EASY MEALS: Hamburger Stew

There is nothing as draining as teaching, and I never feel like cooking after a day of working. I spend one Saturday morning every month or two making crockpot freezer meals. Then I just thaw them out overnight, pop them in the crockpot, and when I get home I have a hot meal already done. I add a few sides or some cornbread, and we're ready to eat.

Here's a family favorite:
1 pound browned and drained ground beef (be sure to cook before you freeze)
1 can English peas undrained
1 can tomato soup
1 onion cut up (I usually use the frozen chopped onion)
1 can water
1 small potato cubed or 1 can diced potatoes undrained

Add all ingredients in bag except potatoes. Potatoes will turn brown in the freezer, so I usually just add them the morning of.

Cook 6-8 hours on low. Serve with hot cornbread.

You can easily double or even triple this recipe. I actually double it for one meal because I have two teenage boys. lol! It's especially good on a cold winter night. It's really more like a soup than a stew. It you want it thicker, you can leave out some of the water.

This is a recipe that is super easy to personalize. You can leave out the potatoes and serve over rice. You can add corn, carrots, etc. Replace the English peas with green beans. Whatever you and your family like.

Sustained Silent Reading

I believe that the single most important thing I can do as an English teacher is turn kids on to reading for pleasure. Students who read for pleasure have so many advantages over those who don't.

If you don't believe it, check out these statistics.
1. Students in the top 5% of their class read 144 times more than students in the bottom 5%.
2. On national testing, students in the top 25% spent 59% more time reading than students in the bottom 25%.
     A.  Students who read 2 minutes a day score in the 30th percentile.
     B.  Students who read 5 minutes a day score in the 50th percentile.
     C.  Students who read 10 minutes a day score in the 70th percentile.
     D.  Students who read 20 minutes a day score in the 90th percentile.
     E.  Students who read 65 minutes a day score in the 98th percentile.

READING LEVEL OF THE BOOK HAD NO IMPACT ON THESE STATISTICS!!!

Research shows that reading done by college students in their earlier years contains a preponderance of series books like Nancy Drew, Harry Potter, Infernal Devices, Princess Diaries, and Maze Runner.

There seems to be a need for the familiar--text, characters, situations--that are predictable enough to be non-threatening and mindless enough to allow readers to become proficient and fluent, to meet lots of words without having to worry about subplots and character development.

What about the classics?

According to Jim Trelease, author of The Read-Aloud Handbook,  “About the only people in this country who read them [the classics]are teenagers—and only because they are required to….At some point it might be helpful for secondary English heads to define the goal of their curriculum:  Is it to create future English professors or future readers?"

Reading the classics is not helpful in creating a reader from a nonreader. Students need to begin with reading experiences aimed at their ability and interest levels.  Hopefully, by becoming proficient readers, these students will be led into reading books with more depth/substance in later years or in whole-class settings.

RESEARCH SHOWS THAT BEING A PROFICIENT READER HELPS STUDENTS...

→improve spelling

→improve writing

→improve vocabulary

→improve grammar

SSR HELPS TO CREATE LIFELONG READERS.

A big problem in our society today is that people don't read anymore. Not like they used to.

Some more statistics:

1. 40% of the homes in the United States don't buy a single book in a year.

2. Most of the buying and reading is done by 30% of the public.

3. Only 28% of Americans age 15 years or older read for pleasure on any given day.

4. 24% of Americans say that haven't read a book in whole or in part in the past year.

To quote Thomas Jefferson: "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."

WE NEED TO CREATE READERS!!  

And in case you didn't know it...

You don't create a reader by having kids read classics all the time.  Teach classics as whole class novels, but please...turn your kids on to some fun, independent reading, too. It's well worth the time and effort. Heck, it might even be the saving of us.

For an easy way to implement an SSR program in your classroom, check out these products in my TPT Store. Just click here.

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Art Project Bins

My students always love it when they get to color in class. lol! Activities that involve students in drawing, coloring, cutting along with finding textual evidence, reading closely, and working in groups hit a lot of different learning styles along with giving students a break from normal classroom routine.

I try to have an activity of this type in each of my literature units. When I do, it's nice if there is some type of organization to distributing materials. Otherwise...well, madness springs to mind.

