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Posts tagged ‘strategies’

Sep 9

From Conversation to Creation: A Back-to-School ELA Activity

The first week of school is full of introductions. Students are learning their schedules, figuring out classroom routines, and, most importantly, trying to figure out who they will spend the next year learning alongside and from. I like to use this time to get students talking and collaborating right away, but without putting anyone on the spot.

This low-stakes Venn diagram activity is one of my favorite ways to start the year because it does so much more than help students get to know one another. In one block period, students are talking, listening, taking notes, organizing ideas, collaborating, and presenting. These are all skills we will continue to practice throughout the school year.

Start with What You Know

For the bell ringer, students move around the classroom and respond to five prompts:

  • Favorite food
  • Favorite place
  • Favorite person
  • Favorite activity
  • Favorite entertainment

They can write or draw their responses. This gets students moving and thinking while giving them some personal information to use later in the activity.

Partner Conversation

Next, I assign students a partner. Early in the school year, I intentionally avoid having students choose their own partners. This gives them an opportunity to work with someone they might not otherwise approach and removes the anxiety of figuring out “Who am I going to work with?” I made the pairing random and easy – find the person with the same color dry erase marker as you.

Once they are partnered, students participate in five short, three-minute conversation rounds. Each round focuses on a different topic:

  1. Favorites & Likes
  2. Places
  3. Activities
  4. Family & Friends
  5. Entertainment

Students talk, listen, and take notes about their partner’s responses. I provide question stems and model the conversations before they begin, which gives my English Language Learners a structure for participating in the conversations. These scaffolds can easily be adjusted or removed for more advanced classes. However, I find even higer-level students benefit from clear models and structure early in the school year.

From Conversation to Organization

After the conversations, students use their notes to create a Venn diagram comparing themselves with their partner.

Before they begin, I show them a teacher model so they can see what the finished product might look like. Students then work together to add:

  • 5 unique things they learned about their partner
  • 3 things they have in common

This is also a subtle introduction to an organizational tool that students will use throughout the year. A Venn diagram isn’t just something we complete during the first week, but it becomes a visual way to organize similarities and differences, compare ideas, and prepare for writing in response to literature later in the course.

Collaborate, Create, and Share

Once their Venn diagrams are complete, students present them to the class as a way of introducing their partners. Instead of simply saying their partner’s name and a favorite food, students have something meaningful to share because they have spent time listening and organizing what they learned. To support my English Language Learners, I provide sentence stems, model, and give them teacher-supported time to draft their presentations on a notecard.

The activity mirrors the work we will do all year in ELA: We collaborate, we create, and we share. And because the content is personal but low stakes, students are practicing those skills without worrying about whether their answers are “right.”

End with a Listening Challenge

I like to finish the class with a quick listening quiz. Students have about 30 seconds to write down the name, or names, of classmates who fit descriptions they have just heard:

Who is…

  • from Venezuela?
  • loves cats?
  • plays soccer?
  • works at Walmart?

Suddenly, students are looking around the room and realizing, Oh! I know who that is!

It’s a simple way to reinforce the information they heard during the activity while continuing to build classroom community.

Why I Keep Coming Back to This Activity

By the end of the lesson, students have had multiple opportunities to speak with a classmate, practice active listening, organize information, work collaboratively, and stand in front of the class to share. But perhaps the most important outcome is less academic: students leave knowing a little bit more about the people in the room.

For me, that’s exactly what I want from a first-week activity. We are already doing ELA, just without the pressure of calling it ELA yet.

We talk. We listen. We organize. We create. We share. And along the way, we begin to build a classroom community.

Kelly Virgin is a WCWP teacher leader who teaches high school English for the Kennett Consolidated School District.

Apr 9

Building Better Writing Through Culture, Conversation, and Connection

One of the biggest challenges I face with my English language learners is getting them to move beyond simple responses in their writing. So, for the past few years I have been experimenting with an assignment that not only supports their writing development, but also honors who they are and where they come from.

Background

Students spend the first part of the school year reading a powerful memoir called Dreams and Nightmares: I Fled Alone to the United States When I Was 14 by Liliana Velazquez. In this book, Liliana writes about her experience leaving her home in Guatemala to find a new home and the promise of a new life in the United States. In our writing, we focus on a powerful moment where Liliana describes sewing a quilt to preserve her culture and memories of her grandmother: “I don’t want to lose my culture, and it can be a remembrance of my grandmother. I’m going to sew a quilt… I want to give my mother this quilt as a present that I have made with my own hands. I want to give her a memory of Guatemala, of my tradition.” That idea became the inspiration for the writing assignment – students are tasked with creating and writing about their own culture quilt square.

