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Accountable Text Talk

My sweet friends Alisha from Missing Tooth Grins and Katie from Simply Creative in KY decided to get together for a mini product swap. We wanted to give ya’ll a closer look at some of our products!

I have the wonderful pleasure of looking through Katie’s Let’s Talk About It: Teaching Students How to Talk About Text. People, it’s amazing! This pack has so many different resources to help you help your students discuss their reading. True Common Core, my friends. Discuss, discuss, discuss.

First off, please just look at all that color! I mean, really! Who doesn’t love color?!?! This is just pure teacher happiness! This is the whole pack printed and ready to teach with!

Okay, now let’s take a look at the inside of this pack.
Katie includes:

1. Lesson Ideas about using sticky notes, summarizing, learning to take turns, and making conversations meaningful using various resources.

2. Stop & Jot and Text Talker anchor charts

3. Five Phrase Posters

4. Text Talk Bingo

5. Talking Sticks

6. Text Talker Bookmarks

7. Discussion Cards for chapter books, picture books, and nonfiction texts.

Katie includes so many different options in this resource. I used it in camp this summer and it was perfect for all grade levels! I loved using it and being able to really talk with the kids about what they were reading. It was quick and easy because I had questions at my fingertips and engaging ways for the kids to interact and question each other.

(Here’s a little behind the scenes action)

Those clothespins are the “Talking Sticks” that are included. Just print, laminate for durability, and attach to a popsicle stick with hot glue. BUT, I had to change it up a bit. I didn’t have popsicle sticks, so I decided to use some white plastic clothes pins (super cheap at Publix!). This turned out to be super useful…more about that to come!

Katie includes all the posters full size like this one. However, to save paper and make it easy for Small Group storage, she also includes them 4-to-a-page, which I LOVE!

It’s as simple as printing, laminating, whole punching, and adding a binder clip to the corner.

Here are some different ways to use this engaging reading resource…

I laid out all the clothespins for the kids. If they wanted to ask a question about what they were reading or to talk about something, they would just grab a pin.

I am oh so glad I used the clothespins. It worked like a charm when reading with my group of 4-5th graders. Have a question while reading? Just grab a clip and attach it to your question or evidence. This way, I knew that the kids wanted to talk without any talking! It also helped because I was able to notice when students were actively reading and when they weren’t. Without interrupting them, I was able to know what they were thinking about. (Katie, this is brilliant!)

I also used these clips with a struggling reader who is repeating first grade. She needed a lot of prompting and support, but the hands on process of clipping the actual question prompt to her evidence really helped.

(She goes, “That reminds me of when my mom says that to me when I’m annoying her!”)

HA! Kids tell all!

Here is the same student using the “Talking Sticks” and the bookmark. Get this bookmark as an exclusive freebie from Katie’s pack here. It is fabulous! It was a great reminder for this student when she would start to get distracted. We would read her bookmark together and review how to be a great “Text Talker”. This refocused her quickly and without any problems.

These colorful cards are the heart of the Text Talker product. Katie has included SO MANY questions for you to ask students. I laminated them and put them on binder clips so that they are easy to flip through and take off. I had students ask each other these questions in my 4-5th grade group. Here, the student was telling me that this picture was important because it shows the friendship between the man and his monkey after the man’s paralyzing car accident.

I also had students lead the discussion with the question cards. The older kids loved being a teacher. They were eager to add to each other’s conversation and were obsessed about clipping those pins to their papers! Katie includes 3 different card sets: Chapter Books, Picture Books, and Non-Fiction Texts. You are good to go!

I love that the cards are small enough to sit right next to the student. This entire resource is so student and teacher friendly! Whether you want to lead the conversation or you want the students to, these cards are a great addition to your classroom.

Oh and these cards that I mentioned before, these are my ultimate favorite! Look at that adorable Melonheadz clipart!! Perfect size for little kiddie hands!

Freebie anyone?!?!

So, after seeing all these pictures, you will definitely want to stop by to check out Katie’s adorable freebie. She has uploaded this as a sample of her Text Talker product. These bookmarks will be a perfect addition to your classroom! And if you like what you see (I mean, why wouldn’t you!?!) check out her entire Text Talker resource.

Also, you can enter our giveaway below! The winner will get all three products for free! Just in time for Back to School!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We hope you enjoy. Thanks for stopping by! Check out two more of our new products by hopping over to my sweet friends’ blogs below.

