I found a very interesting blog with a wonderful teacher who is very artistic.....my favorite type of teacher! Check him out! You should also check out his wife's blog...she is a handwork teacher. http://thewaldorfway.blogspot.com/2010/02/divine-proportion.html
Read about eleven different ways to meaningfully incorporate art in ELA class. Keep the focus on students' learning, not their artistic abilities.
Novel Studies that Promote Higher Order Thinking It's time for another interactive novel study! By now, I'm sure you know just how much I love using novels to teach authentic literacy skills. I have talked about using
Don't forget to review the five parts of the plot. All stories, no matter how basic, follow this outline.
Language arts bell ringers for middle school get class started in an orderly way. Here are five successful bell ringers.
Free 7th & 8th grade worksheets, printable games, and activities to make learning math, literacy, history, and science engaging and FUN!
Teaching symbolism for literary analysis: symbolism is throughout literature and once students understand the concept, they appreciate reading more.
In this post, I'll teach you how to host a figurative language tasting activity--a lesson that gets kids writing explosive images every time!
Learn how to teach your students tone and mood in writing, and get access to exercises to help them practice – read on to find out more!)
Make learning how to diagram sentences easier with this diagramming sentences cheat sheet! Learn how to use the different parts of speech and sentences.
Every high school student will read a Shakespeare play at some point. And how teachers approach Shakespeare initially will make or break that relationship with the Bard. Think about Romeo and Juliet. The play opens with a fight scene in which a lot of the action is implied, there are a bunch of randy jokes, and the ... Read more
Looking for a new way to help your students explore and express themselves through the power of writing? Use these 7th grade prompts to get them started!
Can you provide meaningful instruction without a grammar worksheet? You can, and here are ten alternatives to the grammar worksheet.
Interactive Reading Literature Notebooks ~ Literary Elements for Common Core Grades 4-8 After learning about interactive notebooks last summer, I resolved to use this technique for every concept I taught to my 6th, 7th, and 8th grade literature students. Now that I’ve used this in my classroom for a year, I have compiled all […]
Your student will explore the figurative language in Robert Frost's beautiful poem, "The Road Not Taken."
I giggled to myself as I created the title to this blog post! If you are new to my blog, I'll have you know that this is the THIRD time I've written an "ELA in
Daily grammar practice is a tool that helps students practice and master grammar standards. Learn more about grammar spiral review in the classroom.
complex sentences lesson ideas
Teaching middle school is like no other teaching assignment - like no other task on Earth for that matter. As a teacher, you need to be just the right mix of cool and strict - but most important, calm. You need to have a good relationship with your students overall based on mutual respect. But that's much easier said than done. Here's the thing about middle schoolers in particular: They want to look good in front of their peers. What their peers think of them is of utmost importance to them (whether they are in touch with that reality or not). Therefore, they will "save face" if they think you, the teacher, are criticizing them or making them look bad in any way. (Meanwhile, you meant no harm; you were simply calling them out on a behavior they clearly exhibited). The thing is you can't call them out in front of their peers. I mean you can, but you shouldn't. Whenever possible, call out their less-than-stellar behavior one-on-one, without their peers hearing it. This could mean going to their desk and whispering, or waiting for a good time to call them to your desk ever so calmly. It's easier to call them out from wherever you are, but if you want your class under control and to maintain respect, somehow arrange a private convo instead. The Goal is this, which is my #1 Rule for Teaching Middle School: No Power Struggles Have you ever noticed how some kids act so differently when their peers aren't around? Let's say a kid in your class before lunch was really pushing your buttons and disrupting class, but then he forgets his lunch in your room. He comes back to get it. You two talk. He's really nice and respectful! You have a pleasant conversation. You're wondering if this is the same person or perhaps a twin brother you weren't aware of. What is going on? IT'S BECAUSE HIS PEERS AREN'T THERE! I'm using a boy as an example, but the same thing applies to girls. Do NOT try to address a student's behavior in full view of his or her peers (a.k.a. the audience). You could get yourself into a full-blown power struggle before you know it. At first, by drawing attention to his or her behavior in front of his or her peers, you may inadvertently say something or suggest something that makes the student, from his or her perspective, look bad or uncool or different in some way. If you're not careful, you might find that the child you're disciplining escalates the situation, essentially trying to look good at any cost, even if that means receiving a negative consequence. For some kids, receiving a negative consequence is just more attention (and even negative attention is attention) and the whole situation will most likely make most of the students in the class think you're the bad guy and he