Chart in Action!

Just a quick follow up post on one of the test prep ideas I blogged about over the weekend!

If you didn't catch that post, you can read about the anchor charts right below this post.

This chart....

IT WAS A HOMERUN!

The kids loved it!  We read the book The Stray Dog.   After we finished reading we split into four teams.  Each team got a different color of sticky note.  They worked together and wrote their answer in a complete sentence.  I had them write in complete sentences so we could throw a little grammar and punctuation in while we were at it.

We talked about their answers and they were so engaged!  Not a peep and hands waving in the air to talk about their group's answer.

Here is a picture I took of the chart after we finished.

So this test prep idea gets 10,000 GOLD STARS!!!!!!  You might want to give it a try!  

Happy Teaching!

Easy Read-Aloud Ideas!

Do you love read-alouds as much as I do?  Each week we dive into a new book.  We read it, discuss it, and write all about it.

Here are some easy ideas to use with any book you are using!

Groundhog Gets a Say (Focusing on New Learning)

We loved this book!  If you haven't ever read it, you MUST!  It's a cute story about the day after Groundhog's Day, but it has LOTS and LOTS of facts you might have never heard about the groundhog.

We started out on Monday in small groups.  Each group wrote a sticky with one fact they all knew about the groundhog.  Then each day after we read the story, the same group got together and agreed on a new facts they learned in the book.  By the end of the week, we had a huge list of new learning that they used to write a paragraph to inform.

Here is a picture from Tuesday.  This was a great way for us to work together and discuss the book. Nothing but chart paper and a few sticky notes.  You could do this with so many different books!

Oddly enough the kids loved this chart so much that when we started a new chapter book on Abe Lincoln and they wanted to do it again.  So I quickly made one and without me saying a word they got into groups and brought me sticky notes!  This proved to be a great resource for the kids to use when we were writing about Lincoln last week.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and Alexander Who Used to be Rich on Sunday (Compare and Contrast)

This is a great pair to compare and contrast with.  Just draw a giant Venn Diagram and let the kids use sticky notes to write their ideas.

Comparing and contrasting two books by the same author is so much fun!  One of my groups of kids decided to compare and contrast Alexander as a character in the two books.  I've also done this with Ezra Jack Keats as an author study.  After we read several of his books I let the kids pick two of their favorites to compare and contrast.  We will be doing this next month, so I will be sure to get some good pictures to share.

The Plump and Perky Turkey (Sequencing)

Ok, I know not the right season, but this idea was a keeper!  After we read the book several times, we worked as a class to come up with important events in the story.  I took those events and wrote each one on a large piece of construction paper.  Each pair of kids worked to illustrate their event.  After we finished, the class had to use non-verbal communication to get all of the pieces to the story in the right order.  Not only is using non-verbal communication SUPER hard for second graders, getting all the events in the right order wasn't easy either.

This is another one that works with any book!  All you need is paper!

I hope you can use some of these easy ideas to add more fun to your weekly read-alouds!

Reflection of 2015-16!

With only a few days left I began that ever so UNPOPULAR task of packing up my room.

As I was taking things down and packing boxes I started to think about what went right this year and what went WRONG!

First the RIGHTS....

I did much better organizing things this year!  Everything had a place and I threw anything away that I didn't use in the last year!  HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT!

We did MUCH more writing.  We wrote every single day about the books we read and what we were doing in math.  I could see huge progress in their writing skills as we put the finishing touches on our writing portfolios.

Some of my favorite writing prompts....

Pick a character in the story.  What did you like about him/her?  Is there anything you would change?

What was the BEST thing we did today?  (or if it was Friday - this week?)

How can you solve this math problem?

What is something that you are wondering about?

What is something that you are noticing about your learning?

I created a Focus Wall.  Each week I hung 2 anchor charts that highlighted our BIG skills for the week.
It really helped the kids focus on learning the skill and they referred to the chart during our lessons.  I used a big bulletin board - covered it with fabric and border.  Above it I made the words - Focus Skills...  And that was it.  I didn't get a good picture before I took the room down, but I will be sure to get one for my class reveal.

