to determine the best places to find the reasoning behind Pro and Con challenged book arguments, and 

Lets them create and defend their opinions with logic and facts. 

After completing this project, they will  look at the books they read for class or for personal enjoyment with a clearer understanding of the controversy surrounding book banning.

Enjoy a Teach It Now Day Every Day.

Connie

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Connie

New Year's Day Writing Activity - "Dynamite Resolutions for the New Year"

Teachers, this post offers you a few more days of relaxing, shopping, reading for pleasure, watching college bowl games, or indulging in whatever revives you best before you must unlock your classrooms after your much-deserved break.  This lesson, New Year's Day Writing Activity: Dynamite Resolutions for the New Year, will engage your middle and /or high school students as the first bell chimes while giving you an activity that meets comprehension, writing, thinking and speaking objectives.

As the New Year tick tocks its way into January, students’ brains need some prodding to shake off the cobwebs of long winter naps. This language arts activity sparks their comprehension, critical thinking and writing muscles as they consider the texts that they read and analyzed during the fall and early winter months. After they complete the handout and share their responses in a whole-class discussion that promises to be lively, their brains will be revved up for the next fiction or narrative nonfiction unit.

For this lesson, New Year's Day Writing Activity: Dynamite Resolutions for the New Year, students will choose five people from any of the reading they have completed so far this school year, and will create a New Year’s Resolution for each one. Each decision must be one that fits the character’s disposition, morals, values and temperament.

After the students create this pledge, they must explain

•  why the character made this decision,
•  why this is a logical choice for him/her, and they
•  must also include the title and author for each story that they use.

To score this activity, allot 1 point each for the character, the title and the author; 3 points for each Resolution, and 4 points for the Reason -10 points per each character response, and 50 points for the whole worksheet.

Example:

Character: Goldilocks; Goldilocks and The Three Bears; Robert Southly

Resolution: I vow never to break into anyone’s house again.

Reason: My parents grounded me for breaking and entering, eating the Bear family’s food, destroying their furniture and messing up their beds. For three weeks I had to eat cold porridge, sit in a wooden chair and sleep on a wooden pallet with no mattress. That was no fun.

This lesson promises to add more bricks to students’ academic homes while they prove the premise that Learning is Fun.  Resolve to download this $1.25 bargain from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/New-Years-Day-Writing-Activity-Dynamite-Resolutions-for-the-New-Year-179906.

Happy Teaching,

 New Year's graphic from https://openclipart.org/detail/211059/happy-new-year-2015-by-viscious-speed-211059

English Language Arts Lesson Plan - "Conflicted by Conflict"

Frank Sinatra was famous for crooning, "I did it my way." The characters in the stories students are studying should sing the same lyrics. 

This English Language Arts Lesson Plan, "Conflicted by Conflict" will enable middle and high school students to show how a character of their choice from a story that they are studying should respond to a conflict that appears in a different venue, i.e. movies, another book, a news piece, a song lyric on a contemporary life situation.

For each venue, the students will:
1. Summarize How the Conflict is Revealed in that selection
2. Reveal the character’s Antagonist in that specific genre
3. Show the Character’s Action/Reaction to this conflict.

Students should use details from the story they are studying to support their character’s response(s) to the conflict as it is shown in the new venue. 
Here's an example how they can accomplish this:

Story The Hunger Games Author Suzanne Collins
Another Book/Story Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Character: Katness Everdeen Antagonist The wilds of Alaska
Conflict: Katness faces dying from starvation due to the isolation and hardships of an Alaskan winter (Character vs. Nature)
Character’s Reaction:
Katness Everdeen’s understanding of poisonous plants would have saved her if she had been faced with starvation like Chris McCandless. Because she had spent years foraging for food for her mother and sister, she never would have mistaken the toxic sweet pea vegetation for the safe wild potato plant. Also, as a savvy and accurate hunter, she would have been able to trap or kill animals for much needed protein.

In Conflicted by Conflict, middle and high school students will flesh out characters from their reading to show their understanding of the element of character as well as their analytic and critical-thinking skills.

 

By analyzing a character of their choice, students will exhibit their understanding of this person’s characteristics, emotions, and other attributes through comparing and contrasting his/her actions and reactions to the same conflict, but which exists in other literary and life venues 

This activity should be introduced when the characters have shown enough depth to analyze. Although both Common Core Standards and active verbs from Bloom's Taxonomy Learning Domains are included, you should use these given standards as guidelines, adapting them to the benchmarks that your state follows.

We teachers often wonder what are students actually know and understand from their reading. The singer, Alesana addressed the understanding necessary to make a decision in her song, "Second Guessing"
'Tell me are you second guessing?
Because you honestly seem to have it all
Are you under control or questioning how this all ends?'

