English language arts examples
Who is in our zoo?
"Who is in our Zoo?" was the big unit plan that I developed and delivered during my PS2 practicum. The unit was based around animal research projects, and the students had to research the animals' appearance, habitat, and interesting facts to place on a "zoo display board". I set the unit up as almost a modified web-quest where we went through a website that I made as a class, and then did research through books to help us make our final projects.
KSA 13 - recognizing relevant resources to incorporate into learning, KSA 5 - responding to students learning at different rates
After students had chosen their research animal, I spent a few days gathering relevant books from different libraries around town. For students who struggled with reading, I chose books that were more realistic for their own reading level. For students who were on IEPTs, I often paired them with stronger students who were doing the same animal so that they could serve as a resource for asking questions or helping with reading. Between myself, the teacher associate, and the teacher assistant, we each had a few students at our tables that we were assisting with the reading and the scribing.
One major component of the zoo research projects was the "research log" where students would write down their important information as they went along. (There was also a page for interesting facts).
The students were responsible for organizing their information in certain ways (KSA 6 to meet curriculum outcomes). Below is an example of the final information portrayed on a "zoo research board". Then students recorded their final projects through the website blabberize.com so that they could be displayed online to show their parents and family what they had learned in class (KSA 12).
Below are examples of assessment (KSA 11). This is the marking rubric I used for the unit, as well as rationales for student grades (which are accommodated based on the students' abilities). Click on the photos below to see enlarged examples!
To see the full unit and class examples
visit my "Who is in our Zoo" Website! |
Novel study example
I was assigned to start a novel study for my grade 5/6 class in PS1. We were doing an awesome Canadian mystery novel by Eric Wilson called "Escape from Big Muddy". The great thing about this novel was that it had awesome setting descriptions and gave kids an insight to Canadian heritage and historical attractions. We did one assignment where the students had to pick one good descriptive sentence from the "road trip" and draw what a photograph of that setting might look like. Then we discussed the importance of setting and how it can effect events of the novel. The book also had a fair bit of FNMI content because it talked about some metis culture such as their traditional colorful sashes. We briefly touched on the significance of those colors as well. The book gave great descriptors of the city of Moose Jaw as the characters toured around the city to solve the mystery. Because this book was based on an actual Canadian city, I decided that I would take kids on a virtual Google Earth "tour" of the city to visit some of the areas discussed in the novel. I started out by showing them pictures on the Smartboard of each of the attractions, and then later we went used Google Earth to "walk" through the streets and see all of the actual locations of the places mentioned! Examples of what we "toured" are shown below, read the descriptors to find out the significance of each slide!
Descriptive writing lessons
One part of writing that students often struggle with is how to make their writing descriptive writing to SHOW readers what is happening rather than TELLING them. Below are examples of how I went about teaching kids to make 'juicy' sentences using their 5 senses. I provided them with about 6 different "setting" photos to choose from, and their assignment was to write a descriptive paragraph about that setting while following all of the guidelines on the checklist. I have included pictures of some of my teaching slides, of one student's exemplary piece, as well as a picture of the assessment checklist used. (KSA 11)
Cross-Curricular Reader's Theatre
While teaching the Ukraine unit in social, I had read the students Jan Brett's "The Mitten" because it is a Ukrainian folk tale that exemplifies traditional clothing and decorative household items very well. I decided that it would be fun to do a reader's theater of the book when I stumbled across some online resources of all of the characters in the book! I divided students up into heterogeneous groups and assigned them characters based on their reading level. Many students were a few different 'animals' in the story, but those animals typically only had one or two lines. I added in a few of my own characters as well to even out the roles a bit better! We spent one day going through the script as a class and making sure that each kid highlighted their appropriate lines while we read through the script together. Then students colored the respectable characters, cut them out, and glued them onto popsicle sticks. The groups then informally ran through the play reading their lines! Below are some pictures of the whole process!
Fun Mini Lessons
The following examples show how I have often used creative and fun ways to teach the curriculum that students often find boring! (KSAs 3,4,9)
CONTRACTIONS:
I was teaching students about contractions the week before Easter. We had already made 'contraction fans' that you fold up to show what the separate words are, and what they are as a contraction once they are folded up. I decided to make a fun "contraction Easter egg hunt" to shake things up! I had made paired words be on the same color of paper and in the same color of egg. Students each had to find one egg hidden in the room, and then find their partner who had both the same color of egg and the same color of paper. The 2 partners would then decide what their contraction was and write it on a foam egg to stick to the board. Next students wrote a sentence using their word. The next day I had students do another Easter egg hunt, but this time their egg contained a 'scrambled' spelling word inside, and they had to glue their word in the right order onto a foam egg, followed by a sentence that uses that word and a contraction!
I was teaching students about contractions the week before Easter. We had already made 'contraction fans' that you fold up to show what the separate words are, and what they are as a contraction once they are folded up. I decided to make a fun "contraction Easter egg hunt" to shake things up! I had made paired words be on the same color of paper and in the same color of egg. Students each had to find one egg hidden in the room, and then find their partner who had both the same color of egg and the same color of paper. The 2 partners would then decide what their contraction was and write it on a foam egg to stick to the board. Next students wrote a sentence using their word. The next day I had students do another Easter egg hunt, but this time their egg contained a 'scrambled' spelling word inside, and they had to glue their word in the right order onto a foam egg, followed by a sentence that uses that word and a contraction!
