Celebrate the Holidays in Your Classroom

Thanks so much for visiting my blog for Day 12 of the 12 Days of December Holiday Blog Hop! 

Incorporating comfort and joy into your classroom during the holiday season can be as easy as a lesson relating to the holidays or announcing a contest or challenge to your fellow staff members.

REGIFTING: YAY OR NAY?
Regifting: most of us are guilty of regifting something at least once in our lives. What do your students think about regifting? You can have some engaging arguments in your classroom on the topic.

My nonfiction argument lesson on regifting contains "pro" and "con" articles on regifting. Students read both sides, analyze both arguments, then decide which side of the debate they fall. It also includes a role-play activity, an infographic assignment where students collect their own data and create an infographic based on their findings, and a writing component in which students form their own arguments on regifting using the data and research they collected.

HOLIDAY COLORING PAGES
Coloring and doodling aren't just for children. CNN reported last year that coloring can "...reduce anxiety, create focus or bring about mindfulness." We all know students (and teachers) who can benefit from less tension and improved concentration and mindset. 

My Christmas and Holiday coloring pages are geared toward teens and are perfect for decorating your classroom for the holidays. The winter-themed pages can be used for the entire season.

Students who like to doodle will love the doodle pages included.

DOOR DECORATING CONTEST
Last year when some teachers at my high school decided to have a holiday door decorating contest, little did we know how much joy it would bring to not only the students but the entire staff.

The guidelines were very simple: decorate your door for the holidays and complete it within a week. You could do it yourself or have your students help you during our common 8th period study hall.

Since there weren't any stipulations, pretty much anything holiday-related was acceptable. Some teachers used their content area for inspiration, like my fellow English teacher's "Winter PoeTree," complete with poems written by students:

Or by our P.E. teachers on the locker room doors:

 

And by one of our math teachers:

Others made their doors warm and cozy with fireplaces:

Our computers/business teacher's door.

One of our science teacher's door. Names on the stockings are students from Physics class.

While others used iconic holiday characters like the Grinch, Snoopy, and Olaf:

A math teacher's door.

The special education room.

Another math teacher's door.

Even our principal and office staff got in on the fun:

Our principal's office door.
The student office workers and secretaries made the "Nice" list;
our principal and athletic director made the "Naughty" list.

The door to the main office.

For my door, I decided to go with one of my favorite holiday movies as inspiration: A Christmas Story. I debated on whether the leg lamp would be appropriate but thought I would take my chances. I decided I wanted the outside of the box on the outside of my door and the lamp on the inside of my door: 

 

I used large rolls of printed paper in woodgrain patterns for the box and the window frame and stars for the sky. (Most of the supplies I used were leftover from Homecoming float-building and Prom decorating supplies or Christmas decorations I happened to have.)   

Our school has an excellent color photocopier with an enlargement feature that will print a giant image on several pieces of 11x14 in. paper (you just need to piece them together). I used this feature to print the leg lamp and the larger images of the characters. I made two copies of the lampshade so I could tape battery-operated fairy lights under the top layer of the lampshade. To add another three-dimensional feature, I taped real black fringe to the bottom of the top layer lamp shade. 

Then things got a little out of control...

    

 Once I started decorating around the door, I just couldn't stop. And there were so many parts of the movie I wanted to include! So I added the Bumpus dogs, Scut Farkus, the famous "You'll shoot your eye out" quote, Ralphie in his cowboy outfit, his C+ essay, the Little Orphan Annie Decoder and Ovaltine message, Ralphie in his pink bunny gift, Randy's zeppelin, the Old Man's bowling ball, the Red Ryder BB gun, the Old Man's "Fra-Gee-Lay" quote, Ralphie's mom correcting him, Ralphie dropping the lugnuts and saying "Oh Fudge," LifeBuoy soap, Randy in his snow suit "I can't move my arms," the triple-dog dare, Flick's tongue on the pole, and Scut and Grover Dill. (The "retweets" comment was because a student had recently said he would tackle a Christmas tree if his tweet got 150 retweets.)

Here's a video of my "A Christmas Story" door:


The total cost of this door was less than $3 (the black fringe was the only thing I purchased) because I was able to repurpose leftover decorating supplies and use holiday decorations I already had on hand. Of course, being able to use our school's photocopier helped keep costs down.  

