Motivating Lesson about Primary and Secondary Sources

  
So, Monday we have a common assessment that our department will be giving. I realized that I had to come up with a quick review of Primary and Secondary sources. So I wrote numerous examples on index cards and decided to review the meanings of primary and secondary source. Then I explained the rules of my game.

The students had to be the first to pop up and name which type of source I described. If the student was correct, they got the card. The student with the most cards won. This was the best activity. The students were all really motivated, it took 15 minutes and only cost me a cool pencil!

The students understood the differences and I think they should do really really well on Monday!

Primary sources I used:
Birth records
A letter to President Obama from the Queen of England
An autoboigraphy about Nicki Monaj
A recording of a speech given by Martin Luther King
An interview given by a passager from the Titanic
A photograph of your great, great grandparents.
A suitcase that was recovered from the ocean floor near the Titanic.
The original screen play of your favorite movie.
Pottery of the Inca.

Secondary sources I used:
A news report about Whitney Houston
A biography about Michael Jackson
An article about the sinking of the Titanic.
A perdiciton about how the Titaanic sunk by scientist of today.

Check out this giveaway!

There is also a giveaway by Teaching ... My Calling. Here is the link. http://teachingmycalling.blogspot.com/2012/03/its-time-for-giveaway.html

Cara is giving away a beautiful necklace by My Blue Snowflake which can be found on Esty.
Check it out.
Deane~

Hi,
There is an excellent giveaway happening over at Theaching Tweens Reading, Check it out at the site below.
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I have been reading this blog for a little while now and I love the ideas that she posts for middle school.
So check it out.
Thanks,

Deane

Testing Tips That I Am Sharing With My Students

MCAS which is our state test, is coming up in March. On Monday, I started giving the students "Testing Tips."

Tip #1: Read the questions first.
            Circle the command words and location words.
            Box the bolded words.
            Underline the key words.
            If a location is mentioned, go to the location and write the question number and the question.
            Skim the text for key words.

Tip #2: Actively read the passage.
            Underline the answers to the questions and mark the questions in the margin.
            Circle any words you do not know, then reread looking for context clues to help you make meaning.
            Write any reactions that you have to the text in the margins.
             Mark the quotes that will support your answer for any open response question.

Tip #3: Label the "TAG"- Title, author and genre.

Tip#4: Read the directions and always read the introduction statements.


Tip#5: Use process of elimination to help with tricky questions.
         Read all the choices.
         Cross out the choice that is not mentioned in the text. 
         Cross out the choice that is not related to your question.
         This will help you increase your chances about getting questions correct. 
Those are the tips I have shared with my students this week. 

Deane