Jackdaws

I  guess it's similar to a jabberwocky? I looked for the article on ERIC so I could just send it to you but I couldn't find it. In an article titled, Jackdaws improve reading attitudes, Joan Gibbs, (at the time of writing the article was/is a fourth grade teacher in South Lake, Texas) reported improvement in her students attitudes by showing jackdaws. At the time she was teaching classes of  7th and 8th grade remedial reading students, most of whom were reading on a fourth or fifth grade level or lower. The students were low achievers, and when they did come to class, the most popular topics of conversation before the tardy bell were drugs, alcohol, gangs, dropping out of school and peer pressure. By March she had observed little improvement in attitudes, and some students could not even focus on following along in their novel as she read aloud to them.
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She decided to show jackdaws at the beginning of each class. The jackdaws were items found on the chapter pages which would be read in class that day. Chosen specifically to grab students attention, students wrote predictions about how the jackdaws might appear in the story. Students based predictions based on what had happened so far in the book. Examples of jackdaws brought in were a dirty garbage can, a wasps' nest an old car tire. She gave extra points for making predictions. Late arrivals decreased because students arriving late missed the chance to take part. Better attendance and improved readiness to work was noted, because they were curious what weird item would arrive that day.

Later a student asked if she could bring the jackdaw for next chapter. Students who had previously stated they hated reading, never read, and only watched videos began agonizing over their prediction statements. Small groups were organized to team up and read ahead for ideas for what to bring to class the next day. The goals of each small group was to try to shock the others with their originality. They all began reading ahead in the book in order to make better predictions in class the next day. When active learning took place in this academically challenged class, it altered their attitudes, allowing for academic improvement which transferred into core classes as well.

For our purposes in our class, Reading in the Content Areas, the jackdaw assignment was to choose an item representing what we learned in class. The point of having that assignment was to familiarize us with the process of bringing a jackdaw and making the predictions. In reality we went around the room, introduced our jackdaw objects and explained their meaning. I seriously have so much fun stuff now I probably won't even have to blog ever again, I'll just write about fun ways to incorporate reading into your content area. We also made biopoems, which our professor read, and we tried to guess which of our group had written the poem. The format could be used for many different topics, such as a biopoem about a frog. Once in high school I actually wrote one about a Serious White Duck with orange feet, because I don't really like to write my personal biopoems to seem very personal. Something about writing the biopoem bugs me. Similar to the graphic organizer, you would think a highly visual person would love graphic organizers but I can't even begin to figure out how to use them, even looking at examples. I can't figure out how they start. I guess I need more practice.

Biopoem format:
Line 1: First name
Line 2: Four words that describe character
Line 3: Relative of
Line 4: Lover of (three things)
Line 5: Who feels(three things)
Line 6: Who needs(three things)
Line 7: Who fears(three things)
Line 8: Who gives(three things)
Line 9: Who would like to see(three things)
Line 10: Resident of ______________
Line 11: Last name

For example:

Lauren
Durable, flexible, consistent, fair
Relative of Louisiana's first explorers, circa 1700
Lover of I. L. and C.
Who feels distracted, focused, the impulse to create
Who needs sleep, air, water
Who fears nothing, nada, zip
Who gives freely, intentionally, without expected reciprocation
Who would like to see less barking, more wagging, an end to poverty and hunger
Resident of Earth
Wainwright