During a recent group session, I heard, 'Mrs. Thomas, do you know what a fox says?' immediately followed by a chorus of 'ring ding ding da ding ding ding' or something to that effect... It didn't take my kiddos long to realize that I needed to be caught up to speed. 'Mrs. Thomas you need to watch the fox song on Youtube.' Ummm...ok... Honestly, I don't get it. Maybe it's a generational thing...However, given the way my students lit up just by the mention of the song I felt that I might be able to use their delight in
Hey there! I’m Taryn! Here, I write about life. The real, raw, painful stuff that reshares who you are. These may be my experiences, but I wrote them for you to explore. You may be surprised by how easy it is to find yourself in the stories of fear, forgiveness and freedom. Youtube Pinterest Freebies! […]
Holidays continue to be a great conversational topic. Families and classrooms continue to talk about traditions and customs, plan activities and visits, and, of course, ask about what gifts children/students want to get. Christmas and Hanukkah have both become holidays that revolve around giving - and receiving. For many kids it’s all about the presents. So, in the spirit of offering communication boards for your users to talk about the holidays here are two communication boards for the holidays. I apologize to anyone whose holiday celebration I have missed. I just don’t know about them all. These boards do not have sufficient vocabulary to talk about the historical and religious events of these holidays. Rather, they provide means for basic discussions between friends in class. (If you missed my Halloween and Thanksgiving communication boards you can grab them anytime.)
TGIF....at least for those of you that have started the school year. For others, I am sure you are wishing that time could stand still for a bit longer. Today's post is going to be short and sweet, but I have been working away today on a few freebies and some unit updates. I will give you the updates first and then some fun freebies below. Desire to Inspire My Desire to Inspire Wall has been one of the best additions to my classroom over the past two years. I have received an amazing amount of wonderful feedback from many of you after you implemented this wall into your classroom. Thank you for that! ;) If you missed it...here is a little peek Or you can check out a post about them right {HERE.} So what are the updates?!? I have added JPEG files to my original version so that you can change the sizes {if needed}.... Desire to Inspire {The Original} And I have also added JPEG files to my chalkboard version since many of you had trouble with the PNG files. Desire to Inspire {Chalkboard Style} If you have purchased one of these sets, be sure and visit TPT to download the updated version! Now for some FREEBIES. I love teaching reading...that is no secret. In fact, if we didn't just move to Atlanta, I would have been working as the Reading Specialist at my school in SC, and I was WAY pumped about that opportunity...but...God had other things in store for us! ;) I have spent today updating an old freebie and creating a new freebie for one of my very best teacher friends. So, I thought I would share both of them with you! I posted about my "Think Clouds" ages ago. You can read about how I use these in my room right {HERE}. After implementing these during my guided reading groups, I saw a tremendous change in the way that my students began monitoring comprehension independently. So for that...I love these little gems. You can pick these up on my Facebook page or in my TPT shop. My Newbie These have also been around for ages. One of my firstie friends asked me to update her set...so here they are. I thought that some of my blogging buddies might also be able to use them this year. I know when I taught first grade, I used them...a lot! Like a lot, a lot! My kids loved them, and much like the comprehension think clouds, these strategies definitely helped my kids monitor their decoding strategies to figure out unknown words. You can also grab these on my Facebook page or in my TPT shop. And one more little reminder... All of my decor packs will be on sale until midnight! :) Told ya! Short and sweet! I am off to spend the weekend with my nephew! Have a great weekend, friends! XOXO!
Lots of pictures, lots of rambling, and LOTS of excitement (oh, and a freebie if you can make it to the end) Don't say I didn't war...
Being able to talk about what we did recently is the basis for all of our conversations. It’s so important for kids with communication disorders to be able to talk about their experiences. Otherwise, they are at a loss in social interactions. What can they do beyond just listening to others? And that’s not an ... Read More about Susan Berkowitz’s Free Story Parts
Whakatauki are more than just your ordinary Maori proverbs. They are wise sayings expressed poetically and they can help you improve learning te reo Maori.
