Ask your students to write about their summer breaks, but remix their activities into a new genre or setting. Perhaps they vacationed at Hogwarts, Mordor, or Tatooine? Not interested in a writing assignment?
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Analyzing Suffixes Inductively
The year opens with a vocabulary skill analyzing “Suffixes: -ful, -less, -ly.” I adjusted this lesson to examine how these suffixes change the part of speech of words, rather than the meaning.
The Tragedy of the Commons
Imagine that we all share a common resource, but no one is really in charge. How do we maintain order without an authority? This is a fantastically fuzzy situation for students to dig into.
Lunar Survival Skills
We’re supposed to rank fifteen items according to usefulness if we were stranded on the light-side of the moon. The items range from pistols to powdered milk. Some seem useful, but are actually worthless while others seem unnecessary on earth, but are actually vital when stuck on the moon. However, the structure of the activity as a website is not optimal. Let’s improve this and make it an awesome problem–solving exercise for our class.
Think Like An Engineer: Egg Drop
At our school, 6th graders participate in an annual egg drop. To increase the rigor, I looked for unique scientific roles and came up with three: designing a parachute to slow the egg’s descent, testing materials to pack inside the structure, and developing the structure itself. Each of these roles will be developed into a scientific discipline.
Think Like A Disciplinarian: The Common Problems
Think Like A Disciplinarian is a method for teaching students to approach concepts from an expert’s point of view. You’ll expose you class to new modes of thinking, teach subject–specific language, and develop questions that delve deeper into problems. As a bonus, students will learn about potential careers.
An Inductive Exploration of Linear Graphs
Let’s play with linear graphing! First, don’t set this up as a direct instruction lesson. That wouldn’t be playing. Instead, capitalize on your students’ ability to think inductively and recognize patterns. Set up a situation where they can construct their own meaning.
Group Investigation: A Model Based on Curiosity
John Dewey’s Group Invesgitation is a favorite model of instruction of mine. It’s simply built on curiosity!
From Silent Reading To Creating Art
I’ve been continuing the idea to explore classic music during silent reaing, and incorporated Gustav Holsts’ “The Planets.” My students, who have an affinity for memorizing gods and goddesses, took a special interest in this idea. I figured, let’s see how far their interests will take us?
Exploring Circumference With Famous Circles
Remembering the formulae for area and circumference of a circle is often a challenge for students due to their surface similarities as well as the additional confusion of radius and diameter. I like to tackle them one at a time and give students a chance to explore the origin of each formula. Let’s look at circumference today by utilizing some famous circles from around the world… and beyond!