Improve Your Lesson Plan and Prevent Discipline Problems by Thinking in Threes!
September 23, 2009 by admin
Filed under Classroom Management and Organization
A lesson is like a story: it has a good beginning, a middle and an end.
Any content can be presented in threes. The first step is to elicit what students know about a topic before they are presented with any new information. This is truly an important stage that many teachers simply rush through to get to the middle part of the lesson. But by then, they may find that students aren’t engaged and discipline problems have already taken over.
With brainstorming for example, the teacher elicits as many responses as s/he can. Brainstorming is a great technique for mixed ability classes: the quieter students absorb what their more verbal peers say. Afterwards, all students copy the contributions. The teacher can create a word recognition activity using the students’ responses. So a simple pre-reading activity becomes a listening, reading and writing activity!
When brainstorming, be thorough and give students plenty of time to think through their responses. Be patient and see what happens. Then present them with new information. Chances are, you’ll notice a huge difference in their behavior and ability to retain information!
A strategic lesson ending is just important as its beginning. Students need to be made consciously known of new information they learned and how well they have learned it. End the lesson for example by asking students to reflect on the question: “What did you learn about skydiving from today’s reading?”
So as you plan your weekly/daily lessons, see how you can make each of these three parts come together like a good story with of course, a happy end!
Try it!
Rosh Hashana Activities Using My Story, “The Gift” for Kids is Now Live!
September 9, 2009 by admin
Filed under Teaching Tips
I'm pleased to share with the readers of the New Teacher Resource Center that my story, "The Gift," is now available in Stories for Children online edition September 2009!
I just love the illustration for this story. You can use this story to teach the Jewish New Year.
Before reading the story to your students, you can start by asking the class:
Pre-Reading Questions
1. What do we typically do/eat/hear on Rosh Hashana? Allow students to brainstorm as many things. Remember the more time you give for brainstorming, the more responses students will give. So don't rush through this stage.
2. Why do you think the Jewish new year of Rosh Hashana is like a gift?
While-Reading Questions
As students listen to the story, have them either stop you or underline areas of the story that indicate that Rosh Hashana is a gift for Chava, the main character.
Post-Reading Activities
1.Answer either in full class responses or individually: Did students like the ending to the story? Why or why not?
2.Students can complete a story web or write an additional ending to the story.
Click on the link below for the story. You have my permission to use it in your classroom. Please email me for other uses.
You'll need to scroll down to page 42 where you'll find my story, "The Gift."
Click here for the link.
Enjoy! Have a sweet Jewish New Year!
Tips and Strategies for Decoding Words in Early Literacy Lessons
September 1, 2009 by admin
Filed under Teaching Tips
ELLs and especially those at-risk readers and decoders typically struggle with varying degrees with sound-letter correspondences, especially with those that are not native to the sounds and characters of their own language. Students need both a direct and explicit instruction with appropriately matching decoding activities to help facilitate the process.
The classroom procedures for introducing new vocabulary involves, to a great extent, the three R’s: review, repeat, recycle both on sound and meaning levels on beginning, ending and middle sounds and those respective sound clusters. Planning in this respect should evolve around simultaneous practice around decoding and retrieving a word’s meaning.
Subsequently, there should be a deliberate joining between oral language and the benchmarks of early literacy so that students are more adept at acquiring the targeted sounds so that eventually, they will be able to also recognize them in their written forms as well.
Decoding lessons in this respect, should involve decoding practice on a variety of decoding levels.
* Give a word that rhymes with 'book' 'legs'
* Find a word that begins with 'b' and 'd'
Alphabetic Knowledge
* The emphasis is on decoding first and initial sounds. Teacher spells the word – students produce the word.
* Teacher shows a picture - students produce the sound/name of the letter.
* Teacher spells the word - students produce the word.
Vocabulary Practice in Context
* Teacher shows a sentence. One word is scrambled. Students unscramble the word.
* I'm thinking of a word game. Teaching describe the word.
Tips for Decoding Practice
* Be selective. Examine the exercises critically. Is the purpose clear? Is it useful? Does it force the students to think about the language? Can it be made more interesting?
* Make sure activities are adapted to the needs of the individual student. Make up your own exercises if there are not enough suitable ones.
* Although this book primarily relates to the main receptive skill of reading, use as much time as possible on listening and speaking activities. Allow the students to work in pairs or in small groups as often as possible.
* Start written work in the classroom to make sure everyone understand what they are doing. Do some exercises orally first as a model, then let the students finish them for homework. Don’t underestimate your students. Show them that you expect them to be able to work individually or in pairs and groups.
* Make the lessons as enjoyable as possible. If you enjoy your work, the students will enjoy the lessons.
Decoding activities can be fun and interactive. Often these ideas for practicing decoding will happen spontaneously when you've least expected them.
