Giving Props to Pirate Teachers

My professional teaching goal this year is to teach like a pirate! Yes, I did get this idea from the book Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess. After reading it I have a renewed vigor. I am a fun teacher, but the ideas he presented in the book have inspired me to use my creativity and energy to hook my students and keep them engaged.  Last school year I shared my ideas for teaching in a Balanced Literacy classroom. This year I will document my use of hooks from Burgess' book.

Today's Hook: Props

 

When my students walked in to class today this hat was sitting on a stool in the meeting area. I stood back and listened to the conversations the students were having about the hat. Some thought it was an early Halloween decoration. Some wondered if I was going to wear it. One boy thought I was going to read a Viola Swamp book. One student thought they were going to write a scare story. They were very interested in what purpose this hat was going to serve today!

 

I began Reading Workshop by asking students to touch their noses if they had watched a Harry Potter movie. About 75% indicated they had. When asked, a few students said they had read one of the books. So I gave my students a little background on Harry and explained why he was at this special wizard school. Then I told them I was going to read part of the book to them. I read  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chapter 7 The Sorting Hat. I began at the part when Professor McGonagall explained that the children would be sorted into houses. I stopped when she said they should prepare themselves for the ceremony. I related the wizards being sorted into houses to the students in my class being sorted into reading partnerships.

 

The teaching point in my mini lesson for Reading Workshop today was that reading partnerships are important to our reading lives. I explained to students that reading partners will help each other fill out their reading logs, sign each other's reading logs, share and discuss books, ask each other questions, recommend books to each other, and help each other have fun reading. We talked about what it meant to be respectful, cooperative, kind, and responsible partners. We talked about the positive and negative outcomes of working well with a partner--just like the wizards in their houses.

 

I continued reading from Harry Potter Chapter Seven at the part when the sorting hat was revealed {some students pointed a the hat next to me}. In the book it was sitting on a four-legged stool {some students whispered that so was my hat}. I chanted the song that the sorting hat sang in the book and I ended when Professor McGonagall announced to the wizards that the sorting would begin.

 

I stuck my hand inside my sorting hat and pulled out pre-written slips of paper that listed the reading partnerships for our classroom. The students were completely focused and hanging on each slip I pulled from the hat! Using the sorting hat prop made this lesson so fun! The students were listening to every word I said and they could not wait to see which partner the hat gave them. I am looking forward to incorporating more props into my teaching.

Nonfiction Treasure

I love The Last Word bookstore in Charlotte, NC. It has a wonderful selection of used children's books. They even take the time to organize them into categories. I was in there browsing a couple of weeks ago and I came across a beautiful stack of hardback nonfiction books about animals. Wait until you read what a fantastic find these were...

hardback

 

never read--the spines creak when you open them

 

crisp pages with bright photographs

 

each book is actually 2 complete books about 2 animals

 

each book is a Level O--perfect for 3rd grade

 

$1.50 per book

 

teacher discount makes them only $1.35 per book

 

$1.35 per book

 

$1.35 for an unused, hardback, nonfiction book

 

$1.35 for what is actually 2 books in one

 

$13.50 for 10 books about 26 animals

 

 

Each book begins with a quick fact box.

 

The table of contents is a list of questions about the animal. I do wish the questions began with capital letters though.

 

There is a student-friendly glossary at the end of each book.

Teacher Library

At the end of the school year in June, I cleared all of the shelves above the counter and sink in my classroom. I created piles of books that were related to the Lucy Calkins reading workshop themes. I pulled out my teacher resource books that I actually use--not the ones that have nine inches of dust on them! I created piles of my books that were subject-specific.
 

 

One shelf contains only teacher resource materials directly related to Balanced Literacy. Books that I have not looked at for years were posted and sold on Amazon or given to Goodwill.

 

One shelf houses all of the books for series book clubs. They are leveled and grouped in sets.

 

Another shelf contains mystery book club sets and single mysteries. I do not put these out in the classroom library until the mystery unit of study because if they have been out for months, then the students are not as excited to read them. Students get motivated to read books that are new to the library.

 

 

I labeled one shelf with books that are related to PBIS (our discipline system). It is important to use books in all areas of teaching, not just reading instruction. I only have a small collection of books for the social issues unit of study. This small stack of books is a great visual to remind me that I need to expand my collection of books for that unit. Now when the Literacy Facilitator at my school, or a parent, asks me what kinds of books I need I already know how to answer the question. I also put the materials for our writing program on this shelf. Being a Writer provides all of the actual books to use as anchors for the writing lessons, but I also have some of my own books that I add to the lessons.

 

I am a literacy teacher, but I still have great Math materials that I use with my students on rainy days when we can't go outside. This also will make it easy for me to share books with my Math teammates when they are looking for a literacy link in their lessons.

 

 

This is my nonfiction shelf. There are books with Social Studies links. There is a section of books that are nonfiction about animals since that is a huge writing unit for third grade. These are books that do not have Fountas and Pinnell levels, but still contain wonderful, grade level material. The final section is my collection of biographies. Just like mysteries, I do not put these books in the classroom library until we are studying that unit.

 

The final shelf holds books that support the beginning units of the year--Building a Reading Life and Characters into Meaning. It doesn't look like I have very many books for these two units, but I make sure I use strong literature for these two units--quality, not quantity.

