26 quick classroom tips - stenhouseturning text to script ... “i’m thinking of a word,”...

Reading

Literacy

Writing

Content Area

Assessment/Classroom Practice

Math

Classroom Tips

www.stenhouse.com

26 Quick

FREE Shipping* on any title featured in 26 Quick Classroom Tips.

Use code MH to qualify for free shipping.

A Reading Tip from Kelly Gallagher

Antidote to BoringHow many times have you assigned a book you love only to hear that the class finds it boring? High school teacher Kelly Gallagher says that’s a sign that he hasn’t done enough to prepare students to understand and enjoy the text. Gallagher focuses on literary elements such as voice, tone, characterization, themes, and time and sequence. Recognizing and understanding the writer’s craft can lead to a greater appreciation of the book. (Adapted from Chapter 8 of Deeper Reading by Kelly Gallagher. Grades 4–12 | MH-0384 | $22.50)

A Reading Tip from Adrienne Gear

Wonder WebsAdrienne Gear demonstrates that Wonder Webs are a great way to help students think about questions on a specific topic. Ask the students to brainstorm with a partner what they already know about the subject. As the students ponder what they don’t know, begin a web of the students’ questions on chart paper. Pass out the Wonder Web and have the students fill in their own questions. At the end of the unit of study, students return to their Wonder Webs and reflect on their questions and what they have learned. (Adapted from page 68 of Nonfiction Reading Power by Adrienne Gear. Grades K–8 | MH-8229 | $21.00)

A Reading Tip from Terry Thompson

Turning Text to ScriptTerry Thompson’s students’ favorite way to practice fluency is Reader’s Theater. Students practice play-like scripts until they can read their lines fluently with appropriate expression and phrasing. To be able to read their scripts fluently, the students have to practice a lot. The students can even create their own scripts from texts they are currently reading in class. (Adapted from pages 109–110 of Adventures in Graphica by Terry Thompson. Grades 2–6 | MH-0712 | $20.00)

A Reading Tip from Debbie Miller

Songbook Read-AloudDebbie Miller recommends beginning classroom read-aloud with a songbook because children love the predictable text, rhythm, and rhyme. Singing songs is a great way to begin read-aloud—they’re fun, children are motivated to read the words, the words and tunes are easy to learn, and repeated singing/reading increases phonemic awareness and builds sight word vocabularies. (Adapted from pages 27–28 of Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller. Grades K–3 | MH-0307 | $24.00)

A Reading Tip from Tony Stead

Reading the picturesTony Stead says that kids can gather a lot of additional information by learning how to mine the photographs in nonfiction books and magazines. Read a short article with photos to your students and then have them look at the photos (you can post an enlargement) to see what additional information they can discover beyond the text. Write down each new fact next to the pertinent photo. Then discuss how the photos helped expand their knowledge base. (Adapted from page 97 of Good Choice! by Tony Stead. Grades K–6 | MH-0732 | $24.00)

Reading Tips

www.stenhouse.com | 800.988.9812 * Valid only in continental U.S. Offer expires June 30, 2012

Literacy TipsA Literacy Tip from Georgia Heard & Jennifer McDonough

nature ObjectsGeorgia Heard and Jennifer McDonough recommend asking your students to bring in a favorite nature object. Create a discovery table and put all of the objects the students have collected on the table. Discussions will begin immediately. Encourage the children to observe the items with a magnifying lens and to record their observations in the class discovery journal. (Adapted from pages 29–30 of A Place for Wonder by Georgia Heard and Jennifer McDonough. Grades K–2 | MH-0432 | $20.00)

A Literacy Tip from Janet Allen

Word game RecallJanet Allen reveals that a fun way to review vocabulary words at the end of a unit is to play a word game. The teacher begins by saying, “I’m thinking of a word,” followed by providing the students with context, such as “I’m thinking of a word we discussed during our study of colonial events in America.” The teacher continues to give clues, with the students guessing after each clue until they correctly identify and define the word. The teacher then moves on to the next word. (Adapted from pages 55–56 of Inside Words by Janet Allen. Grades 4–12 | MH-0399 | $21.50)

