Dear Educator,
We hope you are planning to Join us for one of our upcoming seminars this spring. Browse our schedule of events on our website, www.kellyharmon.net.
Happy Valentine's Day and happy teaching!
-Kelly Harmon & Randi Anderson
Super Bowl Commercials
Kia- "Hero's Journey"
In this commercial, Kia makes the claim that "it's hard to be an eco-warrior, but it's easy to drive like one." The first fifty eight seconds show Melissa McCarthy trying to do her part to save animals and the ice caps. If you don't watch carefully, you can easily miss the claim and the purpose of the advertisement. Use this commercial for teaching the thinking that goes into processing a persuasive text or media. Learning targets can include: identify the claim, evaluating the reasoning (is it logical or faulty?), and looking for persuasive devices used by the creator.
Ask students to watch the commercial and be ready to discuss what the commercial is about.
Why did Kia make this commercial? What is the "real" message?
Watch the video a second time to look for evidence to confirm the reasons students gave for the purpose and message of the commercial. I stop after each "eco event" and have students analyze this part. Does it support the purpose and message?
Finally, ask students to think about the claim made in any commercial. What are the persuasive techniques used by the "author" of the video? Do all reasons support the claim? Does the author use any rhetorical devices that could be deemed as faulty logic?
The students really engage in watching the videos and looking for the claims, reasoning, and evidence.
YouTube Playlist for February
Get your students singing and analyzing these songs of love!
Love Will Keep Us Together- Captain & Tennille
Readers' Theaters for The Month of Love
Ideas Are All Around!
I got the chance to attend "What's New In Children's Literature" presented by Judy Freeman. She shared so many books and ideas for helping students read and write just for the love of it!!
One of my favorite new books, is Ideas are All Around, by Philip C. Stead. The author has to write a story today, but doesn't have any ideas. So, he and his dog take a walk around the neighbor and to gather ideas for writing a story. The book features photographs taken along the walk.
Have students take a walk to look for ideas to write about. Take an iPad or camera and capture a few pictures of things around school or their home.
The students could write about their walk or focus on telling the story or explain just one thing they took a picture of during the journey.
Learning targets include: Using prewriting strategies, drafting an imaginative story, writing to explain the topic, or writing to convince the audience of the importance of the object of the picture.
Ideas really are all around us.
Visit Judy's website for great ideas, book lists, and much more! Visit her website here!
Parent Involvement Ideas
Parent Mystery Reader
Invite a parent(s) in to be the mystery reader on Read Across America Day. Give the class clues as to who it could be! Have parents select their own book or provide them with a basket or bin to choose from.
Character Dress Up
Invite students and parents to dress as their favorite book character! Costumes can be in pairs that match like, Thing 1 & Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss. Coordinate costumes with other family members. At the beginning or end of the school day, host a parade through your school or community.
Dr. Seuss Themed Book Bags
Put together several take home book bags full of Dr. Seuss Titles. Students can sign up or teachers can assign students to take the book bags home each week and enjoy the books with their families. Include some discussion questions or a stuffed animal to read to.
Have a Dr. Seuss Birthday Party
Invite students to bring their parents in to celebrate Dr. Seuss' 113th birthday. Give out "invitations" to the party that require the party guests to read at least one Dr. Seuss book and investigate interesting facts about his life. Include a link to Seussville to explore before the party. www.seussville.com
Plan games and prizes that play off the guests' knowledge of his books and life.
Don't forget the cake!
For more ideas for Read Across America Day, visit the Dr. Seuss website!
Math Games
Students need to learn math facts, but let's do more than just memorize the facts. Playing math games can help develop fact fluency and critical thinking skills. In the game Mind Reader, students (and parents) practice decomposing a number by analyzing possibilities and testing their guesses.
In this game for three or more players, two players each draw a card, and without looking at it, hold it up to their foreheads so that everyone else can see it. The other players take turns announcing the sum of the two cards. Each player must figure out which card is on his or her own forehead. The other players can only say "yes" or "no" when numbers are guessed. Be sure to model good guessing vs. random guessing. For example, if the sum is 12, a good guess might sound like "Is my number larger than 6?" Rather than "Do I have a 7?"
The first player to guess their number correctly gets 2 points and the second player gets 1 point.
When both players have figured out their cards, players switch roles and the game continues.
Countdown to ELAR STAAR: Planning for Authentic & Rigorous Practice
February 27, 2017 San Antonio, TX
February 28, 2017 Arlington, TX
During this seminar, experience and create activities and games that target specific STAAR reading and writing processes, skills and strategies. Discover the difference between test review and test practice and how to incorporate both into daily instruction. You will leave with an action plan that maximizes practice time and provides “just right” practice activities and games for each student.
Using Guided Math to Enhance Your Instruction / Grades K-3
In this highly practical seminar, Kelly Harmon will share a variety of guided math techniques, including how to plan and implement small guided math groups designed to better meet your students’ needs – from those who excel in math to those who struggle with basic math skills. You will learn the top, research-based instructional strategies that will help your students learn and retain key math skills and concepts, and how to transfer these skills to math problem solving.
Strengthening Your Title I Program / Two Day Intensive
Learn how to better lead your school or district Title I team in this strategy-packed, two-day institute led by nationally acclaimed presenter, Kelly Harmon. You will discover how to work with teachers to identify and implement the most effective cutting-edge, research-based instructional strategies to increase school and district wide student achievement. You will learn how to develop teacher expertise in working with struggling students along with ways to continually monitor and adjust instruction based on student results.
Fostering Language & Literacy in the Early Childhood Classroom
April 26, 2017 - San Antonio, TX
April 27, 2017 - Arlington, TX
Join Kelly Harmon for a day full of innovative, engaging ideas and activities for authentically accelerating the literacy development of young children! Through language play, music, read alouds, investigations, and experimenting with literacy tools, young children develop receptive, expressive, reading and writing vocabularies. Explore ways to set up a rich language and print environment and how to respectfully share literacy practices with parents of young children.
Strengthening Your RTI Reading Program / Two Day Conference
Learn how to better lead your school or district RTI Reading team in this strategy-packed two-day conference led by nationally acclaimed presenter, Kelly Harmon. You will discover how to work with teachers to identify and implement the most effective cutting-edge, research-based instructional strategies to increase school and district wide student reading achievement. You will learn how to develop teacher expertise in working with struggling readers along with ways to continually monitor and adjust instruction based on student results.
Strengthening Your Title I Program
In this two-day intensive, you will investigate ways to ways to better lead your district or campus Title I teams! Discover how to work with teachers to identify and implement the most effective cutting-edge, research-based instructional strategies to increase school and district wide student achievement. Walk away with extended expertise in working with struggling students and ways to monitor and adjust instruction to better meet the needs of at risk learners!
Kelly Harmon & Associates, LLC
Email: randi@kellyharmon.net
Website: www.kellyharmon.net
Phone: (817) 583-1290
Twitter: @TexasLiteracy