Hollywood Squares Review Game

I was looking through my teacher files this week to try to come up with a fun games for my kids.  It is still cold with lots of snow on the ground here in northern New England.  Although Easter is around the corner, spring hasn't sprung yet.  The kids are pretty anxious for that to happen.  When it gets above freezing they try to ditch their winter coats.  I know many of you are starting "test prep" season.  Our high stakes test is in October, so I don't have to worry about that until the start of school.  So maybe a fun game is good for all of us. :)
One of my favorites is Hollywood Squares.  It combines two things kids love:  competition and whiteboards.  You can use this game to review anything, but it is particularly good for vocabulary,spelling and math computation because the answers will be short enough to write quickly on a whiteboard.  Set up the front of your room with three student desks in a row and three chairs in front of them.  Lay one whiteboard, marker and eraser on each desk, chair, and one in front of each chair.  Having one child sit on each desk, one in each chair, and one on the floor in front of each chair gives you a three by three tic-tac-toe board.
Divide the rest of the class into two teams:  X and O.  Usually I do boys verses girls, just like Hollywood Squares.  The teams take turns picking a person holding a whiteboard.  I ask the question and the person with the whiteboard writes their answer and shows it.  Now, here's the great part.  The person with the whiteboard doesn't have to get the answer correct.  The person who picked them has to decide if the answer is right or wrong.  If they choose correctly, they "take" the square.  If not, the other team gets it.  Just like tic-tac-toe, the object is to get three in a row. 
My students love this game, and I hope yours will, too.

Teaching with Technology: Build Your Wild Self!

I'm always looking for ways to integrate technology into my teaching.  I recently came across a great website run by New York Zoos and Aquarium.  Children can create their own "wild self" using all sorts of animal parts.  They can then print or email the picture.  We are using the pictures for descriptive writing and to talk about animal adaptations during our Science unit.  Here is my sample picture I used to get the kids excited about the project:

 

Then I had my students write about their picture using the following prompts:

What are you?  ____________________________________________________________________

1.      What’s "wild" about you?  Describe each “wild” part, including the part, the animal it comes from, and how it is used.

2.     What habitat are you ideally suited for?  Why?

3.     Look at the other pictures created by students in the class.  What other animal might be a predator to your animal?  Why?

4.     Look at the other picture created by students in the class. What other animal might be prey for your animal.  Why? 

5.     Email your picture to your teacher.

Notice and Note

     Jenn Jones over at Hello Literacy recently wrote about a new book Notice and Note:  Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst.  If you haven't read it, I highly recommend that you add it to your professional reading.  It gives a very clear picture of what close reading of fiction texts should look like in an intermediate/middle/high school setting.  I found ideas that I can implement in my classroom immediately. 
     The book explains six "signposts".  These are common literary devices that authors use to get the reader to stop and think.  When students see one of these devices, it is time to take notice and jot a few notes.  I knew this is just what my struggling readers need.  They know how to use reading strategies.  They can predict and infer when I ask but, left on their own, they don't use these strategies because they don't know when and where to use these them.
     I love the idea of signposts.  Poor readers often speed through texts, never slowing down and savoring the moment.  They are "plot junkies"- always rushing through text to find out what happens next.  By showing them where authors have intentionally put  stop signs, yield signs, and Rest Areas, I hope I can improve their overall comprehension.
     And so on to today's freebie!  I have made graphics of the six signposts to use in my classroom and I want you to have them, too!  They are medium size (2-4 per page) for use on anchor charts or with teaching small groups of students.  Enjoy!