QUOTATION MARKS
Another fun few lessons that we did focused on proper quotation marks. We played one game where I read a story aloud that was on the smart board, and every time that there was a quotation in the story, kids had to stand up and read the quote, then sit back down when the quote was over. The kids loved getting to get up and move around, and it caused some laughs as they would quickly have to sit and stand right back up again! Another way that we practiced quotation punctuation was by making a "jumbo sentence". I had the words and punctuation written up before hand, and I handed each kid a word and they would put it down in order on the carpet. Once all of the words were placed, the 'punctuation police' inserted the comma and quotation marks! We also glued macaroni noodles to into sentences to use as quotation marks and commas.
Another fun few lessons that we did focused on proper quotation marks. We played one game where I read a story aloud that was on the smart board, and every time that there was a quotation in the story, kids had to stand up and read the quote, then sit back down when the quote was over. The kids loved getting to get up and move around, and it caused some laughs as they would quickly have to sit and stand right back up again! Another way that we practiced quotation punctuation was by making a "jumbo sentence". I had the words and punctuation written up before hand, and I handed each kid a word and they would put it down in order on the carpet. Once all of the words were placed, the 'punctuation police' inserted the comma and quotation marks! We also glued macaroni noodles to into sentences to use as quotation marks and commas.
FICTION OR NON-FICTION
While discussing elements of a story, I taught a few mini-lessons based on fiction and non-fiction stories. I delivered the lesson by having "fiction" and "non-fiction" gloves that had the elements on each finger. The students loved the visual and I would let them go grab the gloves if they were struggling with the concepts. We filled out a worksheet for clarification, and then we played a game where I would hold up a book, and the kids would have to write on their white boards whether they thought it was a fiction (F) book or a non-fiction (N) book.
While discussing elements of a story, I taught a few mini-lessons based on fiction and non-fiction stories. I delivered the lesson by having "fiction" and "non-fiction" gloves that had the elements on each finger. The students loved the visual and I would let them go grab the gloves if they were struggling with the concepts. We filled out a worksheet for clarification, and then we played a game where I would hold up a book, and the kids would have to write on their white boards whether they thought it was a fiction (F) book or a non-fiction (N) book.
HOMOPHONES
When it comes to teaching homophones I believe that visual pairing of images and spelling helps students to keep the words separate. I started out by reading some goofy picture books that use homophone words in the WRONG way to exemplify why it is important for students to use the right spelling or else it might confuse their readers. I like to give the class images with correlated sentences and let the students decide which spelling is correct. Below are homophone slides that I have put up on the smart board during homophone lessons. I had students come up to the Smartboard and circle one of the homophones and then either a) point out which picture describes that word, or b) to explain what that word means. I also made a "homophone matching" game for students to play independently or with a partner when they are done their work early (as an anchor activity). Check out the pictures below that exemplify homophones!
When it comes to teaching homophones I believe that visual pairing of images and spelling helps students to keep the words separate. I started out by reading some goofy picture books that use homophone words in the WRONG way to exemplify why it is important for students to use the right spelling or else it might confuse their readers. I like to give the class images with correlated sentences and let the students decide which spelling is correct. Below are homophone slides that I have put up on the smart board during homophone lessons. I had students come up to the Smartboard and circle one of the homophones and then either a) point out which picture describes that word, or b) to explain what that word means. I also made a "homophone matching" game for students to play independently or with a partner when they are done their work early (as an anchor activity). Check out the pictures below that exemplify homophones!
SIMILES
While teaching similes, I have been fortunate that my students have usually caught on to the concept pretty fast. One fun activity that I have done with students was a worksheet that made students compare ice cream to other similar things. I was going to bring in ice cream so the students could have immediate feedback, but I decided not to because of some allergy issues in that class - but it could've easily been done with other foods too! Around the time that I was teaching similes, the school was also doing the "eat a rainbow" campaign to promote healthy eating so I decided to use that campaign to our advantage (KSA 13). So I printed colored strips with fill-in-the-blank sentences and had students fill in each color of the rainbow with fruits/ veggies of each color and had them compare their fruit to something else. They turned out awesome and the hallway display really lit up the halls, check out the pictures below!
While teaching similes, I have been fortunate that my students have usually caught on to the concept pretty fast. One fun activity that I have done with students was a worksheet that made students compare ice cream to other similar things. I was going to bring in ice cream so the students could have immediate feedback, but I decided not to because of some allergy issues in that class - but it could've easily been done with other foods too! Around the time that I was teaching similes, the school was also doing the "eat a rainbow" campaign to promote healthy eating so I decided to use that campaign to our advantage (KSA 13). So I printed colored strips with fill-in-the-blank sentences and had students fill in each color of the rainbow with fruits/ veggies of each color and had them compare their fruit to something else. They turned out awesome and the hallway display really lit up the halls, check out the pictures below!