What is a Lipogram?

Read this...

This is an unusual paragraph. I'm curious as to just how quickly you can find out what is so unusual about it. It looks so ordinary and plain that you would think nothing was wrong with it. In fact, nothing is wrong with it. It is highly unusual though. Study it and think about it, but you still may not find anything odd. But if you work at it a bit, you might find out. Try to do it without any coaching!

Any guesses?

I write this on the front board for my classes. I like to post riddles and puzzles for early finishers and this is a puzzle that really gets students thinking. The answer is that there is no letter "e" used in the paragraph. The letter e is the most commonly used letter in the English language. That is why this paragraph is so unusual. There is actually a name for this type of constrained writing. It is called a Lipogram. A lipogram is a longer peice of writing in which the author has avoided using a specific letter or a group of letters in the alphabet. It is a difficult task, especially when you are trying to avoid commonly used letters such as "e" "a" or "s".

Interesting fact...a writer named Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a novel called Gadsby with over 50000 words without using the letter "e" (Curiosity.com, 2017).

(https://s3.amazonaws.com/plugpolo/poloup/up/5/5fd/5fddb00b4f5b4589b0503172d6b56d9f/img1.jpg, 2017)

If you want to turn it into a creative writing activity, have students try to create their own lipogram. See what they can come up with!

Skittles - Physical Education Class Game

If you haven't heard of this game before, you need to try it out. It is fantastic! It's called Skittles and you will need 6 pins and elephant skin balls. The pins are set up in the four corners and sides of the gym. One in each corner, as well as one on each of the sidelines. There will be 6 students on the floor at a time. The rest of the class waits their turn in a line on the side (don't worry - the line moves fast!) Students are to defend their pin. When their pin is knocked down, they go to the back of the line and a new student will take over. Some students take risks, moving around the gym to knock down pins, whereas other students focus on defending their own pin so it doesn't get knocked down. The class will circulate through fast, but students need to be attentive. They need to see when a pin is knocked down and to move onto the court. It is so much fun! Remind students that there are no alliances. So try it out when you are looking for something new to try in your Phys.Ed class.

Equipment
- 15-20 elephant skin balls
- 6 bowling pins
- Full size gym

"They All Saw A Cat" - Looking at Perspective

Teachers are always looking for those perfect books to read aloud in class. I often come across good story books in classrooms, from online reviews, and from my teachers college days! We read this book in Kindergarten and I absolutely loved it. "They All Saw A Cat" by Brendan Wenzel is a picture book that shows its readers how perspective can shape how we see something. The story follows this cat and how other characters see this cat. For example, when a mouse sees the cat, it is terrifying and huge with claws and sharp teeth. But when a person sees the cat, it is small and fluffy. It's a great story because the illustrations really express the underlying meaning. Even though everyone sees the cat differently, it still has four legs, two ears, two eyes, and tail. There is a lot a teacher can do with this story, even if it is used as a Minds On activity or a hook for a project. We used it in Kindergarten but because of the theme- Perspective -  I would use this story all the way up to grade 8 or even into high school. 

Wendel (2016)

Check this story out! It is a good one. 

Classroom Speeding Tickets

I found this idea when I was supply teaching in a Grade 5/6 classroom and I think it was an awesome idea. Do you have students who tend to rush through work without double-checking spelling or grammar? Or maybe you have assigned an elaborate project that they seem to have finished in one day? Sometimes you may have a student who rushed so fast to get the work done, that they missed several learning expectations. It is important to have a conversation with this student about their quality of work. In my classroom, I would prefer a student to request more time for an assignment instead of rushing through to hand it in on the due date. If this were to happen, You can give your student a "Speeding Ticket" for rushing!

Speeding Ticket

You rushed through your work and made careless mistakes. 

Please redo this assignment. Turn in this assignment along with

corrections by the following date.         Due date: _________

Remember that it is essential to collect both copies, the first draft and the new-and-improved copy of the assignment. This way, you can see how the student has improved. I always catch up with the student to see how they feel about both copies and ensure they understand why they were asked to redo the assignment. Hopefully this student learns the importance of quality work and how time and effort affects their success. 

b's Have Bellies!!

I have a grade 1 student who is having difficulty differentiating between her b's and d's. I found this trick online and it has been really helping her. I thought I would share it with you!

b's have bellies and d's don't!!!

Symmetry Art

Aren’t these awesome! We are learning about lines of symmetry in Grade 4. I decided it would be fun to understand our Geometry unit in a creative and colourful way. This lesson took us two 40 minute blocks. It was a great activity because students could create their patterns based on their own math and art skills. Everyone really enjoyed this one! And they make the classroom beautiful hanging above our white boards. If you are interested in doing this with a higher grade, I suggest having them create more complex patterns and more than 8 sections.

Here are the step-by-step instructions for my lesson plan:

 1. Hand out circles to students.

2. Guide students through folding their circles (square piece of paper) into 8ths.

3.  Once students have folder their circles. They will get their single slice of pizza (1/8th)

4. On the slice of pizza, students will draw a simple design containing different types of lines, simple symbols, lines of different thickness.

5. Once students have created their pizza template (1/8th) they will shade the back of the pizza slice with a pencil.

6. They will then put their pizza template over 1/8th of their circle. They will trace over their design fairly hard. Make sure they hold on to the template firmly so it doesn’t move around and mess up the design.

7. Have students do step 6 to all eight slices of circle.

8. Once students have finished the pencil work, they can move on to colouring (USING PENCIL CRAYONS). Remind them to colour the entire design (no white).

9. After they completed their colouring, they will outline their design in black sharpie. Use newspaper under their sheets to prevent the marker from leaking through on their desk.

Success Criteria (how I marked students):

• Use 4 elements to create you design (ex. curved lines, zigzag lines, diamond, thick line)
• Use at least 3 different colours
• No white spaces
• Each section of the circle has a  congruent design
• Outline with a black sharpie

Teachers Pay Teachers

Hey Everyone,

If you are interested in any ideas on my blog, you can access detailed lesson plans, handouts, assessment tools, and games at my store on Teachers Pay Teachers. I am slowly uploading everything I have created in the last few years so stay posted! Check it out here:

Ms. Smiljanic's Classroom