Become a more confident language teacher.
One of the most important steps in Comprehension Based™ teaching, and one that I neglected for a long time, is introducing the Core Vocabulary before jumping into a story or piece of content. As I focus on this step of the process this year, I am already noticing gains in comprehension by students that struggled…
Read MoreWhen introducing new vocabulary for a story, it is very important to establish a gesture for each term. Often, I come up with a gesture and teach it to my class. For more difficult terms or for “fun” terms, I ask students to create a gesture. This week, the second strategy was immensely successful with…
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Developed “far above Cayuga’s waters“, Cornell Notes are an effective note-taking strategy that can be used across grade levels and content areas. I was first introduced to Cornell Notes by my administrator in a 6-8 public school in Anchorage, Alaska. She didn’t have to sell me on it too hard since my grandfather, my parents,…
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Running Dictation is a review activity. Traditionally, language teachers have used this fast-paced team game to review a story. Students benefit from repeated exposure to information and to language, and so content area teachers will find this activity just as helpful as language teachers. Running Dictation in a nutshell In a Running Dictation, students are…
Read MoreAfter most class stories that we tell (well, at least any story that isn’t totally lame), I like to have the class make a storybook to add into the class library. They are great to have when students stop in with friends or come in for conferences with their parents. I made a 14 page…
Read MoreAnother four-square worksheet to explore vocabulary words. This is a good worksheet to leave for emergency sub plans 🙂 !! I recommend copying it front to back so that each student explores two words (1/4 sheets), four words (1/2 sheets) or eight words (if you give them the full sheet of paper). This is another…
Read MoreOne struggle for me has been to create questions and activities that help my students practice their critical thinking skills. Much of what we do in class, regrettably, is regurgitation and transformation. Standardized test results show that students at my school and at schools throughout the nation struggle when it comes to critical thinking and…
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With the end of the year fast approaching (less than 2 1/2 weeks left for me!), I’m spending my afternoons trying to think of new ways to review old stories. Today, we’re working with one of the favorite stories from each class and doing an activity that I’m calling “Ninesquare”. Choose a text for Ninesquare…
Read MoreThis is an activity that is meant to be used after you have finished asking a story. Break the story into chunks. If you have a smaller class (15ish students or fewer), each student can have their own chunk of the story. If you have a bigger class, several students may have the same piece…
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I learned how to play Salad Bowl from my sister back in college! It is super fun to play with friends, and it works well in the language classroom as a PAT game. But before we learn how to play… I’ve got two important cautions. This is NOT an input-based game. In fact, it’s a…
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