I put together ART PROJECT BINS for my students for just such occasions. Students are put into small groups and put their desks in a circle. Even if they're working individually, they will share the ART PROJECT BIN.

Each bin is labeled with a number and filled with the following: color pencils, crayons, color markers, several black expo markers, a couple of pairs of scissors, a couple of rulers, small plastic pencil sharpeners, and glue sticks.

Students are responsible for making sure that lids on markers are put back on and that all items are returned to the bin.

This idea was stolen from a kindergarten teacher/friend of mine. lol! I'm sure lots of others do something similar. I like to use the plastic shoe boxes for bins that you can get from Dollar Tree. I usually put together eight of them, but you should judge based on your largest class size. Since I like my groups to ideally be 3 and not more than 4 students, I calculate based on that.

Teaching Writing...aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhhh!!!!

If I were to pick the one thing that I think is the hardest thing to teach, it would have to be writing. I have never felt more inadequate as a teacher than I have trying to get my students to understand how to improve their writing. Or to even get them to actually put words on a page.

Writing is hard. Really hard. Teaching writing is also hard.

This is the class I want when I teach writing. 

This is what my class feels like when I teach writing.

Ha Ha!! Okay, maybe it's not THAT BAD. But it can be pretty challenging.

As an English teacher, I have come to realize the following:

1. Some students will enter my class as born writers. There is not much I can do to help them. They are gifted. Their words sing. I just hope to do no harm.

2. Some students will enter my class as adequate but uninterested writers. They will do just enough to complete the assignment. They will ignore  most of my suggestions. They are happy with where they are. I'm lucky that even a little of what I say gets through.

3. Some students will enter my class as struggling writers. Their attempts at completing assignments are painful. It's not that they don't want to get better, but they have a hard time understanding even the basics of what I am asking them to do. These students are generally struggling readers as well. I can help them a little if I use very formulaic methods of writing, but the grammar and the spelling often defeat them.

4. Some students will enter my class really wanting to become better writers. They know their weaknesses, and they listen to my suggestions. I watch them improve and grow as writers because of something I've told them or shown them. It's an amazing thing to see.

Now, if I had each of these different types of writers in separate classes, I could probably be a lot more successful than I generally am. The reason I'm not is that all too often, they are all in the same class TOGETHER.

The challenge then is to meet the needs of all these learners. How do you do that? I still don't have all the answers, but what I do know is this. You need lots of time. And you need lots of energy. And you need lots of patience. It's easy to get bogged down in trying to help the really struggling kids. It's easy to neglect those gifted writers. It's a balancing act.

The first thing you need to do is BEG, PLEAD, CRY to your administration to separate these kids. I've heard all the arguments for heterogeneous grouping, but I say...it sounds great in theory but is not so great in practice. If that doesn't work, get with the other teachers in your department. I guarantee they're having the exact same issues. Maybe you could work out a way to separate the kids amongst yourself for some of your writing activities. Another suggestion is to run a writer's workshop type of writing instruction. That way the work is more individualized.

Whatever you do, just remember that you're not alone. There are loads of other teachers out there having the exact same experiences you are.

For an easy step-by-step method for teaching the literary analysis essay as well as other classroom writing ideas, check out these products on my TPT store. Just click here.

Good Luck!!

EASY MEALS: Crockpot Taco Soup

It's tough teaching and then coming home and being expected to whip up a meal when you're so completely drained. A few years back I discovered the joys of crockpot freezer meals. About one weekend every month or so, I spend prepping several crockpot freezer meals. Then, on days when I need a quick meal idea, I just pull out the freezer bag the night before and put it in the fridge to thaw. In the morning, I put it in the crockpot. When I get home, voila...instant meal. I can add a quick veggie or two if I need it.

Here is one of the recipes for a favorite meal: Taco Soup

1 can kidney beans, undrained
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can whole kernel corn, undrained
1 can Rotel tomatoes, undrained
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 lb. browned and drained ground beef

Throw all of this together in a large freezer bag. Be sure to label and date it!

Directions for Preparing:
Thaw the night before.
Put in crockpot on low for 8-10 hours.
Add shredded cheese, tortilla chips, etc., to individual servings.

Enjoy!!

NOTE: You can easily double or even triple this recipe when prepping freezer meals to give you several days' worth of dinners.