Read about the adorable Back to School Snapshots with Katie!

Check out my newest close reading passages with Alisha!

Center Storage

This week I finally printed some of the things I have created this year.

I started organizing my centers like this last year. We did literacy and math centers every day so I had A TON of activities and no where to keep them. Now I store my centers in plastic Ziploc bags. All the Ziploc bags go in a filing cabinet or the closet (depending on subject and topic). This is convenient for me & for early finishers who need to be kept busy!

I print and laminate everything. I cut any extra white or lamination off of the big direction sheets. This way, they fit perfectly inside the zipper of the Gallon bags. Each activity has an individual bag that includes:

1) Anchor Charts

2) “I Can” Statement/Direction Sheet

3) Task Cards or Activities

4) One copy of the recording sheet for easy access.

Just grab it and make copies.

On Fridays before I leave, I grab the centers for the next week, take them out of the large bags, and put them in our center bins, like the one below. I leave the task cards in the small sandwich bags.

I keep the empty Gallon bags in a bin by my desk until I need to put them away again. Easy & cheap. If a bag rips, grab a new one! How do you store and organize your centers?

Linking up with Christina from Sugar and Spice today! Love Wordless Wednesdays…although this one isn’t very wordless…ooopps! Be sure to link back up with other teachers!

Keynote – Those darn white borders!

So, I’m in LOVE with Keynote. I use both PowerPoint and Keynote to create. I just like the easy of Keynote better.

HOWEVER…

I am not a huge technology guru…When I finished my product and saved it as a PDF, I always got these thin white borders on the top & bottom. Strange, right? Annoying, yes. Plus, it’s not good when selling products because then the person buying the product may have to cut extra stuff to get that ugly white off!

I had to find a solution, or else I was going back to my PowerPoint days. Cue – the technology guru from my previous school. Mr. Church saved me! He basically said that Keynote is not formatted to print on paper because it is a “presentation program”, SO you have to make a custom paper.

He actually made this YouTube video to explain it to me. It is very easy to follow. Click the picture below to watch and learn! Be sure to do this BEFORE creating a product. If you do it after, you will have to move all of your objects, images, and fonts back into place. (Ain’t nobody got time for that!)

I just had to share! I cannot possibly be the only one who doesn’t know this. Right?!? I hope it helps some of you in your Keynote future! Enjoy. 🙂

Bittersweet New Beginnings

Many of you have most likely changed schools a couple of times in your careers. However, it’s a first for this newbie! After interning and teaching at a school where I felt at home, I am switching to a completely different environment.

Next year, I will be working in an administrative position as “Communications Director” for the private Christian elementary school I grew up in. I am SO excited for this new journey. I am blessed to be able to work in the environment that raised me from the time I was 2 years old until 5th grade. I am thrilled to be working with some of the same teachers (and the same principal!) from when I was in school. Sometimes it amazes me that I will be down the hall from the teacher who inspired me to teach. Such a great opportunity.

It will also be a sort of…trial run. I want to continue to my Doctorate after I finish my Master’s in May. However, I’m not sure if I want to work with adults in the future, or if I want to stay with the kiddies. I hope this job will give me the opportunity to find my calling, my niche.

But still, it is bittersweet. (and please excuse the sappiness to come…lol)

Yesterday, I visited my old school to help one of my best teacher friends decorate her room and organize her book bins. I said hi to a few friends and informed others of my new position. I spent a few hours with her creating and organizing. I made sure to get a picture of my old room (through the window of the locked door).

This is what it looks like now. (This view killed my OCD self!)

But THIS is how I will remember it.

It makes me teary eyed just typing this. Maybe I’m emotional and over dramatic, but I think all teachers can sympathize with me here. We walk into these doors a million times each school year. We LIVE here. It’s literally our (first) home…or at least I felt that way. We put our hearts into our jobs…

…and then we move on. And yes, it is wonderful that I have been offered this higher position, but I will miss my babies. As I left the school this afternoon, I slowly walked out to my car and sat for a while. Then, I saw one of my boys from last year. It was that kid who drives you NUTS, but who is your absolute favorite deep down. I stopped my car, said hi to his dad, and explained that I wouldn’t be back this year. I didn’t really have words to say for my former student. I just reminded him to be a great student next year, and to try his very hardest in 2nd grade. When I got back in the car, I bawled. This was the first time that I really got emotional over the whole thing. It sounds silly I guess, but I don’t know, it just hit me. Just like that.

