Pangrams: a no prep fun activity for writing enrichment

Getting kids to think outside the box and participate in real enrichment can be hard. It can be challenging to find activities that are fun, quick, and low prep. Well, friends: look no further. Pangrams to the rescue!

A pangram is a sentence that uses all the letters in the English alphabet. It's a simple concept, but it can actually be pretty challenging to complete. Think about it: there are only so many ways that you can incorporate words with the letters “q” and “z” into a sentence! This activity is for a small or large group of kids who enjoy playing with words. For extra bonus teaching points, let your students use a thesaurus or dictionary to help them. It's a great way to help kids expand their word choice, deepen knowledge of spelling principles, and explore sentence structure. 

What You Need:

• paper
• pen/pencil
• Thesaurus and/or dictionary (optional)

What You Do:

1. Show the students the following example of a common pangram: “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”
2. Explain that a pangram uses all of the letters in the English language in a single sentence. At this point, the kids will probably underestimate how difficult writing a pangram can be. They’ll find out soon!
3. Challenge the kids to write their own pangram! Once they get the hang of it, they can compete to see who can write the shortest pangram that makes sense. Students can work on their own, but this activity really lends itself to collaboration and is best in partners or small groups. If kids as they get stuck, you can help them by giving ideas for words they can add to their pangram in order to incorporate some of the less common letters of the alphabet.
4. Award the kid whose pangram has the fewest letters, the kid whose pangram has the fewest words, and the kid whose pangram makes the most logical sense.

You can also extend this activity and have your students make pangram posters using construction paper and markers. They can write their pangram in marker along the bottom of the poster, and then illustrate the pangram on the rest of the poster board.

If you need more fun activities for spelling and writing, check out this list of activities from education.com. I always find great ideas, worksheets, and resources to help my kiddos there! 

A Fun Way to Get Back on Track After Winter Break

Oh, winter break. How I loved and cherished you, and how sad I will be to see you go. But, since it's time to get back to the grind, its time to think about what to do with kiddos that are excited about vacation. Let's be real, they all want to share everything they did on their vacation. I do want to hear about their holidays and times with their families, but there just isn't time for it all smack dab in the middle of the day. In the past, I've had them write about what they did and share with a partner, but it just wasted enough. So, for the past few years I have been using a fun new activity that is working really well. I took an old game that I used to play in school, and put a fun creative writing twist on it: whose story is it?

The concept is simple. The kids get into small groups (4 or 5 students would be best) and share one quick story about their vacation. From experience, I will tell you that keeping the stories quick is the key here. If you have a super chatty group it can be useful to use a timer to give each person 1 - 2 minutes to share their story. The story can be really interesting, or it can be kind of boring. Totally up to the kiddo! After they all share their stories, the group chooses one story to use. This is the hard part, as we all know. Getting it narrowed down to one story can be a real challenge! Asking the kiddos not to vote for their own story can be helpful in narrowing down the choices. 

Then, the story that they have picked will be the story they all write, pretending it is their own story. They will have to put themselves in the narrator's shoes and invent some of the creative elements of the story. They should try to describe things as much as they can to make it believable! When they finish, the kids then each read their version of the story out loud to the class and the class tries to decide who actually told the story to begin with. It's a great opportunity for kids to use their creative writing skills in a different and enjoyable way. It's always funny to see who convinces others that a story is theirs when it is not!

This game is super simple, fun, and has some great academic elements. The kids are using perspective, point of view, and narration skills in their creative writing. They are super motivated to write the story well because of the game aspect of it. I let the kiddos who "win" and trick kids into believing the story is theirs when it is not pick something from my prize bucket. Best of all, they are sharing a story about vacation- like they want to do- while also staying on track academically. It's an all around win!

Literacy and Math

Summer is the best time of year. The weather is gorgeous, and I have extra time to devote to professional development while I get some sun! This summer I have been focused on math, particularly literacy and mathematics. It's something that has been on my mind a lot lately, as my district has designated writing as the focus of our instruction for this school year. So many teachers automatically began to focus on narrative writing, but I thought I'd apply it to my teaching in other ways, too- namely, in mathematics!

