Data! Data! Data!

My school requires teachers to have Data Binders, but I have been using one for about 15 years. I like all of my students' information to be in one place. It makes it easy for me use during conferences and take to meetings. Some years my binder is thicker than other years, but this year is the largest it has ever been due to the increased number of assessments students are required to take during the school year.

 

 

I place my student contact sheets in the front pocket so I can easily contact families. Behind my table of contents (which I seem to constantly edit) I keep all of my passwords because who can ever keep up with all of them?!

 

 

Students are working below grade level are required to be placed on Personalized Education Plans (PEPs) so I keep all of their information in one section.

 

 

I keep my students' reading levels in a section which includes oral reading fluency, Guided Reading levels, and all of my reference charts from Reading 3D, Teachers College, and Fountas and Pinnell.

 

In the MAP section I keep my training booklet for when I can't remember what a report is called or what it should be used for. I record progress on charts and also keep signed copies of growth reports from parents/guardians.

 

 

I keep track of MAP goals so I know who needs reteach and who can benefit from enrichment.

 

 

 

Everything in my binder is designed to be easily accessible and easily understood. I keep my data current because it ensures I am differentiating for my students' needs.

 

I Can with iPads

I was featured as a guest blogger for my school district. Here is what I submitted:

http://cmsteachingandlearning.weebly.com/1/post/2014/01/i-can-with-ipads.html

Invisible Reading Strategy

Invisible ink will hook any reluctant writer! Teach like a pirate and teach your students to record their thoughts without stress or judgment. My students are in the midst of the Lucy Calkins unit Navigating Nonfiction. I amped up the lesson about mentally recording main idea and details on your hand by calling it The Invisible Strategy!

 

 

Not only did the lesson reinforce main idea and supporting details, but I was able to extend the lesson and teach Common Core vocabulary.  Sometimes the main idea isn't called the main idea!

Students added the graphic reminder to their reading notebooks.

 

During independent reading the students practiced using the strategy.

The Invisible Strategy was a memorable introduction to the formal reading strategy of Boxes and Bullets and helped them grasp it more easily.

 

 

The students' understanding of main idea transformed from invisible to concrete!

Writing to the Kid President

I have been working on developing a stronger classroom community this year. My current students are challenging because their personalities are all strong and unique. I found a common interest that they have and I thought I would use it to build some positive relationships toward this end stretch of the year. Since this common interest is from a somewhat mainstream and pop-culture person their own age, I knew it would hook my students.

My students enjoy watching the Kid President videos. So I created a writing lesson which allowed them to write a list of ideas with him as their audience. We watched his video 20 Things We Should Say More Often (click on the title to view the link). Then students wrote their own lists of things they think people should say more often.

If you watch the end of the video, you will see that Kid President adds in a bonus idea that people should dance more. My students and I decided that at the end of the day we could dance if 5 people are on outstanding at the top of the behavior chart and no more than 5 people are at the bottom of the behavior chart.
 
Here are some of the ideas that appear on our list, Things We Wish People Would Say More Often:

 

 

 

And just like Kid President, a couple of students made a Bonus item on their lists:

 

 

Yes, written above are the lyrics to Boom Boom Pow by The Blackeyed Peas!! Below you will see the lyrics to the song What the Fox Says!!

 

Pirate Construction Zone

My literacy blocks will be transitioning from the unit Book Clubs: Books in a Series to the unit Navigating Nonfiction. To prepare students and to pique their interest, I turned the nonfiction section of my classroom library into a construction zone. 

 

I think my decorating design meets the criteria for the Teaser Hook and the Real World Hook from the book Teach Like a Pirate. Students know that something new is coming, they just aren't exactly sure.  Their brains are activating their prior knowledge of nonfiction while at the same time they are thinking about construction signs they see in the community.  They are wondering how the two will possibly fit together for our next reading unit.

 

Book Clubs: Books in a Series

I wanted to share a couple of anchor charts and some of the organizational tools I am using for the beginning of my current unit, Book Clubs: Books in a Series.

 

 

I decided to use a hot pink star as a visual cue for my students. 

 

I placed hot pink stars on the baskets of series books in the classroom library.



I added a hot pink star to the focus board to show students were studying a new unit, book clubs, but were still focusing our learning on following characters into meaning.



Students will have their first book club meeting tomorrow, so check back for more details!

Students use the following chart to help guide their Book Club conversations.

Students came up with reading behaviors that demonstrate what Book Clubs look like and sound like.

Words Their Way...THEIR Way

I found this spelling activity on Pinterest and I thought my students would enjoy it because they are a very kinesthetic group. I thought they would enjoy a break from Speed Sorts, Blind Writing Sorts, Word Hunts and other typical Words Their Way activities. I am new to Words Their Way, so maybe adding in a different type of activity that is not part of the program in a no-no, but I know I need to keep my students fresh and hooked. They understand the routines used in Words Their Way, but every now and then it is good to disrupt a routine with something new.

 

 

They worked with their writing partners to roll a number cube and complete a corresponding activity.

 

This may seem like a simple activity for 3rd graders to do, but some of my spellers practiced their words more times than I had ever seen them do before. My reluctant writers and spellers enjoyed this activity because it was a novelty.

 

Some of the students used their sorting mentality from Words Their Way and wrote similar words in columns using the activities from the number cube activity!

Tic Tac Toe Reading Partners

I was browsing through some materials I collected at a training I attended at some point in my teaching career. I found this handout meant to remind teachers of different ways readers can work together. I thought it would work perfectly as a Tic Tac Toe game because that's how a Pirate Teacher would use it--hook them with a game!
 


I had it copied on green paper so that it would stand out. Students put it in their Literacy Binders under the category Reading Strategies.

 

The students were on-task and active. They had targeted conversations and were cooperative.

 

During Independent Reading, students met with their partners and completed 3 of the boxes in the grid to complete tic-tac-toe.

 

So teach like a pirate and turn plain old buddy reading into tic-tac-toe partners!