I Got a Pocket, Got a Pocket Full of Sunshine

I am weird...I adore a great pocket chart! I love bright colors, various sizes, interesting shapes, and different pocket dimensions. When I started teaching 19 years ago there was 1 type of pocket chart--blue and large. Now I have one that is apple shaped, some that are simply 1 pocket, a long one that can hold books, and I even have some I made myself out of file folders folded in half.

 

Pocket charts are my go-to organizational tool because they are simple to use and you can easily change the information on display.  We have completed one week of school and here are the tools that adorn my classroom walls:

 

 

Every student in my class has a job. We are a community and every student is expected to participate. Students chose their jobs and this charts reminds them what roles they have. It is also useful when a substitute is in the room. If students want to switch jobs, I can easily change the cards.

 

This pocket chart has little individual compartments so it is perfect to post how students go home each day.  This one is displayed by the exit. I use this chart every single day!

 

This is my Wish List of items that could help enhance our classroom activities and atmosphere. Guests to my room can take a card and then return with the item. I have checked off the items that people (including my own mom) have donated.  Thank you so much to everyone who has made a donation already!

This display reminds students of their Writing Partners. It keeps me organized, lets administrators see how my students are paired, and allows guest teachers to have a way of knowing which students can work together well. In a week or so (after we determine reading levels) I will fill in the Reading Partnerships pocket charts.

  

 

This is our Book Shopping schedule for the classroom library. I like to use colorful paint sample cards to differentiate between my Block I and Block II students. Students can reference this chart to know when it is their day to choose new books for their Reading Baggies.

 

I will end this post with a tip--Dollar Tree and Target have terrific $1 pocket charts throughout the year!  Just keep your eyes open!

More Books! Time to Reorganize the Library

I went shopping at my favorite used book store, The Last Word. Lucky for me they were having a $1 and $0.50 sale!  Woooo!

 

I picked up these two sets of books because they have Hispanic main characters. Children like books when they can relate to the characters. I think my Hispanic students will enjoy these books.

 

I am always on the hunt for good mystery books for my students. I was excited to find several books from The Woodland series. I was also glad to find lower leveled mysteries, J and K.

 

I found a variety of nonfiction books in levels I-S.

 

These are books from popular series in levels J-Q. I have been motivating my students to read more chapter books to increase their stamina. These books will help them stay on target.

 

Hardback books for $1--no further explanation needed.

 

Multiple copies of series books levels J-R to use for books clubs.

 

With all of these new books, I had to reorganize my shelves in the classroom library. One set of shelves is fantasy and realistic fiction levels A-T. Another set of shelves is chapter books levels L-V. Another set of shelves contains all nonfiction books levels A-W. One set of shelves contains baskets of books levels J-P that can be found in a series. The final shelf is a variety of books from a variety of levels.

Know Your Students, Know Your Books

I scored a tremendous treasure at the used book store, The Last Word. I bought 68 books for my classroom library and paid $100.  I added up the original publisher's price and the books would've cost $478! So I am going to celebrate this incredible deal with you by explaining why I bought these specific books.

Teachers not only match their students to books using reading levels, we match them up by interest. My students love the funny Dan Gutman series, My Weird School.

I found 12 of them for only $1 each!

I was excited to find a book to use for teaching. I am familiar with Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, but I did not know that the author, Eleanor Coerr, had written a picture version of the story for younger readers. I look forward to developing a lesson incorporating these two books.

I bought this book because it was a lower level historical fiction book. These can be hard to find.

I have a few students in my class who have low self-esteem. They realize their reading levels are low and are sometimes embarrassed by it. I chose this book because it is about a boy who always strikes out in baseball and how he overcomes his embarrassment. I think books are a great way for students to connect with characters who have similar problems or obstacles.

I bought 10 of these books this summer and I was stoked to find they had 6 more in stock!

I have a VERY talkative class this year, so this book was an obvious choice!

This series is written by the same author as The Bailey School Kids. My students like the Goosebumps books in our classroom library, but those books have too high of a level for some of my readers. These ghostly books are a lower level and less scary (in my opinion).

Girls and science...

There are lots of football and baseball books in my classroom library, but the boys said they would like to read more basketball books.

I love this graphic novel series. I mentioned it in class one day and my students never heard of Babymouse...no excuse now!

A book about the Titanic AND a dog?! Perfect for my third graders. These two topics were at the top of several interest lists.

