How do you fit in reading, writing and grammar into one class period?

 

Use 1 or all 3 of these tips to teach reading, writing and grammar in 1 class period!


As an ELA teacher, many things must be accomplished in the space of a year as there are many, many reading and writing standards.  So, how do you fit all that into a class period?  These are my top 3 tips:


1.  Use mentor sentences for bell work to work on grammar

When I say mentor sentences, I don't just mean a random sentence that is a good example of the use of adjectives or adverbs.  I mean a sentence from a text that we have read in our classroom.

This sentence must have something about it that is worth studying - perhaps the use of an apposition or maybe the way in which it demonstrates a compound sentence.  

And then the sentence might also be a good example of an effect of something in the text.

As you can see, one can hit several standards with just one sentence.

Not sure that you have the time to choose sentences and make questions?  Try a free week of mentor sentences by clicking here or purchase my year-long set of ready-made mentor sentences (with passages) here:



2.  All reading studies culminate in a writing product.

Let's say I am teaching theme and characterization with the book The Outsiders.  I will begin with the end in mind - a writing product - and have my students create pages in their notebook with a chart for the characters in the book.  As we go along, we will collect information from the book for each character and write it on the chart with the page number.

Use interactive notes to engage your middle school students and accomplish several standards at once!

As we complete these pages, there is a great deal of conversation about choosing relevant evidence and what constitutes appropriate commentary.

When we finish the book, students will have collected enough information to write an academic piece!  Of course, we could also write some academic pieces along the way.

At any point, I can also review parts of the writing process to ensure students can utilize all the information they have collected.



3.  The use of centers - also known as stations.

These allow you to accomplish several things at once, as multiple topics can be covered on the same day.   


Hands-on centers in middle school?  You bet!  It's one way to get more learning accomplished in just 1 class period!
For reading, I created centers that break down a standard and give students hands-on experiences.  For example, in this set of centers for analyzing arguments, students complete a relevant and irrelevant evidence sort.

This is hands-on so it's super engaging and doesn't take a ton of time to complete the task.




And in this writing center focused on organization, students cut apart sentences and put them in the proper order.  (Or they could be cut apart ahead of time, and students could just put them in order.)

Writing centers allow middle school students many kinds of practice in just 1 class period!



In both scenarios, students are working on these tiny tasks for no more than 10-15 minutes.  That still leaves enough time for at least 2 more centers and 2 more topics/concepts!





Teacher-to-Teacher Tip:  Put the students in groups.  Then, all the materials for each center should be put into baskets or bins.  Now, when it's time for a center change, just move the baskets instead of the students!

So there you have it!  These are my top 3 ways to fit in reading, writing, and grammar into 1 class period.  There's always a way to work smarter, not harder.  ;)

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You CAN get it all in using these 3 tips!