Increase Engagement: Table Mascots

While I was cleaning  my garage over Christmas break, I came across a grey plastic grocery bag knotted at the top.  As I picked it up to toss it into the trashcan, I noticed the odd shapes and movement it was making. I untied the top, and peaked inside to find a random collection of solar power dancing toys.

Now, I have no idea where these toys came from.  None.

But who am I to throw away an opportunity like that? Literally.

I carried them back to school in the little gray bag they came in where they sat in my cabinet for about 3.5 weeks. Then came the day when we were doing a POP Challenge and I had NOTHING for prizes. I scrounged through my cabinets looking for anything and everything (I've been known to give away broken crayons and dust bunnies) and my eyes skirted across the gray bag.  With a huge smile, happy dance, and sigh of relief, I knew what I was going to do!

For each class, I set the solar power dancing toy on the Smartboard and told them the Pop Challenge prize would be naming rights and the opportunity to house the homeless toy on their group's table until our next Pop Challenge.

And it worked.

Every day the winning table gets their mascot and proudly sets it on their table.  They name it, and even make little clothes and accessories for it.

Everyday I get asked if we are going to do a new Pop Challenge for the chance to win the toy for their table.

It's a highly coveted honor to house the dancing flower on your table for the week.

So much so that they worked together, used their notes, and thought critically to sort sentences without any guidance from me!   THEY WERE EXCITED TO DO GRAMMAR! Whhhhaaaaat....

Money Spent = $0
Student Engagement = 100%
That's a total win in my book!

Happy Teaching,

Instagram Novel Project

I love Instagram.

It's just telling your story in pictures.

I also love stories.

So I started thinking about how I could combine the two....and the Instagram Novel Project was born!

During the reading process, I'm super big on visualizing while we read. So many of my students struggle with this concept!

The idea of the Instagram project is to get them thinking about what the story looks and fees like as we read. 

How it works...

1. I put them into groups of 3 or 4 for the duration of the novel.

2. As we read a chapter or selection, the students are jotting down the BIG THINGS that happen (central idea!)

3. The group picks one important scene from the chapter to recreate and take a picture of. I let them bring their own devices.  It just made it easier.  If this is not an option, you can always use the school iPads.

4. They then create hashtags, comments from other characters (inferring), and captions.

That's it!

It's super easy, fun, and engaging!

If you would like the project outline, rubric, and student planning sheets, they are available on my TpT store!  Just click the picture below!

Happy Teaching,