Shake Up Semester Review

It's that time of year when most classrooms move into review mode, and I've seen or heard about some interesting approaches, including a review activity that merges Old Maid with prepositional phrases. If you are looking for a few ways to approach review in a new way, check out these ideas that I stole from my friend Chris.

Quiz-Quiz-Trade (No technology)
Write review questions & answers on notecards. Each student gets one notecard. Students get up, mingle, ask each other the quiz question, then trade their cards. They mix again, ask, trade...Continue until most students have asked and answered most questions. *BONUS: If the students write the review questions, they get double review in some ways AND have to process the information at a deeper level!

Partner Problems (No technology)Split a worksheet into 2 columns. (Typically this ends up being odds vs evens). Each pair of students gets one worksheet and one writing utensil. Fold the worksheet in half so only one set of questions shows. Partner A reads question 1 and explains the answer; Partner B agrees/disagrees and explains why; then, Partner A writes down the answer/work. Partner B takes the paper and pencil, flips the page and does the same with #2. Partners continue doing one problem at a time on their half of the paper, checking with the other student, and then writing down the answer until the entire worksheet is complete.

6 Slide Challenge (Technology)
Assign students different specific topics for review. Have them create a 6 slide Google presentation about their topic, and time each slide to last only 10 seconds. Students will present their slides to the class, but only have 60 seconds to explain the concept. (ex: literary terms, rhetorical devices, grammar concepts, etc.)

Socrative Space Race (Technology)
Lastly...Socrative, which I know many of you already use in some form.  Set up Space Race questions on Socrative.com. Students will login to your “room” that you set up, and compete to get their spaceship to the end of the track first. It’s like the carnival game where you shoot water in the clown’s mouth to move the thing up the pole… except that getting the correct answers is the water that moves your space ship. The first student or team that hits the end wins - or the team that gets the farthest, as you can’t get to the end unless all answers are correct.

"Thou Shalt Not Commit Logical Fallacies"

"Thou Shalt Not Commit Logical Fallacies" is an amusing approach to understanding fallacies. It associates 24 types of fallacies with an image, provides a definition and an example, and connects the type of fallacy to the real world by explaining where it is often used. Look at all those "best practices" in action! Bonus: If you like the "Thou Shalt" information, you can download a free PDF poster for you and your students here. (Scroll down to the bottom to find the free PDF, or if you really like it, you can pay for a large, colorful poster.)

"Logical Fallacies or Fallacies in Argumentation"is more straight-forward by providing a list that includes definitions for 20 types of fallacies, along with two examples of each type. Students could build upon this by creating a visual summarization and/or coming up with the real-world application.

Shakespeare in South Dakota!

Did you hear?!

SHAKESPEARE IS COMING TO SOUTH DAKOTA!!!

That's how I picture your reaction, anyway. Shakespeare being, of course, the English teacher's Beatles...You squealed when you read that line up above, right?

Even if your squeal was more of an "Oooo!" or just a "hmmm" like the girl on the right, you may want to keep reading because this is pretty cool.

2016 marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. To celebrate, the Folger Shakespeare Library is sending out four of its 82 copies of Shakespeare's First Folio to tour the United States. For South Dakotans, that means 27 days of a copy on display at USD's National Music Museum and a plethora of Shakespearean events to commemorate the occasion. (This is starting to remind me of Sir Nicholas' deathday party in Harry Potter...)

The Folger traveling exhibit, First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare, includes an interactive display along with a copy of the the First Folio. USD's NMM will host the exhibit from March 7 - April 2, 2016. During that time, USD and the Vermillion community will also host Elizabethan/Shakespeare-related concerts, movies, lectures, and family events, most of which will be free to the public. Click here to see the full schedule of events.

Also, USD's Shakespeare Folio website provides some useful pieces for the classroom. First, it offers a brief history of the book and connects learners to more information via the Folger's website. Second, Darlene Farabee, Chair of the USD Department of English, speaks to students about Shakespeare and his book through three quick videos: "Shakespeare's Connection to Music," "What is the Shakespeare Folio," and "Why is Shakespeare Important?" (Scroll to the bottom of the website to locate the videos.)

Was I right? Pretty cool? Maybe I'm in the dark on this one, but this is the first Folio visit to SD of which I am aware, and I am hoping to catch a glimpse of this historical book. USD is just a wee bit closer than the Folger Shakespeare Library in D.C. Let me know if you want to carpool!