We focused on understanding numbers in depth!  This was a goal for me.  We worked every morning on ripping a number apart.  It was a random number each day, but we worked it over with fact families, place value, number lines, arrays, and writing story problems with it.  I can tell that it made a difference when I listened to our last math task of the year.  The way the discussed their ideas and the use of so many different strategies let me know it was time well spent.  We used my Number of Day packets and the only thing I am going to change is that I'm going to make them over the summer this year so that I don't have to make them each grading period.  Anything to save time during the year.

My school is HUGE into AR.  I did terrible with it in the past, so it was a goal this year.  We kept track of our progress on our board and moved our pieces every Friday.  We did AMAZING!  So much improvement over my past years kiddos.  We had a BUNCH that made it to 100 POINT CLUB!  I haven't had any in years....  HAPPY TEACHER!

Point values to 300!  

 A sweet buyer asked to points from 1 to 10 to help her lower kiddos.  I'm going to add these to my board next year so they can move a little faster.  

We built a better sense of community.  These kids really do care about each other.  One of my kiddos has been with me for two years.  It was hard to say goodbye to all of them, but especially hard to say goodbye to him.  He has made so much progress over these two years and I will truly miss his sweet little face each morning.  Something tells me that he will sneak down our hall every now and again!

Now for the WRONGS!

I didn't use the Remind program this year.  I wanted to try good old email....  EPIC FAIL!  If you haven't used Remind yet, sign yourself up now!  Texting parents reminders is so much easier than running to the computer and sending an email that you hope they read.

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My class library was a DISASTER!  I've already begun researching some new ideas and when we go back it will be organized leveled and BEAUTIFUL!  I'm going to divide it into leveled bins.  On each book I am going to put the AR quiz number, level, and a colored sticker to keep them organized.  I can't wait to post the pictures.

My biggest wrong....  enjoy the kids even more!  It is so easy to get caught up in paperwork, curriculum maps, and all the crazy stuff that you forget why we do what we do.  We love kids!  We care about our kids!  We want the best for them.  So my number #1 goal.....  enjoy my kiddos even more!

I hope everyone is enjoying SUMMER VACATION!  Time to recharge and get ready for the best year ever!

Happy Teaching!

Verbs, Place Value, and Writing!

We sure have been busy in Room 11!

I finally feel like we have a schedule and routine going.  We have added 2 new students to the mix and overall I am seeing some real progress with this bunch!

Last week we attacked VERBS!  The kids loved being a VERB SUPERHERO and came up with some fun adjectives to describe their superhero.  We made flip books, played charades, and designed some verb superheroes!

Here are some pictures of our wonderful work!

We also made flip books sorting words into 2 categories - verbs and not verbs.  The kids had so much fun with this activity and sorted the words like masters!  I couldn't have been happier with how well they did and they had such a great time!

We spent a good part of the week working on place value.  Since we have no textbook that the kids can write in, I decided to create a whole new unit to use with place value this year.  I love to use anchor charts on my board to teach the skills and I wanted to have tons of different activities so they could practice this skill.

Some of the activities we did as a whole class, some in small groups, and some for reteaching.  As we worked, I added several different levels so that all the kids were doing the same basic activity.  I leveled several of the activities so that some of us were working on just 10's and 100's and others could add the 1,000's.  The kids really enjoyed it and were so engaged, so tonight I'm going to start working on more leveled activities for money next week.

Here are some pictures of our place value unit in action!  We made these cute flip books - each kiddo picked their own number to show what they know!  

We all made a 2 digit accordion with no trouble at all!

The 3 digit ones took a little help from the teacher, but once we finished the kids had the best time "pulling" their number apart!  We are masters of expanded form now!

We did lots and lots of hands-on activities with this unit.  I really loved using the anchor charts on my screen each day to go over place value with the kids.  The kids loved that most of the activities were leveled, so my high kids weren't bored at all and my lower kiddos could work without feeling rushed!   

Where did September go?  One smart kiddo reminded me that we needed to write in our learning journals Tuesday.  I completely forgot!  Thank goodness she LOVES, LOVES, LOVES these journals, so I'm sure she will remind me every month.

