After SOL activities

I have had over three weeks after my SOL test before school lets out for the summer.  I have had to be very creative to keep my kiddos entertained and hopefully learning a few things too!

The first thing I did, from the suggestion of another Civics teacher, was have the students make an amendment booklet.  They took 7 pieces of paper and folded it in a booklet.  They decorated the front of the amendment booklet.  Then using my document camera, LCD projector and white board we read through each amendment.  I annotated each amendment and we discussed its meaning.

On each page the student wrote the number of the amendment, the year it was ratified, a short description of the amendment and a picture that correlates to the amendment.  It took four or five school days (there was a Math SOL) to complete.

Another activity that I have planned is a short American geography unit.  This past Thursday the students used atlases to label each state and then identify each state capital.  On Friday I had two more maps: one map was for selected rivers and the Great Lakes and the other for mountain ranges. Each day I have used my document camera, LCD and whiteboard to go over the answers.  On Tuesday we will read a selections about Virginia's State Parks and then answer questions about them.  On Tuesday they will have an open note quiz and then we'll play a map race.

What is a map race?  Well, a former colleague told me about them.  I used them also for National Geography Day in November.  You have classroom map on your board (or in my case I will use a computer image projected with my LCD) and then a list of 75 to 100 items on the map.  You have two challengers and then call out a place on the map.  The place could be a city, state, mountain, island, lake, river, etc.  The winner is the person who can put their finger on it first.  Then they get to face a new challenger.  The winner is the person who lasts the longest.   Teacher and student really like it!

Happy Teaching!
C

SOL Update

Wow- it sure has been a long time!  Almost two months since I have posted.  My SOL test was Monday, May 13.  I had a plethora of work to get the kids reviewed and ready for their test.  One thing that I did was make stations for the students. I went back to my teaching roots and designed this lesson.  My first few years of teaching I was blessed to have a job teaching pre-school.  I taught the 4 and 5 year olds M/W/F.  I would use stations to work on the craft, help students with fine motor skills and sharing.

So I figured I could tweak the stations for middle schoolers.  I utilized already created items in the class like our daily warm-ups and I also devised a smart board activity.  The additional stations were Mrs. Roaches' Place (click here to go to her site), creating questions from the SOLs (which were collected and graded) and a matching activity that I had made a few years ago.

First, I divided the students into five groups and then they each had 7 minutes at the stations.  The kids seemed to enjoy it.  However, if you like a classroom that is quiet and organized, prepare yourself for the noise and chaos that will ensue.  However, the kids stayed on task and turn in the questions that I asked for.  The assignment was they had to pick one page from the scope and sequence and write three multiple choice questions that had four options.

The students organized the desks into four groups (the smart board did not need a desk set).  I also needed 7 laptops (no Macs as Mrs. Roaches' Place will not run on a Mac.)  The students were free to play at their own pace at this table.

One more computer was needed for the warm ups as the warm up was on a powerpoint.  One student ran the power point while the others decided what the answer was.

The other two groups were used for the questions and then the matching.

Below are some pictures I snapped.

Happy Teaching!

C