Question

3 thoughts on “Question”

1. Jason Bond

   January 31, 2017 at 9:59 am

   I currently see my 7th graders twice a week, just like how you’ve described. At first, I tried to cram a few days worth of input into those two days but over the years, I’ve found that less can be more in a way.

   My latest weekly schedule for those classes was something like this:

   Class 1: Story, Movie Talk, Look and Discuss, Verb Slam etc (laying the foundation)

   Class 2: Read the story/mt/input, a bit of Dictation, maybe Listen and Draw/kahoot if the class can’t stay focused.

   A big part of what made that weekly schedule work was accepting that 2 days per week was hardly any time withh the TL and that I couldn’t do anything about that. My mission became really building joy, fun, and keeping it simple by usually sticking with the Super 7. It worked well and my kids retained those key structures, which is what the curriculum wanted from them anyway.

   That being said, my dabbling with the Invisibles and non-targeted input in November and December showed me that even with 2 periods a week, acquisition could still happen! Today, my kids showed me that they still process language from our stories quicker and with more confidence than the dumb traditional tasks that my managers have required me to use now. Even with just two periods a week. That was so cool to see!

   In a nutshell: I would keep my classtime with this group uncluttered, focusing on what will really hook them, be it Invisibles, Movie Talks, OWI character stories, or anything else. I hope this helps.

   Log in to Reply
2. Ryann

   January 31, 2017 at 3:35 pm

   I see my students 4 days a week, but they are expected to do “extended learning” on the days that we don’t have school, and they are also absent a lot. For my classes, when we do OWI’s or stories with Invisibles, or any co-created stories, I try and write or type them up with the class afterwards. I upload the stories to my website, and sometimes put links to audio clips (if I have time to make them), and I upload the stories Textivate and Textivate creates a gazillion activities for them. I then can assign a “sequence” of activities for homework that is based on the text of the story. If you haven’t used Textivate, I’d highly recommend it…it is well worth the money. They can do vocabulary activities, sequencing activities, close reading, etc. and it only takes a moment to copy and paste (typing up the vocab takes longer if you add that but some kids really want that practice) and it really reinforces what was done in class and the support is there for the ones that missed class. It is also handy to use on days where I am out and have to get a sub.

   Log in to Reply
3. jen

   February 1, 2017 at 9:09 am

   I agree that homework is optional unless you are not allowed to make it optional. Then it should be fun! Invisibles win for fun factor. I had 2 kids write a detailed story over the weekend because they were so excited about their character. Granted, it was in English, but still…who does this? “We have a story! Can we do our story today! We worked on it all weekend!”

   Thank you for the reminder about textivate. I let my subscription expire so need to get that going again! What is the easiest (for a techno dummy) way to record and upload audio files? I still have not gotten that going and I need to. I do not assign homework. I see the kids 80 mins every day. But I would still love to have audio of the stories available along with the text. We use google classroom. Well, theoretically. I have not made mine yet.

   Log in to Reply