Learning, Laughter, and Love in Middle School English

A Student's Reaction to Learning about Patent Medicine This week students tackled a fairly difficult text about patent medicine in the 1800s.  I decided to break down the packet of information into six parts and divide students into six groups. Each group became an expert on their assigned section.  Their job was to teach their information to the class.  Thanks to Google, I was able to assign each group two slides on ONE presentation.   I realized that students really needed some practice with paraphrasing.  It's a very important skill and one students don't always understand.  We began by discussing plagiarism and how many times, students plagiarize without really realizing it.  I had them take a few notes outlining some tips and techniques for paraphrasing, as well as showed them a short video.  Some students believed that if they just substituted synonyms for several words that it wasn't plagiarism.  Wrong! I gave them this s...

This week we read two of my favorite chapters in Tom Sawyer (I have about 20 favorite chapters).  The first was the scene where Tom feigned illness to avoid going to school.  Not only did he end up having to endure another boring day at school,  but he ended up getting his tooth pulled out by Aunt Polly!  The other chapter involved Tom's aunt trying to cure his "depression" with a patent medicine.  Tom gets the idea to give this remedy to his cat, Peter,  and the results are hysterical.  Twain writes the following to describe the event:  Peter was agreeable. So Tom pried his mouth open and poured down the Pain-killer. Peter sprang a couple of yards in the air, and then delivered a war-whoop and set off round and round the room, banging against furniture, upsetting flower-pots, and making general havoc. Next he rose on his hind feet and pranced around, in a frenzy of enjoyment, with his head over his shoulder and his voice proclaiming his un...

Introducing her Word I have a hard time just repeating what I did the previous school year. Although it would make my life easier,  I am always looking to both grow as a teacher and  for  ways to provide my students with valuable, engaging learning experiences.  This year over Winter Break, I decided I wanted to teach Tom Sawyer for the first time ever!  I hadn't read it in over twenty years but revisited it over vacation.  I downloaded it to my ipad.  Oh how I love my ipad!  It allows me to bring my books to the gym with me.  As I pedaled away on the stationary bike, I became a temporary resident of St. Petersburg, Missouri.  I got lost in Tom's world-a world of good old-fashioned fun and mischief-a world sans technology.  Many times while reading, I would find myself laughing aloud.   I would look around to see if anybody saw me.  I am sure people thought I was nuts.  Numerous times I texted my dear friend and f...