May 9

well the big test is over. Whew, nothing I can do about it now, but hope they did their best. But I wanted to share a great activity I did today with my "tested out" kids. It is adaptable in any discipline that has words-it is a version of found poetry called "Blackout Poetry". I isn't new, just new to me and my students. They had a great time. There was no sushing and they were on task the whole time. The products are miraculous and it was great for them to stretch their creative muscles. I will try to post one here but the text is so small it's difficult to read them. I hope all of you readers take the time to go here to get an idea. It was a real breath of energy for them and for me.

We also did "Sketchnotes" last week based on Mike Rohde's illustraed guide to visual note taking-I was trying to teach them that using the part of your brain that enables you to synthesise and create an illustration for an idea helps them to remember.-It's a great book and I love the idea. We practiced by using a video lecture about "Why Read". Then we posted our notes in Edmodo. I am going to use this idea in their final this year by having them do 1 or 2 sketchnotes on one of the books we have read this year. -to include major themes, characters, what stood out to them -check out an example from my class