Piedmont PD
  • Celebrating Piedmont
  • StudentSpace
  • Piedmont PD
  • Lesson Ideas
  • News and Thoughts

Readworks.Org

5/6/2016

1 Comment

 
PictureThis is a screenshot of all the content areas covered in the readings.

Picture
This is a screenshot of all the skills you can find readings for
ReadWorks is a free site that lets  you choose and use readings for your students that relate to your subject and at the lexile you choose. Even better, you can sort by skill! Perfect for thinking skills, close reading, content-based reading, and more.

To use Readworks
  1. go to Readworks.org
  2. Select the blue tab called "reading passages"
  3. search for the reading you want - sort by grade, lexile, topic, text type or strategy.
  4. To save it, email it, add it to edmodo, etc just sign in or sign up using your school email and create a password- you will automatically be signed in.

So many choices. For example, here are 7th grade life sciences readings

​

if you are a sixth grade teacher you can use any of the other blue tabs as well since they are K6, but only the Reading Passages tab is grade K-12
​

Introduction to ReadWorks Curriculum from ReadWorks on Vimeo.

1 Comment

Perplexors: Higher Order Thinking prep +Reading and math Skills

5/6/2016

1 Comment

 
Perplexors are word puzzles that require close reading and or math skills plus deductive reasoning to solve the problems.

​ Introduce Perplexors the first weeks of school next year as group activities, then you can incorporate them into your lesson plans throughout the year any time you need:

 An Additional Center Activity in your mix
AN EMerGency sub Assignment
A dispersal Assigment
A team-building Activity to practicE in Groups
Enrichment Assignment for Compacted students
An Extra Assigment for Odd Schedule days, etc:

 Since my last lesson idea post was very standardized EOG prep, I thought this was a good time to mention two math and reading skills resources you can incorporate into class that will help your student not just with standardized testing skills but also with logic and higher order thinking skills that will help them well past the time their standardized test taking days are over.

Ms. Lyttle and Ms. Malone saw Perplexors in use during their PL visit to Park Road Montessori's sixth grade.

Perplexors offer free samples and here is the Link To Purchase  if you like the samples. Specific types of perplexors such as Grid perplexors, Venn Diagaram perplexors and more books are available on Amazon and elsewhere.
Perplexor Tutorials are available on Youtube:
Basic level Math Perplexor Sample:
bakers_get_the_bues_perplexor.pdf
File Size: 347 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Expert Level Math Perplexor Sample:
expert_level_math_perplexor.pdf
File Size: 27 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Basic level Perplexor sample
basic_level_perplexor_dog_race.pdf
File Size: 28 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Level D Perplexor Sample 
report_card_fun_perplexor_level_d.pdf
File Size: 30 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Here's an embedded perplexor for you to see:
starving_artists_perplexor.pdf
File Size: 41 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File



1 Comment

Bring Content to LIfe tHrough Drama

5/21/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
PicturePiedmont students arrive in character to play two of the many roles in the trial. Each year characters are different according to the students' trial notes and decisions made while reading the novel.
Some teachers say " Don't bring your drama into my classroom"  Mr. Milligan requires it. His Pigman reenactment is a Piedmont tradition.

Over the years Mr. Milligan has honed the Pigman Trial project into a complete interdisciplinary lesson that encapsulates the best of IB,  reading comprehension, creative thinking, multiple intelligences, and real-world skills development.  That's a pretty impressive list from just one unit but it is an all-encompassing one that is true PBL, project based learning.







Even if you don't want to copy Mr. Milligan's full unit (and honestly who else could?) you can easily adapt pieces of dramatic-based learning to help your students master your content.   It could be as simple as having students perform skits to explain units of a text, vocabulary charades or as complex as putting an aspect of your own content "on trial" or having students create a character from your content area and remain "in character" through a full class of interaction. 
See Ms. Gurthie for more ideas or to plan together.

Picture
Picture
Picture
A student videographer prepared this full-length documentary video of this year's Pigman trial. Sure it's three hours long, but anywhere you click will show students thinking and arguing their point, and helping each other develop understanding in the process. 

Thanks, Mr. Milligan, for using your own gifts in designing this active learning experience for Piedmont's seventh grade!  For more information you can view some of  Mr. Milligan's unit from his presentation on the Pigman Trial PBL  year's North Carolina gifted conference here .

