Classroom Structure
One thing that helps my classroom full of bright minds succeed is structure. Organization, routine, and order help everyone, including me, persevere and progress.
Every week, the skill and questions are different, but the structure is the same. The one constant is a bell ringer using distractor analysis or a quick write always starts off the day. The schedule very rarely changes. If it is a shortened week, we adjust.
Monday: Bell ringer, new skill, practice, start new text (either fiction or nonfiction) or continue reading, exit ticket Tuesday: Bell ringer, silent reading (personal library book), add new roots to Greek & Latin Roots chart, continue reading, put skill from Monday in application, exit ticket (higher DOK) Wednesday: Bell ringer, Who am I (trivia), Pen Pal post (online blog), Greek & Latin Roots quiz, higher thinking questioning activity will skill from Monday Thursday: Bell ringer, silent reading, group work with skill (mix between kinesthetic and visual activity), exit ticket (preparing for assessment) Friday: Bell ringer, free write Friday (writing prompt dealing with the topic and skill of the week to relate to them personally), assessment (writing, multiple choice, project, etc.) OR continuous practice on skill if needed |
As the year progresses, the bell ringer questions increase in difficulty to mirror future assessments (English II state test and the ACT).
Keeping the readings, activities, projects, and tasks diverse help with many things. It helps keeps their interest levels high because they never know what we will discuss next and it is broadening their horizons. I grew up in a "bubble." It was all I knew. I knew my community and what happened in it. I didn't learn much about the huge world we live in until college. I never want a child leaving my classroom saying that. Different texts and activities help bring the huge world into my classroom.
For example, The Most Dangerous Game leads to discussing tribes in other countries, wealth vs. poor, and much more!
The coolest thing is when passages, tasks, and projects lead to discussions about people being people and not just skin color, religion or gender. |
Diverse projects, readings, and tasks have helped keep class structured but also entertaining. During the week while we are reading a text, we often have a larger project dealing with nonfiction at the end. One of my favorites would be reading Lamb to the Slaughter and then groups present different case trials from the real world to their classmates. With the evidence given, the class must decide if the suspect was guilty, not guilty, or deemed temporarily insane.
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