Tag: reading

Summertime Madness: Catching Students up Post Pandemic

Summertime Madness: Catching Students up Post Pandemic

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A cozy, brightly lit, cluttered libraray

Welcome back friends! Another day, another blog post coming at you! I bet most of you, like John and I, are sprinting towards the finish line when it comes to school ending in a few short weeks. This year has been an upheaval of insanity to say the least. We are so thankful for the community we’ve created over here on @theteacherteam blog, and we are here for all of you. COVID has presented many challenges, changes, and turmoil for everyone. For those who are struggling, pushing forward, or healing, just know our thoughts are with you as well as our hugs! read more

Reading for Fun, the New Pastime

Reading for Fun, the New Pastime

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Changing the Narrative: How to encourage your students to read for fun and enjoy it

Hey there friends! John and I are here with another blog post we thought you’d enjoy. It’s good to be back, and we’re excited to share with you a new series on @theteacherteam blog! This new series is called Changing the Narrative and we will be discussing a variety of topics dedicated to creating a new, positive outlook for students, educators, and parents alike. read more

Small Groups- “Word Work” (Part 3)

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Congratulations! You’ve finally got your small group framework nailed down (see blog post Part 1) and now it’s time to focus on the rotation of “Word Work”. This the time when a group is working on things such as grammar, vocabulary, spelling, mechanics, or conventions while you are pulling your small group and working with them.

There are many ways you can use this “Word Work” time to help students become successful in literacy and gain confidence in English Language Arts.

If you’re not sure where to start, have no fear! Our TPT friends, “Wise Guys”, can help you out. Here’s a word work resource they’ve developed for 3rd through 5th grades:

 

First, make sure that your students are able to work independently from you. You can have their group sit together, or if it’s an independent activity, they can choose where they sit; that’s up to you:)

Here are some of the “Word Work” categories that can be learned and practiced during your “Word Work” rotation:

  • Spelling Words
  • Sight Words/High Frequency Words
  • Vocabulary from your story, social studies, or science
  • Grammar/Mechanics/Conventions

For your spelling words, there are countless ideas for students to practice their spelling words. First, make some spelling cards. This is so students know what their words are and are written larger than words in a list on a piece of paper. The cards don’t need to be fancy, they can be made on sentence strips, creatively made on the computer, or student generated.  Here is a list of activities that we’ve developed over time that are fun ways for students to practice their spelling words:

If you are a K-2 teacher, you are probably teaching sight words. These are also known as high frequency words. Here is a free product created by “Pages of Grace Teaching” that will give you some ideas: 

As you know, there are as many vocabulary activities and ways to learn the meaning of words as there are teachers. Since listening and speaking are important strands within the subject English Language Arts, the “Guessing Game” is always an engaging way for students to learn their words. One partner gives clues for the word using complete sentences, and the other has to guess the word. Here is a tiny list of other things you can do with vocabulary word cards:

The last category is having students practice grammar, mechanics, or conventions. Students need to learn and use capitals, quotation marks, and punctuation correctly. One way teachers in our district have learned to have students practice grammar is a practice called “Invitational Grammar”. It is a strategy developed by Jeff Anderson, a “guru” on grammar and editing. He suggested a practice like this:

  • find a “mentor sentence” or “mentor paragraph” that is displayed for your student. It should come from text that you are currently reading, such as your current story, science, or social studies books. It can also come from a news article or current event passage. You are choosing a text that has CORRECT PUNCTUATION. We have over the years displayed a sentence that is incorrect and we ask students to find the errors. Some research has shown that we are actually imprinting incorrect grammar onto student brains, which is not what we want to do. We need to display a well-written sentence or paragraph.
  • “Invitation to Notice”- Ask students what they notice about the sentence.
  • “Invitation to Compare or Contrast”- Teacher displays a sentence that is “teacher written” that follows the same type of pattern as the mentor text,  and puts it next to the mentor text. Invite students to compare and contrast the two.
  • “Invitation to Imitate”- Ask students to see if they can write their own sentences with elements or patterns that they see in the sentence.
  • “Invitation to Celebrate”- Display the newly written sentences created by the students.