So now that I’ve had time to calm down and relax, I am feeling better. And don’t get me wrong, I am very excited for this new “office job”, but I am a teacher, and, at the end of the day, I always will be.

Reach for Success Posters

A little background: My school has mandatory grade-wide themes each year. Third grade is cartoons. My coworker was very concerned about not making her room look cheesy. Soooo after many days of thought, she decided on Smurfs. This way, she could use solid blue and red, polka dots, chevron, etc. without it looking crazy. (There will not be Smurf heads on the walls.)

She had the posters we made printed at Kinkos and then bought some $1 frames at the Dollar Tree.

We trimmed a bit of the blue off so that they would fit nicely in the frames.

She wants them to hang above her Promethean Board, so we added ribbon. **Make sure the pieces of ribbon are the same length!** We hot glued the ribbon to the frame. Once in the classroom, she is going to add duct tape to the back also.

Then we cut up some ribbon to make bows. This was interesting… I had to look at a few different how-to’s on Pinterest before making a bow that looked decent.

We used thin white ribbon around the middle of the bow to attach it to the red ribbon.

Trim off any excess…

And TA-DA! Beautiful, simple, kid-friendly posters to foster success in students.

Today after camp, I’m going into her classroom to help her hang them. They are available in my TPT store if you are interested!

Again, this project was for the Smurf classroom theme. 🙂

I created some bunting to attach to the Dollar Tree mirror my coworker bought. She’s going to be teaching her kids using the 7 Habits of Happy Kids (Leader in Me), so we made this mirror to match.

It will say, “I can see a LEADER in me!” The kids can look into the mirror and feel confident in themselves.

We added thick white ribbon and thinner red ribbon as an accent off to the left side of the mirror.

Then we cut the bunting out and estimated what it would look like. We wanted to wait until it was in the classroom to attach the letters.

Check the other link ups at 4th Grade Frolics for more Monday Made It ideas!

Florida Teacher Blog Hop: Pictures, Freebies, & Giveaways!

Welcome to the Sunshine State! Enjoy yourself as you take a tour around our wonderful {and large!} state! Grab some freebies along the way, and be sure to enter to win our Bundles of Sunshine!

I have always lived in sunny South Florida. I moved to Coral Springs when I got married about a year and a half ago. Before that, I lived 30 minutes east, in Ft. Lauderdale, right by the beach. It was wonderful.

Ft. Lauderdale Beach

This beach was my second home growing up. My mom still practically lives there. Last year, we ran the Ft. Lauderdale Half Marathon together right on this road. It’s such a beautiful place to enjoy the day, and the little restaurants across the street are just to die for!

Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall

Now that I live 30 minutes inland, which is more residential/suburban-like, I don’t get to the beach as often {although I should!}. Coral Springs is known for being close to the Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall. It’s an outlet mall that has basically every store imaginable, restaurants, and a movie theater. The far west side of Coral Springs backs up to the Everglades. There’s a fun bike path on the edge of the Everglades, that I would love to try sometime, but haven’t yet. Each year, we take the kids on a field trip to different parks that run air boats on the Everglades. If you’ve ever seen the show Gator Boys…It’s just like that. They kids LOVE seeing the wild plants, animals, and alligators!

The Florida Everglades

This weekend, we have freebies for you to enjoy! Stop by each of our blogs for an activity or idea to use in your classroom. I have not one, but TWO freebies for you. To grab them, just click the images below!

This freebie is so convenient when teaching opinion or persuasive writing! Plus, kids absolutely adore the book, Hey, Little Ant by Phillip & Hannah Hoose.

And this freebie is a quote from the TpT Vegas conference. Deanna Jump is our teaching inspiration! Love her!

Also, check out my close reading packs. These are my absolute best sellers. They are all on sale for this weekend only!

Click the image above and be sure to check out the larger previews of these passages in my store!

Here is an example of the larger previews. This is my brand new pack all about our wonderful state of Florida! It is on sale this weekend also!

