I apologize for the delay in blogging last week's events, but things have been very busy. It is so hard to believe that the school year is moving along so quickly. My students have settled in quite nicely and are accustomed to the routine, no one seems to be floundering at this point.
One aspect that I have not hit on much the past couple of weeks is the literacy time that everyone is having in the mornings. I for one as enjoying literacy time; I believe that my students are enjoying it as well. Literacy time is a period of time set aside each day for us to come together in small groups; we have set articles or readings that we use to expand are abilities. Last week we had a poem by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken. One of my 6th graders in the group confessed to me that a couple of the 8th graders were having trouble understanding why the author chose to use the word "wear" in the poem when referring to the path on his way out the door Wednesday. I thought this over and on Thursday I brought up the idea and when no one wanted to jump in I decided that we would go on an impromptu "field trip" to the football field to learn about "wear" for ourselves. I wish that you could have seen the expressions on their faces when I suggested a "field trip"; the look was priceless. How dare a teacher take them out of their seats to go outside and examine a word that they did not understand.
Once outside we traveled down the steps to the football field. Upon arrival at the field I noticed that there wasn't much wear, but on the way down I noticed that on the left hand side of the steps there was a nice path worn down, but on the right hand side there was no visible wear which presented a perfect scenario for my lesson in literacy that day. We stood at the bottom of the steps examining the "wear" on the one side and the lack of "wear" on the other side. I used this opportunity to not only explain the many ways that Frost's poem could be interpreted, but I added one that was "middle school" appropriate. Too many young adolescents fall prey to following the crowd even when they know that is not the path that they want to choose; I challenged my students to go against the grain and "Take The Road Not Taken".
Thank You Robert Frost for a wonderful literacy time!!
One aspect that I have not hit on much the past couple of weeks is the literacy time that everyone is having in the mornings. I for one as enjoying literacy time; I believe that my students are enjoying it as well. Literacy time is a period of time set aside each day for us to come together in small groups; we have set articles or readings that we use to expand are abilities. Last week we had a poem by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken. One of my 6th graders in the group confessed to me that a couple of the 8th graders were having trouble understanding why the author chose to use the word "wear" in the poem when referring to the path on his way out the door Wednesday. I thought this over and on Thursday I brought up the idea and when no one wanted to jump in I decided that we would go on an impromptu "field trip" to the football field to learn about "wear" for ourselves. I wish that you could have seen the expressions on their faces when I suggested a "field trip"; the look was priceless. How dare a teacher take them out of their seats to go outside and examine a word that they did not understand.
Once outside we traveled down the steps to the football field. Upon arrival at the field I noticed that there wasn't much wear, but on the way down I noticed that on the left hand side of the steps there was a nice path worn down, but on the right hand side there was no visible wear which presented a perfect scenario for my lesson in literacy that day. We stood at the bottom of the steps examining the "wear" on the one side and the lack of "wear" on the other side. I used this opportunity to not only explain the many ways that Frost's poem could be interpreted, but I added one that was "middle school" appropriate. Too many young adolescents fall prey to following the crowd even when they know that is not the path that they want to choose; I challenged my students to go against the grain and "Take The Road Not Taken".
Thank You Robert Frost for a wonderful literacy time!!