Subtext

Let's talk about one of my fave apps.... Subtext.

What is Subtext?
Subtext is an awesome app that allows students to annotate, collaborate, and interact with a text in new and exciting  ways.  I love it.   It is a wonderful way to read informational text and practice annotation skills.

According to the subtext website it is....
"An eReading program for K12 schools, Subtext is an iOS app that brings reading to the digital world where today's students live, play, and learn. When educators embed questions, discussion prompts, polls, videos, and web links in digital text, students begin to read closely and with purpose. "

How I start using Subtext?

1) Find an online text that can be incorporated into your lessons.  Any online text can be easily converted into a Subtext article for students to read.  There are also articles pre-uploaded and offered on Subtext as well as an option to purchase longer texts.

2) Decide how it will be best used in the lesson. This can be used as a class activity or at home as a flipped classroom activity.  Students annotate text with the option to share annotations with teachers or the class. It works best as an ipad app but also works on the internet.  

3) Set expectations for the students and clearly model.  Clearly model how to navigate the app on an iPad and on a computer and set behavioral and academic expectations (see tips below).  There will be some troubleshooting since it works differently for both...so make sure to do it together.  Once the routine is set, the app will be easy to incorporate for the rest of the year.

What subjects can I use Subtext in?

Students read articles and books digitally and interact with the class about what they are reading....so any subject that you can read text for!

I have used it in... 

Gifted and Talented:

• for research and discussion about project topics

Social Studies:

• in-class reading assignments for discussion and debate
• Flipped Classroom reading and interaction about the curriculum unit

Language Arts: 

• guided research for argumentative essays (provided articles on the app)
• novel study (The Outsiders)

How do you guide students in using SubText?

I crea

1) Have strong expectations for digital citizenship using the app.  This is something my district already has in place and student have signed contracts for, etc.
2) Since I am making a strong push for annotating and close reading text this year, I created an Annotation Guide (available on TpT)

3) Make sure to model usage of the app and the different views.  Viewing and interacting on the app looks different when you compare it on the iPad vs. a computer.  Make sure they know how to best navigate both.  We usually model every time we use it.

Class Logo Design Unit

As our gifted and talented introductory unit, 

I asked the students to made decisions how we want to "brand" our class.  

The unit worked SO well and has so many possibilities 

that I decided to make the product available on TpT....

and I truly think it can work in any type of class (not just for Gifted and Talented)!

Check it out here!: 

Designing A Class Logo Unit

About This Unit:
Each class works through a guided unit to design their own class logo. The students work in partners, small groups, and finally collaborate as a whole group.

I developed this unit for my gifted and talented students to design a logo to communicate their class personality, purpose, and goals. I have used this unit with grade 4-7. It can be used for any subject or level of class.  I think it would be an awesome beginning of the year unit, but this year I did the unit later into the year.

The picture above is one of my 6th grade students' preliminary design ideas.  This is a rough draft and you can see their notes written on the page as they collaborated and made decisions.

The students complete guided research and take steps to design and redesign a logo.

The unit contains 8 pages of worksheets for students and 1 page teacher guide.

Included in this Unit:

♦ Page 1: I present this information as a whole group mini-lesson.

♦ Page 2-5: Students will work independently or with a partner to research following QR links or website links.

♦ Page 6: Students will work in small groups (teacher assigned or student chosen) to design 4 logo options, referencing their tips and research.

♦ Page 7-8: Students will present their 4 design logos to the class. The class will provide them feedback on each design and vote for their favorite from each group. The group will then take the feedback and the results of the vote and redesign ONE logo into a final copy, writing a paragraph to explain. I then hang these final copies around the room for a learning walk. Students in the class vote for the final logo winner!

♦ Page 9: Teacher Guide

Designing a Class Logo Unit

Cyber Monday Sale on AMSSG

Excited to have some free time this weekend and will be posting new items Sunday...just in time for the big sale! 

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving and a happy long weekend!!

SS Interactive Notebook Pt. 1

How a Bill Becomes a Law is a great unit for an interactive notebook 

because the students truly benefit from 

the additional practice and interactive activities.

Check out my Interactive Notebook HERE.

This interactive notebook supports students in learning, practicing, and analyzing the steps of how a bill becomes a law. 

Here is an example of a foldable:

And here is an example of a reading activity for students to complete a close read:

About This Activity:
I developed these foldables for middle school students' interactive notebooks in our "How a Bill Becomes a Law" Unit.

Included In This Activity:

8 Activities:
♦ 2 Flipped Classroom Assignments
♦ 1 Page Foldable (Previewing Vocabulary)
♦ 2 Page Close Reading
♦ 1 Page Foldable (Reviewing Content)
♦ 1 Page Graphic Organizer
♦ 1 Page Foldable Concept Check Questions
♦ 1 Foldable Pocket with Self-Check Cards (3 pages)
Pictures of Notebook in Use
Answer Keys

{This unit takes 1 wk. from start to quiz. I use this + How A Bill Becomes a Law Stations.}

Come check out my product preview!

How a Bill Becomes A Law Journey

i made this activity to help the process of a 

bill to a law 

become more memorable. 

