Pop-Up Debates and Writing

I love my PLN on Twitter.  I pick up so many useful strategies and ideas. The first time I heard about Pop-Up Debates was in a tweet by David Stuart Jr. about his blog post.  This discussion strategy immediately appealed to me because it incorporated the use of interesting texts in an activity that utilized thinking, listening, and speaking.  Being a writing teacher, I adapted his standard procedure to incorporate writing.  I believe this to be one of the best new strategies I've tried this year.

Pop-Up Debate Norms

Before you begin anything new, you must set norms. I have three norms:

1. Every student must speak at least one time, at most two times. We will use popsicle sticks to keep up with this.
2. To speak, simply stand up and speak. The first person to do so has the floor; when more than one person stands up, cordially and smoothly yield the floor. The teacher doesn’t serve as “Who gets to speak” referee.  On a side note, one of my classes needed a little help "yielding" the floor.  They are stubborn.  If no one sits down within 30 seconds, they all must sit down and loose the opportunity to speak next.  Turn-taking is not easy for all students.
3. For the sake of keeping the debate as lively as possible, the teacher may, at any point in the debate, call upon students who haven’t spoken yet or open the floor up to all students, even those who have already maxed out their speaking turns.

Pop-Up Debate Steps 

The debates are easy to prepare.  The hardest part is finding an interesting article that will spur discussion.  Find a 1-3 page article of a debatable issue.  The length depends on how much time you have to devote to the debate.  It's best if the article includes evidence for both sides.  I've started a google drive that includes some articles that are perfect for grades 5-12.  Many have different lexile levels for one article.  Also, New York Times has a post linking 100 different debatable topics.

Follow these steps for easy Pop-Up Debate implementation:

1. Introduce the Pop-Up Debate to your students.  The powerpoint I use is in the google drive. 
2. Students vote for what they believe about the topic.  This week our topic was: Should countries be able to ban the wearing of a veil in public places.
3. Give students the article to read.  I encourage my students to "read with their pencil" or "mark up" their text, locating evidence to support their opinion.   
4. After they've read the text, they write a short response in their journals to organize their thinking.  I use a short response format called A.C.E. Our students use this framework for all short response writing.
5. Once they've organized their thinking, they are ready to debate.  All students receive 1+ popsicle sticks.  To speak, they must "pop-up" to talk.  Every time they make a claim, they must give me a stick.  This ensures all students participate and no one dominates the conversation.  The number of sticks a student receives depends on the amount of time you wish to spend on the debate.  I typically use two, however if I want a quick discussion, I will use one. 
6. The teacher acts as mediator, only getting involved when necessary.  The majority of the discussion takes place between the students.  
7. When we are finished, students get out their journals.  They write a short response, in A.C.E. format, about one of two topics:
1. They explain what they have learned during the debate.  
2. They expand on the opinion they already wrote.  This is their chance to say points they didn't get a chance to verbalize during the debate. 
8. Finally, students may vote again on the issue.  In my class, if they change their mind they go and move their name from one side to the other.
9. After the debate is over, I select a few students to create a poster of our debate.  They include the text, steps, best quotes from the debate, and some pictures.  I plan to display all our Pop-Ups in the hall to encourage other teachers to try this strategy.
   
   

Pop-Up debates allow students to read an article, process the information, and debate the topic using evidence.  This strategy encourages students to use evidence when discussing important topics and allows all students to verbalize their thinking. It is the perfect strategy to reinforce multiple ELA standards.

Picture Books for Narrative Writing

I can remember when I taught littles. I would get so excited when I got a new picture book to share with my students.  We would go to the carpet and I would animatedly read  Officer Buckle and Gloria or Knuffle Bunny.  The voices were my favorite.  My own four children had me read Elmer a thousand times because I would pretend to be Elmer and the other elephants as I told the story about this colorful creature who finally decided to be himself.  Now, I teach fifth grade and I still use picture books as often as possible.

Picture Books Aren't Just For K-3
I am not sure why, but many 5-8 teachers don't feel picture books have a place in their classrooms.  They couldn't be more wrong.  Picture books engage students.  They provide perfect opportunities to apply many of the literacy skills we aim for our students to master.  What better way to teach text structure in non-fiction books than to examine some students favorites, such as the Who Would Win? or the Who Was? series?  Or identify the theme of Bad Case of the Stripes  or Fables. 

There are so many beautiful picture books available for teachers to use.  I use them for everything from identifying story elements to teaching text structures, themes, and mood.  Currently, my class is in the middle of a picture book study to identify what makes a great story as we prepare for our narratives.  They've rediscovered their love for their childhood favorites like Llama Llama Red Pajama, We're going on a Bear Hunt, and Jumanji.  They've been introduced to new picture books like They All Saw Cat, Ada Twist Scientist, and Whoosh!  While reading the picture books, they are learning moves that successful authors take.  Picture books have a place in every classroom.

Fractured Narrative Nursery Rhymes

My favorite stories are fractured fairy tales.  There's something special about taking a classic story that everyone is familiar with and turning it into something different.  When I read After the Fall: How Humpty Got Back Up Again, I knew it would be perfect for introducing narrative writing with my fifth-grade students.  Whether they admit it or not, they love opportunities to reminisce about things from when they were younger.  Nursery Rhymes are a perfect vehicle to use for narrative writing opportunities.

The Fractured Nursery Rhyme Lesson

My students loved this lesson.  It's so easy to prepare and provides a valuable opportunity for students to write a short narrative inspired by one of their favorite nursery rhymes.

1. Display memorable nursery rhymes around your room before students arrive.  I tape them all over my room.
2. Introduce the lesson by reading After the Fall: How Humpty Got Back Up Again by Dan Santat.  Discuss how the author uses the nursery rhyme to create his own story.  As a side note, every picture book provides an opportunity to talk about text structure and theme.
3. Introduce an anchor chart with a narrative planning template you want your students to use when writing.  It's important to teach students to plan.  We use a basic four square to plan a narrative: Character/Setting, Introduction, Conflict/Climax, and Resolution.
4. Complete the planning template for After the Fall with the students so they can have an example to refer to when planning their own narratives.  
5. Discuss what makes a good story (we created an anchor chart
   
   from the mentor texts we read) before students begin writing.
6. Pair students and allow them to choose a nursery rhyme from those displayed around the room.
7. Have students plan their fractured nursery rhyme.
8. Have students write their fractured fractured nursery rhyme.
9. It is important to give students time to share their stories.  Use the author's chair to give students the opportunity to share what they've written.

Remember, picture books are perfect for any classroom.  Denying their value takes away a perfect resource that has the power to engage even the most disinterested student in an upper level lesson.  All it takes is a little creativity and access to beautiful picture books.  Happy reading!  Happy writing!