Just Pinning Away...

Do you use Pinterest? Yes, I'm a Pin Addict. Or Junkie. Or whatever you wish to call someone who is addicted to pinning things on Pinterest. It's just so visually stimulating, I guess. But I really love seeing all the great, creative things I can try in my classroom AND getting a good chuckle from time to time. I'm not a food-pinner, though. Seeing food just makes me hungry and want to eat. Plus, I'm not much of a cook, so what's the point? ;]

Anyway, I thought I'd share some of my favorite pins with you. I apologize that I may not have these all sourced, but you can find them on my Pin Boards. Feel free to follow me, repin, comment, whatever. ;]

This one is courtesy of Kathie, my Facebook/Twitter friend & fellow educator. It's pretty sad how this is so true for many of us in our classrooms/schools. I guess it is a reflection of education, itself, in our society. Let's hope the pendulum swings back...soon!

This picture was taken by ‏@PaulWHankins at Donalyn Miller's workshop (she is amazing) and is one slide in her presentation. I think it speaks volumes about the power of reading.

Yep...

There's not enough time in the day to read as much as I'd like to!

Authors are my rock stars. Of course, rocks stars are my rock stars, too. {lol} 

You can order it from SourceBooks for $20. It's simply Poetastic!

And how cool would this be to eat from book-shaped plates? Buy them by the case (12 per case) 

from The Webstraunt Store. (Not sure if you have to own a restaurant to buy from them.)

I love this visual representation of "Knowledge is power." 

R.I.P. Ray Bradbury. Author of so many great works, including Fahrenheit 451 and one of my favorite short stories, "There Will Come Soft Rains" (which is also one of my favorite poems by Sara Teasdale.)

It seems appropriate to mention another author who did not believe in censorship, Mark Twain. (Actually, I can't think of any authors who favor censorship, can you?) 

And who doesn't love some ecards??  Here are my latest favorites:

(Nope, we just had unexpected company...lol.)

Yes...please direct these moms to me, please. I have a list ready for them. ;]

This one goes out to all my Wisconsin teacher friends. Unless we all get out and vote, what is happening in Wisconsin is sure to spread to the rest of our states, if it hasn't already.

And everything must end with a laugh. 

This one is from LOL Wall on Facebook, asking how you have been keeping cool this summer...

 Not sure if I pinned it, though I shared on FB. I guess I'll have to pin now, huh!?

And if you're looking for anything related to The Hunger Games, I'll be adding my favorite Hunger Games pins over on my Hunger Games Lessons blog shortly...

Have a great weekend!

Add your Pinterest link to Allie's link-up here:

Celebrate Poetry: Why I Love Poetry

Photo © T.Orman, 2010

April is National Poetry Month and a great time to celebrate creative writing. Many people are intimidated by poetry, perhaps thinking it is too confusing, too deep, or too vague. I like to think of poetry as more of an "anything goes" style of writing. You can say what you want to say without worrying about formatting, complete sentences, or even if it makes sense. That's the fun of it. I try to convey this message to my students so they feel less intimidated by poetry. Poetry should be fun.

My love of poetry probably began as a child listening to my favorite songs and tediously jotting down the lyrics (either by lifting the needle of the record player or pushing "rewind" on the cassette over and over again). I was in love with lyrics--the combination of words, often rhyming, but not always. 

But it was most likely my junior year in high school when I really fell in love with poetry. I had a teacher who encouraged creative writing and believed in me. (Thank you, Mrs. Conrad!) I started a poetry journal, writing down every poem I had scribbled in notebooks or on napkins. Looking back, my early poems are more lyrical, as I strained to make them rhyme. But my writing matured with age and in college, with the help of another fantastic teacher (Thank you, Dr. Herzig!), I let go of the lyrics and let my words be themselves, unburdened by rhyme schemes or formulas.

Having teachers who encouraged my own creative writing helped me understand reading poetry, as well. The more I wrote, the more I wanted to read what others were writing. And both activities led me to love poetry.

I do like to start my unit with song lyrics; knowing that most students love music, if they see their favorite lyrics being treated as poetry, it is much less intimidating. They aren't afraid to dissect or find poetic devices in their favorite songs.

As you celebrate poetry in your own classroom, remember to encourage your students and let them have fun with it. They may not always see the symbols, underlying themes, or know exactly how to write in iambic pentameter...and that's OK. Leave them with a positive experience so they won't be intimidated or reluctant to learn more about poetry later in life. 

Celebrate Reading Today & Every Day

In my previous post I wrote about celebrating reading in secondary classrooms. I also uploaded a writing/discussion prompt on my Hunger Games Lessons website that links Dr. Seuss characters to the Hunger Games (yes, what if your favorite characters were reaped? Who would survive?). 

 

These are just reminders that you are never too old to enjoy Dr. Seuss.

