One Teacher's Adventures

April is not just the month of blooming flowers and warmer weather; it's also National Poetry Month—a time to celebrate the beauty and significance of poetry in our lives. For middle school teachers, this presents a golden opportunity to dive into the world of verse with your students. While some may view poetry as an intimidating or irrelevant subject, the truth is that teaching poetry in middle school can offer numerous benefits that extend far beyond the classroom. Let's explore the top ten reasons why incorporating poetry into your curriculum is a must: 1. Cultivating Creativity: Poetry is the ultimate playground for creativity. By exploring different poetic forms, structures, and styles, students are encouraged to think outside the box and express themselves in unique ways. Whether it's crafting haikus, sonnets, or free verse, poetry allows students to unleash their imagination and discover their own voice. 2. Enhancing Language Skills: Analyzing poetry helps student...

  I've used this format to teach independent novels to students in grades 5-9.  Because it is so open-ended, it allows for easy differentiation of kids in the same grade, or for kids in split classes. I like this project a lot because it is very student-centred, and once I hand out the project outline, the students can work at their own pace.  Because there is so much choice involved, the quality of work is usually very high, as well. I have borrowed pieces of this from other bloggers and teacher friends.  I've also been adding to it/changing things around for a few years, and I have forgotten which pieces came from whom.  If you see one of your ideas, please know that I love it (which is why it's still in my project), and let me know in the comments so that I can credit you! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Choice Novel Project Over the next four weeks, you will complete a choice novel study p...

Teaching the 5 W's - Who, What, Where, When, and Why - has never been my favourite subject.  And because I am not too excited about it, my students don't get too excited about it, either.  For me, it's just tedious. Last year, I was teaching a Grade 4/5 class, and when we looked at informational writing, the 5 W's came up again.  I tried to find a fun and creative way to liven up this topic, and I remembered something I had seen on Pinterest , coming from a blog called Sarcasm 101 - story sticks! Ruby, the original poster, used coloured popsicle sticks as elements of a story.  One colour for character, another for conflict, etc. I decided to adapt the idea, and make each colour stick into one of the 5 W's.   I spent an hour or so coming up with a class set of sticks.  The red sticks show "WHEN," green sticks show "WHERE," yellow sticks show "WHO," and the blue sticks "WHAT."   I told my students to pretend they w...