Lebron: The Story of the Summer
If you are from Ohio, particularly Northeast Ohio, the story of the summer was Lebron James’ move to the L.A. Lakers.
I have spent countless hours watching Lebron and listening to my son’s details analysis and play-by-play of everything Lebron over the years.
I also have some students at school who loved to talk about him, and obviously, we have some catching up to do when we get back.
With one particular class in mind, my 8th graders who I know well, I decided to use Lebron’s stories – leaving Cleveland and his new school in Akron, Ohio – as our first unit this fall. It will serve as a review of some language and literature terms, allow me to observe them working in groups, and provide some good conversation and debate.
I have four reading resources ready to go:
#1 and #2 – Newsela has two articles I’ve chosen to use. One on each of the stories mentioned above. I love Newsela for many reasons, particularly the ease of leveling text by Lexile.
#3 – I am using the text of Lebron’s essay from 2014 when he announced his decision to return to Cleveland. I ran this through the Free Lexile Analyzer and found the Lexile range to be 600-700L.
#4 – I am using the letter to Lebron “from Cleveland” that I found on Instagram and in Sports Illustrated magazine. The Lexile for this text is 400-500.
Below are the activities for this unit, which I expect to take about 5-6 days:
1. Students will complete a class flow chart activity I’m doing over several major summer stories. (More on that this weekend.)
2. Language Review Scoot based on the “Dear Lebron” letter.
3. Close Reading Activity based on Lebron’s “I’m Coming Back to Cleveland” essay.
The text and the activities can be found in PDF form by clicking the links below:
Lebron James Student Response Sheets
Dear Lebron, (both texts are on here)
4. The Newsela Articles will be read in small groups or independently using the PRO features our district has access to.
Depending on your students, these activities could be a fun, high-interest activity for the start of the year.
Just a few fun facts about what I have in common with Lebron James:
- His number is 23, and this is my 23rd year of teaching.
- He is going to L.A. and I teach L.A.
I thought I’d share those cheesy facts with my students, but first I ran it by Ian this morning to see his reaction.
Me – Ian, do you know something Lebron and I have in common?
Ian – You’re the Greatest of All Time?
Ah, not what I was thinking, but I’ll add that to the list.
Muddled Seasons
That blogging resolution I made didn’t last long. The last time I posted, it was WINTER, and the ground was still covered with snow. Things started getting crazy busy in March, and to be perfectly honest, I wasn’t feel very motivated to talk about anything school related outside of school. (Just one of those seasons of life.)
SPRING was consumed by my son’s first year of varsity tennis
and my daughter’s last few months of high school.
Banquets, concerts, graduation, parties, HER party, and then SUMMER was finally here.
Finally, time to rest. Rest involves walking the dogs twice a day.
Reading every night before bed.
Practicing my lettering over coffee.
Decorating my Erin Condren planner.
I had one week I went on three consecutive lunch/dinner dates with friends.
After the 4th of July, I started getting some ideas for my classroom. I have been in the same room for six years now, and it is starting to getting a little cluttered.
I decided to set a budget of $100 to revamp my classroom’s decor/vibe/aesthetic. I figure if I’m going to have to be there, I need it to be a place a WANT to be. It has been fun perusing Pinterest and Instagram and then bargain-shopping and up-cycling some random finds.
Look for more posts now that I’m back from a short trip down south to visit my cousin and her family.
Until then, enjoy your final weeks of summer vacation!
~Melanie
The Kindness Bug
Be kind.
I know it’s a popular expression lately, but there’s nothing wrong with that.
The more people who say it, believe it, do it….the better, right?
Maybe it’s because of the constant school violence and threats of violence.
Maybe it’s because of the increasing number of teen suicides my area of the state has seen.
Maybe it’s because I finally saw the movie, Wonder, last weekend.
Maybe it’s because I am trying really hard in some areas of my life to show extra kindness.
It could be a combination.
It doesn’t matter why. Do I need a reason to remind my students to be kind?
This week I decided to put a quote in place of the typical school events on the white board each day. 
My 2nd period class gets 15 minutes to 1) copy the quote in their agenda (instead of homework this week) and 2) respond to the quote in their journals.
Some students have chosen to share what they’ve written. I hope by the end of the week everyone will share at least one journal entry.
This afternoon I asked my hallway custodian, who is an incredible example of KIND, to give me the quote for tomorrow. She was so happy I asked her.
I’ve opened Thursday and Friday’s slots up to my Instagram followers.
What’s your favorite kindness quote?
Do you have a good theme for next week?