After they complete this activity, students will feel confident about the character that they have evaluated, and will proudly say, "No second guessing for me. I have it under control."
Download it from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Comprehension-Writing-Activity-Conflicted-by-Conflict-1310733
 As with all of my products, this one includes detailed Teacher Notes.

Happy Teaching,

Teach it Write

Building Powerful Academic Homes

Language Arts Activity - Characters Just Keep on Dancin'

No matter their age, students love music and dancing. In this FREE handout, Language Arts Activity - Characters Just Keep on Dancin, Middle and High School students will select characters from the literature that they have studied throughout the year for a dance competition.

They are to reveal their comprehension of these characters’ personalities, emotions, and moral fiber in their writing and speaking.

This language arts activity should be introduced when the characters have shown enough depth to analyze. Students will flesh them out by showing their understanding of the element of character as well as their analytic and critical-thinking skills. 

Here are the Students' Directions:

Students- for this activity, you are to
1. Choose three pairs of characters (6 characters, total) to team up for a dance competition (Based on the Dancing With the Stars Television show). 
2. These characters may be from any stories that you have read in class this year. Do not be concerned that the dancers in each pair are from the same setting or historical period. Also, the characters in each pair do NOT have to be from the same story. 
3. Each pair will compete against the other two pairs, so your choices for each duo must have similar dancing skills and abilities.
4. Once you have chosen your pairs, you must explain the reasons for your selections, and defend your explanations with details from the stories that support your thinking. Be sure to analyze each duo’s competitive dancing strengths and weaknesses.
5. Next, choose the type of dance (Ballet, jazz, hiphop, disco, fifties-or any decade, etc.), and the music for each pair’s competition dance. The music must fit the dance genre as well as each dancer’s skills and abilities.
6. Choose three criteria that the dancers must meet-examples: Technical Merit, Difficulty of Routine, and Showmanship. Ten points should be allotted to each of the criteria, and the pair that wins must earn the highest score out of 30 points. NOTE: You will have to go back and score each pair’s dance routine after you select the three criteria.
7. Select the winning team. Here you will have to justify your choice by determining how each pair met the set criteria. Write each analysis in sentence form.
8. When you are finished, the teacher will divide you into teams of three. Here, you will read the analysis and decision of your two team members. Finally, you will show whether you agree or disagree with that peer’s choice by writing an explanation on that student’s paper.
9. Finally, write a brief news item for the Entertainment Section of an online or print newspaper revealing the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How of this dance competition.
10. Teachers will collect the papers and grade them according to their pre-set criteria, i.e details, supporting material, analytic depth, grammar, spelling etc.
11. Teachers should have you orally share your choices and justifications.
12. At the end of this part of the activity, the teacher will collect the papers.

This product supports Common Core Standards and Bloom's Taxonomy. Use the given standards as guidelines, adapting them to the benchmarks that your state follows.

Students' brains will boogie to the learning beat with this FREE activity. When the music flows and the characters dance, students will be engaged and motivated. Download Language Arts Activity - Characters Just Keep on Dancin' from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Comprehension-Writing-Activity-Characters-Just-Keep-on-Dancin-1288466

Happy Teaching,

Language Arts Activity - Oh My WORDs!

Vocabulary study will become meaningful to Middle and High School students when they make the words an integral part of their writing and speaking. We teachers must offer them a variety of ways to think about the word’s definition, as well as its connotative meaning so that they can make logical inferences about its usage.

The key to word ownership is to offer students a variety of opportunities to use the words repeatedly in order to remove any aura of isolation that remains when they just memorize the meanings for a test. This multiple exposure will help the students become more comfortable and confident with how to use the words.

Like my Vocabulary: 31 Ideas for Teaching Vocabulary

(http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Vocabulary-31-Ideas-for-Teaching-Vocabulary-634378),  this FREEBIE, Oh My WORDs!,  also has 30 exercises for students to show that they understand how the vocabulary words should be used in context. 

In their writing, students will have to actively think about four elements in order to use them correctly: the word’s definition, its contextual and or connotative meaning, its part of speech, and which, if any, inflectional endings (i.e. –er, -ed, -ing-, s) are necessary when they include them in this piece. 

Through this reinforcement, each student will add some of the words to his or her oral and written language repertoire.  Reading comprehension will also improve, not just due to the inclusion of teacher-generated words into their personal vocabularies, but also because they are learning to think about how writers choose words to express their thoughts.

