A Review of The Complete Common Core Standards Kit

Last week, I purchased the Carson Dellosa Common Core Standards Kits for grades 4 and 5.   Since I purchased the kits, obviously this is not a sponsored post.  All thoughts are my own.

In my district, we haven't had to post the standards . . . up until now!  This coming school year, we've been told the standards must be posted in the classroom.  It's caused a mini kerfuffle, but to be honest I don't have a problem with it.  Yes, it is more work for the teacher.  It's another job to do each day, and goodness knows there isn't any teacher that needs yet another thing to do in the school day.  However, I think the most effective teaching is focused teaching.  Not that we can't embrace those teachable moments, but it is important to know exactly what my goal is as a teacher for that lesson.  It's also important for our friends to know why they are doing the work assigned and need to participate in the lesson being given.  I find this particularly true in the upper grades.  From enrichment students to basic skills students, when they know the end game they are often more willing to do the work.  So, posting the standards seems to be a natural part of that process.  Since I wasn't thrilled with the idea of having to write the standards every day, I went looking for something to make this task a bit easier.  That's where the Carson Dellosa kit comes in.

Before I begin, let's take a look at what Carson Dellosa  (CD) has to say about them.

So, that gives you the basics:  

• The kit contains all the Math and ELA standards for the grade level. 
• Each card contains the original standard on one side and a kid friendly "I can" statement of the standard on the back.
• The kit is organized by the different standard sections.  Each section comes with its own divider to keep it all organized.

Here are a few pictures from the kits I purchased.  Sorry the pictures kind of mess with my blog layout, but I wanted them to be big so you could easily read them.

Here are the boxed cards and a view of some math dividers.

Here is a picture of two math standards with the kid-friendly "I can" 

versions of the same standards in the picture below.

 Here is an example of three ELA standards and their kid-friendly versions.

Pro:  I like that the standards are organized and sorted with dividers.

Con:  I wish they had included a typed page of all the standards with the "I can" statement under it for a quick reference.  It would be easier to look at that and then know exactly what card you want to pull instead of having to sift through the cards.  Now, if you are really familiar with all the standards this won't be a problem.  But, for those still getting to know them all, it will be a bit of a hunt for the card you want.

Pro:  Each card is about the size of a 12 inch sentence strip.  Small enough to not take up a ton of space on your walls.

Con:  That pro is actually more of a con for me personally.  They are a bit on the small side.  In their video, CD comments that they purposely made them this size so that they don't take up too much wall space in your classroom.  If you plan to use them to have the standards posted in your room because you are required to, then they're great as is.  It does that job.  However, if you want them to be something you can refer to, that your friend can see, know that there is no way you or your friends will be able to read them once you step a few feet away.  I actually did a post a while ago that asked us to consider how effective are the posters we hang in our classroom.  Unless you are up close to these cards, they can be difficult to read.

Pro:  So, let's turn the pro that became a con back to a pro!  These cards are perfect for posting next to your meeting table.  They would be easily read by the friends seated at the table.  You can even pull the standard card that is the focus of your small group lesson and put it right on the table.

I really didn't find any other cons, but here are a few more pros:

Pro:  The kid versions of the cards not only help the students, they can be a big help to the teacher.  Keep it simple silly!  I have to admit that I have read one or two of the standards and had to think hard about what it really meant.  Having it translated on the other side in kid talk makes it easily understandable for us all!  Also many of the standards, while not hard to understand, are lengthy.  If you look at the math standard 4.NBT.2 in the pictures above, you can see how they easily summarize a lengthy standard in to a simple sentence.  They have done a nice job "translating" the standards.

Pro:  The cards are sturdy.  They have a card stock-like feel and are laminated.  These will last a while. Also, since they are laminated you can easily use a dry or wet erase marker to highlight or underline key words in a standard.

Pro:  They're moderately priced.  Each box on the CD site sells for $19.99.  The teacher store I saw them in didn't have the grades I needed so, since I had a gift card, I went on Amazon to see if they had them.  I was actually able to get each kit for $16.52 with free shipping.  Amazon prices change from time to time, so I can't promise you it will be that price, but it's worth checking out.  The kit does not come with the pocket chart.

So, am I happy with my purchase?  

