Evidence and Drawing Conclusions: Spacehopper.io to scaffold inferences

I'm always trying to think of a fresh way to introduce the process of drawing inferences. Paramount, inferences are made after evidence is collected. Because there is little text, students don't get bogged down in comprehension and decoding; therefore, Spacehopper.io is a great way to scaffold reading skills.

What is it?

When you go to the website there is a 360 picture of somewhere in the world, a world map with all the possible locations, and a place where you can check answers and get clues.  You can even select certain continents if you want to bring in social studies curriculum. You only get three guesses!

I found that while I can navigate on an iPhone the screen is much too small, so it makes the most sense to do this on devices larger than a phone or whole class.

1. Navigate to spacehopper.io. Refresh the image if you think it too vague. I think an image where there is a little bit of writing on a sign is helpful because that will help establish language. 

2. Explain how the website works and that as a class you will determine the location together. 

3. Scribe or have students scribe all the details that you notice in the image. If using a graphic organizer like the A+ strategy, use that on the board. Mentally, keep track of any students who draw on previous knowledge/experiences. You will be able to reference this later on the importance of building background and knowing a lot about the world to become a better reader.

4. After the class has agreed on a map location and been through the inferencing, repeat with a couple different scenes. You want to have students experience hard ones and difficult ones and get an idea of what it is like to refine ideas. 

5. When done, have students write a short reflection answering the questions: "What did we do to be successful? What did we do when we were not? What were the steps we took to draw conclusions?"

6. As students discuss in groups to refine the "steps", mill about the room looking for academic vocabulary.

7. As a class facilitate creating the steps. Make sure to point out any academic vocabulary you heard from students as well as reference when students used their prior knowledge. 

8. Ask students if they know what it is called when we use our prior knowledge and evidence to draw conclusions. If "infer" is not suggested, introduce the concept. Explain that we do this as well as readers.

9. Reenter a previously read text and ask an inference questions. Reinforce that the first thing we do isn't answer the questions and then look for evidence, but rather just like in spacehopper.io, we look at the evidence first.

Homework Alternative in a Learning Management System

New technology creates new opportunities, but how can we keep  ourselves from taking the technology and merely converting paper and pen tasks into digital ink? How can we use features in an LMS to change what we do, not just how we do things?

There are a couple key features to LMSs that offer an opportunity to embrace new and prepare students with 21st Century Skills.

Discussion Boards:
For a homework passage have students write 2 questions and 1 reponse on the text. Set the discussion board so that way students can't read anyone else's questions until they post their first question. This will keep them from merely copying questions. Additionally, if you see the same first question popping up from students, you know there was something confusing. Questions can be a variety: something they were genuinely confused by, something they are curious about that while related to the reading requires research, or an open ended question they think would stimulate conversation.

Model these three types in class and they request they do two different types. Provide sentence stems or sentence frames to help ELL or struggling students.

Something that you didn't understand:
I was confused when .... What did that mean?
Why did ....?
How did...?
What did the author mean by...?

Something that requires research:
I wonder....
How do you think...?


Open-ended questions examples:
Does this remind you of something from real life/literature?
Which character do you identify with and why?

Using Wordcounter for Self-Selected Nonfiction Possible Sentences

Possible Sentences is a great way of having students predict and check their predictions for informational texts. In Kylene Beers and Robert Probst's Reading Nonfiction, the strategy is described with examples. It isn't just a great strategy in the ELA classroom! It could be used very well in history and science readings as well. I encourage you to read the section of Reading Nonfiction, but in a nutshell:

1. Students are supplied with 10-15 key words for the nonfiction text they will be reading
2. Students create 5 possible sentences that will be in the text
3. Students read, clarifying their understanding and then revise their sentences for accuracy.

This is strategy for 4th grade and up, but I think it could probably go younger, especially for whole class where the teacher is helping compose sentences. (Here is a nice link to a handout your students could use.)

It got me thinking about Newsela (pronounced like news ella). I love how Newsela has leveled

versions of the same article as well as text sets novels, core content areas, and hot topics. In a Pre-AP classroom, I have students who have a reading level putting them around a senior reading level and other students who are actually below reading level. I think it is important for students to have choice and have reading that is at a level that challenges them a bit and Newsela can give me all that! Wouldn't it be neat to let students pick the non-fiction article to pair with their self-selected novel?

So it got me thinking, how to use possible sentences for self-selected nonfiction. Then it occurred to me: http://www.wordcounter.com! Students select their article (level, topic, or both), copy and past the article in the box, and then write their possible. Then students take the top 10-15 words and create the possible sentences.

Vary with Tagxedo or Wordle for visual component. 

STEP 1: Find an awesome essay!

STEP 2: Paste article in wordcounter.com

STEP 3: Get most  common words.
STEP 4: follow possible sentences strategy
as usual!

