Searching the Library

This is a lesson that helps students understand the relevance of piecewise functions. This could help us at the Algebra 2 level with teaching a concept that is sometimes very abstract and difficult for students. This lesson has a great hook by starting with a video and then having them describe graphically what they are seeing.

I downloaded "Supporting Inferences with Two Lies and a Truth" and it is amazing! I have played a game called "Two Truths and a Lie" as an ice breaker. This resource is great because students read an informational text and then they are given three statements and they have to find the two that are not supported by evidence in the text. 
This would be great because, so often, our kids give answers that "they just know" but that aren't supported at all in the text. This would help the kids really learn to read for detail!

I downloaded the video "Eliciting Spoken Language Using Animation Software," which reviews using animation apps. on a tablet to enable young children to tell a story using their own voice and illustrations. This software can be utilized to motivate and encourage students to be more verbal and to analyze their sentence structure and grammar. It can be particularly helpful for visual learners or those who are more comfortable speaking than writing. It can also be used to tell social stories for students with Autism. The videos allow students to choose character(s) and a background(s) and can be adapted to different age levels. 

Students can use their consumable textbooks for notes but also add summaries with sticky notes.  As they read the selections they can become active readers while posing questions, predicting outcomes, questioning character choices as they read. Students can also do a close read with certain passages using sticky notes.

I downloaded and watched the video on utilizing post it notes as as a way to encourage peer interaction, problem solving, and teaching.  I LOVE this idea!  I do a lot of peer check, but usually with partners or table groups.  This strategy allows the students to randomly select a problem that the teacher has written on a post it and try and solve it.  They have no idea who solved the problem previously as the name and answer is on the back of the note.  If there is a discrepancy, the two (or more) students have to solve it together.  

I see this as a lesson, or idea, that can very much help change the dynamic of peer review in the classroom.  No longer will teachers have to select partners or have kids be stuck with the same partner for a period of time, but all students have the opportunity to review and work with other while learning and sharing knowledge. This strategy can be used in just about any subject where teachers can use teacher created questions or they can have students pose questions of their own about a given topic.  

The "Science Notebook Rubric"  may be used in multiple ways. It can be used as a formative or summative assessment for teachers to assess a students' abilities to organize, model, and record ideas and concepts they've learned. The "student friendly language" version can also be used as a self-evaluative tool for the students to check if their notebook's information is accurate and whether they have clearly presented the main ideas of various lessons or activities. Using notebooks for academic content areas allow students to communicate their understanding of concepts taught. Explaining this rubric before a lesson or activity enables the students to fully understand what is expected from them while writing in their journals or notebooks, and how they will be assessed. I plan on sharing this rubric with my grade level and across grade levels at our site to encourage continuity in the use and assessment of student notebooks. I also plan on slightly modifying this same rubric to be applicable to our students' math journals as well.

I downloaded the Academic Vocabulary 3-5 lesson.  This lesson overviews why it is important to teach our students academic vocabulary.  It also overviews the research compiled explaining why teaching academic vocabulary to students is vital to their overall learning goals. This lesson will help myself and my co-workers to collaborate on which academic vocabulary words we need to teach our students to help them gain access to the curriculum.

I downloaded a lesson where students will explore activities with positive and negative integers (ordering, comparing, adding, and subtracting). Using this unit will help me and my colleagues assess how well students are able to understand and use directed numbers in context. 

I found a lesson specific to sharpening the growth mindset mentality which is crucial for a course like chemistry. Many of my students lack the perception that if they put their mind to it with determination, they will be able to succeed in a course that is traditionally difficult. However, this is not quite the case and a lesson in molding the growth mindset mentality is a necessary one. 

I downloaded the "Romeo and Juliet: Act One, Scene Five Modern Translation Rubric". By having students translate various scenes from the play into modern language, they will gain a better understanding of the content and implications of the play. By using this rubric, I will be better able to standardize my grading and provide consistent and appropriate feedback for my students. I can also use this rubric for similar activities with additional scenes throughout the play.

I downloaded this "ticket out the door" activity, which shared a resource to students called Grammarly, which is a quick way to check your essay for plagiarism. I had heard about the tool, but have not used it in a long time. It was a good reminder to me about the resource and the item I downloaded is a good idea on how to dissipate the tool to students. It teaches about Twitter as a tool and also about the Grammarly piece. Plagiarism is an epidemic that, for some reason, kids think is normal and ok, but it is a toxic, slippery slope to mediocrity. 

I downloaded a rubric with an explanation for an opinion writing piece. My students are currently writing an opinion piece and I was not happy with the rubric that we were using to grade it. I feel this rubric is friendly enough for my Read180 students and yet on target for the requirements and expectations that have been set for the students. The latest trend is for students to be involved in self evaluation, so I believe this rubric can help teachers in grades 3-5.