RL 6.3 - Describing How a Character Changes Over Time

Posted by Rebecca:

I was working with students on this standard, and didn't have a resource to help me document how a character changes over time. We were reading Esperanza Rising, and I needed something that we could use over a period of a few weeks.  I went ahead and made my own organizer.  Here is an example of what I used with my students:

As we worked through this organizer, I discovered that many students wanted to summarize the events in the story, but not necessarily describe how the character changed over time or responded to challenges.  We did agree that it is valuable to talk about events in the story, so we decided to write one sentence about the story and one sentence about how it affected the character.  We added a non-linguistic representation to add to our understanding.

A blank copy of this graphic organizer is available for free at our TPT store:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/RL-63-Graphic-Organizer-1510548

Special credit for the frame goes to the 3AM Teacher

http://the3amteacher.blogspot.com/

This was my first attempt at teaching this skill.  I would love to hear how you teach this standard in your classroom.  

Books We Love

Posted by Rebecca:
One way I try to share interesting books with students is with a "Books We Love" bulletin board in my classroom.  Students have an opportunity to talk about the books they're enjoying and hopefully get ideas about what to read next.  

I created a "Books I Love" form, which asks students to tell why they are enjoying the book and what kind of student may enjoy reading this book.  I copy it on colored paper, and offer it as a choice to do when students are finished with assignments.  With some classes, students were a bit reluctant to share, but when I told students they didn't have to write their name on the paper, I got more participation.  Some students write "by a 6th grader" instead of their name.  

I also share what I am reading on this bulletin board.  I sometimes model strategies with books I am reading, and it gives me a good reference point when it is posted on the bulletin board.  It also holds me accountable for reading young adult books and keeping up with what my students are reading.  

If you would like a copy of the "Books I Love" page, it is available at our Teachers Pay Teachers store for free!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Books-We-Love-Book-Recommendation-Form-1470362

How do you get students excited about books?  I would love to hear your ideas in the comments below.

Compare and Contrasting - 7th/8th grade

Posted by Eugene:

This is my first blog!  I'm really excited to be doing this.  I teach 7th and 8th grade Spanish and technology classes in Maricopa, Arizona.

A few weeks ago my wife and I put together a lesson on how to compare and contrast two first-hand accounts of the same topic.  We read the two passages and started to talk about them.  I modeled for students how to fold an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of construction paper into what is called a "hot dog" bend/fold.  

Hot Dog-fold

Tri-fold part 1

Tri-fold part 2

Most students could do this OK.  But, when I tried to demonstrate how to take it a step further, they fell apart! I wanted them to next do a "tri-fold" crease on the same paper.  

It seemed to separate the kinesthetic, auditory, and visual learners into factions of: "This is easy!" to "I - don't - get - IT!" and "How did you do that?"  

Actually,  it was fun to see which kids all of a sudden began to shine, when they usually don't for other things.  Some kids became teachers by showing others how to make the correct creases and folds.

Once this was done I showed them how to draw a Venn diagram on the top/bottom part of the hot dog fold.  When they opened it up - they had the "tri-fold" inside for: 1st essay compare/contrast - the middle for: similar - the 3rd for: compare/contrast, again.  If you're wondering what I'm talking about, I will supply a photo.

Compare/Similar/Contrast

Inside Tri-fold

Front/Title Venn fold

The real "Ah ha!" moment came when we went through what consisted of "apples vs. apples and oranges vs. oranges."  I finally explained that we needed to compare and contrast the same "category" of information, otherwise we wouldn't really be comparing and contrasting the right types of things. An example of what I'm talking about was that in the articles, two families were immigrating to the United States.  One family left their mother and one year old son behind until the father could get established with a good job and a place to live. The family was split up .  The other family moved as whole unit at the same time. One family moved to Kansas and the other one went to Florida.  the same category of information, but different set of circumstances. 

At that moment many kids started to say that it had never really been explained to them that way before. They all knew about Venn diagrams, but were just going through the motions to get the assignment done without really understanding what they were doing.  

What experiences have you had teaching compare and contrast? 

I would love to hear what kinds of things are happening in your classroom.

Either post here or send us a quick email at: teachingthemiddleyears@gmail.com.

You can also visit our store: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Middle-Years

Sharing Data with Students

Posted by Rebecca:

At my school, students take a benchmark test four times a year. They take the test online, which yields faster results and saves A LOT of paper, but we also sometimes run into the problem of students rushing through the test.  Some students don't go back through the passage or work out the difficult math problems.  One way I try to focus students, and show them the value of these tests is to meet with students individually to share test results.

I created a graph to record students' scores:

I meet with students individually to share scores with them, talk about what went well, and set a goal for the next benchmark.  We just put a star on the number where we want to be next time, as shown below:

Before the next benchmark test, we take out our graphs again, and review the goals we set.  Many students tend to take the test more seriously as a result of our conversations together.  This is also a great tool to share during parent teacher conferences.

For a free copy of the graph, visit our TPT store at:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Benchmark-Test-Graph-for-Students-1433834

How do you motivate students to take benchmark tests seriously?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

Greetings from Sunny Arizona!

For our first blog post, we would like to take a moment to introduce ourselves. The Middle Years consists of husband and wife team, Eugene and Rebecca Longoria.  Eugene teaches 7th and 8th  grade Spanish and technology, and has over 18 years of teaching experience.  Rebecca teaches 5th and 6th grade reading, and has been teaching for over 15 years.  Most of our teaching experience is in the "middle years" of fourth through eighth grade.  We are very excited to collaborate with other teachers around the world and share ideas.

This is our first experience with a blog, and we're slowly learning the process.  We appreciate your patience as we get our design up and running.  In the meantime, we would love to connect with you, and are excited to read your comments.