Field Trip to the ZOO!

Last Friday we went on our annual field trip to the zoo. It went really well. We didn't lose anyone, no one was afraid of the automatic flushing toilets this year, we didn't freeze to death, (this year we decided to go in the fall instead of spring) and I only had one child whine and follow me around the entire trip. I'd say it was pretty successful! I had the kiddos do a little writing activity so I can put it up in the hall for parent conferences this week. After I take it down, I'll put the pages together for a class booklet. Click on the picture for a PDF of the booklet page. The graphic are from Scrappin Doodles!

Reading Prescriptions for Parents

Yeah! Parent Conferences are this week. Does any one dread it as much as I do? Just kidding! Once I get started it's okay. It's just all the preparation before and disappointment when the parents I really need to talk to don't show. I've been getting every thing ready this weekend and I think I'm just about there. Parents always want to know what kind of reader their kids are and how they can help them at home, so a few years ago my team and I put this information sheet together for the different levels of readers. I love it! Now all I have to do is go in and type the child's name twice on the paper and put in the correct DRA level the kiddo passed at the beginning of the year and print it. Parents LOVE it! Our district gives the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) but I'm sure the levels are close to other testing instruments. Just click on the example to download a PDF. I've included a boy or girl letter for levels 1-2, 3-4, 6-8-10, and 12-14-16. I hope this can be of help to someone!

Busy Week

It's been a busy week with District literacy training, Professional Development training, and a field trip to the zoo. I am also getting ready for parent conferences next week. But actually isn't EVERY week busy? This week I did a new lesson about CHOOSING JUST RIGHT BOOKS. It went so well! While surfing the web this summer, I found a new idea to teach choosing just right books. I feel bad I can't tell you the site or give credit where credit is due. I don't know if anyone is like me but I read and see things and then weeks later an idea develops in my brain from what I saw weeks before. That's how it was with this idea. The teacher had 3 different sized t-shirts, very small, medium, and too big and compared them to shopping for books and finding the right fit. I had one of my boys come up and I handed him the very small shirt and asked the kids if this was a good fit for him. They thought is was funny. Then I held up the too big shirt and asked the same question. We even had him try this shirt on. No way did it fit. Then I brought out the medium- just right shirt! Yes way, perfect fit. Next we compared shopping for shirts to shopping for books for us to read. The kiddos decided they needed to shop more carefully for their books. We then made anchor charts for too easy, too hard, and just right books. I must admit I haven't had any low readers picking up Junie B. Jones books and telling me they can read it. I hope that continues. Here's a picture of our charts. If you're wondering why I have two different boys with the shirts it's because I taught the lesson twice-once to my morning small literacy group and again to my afternoon group. We have staggered starting schedules.

 Here is my graph of the week. It's about our families. Click on the picture for a PDF.

New Game!

FILL THE BAG GAME -ill word family 

I have several students this year that are just below or barely at grade level in reading. So they need a lot of practice with the word families. Here's a fast, new game I made last night to practice reading the -ill family words for this week. I also printed it on white cardstock and there are 2 on the page. Click on the picture for a PDF.

More Math

We are working on several things in math from ten frames to comparing numbers to one more one less to subitizing and graphs. Sometimes it feels like I'm going in a million different directions. I'm sure none of you EVER feel that way. Our district is big on differentiation and teaching to every student's level. So I've taken an idea from Math Investigations and made it for 2 levels in my classroom. It's called Ordering Numbers. Investigations has the kids pick number cards from 1-10 and put in order from least to greatest. All my kids can do it. So I've created new cards 1-30 and 1-99 and a new recording sheet. Some of mine firsties are stuck in the 1-30 spot and some are beyond that. Hopefully, these new cards will help the low ones move up and challenge the high kiddos. Click on the picture for a PDF if you'd like to try it with your kids.

 Here is my graph for this week. The kids are really doing well with graphing and they really seem to enjoy learning about each other through the graph questions.

Visualizing

We have been working on visualizing. I love finding books that help teach this. Here are a few of my favorites. If you click on the picture of the book it will link you to Amazon.com where you can find more information.

I like to introduce the concept by reading the first part of "The Gruffalo" by Julia Donaldson. I don't show the book to the kids and stop in the middle and have them draw a picture of what they think a gruffalo looks like. The book gives a great description and it's fun to see what the kiddos are visualizing.

There is also a sequel called "The Gruffalo's Child" that is just as fun and you can carry on the theme of visualizing.

Another favorite book is "Just Another Ordinary Day" by Rod Clement. I also hide the cover of this book from the students. I read through the book and we talk about what they are visualizing. Then I read the book again and show them the pictures. They LOVE it because it is not anything like they had visualized!

Next we read, Shark in the Park by Nick Sharratt. A little boy named Timothy Pope goes to the park with his new telescope. It's a fun book because the pages have a die-cut hole that zeros in on what he thinks is shark's fin but a turn of the page gives the big picture.

I share the book "Max's Words" by Kate Banks with my kids. It's a fun book for visualizing because it shows some visualizing by the characters as they begin to make up a story. I also like this book when I begin my Writer's Workshop. It teaches the importance of letters, words, and sentences and how together they can create a story for others to read.

One of my favorites is "Gooney Bird Greene" by Lois Lowery. I start this chapter book the middle of September because I like to use it for several teaching purposes. One is for visualizing. Ms. Lowery describes the feisty, friendly character Gooney Bird and the fun outfits she wears to school. It's fun to have the firsties talk about what they think she looks like before you show them the picture. I also use this book to launch my Writer's Workshop. Gooney Bird teaches her second grade class where they can get ideas for their own stories. It's a great way to get kids thinking about where they can find their own stories and what they can write about.

I'd love to hear what good books you use to teach visualizing. Happy Reading!

(Note: This post contains my Amazon Associates link)

Writing

Last night my football team got creamed by our arch rival. It was terrible to watch so I turned to my computer and did a little creating. But I still love my BYU Cougars even if they did have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, game! Anyhow, I made three things last night I want to share. I have a dear friend Fredia, (you can check  out her blog at Frogs in First) she told me about a cool font called ABC Print. I searched the web and found it for FREE! I love free! There are a few versions of it. One is with the numbered directions, another with dotted lines on lines and another dotted lines without lines. That probably didn't make any sense, you'll just have to check it out. Anyhow, I have a student who needs help with her handwriting. I can barely read her name when she writes it. So I made her a practice sheet with this cool new font. I'm going to have my aide work with her. There are so many possibilities with this cool font. You could do sight words, spelling words, word families and so on. Our aides would love it for their EMK kits. Here is my practice sheet to give you an example.

Also, I'm getting ready to launch my Writer's Workshop. I made these labels to put in their folders. I printed them on Avery labels 5163. I have 3 pronged folders with pockets in the front and back. I place the GO label on the front pocket. This is where they put the writing pieces they are working on. I place the STOP label on the back pocket. This is where the pieces go that they have finished. Hopefully, this will work better than just a red and green dot.

I will also give my kids a copy of "What Can I Write About" to put in the folder so they can look at it for ideas. Most of the clipart it from DJ Inkers.