Shakespeare Made Easy (and Fun)

Shakespeare can be difficult for students. I remember struggling to understand the text when I was a teenager. It wasn't until I had a teacher who translated the lines for us (often in a humorous way) that things finally clicked for me. Still, when I first had to teach The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, I was terrified.

Over the years it has become one of my favorite plays. There are so many quotes famous quotes engrained in our culture. Students are always amazed to learn that TuPac quoted lines from the play in his songs and, more recently, John Green uses a partial quote as the title (and major theme) of his best-seller The Fault in Our Stars.

But finding these references and and creating ways to connect them students takes forever. Well, maybe not forever, but a very long time. Before the internet (or, before YouTube and more content was posted), I would tape episodes of "The Simpsons" or just buy the DVDs to get literature references to show as examples. Students love it when you can take something from their world and put it in context with the unit we're studying. When the two worlds collide, magic happens.

We all know, though, finding these references are time consuming. And time is rarely on our sides. We can't afford to spend hours searching for clips on YouTube or memes online, then compiling them to show students. That's why I usually find a few then unleash my students to find (or make) their own. It's fun for them and they actually learn something.

To make your job much easier, however, I have taken the time to put together some great memes from my Tragedy of Julius Caesar unit. ("Some" = over 80 memes.) I have found these to be quite helpful for both high-achievers and struggling readers. The high-achievers want to create their own snarky memes (let them! They usually make the best ones.) and the struggling readers make the connection between the text–which seems like a foreign language to them–and the meme, finally comprehending what is going on in the play.

This past April when I assigned Julius Caesar video parody projects to my students, I decided to finally compile all of my images and make a video. Since I had just shown them example memes scattered throughout the play, the video helped them put it all together. Plus it has music. Kids love music.

The movie runs a little over 12 minutes, but chances are your students may want to watch it a second time to spot the "Strutting Leonardo DiCaprio" images I photoshopped into the scene (and/or setting) divider pages.

OK, so most of the "Strutting Leonardo" images aren't so hard to find, but it makes the scene dividers a little more interesting. :)

And just to make your job even easier, I included handouts so students can search the text (close reading) to find the lines that are referenced in the memes. There's also an activity to prompt them to create their own from the text. Yes, the activities are aligned to the Common Core State Standards.

The incredibly large file also holds all 146 slides as .jpg images for easy printing AND a Powerpoint presentation of the movie in case you wish to show them at your own pace (Powerpoint does not include the music track).

So where can you get this incredible bundle? Click here:

And what does this have to do with The Hunger Games trilogy?

In case you haven't noticed, there are tons of references in The Hunger Games trilogy to Shakespearean plays. Mockingjay, in particular, references The Tragedy of Julius Caesar a few times. You can find those activities in my Mockingjay unit.

I love it when authors use allusions to works of Shakespeare! It makes out job of proving his relevance so much easier.

How do you incorporate pop culture into your lessons? Share in the comments below.

Back to School Sale for Teachers

I don't know about you, but waiting for "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" movie feels like torture. As a distraction I worked on several big new products this summer. One of them that I think you will love is a bundle of bell ringers and exit slips:

I took some of my favorite activities I've used with my students and created some new ones to form this gigantic 175+ page resource with ready-made bell-ringer/exit slips that you just need to print, cut, & use. You don't have to have a projector to use them and because I like to save paper, each slip only uses 1/4 of a page (see Facebook status page below). They are large enough for students to write on, and small enough that aren't wasting any paper. To conserve year after year, laminate them and have students either type their responses or record them in a journal or reader's notebook.

An added bonus: each activity is aligned to at least one Common Core State Standard for English Language Arts, History and Social Studies, and/or Science and Technical Subjects. The standard(s) are listed on the bottom of each activity, so students can use their checklists to record the date they practiced that particular skill.

Above, I condensed my popular Facebook status activity into a quick and easy format. Use them to gauge student comprehension after reading a chapter (in ANY class) or to review from the previous day. You'll quickly find out who is keeping up and understanding the material and who is struggling (or slacking).

