Almost Time

It’s the end of July. The start of the school year is looming ever closer. We’ve done our best to rest, to prepare, to not overthink it all. But I still feel like I’m missing the mark on so many things. 

I was asked yesterday by a parent how the teachers felt about the start of school. While it was just a natural part of the conversation I paused. I was overwhelmed with thoughts. How should I answer? I’ve been asked about teacher(S) - so I’m now representing us all! This is a chance, maybe my only, to set the tone, calm a parent, express my concerns, excitement...see that overthinking thing. But I did pause, because as simple a question as it would normally be, nothing about this year seems simple. 

Plans for where we will teach and how we will teach are still being adjusted and likely will be everyday. My school has a plan. Our administration has spent countless hours adjusting and readjusting, but no plan is perfect in the current pandemic. Keeping kids apart won’t be easy. Teaching at a distance doesn’t feel right. So many of the natural processes of teaching have to be adjusted to adhere to safety guidelines, but nonetheless we are heading into August. 

So I hope my answer conveyed all my feelings, calmed a parent, and helped set the tone. I want “my kids” back. I want to be able to teach. I want to be able to interact, be genuine, supportive and encouraging. I want to calm their fears (remember they’re just kids), I want to support and be supported by parents, and I want the education my kids receive to be engaging and rigorous. I want normal back. 

But in reality, nothing will be normal for a while yet. So we head into August and do what educators do. We make the best of the situation at hand. We adjust, we help each other, we make a plan, and then another, and somehow when we look back we see how much we’ve grown and we are better for it. 

So to my fellow educators - whether it is your first year or approaching your last - be true to yourself and your profession. We wish you the best, and remind you to give yourself the grace to not be perfect, to take a few moments each day for yourself, to remember that some of the best lessons aren’t part of the curriculum, and to remember that you are enough!

Why So Uninformed?

In preparation for the 2020-2021 school year and whatever it brings, we’re trying to plan for every possible instructional method. Just the number of possibilities is exhausting. We’re still about three weeks away from when our students are scheduled to return to school. We have a rough idea of what to expect, but we know that is very likely to change several times. So we’ve spent our summer reading and learning. We’ve tried to correct the misinformation we have learned over our lifetimes, look closely at the current events and make connections to historical situations, and build a path that will allow our students to start the year asking the difficult questions. 

We know that the first few days will be critical, perhaps more than ever. We have to set the tone of a safe space from day one. We have to ask the hard questions on day one. 

In this process of reading, I (Terri) am amazing at the amount of misinformation, usually by omission that occurs in our textbooks. I’ve always taught using primary sources, media, current events, but have found that my students like a textbook. It makes them feel comfortable with the content, but history textbooks are riddled with errors, implications, and just plain failure to address the issues directly. As I’ve looked more closely at history from a variety of sources I see it more clearly, and I see that it leads to a large amount of history that is being misunderstood at best by our students. 

So from day one this year we will be looking at history more directly, settling in with the uncomfortable. This year our first week of school lines up with the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment to the US Constitution. It seems to be a natural place to begin tying past to present. We will look at the process of women’s suffrage, the protests, the hesitation, and the inspiration for the women’s movement. We’ll use this topic to springboard to present day to identify groups still unequal. Yes, we’re going to talk politics - then and now. I will admit, political discussions make me uncomfortable, but in this election year combine with this anniversary and current state of the country - I will do my best to remain non partisan as a teacher, to encourage students to think critically about a multitude of issues, to let them lead discussions, and to learn with them.

AMI and the Pandemic

It’s been a while since we’ve posted, far too long really, but we’re still here. Like every
other educator in the country, this year has been one to remember! We’ve been asked
to flip our classrooms with very little notice. We sent our kids home thinking we would
see them again before summer. We embraced the change and even thought it was
nice for a while. But the sustainability of AMI was difficult. We felt the distance between
work and home slip away, we struggled to find ways to keep our kids actively engaged
without seeing them face to face, to keep the academic rigor strong while having to
explain everything virtually, and we balanced ever-changing directives and expectations.
I’d like to say we managed it all with grace, kept every ball effortlessly in the air, and
sailed through it all, but in reality, it was a messy business. We tried new things, some
worked, some did not. We learned very clearly the value of just seeing our students,
and how important that morning greeting is to them and us. By the end, we were
exhausted! 

