Nine years ago, the word rigorous was pounded into my head. I needed to make sure that my lessons were rigorous (challenging), but they also needed to be world based. In other words, the students needed to be able to apply this to the world around them. The principal who told me this started me down a road where I would constantly think about how to incorporate that into my lessons.

Socratic circles were incorporated into my lessons. Debates were incorporated. Research based on problems were incorporated.

Hands on activities were my students’ favorite. When giving them a project, it involved writing, research, and an output that allowed them to be creative. To keep things achievable, I let them know that being an artist was not the goal. If I saw them working diligently, using their time wisely, and producing a quality product, then they did what I asked them to do.

Prior to that time period, I was unsure how PBL would fit into an ELA classroom. There were plenty of ways for it to fit into a Science, Math, or even Social Studies class, but ELA? It took me realizing that utilizing a problem (an argument about pollution, overpopulation, and food choices in the cafeteria) fit into the curriculum. Reading a novel could provide students with an opportunity to create a project based on the reading. With Restart, they did a project around bullying. When I taught The Giver, they gave each other jobs based on their personality traits and researched those jobs.

In the past, we’ve created board games to teach grammar, movies to create book trailers of favorite books, and held character trials. These are all project based. The challenge isn’t in the what. It’s in the how.

The post Project Based or Problem Based Learning appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

I think I have tried everything possible with these students, and it had become clear that what had worked in the past would not work with these students. This is a different generation of student. One that has come through Covid. One that no longer has the intrinsic motivation necessary to become successful students, and extrinsic rewards do not appeal to them. Plus, behavior is horrible.

Now, not all teachers have the issues with the students that I have. Those teachers have either another teacher in the room with them, or they have taken on the role of a stern teacher from the beginning. My mistake is that my reputation precedes me. I have tried to be the one who seeks out the problem and take a kind approach, but what I’ve learned is that my reputation is one of a “pushover,” and you can do what you want in her class.

There was a change this week. My newly medicated self (thank you, ADHD meds that make me feel like I’m on top of my game) has taken a complete 180. I’m fully aware. I have my stuff together and organized. I am more than capable of pulling myself together rather than feeling like a tightly wound ball of anxiety.

I started on Tuesday reading and discussing Cisneros’s “Eleven.” It’s short enough to keep their attention. They can easily identify the fact that the teacher shouldn’t have pushed the sweater onto Rachel. They can also empathize with Rachel’s feelings about Sylvia who states the sweater belongs to Rachel. Plus, they can think about why Rachel states the fact that the teacher is right because she’s older. Later we will read an article on intentional and unintentional bullying by teachers and discuss that in reflection of this story. My biggest purpose is to make them think outside of the stereotypical bully by hinting at a teacher could bully or someone you don’t expect could bully.

Wednesday we talked about the problems around laws that address bullying. We also started a first glimpse at South Carolina’s Safe School Climate Act. They started talking about some of the forms of bullying, and I had them look into some vocabulary that they may not know. Friday we will completely unpack the law that addresses what schools need. From here on out, the SC law will be a frequent piece in the classroom as we read and discuss several text pieces. We have a Fall break coming up starting next week, and when we return from break, I am planning to start our novel study.

Today they started building a case for how they feel about the punishment for bullying and whether that should be more strict. I pointed out on Wednesday that an author who was interviewed on NPR stated that labeling a bully could be a stigma that they couldn’t get rid of. My hope is to help them understand that all of us tend to bully, and we don’t want to be labeled as a bully. We want prevention. We want conflict resolution. We want to change the climate within the classroom and school. Not just “Here’s a law and if you don’t abide by it you will be punished.” The Safe School Climate Act specifies that schools have a set of rules in place, but how do you teach them? Just saying don’t do it isn’t the clear answer. Because of this, I love to teach this unit. It makes them think. It makes them take ownership in what we are doing and why we are doing it.

With that said, I can’t do it if they are not willing to listen. I had to put students out of my class this week because they were disrespectful. Not just to me, but to each other, as well. And some had to learn that what they asked for is a two way street. You can’t say to me, “You never stop so-and-so when they say stuff to me,” and then when I deal with it, you say something rude to them. It doesn’t work that way. Me handing out a consequence to them doesn’t give you a free pass to do it back thinking you won’t have a consequence.

I just hope that this new backbone holds strong. They’ve pushed me into a corner, and I don’t do corners.

The post New Unit and a Backbone appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

When I taught 8th grade, and 8th grade honors, I utilized Socratic Circles frequently. When I began teaching 6th and 7th grade, I moved away from them, but after this past year, I have decided that I want to incorporate Socratic Circles in my classroom once again.