Yes, I think all the pros outweigh the few cons.

Interestingly, I couldn't find any upper grade bloggers who have reviewed this product.  There were a few from the K-2 grades, so I've included their links below if you want some more thoughts.  They also seem to like the kits.

• Time 4 Kindergarten
• The Schroeder Page (2nd Grade)
• Learning with Mrs. Parker (Kindergarten)
• Krissy's Kindergarten

If you have and use the kit, please feel free to tell us about it in the comments or link to your blog post in the comments.  Or, just comment?  What do you think?  Is this a product you could use?  Do you have another way of posting your standards?

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On another note, check out what a library the next town over from me did to their side lawn.

How awesome is that?  

They are going to plant different colored flowers in each letter.  

Wouldn't that be great outside of a school?

Gifts and Shopping

So, no posts for a while.  I've been busy teaching with all the end of the year craziness thrown in!  Today, June 27th, was my last day of school.  I don't think they could have kept us in any longer if they tried! Having a heatwave the last week of school didn't make it much fun.

It was odd to visit all my different classes to say good-bye to my friends today.  Usually, I make an end of year gift for them, but this year I had over 75 students.  I did get ice pops for all my classes, because did I mention it was 90+ degrees this week as we toiled away in second floor classrooms with no air conditioning?!  A cool treat in the afternoon was very much appreciated by all.

One of my 4th grade classes did receive a little something.  It was the class in which I teach two subjects and spend a good part of  my day with.  I decided on a fun gift for summer - Super Bouncy Balls!

I was able to find super bouncy balls that were about the size of tennis balls at Five Below.  They came in a bunch of colors and patterns.  Each was put in a cellophane bag, tied with some curling ribbon.  Then, I printed out a poem I had tweaked, printed it on some card stock, and stapled one to each bag.  It was actually much easier and faster to do than it sounds.  I'm happy to say that the kids loved them.  I think this could easily be a back to school gift with a card saying, "We are going to have a ball learning together this year!"

As I sit here tonight, I have to say I am so glad to be on summer vacation even though I'm teaching summer school again.  This summer  I will be working with friends who are moving from third to fourth grade  in September.  I have exactly three free days until I go in on July 1st to decorate my air conditioned (Thanks Goodness!) room.  I went with a star theme this summer.

I had a lot of this in my closet, but I did run to a local teacher store to pick up a couple of things.  Of course, it's never a clean get-away when I go into a teacher store.  I've had my eye on a new product by Carson-Dellosa.  They have put out a common core standards kit for each grade level that has kid friendly "I can" statements for all the standards. 

picture source

I purchased the fourth and fifth grade versions and am planning to do a full review for you, most likely posting this Saturday or Sunday. I've been doing a lot of thinking on how this can best be used in the classroom.

For now, I'm off to enjoy what is left of my first night of summer vacation!  See you on the weekend!

Sidewalk Chalk Math & I'm Flattered!

Two of my fourth grade classes are taking a math test on Friday.  We thought today we would do a fun review.   This means going outside for sidewalk chalk math!  I should mention that we are having a mini heatwave.  The temp outside today was 93.  My partner teacher and I were tempted to stay inside and revise our plans, but it turned out to be cooler outside in the shade and breeze than it was in our NOT air conditioned classroom.  I'm not sure I'm going to make it to June 27th if this heat keeps up!

Sidewalk chalk math is something I have done with my students every year once the weather gets nice.  It involves getting a bucket of sidewalk chalk and a math page covering the skills of your choice.  We paired up the kids, and took them out to the shady area of the blacktop behind our school.  The kids solved the review sheet by showing all their work on the blacktop.  Simple!

Yes, there are two #4s on the sheet.  

Oops!  

We just penciled in an A and a B. 

Problem solved!

My other class was unable to go outside, so we just switched it up a bit.  Sidewalk chalk math became magic marker math.  This time I gave each friend some chart paper and two markers.  They solved all the problem on the chart paper using magic markers.  Turns out it was just as fun as sidewalk chalk math and a lot less messy!  In the past, I've actually done math this way on occasion and it is amazing how a couple of smelly markers and big chart paper that's all your own to write on will immediately engage your friends.

