Category Archives: graphic organizer

Chicken Foot

graphic organizer, historical thinking, lesson plans, literacy, Megan Klassen, primary sources, reading, , , ,

A great activity I like to use with my students is called “Chicken Foot”.

  1. They love the name.
  2. It’s a good way to teach students to pick out the main points of a text, primary source document, picture, etc.

I learned this strategy at a Pre-AP Summer Institute I went to in 2010 in Norman, Oklahoma. After viewing the document, students write the main idea on the “leg”, then they pick three points or elements of the text that the students feel are super important and that everyone needs to know about the document. They write the three main points on the “toes” (if that’s what they are!). Continue reading Chicken Foot →

Technology and Current Events

Cassie Medley, graphic organizer, ipad, lesson plans, literacy, websites

This past year my school district purchased several iPad and MacBook carts for our school and really pushed technology in the classroom.  I wanted to create a way for students to complete current events products using this new technology that went beyond simply searching for an article and printing it off.  What I found was a great website called Smore where you can create a variety of online flyers. Continue reading Technology and Current Events →

Thought bubbles on photos

Glenn Wiebe, graphic organizer, historical thinking, literacy, photos

Several of us were talking a few days ago about different ways to design hook activities that would engage kids while also encourage writing skills.

My favorite is to use thought bubbles on paintings or photos. Thought Bubbles ask kids to imagine what the people in the image are thinking.

Start by finding a photo or painting depicting an event, idea or group of people that helps introduce your content. I used the famous Emmanuel Leutze painting of Washington crossing the Delaware as my starting point.

Continue reading Thought bubbles on photos →

Fact Pyramid / Because Box graphic organizer

common core, Glenn Wiebe, graphic organizer, historical thinking, literacy, reading, standards, , , ,

I had the privilege of working with 40 middle school social studies teachers last week. It’s the last few days of a three year Teaching American History grant and, yes . . . some teared up a bit towards the end. It’s been a great ride. We’ve all learned a ton – both content and pedagogy.

Last week, we enjoyed the sweetness of working with three history studs –  Mark Fiege, Elliott West, and Thomas Andrews – while also learning more about the best ways to incorporate their history content into actual lessons.

Master Teacher Nathan McAlister walked us through a variety of learning activities including panning for gold, cutting up buffalo, and arguing pros/cons of fracking during a city council meeting.

One of the smaller activities we did was a bit simpler and much easier for you to drop directly into your instruction. So I figured I would share it with all of you. Continue reading Fact Pyramid / Because Box graphic organizer →

This Isn’t English Class (or computers for that matter)

Cassie Medley, geography, graphic organizer, ipad, standards, , , ,

Having just finished my first year of teaching I find myself looking back at all of this lessons I learned this year, and there were a lot, and how I can change my curriculum next year to incorporate what I have learned.  One of the most surprising things that I learned about 7th graders (at least mine) was that they have no clue how to write.

It all started with what I assumed would be an easy and straightforward assignment, write a paragraph comparing and contrasting the Aztec, Inca, and Maya civilizations.  The first response I got, “Mrs. Medley this isn’t English class.”  Of course I had to be smart and retort with “WHAT?!  They told me I was teaching English!”  After my lame joke received a few giggles I told the students that they would have to write in all of their classes eventually, so we might as well start now.  I got my first hint that they had no clue what they were doing when someone asked what compare and contrast meant, and I had to stop and think to myself “Do they really not know how to do this?”  Continue reading This Isn’t English Class (or computers for that matter) →