A Literacy Tip from Erik Palmer

Choral gamesErik Palmer recommends a whole-class choral exercise with fun phrases to help students understand the importance of inflection in speaking. For example, “Don’t ever use my toothbrush on the dog’s teeth again!” delivered by an entire class pretending to be angry or indignant can be entertaining for students and surprising to teachers in nearby classrooms. (Adapted from page 74 of Well Spoken by Erik Palmer. Grades 4–12 | MH-0881 | $16.00)

A Literacy Tip from Jeff Zwiers & Marie Crawford

Two-Minute Opinion ShareJeff Zwiers and Marie Crawford describe a great way to get kids to form, state, and support an opinion. Group students in pairs and assign one student to be A and the other to be B. Describe a conversational issue and have students think about their opinions for a minute. Then call a letter and have the student assigned that letter begin, describing his or her opinion for one minute, backed by examples and evidence. The other student must take the opposing side (regardless of his or her personal opinion). Students can challenge each other’s evidence, solicit examples, and ask for elaboration. They can try to come to a consensus in the third minute. (Adapted from page 52 of Academic Conversations by Jeff Zwiers and Marie Crawford. Grades 7–12 | MH-0884 | $23.50)




Writing TipsA Writing Tip from Jeff Anderson

punctuation playThe typical way of teaching grammar is to select a problem sentence each day and have students correct all the errors. Jeff Anderson says students hate these “daily correct-alls.” Instead, Jeff advises to teach grammar, style, usage, and mechanics through the positive examples of mentor text. “Let Gary Paulsen show students about active verbs and short sentences. Let newspapers, magazines, or any piece of literature make grammar and mechanic points.” (Adapted from pages 19–20 of Mechanically Inclined by Jeff Anderson. Grades 4–8 | MH-0412 | $22.50)

A Writing Tip from Lynne Dorfman & Rose Cappelli

Timelines as Visual ToolsTimelines are a great way to represent information visually. Lynne Dorfman and Rose Cappelli suggest having your students create an autobiographical timeline with important events—the student’s birth, first pet, birth of a sibling, a move, etc.—highlighted in chronological order. If possible, display the timelines in the classroom and encourage discussion. (Adapted from pages 62–63 of Nonfiction Mentor Texts by Lynne R. Dorfman & Rose Cappelli. Grades K–8 | MH-0496 | $24.00)

A Writing Tip from David Somoza & Peter Lourie

Senses in natureDavid Somoza and Peter Lourie find that nature photographs work well as a way to spark nonfiction writing. Display several photos and ask the students to create lists of descriptions involving different senses. Students will often mention sight first because they are looking at a photo. Ask questions to help them get to the next level. Can you feel the breeze? What does the air smell like? What do the waves sound like? How does the sand feel beneath your feet? Students use these descriptions to help create an essay that depicts a vivid sense of place. Hang up all of the essays near the photos and have students determine which photograph is being described in each essay. Ask students which pieces of language helped them guess correctly. (Adapted from page 19 of Writing to Explore by David Somoza and Peter Lourie. Grades 3–8 | MH-0787 | $20.00)

A Writing Tip from Ralph Fletcher

inventing WordsRalph Fletcher notes that inventing new words is a great way for kids to have fun with language. Ask students to combine two words to describe a common action such as walking. They might come up with slumpshuffle, runski, skipstep, waddlewobble, etc. Then have them use their invented words in a sentence that showcases the meaning. Or have students exchange words with a partner and create a sentence that they think describes the made-up word. (Adapted from pages 39–42 of Pyrotechnics on the Page by Ralph Fletcher. Grades K–8 | MH-0783 | $19.00)

A Writing Tip from Carolyn Coman

Story-Line promptsTo show students that everyone has his or her own unique story to tell, best-selling children’s author Carolyn Coman recommends offering a simple story-line prompt such as “Maria was sad to discover when she woke up . . .” or “A spaceship appeared on Tuesday night and made first contact by . . .” or one you make up. Let students write for a specified amount of time and then ask them to share their stories with the class. (Adapted from pages 20–21 of Writing Stories by Carolyn Coman. Grades 3–12 | MH-0871 | $17.50)