This is actually a good way to do on-the-spot assessment.  No student was given a red magic marker.  Red just happened to be the teacher color marker today, but it could be any color that your friends don't use.  I know some teachers don't like the whole "red pen" thing.  Having a color maker the kids didn't have allowed my partner teacher and I to wander the room and put a big check, C, or star on each problem answered correctly. As we walked, we could easily see the red and know right away who needed checking.

If we saw a friend struggling with something, we were able to crouch down and provide a little one-on-one instruction.  As this was a mixed review for a test, it enabled us to really focus in on those that needed specific help with specific skills. I mention that I did this with a partner teacher, but it is very manageable with only one teacher in the room.  I have done it that way many times.

I guess the point of this post is to show that just switching things up a bit by changing the scenery, method, etc. can make a huge difference in student engagement.  All my friends in both classes were practicing finding the volume of prisms, identifying faces, edges, and vertices, working with positive and negative integers, and much more.  All my friend were actively engaged and very receptive to help.   What they didn't do was complain that we had a math review or lay their heads on the desk and complain about the crazy hot temps in our classroom. Everyone actively participated, prepared for the test, and nobody complained.   I consider this a success!  How do you switch things up in the classroom?

And, then this happened. . . 

A few months ago I was interviewed for an article in the Summer 2013 issue of  Scholastic's Instructor magazine.  I had done a post a while back giving some tips on how to pack up your classroom for the end of the year that got a little notice. Written by Julia Martin, the article is called 10 Tips for Packing Up Your Classroom.  I was happy (and beyond flattered!) to contribute some of my thoughts.  It was nice to see some of my ideas in print in a magazine I actually subscribe to. The article includes many more great idea by other teachers that I totally plan to borrow!  If you get a chance, click the link above and give it a read! 

Thank you, Scholastic!

By the way, Scholastic's Teacher express has extended their Dollar Days sale for two more days.  So, obviously the sale ends two days from the date of this post.  If you aren't familiar with their Dollar Day sale, take a look.  They provide a ton of different teacher resource ebooks that you can purchase for just $1.  They are digital downloads of the actual books you would normally buy and use as black line masters, etc.  It's a great way to gather some new resources without cluttering up your bookshelves.  Click HERE to visit their sale page.  You can browse by grade level.

*This is not a sponsored post in any way.  I would have told you all about the Scholastic Dollar Days sale even if they hadn't included me in their magazine.  I am sure they don't even know I have posted about it!  But, it is too good a sale to not share with you! 

Close Reading - Scratching the Surface

As a member of the International Reading Association, each month I receive a copy of their journal The Reading Teacher.  If I had to name one professional journal that most impacts my teaching and thinking, this would be the one.  Perhaps one of my favorite issues is from November 2012.  It was replete with articles that directly relate to what I am doing in the classroom. I find myself going back to this issue and rereading often.  I thought I would share some information and thoughts I had on a couple that were particularly relevant.  Today, I'm thinking about the article Close Reading in Elementary School by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey.
                                      

picture source

The article defines close reading as, "an instructional routine in which students critically examine a text, especially through repeated readings."  Until the common core put a spotlight on the importance of comprehension of complicated texts, I'm not sure how many of us were doing it in this manner.  We certainly have our students go back and reread to locate information, confirm predictions, etc.  However, I don't think the strategy of rereading a text in its totality two or three times to make meaning and synthesize their thinking is used regularly in elementary classes.

Fisher and Frey make a lot of compelling points in the article and if you were looking for more information on why you should and how you can incorporate close reading in your class, I would recommend reading the article. I've provided a few thoughts on some of what stuck with me.

Use short, complex passages for close reading.  Immediately, I thought of the social studies and science text books we use that have pages and pages of complex text that we often expect our students to understand with one reading.  If we took the most significant passage from that text and used it in a close reading lesson, it would provide our students the opportunity to know, not just read,  the information.  They would be making meaning in a purposeful way that actually makes sense to the student.  Using those content subject texts in reading is a great cross-curricular way to teach more material. However  the texts need to be complex and short.  If it is something they can understand in a single reading, it is not something to use in close reading.  It needs to be short so that enough information is given, but students are not overloaded.  It also needs to be manageable for rereading in a timely manner.