Related Posts:
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/gods-and-goddesses-of-piedmont
  • 6th grade character monologues
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/7th-grade-brings-history-to-life Living History Museum
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/7th-grade-video-stars includes a WWI reenactment experience
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/piedmont-teachers-gamify-social-studies
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/gifted-and-ib-conference-notes includes drama-incorporating education strategies including ThoughtTunnel, Living Museum, and Soundscape
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/hi-tech-art-instruction 
  • http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/6th-grade-active-learning
0 Comments

Introducing a Maker Project to Your Students

2/5/2015

1 Comment

 
Are you considering trying a STEAM-infused student-choice-driven product into a curriculum that is usually paper and pen based? Ms. Brown and I use these talking points to introduce Maker Movement STEAM-infused learning into her sevent grade English Language Arts class for a novel project.  



Here is the basic gist of how we introduced it together that you can adapt to suit your needs:
  • Say:
 "A new project is coming."
  • Show photos of maker projects from last year's Whirligig unit
  • Discuss why each is special (use of Minecraft redstone to power, battery power instead of wind, recycled materials, artistic theme...)
  • Ask students:
"Does each person in this classroom in back and in front and on side of you know what you are amazing at?" Does Ms Brown? Do you?
  • Explain the Maker Movement and why you assigning a maker project in your class:

"The Maker Movement is something teachers are excited about in education because it gives you an opportunity to use your gifts that may not be traditionally gifts you can use or show off in school.
Now some of you are straight A students (is it cool to be straight A? Yes it is!) and for you writing might be your gift. You should choose to re write the ending. 
Maybe writing is your thing but you are usually a songwriter - then write a song.
Maybe you struggle with words but you are good at building. This is your chance to use that skill. Many people say that the future will need you to use your skills for entrepreneurship more than we had to in Ms. Brown and my's day.  So you need to know what your good at and how to sell yourself as a brand so people will want to hire you.  
Don't choose the art choice if you don't have still in drawing. Don't wait til the last day and try to draw something on the bus when you have no skill, haven't made it special. 
If you know what makes you special, then do that. If you don't know come see me in the media center and I'll help you choose. 
One skill that is becoming more and more important is the skill of videography. (Tell story of $75,000 Belk Video Contest) If you'd like to do a video trailer of the book, I will be back next week to show you how. You need to really tell the story with video. Make a trailer, but don't make a video that doesn't really speak to the book or show your knowledge of the characters.  
Maybe you'd like to create a 3D Object- Choose the whirligig building choice. If you know someone who is good with tools and that is something you'd like to do ask them to help you build with wood. You can also just cut paper and straws. But whatever you do make it great. 
One of the points of maker movement is to use skills we don't always give you a chance to develop in school.  You can code a whirligig in Scratch, engineer one to move, anything you want. But start work early so you have time to do a good job, or to fail and decide you want to change. Don't wait unitl the due date. Show off so I can post it and make you famous! Hopefully what you make will inspire other students to be their best and other teachers to try more projects like this. 
  • Remind students of the content goal:
Don't forget to pay attention as your read so you can find themes and details to make your work amazing. 
  • Offer support:
Don't be frustrated by false starts and prototype failures that are part of the maker process. If you can't start or get overwhelmed,  see me for help.


RELATED POSTS:
http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/whirligigs-an-example-of-maker-movement-in-education
http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas/have-students-make-a-movie
http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas/makerspace-resources4pbl
http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/love-of-learning-at-piedmont



1 Comment

Student Movie-Making - Update

10/16/2014

0 Comments

 
Many teachers here at Piedmont have used student-created movies to teach their content. Above are just two examples - a stop motion film of an scene from Seedfolks for Language arts and a video of a student created Minecraft Pyramid from Mrs. Kay's social studies Ancient Egypt unit. 

Try these lesson plans to get started 
  • Example of Instructions to Students: Coach Ashley's Dance Movie Assignment
  • http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/vocabulary-learning-filmmaking-vocabulary-30683.html?tab=4#session7
  • http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/movie-making-classroom

Our School Resources:
  1. Student BYOT devices with a camera and free or paid video editing app 
  2. our iPads have Movie Maker, Action Movie HD, and iMotionHD loaded
  3. Our Makerspace's Video SteamCart http://piratesteamship.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/STEAMshipCarts Tech Theater: Photography and Videography STEAMcart Contains:
  • Greenscreen
  • Video slapboard
  • How to Book and How to Videos http://video.klutz.com/animation/
  • Various cameras- video and still (students may also use their phones and BYOT devices)
  • Paper and markers for paper slide videos
  • 37 beanie babies for puppet theater or stop motion videos
  • lego bricks and figures for stop motion videos
  • How to Make RSA animate Style Videos
  • Goal Setting, Goal Achieving, and Bulldog puppets

