Great Fiction Read-Aloud to Talk About Primary Documents

I recently read a great historical fiction book that would work well as a read-aloud.

   
One minute, middle-schoolers Hannah, Jackie, and Nick are exploring an old cave, and the next they find themselves whisked through time to Texas, circa 1840. In this sixth book of the “Journey to” series, the teens find themselves in the middle of a war between the Comanche Indians and Texas Rangers. Hannah and Jackie are captured by the Comanche, who treat them as enemies. There only hope is to use Hannah’s magic ring that allows her to speak and understand the language of anyone she meets and convince the Comanche that she has powerful “puha”, or magic. Nick finds himself on the other side of the war, befriended by William “Bigfoot” Wallace, one of Texas’s most famous rangers. Will they find each other before someone gets seriously hurt? Will they ever make it back to their own time? It’s going to take a miracle! Teachers will find the historical facts tucked into the book useful to explore primary sources such as paintings, engravings, and maps of the Battle of Plum Creek. The book also begins with a mini biographical section on the major historical characters and a timeline of the events that occurred during this battle.  

I love it when a read-aloud ties in with other subjects!  How about you?

Jamestown Charters Cloze Activity

My students were having a hard time understanding what the charters that established the colony of Jamestown meant.  We read about them, we discussed them, and... still couldn't explain them in our own words.  Then I remembered an activity I had tried a few years ago. 

The complete document has the three charters written by King James I for the Virginia Company of London.  One set has blanks for students to fill in, and the second set has the answers filled in.  I use the second set not only as an answer key, but also to differentiate for students that are unable to copy notes from the board.  If you teach Virginia Studies or World History, these will really help students remember the details of these historical documents that were the basis for the establishment of Jamestown.

You can pick up a FREE copy at my TpT store by clicking here.

Do you teach Virginia Studies or World History?  How about the charters?  What do you use for this?

Teaching Character Education with Read-Alouds

I am continuing my morning meeting time.  This is our chance to start the day off thinking about a positive character trait or by solving problems we've been having as a class. 

I often have students answer a journal prompt related to a good trait I want them to focus on, or have them brainstorm solutions to a problem we're having.  I them read a mentor text aloud that demonstrates the trait or solutions to the problem.  This is great for several reasons:

1. It gives them time to think critically and encourages problem solving
2. I can reinforce the writing curriculum by talking about answering prompts correctly and reminding students about proper capitalization, punctuation, and indentation.  Bonus:  I occasionally take this as a writing grade :)
3. Some students aren't willing to share their problems or solutions as a class, but I can read their responses aloud without anyone knowing who wrote the response.  This validates their point of view and builds confidence.
4. The mentor texts are a great tie-in to reading
5. You are never too old to be read to.  This kids love it!

Here are some of my favorite mentor texts I've read so far this year:

I did this early in the year to reinforce the "personal bubble" that everyone needs.  We practice with a piece of newspaper.  We "newspaper dance" and spread our arms to show the right amount of space for classroom activities.

 

 

We talk about how upsetting this is and how we can deal with people that act like this.

 

 

 

 

This is also one I read early.  We make a t-chart with "Tattling" on one side and "Emergency" on the other.  I introduce them to the "Tattling Turtle" after reading the book.  This is a poster where students can write a "tattle" on a sticky note and attach it to the poster.  I can then check the note later when I have time to respond to it and open a dialog with the student about the next steps.

 

 

Are there any other good mentor texts you use to teach good character traits? 

 

Teaching Algebraic Equations with Concrete Materials

My students had trouble understanding exactly what they were doing when they were solving equations.  Sure they could figure out the value of the missing number, but could they explain WHY? No.  So we did a simple, yet extremely effective, activity that really helped.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you use any other concrete materials to help students understand algebra?

 

 

 

Great Fiction Read-Alouds

Amanda at The Teaching Thief blog has this great feature called Fiction Fridays.  It's a linky that allows teachers to share their favorite fiction books.  The last installment of this was in August, but I have a feeling she'll have another before too long :)

In any case, I have had the chance to do reviews on some neat fiction books lately.  I have read a few books with a journal theme.  Here are a couple of my latest favorites:

 

As a paleozoologist, Dr. Wiggins traveled the globe looking for the remains of plants and animals that became extinct centuries ago. During his transatlantic journey, Dr. Wiggins discovered some alarming patterns: Each species has a part in their own demise.  What began as a research project ultimately turned into a cautionary tale. For example, the Amazonian Whispering Vince, which perished because it was too busy listening to the sound of its own voice that it didn’t fight off its attackers. There were also the Goldeaters in the Valley of Mexico, whose greed led to their downfall, or the Dreaded Gossip Peacocks of the Bayou. Will humans be the next to wipe themselves out, or will they learn from the doctor’s findings? 

 

Fans of the “Spiderwick” series will enjoy the similarities between the diagramed pictures of the ancient plants and animals in the journals, which are similar to the images in the “Spiderwick” series. Reluctant readers will rejoice at the frequent maps and pictures that accompany the test every few pages and the footnotes that often define difficult or obscure vocabulary in the text.

 

 

 

In this installment of the “Seven the Series” books, Adam’s grandfather’s will specifies that in order to receive what was left to the family, each of his seven grandsons must go on a separate journey and complete a task. Adam learns that he must go to France to claim his inheritance. After being thought of as the wimp of the family, Adam sees this as his chance to prove himself worthy of having his name on the McLean family tree.

 

The book is a quick and interesting read, with letters from Adam’s grandfather giving insight into the reasons behind the tasks Adam must undertake. Larger font and short chapters will also appeal to reluctant readers. While the vocabulary is appropriate for elementary-aged children, there is some mild adult language in the book, which may not be appropriate for younger readers.

 

 

Have you read any good fiction books with a journal theme?  How about good fiction read-alouds?

 

 

Electricity, Magnetism, and Inventors, Oh, My!

We've been researching the contributions of Benjamin Franklin, Michael Faraday, and Thomas Edison to electricity.  We started with some books and print articles.

• Now & Ben: the modern inventions of Benjamin Franklin by Gene Baretta (also a short video)
• Michael Faraday: apprentice to science by Sam and Beryl Epstein
• Thomas Edison by Paul Joseph
• Thomas Edison: a brilliant inventor by Time for Kids
• Thomas Edison: a photo-illustrated biography by Greg Linder
• I had to supplement the book on Michael Faraday with several kid friendly articles because the book isn't exactly an easy read.

The goal is to find the following information and turn it into a newspaper article:

            Inventor Name

            Contribution to Electricity

            3 Interesting Facts About Their Life

            Illustration of Contribution and/or Inventor

 

After students get all the information they can from the books, students go to the computer lab to further research using websites.  The ones we use are:
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday
Thomas Edison
Thomas Edison
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin

Once the draft is written on notebook paper, students input information into a newspaper generator template.

 

What alternatives to the basic research report do you use?

I've already taught the majority of what I plan to teach for figurative language through my poetry unit.  This year, I plan to do things a little differently.  I plan to read "reminder" mentor texts and then have students write a paragraph using the figurative language concept from the mentor text. 

For example, I plan to read Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day to reiterate hyperbole.

Students will then write a paragraph (4-5 sentences) about a bad day they've had, but over exaggerate it until it becomes hyperbole.  I have a "cheat sheet" with examples they may use, but they must write it on their own.  I want to see if they can:
A) Answer a prompt 
B) Complete a thought in paragraph form 
C) Apply the figurative language concepts I've taught them

Some other examples I plan to use:

 

Do you have any great mentor texts for teaching figurative language?  How do you use them?