FreeTeach

There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is “UP.”

It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].

It’s easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.

At other times the little word has a real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.

And this up is confusing:

A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don’t give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on & on, but I’ll wrap it UP, for now  …my time is UP, so time to shut UP!

Graphic organizers are a great way to help simplify material. However, if they are too complicated, they can actually distract from the concepts you are trying to teach. Here are a few tips that should help you get the most out of using graphic organizers.

Keep the structure of the organizer simple. Try to make the directions immediately understood. You want students to add the details and creativity. The more creative investment they put into the organization of information, the more they will remember.

Design graphic organizers with a goal in mind. Decide in advance how you want the students to organize the information. There are many categories of graphic organizers including: cause and effect, sequencing, compare and contrast, hierarchy (main idea and details), eliciting prior knowledge, and decision making. Ask yourself what you want students to accomplish by using this organizer.

Use pictures to help initiate interaction with the organizer. If possible, structure the organizer to look like something, as in the fishbone organizer on this page, or as in the oranizers on this page.

Encourage students to add their own illustrations to the organizers. For those who enjoy drawing, it helps them remember the concepts and makes using graphic organizers fun. It is also helpful to students who do better communicating with drawings than in writing.

Use the same graphic organizer throughout the unit. Instead of having students use the organizer only one day, keep adding ideas to it throughout the unit. Students will benefit from the investment, and the concepts being taught will be reinforced and expanded over time. 

If you are looking for ideas, you will find dozens of graphic organizers here.

It’s is a contraction of the words it is. If you prefer not to write it is, you would write it’s.

Its is the possessive form of it. Normally one uses an apostrophe when showing possession. The rule for pronouns, however, is never use an apostrophe in a personal possessive pronoun (except with the word one’s).

Directions: fill the blank with either it’s or its.

1. _____ about time you showed up!
2. It was _____ first time out of the cage.
3. _____ feet were covered with sand.
4. Get up, _____ time for school.
5. I’m glad to see you; _____  been a long time.
6. _____ important to study hard for tests.
7. The bear protected _____ cubs.
8. _____ my turn to go down the slide.
9. The dog felt great with _____ new hair cut.
10. _____ too late to eat dinner.
11. My car is old and _____ paint is peeling.
12. The bird realized that the wind had blown _____ nest away.
13. The game came to _____ conclusion.
14. Turn down the music, _____ hurting my ears.

Answers:

1. It’s about time you showed up!
2. It was its first time out of the cage.
3. Its feet were covered with sand.
4. Get up, it’s time for school.
5. I’m glad to see you; it’s been a long time.
6. It’s important to study hard for tests.
7. The bear protected its cubs.
8. It’s my turn to go down the slide.
9. The dog felt great with its new hair cut.
10. It’s too late to eat dinner.
11. My car is old and its paint is peeling.
12. The bird realized that the wind had blown its nest away.
13. The game came to its conclusion.
14. Turn down the music, it’s hurting my ears.

Directions: Write a paragraph with 6-8 sentences using these quotes. Which one do you most agree with? Why? Cite at least one of the quotes in your answer.

• “He will always be a slave who does not know how to live upon a little.” – Horace (Roman poet)
• “Moderation is a fatal thing: nothing succeeds like excess.” – Oscar Wilde
• “In everything the middle road is the best; all things in excess bring men to trouble.” – Plautus (Roman playwright)

The tagline on this blog is “Daily Teaching Ideas.” Well this video is NOT a recommended daily teaching idea, but it is funny. The teacher in the video overlooks the misbehaving student for a time then the eraser flies.