Limit the Frontloading.  This really made me think.  Don't we always want to activate schema prior to reading?  Don't we sometimes provide anticipatory sets to help preview the material?  Don't we often explain unknown and difficult vocabulary prior to reading?  This idea of not providing this type of support to the nth degree prior to reading was something to think about.  Fisher and Frey make the point that sometimes we can  provide too much information.  Ideally, we might highlight really obscure reference or vocabulary, but we don't need to prepare them so much that we almost remove the need to read the text.

Another reason Fisher and Frey like the idea of limiting the frontloading is that our students will often hijack (my word, not theirs!) the introduction you provide with connections to personal experiences that actually take away from the text.  So true!  If we are going to talk about Florida, when introducing the topic I know I would have four different students telling me how they rode a horse on vacation in Florida and went really fast or how they went to Disney and rode a roller coaster. That's all fine and well, but if my intent is to teach about the climate of Florida my students are not really making relevant connections.If connections are made after an initial reading of the text once the child has more information, chances are the connections will be more relevant and become even more so after repeated readings. Also, in my frontloading, if they are going to run into the unknown word of humid, rather than tell them what the word means I could just say be on the lookout for this word and see if you can figure out what it means.  I may need to explain the word after one reading, but it just may be that I don't.  That they were able to figure it out requires the application of reading skills, and I didn't remove that learning experience by telling them.

Guide the readings with text-dependent questions.  Fisher and Frey write that these questions are "specifically focused on the text and allowed students to consider evidence from the text."  I believe this is a critical component of close reading.  The article goes on to give six different categories of text-dependent questions: general understanding, key detail, vocabulary and text structure, author's purpose, inferential, and opinion/intertextual question.  For examples of each, you should read the article.  It explains how to use them across all grade levels.

One reason I found this to be a critical component because it directly relates to the standardized tests our students take.  If they are to do well on these tests, they must have the experience, skills, and knowledge of how to answer text dependent questions.  Practicing with shorter passages that your have had a chance to reread is a great way to practice this skill.  But more importantly, using text-dependent questions to guide student reading and thinking provides that scaffolding, that focus that our students need to make meaning of more complex texts.

Read with a pencil!  I know I've posted before on how my students are taught to annotate text as they read. I've even gone so far as to have custom ordered sticky notes to help guide my more struggling readers.  If you could see my copy The Reading Teacher, you would see that the articles are all marked up.  I underline important information, I circle words I don't know, I make notes next to the text, I write down questions I have while reading.  It's not something I think about.  I do it automatically because I know it helps me to understand the text.  My notations guide me in rereading the text to areas I didn't understand, or help me locate information I know is important.  Well, isn't that what we want our students to be able to do? It's a learned practice that can easily begin in the elementary classroom.


While I've shared some thoughts on the close reading article, there is much more to it than I have mentioned.  Please read the article if you have the opportunity.  It is well worth the read.  What I have here barely scratches the surface on close reading.  If you want more information, below are a few links I like:

• Here are two short videos, part 1 & 2, by Douglas Fisher himself.  He explains a bit more about close reading and CCS.  They run about three minutes each.

Part 1

Part 2

• Educational Leadership, a journal published by the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, has a very nice article called Closing in on Close Reading that further explains the concept and provides examples of questioning.  You can see the article by clicking HERE.

• Here is a video introduced by Lucy Calkins that shows the close reading of a non-fiction read aloud in a 4th grade classroom.  Now, what happens in this text differs somewhat from the type/style of close reading given in the Fisher and Frey article.  Students do not have a copy of the text as it is a read aloud, and students are provided with other texts and maps to help them synthesize the information.  One of the things I like about the video is the accountable talk the teacher requires of the students   She does ask them several text dependent questions and the students comments and answers are all relevant.  This video runs about ten minutes.   Click HERE for this video.  For some reason I couldn't embed it.  (For those of you who viewed this post earlier, please note this link has been edited.  I initially had a different video linked.  It wasn't until after I posted that I realized it wasn't the exact one I had meant to link to.)

• Of course, there always Pinterest!  THIS LINK will take you to their page of Close Reading Boards.  If you know Pinterest, you know anyone can pin anything so I can't verify how reliable the information is.  However, more often than not I find some very reputable links and great ideas.