When we do these journals, we brainstorm together and create a list.  I do this for two reasons - one it helps so much with the "How do I spell...." and it also gives the lower kids some ideas to get them started.  They actually named over 20 things we worked on this month....  that made me SMILE!

If you don't have monthly learning journals, it is never to late to start.  They are great at Open House and make a wonderful end of the year keepsake.

So that is a wrap for this week!

Happy Teaching!

Reflections on my summer so far....

Today was my first "official" day of summer vacation!

I've spent the last three weeks teaching for the Department of Education in TN.  To those familiar with TN, it was part of the summer TN Core trainings.  This year, our training focused heavily on ELA tier 1 teaching. I took lots of pictures and want to share some of the most memorable activities that we did.

During the training, we stressed the importance of teaching vocabulary.  Did you know that over 50% of reading comprehension is tied to the student's ability to understand vocabulary?  It isn't about teaching a list of words from the story, it is about helping the kids use their context clues and learn vocabulary as it is embedded into the text.

Crazy... when you think that so many of us give out a list of words to study each week and test them with a matching test on Friday.  NO MORE!   Each week I will be testing the kids on their ability to understand the vocabulary in a new text and writing about it.

Here is a way to help the kiddos "dissect" vocabulary within the text.  This is a "tier 2 word" from the story Lon Po Po.   Tier 2 words are high frequency/multi-meaning words.  If you haven't read about vocabulary tiers yet, just google it.  Very good information to have and it will change your vocabulary instruction!

The format for this acitvity is always the same.  The word and a picture are at the top.  In the next section, they define the word in their own words.  Next, they write a sentence.  The last section is the actual word taken from the context of the story.

I've used this activity in my classroom at the end of the year and the kids LOVED IT!

We also spent some time working on using close reading and repeated reading.  I have to admit, before this training I don't think that I spend enough time rereading text over the course of several days, so it will certainly be something that I focus on this year.  I have already picked out a bunch of books to help the kids uncover the multiple layers of meaning throughout the book.

We stressed the you don't have to reread the whole story.   After the first read through, you can reread smaller sections to help the kids really connect the meaning/purpose of the story.  So the first day you start off by reading the whole thing, then on rereads you can either read a small section or specific part.  

We had lots of fun creating these posters during our discussion.

Another area we talked about was decoding.  So much of our instruction seems to be using isolated lists of words.  We encouraged our teachers to try and write a text for the students to read using a specific pattern/sound.  Here are some of the examples, that they wrote in less than 5 minutes.    While we discussed the benefits of using this in our classroom, we saw how easy you could differentiate this for your best readers... having them write their own TEXT!  This allows those already reading fluently to still participate during this type of activity.   How cool would it be for the class to decode a text that was written by a classmate?

Another activity we did to practice decoding was to break a story apart on sentence strips.  The students read their strip and together they work to put the story in the correct order.  It was more challenging than you think!  I tried this with my kids in May and they couldn't get enough of it!  They worked in teams to write their own 10 sentence story and for the next 4 days we practiced this activity with the stories they wrote.  Doesn't get much better than that!  Here are some teachers trying the strategy out. This was a favorite of my teacher participants!

This wasn't actually in my training, but I saw it in another room and had to share.  You put sight words in the snack size ziplock bags.  Attach the bags together using tape on the back.  Then, you can mix the words up and change them out in a snap!  What a fantastic idea!

That is about all for today....
It has been a busy three weeks!

People always ask me why in the world I spend the first month of summer vacation teaching teachers? The answer is simple.....  I LOVE IT!  At the end of the 3 weeks I know that I've touched so many more classrooms and hopefully gave a few teachers some new ideas that will make their classrooms a better place!

Happy Teaching!
Tracy

Getting ready for testing!

April is right around the corner....  let the testing count down begin!

No matter how much we try, it always worries us!  Will those kiddos do good?
OF COURSE THEY WILL!

I really want to make this year as fun as I can while we spend time reviewing.  We are going to have table contests daily.  I'm using little cheap buckets from the Dollar Tree and every time someone from the table gets a correct answer their team gets a coin.  I'm going to use the plastic coins we have in our math kits. At the end of the day we count up our money to see who has the most.  The winners get a treat on the way out the door!  So simple and they love it!