I have to tell you, math has a special place in my heart. In addition to my generalist teaching license, I hold a math specialist license. I think that people tend to give themselves permission to be afraid of math in a way that they do not in other subjects. I've heard parents dismiss a student's bad grade by saying "oh, well, I was never good at math either. Maybe he doesn't have a math brain" I've never heard a parent say the same about another subject though. No one dismisses poor reading with "well, maybe he doesn't having a reading brain." All the parents I have worked with have done everything possible to help their child overcome their reading difficulties, and when all else fails they have had them tested for learning disabilities. So, why the difference in math? I think it all comes down to how students are taught. Allowing students to apply the academic skills that they are good at and enjoy using will help them to deepen their mathematical knowledge. Sounds easier than it is, right? I totally agree- and there are a million ways to incorporate literacy and mathematics! They don't all work for upper elementary or middle grades, either. So- here are my quick tips.

Math Literature
Invest in some quality mathematical literature. It's expensive, but there are ways to get some reasonably priced books. I visit my local used bookstore, go to library book sales, and hit up yard sales. I also order them from half.com and check the used prices on amazon.com. When all else fails, I use my scholastic book points to order them. My math library is well stocked- I have something for everyone! I have created task cards to go with each math literature book, and have my students read them during one station of guided math. It's a win for everyone. My students that are avid readers can't wait for the opportunity to read some more, and my struggling readers get the opportunity to practice their reading some more. More than that, teaching mathematics through literature makes a stronger connection to the material. The students see it is a something that is learned organically, much like the morals or lessons that they learn from other stories that they read.

Creative Writing
 I mentioned earlier that my focus on writing this year has tied into my mathematics instruction. So far, it has really worked. Each morning as my "do now" activity I give my students an equation that relates to what we learned the previous day. Their job is to write the story of the problem. They write a word problem that ranges between a few sentences and a paragraph. I have seen some seriously creative writing come out of this! More than that, their stories have given me some really good insight into their mathematical understanding. Do they know the key words that indicate operations? Do they correctly describe which operation to use within their story? Do they understand  how to indicate what each number represents? I feel as though I have been able to learn more about what the students actually understand by reading their stories than by checking their computations on word problems I provided.

Expository Writing
Some of my students really need to talk about their learning to help build permanent knowledge. Usually, this isn't a problem in my classroom as we work in small groups and talk frequently throughout the lesson. Sometimes, though, we just don't have enough time to talk as much as I would like. So, I ask my students to "talk it out" in writing like they would with a partner. I often have them write a letter to another student explaining how a particular mathematical concept works- for instance, how to create equivalent fractions. I always ask them to pretend the person they are writing to has no mathematical knowledge so they explain everything.  The act of putting the words on paper makes deep connections that some students need. Sometimes, we even write letters to an alien from "Planet No-Math" to explain what we are learning. Of course, he is from a planet that doesn't have math, so they have to explain every last step. We post them on the board with a picture of our alien, which I usually let a student draw. It's something a little fun and different! 

So, that's it- how I incorporate literacy and mathematics instruction in my classroom. I'd love to hear what's worked for you, too!

Writing Wednesdays

Summer has finally arrived! It's so incredibly nice to have some time to work on professional development, play with my son, and read some teacher blogs. I could totally get used to this. 

My friend Lyndsey over at Lit with Lynds is hosting Writing Wednesdays, a linkup that talks about common core strategies for teaching writing. This is part of my district goal, so it's pretty perfectly aligned with my focus for the next year! My main focus this year is going to be expository writing, specifically research writing. Fifth grade can be tough, because the kids are making some pretty heavy leaps in curriculum. They are expected to start to look at the content more analytically, and to pull information from multiple sources in a more refined way. They are building on what they learned up to this point, and using it to create a final, polished research project.  That's no small task for fifth grade students!