I chose to include the most popular activities from my classes, such as my Playlist activity, #Hashtags Vocabulary and Reading activity, Y U No guy (Socratic questioning strategy), and What's Hot? / What's Not? activity. They are versatile enough to use any time for quick assessments, icebreakers, reviews, surveys, and more. Students also love that they aren't long. Oftentimes, I've found they actually write more using these than traditional worksheets. 

Another product I haven't uploaded yet but HOPE to by the end of the sale (mine ends Tuesday at midnight) is my Catching Fire Visual Aids and Writing Prompts presentation. I'm adding many higher-level questions and new pictures to my previous version (which was only available on CD), but it's taking me longer because I want to secure permissions for all the images I include. Here's a sneak peek at one of the pages:

And I announced at the beginning of the summer I was discontinuing my CD sales, so I'm slowly uploading activities that were only available on CD previously. Here's one I just uploaded last week:

Hunger Games Review Game Bundle: I always offered my Jeopardy® style games, but only two rounds. Here you get an extra round, PLUS one review game that is specifically to help review for my Part One test. It is completely editable, so you can adjust the questions to suit your needs!

Stay tuned for more updates and don't forget to take advantage of the great sale at TeachersPayTeachers. Happy back-to-school!

Mrs. Orman's Classroom: I Know What You Read This Summer

Mrs. Orman's Classroom: I Know What You Read This Summer: I Know What You Read This Summer

A simple way to encourage reading is to have your students suggest good books to their peers. I made this poster you can download for back-to-school. You can also read more on my other blog by clicking the link above. Have a great school year! 

Fun Pinterest Pins to Celebrate the Back-to-School Sale for Teachers

 

In case you haven't noticed, there's a sale going on at TeachersPayTeachers for educators so you can stock up on excellent lessons & resources for the new year. You will not find better prices anywhere else! I thought I would share some of my favorite sale banners from Pinterest and highlight a few products you might want to check out. Above is a parody of the Target commercial for the English teacher. See more on my other blog.

A few resources you ought to check out: I have sets of Common Core State Standards literature and non-fiction (informational) reading graphic organizers that are excellent for practicing and assessing students' knowledge and progress. My newest is (click on image for link):

 The Hunger Games Character Analysis Graphic Organizers that Correlate with the 

Common Core State Standards, Grades 6-12

And I created these last fall because I needed something to help me align my reading assignments with the Common Core State Standards last year. They are so handy and I use them all year long with various reading assignments, both for literature and non-fiction.

 Graphic Organizers for Common Core Standards-Based Reading, Grades 6, 7, 8

Graphic Organizers for Common Core Standards-Based Reading, Grades 9-10

Grades 11-12 coming soon (hopefully by Tuesday!).

These are excellent buys, especially with the sale going on. Multiuser licenses are also available. You can inquire at info@teacherspayteachers.com or purchase my 15-user licenses.

And, finally, the best memes for teachers to promote the sale, courtesy of Shelley Gray, Oxana from Teacher's Clip Art, and Jennifer Bates:

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Let the Back-to-School Sale Begin! ...Almost

It's that time of year again. Yes, time to pack up your own book bag, spend hours getting your classroom ready, replace those plants that died over the summer, AND stock up on lessons from Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT)!

TpT will be offering 10% off August 12-13 by using the code BTS12. 

My store will have an additional 20% off everything, including CDs. I rarely place those on sale and the price is going up on them, so you don't want to miss this opportunity to get almost a third off!
Happy shopping!

Friday Freebies

Check out Vintage Teacher's Friday Freebies - this week she is posting ten back-to-school free downloads for teachers! Thanks for posting, these!

Are You Ready for the First Day of School?

I still get nervous on the first day of school each year. Having twenty-five pairs of teenage eyes staring at you like you are the last person they want to listen to can be very intimidating. That's why icebreakers are so popular on the first day. It loosens the students up and takes a little of the focus off you and places it on them.

There are oodles of icebreaker ideas out on the web. Here are some sights with multiple ideas:
http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson131.shtml
http://712educators.about.com/cs/icebreakers/a/icebreakers.htm
https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_650dvtj3dgk

The question is, which icebreaker do you use? Which ones have been most popular in your classroom?