Recommended BYOT apps for movie making :
  1. iMovie  Videolicious if students cannot get iMovie
  2. Action Movie HD
  3. Lego Movie
  4. Do Ink App - (costs $2.99) Do Ink  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/green-screen-by-do-ink/id730091131?mt=8
If using a shared ipad, you can upload and download the video as needed from Google Drive:
(Sorry I ironically broke the cardinal rule of movie making - NEVER HOLD  YOUR DEVICE LONGWAYS Learn from my mistake!)
This video shows how to upload and share from your device
This video shows how to turn in a video link for an assigment on Google Classroom
0 Comments

An Unusual Way to Honor 9/11

9/9/2014

1 Comment

 
Picture
b22238Thanks to @btcostello05 on Twitter who pointed out to me that that this is the last year any k-8 students would have been born before 9/11. His school event and the members of his Voxer group also inspired this post. And thanks to@artlaflamme for suggesting the documentary.

The following lesson was created after reading the children's book The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordecai Gerstein.  

It tells the true story (nonfiction alert for your Common Core needs!) of Mr. Phillipe Petit walking the wires between the Twin Towers when the World Trade Center was first built.
Documentary footage here

The stunt embodies beautiful messages of hope in humanity and of optimism and creativity.
It should inspire some good conversations if you read it and discuss with your class.

It can be an accompaniment to a more traditional memorial lesson or a good note to end on that may help heal hurts.

5 Steps Lesson :

1- intro 

Introduce the purpose. "Today is 9/11 and on this day in history we memorialize those who died in the attack on the World Trade Center in New York City among other locations.
The Twin towers were the tallest towers in the world - a quarter of a mile high. One little-known fact about them is that when they were first built, a high rope walker actually walked on a wire between them! He snuck up to their roof, shot an arrow with a wire on it across to his friends on the other tower and then performed for amazed onlookers for more than an hour in the sky!

That daredevil's name is Phillipe Petit and he has some inspiring words for you about how to follow your dreams and achieve the impossible. 

2- Read storybook and/or show one of the following video clips, depending on the ages or interests of your students:

  • Tightrope walk with a million views - http://youtu.be/6ddpV1GvF7E
  • Movie Trailer - http://youtu.be/EIawNRm9NWM
  • Picture book read aloud (it is great to share with students however his French name is mispronounced): 

3- Discussion Questions and larger lesson tie ins:

"He looked not at the towers but at the space between them"
Issue: Thinking "outside the box" and an artist temperament:
 Have you ever seen something totally differently than most people would? Do you see yourself as an artist in how you see things? Why or why not?              

"Of course he knew that ...the police and the owners of the towers would never allow it. You must be crazy! they would say. You'd fall for sure"
Issue: Positive Deviance:
Was he wrong to break the law? What is the role of public and private safety versus an artistic dream...          

Issue: How far should you go for a friend? for your job?:
Would you have helped Phillipe carry the 440 lb reel of cable up 180 stairs to the roof if he was your friend?
Would you have walked on the wire to stop him if you'd been a cop then?

"Bad luck" thought Phillipe but he did not quit. 
Would you have quit trying amidst his setbacks? Should he have?  How do you motivate yourself past your strings of 'bad luck?' do you believe in bad luck? good luck?

"Though during his performance some boys playing on his wire jerked it and Phillipe fell...but caught himself"
Have you ever done something accidental or on purpose that messed up someone else? How did you react?
Have you ever "caught yourself" and fixed a problem that was about to be big?


"He could feel the towers breathing. 
He was not afraid.
He felt alone and happy and absolutely free" 
Issue: Figurative language: Why does the author say 'he could feel the towers breathing" when we all know towers don't breathe?
He was not afraid Have you ever felt unafraid when others would be scared?
When have you felt absolutely free?


Issue: metacognition and taking another's point of view: Why do you think I read this book with you today? Why did we spend this time discussing it? How would you commemorate 9/11 if you were a teacher?

4- Physical activities:

  •  Draw 7/8 of an inch thick rope on your paper. Cut it out. Would you walk on it?
  • Try to walk a completely straight line
  • Walk along a straight line on the wood or tile seams of your floor, 
  • Walk along anything narrow - a yardstick or a board placed on the ground, a raised curb of a garden or balance beam. 

Did you get a feel for Phillipe's bravery (see the added talks below for more on that) doing all that up in the air so high! Would you try high wire walking? What physical feats are you proud of/impressed by?