We also made an anchor chart for answering multiple choice questions.  We went over this everyday this week and it made a big difference for my low kiddos when we took Friday tests.

I have been working on some big projects and tonight with the help of my teaching buddy who did the editing for me, they are finally ready to go!

I wanted a set of games that my on-level kids could play during RTI time.  I only have one student in RTI, but I pull a few friends to his small group time who need the extra practice.  So that leaves about 15 friends that need something to do.  It is always a challenge to keep everyone on task and a little quiet.

The packet has 4 pre-made games and one blank game.  I am planning to use the blank one for my advanced kids.  A few weeks ago I had them make a math game and they loved it.  So, when I was creating this packet I made a set that they could use to create games.  We are learning all about pronouns next week, so their first challenge will be a pronoun game!  I can't wait to see what they come up with!

The pre-made games cover phonics, story elements, language, and reference book skills.  All of the stuff on SAT10 that we need to keep fresh in our minds!

The game boards come in color and black and white!

These are the game cards.  One from each of the different games!

Story Elements!

                    

Phonics!

Reference Books!

Grammar!

Differentiation is a big deal for my class!  I want everyone to be engaged.  I knew that my advanced kids would enjoy the pre-made games, but I knew they would finish quickly and might need a challenge.  These are two of the projectable pages to use to make your own game.  It also has blank game boards and cards.  I will review the directions with them and the leave the example page up for them to refer back to while they work.

We also had a great time this week playing SCOOT!  My kids love it!  They are always so quiet and on task when we play.  We practiced contractions and telling time.  I print off the cards and laminate them. I let my weekly helper tape them all over the walls of the classroom in the morning before we get started.  We grab clipboards and away we go!  They jump right to work and move so quietly! SCOOT might be the best game I ever learned!  Here is a picture I snapped real quick when 2 kiddos were at the same card and using their pencils to count by 5's.  LOVE IT!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Happy Teaching!
Tracy

Searching for Facts and Opinions!

We worked really hard this week understanding facts and opinions.

I decided that if I focused a lot of time on facts, then they should be able to pick facts and opinions out a little easier.  We did several close readings and picked out facts that were interesting to us.  We started working on a research project about something they liked in the encyclopedia.  They made lists of facts from the entry in their encyclopedia.  I did this part during reading groups so I could give them lots of one on one help.  They are working on turning these facts into a good paragraph.

I also put together a packet on facts and opinions that the kids really enjoyed.  It has anchor charts, cut and paste activities, games, writing activity, and an assessment.  We have finished working through everything but the assessment.  I have a few friends that are still struggling and I wanted to work with them a little on Monday and Tuesday before we test.  Here is a picture of the activities.  You can click on it to go to my TPT store.

We were suppose to get a bunch of snow in Memphis tomorrow and Tuesday, but as usual now they say we aren't going to get it.  So I'm off to do one last SNOW DANCE before bed in hopes I can change the forces of nature so we get some SNOW!

Happy Teaching!

Tracy

A Busy Week!

I can't believe it is Thursday already!  One week of February is already over.  Spring break is right around the corner.  OK... maybe not.

We are still working on fractions.  I wanted to share some pictures of a great lesson we did on putting fractions on a number line to see how they are equivalent.  I made an anchor chart while the students made their own charts.  Here is a picture of mine.

Before you make the chart, fold the paper ahead of time.  You need nine equal sections length wise.   Folding it really helps the kids space things correctly and make it neat.

To make the chart with the kids I had them get out a red, a blue, and  a green crayon before we started. We put the title on the top and then start working from the bottom.   We labeled the eighths first - go one at a time.  Then, we talked about how fourths could be equal to eighths and we labeled them with our blue crayon.  Next, we added the halves.  The last step was to talk about how each part would "jump" on the number line.   Doing this part really helped them understand that 2/8 stops in the same spot as 1/4.  We practiced the "jumps" and they loved it!