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    Small Groups- “Read To Someone” (Part 2)

    Small Groups- “Read To Someone” (Part 2)

    John & CarolLeave a Reply

    So you’ve finally managed to get your small groups running and students are working independently from you, but what do you do now? What do students work on and how do I chose? What resources do you use for each rotation? Here are some ideas to help you simplify your planning for your small group rotations. We’ll start this week on the “Read to Someone” rotation:

  • One way to begin is to use the story or book you are already reading in your class. Are you using a mandated curriculum such as Journeys or Reading Street? If so, use the story of the week. If not, use the story or book of your choice for your whole class to read.

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    Small Groups- “Help meeeee!” (Part 1)

    Small Groups- “Help meeeee!” (Part 1)

    John & CarolLeave a Reply

    Ever wanted to pull small groups of students in your classroom but don’t know where to begin?  There are many methods used to groups students and have them work together, but one method I’ve used that really works is Daily 5.

    I’ve used it in my classrooms and have helped my teacher friends implement it into their classrooms too. I have not however implemented Daily 5 with fidelity. My version of Daily 5 is in no way identical to how “The Sisters” implement it, but I read the book and the model I use is very much based on their book. I read it several years ago and it is the basis of the grouping of students to work on their own, stay on task, and allow time for the teacher to work with individual and groups of students.

     

    Daily 5 was developed by “The Sisters,” Gail Boushey (left) and Joan Moser (right) who developed a systematic way of teaching students how to become independent learners to improve their own literacy. Once students are able to work independent of the teacher, the teacher is able to work with small groups to help build skills and extend learning.

    I do a very expedited process of Daily 5 implementation.  It has worked in the classrooms that I’ve taught in thus far, and you may need to slow down your process, but the method would remain the same.

    The first thing to do is to group your students. You can create as many groups as you need or want, but grouping in even numbers has worked for me because in some rotations they work with “buddies”, so an even number of students has worked for me.

    I have use leveled groups with similar abilities. That way you can meet with your struggling student groups more often than your higher ability students. Groups of four or six would be ideal.

    To group my students I use data; each teacher, district, or state uses different local assessments, so whether you are using informal assessment or more formal assessments, use data to group your students.

     

    Once you have groups, post the groups so students can see their group. You can use color groups, animal groups, states, countries, or any other group. It is fun to tie in your unit of science or social studies to name your groups in order to give each group an identity. You may want your students to “bond” in their group initially to become aware of group members, and they may want to make a group “mascot” to hang in the classroom or put on desks.

    Once grouped, bring the students to you (to the carpet or in close proximity to you)  and explain “the why?”. Why are we suddenly being put into groups? Why is it important? What are the benefits. If students know why they are doing something, more focused and engaged they will be.

    Explain that there are many benefits to them once you begin Daily 5:

    • They get to do different activities or “rotations” each day.
    • They get to choose where they want to sit in certain rotations.
    • They get to meet with the teacher to get special attention.
    • They learn how to “learn” independent of the teacher so they will become independent, life-long learners.

    The next step in the process is practicing how to work in these rotations without becoming off task, misbehaving, etc. This requires PRACTICE, PRACTICE, and more PRACTICE. The time this takes has many variables because of different grade levels, your current classroom management style, how dependent your students are, and if you have students with behavior challenges.

    Students will practice getting up from the carpet, and going to their group’s activity (rotation).  The “Read it Self” group in my classroom brings their “best fit book” (more description in the Daily 5 book) and are allowed to move anywhere in the classroom that they would like to read it. My rule is that I have to be able to see them from my “Teacher Table”.

    Here are the rotations I use in my classrooms where I model my version of Daily 5, but there are many more variations:

    • Read to Self
    • Read to Someone
    • Work on Writing
    • Word Work
    • Technology

    We found these AMAZING pocket chart group cards on Teachers Pay Teachers…. Wait for it…. For FREE from an Super Fantastic Seller named Mrs. Jones’ Creation Station. Here’s the link for these Daily 5 Editable Cards:

    https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/FreeDownload/Daily-Five-Class-Management-System-FREEBIE

     

    Here’s her store to find more amazing products:

    https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mrs-Jones-Creation-Station read more