"You can't write a poem about McDonald's"

"You can't write a poem about McDonald's" has been one of my favorite poems for years now. I have been teaching it annually because I want my kids to understand that poetry can be different than what they expect. Most kids hear the word poem or poetry and 
shut down immediately. Honestly, I am not a big poetry fan myself, so it is far from being my favorite thing to teach. For the benefit of my students and for me, I do my best to find off-the-wall poems. 


The focus for this lesson was making inferences from sensory details. To get them thinking about this, I had my students complete a pre-reading writing assignment, describing their favorite meal in as much sensory detail as possible. 

I then introduced three vocabulary words from the poem: fanatic, salvation, and cannibalism. To confuse them, I threw in the phrase "hip huggers and halter tops", showing them a picture from the 1970s. We focused on their meanings, and tried to figure out how they could possibly be connected and used them to make a prediction about the poem. Most of the kids focused completely on 

The next day, we worked on a sorting game. On one set of index cards, I glued images for the five senses. On a second set, I glued phrases from the poem. In groups, my students decided the sense being used to create each description. Adding the words and phrases to the vocabulary from the day before, the kids wrote a new prediction. Again, they seemed fixated on the cannibalism, and I began to question them about the type of teacher they think I am. 

At this point, they were completely suckered in, and I gave them the title of the poem. Many of the kids did not believe me (probably because I am known for pranking them). After a bit of convincing, the resigned their suspicions, and the lightbulbs above their heads began sparking as they made connections between the title and the phrases I had given them: crisp as a pickle, brown as a bun, greasy air, fingers thin like french fries. 

Once I let them read the poem, there were some realizations that out of the original words I taught them, they should have focused on fanatic rather than cannibalism. I think a few kids were disappointed that the poem was not about a savage murderer ("You did teach us that story about the guy who cut up the body and buried the heart, Miss."). But the more we discussed the sensory details, the more the poem came to life for them. 

As a culminating activity, we are drawing visual representations of the poem. Some kids are creating scenes while others are working on collages of images throughout the poem. So far, I have seen everything from the crazy fanatic to very interesting renditions of a hamburger cashier. Images to come!

Plausibly Preposterous: Mixing Vocabulary and Grammar (Part I)

Before I left for my trip to San Marcos last week, my students were reading an article about the Loch Ness monster in Scope magazine. In our reading, we ran across the words preposterous and plausible, and I decided to do some more work with them because the kids seemed to enjoy speaking with them. 

Monday, we started with a modified vocabulary routine. I put both words together since we discussed them a bit last week. I gave them pictures to identify as preposterous or plausible, including pictures of a much younger me (sometimes you just have to go there to keep them engaged). 

Now that my classes are comfortable with the Texas Literacy Initiative vocabulary routine, and because I am an ESL teacher, it was time to add another component: writing. Our school theory is that all students are English language learners, and as such, they need to listen, speak, read, and write every day. The kids have been doing a great job using the words in social conversations both in and out of my classroom, but I wanted to make sure they could use preposterous and plausible academically. 

Last weekend, I was in San Marcos for the TexTESOL conference. I learned some incredible things in my day and a half (I was also presenting, so I did not get to attend as many sessions as I wanted). One of the presenters, Colin Ward, introduced me to the website Just the Word. The site allows you to type in a word, and it returns common uses of the word. This is a benefit for students who are encountering new words that they may not be familiar enough with to use correctly in their writing. Providing students will phrases instead of single vocabulary words helps them use the words more effectively. 

Preposterous did not return any common phrases, so I gave my students two of my own: "That's preposterous", and "That idea is preposterous." Plausible returned six phrases, four of which I gave to my students for their use. Even though I provided my classes with these options, only a few students used them in their assignments. Most were able to effectively use the words on their own. 

I also had the honor of seeing Gretchen Bernabei at the conference last weekend. Bernabei presented information from her upcoming book due out in January. I took one many of her ideas and added to the writing lesson I was putting together for this week.  

The first idea I incorporated into my writing lesson was a simple trick (at least I think they are) to use with their, there, and they're. I chose to start with there:

Bernabei talked about having the kids prove that they are using the correct form of there/their/they're. I am constantly on my students about providing text evidence (proof) with our reading assignments, so adding this component to their writing was a natural fit. 

