7 Projects to End a Unit or Novel Study (That Students Will Actually Get Excited About)

In English Language Arts we do a lot of reading and writing, so while I often wrap up a unit or novel with a major writing assignment, I also like to offer students' an opportunity to let their other talents and interests shine. Read on for 7 fresh ideas for projects that students will want to complete.

#2ndaryELA Twitter Chat on Tuesday 4/17 Topic: Inquiry in the ELA Classroom

Brynn Allison, The Literary Maven & Kristy, 2 Peas and a Dog host #2ndaryELA on Twitter every Tuesday evening from 8 - 8:30 PM EST. #2ndaryELA is a weekly chat for secondary English Language Arts teachers focused on a topic. Every Sunday, we post the topic and questions on our blogs to allow you to prepare for the upcoming Tuesday evening's chat. Thank you to everyone who joined us last week and we hope that you will join us again.

We'd also love for you to join our 2ndaryELA Facebook group, even if you aren't on Twitter. 2ndaryELA is a group of middle and high school English Language Arts teachers looking to share ideas and best practices. This group is an extension of our Twitter chat and a place for collaboration, questions, and encouragement. Feel free to post teaching ideas, success stories, resource links, photos, etc. that will enhance our instruction.

On Tuesday, April 17, our #2ndaryELA chat will be about inquiry in the English Language Arts classroom.

The Format:
8:00 – What and where do you teach? Include a link to your blog if you have one. #2ndaryELA
8:05 Q1: Do you do project based learning (PBL), genius hour, or 20% time in your classroom? What purpose does it serve? #2ndaryELA
8:10 Q2: How did you get started with this type of learning and how did you introduce it to students? #2ndaryELA
8:15 Q3: What PBL units have you done or are you interested in doing? #2ndaryELA
8:20 Q4: How do you plan final products that are standards-based and rigorous while still engaging for students? #2ndaryELA
8:25 Q5: Have you done or plan to do any type of service learning in your classroom? #2ndaryELA

The Directions:
1. Log into Twitter on Tuesday from 8-8:30 PM EST.
2. Search for tweets with the hashtag #2ndaryELA in the search bar. Make sure to click “Latest.”
3. Introductions are for the first 5 minutes.
4. Starting at 8:05 (@literarymaven or @2peasandadog) will post questions every 5 minutes using the format Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. and the hashtag #2ndaryELA.
5. Respond to questions using the format A1, A2, A3, etc. with #2ndaryELA.
6. Follow any teachers responding and who are also using #2ndaryELA.
7. Like and respond to other teachers' tweets.

You can schedule your responses to the questions ahead of time using a scheduler like TweetDeck or HootSuite (but don't forget to use A1, A2, etc. and #2ndaryELA). Links are encouraged, so be sure to use a link shortener like tinyurl, bitly, goo.gl or ow.ly Just visit one of those links and paste your long link to shorten it for Twitter. Using images is also encouraged when relevant.

New to chats? Here are the rules:
1. Stay on topic & stay positive!
2. Please do not post or promote paid products unless specifically asked.
3. If you arrive late, try to look through other posts before beginning.
4. Feel free to just read, like, and/or retweet.
5. Always use our hashtag #2ndaryELA, including in your replies to others.
6. Make sure your twitter feed is set to public. (Also keep in mind that Twitter is completely public – that means students, parents, and administrators can and will read what you tweet.)

You can also check out a quick video tutorial in this blog post.

Be sure to spread the word to any teacher friends who might be interested in joining us as well. We look forward to chatting with you Tuesday evening and in our 2ndaryELA Facebook group!

Get caught up on past chats here:

Project Based Learning, Genius Hour, & 20% Time: How to Individualize Student Learning

This #2ndaryELA Twitter chat was all about individualizing student learning through project based learning (PBL), genius hour, and 20% time. Middle school and high school English Language Arts teachers discussed the types of individualized learning they use in their classroom, and  how they got started and introduced it to students. Teachers also shared past PBL units, final projects, successes and obstacles.

