Posted on Mon, Aug 29, 2011
Last week proved to be another great week on Twitter! It's strange to think I've only been on Twitter a few short weeks. During this time, twitter has quickly become my go-to resource for education news, ideas, and discussions. Although I'm still perfecting my own tweeting techniques, I've throughly enjoyed reading the updates from other educators. Here are a few of my favorite tweets from last week!
Are U.S. Students Ready to Compete? via @SadlierSchool
This paper views the proficiency of U.S. students from a global perspective.
Differentiated Classroom Structures for Literacy Instruction via @ReadingRockets
A list of classroom structures for literacy instruction that can be differentiated. Small Groups, Workshops, and Centers, oh my!
The Persuasion Map via @RWTnow
An interactive graphic organizer that enables students to map out their arguments for a persuasive essay or debate!
100 Ways to Teach With Twitter via @web20classroom
A compilation of resources that provide over 110 ideas and examples for using Twitter in the classroom.
Teachers Prepare For 10th Anniversary of September 11 via @eschoolnews
As the nation prepares for the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, educators begin crafting lesson plans to teach about the terrible events in a thoughtful and sensitive way.
Posted on Thu, Aug 25, 2011
I had grand aspirations of becoming an integral member of my college’s improv comedy troup[1] but I just cannot be funny so spontaneously and so continually. However, in the midst of tryouts, I learned a truly amazing warm-up that I adapted for vocabulary learning. Chaos and laughter will ensue if you try this kinesthetic exercise, and I guarantee that students will learn at least two vocabulary words fully –and upwards of 15 words in about 10-15 minutes of play. I hope you can get the last laugh!
Steps:
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Assign each student in your class a different vocabulary word 1 min
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Have each student quickly learn the definition to his/her word 1 min
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Have students form one large circle so they are all side by side[2] 1 min
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Start with the first student and have him/her loudly say his/her vocabulary word along with a quick motion for the word (if the word is exhilarated, s/he could wave hands in the air while shouting “exhilarated!”) 15 sec
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After the student performs the action while saying the word, have the rest of the students repeat the word and motion together (the circle together repeats “Exhilarated!” while their hands wave) 15 sec
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Have the next student in the circle quickly, without much thought, say his/her word along with a simple motion that suggests the definition. 15 sec
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Have the circle repeat the word and motion together 15 sec
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Repeat until every student has given his/her word and motion and the class has repeated every word and motion 5 min
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Go around the circle one more time, having students repeat their word and motion and then the class repeat word and motion (Exhilarated!{hands wave}, Exhilarated!{all hands wave}, Opulent!{fingers rub together like counting bills} Opulent! {all fingers rub together}) 2 min
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Now the fun part! One student must say his/her word and motion, then someone else’s. That person must repeat his/her word and motion, then someone else’s. The trick is to remember other people’s words and motions so you can AS FAST AS POSSIBLE do another’s word and motion after being called. Remaining time (7 min or more)
Example Vocabulary Practice:
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Seth says “Exhilarated!” and waves his hands in air, then cries “Opulent!” and rubs his fingers together.
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Sue (whose word was opulent) says “Opulent!”, rubs her fingers together then says “Unkempt” and runs her fingers through her hair.
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George (whose word was unkempt) says “Unkempt!” runs his fingers through his hair and then pauses, pauses, can’t think, can’t think….and has to sit down (on the floor, in the middle of the circle) because he wasn’t quick enough to remember someone else’s word/motion.
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The person to the left of Sue must start, saying his/her word and motion first, then calling on someone else…and the game continues until someone else can’t remember a word and motion fast enough.
Caveats:
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No one can repeat the word/motion of the person who just called them (aka Sue couldn’t have repeated Seth’s word/motion for “Exhilarated!” or no one else would ever get called on).
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This exercise can go in any order-not everyone needs to be called upon once in order for a word to be repeated-the activity could jump from exhilarated to opulent to unkempt and back to exhilarated and then to inclement and back to opulent etc.
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If you find your class size impacts the pace of this activity, split them up into groups of 10-15 members once everyone has learned the rules.
Speaking & Listening Standard 1. Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations
Language Standard 4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown words
Language Standard 6. Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge
[1] Our college mascot was the “Battling Bishop” and the comedy troup was called the “Babbling Bishops.” Best. pun name. ever.
