Tea+Party

Tea Party is a post reading strategy where students think critically and synthesize and apply information from research. It can also be used as a pre-reading strategy to hook students into a novel. Students come to a tea party as a character and meet other characters. They talk, ask questions, and get to know one another.    ·  Students get to role play—it’s fun.  ·  A formative assessment option.  ·  Allows for socializing—middle school students love it.  ·  Encourages questioning—a skill good readers need.  ·  Allows for synthesis and analysis of information—higher order thinking skills that need to be practiced. Students who are kinesthetic or interpersonal learners excel at this activity. Auditory learners also do well. To support students who are quiet or have language deficits, I can give them a partner character (i.e. a husband and wife or siblings) or they can use their notes to help them talk.  ·  Students not prepared with information about their activist—usually they don’t get to participate in the party.  ·  Students want to just trade information and skip the conversation—I move around the party to catch this, and when it does, I step in and model the correct way. 
 * Strategy Name: ****Tea Party **
 * Strategy Description: **
 * <span style="font-size: 18pt; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Course: **<span style="font-size: 18pt; color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Applied Communications --9 week writing class that all 7th/8th grade students take as part of their Fine/Applied Arts rotation. The class supports reading and writing instruction
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">5 classes of 28-30 students.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Classes includes regular education students, special education student with reading and writing IEP goals, instructional learning disabled students, gifted, and English Language Learners (basic to intermediate).
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">This strategy would be very effective for Social Studies or Science.
 * <span style="font-size: 18pt; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Rationale: **
 * <span style="font-size: 18pt; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Diverse Learners: **<span style="font-size: 18pt; color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
 * <span style="font-size: 18pt; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Procedure: **
 * 1) Students are assigned an activist to read about. They take notes and write an informational paragraph and Bio-Poem about their activist.
 * 2) Students come to class for the Tea Party as their activist.
 * 3) I model how to have a conversation that involves introductions, ask questions, answer questions, ask follow up questions.
 * 4) Students mix and mingle to meet and get information on fellow activist.
 * 5) At the end everyone introduces someone they met to the class and we make connections between causes, time periods, and people.
 * <span style="font-size: 18pt; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Potential Issues: **
 * <span style="font-size: 18pt; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">References/Materials: **<span style="font-size: 18pt; color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
 * || **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Strategy from: **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Christensen, L. (2000). //Reading, writing, and rising up: Teaching about social justice and the power of the written word.// Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools Publication.
 * <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In binder: **<span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; background-color: #ffff00;">Tea Party form
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS', cursive; background-color: #ffff00;">Information from source ||