The start of a new semester can feel a lot like a do-over, like a chance to start fresh, with the wisdom of the first semester to inform us. But after two long weeks away from the classroom, my students need time to reflect on the previous semester, revisit what they learned, and recharge their academic batteries. Here are some welcome-back, New Year strategies that have worked with my 8th graders:
New year = New Year’s resolutions, right? But after a long vacation, few students will be able to put a finger on what went well (or wrong) a few months ago and how they can improve in the new semester. If we give our students guidance in identifying their successes and struggles, along with prompts for writing specific, attainable resolutions for the coming semester, they can start their new year with a clear focus on success. One way I facilitate this is instead of sending my students’ graded work folders home in December, I hold on to them until January. Once the holiday distractions are behind us, I give them time to review their work, identify their strengths and weaknesses, and plan for improvement. They keep these written reflections + resolutions in their notebooks as reminders for the new semester.
My students work hard in the fall semester learning to annotate and write thoughtfully about what they read, but I know they will need to continue to practice and hone these skills for the rest of the year. To get them back in the swing of literary analysis, I try to spark their interest with some unusually engaging reading. Maybe it will be news articles about local events (like the torrential rain and flooding we experienced that resulted in two days of school being cancelled); or maybe a short story that will surprise them with its relevance (like Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day” – after they thought they had experienced non-stop rain!). If I need to keep them engaged in academic reading, compelling text is a great way to hook them as they revisit the analysis skills they worked on last semester.
“What can I say about the 571B Banana Slicer that hasn’t already been said about the wheel, penicillin, or the iPhone…. this is one of the greatest inventions of all time. My husband and I would argue constantly over who had to cut the day’s banana slices. It’s one of those chores NO ONE wants to do!… The Banana Slicer saved our marriage!”
Not only would these clever reviews help my students learn to recognize satire, but I was pretty confident they would inspire them to try writing satire themselves. So after reading through some of the best banana slicer testimonials, we identified the elements of satire and watched some infomercials for equally ridiculous products (remember the Hawaii chair? or the Flowbee haircutting system?). My students wrote with glee, eagerly sharing their satirical wit with their classmates. They posted them on our own Banana Blog, commented on each other’s posts, and got swept right back into reading, writing and learning while laughing and having fun. They may not have been thrilled to come back to school after their winter break, but the Banana Blog gave them the recharge they needed to get focused and on track again. And maybe they will become such savvy satirists that they won’t fall victim to sites like The Onion.
How do you kick off the new year with your students? Please share your best reboot strategies below!
(Originally published on Edutopia.org.)