[2] You may need to go to the end of your hallway if your room is too small
Posted on Mon, Aug 22, 2011
There was a lot of #edchat movement last week on Twitter! Therefore, narrowing down tweets for this week's Education Link Love post was near impossible. Hopefully some of the tweets that didn't make the cut for today's post will still be making headlines throughout the week. This way we can share them with you on next Monday's post.
Today's Link Love post highlights some great articles for the start of a new school year.
First Day of School Activities Students Love via @teachhub
The first day of school is not always easy for teachers. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with the prospects of implementing revised curriculum and building relationships with new students. Here is a list of ideas that can get you and your students through the first week of school!
Back-To-School Checklist for the Classroom via @pschoolsystems
Here is a back-to-school checklist of items that will help you get prepared for the new school year! Even if school is already back in session for you, check out this list to make sure you have all the necessities. Camera? Hand sanitizer?
My First Year of Teaching Dangerously via @becky7274
Becky Bair, a teacher in Pennsylvania’s Elizabethtown Area School District, decides to go against the tide and change how she teaches in her classroom. With determination to ditch the scripted lessons, she turns her focus towards bringing creativity back into her classroom. Shifting her teaching to emphasize learning skills and strategies with the use of technology, Becky finds her classroom is infused with a new energy!
Top 50 Education Technology Blogs via @write_to_learn
Education technology has many supporters. Here is a list of some of the biggest movers and shakers in the EdTech blogging world. What a great resource for teachers!
Posted on Thu, Aug 18, 2011
One of my favorite activities is to combine a writing assignment with a vocabulary test. I get two to three grades with one “opportunity” and not only does it make narrative writing more fun to grade, but it is also one less vocabulary test I have to create and then grade. As an added bonus, students must delve deeply into their novel in order to write their stories and do not even realize they are conducting sophisticated literary analysis in the process.
My writing assignment also involves a style component; students have to write in the style of the author we just finished reading[1]. The assignment is basically to write either an episode that occurred “10 years later” when the characters encounter each other again, or a “hidden chapter” of an incident that could have occurred at any point throughout the novel.
Parameters:
- The story has to include all steps of the plot arc (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution).
- The story must be written in the author’s style in terms of point of view, syntax, use of figurative language, etc. Students must justify their choices in an end analysis reflection.
- The story must include 20 vocabulary words from a specific unit or units.
- The story must stay consistent with the novel in terms of tone and themes.
In the past, I have used this assignment with Lord of the Flies when Ralph and Jack[2] meet up ten years later. Students have envisioned the meeting in a variety of scenarios: Ralph is a public defense attorney defending Jack, who is on trial for murder; Ralph is a psychiatrist evaluating Jack in the insane asylum; Ralph is an IRS agent investigating Jack, a corrupt stockbroker, etc. The scenarios students come up with are fascinating, as are the ways they synthesize vocabulary into the stories.
In terms of the further logistics of this assignment, I usually give students about a week to draft, critique and revise their stories. I do count their final product as a vocabulary quiz grade even though students have had the opportunity to look up the words’ meaning. Having to agonize over how and where to put each word forces students to truly learn the lexicon and the application of learning is much higher on the Bloom’s taxonomy than rote memorization.
Overall, most students enjoy the creative outlet and find that working the words into their narrative seems daunting at first, but really quite feasible after starting. So if you need to teach creative writing, analyze an author’s style and conduct literary analysis, go ahead-give a vocabulary quiz!
Core Standards for ELA addressed:
Reading:
- Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.
- Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.
- Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
- Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.
- Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
Writing: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences
Language: Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level
[1] Or, if students are each reading a separate novel, the author of their choice book.
Posted on Mon, Aug 15, 2011
There are a lot of firsts happening for Vocab Gal. Not only has this blog launched, but Vocab Gal has recently joined Facebook and Twitter! With these new social media endeavors, we hope to network with other teachers and get the latest education news. With all the education resource sharing on twitter, Vocab Gal has decided to have a weekly Link Love post highlighting some of the best tweets in the twitter universe.
5 Ways for Students to Publish in Under a Minute via @rmbyrne
Do you have a classroom blog? Have you considered online peer reviews? If so, you don’t want to miss this article highlighting 5 great resources for publishing works online. Get students to publish their writings for educational purposes. I think you could really enhance vocabulary instruction with these types of resources!
Reinventing Education One Tweet at a Time via @elanaleoni
With this new blog, I decided to take the Twitter plunge so I could share my ideas with other educators and get inspiration for my own classroom! This is a perfect article to read if you’re an educator toying around with the idea of joining twitter. Twitter can be an amazing resource for teaching and I’m excited by the possibilities. What tweeters do you follow for vocabulary instruction?
