Common-Core-Aligned Classroom Activities for Storm Watcher by Maria V. Snyder

Are your middle school students studying weather? Then Storm Watcher by Maria V. Snyder is the perfect complement to your curriculum. Below are classroom activities, aligned with common core standards, that you could integrate into your language arts or science classroom.
 

ACTIVITY ONE

Objectives

^·            CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7
Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

·       CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.3
Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events).

·       CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.3
Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.

·       CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.7
Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).

Procedure

1. Have students work in groups to research different weather instruments mentioned in Storm Watcher. Their research should include what the instrument is, how to make one, how meterologists use the data from it to predict the weather, and why such predictions are important.

2. Student should then make the instruments and set up a weather station in the school yard.

3. Students should collect data from the weather station and graph it to look for trends and make predictions.

4. Students should make write scripts for a weather report that can be shown on the morning announcements.

Note: While all of these activities can be conducted in a language arts or science classroom, if teachers are teamed it would be more efficient to share the tasks, such that #1 and #4 are completed in a language arts classroom, #2 is completed in the science classroom, and #3 is completed in a math classroom.

Possible extension: Have a meterologist come speak to the students about his/her job and take a field trip to a weather station.

ACTIVITY 2

Other possible research extensions when reading Storm Watcher are mental health issues. In Storm Watcher, the main character, Luke, struggles with Severe Weather Phobia. Current events indicate that our mental health system is inadequate and educating our students about some mental health issues could be a step toward positive change.

Objectives: 

·       CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.

·       CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.5
Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points.

·       CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.7.8
Trace and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient to support the claims.

Procedure:

1.     Students should choose a mental illness to research. Questions they should try to answer include what it is, symptoms, and treatment. When possible their research should attempt to determine the quality of the treatment available and any current event stories linked to the illness.

2.     Students should work in groups to put together public service announcements on various mental health issues. This might include writing press releases, creating a class blog, making videos for YouTube, creating Prezis, or recording podcasts.

Other possible research topics include: dogs and rescues

Look for my blog post here next month with possible discussion questions to use with Storm Watcher.

BLOG AUTHOR

Mary Helen Sheriff lives in Richmond, VA with her husband, two children, and two cats. She has an MFA in children’s literature from Hollins University and is an experienced teacher of elementary, middle grade, and college students. Her most recent publishing credits include four middle grade short stories for a reading comprehension website and a YA short story for an anthology written for Ethiopians learning English. She is currently writing a novel and maintaining a blog where you can read her thoughts on writing and education. 

The Crystal Ball Predicts...

A Skype visit from Patrice Lyle.

 With her Spells & Spies sign in the background and crystal ball in hand, Patrice is ready to discuss her tween mystery in the Poison Ivy series, The Case of the Invisible Witch. Other props include items from her paranormal collection (the figure she used to inspire the series) and surprise visits from two of her three cats.

On a recent Skype visit with an elementary class interesting information about herself, such as the fact that her father was a detective and she used to snoop in his files. That's how she learned so much about solving mysteries. She also gave the schools a pdf with discussion questions (authored by Mary Helen Sheriff, along with some great Common Core activities) and writing prompts.

And just to clarify, the pink room is her writing room, not her daughter's bedroom, as one student guessed.

Interested in a Skype visit with Patrice? You can contact her through her website. Learn more about her at her Leap Books author page or Twitter (@Patrice_Lyle).


ABOUT THE BOOK

Thirteen-year-old Tulip Bonnaire, Witch PI, runs Spells & Spies out of her dorm room at Poison Ivy Charm School, a school for polite witches and warlocks. She has only 72 hours to figure out her latest case, or her classmate, Missy, will never be seen again. Literally.

When Missy shows up in Tulip’s dorm room around midnight, she’s invisible. As in not even x-ray vision could spot her. The mean triplets who call themselves The Belles have cast an invisibility spell on poor Missy. But if Tulip can’t break the spell in 72 hours, Missy will remain invisible forever.

It’s a case Tulip can’t resist — between her mom’s annoying new boyfriend and her own secret crush at school, Tulip understands how much it stinks to feel invisible. Luckily for Tulip, her two best friends and her cute, techy guy friend help dig up clues on a case that turns out to be her freakiest one ever.

Common Core Classroom Activities for The Case of the Invisible Witch by Patrice Lyle

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Are you looking for language arts classroom activities to use in conjunction with a middle grade novel? Look no further. The following activities are common core friendly, project-based, technology optional, and nurture thinking skills.

Sit back and enjoy reading The Case of the Invisible Witch by Patrice Lyle, and then choose one of the following projects to complete (either independently or collaboratively).

1.    Design a Poison Ivy Yearbook.  The yearbook should include a cover, pictures (hand-drawn or staged photographs) of the characters, a map of the school grounds, pictures of five major events with text to summarize the event, and pictures of school clubs with names of members and a short description.  When possible, be sure to include aspects of the yearbook as described in the novel. Technology options include designing in Photoshop, compiling at mixbook.com, using a scanner, using a digital camera, and PowerPoint/Prezi.
 
Objectives:

• Summarizing text
• Conveying  information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content
• Encouraging multiple intelligences to include:  visual, spatial, and verbal

2.    Design a spell book. Choose five spells from The Case of the Invisible Witch and copy them into your book.  Explain why each is used in the novel and the result of each spell. Based on what happens in the book, are there tips you might give to improve spell implementation?  If you could, how would use you the spell in your real life?   Include a cover and decorate your spell book.  Students could use word processing software to complete.

Objectives: 

• Quoting accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text
• Hypothesizing
• Evaluating the value of information and idea
• Finding relevant information

3.    Create a presentation on “How to Be a Good Detective.”  Compile the tips Tulip Bonnaire shared in The Case of the Invisible Witch.  Try to mimic the voice that the author has given Tulip.  Create visuals to go with your presentation.  Technology options include: video recording equipment, PowerPoint, and i-movie.
 
Objectives:

• Writing informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly
• Finding relevant information
• Organizing information
• Imagining

Try these activities out and let me know what you think in the comments below.

BLOG AUTHOR

Mary Helen Sheriff lives in Richmond, VA with her husband, two children, and two cats. She has an MFA in children’s literature from Hollins University and is an experienced teacher of elementary, middle grade, and college students. Her most recent publishing credits include four middle grade short stories for a reading comprehension website and a YA short story for an anthology written for Ethiopians learning English. She is currently writing a novel and maintaining a blog where you can read her thoughts on writing and education.