Riverside Township Public School District

Lesson of the Week Winner for 1/23/2023 - 1/27/2023

Congratulations to Mrs. Lawrence!

Swoooooooooosh! Picking the lesson of the week winner was a 

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for our administrators!  

Mrs. Lawrence is a gamer.

      She's a baller.  

A playmaker.

       A shot caller! 

At the sound of the buzzer, or in this case, at the sound of the school bell, Mrs. Lawrence was MOVING & GROOVING in her basketball uniform from high school. Mrs. Lawrence started by sharing personal stories about her experiences in the sport and then came out of basketball retirement as the GOAT to show the students dribbles, passes, finger rolls, and a crossover (or two).  Students warmed up, both answering questions in their Google Classroom and doing actual basketball warmups, before Mrs. Lawrence introduced the novel the students would be beginning- "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander.  

Over the next few weeks, students will be introduced to SLAM poetry, spoken word, and other forms of poetry through this novel, and the kinesthetic exercises that were introduced in the classroom are just as active as the words in this book.  

After hooking the students with her personal connections and her basketball moves, Mrs. Lawrence had students take turns reading the poetry in the book’s first chapter, aptly named “Warm Up.” As students read, they physically passed the ball and were encouraged to "take a shot". Students eagerly participated and were engaged throughout the entire period. Mrs. Lawrence made the learning accessible to all students by incorporating multiple modes of the novel - paper book, PDF, and audiobook, as well as by providing a figurative language cheat sheet for students to reference through the novel. 

While this lesson was only the warm-up, Mrs. Lawrence shattered the mold.  It's definitely a "W" in our books! Congratulations Mrs. Lawrence, not only for still being able to rock your basketball moves but for rocking this lesson!