For there, the students use (here) as the proof piece. I initially gave this instruction but after a day, I realized that my kids were not actually checking anything. I added a piece to make sure that they were actually thinking through the method. In addition to (here), my students had to define the here (Bernabei asked us to play with her methods and see what works for us, so I do not feel guilty for the modification). For example:

• There they are. 
• Where are they?
• Here. 
• Here where?
• Here in the school/cafeteria/classroom/etc. 

Bernabei also said that if her students used the word correctly one time, they earn one grade. If they use it five times, they earn two grades. I decided to follow her lead, and I have to say it was a fantastic idea. I do not give extra credit, so most kids took advantage of this "easy" option for earning an extra 100. 

Here is what the some of the first drafts ended up looking like:

We followed all of this up with an editing/revising activity. Stay tuned for Plausibly Preposterous: Mixing Vocabulary and Grammar (Part II). 

I'm Ready for My Close Up...?

Today was the day. After days of anxiety and nervous tension, I was filmed presenting the vocabulary routine that is part of my campus Data Improvement Plan through the Texas Literacy Initiative. (If you look over there on the right, you will see my tag list. Vocabulary Routine is one of the bigger ones. I write about it a lot if you are interested in reading more.)

The overarching lesson for today focused on the elements of linear plot - exposition, rising action, conflict, climax, falling action, and resolution. For the most part, these words were review for my students. The bigger goal, however, based on our state standards, is to understand the connection between resolution and the conflict of the story. 

Because we are focusing so heavily on vocabulary, we use a lot of choral techniques and deepening comprehension activities - like the vocabulary routine. I built two routines into the lesson linear plot lesson - one for conflict and one for resolution. 

Under different circumstances, I probably would not have used the word conflict in a routine. My students know what a conflict is. I did, however, want them thoroughly focused on its meaning to understand its connection to resolution. The vocabulary routine focuses more on tier 2 words that students are unfamiliar with but are likely to encounter in multiple situations. 

One of my district curriculum specialists came in to observe and to film the vocabulary routines. At the same time, I had my student teacher film the entire lesson for me. Who doesn't love seeing themselves on film and thinking, "Do I really talk and move like that? I teach students AND teachers for goodness sake!"

So, for those of you who are wondering what exactly this routine looks like in action, I present...ME and my wonderful third period class (and before you look around and wonder where the rest of the class is, I am blessed to have one class that consists of only twelve students). 

Deepening Vocabulary Understanding

This year, I am getting much better about reusing lessons that work, rather than reinventing the wheel for everything I do. For the past two days, my students have been working on our vocabulary for "The Tell-Tale Heart." This has included a Texas Literacy Initiative vocabulary routine and a sketch-to-stretch assignment. 

Today I had a follow-up vocabulary booster training to last year's vocabulary routine training. Although I have been using the routine, I realized that I have not been moving through the entire process. I introduce the words, but I have not been working to deepen understanding as much as I should. I put the words on a word wall and often refer to them, but I have not really had my students doing much with them. 

So guess what's happening now.  With some guidance from Bringing Words to Life, I am creating daily review lessons for the rest of this week to deepen understanding of our vocabulary words. 

Deepening Understanding Lesson #1: Find the Missing Word 

This strategy is essentially a fill-in-the-blank. Since I have been out for a day and a half, this will help show me how much my students have learned without my presence. In order to ensure feedback from all students, I am creating the review as a Kahoot lesson. Kahoot creates high engagement, and my students often ask if we are ever going to use it in class. This will be the first time in my class this year. 

Deepening Understanding Lesson #2: Making Choices 

For this strategy, students will be given examples and non-examples for each word. If the information given is correct example, the students will say the word. If it is not, they will not say anything at all. 

For example: If I say something you think is truly hideous (and not just your personal opinion), say hideous. If you do not think it is hideous, do not say anything at all. 

• Adam Levine
• Freddy Krueger
• a puppy dog
• maggots on rotting food

Deepening Understanding Lesson #3: Putting the Words to Use

On Friday, I am going to have my students complete a timed writing with the words. In an effort to get them to apply our vocabulary words to other disciplines, they will have to write about what they are doing in another class, using at least four of the nine words. This week I introduced Seven-Up Sentences, writing with a minimum of seven words per sentence, to make their writing more powerful. They will need to incorporate this into their work (to the best of their ability under timed writing circumstances). 

I am looking forward to seeing how things go this week. The district goal is to focus on 4-5 words per week. I have more for this week because I am using a district-created lesson. Once I see how things go for the next week days, I will determine if I continue using this set for another week, and if not, I have to figure out what to next. 

Stay tuned. 