Now, we are in the midst of summer. Somehow the exhaustion seems still just a breath
away, but we are preparing for an uncertain fall. Daily the number of COVID cases is
rising, causing us to doubt the plans for reopening while longing to return to normal.
We are balancing the desire to plan with the uncertainty of how we will need to teach
in the fall. 

To add to all this we are in the midst of a crisis in our country. The news is overwhelming
us with news every day of another protest, violent crime, inadequate civil or political
response. This fall will be a challenge like none we have ever experienced as educators.
the moment we set foot in the building or post our first virtual lesson our students will
once again be looking for us to set the tone and help them make sense of the world
around them. In a time where the good news seems often a distant hope, we need to
be prepared to help them live in the present, understand the past, deal with the
uncomfortable, and still maintain hope for the future. This is no small task! 

So how? How do we prepare for the ever-changing landscape before us? We have
to learn. Read, analyze, question - all the things we ask our students to do. We have
to do the difficult work of self-analysis and not be afraid to be real first with ourselves
and then with our students. We have to share openly our presumptions, shortcomings,
and bias, and we have to encourage and participate in uncomfortable conversations. 
These conversations need to present a more accurate historical account of our country.
They should empower students to question things they don’t understand. Is it easy?
No! Is it necessary? YES! For their future and ours.

So our goal is to be more consistent with reflecting this year and making a stronger
effort to document our thoughts and results by posting here to not only help ourselves
make sense of the uncertainty that surrounds us but hopefully to help our readers as
well. We have some ideas for some new cross-curricular units that will of course
highlight social justice, but we will be bringing more current events to the forefront
of our lessons. We will have to adjust our tried and true Refugee and WWII/The
Book Thief units because we have found some activities that work better since we
last posted about them and because the state of education will be different this fall.
We will have to accommodate for social distancing/virtual learning, and whatever
else may surface as a result of this pandemic. So, stay tuned . . . more will be
coming your way as we attempt to plan and prepare for a school year that will have
to be one of the most flexible and changing years that current day educators have
ever experienced!

Back to School Community-Building Activities

We started back to school last Wednesday in a new school year with an unfamiliar group of students; however, we began building community and getting to know them on day one. The “Student Shoes” lesson that we developed for Innovation Institute guided us on day one and with a few additions we are already beginning to feel as though we know a little bit about these teens. I (Heather) usually have to have some connection or know a personality before remembering a name, so the sharing we all have done over the first three days of school have resulted in me being able to put a name to a face for all of my 119 junior high students. We decided to precede the shoe lesson with what we called a name sketch, so we gave each person a blank piece of copy paper and asked them to write their name prominently and then divide it into three sections. While you could require anything in these sections as a “get to know you” activity, we chose personality characteristics (we had to explain that we did not want physical traits), three goals (academic, fitness, and a goal for something outside of school), and finally we asked them to list their strengths. This was intentional to get them thinking about what they are good at so that after the shoe activity we could reasonably ask them to pick a strength to use this year.

I (Heather) feel that there were two really good springboards for conversation that these activities produced. The first was, after the students decorated their shoes (see above link) with colors and visuals explaining how they felt in that moment on the first day of school, we asked those who were willing to share with the class to do so. One of the best segues came when one of my students said she chose the flip-flop because she was sad summer was over, and she drew a sad face because she did not want to be back at school. I asked her why and she said, “because learning new things is hard.” Knowing we were going to discuss growth mindset I then asked how many people in the room agreed with her. Shocker . . . all hands went up. We were then able to talk about how the brain creates new pathways when you learn something new, and exercising that muscle is, in fact, difficult. I wrote that phrase on the board, and I tied it into my other three classes so that we were all able to admit to each other that we all have a hard time trying new things.

My other favorite thing that came out of this activity was in the follow-up the next day when we asked students to write down on an index card one strength that they had that they promised to bring to the classroom every day to contribute to the community we are building. I told them they would be displayed on the bulletin board at the front of my room, so to think hard about what they wrote down, because if at any time this year I feel that I am missing something from them, I will check the board to see what it is they listed as their strength. I loved hearing the different gifts they each offered, and while some of them were repeated, there were some that stood out. Oddly enough, in two of my classes, someone claimed “weirdness,” (I told them we also need quirks to make the world interesting) and I was thrilled to hear some kids say creativity, while another mentioned problem-solving. It was great to talk about how we would all be better together than we would be alone.

