Switcharoo With No Snafus...So Far!

I'm moving you. I usually hear these words every 4 or 5 years. Teachers are THE most flexible professionals I know!  A hospital administrator would not go to a pediatrician and say, "I'm moving you to brain surgery." Teachers though...we do it all!  This year I have moved from teaching 3rd grade inclusion Literacy to teaching 4th grade catalyst Literacy. Last year my students ranged in reading levels from A to O at the beginning of the year.  This year my students range from O to U at the beginning of the year!  Quite a switch...

 

Not to mention I have also been moved out to a mobile unit. This means I have had to totally reconstruct my "perfected" Balanced Literacy classroom setup that I had created in my former classroom...carpets, tables instead of desks, individual reading sweet spots.  But it is ALL good! I have a new plan, new setup, new ideas, new requests, and a new attitude! So let's get started with the first blog of the 2014-2015 school year!

 

 

There wasn't enough room for me to do tables in the mobile so I went with longer rows in an H configuration. I haven't decided what to do with the meeting area yet because I don't have a large carpet. I also am not sure about the size of my students so I am not sure if all 25 of them will sit comfortably in the front meeting area. I will just wait until our first Reading Workshop mini-lesson on Tuesday and see what the students think. Hey, I have my rocking chair and easel so I am ready!

One section of the classroom is devoted to Word Work and Writing. I have my hanging baskets ready for students' Words Their Way folders. I have my Writing tubs with dictionaries, thesauri, frequently misspelled words list, rhyming dictionaries, and other reference materials. There is a variety of paper on the shelves along with my writing anchor books and exemplar texts.

 

The classroom may look bare right now, but I think it is important to put your anchor charts up as you teach. Behind my desk I display my diplomas, teaching license, and awards because students should be able to see what makes a teacher a professional. Show them what it means to have a career. The purple pocket chart by the back door has cards in it that parents can take if they would like to make a donation to the classroom. I currently would like: jump ropes, kickball bases, bathroom mats, cloth tablecloths, Smarties, decks of cards, chess/checkers sets.

 

Last year I used Stone Fox for my first unit (Building a Reading Life) read aloud. This year I am going to read Wonder. I chose this book because I want to start the year out teaching the importance of accepting others' differences in life. I put this bulletin board up for Open House to spark an interest (Teach Like a Pirate)...students and parents were talking about it!

 

The most important part of a Balanced Literacy classroom is the classroom library. I packed away by low level books and dug out my high level books. My co-workers are amazing at sharing! Plus I reaped the benefits of a retired teacher who left me MANY high level books.

 

This year I organized my library into chapter books (N-Z), fiction picture books (N-Z), nonfiction books (N-Z), and several topic-related sections.

 

I saw the idea for "readboox" on Pinterest, so I cannot take full creative credit for it!  The example on Pinterest was much more elaborate, but I like the message it presents for students.

 

The special topics for this section of the library are based on 4th grade interests from a survey I read on Twitter (I'm sorry I can't find the link):

 

Star Wars

Series of Unfortunate Events

Animal Ark

Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys

Beverly Cleary

Who Is?

I Survived

Strong Females

Sports

Award Winners

Dogs

Fairies and Magic

Mysteries

 

In the nonfiction section, I also added in a collection of animal books called Nature's Children and the Magic School Bus series (I know this is narrative nonfiction, but I will address it in a mini-lesson).

 

The organization part of my classroom is ready for the year to start on Monday, so today I will spend my time at work preparing for the academic events!

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!

Character Traits the Common Core Way

One of the more difficult skills to teach third graders is to reference the text and provide evidence for their thoughts. During our current unit, I think I have encouraged and/or required my students a million times to show evidence from the text .

 

I try to provide them with a variety of activities to practice this skill. Some students catch on to the skill and are able to use it simply by writing a jotting on a sticky note. Other students need a template while still others must have a fill-in activity sheet to follow exact steps in a process.

 

Whatever type of response my students use, I always post examples on the Focus Board so they can reference it whenever they need to during their Independent Reading time.