Kismet?

Today I started teaching my first Texas Literacy Initiative vocabulary routine of the year. Earlier this summer, I was skimming through Habits of Mind (yes, I really do own all these books). I decided that the first thing I needed to focus on was persistence. I see kids give up on school in the first few weeks every year. This is my attempt to be a bit proactive. 

In the vocabulary routine, students have opportunities to participate in analyzing graphics, choral and partner speaking, and writing. Especially this early in the year, students respond well to choral speaking, as they are able to talk in a safe environment. And I get goofy with it - just the boys, just the girls, just the boys sounding like the girls, just the girls sounding like the boys. I tried to get them to rap today, but they just laughed at me. 

So far this year, and I know it has only been six days, my lessons have had a meant-to-be quality. We were using on online interactive presentation to respond to the lesson. I included a video clip, something I have never done before, but I knew the kids would respond well to it: 

Not only do my students love Finding Nemo, they often compare me to Ellen DeGeneres - and that is a compliment I will gladly take. 

After the comparisons, my often-used online site kept stalling and crashing. It was an ideal moment to teach persistence, to discuss how I was so determined to teach them this lesson that I had a backup plan. They groaned; I pretended I heard squeals of joy. 

Although I think "teachable moment" is an overused expression, I will happily make connections from any lessons to the world around us. The more I can do it, the more my students will understand. I am looking forward to picking this lesson back up tomorrow and seeing where it leads next. 

_____________________________

Side note: This is one of the images my students analyzed to determine if it showed persistence. 

When I asked how it showed persistence, one girl made a comment about the "big ball," causing massive laughter from this class. It is silliness like this that makes me absolutely love teaching middle school. (Tee-hee-hee! She said "big ball.")

Vocabulary Collectors: Explicit Teaching - Day 1

Due to a Monday holiday, a day-long meeting Tuesday, and my son getting in an accident with a hit-and-run driver Tuesday afternoon (he's fine), today was my first day back at school since Friday. And it was my day to introduce our new vocabulary collection routine. In years past, I probably would have handed the assignment out, gone over the examples, and left them to it. Now, I am much better at explicit teaching, and I think I did a pretty good job today.

I went through the presentation slowly - too slowly for some classes. I wanted the kids to have an opportunity to take notes and ask questions over my product requirements. Some kids wrote everything; others wrote nothing. We are going to finish our practice round tomorrow, so I will be curious to see what information the non-notetakers need again. 

Initially, the kids seemed to be turned off by the idea of coming up with their own words. My perception is that they lacked confidence in their own learning. To combat this, I picked a random subject and asked what they were learning about this week. The kids surprised themselves with the number of vocabulary words they were able to come up with - global warming, conduction, nullification, presidency, dividend, probability, factoring. The words spilled forth. They even realized that they were using the word conflict in both history and English. 

Once we chose a word, we went through the entire process step-by-step. We tried to determine parts of speech and meaning based on word parts before resorting to the dictionary.We worked to put definitions into student friendly terms. I had students pulling out spirals from other classes and helping provide information. Then I had them each choose their own product to create (most chose the symbolic representation, but I had some pretty great rhyming poetry for dividend). 

After completing the products, we did a gallery walk (some of them knew what that was without my even using the term), looking for what worked and what did not. This also gave my strugglers and opportunity to see what their classmates were creating to help give them ideas. There was a great deal of conversation about the words and the products without much direction from me.

The best word of the day was unorthodox. The history sub, a former student of mine, used the word in class this morning (he said it could not have happened because he does not know big words). I had allowed my students to use their phones to help get ideas to draw. 

One of my lower students brought her phone with this picture:

My response: Um...uh...see, what had happened was... 

I am a liberal living in conservative Texas and working in a conservative school district. Mine is an all-loving and accepting classroom. But, I did not know how to address this one. I handed it off to my co-teacher. With a bit of prompting, the student actually figured it out on her own. 

Today I saw cross-curricular connections, and more importantly, actual learning. I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings. 

Acknowledgement feels so goooood

When I got to school yesterday, I had an email from a friend who works at another school in the district:

I had not idea what she was talking about. 

It turns out that my not-so-little-anymore blog was mentioned in the Texas Literacy Initiative newsletter for January for my reflections on the vocabulary routine that has been this year's focus. 

Go me!


You can read the full newsletter here. 

Vocabulary Routine for Milkweed: Ghetto

Now that turkey break is coming to a close, it is time to get back to the daily grind. That means Sunday lesson planning! 