The Florida teachers below have two fantastic giveaways for you! You can enter once from each one of our pages. All you have to do is follow my blog! Hop around to all the blogs listed below, and be sure to follow them to get more entries. The more entries you have, the more likely you are to win! Each pack also includes a Starbucks gift card (because, well, a teacher’s gotta have a coffee!).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Come find out more about the beautiful state of Florida by reading about these other sweet teachers!

An InLinkz Link-up

Office Decor for the Classroom or Home

My first project started off with some $3 magazine bins I found in the Target Red Spot section. {Can anyone resist!?!?} I knew I needed them for my teeeeenny tiny desk area in our apartment, so into my cart they went.

I tried sitting them on my desk for mail and such, but there wasn’t enough room for the printer and the computer. So, I went hunting for zip ties. I slid them through the mesh in three different corners to keep them tight together.

Then I started experimenting where I could attach them (other than the top of my desk) to work as storage. I slid them to the back wall so that they wouldn’t be in my way AND ta-da! Instant storage that is hidden from plain view.

But of course, I then had to clean up the mess on the shelves with some teal bins from my classroom and make labels that matched. {…to which my husband was like “You Would.”}

I laminated them, cut them out, and whole punched them, I added some metal binder rings so that they would attach to the teal bins. I attached the labels to the white magazine bins with some normal blue painters tape.

So here it is! So much cleaner! It is by no means fancy, but it serves its purpose and looks coordinated. That’s all I ask for!

(Sorry for the dark pictures. It was nighttime!)

My second project was also started at Target! Surprise, surprise! 🙂 I found these adorable CORK letters for about $3!!! I just had to have them. I got an N for my last name and an S for my Slant Box partner, Stephanie. This may have been the simplest, but most lovely craft ever!

I picked out fun scrapbook paper. Mine is sparkly. Stephanie’s had to be yellow to match the Sunshine theme, so I picked this fun stripe.

I traced the letter onto the back of the scrapbook paper with a pen and cut it out.

If you try this, you may want to lay the cut out over the cork and feel around the edges. If there feels like there if too much paper hanging off in a certain area, just trim it. Then spray some adhesive glue (Outside!)…any will do…and press down for a few seconds so that it holds.

When you’re done, you have some pretty cork letters! I have an office this year, so I’m excited to put my N on my desk and use it as a mini cork board for reminders and notes.

I typed up this little quote for my Slant Box partner. She’s a technology teacher, and I thought this was just perfect! In this era of developing “21 Century Learners”, I think this is such a vital reminder to teachers. If you’d like it, it’s free in my TPT store.

And that’s all for now! Be sure to link back up and see what other teachers have made!

Annotation {Close Reading Mini-Series}

Annotation in Close Reading - Annotation - reading with a pencil

Annotation is sometimes known as “Reading with a pencil”. In simple terms, that’s all it is. Students use a pencil while they read to note specific things. Annotation is extremely important when analyzing a text.

Types of Annotation

-Underlining

-Circling

-Noting unknown words

-Noting challenging sections

-Writing margin notes

-Writing on bookmarks

-Writing on sticky notes

Annotations on sticky notes during a novel study

In high schools and colleges, students always annotate in text when participating in close reading. Elementary students have very little experience with this. )Most elementary teachers may have very little experience teaching it!)

So, how do you annotate in an elementary classroom? Can you guess? MODIFY!

Ways to Modify Annotation

-Use wiki sticks to underline

-Use colored pencils or highlighters to show unknown words

-Number paragraphs or draw lines to separate paragraphs

-Use only a limited number of annotations

Annotations with highlighters during close reading practice — Highlighters make annotating instant fun!

Why Start So Young?

1. It is so important to teach students to do this at a young age. Start in primary! Use some of the modifications above to help you explain “reading with a pencil” to the little ones. As you model a few types, students will begin to use them in the close reading process. I recommend choosing just a few to focus on so that students become comfortable using them and understand why they are using them.

2. THEY CAN DO IT! Believe in them. They are capable of GREAT things!

Annotations for unknown vocabulary in the text

This is an example of what I would say to students in my classroom last year (high achieving first grade) once we were comfortable with our annotations. I stuck to just 3. Keep in mind that we went over these one at a time earlier in the year.

1. Number the paragraphs to the left of each paragraph.

2. Circle any unknown or tricky words.

3. While answering questions, go back to the text and highlight the evidence. Make sure you have the question number next to your evidence.