or she is the good guy. You don't want that. There should not be a bad guy or a good guy, just you the teacher calmly in control. What you want to do is simply find a way to calmly speak to the student one-on-one. Keep your voice calm, logically explain everything, follow through on a fitting consequence OUT OF VIEW OF THEIR PEERS and most likely you'll avoid the full-blown power struggle. And, whenever possible, DO POINT OUT POSITIVE BEHAVIORS IN FRONT OF THEIR PEERS. Give them the good attention they want deep down inside. Say something like "Hey everyone, I really like how Alex is using his notes to write his essay. Wow, he's almost done." I heard you are supposed to give five praises for every one disciplinary comment. I say I heard that, because I need to work on that lol. GOOD LUCK! Here's another trick I learned. When you provide your students with high-interest learning resources they feel are relevant to them and interesting in some way, they will actually behave better. They will get sucked into whatever you are trying to get them read, write, or do and forget about misbehaving. So, that's why I created these high-interest informational texts and tasks. I went out of my way to make the articles super interesting to middle schoolers by writing about things that interest them. And, guess what? It worked. I keep hearing from teachers how kids get so into these passages. They actually want to answer the questions. They even want to discuss the articles as a group. And teachers keep reporting how much time and hassle I have saved them. I did that by aligning every text and task to a specific Reading Informational Text Standard and did that 10 times to cover all 10 of them individually. Now teachers don't have to go searching for the right articles that bring out the right skills. Try both volumes and use them all year long! Your students are actually going to behave better because they won't be bored! I even made them in both PDF and interactive Google Slides in case you want the easy distance learning option! And don't forget to pin this so you can read it again or share it with a friend. Best wishes to you this year! You got this!
As teachers we spend countless hours searching for the perfect activities to go along with our lessons. Having a list of go-to resources that can be used the
Use Mentor Sentences in your ELA middle school classroom to improve student writing! Find practical ideas to teach writing skills.
Are you a fan of Pop Art? Look no further than our Pop Art Worksheet! This worksheet is designed to engage and educate individuals who have an interest in the iconic art movement. With its vibrant colors and bold patterns, Pop Art is sure to captivate the artistic minds. Get ready to delve into the world of Warhol, Lichtenstein, and other influential Pop Artists as you analyze their works and explore the concepts behind this popular art style. Get your creative juices flowing and have fun while learning about this fascinating subject!
mrstfoxresources.com | Disco Ball Drawing Art - Teaching acrylic painting to beginners can be a daunting task, especially when faced with numerous factors involved in ensuring a successful painting class. Engaging Middle and High School Art Students with Disco Ball Painting Watercolor AcrylicOil paintMixed mediaCollage Printmaking PotteryGlaze Artistic technique
Our latest art project includes aspects of 3 major styles of art. Realism - art that depicts objects/people in a realistic way. Abstract - art that depicts objects/people in a semi-form creation Non-Objective - art that does not depict any form, just design and expression. This fantastic lesson can be found on TPT HERE. We chose an object to depict using all three art forms. The item was segmented into three columns and each art form was used in the different column. Middle = Realism Left = Abstract Right = Non-Objective. As usual, I am blown away by the creatively of my kids. They all have done an incredibly job expressing their creative sides!
My 8th graders art talents vary from amazing to down right pitiful. As a middle school art teacher, I do not grade on talent, I grade on ...
After a decade of teaching high school art, I've recently moved to teaching middle school art. It's a blast and there is truly NEVER a dull moment. Through some trial and error, I've learned that some projects are more engaging than others. Below are some of my favorite middle school art projects that have yielded
This year my school adopted a new schedule. Now, instead of seeing my classes daily for 47 minutes, each day we drop one period. In addition, each class has one weekly “long block” that is 68 minut…
I gave students 4 pictures of owls printed on a single sheet of paper in black and white. We made 3x3 inch view finders with construction p...
Radial Symmetry is a uniquely satisfying project theme for middle schoolers. Even the most basic of designs gets repeated in a way that yields eye-catching results. Here is my take on a printed ver…
My 8th graders art talents vary from amazing to down right pitiful. As a middle school art teacher, I do not grade on talent, I grade on ...
I love the Grid Drawing technique! Okay, just had to get that out there. These printable worksheets are ideal for cover or sub lessons and my students love doing them! Grid drawing is, I think, fundamental to improving confidence and skills in art. Used correctly, the grid method is fantastic for helping students to concentrate,…
Neurographic Art has been a hit the past couple of years in middle school art rooms across the country! This mindful, intentional mark-making drawing method provides students with lots of freedom, …