Are you using close reading in your classroom?  

Any thoughts on the topic?

HAPPY TEACHER APPRECIATION DAY!

(picture source)

The Most Important Conversation: Teaching the Use of Dialog in Writing

One of the things I miss most this school year has been teaching writing.  My day is spent in either guided reading groups or small supplemental groups for math and reading.  Rarely, do I get to focus with students on their writing skills. I am surprised at how much I miss teaching it.  

However, I was talking to one of my colleagues the other day regarding some trouble she was having getting her students to include dialog in their writing.  After talking about it for a bit, I was able to offer an idea that has worked really well for me in the past.  I thought I would share it with you.

The problems with dialog in student writing can be many:

• It's fluff.  They simply write dialog that does not contribute to the piece in any real way.
• It's overused.  There is dialog everywhere!  Sections that could/should be narrative are turned into dialog. Or, everyone is talking all the time!
• It's underused..  They can reach an important point in the story where dialog would enhance the mood, convey emotion, build background, or provide information to the reader in an interesting way but they don't include it.  Yet, there might be really ineffective use of dialog at another point in the story.
• It's not used at all.  I have often read stories with the most interesting characters and shocking events and yet never a word is uttered.

One way to help a student to effectively incorporating dialog is to focus them on what I call "The Most Important Conversation."  I sit with a friend and ask him/her, "If two characters could only speak to each other once in this story, what is the most important thing they would talk about?  What is a conversation they would just have to have with each other? What is it they simply must talk about?"

This important conversation will usually happen at a story point that either takes place in the beginning (to set up the story or build background for the story), at the climax (discussion of that amazing thing that just happened), or at the very end (where they wrap it up.)  If your friend is having trouble identifying where to place the conversation, point out a part in the story where something interesting happens and ask what the main characters would say to each other about it.  Sometimes I have even resorted to role playing where we both pretend to be a character and talk to each other about the story event.

I should mention that prior to this, I have found it helpful to first give my friends a mini lesson on why and when we include dialog. Sit down with your class and make an anchor chart that lists the ways dialog can enhance a story, such as set a mood, advance the plot, provide background to the story, show a character's feelings, etc.   Then, read them some examples from books they know.  I promise they will get it!

After some more discussion to flesh out who will have the conversation, when in the story it happens, and what it will be about, I give my friends one of the sheets below. There are two depending on the writer's ability.  Some will stick to basic dialog while others will write more involved dialog and need more space.   I usually copy the same sheet two sided so they aren't too limited on the length of the conversation.  I then send them off to write this conversation.  Having an organizer like the one below has been very helpful to my friends.  It helps them with the flow of the conversation between the characters.

Once they have the conversation written, we incorporate it into the story.  Now, depending on how much your friends know about dialog you may or may not have to go in and work on tags.  Great time for a lesson on not overusing said and using dialog tags to convey character's feelings.

Essentially, by focusing on the most important conversation, you are teaching your friends that dialog has purpose and can be a powerful tool for a writer.  It's not just put in a writing piece because the teacher says you should or we know it will get us a better score on a state test! Focusing on the most important lesson address all those problems I bulleted at the beginning.  It takes the fluff dialog out of the piece, limits the overuse or under-use of dialog to that one important conversation, and for those that never include dialog at all, it's a first step.

I've included a link HERE WHERE YOU CAN DOWNLOAD AND PRINT THE DIALOG SHEETS SHOWN ABOVE.  Of course, you don't need the sheets to do this.  I just find having the two types of speech bubbles helps to keep my friends visually organized on the flow of the conversation.  

By the way, I included a credit page on the download.  But, just in case you were wondering, the speech bubbles are by by Dancing Crayon Designs  (www.DancingCrayon.com) and the chevron background is from  Designed by Coffee, Kids and Compulsive Lists (http://coffeekidsandcompulsivelists.blogspot.com.au/)  

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On another note,

 I have this little list I keep of experiences that remind me

 "You know you're a teacher when. . . "  

Here's one!

Questions About Anecdotal Records in Reading

I am in the process of putting together a tutorial of sorts on how to take and use anecdotal records during reader's workshop.  It is something that is somewhat new to many of my super teacher colleagues and has generated a lot of questions. 