I'll post pictures from this year's door decorating contest in a separate blog, so make sure to follow me to get updates. This year's theme is any holiday song; I'll be helping my husband with his social-studies classroom door. 

GIVEAWAY
Bringing comfort and joy into your classroom doesn't have to be complicated, of course. A simple string of lights, playing of a holiday song as students walk in the classroom, or wearing an "ugly" holiday sweater can be enough to bring a smile to your students' faces.

Make sure you check out Hello Teacher Lady and Write On with Miss G's blog posts, as well!

Thanks so much for stopping by AND don't forget to ENTER to win the final prize: a $200 Amazon Gift Card! You can enter to win here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Or by clicking here:  12 Days of December

I hope you obtained many great ideas from my fellow bloggers for bringing comfort and joy into your classroom!

In case you missed any, you can find all the blog posts here:

An InLinkz Link-up

Using Holiday Ads in the Classroom

During the holidays, advertisers ramp up their advertising, luring buyers to their stores. They'll use colorful, vivid words to snag new customers, which actually works in YOUR favor, English teachers! You can use their ads to teach a number of lessons.

1. CHANCE (or DADA) POEMS: Cut up the words and use them for an impromptu poetry writing session. I like to store the words in little plastic baggies and use them when we have time left at the end of the period. I'll have students work in groups and prompt them to create a poem based on the lesson we just practiced (or the book/story/character we are reading). Or if there is a fun event coming up (a holiday, a dance, etc.), have them create a poem related to the event. Give them a limited time to create a poem, then have each group share with the class.

2. PARTS OF SPEECH REVIEW: Have students cut out the words themselves*, only with a twist--require students to find an example of each part of speech (noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection). You can make it a contest and see who can come up with the most (and the most interesting). *If the words are already cut out, they can just each take a baggie full and sort them by part of speech.

3. REVIEW IDIOMS AND CLICHÉS: Ads are perfect for containing overused idioms and clichés. Introduce and/or review the figurative phrases with your students. Have them find their own in the ads, old magazines, or in newspaper headlines.

4. ANALYZE THE MERIT OF MARKETING: Have students look over the ads, analyzing the marketing techniques used, including the word choices and design/aesthetics (colors, font, and placement of words and products on the page). Which phrases stood out to them? Which did they pay little attention to? Were others more effective? Why?

5. ANALYZE TARGET AUDIENCES: As students look over the ads, ask them to evaluate who might the target audience be for the ad. How did they come to that conclusion? Which words and/or phrases did they use as clues? Do the ads stereotype?

I've been using ads and newspapers in my classroom for years. If you do not have access to a newspaper or magazines, check with your media specialist to see if she/he has older copies that can be saved for you. Also, your school may be eligible for Newspapers in Education. It's a wonderful program that supplies classrooms with copies of newspapers, which are paid for by donations from local businesses.

My Magnetic Poetry Kit is also an option for activities #1 and #2 if you don't have access to newspapers or magazines.

You can keep collecting the ads through the spring: Valentine's Day ads are perfect for love-inspired poems; there's also President's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, and so on... Each holiday will offer different flavors of language to suit the occasion.

COMING SOON: Handouts for each of these activities, which will be included in my POETRY BUNDLE (a bundle of ALL of my poetry-related resources...past, present, and future!)

Wonder Movie Compare/Contrast Activities

Now that the movie version of R.J. Palacio's bestseller Wonder is out, your students can practice great critical-thinking skills comparing the novel to its theatrical rendition.

The seventh Common Core anchor reading standard (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7) asks students to "Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words." The movie version, of course, is the visual depiction of the text, so it's a perfect opportunity to practice this skill in your classroom.

IMPLEMENTING THESE SKILLS IN YOUR CLASSROOM
• Before seeing the movie, have your students describe how they envision the characters in their minds from the evidence given in the text. For example, we know Jack's character has curly blonde hair from Justin's description of him on page 187. Then, after they see the movie, have them describe what Jack looked like in the movie. How did his depiction differ? 