Read through the chat below for ways to spark students' interest and project based learning topics to connect with classroom curriculum. You'll get ideas about end products that are both engaging and rigorous. You'll also find advice on what works and tips for overcoming challenges.

Hope you'll join us next Tuesday November 1st at 8pm EST to talk about independent reading and engaging readers. We'd also love for you to join our 2ndaryELA Facebook group (even if you aren't on Twitter). 2ndaryELA is a group of middle and high school English Language Arts teachers looking to share ideas and best practices. This group is an extension of our Twitter chat and a place for collaboration, questions, and encouragement. Feel free to post teaching ideas, success stories, resource links, photos, etc. that will enhance our instruction.

#2ndaryELA Twitter Chat Topic: Project Based Learning

Brynn Allison, The Literary Maven & Kristy, 2 Peas and a Dog host #2ndaryELA on Twitter every Tuesday evening from 8 - 8:30 PM EST. #2ndaryELA is a weekly chat for secondary English Language Arts teachers focused on a topic. Every Sunday, we post the topic and questions on our blogs to allow you to prepare for the upcoming Tuesday evening's chat. Thank you to everyone who joined us last night and we hope that you will join us again.

Looking for the recap? Click on the image below.

New in 2016 is our 2ndaryELA Facebook group, which we would love to have you join even if you aren't on Twitter. 2ndaryELA is a group of middle and high school English Language Arts teachers looking to share ideas and best practices. This group is an extension of our Twitter chat and a place for collaboration, questions, and encouragement. Feel free to post teaching ideas, success stories, resource links, photos, etc. that will enhance our instruction.

On Tuesday, October 25, our #2ndaryELA chat will be about project based learning.

The Format:
8:00 Intros: What and where do you teach? Include a link to your blog if you have one. #2ndaryELA
8:05 Q1: Do you do project based learning (PBL), genius hour, or 20% time in your classroom? What purpose does it serve? #2ndaryELA
8:10 Q2: How did you get started with this type of learning and how did you introduce it to students? #2ndaryELA
8:15 Q3: What PBL units have you done or are you interested in doing? #2ndaryELA
8:20 Q4: How do you plan final products that are standards-based and rigorous while still engaging for students? #2ndaryELA
8:25 Q5: What have been the biggest obstacles? Biggest successes? #2ndaryELA

The Directions:
1. Log into Twitter on Tuesday from 8-8:30 PM EST.
2. Search for tweets with the hashtag #2ndaryELA in the search bar. Make sure to click “All tweets.”
3. Introductions are for the first 5 minutes.
4. Starting at 8:05 (@literarymaven or @2peasandadog) will post questions every 5 minutes using the format Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. and the hashtag #2ndaryELA.
5. Respond to questions using the format A1, A2, A3, etc. with #2ndaryELA.
6. Follow any teachers responding and who are also using #2ndaryELA.
7. Like and respond to other teachers' tweets.

You can schedule your responses to the questions ahead of time using a scheduler like TweetDeck or HootSuite (but don't forget to use A1, A2, etc. and #2ndaryELA). Links are encouraged, so be sure to use a link shortener like tinyurl, bitly, goo.gl or ow.ly Just visit one of those links and paste your long link to shorten it for Twitter. Using images is also encouraged when relevant.

New to chats? Here are the rules:
1. Stay on topic & stay positive!
2. Please do not post or promote paid products unless specifically asked.
3. If you arrive late, try to look through other posts before beginning.
4. Feel free to just read, like, and/or retweet.
5. Always use our hashtag #2ndaryELA, including in your replies to others.
6. Make sure your twitter feed is set to public. (Also keep in mind that Twitter is completely public – that means students, parents, and administrators can and will read what you tweet.)

Be sure to spread the word to any teacher friends who might be interested in joining us as well. We look forward to chatting with you Tuesday evening and in our 2ndaryELA Facebook group!

Get caught up on past chats here:

Page Turners: End of the School Year Projects

Greetings and welcome to Page Turners, a weekly Wednesday linky, where I feature great blog posts I have read (and sometimes that I have written). Hopefully you will find ideas that inspire you in your classroom and your teaching and maybe even a new blog to follow. Read down to the end of the post for directions if you are interested in linking up a post of your own.