Here are some pictures of the shoes in the hallway:

Here are a few examples of name sketches:

Striking a Balance

In my (Terri) time as a student development professional and faculty member in higher education, I became familiar with the education theorist of that development stage. Much like Erikson, Vygotsky and others we learn of in our teacher education programs, there are theorists who have extensively studied college student development. Of these Nevitt Sanford’s theory has always greatly resonated with me. Sanford’s theory is built on the idea that students need both challenges and support in order to develop and become successful. When challenged too greatly without adequate support students become frustrated and give up. When supported without being adequately challenged students fail to learn and develop. While designed for higher education, I feel this is applicable to students at all levels of education.

How many times as a classroom teacher have I seen students quit before they fully begin a task, only to dig in and work harder when they receive acknowledgement for their efforts or additional support and encouragement? Conversely, how many times have I allowed students to skate by with the minimum effort and questioned what they really learned from an assignment.

Like everything in this profession, embracing a challenge and support mindset takes intentional thought and planning while keeping all students in mind. The challenge for one student, may for another, be done with little effort. Additionally, not all students need support in the same way. You have to know your students, know what motivates them. For junior high students sometimes this is even more of a challenge. The stakes are higher for them, and the motivation or excitement for school is sometimes declining, but I believe we who teach the middle year have a unique opportunity. We have the ability to help motivate and engage each and every student in way that inspires and challenges them, to reach those to whom the education system has not been so friendly and give them a sense of hope.

As a teacher, it may seem like just one more thing, but it really is the only thing. At the core of our profession is the goal of helping our students develop. In reality this takes place in a multitude of ways that don’t always follow the “standard curriculum.” As we look forward to the beginning of another school year and count down the last of summer, I challenge you to refocus and let this notion of challenge and support lead you to the end of the year. I challenge you to challenge and find supports for yourself as a professional, and see what a difference it can make in your life and the lives of your students.

Refugee Unit: A Cross Curricular Journey with English and Geography

So far this summer has been filled with things of which summer should consist: great reads, good PD, productive brainstorming sessions, sleeping later than normal, and time spent with friends and family. Amidst all of these things we have gotten a little behind with posting, so we decided to get back to our promise to you about our Refugee unit.

We previously mentioned that this unit came out of the requests of our 7th-grade students to build a unit just for them after they saw what our 8th-graders were doing with our WWII/Book Thief unit. Student engagement is the best encouragement to push harder and not quit, so we really had no choice but to meet their request.

Throughout the unit students worked extensively in groups in both English and Geography class to research, create, and collaborate on the themes presented. The set-up of this novel allowed us to easily connect with current and cultural events facing our own government and the governments of the world, while also discussing the social justice issues of immigration.

Refugee is a YA novel by Alan Gratz that was recently published that tells the story from three different perspectives, countries, and time periods. The experience of a Jewish refugee (Josef) from WWII Germany intermingles with the stories of both a girl (Isabel) escaping from Cuba in the 1990’s, and a modern day boy (Mahmoud) who is leaving Syria.

In geography this meant that I (Terri) had to toss out my rough plans for the remainder of the year in April and start over. I was not planning on focusing on the geographic locations of the novel, but saw this as an opportunity to deepen the learning of our students.  The main projects from the unit for geography were a group Google slides presentation on immigration policy in which students researched an assigned time period and location corresponding with one of the character’s journeys, and an annotated mapping activity in which groups plotted the characters’ journeys, created a timeline, and summarized major plot events. This activity helped bridge the gap between the curriculum of the two classes. Along the way, the students learned relevant historical information on the events that motivated the asylum seeking of the characters.

One of the ways in which the seamlessness of this unit between the two subject areas was apparent came very early when working with the students. For example, in English I (Heather) had originally planned on my kids doing some work with the characters and plot, but I quickly realized that when Terri had the students plot their journeys on annotated maps, the plot details were being covered. We discussed the social justice aspect so much that the characters were talked about in depth in class, so my project went to more of a geography-themed one in the form of a culture project. Students worked in groups to teach their classmates the culture of the country from which their assigned character originated. We had students dress up, learn about new religions, bring samplings of food, and share literary and art from each country.

Finding this novel and realizing that Terri saw the potential of using it as well was perfect for English for several reasons. One is because I really wanted to teach a unit with her for the 7th graders even before they asked for it because I believe that the more connections kids can make, the more the lesson sticks in their brains. Since 7th moved to Geography this past year, we threw out our previous year’s cross-curricular because it no longer fit. Another is because of my long-held belief that YAL is a perfect medium for teaching social justice issues. The fact that the format of this novel gave us something more to talk about from a literary standpoint was almost trivial because the life-lessons and social justice issues were so engaging and important.