Some of the big questions I have heard are:

 

What exactly should I be writing down?

When should I be taking notes?

How do I take notes on a whole group?

What do I do with those notes?

How do I translate my notes into grades?

 

picture source

 

These are all really important and valid questions, and I do have definite answers for them.  My position on these questions is based on what I know has worked well for me and what are best practices.  However, I have to combine that with the constraints of the reading instruction implementation and assessment expectations within my district to provide something that helps my super teacher colleagues. 

The answers to some of those questions can vary slightly depending on the constraints of your district.  For example, mine does not yet use a standards based report card.  So, the question regarding the translation of notes into grades may be answered differently for us than it would be in a district using a standards based report card.  If you even believe the notes should be used for summative grading purposes!  Personally, I fall firmly in the formative category but as I noted, we must all work within the parameters of our district's implementation.

One of my definite positions on the topic is that I believe tying your notes to the CCCS is a must.  I have not seen a whole lot out there that does this.  If we are using the standards to delineate what our students need to achieve, how can we not use them to guide us on instruction and assessment?  Using the CCCS to assist in taking anecdotal records is just one part of the tutorial I am working on.  I've also been doing a lot of professional reading on the topic.  Once I finish putting it all together, my plan is to share it all with you here. No date on that yet, as I am still in the beginning "work in progress" stage, but it will probably be at the end of the summer.

However, before I pull all this together, I would love to hear some thinking outside of my district. There are so many different methods and forms for taking notes and so many varied ways to use them. It can be very easy to become overwhelmed by all the note taking. I would love a better idea of what struggles and success others have had when it comes to anecdotal records in reading. 

If  you have a minute, please take a few and let me know what your struggles and success have been with anecdotal records in the comment section.  Please feel free to let your comments be a long as they need to be!  I know this is a broad topic, and I truly appreciate the time you take in offering your thoughts. 

Random Thoughts on a Random Day

Lots of random thoughts today on lots of random topics. . .


I went on an "I-am-bored-so-let's-go-to-Target-and-spend-money-on-random-things-I-don't-really-need" shopping trip.  You know those dollar bins they have in the front of the store?  Well, I found these gems on the right.  Orange, yellow, pink, and red striped magazine files.  Too cute!  They don't exactly match the cute striped ones below that I got at Ikea for my friends to use as book bins, but I love 'em anyway!  The best part is that all black dot items were 50% off, so I scored those babies for just fifty cents each!
  


I'm  making maracas!   On that unnecessary Target shopping trip, I also picked up two bags of plastic Easter eggs for 50% off.  These two big bags were just a dollar each. Last year, I wrote a post called Some EGGcellent Ideas that gives a bunch of ideas on what to do with all those leftover plastic eggs. In looking back at the post, I was surprised to see that I never included the maraca idea.  If you want more info on how to make them, visit the blog Dana Made It.  She has a perfect tutorial with step by step directions.

My plan is to make them for Cinco de Mayo.  Well, actually we will be making them on Tres de Mayo as the fifth falls on a Sunday. :-)

Above is my lame attempt to give it a trial run.  Lesson learned - Get better masking tape!  Mine wasn't so sticky so it didn't wrap around the egg too well.  I'm thinking of also getting some wider tape so that I can just have my friends wrap it once.



My latest library book sale haul!  If you read my blog, you may know that I love buying books on the cheap from my local library book sale.  Below are the books I was lucky enough to find on my last visit.  It was a good day!  Too many books to fit in one picture!

Buying books from library sales is a perfect way to stock your classroom library for what can literally be pocket change.  Since my teaching position changed this year, I found my library required a serious overhaul.  I needed a lot more books at lower levels.  Luckily, I've been able to find many good books over the course of the year.

SMARTIES for smarties!  Yes, I still give my friends Smarties on occasion.   The name alone makes them a school food!  Okay, I kid about it being a school food.  But, sometimes we all need a little sweetness in our day!


Which leads me to my next random thought. . .


