I have be crazy busy with my new job back in the classroom {more to come on that soon}, but I wanted to share this fun set with you today! Last week, our skill was to compare and contrast two texts. In third grade, students are asked to compare and contrast the major points in two texts about the same topic. My two coworkers and I were searching for products to use, but we weren’t finding anything that worked for us… Fast forward to the weekend. I decided to create a passage to go along with the book Officer Buckle and Gloria. We wanted the students to be engaged in the topic {dogs}, so we used a fun fiction book that they would giggle at. 🙂 In the past, I have read Officer Buckle and Gloria to kindergarteners and first graders, so I was slightly worried. I didn’t know for sure if my third graders would think it was funny. OH was I wrong! They were laughing and asking to see the flipping dog picture again and again. Reading two texts can be time consuming, but “Just Do It!”. With my on level groups, I read Officer Buckle and Gloria Continue Reading
Today, I must cut right to the chase because I am beyond excited about this new find! I was at a conference in Jacksonville, Florida right before Thanksgiving listening to a 2nd grade teacher talk about differentiation. It was a great presentation, but to be honest, I was thinking “I do most of these things in my own classroom”. That was until I heard her mention “this new DATA COLLECTION APP”. My ears perked up! My eyes flew from my notebook to her face. We are in the age of data, data, data. This is perfection! Really? I can just add my students into this app and log all of my annotations right on my iPhone? NO WAY. Wait what? I can take pictures of their work and add them to each student’s personalized file? This was too good to be true. But it IS true! It’s called Confer. I may seem a little too excited about this, but let me tell you – It is worth it! It’s available in the iTunes App Store or through Google Play for Android. There are currently two versions of Confer. Confer (regular) is the full price version. It is $24.99, which may be Continue Reading
Are you in need of some low-prep activities to get your students through the holiday season? Check out my newest close reading passages! They are perfect for small group, guided reading, weekly homework, and thematic units. All you have to do is simply download and print! If you are not familiar with close reading you can read more about it in my Close Reading Mini Series. I’m excited to be a part of The Primary Gal‘s Unwrap a Gift Linky Party. There are so many engaging gifts for you from some of my favorite teachers. Keep reading for a closer look and be sure to unwrap your gift at the end of this post! I have two sets of holiday close reads: European traditions (7 passages) & Asian traditions (6 passages). Each passage is written at an appropriate text complexity level for 2-3rd grade according to the Common Core State Standards. However, it totally depends on your students. I often used similar close reads with my high first graders, and I have a friend who uses them with her struggling fourth graders. There are two different versions of most handouts within each set. Instant differentiation! Close reading is all about Continue Reading
Hi friends! Welcome to the Holidays Around the Blog Linky! Can you believe it is November already!?!? Crazy. This year has flown by. Be sure to enter the giveaway at the bottom of this post and hop around to other blogs! You can win $170 cash, plus many products from our TPT stores! Christmas is my favorite time of year, so I decided to focus on my holiday unit. In first grade, we study a few gingerbread books during our unit in December. You can see the books below! Click these links to grab the books on Amazon. The Gingerbread Girl The Gingerbread Girl Goes Animal Crackers The Gingerbread Kid Goes to School Gingerbread Baby The kids just LOVE this unit. It usually lasts one full week. I use many read alouds (like the ones listed above). I really enjoy these specific books because they are not the general Gingerbread Man story. These titles give students an experience with a variation of that classic story. During the week we work on many skills. We compare and contrast characters in stories We look at how the character changes from the beginning to the end of the story. We analyze the differences between Continue Reading
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 Continue Reading
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 Continue Reading
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 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 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 Continue Reading
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 Continue Reading
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 Continue Reading
This is perhaps the biggest debate in close reading. Period. Here’s why in simple terms: Teachers have sometimes given students SO much background knowledge, that they were able to answer questions about the text before even reading it! (I mean, really, that sounds just plain crazy!) What is the point in reading if they kids already know the answers? Boring to kids. Waste of time for teachers. …in walks Common Core… I have heard so many times that Common Core says a big fat “NO!” to background knowledge. This is not true by any means. But I do know where the idea stems from. Educators were afraid that TOO much background knowledge was given before reading. So they started encouraging teachers to pull back. However, background knowledge has been proven to have an impact on student comprehension. Many researchers believe that you do not have to instruct kids on the topic before reading because it can be very easily done during reading. I agree with this. I would rather jump into reading and tackle questions as they come rather than spoon-feeding the kids before they have a chance to think! It is important to: -Set a purpose for reading -Give definitions of unknown Continue Reading