An Affordable Ikea Classroom

 So, let's start with some blog business.  

• My apologies for the lack of posts.  Teaching summer school and a serious family illness has essentially eaten up all of my time.  August promises to be just as hectic on the family front, but summer school will be over after the 8th so I'm hoping to be a more productive blogger soon!
• Yes, I am still looking to redesign my blog.  I know that header has been up there for ages, but it will happen people!  

I know many of you are getting ready to head back to school in August.  I've seen lots of blogs with teachers already crafting, creating, laminating, and decorating.   Honestly, I can't even think about it yet!  We don't head back to school until September 3rd, and students don't start until September 9th.  My head is not yet in back to school mode. Having said that, no serious academic post here today!  :-) 

But, here's one on classroom decorating.

I was in Ikea the other day and found a lot of items that would be great for the classroom.  Thought I would share a few and some ideas for using them.  I'm limiting this post to things that are on the smaller side and affordable. Yeah, I would love to buy all new Billy bookcases for my classroom, but that's so not in the budget! Mine or my school districts!  So, here are some smaller items that can add a little color, fun, and function to your classroom without busting the budget.  See if you can guess which is my favorite item that I may have just purchased more of than I will probably ever need!  By the way, all images are from Ikea and this is not a sponsored post.  Just some things I like and think you will, too!  But, Ikea if you are out there and want to throw some Billy bookcases my way. . .Just kidding!!! 

Okay, here we go. . . 

This is the Hopplek rug.  It's 2' 7" x 5' 11" and only $12.99.  I think this adorable for the younger grades, but the measurements on the side make it great for upper grades, too.  This would be great in front of a math center area.   Kids could toss one or more bean bags and then create a math story using the numbers or measurements they land on.  I also think it would be a good game rug. I'm sure you can think of even more to do with it!

This is the Hampen rug.  It measures 2' 7" x 2' 7" and is $9.99.  These rugs would be great partner rugs for smaller friends.  You could have them rolled up in a basket, and when it it time for partner reading they can just grab a rug and find a spot.  For your older friends, it might fit only one.  It also comes in a couple of other colors.

This is the Fargglad chair.  It's a child's chair, so it is a bit on the smaller side.  It's $14.99.  The chair back and seat are woven plastic, so easy to wipe down if needed.  It is also stackable, so if you get some for a guided reading table you can easily stack them and move them aside when not in use.  But, in keeping the affordable in mind, I was thinking of what could you do with just one chair. It would be a great author's chair, special seat for the student of the day, a birthday seat, etc.  You could even doctor it up a bit with some ribbons to make it extra special.

This is the Tolsby frame.  It holds a 4" x 6" picture, and they are only $0.99 each!  There is no back, so you can put two pictures in each frame.  They are made of plastic, so perfect for the classroom and clumsy people like me!  These would be great for classroom signs, activity directions, library labels, and a ton of other things.

The Rigga clothes rack is $12.99.  When I saw this, I thought it was an inexpensive answer for anyone in need of a chart stand.  All you would need are the rings or some clips to hold your charts on the top bar.  I even like the rack on the bottom because you could put a few baskets on it to store materials for your charts. That would probably also help make it a bit more sturdy.  And, it's on wheels!

Here is the Dokument wastepaper basket in pink.  It is $3.99 and also comes in silver.  I actually bought this last year for my desk.  Our school does a great job of giving us those big, round, gray, plastic trash cans and recycling trash cans, but I wanted something smaller by my desk that wouldn't be filled with students' tissues and other icky stuff!  It is made of steel and fairly indestructible.  Ikea doesn't give its measurements, but it is on the larger side as far as wastebaskets go. For $3.99, you could also use it for holding project materials, books, or a few of those Hampen rugs. :-)

These are the Kvissle clip-on bookends.  You get a set of two for $4.99.  I love these because they clip on to the shelf.  No more falling over books and bookends when someone takes a book and the bookend moves.  What I love even more is the wide bar that faces you once you clip it on.  It's just made for a label. You could print out genre, alphabetical, or leveled labels to put on the bookend.  It would not only separate the books, but it would help in organizing your library while giving your friends a clear visual.

