My New Favorite End-of-Year Mini-Project
One last plan for you during this school year!
Before we begin today, I have a few reminders about upcoming summer events:
This is your last call to join our Reading PLC (for paid community members only). I will be closing registration for this group on May 31, sending participants an invite to a Google Classroom where we’ll work this summer, and getting down to business. Complete this form to join us!
Our first summer book club gathering is starting June 1! For the month of June, we’re reading and discussing Teaching Fiercely: Spreading Joy and Justice in Our Schools by Kass Minor. I’ve just finished reading it, and I absolutely cannot wait to chat about it with you. Discussion questions will pop up here on June 1, and book club “meetings” will be asynchronous so you can join in any time in June!
Camp Rewrite registration closes May 31. You won’t want to miss this lineup of topics, professional development, and special guests (including Penny Kittle). Head this way to subscribe for 9 weeks of professional development that is accessible all school-year long!
I’m beginning to host curriculum coaching sessions this summer! You can get details here!
I would love to tell you that ever moment of my teaching is carefully planned with great intention. Some are. Some are not. And that is where I found myself a couple weeks ago as seventh graders streamed into my classroom after lunch and I realized, “I have no plan.. At all. Whatsoever.”
Those last few weeks of school are always a challenge — we’re either racing toward the finish line and cramming in new learning (likely feeling like we’re doing an insufficient job!) or we’re “done” with the must-dos of our curriculum and we’re looking for ways to meaningfully spin our wheels for a few weeks (This was me this time!).
My seventh graders had just finished a big literature-turned-writing study and yet I was looking at three weeks of time to fill. With purpose. Not with movies.
As they walked in that day, I quickly scrolled through options in my head: good mini-projects we could start immediately. And an idea popped into mind that I’ve always wanted to try but never wanted to dedicate time to: personal dictionaries.
Using the work we’ve been doing all year in language field guides, I asked students to find 26 words that represent their journey through this school year, explore them, and use the to create a personal dictionary.
Like so many things I don’t think about too hard, students loved this. I was stunned by the level of end-of-year engagement in this project!
Here are the instructions & rubric I shared with students and some examples of their work!