 

 

During the unit, I was on Pinterest searching for some anchor charts to use. I found a couple of ideas I liked and tweaked them to create my own charts.

 

 

Pinterest Chart--above

 

 

 

My own chart--above

 

Student response activity after a lesson using the anchor chart

 

Pinterest Chart--above

 

My own chart--above

 

 

Student response after a lesson using the anchor chart

 

 

Student response after a lesson using the anchor chart

 

 

Student response after a lesson using the anchor chart...and what I discussed with the student during conferencing

 

 

This is what one student wrote about the character traits for the dog, Winn Dixie, in our read aloud lesson! Check out what he said for the evidence!

 

 

Students posting their jots about character traits

 

Student jots

 

 

Student jots

 

 

I conferenced with the student about how to find evidence in the text.

 

 

4-Star Jottings

I saw an anchor chart similar to this on Pinterest. My students really liked the 4-star rating system. We had done a lesson on jottings recently where they learned about making juicy jottings. I had used an analogy of eating dinner and asked them if they would rather eat a thin, tiny piece of pizza with no toppings or a thick one dripping with cheese--I also used steak, a salad, and nachos to help them relate to making better jottings.

 

One of my students was thrilled to show me some of her jottings she had put in her reading notebook after finishing a book when I conferenced with her. She put stars at the bottom of each one to show me that she tried to make better jottings this time. I told her that good readers use the anchor charts to help improve their jottings. She asked me to take a picture of them! She was a little off-base with some of her ratings, but we talked about that during our conference.

Reading Notebooks

I've been wanting to use Reading Notebooks for years, but I wasn't able to figure out how to organize them or what to include in them.  I wanted a way to keep my students' responses in one place, but I wasn't for certain how to use Reading Notebooks for an exact purpose. 

This summer I received training in the Balanced Literacy framework from Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. I spent time on Pinterest and reading other teaching blogs. I compiled my ideas and combined them all together into a template that meets my teaching needs. This is the Reading Notebook I have designed for my students to use.  They actively use it and so far so good!

 

I organized it into 3 sections: Independent, Read Aloud, Minilesson. Students put their jottings on sticky notes in the Independent section after they finish a book. They put the book title at the top of the page and then the jottings underneath. During Read Alouds students can stop and jot, stop and sketch, make predictions, and record other responses. In the minilesson section I can have students draw Thinking Maps to display information about the book, they can glue templates for activities, or they can write responses or questions.

 

This library pocket is on the inside back over. Partners can write notes to each other about their books. They can also put questions in there. I also use this pocket as a way to differentiate between the two literacy blocks that I teach.  My inclusion block does not have this pocket in their Reading Notebooks.

 

This pocket is on the inside front cover.  If students see a book they want to read but someone else has it they can write it down and put it in the pocket. The student's reading level is also written on the pocket.

 

As the culminating lesson of Unit 1 "Building a Reading Life" in Lucy Calkins' Reading Workshop, students decorated their Reading Notebooks to reflect their new reading lives. They used clip art, photos from home, and old Scholastic book order forms!

 

They listed their favorite book topics.

 

 

fluency tips

 

student self-assessment and goals foldable in the independent section of the notebook

 

 

empathy and envision reminders in the minilesson section

 

high five retelling in the minilesson section

 

envisioning jotting in the read aloud section

 

well, the spelling needs work, but these are jottings in the minilesson section after learning how to revise a mental movie after reflecting on characters' actions

 

 

I used a story wheel during one of my read aloud lessons and afterwards these students sat in front of the anchor chart and recorded one of their own in the Reading Notebooks in the read aloud section. I got the story wheel lesson from the Better Lesson website (click here to visit this extremely resourceful site).

 

 

During our character study students added a list of character traits to the minilesson section.  They also added the template for a biopoem--a more rigorous way of describing a character.

 

I will add more details and photos from our Reading Notebooks as the year progresses.

 

Various Anchor Charts

I don't really have a detailed post--just some pictures of anchor charts that you may want to use in your Reading Workshop or Writing Workshop. I created these charts based on the Lucy Calkins' books, Pinterest, and the Being a Writer program.