The final piece of the unit was a joint reflective research paper by the individual students. This required the students to use their knowledge from the unit on current immigration policy and to integrate their knowledge of the church’s teaching on immigration to formulate their own opinion on immigration policies as well as support those opinions with research. Since we are teachers in a Catholic school we felt that this component was crucial to pull together everything we try to teach: geography, social studies, English, church teaching, and critical thinking.

We attempted to present the paper as a PBL, giving them the scenario that they were each members of a group in Washington forming new laws on immigration, and they were responsible for explaining their views, while taking the Catholic Church’s teachings about immigration into account. Ultimately, we are not sure that this part went as smoothly as we might have hoped from a PBL standpoint, but the students did come up with some well thought out ideas on immigration. With such a quick turn around from concept to presentation to the students (about two weeks), there is certainly room for us to grow and improve the unit for the upcoming year. A greater focus on the PBL component for instance, but given the timing overall we feel this was a successful unit to help keep engagement and authentic learning high at a point in the year when many students begin to lose focus. Jumping right in and making this unit happen allowed us as educators not only to push ourselves, but to show the kids that we were working up to the end of the year right along with them. They watched us adjust assignments and re-evaluate things we originally wanted them to do, thus proving to them that failure is a part of our journey. It is our hope that they took much more away from this unit than we originally intended.

When You See Student Development

I (Heather) was lucky enough to get a glimpse of my students’ empathy with our first activity related to our Refugee unit.

I was introduced to one of the founders of The Syrian Emergency Task Force by a parent, and found out that this organization has an office right here in Little Rock! While speaking with Natalie Larrison of the SETF to see if she would come and speak to our students about the crisis in Syria and what they are doing to help, she made me aware of a program that they have started, called “Letters of Hope.”  To participate in this program, all one must do is write a letter of inspiration, write a poem, or send an uplifting picture to a Syrian refugee. The SETF travels to Turkey every three months or so, and distributes them. We asked our junior high students to write letters for the upcoming trip that was going to take place the following week, and also asked those who were willing to meet at the SETF office to help package the letters for travel. In an effort to ensure that all the letters were respectful and appropriate before turning them over to Natalie, I read all 118 letters our kids wrote. I was overwhelmed with two things. The first was the difference in the writing between the kids I had taught for two years and the kids I have only had for one. I was impressed with the writing skills that most of the 8th graders showed in their letters, but not only that; they had depth. They had empathy.  They contained all of the things that I hoped that they would and more. In fact, I was so touched by the things they wrote that I felt compelled to send the following parent e-mail when I finished reading them (and finished wiping my eyes from tearing up - okay crying):

Good Morning All,

I have been proof-reading the letters the kids wrote yesterday before I take them to drop them off this afternoon, and I want to share with you how proud I am of these kids.  I can tell from what they wrote that they not only paid attention to what we taught them about the issues in Syria, but that they were truly empathizing with these people that they do not know, and will never meet.  I was amazed at the depth of some of their letters, and most of them were so heartfelt I knew I had to share this with you. As not only a teacher but as a parent of one of the members of this "talkie, rowdy class," reading the letters reminded me that despite the many issues this class went through this year,  and the many difficult teenage moments we as parents share with them in our homes, these are great kids. I am honored that I was able to get a rare glimpse into their hearts through this project. I will miss them all next year when they move on to high school.

Thank you for sharing your sons and daughters with me.  It has been a privilege.

I received several responses back from the parents thanking me for sending this e-mail because I took the time to share something good about their kids. Sometimes, a simple e-mail that goes out to parents when an individual or an entire group does something well means so much to a parent, especially if you write it in that moment when you are overwhelmed by something a student has done. Take the time to share these thoughts with your parents. Please share these stories or you will be the only one that knows them.

i2 Innovation - Springdale

It’s been a whirlwind spring. We were busy blogging and planning in April and then May hit us hard. With all the end of year events, final exam preparation, grades due, etc. we got a little behind. We ended the year looking forward to our presentation at i2 Innovation Conference in Springdale, Arkansas.

We’ve just wrapped up our presentation. Thanks to all who attended!  We hope it was a highlight of your conference. If you were unable to attend, here’s a link to all our presentation materials and a complete lesson plan http://bit.ly/studentshoes We hope you’ll take a look.