Thinglink to Annotate Tableaus

Inspired by the Royal Shakespeare Company's use of student created tableau to foster close reading, I knew it would be a perfect pairing with Thinglink.

Analyzes movement to connect to motivation

Students select a moment in time to create a freeze frame, snap a picture to create a moment in time from the text, and then annotate the decisions they made in body, facial expression, proximity, and movement. The app is stripped down compared to the website, but it is easy to use with a picture students take of themselves if it is all on one device.

Analyzes proximity to reveal conflict.

The trickiest part is actually on the teacher end. Thinglink limits the amount of groups - 3 - and students - 105. So if you have class sizes like mine and 6 classes, you can't make a group for each class or give every kid a login. I decided to have one student per group request I register. Because the registration produces a dummy e-mail, complex password, and then I have to have students insert the class invite code, there are some steps that the students must take logging in that would not be friendly for younger students, but once they were in and students got into the app, I had very few questions and students were able to work through it fairly quickly.

Citation of lines that show the moment in time.

I also like that this is a shorter assignment. Students did their first one about half a period. I think if we did a second one, we could probably get the kids down to 15 minutes now that they understand how to login and use the app.

2016 Abydos Conference: Day 1

Opening General Session: Jeff Anderson

Anyone who has been so lucky as to sit in on a Jeff Anderson Abydos session knows he commands a room. His energy was absolutely brilliant for the large stage. Quick takeaways, connections, references:

• Jeff's entire introduction was organized in hero's journey. He examined his own tragic flaw, which I think is simply brilliant and has multiple classroom opportunities
• The Plot Whisperer - helped Jeff with his fiction writing
• "Manifesto of the Brave and Brokenhearted" by Brene Brown - what a powerful piece. I want to suggest it be read at the beginning of next year
• Ted Talk on Power Stances - want to make me instantly feel uncomfortable? Make me stand like Super Woman and repeat something en mass
•  Jeff Anderson quote of the day: "It isn't fake it 'til you make it. It's fake it until you become it."

Session A: Shanna Peeples...yes, that Shanna Peeples

There was so so so much in this session, but one of the biggest was I feel the Progress Principle from Harvard Business Review's Teresa Amabile paired with journaling (because, as Shanna says, "Writing is what is going to save us") to chunk what is her 10 minute reflection mentioned on her site. My favorite part? "Fear is cheap and easy, but what's hard is to be a creator, to take risks." and then she has us silence our inner critic and bring out our inner coach and write for 2 minutes about what went well.

Session B: Beth Egmon's Putting the "Draw" into Writing: Using Illustration Study to Nurture Young Writers

Beth is a-maz-ing! I was about to teacher my first institute with her. Even though the session was for primary, you can easily see how drawing as prewriting and studying illustrations to add details helps students create depth in their own writing. 

Session C: Malaika Easton's From Self to Story

Even though Malaika left our campus over the summer *sob sob* I was able to see this transformation of thought and reflection unfold and come full circle from last year until now. I simply loved how she took her role as a counselor to create a lunch bunch of 5 "bad boys" and through writing, examine their own stories and how they can be the authors of their own narratives. These boys will never forget Malaika and I have no doubt she changed their lives for the better. Insert plug for the three memoirs that were part of Malaika's reflection process and which are wonderful: Brown Girl Dreaming (READ THIS BOOK), Bad Boy, and Zlata's Diary. All three of those are musts if you ever want to do a memoir lit circle. 

Top 5 Reasons Listicles Might Be the Next Big Thing in ELA

I remember one year going to the Abydos Conference and there were five separate sessions about graphic novels and/or comics. A form of writing once thought lacking in legitimacy, became a new genre for English teachers and a new mode for students to write. Entire books were devoted to the use of comics to teach everything from inference to how to punctuate dialogue or sequencing.

I propose listicles will be the next big thing. Why?

5. Our brains like lists. This for of writing is prevalent because it gets clicked on. It gets clicked on because our brains enjoy the ease of instantly understanding how information is placed on the page. This means having students look at a listicle may help students quickly acquire new knowledge. Or having students transform an article into a listicle may help them breakdown and understand complex information. Not to mention the love affair with lists starts young by reading listing books like Green Eggs and Ham as well as being one of the first genres of writing for many children. (My daughter had just turned two when she started making our grocery list! Needless to say, while she wrote hers, I was also writing one that I could read. But still, listing!)

4. The popularity indicates this is a genre with longevity, so why wold we ignore preparing students for genres they will encounter in the future? While listicles may be a relatively new term and list-based articles have exploded recently, listing as a form of organization is not new. From poetry to satire to satirical lists about listing, listing spans many traditional literary forms. Why not blend the genres that rely on listing as a form of organization and include a listicle, a form they will be reading in the future?

