You don't want to miss out on what's coming up on Monday! Follow me to find out more!
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Moment of Reflection
Today I was reminded how little I know about the lives of my students. Sure my students share with me, but what they don't say speaks louder than what they do say. As a teacher, I don't pry for details about my students' lives. I'm afraid to find out the worst. Just when I think I know the worst of it, I find out more. Ever been in a situation where you want to do more for a student (outside of academics), but were afraid a parent would be offended? It has happened more this year than ever before. God tugs at my heart strings and I just trust Him. I follow through with what He wants me to do, praying He will take care of the rest.
Whether it's clothes, shoes, food, or just an extra hug, students need us. We are on the front lines. Constantly scrutinized and under appreciated. But for those of us called to teach, it's not about that. Yes, we like to be appreciated, but something within us is deeply satisfied when we can help a student feel loved and cared for.
Just today I saw a former student at Target. He asked if we had read Maniac Magee and I had given everyone a Butterscotch Krimpet. He may not have remembered learning figurative language or theme with the book, but he remembered those moments with a great book.
I have 16.5 days left with my current group of students. I pray I take advantage of all the moments and create more memories.
Whether it's clothes, shoes, food, or just an extra hug, students need us. We are on the front lines. Constantly scrutinized and under appreciated. But for those of us called to teach, it's not about that. Yes, we like to be appreciated, but something within us is deeply satisfied when we can help a student feel loved and cared for.
Just today I saw a former student at Target. He asked if we had read Maniac Magee and I had given everyone a Butterscotch Krimpet. He may not have remembered learning figurative language or theme with the book, but he remembered those moments with a great book.
I have 16.5 days left with my current group of students. I pray I take advantage of all the moments and create more memories.
Friday, April 24, 2015
What My Kids Read
It seems like with each new class comes new tastes in literature. Mythology. Historical Fiction. Anything Diary of a Wimpy Kid like. Fairy tales. Superheroes. With each year, my classroom library grows. I thought I'd share what my students love and hope you find something here that you've been looking for!
I stumbled upon these at the beginning of the year. I had quite a few girls who didn't like to read between the third and fourth grade level. It only took one girl to get hooked before these became the most sought after books in my classroom library. The series follows four girls who find themselves in Neverland. Complete with fairies, fun, and friendship, The Never Girls series is a hit. (also has an interactive website)
I read the back and I was hooked. I knew it was the perfect book for one student in particular. His name also happened to be Ben like the main character. My fifth graders love books about middle school, so they absolutely loved a book that had a middle schooler in SPY school! A number of student requested that I buy other books by this author because they loved it so much. With the EVIL Spy School sequel, these are perfect for your classroom.
These books are so popular they never make it back to the shelf! They go from student to student with a never ending wait list. My students love historical fiction this year. Whether it's about Titanic or WWII, these books will be find themselves in the hands of eager readers within seconds.
The Never Girls Collection
by Kiki Thorpe (and various authors)
I stumbled upon these at the beginning of the year. I had quite a few girls who didn't like to read between the third and fourth grade level. It only took one girl to get hooked before these became the most sought after books in my classroom library. The series follows four girls who find themselves in Neverland. Complete with fairies, fun, and friendship, The Never Girls series is a hit. (also has an interactive website)
Spy School
by Stuart Gibbs
I read the back and I was hooked. I knew it was the perfect book for one student in particular. His name also happened to be Ben like the main character. My fifth graders love books about middle school, so they absolutely loved a book that had a middle schooler in SPY school! A number of student requested that I buy other books by this author because they loved it so much. With the EVIL Spy School sequel, these are perfect for your classroom.
I Survived Series
by Lauren Tarshis (and various authors)
These books are so popular they never make it back to the shelf! They go from student to student with a never ending wait list. My students love historical fiction this year. Whether it's about Titanic or WWII, these books will be find themselves in the hands of eager readers within seconds.
Ever After High Series
by Shannon Hale
Along with The Never Girls, these were a hit with my girls. The children of the fairy tales all attend high school together...royals and rebels. The size of the books intimidated some of them, but they were so enthralled with the story that they finished it before they realized it. With my own obsession with princesses and fairy tales, I have added these to my own reading list! (interactive website)
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
"Do Schools Kill Creativity?"
Every now and then I run into an assignment for graduate school that gets me fired up. I watched this video and shouted, "Amen!" I even clapped! Sir Ken Robinson delivers a TED talk explaining how schools are killing creativity.
Every year I have students with special gifts in the arts. While some of them attend classes outside of school for these gifts (dance, music, art, etc), many do not. They feel defeated because they don't make grades like so-and-so or they never "clip to the top of the chart" because they are always getting in trouble. Public education has put intelligence in a box. These students are so out of the box, they don't know where the box is! By the time many of them get to me, students are so discouraged by the snickers and remarks from their classmates that they won't even attempt to answer. They won't ask questions because a teacher thought their ideas were crazy or didn't make sense. It hurts to know that at such an early age they've learned that their differences in thinking are wrong.
My goal next year is to do more activities that promote different talents. One of those ways is project based learning. I want students to feel successful in my class. My favorite assignments in graduate school are when I get to be creative....use my clip art, cute fonts, etc.
How do you incorporate creativity in your classroom?
"If you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original...
We now run our education system where mistakes are the worst thing you can make.
We are educating people out of their creative capacities."
