I know I posted about this last year. But I taught 8th grade last year, and I did a sort of memory book with them. They were required to have a certain number of entries, and I gave them topic starters. Some of them were: My favorite class in middle school, What I lessons I learned in middle school. Things like that. After they wrote and edited, they made a book and took pictures and put them in the book. It was a GREAT end of the year project and it still included learning about writing. Every day I had a writing lesson, usually editing or revising, and they applied the lessons to their work. The kids LOVED this project and everyone got it done.
On 5/22/07, Ashli and Paul Andersen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > The teacher across the hall did something cool yesterday. She cut out a > red > rectangle (like a brick) and each student wrote some advice to the > incoming > 8th graders advising them how to survuve her class. She got stuff like > "do > the warm ups, she really does read them., "Bring her green tea" and "don't > do drugs". Some were more thoughtful lthan others. > > Ashli > > > On 5/22/07, ljackson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > With my looping class, the end of year varied. Mid-loop, I had kids > stock > > their browsing boxes (remember, I had the littles) with three of their > > favorite books for the first day of school. We always set summer > reading > > goals and talked about extending our lives as readers, writers and > > mathematicians over the summer. We had a Pod Party (we were grouped in > > K-1-2-3 configurations called family pods) with rotations through funsy > > outdoor activities followed by a monster picnic. Oh, and we made a > banner > > for the hallway proclaiming that were second graders now, lest anyone > > think > > we were staying in first grade since we didn't change rooms. > > > > At the top of the loop, my students wrote letters to their third grade > > teachers telling their new teachers about the their passions, their > > families, their strengths and weaknesses. I was always so lucky in that > > their new teachers took the letters very seriously. My two shark boys > > were > > greeted this last fall by a teacher wearing a shark t-shirt. She was in > > like Flynn! And, of course, another pod party. > > > > Mathematically, we always ended the year with game week. As second > > graders, > > we had had a 'golf tournament'--a card game requiring strong > mathematical > > thinking. > > > > Above all, we were learning and I was teaching to he end. > > > > Lori > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On 5/21/07 9:20 PM, "Bill IVEY" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > Hi! > > > > > > I find myself periodically and without warning tearing up as we near > the > > > end of the school year; our middle school has its last class day on > > > Thursday, and the Moving Up Ceremony and Six Flags trip on Friday, and > I > > > am really really going to miss these kids. In preparation for the > Moving > > > Up Ceremony, I did an activity based on one my sister-in-law did when > my > > > nephew graduated from sixth grade. I passed out a sheet on which were > > > written these prompts: > > > My favourite part of the day was... > > > I'll always remember... > > > This year, I learned... > > > When I first came to SBMS, I... > > > But now, I... > > > Next year, I... > > > > > > I collect in all the sheets, and turn them into a sort of poem about > the > > > year in which I incorporate words from all the students (I'll tack on > an > > > extract from the first draft after my signature for anyone who's > > > interested). > > > > > > What are your own favourite end-of-year activities? > > > > > > Take care, > > > Bill Ivey > > > Stoneleigh-Burnham School > > > ****************** > > > (...) > > > > > > I¹ll always remember the days I spent here, my friends I made, MOCA, > > that > > > you need different committees to form an event, Field Day, Spearth > Day, > > my > > > time at the barn, my new friends, the SBS-Berkshire game, the good > times > > > we had in Humanities, the 7th and 8th grade, the members of the middle > > > school, my friends. > > > > > > This year, I learned everything I wanted to; I learned a lot. > > > > > > I learned about life in Stoneleigh, a lot of useful things, and how to > > > fold paper cranes. > > > > > > I learned how to be a better person. > > > > > > I learned many things in all subjects, about how my classmates > learned, > > > and how to make teachers laugh. > > > > > > (...) > > > > > > Next year, I can¹t wait to be able to meet new people. > > > > > > But, I¹ll always remember when we had so much fun at school. > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > > > > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > > > > > > > -- > > Lori Jackson > > District Literacy Coach & Mentor > > Todd County School District > > Box 87 > > Mission SD 57555 > > > > http:www.tcsdk12.org > > ph. 605.856.2211 > > > > > > Literacies for All Summer Institute > > "Literate Lives: A Human Right" > > July 12-15, 2007 > > Louisville, Kentucky > > > > http://www.ncte.org/profdev/conv/wlu > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > > > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > -- - Heather "The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man. Nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall; nations perish; civilizations grow old and die out; new races build others. But in the world of books are volumes that have seen this happen again and again and yet live on. Still young, still as fresh as the day they were written, still telling men's hearts of the hearts of men centuries dead." --Clarence Day "While the rhetoric is highly effective, remarkably little good evidence exists that there's any educational substance behind the accountability and testing movement." —Peter Sacks, Standardized Minds "When our children fail competency tests the schools lose funding. When our missiles fail tests, we increase funding. " —Dennis Kucinich, Democratic Presidential Candidate _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive
