Tag: Intermediate Grades

TED Talks: A Great Resource for Teachers

I have watched videos on TED Talks myself and it is a GREAT place to learn new things. However, only recently did I discover its nearly-unrivaled value in the classroom. With the culmination of marking copious amounts of movie reviews and having report cards ready for record deadlines this week, I have been in a bind for lesson planning time. Enter TED Talks. With a plethora of subject areas to choose from, this resource is a must-have!

There are two places you can find TED talks material. One is the main TED Talks website and the other is the TED Ed teacher resource platform.  While the former offers video footage on just about anything you are curious about, the latter has subject-specific videos with mini-lesson plans around each.

This week I ran to TED twice, and we are only on Wednesday! On Monday, I showed my students 2 video clips from the TED Ed platform, one titled “What makes things cool?” and the other, “Why do people join cults?”. I introduced each one by discussing the concepts of “cool” and “cults” to activate students’ knowledge. After watching each video clip, I discussed with my classes the major ideas presented in the video and then probed their understanding by pushing them to make connections with other things in their lives. Students were intrigued and receptive and I was satisfied with my lesson-delivery.

The second time I showed my students a video clip on the TED Talks website titled, “How megacities are changing the map of the world.” Since my students are transitioning into high school and Geography is a compulsory course, this was a great segue into the different kinds of Geography and how each affects our lives. I discussed major concepts with my students after showing them the video in a “debrief” session and then parceled them into groups armed with chart paper and markers to answer the question, How does Connectography affect our lives?. I required that they be specific in their answers and offer examples wherever possible. Despite the initial bombarding of new terms and complex syntax used by the presenter, my student found this video interesting and the idea-sharing phase of our class session proved this. Students came up with deep analytical reasoning that really surprised me!

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The thing I like most about TED Talks/Ed resources is the amount of opportunity it allows for students to inform themselves and activate their critical-thinking skills. I am a huge pusher of “Think critically, kids!”, so this is quickly becoming my go-to resource even for days when I am preparing lesson plans in advance.

For those of you who have used this resource, let me know about your experience. I would love to hear about new ways to use it.

 

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The Deborah Ellis Installments (Part II): My Name is Parvana

As promised, here is Book#4 in the Breadwinner Series, My Name is Parvana by Deborah Ellis.

In this last book, we meet an older Parvana. She is 15-years old now, and has been through more heartbreaking tragedy. When the story opens, Parvana is in prison. She has been captured by American soldiers, while wandering through a bombed-out school site. As we follow Parvana through her ordeal in prison, the story jumps back into the past to fill in the gaps with what has transpired since we last met her. Ellis does a fantastic job of superimposing the past on the present. Parvana is no longer the feisty young girl with a quick tongue. No, now she holds her tongue to create a deafening silence when questioned by the American soldiers. Over and over and over and over again. Yes, Parvana has matured. And logically so, because she has lost more, and made more difficult and selfless choices. Her innocence is replaced with shrewdness and air-tight resolve. If she was strong when we were first introduced to her, she possess mammoth strength now. If, as readers, we admired her courage and smarts in the beginning, we will love her for these now. Ellis reaches into the soul of Parvana’s character and brings her to life. She makes her feel like a real person. And therein lies a huge portion of Ellis’ talent; her ability to make her characters come to life. It is no wonder we feel a closeness to them. Ellis does a great justice connecting her audience to children around the world who have no voice to fight for themselves. In this series, and finally, in this book, Ellis gives them all a voice. Especially through Parvana’s silence while she is in prison, we see the grace and bravery with which this young girl operates.

Teachers, your students can compare Parvana’s life to their own. They can make connections and then draw contrasts. They also get to understand a bit about how things work in military prisons in areas of war. This book can even be done with older grades (intermediates – 7 & 8) as a stand-alone with a thorough backstory provided. Students can jump into the psychology behind scare tactics and how prisoners are treated in war-torn countries, even if they are innocent, and even if they are children. You can use this as an opportunity to talk about bigger concepts in their basic form, such as different types of governments and their structures, democracy, justice and injustice, the effects of perception on belief. Your students can further see hope and sacrifice at one of their bests through the many sacrifices made by different characters, and the hope kept alive by others.

Teachers, you can also talk about the Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan Organization and their not-for-profit endeavours to improve the lives of women in war-ridden countries such as Afghanistan. Deborah Ellis is a true genius at her work, and she has the passion to make her work endearing and relatable.

So, even if you don’t actually end up teaching this last book, you yourself will find it a worthwhile read. To say it is an eyeopener would be too much of a cliché.

 

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Championing Graphic Novels for Classroom Teaching

Some of my favourite graphic novels; great for teaching students Grades 4-12

As teachers, we like to revert to the tried-and-true classics when doing Novel Study Units, and teaching our students various bigger life themes. The likes of To Kill a Mockingbird, Inherit the Wind, The Great Gatsby, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Jane Eyre, The Importance of Being Ernest, Brave New World, 1984 and then of course those by the Great Bard, for the intermediate and senior grades. Trust me, I’ve done a good number of these in High School. And then there are the likes of Bridge to Terabithia, Freak the Mighty, Charlotte’s Web, Chronicles of Narnia for the junior grades.

Now, let me pose this question: Have you considered a graphic novel for your Novel Study Unit? I have talked to a lot of teachers, especially in the junior and intermediate grades, and they are incredibly distrusting of the graphic novel. It is viewed by many teachers as a medium of entertainment, and not learning, for their students. Granted, there are graphic novels out there that are created with the sole intent of entertaining, but a lot of incredibly clever graphic artists and writers, collaborate to produce thought-provoking and striking graphic novels.

I would like to make a case for the teaching of graphic novels in grades across the board. I believe they have much value to add to our students’ learning. First of all, graphic novels are not just about the pictures. They are about the relationship between text and image. They are about the meaning in between the panels and the way the characters are drawn and coloured. They are about what is omitted and what is included. They are about meaning and form at their very core. However, they are also incredibly accessible. Graphic novels have the power to engage students who are not willing readers of the traditional text. They have the know-how to capture this audience and potentially turn them into readers. Now, teachers, would that not be a cause for celebration?

Graphic novels further ignite creativity, they inject perspective and then offer other viewpoints contrasting with that first perspective. Art is introduced in an appealing way to students who might not necessarily find themselves drawn to it. The graphic novel has the unbridled power to marry different forms of expression to achieve greater meaning.

Several graphic novels written over the last few years have sought to take big risks and tackle radical topics. Sunny Side Up by the Holm brother and sister duo (Fear not, I shall review this one in time), El Deafo by Cece Bell, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, Maus by Art Spiegelman and Smile by Raina Telgemeier (a handful of my favourites) are some of the graphic novels that have burst out onto the scene and made an impact. From tackling big issues of substance abuse to identity and war in Iran, from physical disabilities to World Wars and the struggles of adolescence, these books, and others, have the power to change thinking. They have the power to begin passionate discussion among students. So, teachers, pray tell, do they not deserve a ranking among the greats? Just because they are “newer” and “different” does not make them unworthy of being entered into the canon of literature-teaching tools.

One of my personal favourites is Watchmen by Alan Moore. This masterpiece makes the movie look ridiculous because, within its pages, it houses depth of meaning and form. It catapults the reader into the story and pulls the narrative around that reader-creator relationship.

Graphic novels are not just quick books that you can read on a trip from Toronto to New York City. They are fast becoming vehicles in which to express explosive thought. So teachers, what say you? Give the graphic novel a chance?

 

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