Cut It Out!

This school year I will have two new teachers on my third grade team. They are veteran teachers, but they have not taught third grade. One important strategy I think they should use is being creative with the use of our Social Studies textbooks. We are lucky because our Social Studies textbooks are consumable. This means students can write in them, highlight, circle, underline, and most importantly...they can CUT THEM APART!

 

After reading a chapter in the Social Studies textbook, students may not be able to identify the three regions of North Carolina. They may not be able to describe characteristics of each region. If the students create a brochure of North Carolina by cutting out graphics and textboxes, they take ownership for their learning.

 

Students read about the topic, talked about the topic, wrote about the topic, drew illustrations about the topic. Some designed Thinking Maps. Others used boxes and bullets to state the main idea and supporting details. They read their brochures to each other. They took them home and read it to family members. They created an authentic product which helped them retain their knowledge.

 

A textbook does not have to be boring. You can make it fit into your Balanced Literacy framework.

 

Students who may not be confident artists can cut out photos and maps instead of being pressured to draw illustrations.

Students can be creative and display the information they learn in whatever style they choose.

 

Reluctant writers may decide to use bulleted phrases instead of paragraphs.

Students show that they can summarize text instead of copying directly from the textbook. This is a great opportunity for conferencing during Reading Workshop or Writing Workshop.

 

The box contains the main idea and the bullets list supporting details. What a great link between a nonfiction reading strategy and writing!

Adjusting, Revisiting, Discussing

As I worked my way through my test prep unit, I noticed some common weaknesses among my students. While I was conferencing with them, they were not discussing characters in the same light that they had during our character unit in the Fall. They were also getting a little bit lazy with their descriptions of theme, morals, and central messages. Finally, some common assessment results showed me that they needed more exposure to comparing and contrasting between texts.

My reading teacher brain turned mathematical...an equation developed in my mind...

strong characters + strong themes + comparing/contrasting books by one author =

 

CHRIS VAN ALLSBURG

 

I created anchor chart #1 to review the character elements we have used throughout the year.

 

The Sweetest Fig by Chris Van Allsburg for minilesson #1

 

In the front of the book I wrote a large green sticky note with my metacognition stems. Throughout the book, I put green tabs at the spots where students would stop and jot using the stems. The large yellow sticky note lists common core ideas for talking and inferring about characters. Throughout the book I put yellow sticky notes with my jottings and questions that match the common core stems.

 

Student jotting with my conference note to add in evidence from the text.

 

Student jotting--plus you have to love companies like Harris Teeter and Renaissance Learning who donate sticky notes! 

 

Student jotting with my conference note to use synonyms instead of repeating thoughts. The student also added in text evidence.

 

I conferenced with several students about how to use shades of an adjective when describing characters. Their art teacher told me she was teaching the same thing with paints so we were able to use each other as examples in our lessons! I love a great coincidence!

 

We conferenced about citing evidence and using shades of an adjective. This is a reluctant writer who enjoys reading. I scripted his text evidence for him. It is a fine line to push him to write because sometimes it shuts him off to jotting altogether.

 

I asked this student why he drew extra boxes and he said he heard me conferencing about adding evidence so he added it in before he met with me!

 

adding evidence and reviewing synonyms

 

 

I found several theme anchor charts on Pinterest so I combined them and created anchor chart #2.

Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg for minilesson #2

 

In the front of the book I wrote a large green sticky note with synthesizing stems. Throughout the book, I put green tabs at the spots where students would stop and jot to show synthesis. The large yellow sticky note lists my common core ideas for developing and interpreting morals, lessons, and themes. Throughout the book I put yellow sticky notes with my jottings and questions that match the stems.

 

 

 

 

I used hot pink sticky notes to show my thinking that stretches between the two Van Allsburg books.

 

Student jottings and conference notes

 

 

During Independent Reading, this student found a copy of the book in our classroom library. He said, "this isn't my just right level, but can I please read it?" Of course!

 

 

The Wreck of the Zephyr--minilesson #3. I think it is important to make jottings about the cover of the book, not just the story inside.

 

 

In the front of the book I wrote a large green sticky note with inferencing stems. Throughout the book, I put green tabs at the spots where students would stop and jot to show their inferences. The large yellow sticky note lists my common core ideas for supporting thinking with evidence. Throughout the book I put yellow sticky notes with my jottings and questions that match the stems.

 

 

Once again the pink sticky notes show where I compare and contrast between the books. The orange flags note interesting vocabulary words.

Roadmapping

During our test prep unit, students learned how to create roapmaps on passages as a way to reflect their thinking as they read. They learned that roadmapping was a way of being active readers. Their roadmaps would help them to better understand what they were reading.  Lucy Calkins recommends starting a grade level below to teach the strategy so that students feel successful. I began by using  lexile passages from the end of second grade.

 

I told my students that learning how to roadmap was like learning how to ride a bike with training wheels. I would show them how to do it and they would practice on the same passage. As they get better, they will practice on their own passages. I will help them until they can do it on their own.
 



 

This student color-coded what the different characters did in the story.

 



 

This student listed character traits along with text evidence.

He also identified a cause/effect relationship.

 

This student summarized at the end.

 

This student used the boxes and bullets strategy.

 

This student drew an actual road map to organize her thoughts.