Paired Texts from ReadWorks

ReadWorks is a non-profit online reading comprehension tool, and it is FREE for educators to create an account and access ALL of their materials. (How often is the entire access free?! Woo-hoo!)

One of the newer features of ReadWorks is the expansion of their paired texts sets, which now includes a number of passages that are deemed 9-10 reading level or 11-12 reading level (according to their Lexile scores). Within the paired texts sets, teachers have FREE access to literary texts, non-fiction texts (some of which are primary sources), artwork, and question sets; all of the pieces are available for print or as a PDF download, which could then be shared with students via an online classroom (such as Google Classroom or Edmodo).

The question sets appear to follow this format:

• a few questions pertaining to text #1
• a few questions pertaining to text #2
• a few questions requiring the synthesizing of information from both texts

The purpose of the questions appears to focus on student ability to state an answer and support it with evidence from one or both texts. The questions could easily be used as is, but they would be enhanced by adding a few questions that look at other aspects of the Informational Text standards or research skills.

To view all of the passages available in the paired texts sets, click here. Filter the list keyword, grade, Lexile, topic, text type, or skill.

Chunk-Challenge-Chew-Chat-Check

You may be familiar with the concept of chunk-and-chew, where you break the content into chunks and allow the students time to chew (ie. process) the information.

It is time to take the chunking and chewing to the next level.

ASCD posted a Road Tested article​ that takes the concept further by adding a challenge, a chance to chat, and a quick check (formative assessment!). By expanding the traditional chunk-and-chew, teachers can walk away with a better understanding of the student learning going on (or not going on) in the classroom, and students can become more involved and engaged in the learning process. That's a win-win!

Frankenstein, MD

PBS Digital Studios released a mini-series called Frankenstein, MD via YouTube. Each fictional episode is approximately 5-7 minutes in length and explores various aspects of the text through the eyes of a modern scientist who is fabricating her own creature. Access the entire playlist here.

John Green CrashCourse YouTube Videos

John Green, popular YA author of The Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska, has a secret YouTube vlogging persona on the Crash Course YouTube channel!

Did you find him? I hope so because it really wasn't that secret...perhaps just relatively unknown, at least around here. (He has over 3.5 million followers!)

If you took a moment to visit his YouTube channel, you saw a sampling of Crash Course's almost 450 educational videos. Started by John and his brother Hank, the Crash Course channel offers free (and might I add, entertaining) 10-15 minute videos covering all sorts of content. Currently, 24 of those videos are specifically connected to commonly taught high school literature. The literature playlist starts with:

And then it moves on to:
Of Pentameter & Bear Baiting - R&J Part 1
Love or Lust? - R&J Part 2
Like Pale Gold - The Great Gatsby Part 1
Was Gatsby Great - The Great Gatsby Part 2
Language, Voice, and Holden Caulfield - The Catcher in the Rye Part 1
Holden, JD, and the Red Cap - The Catcher in the Rye Part 2
Before I Got My Eye Put Out - The Poetry of Emily Dickinson
A Long and Difficult Journey, or The Odyssey
Fate, Family, and Oedipus Rex
Ghosts, Murder, and More Murder - Hamlet Part 1
Ophelia, Gertrude, and Regicide - Hamlet Part 2
Don't Reanimate Corpses! - Frankenstein Part 1
Frankenstein Part 2
Reader, it's Jane Eyre
If One Finger Brought Oil - Things Fall Apart Part 1
Things Fall Apart Part 2
To Kill a Mockingbird Part 1
Race, Class, and Gender in To Kill a Mockingbird Part 2
Aliens, Time Travel, and Dresden - Slaughterhouse Five Part 1
PTSD and Alien Abduction - Slaughterhouse Five Part 2
Slavery, Ghosts, and Beloved
Langston Hughes & the Harlem Renaissance
The Poetry of Sylvia Plath

Beyond the literature playlist, however, are many other videos that could be connected to the literature in our classrooms. For example, the US History Playlist contains 48 videos that could help set the stage for texts studied in American Lit. There are also Psychology and World History Playlists that could connect. View all of the Crash Course playlists here.

While these videos were not originally intended for the classroom, the Green brothers are very encouraging of teachers using the videos. I could see the videos working in many classrooms, or as part of a Blendspace activity, or as an informational text/video to be analyzed, or...

