neelam damani's Profile

Translate chapters into storyboards and cartoons; draw the most important scene in the chapter and explain its importance and action.

Take sections of the story and, choosing carefully, create a found poem; then read these aloud and discuss.

I have a classroom constitution, and yes, it helps. Just like any document, it doesn't work for everyone or all the time.



I based mine on ideas of scholarship (from Sandra Kaplan who is a GATE guru). I taught what the attributes of a scholar were: pondering ideas, saving ideas, being prepared, setting long and short term goals, are active learners, etc.



Then kids worked in groups to come up with class rules based on the principles of scholarship and designing an environment that would optimize conditions for academic success. We discussed those and grouped them into three major categories: Respect Others; Be Responsible; Stay on Task and Participate Actively in Your Learning.



I wrote up the final Constitution including a preamble: "We the studentsof room sixteen, in orde to form a more scholarly classroom and achieve an excellent education, to allow thinking and ponderig of ideas and problems, to set short-term and long-term goals, to be prepared to be life-long learners, to exercise our intellect and satisfy our curousity, do ordain and establish this constitution of the clasroom of Room Sixteen of Ruth Musser Middle School." (I'd also read them a picture book about the preamble of the Constitution whose name escapes me at the moment).





The kids all signed it, and we used it the rest of the year as a reminder for when we needed to discuss behavior issues. Sometimes, I usd itjust as a reminder for one or two kids.



I'm still using the same Consttution, 3 years later. I still teach the same lesson, but now I present the already written Constitution since it lines up well with what students continue to know about acceptable behavior, and I remind students that laws stay the same, unless a society chooses to change them. Each student gets a copy of the Clonstitution to keep and there is one posted on the wall.




Attachments:




• 
  Classroom Constitution.doc, 30 KB

• avorite books you've read during the year and why you liked them
• poems that have led you to deeper understandings
• how your writing improved, with specific examples
• new words you've acquired
• concepts or genres you've learned about
• editing skills you've mastered
• minilessons you've thought were useful
• writing prompts and revision techniques you particularly liked
• reading and writing habits you have developed or changed
• what you've learned from the class overall.