All posts by shannonsiegler

Teaching Adolescents

National Novel Writing Month

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We are so excited to begin working with our students as they write novels! This is our first time doing this with our students. Talk about needing a growth mindset! It is scary enough to write a novel, doing it in front of/with some of the harshest critics on the planet is terrifying and exhilarating!

What makes this so exciting for students is the level of student choice. Conferencing with students about their ideas is electric. We will keep you posted on how it is going.

If you are interested in this project, go to this site. https://ywp.nanowrimo.org/ . You will find a wealth of free, well-written, standards-based resources.

 

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Teaching Adolescents

Using Mash-ups to Deepen Understanding

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I always tell my students, “Everyone loves a mash-up.” It’s basic neuroscience at its best. Our brains pay attention to what is novel, look for patterns, and seek to make connections.

I wanted to help my students get a better understanding of theme. I gave them a choice of two tweets to work with. By mashing the ideas from a short story we read and film we watched with a current news article and video of a living sculpture, the students flexed their thinking about theme in a deeper and broader sense. The discussions were rich and gave me the opportunity to do some on-the-spot reteaching.

Teaching Adolescents

Escape Room

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 Escape rooms are all the rage. They can be web-based, blended, or purely paper-based. The process of escaping requires collaboration and provides the social element that students crave. 

We used a premade activity made by Taylor Teaches at Teachers Pay Teachers. It was definitely helpful to go through the process the first time using someone else’s activity. Now we have a solid template for future escapes to pretest and reinforce concepts.

 

 

Teaching Adolescents

LHS Guest Teachers

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