Language Arts - Gtec Kids

The Magnetic Debate

The Magnetic Debate is a discussion strategy in which participants are given an opportunity to influence others through persuasive speeches, sincere advice, and education so an informed decision can be made on a controversial issue. Teachers become coaches as they encourage students to take ownership of their own learning and make it come alive. The teacher may make the selection of the area of study or have the students select it. Yet, students will ultimately research the specific topic. ...

Stix Discussion

The Stix Discussion (Stix 1999) is a discussion strategy that has four distinct viewpoints as well as an inner circle and an outer circle that equally participate in a discussion. This strategy is a modification of the inner-outer circle or fishbowl discussion. The students in the inner circle and the outer circle will change roles, so everyone gets an equal chance to participate. This strategy is appropriate for middle school through college-level classrooms.This strategy takes discussions to a more...

Role-Play in the Classroom with Delicious

Delicious (del.icio.us) is an online social bookmarking platform that stores and categorizes photos, videos, and articles that teachers can use to motivate and engage students. It is part of social media because teachers can see each other’s folders called “stacks” of information and share each other’s postings of links on the web. These links are usually of high quality because teachers have invested time in surfing the internet to make meaningful selections.Many teachers have used Delicious to share great links with...

Imagery Walk

The Imagery Walk is an exercise that allows students to visually bring content alive by utilizing their imaginations. It is based on meditative practices but allows for scenes in English Language Arts, historical periods in Social Studies, geometrical designs in mathematics, and procedures in science to be recreated. By implementing this strategy, students are more able to move the content from short-term to long-term memory, because they personally create and interact with the content area. Using a soft, gentle, soothing, and...

Kinds of Writing

Do you want to spicen up the kinds of writing that you assign to your class? Do you want to give your students a list of choices from which they can choose? Here’s a fabulous list to get your juices flowing:A ads (for magazines, newspapers, yellow pages) advice columns allegories anecdotes announcements answers anthems appendices apologies assumptions autobiographies awardsB ballads beauty tips bedtime stories beginnings billboards bloopers blurbs books book jackets book reviews broadsheets brochures bulletins bumper stickersC calendar...

Using Multi-Level, Young Adult Literature in the Middle School American Studies

Talk to middle school teachers about the challenges of teaching today, and you are likely to be barraged with a long list of factors that make their jobs difficult. Class size, lack of materials, poor attendance– the list of problems facing today’s teachers sometimes seems endless. We often hear middle school teachers from all subject areas complain that, “It is so difficult to motivate students today.” Another complaint, often made by teachers is, “My students read on so many different...

Bridging the Standards Across the Curriculum with Portfolios

From the Middle School JournalThose of us who are involved in education, in whatever capacity, can sense the stirrings. Parents are voicing concerns about the adequacy of their children’s education. The business community and American industries question whether the quality of education will prepare youngsters for the realities of the workplace. Corporations question whether schools are preparing America’s youth to cope with the demands of an increasingly technological environment. It is now imperative that the next several generations of...

Differentiating the Curriculum- How We Established a Multi-Level, Young Adult Literature Bookroom for the Social Studies Department

Recently, the District #2 Office in New York City mandated that all children at the middle school level should read 25 books per year. While the burden of this mandate fell most heavily on the shoulders of the Language Arts department, we at Robert Wagner Middle School in Manhattan began to discuss ways the social studies department could help to increase literacy, a goal important to all subject areas. As we talked, we agreed that it was misguided to assume that the language...

Reality-Based Integrated Instruction

Paper presented at the Annual Conference and Exhibit of the National Middle School Association Abstract: A teacher wants to help her middle school students who already hate poetry to appreciate Williams’ poem “This Is Just to Say,” but her approach is ill-focused. This article outlines how to properly plan a unit using brainstorming techniques; essential and guiding questions; and hands-on, engaging activities that motivate students.Part I: A Traditional Poetry Lesson Mary Reynolds, a language arts teacher, has always been especially fond...

Flashcard Games for Reinforcing and Memorizing Content in the Classroom

One of the most effective teaching strategy groups that is simple to implement involves inexpensive index cards. Whether students keep guided notes while they read text or keep a dictionary of new words in an index box, the following strategies offer ways to reinforce the content in an active manner.The basic principle of the index card strategy group is for students to write something down on an index card from their guided notes. Or, they can create a dictionary of new words...

Blog

The Magnetic Debate

Stix Discussion

Role-Play in the Classroom with Delicious

Imagery Walk

Kinds of Writing

Using Multi-Level, Young Adult Literature in the Middle School American Studies

Bridging the Standards Across the Curriculum with Portfolios

Differentiating the Curriculum- How We Established a Multi-Level, Young Adult Literature Bookroom for the Social Studies Department

Reality-Based Integrated Instruction

Flashcard Games for Reinforcing and Memorizing Content in the Classroom

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A List of Index Cards Games for Memorizating & Reinforcing Content

Flashcard Games to Make Memorization Fun #2: Identity Crisis, Mad Libs, and Verbal Fluency

Flashcard Games to Make Memorization Fun #1: Carousel Brainstorming, Grab Bag, & Emotional Flashes

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