Book Clubs

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching-blog/

This link above is to a website that is full of really cool resources for teachers on books. It has a blog that teachers can write about thing they have done in the classroom, and a page that takes you to a list of lesson plans incorporating books. One specific one I found was for a science class. The book they read was The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth, and they then had an assignment to create their own  trips to the center of the earth. They will have to design their transportation and then record 'what they see' as they travel to the center of earth. I really like this lesson plan because it allows for enjoyable reading in their content area as well as an exciting assignment that students would enjoy. I highly encourage everyone to look at the different resources this website has for teachers to use.

Word Count: 152

Differentiation Synthesis Blog

My favorite part of this video was when "the students were actually doing science" because they were engaging in an activity to prove a theory and concept of science. Evaporation is not something that students usually do a 'science experiment' for since its a simple vocabulary word which is how I learned it. However, this teacher has her students go beyond memorizing the meaning of the word but helping them see this concept become real right in front of their eyes. I love how engaging this type of learning is and it often is multi-modal literacy. They are participating in hands-on activities and critical thinking through technology and through their communication in groups. I believe in hands-on engagement is going to be one of best tools to use in order to keep the students motivated in learning. Gaining a students focus is more than half of the battle because when they are attentive to the topic, they will have at least some interest and an ability to learn. The students in her class spoke about how they loved school! Also I think their interaction with the technology on her board was a super effective idea for creating equal participation and engagement. Students can use the board to interact with the concepts which furthers their thought processes on a topic. I would love to see how this works in a middle school math classroom. But I do know that from the classroom I was in on Wednesday, the students do not keep thinking the way we desire when left to simply complete a couple problems. In their groups while working on math, their minds were definitely on other things and liked to talk. I think activities that require a more engaged thinking are necessary.

Word Count: 293

Resource Blog!

I found an article that discusses how different words in math can be very confusing. It talks about how words such as similar, combine, product, height, dividend, and operation. Each of these words have different meanings in everyday english then they do in math, which is why readigng strategies for a math class are so important. Below is an example of a frayer model which is a way to help students understand math words in a very direct manner. So whenever the read a 'little' math word they will not be confused to its meaning by remembering the models they correct for the words they need to know. I think this an easy way for teachers to help their students grasp an understanding on words. 

Word Count: 122

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/105137/chapters/Reading-in-the-Mathematics-Classroom.aspx