A Writing Tip from Kathy Paterson

Shared-pen StoriesKathy Paterson uses shared-pen stories as a fun way to motivate her students to write. Each pair of students receives a single piece of paper and a pen. The teacher provides the topic, and the first student starts the story and writes until the teacher prompts the second student to take over where the first student left off. The students can’t discuss what they are writing; they have to guess what their partner might have written. The students go back and forth, until the teacher ends the exercise. The students share what they wrote and see how well they guessed what the other was thinking. (Adapted from pages 33–34 of 3 Minute Motivators by Kathy Paterson. Grades K–12 | MH-8215 | $18.50)




A Social Studies Tip from Bruce Lesh

Change & ContinuityOn the first day of school, Bruce Lesh asks his students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Bruce then asks why they said “the flag.” After several starts and stops, some frustrated student inevitably asks, “Has the pledge changed?” He then displays the three iterations of the pledge and asks students to identify the major differences and why these changes might have occurred. This discussion allows Bruce to introduce the concept of change and continuity over time. (Adapted from pages 119–120 of “Why Won’t You Just Tell Us the Answer?” by Bruce A. Lesh. Grades 7–12 | MH-0812 | $22.00)

An Outdoor Learning Tip from Herbert Broda

Digging in the DirtHerbert Broda recommends having students collect soil samples from various locations around the schoolyard. The teacher can use a soil auger to bring up samples at one-foot increments, going down to five feet at each location. The students then bag and label the soils and note differences. Back inside with the soil samples, the students can create soil profiles by gluing the different dirt samples to separate pieces of heavy paper and then describing the color, texture, and density as well as the presence of roots, rocks, bugs, etc. (Adapted from pages 85–85 of Moving the Classroom Outdoors by Herbert W. Broda. Grades K–8 | MH-0791 | $22.50)

A Drama Tip from Larry Swartz and Debbie Nyman

name AerobicsLarry Swartz and Debbie Nyman suggest a fun exercise using students’ names to get kids moving and performing a routine. Students write their first names on a card and choose a verb or movement for each letter, such as SANDY—S = slide, A = arm lift, N = nine jumping jacks, D = dance, and Y = yawn. Students practice their name routines by performing each of the movements listed in their names. (Adapted from page 14 of Drama Schemes, Themes, & Dreams by Larry Swartz and Debbie Nyman. Grades 6–12 | MH-8253 | $22.00)


Content Area Tips FREE Shipping* on any title featured in 26 Quick Classroom Tips.


Assessment/ Classroom Practice TipsA Formative Assessment Tip from Cris Tovani

Ask Your StudentsCris Tovani suggests asking students on the first day of school to write about what they think their role as a reader is. At the end of the semester, let them reread what they wrote that first day. Encourage them to tell you how their thinking about their role as a reader has changed. This will provide you with progress-monitoring data. (Adapted from page 33 of So What Do They Really Know? by Cris Tovani. Grades 6–12 | MH-0730 | $22.50)

A Leadership Tip from Jennifer Allen

Monthly MeetingsJennifer Allen recommends that new teachers meet monthly as a group. The group is led by a veteran teacher or coach. At each meeting, the leader replicates a common student activity with the teachers. Teachers might be asked to communicate their thinking about a piece of text through writing (Reading Response), or a short text might be read to the group and then discussed (Literature Discussion). This helps teachers experience the same practices they are implementing in the classroom. (Adapted from page 71 of A Sense of Belonging by Jennifer Allen. Grades K–6 | MH-0785 | $20.00)

An Assessment Tip from Lori L. Conrad, Missy Matthews, Cheryl Zimmerman, and Patrick A. Allen

Collecting WordsDeveloping a strong command of vocabulary helps students become better test takers. The authors recommend sorting test vocabulary into categories, which helps kids move the words from new to owned. The sorted list might include the following categories—literary terms (theme, essay, narrator), reading words (problem, support, opinion), grammar/usage terms (sentence, spelling), writing vocabulary (compose, revision, audience), math terms (angle, mean), test prompts (booklet, passage, text box), thinking cues (predict, purpose), and science words (controlled, effect, hypothesis). (Adapted from pages 24–25 of Put Thinking to the Test by Lori L. Conrad, Missy Matthews, Cheryl Zimmerman, and Patrick A. Allen. Grades 3–8 | MH-0731 | $22.50)

