Bio Poems: A Start of Year Activity

Bio Poems are always a great way to start the year.

Bio Poems are an awesome way to get to know your students and have them think about who they are as young adults.

The layout/structure of the poem is simple. Every student can achieve success, while those who really want to can extend on their ideas making their poems more abstract than literal.

Bio Poem Structure:

My life is
I have seen/watched
I once possessed/had
I once lived
I am
I have seen
I have heard
I have tasted
I have smelt
I believe
I don't understand
I hate/dislike
I love
I used to
I hope to
I am

I always share a Bio Poem I have created to get the ball rolling. If I think it is necessary I will co-construct a Bio Poem with the class on a famous person or character like Harry Potter.

Students use the above structure as a guide. I don't tell them they have to use each starter but I do specify how many lines (minimum) they have to use. Some students like to use the same starter more than once, usually when they have more than one idea they want to share.

Students wrote their Bio Poems, edited them, published them and then created borders that reflected their personalities.

These Bio Poems are up on our art wall to show off who Room 1 is!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Round 2)

I am reading 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' to my class this term for our novel study.

I read it to my class last year and it was by far their favourite novel study. I was wanting to re-do this novel because it is going to be out at the movies next year (2016) in March and because of the inclusion of the vintage pictures and the story behind how they came to be.

I love the descriptive language in the novel and that the plot is not predictable. It has some deeper themes (trust and identity) that is great to explore with this intermediate age.

Last year I was fortunate enough to have all my students on their own laptops completing various task while I read. I loved the way ICT was able to enhance my reading programme.

 This year I am at a new school with limited access to technology. It has been a great experience to rethink my novel study sessions. I have had to think about how to give the best activities to my students and ensure they are getting as much out of the novel as I felt my previous class did.

Activities I have used so far:

- Character Webs (Personality traits, physical characteristics, things they do and things they say)
- Class Wonder Wall (All the questions we so desperately want to know)
- Cairnholm Island Map
- Key Word Chart (to later be turned into a word poem on Tagxedo during reading rotations)
- Comprehension and Vocabulary Questions
- I Wonder Statements
- Discussion Circles

What I am loving is hearing students beg to hear more, to see more pictures and them discussing their predictions and opinions out in the playground.

Term 1 Inquiry: What is the 8th Wonder of the World?

In term one our focus is 'Wonders of the World'

I presented the students with a scenario:

Our first lesson was looking at a range of natural, man made, ancient and technological wonders and what about them made them wonders.

Students came up with the following questions to help determine what makes a wonder?

We then brainstormed a range of other questions that had:

Student's then brainstormed all the places, buildings and technologies they believed could be a wonder. Using this brainstorm they narrowed it down to the 5 they were most passionate about.

I created two worksheets for students to use to help narrow down and organise their thinking.

As a class we then created our 5 week timeline to help keep us on track!

The students used the 'Skillful Decision Making' process to help them with persuading the class on why their wonder is the 8th Wonder of the World.

I am looking forward to what the students come up with!
For most of them it is their first time following an inquiry model - it has taken some time to get students to deepen their thinking and engage in discussions.

Students were also given a budget as part of financial literacy to plan a trip to their 8th Wonder of the World. 

Evernote

This year we are using Evernote to keep our anecdotal notes.

This is an amazing tool for teachers I couldn't speak highly enough of it to do it justice.

At first I found it really challenging to find the time to make the notes. With seniors it can be hard to find a moment to jot down comments and observations, before you are interrupted and it is lost. I have had to make a conscious effort to make the time and now I feel like I have been able to teach while making quick notes and taking photos for evidence.

Things I like about Evernote:

- Searching students names (great for when it comes to parent teacher interviews and reports)
- Annotating photos - You can highlight and write all over photos
- I can use the notes to help with planning - particularly when trying to decide how long to spend on a learning intention
- The evidence is visual, organised and accessible on a range of devices and locations (Home and School)
- The notes can be shared with fellow colleagues and management
- You can create notebooks to organise various topics and content. I have a notebook for Behaviour & Social, Planning Reflections, Testing Observations, Room 1 (2015) and then various notebooks for different curriculum ideas
- You can clip articles, photos and documents off the internet. This is a great way to never lose amazing resources!
- I can use it on my phone. I take the photos, type the notes and post these to my Evernote while I am sitting with a group
- You can set yourself checklists and reminders within your notes - e.g. Need to Gloss test ASAP - Look at Mult/Div