These are the Kusiner storage baskets, and you get all three for $4.99.  I have a similar set of baskets, but they aren't as nice as these.  These baskets have a soft coil in between the fabric, so they collapse for easy storage.  When you need to use them, just unhook the loop and they will spring right back into shape.  They are about 7" high and are great for handing out small materials to groups.  Unlike mine, these have numbers on the front that helps with identifying the groups just by having the basket on the table.  If you needed more than three baskets, you could always get two sets and put an A and B on the numbers with a Sharpie.  They are also great scrap baskets for the table when everyone is cutting and you don't want a constant parade to the trash can.

The Riso chair pads come in assorted colors for $3.99 each.  These would also make great floor seats for your friends if you don't have a carpet.  They are non-slip as the underside has anti-slip dots.  These remind me of the sit-upons I made when I was a Brownie back in the day.  In fact, the Crafty Texas Girls blog has a tutorial on how to make a sit-upon using newspapers and a vinyl tablecloth.  That's how I remember doing it!

Tins!  These are the Nidelva storage tins, which come as a pair for $3.99.  No grand plans for these, but they are cute.  And, who couldn't use a cute storage tin for erasers, paper clips, or anything else you can think of?

And finally, it wouldn't feel right if I didn't mention the Flyt magazine files!  You can't beat 5 for $1.99.  I use these as book baskets for my friends' independent reading books.  I actually picked up striped ones from Ikea a couple of years ago, but I like the plain white.  As a back to school activity, you could have your friends decorate and personalize the box to tell about them as a reader.  They could draw pictures of their favorite book characters and book covers or pictures of things they like to read about.  It just might be a fun way to get them excited about filling their book box.  I have reused my striped files/boxes for a couple of years, but for the price I wouldn't having a problem letting my friends personalize one for their own.  I did find putting a strip of book tape on the bottom of each to be a good idea.  Sometimes they can get a bit heavy once all the books are in, and the tape helped them hold up very well.

If you look closely in the picture below, you can see my boxes lined up by the windows. This picture is from a post I did back in 2011 on how I set up my classroom that year.

In looking at that picture, I think maybe one of the reasons I liked all those Ikea items above so much is that they are (almost) all very colorful.  My classroom is usually a colorful place!

After all that I can only hope you have an Ikea near you. :-)  If not, I would bet you could find similar items in craft stores or home goods stores. By the way, my favorite item?  Those Tolsby frames! Love em'!

What has been your favorite back to school purchase so far?

All Star Summer (School) Centers

This week was the beginning of summer school.  It runs Monday-Thursday for twenty days.  I have twenty days to work some magic with my reluctant friends.  It would be nice if I could teach in my own classroom, but they put us all in a school that has air conditioned classrooms.  This means decorating a room that has already been completely packed up with all bulletin boards covered by the homeroom teacher. It makes setting up a bit difficult, but when the trade-off is air conditioning you won't find any complaints here!

Below are a few pics of the star-theme I went with. Overall, I kept things fairly simple on the decorating front. In the pictures you can see through the covered bulletin boards much more than you can standing in the room.

Our summer school program focuses on just literacy, so our day is a blend of guided reading, shared reading, word study, read aloud, independent reading, writing, and centers.  I have eleven friends with me whose reading levels break down into three separate groups.  It actually worked out pretty evenly.  We spend about 30-40 minutes on guided reading, allowing me to see two groups a day.  

The picture below explains how it works.  I will meet with one groups first.  Then, the group I will be meeting with next works on a center activity.  The group I will not be meeting with that day works on centers for the entire time.  Now, they don't really have the stamina to work on a writing center or any other center for that length of time so the rule is they must complete at least one center activity each day.  Then, they have the choice of doing another center activity or finding a spot for independent reading.  Each day, I rotate the group names (the center picture) so that the friends I see and the assigned center activity changes each day.

