YA Historical Fiction Challenge

Are you ready for a new reading challenge in 2011? I've decided to take part in the YA Historical Fiction Challenge hosted by YA Bliss. In this challenge you read and review books that are either MG or YA historical fiction. This is my favorite genre as both a reader and writer. I've been on a roll in 2010 reading YA historical fiction, so this is the perfect challenge in which to continue my reading consumption.

The challenge is open to anyone. All you have to do is read, review, post, and link (on a blog or Goodreads) the MG/YA historical fiction books that you read between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2011. The books do not have to be 2011 releases. For more information go to YA Bliss.

Facilitating Book Clubs (Literature Circles)

In the beginning of book clubs (formerly known as literature circles), I assigned five to six groups of students to a book on their reading level. They selected the number of pages to read by a certain date, filled out role sheets, and committed to themselves to assigned tasks. Over time I collected more books and allowed students to choose their book for their book club. The role sheets continued and the tasks turned into elaborate projects. Eventually I dumped the role sheets and projects.

I've moved forward in my ideas about book clubs. I still group students whose reading abilities are close and interests are similar, but now they choose a book together from a large selection, or we gather copies of a book they are all dying to read. I have a group of three girls waiting to read Princess Academy by Shannon Hale We received the third copy right before the winter break (borrowed from another school library).

One of the biggest changes I made to my book clubs is the time period for reading and discussing. Instead of students choosing how many pages or chapters they will read by a certain date, I now ask them to read the entire book. They talk about how long they think they need to read the book cover to cover, and the we set a meeting date on my calendar. Instead of all of my groups meeting at the same time while I walk from group to group, each club meets separately so that I can devote my complete attention to their group.

And this is where things begin to pop. You see, I read the book too. I listen more than I talk, but I do participate in the discussion. I help facilitate the talk by asking leading questions or bringing up an interesting point. Our discussions last ten to twenty minutes, but I find that giving my time to each group allows me to assess my students informally, get to know them better, and helps to keep their discussions on task.

My higher readers tend to have meatier discussions without my input. I can sit and listen and enjoy their conversations. My lower readers learn how to converse about books with me acting as a facilitator. I help lead them into deeper talk through questioning and sharing my own ideas about the book. Over time I can talk less and listen more.

The goal of facilitation in book clubs is to lead the discussion not as a teacher, but as a reader. We become a community of readers rather than "teacher and students." My role is to model book conversations through prompting, questioning, input, and listening. Our book club discussions sound more and more like "real" book clubs, and less like a teaching and learning situation. The best part is that students really are learning, but in a natural reader to reader environment.

Book Talk Packet for Elementary and Middle Grades

Book Recommendation Program for Reading / ELA Classes

Independent Reading Elementary Pack

Read a Book a Day Over the Winter Break

Can it be done? Can I do it? A book a day plus everything else I need to do over the winter break? I've decided to take the challenge. I confess I'm not 100% sure how the challenge works, but I'm on it like an ornament on a tree. According to #bookaday on twitter the leader of the gang is The Book Whisperer -Donalyn Miller. The tweet popped up and grabbed my reading attention, so I started gathering my holiday reading list.

I thought I would begin with Scumble by Ingrid Law, the sequel to Savvy, but I haven't made it to Barnes and Noble yet. I do have a gift card (courtesy of a wonderful student) begging to be spent. In the meantime I've been dying to start I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison. I'm quite the Regency/Austenite fan. I'm looking forward to going back in time.

It occurs to me that I should be able to read a middle grade / young adult book every two to three days. So what should I read in between? Picture books of course!

Winter Break Reading List

Picture Books

The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg I'm saving this beautiful book for Christmas day. I can hear the bell ringing. Can you? Do you believe?

Dust Devil by Anne Isaacs I love reading aloud Swamp Angel to my students, so I can't wait to read Issacs newest tall tale!

The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According To Susy) by Barbara Kerley This book caught the attention of my muse. Perhaps I will find inspiration through the pages of this book.

