Inquiry Based Learning Made Easy
As the period ended yesterday, a student said to me, “Ms. Minkin, we should always play games like this.” I was glad she had fun. But we hadn’t been playing a game. What my student was referring to was the inquiry based lesson she had just experienced. Notice I didn’t say “the lesson I had…
Writers’ Workshop Mini Lesson – Introducing Characters
Student writers often have trouble getting started. While they may have some interesting opening lines, it’s much harder to introduce their protagonist in an engaging way. In this inquiry based writers’ workshop mini lesson, students study the way professional writers handle this problem.
Making Classroom Board Games Without Lifting A Finger
I love playing games at school. I create lots of classroom board games to help students learn academic vocabulary, review concepts and discuss ideas. Sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? It doesn’t have to be when you have the kids do the heavy lifting – mentally. Last week’s lesson was a great example…
Kindness Campaign Part 2
In my last post, I wrote that my plans for Valentine’s Day would center around the “Celebrate Kindness” campaign initiated by youThink. I explained my plans to create a lesson around this and had my students hand out “Kindness Cards” instead of Valentines. The lesson gave my students a forum to discuss the fact that…
Celebrate Kindness This Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day at my middle school means cards, candy, balloons and stuffed animals. It also means lots of kids who feel left out. In years past I’ve given each student a card to help offset their feelings of marginalization. Does it help? I don’t know. This year is different. This year, we’re going to use…
