Learning new skills can be fun! Check out what the 7th & 8th grade have been up to for the past two weeks!!
Even though 7th & 8th grade have been working on skills the past two weeks, it's really important to give "hooks" so we can grasp the information better. My kiddos know I'm not big into worksheets. Graphic organizers are at times a necessary evil.... Especially when teaching concepts such as "Central Ideas and Details"! ( The Central idea is a brief explanation of what the text is mostly about!)
After 8th grade read, "Why are your Clothes so Cheap?" We needed to review the big ideas of the text and the details that supported it. This concept can be very difficult to master... This got me thinking...
PUZZLES!!!
I gave each group a puzzle with out the picture as guidance and gave them only 10-15 minutes to complete it!
It was chaotic, messy and confusing!
Which was the point!!
Without the picture (the central idea) we don't know how all the puzzle pieces (details) fit together!
For many kids - this was a "AHA" moment!
The central idea is the "big picture"! ;)
We then discussed strategies on how they put their puzzles together..
Starting with the corners, looking for commonalities in designs and pictures...
8J did a great job with this discussion and how these same strategies needed to be applied to find the central idea!! We concluded you needed to take your time and look for similarities in details in order to find the central idea!
The kids have been working so hard!! I can't wait to show everyone how we are going to "apply" our new knowledge we've been practicing!!
Until Next Week,
Ritchie