Last year, I taught how to make inferences for quite some time. With such an emphasis on close reading, I wanted my students to read between the lines, to dig deeper, and to find out the answer to the question, “what is the author really trying to say?!” I spent a lot of time […]
It's that time of year! Back to school time (even though I know some of my bloggy friends have been back for a couple of weeks now.) While you may be in a district that wants you to hit the academics hard core from the first day of school and cut out "fluff", there's nothing fluffy about a cohesive classroom. And you can forget good things happening academically when nobody can get along. Do you hear me administrators? I think it's a wise idea to spend some time helping your students learn to live together in a room that gives everybody about one square foot of personal space. So here's a little collection of some fabuloso ideas I found through the wonderful world of blogging. Here are some great ideas to get your new friends talking to each other, working together, and thinking about what a successful classroom looks like. 1. Talk about how to treat each other. Tales from a Tidy Teacher shares a lesson using Finding the Green Stone by Alice Walker. She gives each student a shiny green "stone". They plan how they will keep their stones shiny all year. I think this would be a great anchor lesson to refer to all year long. Here's a post from Mrs. Robinson's Classroom Blog. She has a different question each day to get kids thinking about their role in the classroom. Your actions are who you are. When things were getting cranky in my classroom last year, we worked on this activity. We planned out the words that we would want our principal to use when describing us. Then we planned out the actions that would get us there. 2. Talk about words and what they can do (for good and evil). I love love love this poster. It is from Sweet Blessings who also happens to be the genius behind Technology Rocks. Seriously. I had it printed as an 11x17 on glossy card stock ($1.50 at Office Max). I referred to it all year long the last couple of years. By the second month of school, all I had to do was say, "THINK before you speak" and they knew exactly what had gone wrong. Yes, Mrs. O Knows will convince you that toothpaste and toothpicks will teach kids everything they need to know about words. I tried so hard to find the original source for this one. Please leave a comment if you know where it came from. Cause it's awesome. 3. Have kids work together in a fun way. Who wouldn't want to save Fred? This is a great team work lesson from Fabulous Fourth Grade Froggies. This one's from Science Gal. Now tell me that doesn't look fun? And because the best way to learn that the world does not revolve around you, have your kids perform RACKS. Random Acts of Classroom Kindness. Here's an idea from 3rd Grade Thoughts. There are tons more great ideas out there on this, too. Have kids work in teams to plan out some RACKS for each the classroom, other students, and staff, too. And now for a little giggle: Hope you have a great school year!
Fluency is such an important tool for readers as they move ahead to reading more challenging texts. Being able to read fluently, aloud or silently in your head, is a skill that students must be able to master as good readers. So why is fluency so important? Reading fluently is the ability to read a given text accurately, quickly, and with expression. When this happens students not only comprehend what they are reading, but also better grasp character feelings and understand the mood and tone of a text, allowing for deeper comprehension. As students get older, they read silently. As a silent reader they must recall words quickly to develop an understanding of what is read. Fluency, as a silent reader, is the key to connecting both oral reading of words to comprehension of the text, all without hearing it, or discussing it immediately. While silently reading, students are left on their own, to determine the meaning of words, situations, plot, and character analysis. With strong fluency skills, students can understand all that is read in the complex chapter books that they read independently. This is why in my classroom fluency is practiced daily in a variety of ways! It is important to me that I give my students many opportunities to practice being a fluent reader each day; both as independent readers and as readers who discuss what they have read with a partner, small groups, and with the whole class, too! Here are five ways that I practice fluency in my classroom to build stronger readers who comprehend the texts that they read deeply. 1. Daily Poetry Reading Reading a poem each day is definitely the highlight of my day and my favorite way to practice fluency. When the students arrive they take the poem of the day and head to their seat. They are responsible for reading it several times independently before it is read as a whole class. Here is what they do: *First read is to read through the poem to grasp the main idea *Second read is to circle words that tricked them up and that they either have to decode or use context clues to solve the meaning *Third read is to practice fluency, pausing at punctuation and exaggerating bolded or italicized words or phrases *Fourth read is read as needed to answer comprehension questions that align with the poems After students have had enough time to do the above steps, I select one student to read the poem aloud while the class tracks their reading. Following that reading, we read the poem as a class, practicing our choral reading fluency skills. We then discuss any issues in our reading and the comprehension questions. Students keep the poems in their folders so that they have a great typed text to practice fluency independently when needed. I love using these monthly poetry books by Scholastic for our daily poetry reading. They are organized by season, making them highly engaging for students. Do not let the grades listed on the cover fool you. These poems are perfect for upper elementary fluency practice. With cute pictures and chunky fonts, students are always eager to read these. The poetry is also