My Pre-AP class is reading Milkweed. This is not a difficult read, and I have not pulled out any vocabulary so far. But we are now traveling to the ghetto in the story, and this is definitely a word I feel needs to be taught explicitly. 

I admit it. I'm guilty of using this as a slang term, then turning around with my old lady voice and saying,"Do you have any idea what that word really means?"

Although some of my Pre-AP students will understand the word in context, some will not. I am sure some have been doing their reading over the break with an image such as this in mind:

My apologies if this is a picture of
any of my readers and/or family/friends/
acquaintances of my readers.
Blame Google Images. 

I have worked at the same school for 10 1/2 years now. I know my students. This kind of image, or one similar, is going to come to mind when reading the World War II story as soon as they see the word ghetto. 

So, I have put together their vocabulary routine lesson, complete with various images from 1940s Warsaw, to ensure that they never forget what ghetto really means. I did add an end piece asking them to briefly write about how they think the 1940s definition used in the book has turned into the slang definition we use today. I am curious to see what they come up with. 

The Giver: Chapter 1

While my Pre-AP students are reading Milkweed, my academic students will be reading The Giver. Last year, I will honestly admit that I did some of my worst teaching with The Giver. I was frustrated with my students. They refused to read outside of class, impeding the lessons I was trying to cover in class. For the most part, we listened to the book and did very little with it. Of course, when I was doing this, my newly-promoted secondary superintendent was brought to my classroom to view some of the finest teaching our school has to offer. (sigh) Not my best moment, but I refuse to let it happen again. 

Prior to beginning the novel, we will be going through our Texas Literacy Initiative vocabulary routine with the word release. Although I know my kids know this word, I want to put focus on it since it is such an important concept in the novel. We will be viewing the presentation with Nearpod so that I may assess understanding of the term. I am not expecting any issues here. We will come back to discuss this more after reading the first chapter of the book. 

Last year, I began by having my students create their own perfect societies, but it become more of a distraction and never truly connected to the novel the way I had initially intended. This year, I'm throwing that out the window. For chapter 1, we will focus on Contrasts & Contradictions from Notice and Note. They are already familiar with Contrasts & Contradictions, but now we are going to shift away from characters and focus on the setting. I want them delving deeply into the differences between Jonas' world versus our own to see what this "perfect" world is like. 

In preparing the Contrasts & Contradictions lesson, I incorporated Christopher Lehmans' Close Reading Ritual from Falling in Love with Close Reading. The lenses will be focused on the setting of the story. The patterns will be the Contrasts & Contradictions. We will then use this information to create a picture of Jonas' society. 

As with some of my previous lessons, I am going to have my students respond to the presentation questions using Nearpod. By using Nearpod, I ensure that every student submits a response, rather than letting another student answer on his/her behalf. I can skim through their responses and see who is understanding the text and the strategy, as well as who is not. This information is also saved in a report that I can use as needed.

This is definitely a better start from last year's teaching. Ain't nobody comin' back this year to say I ain't doin' my J-O-B!

TLI Vocabulary Routine: Round 2 (Reflection)

I love this strategy. I love love love love love this strategy. Did I mention that I love this strategy? I do. I love it. I loved it the first time. I loved it this second time. 

The Texas Literacy Initiative vocabulary strategy engages students. The kids are actively involved in learning the material. 

1. They repeat the word. I have them do this in different ways for my own enjoyment - say the word, say it like a cat, say it like a dog, say it like a boss. I definitely see some future actors and actresses coming from my classroom. 

2. They are analyzing usage and providing informal assessment information with a thumbs up/thumbs down response. I can scan the room and visually see who is understanding within a matter of seconds. Both times I have conducted the routine, when a student provides an incorrect answer, he/she will go back to the sentence and process again until he/she figures it out. Watching a student take the initiative to actually correct himself is pretty impressive. 

3. I learn a great deal about my students through my examples and non-examples. Case in point: Today, one of my sentences said that parents are vexed when kids take the initiative to wash dishes on their own. One boy told me that he is not allowed to wash dishes because his parents think he is does not clean them well enough. I think this is one smart child!

4. The kids are speaking to one another in complete sentences with the Seven-Up Sentences. I did not complete this part of the activity last time. This time, I added it, and the practice was magical. I am one of two eighth-grade ELA ESL teachers, and getting my ELLs to speak in front of others can be a struggle sometimes. This was a no pressure partner conversation, and everyone was talking, in addition to working with the given word. 