We’ll be back next week to share details of our cross-curricular unit on Refugee.

When the Interest is Real It Spreads

Every year our WWII unit catches the attention of the 7th graders. They ask questions, most of which we tell them they’ll have to wait to have answered, but their interest is piqued and they remember this as they enter our classes the following year.

This year, we actually had students ask us to create something like this unit for them! They asked us to give them more work, work that will be challenging, require research and analysis. They asked us! For me, this may be the greatest compliment as a teacher, when students are so excited for something that is being done they cannot wait to be included. Heather and I also realized we would be remiss if we did not seize the opportunity.

Once again, we jumped in with two feet. We decided to base a cross-curricular unit for our 7th grade around Refugee by Alan Gratz.

The 7th-grade social studies course is world geography. This opened doors in terms of content, but then the decision becomes where to stop the content. I didn’t want to delve too far into the history since some of it will overlap in 8th grade, but in order to understand the story the history is necessary.

From a social studies standpoint, the unit addressed basic geography - location, culture, history, and politics. I used this unit to build student’s research and writing skills, and discuss the theme of continuity and change over time.

The English component of the unit enabled students to not only read a book and examine the elements we always address: plot, characters, literary devices, themes, and setting, but the very content of this novel opened the door wide for us to delve into issues of social justice. My (Heather) hope for these students (and I know Terri is in agreement here) was that they begin to not only understand the issues of political unrest that have throughout history (and even present day) caused people to flee their countries in fear, but to begin to empathize with people in this unfortunate situation.

Building Better Lessons

I’ve read that every innovated teacher faces challenges of innovation. These challenges may range from resistance from students or parents, struggling to find time to teach and plan with innovation. We’ve seen it, faced it, and experienced it. There are certainly highs and lows in this profession. At this time of the year (it’s April), I (Terri) am certainly feeling the exhaustion start to set in. So now is the time to dig deep and shake up what I do. I need it as much as the students at this point in the year where everyone is looking towards summer break with anticipation. Let me be clear, I love my job! I teach at an amazing school, have the support of the best colleagues around, and work daily with respectful children who want to learn! But by April, we all feel the hours.

So how do I stay true to the profession late in the year? I refuse to let myself settle. I force myself to do what I ask of my students. I strive to model for them what I ask of them - to work until the last minute of the year.

This year this looks like building a new HyperDoc to be the center of my Civil Rights Unit for eighth grade. This will help carry us to the end of the year integrating technology, primary source documents, research, and student investigation. In seventh grade, it means building a new unit from scratch and jumping in with a rough idea of where it will land. This is perhaps the most unnerving thing I do as a teacher. I always want to know the end before we begin, but now I am right in there with the students - researching, making connections, etc. They like that I am not so many steps ahead of them. It’s new content for me to teach, so planning takes longer, and it is timely and relevant which also means it’s a potential hot-button topic for parents. I am learning right along with the students up to the very end of the year - trying my best to model what lifetime learning looks like.

I challenge you now, on the cusp of May and summer vacation right on our heels, to try something new with your kids. See where it takes you!

Cross-Curricular Unit Final Projects

We wrap up the novel using the same groups in which the students work in social
studies to create the final projects. The first is simply called “The Color Project,”
and the idea started with a project bundle I (Heather) purchased from Gretchen
Blynt at Teachers Pay Teachers (the same one the entrance ticket idea came from).
I used Blynt’s idea of having students choose a scene from the novel to create
using one color that seems important to that particular scene, and created a
bigger project around it. To begin, groups are all assigned a color in the novel,
and are tasked with finding as many mentions of their color as they can. They
must collect the quotes and page numbers on a collaborative document. They
are then asked to write a group analysis about their color based on any patterns
or recurrences they see in the quotes they researched. Along with this, students
are asked to choose a scene in which their color is prominent which they will
illustrate using only their color, as well as write an analysis on why they believe
their color is represented in their chosen scene.

Their next group project is the culmination of the unit, and students will present
this final piece at the same time they present their social studies display.  Each
group is assigned a character, and they create a body biography on six foot
bulletin board paper including quotes, characteristics, symbols, and important
events in the character’s life.  They must assign a color to their character, and
explain why that color represents their character's personality.