I've used many different ones and have had the most success with using humor to break the ice. Because I teach English, it's common for me to start with some images of public grammar or spelling mistakes. The underlying message, of course, is how important English class is. (See link below for a presentation I use.)

Another activity is using the format of David Letterman's Top 10 lists to have students compose a "Top 10 reasons why it's great to be back in school" or the "Top 10 reasons why being a sophomore is better than being a freshman" (or switch it around for different groups). I try to give them positive choices so they think of the GOOD things about school. So if a student wants to write a top 10 list on why your class sucks, you might want to steer that person in another direction! You can download this free activity here.
Back to School Top 10 Lists Activity

I also have free BINGO templates for a "get-to-know-you" activity, which works to get the students moving around.

One assignment that I love giving is for them to create a collage mobile. I usually assign this on the second day, having it due by the end of the week or the following week, depending on whether we start on a Monday or mid-week. Since we begin on Thursday this year, I will assign it Friday and they will need to complete it by Wednesday. We only spend a little time in class on it, then they have to complete it on their own. It's now uploaded on the site, so you can click the "collage mobile" link above.

If you are looking for a presentation with a compilation of public mistakes that show the importance of English, here is a link to my Powerpoint: Using Humor in English.... I usually don't show all the slides the first day. I give them a tease of a few, then we come back to it later in the year, using specific examples for certain kinds of mistakes (whether it is punctuation, spelling, word usage, etc.). It never fails to make them laugh.

Hunger Games Posters to Download

   I created some Hunger Games-themed reading posters for your classroom. Download them now HERE while they are listed as FREE. There are 16 printable posters, some as 8 1/2 x 11 (letter size) and some as 8 1/2 x 14 (legal size).

Laminate them for longevity.

Have a great school year!

It's (almost) August...Are You Ready for School?

  Where did this summer go? It seems like yesterday I was packing up some books from school for summer reading...and here it is (almost) August and I read maybe half of the books I wanted. And am I ready to go back to school? No. I have a lot of things I need to get done in my room, AND a lot of lessons I wanted to write before school resumes. How about you? Are you ready to go back?

  One thing to help you is TeacherPayTeacher's Back-to-School sale, which starts tomorrow. The weekly 10 Free Download newsletter will go out tomorrow to kick off another school year. And with it, Paul, the site's owner, is giving everyone 10% off for the entire week (August 1st - 6th). You must use code B1T1S when you check out. Many teachers are having sales on top of that to give you even more of a discount. I will be one of them! Find my resources here: Tracee Orman's Store, or check out the "beta" site here: Tracee's "Beta" Store. And have fun stocking up on great lessons for the new school year!

You can find a list of the sellers who are participating in the sale on my Back-to-School Page.

If you haven't signed up for the newsletter, you can sign-up here (on the LEFT side of page--small box to input your email address): TpT Newsletter

If you would like to sell on TpT, you can join the referral program and sign up here: TpT Seller Sign-Up

I hope you have a wonderful school year! Make sure to follow me on TpT to get updates for my latest lessons. The last three I have uploaded have been FREE! :) More about those this week...

Oh! The Things I Found (while cleaning out my classroom cupboards...)

I have a lot of "stuff." It was time to get rid of some of it...

  I will admit that I tend to save things. OK, I'm a pack rat. But...I don't think I've reached hoarder status! I just have a fondness for things that are a little out of the ordinary. Plus, I have a really hard time throwing away things that can (somehow) be useful in the classroom.

  However, I did do some cleaning and tossing of things this summer because I have run out of room in my classroom for them (and I need to make room for more books!).  I do like to have my room looking somewhat orderly at the beginning of the year. It will collect stacks of papers and projects soon enough, so it's nice to at least start out clean, right!?

  Let me first say that I love my classroom & its built-in storage capacity. My entire back wall is cupboards and counter-space (see photo, right). I do have one of the smaller closets (I have a corner room) and the other two English teachers in my building have built-in shelves along the adjacent wall from their cupboards/counter. But, Ann--our wonderful custodian--set me up with some great book cases last year to span one wall of my room (see photo below). And a great student custom-made a shelf in shop-class for me to fit a small gap of wall (not shown). Yes, they all know I love books!

