Help your students better understand how to infer what is happening within a text by using this Inferring Vs. Evidence T - Chart. It is a great idea for reading group Activities.
Use this tool with a text of your choice to find inferences. Then provide evidence to support it. This will reinforce student confidence in drawing conclusions about things they read.
This and many other thinking tools can be found here.
Planning a narrative can be a difficult task for younger and inexperienced writers. Narratives allow so much freedom and versatility over other text types that they can become a mess of well meaning ideas if a poorly planned.
This planning tool allows students to work through 8 simple stages to plan a well constructed narrative including the editing phase.
It is best suited to elementary / primary students or older writers who have difficulty organising ideas. Enjoy!
This maths reflection tool is aimed at students aged 6 - 14 gives a great insight into how your students feel about their abilities in maths, and what areas they still need to work on in the future.
This task allows for both artistic and mathematically minded students to share what they know in the areas of the four operations and general maths.
It takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours to complete depending upon your students age and ability.
Please feel free to download the Maths Reflection Tool here.
I have put together a useful planning tool that will help your students develop a better understanding of identifying the main idea from a piece of text.
This can be found in graphic organisers and thinking tools section and it works particularly well with newspaper articles and research based texts.
Students read through a piece of text and then identify the who? what? when? where? How? And why?
The section at the bottom of the sheet has 25 spaces for students to summarise the text in their own words.
This tool can be used both high-school and elementary students and will greatly assist them in improving their research and fact finding skills.
Dowload the Understanding the main idea tool here.
A SCAMPER thinking tool is similar to a BAR (Bigger, Add Replace). It can be used to think differently or make changes to a topic, issue object etc. It encourages students to:
A Y Chart is a procedure that is used to brainstorm ideas on what you know about a topic by writing or drawing about what the topic looks like, sounds like and feels like. It links into our feelings and challenges students to think outside the square. It is a great tool for planning writing as it allows students to think about the characters deeply.
A T-Chart is a type of procedure in which information about a topic is placed into two separate columns. The two columns allow you to compare ideas. For example the advantages and disadvantages of a topic, Weekend Writing Planning or a Task. Click here to Download the T Chart
Book reports are a great incentive to get students to read a great tool and think and analytically respond to the authors purpose and message.
These book report templates aimed at both junior and middle elementary students give them a great opportunity to express their thoughts on a book using simple terms and concepts they can understand.
Below is a breakdown of what makes a good book report and I would encourage teachers and students to read this before starting.
Then download either the Junior Book Report Planner or the Elementary Planner and enjoy.
Book report content will vary according to grade level. Middle grade-level book reports will provide the basic details about a book, a summary of the plot, and some comments regarding the student's opinions and impressions.
As students mature and advance, the book reports should include a little more.
As students enter high school and higher grades, they will start to explain and explore the messages that are contained in books--messages about life and its important experiences. Students will begin to share their own opinions about these messages (themes) contained in books.
The introduction segment of your book report provides an opportunity to make a good first impression!
You should try to write a strong introductory sentence that grabs your reader's attention. Somewhere in your first paragraph, you should also state the book's title (italicized), the topic, and the author's name.
High school-level papers should include publication information as well as brief statements about the book's angle, the genre, the theme, and a hint about the writer's feelings in the introduction.
First Paragraph Example: Middle School Level:
The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane, is a book about a young man growing up during the Civil War. Henry Fleming is the main character of the book. As Henry watches and experiences the tragic events of the war, he grows up and changes his attitudes about life.
First Paragraph Example: High School Level:
Can you identify one experience that changed your entire view of the world around you? Henry Fleming, the main character in The Red Badge of Courage, begins his life-changing adventure as a naive young man, eager to experience the glory of war. He soon faces the truth about life, war, and his own self-identity on the battlefield, however. The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane, is a coming of age novel, published by D. Appleton and Company in 1895, about thirty years after the Civil War ended. In this book, the author reveals the ugliness of war, and examines its relationship to the pain of growing up.
Before you get started on the body of the report, take a few minutes to jot down some helpful information by considering the following points.
In the body of your book report, you will use your notes to guide you through an extended summary of the book. You will weave your own thoughts and impressions into the plot summary.
As you lead to your final paragraph, consider some additional impressions and opinions:
Conclude your report with a paragraph or two that covers these additional points. Some teachers prefer that you re-state the name and author of the book in the concluding paragraph. As always, consult your specific assignment guide.
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