my usual "do now" is a word of the day, picking a new vocabulary word that they may or may not know , but it obviously has a different meaning in Computer science. Showing them that words do have different meanings, as they get stuck in their vocabulary acquisition, calling everything "amazing" - I don't respond with, but want to, if everything in your world is "amazing" why are you not doing cartwheels right now?
Uggghh..ignore that. I am picturing a classroom full of cartwheeling students (or wait, have I been there before?). I like this flexible thinking to start class.
I always have my sophomores write 3 complete sentences (to a prompt) for their Do Now. Sometimes I plan things so if they string all their Do Now together, they've written an essay :)
I plan out their first (very basic, very short, very structured) essay that I'll have them write. And for the two weeks leading up to the essay I give them Do Now writing prompts that correspond with the elements of the essay. For example, if the are learning about the Haitian Revolution...
Friday: What was going on in France before and during the Haitian Revolution?
Monday: How did the Haitian Revolution begin? (Those two responses will be the intro paragraph)
Tuesday: Choose your favorite quote about the Haitain Revolution and copy it on your Do Now (I give a choice of 3 or 4 that's we've studied in class)
Wednesday: Look at what you wrote Wednesday: Who wrote that quote and why are they important? Why did they write what they did? (I would have taught this on Mon/Tues)
Thursday: What do YOU think of the quote? How does it connect to your thoughts on the Haitian Revolution (Those three responses will be the body paragraph)
Friday: Why was the Haitian Revolution important? Why do you think I chose to teach it to you instead of another revolution (this will be the closing paragraph)
I don't tell the students what I'm doing, but then over the weekend I grade their Do Nows pretty carefully.
The next week I give them the outline for their essay and hand back the Do Nows. That's when I tell them that if they've done the Do Nows, they basically have the whole essay written.
Does that make sense? I'll have to write about it with student examples once school starts.
my usual "do now" is a word of the day, picking a new vocabulary word that they may or may not know , but it obviously has a different meaning in Computer science. Showing them that words do have different meanings, as they get stuck in their vocabulary acquisition, calling everything "amazing" - I don't respond with, but want to, if everything in your world is "amazing" why are you not doing cartwheels right now?
Uggghh..ignore that. I am picturing a classroom full of cartwheeling students (or wait, have I been there before?). I like this flexible thinking to start class.
Thinking flexibly
I always have my sophomores write 3 complete sentences (to a prompt) for their Do Now. Sometimes I plan things so if they string all their Do Now together, they've written an essay :)
Oh so fun!
So I have been thinking about this. What is an example? Asking for a friend who might want to try! 😊
I plan out their first (very basic, very short, very structured) essay that I'll have them write. And for the two weeks leading up to the essay I give them Do Now writing prompts that correspond with the elements of the essay. For example, if the are learning about the Haitian Revolution...
Friday: What was going on in France before and during the Haitian Revolution?
Monday: How did the Haitian Revolution begin? (Those two responses will be the intro paragraph)
Tuesday: Choose your favorite quote about the Haitain Revolution and copy it on your Do Now (I give a choice of 3 or 4 that's we've studied in class)
Wednesday: Look at what you wrote Wednesday: Who wrote that quote and why are they important? Why did they write what they did? (I would have taught this on Mon/Tues)
Thursday: What do YOU think of the quote? How does it connect to your thoughts on the Haitian Revolution (Those three responses will be the body paragraph)
Friday: Why was the Haitian Revolution important? Why do you think I chose to teach it to you instead of another revolution (this will be the closing paragraph)
I don't tell the students what I'm doing, but then over the weekend I grade their Do Nows pretty carefully.
The next week I give them the outline for their essay and hand back the Do Nows. That's when I tell them that if they've done the Do Nows, they basically have the whole essay written.
Does that make sense? I'll have to write about it with student examples once school starts.