Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Plot/Storytelling Arc for Interactive Notebooks

As I've mentioned before, I'm using Laura Randazzo's FABULOUS "FULL YEAR of English Class Vocabulary, Grammar, and Literary Terms, Devices" available on Teachers Pay Teachers. Today's "Lit Term Tuesday" was all about Plot, or as Laura's products call it, "Storytelling Arc." I want my kids to be familiar with both terms so I've tweaked my Plot Interactive Notebook pages to add the new term. The process is still the same as I had on the blog with THIS POST but I just re-created the front page. 


DISCLAIMER...Sorry for the crummy pictures. Low lighting in a hurry does not mix! :(







THIS IS WHAT MY EXAMPLE LOOKED LIKE TWO YEARS AGO. DON'T MIND THE DATES...



Links to the foldables and better pictures of the anchor charts may be found on the original posting located HERE.

Monday, September 8, 2014

Year-Long Theme: HEROES (2014 update)

I've had a year-long theme for the past two-three years. Everything we read/study ties back to this theme; the kids have really enjoyed it. This year, instead of me just "talking" my way through it, I decided to put it all together in a Prezi. As a disclaimer, this is only the second one I've ever done so it's not full of all the bells and whistles of others I've seen. Then, when I tested it at school last Friday, I found out we'd been denied access to YouTube...I had four videos linked as an integral part of the presentation. UGH!! Thanks to my handy-dandy husband, we were able to reformat the videos and put them into the Prezi which went around the need for YouTube rights. (NOTE: we had to change one video because it did not allow reformatting or downloading.)

This has been really powerful throughout the years. I tweak it a little bit each year so the "rerun students" I have don't get bored. Since this is my first time sharing, I'm not sure if it will work but you're welcome to use it if you'd like. :)


You can also find my inserts for the Interactive Notebooks HERE

Here's what pages 14 & 15 of the 2014-2015 notebook looks like:



Tuesday, September 2, 2014

THEME for Interactive Notebooks

Understanding THEME is a huge item in the Common Core/DESK Standards (my district's version of the Core). Therefore, I want students to get an overall understanding of the definition and then we will dig deeper as the year progresses.

I found this great Anchor Chart on Pinterest which linked back to "thelibbylou.blogspot.com." However, the picture was a little bit skewed so I created my own chart and a new picture. I am so grateful for teachers who share their work! What in the world did we do before Pinterest was invented??


There is a LOT to this Anchor Chart but it's critical students understand it so they will be able to "dig deeper" on future assignments.

NOTE: I'm also using Laura Randazzo's FABULOUS bundle for "Lit Term Tuesdays" in conjunction with these anchor charts. Lit Term Tuesdays come as part of her Full Year Grammar Package available on Teachers Pay Teachers.