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.

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:

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 days of Interactive Notebooks

This week has been GREAT so far! Every student has started their Interactive Notebooks and are doing well at saying caught up. For my own documentation, as well as suggestions for others, I am uploading pictures for each of the pages we've completed so far.

This year, we are using the "cheap" spiral notebooks, found at WalMart, Target, Office Max, Staples, etc. for 17 cents (on the Back-to-School sales), I purchased twenty five extra notebooks for those students who weren't able to have them the day we started entries. By the end of the day, I had given away ALL of them! I asked those students to try to get one and then just give it to me to replace the one I provided. So far, about one-fourth of them have done that; I figure a 17 cent loss is affordable. (Plus, our office ladies had purchased some and were able to help reimburse my stash for future students.)

NOTE TO THOSE WHO HAVE USED MY DOCUMENTS BEFORE...I've had to re-size them to make them fit in these smaller notebooks. I'll try to upload the new sizes but if I forget, you'll have to make sure you do that if you are moving to the cheaper, smaller ones.

PAGES 1-3: The first three pages of the notebooks will be designated the TABLE OF CONTENTS. Each time they create a page, they will enter the title and the page number on this page.

PAGE 4: As I did last year, I will be giving them "Doodle Pages" to color when they have all their other work finished. I found these at DOODLE-ART-ALLEY and just re-sized them to fit the notebooks. (I will not be posting links to these pages...it's easy for anyone to do using their own quotes.) 

PAGE 5: I want my kids to start setting goals for this class. We have an Advisory period this year where they will be setting academic goals so I want the ones they put in their Interactive Notebooks to be focused specifically on English. I honestly can't remember where I found this format idea but I did redo it to fit in my notebooks using a table in Word. I had them fill out the top three boxes and then will revisit this page later in the term to check their progress and revise it, if necessary. CLICK HERE FOR THE PDF. 

PAGE 6: This is a reference page for formatting documents on the computer. I have used this format (MLA standards) for years and still have students coming back saying they use it in high school! Love that!! CLICK HERE FOR THE PDF FILE.

PAGE 7: This page is probably the most used page in the entire notebook! I am adamant on them putting their "MLA HEADING" on every paper they submit to me. The first few assignments include a grade for proper formatting to make sure they do this correctly. I've had a few parents upset that their student lost points on an assignment because it wasn't "perfect" but when I explain to rational behind it...that it is a standard adopted by our school and one they will use in high school and many of their college classes...they understand. This year, I let them use some of my beloved Post-It notes instead of tracing cards I'd cut for the different sizes and then made them color them to look like Post-Its. I made a really big deal about it being a "step in my recovery program for Post-It addiction." They thought that was pretty funny. ;) 

PAGE 8: This summer, I attended the USOE Utah Standards Academy. We were taught several strategies for doing CLOSE Readings (more on that later...), different ways to take notes, and how to do an "OPTIC Analysis" which is used for analyzing visual pieces like paintings, graphics, cartoons, etc. I've never done this with my kids before simply because I didn't know how. We did this yesterday and I LOVED IT!!!!!! I used this page as their reference and then had them do the assignment on a separate sheet of paper. We went through it step-by-step using Norman Rockwell's painting "The Holdout." It was FABULOUS!!!!!!! I highly recommend adding this to your curriculum as a really fun activity that everyone enjoys! (I figured it fit the Common Core Standard SL8.2 for my 8th graders and SL.9-10.2 & 3 for 9th graders. While there's nothing "fallacious" in this picture, it gets them started with the idea of how to "evaluate information presented in diverse media." CLICK HERE FOR THE PDF.

PAGE 9: Each week, we will be doing "MUGShot Monday" using Laura Randazzo's FABULOUS "FULL YEAR of English Class Vocabulary, Grammar, and Literary Terms, Devices" available on Teachers Pay Teachers. I'm so excited about using this package with my own little tweaks to it. This morning (we did them on Friday this week since Monday is a holiday and I don't want to get behind...), I had them glue this Proofreading Marks page into their notebooks. Then I put the MUGShot up on the projector (she has it as a PowerPoint) for them to work on. They came in and started cutting out this page before the tardy bell even rang! It was AWESOME!!! I can't wait to do more! :)  CLICK HERE FOR THE PDF. (NOTE: I already had this one as a PDF...I just printed it and then reduced it to fit on the notebook page.)

That gets me caught up through Bell Work on Friday. I'm excited at how well things are going so far, and really hope it will continue! :)

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??)