July 26, 2014

A Simple, Time Saving Trick for Decorating Your Classroom Next Year

Take purposeful pictures, "photo maps," of your classroom as you set it up this year to save yourself time when you decorate next year.
Take pictures. I know, you are thinking, that's it? That's your big tip? Hear me out on this one.

Many teachers take photos of their classroom, but these pictures are pictures with a purpose. Think of them as maps that will guide you year after year.

When you hang up your posters, design that gorgeous bulletin board, or set up your supplies just so, take pictures. 

Save the pictures on your phone or computer or print them out and keep them with your decorations. 

Note: I took my pictures at the end of the year (you can see my storage boxes and mess), but I would do it at the beginning of the year so you don't forget. You can always take more pictures later.

If you change your bulletin board with the seasons or create special displays in the hallway as the year goes on, don't forget to take pictures of those too.  

Then when next year rolls around, you don't have to waste time figuring out how to layout your posters on the wall so they all fit or try to remember how you hung those lights over your desk. 

Take purposeful pictures, "photo maps," of your classroom as you set it up this year to save yourself time when you decorate next year.With your photo "maps" from the previous year, you will finish decorating your room quickly and can then use your time for planning those awesome first day lessons. You can even have your spouse or child or friend or colleague help you because they can just look at your photo "maps" rather than needing so much of your guidance that their help is no longer helpful.

Trust me, you will thank me (and yourself) next year.


July 24, 2014

How to Organize Your Classroom Library by Genre to Increase Student Reading


Make it easy for students to select (and return) books of interest to them by organizing your classroom library by genre.
This isn't a new idea. We have all seen those colored labels on library books that say fantasy, biography, etc. I wanted a way to organize my classroom library in a way that worked for my students and would help them pick out books they liked.

I noticed that most students like to read books about characters who are like them: about boys if they are a boy and about girls if they are a girl. So each books gets either a purple sticker for a female protagonist or a green sticker for a male protagonist. You will notice that the green sticker in the photo above also has "AA." Like I said, most students like to read books about characters who are like them so the AA is for African American, HIS for Hispanic, and so on. If a book has narrators of both genders, I put both a green and purple sticker on it.

Make it easy for students to select (and return) books of interest to them by organizing your classroom library by genre.

The yellow sticker denotes the genre of the book. "N" is for non-fiction and "H" is for historical fiction. Look at what you have in your library. Sort them out into categories that work for you.  Once you have got it all figured out, post a key of what the stickers mean so your students can use your system independently. I also did:
A= action, adventure, sports
F = fantasy, science fiction
T =teens, realistic fiction
P = poetry
D = drama, plays

Make it easy for students to select (and return) books of interest to them by organizing your classroom library by genre.
The supplies for this are easy to get and inexpensive; its just stickers and tape (and a Sharpie). I bought the dot stickers at Target in the office/stationary aisle. When purchasing the different colors, remember that every book needs a genre sticker (yellow for me), so you will need more of that color.

Make it easy for students to select (and return) books of interest to them by organizing your classroom library by genre.After you put the stickers on the spine of the book, cover them with a piece of packing tape. I buy the kind on the roller that is maybe two inches wide. You don't need large strips of tape, just enough so that it covers the stickers and wraps around to the front and back cover of the book a bit.

I am hoping this system will make it easier for my students to choose books they like to read so they will do more reading this year.

If you are looking for cheap/free books to add to your classroom library, check out your local public library. Often people donate books to them, which they sell for twenty five cents to one dollar or you might be able to make a deal to get them for free because you are a teacher. Never hurts to ask. Another great resource is First Book if you work in a school district that qualifies.

Happy reading :)

July 23, 2014

Icebreaker Activity: Learning Each Others' Histories Through "Hair" Stories

A great icebreaker or get to know you activity for back to school would be reading "Hairs" by Sandra Cisneros and then have students write and share their own "hair" stories.
This activity was inspired by the chapter entitled "Hairs" in Sandra Cisneros' novel, The House on Mango Street. It is also published as a children's book with side by side English and Spanish text.

We read the children's book and did the following activity as a part of our pre-institute for the Philadelphia Writing Project Summer Institute.

For the ice breaker activity, each student or individual gets a piece of paper and some coloring utensils, and divides their paper into four. About five - ten minutes is given for the drawing of "hair" stories; four moments or events from a person's life connected to his/her hair. It could be a bad haircut, a change of hairstyles, getting it dyed a new color, starting to go gray or lose hair, anything!

