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You know that sound of cicadas in the air? Let your students read all about it! |
English/Language Arts
Explore writing prompts - seasonal events
In this Minute, Author Pringle shares a sign of Spring. Ask your students - what harbinger lets them know that Spring is in the air? Summer? Fall? Winter? Have students identify their favorite season and write a paragraph or two about how they know the seasonal change has arrived.
Explore content specific vocabulary
As educators, we know our students have more success when we front load the vocabulary. By teaching content specific vocabulary before students read something, their comprehension will increase. This should not be a “teacher secret” - share this with your students. Teach them this comprehension strategy. When content-area reading, skim through to identify specialized vocabulary - words like nymph, brood and locust, and look up definitions before reading the entire piece.
Social Studies
Explore geography - regions
What does the author mean when he references the “eastern two-thirds” of the country? The Northeast? The Upper Midwest? Can your students visualize what is included? Get out the map and show students these regions on a regular basis, including every time regions are referred to in something they are reading. Regular visual reference will begin the work of creating images in the “mind’s eye” when they hear regional references. Practice, practice, practice!
STEM
Explore under the ground
Do your students think that dirt is just...well, dirt? Time to get their hands a little dirty! Find a patch of soil - school courtyard, next to the sidewalk, near the front entrance. You do not need much! A spoon and a styrofoam cup and a little bit of elbow grease will get some dirt for closer examination. Now get out those microscopes. What do you see? Does adding some drops of water make things clearer?
Research Skills
Explore question development
Ask your students to read this Minute and then generate a list of as many questions as they can in two minutes, writing each question on a seperate index card. Now have students sort the questions by the first word - who, what, where, when, why or how. Now it’s time for some class thinking. Which of these questions can be easily answered with a quick trip to a good print book or a reliable internet site? Try Laurence Pringle’s Cicadas!:Strange and Wonderful or check out the Cicada Mania site referenced in the article. Now ask your students to re-sort the questions into easy-to-answer and challenging-to-answer, then draw some conclusions about types of questions and find labels you can continue to use as you move throughout the school year. Some teachers call them thick and thin questions. Others refer to them as 'right there', vs 'in the text' vs 'beyond the text' questions. For older students, these are schema-building vs. truly researchable questions. Whatever you call them, talk to your kids about the importance of asking good questions and the ability of knowing how and where to look for good answers!
Explore writing prompts - seasonal events
In this Minute, Author Pringle shares a sign of Spring. Ask your students - what harbinger lets them know that Spring is in the air? Summer? Fall? Winter? Have students identify their favorite season and write a paragraph or two about how they know the seasonal change has arrived.
Explore content specific vocabulary
As educators, we know our students have more success when we front load the vocabulary. By teaching content specific vocabulary before students read something, their comprehension will increase. This should not be a “teacher secret” - share this with your students. Teach them this comprehension strategy. When content-area reading, skim through to identify specialized vocabulary - words like nymph, brood and locust, and look up definitions before reading the entire piece.
Social Studies
Explore geography - regions
What does the author mean when he references the “eastern two-thirds” of the country? The Northeast? The Upper Midwest? Can your students visualize what is included? Get out the map and show students these regions on a regular basis, including every time regions are referred to in something they are reading. Regular visual reference will begin the work of creating images in the “mind’s eye” when they hear regional references. Practice, practice, practice!
STEM
Explore under the ground
Do your students think that dirt is just...well, dirt? Time to get their hands a little dirty! Find a patch of soil - school courtyard, next to the sidewalk, near the front entrance. You do not need much! A spoon and a styrofoam cup and a little bit of elbow grease will get some dirt for closer examination. Now get out those microscopes. What do you see? Does adding some drops of water make things clearer?
Research Skills
Explore question development
Ask your students to read this Minute and then generate a list of as many questions as they can in two minutes, writing each question on a seperate index card. Now have students sort the questions by the first word - who, what, where, when, why or how. Now it’s time for some class thinking. Which of these questions can be easily answered with a quick trip to a good print book or a reliable internet site? Try Laurence Pringle’s Cicadas!:Strange and Wonderful or check out the Cicada Mania site referenced in the article. Now ask your students to re-sort the questions into easy-to-answer and challenging-to-answer, then draw some conclusions about types of questions and find labels you can continue to use as you move throughout the school year. Some teachers call them thick and thin questions. Others refer to them as 'right there', vs 'in the text' vs 'beyond the text' questions. For older students, these are schema-building vs. truly researchable questions. Whatever you call them, talk to your kids about the importance of asking good questions and the ability of knowing how and where to look for good answers!
© Karen Sterling, 2018 - May be used for educational purposes without written permission