• Have your students write which scenes/events from the novel they hope to see portrayed in the movie. For example, one student may hope the movie shows the story of Auggie's birth, including the farting nurse. Another student may hope to see Via and Justin acting in "Our Town," while another student may want to see Henry, Miles, and Amos saving Auggie and Jack from the seventh graders at camp. After the movie, have them reflect on how these scenes were represented in the movie (or if they even made the cut). 

• Sometimes certain events from the book cannot logistically happen in a movie so they may be changed completely into a whole new scene that didn't happen in the book. After seeing the movie, have your students write about their favorite movie "additions"--the scenes that were never in the book, but were in the movie. Ask them how it enhanced or changed the way they "saw" the story from the book. Did it make it better? Worse? 


Additional activities for specific grade levels:  

Fourth Grade (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.7):
Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text.

• Have students write a list of their favorite quotes from the novel. They can also reflect on WHY those quotes are important to them. 

• After seeing the movie, have them reflect on those quotes and whether they were included in the movie. For those that were omitted, did it change the way they felt about the story? For those that were included, did it enhance the meaning of the quote when they saw/heard it in the movie? 

Fifth Grade (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7):
Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).

• The quote activities for Fourth grade work very well for the Fifth-grade standard, as well--especially reflecting on if and how it enhanced the meaning of the text when they saw/heard it in the movie.

• In addition, your students can evaluate the scenes from the book that did NOT make the cut in the movie. How did their absence affect the story? Were there any scenes deleted that they thought should have been in the movie? 

Sixth Grade (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.7):

Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they "see" and "hear" when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch.

• Both activities for Fourth and Fifth work well for Sixth.

• When students compare and contrast specific character depictions, have them describe how they "heard" the characters when they read the novel. For example, we also learn in the book (through Justin) that Jack has a "low, gravelly voice" like one of the kids from the Little Rascals (p. 196). Did Jack's voice sound the same in the movie? Did it change the way they perceived Jack's character? 

• Another activity that will allow students to analyze the movie depiction is asking themselves whether they think the author would approve of the movie? This allows them to think critically about both the text and the movie and whether the overall effect--with changes and all--made a difference or not.

USE THE MOVIE TRAILERS IF YOUR STUDENTS CANNOT SEE THE MOVIE
Can't see the movie as a class or have students who missed out? No problem! If your students aren't able to see the movie, you can still use the movie trailers to do many of the activities. Click on the following links to see different trailers:

#ChooseKind Wonder Movie Trailer: Features Auggie, Isabel, Nate, Mr. Tushman, Julian, Charlotte, Jack, Summer, the Seventh Graders from camp, Mr. Browne, Via, Mr. Tushman  

"Inspiring" Wonder Movie Clip: Features Auggie, Isabel, Nate, Via, Jack, Mr. Browne, Daisy, Summer, Justin 

"Whispering" Wonder Movie Clip: Features Auggie, Isabel, Nate, and Via Pullman

"Toughest Kid" Wonder Movie Clip: Features Auggie, Summer, Julian, Jack, Charlotte, Via, Isabel, and Nate

"Precepts" Wonder Movie Clip: Features Mr. Browne, Julian, Charlotte, Jack, Summer

See ALL of the Lionsgate Wonder Clips Here


EDITABLE & PAPERLESS ACTIVITIES AVAILABLE

All of these activities can be found in my Wonder Book vs. Movie Activities pack. I offer them in ready-to-print PDF format AND in editable Google Slides format that you can customize for your students and print OR share digitally for a paperless activity. 

These can be found in my store by clicking on any of the linked images. I hope you enjoy the activities! 

High School Halloween Costumes

Does your high school celebrate Halloween with a dress-up day? Ours does, with contests (sponsored by Student Council) for the best costumes. We finish the day inviting the elementary to our gymnasium to parade through in all their costumes. Our principal gives them each a bag of treats as they exit the building. 

Deciding what to wear is always the hardest part for both teachers and students. Here are some of our favorite costumes from the last couple of years. 

Cards Against Humanity teacher group costume: What made this one even more fitting is that our mascot is a Cardinal. ;) 

Cards Against Humanity Teacher Group Costume

You can download a FREE editable template to make this costume here: FREE Cards Against Humanity Parody Costume

Characters from To Kill a Mockingbird teacher group costume: It depicts the characters as they were dressed on Halloween night in the novel.