Thanks to my awesome custodian, Ann, I have bookcases along one wall of my room for my class library.

As I was cleaning to make room for more books, I was pretty surprised at some of the items I found in my cupboards. Here's a sample of things I both wonder why I kept and things I forgot I had:

Some old Sports Illustrated magazines from the early 1980's. I also found some Glamour magazines from 1988-89 (my senior year in high school), but those were quickly snatched up by students. I put these in the box of magazines that students can use to cut up...but since they all have laptops, no one has been touching that box. I guess they will just get recycled this year. Unless anyone knows if they are worth money. If so, let me know! I'll gladly sell! ;]

Some old laminated ink-blots I used for creative writing prompts long ago. I forgot I had these. But since I haven't used them in years, I recycled them. We can always create more, right!

A "To Kill a Mockingbird" project with all the characters cast as comic-strip characters. I still think it's cute & clever. The characters the student chose to represent the TKaM characters are perfect! It really doesn't take up that much room...

A box of PEZ dispensers. There are actually two full boxes; these happen to be ones still in the packaging. The others used to hang from my ceiling with fishing line, but they collected way too much dust and grime. So now they reside in a box. :( I would like to find a way to display them in a fun way because the students have fun looking at them. Not sure how, though...

My "Scream" painting that was to be a Halloween costume (to go as the painting--since so many students were wearing the "Scream" masks...), but I liked it too much to cut the eye-holes & decided to hang it in my room instead. I went as Princess Leia's hologram projected from R2D2 instead.

Nope, these aren't real... I had to get rid of some of my Mexican currency before returning to the States on a vacation to Cabo. My husband & I went with another teacher & his wife. We saw these in the airport gift shop & thought it would be a great prank to put in the teacher's lounge to see how many people would try to eat them. Now, at least once a year, I set them on my desk to see how many students will pick them up. You'd be surprised at how many actually do...

Why? Why did I keep this full-page ad Billy Corgan took out in the Chicago Tribune back in 2005? I mean, I know why...because I'm a huge Smashing Pumpkins fan. But I'm not sure why I held on to it. So...sorry, Billy. But you just got recycled.

"The Most Dangerous Game" board game, made a few years ago by some students. It's so darn cute, I haven't been able to throw it away. But it does take up a ton of room. It just might have to go this year...

Well, I can't throw out my high school letter jacket, right!? This, sadly, made it to my costume box for dress-up days (we dress up for Homecoming, Halloween, Red-Ribbon week, and various other spur-of-the-moment days). The 80's was our Homecoming theme a few years ago (you know you're old when the era of your high school days is now a novelty dress-up day or Homecoming theme!), so I brought it to school and now it is always on hand just in case someone wants to look like a big dork! (The sailor zip-up hood is especially classy, don't you think! ha)

Need I say more? This, inside my closet, has found a permanent home. Because we've all been there at some point, right!?

No matter what, I continue to cheer on the Cubs. Ya, I don't know why, either. I just always have. Some day they'll make us proud...some day...

Pieces from a Tragedy of Julius Caesar-themed board game. I especially liked the colorful paper die the students made. Alas, it was recycled.

In my Homecoming/Halloween/Dress-Up Days box is a collection of masks. This is my PEZ clown mask. I went as a PEZ clown one year (I converted a box into the red dispenser & wore the mask). It was very hard not having the use of my hands, I must say! My giant Bunny PEZ decided to wear the clown mask. This mask actually freaks a lot of students out. I never realized how many are afraid of clowns! Maybe we should stop watching "IT" in class! Ha ha...just kidding! But I do teach a Stephen King unit that is fun. And creepy.

So what types of things do YOU have lurking in your classroom cupboards and closets? Share them below or link a post to this one. I'd love to read about yours! (It also helps to know I'm not the ONLY teacher who hangs on to things...I know you're out there...somewhere!)