To help my kiddos successfully meet this challenge, I have been using PROBE notebooks. The premise is simple- they receive a topic to briefly research, and complete a short report on the topic following a basic template in a composition notebook. They must write a fact page (in their own words), draw a border that is relevant to the topic, include 4 illustrations with captions, and sum it up with a sentence or two stating what they have learned.  The kids love it because it involves coloring and decorating, parents love it because it is a predictable assignment, and I love it because I have the opportunity to work with students on their research and report writing skills regularly. As a bonus, the students have a composition notebook full of their writing and they can reflect on at the end of the year. It is pretty cool to sit with a student at the end of the year and show them their writing progress as we flip through the notebook. It makes their growth really tangible, which really brings them so much pride. It's great evidence for me to use for my evaluations, too!

The PROBE notebook activity bundle is the complete one-stop shop that you need to set up and start using PROBEs in your classroom. The file contains a teacher guide, rubric, completion checklist for students, exemplars, research graphic organizer to prevent plagiarism, a poster for your classroom, a sample schedule, and an editable schedule. Colorful and blackline versions are included.

      

The research notes is my favorite part, I must admit. My fifth graders struggle to avoid plagiarism. I created this document to help them to understand how to combine sources and put things in their own words. The students first identify the question that they are going to answer with their research. I've identified the topic for them, but they must narrow it down a bit. For instance, I chose "The First Thanksgiving" for a PROBE topic, but the students needed to decide what aspect of the First Thanksgiving they would be writing about. Then, they complete the research. I ask that they read the information FIRST, then turn away from the computer (or book) to take notes. They write down what the big take away was from this site, then go back to the source to add dates, locations, or other info they couldn't remember. Of course, they can use the same source more than once. This ensures that it will be in their own words and note a direct copy from the text. Check out the sample from one of my SPED students! They rocked it. 

You can totally implement PROBE notebooks in your classroom in a million different ways. It can be homework, classwork, enrichment, or core instruction. It's easily adaptable to meet the unique needs of your students, no matter the grade level! 

Don't forget to head over to Lit with Lyns to see the rest of the Writing Wednesday link up.

Get your students started in writing (with a freebie)

I was sitting with a reluctant writer last week, conferencing with her on a personal narrative. She had only a few sentences down, even after she had been writing (or trying to) for almost 20 minutes. She was disinterested in continuing, and said to me, "I just can't get started. I know what I want my story to be about, but I don't know how to start it and make it sound good." This isn't uncommon- so many of my fifth graders struggle with the same issue! So, this week I really focused on helping those struggling students find some way to start and helping the rest of my students enhance their beginnings.

We worked together as a class to create a continuum of beginnings. We thought about all the different ways we could begin a story, and then arranged them with the more sophisticated beginnings at the top of our chart, and the more basic beginnings at the bottom of the chart. In retrospect, I would have added an arrow to the side.... but there wasn't room left when I was done, so I just added it on the whiteboard next to it.

1. Use a motion word or sound.

2. Pose a question. 

3. Use a quotation.

4. Just jump into the story and start "talking" to the reader.

5. Restate the prompt. Rearrange the words to create an opening paragraph.

My students really responded to the idea of a "continuum" of beginnings to chose from. In another conference after this lesson, one student said that he liked that the could "start with number 5" as a beginning to get over his writer's block, and then edit it later to be something more interesting. As a teacher, I loved how this lends itself to differentiation for the students!

Best of all, I made a little miniature anchor chart for my kiddos to paste in their notebooks- and thought I'd pass it along to you as a freebie! I left it at full size (8.5 x 11) and they fold it in half to paste it in. I like the words to be big enough to be easily read. If you prefer it slightly smaller, though, it shrinks well on the copy machine! I made three versions (all included)- one blank so the students can fill it in, one with just the ways to begin and a blank spot for the students to fill in their own examples, and one completely filled in.

Download the freebie here!