To Kill a Mockingbird characters from Halloween night

We have Aunt Alexandra, Scout (in her ham costume--made with chicken wire and paper mache), Jem, and Miss Maudie. Unfortunately, Boo, Atticus, and Bob Ewell all wimped out on us. 


Pokemon couple costume: It's Ash and Pikachu.

Pokemon Ash and Pikachu Halloween couple costume.

Oreo Cookie costume: Use two pieces of black poster board and white paint or marker.

Homemade Oreo Cookie Costume

Darla from "Finding Nemo": This cute costume is easy to make, especially if you have a goldfish. 

 Homemade Darla from Finding Nemo Costume

"Napoleon Dynamite" group costume: The characters from "Napoleon Dynamite" include Deb, Pedro, Napoleon, and Uncle Ricco.

Halloween group costume: Characters from Napoleon Dynamite

"Mean Girls" group costume: There's always at least one group that dresses up from the characters from "Mean Girls."

"Mean Girls" is always a favorite each year.

Wilson from "Home Improvement": This is a really easy costume to make for a guy. Just glue some popsicle sticks, wear a flannel or plaid shirt, and throw on a fishing hat.

Wilson from "Home Improvement" homemade Halloween costume.

Snapchat Filter costume: It's usually pretty easy to find animal ears for this one.

Snapchat filter Halloween costume

Donald Trump costumes: We had a couple of these last year. I think they won for "Scariest Costume."

Donald Trump costumes.

Fork in the Road costume: Puns, idioms, and other figurative language examples are always clever and usually easy to pull off.

Halloween costume: Fork in the Road

Kermit the Frog "But That's None of My Business" Meme: For a funny costume, you can always count on meme characters. Pair it with a caption that relates to your school. 

"But that's none of my business" Kermit the Frog Meme costume.

The brothers from "Step Brothers": What made this couple costume even better is that these two are actually step brothers.

These step brothers dressed up as the characters from "Step Brothers."

I hope you have a great Halloween!
Don't forget you can .

You can find additional costume ideas on these old blog posts: Halloween at the High School, Hunger Games Favorite Costumes, and Favorite Pins of the Week 

English Teacher's Book Hop: The Hate U Give

I'm honored to be a part of Secondary Sara's English Teacher's Instagram Book Hop and to recommend Angie Thomas's book The Hate U Give.

When I first read The Hate U Give in February, I knew it was one that I would immediately recommend to my students. First of all, I couldn't put the book down unless I was grabbing for a tissue (you'll need them nearby for those gripping, gut-wrenching moments). Thomas is brilliant in telling a great story and moving it along at a good pace.

Second, I truly empathized with the characters. If you are human, you are going to feel something while reading this book. And I really think what we all need right now is to be able to empathize with those who we may see as different in order to understand each other more.

Third, this book seriously sparks great discussions in class. There is so much misinformation about the Black Lives Matter movement and protests; Thomas's novel helps explain things in a way that those not familiar with it (or those who have been misinformed) can understand. It also tackles stereotypes from all angles.

I can see using this novel for a whole-class read or as a student-choice novel. It could also be a companion to a book like To Kill a Mockingbird. There are so many non-fiction pieces that could be read with it.

I could go on and on, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. Write in the comments what you think of The Hate U Give, how you are using it in your classroom, or ideas you may have for incorporating it into your curriculum.

For additional book recommendations for English teachers, check out the hashtag #englishteacherbookrecs on Instagram.

And don't forget to enter the GIVEAWAY to win Barnes & Noble gift cards! You can enter here: http://www.secondarysara.com/2017/10/keeping-up-with-new-books-as-english.html#more

Surviving Homecoming Week: Tips for Secondary Teachers

SURVIVING HOMECOMING WEEK: TIPS FOR SECONDARY TEACHERS
For middle and high school teachers, Homecoming week seems like an endless struggle to get kids to focus in class while competing with pep assemblies, float building, dress-up days, hallway decorating, and last-minute dance preparations.

I've known teachers who took pleasure in punishing students with extra homework, tests/quizzes, and detentions just for being a little over excited. I've also known teachers who have a free-day every day and the kids have too much time on their hands and end up causing major discipline problems.

I think there's a happy medium. I try not to schedule homework during the week, but do have some productive class periods. Albeit, they are not as productive as in other weeks, but this is the ONE week students get to be kids and have fun, so I cut them some slack.