Helping Students "Stick the Landing"

I don't know about you, but when I watch the gymnastics portion of the Olympics, I become an instant expert on the gymnast's technique and precision. One portion I'm exceptionally good at evaluating is the landing. Did she end with a solid dismount? Did he wiggle or wobble while attempting to maintain his balance? Was there (gasp!) a step forward/back/to the side? A gymnast can perform a flawless routine and be knocked out of the running for gold if she doesn't stick the landing.

Why is sticking the landing so important in gymnastics? Despite what you may believe from my couch-scoring of Olympic gymnasts, I'm not a gymnastics judge, but here's what I imagine a judge would say. First and foremost, sticking the landing is safest for the gymnast's body...but I doubt that is the reason it makes or breaks a gold medalist. The real reason, I believe, is two fold. First, it is the very last technique a gymnast can show a judge. It is the final opportunity to make a lasting impression. The middle might have been a little muddled, but if a gymnast can stick the landing, suddenly the muddy middle doesn't seem quite as severe. The gymnast exits the arena feeling more successful, and the judge is left with a more favorable opinion when processing the performance. Second, it is one more opportunity for the gymnast to demonstrate mastery, her control over her body. Gymnastics is precise. There are many ways to demonstrate that precision and control during the routine, but the only way to show it at the close is to stick the landing.

What does this have to do with the classroom if you don't teach PE or coach gymnastics? ASCD published an article this past summer entitled "Stick the Landing" where history teacher Tyler Reese connected sticking the landing to closure. Helping our students experience closure in the classroom is one of the more highly effective strategies we know for helping the brain process and store information. Students need effective closure for similar reasons a gymnast needs to stick the landing.

When a teacher provides a student with time for closure, both the student and the teacher are given an opportunity to stick the landing. In many closure activities, the student is given one more instance where he can demonstrate his knowledge to the teacher. This is turn becomes a moment of formative assessment, which allows the teacher to reevaluate next steps. When students participate in closure that is reflective in nature, they also move towards a deeper understanding of the content as their brains attach connections to the content. In this way, closure is the last chance (at least for the moment) for the teacher to help the current content make a lasting impression in the student's brain.

If you're not sure where to start, Reese provides three of his favorite closure activities: Around the Horn (a variation of closing circles), Negotiations, and Logo Galleria (a variation of a gallery walk). If none of these three strike a spark in you, don't worry; there are many ways to provide effective closure. Some methods take more preparation than others; some are quick in the classroom while others take a chunk of time. The important piece is to remember to do it regularly - and that doesn't mean just at the end of the class period. Closure is beneficial anytime you are concluding one piece and moving on to another.

A few that are often quicker and easier to implement are quick writes/journals (paper/pencil or digital), critical thinking exit ticket questions, and connection-based pair-shares.

Have a closure strategy that you have found to be very successful in assisting students stick the landing? Please share your ideas in the comments!

The Power of Storytelling

"While facts and figures engage a small area of the brain, stories engage multiple brain regions that work together to build colorful, rich three-dimensional images and emotional responses. As we read stories, we quickly begin to feel as if what’s happening out there is actually happening in here. Each sensory image, sound, texture, color, sensation and emotion provides a hook for our brain as the story draws us in and maintains our attention effortlessly.

This is the power of a great story" (Melcrum).

Over the past 12 years, 99,649 people have shared their stories through 57,138 interviews recorded in the form of conversations by StoryCorps. These stories are broadcast via NPR's Morning Edition and StoryCorps' website, but their real focus is on preserving an oral history of a diverse representation of Americans as each conversation is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

These oral stories, however, can be more than just a way to preserve our American history and culture. Stories are one of the most powerful ways for us to learn. About people. About topics. About ourselves. They are also a way for us to learn about listening.

Through StoryCorps' website, we have access to hundreds of those stories to use in our classrooms. The topics range from family to history, romance to struggle to memory loss. Brain research tells us that the language of story telling helps information stick in the brain, specifically because it often connects information to emotion. (On the contrary, straight informational language tends to slip more easily from our brains.)

So why aren't we using more storytelling in our classrooms?

One way we can incorporate more stories into our classrooms is through sites like StoryCorps; those stories, however, are limited in topics and scope as there are only a finite amount available. Thankfully, StoryCorps recently launched a new website called StoryCorps.me, as well as Android and Apple apps. Their purpose? To provide "a way for individuals to connect in a meaningful way with those close to them, and to gain insight into the lives of others." What a fantastic way for students to tell their stories or make meaning of content through connections with their stories or the stories of those they know.

Once a student has access to the app, all they need to do is follow these steps:

1. Choose someone to interview
2. Select questions to ask (StoryCorps.me provides ideas)
3. Find a quiet place to record using the app
4. Record (and listen!)
5. Share the interview online via StoryCorps.me 

I can think of so many places this could work in the English classroom! Research topics could come to life. Students could explore themes from literature alive and well in the world around them. And through it all, they would be building dendrites while making all of those connections...and not even realizing it!

If you'd like to do some brainstorming on ways to use this in your classroom, please let me know! I'd love to toss around some ideas. And, if you can already see where you might use something like this, I'd love to either see it in action or hear about your results!

Happy storytelling!

A Juicy Bestseller

Ever thought of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter as a juicy bestseller? That is one take on how the public might have perceived it back when it was published in 1850. Whether you teach the book or read it (and loved/hated it) back in high school, mental_floss has gathered 10 interesting tidbits to recognize The Scarlet Letter's 165th birthday. Go celebrate the birth of this juicy novel!

The Big Read Book Resources

Each year, the National Endowment for the Arts selects one book to promote literacy across our nation. In their own words,

"The Big Read aims to address this crisis squarely and effectively. It provides citizens with the opportunity to read and discuss a single book within their communities."

Through The Big Read, communities may apply for grants to host events connected to the year's book. But the biggest draw perhaps is this: even if there are no events in your area, The Big Read provides (free!) online access to some fantastic resources for both current and past books. These books include both classics and modern literature, so if you are looking for some new resources, you may want to check out their website. The books currently include:

• Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The by Mark Twain
• Age of Innocence, The by Edith Wharton
• Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears, The by Dinaw Mengestu
• Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
• Bridge of San Luis Rey and Our Town, The by Thornton Wilder
• Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat New for 2015
• Call of the Wild, The by Jack London
• Death of Ivan Ilyich, The by Leo Tolstoy
• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
• Farewell to Arms, A by Ernest Hemingway
• Grapes of Wrath, The by John Steinbeck
• Great Gatsby, The by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The by Carson McCullers
• Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
• In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
• Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea
• Joy Luck Club, The by Amy Tan
• Lesson Before Dying, A by Ernest J. Gaines
• Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich
• Maltese Falcon, The by Dashiell Hammett
• My Antonia by Willa Cather
• Namesake, The by Jhumpa Lahiri
• Old School by Tobias Wolff
• Poetry of Emily Dickinson, The
• Poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The
• Poetry of Robinson Jeffers, The
• Shawl, The by Cynthia Ozick
• Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe, The
• Sun, Stone, and Shadows edited by Jorge F. Hernandez
• Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
• Thief and the Dogs, The by Naguib Mahfouz
• Things They Carried, The by Tim O'Brien
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• True Grit by Charles Portis
• Washington Square by Henry James
• When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka
• Wizard of Earthsea, A by Ursula K. Le. Guin

The Big Read offers a variety of resources for each book, including a Reader's Guide, a Teacher's Guide, and a Media/Audio Guide. Within those guides, you gain access to resources related to the book's author, content, and historical and literary contexts. There are also lesson plans, discussion questions, and project ideas. If you happen to teach one of the above authors but not that particular book, the resources may still be worth checking out.

Research Paper Blendspace

Last spring, I put together this Research Project Blendspace for English IB students who needed to work more independently for various reasons. It is geared more towards the English I level in terms of introducing some of the concepts, but there may be pieces that can be spliced out for other classrooms, depending upon student needs.

If you'd like to use the Blendspace in its entirety, there is an accompanying Google document that provides students with places to record their learning, think critically about the content, and apply the information to their specific research topic.

Happy Blending!

Shakespeare: Uncovered (Season 2)

PBS is in the midst of a second season of Shakespeare: Uncovered. A series of six episodes, PBS has paired well-known faces who have experienced Shakespearean theatre first hand with their respective plays. Tonight's episodes feature Morgan Freeman with Taming of the Shrew (9 pm CST) and David Harewood with Othello (10 pm CST). If you are unable to tune-in tonight, PBS does offer the videos free online after they have aired. PBS also has various resources available for each episode. Both videos and resources can be found here.

Still to come in season two are Antony and Cleopatra and Romeo and Juliet, which will both air next week on February 13 starting at 9 pm CST.  Last week's episodes, A Midsummer Night's Dream and King Lear, can be viewed at the PBS website.

Other Shakespeare-based resources can be found on the PBS Shakespeare: Uncovered - Education page. These cover topics such as character analysis, women in disguise in Shakespearean comedies, the use of soliloquy, and moral/ethical dilemmas within Shakespearean characters, just to name a few.

Season one is also available online and includes Macbeth, the comedies, Richard II, Henry IV & V, Hamlet, and The Tempest.

Auschwitz: 70 Years Later

The end of January marked the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The above video was captured by a drone that BBC News flew over what remains of Auschwitz (~6 min). Survivors and family members visited the site in remembrance, and other events took place the last week of January to commemorate the liberation. The BBC published videos and articles documenting these events.

If you are working with Elie Wiesel's Night or are examining social injustices, you may want to see if any of the resources tie in with your discussions.

Stop Motion Illustrated Poetry (and One Short Story)

BetsiePieBaker's YouTube channel, "Some Poetry For You," features stop motion illustrated readings of the poetry (and one short story - "The Gift of the Magi"...English I teachers!) listed below. I had the opportunity to see Shakespeare's "Sonnet 73" in action last week, and the students responded really well to the interpretation. They had already read and discussed the sonnet, and they seemed to appreciate the visual representation created by the stop motion illustrations. BetsiePieBaker's current offerings include:

• "I am Nobody" by Emily Dickinson
• "This Is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams
• "To a Friend who Sent Me some Roses" by John Keats
• "who knows if the moon's" by e.e.cummings
• "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost
• "Sonnet 73"  by Shakespeare
• "Discovery" by Elizabeth Keller
• "In Defense of Seasonal Poetry" by Elizabeth Keller
• "Shooting Stars" by Sara Henreckson
• "Holy Sonnet 10: Death, Be Not Proud" by John Donne
• "Fern Hill" by Dylan Thomas.
• "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry

Shake It Up...TED-Ed Style

Did I get you singing Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off," which seems to be everywhere right now?

This post actually has nothing to do with that song. (Sorry if it is now in your head...)

TED-Ed recently posted two Shakespeare-based lessons. Each lesson includes lesson ideas to go along with the posted video clips. The lesson segments are: Watch, Think, Dig Deeper, and Discuss. Educators can also take the TED-Ed lesson, customize it, and share it on the lesson site. (The first one currently has 27 versions shared; the second has 47.)

Poetry, Pentameter, & Pirates: Why Shakespeare Loved Iambic Pentameter (~ 6 min) This lesson focuses on the meters and references both Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet.

The Great Conspiracy Against Julius Caesar (~ 6 min) For those opting to do Julius Caesar instead of Macbeth, this clip offers some insight into why the whole event happened.

How to Make a Timeline Using Google Spreadsheets and Timeline JS

I stumbled across this tutorial yesterday on my Google+ stream. Apparently, it is quite easy for students to create interactive digital timelines! Students use this Google spreadsheet template to chart the progression of an event, including event start and end dates/times, event headings, descriptions of each piece of the event, and links to images or videos that go along with the event. Once the template is filled out, the student publishes it to the web (under "File"), and then copies and pastes the published link into a box on this website created by Northwestern University (IL).

Voila! Interactive digital timeline created!

Here is a small example timeline that I made using Act I of Romeo and Juliet. (I took some liberties with the date and times...)

Bonus: Students don't have to go through the publishing step each time they update their spreadsheets. The default settings make it so the timeline is updated any time the spreadsheets is altered.

Turn In?
There are many ways students could turn in their finished products. Here are a few:
*Post an assignment to your Google Classroom, and have students share the timeline link via the assignment. (This option would keep the link sharing private between teacher and student.)
*Create an announcement on your Google Classroom stream, and have students paste the timeline link into a comment box. (This option would allow students to view each other's timelines.)
*Create a Google Form asking for two things: Student Name and Timeline Link. (Perhaps the easiest for grading?)
*Have students post their timelines to a Padlet page.
*Have students email you the timeline link.

Possible Uses?
Have students create a timeline...
*for a short story, novel, or play
*for a famous person's life story
*to brainstorm for or draft a personal narrative
*to outline an event in history

Overall, this combination of tools has the possibility to be quite powerful in not only helping students visually see an event's progression, but also showing their understanding of the event. Why not let them chart it out?!

Teaching with The New York Times

The Learning Network, The New York Times' education blog, is focusing this week on Great Ideas from Readers. This feature contains full lesson plans that utilize articles and information from The New York Times. Lesson ideas cover a variety of topics, including infographics, using columns as mentor texts, and argumentative writing.

PS - This may be another option for weaving informational texts into your classroom.