These Are My Students; This Is My School via @HuffPostEdu
Randy Turner, an English teacher from Joplin, Missouri shares some beautiful thoughts about starting the new school year after a tornado destroyed his school this past May. After struggling to come to terms with starting the school year in a foreign classroom, Randy Turner discovers that “school is alive and well.”
Just Get Out There via @edutopia
Highlighted on the front page of Edutopia, this article is a great reminder to try something new! Don’t make excuses. Don’t let budget cuts or politics keep you from learning new things. Here are four ideas that you can incorporate into your classroom or do as professional development.
Posted on Thu, Aug 11, 2011
How can you motivate students to do extra work without extra credit? This has been the newest discussion question around the departmental coffee pot[1] as our district has begun to focus on the concepts of formative and summative assessment. The basic philosophy is that students’ grades should reflect what they have learned, not how well they play the game of school. I support this idea, yet I want students to receive accolades for finding vocabulary words in the books they are reading or the shows they are watching.
So what’s a vocab gal to do? Essentially, I now reward with stars and stickers rather than extra credit points. First, when students show me a vocabulary word in the book they are reading (we read for the first ten minutes of each class period), they receive a sticker[2]. The do have to define this vocabulary word for me as a reinforcement of not only word recognition, but also understanding of meaning.
The bigger prize comes when students collect fifteen vocabulary words (either by writing them down on a list or post-it noting in their books); then they get a star on the ceiling. The list of words can be a conglomeration of items-I have had lists consisting of one or two words from several different books, movies and TV shows that added up to fifteen. It can also be a combination of students; I have one star with five girls’ names on it—these students sat around watching Gilmore Girls for hours until they had amassed the fifteen words[3]. As long as there are fifteen vocabulary words (and corresponding definitions) from the units we have studied, the students earn stars!
So where do I get the stars? I have a former student whose mother is an elementary teacher (with access to the star diecut) who brings me blue star cutouts. Recently I created my own star printable for when supplies run low or a friend decides they want to incoporate this into their own classroom. When students bring me their post-it noted book or word list, I have them emblazon their name upon a star in glorious Sharpie marker then attach it to the ceiling with a thumbtack[4]. I tell students that their names will be immortalized forever[5] on the ceiling for their efforts, which pleases them immensely.
My ultimate goal is to turn students into my vocabulary proselytes, exhilarated by finding our vocabulary words in their reading/TV viewing and curious to learn new words they stumble upon that are not in their vocabulary books. The key is to be as exhilarated as they are when they share with you their vocabulary discoveries[6].
To excite students about the joys of language and the fun they can have with words is a tough, yet rewarding job, and acknowledging their efforts with a construction paper star or sticker is an easy –yet enticing- way to do so.
Common Core Standards Language: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use K-12
4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
6. Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
[1] No water coolers in education, and I only drink tea so I just hang around clutching my travel mug of Earl Grey trying to be one of the “cool kids.”
[2] Additionally, students who say vocabulary words aloud during the class period also get stickers-this year they prefer scratch-and-sniff.
[3] I [heart] Gilmore Girls.
[4] Usually I have the taller students attach the stars to the ceiling while being “spotted” by others holding down the desk the student is standing on.
[5] Or until I run out of room on my ceiling.
[6] Yes, I sometimes exaggerate my enthusiasm, but being a “vocabulary dork” makes this excitement okay-and students thrive when we fully acknowledge their accomplishments.
Posted on Fri, Aug 05, 2011
I have been thinking about when my tough students will "buy in" to learning vocabulary, and I think what is most important is having teen celebrities celebrate words.
So I decided to begin a quest to interview famous teen authors about when, how and why they use vocabulary. I truly am over the moon about my first interview!
It doesn't get much bigger than Maggie Stiefvater, the uberfamous, 40-weeks-on-the-best-seller list, her-books-have-been-translated-into-over-30-languages author of The Wolves of Mercy Falls series (and other books too!). Maggie's also amazingly wonderful and agreed to let me ask her some questions even though she is in the middle of a 37,000 mile book tour and, oh yeah, her air-conditioning just went out in St. Louis, where it is a mere 105 degrees.
Teachers, enjoy sharing with your students, the following video -which they will enjoy whether or not they have read Maggie's books, but may be inspired to go out and read them, once they hear her speak!
Thanks also to Maggie for being the best author I could possibly kick off my series with and for your excellent answers to my questions.