And despite what some may think about Homecoming week becoming a lost week of learning, valuable learning is still taking place that might be even more essential in the workplace: students are learning how to work as a team on large-scale projects, leaders are being developed, negotiation and problem-solving skills are at their peak.

Over half of my years teaching I have been a class sponsor and have supervised more hours than I care to count (all unpaid). But one thing is certain: more students are able to participate in building these skills when they have a lighter homework load. Seeing students working together as classmates with only their pride on the line is a beautiful thing to witness.

To help your students participate in more activities, consider relaxing your regular curriculum for a day or two during the week with some creative activities. Don't worry, they will still practice learning skills. Here are a few to try:

GAMES, GAMES, and more GAMES

BOARD GAMES: Playing games can be educational. I like to play word games like Scrabble and Boggle in class. You can set up stations and students can choose which game station they wish to participate. Taboo, Scattergories, Apples to Apples, Mad Gab, Pictionary, Bananagrams, etc.

OTHER GAMES: These games get students up out of their seats.

• Heads Up: Make your own version with words related to your content area or a unit you are studying. One student must hold the card with the word on it and the rest of the class (or divide into teams) give clues so the one holding the card can guess the word.

• Charades: Again, make your own prompts related to your content area or unit you are studying. Students act out the words/prompts for their classmates to guess.

• Who Am I?: Perfect for reviewing people, events, even concepts or vocabulary words.

• Never Have I Ever: As a way to review characters in a book or story or historical figures, have your students pretend to be characters and use events from the novel for prompts.

Students play Quizlet Live in class.

ONLINE GAMES: If you teach in a 1:1 school, playing online games together can be fun. Plus, students love being competitive with one another. There's just something about a "game" that makes any type of review fun.

• Kahoot: My students love playing Kahoot and searching the most popular games brings up fun topics like Disney movies, brain teasers, popular logos, name the celebrity, etc. You can also, of course, search in your content area for games.

• FreeRice.com: Students compete in various educational content areas (vocabulary, math, grammar, art history, geography, etc.) and raise $ to feed starving families at the same time.

• Quizlet Live: Use your existing word lists for students to compete in live competitions with one another.

• Socrative: No need to type in any questions; just read review questions, random trivia, homecoming-related questions, etc. Students compete live against each other.


CREATIVE ACTIVITIES

WRITING PROMPTS: Writing shouldn't be boring or a chore. Make it more interesting by relating it to Homecoming.
• Have students journal about their favorite Homecoming festivities (dress-up days, assembly, skits, game, dance, etc.).

• Give them a prompt relating to the Homecoming theme (ex.: if the theme is related to fairy tales, ask them their favorite fairy tale or to come up with their own story; if it's a Western theme, ask them what life would be like if they lived in the Wild West; if it's about outer space, ask them if they would travel in space if they had the opportunity, etc.).

• One of my favorite short writing prompts is one I share free. I have my students do it several times throughout the year and they LOVE hearing what their classmates wrote. You can find it HERE and read more about it HERE and HERE.

Students create found poems in class.

FOUND POETRY: I keep a collection of words from my Magnetic Poetry Kit and cut from magazines, newspapers, posters, etc. I store them in little baggies that I hang on the inside of one of my cupboards. These come in handy so often. I love to have students create spur-of-the-moment poems relating to whatever we are reading or studying at the time. Use this activity during Homecoming week and have students create poems relating to the theme or whatever you wish.

BATTLE OF THE SEXES (Classroom Edition): If you aren't familiar with the party game "Battle of the Sexes," it is a game in which men and women compete against one another by answering questions that are stereotypically geared toward the opposite sex. I use this activity as a way to jump-start discussions on stereotyping at the beginning of the year. But I like to have my students come up with the questions themselves. It can take a while to compile enough questions for a full game, so I do carry over questions from year-to-year. This is a game that students usually beg to play throughout the year, so it's a perfect addition during Homecoming week.

I hope these activities help you get through Homecoming week and have some fun with your students. Just remember: learning doesn't always have to come from a book.

If you are a class sponsor, look for my next post about the best materials to use and how to keep your sanity while float building, assembly organizing, dance planning, and more.