I was reorganizing the classroom library this year and I noticed that I was on the weak side of literature with male lead characters. I picked up these 3 books because they looked fun and exciting for boys.

More books for my boys.

Yes, I know there are girls that may enjoy reading them, too. 

More male lead characters. The Hank Zipzer books are written by Henry Winkler.

Dogs, penguins, and sharks are the top animals my students enjoy reading about. They were also yelling Marco Polo on the swings during recess the other day, so that was a bonus interest match.

I can never resist legends from other cultures. I found a Cuban, a Japanese, and two Native American books.

This book is stunning. I have never heard of it before, but now I cannot wait to use it in a lesson. It will be perfect for a genre discussion because students might think it is nonfiction, or realistic fiction, or even poetry. This book will be great to launch a genre discussion. The vocabulary is high level and colorful, so it can also be used in a writing lesson.

My current copy of this book is torn and taped. I HAD to buy a new one.

Who can resist Seymour Simon?

The Usborne Discovery books all contain internet links throughout the text so that students can do further research. I think this book will be a useful addition to our classroom since students can now bring their own technology devices to school. 

Fractured fairy tales are always a hit!

I have never read this historical fiction tale.

I consider this book to fall into the category of complex text due to the author's style of writing and organization. It also has some serious themes in it. I plan on using it for a lesson on point of view.

Passport to Reading

My team decided to call our Test Prep Unit "Journey Through Genres" because that sounded more appealing and exciting. To carry out this theme we designed a passport filled with genres. Each child is working towards earning a sticker on each page after they read 5 books from each genre.

When children go  book shopping, they make sure to choose books from a variety of genres. They can also choose authentic literature such as magazines and cookbooks.

I Love New Books

When I was little I used to get excited every time my teacher sent home the Scholastic book order. Some of the books I ordered in elementary school are part of my classroom library today. I received a shipment of books today and found these two new gems!

The story White Water takes place in the 1960's during segregation. A boy envisions that the water from the whites only fountain must taste better than from the colored fountain.  He daydreams about tasting it. One day he stays home from school so he can sneak to the park and drink the white water.  He gets to taste it, but then a white woman yells at him causing him to fall. When he falls down he sees that both fountains are connected by the same pipe. He realizes that all of the water is the same, the fountains just look different.



I hope Tedd Arnold adds more books to this series!  My students love the Fly Guy books and I know they are going to love this new nonfiction addition!  The organization of the book is appealing and informative. It creatively uses nonfiction text features such as cutaways, photographs, captions, highlighted words, and pronunciation keys.

Big Books for Big Readers

My morning Literacy Block is an inclusion class of 3rd graders. The other day my student with the lowest reading level in the class (level C) was book shopping and he wanted to take a big book home to read. I asked him why and he told me that he was a big reader and needed a big book! How could I argue with that?! I remembered that I had a huge Ziplock storage bag in the cupboard, so I took it out and gave it to him to use for his take-home bag! He was thrilled!!!!

Where Do You Keep Your Information?

These three notebooks keep my anecdotal records and group lessons organized.  They are simple but extremely useful.

In the colorful notebook I keep my skills groups organized on a weekly basis.  I use my students' jottings, written responses, and conferencing notes to put them into groups for the week.  Sometimes it is a reading strategy or skill.  Sometimes it is a word work skill. 

 

 

 

 

The other two notebooks are where I keep my individual records for my students.  I have a list of the students at the front that lists their Grade Equivalent for Accelerated Reader (no comment please...this is a required program at my school...my mind has been changing on how AR fits into the balanced literacy framework), their Fountas and Pinnell Guided Reading Level, and their partnerships. Then each student has a page where I record conferencing notes.  These notes could be individual conferences, student work samples, or small group skill/strategy tips.

 

names are hidden for privacy

this is an old lesson plan book...the lined squares are perfect to record info

for more info on how I use address labels read my blog post How Do I Use All of These Jottings to Help My Students

word work skill (open and closed syllables) this student has mastered

 

 

I keep a schedule for when students can go book shopping in the classroom library. I spread them out throughout the week and split them up by levels to keep the books circulating.  I teach 50 students a day and each child gets 3 to 4 books a week from the classroom library. They can also check out 4 books a day at the school library so their baggies are always full.

 

 

Here are notes added throughout the year. I make sure to date all of my anecdotal records.  I collect jottings to back up my notes. I make note of skills I work on with students. I reflect on if the student is using my suggestions and showing growth.