5 Unique Learning Opportunities That Your Intermediate Students Will Love

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In my most recent post, I suggested that summer is a great time to research unique learning opportunities in which your students can participate during the next school year, especially if deadlines, fees, and applications are involved. With a little digging, you can find some pretty interesting events, contests, and curriculum extras to engage and challenge your students!

In today's post, I'm sharing five very cool such options for upper elementary and middle school classrooms that I recommend checking out. 

1. Electronic Field Trips (EFT)

The world is so much smaller thanks to technology. Students can now see and experience places, people, and cultures that they might never have encountered otherwise. With electronic field trips, students can "visit" places, sometimes in real-time, without ever leaving the classroom. Ahh...just imagine. No permission slips. No loud bus rides. No constant head counts.

Here are two examples:

Colonial Williamsburg

My classes took part in these EFTs, and they were amazing! My students loved them. Since I last used this resource, it appears that the live broadcasts have been discontinued. Instead, however, they have turned to their HERO multimedia library that includes videos, lesson plans, and other resources about life in Colonial and Revolution-era America that you can access. You can sign up for a free account, but there is a fee involved for school-wide access to the library for the year. The material is high-quality and engaging, and it's a fantastic supplement to social studies curricula. You'll get the most for your fee if you register before the year starts, and that will also give you time to go through and choose material.

National Park Foundation

I have not used these EFTs; however, in browsing through the collection of EFTs available, they seem to be high-quality and varied in social studies and science content and feature diverse US national park locations. These are not real-time videos; however, you can watch them for free in segments whenever you wish. Each EFT includes a video and a corresponding Web site that is rich in resources to use in conjunction with the EFT. The service appears to be free, which is a BONUS!

2. Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) Mock Election 

This is one of those opportunities I found out about just a little to late to incorporate into my classes, but I would have loved to have my students be a part of it. The YLI mock election is "the largest secure, student-only, online mock election in the nation, using electronic ballots tailored to each student's home legislative district." It takes place during the mid-late part of October and includes many resources and options for teachers to conduct an election tailored to their students and their area of residence. You must register for this mock election, and the activity and resources are FREE!  

3. Free Student Book Publishing

We did this activity school-wide for several years, and it was very cool! Every student had the opportunity to write a book and have it hardbound published for FREE. This program, created by Student Treasures, involves each student or class (depending on whether you choose an individual or class book project) receiving a book-writing packet that includes everything they need to create their books (ex. instructions, lined & unlined final pages for writing and illustrations, cover page, dedication page, etc.). Each teacher/school chooses a publishing date, all of which have been established by Student Treasures, so teachers need to plan this project with the submission deadline in mind since all packets must be sent in together before the deadline. Under the guidance and instruction of the teacher, students then write their stories and create colored illustrations for them. In my case, I used this project to practice the writing process--brainstorming, drafting, peer reviewing, revising/editing, planning illustrations, and rewriting, and we spent several months working on the books. I must warn you, though, that executing this program requires a lot of planning so start early! 

I was not the coordinator at our school, but from what I understood then and understand now, the publishing programs are tailored to student age groups (K-6, Middle School, High School, etc.). You simply provide the information to Student Treasures about grade levels and type of book you want students to create, and they determine the program that fits those needs. Again, this worthwhile project is FREE to you, and each student received one FREE hardbound copy of their book. (Parents can order multiple copies of the book using an order form found in the packet.) You can request a free sample packet at Student Treasures' Web site. I can't relay to you how excited students were to receive their books and see their work published. It was amazing!

4. Content-Area Contests

Contests are a great way for students to showcase their talents and, in some case, win prizes for it! I am lumping all of the cool contests I found into one section here because I'm leaving it up to you to decide which of the many out there would fit your needs. There are several different Web pages dedicated to listing contests open to upper elementary and middle school students. I'm including a link to a good resource/repository of contests here. You can find contests for all subjects. I noticed that some have not been updated for next year, and some are defunct so be sure to check for further information at their respective Web sites. Here are a couple of examples that I found:

Cricket magazine is a literary publication for students ages 9-14 and holds contests about a variety of literary topics throughout the year, all of which encourage creativity.

Scholastic Art and Writing Awards involve contests for many art and writing categories in which students enter their pieces based on local program guidelines. These contests are open to public, private, and homeschool students in grades 7-12

5. NASA events and contests

NASA keeps an updated calendar list of opportunities for students in grades K-8 to participate in a variety of science and technology related activities, events, and contests. I noticed the word FREE in many of these descriptions, and there's a nice variety of events that take place at NASA locations and virtually (online). Check back as new events are added! 

What do you think? Have you ever incorporated any of these in your classroom? Other suggestions? Leave a comment!

Friendship Resources and Activities Link-Up

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It's been a while since I've done a link-up, and variety is the spice of blog life, right?

This week (May 15-21) is New Friends, Old Friends Week, which is a time to celebrate and make time for new friends and old friends. Friends are such an important part of the lives of our students. We need to encourage them to be good friends by showing them how to connect with one another in encouraging, trustworthy, and fun-loving ways. 

This week's blog post is a link-up of FREE classroom resources that you can use to promote friendship in the intermediate classroom. If you have one, share it here. If you're searching for one, find it here. Can't wait to see what creative activities are out there! Leave a comment about how you plan to use them.

The resource I'm sharing is a sample from Today I Will...Daily Character Building Task Cards. The prompts on these cards encourage students to practice character traits of good friends: selflessness, compassion, kindness, and more. Many friendship resources are geared toward primary students, and I've designed these cards for upper elementary/intermediate students so they require a little more intention and thinking by students.

Resource Round-Up: Motivating Students During Standardized Testing

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The material has been taught. Testing strategies have been reviewed. Number 2 pencils have been sharpened. The name and test ID bubbles on the answer page have been filled in completely (making sure to erase all marks outside the circles). It's time for state testing.

Most of my students never seemed to be too anxious about test-taking. Maybe it was because they were older. Maybe it was just "old hat" to them. They had other testing issues that needed to be addressed. My 5th grade teaching team focused on three areas to help students get through testing:

1. Building stamina 

Standardized test are long. There are a lot of questions, and the time period for each test requires superhuman attention spans. This means that even when students finish them, they still have to stay quiet and seated until the allotted test time passes. Our students also took tests just as the weather was turning nice so kids were chomping at the bit to get outside after test-taking. To help get our students accustomed to test length and encourage them to maintain focus during such long assessments, we created half-length exams for each subject, which we administered one or two times during the year, using previous years' questions that had been released by the state. After grading the tests (a completion grade most of the time), we'd spend time each week to go over each question with the students. In the end, we thought it did help some students to endure such a long period of focus. 

2. Familiarizing students with format

It was important that students had some exposure to the testing format and language before the actual tests so that nothing was shocking or confusing to them when they tested for real. Therefore, the teaching team would incorporate testing language and question format into the assessments for our regular content material. For example, on tests and quizzes, we'd use multiple choice with bubbles, short answer questions, and constructed response questions, all modeled after the types and structures of questions we had seen on previous years' tests. Another way we familiarized students was to use sample passages to model how to do close reads and respond to the questions about the passages. The feedback we received from students is that it did help them as they tested.

3. Motivating students

By 5th grade, our students got that they weren't being graded on the test, nor did it determine whether they'd move on to the next grade or not. So how do you encourage students with nothing to lose or gain to do their best? In an ideal situation, intrinsic motivation would run rampant among students, but that's just not realistic. We used a valuable resource at our school--the swimming pool--as motivation for the students. Once test results arrived in the summer, our guidance counselor planned a pool party for all students who passed at least one of the tests. She'd send invitations to their homes, provide a tasty picnic lunch and cold treats, and set up outdoor games to play. Students really enjoyed it, and the looks on the faces of children who struggled academically throughout the year but persevered during state testing were priceless!

In honor of state testing season, this week's resource round-up is all about free and creative ideas to motivate students in preparation for standardized testing. It's clear from all of the options out there that teachers really care about encouraging their students, and I think that helps!