Brainstorming

The process starts with an active and collaborative brainstorm through a gallery walk and talk. Around the room, I post topics like music, celebrations, food, and holidays. Students rotate, discussing and adding what they already know about their own cultures. Then they walk around a second time to create a personal brainstorm list – combining their knowledge with the collective knowledge of their classmates. This low-pressure brainstorming helps them realize they already have a lot to say as well as provides them with additional ideas.

Research

Next, we move into inquiry. Students review sample interview questions and then create and share their own. Their goal: learn more about a cultural topic that matters to them. Over the weekend, they are tasked with interviewing an elder—a parent, grandparent, aunt, or uncle.When they came back from this assignment, the room was full of stories. One student talked about discovering his uncle’s favorite song, “100 años pienso en ti” by Pedro Infante, and how that music connects to his own tastes. Another learned that her mother and grandmother made their own clothing growing up. A third noted the traditions her mom shared about her hometown in Mexico: “When I talked with my mom, I learned the traditions of ‘La Barranca Moroleon GTO’. I learned the activities that the people did, how they danced the cumbia, walked with the ‘santito’, went to eat in the houses of different people, and also the clothing that they used to wear—huipil—to special occasions like the party of July 25, ‘the misa’ when many people are together listening the ‘padrecito’.”

Putting it all together

Before jumping into a written essay, students consolidate their brainstorming and research by creating a visual “quilt square” representing what they value most about their cultures. For this part of the assignment, students return to their brainstorming and research to mark the parts of their culture they think are most important in their lives and their families. Then they spend time creating a visual to show those key elements. The only requirement for this part of the process is that they represent their cultural background in some way – all the other elements are self-selected. This step is key. It gives them space to synthesize their ideas and organize their thinking in a different way. It also affords them choice in what they ultimately decide to share about their cultures.

Then came the writing.

Because students had already brainstormed, researched, and discussed their ideas, they had a wealth of language to work with. Instead of struggling to get started, we could focus on developing their ideas, organizing their paragraphs, and expanding their writing. The project ended with a celebration. Students shared their quilts and essays, learning about each other’s cultures and experiences. I also printed their work post on our publication walls and to share with families during spring conferences—an added layer of pride and connection.

More than anything, this project reminded me of the power of conversation. Students learned they have a lot to say by getting the opportunity to speak. The gallery walk and talk brainstorm invited students to build on collaborative knowledge. The interviews students conducted with family members didn’t just give them content to write about—they created space for connection, storytelling, and the passing down of culture. The celebratory sharing invited students to show off their hard work while also learning more about each other. These conversations became the heart of the writing, making it more meaningful, more personal, and far more than just an assignment.

Kelly Virgin is a WCWP teacher leader who teaches high school English for the Kennett Consolidated School District.






















							

		

			

			

				

					
Sep 22

				

									

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					Community-Building for All Students, All Year
				

				
By Diane Esolen Dougherty


Several years ago Time magazine devoted its cover story to the latest wunderkind educational reformer.  It was an in-depth look at “state of the art” practices in education, particularly in teacher accountability.  One anecdote from the article was telling, at least to me.  The reformer was doing a walk-through in an elementary school in the district.  After observing a teacher for several minutes (yes, I wrote minutes), her decision was made.  “I’ve seen everything I need to see,” she said.  Nothing of merit was happening in that third-grade classroom.  The teacher was conducting a class meeting, and class meetings are not instructional.  All class time was to be devoted solely to instruction. Read more

							

		

			

			

				

					
Sep 7

				

									

											

			

			

				

					It’s our Blogiversary! Highlights from Our First Year
				

				
We are  celebrating the one year anniversary of the PAWLP blog, and what a year it’s been!  To celebrate our one year “blogiversary,” we’ve collected some posts from this past year that may be particularly useful to teachers as a new school year begins.


So in case you missed them, here are a “baker’s dozen” – thirteen blog posts with some practical tips and inspiration. We hope that you enjoy reading our blog and encourage you to comment, ask questions, and share your own experiences. We would love to hear from you! Read more

							

		

			

			

				

					
Jun 15

				

									

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					Creating a Writing Identity
				

				
By Lynne R. Dorfman


Writing, like life itself, is a voyage of discovery. 


– Henry Miller


We all want our students to think deeply about their writing and reading, learn how to assimilate information, and in some way take the new learning and make it their own.  In writing workshop, the teacher becomes the facilitator of creative options and the students become innovators, applying knowledge in new ways.


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Apr 28

				

									

											

			

			

				

					How to Get Research Started in the Elementary Grades
				

				
By Lynne R. Dorfman


           I have always known that research begins with a burning question – one that needs to be answered to satisfy that “Curious George” persona in all of us.  As my students have engaged in content area learning in the past, I now realize that I was perhaps too quick to send them off on a journey (not always a journey of student choice either).  We all know how important the three Cs are to student learning – choice, challenge, and collaboration.  But what if your students don’t have a burning question to ignite their quest? Read more

							

		

			

			
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