Wrapping Up The School Year {2013 - 2014}

We all know how insane and busy it gets the last 1-2 weeks, sometimes 3, of the school year. This one was no exception...in fact, to me, it felt like the last month was all about trying to corral my students and keep them entertained. Thank goodness we get the time off to always revamp ourselves!

Our district actually had benchmark testing the 2nd to the last week of school, so we had to make sure we still fit in some skills.  Of course, this meant, I had to come up with ways to not only teach my students but keep them completely and utterly busy in a higher-level thinking way.  At this time of year, it felt like quite the feat for me!

I pulled out my Plot Elements Choice Menu, which I did not get to use at the beginning of the year like I usually do.  But since they were being tested on plot elements, I KNEW this would be the perfect way to give them time to review, push themselves, and stay busy as well.  We did a museum walk around the room so students could view and read everyone's products they created.

{Sold on TPT | $6}

Maps showing change in setting and Award/Achievement Certificates showing theme

You can see part of an interview/broadcast script students wrote to demonstrate parts of the plot using the point of view of the story characters.

I was super happy to introduce a new product, an interview/broadcast script, I added to the menu when I created the version for TPT...and...my students who chose it did a really great job actually!  I was afraid it would be too difficult for them or they would not be interested, but quite a few kids chose it and kicked tail on it.  Thankfully, one set of partners accepted the extra challenge of recording it as a radio interview (ignore the video and just enjoy the audio).  

 Several students made movies-in-a-box to show changes in settings

Once the benchmark testing was over and done with, it was time to "celebrate" and do activities that would still challenge them but yet keep them busy enough so they weren't getting into trouble.  One of my favorite things to do (for the past couple years) is the All About Me Choice Menu.  I found it on Teachers Pay Teachers HERE a couple years back and have since slightly revamped it to fit my teaching style in my classroom.  

This group spent their entire time during the museum walk playing another students' board game.  They were crazy into it.  Even as they argued their way through the trivia cards, they all learned a lot of new information about their classmate.  Score! 

They got to make menus of their favorite foods and shields.

Included were also Me Bags and candy bars that matched their personality

And last but not least, was the awesomely action-packed End-Of-Year Math Project from the talented TPT seller, Teaching With a Mountain View.  It was all about planning a party through the CCSS math standards.  My students rose to the occasion despite being over doing school work.  So, it was definitely worth it!

Are you out of school yet?  What do you like to do with your students during those last days and weeks of the school year?

Plot Elements Choice Menu Pack for Differentiation and Extension for Sale!

***I am so very excited to have finally uploaded my first non-Halloween related product over on Teachers Pay Teachers!  It is on sale for 25% off until midnight tomorrow (November 7th) MST. ***

Choice Menus (I actually call them extension menus in my classroom) are a very essential part of teaching in a gifted cluster classroom...really any classroom.  Let's face it, all teachers need to differentiate for their kids since everyone works at a different level.  Whether it is learning styles, reading levels, or preference to showing what they know...students drool over choice menus because they get to CHOOSE how they show their teacher and everyone else what they have learned.  Not to mention, choice menus mean little to no prep for teachers.

This little beauty here is one of the very first choice menus I created back when I first was finishing up my gifted endorsement through my wonderful district.  It has since evolved a little into what I put together for other teachers to buy and enjoy in their classroom.  But all in all, I am seriously proud of a choice menu that I KNOW is top notch versus a lot of other menus I have found online.  If you want to fully implement choice menus and be confident in how they will challenge your students, it is essential to make sure choice menu items cover the gamete of Bloom's Taxonomy.  My Plot Elements Choice Menu ranges from synthesis to application.  By giving point values to the different levels of product choices, you can ensure students who do not choose the more challenging products have to choose several items in order to earn at least 100 points.  It all works itself out!

Image from drvinceknight.blogspot.com

In my experience with using choice menus in the classroom, you have to really reiterate how the creative aspect of products shouldn't overshadow the skills being demonstrated.  Make sure your students understand the creative side of choice menus and products accentuate instead.  I have found many students get caught up in making something look pretty or cute instead of making sure they have covered all their bases in the rubric when it comes to the standards they are supposed to be demonstrating comprehension of.  Be wary and stay on top of them!

Since I'm a huge fan of using entrance and exit tickets when I pull in extension activities, I included a set with this choice pack!  Always give your students a rubric that explains down to finite detail what you expect them to show through each product they choose.  I have grown to love and my students are accustomed to also getting a score sheet and/or contract with their choice menus.  They keep this out next to them as they work so they can look back and forth in order to ensure they are on track.  This has all come about from experiencing too many moments when students turn in their finished products only to find out they didn't even meet all the requirements.  It took me several times to figure out how to get my students heads wrapped around it.  But don't be discouraged...once they get it, they are on a roll the rest of the year!

I wish I could show all kinds of awesome pictures of my students working on this particular choice menu, but I didn't get to use it this year as the beginning of my year was insane with getting my class to get a hold of their behaviors and my expectations.  I do have a picture from last year, but this was from the time when i wasn't taking pictures a whole lot.  Hopefully, I can come back next year and update with some great visuals!

Keep an eye out in the next month or so for other choice menu products I plan to put up.  Some of them are shorter and can be completed in less time in your classroom and require less stress with implementation.  I hope I am able to help other teachers feel confident in using them successfully in their classrooms!  Stand back and watch your students take off...it's fun to see...and it's even more entertaining to sit back and watch their presentations...songs, cheers, singing telegrams, and more. Love it!

Buy it here in my little store and take it to your classroom...sit back and watch the learning take off to new levels and listen to the buzz of your students enjoying the challenge!