Socratic Circles can be quite scary in the beginning. A teacher’s job is hands off. You are not in charge. You are merely a facilitator, not the teacher. You maintain the time, beginning topic, and make sure that the students are cordial with one another. The prep work for the first one can be quite laborious, but once you get the ground work laid out and have students do a practice run, it gets easier.

The Prep

Many things need to be introduced before you can have a Socratic Circle. Students need to know:

1. What it looks like?
2. How to participate?
3. What types of questions they need?

What it looks like?

Most students have worked in groups before, but they really haven’t participated in Socratic Circles. Sometimes I will have them do Fishbowl Discussions as a precursor to Socratic Circles, but not all the time. I make sure to share with them video of students in Fishbowl and Socratic Circles so that they know what it should look like. We discuss what they notice (believe me, most students love to share what they see). We talk about the importance of it. For example, there were questions. Why did they need a question? To keep the discussion going. To add to the discussion. To question what they just talked about.

How to participate?

Students need to understand how to participate in a Socratic Circle. While students understand the concept of talking, they may not understand social cues when talking. They will need to learn how to listen for someone who is finished speaking. They need to know how to take over in a conversation. With a first time group, I may choose to give them speaking cards until they understand how to ease into a conversation. If they have something to say, they use a card rather than raising their hand. (They are used to raising hands)

I even offer sentence stems to give them an idea of how to go about participating in the discussion. They need to know how to refer back to a comment, or how to add to a comment. They also need to understand that it is important to have come prepared to the circle.

What types of questions are needed?

Before your first Socratic Circle prep, you need to teach students about the different types of questions. I teach them about Costas levels of questioning and go over as a class building questions. We may do this several times before we begin with a Socratic Circle they will be graded on.

The Socratic Circle

When I do Socratic Circles, I tend not to do one giant circle. Instead, I have smaller ones. To cut down on the noise on the outer circle, I give them a job. They are to observe a student in the circle. These are chosen by me. I’m also observing both circles.

They sign up for a topic ahead of time. For example, when I taught Romeo and Juliet, I had topics such as, How is love portrayed in the media? and students must tie that in to the play. These topics are usually based on one of the themes of the text we are reading. When we read “The Most Dangerous Game,” we also read articles about the ethics of hunting, and one of the questions was on the feelings of animals. Or after reading “The Necklace” and “The Gift of the Magi” I asked a Burning Question, “Who sacrificed the most?” My hot seat was on fire for that one.

I do include a Hot Seat for Burning Questions. This is an empty seat that anyone from the outer circle may enter into the discussion. They can ask a question or make a comment. They may not stay in the seat for the discussion. They may also not line up behind the seat. They can only approach the seat if it is empty. In doing this, they have to do several things: pay attention to body language both around the inner and outer circle, know when they can enter into the conversation, and know how to add without disrupting the flow of what is already happening. To make it easier, you can always have a person who is in charge of the Socratic Circle. They turn everyone’s attention to the person who has approached after they finish the discussion they are in. This worked wonderfully with my honors group because they would finish their discussion, and allow the person who joined to discuss their question before they left. The person in charge also had access to the timer. They knew how much time they still had to discuss.

I always give them a time limit for discussion. This gives them several benefits. One, they know they have to have questions to keep the discussion going. Two, they also know how much time they have and to wrap it up if discussions are getting to in depth. Of course, as the facilitator, I do keep questions written down to make sure they do meet their time goal and also to make sure that they discuss what I want them to discuss. I may know a question that may come up on a test or TDA or once they are in high school (for honors entering AP classes).

The most important thing that they need to know is to come to the circle prepared. They have to refer back to the text. That may mean a marked up text or their textbook with post its placed on certain pages. If they say something, they have to back it up with the text if it is necessary. Defend it with text, Define it with text, and Explain it with text. This is the one reason why I have decided to go back to Socratic Circles. The 8th grade teacher talked about students not knowing how to find textual evidence. I realized that the one thing that my Socratic Circles did was to force them to back everything with textual evidence. I have 6th grade and 7th grade students back to back. Going back to Socratic Circles gives me the opportunity to teach them to find text evidence to support questions and comments.

If you would like to try Socratic Circles in your classroom, I have a zip file that includes all of the things that I use. When I first was told about Socratic Circles, I wasn’t given any information. I had to search the internet, and over the course of 10 years, I have narrowed things down. You are more than welcome to use them in your classroom or adapt them to your own needs.

Socratic Circles

The post Using Socratic Circles in the Classroom appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

In a class with multiple reading abilities, behavior abilities, and concentration abilities, plus handwriting abilities, I have to think about adaptations before, during, and after my instruction.

Before Instruction

Prior to teaching, when I am in the planning stages, this is the moment when I consider many of my accommodation needs. Some require lessons that do not involve writing (they cannot read their own handwriting), some require a lower Lexile, and others cannot be on the computer (they will not complete work on the computer). I have to plan out my instruction to meet all of these accommodations that are in their IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) to insure that students are given an opportunity for success in the classroom.