My favorite "new" app is Color Splash.  I put new in quotes because this app has been around a long time.  I'm just late to the party.  But, what a party it is!  Essentially, this app lets you take any picture, convert it to black and white, and then color any part of the picture you want.  Above, you can see that I used the app on the Smarties picture.  I also used it on the pictures of the books and the trial run maraca, but since the backgrounds were originally on the gray side it doesn't show as well as it does in the Smarties picture.
I also used the app in my post about two picture books for writing lessons when I took this picture at Barnes and Noble.  Since I still can't find my camera and am using my iPhone for pictures at the moment, this app has made it all a little more fun.  It is well worth the $0.99!

And, finally my most random thought of all. . . 

I can't get enough of this stuff! :-)

So, what random thoughts are floating around with you today?

2 Picture Books for Writing Lessons

HAPPY SPRING BREAK!

I could not be any happier to be on break this week! 

There is a serious case of  Spring fever bouncing in my brain. My plan is to enjoy the heck out it.  Having free time is such a welcome novelty when you are a teacher.  Sadly, we had a snowstorm yesterday.  Who asked for snow on Spring Break?  Whoever you are. . . STOP IT RIGHT NOW!  It turned out to be more annoying snow than accumulating snow.  But, what to do on a Spring Break Snow Day?  Head to Barnes & Noble!

As you can see from the sign, they too have Spring fever!  I headed over to the children's section to see what was new in picture books.  I saw many familiar favorites, but there were two in particular that caught my eye.  Both books seem perfect for writing lessons.

The first book is Exclamation Point by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld.  Before I tell you more, let me just say I find it ironic that two people who write a book about punctuation choose to have their proper noun names in all lowercase letters on the cover. Thankfully, all the writing in the book follows the rules.

Exclamation Point is a dual purpose book.  It obviously teaches end marks, but it is also a great book about being yourself.  This little exclamation point tries to be a period and a question, but in the end it must be itself - a loud, proud exclamation point!  And, it is only once it decides to be itself that it is happy and admired by the other end marks.  What a great lesson to pass on to our friends.

I like the book as a good way to introduce sentence types and end marks.  For those friends who continually leave off those end marks in their writing, it would make a fun mini-lesson on how important it is to include them.  Below is a snapshot from the book.  Every time a certain end mark speaks, their sentence ends in their end mark.  Another cute point about the book is that its pages are ruled like primary writing paper.  Something our friends are very familiar with.

I might love this book simply because I am notorious for overuse of the exclamation point.  I'm also very guilty of using more than once even though I teach my friend that just one does the job!!!!!

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The other book I found and loved is One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo.  Since my pocketbook limited my purchase to just one book, I had to make a choice between the two.  This is the book that won my heart and my cash. :-)  I must have been living under a rock where this book is concerned because not only is it a 2013 Caldecott Honor book, it was on the New York Times best seller list of children's picture books back in February of 2012.  Where was I when all this was going on?

I love so much about this book!  First, I love that the author, Toni Buzzeo, is a former English teacher and school media specialist.  I also love that  David Small, is the illustrator of this book, but we also know him well from his many, many other illustrated books.  The Gardener, The Library, and So, You Want to be President? are some of my favorites.

One Cool Friend is a fun and surprising story of a little boy, Elliot, and his father who visit the aquarium.  While there Elliot asks his father, "May I please have a penguin?"  Thinking he would like a stuffed souvenir  the father hands him $20.  Little does he know that Elliot means a real penguin.  The story is wonderful.  I promise it will engage your friends of all ages.  There is even a surprise ending that tells us Elliot and his dad have a lot in common. :-)

So, where is the writing connection?  It comes in how the David Small chose to illustrate the dialog.  Take a look at a couple of pages.

Notice how the dialog is bubbled.  Perfect for teaching how to punctuate dialog.  Notice that the second line shows connected dialog. In the picture below, what Elliot is thinking is bubbled differently from actual dialog.
A great way to show the use of internal dialog to your friends. Notice the tags in both pages are different.  In one the father "announced" while Elliot "said."  You could easily use this to teach how to use different tags for dialog, even having your friends change the ones in the book.  This would be a good book to use with a document camera so your friends can get the full effect.

