Student Voice

Turn Up the Volume 6-12 Activity Book

Russell J. Quaglia, Michael J. Corso, Julie A. Hellerstein

• Publisher: Corwin
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781483382760
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Pedagogía
• Subtopic: Métodos de enseñanza de la educación

Promote student self worth and engagement with these one-of-a-kind activities!

Promote student self-expression, values, hopes and dreams with this extraordinary activity book from experts Dr. Russell Quaglia, Michael Corso and Julie Hellerstein. Based on hundreds of interviews, timesaving and easy-to-implement activities help you to:

• Foster student engagement, purpose, leadership and self worth
• Provide creative and challenging activities for all levels
• Align activities with Common Core and ISTE Standards and 21st Century Skills
• Capitalize on technology and promote interdisciplinary connections

Includes a handy correlation chart and extended learning opportunities. This inspiring, one-of-a-kind book will help your 6th-12th grade students soar to success!

Chapter 1 Belonging

Clubs are a long-standing part of the experience of middle and high school. One flaw in the traditional approach is that the offerings tend to be static year after year. The established clubs of theater, band, robotics, yearbook, and the like are offered regardless of changes to student demographics or interests. This presents challenges for students whose interests fall outside of these categories. Another approach is for a school to allow students to create clubs that suit them. In one school, a new club can be started as long as four students, with the support of one adult, complete an application. These clubs receive the same funding and support as any traditional club. Clubs run for as long as students are willing to meet—this ranges from three months to still going. Guitar Hero, skateboarding, cooking, blogging, video production, and dance are all fair game. Virtually all students are involved in one or more co-curricular activities.

A feeling of belonging is foundational to every student’s experience of school. We define Belonging as being part of a group while still feeling accepted for who you are. Both halves of this definition are critical to genuine community. Mere going along to get along is not Belonging; nor, obviously, is going it alone. Each day of a young person’s schooling, from the first day at preschool to the last day in high school, is shaped (or misshaped) by experiences with peers and adults that are either welcoming and friendly or isolating and alienating. Concerns over making new friends, fitting in, feeling accepted, and being liked are a part of each week and month and year. They are as important to young people in school as learning reading and math.

Given the importance of Belonging to the learning environment, educators have a responsibility to ensure that students feel safe, accepted, valued, and prepared to work together. It is difficult for a student to concentrate on an algebra assignment if he fears he will be bullied later that day. It is challenging for a student to ask a question in class if she is concerned her ignorance will be judged and laughed at. And it is nearly impossible for a student to do well on a test if he is afraid that getting an A will be met with ridicule among his less-than-academic in-crowd.

More positively, Belonging is characterized by experiences of accepting differences, of listening to one another’s ideas with respect, of sharing common interests and goals, and of working together on joint projects. Such collaboration is one of the critical abilities called for by 21st Century Skills (see www.p21.org But the community that underlies such a positive learning environment is not automatic; it must be achieved. Everyone must work together to ensure that acceptance and respect remain in place.

Critical to fostering Belonging is providing students with opportunities to get to know one another. Belonging is further developed when students learn to value the uniqueness of each person and see how diversity can make a group stronger. The following activities are designed to help you nurture Belonging among your students. Even students who seem to know one another or who have been together as a group for a long time should refresh their experiences and knowledge of one another. Belonging can ever grow and deepen.

Grades 9–12: Belonging Activities

Aspirations Story Squares: (about 50 minutes)

Belonging:

Feeling like you are part of a group while knowing you are special for who you are.

Common Core:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.3

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.

21st Century Skills:

Communication and Collaboration

ISTE/NETS:

Communication and collaboration B

Creativity and innovation B

Objective:

Students will build meaningful relationships with their peers through structured personal conversations.

Steps:

• Provide each student with a graphic organizer.
• Have students form a circle.
• Instruct students to draw or write in each section based on the following questions listed on the graphic organizer:
  • Draw or write about something that makes you special or unique.
  • Draw a picture or write the name of someone who is there for you when you need them.
  • Draw a picture of something you are proud of other than your grades.
  • Draw a picture or briefly describe how you learn best.
  • Write down a question that you would like to know the answer to.
  • Write down something you would like to try, but you are not sure if you will be good at it.
  • Draw a picture of yourself as a leader.
  • Write down something you would like to do in the future and how you could start achieving this goal today.
    
• Assign each person a partner and have each share his or her Aspirations Story Squares for one minute.
  • Pair students into boy/girl partners.
  • Ask the students to focus on listening to each other.
• Next, have students select a new partner and share for one minute each.
• After they have shared with a second partner, have everyone return into to the circle as a whole group.
• Ask each person to share one item from another student’s Aspirations Story Squares that they found interesting.
• Invite students to pick a square to develop into a narrative.

Personal Reflection:

Have students pick one of the topics from their Aspirations Story Squares to develop into a narrative. Tell them to be sure to engage the reader by setting out a problem, situation, or observation, establishing one or multiple points of view, and introducing a narrator and characters. Be sure to create a smooth progression of experiences or events. Advise them to use narrative techniques such as dialogue, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines. Have them use precise words to tell details. Recommend that they have a conclusion that reflects on what was experienced in the narrative.

Group Reflection:

• What did you learn about your classmates? How did they make their story meaningful to you?
• How does knowing your classmates’ stories benefit our class as a whole?
• Why is it important to interact with all different types of students?
• Why is it important for your teachers to know you as an individual? How could this help you be successful?
• What was it like to share your story squares? What details are necessary to explain to someone when creating a narrative?
• What will help orient or engage your audience to your narrative?

Extended Learning:

Using a smartphone or tablet, students can create their Aspirations Squares using a photo collage app like Pic Stitch. Have students select an eight-frame template or make two, fou...