Sunday, July 4, 2010

Week Four



On Monday, Pat Evans presented minutes as a Jeopardy! game. It was so much fun competing for the prize as we answered questions about Friday's class. To create your own games, try this website   http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/ppt-games
The site is called PowerPoint Games, and it offers the templates for Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader, Wheel of Fortune, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and many others. What a fun way to review!



Lee Hudson of Dyer Junior High School visited and shared her Writing Workshop. Lee explained that teaching authentic writing is her passion, and she is opposed to prompts because they don't give the students ownership. She led us in writing on several topics, such as A Time When You Were Scared. We wrote and shared our writing. Lee explained how she, too, looks at every student's writing after other students have read it and made comments. Lee said, "The best tool for writing workshop is tape."


Also on Monday, Nancy Warden presented the lesson "Where Are You Going? Using Story Mapping in Creative Writing." Nancy shared Chris Van Allsburg's book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. Nancy asked us to explore the pictures and think of a creative story to explain what is happening in one of the pictures.  We then mapped our stories on a "mountain," designating a place for the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. We also thought about the characters, point of view, and themes of our stories. This lesson addresses state objectives and inspires students to have fun.
On Tuesday, Jenny talked to us about joining an RSS, a way to easily follow blogs and news events. Jenny uses Google Reader. Jenny taught us that clicking the RSS symbol on most sites, we can subscribe to those sites. Check out these RSS providers: http://www.feedreader.com/    www.google.com/reader   http://blogspace.com/rss/readers
Shannon Lyon of Obion County Central High School presented Conversation Calendars on Tuesday. Every day, Shannon's students write at least two sentences on their conversation calendars, and Shannon responds at the end of the day. When students return the following day, they are always excited to see what Shannon has written to them. Conversation calendars are a great way for students to share their feelings. Shannon said, "They will write some things down faster than they will say them." Conversation Calendars offer one-on-one encouragement.


To access famous American speeches, try this site: http://www.americanrhetoric.com
On Wednesday, David presented "The Givers: Writing Group Exchange." When using this technique, teachers have students share their papers with each other. Students are asked to make comments on their classmates' papers, but they cannot say anything negative. This lesson creates a feeling of community among the students.

On Thursday, the group walked over to the Holland McCombs Center for the read-around. Afterward, we concluded Summer Institute with a delicious lunch at The Opera House. The group will meet again in September at Martin Elementary School. It's been a great month!

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