The Clever Stick by John Lechner I've heard this book is not only clever, but imaginative in a William Steig kind of way.

Too Many Frogs by Sandy Asher This book has been on my list since the summer. I had the opportunity to spend time with Sandy in Chautauqua at the Highlight's Foundation Children's Writer's Workshop. I've heard it's a "croaking" good book.

Which Shoes Would YOU Choose? by Betsy R. Rosenthal This title appeals to my happy girl feet.

Davy Crockett Gets Hitched by Bobbi Miller This book is on Nancy Polette's "Best of 2009-2010" list. Since I teach 4th grade Texas history, I am always looking for picture books to accompany my curriculum.

Middle Grade / Young Adult Books

I Was Jane Austen's Best Friend by Cora Harrison I love to read and write in the Regency period (Jane Austen's time and place). I'm currently working on a Regency YA. There isn't much out there to read, so I hope this book will give me inspiration and hope for my favorite genre.

Scumble by Ingrid Law That Barnes and Noble gift card is burning a hole in my pocket. I loved Savvy. I can't wait to read Scumble and share it with my fourth graders next year.

Masters of Disaster by Gary Paulson Have I mentioned that I'm a Paulson fan? I love how he breaks all the rules -brilliantly!

Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman I am drawn to anything set in England in the past. Another medieval young adult novel by Cushman -isn't it grand?

Lady Macbeth's Daughter by Lisa Klein So many books, so little time. This book has been on my shelf ever since I finished Klein's Ophelia -which I loved. Klein knows how to give a dose of Shakespeare with a twist.

As I write this I am sitting here looking at my pile of books. The pile is much bigger than this list. I think I'll stop before I overwhelm myself. I still have cleaning and shopping and wrapping and baking and writing to do. Not to mention creating and crafting and blogging and posting and twittering... Happy Winter Break! May books keep you company.

Twittering Teachers

Do you tweet? A tweet is a 140 character message you can send in your twitter account to your followers. You have the option of allowing anyone to follow you or you can choose to approve your followers. You can also follow other tweeters. You simply search for tweeters by name or company, or click "follow me" from their websites. You can link your followers to different websites, retweet messages, and send private messages. You can join chats or follow trends. What you tweet and how much you tweet is up to you. Tweeting is a fun, efficient, and quick way to share information. You can even tweet from your phone!

Who Should You Follow?

In general, you can follow anyone you choose. You might follow people you know personally, companies or websites you frequent, politicians you back, movie stars you enjoy, people or companies with something in common (like education), organizations you belong to, authors you read, or any other personal or professional interest. As a teacher, I follow educators, authors, publishers, and educational organizations or websites. I also follow Macy's to get the latest coupon!

What Should You Tweet?

It's up to you, but I recommend tweeting useful or interesting information. No one wants to read a dozen tweets about your morning coffee and the laundry pile. Read my top ten tweets ideas:

1. Inspirational Quotes - A positive thought goes a long way to help someone through a tough day.

2. Recommended Books - I like to share favorite children's books, young adult books, professional books, and an occasional adult book.

3. News Articles - If I find a news article, video, or blog post that I think my followers would enjoy I will send it as a tweet.

4. Website / Product Updates - If you have a website, create products, or write books or articles, then tweeting is a must. You can tweet updates to your followers.

5. Education News - If I get wind of something in education that I think is important I'll share it by tweeting or retweeting the information.

6. Retweets - I follow top educators, education companies, authors, and education organizations. Sometimes they tweet something worth retweeting to my followers.

7. Freebies - If I create a free resource or find one, I'm more than happy to let my followers know about it.

8. Great Websites - If I find or know of a great website that would be beneficial to my followers, I'll tweet a link.

9. Awesome Sale or Coupon - I don't tweet sales or coupons often, but if I find one worth passing on, I send it out.

10. Education Conference News - Tweeters who attended NCTE lit up the tweet boards with news and information from the conference (for the rest of us poor souls who didn't get to go).

Tweeting is a powerful tool for sending and receiving information fast.