A Classroom Practice Tip from Rick Wormeli

hunting MetaphorsRick Wormeli recommends that you have your students chart as many samples of metaphors and comparisons as they can find in a single school day. Routinely identifying metaphors in conversations and text prepares students to find metaphors on their own. To help students know when an analogy or a metaphor is being used, Rick suggests teaching the following three strategies:1. Look for language that indicates comparisons—such as, like, similar to, etc.2. Look up the definitions of unknown words; if the definition doesn’t literally match the word’s use, then it may be a metaphor.3. Look for descriptions that compare one thing to another, often a clue that a metaphor is being used to elucidate an idea that

might otherwise be difficult to explain.(Adapted from pages 16–17 of Metaphors & Analogies by Rick Wormeli. Grades K–12 | MH-0758 | $23.00)

A Classroom Management Tip from Debbie Diller

get OrganizedDebbie Diller recommends the following ideas as interesting, inexpensive ways to store things in your classroom:• Acrateholdinghandwritingsuppliesislabeledtoletstudentsknowwhatisinthisportablespace-savingstation.Theycarryit

to a desk for independent practice.• Lettercardsformakingwordactivitiesarestoredintraysrecycledfromfrozenmeals.Eachtrayholdsmultiplesofthecardontop.• Creationstationmaterialsarestoredinstackingdrawersandindividualbaskets,whicharelabeledtohelpthemstayorganized.

A three-ring notebook with clear plastic sleeves holds step-by-step instructions for simple projects the students can make here.(Adapted from pages 174–176 of Spaces & Places by Debbie Diller. Grades Pre-K–5 | MH-0722 | $30.00)




A Leadership Tip from David Booth & Jennifer Rowsell

Building a Literacy CommunityDavid Booth and Jennifer Rowsell recommend the following steps for building a schoolwide literacy community:• Connectthehome,theschool,andthecommunity.• Understandboysandgirlsasreadersandwriters.• Provideliteracymodelsforstudents.• Givestudentschoiceandownershipintheirreading.• Acknowledgetheimpactofcomputertechnologyonstudents’literacy.(Adapted from page 145 of The Literacy Principal by David Booth and Jennifer Rowsell. Grades K–12 | MH-8216 | $21.00)


Assessment/ Classroom Practice Tips



Math TipsA Math Tip from Jessica Shumway

Age-Appropriate CountingThere are many routines for counting the days of school, but Jessica Shumway stresses the importance of matching routines to students’ development. For example, some teachers use straws to count single units (the concept of “unitizing”). However, counting ten objects as “one” can be confusing for primary students. For younger students, Jessica recommends using cubes and focusing on one-to-one correspondence between the number and the cube. (Adapted from pages 109–116 of Number Sense Routines by Jessica F. Shumway. Grades K–3 | MH-0790 | $23.00)

A Math & Art Tip from Caren Holtzman & Lynn Susholtz

Measuring & DrawingCaren Holtzman and Lynn Susholtz use face measuring as a way for students to learn standard units while developing linear measurement skills. Pair up your students. Each student measures and records the other student’s facial features—length and width of mouth, nose, eyes, and ears. Students then try to transfer their recordings to a portrait drawing. Most students will have the features in the wrong place, which makes for interesting portraits and a follow-up lesson on the concept of negative space. Ask the students to remeasure their partners’ faces, keeping the features and the space in mind. This will help them explore some face ratios—distance between eyes, space between nose and mouth, distance from hairline to eyes, etc. Ask students to transfer this new information to a portrait drawing and see if they create more proportionally accurate drawings. (Adapted from page 19 of Object Lessons by Caren Holtzman and Lynn Susholtz. Grades K–5 | MH-0796 | $25.00)




26 quick classroom tips - stenhouseturning text to script ... “i’m thinking of a word,”...

Documents