Before I get to this week's list of resources, though, I thought I'd share what some of my colleagues on Teachers Pay Teachers had to say when I asked them for their best test prep advice for students. 

Some of it is mental:

ESL Nexus said:

"I told my students to be sure and get a good night's sleep on the nights before tests and, also, to go sleep saying to themselves over and over, "I will do well. I will do well." I'd read that the power of positive thinking really worked as you were falling asleep, and if you fell asleep thinking you would do well on a test, then you were more likely to actually do well on it." 

Counselor Chelsey said:

"I think the best advice to just to remind kids that they know the material! Tests can be so daunting, especially because they are often a different format than the traditional classroom tests, but reminding students that they have all of the knowledge in their brain to do well on the test! I think that helps students feel more confident and less intimidated!"

Mary Carr shared:

"I have made fortune cookies for students with fortunes specially written to encourage test-takers. Kids love the special messages from their teacher."

Some of it is strategic:

Renee from Share2Learn said:

"I always told my 2nd and 3rd graders to just relax and do your best. That was after I told them that the people who write the tests are trying to trick them, and sometimes more than one answer will seem okay so just go with the one that seems best."

Some of it is physical:

Advanced Instruction Resources offered:

"I tell the kids to try their best and show what you know. The class will get back to "regular" instruction after it's finished. I try to include many different brain breaks and activities between tests. The kids are completely drained so they need to get out of their seats and move around between tests."

Renee of Teacher Ink said:

"Run in place for three minutes beforehand, and make silly, crazy faces...afterward."

And some of it just puts the whole testing business 

into a much-needed, humorous perspective:

Pamela Kranz of Desktop Learning Adventures shared:

"The sun will come up tomorrow. Your friends will still like you. Your parents will still love you. And your pets will still enjoy cuddle time with you--unless your pets are fish."

There you have it. So here is this week's resource round-up. As usual, these suggestions are geared toward upper elementary and middle school students but can be creatively adapted for other grades as well. Without further ado, here we go....

Read a book aloud to students.

Melissa at More Time 2 Teach shares how she uses the book The Big Test by Julie Danneberg to relieve students' jitters and help them to see that testing isn't all bad. A quick search brings up other read-alouds that fit the theme of testing, too!

Adapt the test environment.

Scholastic offers several ideas to keep stress low and motivation high for middle school students in this article, but my favorite is creating a comfortable, home-like environment for students before and while they test. 

Keep students active.

During test breaks, we'd let students stand up, stretch, and do silent jumping jacks to help them refocus. This article from the National Education Association shares something similar as well as other ideas for keeping students focused when attention spans are short. 

Use music.

This music video starring 5th grade students at Centennial Arts Academy is so good! Sung to the tune of Lady Gaga's "Poker Face," students sing about their "Test-Taker Face." If you're brave enough, maybe YOU could direct your students in a music video of their own!

Write a letter to your students.

This letter from a teacher to her students reminds me of a question that I saw posted on Facebook: Name one thing that standardized tests cannot measure about students. 

Use humor.

Check out this video based on the Hunger Games made by 6th graders at a Connecticut middle school as they prepare to "show everything they know."

Invoke a success mindset.

Building intrinsic motivation in students sounds like a daunting task. We can't get inside their minds to make them care. Larry Ferlazzo writes for MiddleWeb about having students make personal connections with success. One activity is to write about an ancestor who had success in his or her life immediately prior to a test. Research shows that writing and sharing about a genetic relative who possessed qualities that led to achievement helps students to believe that they also possess characteristics that will make them successful. 

Offer sweet treats.

Okay, this one isn't exactly free, but it doesn't cost much. (And shhh...a basic tenet of teaching that no one likes to admit is that students almost always respond to the promise of candy.)  Jen at Runde's Room provides some cute ideas and printables for providing little treats to sweeten testing season. 

Roll out a special welcome mat.

I thought this was a fun idea provided by Carol Miller at the Middle School Counselor. Write encouraging messages in sidewalk chalk outside of the doors of the school. 

Decorate for success.