Here is one of my kiddos chart.  She was so excited that I took a picture of it.

Then we used our favorite.... TURN AND TALK.

Which is bigger 2/8 or 3/4?  They took turns asking each other questions.  They used their charts to answer their buddies questions.

For homework, I asked them to take the charts home and play teacher with their parents.  I heard from two parents that said they finally understood how a fraction and number line went together!

How many times do we have to review editing sentences?  EVERYDAY!  We wanted to think of an acronym for the kids to remember the different things to look for when editing sentences.  An amazing teacher in fourth grade shared her secret....

We all copied it down and practiced using it with some sentences.  We have the worst time picking out the sentence is that is incorrect from a list.  I'm hoping this will help.

We are getting ready to work on prefixes again.  Here is a preview of one of the packets that I made over the summer to help the kids get practice this important skill again.  It is really easy to use and has teacher suggestions to use it in your classroom.  It has anchor charts, flipbooks, printables, and games. You can click on the picture to take a look at it in my TPT store.

I hope everyone is staying warm!

Happy Teaching!

Tracy

Types of Sentences!

Well it's about time to start sticking in a little bit of review for state testing!  I made a list over the holiday of all of things that I think we needed to hit again in January.  One of them is types of sentences.  It seems so easy for us adults, but it is something my kids really needed to review.  I made this little packet to have some fun while we review this skill next week.  It has anchor charts, flipbooks, games, cut and pastes. and even a printable to use for an assessment.  Click on the picture to see it in my TPT store.
 

Writing, Writing, and MORE Writing!

Well a big focus for my class is working on our writing this month.  I really like to do "think alouds" before they write.  This gives me a chance to read/create my own writing before they try.  When they write I see little traces of the things I did in mine, so I know that it is sticking with them.  The other day I typed my story out ahead of time and projected it on my screen.  We read through it together and when they wrote it seemed like their topic and closing sentences mirrored mine.  While I had hoped they would use their own thoughts, at least they transferred what I said into their work.

We have also been working on citing evidence in our writing.  We have been using this anchor chart to give us some stems to get started. After I made this, I noticed that it says on page ----- twice....  thank goodness for scissors!  We have written our thoughts and responses to our text using these stems....  after just three days I am really seeing improvement.  This is a great addition to your classroom!

Yes....  we are writing, writing, writing to become wonderful!

Here is a bundle of three different packets that I created to teach:

W.2.1, W.2.2, W.2.3
W.3.1, W.3.2., W.3.3

It has everything you need from flipbooks, anchor charts, writing tasks, a transitional word wall and even fancy paper to publish your writing on.  Here are some of my favorite activities from this bundle.  This helped me kids truly become better writers in a just a few lessons.  Click on the pictures to go to my TPT store.  This bundle is currently on sale!

Text Dependent Questions!

Today was our first day back from break.  It always amazes me how fast that two weeks at Christmas goes by.  This morning I did another inservice for seven of our area schools on text dependent questions.  I started off by showing this funny little video clip.  My kids crack up at these and I wasn't surprised that the teachers did as well.  Take a minute to look at it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH5Ez9fazXU#t=54

So now you completely understand what and where to find text dependent questions and NO they can't watch a movie!  : )

As I've posted before I LOVE ANCHOR CHARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Here are some of the charts that I made for the inservice so that the teachers could copy them for their classrooms.

So now that we all had a better understanding of what digging deeper into the text was, it was time to look at my plan to make this happen in my classroom.  Here is how my kids and I will tackle some texts this month.  

Then we talked about what type of questions are really text dependent.  Having the kids site the evidence from the story to "prove" their answers is a really big shift for us with Common Core.  I use a ring of cards to make sure that they are text dependent.  Click on the picture to see more of the packet in my TPT store.

Don't forget to download my latest freebie to get your week started off with some writing about 2014! Click on the picture to download it. 

Well they have already called school off for tomorrow since it is so so so so COLD, but the teachers still have to go. 

Please check back over the weekend for a new freebie!  A teacher at the inservice had a great idea and asked if I could put it together for an anchor chart!  You won't be disappointed!

Happy Teaching!
Tracy