Follow me @teachingfriends

No More Bullies! Reader's Theatre Script

Now available! A kid friendly reader's theatre script that helps kids learn how to deal with bullies.

No More Bullies! Reader's Theatre

5 Very Simple Activities to Help Kids Learn Their Spelling Words

1. Play Spelling Scrabble

I purchased several used Scrabble games at various garage sales for less than $2 each. When my students finish their work, I will sometimes allow them to play a game I made up called Spelling Scrabble. It works like this: Students place all of the letters on the floor face-up. They take turns putting spelling words on the game board. They can choose any spelling word from their list, and it's not too hard because they can choose any of the letters on the floor. When a word is placed on the board, they add up the points and record it on a score sheet. (Because my student are younger, I tell them to ignore double word, double letter, triple letter, and triple word bonuses.) When students can no longer add new spelling words to the board, the game ends. The student with the most points wins.

2. Computer Spelling

Anything related to computers motivates my students. Building spelling skills is as easy as opening up Microsoft Word and instructing students to type the words on their spelling list in ABC order. I prefer having students use the computer to practice alphabetizing words because it is easy for them to go back and add, or delete words from the list. Sometimes, to mix things up, I'll have them use their words in sentences. When they're done, I let them choose their own font, add a graphic, and print out their work. Not only are students practicing spelling words, they're also learning essential computer skills that they'll use throughout their lives.

3. Spelling Clues

Spelling clues is another game I made up that requires some advance prep work, but students love it. Write a clue for each spelling word. For example, if the spelling word is "apple", your clue might be "a yummy red fruit that grows on a tree." Each spelling word should have one clue. Students sit at their desks, with a copy of their spelling list and a blank sheet of paper. Read each clue one-by-one. Students have 10 seconds to find the correct word from their list and correctly write it on their paper. Tell them not to worry if they don't know the answer to all of the clues, as long as they're trying their best. After you've read all of the clues, and students have written their guesses on the paper, trade papers and read through the answers. Have students make sure the answers and spellings are correct. They love listening to the clues and trying to figure them out, and it builds higher-order thinking skills too.

4. Spelling Jigsaw Puzzles

On a single sheet of paper, print all of the week's spelling words. Make sure the words are written in a large font. Cut the words apart into separate rectangles. Then, cut each word into 2 or 3 parts. Then, place all of the pieces in a small box or bag. Students spread the pieces on the table and try to match the parts to build spelling words. If you try this with students, you may want to have them keep all parts on the desktop so puzzle pieces are not lots. It's a great game for the visual learners in your classroom.

5. Student-Made Puzzles

Word search puzzles are a classic activity for reviewing spelling words, but they're even more fun when students make the puzzles themselves. To do this, just create a paper that has 1cm graph paper on the top half, and blank lines for spelling words on the bottom half. Students can write their spelling words on the graph paper, placing only one letter in each box. Words can be written horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. When a word is added to the puzzle it should also be written on the blank lines on the bottom half of the page. When all of the spelling words have been added to the graph-paper-puzzle, students fill in the empty boxes with random letters. Then, they give the puzzle to a friend to solve!


This article was written by guest blogger Tim Weibel. He is a third grade teacher and the creator of SuperTeacherWorksheets.com . The site features hundreds of free, printable materials, including: spelling lists, math worksheets, handwriting practice, and much more.

Getting Your Students Motivated with Guided Reading

DETERMINING READING LEVELS

The first step in teaching effective guided reading is to find out the reading levels of your students. There are many tools that are available for teachers to do this. Scholastic currently has a computerized program called the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI). Through a series of multiple choice comprehension questions, the computer is able to give a lexile score to each student based on his/her performance. It is easy for an entire classroom to enter a computer lab and take the test within 20-40 minutes. Upon completion, the data is available for the teacher, students, and parents in many different formats. The data makes it easy for the teacher to group the students and pick appropriate books. There is also the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) that many school districts use. This involves a teacher directly working with individual students through various activities to determine reading levels. The Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) is also another program that many teachers have used. It is similar to the DRA. There are many other programs out there, but these are the three that are most familiar to me. The main importance is that you know all of your students’ reading levels.