I have grouped the exercises as: Warm-ups Writing, Short Writing, and Shared Writing. For the most part, the topics are general enough to be used in conjunction with any word list. Students should complete the Warm-up Writing in 15-20 minutes and the other two categories in twenty-five to thirty minutes. My intention is not to turn these into major writing assignments, but to offer enough depth for the students to develop their thoughts and to include as many words as they could without turning the writing into a contextual word list.

Teaching Idea:

To insure that the students are studying how the words are used and are not just memorizing the meanings, assign a Short Writing the night before the quiz.  The day of the assessment, collect the writings, put them in a stack on your desk, and, while the students are completing the quiz, check off that they are complete.  You can review these pieces quite quickly if you choose to only circle any words that are used incorrectly or are unclear. 

When the students have turned in the quiz, they should choose a peer’s Short Writing and write their reactions to the content of the piece.  Have them underline any vocabulary words that they use in their 100-150 word responses for extra credit. When the time is up, stroll through the room, check that the assignment is completed and note any extra credit that you may add to their quiz grade.

Download this FREEBIE from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Vocabulary-Activities-Oh-My-WORDs-1278986

Happy Teaching,

Language Arts Activity - Fiction's Physique

Readers enjoy rating the books that they read whether this analysis occurs in their heads, on line, with a friend or in book group discussions.

This English Language Arts activity- Fiction's Physique- enables Middle and High School students to develop their comprehension and reasoning skills as they show- in writing and orally- a story's buff or flabby qualities.

Teachers should offer this lesson after students have finished reading the story. When they have completed this activity, students will reveal the buffness of their thinking skills from knowledge through evaluation.

This activity allows them to show their understanding of all aspects of the Elements of Strong Fiction as well as their comprehension of the various aspects of the story.

Here is the How the lesson should be taught from the Teacher Notes:

·         Introduce the activity by reviewing each Element of Strong Fiction (Vivid Details, Depth of Character, Descriptive Settings, Captivating Plots, Realistic Dialogue, Unpredictability, Originality, Emotions, Believable Endings and Purpose).

1.       Before class, write each of the ten elements on the board, leaving space for student responses.

2.       Give each student a card with one of the ten elements written on it.

3.       Allot them five minutes to find an example of their element and to write it on the board under the corresponding topic.

4.       Discuss the answers

·         Review the activity’s directions by reading them orally and then checking for understanding.

·         Give students time in class to work on this activity.  Suggestion- 30 to 45 minutes, depending on their skills and abilities.

·          Students may either finish this activity in class the next day or as a homework assignment. Teachers choose their desired option, depending on their students’ skills and abilities and their objective(s) for the activity.

·         The day that the activity is due, write the elements of strong fiction on the board again, randomly assign each student two topics, and then ask them to write one of their examples under each of their assigned elements.

·         Alternate Lesson: divide students into pairs or trios. Give them class time to complete this activity, instructing them to divide up the elements as they choose. Follow the previous bullet for sharing.

·          Each student must complete the Fitness Analysis segment.

 

Download this FREE activity from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Comprehension-Critical-Thinking-Skills-Activity-Fictions-Physique-1270261

Happy Teaching,

Language Arts Activity - You & Me: Mirror Images or Polar Opposites?

Sometimes students meet characters that seem like their alter-egos; other times they feel that these people are their polar opposites. 

In this FREE Language Arts activity, You & Me: Mirror Images or Polar Opposites?, Middle and High School students choose the character from the story that they are currently studying or from any book that they studied in class this year with which they most identify.

Here are the directions for each aspect of this multi-layered lesson:

Directions Part 1: Choose the character from the story that we are studying or from any book that we

studied in class this year with which you most identify. Fill out the following by comparing and contrasting your similarities and differences with this person.

 

In this part of this packet, each student is to relate the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and moral similarities and differences between the character that he/she chose and him/herself.

After they complete this, they evaluate their information for the qualities that they are glad that they share with the character, those that they never want to share, and those that they wish they shared.

Directions Part 2: Use your information from Part 1 of this activity as notes for the following essay outline. After you complete this page, use your Hook, Overview Statement and Thesis Statement to begin a full-length essay showing 
• how you are similar to and different from the character that you chose, and
• how you feel about these similarities and differences.
Detail your main ideas, backing them up with specific facts and opinions from the book and from your own thoughts to develop this essay. 

Essay Criteria:
1. Minimum 500 words; no maximum- write until you have fully developed your points.
2. Type your essay – double-spaced- in the font style and size set by your teacher.
3. Essay Packet: Behind the final typed draft of the essay, attach all of the Part 1 and Part 2 pages of this activity.

Teachers, use this comprehension-developing lesson with the study of any story, or as a culminating end-of-the-year assessment. By the time that they have completed the notes, outline and essay, students will have exhibited their range of thinking skills from knowledge through evaluation. 