Right before I was going to publish this post, I thought to do a quick search and see what was out there on it.  I found something wonderful!  Toni Buzzeo has a six-trait writing guide available for free for  ALL of her picture books.  I guess once a teacher, always a teacher!  You can go directly to the download via THIS LINK, or you can get there through Toni Buzzeo's web site.  As I looked over her writing guide, I found that her idea for a convention lesson is exactly what I wrote about, the dialog bubbles!  However, her guide gives you a bunch of other good lesson ideas to use with the book.

I would say One Cool Friend is a must buy.  If your pocketbook allows two, don't forget Exclamation Mark.  Both books would serve you well as teaching tools, but both are also just great books to read and enjoy.

Refrigerator Papers

In my last post on personalized sticky notes for reading, I mentioned that I had purchased something fun and motivating from Vistaprint.  Here is the little item I ordered.  Again, the picture is a bit fuzzy because it is from a screen shot of my order.

It's a self-inking stamp for refrigerator papers!

What's a refrigerator paper?  It's a goofy thing I came up with many years ago that has been so well-received by my friends and their parents. 

Very simply, a refrigerator paper is a paper that shows me a friend's best effort.  It doesn't have to be an A paper, it doesn't even have to be a paper that was graded.  It is simply some assignment on which I noticed my friend had really done their best.  It could be that a student showed some real improvement or showed some great thinking.  It could be anything that I feel deserves a little recognition.

When I explain it to my friends, I tell them a refrigerator paper is work that is so good it deserves a spot right on the refrigerator for all to see.  I tell them it is so good, they need to make a long distance call to their great great grandma in Kalamazoo and tell her they got a  refrigerator paper.  It's a paper so good, they need to bring the dog over to the refrigerator and show the dog how great it is!  It's a paper so good, they need to get a flashlight and set up a spotlight on that refrigerator paper!  It's so good that if your family orders a pizza you might want to tell the delivery man about it! And, if their parents want to take out an ad in the local paper congratulating them on a refrigerator paper, that would be just fine!

Obviously I get really silly and over the top with my explanation, but that just builds the fun of getting the paper.  When I find a paper like this, I would simply write in big letters across the top, "REFRIGERATOR PAPER!!!" Honestly, when they get a refrigerator paper they get so excited.  I have had parents comment on how much they like it many times.  Their kids can't wait to tell them when they get one.  It's especially nice for the older crowd that thinks they are too cool to have a school paper on the refrigerator.  If I simply write the words refrigerator paper on the top, the cool factor goes right out the window.  They can't wait to put that thing on the fridge and take pride in their work.

From a teacher's point of view, I like refrigerator papers for many reasons.  Everyone, even your most needy student, can get a refrigerator paper.  If the paper is graded and they have done well, obviously I am going to make it a refrigerator paper.  But, it is not really about the grade. It's about the effort. For my friends who tend to struggle and not get very many high grades, it is a nice way to compliment something done well on an ungraded assignment.  Those parents especially like it because they don't often get to make a fuss over great work. 

It also allows me to compliment every student a few times throughout the year in an easy way.  I keep a class list in the back of my grade book.  When I give someone a refrigerator paper, I put a check next to their name.  I can see at a glance who might need a turn at getting one, so I then keep my eyes out for it.

Now, not every assignment will have refrigerator papers.  If you start doing this, I promise every time you return papers your friends will ask you if there were any refrigerator papers.  Lots of times I say, "There's lots of great work here, but I didn't look for refrigerator papers this time."  You want it to be something special, so if you do it too often the magic is lost. When I do it, I try to limit it to just 3 or 4 papers.  I also don't give it to every paper that gets 100.  In fact, I've had friends complain that they got a 100 just like Sally, but Sally got a refrigerator paper and they didn't.  I simply reiterate that it's not all about the grade.  In the same assignment I can have a variety of grades be refrigerator papers.

The other thing I like is that this is a no cost motivator.  Well, it was until I decided to order the stamp. :-)  But, it has worked for me for years by just writing it across the top of the paper using the same old pen I graded the paper with.  Nothing fancy needed.

So, that's my weird and fun little motivator. I am sure some of you out there are rolling your eyes and think it is ridiculous, but it works for me!  I've been doing it for years.  It's simple, takes no time to do, and gets great results.

So, what do you think?  Could this work for you?

What oddball things do you do to motivate your students?