Every year I have students with special gifts in the arts. While some of them attend classes outside of school for these gifts (dance, music, art, etc), many do not. They feel defeated because they don't make grades like so-and-so or they never "clip to the top of the chart" because they are always getting in trouble. Public education has put intelligence in a box. These students are so out of the box, they don't know where the box is! By the time many of them get to me, students are so discouraged by the snickers and remarks from their classmates that they won't even attempt to answer. They won't ask questions because a teacher thought their ideas were crazy or didn't make sense. It hurts to know that at such an early age they've learned that their differences in thinking are wrong.
My goal next year is to do more activities that promote different talents. One of those ways is project based learning. I want students to feel successful in my class. My favorite assignments in graduate school are when I get to be creative....use my clip art, cute fonts, etc.
How do you incorporate creativity in your classroom?
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Teaching with Scholastic Catalogs
I LOVE Scholastic catalogs! Even the most reluctant reader gets excited at the opportunity to flip through the pages and make a wish list. Here is a great way to use those catalogs to review genre. Students look though the catalogs and identity nonfiction and fiction books or sort through different fiction genres. Students can write the title, order number, or even cut out the pics if you want. I'm planning on updating my products in May. If there's anything you would like to see added, I'm always open for suggestions. Have a great week!
Friday, April 17, 2015
Earth Day and ReadWorks.org
I'm working on updating my TpT products so for now I'll just blog about products and websites I love to use. With testing all this week, I can't wait to get back to teaching! Next week, we'll be celebrating Earth Day with Erin Cobb's Earth Day plans which means we will be watching WALL-E! (Promise I am receiving NO compensation from Erin, I just LOVE everything she makes!)
Another resource I've been using a lot is ReadWorks.org. This completely FREE website has helped me support my instruction and differentiate. Passages include lesson plans and worksheets and can be selected with your criteria.
Another resource I've been using a lot is ReadWorks.org. This completely FREE website has helped me support my instruction and differentiate. Passages include lesson plans and worksheets and can be selected with your criteria.
Lessons are organized by book, skill, and even reading series.
Or you can select using your needs...
I would LOVE to know how you have used ReadWorks or how plan to use it!
Happy Friday!
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Stepping Out of the Boat!
I have worked in a departmentalized upper elementary setup since my second year of teaching. As a new teacher, I followed what was expected when it came to curriculum. With each year, I felt more comfortable to change it up and stretch my creative wings. I began to see flaws with the reading program at the time and felt chained to a teachers manual. We were teaching stories and the test instead of skills. I was discouraged and dreading reading just as much as my students.
As if on cue, TpT shows up on the scene! What a breath of fresh air! Teachers daring to do what's best for their students. Teachers sharing ideas and materials. One seller in particular impacted my reading instruction the most: Erin Cobb! Using her interactive notebooks gave me some freedom while still using the latest curriculum adoption. I slowly branched out and quit using the textbook all together. Students couldn't wait to read the next chapters of our books and enjoyed cutting and gluing and coloring notes.
My students loved using the notes. I have middle school students who say they kept their interactive notebooks and used them in middle school. These notebooks are the core of my classroom instruction.
But I still felt like something else was missing.
THE LOVE OF READING was missing!!!! That's when I read The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. For two years now, I've used class sets of books and taught using the interactive notebooks. I monitored independent reading using AR. I was already rocking the boat by not teaching the adopted curriculum, but Donalyn Miller wanted me to jump out of the boat all together!!!
So here's the deal. I need help taking my first step out of the boat. I feel like I have a good start. How do you plan? How do you keep your students accountable? What order do you teach everything? Do you still use class novels? Read alouds? What TpT resources would you suggest? What do you do with your students who just won't read?
I always tell parents my goal each year is to have my students fall in love with reading. You'll be hard pressed to find someone who loves reading that isn't good at it. All it takes is the right book.
Can't wait to hear from you!
As if on cue, TpT shows up on the scene! What a breath of fresh air! Teachers daring to do what's best for their students. Teachers sharing ideas and materials. One seller in particular impacted my reading instruction the most: Erin Cobb! Using her interactive notebooks gave me some freedom while still using the latest curriculum adoption. I slowly branched out and quit using the textbook all together. Students couldn't wait to read the next chapters of our books and enjoyed cutting and gluing and coloring notes.
My students loved using the notes. I have middle school students who say they kept their interactive notebooks and used them in middle school. These notebooks are the core of my classroom instruction.
But I still felt like something else was missing.
THE LOVE OF READING was missing!!!! That's when I read The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. For two years now, I've used class sets of books and taught using the interactive notebooks. I monitored independent reading using AR. I was already rocking the boat by not teaching the adopted curriculum, but Donalyn Miller wanted me to jump out of the boat all together!!!
So here's the deal. I need help taking my first step out of the boat. I feel like I have a good start. How do you plan? How do you keep your students accountable? What order do you teach everything? Do you still use class novels? Read alouds? What TpT resources would you suggest? What do you do with your students who just won't read?
I always tell parents my goal each year is to have my students fall in love with reading. You'll be hard pressed to find someone who loves reading that isn't good at it. All it takes is the right book.
Can't wait to hear from you!
Saturday, April 11, 2015
New Blog and First Sale!
I'm so excited to start this new chapter! I'm throwing my FIRST sale on TpT. For those who have purchased my products before, get ready. You maybe seeing updates and new products. My latest projects are to do more research projects including planets and famous people. If you have any ideas, please share! In the meantime, have a great weekend and BREATHE!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)