SETTING UP GUIDED READING

Once you have determined your students’ reading levels, the next step is to model the strategies and to teach them how to use the strategies in their reading.. In the beginning of the year, I have my students use sticky notes to mark reading strategies in their books. They seem to enjoy doing this especially since they have been told for so long not to “damage” or write in books. This is a fun way to have them learn more about the strategies in a constructive and neat way. Also to help my students understand the strategies, I use guided reading strategy cards that can be easily made into flip books.

BEFORE READING

When we first meet as a group, it is always important to activate the students’ background knowledge on what they will be reading in groups. This can be often done through a KWL strategy or just making an idea web with your group. It is also important to discuss important vocabulary words before reading. For all of my guided reading books, I have the page number and chapter listed for each word to make it easier for students to find. I also try to have a teacher answer key so it is easy for me to check for understanding. Before beginning reading, it is important to make predictions as well. This sets the stage for their learning, and helps them read with a focus.

DURING READING

Students are now ready to read for a purpose. Students begin reading their daily pages and continue to use the reading strategies. In my classroom, I have developed reading comprehension guides for many of the books I use in guided reading. My reading comprehension guides contain specific comprehension and other strategy questions for the students to answer. If time is an issue, I have also used reading strategy worksheets that are non-book specific. These worksheets are very useful in working on specific strategies with your students. A final piece that I do during reading is having individual students read out loud to me away from their group members. This helps me to gauge their reading fluency and to make sure the book is appropriate for their reading level.

AFTER READING

When students are done reading, and have finished their comprehension guides or sheets, I have them do some fun activities that still relate to reading strategies. Another option is to take their understanding of the text farther by doing end of the book projects. A final choice I give my students is to have DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time. This is important to let them self-select books of their interest too.

ASSESSING GUIDED READING

One of the most important aspects for a teacher is to be able to assess your students understanding of key reading strategies during guided reading instruction. It is often hard for a teacher to do this without some form of assessment guideline or rubric. With the adoption of the Common Core Standards rubrics will be created in the near future.

MOTIVATION

If you show interest in the books your students are reading, the excitement will be contagious. It is highly encouraged that you read each book that you use in guided reading groups. I know it is a daunting task for any teacher, but it will pay dividends in your students’ achievement. With your knowledge of the books, you can make meeting with the groups enjoyable for all, and a chance for them to expand their understanding of the text. This will foster a true love for reading and should show gains in their reading scores when tested throughout the year.

Here is a link to a free example of our reading comprehension guides.http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Miraculous-Journey-of-Edward-Tulane-Comprehension-Guide-KEY

Here is a link to our most popular product that contains 38 worksheets that you can use with any novel.http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Guided-Reading-worksheets-and-activities-38-pages-for-any-novel

I'd like to thank Wise Guys for guest blogging. Please visit Wise Guys store at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Wise-Guys/

Mini Size Your Lessons

There is a box of Premium Mini Crackers sitting on my kitchen counter. It occurred to me that instead of "super sizing" everything, more and more companies are beginning to "mini size" products. Super sizing is out and mini sizing is in. Same goes for lessons.

Once upon a lesson plan we taught in forty-five minute "dog and pony show" time slots. Today our lessons are shrinking, our teaching points are specific, and our engagement activities are crucial to success. We live in a world of fast. Times are changing at a rapid speed as new information enters our sphere of knowledge by the nano second. Our children are visual, tactile learners who are ready for us to "get to the point" and move on. Their attention span is dwindling. Gone are the days of three points in a message. We are down to one point at a time.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. We need to learn to give our students one bite today and another bite tomorrow. One bite and they are full. How do we mini size our lessons?

