Friends, it’s hard to get kids to go the extra mile and cite evidence. They will tell you their opinion, but they wont tell you why they think it. Here is how it goes down in my room. Me: Who is the smarter of the 3 pigs? First grader: The third one? Me: …….because ?????…… First grader: [shrugs shoulders] Me: [takes a Valium] Kids will tell you the answer, but they freak out if you ask them to make it a complete sentence or provide evidence. I have to say, “I get it” though. Explaining the “why” is harder. It takes training and it takes digging deeper. Close reading helps train the kids on how to dig deep enough to answer those hard questions. Click picture to go to Pinterest. Enter fun and fabulous techniques to find proof in reading and responding! Use Props and Charts: If you are close reading or Finding Proof use magnifying glasses as a fun gimmick. Bring in a detective hat or jacket, just be as creative as you can and anchor down their thinking with charts. Pinterest has the most amazing displays of teacher creativity ever! Click {here} to see anchor charts galore! If you are going to give the kids magnifying glasses to use as a tool remember to give them time to explore with them first. Each child got 4 minutes to just use them in any way that was “safe” Then I asked them, “What do they do?” The kids all said the same kinds of things: They help me see better. They make little things easier to see. I can see the details in the pictures better. (BINGO) I was waiting for a kid to say details! Then we all came down to the carpet and talked about how we are going to be looking for details, evidence, and proof for our ideas! We will be Detail Detectives!!! They squealed, and I knew I had them. Who doesn’t want to be a detective? Detectives use magnifying glasses, so when we are close reading I will hand out the toys magnifiers. (It takes 30 seconds to hand them out, but they are so much more intent in their learning, so its worth it.) Plus it gives us a good physical reminder of the kind of reading we are doing. There is a BIG difference between the reads in a close read. Read 1- no magnifying glass because we are reading to understand the big picture and discuss or retell what we read Read 2- listening to the teacher read it and discussing it as a group or in pairs.(still no magnifier) Read 3- Reading closely to answer questions & cite evidence (now we pick up our magnifiers) We can also begin to build our opinions of the author’s purpose, his message, or the theme we are seeing. But in building opinions we must cite our evidence! Color code your thinking: Color coding helps kids to actually find the answer on their paper rather than just write/ copy words from a shoulder partner. Color coding helps prove to the kids that the answer really can be found right there on the paper (sometimes). Color coding helps kids/ forces them to find the evidence for their thinking, opinions, and ideas. If you can’t find evidence, you might be off base with your answer. Display their close reading: If you want to encourage the kids to really dig deep and find proof display their best detective work. The student work you see is from Lisa Mattes’ Finding Proof pack. If you love the lettering you see, you can download it by clicking the graphic below! When you cut out your letters, don’t try to cut on the font lines. Rather cut along the edges. I gave you some dotted lines to show you. This font by Jen Jones is perfect for going around the edges of the letter (about 1/4 an inch out) really quickly! I LOVE being able to quick cut letters. Who wants to stay in the lines anyway! Transfer of skills: Have kids find proof in math by proving and answer is wrong or right using manipulatives as evidence. Have them prove something in science. For example, today we are going to look for 3 ways to prove gravity is real, water can change form, or that you can make people smile just by smiling at them first. They will become experts at looking for proof of their thinking. Run with the theme: Detective work is fun, so why not expand the theme, and have some fun with class behavior? While the kids are looking for evidence to prove their thinking, I am looking for evidence of great behavior! You know I am a BIG believer in shouting out great behavior! Now, I will use my magnifying glass to spy out great behavior. I wrote out all my kids’ names on post it notes. I placed one of the post its under the top secret flap and stashed the other post its under the poster so they are accessible when I need them. I explained what behaviors I am looking for: In my case I want clips on “Ready to Learn or I’m a Leader”, a clean desk top including book box, and an organized desk interior. You can decide what you want for your class. I caution you to pick things you can easy see in those last moments of the day. It’s too hard to think back though the events of the day (Like raising your hand or lining up quietly.) It is easier to pick things you can see in 5 seconds(Think evidence!). At the end of the day, I flip up the top secret folder, and if you are my student of the day and you show evidence of great behavior by meeting the 3 criteria, you are rewarded with a treat (skittle) and a shout out! As always, if my class has more happy moments than sad moments in a day, they get another point toward a reward. Our last reward was 15 minutes of extra recess. You would have thought the won a million dollars. These cute little detectives are helping us keep track of how close we are to our next reward. To shout out amazing tables I added a cute tag to container of eye balls. You all have seen me do this before for Halloween and Christmas. Both are freebies if you want to “wish-list” them for next year. Having the right materials matters more than anything else. I would like to recommend this pack by Lisa Mattes from Growing Firsties! I would like to boss you around and tell you that you HAVE to buy it, but you don’t have to do anything. But if you are a first or second grade teacher you should buy this pack because you need it like oxygen!!! Here is why: It’s Perfect It’s Smartly written It’s Engaging It has a Kid-friendly format and ease of reading It is Common Core all the way and covers all three topics below!!!! If you want to win this amazing pack from Lisa, please comment and leave your email. I love Murder Mystery detective shows. I like Monk the best because it’s tame enough not to give me nightmares! In your comments tell me what show you are loving these days! Good luck my loves! Three of you will win!!!!! Speaking of winners!!!! Jennifer Ramos you won the Jo Totes purse!!!!! But don’t be too sad if you did not win. Jo Totes is having a huge 35% off sale. That kind of discount makes us all winners!!!I am getting this beauty below!!!! You can NEVER have to many camera bags! Remember you can enter to win a pair of Tieks {here} good luck!!!