Awesome!
On Aug 30, 2009, at 7:57 PM, Kim Wagner wrote:
Hi Jacquie,
My classes last one hour and five minutes. I am the only language
arts the
students have so we do it all--writing, speaking, reading, etc.
I would love to share ideas with you for sixth grade as the year
progresses.
I'm always eager to learn what others are doing.
This coming week we are going to review a story map (exposition,
rising
action, climax, falling action, and resolution). My ESL co-teacher
came up
with an idea for a kinesthetic "body story map" similar to the one
we did
last year in social studies. With that one, we had the students
pretend
they were a globe, stand up, put their hands on their heads for the
Arctic,
then on their shoulders for the Tropic of Cancer, waist for Equator,
knees
for Tropic of Capricorn, and finally their toes for the Antarctica.
They
loved doing this! For the story map she stood with her arms by her
side but
away slightly. hands pointing outwards. Her right hand moved to
indicate exposition, right arm was rising action, head (roll) was
climax,
left arm falling action, and movement of left hand was resolution.
This
approximated our "map" on paper. When she got going fast, it looked
like a
dance move! Very cool.Can't wait to try it.
Kim
On Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 5:41 PM, Jacquie Leighton
<[email protected]>wrote:
Love these ideas you've shared! Think I will create a tree for
writing
nuts! Your post is positively psyched about the reading year
ahead! It's
infectious and I thank you for that! I notice you teach sixth
grade and I
have 2 L.A. classes of sixth graders. How long are you L.A.
classes? Do
you also teach writing in the same block?
Have an awesome year!
Jacquie
On Aug 30, 2009, at 4:35 PM, Kim Wagner wrote:
Hi Everyone!
Well, I devoured *The Book Whisperer* as did my colleagues in 7th
and 8th
grade language arts. We are attempting to implement some of her
ideas this
year. We will be:
-encouraging our students to read 30 books this year
-inviting outside readers to read aloud to students
-attempting to create a culture of being "nuts" about books--I
have a huge
tree (with squirrels) that students will place leaves on as they
complete
each of their books
-allowing students 10 minutes of uninterrupted reading time at the
beginning
of each language arts class
-reading ourselves for those 10 minutes
-consuming vast numbers of middle school novels so we can put the
"right
book" into the right hands at the right time (my goal is 50)
By the way, I just read the most *wonderful* book in search of
terrific
titles for my students. It is called *Leo and the Lesser Lion* by
Sandra
Forrester. It takes place in Depression-era Alabama. The main
character is
a
spunky girl named Mary Bayliss Pettigrew. Near the beginning of
the novel
her beloved older brother, Leo, drowns. Bayliss breaks her back in
the
accident. While she recovers she decides she must have been saved
for a
special purpose and decides to become a nun (much to everyone's
dismay,
including her teachers at Sacred Heart). She and her family try to
deal
with
their grief while taking on two little girls from a local
(overcrowded)
orphanage.
My description makes it sound depressing, but really, most of the
book is
not. Forrester's writing pulls you right in and brings Bayliss'
world to
life.
Best,
Kim
6th grade language arts
On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 7:30 PM, Bill Ivey <[email protected]>
wrote:
Hi!
With some of us started back in classes, and others (including me)
getting
ready to start, I can't help wanting to hold on to parts of
summer break.
So
- I'm wondering what all you did this summer that was meaningful
to you.
For me, it's two main things. I spent a great deal of time down in
Chatham,
Virginia, my "second home" where my wife has housing at her
school and
which
I have grown to love, and my friends have said I'm becoming
southern. I
think in this case, they mean slowing down a bit, taking my time,
focusing
more on being in the moment and making connections with people
and my
environment rather than rushing through something in order to get
to the
next. I would love to keep that perspective going through the year.
The other thing I want to mention was a more traditionally
professional
development kind of activity, reading a book entitled "The Female
Brain."
Teaching at an all-girls school, I knew a fair amount of what the
book
had
to say about female-brain wiring and its effect on relationships
and
learning, but I only knew bits about the post-natal effect of
hormones on
wiring and on behaviors. It was illuminating, and helps me not
only in my
teaching but also in my social justice work.
How about the rest of you?
Take care,
Bill Ivey
Stoneleigh-Burnham School
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