5- Conclusion and/ Links to Further Exploration: 

Let's all try to honor the victims of 9/11 today by not giving up when things seem hard and by believing in ourselves and our dreams.

To learn more about what Mr. Petit can teach us, 
 Click below To view Mr.Petit speaking (some adult language- please preview and show clips as needed) TED Talk-style on the highly educational topics of:
  • Problem Solving
  • Fear "fear is lack of knowledge" "I don't like animals with too many legs"  
  • Mistakes and Learning (failure as part of learning)
  • The Magic of Wirewalking
  • His Philosophy of Life  (Angela Maiers type universal genius)"we are born with the impossible in us" If you are passionate about something you're going to do it day and night and you're going to be tenacious" Believe in yourself, what you love, don't take no for an answer. Don't try once and give up! If you do you're already dead.  "I have no discipline"  (great answer to "Grit" obsession!) 
 
1 Comment

A Lesson On Loss

5/29/2014

0 Comments

 
"Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently" - Maya Angelou
Picture
Poet, performer, professor, and powerhouse Maya Angelou died today in Wake Forest NC at age 86.

If you would like to honor her today, you can read a poem of hers or ask students to do so. 

Here is one that can also be used as a point of discussion on her passing, or the passing of any great person in students' family or society at large:

Discussion questions and activities follow. If you wish, select a few that you'd really like  to try. I am a big believer in not asking a question unless you are TRULY curious what the answer will be.

 If you don't want to discuss the poem, you can start by asking students if they agree with the lead quotation above.  

When Great Trees Fall
Maya Angelou
 
When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.

Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.

And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly.  Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed.  They existed.
We can be.  Be and be
better.  For they existed.

"We can learn to see each other and see ourselves in each other and recognize that human beings are more alike than we are unalike."  - Maya Angelou

Discussion Questions and Activities - 

Which one of these images is most powerful or disturbing to you? Why?

  • rocks on distant hills shuddering
  • lions hunkering down in tall grasses,
  • elephants lumbering after safety.


The line "small things recoil into silence their senses eroded beyond fear" reminds me of a traditional proverb from Africa: "When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers" (maybe it is just the previous image of lions hunkering down in the tall grasses.) In honor of Ms. Angelou's talents, illustrate* a quote or proverb: *Your illustrativeinterpretation could be visual art, dance, song, dramatic performance or other.
You can choose one of these two above Maya Angelou quotations or find another African proverb or or Maya Angelou quotation that speaks to you. (use BYOT to search!) 

Angelou writes "When great souls die, the air around us becomes light, rare, sterile."
 What do you think about her choice of words here- light, rare, sterile? Compare it to her description of caves later. What is she asking us to feel, see or think and why?

Is your reality bound to any great soul on this earth? If so tell us about how, for those who don't understand that line.

Why is this poem titled "When Great Trees Fall in Forests? " What could another title for the poem be? 

Have you experienced this? :
"And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly.


CULMINATING CHALLENGE:


"We can be.  Be and be
better. 
For they existed."
As a tribute to Ms. Angelou, try today to "be and be better" because of one thing you learned from this poem or discussion or example of her life.

0 Comments

Blendspace Bailey-style

5/21/2014

0 Comments

 

Try Personalizing learning with a Tool like BlendSpace next lesson.

Ms. Bailey has been trying out the site Blendspace in her classroom. She uses it through Edmodo, and is getting great results with it as a tool to personalize learning according to her students needs and move them up in skills. She reports also that she can see exactly how they are doing via Bendspace teacher reports. Read on to see photos of how Ms. Bailey uses it and for links to get started if you'd like to try it!
Picture
Ms. Bailey's students reading in the computer lab via BlendSpace on Edmodo.
Picture
Click here to go to BlendSpace website.
Picture
Want to know more about Blendspace ?

Here is a BlendSpace about Blendspaces made by a middle school teacher


If you like the idea of blogging and shared learning, notice that blendspace also posts students work so they can collaborate and share.
Picture
Ms. Bailey made this BlendSpace which includes images, video, her wiki, links for student learning AND ...Completed blendspaces so that students can see each other's work!
Picture
Sample question and answer for students.
Picture
BlendSpace integrates with Google Drive. Here Ms. Bailey can take an item from her google drive files on the right and just Drag it into her BlendSpace on the left- that easy!
Picture
Picture
Here's a closeup of all the icons that automatically integrate with BlendSpace so you can create a blendspace by just drag- and drop.
Picture
Ms. Bailey is able to see reports like this plus graphs and charts of how each child is scoring and where they are in the work she assigns.
Picture
Picture
Ms. Bailey's student approves of personalized learning via BlendSpace!
0 Comments

Milk jug igloo

5/1/2014

0 Comments

 

I really want someone at Piedmont to try with their students to create this milk jug igloo Canadian teacher Ray Hoppins posted on Twitter last night.