By the end of the unit for US History, the students have worked collaboratively
to create huge display pieces on their assigned research topic. These
pieces are large black sheets of bulletin board paper 6ft. longg. Each piece
highlights the research by displaying a timeline, relevant historical quotes,
summary of the topic and original artwork. The display piece also allows
for a connection to the color project from English. Each group must assign
a color to the historical topic they have researched, and explain why they
feel this color best suits the topic. This allows for a little extra imagination
and creativity in an otherwise research heavy assignment. Each group must
also create a collaborative Google slides presentation. In order to balance the
individual and group components, each group member keeps an accountability
log of all their work throughout the entire process. This is their chance to
describe their role and contribution to the group.

Here are some of the English and social studies projects hanging side by side:

Where It All Starts to Come Together

Two of my favorite days to teach are the two that Terri and I take the entire 8th-grade class (58-60 students) out of the classroom for two hours each day to weave together both of our content areas with social awareness/justice. The two of us were fortunate to attend a workshop sponsored by Facing History and Ourselves, in which they taught us some techniques and lessons for teaching Alexandra Zapruder’s Salvaged Pages. (This is an anthology of diaries by teenagers who lived in ghettos and concentration camps during World War II.)  The workshop is the basis from which we teach these two days, and they have become some of the most meaningful teaching we do.  Part of it is the content, but the other part is the rare glimpse we get of each other teaching, and the ways we are able to piggyback off of each other’s comments and teaching styles.  I think I learn something new every time we teach this because we each grow in our own knowledge, and then we pass this along to our students in different ways.

We begin our first day discussing why teenagers write, and then reading some of the diary entries and asking the students to determine why those particular authors wrote.  The students then watch a video about the stages of the war, and they begin to understand the years of preparation that it took to make the Holocaust happen. They read different primary source documents from Kristallnacht, including newspaper articles, and telegrams, and the realization hits that this night of destruction is not something that just occurred: it was planned in detail, in writing, with many stipulations.

Day Two Reflection

On the second day of our cross-curricular lesson we gathered with kids interested, but a little more cautious than they were on day one. I think they thought it would be more of the same and didn't want to look at more PSD. We started this lesson with a clip from MTV’s documentary “I’m Still Here:  Diaries of Young People Who Lived During the Holocaust.” The clip we show is only about 4 minutes long, short enough we can view it several times through the activity, long enough to add layers of depth to our content.

Through multiple viewings of the clip, students share their reactions, analyze specific elements, and discuss editing and presentation choices. With each viewing students are more deeply immersed in the content and are challenged to consider different perspectives. This technique of re-visiting the same material with various purposes in mind shows rather than tells the kids that they can learn something new each time they read a text, especially if they are looking for different elements.

The video itself is heavy because of the content.  Students become connected to this “anonymous girl” as actors read her diary and music and images are used to enhance the somber and depressing mood. The connection deepens when we read the end of her diary to them, and the ominous meaning of her interrupted sentence sinks in.  The possibilities of what happened to her, and why she ends mid-sentence begin to run through their minds.

One can almost feel the relief from the students when the next activity is a kinesthetic one: they are told to move to a location in which they have plenty of room and are given index cards to write down words or phrases that jump out at them as they read one of the provided diary entries.  The kids then create found poetry from the words they have taken from these texts, and they present them to one another. This is a wonderful way to end this heavy two days because the students are able to create something that connects them to teenagers living very different lives from what they know. Empathy is growing in them deeper and stronger as a result of experiencing someone else’s life through the written word.

Innovation - Getting The Students Interested and Making them Enjoy the Work

Since The Book Thief is such a long novel, students begin reading and working in English before they begin discussing the historical components in social studies (although to truly make this cross-curricular we do talk about some of the events in English), one of the ways we begin to tie things together is by having the students create a writer’s notebook that they will use in both classes.  In English, students will journal about quotes or themes related to the novel, as well as answer personal prompts that will eventually guide students toward choosing their topic for a memoir created at the end of the unit. In social studies, students use the notebook first to brainstorm and then to reflect on leadership characteristics. This always opens an interesting discussion on what it takes to be a good leader, especially in regard to the leaders of the world during WWII. Later we use the notebooks for various reflections on primary source documents or class discussions.

As a way to explore the novel and allow students to show what they have read, students are required to create an entrance ticket for each section of the book in order to be admitted to class the day a reading assignment is to be completed.  This has truly become my favorite way to discuss a novel, because the kids come up with symbolic and personal connections to the text in a way that allows them to be creative. Some of their creations truly are works of art: