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.

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.

First day...I survived...barely!

How can going back to school be so exhausting? I play during the summer. I work in the yard. I chase after grandkids. And yet when I go back to school, my feet hurt. My back hurts. My throat hurts. From top to bottom and everywhere in between. The good news is...I SURVIVED!!!! (Not sure about tomorrow though...)

I changed things up a bit for my first day activities. I HATE going over the disclosures, playing silly "Get to Know You" games, etc. So this year, I decided to try some new things...

First of all, I had my kids sign up for "REMIND" on their cell phones or other device that uses the internet. It's a messaging system from teachers to students and parents that's completely private. I won't know their numbers and they won't know mine. It's my way of trying to keep them on top of their assignments and due dates. Several teachers at our school have used it with great success. (Note...those who didn't have a phone are able to sign up via email. I am requiring all students to subscribe and highly recommending at least one parent sign up.) Here's hoping...

Next, I gave each class a different color Post-It. I'm not going to lie...I had a little bit of a hard time giving up some of my beloved sticky notes but I held it together in front of the kids. I had them put their name on the back of the note and then responded to each of four prompts. I used the little notes (1-3/4" x 2") because I have 190 students this year and I wanted them to all fit on the posters. As you can see, they're a little crowded on them! 

I still have to go through all of their answers and see if there's a common thread overall or per class. (Shouldn't take much time at all, right??)

Intro to Argumentation

Teaching argumentation is HARD!!!!!! Although all teenagers are masters at it, it's hard to explain how to organize their arguing using the terms outlined in the Common Core. I've read textbooks, theories, websites, searched for anchor charts, etc. and finally think I've got a handle on the basics. I decided they needed to have basic reference pages in their Interactive Notebooks for this and then we'll build on it from there.

The easiest way for me to present it to them was to create a PowerPoint presentation. Unfortunately, I can't get it to move into Google Presentations so I've just saved it as a PDF for viewing on the web.

As I showed the PowerPoint, I had them draw pages in their Interactive Notebooks.

This is just the beginning!!

Why do GOOD readers identify the MAIN IDEA??

After going through The 3 Types of Questions and discussing how to use the different types of questions with expository, fiction, and poetry, I wanted to make sure they understand the importance of identifying the main idea. It's critical to every type of reading they do in any class. I found this great anchor chart on Pinterest, recreated it for my room, and had the students copy it into their notebooks. I really dealt with a lot of whining and complaining about "not liking to color" or "I can't draw very well" etc...but I made them do it anyway. I told them if I handed them a piece of paper to glue in their notebooks, they'd do it without even looking at it. If I had them just write it all down, they'd kind of remember it. But...if I have them make it "pretty" or "cute" and spend time with it by drawing it and coloring it, they will remember it MUCH better! They still whined but I still made them do it! ;)

 

 

On a side note, I am really excited about my valance over the big window in my room. I ordered a spring-bar rod online for my daughter and son-in-law's apartment and then they decided not to use it. It would have cost almost as much to ship it back as I spent on it so I decided to use it in my room. I love the multi-colored chevron fabric and it really brightens things up!

Character Types

As we read our novels, we've been learning about different types of characters. I want them to understand the importance of these details so they are able to understand how an author uses characterization to create a story. As we went through this page creation, I had them tell me which characters in our novels (The Wednesday Wars, The Outsiders, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry) would fit the different character types. It was so exciting when they "got it!" :)

My "Character Types" Anchor Chart.

As they were ready for each description, I folded back the tab for them to copy what was underneath. 

Source of definitions HERE.

What it looked like in their notebook...

...with the definitions.

Character Types Master

Elements of Literature

I used a combination of ideas from "The Mouth," Dinah Zike's Foldables, and my own experience to create the foldables which cover Elements of Literature. I had the luxury of using a color printer and Word clip-art to create mine; I gave the students a copy of the two pages and gave them instructions to cut them out, fold the edges, glue the outside edges in the notebook, cut up the center line as well as the two horizontal lines (making sure they don't cut into the solid horizontal line). Then, they drew pictures (I let them copy mine) and colored them...illustrations and coloring are MANDATORY! That took one day...

 After they are cut, you'll have four little windows/doors. I created anchor charts on 11" x 17" paper of what should be written under the windows/doors. I taped the anchor charts up around the room and had them move from chart to chart writing the information. (NOTE: I tried to upload a PDF of these documents but couldn't figure out how...:( )

Blah...blah...blah...title...blah...date...blah...Table of Contents. You know the drill...

UPDATE: After some research, I think I've figured out how to upload a PDF of the files! Click on the links below:
Elements of Literature foldables
Elements of Literature Anchor Chart

MLA Format

Our English department teaches the MLA format for written and computer-generated documents. I wanted them to have a resource for this format so I don't have to tell them every single time we do an assignment! So...page 9 becomes that visual.

I have an obsession with Post-it notes! (My daughter thinks I should be admitted to a rehab center of some sort!) So, mine has Post-it notes I cut down to the desired size and stuck in my example. I had the kids pretend they had Post-its (some actually had some in their binders...) and write the important information.

Don't forget to date the day it's done, title it, and put it in the Table of Contents.

NOTE: I found this as an "Anchor Chart" on Pintrest. Not positive where I got it but I sure loved it! Thank you Pintrest!! :)