TES: An Xmas Writing/Role-Play Activity

Christmas Writing...
I was rooting around on TES the other day looking for random writing activities to insert into my classes and lo-and-behold, I found a fun Christmas activity. Now, just so you know, I teach senior ELA which means grades 9-12 and to be honest, I do not do Christmas writing activities. It is time consuming and usually out of the theme of what we are working on. Senior ELA is so focused and full of outcomes to complete that there usually isn't time to work on holiday activities like there is the in the younger grades. But in this case, I will be making an exception!
Back to the the activity I found...
It is a bit morbid but quite fun, it is a Christmas Murder Mystery! The premise is that Santa Clause has been murdered! But who did it? What will happen to Christmas? - Each student is given a role to play (this is kind of like a dinner role-playing murder mystery game) with an explanation of what their details are. Students are then given a list of questions and must go around to the other characters and find out as much information as possible. After about 10 or so minutes, the students must work with the information they found out to come up with a written explanation of a plot and reveal the murder case and the guilty person (their opinion based on facts). There are clues that the teacher can give out randomly during the 10 minutes to help with the investigation. The teacher also has access to the solution to read to the students once they discuss their own plot revealing.
It is a fun little activity that gets students students interviewing, writing, moving around, acting and generally just having some interesting good times while using their critical thinking skills. I call that, a home run!
http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Christmas-Murder-Mystery-6006393/ 
Sign up for a TES account for free - there are tons of resources for all grade levels - this site is out of the UK so for you senior teachers, it is KS3 or KS4 activities. 

In Real Life - Finale Results

Sydney didn't win first place but came in second on YTV's In Real Life! She may have not won that grand prize but she came home with a new tablet (awesome) and a sweet looking Storm watch. I was screaming and cheering at the TV on Monday when she got to fly those planes, what a site!
She had to cut through a roll of toilet paper with the propeller of the plane in one task, then the next task was to find the next plane in the hangar but with there being lots of similar looking buildings, it was fairly challenging. Sydney came through by being a farm girl and using her prior knowledge that the plane would have to be in a building with long/wide sliding doors and she actually found it right away while the two other boys took a long time figuring out where it was and how to get into the building. Sydney then had to fly an aerobatic plane which is a really neat thing because they had to perform tricks like rolls and loops! She did amazing and only lost out by 2 points!
I am super proud of her and know how this experience has changed her life. Congrats girl! 

In Real Life - FINALE TONIGHT!

My grade 9 student Sydney has made it to the finale on the YTV show In Real Life! If you remember from my last post about the show, I mentioned that Sydney got chosen to compete on the tv show and I am super excited to share with you that she is in the final 3 and will be doing stunt pilot flying in the finale tonight! I must tell you as well that she is the only girl left in the final 3 and she is excited for her big episode tonight.
She taped the show over the summer and was taken places all over North America for different skills competitions, she has said it was a life-changing experience and I know it has been tough on her to not share her secrets about what happens!

The Episode 10 Synopsis (borrowed from the In Real Life website)
"In this final experience, the stakes are high and so is the competition. Sky-high! Our finalists have one last chance to battle it out as stunt pilots. They start out flying a light aircraft called a Piper Club and test their piloting skills by using the plane's propellers as a giant pair of scissors to cut through a banner floating towards the ground. Then they move onto aerobatics airplanes and and perform daredevil maneuvers over dizzying altitudes. It's a death-defying battle for the grand prize!"

To The Winner...
"...at the finish line of every experience, there's an unforgettable reward waiting for the first team that arrives. The ultimate goal? The final episode grand prize! The winner walks away with a $10,000 RESP and an all-inclusive trip for 4 to the Mexico's Riviera Maya, staying at the Grand Coco Bay and sponsored by Sunwing Vacations."


Sydney has also been writing blog posts during the last few months after each airing of each episode. You can go back and follow her journey from home as she goes though the emotions from home, having to hold in her upcoming episode excitement! Also, she had an online journal-writing experience when she was filming this summer so you can also go back and read about her experience as she was going through it.
I would just like to say that I am very proud of Sydney and excited to see the show tonight! Tune in to YTV's In Real Life TONIGHT (Mon.Dec.12) and help us cheer her on! On Saskatchewan time it airs at 6pm and 9pm. Go Girl! 

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Prioritizing and Seeing Success

You know that History class I was struggling with? It is true that changing teaching strategies can help (I am sure you already knew that!) I did a structured jigsaw lesson yesterday, split the students into groups and had them work in different rooms and viola! Worked like a charm.....maybe it had part to do with the fact that the kids who don't love history were paired with those that do....but nonetheless I am happy and they really seemed into it! Success!


I'm swamped. I really am! My marking and correcting pile just increased ten-fold when I had managed to make 3 projects due on the same day....what was I thinking!? Here is the lesson of this blog post though.....prioritize and create manageable chunks to work with when you are overwhelmingly swamped. 


The idea of prioritizing is something that can be related to a jigsaw lesson like I did in History yesterday because I am splitting up large chunks of information/marking and making it manageable to work through. I will focus my attention on the things that need to be back to the students more quickly because then we can move on, while the projects are end of unit pieces of work and are not crucial to studying for an exam.


I am like Santa when it comes to marking. NOT in the way that only the good students get marked first ha ha - there is no such thing as good students and bad students in my opinion, only those that choose to put more effort into their work or try their hardest. Anyway, I am like Santa because I make my list (my marking TO DO list), and check it twice (or more!) and then get to work on stroking names of assignments off of that list. When I do finally see the end in sight I sit back in my chair and say 'there! That feels awesome to be done!' It is that feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that I can go home and lounge on the couch either reading a good book of my choice or watching some TV because guess what, I deserve it! Give yourself a break busy teachers because we all have those times like I am in now where you are swamped by a pile of stuff to do, but you need to step back and appreciate the fact that life goes on and remember to reward yourself when you make accomplishments. Speaking of rewards, my 'blogging break' time is now over and I need to get back to that crazy pile of marking.....until next time, keep your chin up because a break is around the corner!