Graphic Organizers TCH 206

The Following Graphic Organizers are from Freeology.com



* This can be used in the classroom for homework passes, extra credit, hall passes etc.


* This is a Theme worksheet that can be used in any class


* This can be used for analyzing different aspects of characters


* This is used in a simple 3 point essay


* This is a facebook mock profile that can be used to outline any chapter in any subject


* This can be used when doing literature circles or relating ones self with the story


* Author Study worksheet


* Used when comparing and contrasting two seperate ideas


* a KWL helps gage what students know, what they want to know, and what they learned in a lesson; is a good assessment


*Story Plot Graph


* Helps with writing a paragraph


*Pyramid of Ideas


*Sequence Ladder

Teaching Strategies for TCH 206

Grouping Activities: Help students form groups/break the ice

• Famous Pairs: Make cards with famous pairs such as peanut butter and jelly or Oreos and milk, and distribute the cards randomly while students look for their match. (from class)
• Sticker Picker: On a worksheet or piece of paper put matching stickers that correspond with the amount of students you want per group (3 matching stickers = 3 students in that group). Have the students form based on the sticker of randomly given worksheets. (from class)
• Pick-up Sticks: Decide how many groups are needed to perform an activity and then write numbers on Popsicle sticks. The numbers can be adjusted as class sizes increase or decrease. Distribute the sticks; students with the matching numbers form. (from class)
• Long-Lost Friends: For a topic of study, create pairs of cards. One card has a vocabulary word and the matching card has the definition. Mix up the cars and hand them out. Kids find their long-lost friends when vocabulary words and definitions match. (from class)
• Name Game: Write each student's name on an index. Deal the cars into however many groups you want. (from class)
• Play That Funky: Start playing a song. Instruct the students to walk around the room, and when the music stops students form into groups into however many you want. (from class)
• In the Bag: In a bag, put squares of different colors of paper. Kids reach in and grab one. Students holding the same color are in the same group. (from class)

Reviewing Activities: Help students recall important information before assessments

• Baseball Review Game: In any content area, prepare a set of questions that you will ask the students in preparation for a test/quiz. Divide the students up into two groups or teams. When a team is "at bat" one team member at a time will go up to the plate to answer a question. If the child answers the question correctly, he or she can pull a star burst from a concealed jar. Each color of star burst represents a different thing- a single, a double, a triple, a home run, or an out which can be decided by you. Once the student has pulled his or her color, the child will move to the corresponding base, or area in the room that signifies first/second/third/home base, or sit down if it was an out. The game will continue until a specific score is reached or time is up. (exhibition day)
• Four Corners: Ask a question or problem with four parts. Have students select which of the four is their choice and then go to the corner of the classroom where that problem is part displayed. This can be used as both a review strategy or as a grouping strategy. In the use of a review game, have students go to the corner of which answer they think is right. Prepare questions with multiple answers prior to the review game. (from class)

Language Arts Activities: Best used in an English or Reading atmosphere

• Mad Lib Grammar: Purchase/print out any appropriate mad lib that is suitable for the grade level. Ask students to complete it as a group to assess whether they understand the different parts of speech including adjectives, nouns, verbs... etc. by their responses. If the class is struggling with a particular part of speech, this is an easy, fun activity that allows the students to have fun while informally assessing their knowledge about grammar. Once the mad lib is completed by the class, read aloud the class' creation. (exhibition day)
• Noun Quilt: During a grammatical lesson on nouns, have each child draw a noun on a piece of paper. The noun can be proper or regular. Once each child has successfully made their noun square, put each square together in a form of the quilt. This will not only be a fun experience for the children, it will be a small reminder of what a noun is when progressing into other parts of grammar, like a word wall. (exhibition day)
• Velcro Word Wall: This is a wall dedicated to spelling words, vocabulary words, sight words, transitional words, or other themes carried out in the particular content area. On the Velcro wall, place the words in children's reach in case they want to pull the word down for reference of spelling or definition. The connivance of the Velcro allows for easy removal/replacement between different lessons and by the children. The word walls is simply a reference of words a child would find beneficial in the classroom. A few variations are special word wall. (exhibition day)
• Quick Scrabble: This is a unique spelling game that can be used when students are working individually or working in groups. With letter-pieces from a scrabble game, distribute evenly to students/groups of students and allocate a specific amount of time each will have to form as many words as they can in that time (30 seconds, 2 minutes etc ).  In the time slot, have the children find as many words as then can in the group of letters they were given. Have the children write down every word they found. Which ever individual or group has the most words wins. (exhibition day)
• Vocabulary Charades: Once a class has been introduced to a set of vocabulary words, this activity is helpful in reinforcing the definitions while reaching learners with different needs. Form the class into equal groups based on the number of vocabulary words. Once in the groups, have the children come up with an action/charade/symbol to help represent the meaning of the vocabulary word given to them. When everyone has had enough time to come up with an action for their word, the groups will share with the class their action while the others students try to guess which vocabulary word is being represented. For instance, if the word cancel was given a group of students might show an "X" with their arms to show what the word cancel means. This lesson can be used in any subject, however, I assumed it would be most used during an Language Arts/English class. This helps reach body learners. (during observations in Lewistown Intermediate School)
• Twitter Topic Sentence: When introducing the idea of a topic sentence, this is a good lesson that relates Twitter to English class. First, have the students write as much as they want on a particular topic- this can be a paragraph or a few sentences. Once each student has their ideas written down, limit their topic sentence to 140 characters, just like a Twitter update. This will teach students to pull the most important information that relates to everything- the overall idea of a paper. (Outstanding Educators conference last year)
• Here Comes the Judge: This is a spelling competition between two students, with one judge student that goes out into the hallway. To begin, have "the judge" leave the room so that he/she can make an unbiased decision on the spelling and neatness of the word. Next, call on two students to come to the board where they are to write the word told to them in their best hand writing (the handwriting helps decide who wins if there is a tie). Once both children have written the word, all the students say "HERE COMES THE JUDGE!" The child from the hallway emerges into the class and has to decide which word was spelled correctly, and if it's a tie which is written the best.  (Reading in the Elementary School)