Leave a comment. I’d love to share your idea with my class.
Do You Bitmoji?
I use Bitmoji in approximately four ways:
1) To participate in group holiday texts with my family 
2) To tell my kids goodnight if they are at their dad’s house 
3) To express sarcasm, enthusiasm, or exhaustion with my colleagues (don’t we all?)
4) To get my students attention (This either makes them laugh or makes their eyes roll.) 
I’ve seen a lot of teachers customize the expressions and phrases to fit their classroom.
Instead of getting out of bed and starting the laundry, I decided to do likewise. 
IXL Bulletin Board
As promised, here is the first of several IXL related posts.
This is how I highlight the skills we are working on for the week…or two weeks…or month…depending on how many snow days we have!
The board is divided for my three different classes: a 7th grade class, an 8th grade class, and my C+M stands for “Core Plus More” which is our part of our Intervention program.
We are often studying different things at different times so the charts get moved around quite often. (Many of my anchor charts are Pinterest inspired.)
The “73,300 Questions” above the board shows how many Language Arts questions my five classes have answered collectively since the beginning of the school year.
The “Target > 85” refers to their SmartScore.
The SmartScore is a hot topic in our building right now. What is fair? What is reasonable? What is realistic?
I went to the IXL FAQs and found that a SmartScore of 80 is considered “good,” 90 is “excellent,” and 100 is “mastered.”
I chose 85 because it seemed to be a good challenge for the students I work with.
At times I will tell a student to work towards a lower SmartScore if they are truly working hard and still struggling.
I also encourage students to “Level Up,” meaning if they are working at the 5th grade level and hit 85, the should Level Up – I tend to make a silly video game noise when I say this- and try the related 6th grade skill. (More on that later).
Of course, I’ve had students ask, “Can I get higher than 85?”
Without a doubt- go for it!
“This Compulsion”
“When I get this feeling, this compulsion, I always do what it tells me. I can’t explain where it comes from or how I get it, and it doesn’t happen very often. But I obey it.” ~ Calvin O’Keefe, A Wrinkle in Time
Just like Calvin, I have this compulsion. I am compelled.
Compelled to be better. Compelled to do more.
Compelled to teach. Compelled to learn.
Compelled to find a place where I am understood and I understand.
I’m excited to say I’ve been invited and graciously accept the invitation to become part of a blogging community that will post, read, comment on, and share education-minded posts several times a month.
What better name for this group than the Compelled Tribe?
For a while now, I have been aimlessly searching for a “thing,” for my “place,” for my “people.”
For my tribe.
Of course, I already belong to several “tribes” – my oldest friends, my children, my family, and some work friends. Even my 8th grade class feels like a tribe.
However, this tribe is different, and I’m excited. I don’t think there’s ever been a time in my life when I’ve needed a tribe like this.
These are tough and challenging times in education, and I am finishing out Year 20 of teaching. I don’t think I’m alone, or will be misunderstood, when I say that some days I feel like I am at a crossroads.
Luckily, I just happened to cross paths with a tribe that wants to grow. A tribe who will support me, encourage me, and challenge me in areas that are important to me: writing, teaching, and learning.
Generating Gerunds with Viral Videos
My 8th grade inclusion students recently started learning about verbals. As if participles weren’t fun enough, we had to add gerunds to the mix.
Last week, one of my quietest students came to me and asked, “Can we please practice gerunds in study hall? I don’t understand them at all!”
My first instinct was to pull up a practice worksheet on the Smartboard and use those sentences to teach them the difference between a gerund functioning as a subject, a direct object, and a predicate nominative. (At this point we haven’t discussed object of the preposition.)
Other than easily identifying a word that ends in “-ing,” my students felt helpless.
Sometimes I get these crazy ideas for teaching a concept; they just pop in my head.
Take this video, for example. I have no idea what made me think of a video with a tiny Yorkie puppy doing lots of amazing tricks. My dad had sent this video to me long ago, impressed with the dog’s talents. My Yorkie, Blue, is nowhere near as talented.
I told my class to watch closely and remember as many tricks as possible.
After we watched the video, my students were able to write all kinds of sentences using gerunds as the subject and as a predicate nominative.
- Pushing a shopping cart is the dog’s best trick.
- Weaving in and out of cups would be hard to teach.
- The puppy’s cutest trick is skateboarding.
- Wrapping herself up in a blanket was the cutest trick.
- Painting is a trick I would never expect a dog to do.
- Pushing the car with her nose was a cute trick.
- Putting away the laundry is a trick I should teach my dog!
