Thursday, June 7, 2007
Looking for Active Lessons to go with Literature
For me, it's much easier to make science lessons fun than reading lessons. I often rely on reader's theater, book talks, discussion groups, and popcorn reading. They're fun, but get old quickly. I'm looking for great lesson ideas to go with several novels I plan to read with my fifth graders next year. They are The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, A Bridge to Teribithia, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and Hatchet (there will be others, but these I'm sure about). Any ideas?
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6 comments:
I'm so excited!!! I can relate to this post!!!! When I did my preintern work in a fifth grade classroom, the teacher was VERY boring. She would just read out of the book and give students worksheets to complete. I decided to incorporate things such as popcorn reading and reading theater and the kids LOVED IT!!! However, like you mentioned, it does get old. FAST! But, for the short term, the kids love it and it is really effective!!
Andrew Stirling
Nice blog...not just for a beginner either.
Science is the subject that can connect all that is learned in just about any class...it takes some imagination, but I've used different types of readings with my 8th graders. Our language arts teacher suggested several methods, like partner reading, where two students have to read the same thing at the same time...they learn a rhythm quickly AND learn what punctuation is for. Another has students do active reading where they note, underline, circle etc as they read. They will later be asked to defend what they've marked and explain why the thought it was important. "Popcorning for Points" also works well.
I read very little to my students, but the teacher opposite me does quite a bit. Two different opinions I guess.
Keep them having fun and learning!
mark
I love you blog! Unfortunately I have not read any of those books. I try to work literacy into the science content not the other way around. Kids do love acting things out however so maybe they can make little movies out of what they are reading?
Yes...movies! That's a great idea ms. b! I can see my kids really getting into reader's theater and movie making. Wouldn't it be cool to let them write a short screenplay on a novel or chapter? Then they could direct a movie of the screenplay? Or maybe just make movies of improv skits. Sounds like fun!
mhopkins...thanks for the compliments. What is "popcorning for points"? Sounds very interesting. My kids love competitive games.
Nice blog!! One idea I like to use is have students or groups of students do writing where they ask "what if this or that happened?" and then rewrite the endings. The kids seem to love it and it'll help them really figure out what's going on in these character's head.
For an analysis of why round robin and popcorn reading are pedagogical flops, visit http://penningtonpublishing.com/blog/reading/why-round-robin-and-popcorn-reading-are-evil/
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