5. They are learning. It has been a few weeks since we went through our first vocabulary routine. When I referred back to our gripes lesson, I was immediately barraged with a chorus of "to complain." Sure, a few kids forgot, but after a few seconds, the first lesson seemed to pop right back into their brains. 

6. They made connections between two lessons and were able to write about it using the words. 

I have not yet taught this strategy to my campus colleagues, but the training is coming up soon. I cannot wait to share and model how this works with them. 

Vocabulary Strategy: Sketch to Stretch is a hit!

A few days, I posted my vocabulary lesson  for "The Tell-Tale Heart." I truly felt I had something good, but as always, the children have surpassed my expectations. 

You know it's a good strategy when the kids start drawing you for the assignment. Of course, this student thought he was the first and only child to ever come up with an idea like this.

I used this as my example for the rest of the day, telling them I have never lied about being a model. This is the proof! The lips are too big, however. No Botox for me, thank you very much. 

Here are some other examples:

This was fun and engaging for the students and for me. 

Vocabulary Strategies for "The Tell-Tale Heart"

I will begin teaching "The Tell-Tale Heart" later this week. I am working on two vocabulary strategies for this lesson to mix things up: the Texas Literacy Initiative vocabulary routine and another strategy called Sketch to Stretch. 

I will start the vocabulary work with the vocabulary routine for the word vex. I chose this word because it ties in well with our last vocabulary routine for the word gripe. I want my students to be able to view words in connection to one another, rather than isolated pieces from different readings. I have heard my students using the word gripe - correctly - in conversation with one another, so I will be curious to see if they pick up on vex the same way. 

The second strategy, Sketch to Stretch, comes from Vocabulary Strategies that Work, a book provided by the Texas Literacy Initiative as part of our vocabulary focus. Sketch to Stretch was originally created as a reading comprehension strategy for visualization (I am going to use that as a connection piece at the end of the reading). In this process, students read a section of text, then create a reaction drawing. By the end of the reading, they have a series of drawings to help them recall information. [If you search this strategy online, you will find a great deal of information.]

Wilfong has adapted this strategy for vocabulary study. Students read a chunk of text, then they choose a word from that section that they feel is vital to the meaning of the selection. They then draw what they think the word means in the given context. 

Since this is the first time I will be using this strategy, and because "TTH" tends to be complicated enough for my students to understand, I have modified Wilfong's strategy to suit my own needs. Rather than use Poe's text, I am giving my students modern-language sentences with selected words from the story. They will create their drawings and definitions based on this information to help them apply it to "TTH".

Follow-up to come after I teach this Thursday or Friday. Stay tuned.

Texas Literacy Initiative: Vocabulary Routine

This year, my school has become part of the Texas Literacy Initiative. This is a grant that helps support literacy efforts from ages 0 -18. The focus for 2013-2014 is vocabulary instruction. Our at-risk students come to school with a significantly lower vocabulary knowledge-base than students from other family backgrounds. If we want out students to make it to college (or simply get by in a future workplace), it is imperative that we find effective ways to provide vocabulary instruction. 

I am serving as a pseudo-instructional coach for my school regarding this grant. I have already had the opportunity to attend professional development with state representatives that I am bringing back to my campus for my students and colleagues.

This week, I incorporated the TLI vocabulary routine into my classroom instruction. In the professional development sessions, the routine seemed extremely time-consuming and very dorky. Boy, was I wrong on both counts. The entire routine took no more than ten minutes, and it only lasted that long because the students were so engrossed in what we were doing. 

I conducted the vocabulary routine with the word gripes to accompany a news article. The first group I completed the lesson with was my Pre-AP students. I thought for sure that my group of 29 was going to hate this activity. Wrong! By the time we finished, one of my girls called me over and said, "Are we going to do more words this way? This was fun!" Out of all my students, she was one of the last I expected to hear this from. 

My favorite experience was with my co-teach class, a combination of special education and academic students. My co-teacher and I struggled to pull in the reigns with this group. Not only were they fully engaged with the routine, but they managed to turn it into a song. My classroom was full of singing, dancing, and clapping. How is that for vocabulary instruction?

I honestly thought most kids would know this word, but a quick show of hands throughout all my classes showed the contradictory. I think it is incredibly important to point that out because we often assume that our students know more than they actually do. I am working hard to break that mindset, and this vocabulary routine has provided me with an entertaining avenue to break through to my students.