3. Listing and journaling go hand-in-hand. Teachers have use listing as a brainstorming strategy for decades - if not longer - and those who journal for pleasure can easily find books on the subjects of journaling from lists. Instead of listing to come up with one idea, a listicle asks the writer to create an organization of the list and think of each point as a something to develop in a concise and focused manner.

2. Listicles are the perfect example of how to create a topical paragraph. If you are like me, you have students who just do not "get" the idea of a topic sentence. Each paragraph is actually several ideas mashed together like warping puzzle pieces to make them fit. The great thing about a listicle is it is based on reasons, not details. Most listicles have the first sentence for each point be the topical sentence. Having students thinking of their expository or persuasive essay as a listicle - after examining and mimicking listicles - is powerful. The essay becomes "3 Reasons How Working Alone is Better Than in Groups". The organization is clearer and instructions fits a very brain-friendly (see number 1) pattern. Add in and intro and conclusion, replace the numbers with transitions, and you can help students who would otherwise get poor marks because of lack of organization and focus, create a serviceable essay.

1. Ranking listicles ask for higher level blooms. There are three main types of listicles: ranked, thematic, and random. Asking students to write in the world of ranking is the evaluating level of blooms. In order to justify their responses, they have to provide evidence and reasoning. For example, while reading a whole class text like A Midsummer Night's Dream, students who have been exposed to a listicle can brainstorm whole class what ranking listicles could be created for the text: 3 Worst Mistakes in Midsummer Ranked, 3 Biggest Fools from Midsummer Ranked, 5 Best Characters in Midsummer Ranked. By having a smaller number than the students would want, students will be forced to decide who or what makes the cut. Add in requirements for textual evidence and students are writing a literary analysis.

While listicles would not replace formal process papers, they do offer additional opportunities to write as well as support in drafting stages. No self deprecating-humor or snarky comments required!

Text Smash/App Smash

With commonlit.org, creating a project-based learning experience is easy in that the website is organized by PBL questions! This makes it perfect for across text comparison and an opportunity for students to examine two texts answering the same question.

Thinking of across text comparison got me thinking of App Smashing - combining apps to make a project. So why not a text smash/app smash?

My instructions are specifically for The Outsiders, but check out my lesson flow on graphite to get a generic lesson that can fit no matter what whole class text your students have read.

Building a Better Webquest

Start with the Skills

Prior to a thematic unit or novel study, many teachers prefer webquests to build background over lecture. By providing students with links and questions, students are able to pace themselves and explore resources instead of being passive participants during lecture. However, with the increase of rigor and what feels like not enough hours in the day! Webquests must then serve two functions at the same time: prepare for the coming unit while building skills. 

Evaluate what skills I like to have my skills for the grading period written out. If there is a poetry standard, I know I’ll try to find a poem or song. Vocabulary and dictionary skills also tend to be TEKS for each grading period. I also try to use technology skills. Using the review feature in work for students to annotate the song “Imagine” for my Utopia/Dystopia webquest or using turnitin.com’s discussion board features or the synonyms feature of Word. 

Search for Varied Genres and Sources

When creating a Webquest, I want to take advantage of the media sources on the internet both audio and visual so I like to include things like YouTube/TeacherTube videos, a poem on Poets.org with an audio recording of the poet reading his work, and PBS LearningMedia pictures and videos. I also think that a Webquest opportunity is wasted if students are not participating in an interactive or Web 2.0 activities. To me, if a Webquest could be completed with library books, what is the point? PBS has some great resources like putting students in the shoes of a African-American man trying to vote during Jim Crow, or analyzing how advertising tries to trick the viewer, or learning about Edgar Allen Poe by investigating his death or interacting with his texts or exploring the nature of self-segregation with the Parable of the Polygons (my personal favorite!!!!) . 

Web 2.0!

Taking a couple days in the computer lab just to have students write answers on a Word document is a crying shame of the plethora of easy Web 2.0. Students can use the snipping tool to grab evidence. Some easy Web 2.0 to use:

• Read, Write, Think: Student Interactive
• Message boards and collaborative groups like Edmodo, Titan Pad, or Google Slides
• Make Beliefs Comix

The Only Way You Will Need to Teach Symbolism

I finally got around to making and posting this video!

Perfect Pairings

Peanut Butter and Jelly. Chocolate and Strawberries. Steak and chimichurri.

Sometimes two things are just destined to go together. When you find two books that just make sense as pairings, an English teacher can't help but get a little excited. The Giver has long been on our district list of approved whole class novels as well as a core text (one of the two books we must teach) as well as the only book that is core for both on-level and Pre-AP ELA. Our 8th grade team put it on the summer reading last year to make room in the year for other text throughout the year. Dissatisfied with last year's pairing to How to Read Literature Like a Professor for Kids*, I was on the search for the perfect match.