During Instruction

Depending upon the class, lessons must be chunked into smaller equivalents. Because attention spans vary, I keep instruction short, practice short, and have frequent short transitions. I keep an eye on my students to know when I can move on. Too much time practicing and behavior issues will crop up among those who are already struggling academically and looking for an escape. Too short, and the lesson is completely lost. Transitions are the same. They have to be kept short to avoid escapism behavior issues.

After Instruction

Reteaching is often a must with certain classes. I still need to pull students aside to work on various skills, but at the same time trying to do this with a classroom full of students who can’t sit still or concentrate is a difficult thing to do. While I can put them to working on something on their own, I can’t guarantee that they will remain focused. Working individually is not their strongest trait due to some students’ need to escape what they feel is difficult or where they don’t feel success. Finding ways to adapt instruction after the lesson often involves whole class reteaching, or pulling students from other activities. Pulling these students from recess or another needed class interrupts other needs (activity to help burn off stored energy or a much needed extra reading class).

When I have to reteach as a whole class, I try to find another way to teach the same lesson. Finding multiple ways for students to learn the skill that I need them grasp and learn can be difficult, but I’ve found that having a list to pull from eases the burden of creating new lessons on similar topics.

The post When do you adapt instruction to student needs? appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

At the beginning of the year it is important to get to know your students. It also helps to know what things that they are interested in so that you can plan your lessons appropriately for the best engagement in the classroom.

One way to do this is to give the students a simple interest survey or to have them complete a questionnaire. The first assignment that my students have at the beginning of the year is to complete an All About Me questionnaire. I will often provide them with a similar version about myself, and I will have them complete this questionnaire themselves so that I can learn more about them.

Included in my All About Me are questions about siblings, favorite colors, movies, and TV shows. I even ask them about their favorite book and if they are playing any sports. What I’ve learned over the years through this process is that I’ve taught future football stars, authors, and even gymnasts. Then, when I’m building rapport with my students, I have conversation starters. I know their interests. It may seem fake, but it isn’t. Some students do not like to share readily, and this provides me with a way to have them open up. For example, I had 2 students when we were on a hybrid schedule who were very quiet and shy. They each attended on different days due to the hybrid schedule, but as soon as we merged the class and brought all students together, I knew I would pair those two shy students together. Why? They both enjoyed anime and drawing anime characters. It was a huge success, and I was able to pull them both out of their protective shells. They were able to share something that they had in common, and they were both able to build on each other’s strengths.

When creating your student survey questions, make sure to keep it relevant to your subject. Plus, include those extra-curriculars on there. You never know when that information will benefit you in the classroom.

If you don’t want to create your own interest survey, you can always use mine. It is a word document and you can change up questions to better suit your subject or class. It’s available for download below.

The post Get to Know your Students appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

Each year at the end of the year, I assign the students a quest. They are usually apprehensive because they are unsure as to what is going to unfold, especially since I know what is about to happen: Someone is going to lose all of their gold that they have saved so carefully for a large purchase.

If you haven’t assigned your students a quest, or you are nervous about creating the narrative for your quest, let me share one of mine.

The title of the quest is Deus ex Machina. God of the Machine. I even created a video that went with it at the end. But the purpose behind all of this is to have them practice some questions that they will see on their state standardized test. It gives them the opportunity to practice what they have learned all year and at the same time, they are entering into that world of role play.

Throughout the year I will share with you some of my quests for Classcraft. These are things that you can use in any way. Please feel free to go in and change the assignments (and add your own video) to suit your subject or review or what you have on hand. If the only reason you haven’t used Classcraft is because you are unusure as to how to set these up, let this be your first one.

I assure you that the kids love it!

Here’s the link to my quest.

The post Classcraft Quest appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

Finding a way to make learning fun and engaging can be difficult the older students become. Add to that the issue with technology, and teaching becomes more challenging.

One of the problems that we have in middle school is that students who have never had a personal laptop are suddenly presented with one, and with no supervision, they have to navigate this new world and all that it provides: constant access to games and entertainment.

Learning seems to take a backburner in this situation. The sudden ability to play online games, to watch YouTube, and to stream movies is too tempting. Teaching during this can be a nightmare. Even though you tell them that they are not using their laptops, five minutes into your lesson you find that someone has opened their laptop and are now playing an online game. The addiction to technology is too great to ignore. The best thing to do is to embrace this need and use it to your advantage.

