PREPARING LIFELONG LEARNERS

Interactive Notes with No Cutting or Pasting!

7/17/2022

During a lecture, do you notice that about half of your students do a great job listening, but don't write anything down while the other half does a great job writing things down, but aren't really listening? My interactive notes solve both of these problems while giving students opportunities to engage in, talk about, and apply what they're learning while also helping them develop the skill of identifying and recording critical content. As an added bonus, there is absolutely no cutting or pasting involved!

Here's How it Works

Students are given a note taking sheet that organizes the notes, but only gives a limited amount of space to write so they learn to identify and record only the most critical content. Not recording everything won't be a problem, because they will only write after they hear about, talk about, and think about the content!

Before you start, review the three rules of interactive notes with them.
1. When the teacher is talking, pencils down - NO WRITING!
2. When directed, turn and talk with your neighbor or group.
3. When directed (at the end of the slide's content), consider the most important information, and record it in the appropriate box.

Each set begins with some focus vocabulary terms that will be used throughout the presentation. Infusing content area vocabulary into as many lessons as possible and in as many ways as you can is a vital part of Marzano's Six Steps of Vocabulary Instruction. Click the link to see more...

Progress through each slide. When I give notes, I like to add a lot of stories, jokes or interesting facts as I go - this is where you can add in your own creativity and flair to make it interesting and exciting for your particular class of students.

There is always an activity at the end that gives your students an opportunity to apply or extend what they have learned. It is also a great opportunity for you to see what connections they are making, or misconceptions they may have.

If my interactive notes sound like a good fit for your teaching style, or are something you want to take a risk and try, I have made a number of them, and plan on continuing to add to the list. Their links to my TpT store are linked below, and remember to check out the rest of my store for other great inclusive, entertaining and Marzano aligned social studies resources that you and your students will love!

World History Interactive Notes

American History Interactive Notes

0 Comments

A-Z Review - A Quick, Fun, low Prep Way to Review content!

5/22/2022

0 Comments

A - Z Content Review is something I came up with that gets students excited, competitive and thinking very deeply about the content they have learned over the course of the year! An added bonus is that it takes almost no prep on the teacher's part!

SET UP

You need a vertically cut half sheet of paper for each group.
That's it!

STEPS

Direct one group member to write the letters of the alphabet down the margin of a slip of paper.
Explain that once you say, "Go!" the students need to pass the paper around their group with each group member writing something they learned about in your class for each letter that starts with the letter (EX: Ziggurat for Z).
The team that finishes first within a given amount of time wins. If no group finishes their list , the team with the least letters left empty wins.

TAKE AWAYS

Students build team work skills while competing.
When groups get hung up on a letter or two (like Q or X), they start really wracking their brains and remember all sorts of content that you may have even forgotten covering with them!

So, that's it. Another quick, fun, low prep way to review content with your students. If you try this out, please let me know how it went in the comments, and if you liked it, look through this blog for more quick and easy ways to review with your students along with a lot of other great stuff. And, if you are looking for interesting, interactive or inclusive Social Studies resources, please consider checking out my TeachersPayTeachers store.

0 Comments

A Quick, fun, NO PREP way to review content!

5/7/2022

0 Comments

I found myself with a few extra minutes of class and a room full of restless seventh graders who were wiped out from a day of NWEA testing when I came up with this great idea to quickly and competitively review content. The best part is there is ABSOLUTELY NO TEACHER PREP INVOLVED!

SET UP

None - like really, absolutely none!

STEPS

Divide your class into two equal teams and have them line up on opposite sides of the room.
Give each team one whiteboard marker (or piece of chalk if you have a blackboard).
Explain the rules:
1. When the teacher says, "Go!" the first person in line writes down a fact about whatever topic you choose.
2. When the first person is finished, they give the marker to the next person in line and so on until everyone on a team is done.
3. The first team done wins! (But both teams need to finish)
4. ALTERNATE SCORING - Once both teams are finished, review the responses as a class and subtract errors from each team's list. The team with the most correct answers wins. Whichever team finished first would be the tiebreaker.