Also, this activity allows them to exhibit their understanding of all aspects of the character element of literature as well as their analytic and critical-thinking skills.

Best of all, they will figure out if this character is their mirror image or their polar opposite.

As always, specific standards and Bloom's Taxonomy choices are included in the detailed Teacher Notes. Download this FREE activity from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Comprehension-Character-Activity-You-Me-Mirror-Images-or-Polar-Opposites-1263319

 

Happy Teaching,

Language Arts Activity - Message "The Meaning is in the Words"

Figurative language enriches our reading and listening adventures and adds depth to our understanding of the piece. 

In my latest Middle and High School English lesson plan,
Language Arts Activity: Message - The Meaning is in the Words, students explore similes, metaphors, personification, sensory imagery and hyperbole in the stories that they study in class.

They exhibit their understanding for the types of figurative language with their selections to analyze, and deepen their comprehension with their explanations. 

This Activity has three parts:

Part A: Find three examples of each of the following literary terms. By the type of figurative language, copy the passage that you chose along with the page number. Next, explain its meaning.

Part B: Your Turn - Create your own figures of speech. Make each one fit the people, setting or plot of the book that you are studying in class, and

Part C: Closure: Address each of the following questions.
1. Which type of figurative language do you find the easiest to identify? Explain your response.
2. Which type of figurative language do you find the hardest to identify? Explain your response.
3. Which type of figurative language do you like the best to create? Why?
4. Which type of figurative language do you like the least to create? Why?

          

           

This standards-based and Bloom's Taxonomy aligned language arts lesson encourages middle and high school students to decode the meaning in the author's words, and to find the message in passages that are often confusing. 

Download this lesson and detailed Teacher Notes from 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Language-Arts-Activity-Message-The-Meaning-is-in-the-Words-1206588

Happy Teaching,

Teach it Write

Building Powerful Academic Homes

Language Arts Activity - Review It!

Students love to share their opinions about anything school, family, friends (and foes), community and world related. Review It! - a lesson plan for Middle and High School students - offers them the opportunity to develop their reasoning and logic skills as they write a review for a book that they have just finished studying in class. 

Best of all, they share their opinions with the world by publishing this piece on the book's page on amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com. 

In this language arts lesson, students will show their understanding of the elements of literature as they analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the story as well as the piece’s intent and whether or not it met this purpose. They will choose direct and indirect citations from the story to support their points. 

Review It! should be introduced after students have completed the reading. This activity enables students in grades 6-12 to exhibit their range of thinking skills from knowledge through evaluation. Their writing will demonstrate their understanding of all aspects of the elements of literature as well as their analytic and critical-thinking skills.

This packet includes:
A. 6 reviews from amazon.com - 2 each for The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins), Divergent (Veronica Roth) and Twilight (Stephenie Meyer)- for students to read, analyze and discuss
B. A Review Check List to use for the discussion of the Amazon reviews and for their original writing.
C. The Review It! handout that details the directions for this activity as well as the points that students must cover in their reviews.

Review It! offers Middle and High School students an opportunity to practice how to share their opinions through effective analysis.

Download this activity that promotes strong reading comprehension, writing and higher level thinking skills from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Language-Arts-Activity-Review-It-1197160.

Happy Teaching,

Teach it Write

Building Powerful Academic Homes

What's the Idea?

Texts that are difficult to understand can turn off students to reading and analyzing the fictional and non-fictional pieces that they study in school. They need to push aside their comprehension fear factors and turn their, "I don't understand this; it's too hard," frowns into, "Wow! Now I get it," smiles. 

They can accomplish this by practicing to deconstruct complicated texts so that they can understand them, and, subsequently, the whole piece. In this free activity, students will select a passage that they find difficult to understand.

Teachers will divide the students into groups of four; each person will share his/her confusing passage with the other three group members. The students will read and revise their group members' passages for clarity.

When their original papers are returned, they will choose the revision that they feel best clarifies the passage, and will discuss, in writing, how/why the revision accomplishes this. Finally they will analyze the meaning of the original passage and explain its importance to the whole piece.

Teachers can use this activity again and again to check the development of their students’ comprehension as well as how they utilize their higher level thinking skills orally and in writing.

“What’s the Idea?” reduces students’ fear factor when they read challenging fiction and non-fiction. This Freebie is aligned with Common Core Standards and Bloom’s Taxonomy, and includes a detailed “Teachers’ Notes” page.

Download this free activity from http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Language-Arts-Activity-Whats-the-Idea-889395 and say, "Good bye," to reluctant readers. Your students will be fist pumping to, "I read it, I thought about it, I wrote about it and now I get it! YES!"

Happy Teaching,