March Madness

With the spring winds come March Madness! Students and teachers are getting ready for standardized testing, but it's Spring Break that is on the minds of many. How can you keep students engaged in learning when their minds are elsewhere? Active learning strategies!

Want an activity to keep kids focused? Try comic book writing. Although this lesson plan was often left for the last project of the year, it works well at any time. The PowerPoint comes with full reproducible handouts, guide, technology links, examples, and so much more! It's a sure fire hit with students and teachers!  Comic Book Writing gives students opportunities to showcase talents, and it gives teachers time to focus on paperwork or one-on-one tutorials. 

How about having students write narrative movies of their lives? Have you ever wondered who might star in the leading role if a movie was made of your life? Who would design fashions? Create music? Run the lights? What's the plot line? Give kids the handouts of The Movie of...Narrative Writing Using the Five Elements of Story and let them plan the movies of their lives. 

Another great way to keep students active and learning is with word puzzles. Try themed puzzles, such as St. Patrick's Day Word Puzzles that include thematic vocabulary for a crossword, word search, and more...

March Madness brings renewal and thoughts of spring, so get students engaged in learning with varieties of active learning lesson plans!

Happy Spring!