chuck full of great vocabulary and figurative language. Although there are no comprehension questions, it is easy enough to create a quick question, write it at the board, and have students respond on the back or in a poetry notebook. (Direct links at the bottom of this page to the resources I use to increase fluency.) You can also tie together close reading strategies with fluency practice with this set of classic poetry. Click on the image to see more! 2. Fluent Reading Anchor Chart and Student Reference Sheet Having a class anchor chart is a great way to remind the students of fluency tips during whole group and small group instruction. It especially helps students that are working independently practice what is expected as you work with other students. The anchor chart below is one that I use in my classroom. I also keep a typed version at the reading table with me, and students keep a student reference sheet of these strategies in their reading binder. You can grab it here for FREE. 3. Writer’s Workshop Stories In my classroom, practicing to be fluent readers does not just take place during reading! Writer’s workshop is a great time for students to practice their fluency skills with their own writing pieces. During our writer’s workshop hour, we take a mid-workshop break. Students meet with their writing peer partner and discuss their writing pieces. During that time, each student finds a part of their writing that the feel is written in a way that the reader would read it with expression. Each student takes a turn reading their selected segment with fluency. Not only is this a great way to squeeze in some fluency practice, but it is also a great way to break up your writing block. 4. Student Selected Reading We like to have breaks during reader’s workshop just like during writer’s workshop, and the perfect thing to do during our break time, is to practice fluency! During our reader’s workshop break, students meet with their reading partner and after summarizing what is happening in the book they are reading, they read aloud a part of the text that made them feel strong emotions. This gives them an opportunity to read with emphasis and share the mood and tone of the text with a fellow reader. My students always love this part of our day! 5. Reading Buddies Let’s face it, kids love being in charge! What better way to practice fluency than with younger students! Having reading buddies allows students to practice fluency on multiple levels. We meet with our reading buddies on Fridays. My students have all week to select a book to read to their buddy. Once they have selected a book, they have to practice reading it for fluency and create one comprehension question that they will ask their younger reading buddy. By Friday, my students have had to meet with me to share the book they selected, read aloud one page to show their fluency, and have to be able to answer the question that they created. On Friday, the students are so excited to share the book that they selected with their younger buddy. When their “lesson” is over, they then read a book that their buddy selected. This is a great way for them to practice fluent reading with a “cold read” book. As the year progresses and their younger buddy begins to read more, my students have a chance to listen to their buddy read and offer suggestions for them to become more fluent. This strategy is great especially for your struggling readers to practice fluency. It is a confidence-building experience for them and after each session, they certainly do feel proud! How do you practice fluency in your upper elementary classroom? (Affiliate links listed below for the resources that I use to increase fluency with my students.) If you liked what you read and learned something new, please share this post!
This freebie includes a poster based on the book, "Interrupting Chicken" by David Ezra Stein that says DON'T BE LIKE INTERRUPTING CHICKEN, RAISE YOUR HAND! It also includes in Color and Black & White (for easy printing) a chart with the numbers 1-10 and another with numbers 1-5 that you can u...
(Click above for previous Saturday Sayings.) Unexamined wallpaper...I'm guessing we all have some of that hanging around our classrooms, our schools, and our districts. Whatever the wallpaper represents, we've always done it and never thought twice about whether it's best for kids or not. Take for example, spelling tests. Years ago in my classroom, spelling tests fit into the category of unexamined wallpaper. The teachers around me gave them. The parents expected them. The kids just played along. I gave one spelling test to the whole class every week, because that's the way it was done. Then I came across some professional reading that challenged the concept. Are weekly spelling tests best for kids? Should everyone in the class, from the most challenged speller to the child who can spell beyond their grade level, be accountable for the same words? Will a spelling test teach them to spell correctly in their daily writing? I experienced a paradigm shift, and as a result, my own classroom culture changed. I took down the old wallpaper and replaced it with something that I felt met the needs of my kids better. That's just one example, but over the years, a lot of wallpaper has come down from the pedagogical walls of my room. In fact, there are still some unexamined bits and pieces hanging around. In all reality, I doubt there will ever come a day when I should feel content that it's all been removed. "We must always look critically at ourselves and our practices in order to improve and refine them." Regie Routman, Literacy at the Crossroads 37 If I've opened a can of worms and you'd like to know more about what spelling looks like in my classroom, go here. Chrissy from Read Write Sing is joining me today with her own Saturday Sayings. Let's go see what she's got to share. It's bound to be good!
Use "think alouds" in your classroom? This is a freebie think aloud visual that you can use in your classroom when you're performing them for your students. It's a visual clue that what you're saying out loud is what you're thinking in your brain, and it's what they should be doing while reading a...