TAKEAWAYS

Students get to demonstrate their knowledge of a topic.
Your class bonds through competition.
It gives you, the teacher, an insight into what your students are remembering.
If you review and evaluate their responses (ALTERNATE SCORING in step 4), you get to eliminate any misunderstandings or misconceptions.

So, that's it. That's my quick, fun, no prep way to review content with your students. If you try this out, please let me know how it went in the comments, and if you liked it, look through this blog for more quick and easy ways to review with your students along with a lot of other great stuff. And if you are looking for interesting, interactive or inclusive Social Studies resources, please consider checking out my TeachersPayTeachers store.

0 Comments

Another Quick, Low-Prep Way To Practice Vocabulary!

4/23/2022

0 Comments

I like to play games in class, and I LOVE teaching content area vocabulary, so here's another quick, easy, low (or no!) prep way to review vocabulary terms with any slush time you may find yourself with!

SET UP

Have a word wall. I use my vocabulary word wall tiles (click the link to check them out!) for all the topics I cover. Throughout the year, I post them and leave them up so that by the end of the school year we have around eighty or so - we're currently up to 58 words. It doesn't have to be my tiles though - any words will do.

STEPS

Assign a student to keep track of the number of words used.
Select a "starter word". It doesn't matter which work you pick, but it should be one that everyone knows.
Ask for a volunteer to pick another work on the wall that is connected to the starter word, and explain their connection (EX: I pick ziggurat to start, and a student might say, "Colosseum is connected to ziggurat because they are both large buildings.")
If it's a logical connection, say, "Great! Who can connect a word to that one?
Repeat the process until your allotted time is up.
At the end, see how many words you used. The next time you do this, the goal is to make more connections.

TAKEAWAYS

Students make great connections.
Competitions = high levels of participation.
You get to see what connections your students are making.
This gives you another Marzano aligned tool for your teaching tool box!

0 Comments

Add Some Inquiry To Your Learning Targets

4/2/2022

0 Comments

For years I have approached learning targets with my students in the same way. We look at the target and the attached Marzano scale and I help them decide where their starting point is, then we start learning. It works fine, but I thought I could do a bit more with it. Then I tried adding a touch of inquiry...

SET UP

The set up is very simple. All you need to do is project your learning target (or have it written on the board).

STEPS

Once everyone is in class, direct your students to read the learning target.
Re-phrase the target as a question (EX: "I can identify what caused the Fall of Rome" becomes "What do you guys think caused the Fall of Rome?").
Clarify any definitions (EX: "What does the Fall of Rome mean?").
Give your groups of students 30-40 seconds to discuss the question and come up with possible hypotheses.
Once the allotted time has elapsed, ask for volunteers to share some of their hypotheses.
Ask some probing or clarifying questions to understand what they might be thinking or to clear up any misconceptions.
Record their hypotheses on the board and leave it until the end of class.

Commence your lesson as normal.

At the end of your lesson, revisit their hypotheses and determine which if any were correct, incorrect or partially correct and briefly discuss why.

This is an example of what my students came up with the other day when we were discussing the Fall of Rome. They did a great job!

TAKE AWAYS

I've been doing this for about a week now, and I love it. I think my students do too - they like seeing when their hypotheses wind up being correct and do a little, "Yes!" and point it out to their neighbors, and I think that's really the point - students getting interested and invested in their learning.

So, if you try this in your classroom (or do something similar), please let me know about it in the comments. And if you are looking for lessons with pre-made learning targets and Marzano aligned scales, check out my Interactive Notetaking or Complete Unit resources in my TpT store - each of them comes with several Marzano aligned scales along with the actual resources.

My Store

0 Comments

<<Previous

Interactive Notes with No Cutting or Pasting!

A-Z Review - A Quick, Fun, low Prep Way to Review content!

A Quick, fun, NO PREP way to review content!

Another Quick, Low-Prep Way To Practice Vocabulary!

Add Some Inquiry To Your Learning Targets

MEET TIM

Archives