Four fun ways to start a new school year

Looking for a great first day of school? Here's a piece of advice. DON'T just have them read the syllabus!

Here are some alternatives for a memorable first day that gets you off on he right foot with your students and sets clear expectations for how you want the class to be.

1. Zombies!
• What is it? Yes, I said zombies! One of my FAVORITE first day of school activities is having students work in groups to defeat the invisible zombies that are taking over the classroom. Interested? Read more here.
• What do I need? This requires no technology but you do need some set up. Easily adaptable if your number of students changes. You can photocopy the reflection questions at the end or if you have a projector project them on the board. I usually upload them to my LMS (PowerSchool) and have students submit work there. If you plan on using tech I'd have some paper for back up (first days are chaotic) 
2. Have a snowball fight
• What is it? Get to gauge your students writing style, let them throw things, recycle paper and have them get to know a little about their classmates. More about the ABCs of me here
• What do I need? This requires no preparation and no technology. You can use scratch paper, computer paper, lined paper. Very easy for a first day.
3. Have them present you to their classmates
• What is it? Rather than give the students the story of your life, see if they can figure it out based on what's in the classroom. They work with one another, and ultimately present you to their peers. Full blog post. 
• What do I need? Your classroom needs to be pretty set up for this. So if they've moved you into an empty room, this isn't the best activity. Otherwise, this is a no-prep, no tech activity.
4. Do lots of little tasks
• What is it? Stations are a great option for the first day! I like to have my students do a little of everything
• Read the introduction to the first unit in the textbook and answer some basic questions. 
• Play a couple games on quizlet to see what vocabulary they already know
• Do a mini-scavenger hunt in the syllabus
• Draw a picture of their goa for this year and under it write three ways they will achieve that goal. 
• Have them do something partially related to your first unit
• e.g. World Literature usually starts with the hero's journey so I have a section where they need to pick which hero "doesn't belong" and defend it
• For example with: Iron Man, Thor, Spider Man, Batman a student could say: "Thor doesn't fit in because the rest are humans" or "Spider Man doesn't fit in because he's the youngest."
• The big fun with this one is that they CAN'T be wrong. It's practice to think critically and not be afraid to just guess.
• Create a small video about their name (blog on this to come!)
• etc.
• What do I need? It really depends on you! How big are your classes and how much time do you have? My stations are usually pretty low maintenance. Each station gets a letter with a series of related questions. Students complete each station on their own worksheet or the (usually recycled) sheets of paper provided at that station.

What do YOU do the first day of school?

Zombies and Teamwork

In addition to my year long English courses I teach two semester classes. As the new year starts, I begin a new class as well: speech!

I LOVED taking speech as a student, so it is really fun to teach it now.

As most of my readers know, many of my students do not speak English as their first language. Sometimes this isn't an issue, and they are motivated to speak, write, and read in English. In other cases however, there is a tendency to use as little English as possible. As a result, I use an adapted version of a team building activity I love. The point? To show them that they don't need to rely on language...period.

I love using this to start my speech class as it focuses on nonverbal skills (something many students lack). It also builds their teamwork (key since this class involves LOTS of  group projects). Finally, it involves some critical thinking which I feel is always a plus.

Without going into too much detail, students are divided into groups of three to four and the dire situation is explained. The tower that normally keeps the zombies away has fallen and it is up to this group of students to reassemble it without going into the zombie zone.

Of course, as zombies are VERY sensitive to noise, they must work in complete silence with absolutely NO talking.

Students are graded based on their teamwork, their ability to follow the rules, and whether or not they complete the mission.

To be honest, this is an old activity (though I used to teach it with nuclear issues instead of zombies). I wasn't sure how it would go with my students. I hit a few speed bumps early on. Normally, I use hula-hoops taped to the ground as the city barrier, but my trusty dollar store was out, so I taped off squares instead (amusing since all of my directions stated circles, but students got it).

You can download a free preview of the Zombie Teamwork activity at TeachersPayTeachers which basically explains the concept in more details, but here's a step by step guide of setting your classroom up.

Supplies 

You can use a lot of things to make this happen, but you NEED string, cups, and rubber bands (the rubber bands should be able to expand to go around the cups). You can give the students pre-cut string, or one loooooong piece and scissors.

Other things you'll need

• A way to make an enclosed section (hula hoop taped to the ground, chalk, tape, etc.). 
• Random school supplies (You don't NEED this, but I like to give the students random things and see what they can do. Today they had: Velcro strips, pennies, paper clips, a high lighter, pencil erasers, pencils, and binder clips

• I also like to put little Lego men inside the city. I would put zombies inside, but I don't have any zombie toys, so I tell my students the zombies are invisible.

Set Up

•  You'll need space. I don't like the groups to be much bigger than four students, and each group needs at least 3 square feet to work in. Spread them out so they aren't sitting on top of one another. Each group gets a "city" The cities should all be the same size and have three cups inside, Lego men inside, and a cup or box with all of their supplies nearby.
• I didn't get a chance to this time, but you can usually score some really cheap zombie decor after Halloween. Anything you can throw in the room gives it that extra appeal. My students likes my DANGER ZOMBIE INFESTATION signs I had on the door and around the classroom.
• I leave copies of the directions (one per group) by their city as well.

 Buy In

• I HAVE taught this class without speaking, but for my students this year we walked through the directions. They were intrigued from the start! I am glad I went with zombies this year...the topic definitely caught their attention.

Variations
Depending on the group of students you have, there are MANY different ways to have them build the tower. Have it be a three cup pyramid, or a six cup pyramid. Have one student be blind-folded etc. There are more variations discussed in detail in the pack, but get creative!

