Christmas Bulletin Boards

Our Christmas musical was set in a classroom.  So the teachers got creative with some Christmas bulletin boards for the back drops.

Look at those beauties!

Getting Creative on Back to School Night

This year, we decided to change up our Back to School Night.  Instead of meeting with individual teachers, we met as a team of Upper Grade teachers with all 5-8th grade parents.  This could potentially be A LOT of people!  We knew it would be a late night - during the dinner hour no less! - so we made some fun 'table toppers' for the parents to enjoy during the presentation.

We had some mints with the sign that says "Thank you for your commit-MINT, involve-MINT, and encourage-Mint to our students this year!

We also used card stock and tape to make our own water bottle labels.  They say "Welcome to Zion Lutheran Upper Grades".  

The parents seemed to appreciate the water for sure but the mints were a nice touch - and cute!

Creation Limericks

We've been reading the story of creation and the fall into sin in fifth grade Religion this week.  Today the class worked in groups to create these fun limericks about the days of creation!

Grammar Text Messages

I found this great thing on Pinterest! Any time middle school kids get to use technology, they get a LOT more excited about the idea. So using a text message to teach grammar is bound to get their attention!

The link to the website is ifaketext You can just type in any text you'd like and it displays like a text from your phone. You can even choose which phone provider to emulate! Here are the two I displayed today:




They even got a chance to teach me something.  Apparently I was sending myself texts because the name at the top of the screen was Mrs. Meyer.  They thought it was hilarious.  So I accepted their expertise and made the necessary corrections.  I'm sure they'll let me know next time if I'm still wrong.  They love that!

Fun Job Board

After searching on Pinterest for a few hours, I came across several different job boards that I have melded into one.  I ADORE Harry Potter and it is sad to me that the series is "old enough" that our current middle school students are reading about Harry and friends for the first time.  I guess I'm getting old because I remember when my class and I anxiously awaited a new novel debut.  **sigh**  I have decided to bring some HP to my classroom this year.

Here is the result of my labors.  "House Elf Chores"

Each student has a sock with their name on it which they will color/decorate to make it unique to them on the first day of school. Each clothespin has a number and a one-word description of the job for that week.  On the paper next to the 'clothes line' is a more detailed description of each job and what the student is required to do.

You have to love Dobby.  Hopefully the kids will like the theme for the jobs this year.

Teaching Argument Writing:Creating THINKING kids (part 3)

Step 3: Class research project.  Use research and data to try to get a school rule changed.

The first thing we did as a class was to brainstorm some rules that they would like to get changed.  In order to make the list, it had to have a reasonable expectation of being considered for a change.  All the ridiculous ideas were laughed at and left off the board.

After some class discussion I gave several students an opportunity to speak up for their choice.  We took a vote and decided to try to change the gum rule.  The students wanted to be able to chew gum during class.

After choosing our topic, I divided that class into groups to begin research.  We did web searches to compile a list of potential sources that had data to support our claim.  One group interviewed the principal about what he would need in order to consider the change.  One group interviewed the janitors to determine how big a problem cleaning gum off of school furniture was.  Another group created a survey and distributed it to all of the students in 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade.  All groups then reported back to the class.

After our initial research, the class decided to proceed with two claims.  

#1 Chewing gum would help them to concentrate and do better in their classes.

#2 If gum were "legal" students would be less likely to try to hide it and stick it onto school furniture.

We discussed the need for some first hand data rather than second hand information from websites, so we conducted our own experiment.  The sixth graders had three tests in the upcoming week.  We got permission from each of these teachers to allow the class to chew gum for those three periods during those tests.  We would compare the average scores from the "gum chewing" tests to averages from three previous tests in each of those classes.

When the week was up, we displayed the data on the board and discussed it.  We created some group warrants to support our claim.  I then assigned each student the task of writing a letter to either the principal or the school board.  They would have to include an introduction, an explanation of the steps we took, at least two claims with supporting evidence and warrants, and finally a conclusion.  

I read all of the letters and pulled out several paragraphs from the best written letters.  As a class we compiled these paragraphs into one final group letter.  I then submitted the letter along with a cover letter written by me to the school board.  

Dear School Board,

The sixth grade would like to request a possible change in the gum rule.  We think grades 5-8 should be allowed to chew gum in classes.  To accomplish this goal, we interviewed our principal, Mr. Brewer, and our janitors.  We were told by Mr. Brewer that if scientific evidence was provided to prove that gum could change our test scores, he would consider changing the gum rule.  We also took a survey to see how many people admitted to sticking gum underneath the desks.  Our last study was we chewed gum during a week of tests to see if our class average was higher than the two tests previous to each subject.

We believe that the fear of getting in trouble is what causes students to stick gum under desks and other inappropriate areas.  If gum was allowed, it would eliminate that fear, so there will be less gum stuck in inappropriate places.  Our class did a survey on 5^th – 8^th graders.  The results showed that 58 out of 68 people had never stuck gum under a desk, and ten people had stuck gum under a desk.  The ten people who had stuck gum under a desk said that their reasons were as follows:  Four of them were lazy, one person did not respond, and five said they did not want to get in trouble.  All ten of the people who put gum under the desk said that if gum was allowed, they would put it in the trash because they would not be afraid to get in trouble.  Since they were afraid to get in trouble, the rule being changed would take away that fear and they would put the gum in the trash.