And now on to this week's topic: end of the school year projects and activities. As you wind down the year, maybe you are looking for one or a few great last activities to do with students. Look no further than the posts below.

Guest blogger Jill Christensen shared this end of the year project with Getting Nerdy with Mel and Gerdy. Students create a scrapbook after reading a biography on a person of choice. This project involves all of the disciplines with different subject area teachers supervising different pages of the book.

Caitlin Tucker shares this project idea, creating a soundtrack for Romeo & Juliet, on her blog. Students pair songs with scenes from the play providing lines from the play and lyrics to support their choices. She provides a free download of the project handout plus some extra credit ideas. I am trying something similar with my students as we finish up Monster by Walter Dean Myers.

Julie Faulkner of Faulkner's Fast Five shares ideas about hosting a literary themed party, specially a Gatsby party. After doing a close reading of the party scene in the text, students make decisions on how to adapt that party to the classroom. Julie lists a few other texts/possible party scenes as well. Work hard, play hard right?

AP Lit Help offers three ideas on what to do after the test is over, whether it is the AP test, the class final, or any other kind of culminating exam. My favorite idea is the “Toast, Roast, Gift & Grub” Banquet. Students choose a favorite character/author to toast, a least favorite charter/author to roast, a character/author to give a gift to, and food to share with a connection to a text from the year. This would be a great way to review all of the texts read in a fun, yet meaningful way.

Another idea from Caitlin Tucker's blog, having students write a letter to their future self. While that is not a new idea, she shares a website that allows students to write and send a future email to themselves. Woah technology.

And just posted yesterday, check out this blog post and freebie for creating a literary theme park. Students will love designing an amusement park based on a recent or favorite text from the year. It's also a great way to tie in review of literary elements.

Be sure to check out the posts linked up below. Page Turners will be going on summer vacation, but will return in August. Leave suggestions for topics for next school year in the comments.

An InLinkz Link-up

End of the Year Project Idea: Literary Theme Park

At the end of one school year, my principal announced that she wanted to see us all engaged in project based learning. It was the new buzz word, though not as popular as it is now, and despite having final units and weeks planned, we were now supposed to add a project into the mix. 

My students had just wrapped up reading and acting out Romeo and Juliet.

 And now we were engaged in a mini-argument essay on teenagers and their decision making capabilities. Finals were soon approaching. 

I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do, but I knew I wanted it to be fun and engaging. My students had just struggled through Shakespeare and were courageous enough to read and act in front of their peers. Now they were still working hard, crafting an argument essay. I also knew I wanted to connect the project to the final. I didn't want my students to be stressing over a final project and a final exam.

I am not sure where the idea came from but I decided to create a project centered around a literary theme park (with emphasis on theme). The rides could connect to events in the plot, shops and eateries could connect to characters, the theme of the park could connect to a theme in the play, etc. But would my ninth grade students be into it? Sometime the ideas I thought were awesome, they didn't quite share my opinion.

But they loved this! The first step was to review the plot of the play using this tragedy cycle graphic organizer.

After I checked off their plot as complete and correct, students moved on to planning their rides,  attractions, shops, food, souvenirs, etc. using this outline.

I showed students a very simplistic sample park layout, but you could also show students real maps of amusement parks, historical parks, or nature parks. Just make sure the map has a key on it and you draw attention to that.

Once I checked off their outline for completion, students were free to begin the poster with the map of their amusement park. What they came up with was amazing! Here are just a few:

I also had the students present so they could share their parks with their peers. This was low pressure, even for students who don't like to speak in class.

While I used this project with Romeo and Juliet, you could use it with any story, novel, or play. Assign your students your most recent text or let them pick a favorite from the year to focus on. History teachers could adapt this to focus on a historical event or time period covered. Science teachers could focus on a concept or unit. Grab this free resource by clicking on the image below.

Enjoy your final days of school!