After the drawings are complete, participants pair off and share their stories with their partner. After each partner has shared, they introduce each other to the group by showing their partner's drawing and sharing their accompanying stories.

You'll learn a little about students, the past experiences and possibly also their families. It's also a light and humorous activity that doesn't ask students to share too much on the first day of school.


My "hair" story: When I was young I had a bowl cut and I looked just like pictures of my mother when she was young. As I got older I started to grow my hair longer. In sixth grade, I decided to grow out my bangs (then my mother did too). In high school I decided I wanted a change so I cut off my long hair, all the way up to my chin, and donated it to Locks of Love. Now that is something that I do every two years. Grow it out, cut it short, donate it, repeat cycle.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Hairs for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

A great icebreaker or get to know you activity for back to school would be reading "Hairs" by Sandra Cisneros and then have students write and share their own "hair" stories.

July 15, 2014

On My Bookshelf: Teaching for Joy and Justice by Linda Christensen


Teaching for Joy and Justice by Linda Christensen is filled with great ideas for lessons that will engage students and build their writing skills. Two of my favorites are read-arounds, a strategy for students to share their writing and receive feedback, and the use of criteria checklist throughout the writing process. Read on for more of my review and ideas for classroom application.
This summer I am participating in the Philadelphia Writing Project's Summer Institute. Tonight I started on part one of my assigned reading for the program, Teaching for Joy and Justice by Linda Christensen.

I got up to page 38 before my eyes started getting sleepy (snuggled under a blanket with a kitty on top tends to have that effect). In her introduction, Christensen emphasizes the need for reading and writing to be connected to issues that students care about. I agree completely and I have lots of fiction and poetry that my students can connect to, but I am always looking for good nonfiction (readable and interesting). Chapter One is focused on poetry, which I feel is one of my strong points when it comes reading and writing. I do a lot of close readings and imitation poetry, where my students write in the style and/or form of a poem that we have read.

Christensen discussed four poems that she does the same with: "Raised by Women" by Kelly Norman Ellis, "What For" by Garrett Hongo, "For My People" by Margaret Walker, and "Knock Knock"by Daniel Beaty. Four poems that are new to me, but would resonate with my students. Christensen also discusses the importance of allowing students to share and respond to each others poetry, which is something I haven't done in too long.

I have been taking careful notes as I read on all the ideas for lessons of Christensen's that I want to try teaching (pretty much all of them) and ideas for lessons connected to hers. And thinking about planning lessons makes me itch to actually create them.

Two of Christensen's best ideas, which show up over and over in the book (I'm up to page 175), are ideas that can be implemented over and over throughout the year to help students improve as writers. The first idea is the "read-around." Students share their writing (poetry, narrative, essay) seated in a circle. As each student shares, their peers respond with positive comments (written down first, then shared out loud). The read-around not only allows students to see how others write and what works, it builds community. It allows students to see that they have shared experiences. It teaches empathy. In my school we are supposed to be practicing Restorative Practices and the read-around is really just a "circle" with an academic purpose. I did this once in my second year of teaching during a poetry unit with my Honors students. My students loved it. Now I wonder why I haven't tried it again.

The second idea is her criteria checklist for different types of writing. Before Christensen's students start on a piece of writing, she has them examine examples (poems if they are going to write poetry, narratives if they are going to write narratives, etc.) and use a checklist to annotate the text. For example, the narrative checklist includes: dialogue, blocking, character description, and setting description as musts, figurative language, interior monologue, and flashbacks as pluses. Christensen's preferred method of annotating is using different color highlighters so the elements of the checklist are highly visible/visual. When students write their own narratives, they will use this same checklist to annotate their work, to see what they have included and what is missing, to plan for their revisions. Christensen's grading ties into these rubrics. Grades are based on completion. A completed draft might be worth 150 points, a completed revision (with highlighting and rubric attached) might be worth 300 points. A writing assignment is not complete (and therefore won't receive a "grade" or points) until it meets all of the criteria on the checklist.

Once I am finished reading and have collected all of Christensen's ideas, I want to create a plan for my year, what I lessons I will use from her, what I use connect with past lessons and readings, so that I can stick with it as the year goes on. If I don't plan, I won't commit, and I will end up letting good ideas slip away.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Teaching for Joy and Justice for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.