When I was in marching band in high school, our section members would take turns making locker signs for everyone to pump us up for weekend competitions. (Yes, we got excited about competitions. Hey, we were good and liked to win. If you can't relate to marching band, I'm sure you've seen similar signs for athletes on their lockers. Just bear with me here....) Consider making a bulletin board that emphasizes and encourages individual students. Just make sure you it doesn't have anything you have cover up come testing day! I saw some cool ideas at Smartchick Teacher and Nerdy Teacher Confessions.

You know your students best. You can tell what motivates them and what needs you must address to put them in the best position to do well. Here's hoping that these suggestions will help you do just that!

Have another suggestion? Leave a comment!

FREE Design a T-Shirt Book Reponse Project

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Happy Wednesday to you followers, fans, and freebie-lovers! 

I've been working on a freebie that I plan to release later this week on Teachers Pay Teachers and want to share it with you as an exclusive. No need to log in to anything. It's just a simple download to say thanks for coming by!

This Design a T-Shirt Book Response Project is a creative alternative to traditional book reports because let's face it: Book reports can be boring for students to do and boring for teachers to grade. Students will choose a scene or character from the book to illustrate on their t-shirts. Then, they write a project description of what they illustrated and why it is important to the story. 

This resource includes everything you and your students need to make a t-shirt all about a book. Just add a plain t-shirt and fabric markers or paint!

• Detailed project description and requirements
• T-shirt template to sketch and record information about the design
• Final project description for students to complete 
• Rubric

Students plan their project on the included template.

Download this freebie here. I hope that your students enjoy this fun option for responding to literature. Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Aspire to Inspire Classroom Resources Round-Up: Poetry

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Does it finally look like spring where you're at? I think poet Sara Teasdale expresses the atmosphere around here right now! 

The roofs are shining from the rain,

The sparrows twitter as they fly,

And with a windy April grace

The little clouds go by.

Yet the back-yards are bare and brown

With only one unchanging tree

I could not be so sure of spring

Save that it sings for me.

--"April" by Sara Teasdale

April brings more than just showers and May flowers. It's National Poetry Month, too. Here is my latest Aspire to Inspire Classroom Resources round-up of 10 FREE online resources that will help your students become "well-versed" in poetry!

National Poetry Month Official Site

Here you'll find a collection of teacher instructional resources, a library of poets and poems, Poem-a-Day, poster contest, and the Dear Poet project, and more. 

10 Ways to Use Poetry in the Classroom

This article explores 10 elements of poetry to study, complete with recommended mentor texts and Web sites. 

20 Ways to Celebrate Poetry Month

There are some pretty creative ideas for observing National Poetry month on this list. Check out the Bonus Potato Pick at the end of the post if your class is courageous enough!

Poets' Corner

This vast and well-maintained collection of poetry (7,000+ poems by 800 poets) is a fantastic resource with search capabilities as well as short poet biographies. 

Upper Elementary Poetry Open Mic Lesson

Watch poetry in motion in an upper elementary class with this creative lesson that engages students in poetry readings. 

Upper Elementary The Best Way to Teach Poetry

Pam from Rockin' Resources takes a year-long approach to teaching poetry with a comprehensive list of diverse and engaging lessons.

Calling on the Muse: Exercises to Unlock the Poet Within

Inspire young poets with these exercises in self-expression, imagination, and thinking in poetry instead of prose. This is a great resource for teaching beyond poetic structures and theory.

The Poetry Friendly Classroom Video

This short video includes a few interviews with classroom teachers who explain some methods they use to teach poetry that seek to make poetry relevant and inclusive. 

Six Technology-Based Poetry Ideas for Students Who Think They Hate Poetry

Using technology devices, social media, apps, Web sites, and more, this teacher provides some easy-to-do instructional ideas to engage even the most reluctant student of poetry.

Middle School What Are the Elements of Poetry

This lesson uses Gary Soto's "Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" to teach about form, mood, implications, figurative language, and originality (suggested grades 6-8).

While I specifically focused on upper elementary and middle school resources, many of these can also be adapted to younger or older students. 

Did you/have you used any of these resources? What do you think? Leave a comment!