Results
Walking around I was really impressed with my students. They were working together, getting creative and learning from their mistakes.

What did students think? One of my favorite parts of this lesson is the debriefing where they can sit and reflect on what they did and why they did it. Here are some of the insights my students shared with me:

"I learned that communication is more than just the words that come out of our mouth. It is also what we do with our bodies"

"I learned that I can get things done if I just put my mind to work."

"I solved most of the problems we had not talking by paying more attention and not being lazy. Basically, I had to think harder" 

The best part? A student who stopped by after class, "I just wanted to tell you that your class was really fun today!" Well heck! That makes it a better day.

Takeaway
If you have a new batch of students in January and want a fun activity, or you think your students would do well with some practice in group work. This is a great zombie download for you. Until the 6th it is only $2.20 (that's 20% off the normal price of $2.75). Try it out and let me know what your students think.

If you don't have it in your budget right now, enter to win below! You get one free entry just for reading! You can earn more by tweeting or pinning. The contest opens the fifth and closes the tenth!

Using Small Words to Define Big Ideas

I am an xkcd fan! I am not nerdy enough to be good at math and science, but I am a language nerd which means I still enjoy all things nerdy.

I recently discovered he wrote a book called the Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words. The concept is similar to simple wiki, which explains things using a non-technical vocabulary. Although, unlike simple wiki he limited himself  to only using the 1,000 most common words and his drawings of course..

Thus, datacenters are referred to as computer buildings, tectonic plates becomes the flat rocks we live on, airliner cockpit controls are the things you use to steer a plane, and cells are referred to as the little bags of water you're made of.

You can see an example of this concept to the right with a plan of the Saturn V being described using only the most common, "ten hundred" words.

What's the connection?
How is this related to English class?  Here's my theory. Students are often overwhelmed by the vocabulary as much as the size of a text. So, why not, on occasion, have them really break it down.

Yes, knowing the literary terms: protagonist, foil, and hyperbole are important, but do they really know what they mean or are they regurgitating vocabulary you've covered.

You could do this with any vocabulary, but since I am in the midst of planning for next year literary terms springs to my mind. If you aren't on Summer break right now, maybe you would want to do this a review before the end of the semester exams come around.

How
1. Have students come up with a list of words they learned last year, or give them a list of words they should know.

2. Pass out a list of the top 1,000 words in English

• If you are a tech savvy class you can send them to the link you want to use. I like wiktionary, but there are many others.

3. Have students define the assigned words using ONLY the tip 1,000 words.

• I would probably do think pair share or pyramids here. 
• Students start on their own, then share with a partner, then two groups of partners get together) etc.

4. Finally ask for volunteers and see how well their definitions fit? Did they define a protagonist as a good guy? Is that really accurate?

Use the Short Answer function for students to submit and vote for definitions

5. Collect the definitions of the words and on Socrative, postits, etc. have students consider which definitions they like best.

6. Make a "literary terms" dictionary (in the spirit of the assignment call it a "Book about Book Words." Keep it in the class library, or save it and have it available online. Either way students will now be able to consult and know the words you plan on using in class.


Why?
I like the concept of this activity for several reasons, but here are the big ones:

It uses critical thinking. Maybe they want to say dramatic irony is when "the audience knows something the characters don't" Audience isn't a word, so they need to think of how else they would describe them, "People who listen or read know things the people in the book don't know." Since I teach the ELL students this is also a great example of circumlocution.Which is the process we go through when we need to talk around a word.

I am sure you do this a lot with movie stars or book titles. You are talking to your friends about a great old movie you saw the other day and you can't remember the name. You don't just stop talking, you describe it, "It has that actress we both like from Gilmore Girls, but not Patty...and she falls in love with the guy from that Trident commercial who looks like your cousin." etc.

When students learn they can describe almost anything using these words, they should have more confidence writing and speaking in class. Plus, it gives you a chance to confirm if they do in fact understand the vocabulary.

What do you think? I'd imagine you spend most of your class time getting students to use bigger words, would you ever do an activity like this that used smaller words?

Listen while you read

One of my favorite assignments to give to students when they've finished reading a section of a book is to make a soundtrack for the book or chapters.

I love the reasons my students give me for selecting a song. The lyrics may remind them of the character's emotions. Other times the melody reminds them of an event (e.g. it sounds like waves to them and the scene is during a storm). Other times it is just the ambiance that it adds.

Here's an example of the assignment:

Literacy Assignment -Soundtrack from Carissa Peck

I love the assignment because I get to discover new songs, and get an idea of what type of music my students listen to in their free time. I also find that students have to really understand a chapter to pick music for it, which helps their critical thinking skills.

Some students are more comfortable with pen and paper, and others prefer actually making a YouTube Playlist. However, recently I've discovered an online tool called Booktrack! There are a lot of different ways to use Booktrack!



One way, which doesn't require much from students, is to add sounds to what they will be reading at home. This helps students get in the mood, and helps them get sucked into the reading!

Check out the infographic on the right to see what one study done by the University of Auckland showed! To read more about the studies done check out their site! Basically, they will understand more AND enjoy it more wen they are reading and listening.

In the future I plan on assigning each of my students a different book to read at home. I feel that having them summarize what they've read and add sounds for mood to their summary would be a GREAT assignment.

If you're working with public domain stories (Shakespeare, Grimm Fairy Tales, etc.), you can divide the class so that each student has a different chapter. Have them individually make a booktrack and then assemble is together for a reading experience future classes can enjoy!