I love dice journeys for learning cycles, steps, and processes.  

They reinforce concepts and break misconceptions.

_______________________________________________________

How a Bill Become A Law Journey HERE.

just photocopy the 9 dice on different color paper.

cut. tape.  and start rollin'.

The students then rotate the room, recording what happens on their Journey and the locations they travel to.  At the end of their journey, they draw a cartoon of their travels.

The lesson is a great opportunity to discuss the misconception that bills always travel the same exact path in the same exact time frame. Plus, the students have fun and the cartoons always come out super cute and I love to hang them around the room!

Above is a picture of a few dice in the process of construction.  The sheet seen here is the overview of the stations that shows the options on the sides of the dice and the path the students travel.

I will admit that the cutting of the dice is a little time consuming...

however, they do last for years.

And I love making them because it is a fun activity for the students...so it is worth it.

Aren't they cute?

Tape together.  To make them last longer I prefer to print on cardstock and use clear packaging tape over  the whole dice.

Here are 5 of the 9 dice.  I do each on a different color to match with a station title.

My co-teacher and I have discussed trying some different variations this year such as:

-adding an activity (like actually debating) at stations

-having to start over as a new bill until they pass

_______________________________________________________
We then were inspired by the Schoolhouse Rock "I'm just a bill..." song....

to have a Karaoke Project for the students as an end of unit summative project.

Students were required to write lyrics and sing them to the class (in groups of 4)
while projecting the lyrics and playing the karaoke version of the song on youtube.

YMCA, Don't Stop Believing, Greenday, Taylor Swift, Farmer in the Dell, All About that Bass....

It was quite the concert.

Thanksgiving in the Middle Grades Linky Party

Three years ago I posted here

talking about Thanksgiving plans 

for math (permutations for T-Day seating) and science (calories, exercise).

My pinterest is flooded right now with pictures and posts of people getting geared up for the holiday. 

...but most of the posts are cutesy early elementary ideas that won't work in the middle school.

Calling all middle grades teachers....

What are YOU doing for Thanksgiving week plans?

An InLinkz Link-up

Blog Makeover

My blog got a makeover. 

😍 (Insert the emoji with hearts for eyes here.)

Just less than a week ago, I posted in my "Currently" that I was interested in design options for my blog.  {My "graphics" had been the same for three years and were DIY to say the least.}
Bender's Bunch was so sweet to message me her link to resources.  Her list was very helpful and detailed and helped me start the search process.  (Thanks,Traci!) Within a day I found Courtney and Shanon from Blogs Fit For A Queen and submitted a form via their website.  They were awesome! I heard back from them that day, and a few days I moved from their "waiting" to "currently working on" list. By the weekend we were emailing back and forth about blog specifics... and today....it is done!  (+ my TpT got a makeover too!)  I'm thrilled!

The makeover sparked me to create social media (instagram, blog lovin, pinterest, email address) and to start connecting with other teachers over new social forums. 

I am excited for where this is heading.

What do you think?

Balloon Science

Want to do a fun lab to reinforce the scientific method, measurement, and graphing?

Check out my Balloon science Lab!

Note: I created this lab my first year of teaching and have tweaked it ever since. 

When I went back to search for pictures of it... I realized the kids in this picture are graduated high school now. Wow!

I created this lab as part of my Grade 6 "Scientific Method" unit and also used it in my Grade 7 resource room science class. It reinforces the steps of the scientific method and provides students much needed practice in metric measurement and graphing. I found that my Grade 6 students had little exposure to the scientific method and line graphs....this lab provides the students with specific focus on precise measurement and graphing.  I was able to incorporate mini-lessons on measurement and graphing very effectively with this!

Materials you will need (in addition to this lab):
• balloon (1 per student)
• measuring tape (metric) (1 per student pair)
• graph paper

In this lab, students will create a hypothesis regarding the rate of change of the balloon's circumference. Students will work in partners to blow up balloons one breath at a time. Students will record data, graph data, and complete a conclusion. The conclusion contains sentence starters to support students in writing conclusions without using "I". 

They really have a lot of fun with this one!!

Management note: Require the students to throw out the balloon all in one trash can before returning to their seats to complete their conclusions.  You'll thank me later. ;)

A Middle School Survival Guide

Currently... November 2014

I am excited to do my first Currently Linky Party in a longgggg time.  

{Head on over to Oh Boy 4th Grade to join, too!}

More about this....

Listening: Seriously, screencast-o-matic.com is going to be awesome for making flipped classroom videos.  I am pretty excited about it.

Loving & Thinking: This is self explanatory.

Wanting: Yup. I'll take Hunter Boots size 8 in every color, please. 

Needing: More time.  I just started my TpT Store and it is taking more time than I have/want to spend on it.  It is not the making of materials that is time consuming (I have those all done and will slowly add as I go).  I need the time to figure out how to improve my graphics on my blog and tpt (help! can I just pay someone to do this?).

Reading: I have heard mixed reviews on this book, but I thought it was a fun read (If you like the Nanny Diaries/ Devil Wear Prada type books, that is).  It follows a young teacher as she navigates the private school and private tutoring ring in NYC.