I hope everyone has a great day!

Weekend Sale Ends With Huge Cyber Monday Super Sale!

 

Happy Holidays! 

 

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and did not get trampled in the crowds at your favorite stores today. 

If you are tired of being pushed around, why not do some ONLINE shopping? 

There's no long lines to wait in, no driving around looking for a parking spot, and what you want is ALWAYS in stock!

 

To thank you for your continued support of your fellow teachers, please enjoy my sale all weekend (Saturday & Sunday) on my digital downloads. 

 

Just click {HERE} to find some wonderful lessons for your students!

 

Then on Monday, Paul from TeachersPayTeachers is hosting an additional 10% off (if you use the promo code CMS28 at checkout), for up to 30% off! Don't miss out on these awesome deals on great English/Language Arts lessons, powerpoint presentations, novel units, clip art, and frames and borders!

Plus, as always, I have a great assortment of FREEBIES you can find {HERE}.

And one more bonus: Anyone purchasing a shipped good from my store this weekend will get a FREE Hunger Games handmade (by me) ornament! Ornaments will vary by style; most are two-sided and will look like one of these:

For instructions on how to make these ornaments, use The Hunger Games Examiner Sara Gundell's instructions found {HERE}.

Common Core Standards for Literature Graphic Organizers & Worksheets

Do you need to implement the Common Core Standards into your curriculum? These graphic organizers are written for each individual anchor standard for Reading Literature, grades 9-10, and will work for any piece of literature: short stories, plays, novels, poems, etc.. Just select an organizer for the literature you are reading to practice that particular standard/skill. They are all labeled clearly with each standard.

You can download the samples, below, FREE.

This full set, which can be purchased here, includes 24 different organizers for the 10 anchor standards in reading. Many of the organizers will practice the skills in the Reading Informational Texts, as well. However, the majority are written specifically for the literature standards.

UPDATE: I completed the graphic organizers for grades 6, 7, and 8, as well. You can find those here:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fiction-Non-Fiction-Reading-Graphic-Organizers-Common-Core-6-7-8
Because the anchor standards are the same, many will be similar to the grades 9-10. However, they are customized to the specific standards outlined for each grade.  For example, the third anchor standard for reading literature for each grade is:
RL.6.3. Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.
RL.7.3. Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g., how setting shapes the characters or plot).
RL.8.3. Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
RL.9-10.3. Analyze how complex characters (e.g., those with multiple or conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.
I provide several different organizers for each standard so you can decide how deeply you want your students to practice this skill. You can use these for assessment, as well.

Skills practiced in the organizers include: inference (inferring), complex character analysis, theme and plot development, compare/contrast two different works of same subject matter, understanding of cultural experiences, figurative language meaning and purpose, author's point of view, role of character, understanding author's purpose and choices, how language affects the tone and meaning, how an author uses allusions, and reading comprehension.

Students in advanced classes in 8th grade/middle could also utilize the worksheets for grades 9-10 or use the grades 6, 7, 8 organizers.

Free Common Core Standards Graphic Organizers

Offering Choices for your Readers: Comic-Book Craze!

Suzanne Collins biography, graphic novel style!

Students should enjoy reading, right!? And there's a reason why young children love picture books: images are appealing. Do I prefer reading a graphic novel version of my favorite books? Not really. But, that doesn't mean none of my students do.
In fact, I would say quite a few of them would prefer it.

If I want my students to enjoy reading, I need to offer plenty of choices. The same with writing. Some kids are happy to write a classic book report. But some aren't. So why not give them choices?

With the recent announcement on the Hunger Games Fireside Chat of Sara Gundell's comic-style biography of Suzanne Collins (author of The Hunger Games), (see picture) this reminds me that there are so many appealing ways to entice students to read rather than the traditionally printed book. I offer loads of choices in my high school classroom because we all have different tastes. I do love reading comics and have Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side, Close to Home, and Frazz books for students to read. Of course I offer the classics along side them, but I would much rather have a student read something over nothing. We need to admit that it is OK to allow these choices in our classroom. Students DO learn from reading non-academia texts! Reading the Guiness Book of World Records is still helping my students' reading skills. How? Because they are reading! It doesn't matter what they are reading. The act alone and repetition of it makes them better readers.

It is the same with writing. The more they write, the better writer they become. So why do we assign the boring 5-paragraph essay over and over again so they learn to hate writing? I don't know (well I do...because we are forced to). It's crazy. I would rather assign them more relevant and personally-connected pieces because 1. they will enjoy it, and 2. the chances of them copying & pasting text from the internet is less likely.

Here's a free download for you: comic strip panels to use to assign a comic bio or book report. Download all of the pages here:

I created them using Pasq.com's Comic Life program. You can head to my teacher store to find additional ideas for literature- and history-based learning.

Sample pages: