Some thoughts from a 21-year old woman cycling across Europe.

Joel-Peter Witkin, Woman Once a Bird, 1990. Ando tan atareado-laberíntico que no tengo tiempo ni para escribir un post decente, así que ando colgando imágenes, que es lo propio de los melancólicos (aunque quizás los melancólicos de verdad se cuelgan de imágenes).

Productive things to do while listening to audiobooks 1. Get Ready For The Day 2.Read a physical book 3.Do Exercise 4.Go for a long walk 5.Scrapbooking

Whether we're talking about politics or the animal kingdom, learning something new can require a fair amount of time and effort. Luckily, we don't always have to read lengthy scientific papers. Some people do it for us. And not only that — they narrow down everything to a few bullet points and illustrate them to help our minds remember.

Illustration by N. C. Wyeth. Robinson Crusoe. Daniel Defoe. New York, Cosmopolitan Book Corporation, 1920. “In the morning I took the Bible; and beginning at the New Testament, I began seriously to...

THE ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI is the first book in a whole new trilogy (though we may see some Daevabad connections👀) It's a story about motherhood and swashbuckling adventures on the high seas, survivor's guilt and faith. And yes, as per @Roshani_Chokshi a himbo chaos demon

Here, you can look though reviews and suggestions of adventure books to read with your classes during reading circles.

As some of you may know, I had somewhat of a “deprived” childhood. I’ve never seen Bambi, Winnie the Pooh, Sesame Street, or a whole assortment of commonplace children’s shows and movies. I’ve never been to any zoo. And I don’t remember ever eating a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich before the age of 15....

The day I stop recommending Poison Study is the day I die. Always reading. Always Tired. Library worker. Join me on my adventures in reading and the beautiful mess that is my life. --- -----

“This is the very essence of memory: its self-referential base, its self-consciousness, ever evolving and ever changing, intrinsically dynamic and subjective.”

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Whew...it' s been a crazy 5 months since my last post. Glad to be back! Inferencing has always been a challenge for me and for my students. This year it has particuarly challenging due to the make up of my class. I have very diverse levels in my class and am having to find ways to meet the needs of these students on many different levels. Believe it or not, I think in the end it has helped me think more deeply about each lesson I teach, and how to intervene when the students do not get it. I digress...Inferencing is a challenge no matter who you are or the students you have due to the fact that it is not stated right in the story and the children have to actually think through the "why" something is happening. As we started inferencing this year...my kids were all over the place. Part due to the concept being new to them; part due to lack of connection. I did not know this at the time though. I found this great anchor chart a few weeks ago...and printed it for my kids to put in their reader's notebook...and the real teaching began! We went back and had a discussion about personal experience and how those tie into inferencing. One of my students used the word "schema"--I was so proud considering we had been talking about schema all year and no child had ever used it correctly in a sentence. First time for everything right? I was beaming! I did not create this anchor chart but I did use a file folder as an example for their brain. They are always commenting on the fact that I use file folders for everything...I thought this fit quite nicely. Of course, I had to tie inferencing back into their schema so we began to talk--just talk about personal experiences and how those help us answer questions. The kids responses were amazing. The children may not have that many personal experiences...but they have enough to make connections. Once we talked about how our schema helps us infer...we had to talk about text evidence. In 3rd grade we really stress the importance of going back in the story to find text evidence (proof) of their answer. The common misconception is inferring has no text evidence...well you can see why I like the anchor chart I posted above. There is always text evidence with inferring...it may not be directly stated but there are clues to lead you to the correct answer. Finding the clues is the key! On to the final piece of our inferencing puzzle! Our 3rd grade team has been focusing less on multiple choice answers this year, and more about getting the kids to think through their answers and WRITE!! We have been getting the students to do what we call "I know" statements. The students have a question (that would typically be a multiple choice question) but instead of ABCD...they have to write the following after answering the question: I know this because the text says... I also know this because when I... We have the students find the text to support their answer and then they have to make a personal connection to their answer. (Meaning, many times we answer a question because of a certain experience we've had...we can relate to a character because we have also felt that way...we can infer because we know we would do that same thing if we were that character...etc.) Here is an example of the template the students have. We are doing this activity this week on Wednesday...it is inferencing for non-fiction! (Obviously it has a story that goes along with it.) Now the students may have never experienced an Earthquake...but they know that broken glass hurts--there is their the personal connection. These "I know" statements work with almost any skill but they are amazing for inferencing! Since inferencing does not give you the text evidence directly...the students are forced to think more about personal experiences and they way the author worded the story. Having the students write down their text evidence (or clues) and their personal connection leads to an almost full-proof solution to inferencing; besides it actually makes the kids think and write instead of just marking an answer. There are great ways to modify or do Tier I interventions for inferring. On the "I know" statements...I give them an answer to choose from (smiliar to a multiple choice answer) but then they have to tell me why by providing text evidence and a personal connection. I believe this helps the students focus more on the thinking of "why" rather than "what is the right answer..." with any hope, you can eventually remove this option and the students that are struggling will be able to do the complete "I know" statement. I am still doing this intervention in my room...and will continue for a while I am sure, but at least they are getting the thought process in... I also bought this set of inferencing task cards that are on a lower level. I needed these desperately for my class this year...they have done wonders! I only use them for small group instruction, not for an actual assignment since they are not on grade level, but they do help with getting the kids thinking...we always tie back to their personal connections! The kids love these! Another way to do modifications or Tier I interventions for inferring is to have the students practice looking at pictures and inferring from the pictures what is happening. We obviously want more reading and writing going on...but this is great for just focusing on thinking...and observing. I also put this graphic organizer in stations...it is very simliar to the "I know" statement but does not have a specific question on it. The students can make their own inferences from a story they read during stations. I will usually pick a character or certain section of the story and then let them make their own inference. I would reserve this for the kids that are not struggling...or peer partner with this graphic organizer. If the students are struggling forming their own thoughts on inferencing...they will struggle with this; otherwise it is great for your group that doesn't need as much help. I believe the bottom line to teaching this difficult skill is to remember these are children. Hounding on them to find the clues in the story isn't the only way. Dive into their personal experiences and the connections they can make. Make the kids think, and push them to connect...it will help!

Everyone remembers the whitewashing scene in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, but how many recall the scene that precedes it? Having escaped from Aunt...

Well, it is the beginning of the 2nd 6 weeks and we are starting our Non-Fiction Unit with our kids. We will teach all of our Non-Fiction TEKS in the next 6 weeks. I was going through pulling all of my resources and realized that I haven't shared them on my blog yet (nor have I blogged in...well what seems like forever!) I guess you could say it has been a busy year thus far! I am excited to get started on Non-Fiction...so here we go! I always start off by teaching the differences between Fiction and Non-Fiction. (I find this ties well into Text Features which comes next.) We usually use a Venn Diagram and compare two books--such as Goldilock and the Three Bears (simple, I know) and a Non-Fiction book about bears. The kids enjoy seeing the differences between the two books. This can be done with any books about animals though...just a fiction and non-fiction book! I am also going to use this in a station this year. The students sort different titles of fiction and non-fiction books and glue them under the appropriate category! Station Activity From there, I work on teaching text features! We do a few different things for text features. One direct teach tool we use is a Powerpoint. I am using two different ones this year! Hey, it can't hurt right? Here are the links to both of them! PP1 and PP2. One of them I created, the other one is from Scholastic! I think they are great ways to show students the defintions of the text features and pictures of them as well! I also create an anchor chart for my students that we fill in during the week--this is a picture of one that looks close to what mine will look like when the week is done! I have the kids bring examples of text features from home--they love it! I also created a fun text feature game for the kids! It can be found on a previous blog of mine--feel free to download it! :) We also do some scavenger hunts throughout the 6 weeks on text features. We usually have the students look through our set os Time Magazine for Kids. We use this Task Card for the scavenger hunt, the kids do a great job with it! (Just make sure you have plenty of sticky notes!) :) Here is another good scavenger hunt card to use! You do not need sticky notes, just have the kids make tallies! Task Card I also have my students respond many times using magazines and non-fiction books! Here are a couple of the responses I use! Response KWL Response Facts I also think this is a great anchor chart for responding to non-fiction! I haven't made this yet, but I plan on doing so this year! We also use these great graphic organizers when exposing the kids to new non-fiction texts! I suggest taking a look at them and purchasing them! I did, and it was a great buy! I believe the most important part about non-fiction is exposure to the texts! The students just don't have much background knowledge when it comes to non-fiction, they need that constant practice reading and processing those texts. I hope all of these resources help you find what you need to help your children be successful with non-fiction! Make it fun! :)

Plot is not my favorite thing to teach, or it hasn’t been in the past. However, that changed this week. I think I never liked teaching it because I felt I didn’t have a solid, engaging way of teaching the concept. Now, I have a great way of teaching it! The kids loved it, I […]

Making anchor charts has always been hard work for me. In fact, I never liked making anchor charts for the classroom. I did it because it helps the kids, but I am not a fan of my handwriting, my drawing is even worse, and let's not even talk about the time it takes to make nice looking anchor charts. As teachers, we do not possess much of that thing called, "time." I mean really, I found myself shoving down carrots and ranch dressing (because I want to be healthy) then devouring allll the chocolate (because I really don't care about healthy anymore) while making anchor charts. 30 minutes later, lunch was done, anchor chart almost complete...and oops...I misspelled the title. I mean really? Rip it off the chart paper pad, throw it in the trash, and rush out the door. Unfortunately, I didn't wise up for a long time. 8 years of teaching...and a light bulb goes off. Pre-make the anchor charts. In the comfort of my own home...I make the anchor chart...on the computer. Then print, and glue! Done, done...and done. Now...I still eat all the chocolate, but now I get lunch and I am no longer in the need of anger management courses over misspelled words. I may sound like a crazy person to you...but I know you have been there too. Honesty is the best policy. :) Now, I KNOW I am not the first one that has ever pre-made anchor charts, or printed items off of the computer for an anchor chart. I am in NO way claiming to be the first to do this. But, I have been a TpT seller for a few years now and the idea just popped into my head..."if I make all of my centers, lessons plans, etc...why not anchor charts?" And there you have it. Below are a few of the anchor charts I have made and so far I love them and other teachers are loving them. I waited to do this post until I knew others found a need for these too! And yes! I was not alone! It was confirmed I was not crazy and other teachers, in fact, DO have anger problems when it comes to making hand-made anchor charts. Many people have asked what products are needed to make these. I purchased my chart paper and Astrobrights paper from Amazon. Those two things (well, with scissors and glue) are all you need! Each Anchor Chart also comes with a student journal chart as well! The students can glue these in their journals for an easy reference later! I have also completed my Writing and Grammar Anchor Chart Bundles. And newly added, I have completed Classroom Management Anchor Charts! These are also included in the big bundle...if you have purchased that, just redownload it from the My Purchases tab on TpT. I figured these would be very beneficial to make at the beginning of the year with our students then either hang them up all year as a reminder...or just pull them out to review from time to time. Just depends on the students. :) There are many more but I won't bore you with all of the pictures. I feel like Classroom Management must be explained from the beginning and reinforced often. I know these anchor charts will help keep that process streamlined in your classroom! Making these are fun and easy! Most importantly, it saves time and SANITY. Want these for your classroom? Click Here to grab them in my shop! (affiliate links are provided for your convenience)

This page is basically a gallery where book lovers should find stuff they relate too. …

Well, I'm a little behind in my posting of units, but I'm just about caught up! After our Halloween unit, we jumped right into inventors and inventions! We first talked about what inventions are and made a T-chart of inventors we already knew and some we learned about using an inventor puzzle game. We dug deeper into Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell's lives by reading books about them and watching United Streaming videos about their discoveries. My wonderful teammate Sam made a Venn diagram with facts about each inventor. We also talked about Benjamin Franklin and his many inventions by reading this wonderful book! I learned a lot from it too! Finally, I had the kids draw their favorite inventions we had learned about that week. The second week of the unit focused more on them as inventors. We talked about how inventors invent things in order to solve a problem or make life easier or better. We used several activities from One Extra Degree's Inventor Unit. We talked about patents and why they are important. I posed several problems from the unit and asked the kids to draw in their science journals inventions that would solve that problem. Our final project was creating their own invention. The kids brought in items from home to create something with and on Friday I just let them loose! It was hilarious to watch them work and talk to each other. We had some very interesting creations when time was up. I had them fill out a sheet from the unit where they drew and labeled their invention with the materials they used. I then displayed them on my reading table (first time all year its been cleared off! hah!) for a little project show. The kids got to walk around the table and look at each other's creations. Here are a couple examples up close! Toy UFO Cloud Sucker : for when you want a sunny day with no clouds Chin rest: you can rest your chin in the cup when you get tired of holding your head up And my all-time favorite: The Laugh-n-shine! Whenever your friend is sad, just swing this in front of them and the smiley face will cheer them right up! Hope you enjoyed my kiddos fun inventions! The next units I will post about will be immigration/cultures and of course, Thanksgiving! Check out my previous post to see examples of my kids' work from my own Thanksgiving unit!

How to keep the center solid.