1. Classcraft

I’ve discussed the use of Classcraft before in my article, “Using Classcraft to appeal to your students’ need for competition.” Classcraft has been a lifesaver for me in my classroom. Not only do I use it to time our Independent Reading, but I also use the Noise Meter to allow students to gauge the level of talking in the room during Independent or Group work. Plus, the Formative assessments in the form of Boss Battles is a great way to constantly review concepts, vocabulary, and provide them with incentives to learn. The extra bonus to this is that once the learning activities are over, students get to go in and spend the gold that they’ve won on pets and clothing for their character.

2. Kahoot

Kahoot is an online trivia game that the kids can access from their laptops and compete for points. There are many Kahoot trivia games that are already created. You simply need to go in and search for your topic. Or you can go in and create your own questions. Many of our teachers use this as a review of concepts, and I’ve even seen the kids go in and do this on their own when they are bored just to challenge one another.

3. PowerPoints

Students can utilize features they already have on their computers. For some who have not taken a basic computer technology course, you may have to help them (in our school they do this in the 6th grade). PowerPoints allow them to be creative and express their learning in a way that they can then pass on to others. I have my students create PowerPoint storyboards for plot, to share their research, and even had one that used this as the platform to tell their short story.

4. Book Trailers

Book reports can be given using the iMovie creator on an iPad or have them use PowerPoint and save the PowerPoint as a movie format. Students enjoyed this. I even had some who created a script, filmed parts of it on the iPad, and then plugged it in to their Book Trailer. Some even went so far as to use their phones to film themselves acting it out and inserted that into PowerPoints. They enjoyed this much more than writing a plain old book report, and we even shared our book trailers.

5. Act it Out

When teaching character traits, I find it easier to have students act out character traits. Many identify certain traits such as nice, mean, or bad, but they lack the vocabulary necessary to identify other traits that may be identified in a text. I provide them with a list and have them define them before having them act them out. This provides them with the necessary skills needed to understand and identify traits when they are reading.

6. Poems

Have students respond to a text by creating a poem about the text or the character(s). For example, when teaching Romeo and Juliet, students wrote double voice poems to tell their story.

7. Board Games

Have students create board games to learn about a novel, vocabulary, or grammar. They can be as creative as they would like, and the game must be easily taught to others with a clear set of rules for the game. Students can use their drawing and thinking skills to create their board games.

8. Ball Toss Reviews

Sports is always in and when you teach a large number of boys, you will appreciate the students being able to stand up and toss a ball. It not only helps with concentration, but it provides them with a nice brain break. Toss a foam ball around as you ask a question. They love to be able to catch the ball to answer the question with the opportunity to toss the ball back.

9. Music

Find ways to incorporate music into learning. When teaching poetry, have students bring in the lyrics to their favorite (clean version only) songs. Students can decide what soundtrack would go best with a novel they are reading and provide the why. Of course, you can always go out on a limb and have students rewrite songs to go with whatever it is that you are teaching. I have even used that last one during the week before Christmas break when students are antsy. Students rewrite Christmas songs into Scrooge type carols. We have a lot of laughs on that day.

10. Chunk It

Sometimes subjects are much too difficult to sit through the entire thing. Chunk it into smaller parts and provide more transitions. Technology has given students the sense of immediate gratification. Often they will become bored with longer tasks. Instead of having them write in longer spurts, I have them write in shorter ones. I provide a timer. When the timer goes off, we transition to something new or we take a brain break. I’ll teach a mini-lesson, and then have them practice before repeating the process.

What about you? Do you use something in the classroom that always keeps the students engaged? Feel free to share in the comments below.

Did you use one of these strategies? If so, how did it turn out?

The post 10 Ways to Make Learning Fun appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.

For the last two days, I have stressed about today’s activity. We were putting a character on trial, and the students had to prepare over the course of several days for the trial. Each one had a role they were to play with strict instructions to stick to the text. I stressed so much because during the time that the students were to be preparing, they were disengaged or off task. It didn’t seem like learning was taking place.

The engagement results of that seemingly lack of preparation?

My first period class. My strugglers. I worried most about them and the ensuing chaos that might take place if they couldn’t handle the task. Somehow, in that messy-looking preparation, those students had prepared. In the middle of our court session, I looked around the room while one of my defense lawyers was questioning a student on the stand, and my eyes filled with tears. Every single student was quiet and attentive. They were hanging on every word spoken. Engagement in the activity was taking place. It was beautiful! These students were usually loud and talkative when they didn’t understand. Now, they were paying attention and receiving a different view of the story we had read. We had simplified Edgar Allan Poe and made him accessible.

My other class?

Well, I received that chaos. Students were unprepared and lacked what they needed to play their role. Unfortunately, it was my largest class with 26 students in it, and with only 12 spots for active participation in our trial, I had 14 jury members who were bored, and they were not afraid to vocalize that boredom.

C’est la vie!

The post When Engagement Happens appeared first on Teaching ELA in the Middle.