- The first trick I would teach my dog is doing my homework!
Of course, you know me, I’ve been trying to think of other ways to incorporate viral videos into my practice activities in Tornado Time.
There are a couple of routes I could go. I could always go with an old classic like this:
Or I could find a series of viral videos like this one:
Knowing your students best, you probably already know what kind of videos you’d want to use. Think of how you could get your students writing with particular parts of speech or sentence structures by giving them a visual prompt like this.
What viral video clips do you love?
What great ideas just popped into your head?
I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments!
Top Back-to-School Posts on All Access Pass
These are some of my most popular and useful Back-To-School posts:
First Day of School Scavenger Hunt – Great ice breaker that gets kids out of their seats and helps you get to know your students. Download the PDF to customize it for your grade.
Updated Scavenger Hunts – Three levels of first day scevenger hunts to meet the needs of your particular students.
Identifying Student Learning Styles – Two links to PDF learning style inventories and one link to an online tool for determining how your students learn best.
I am a Squiggle Stuck Inside a Square – Another great ice breaker that encourages teamwork. Middle schoolers love this one. Hopefully you have a nice mix of shapes in your classroom.
Great Resources for Classroom Posters – Link to a blog that offers free printable posters of all kinds! My son would love a classroom full of posters like this one of Kevin Durant.
I Gave Schoology a Chance – A graphic that shows all of the ways I have used Schoology in my classroom. I just realized my old course from last year was wiped out, so this will be a helpful post for me!
Team Teaching Options – Descriptions of five ways to team teach.
Summarizing Short Stories: Story Elements and Conflict – Free PDFs for these basic concepts that are often introduced in Language Arts at the beginning of the year.
Easy Access – This link will take you to one place to find everything that is free. Wait!! Everything is FREE on All Access Pass!! Go here to find an organized list of downloads.
Do you have a favorite Back-To-School post or a post that is wildly popular on your own teaching blog?
Post a link in the comments!
Back-to-School Love
For some reason, our district is a week behind everyone else in the area so we still have a few days left of summer vacation. However, seeing all the Back-to-School pics on Facebook, makes me a little excited for the big day.
So, last night I bought poster board at the Dollar Tree (5 Sheets for $1) and broke out the Sharpies. I could easily buy posters at the teacher store, but there is just something special about making my own.
This is going to go on my closet door, and each student will write about their dreams and goals.
This year’s theme is all about believing in your self, going after dreams, and loving your life…no matter where you are. Wonder where I got that inspiration!?
I am so excited to talk to my 8th graders and share the exciting news of my first book. I know that they will be proud of me, and I hope that it will serve as an inspiration and a reminder of how much I love them!
This will go in the center of my bulletin board above my desk, surrounded by photos of my family and pets.
What’s your theme for this year?
Do you make your own posters and decorations?
What would YOU attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?
Share some Back-To-School love in the comments!
Which Outsiders Character are You?
Our 7th graders will be starting out the year with The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, so I wanted to share the activity I used last winter when I read the book with my Resource Room.
I needed something to hook the kids, and from my experience with the book, the characters can be quite confusing for students. I decided that I would assign each student a role, and they would represent that character while we read the novel.
Going with the very popular idea of quizzes that we all take on Facebook (Which Disney princess are you? I’m Jasmine!)…I decided to do something similar with my students.
Because I don’t know how to make an actual quiz like that, I just used a Google form and with 8 students, I figured out the results to strategically meet the needs of my individual students.
First, the questions:
The next day, I handed out the slips of paper one at a time and read the descriptions to the class. They then inserted the description, as well as a photo I had printed, into a 4 x 6 acrylic picture frame.
Each day as class started, the students would get their frame and sit it in front of them on their desk. As we sat in a circle, I was able to reference/point to students as we were summarizing.
By having them associate the characters with their classmates, it was easier for them to keep the characters and plot straight. It was also fun to build suspense and keep students interested.
“Will Johnny/Blake live or die?”
“Will Cherry/Sydney fall in love with Dally/Josh?”
“Will the Socs/Nathan seek revenge for Bob’s death?”
Other skills I covered during this activity:
- Point of View – Students were asked to rewrite their description several times – in 1st and 3rd point of view.
- Perspective and Summarizing- After major events in the book, students had to get into character and write a journal entry or letter about the current situation.
- Predictions – Students were asked to make predictions about their characters.
I am not sure how this would work in a very large class, but I am anxious to hear your thoughts. If you could use this technique with a novel you are reading, please share in the comments!!
All Access Pass 