I thought I would write about the centers I decided to use this year.  My friends are promoted third graders that will be going into fourth grade in September.  Unfortunately, they are all working around a low second grade level.  This means we need a lot of work with the basics, and that is what I had in mind when choosing my centers.  I kept it simple with just three; one for writing, one for word study, and one for reading fluency.  I would love to tell you I sat and made tons of center activites, but I just didn't have time for that!  Instead, I went to Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) and found three that would meet the needs of my summer school friends while also work for my basic skills friends in September.

Before I go on, let me preface by saying that this is not meant to be an endorsement of TpT, although I do love the site.  Also, the authors of the items below have no idea I'm writing about their products.  As a busy teacher and one who would like to be able to spend at least a little of her summer at the beach, I wasn't looking to reinvent the wheel with original center activities.  And since my materials are all packed away at school,  I was perfectly delighted to go on TpT and be able to find exactly what I was looking for.  I like them so much, I thought I would share them with you today.  So, below are the three items I found that are working well as center activities.  

• Writing Center

Summer Writing Journal by Irene Hines

I wanted my friends to just do some basic writing.  They are not yet proficient writers.  I find I'm getting a lot of random sentences on a topic with no coherence.  I'm also finding a lot of need in basic sentence structure.  Having them work on writing topics that are interesting and relevant gives them a place to practice and a place for me to find great teaching points for our conferencing.   

Irene Hines has created a Summer Writing Journal that has twenty days of topics, a word bank of summer words, a variety of summer themed writing paper, and is common core aligned.  What more could I ask for?The clip art used is really cute and summery, too!  I made each friend a booklet, and it became our writing center.  Of course, they always have the choice of free writing in this journal as well. 

• Word Works Center

Word Works Literacy Center by SunnyDays

This center covers a wide variety of basic skills.  It gives you forty activity cards that ask the students to use their independent reading book to locate ten words (I did modify this to a few less words for some of the cards) that address the particular skill named on the card.  Some of the skills include:  phonics and phonemic awareness, compounds, contractions, syllables, prefixes, suffixes, verb tenses, part of speech, acronyms, abbreviations, antonyms, synonyms, homonyms, and possessives.  With forty cards, you certainly don't have to use them all.  There were a few that I left out as they didn't target the skills I needed to address for this group of friends, but there were still plenty of cards left.

• Poetry Center

Poetry Center Task Cards by SunnyDays

It wasn't until I just wrote this that I realized the word works center and this poetry center are both created by SunnyDays.  I must really like her stuff!  While this is a  poetry center, I see it as more of a fluency center.  This pack comes with fifteen cards that ask the reader to read a poem to themselves, then whisper read it with fluency and expression, and finally complete a skills task.  The tasks focus them on practice with nouns, verbs, adjectives, suffixes, prefixes, compounds, L blends, R blends, digraphs, rhymes, contractions, past tense verbs, handwriting, response to poetry, and imagery. 

My focus with these cards is less on the skills and more on the "with fluency and expression" part.  I wanted my summer school friends to practice fluency.  To do this, I found a bunch of poems that contained a lot of sight words they should know and were not difficult to read.  I copied about 15 different poems and put a few copies of each in a folder.  To work on this center, all a friend needs is a copy of the poem and a task card.  

The only other thing I felt it necessary to do was some explicit instruction on fluency.  The blog Sandra's Savvy Teaching Tips has four fluency posters that were perfect for a mini-lesson on what it means to "read with fluency and expression."  I used her posters and a picture book to do a mini-lesson on our first day before I explained the centers.  The posters were perfect because they were very simple and understandable to my friends.  The best part is that you can DOWNLOAD THEM FOR FREE on Sandra's blog.

In all, I think it cost me about $11 for all three centers.  While it has only been three days, I can say the centers have all been working well so far.  This is good to see as I am planning to use these same centers with my students this coming school year.  Win! Win!

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?

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

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?