Gum has been proved to relieve stress and anxiety and increase memory.  To test this theory for ourselves, we conducted an experiment.  In a week we had four tests: Social Studies, Spelling, Science, and Math.  During these tests we chewed gum and our overall average was an 87%.  The two previous tests that we took for each subject was an overall 81%, 6% lower than the average for when we chewed gum.  Although in Social Studies, the test that we had taken before we chewed gum had a higher average score that the average with gum. 

In another test that was conducted by 108 eighth graders in a Houston, Texas school, the students chewing gum during math assignments and tests had a 13% higher score than students who did not chew gum. (www.cnnhealth.com)    Since our average went up by 6% when we chewed gum and the Texas study showed a 13% increase in scores, this proves that gum can increase scores on tests and assignments. 

Because of the increase in test scores, the benefits in class, and the survey we took, chewing gum at school is very beneficial and should be allowed.  We would greatly appreciate if you would consider our request and thank you for taking the time to read our letter.  We hope that you consider changing this rule, and we all respect your decision.

                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                                    6^th Grade Class

The class will receive their answer from the school board sometime during their first week of 7th grade.  Stay tuned!

Update: On the first day of school, our school board president came to the 7th grade classroom.  He informed them that the board had decided to grant the 5-8 grades a 1 quarter trial period.  Each teacher could decide if gum would or would not be allowed in their classroom.  So, for now, at least four teachers are giving them a chance.  It was a most welcome back to school treat!  Thanks School Board for giving them a chance!!  

Teaching Argument Writing:Creating THINKING kids (part 2)

Step 2: Practice writing claims and warrants to get really good at using evidence to support an opinion.

We were right in the middle of NFL football playoffs and our beloved Broncos were in the hunt for the Super Bowl.  So, the next data set I chose to use were stats of the four quarterbacks still left in the playoffs.  The ESPN website is a gold mine of data.  Here is the Peyton Manning information that we used.  We also looked at stats for Colin Kaepernick, Russel Wilson, and Tom Brady.  The students were allowed to make any claim about any of these football players as long as they could back it up with data.  They were extremely engaged in this writing assignment.

Claim: Peyton Manning is the best quarterback in the NFL.
Data: Peyton Manning threw 55 touchdowns during the regular season.  Tom Brady threw 25 touchdowns, Colin Kaepernick threw 21 touchdowns, and Russel Wilson threw 26 touchdowns.
Warrant: Because Peyton Manning threw more than double the number of touchdown passes than any other playoff quarterback, he is clearly the most superior quarterback.

See, you get to support your favorite player and convince others because there was data to back it up.  Of course some of the "haters" had to try and convince me that Tom Brady was the better quarterback, but it didn't work!  Middle Schoolers think they are so clever.

The final practice activity I used before starting on the final project was a crime solving puzzle.

I used several puzzles from this book.

I was able to get this book by using my account at PaperBackSwap.  Have you heard of this site?  It's an awesome resource!

I separated the class into groups of three or four.  I made sure I had some of my strongest writers in each group.  The group studied the picture and the story and discussed their ideas for 10-15 minutes.  I then asked each student to write a paragraph explaining their discoveries.  The paragraphs had to include at least three pieces of evidence with a claim and a warrant for each.

I have never seen this group of kids work so well together in groups.  They were very interested and engaged the entire time.  I received many excellent paragraphs.  We worked on about three of the puzzles from the book.  Then I knew we were ready to tackle our big project.

Teaching Argument Writing:Creating THINKING Kids (part 1)

I took a class last year to learn some strategies for teaching writing. I got a lot out of this class and decided to put it to the test with my 6th grade Grammar class. The goal was to get kids to create writing that used FACTS and DATA to support an argument, rather than simply rely on opinion and snap judgments that are common to social media. I wanted them to start learning how to use their brains rather than their emotions to win a debate.

 Step 1: Choose a topic they'd be interested in and take a poll about it. I chose to focus on popular movies released throughout the past year.

 I gathered a list of family friendly movies released in 2013 and projected the posters onto the whiteboard. To see it click here!

 Then I asked each student to choose their top 3 movies of the year from the list and write one on each sticky note. We created this bar graph, then analyzed the results.

I used this data to teach Claims and Warrants. These were terms that I learned in my class. A claim is a statement of belief based on the data you are analyzing. A warrant is a statement explaining how or why the data supports the claim. It was a bit difficult directing the students' attention away from their passion about a certain movie, to focusing on the facts collected in the poll.

 We did some math. This was a great way to get number kids excited in a grammar class! We posted some percentages, then I assigned them the task to write three claims with three warrants to support their claims.

Here are some examples that we came up with together:

Claim: Catching Fire was the number one movie in 6th grade this year.
Data:60% of the class chose Catching Fire as one of their top three movies.
Warrant: Because more than half of the votes were for Catching Fire, it is clear that Catching Fire is the 6th Grade Class's favorite movie.

Claim: Despicable Me 2 was the second most popular movie in 6th grade.
Data: Despicable Me 2 received 15% of the votes, whereas, Catching Fire received 20% of the votes. Warrant:  Because the next highest vote-getter received 14% of the votes, Despicable Me 2 is the second most popular movie of the year.

Claim: There are a variety of movie interests in 6th Grade.
Data: Out of 24 total movie choices, 15 received at least one vote from the 6th grade class.
Warrant: More than half of of the movies watched this year received a "favorite" vote, so sixth graders have a variety of movie interests.