 I started with my list of wants: female protagonist (all the core books have male protagonists!), can be easily connected to The Giver, and is preferably non-fiction. So what better to pair with a futuristic dystopia in which all people are the same than to pair it with a memoir in which entire groups of people were being threatened with annihilation to make the world Hitler's version of his "perfect place"? Enter one of the most beautifully written Holocaust memoirs I have ever read: The Cage by Ruth Minsky Sender.

It is obvious something major happened prior to The Community coming into being, and that major thing was most likely a genocide. What a great way to root us in the purpose of The Giver - to warn us against giving up rights for the "safety" of sameness - in the very real tragedy of The Holocaust. Add in that Jonas and Riva share much in common (character traits, the position of having to take on a parental role to siblings, etc) while the plots and settings being radically different. Match made in literary heaven!

While my students read, they will be comparing and contrasting the texts. A copy of this assignment is in my TpT store for FREE!

*Make sure you do preview How to Read Literature Like a Professor for Kids prior to ever assigning it. I purposefully had students only read the 10 chapters that applied to The Giver, which made students skip the two chapters that unfortunately reference sex, the vampires and ghosts chapter (which  while I wish they had done more hinting than blatant talk, I understood keeping the topic int he kids version), and The Shakespeare chapter that references a Woody Allen movie for no reason. Ugh! I wouldn't know of any middle schooler that would even watch a Woody Allen movie and there are so many better references to Shakespeare kids would get. And referencing the phrase "sex party" anywhere in a book designed for tweens? What editor let that go through?! I can't imagine the amount of teachers that have not assigned that book because of those two chapters, which is really unfortunate.

Abydos Conference 2015

Top three highlights of Abydos Conference 2015:
3. Alana Morris of Vocabulary Unplugged fame in one chart explained what I've been trying to explain to non-ELA teachers since the adoption of the new TEKS: all those old comprehension strategies we used to teach: Using Prior Knowledge, Making Connections, Questioning, Visualizing, Inferring, Summarizing, Evaluating and Synthesizing. When you look at the STAAR test questions, minus a handful in summarization and comparing, the questions all pop in inferencial thinking. Big takeaway: Number 12 is never coming back. The question stem will probably never be seen again. We need to move past looking at number 12 from the released test and toward the type of thinking we need to train our students to become. In order for our scores to grow instead of stagnate, we have to train the kids to be inferential thinkers.

2. Anne Stone's Classical Evaluation. Brilliant! I created a quick video on it for absent students (I literally just put my iPhone on my document cam, hit record, and posted in my conference period. AKA I totally am guilty of the black blank sides of doom. I hold my head in shame.) It helps to address the issue of under-developed support paragraphs in expository writing.
1. Kaye Price-Hawkins referred to me as "My friend, Sara" when I answered a question. Granted she was just reading my nametag, but still, squee! She took us through Dialogue with the Text which she adapted and put on a nifty bookmark for kids right here. Her website is full of priceless goodies! Go, go!

Freebie! Questions for the ELA Classroom

My Student Teacher wanted to work on her questioning so I threw this together.

Analysis and higher level questions for in class discussion of prose. There are questions chains that scaffold upward, that are indented to reach high level analysis. Perfect "cheat sheet" to go on a clipboard or poster for your back wall. Bloom's levels of analysis and higher.

Analysis Question Stems for ELA Here!

Narrative and Expository Project

I am a huge fan of pairing books. I'm also a huge fan of kids getting to choose what they read. How to give kids freedom but also pair? Enter the brainchild of my first year teaching 7th grade! After teaching narrative the first quarter and expository the second, I knew I wanted to have the kids do something with both in the third quarter - the very same quarter leading up to writing STAAR where kids would have to write in both modes.

Students read the narrative of their choice and then pair it with an expository book to check it for accuracy. I then had them present their findings by finding quotations from each, writing an overall thesis statement of accuracy, and compiling it all on a presentation. Some kids used Prezi and others PowerPoint.

Examples of pairings:
Colin Fischer paired with a book about autism
Lightening Thief paired with a book about Greek Mythology
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry paired with a book on the Jim Crow Era

Get the handout for free here!

Character Relationship Foldable with Textual Evidence for A Midsummer Night's Dream:

This foldable can easily be adapted for any novel, but fits perfectly with Act 1, scene 1 of Midsummer. So much of a character's motivation is rooted in how he/she feels about other characters, so exploring those relationships - particularly in this play - provides analysis of character motivation and how that fits into character decisions and contributes to the conflict. At the end of the text, refer back to the foldable to see how the relationships evolve. Students could easily select one evolved relationship of their choosing and then explain the evolution in a mini-essay with textual evidence. 

Short answer question: After finishing the text, go back and examine the Character Relationship Foldable. Which relationships remained the same? Which evolved? Select one of the relationships that evolved and in an essay - using textual evidence of course! - explain how the characters originally felt about each other, why their feelings changed, and what those end feelings were.