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Get ready to watch your students get excited about the world of rotting things, as David Schwartz puts his spin on decomposition and really gets readers thinking. |
English/Language Arts
Explore Word Choice
David Schwartz has written the perfect Minute to point out the power of great word choice to our students. Take a look at the adjectives he chooses. Who would ever think of a decline as “ghoulish”? David does. And it works perfectly. This Minute is chock full of great word choices, and even a couple of alliterations for good measure. Have your students seek them out like treasure and see what great words they can sneak into their own pieces of writing.
Explore the “Rule of Three”
Sometimes referred to as the Magic of Three or the Power of Three, the idea is that things introduced in groups of three provide readers with a rhythm that is very appealing. And once you know about it, you start to see it everywhere! Author Schwartz uses groups of three multiple times in this piece, making it a great Mentor text to share with your young writers. He uses some groupings of four and two here, too. Have your students hunt for the embedded lists and examples and debate about what works well where. THen have them go back to their writing journals to find a piece that just might benefit from enforcing the Rule of Three!
Social Studies
Explore Holidays - Halloween
Just where did the idea of Halloween come from, and how did the grinning jack-o-lantern become a symbol of the season? Hop back to Kerrie Logan Hollihan’s Turnip Carving Minute to start, and then send your students hunting for resources. Origin stories are always good for taking care of a few standards. Have your students map the holiday from its origins in the Celtic to its current status as a holiday in North America.
STEM
Explore the science behind decomposition
Author Schwartz makes decomposition sound like the most fascinating topic on the planet, so take advantage and get your students thinking about the science behind all this rot! You can take this wherever it leads you - from bacteria, fungi and worms to the part that decomposition plays in an ecosystem. Let the students be your guide, and consider letting something rot in your classroom, or maybe on the windowsill outside!
Explore decomposition as it relates to energy
Author Schwartz summarizes some huge concepts when he writes about the foundational aspects of decomposition to the recycling of energy - of nutrients - that make it possible for the cycle of living things to continue. Unpack some of those ideas in your classroom, one piece at a time!
Research Skills
Explore question development
This Minute is rich with possibilities for research. Use this minute to do a mini-lesson on question development, scaffolding students from simply comprehension, fact-gathering questions to questions that will require analysis, synthesis or evaluation to develop an answer. Use this handy guide to Bloom’s Taxonomy as a framework for working on question development with your students.
Explore Word Choice
David Schwartz has written the perfect Minute to point out the power of great word choice to our students. Take a look at the adjectives he chooses. Who would ever think of a decline as “ghoulish”? David does. And it works perfectly. This Minute is chock full of great word choices, and even a couple of alliterations for good measure. Have your students seek them out like treasure and see what great words they can sneak into their own pieces of writing.
Explore the “Rule of Three”
Sometimes referred to as the Magic of Three or the Power of Three, the idea is that things introduced in groups of three provide readers with a rhythm that is very appealing. And once you know about it, you start to see it everywhere! Author Schwartz uses groups of three multiple times in this piece, making it a great Mentor text to share with your young writers. He uses some groupings of four and two here, too. Have your students hunt for the embedded lists and examples and debate about what works well where. THen have them go back to their writing journals to find a piece that just might benefit from enforcing the Rule of Three!
Social Studies
Explore Holidays - Halloween
Just where did the idea of Halloween come from, and how did the grinning jack-o-lantern become a symbol of the season? Hop back to Kerrie Logan Hollihan’s Turnip Carving Minute to start, and then send your students hunting for resources. Origin stories are always good for taking care of a few standards. Have your students map the holiday from its origins in the Celtic to its current status as a holiday in North America.
STEM
Explore the science behind decomposition
Author Schwartz makes decomposition sound like the most fascinating topic on the planet, so take advantage and get your students thinking about the science behind all this rot! You can take this wherever it leads you - from bacteria, fungi and worms to the part that decomposition plays in an ecosystem. Let the students be your guide, and consider letting something rot in your classroom, or maybe on the windowsill outside!
Explore decomposition as it relates to energy
Author Schwartz summarizes some huge concepts when he writes about the foundational aspects of decomposition to the recycling of energy - of nutrients - that make it possible for the cycle of living things to continue. Unpack some of those ideas in your classroom, one piece at a time!
Research Skills
Explore question development
This Minute is rich with possibilities for research. Use this minute to do a mini-lesson on question development, scaffolding students from simply comprehension, fact-gathering questions to questions that will require analysis, synthesis or evaluation to develop an answer. Use this handy guide to Bloom’s Taxonomy as a framework for working on question development with your students.
© Karen Sterling, 2017 - May be used for educational purposes without written permission