Making Research Reports Fun with Instagrok

I have spent a lot of time researching the Common Core research standards this year as part of a professional learning community. My PLC worked hard at finding ways to integrate the research, writing, and technology standards into our teaching. It's not easy, friends! I use PROBE notebooks as a yearlong research report project, but since that is written it doesn't address the "technology" portion of the fifth grade writing standards and the College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards. In my hunt for websites and apps, I found something really cool: instagrok! 

Instagrok seriously puts the "cool" back into research reports. It's super easy to use once you understand it! A "grok" is a visual concept map created for you based upon a search. It's pretty simple to get started- there a search bar, just like google, and you type in whatever you are doing research on. The concept map populates pretty quickly! Instagrok searches educational websites, pictures, and videos and puts together the best supporting concepts.

It's pretty, isn't it?? I love concept maps! Now, the real fun comes in. It's totally interactive. If you click on the video, it pops up a larger window and starts playing. If you click on the words, another window pops up with more details.

It's broken down into key facts, websites, videos, images, concepts, and notes. I have spent most of my time working with the kiddos in "key facts" but I think that as time goes on and they become more sophisticated in their research abilities I explore all the tabs with them. What a great way to teach them about determining importance! 

When you click on each fact, it brings up the source of the information so you can view it yourself. It also gives you a little text box on the bottom where you can add your own notes.

You can then "pin" the resource to your journal, which saves the information for later so you can refer back to it (and the notes you made) while writing your research report. I have to tell you a major downfall I found though- instagrok includes results from wikipedia. I address this by having my students mark them "not credible" and having them disregard that information. If there is a fact they really love, I ask them to find it from another source to use it. If it's a reliable fact, they will find it again!

One of my favorite things about instagrok is that you can customize the level of difficulty!

In the top task bar, there is a difficulty slider. Kiddos can self-select their level of difficulty, or you can assign it for them. This is SUPER helpful when trying to get some deep information and understanding for enrichment kids! I have put them up to "difficult" and then been amazed at some of the things they have researched and put together. They have examined some of the intricacies of their topics and really done a fantastic job. 

The grok stays really true to the topic, no matter the level that is assigned. At each one, the "meat" of the topic is really well represented. In the easy level, the student is introduced to the key components of the research topic. I like to think of it as the "quick and dirty" of the topic. They get the information they need without extra information to bog them down. This is great for kiddos that really have no prior knowledge on a difficult topic or for the students that struggle with retaining information. They get the knowledge they need, on their level, and are able to synthesize it into a written report. 

When the research is done, it's time to write the report! I don't know about you guys, but typically this is the part that my kiddos hate. I can't tell you how many times I have had kids that did spectacular research and then failed to put it together in a meaningful way- resulting in a lackluster project. I have to tell you- instagrok has really revolutionized the research report in this way! All the information that you have pinned as you looked through your grok is easily accessible on the sidebar. You can refer back to it as you write your report. When you finish, a bibliography is populated in the sidebar, as well. Best of all, you can export your sources to EasyBib and have a bibliography populated for you! I love doing this to teach my kiddos the correct way to cite sources. Let's be real- fifth graders are not always the most detail oriented, and little things like bibliographies sometimes slip through the cracks. I once had a student turn in a research report with "my brain" listed as a source... not even listed in proper MLA format! ;) 

Once the kiddos have finished their reports, they can email them as embedded text or print them. If you have assigned the project through your teacher account, the finalized report will show up in your teacher dashboard. The major downfall I see here is that you cannot save the file as a text document on your computer. Instead, I have had the file emailed to me and then I have copy/pasted it into Word. This is definitely not the fastest way to get things done, but it works for now. 

Instagrok is totally free to use as a student, and the "teacher" account is free for 90 days. Once your 90 day trial is up, it is $45 a year to keep the "teacher" services. I have to say, I won't be signing up for a paid account once my trial is up. For me, I love the student portion of the site (researching and writing) but found the teacher dashboard a bit clunky and hard to use. I like walking through the computer lab and working with the kiddos on the research as it happens. I don't think I use the paid version enough to justify buying it. I will definitely keep using instagrok to help my students address the CCSS research and technology standards, though!