compositionclassroom.blogspot.com
Composition Classroom: September 2013
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Wednesday, September 11, 2013. Cell Phones in the Classroom - What Do You Do? I am, however, going to banish them during certain times in the class period. Here are a couple of ideas I'm mulling over. If you have any good ideas, please send them my way. A new quarter starts in October, and I want to have my policy in hand. 2 My online teacher acquaintance Scipi is using the "Sock it Away" method. She describes it on her blog post here. Post them here. I'm all ears! Posted by Laura Torres. I like to do th...
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Composition Classroom: March 2013
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Friday, March 22, 2013. So I am constantly on the lookout for good ideas to improve. Here is a book, The Together Teacher. By Maia Heyck-Merlin, that the publisher sent me to review quite a few months ago. I finally had a chance to read through it, and I'm sorry I didn't read it earlier. There are a lot of great practical ideas here, but I like her approach of looking at the big picture first- determining what matters. There is also a CD included with customizable templates. Posted by Laura Torres. Div a...
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Composition Classroom: April 2015
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Thursday, April 30, 2015. End of Year Reflection Activity. Clip art by Image Boutique. I have been assigning this reflection activity for five years now, and have found it to be a productive way to end the school year or quarter for the students and myself. 2 Instruct students to choose the three assignments that they learned the most from. These are not necessarily the assignments that earned the best grades. This is the one stack of papers I look forward to reading all year. Most of the time, the s...
compositionclassroom.blogspot.com
Composition Classroom: Winter Holiday Freebies and Tips
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Friday, December 5, 2014. Winter Holiday Freebies and Tips. The 2014 Winter Holiday Tips and Freebies ebook. Specifically for Language Arts and Humanities, grades 6-12, you'll find tons of great free curriculum for your classrooms and tips to survive the days before the holidays. My page is included, and I have a link to a fun game you might want to keep in your playbook for a classroom full of squiggly students. Click here. Posted by Laura Torres. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom).
compositionclassroom.blogspot.com
Composition Classroom: Tips for Teaching Grammar When You're not Supposed to be Teaching Grammar
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Saturday, October 18, 2014. Tips for Teaching Grammar When You're not Supposed to be Teaching Grammar. 1 Couch everything as a "review" since you will have students for whom it is, indeed, review. 2 Even though it's a "review," start with the basic rules and don't assume previous knowledge. 3 Keep the terminology as basic as possible. 4 Start with a review of the parts of speech. I use a cooperative game for this one, and call it an "English Class Ice-Breaker," rather than a formal lesson. 9 Do short wri...
compositionclassroom.blogspot.com
Composition Classroom: October 2014
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Saturday, October 18, 2014. Tips for Teaching Grammar When You're not Supposed to be Teaching Grammar. 1 Couch everything as a "review" since you will have students for whom it is, indeed, review. 2 Even though it's a "review," start with the basic rules and don't assume previous knowledge. 3 Keep the terminology as basic as possible. 4 Start with a review of the parts of speech. I use a cooperative game for this one, and call it an "English Class Ice-Breaker," rather than a formal lesson. 9 Do short wri...
compositionclassroom.blogspot.com
Composition Classroom: October 2013
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Wednesday, October 23, 2013. Find the Numbers Object Lesson. After we all failed the assignment, she said we needed to "go faster" and "try harder" and again told us we would not pass unless we got the next 28 numbers in 30 more seconds, so we needed to "step it up" and "do better." Almost all of us did about the same, or in some cases (me! Worse She also asked if we thought the people who did better were smarter than the rest of us. I'm sure this activity has a plethora of uses for object lessons with s...
compositionclassroom.blogspot.com
Composition Classroom: End-of-Year Candy Award Certificates
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Thursday, May 7, 2015. End-of-Year Candy Award Certificates. Candy award certificates are also a relatively inexpensive and easy end-of-the-year treat for you to provide for your class, especially if you go with Fun Size versions. Here are some of the ones that I use, and I'm sure you can think of many more creative awards to give. If you want to use this idea and save yourself some time, I've got this product. Posted by Laura Torres. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom). View my complete profile.
compositionclassroom.blogspot.com
Composition Classroom: August 2014
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Tuesday, August 26, 2014. Once in a while, I like to do something a little silly to add interest to an otherwise dry lesson plan. This is a game I've used before to spice up grammar lessons and review for final tests. It takes a little time to prep, but you can re-use it for years to come. On a piece of foam core, hot glue plastic cups in rows, leaving at least a half inch between the rims of each cup. Cut squares of tissue paper and use a rubber band to secure them to around the top of the cups. Tuesday...
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Composition Classroom: Point of View in Academic Writing - the Ubiquitous "You"
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Tuesday, April 14, 2015. Point of View in Academic Writing - the Ubiquitous "You". When reviewing student drafts of academic essays, I find myself constantly marking the use of second person. With no direction, I find most students use second person. With direction, I find most students still slip into second person. I use a few humorous examples to show this, and that is when it usually clicks with students. For example, I first ask the students, "Who is the audience for this paper? I ask the students i...