Annotations help develop writing during a close read — Annotations helped this child to develop a well written response.

Whether you have been using close reading for a while, or are just beginning to, check out my close reading packs. Each pack comes with a weekly layout, passages, vocabulary activities, reading responses, visualizing & questioning handouts, graphic organizers, and writing prompts. Once you’re there, click the preview link under the images to see more before you buy! Also, click the penguin image below to snag a freebie passage to use with your class.

I hope that this mini-series will give you ideas to bring back to your classroom! If you would like to read more about close reading, please see the citation list attached here. Please feel free to email me with any questions at creativitytothecore@gmail.com.

Repeated Readings {Close Reading Mini-Series}

Close Reading - repeated reading strategies

Repeated reading is a BIG part of the close reading process. Each time students interact with the text, they come to a deeper understanding of it. Each time, they have more background knowledge than before. Each time, their conversations deepen.

Struggling Readers or English Language Learners

Struggling readers and English Language Learners (ELLs) may need extra time when reading. Each has his/her various challenges. However, close reading is great for struggling readers and/or ELLs because of this repeated reading. It gives kids time and many different opportunities to process information and make connections.

Who is reading?

The text is being read over and over. But who should read the text each time? Many times, the reader changes. It is usually suggested that the students tackle the text independently through silent reading the very first time. However, as mentioned before, modifications must be made for younger students. This may mean that a teacher reads aloud as shared reading for the very first time.

Types of Repeated Reading

-Individual

-Groups

-Teacher

-Partner

Remember that the type and number of repeated readings depends on the
specific passage and students in the classroom. You do not need to use all of those listed above. Choose what works for you and your kids.

Thanks for stopping by! Click here to read about annotations while reading!

Close reading - What's it all about? Understanding the in's and out's of close reading in an elementary classroom

Complex Text & Text Dependent Questions {Close Reading Mini-Series}

Close Reading - complex text & text dependent questions

Brief, high-quality, & complex text

Reading lessons should match this description if you are implementing close reading. In my research, it was recommended that passages should be anywhere from 3 paragraphs to 2 pages.

Why shorter passages?

-Teachers can teach specific skills.

-Teachers can focus on specific ideas in the text.

-Students can practice really digging into the text.

-Students of ALL reading levels can closely read demanding texts.

-Young students have time to gradually build up to independent reading because they are not overwhelmed.

Time Consuming!

Close reading can take a very long time. So…teachers should choose smaller passages in order to be able to get through everything. When students are reading on their own, they can enjoy longer passages. For close reading, keep it short!

Modifications

As we discussed, modifications must be made when using close reading in the elementary grades. Common Core calls for ALL students, regardless of reading level, to interact with complex texts. But how can kindergarteners and young firsties do this, you ask??? Answer: Modify!

Students in primary grades have a higher ability to comprehend while listening. So, it may be important for teachers to expose students by reading aloud to them and promoting independent reading. If you teach K or 1, you may even try a close read in which you read aloud to students. This modification will help kids to move from listening to reading independently in the upper grades.

Text-Dependent Questions

Common Core is focused on text evidence. So, teachers should form text-dependent questions for students. In other words, the questions MUST require students to use the text.

In close reading, students are asked to go back to the text to find something that confirms their opinion or answer. Focusing on these questions causes students to reflect on the text rather than just quickly getting the gist of the passage (Brown & Kappes, 2012).

Questions should be about and include:

-General understanding of the text

-Key details

-Vocabulary

-Text structure

-Author’s purpose

-Inferring

-Opinons

-Intertextual connections

Using many types of questions helps students to develop diverse discussions about the text. Think about it. If you keep asking the same key detail questions, kids will only talk about key details. But if you ask questions that have them recall, talk about text features, infer from the images, form opinions, and make connections to their lives, they will have A WHOLE LOT to talk about!

Think about this:

“Students who learn to ask themselves such questions are reading with the discerning eye of a careful reader. We can also teach students to read carefully with the eye of a writer, which means helping them analyze craft” (Boyles, 2012).

Goal:

Have students participate in active discussions to share their background knowledge and ultimately apply what they have learned. Eventually, students should begin to ask themselves the same questions while reading independently.

I hope you will be able to use these ideas in your classroom! Click here to read about using repeated readings during your close reads.

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