You're the winner of Fun-Sized Academic Writing for Serious Learning by Gretchen Bernabei! I'm imagining you running, arms flailing Price is Right style to claim you prize. While the running is not neccessary, the enthusiasm is! I will email you so that we can get your book in your hands ASAP!
This really is an excellent resource, so even if you're not our winner, you should purchase a copy. *nudge* Hopefully that gave you the nudge you were needing to bust out your credit card.
Looking ahead:
You've got some homework. *Insert sighs, smacking lips, weeping, gnashing of teeth here* Oh wait, you're not 10th graders- lovely! But seriously, I do need you to be thinking about the best things that have gone on in your classroom this year. (You can interpret year as you wish.) It could be routines or resources you have in place, new ideas you've tried and loved, successes you've experienced...what have you. Just imagine *wink,wink* *hint,hint* you needed to make a short list of best moments of the year- what would make you're list? For now, I just want you to think about it. It's totally painless- I promise!
I feel the same way about this week's giveaway! Every since I got my paws on this prize about two months ago, I haven't put it down. It is used as I lesson plan. I carry it to the copy machine with me. I get anxious if it's more than an arm's length away. This week, The Curly Classroom is giving one lucky winner a copy of Gretchen Bernabei's newest book- Fun-Sized Academic Writing for Serious Learning. It includes 101 lessons AND mentor texts (holla!) divided into three categories: narrative, expository, and persuasive. Before we start writing in a new genre, I sit down and flag all (...47) of the lessons I want to cover with my students. I used them as mini-lesson and revision pieces. Early in the week, we kernel an essay. Subsequent class periods will cover one of the 101 lessons, and we will revise to include that technique. The mentor texts are from real, live students and range from 4th grade through 11th. I absolutely have used 4th grade texts with my 10th graders! They've could learn a thing or two from them. So calmly (or not so calmly) get yourself entered in this week's curly giveaway! Be sure to check back and earn additional entries by tweeting or sharing this giveaway on Facebook. a Rafflecopter giveaway
Notice and take note that the winner of Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading is...
Megan P.
Congratulations! It really is a great read, so even if you're not our lucky winner, pick up a copy for yourself. You won't be disappointed. Lori said it perfectly when she called next week's giveaway a must have! Check back on Monday for our latest prize and opportunities to enter. Hope you spend the next several days snuggled up in your Christmas jammies!
from my curly classroom to yours, Suzanne As I mentioned yesterday, our professional learning community is studying Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading. While I was reading for our first meeting, chapter 3 received more that it's fair share of highlighting. It is about something very near and dear to our hearts-- rigor. Likely, that word evoked an emotion deep within you- fear, longing, eye rolling (maybe that's not an emotion, but it should be). Before we get down to business, watch this:
It's worth your time- I guarantee it.
"Yes, my class is (air quote) rigorous." I bet you can feel the pain of that teacher. Rigor is a serious buzz word, but what does it look like in the classroom? Are rigor and fun mutually exclusive, or do they go hand in hand?
In our discussion group, we were asked to share a quote that stuck out to us. After a few sly smiles, I piped up and volunteered a quote that warranted an "Amen" in the margin:
"Rigor is not an attribute of a text but rather a characteristic of our behavior with that text. Put another way, rigor resides in the energy and attention given to a text, not in the text itself" (20).
I feel like I'm preaching to the choir. You are the ones who allow students to self-select books, pull targeted passages, and focus on skills over plot. Kudos to you! Consider this your virtual pat on the back. But if your like me, every student is not being successful everyday. So we continue on- looking for ways to improve, to add more tools to our toolbox. And we want others to join us on this journey, but it's not easy. We got into this job because we love the literature. We have favorite authors, and a well-placed metaphor brings a smile to our face. It's not easy to chop, trim and skim Shakespeare, Sophocles, and Steinbeck.
Notice and Note goes on to say, "The essential element in rigor is engagement" (22). Rigorous assignments must be interesting and rewarding so that students will want to invest their energy in the work. That comes through discussion, choice, and problem-solving. Rigor is between the text and the reader and then among the readers.
Each chapter includes questions which make it perfect for a PLC. One that we tackled was a checklist of what rigor was and was not. Here's our (over-simplified) shot at it:
What
rigor is not…
What
rigor is…
-more work
-short texts and
targeted passages
-novel units
-reading and
rereading for a specific purpose
-Old English
-activities that
minimize opting out
I know what you're thinking- "This is great stuff! How can I get my hands on that book?" Well, you could run to your nearest retailer where books are sold OR your could enter to win it in this weeks curly giveaway! Tweet or share the news of our giveaway on Facebook for double entries daily!!
We're back at it again! It's our third week of curly giveaways, and I am SO excited about this week's present. I'd be tempted to keep it for myself if I didn't already have my own copy. This week's winner will receive a copy of Notice & Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst.
You can read Lori's Must Read Monday about this title here, and I'm certain you're going to want a copy for yourself. Better yet- talk some teacher buddies into reading it with you so you can brainstorm ways to work the strategies into your lessons together. In fact, Notice & Note is our departmental book study for this semester.
Remember to check back throughout the week. You can tweet and share this giveaway on Facebook everyday for additional entries.
We made it to the end of another week! That is reason to celebrate!! Today in my classroom, this is the mayhem that will ensue:
We bend the rules, and you only have to move one cookie to your mouth to win. This is truly a game where everyone wins- both the winner and loser get a cookie to snack on, and I (if I'm fast enough) can snap some excellent blackmail pictures. Muhahaha!
It is an especially fun Friday for our winner of the set of English II Shared Readings...
Sara M.
If that's not you, don't fret. Run on over to our TpT's store and snatch up your own set!
Be sure, so sure, that you check back on Monday for our new giveaway. It's a good one!!
It is a snow day around here, and I could not be more excited!
I spent all evening in a group text with teachers panicking and praying. It went something like this: Teacher 1: We won't have school tomorrow...right? Like give me a percentage for this likelihood. Teacher 2: We're always one of the last to call it but surely! Teacher 3: The district to our north is closed. Teacher 4: The district to the west is too. Teacher 1: GUYS! The district to our east just call it! That's a big one!!! (emoji, emoji, emoji) Teachers 2, 3, 4: Woohoo! Come on, come one! We want to turn off our alarm!! Teacher 4: NO SCHOOL! I just got the automated call! NO SCHOOL!! NO SCHOOL!! NO SCHOOL! Teacher 3: I'm literally crying tears of joy. Teachers 1, 2, 4: We believe you! Hahah! Congrats everyone!! Hey, it's Texas! We overreact. We can't drive in snow or ice no matter how small the amount. But it's really, really working for me now.
Now to what you are really interested in...the WINNER of our first week's giveaway! Drum roll, please. Brummmmmmm....
And the winner is...
Tina M.
Congrats! If this wasn't your lucky week, check back Monday for our new curly prize. Click here to purchase your own set of English I Shared Readings.
Lori and I have been bragging to Santa about how 'nice' our readers are, and he told us that we should start the gift-giving early this year. How could we argue with Santa?! So, we're please to announce our first ever curly giveaway. Every week leading up to Christmas we will be hosting a giveaway for products or reading material. This week, we're giving away a set of English I Shared Readings!
Be sure to enter now and tell your friends (or not, if you're a little 'naughty' when it comes to giveaways). Check back on Friday when we reveal our winner!
