From the Desk of Kelly Harmon
March 2015 Newsletter
Dear Educators,
-Kelly Harmon & Randi Anderson
Expository Writing Essentials
The Basics:
Expository texts EXPLAIN a topic or position.
Expository Vocabulary to Teach:
- Explain
- Controlling or Central Idea
- Evidence
- Support
- Details
- Structure
- Organize
- Approach
- Specific
Expository Essays Must Haves:
- Controlling or Central Idea (Thesis)
- Specific Supporting Details
- An Organized Structure
- Strong Conclusion
- Precise Word Choice
- Varied Sentence Structure
Expository Organization Structures:
- Description or list
- Compare & Contrast
- Cause & Effect
- Problem & Solution
- Sequence
See more expository essentials on our products below!
Get our Expository Rubric and Teaching Checklist Here!
Making Test Prep FUN!
Test prep can and should be fun! Yes, it should be FUN! My first year of teaching, I thought that this was kill and drill time, but boy was I wrong! Focus on these three areas and your students will be ready in no time!
1. Motivation
Building a sense of excitement is the key to success during testing season. Create a theme such as STAAR Wars, March Madness, or The Hunger Games. A good theme will help to create excitement in your classroom or school. Use or design games that tie into the theme. Theme games are great motivational tools to get students engaged and practicing.
2. Practice
By this point in the year, students should be practicing skills, processes, and strategies that have already been taught. Cramming in new or unknown information will not benefit students. It creates unneeded bad stress that can shut thinking down.
March and April is time to practice what has been taught throughout the year. Practice must match the level of rigor of the standard. Activities should give students an opportunity to use their knowledge and skills in a variety of situations.
Levels of practice are important to remember as well. Guided and independent practice are essential. Students should be given rigorous opportunities, meaningful feedback, and authentic praise. Practice using our Genre Jeopardy Game Here!
3. Celebration
Anything worth learning and practicing is worth celebrating! Celebrate often with your students. Everyone needs a pat on the back or to be celebrated at some point. Host a pep rally or dance party to celebrate all that your students have achieved this year. Build up students' confidence and decrease their test anxiety!
Poetry Month is Coming Up!
1. Host a Poetry Cafe!
Sip a cup of Joe and enjoying your students poetry! Decorate your classroom to look like a coffee house or cafe. Think lamps, small tables, a stage with a stool, microphone, etc. Invite students to read their poetry for peers and parents. Keep it authentic by snapping fingers instead of clapping to show appreciation.
2. Use Taylor Swift Songs
Use Taylor Swift's latest songs to teach lyrical poetry. Blank Space, Shake it Off, and Style are great lyrical poems to use when modeling and practicing inferring and analyzing author's craft skills. Students will love to use these songs, too! Find the lyrics to print Here!
3. Invite a Guest Poet
Invite a poet to come speak with your class about the craft they use, where they get their ideas, and how they use the writing process. Students will get to see a real world application of poetry!
Using a Song-of-the-Week to Practice Close Reading
Close reading is the practice of reading carefully and purposefully in order to understand the author’s message. Students need a lot of varied practice using reading comprehension strategies in order to become proficient at close reading.
Preparation:
1. Give each student a composition notebook labeled "My Song Book."
2. Choose song that is related to a topic of study from science or social studies or thematically linked to texts you’ve been reading aloud (picture books or novels).
3. Find the karaoke version of the song on YouTube.
4. Find and copy the lyrics on Word, Pages, or Google Docs. Provide a copy for each student.
5. You may also want to provide a link to the song and the lyrics on your class website or Edmodo page.
Day 1: Focus strategy: Retelling or Summarizing and Visualizing
1. Play the karaoke version of the song and encourage students to sing along.
App of the Month: Shadow Puppets Edu
Workshops
Early Childhood Workshop: Developing Language & Literacy
8:30a.m.- 3:30p.m.
San Antonio, TX
Spend the day building your knowledge of the latest ideas and learning for the early childhood classroom. Kelly Harmon will guide educators through developing language through singing, talking, reading, and writing in the early childhood classroom. Click HERE for more information.
Title I Conference: Strengthen Your Title Program
March 22-23, 2015
St. Louis, MO
You will learn how to build on the success of your current program, identify the key components that have the greatest impact on student achievement and find the specific areas you need to target for implementation and improvement. Leave equipped with a wealth of the most effective Title I instructional strategies. ClickHERE to learn more!
Building Expertise: Journey to Rigor Conference
June 17-19, 2015
Orlando, FL
The most important thing you can do for your students in 2015 is to set them on the road to rigorous learning. That’s why we’ve designed this year’s conference, at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort, June 17-19, to share the foundational knowledge, the expert educators, and the tools and resources to get you geared up for a Journey to Rigor. Click HERE for more information!
Summer 2015 Workshops
The First 25 Days of School Workshop
June 24, 2015
San Antonio, TX
Learn strategies to establish clear and effective classroom literacy routines, including ideas for focus lessons, independent reading, guided and independent writing, word work, research, developing vocabulary, and building reading fluency. Click HERE for more info!
Best iPad Apps & Strategies to Increase Students Achievement
June 25, 2015
San Antonio,TX
iPads are great tools for providing explicit instruction, meaningful practice, and student-designed projects and presentations. In this interactive seminar, explore the best apps and projects that will engage your learners and accelerate learning. Be sure to bring your iPad for the hands on make-and-take projects. Click HERE to learn more!
Comprehension Strategies: Following Figure 19
June 26, 2015
San Antonio, TX
Join Kelly Harmon as she helps you navigate and plan effective instruction for the TEKS comprehension strategies (Figure 19). Learn how to help your students develop and use the strategies for close reading and recreational reading. Learn more HERE!
Need Professional Development at Your Campus?
Kelly Harmon & Associates
Email: randi@kellyharmon.net
Website: www.kellyharmon.net
Phone: 817-583-1290
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Texas-Literacy-Resources/185551092170?ref=aymt_homepage_panel