. Besides the obvious social skills such as perseverance grit and teamwork- I'll help you brainstorm how this can fit into your content objectives as well - because I selfishly really want to see one in person!

And just imagine, when the lesson is over, you've got an awesome chill spot or reading nook!

Picture
If second graders can do it, we can!

http://earthwiseharmony.com/KIDS/EH-Fun-With-Recycling-Make-a-Milk-Bottle-Igloo.html

0 Comments

NerdAlert Backchannel 

4/16/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
This post was inspired by CMS's own Malik Richardson's (@mrich1191 on Twitter) tweet of this article:
http://www.edudemic.com/teachers-and-students-should-backchannel/
 
Ms. Burick (@NerdAlert497 on Twitter) devised a method of using backchannel in class with non-fiction reading that can work with any discipline anytime of the year. It also is a great first step at BYOT integration for teachers who are not sure how to use devices in class to increase learning. She simply opens a backchannel and projects it on her screen as student thumb through books on the topic she has provided. As students encounter facts they want to share, they post them for each other.  This can be done even with a textbook chapter, but students love to see a large selection of inviting library books in the room to pick from.

Not only does "Nerdalert Backchannel" allow all voices to be heard, Ms. Burick reports it motivates the students to read more as they challenge each other to come up with the "best" facts.  It allows sharing to happen at a convenient time for both the reader and the writer, so the entire class does not have to stop reading when someone wants to share a fact. Students can look up from their reading as they wish and contribute at their own pace. It also forces students to think through their thoughts a bit more than just raising their hands, and gives instant feedback for sharing in the form of "oohs and aaahs" from classmates!


0 Comments
<<Previous

    Categories

    All
    Active Learning
    App
    Character Ed
    Close Reading
    Common Core
    Critical Thinking
    Design Thinking
    Digital Citizenship
    Digital Literacy
    Fiction
    Google
    Interdisciplinary
    Maker
    Math
    Nonfiction
    PBL
    Pedagogy
    Problem Solving
    Reading
    Schoolwide
    Science
    Social Emotional Learing
    Socratic
    Sports
    STEAM
    Tech
    Test Prep
    Visual Literacy
    Whole Child

    Author

     I am Lisa Gurthie the PD facilitator at Piedmont IB Middle School. She specializes in tech and arts integration, interdisciplinary, holistic education, and unschooling school to make it more real and relevant. One day I will modernize my "about" page. Check out the other blogs on this site for Lesson Ideas, Celebration of Good Teaching, and Piedmont PD

    Archives

    February 2021
    November 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    October 2017
    June 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    October 2015
    September 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014

    Categories

    All
    Active Learning
    App
    Character Ed
    Close Reading
    Common Core
    Critical Thinking
    Design Thinking
    Digital Citizenship
    Digital Literacy
    Fiction
    Google
    Interdisciplinary
    Maker
    Math
    Nonfiction
    PBL
    Pedagogy
    Problem Solving
    Reading
    Schoolwide
    Science
    Social Emotional Learing
    Socratic
    Sports
    STEAM
    Tech
    Test Prep
    Visual Literacy
    Whole Child

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos from citymaus, The All-Nite Images, Lindy Buckley, peasap, Claudio Gennari ..."Cogli l'attimo ferma il tempo", mikemariano, faungg's photos, frankieleon, Chris Piascik, Kurisu, familymwr, kc7fys, el_itur, cowbite, eilonwy77, pestoverde, Marcin Wichary, Postmemes.com, alexliivet, UK in Italy, JoeInSouthernCA, Nathan O'Nions, jimmiehomeschoolmom, surreynews, Hans-Jörg von Schroeter, Bekathwia, CarbonNYC, marc falardeau, conorwithonen, LeonArts.at, Nina Matthews Photography, Georgie Pauwels, cwwycoff1, dullhunk, The All-Nite Images, Castles, Capes & Clones, warrenski, juhansonin, Ke7dbx, Muffet
  • Celebrating Piedmont
  • StudentSpace
  • Piedmont PD
  • Lesson Ideas
  • News and Thoughts