Outline Chapters:

•  Post-Its: Since students cannot write in their textbooks, using post-its can be an easy way to write notes on a particular page in a text book or novel. Have students write down important ideas, summarize main points, or add additional information using post-it notes. This is any easy way that allow students to organize and take notes while they're reading for class. Too, the notes can be removed when the textbooks are returned at the end of the year. (Reading in the Elementary School)
• Double Entry: Split a piece of paper hot-dog style. On the left side of the paper write down quotes from the chapter that you didn't know, find interesting, or want to know more about. On the right side of the paper directly across from the quote, have students respond to the quotes. They can write as much or as little as they want, but inform the students that this is a way to help organize and outline the chapter- the more that is written the more that will be remembered. (Reading in the Elementary School)
• KWL (see Graphic Organizers)

Team Building Exercises:

• Human Knot: Everyone stands in a circle and grabs the right hand of a person across from them then grabs the left hand of another person, preferable not one standing directly next to them. Untangle! (STAR Mentoring Program)
• Human Sculpture: Put students in two groups. Each group is given a card with an object on it and has five minutes to play how they can act out that object with their bodies. The groups take turns acting out their objects while the other groups try to guess what the object is. (STAR Mentoring Program)
• Say My Name Game: Everyone stands in a circle. First person says their name and does a "dance/action." Everyone repeats the person's name and "dance." The next person does the same thing, then everyone repeats the first person's name and dance, and the second person's name and dance. This continues until everyones name and dance is put together to make a big group dance. (STAR Mentoring Program)
• Paper Bridge: Split into two groups. Each group stands at an opposite end of the room and is given two large pieces of paper. They are instructed to get every member of their team across the room, but they can only travel while standing on the paper. The first team to get all of its members across the room wins. (STAR Mentoring Program)

Others:

• Learning Style Test: Issue a learning-style test at the beginning of the year to students, so you are better apt to adjust lesson plans around their needs. These can be found for several different grade levels online. (from class)
• Hanging on the Edge: Similar to Hang-man, this is a behavioral strategy. Pick a shape/animal/food for the day and every time students misbehave, draw one more part to the drawing. If the students get the entire picture drawn by the end of the day, they will be punished. An example is drawing a Jack-o-Lantern around Halloween. (Exhibition day)
• Zero Noise: The zero-noise signal is an easy way to quiet the class and focus students' attention on you. Use it whenever you have something the whole class should hear, when students need to bring the volume down, at the start/end of an activity, of when you want to refocus students. To do this, stop talking, raise your hand in the air and remain quiet as you wait for your students to respond. When the students see your hand, they should complete their sentences, then respond by also raising their hand. Keep your hand raised until all the students have their hand raised and are quiet. (from class)
• Think-Pair-Share: This strategy takes the fear out of answering questions in front on an entire class because it allows students to discuss their answers with a neighbor/partner before they are called on to respond. To do this, ask the question, give the students "think time" individually, allow for discussions with neighbors/partners, and finally have the students share in teams or call on a few students to share their answers. (from class)
• Random Reporter: Random reporter is a strategy that introduces the idea that all students should be prepared to answer every question with the support of a team member. To do this, ask a question, have the students think about their answer, have the students discuss their answers with their team, and then call on a team to share their answer with the whole class. (from class)

Technologies/Websites:

• www.prezi.com
• www. gizmos.com
• Smartboards
• Jason's Project