Monday, May 4, 2015

Building on writing

I like to do a short writing activity where I pick a topic we've been working with and spend all week writing about it. On day one, the kids are asked to fill in the blanks in a sentence. On day two, the kids are asked to write one sentence about the topic. We share the sentences in class and circle them, and that way the kids hear everyone else's idea.


If I had a superpower - visualizing stories

If I had a superpower, it would be this: I'd love to be able to hold out my hand and just project at will, in the air, images or videos of whatever I happen to be seeing in my mind's eye at the time.


Spin the Bottle as a review game

There is no kissing in this game. :)

Instead, its purpose is to review a story your students have read and know well. You'll need a cheap water bottle with about an inch of water in it and groups of 4 to 5.

You'll need around 40 questions about the story. I generally create some easier ones (who is...) and some harder ones, and several in the middle. Not infrequently, I write the questions, but sometimes I also choose to have the students as part of a different activity write their own comprehension questions about the story.