Not the End of My Tale

  Många lärarkollegor frågor var de kan hitta intressanta sagor att berätta för sina elever. Världen är full med berättelser och jag tycker om att lära nya hela tiden. Då delar jag gärna med mig av veckans saga på svenska. Här kommer en folksaga från Kina som jag läste i boken Peace Tales av Margaret Read MacDonald. Ute på den afrikanska savannen trampade en elefant förbi och stannade upp när hon fick syn på en färggrann kolibri som låg platt på ryggen på marken. Fågelns små fötter lyfts upp i luften. "Detta ser visst konstigt ut. Vad gör du, lilla kolibri?" frågade elefanten. Kolibrien svarade: ”Har du inte hört? Jag fick höra imorse att himlen kanske faller ner idag. Och jag vill vara redo. ” Elefanten skrattade och hånade den lilla fågeln. "Vem har sagt det? Hur kan du tro på sådant trams? Tror du att de små fötterna skulle kunna hålla upp himlen?" "Jag kan kanske inte hålla up himlen alldeles själv,", svarade kolibrin. ”Men jag gör så mycet som jag kan...

 To help my older students start writing fiction, I used a prompt generator at  diyMFA . I also added a word of the day from NextStepEnglish:  https://nextstepenglish.com/word-of-the-day-conflagration/ .  Our word was conflagration, a very large fire that destroys buildings or large pieces of land. As we shuffled the prompt generator, we picked...  "shopping mall Santa, lost something important, has bullets but no gun and a picture of a modern building". We discussed these elements together and wrote both together and individually. Each of the students wrote their own version of this story while I wrote one, too.  I do believe that an English teacher should be able to write anything they ask their students to write and to proudly demonstrate their craft. I realize that there is the risk of the teacher's work being judged harshly, but how can we expect the students to be brave enough to write and share with others if we are not willing to write and share wit...

 Since most of my classes will be online for the next 6 weeks, I registered for an educator account at getepic.com . It is free and full of thousands of digital books (most in English, but there are a few other languages there). Students just use the classcode (no personal info needed) and can choose books to read online. Some books even include audio. As a teacher, I can keep track of how many books each student has read (if they click on their initials when they start) and how they did on the end-of-book quiz. I even tried one of the short quizzes with one of my students, and she liked it. The quiz was short enough to not be bothersome while providing just enough positive feedback to let her feel like her accomplishment was seen. The only drawback is that the students can only read for free during school hours local time, Monday- Friday 7 am - 4 pm. You can even make reading lists for your students. I made one with books about Hawaii or based in Hawaii since that is where we curr...

 While my younger students are on their Around the World Virtual Trip, my older students are working on various writing assignments. We decided to try out Six Word Stories this week after discussing Flash Fiction. Is it really posibble to write a story in six words? After reading many samples, we realized that what you write is just enough for your mind to fill in the blanks with the rest of the story. Even if it is only six words, it still needs a character and conflict. And the best ones also have a twist.  After writing both together and individually, we thought this was a fun genre of writing. The next step up from this is called Dribble, with max 50 words. After that comes Drabble with a max of 100 words. As a natural progression, I plan to have my students turn one of their six word stories into a dribble for our next lesson. What will enhance the story and head the reader in the right direction? For the picture on the right, here is a sample of a six-word story:  P...

 More reading and writing for your students! Come join us for a creative way to encourage literacy. I was asked by a non-profit in Lund, Sweden to hold this workshop for teachers, parents and any other adults who work with children. In an interative manner, I will share my ideas for writing mini books for our students, who will in turn be inspired to read and write.  The workshop is free and on zoom at 4-5:50 pm  (Stockholm time) . Besid es curios ity and an open mind, please bring a blank white sheet of paper, pencil and eraser.  Format of the workshop:  Introduction from 4-4:30 pm  Workshop in small groups to create a story from 4:30-5:00;  and sharing stores and Q&A from 5:00-5:30. The workshop will be held in English and free! It will take place over Zoom. To register, please email Katrina at katrina.taylor@abcsweden.org.

The excitement of getting ready to head off on a trip...   For our virtual Arund the World trip, my students have started to pack their bags, using a sheet where they write their packing list after our class brainstorming. At the same time, they have been writing questions to send to our "virtual host" in California. Here are the questions that they have written, plus one or two added by me. None of the students seem to know anything about California and are very curious. For some reason, they seem most interested in candy, beaches and deadly creatures. I am looking forward to info, tips and opinions that our "virtual host" will be sharing in their film, which will be our "official arrival" at that destination. Here are our first questions: 1. What’s your favorite candy? Is there any special candy in California? Have you been to the m&m store? Is there a candy factory near you? 2. Where is your favorite beach? What do people do there? How often do you ...

 One of the tools I plan to use on our Around the World Virtual Trip is Adobe Spark. The students themselves can make a page which will be part of the final film about each country we visit. Of course, like most teachers, I spend a significant amount of time practicing with a tool before introducing it to my students. Just for fun, here is a video that I made with other students over a year ago. What is your experience with Adobe Spark?