Literacy Ideas to Fit Any Curriculum, by Lauren Lasko, Language Arts Teacher at West Wilson Middle School

Coming into this year I, as many of you were, felt so overwhelmed with the new curriculum.  I have been teaching 7^th grade Language Arts for a few years now and finally felt that I had all of my ducks in a row, and could teach the standards backwards, forwards, or in the dark!  Then came the TNReady curriculum…(cue the ominous sound effects.)  It was overwhelming to think of all the new standards and taking everything I had taught and presenting it all in a new way!   The first few weeks I definitely felt that I was drowning, but with the help of my team and a lot of PLC meetings we were able to come up with some great ideas for our classes that can be adjusted to fit almost anyone’s curriculum. 

1.        Let your students decide things!  This is a big one for people like me who have definite type A personality tendencies, but the more I let the students have control of different things, the better they do.   For example: 

a.       Grouping-  Pick a category (such as Hamburger) and write all the different components (or as many as you need) of that category on the board-  Bun, Burger, Cheese, Tomato, Onion, Lettuce.  Each component stands for a different group role.  Example-  Cheese: Leader, Tomato: Writer, Buns: Researchers, etc.  Students in each group pick one of the components for themselves, and then you reveal the group roles.  

b.      Projects-  Create a project Menu.   This allows the students to pick a project that would allow them to present their strengths.   For our last 2 pieces of literature we have created Menu Projects.   They may look something like this:

                                                              i.      Draw pictures:  Choose a scene from each of the texts we have read in this unit (“Monsters”, “Blacklisted”, “War of the Worlds”).  Draw or paint a scene that conveys the meaning of each scene.  Write a paragraph explaining the importance of each scene to you and to the story. 

                                                            ii.      Research a time in history where there was mass hysteria.  Find a time in American history where there was mass hysteria amongst our citizens.  Write a well thought out full typed page on this event. 

                                                          iii.      Newspaper:  Create a newspaper with articles and illustrations based on the events from the 3 texts we have read in this unit (“Monsters”, “Blacklisted”, “War of the Worlds”). 

                                                           iv.      Add Scene to “Monsters are Due on Maple Street”.  Write an additional scene to “Monsters”.  You may choose to change part of the last scene, and add on your new scene.  

                                                             v.      Theme Poster:   Create a poster that illustrates an overall theme from the three texts we have read (“Monsters”, “Blacklisted”, “War of Worlds”). 

1.       Writing!  My students this year were required to get a composition notebook in addition to their regular class notebook.   This is where we do our daily journaling, and write/edit our essays.  

a.       Textual Evidence-  I’m sure my students get tired of hearing me say, “Why?” or “How do you know?”  This is probably one of the hardest things for my students to learn.   Use sentence starters and anchor charts to help them understand how to cite evidence in their writing.

b.   Different types of writing-  Do not focus on 1 type of writing.  With the new testing, students will be required to understand how to write not only narrative essays, but also informative and argumentative.   Be sure to introduce and acclimate your students to all types of writing.

1.       Testing-  it’s not always a bad word!  Testing, such as STAR, MIST or MICA, is a great tool to use to really understand how your students learn and what they excel at. 

a.       Share the data!  Let your students take responsibility for their test scores.  At the beginning of the year I gave my students a small sheet to record their STAR360 scores for each screening.  This helps the students know and understand where they have come from and what they need to do to do better. 

                                                               i.      From MIST and MICA-  Print off 1-2 essays of each level of proficiency.  Make copies and allow your students to score and critique each essay.  This really helps the students know what a good and not so good essay looks like.  Students will then be able to compare their own writing to the exemplars.

Changes in curriculum are hard for everyone.  I believe that teachers are the best at “Modernizing the wheel”.   There’s never a reason to reinvent the wheel…but modernizing and adjusting to the times?  We are usually pretty good at that.  The best sources of information we have are each other (well… and the internet of course).  In the words of Dori, “Just keep swimming; Just keep swimming…”