***I'm pleased to share that as of September 2013, these Critical Thinking Language Frames (along with my Reading Interventions "If/Then" Menu) were selected for inclusion as a professional learning resource in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Digital Library. Read more about it here.*** You'll need the latest version of Adobe to read this PDF file: http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/ Get all your students into the highest levels of Revised Bloom's Taxonomy (RBT) today with these language sentence frames. Critical thinking was important long before the Common Core, but the Common Core documents are embedded with "critical thinking"... "evaluate and justify"..."read critically"..."close analytical reading" etc. With just these language frames alone, all students will have access to the language necessary to say their text-based answer with evidence. Not only aligned to the shifts of ELA, but helps *all* students discussion and communication skills and rules of conversation. Use without text to just get kids justifying their responses, especially in Morning Meeting, play the "Would You Rather" or use The Book of Questions for Kids and give students an opportunity to express their opinions and ideas with justifications. I am seriously committed to all students **everywhere** thinking, speaking, reading and writing, at the highest levels everyday, that is why I am putting this product up for free. Please copy, distribute and promote to any teacher that wants to prepare their students for the 21st century! I mean it! At the beginning of the 2nd quarter, these posters (with a conversational mini-lesson to introduce them) will be displayed in every classroom at Lake Myra....and referred to as an anchor for their learning. See my 10-3-2012 blog post about this: http://helloliteracy.blogspot.com/2012/10/quarter-1-reflection-getting-on-with.html Also check out my easy to read and student-friendly Revised Blooms Taxonomy Posters for Higher Level Thinking for an additional layer of super charged thinking and learning in your room! Download my free Critical Thinking Rubric also that goes with these frames when teaching students how to speak critically. Also, click "Follow Me" because I'm adding more higher level thinking materials for guided and independent reading in the next two weeks, so you'll get an email notification when I do. Critical Thinking Rubric here See also my Common Core Aligned Guidelines for Discussion, applicable to all grades K-5 where students are expected to have and hold text based or experience based group discussions, agree and disagree, justify their thinking and follow the rules of social discourse. Licensed under Creative Commons, Share-Alike, Non-Commercial, Attribution, which basically means, use it, share it, copy it, give me credit...but do not sell it. Jen Jones www.helloliteracy.blogspot.com [email protected] www.hellojenjones.com www.pinterest.com/hellojenjones www.twitter.com/hellojenjones
We’ve been working with shapes in math and focusing on writing dialogue with the correct use of quotation marks. Have you ever noticed that when you start teaching about these that suddenly, “every” “single” “word” “gets” “them”? Ha! As we practiced identifying shapes and their attributes, here’s how we tied in our writing and practiced the correct use of […]
Woo Hoo! I'm so excited and thankful for all of you for your support! Language Arts and Math FREEBIE – Here’s a FREEBIE for you to help celebrate reaching my 2nd TPT MILESTONE. This milestone was made possible by the support from all of my followers through your purchases and feedback. Thanks to everyone for helping me achieve this milestone. In celebration of this achievement, I have created this new eight page freebie to share with everyone as my way of saying “THANK YOU” for supporting my store. This eight page freebie sampler includes language arts and math skills from the following resources available in my store. These resources include writing (tell a story), reading comprehension (Who? What? Where?), fix it up sentences, scrambled sentences, morning work, addition word problems, subtraction problems with manipulatives, and ten frames 11-20. ***This sampler also includes links throughout the pack to similar resources that you may find useful for your classroom. When printing, to save on ink, make sure to only print every other page (even pages). Click on any of the photos below to view this FREEBIE! FREEBIE for 2nd TPT Milestone Celebration! I hope you find all of these resources to be useful for your students in your classroom. Please leave me some feedback on this freebie. I love reading your comments. Thanks again to everyone who has supported my store. Also thanks to TPT for the opportunity that you provide for me and other teachers to create and share our teaching resources with others as we provide for our families. Finally, I would like to thank the many talented creators of clip art on TPT. Without you, these creations would not be possible. You may also enjoy my 29 other FREE resources. You can find them HERE!
Facebook Twitter Pinterest There were many things that initially drew me into homeschooling — I loved the idea of allowing my children more time to play, to develop at their own pace and on their own schedule, spending more time with them, choosing the content of their curriculum and exposing to them to what I […]
Happy August y'all! Quick question....Why does it take soooooo much longer for February and March to pass by than it does for June and July?...
This is a fun way for students to practice identifying producers, consumers, and decomposers. Use this hand out in an interactive notebook, a science center, homework, or as an assessment!Please say "Thank You!" for this freebie by providing a rating and following my store!When you follow my store,...
Thank you so much for joining Lyndsey and I this summer for the close reading book study 🙂 Today I will wrap up the final chapter: close writes! If you missed chapter seven, Lyndsey did a fabulous job…you can view it HERE and grab some adorable freebies! Alright, onward with chapter eight! I know I say...
6 free graphic organizers with samples showing how to use them in ELA to analyze 6 different characters in 6 different stories.
What's NOT required by SC Homeschool Law? Know what the law SAYS and what it DOESN'T say. Speak knowledgeably about your rights and responsibilities. Knowledge is power.
Here is a quick freebie for you guys! This is a pair of graphic organizers for summarizing. Each has a spot for students to write their name and the date. They are bubble organizers with the story title in the middle. One then has bubbles that say Who, What, Where, When, How (Who is in the story, w...
How do we hold our students accountable and teach how to have a discussion about their learning or about a book they just read? Enjoy these student friendly rubrics and teacher observation discussion rubrics. Common Core Aligned: SL 2.1 1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion). Build on others’ talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks of others. Ask for clarification and further explanation as needed about the topics and texts under discussion. SL 2.3 2. Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media. SL 2.3 3. Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue.