Begin with your teaching objective and break it into smaller steps. Each small step is a teaching point. Introduce your lesson by connecting your teaching point to something they already know (a prior teaching point is good). Tell your students what you are going to teach them. Teach by modeling your thinking or demonstrating. Try to make your teaching time visually engaging. Utilize signs, posters, PowerPoint, video clips, charts, objects, and other visual aides to keep your student's eyes on the point of the lesson. Keep it short. Keep it simple. The next step is a short, active engagement session where students talk, write, or practice. Finish off by giving students a task to complete involving the teaching point. For example, if you taught students to infer character's feelings, ask them to mark a place in their independent reading books with a sticky note where they inferred. Bring students back together for a quick "turn and talk" session. Students share with partners what they discovered about inferring during their independent reading time.

Try mini sizing your lessons today!

Available Now! Mini Sized Lesson Plans:

Mighty Mini Lesson: Reader's Infer Character's Feelings
This mini lesson uses active engagement strategies to help your students learn how to infer character's feelings in fiction.

Teach the Trait of Ideas in Writing: Unit of Study Writing Mini Lessons
This packet is an entire unit of mini lessons focused on teaching the writing trait of finding ideas.

Preview, Predict, and Set a Purpose for Reading: Mini Lesson PowerPoint
This PowerPoint presentation uses visual engagement for teaching your students to preview, predict, and set a purpose for reading.

Selecting "Just Right Books" : Mini Lesson PowerPoint
This PowerPoint presentation uses visual engagement for teaching your students to select "just right books" on their independent reading level.

Help! My Students Can't Write!

You tried to read their writing, value their voice, praise their efforts, and smile at their ideas. If only you could read their writing. The piece is a mess. Their handwriting isn't legible. You can't figure out where a sentence ends or begins. The spelling is atrocious. And this is the year of the state writing test.

What is that old saying about building on a foundation of sand? Yeah, that one. It's time to pour a little concrete. You need to back it up and start again. Kids cannot learn craft if they haven't learned how to write a sentence. Telling kids to "just write", to get something down on paper is like telling a ballet dancer to "just dance" or a musician to "just play". Dancers need to learn the steps and techniques -the basics first. Musicians must learn to read music and play the keys before they can write a symphony. Writers must master the foundation of sentence structure and the conventions of writing before they can learn to craft a piece like a word artist.

In recent years conventions have gone out the window. Yes, we want to value what kids have to say, but they need to learn to say it so that we can hear it. Writing is about communicating. As much as we'd like all of our children to grow up to be authors -it's not going to happen. Our students will need to write to communicate -an email, a report, a memo. Writing to communicate doesn't require craft. Craft is for fiction writers and creative nonfiction writers who are word artists. If we are lucky, we will get to spend a year with a future author, but chances are, most of our students will only write out of necessity.

In order to tear down and rebuild you need to pull your struggling writers into small groups. Interactive modeling is the key. You are playing a game of Pete, Repeat. Together you work on one sentence at a time for one paragraph. You write. They copy. You explain. They listen. You write together. They write alone. Write paragraphs about things they know. Don't try to force creative ideas. They can't find their voice if they can't find the end of a sentence. Do this over and over again until your students can write a solid paragraph on their own. Solid means focused, complete sentences, and correct conventions. Don't worry about similes and metaphors and lovely word choice. Keep it simple for now. Once your students master a paragraph they can try crafting techniques.

WRITING RESOURCES

EFFECTIVE TEACHING SOLUTIONS WRITING STUDIO

You Have a Delivery -Open with Care

Each year comes with new challenges. We open our classroom doors and invite a new group of children and pray for a good year. If only every child would follow all of our directions the first time, turn in their work in a timely manner, stay actively engaged in all of our lessons, and never, ever cheat, sulk, refuse, procrastinate, talk back, name call, lose supplies, stay home when they should be at school, talk out, and the list goes on.

Once in awhile we do get the "perfect class" (okay, almost perfect). Every few years a group comes through that loves to learn, loves you, and loves the class. This is the group that makes your heart sing, the group that you cry over at the end of the year, the group you wish you could follow to the next grade level. They are like a precious jewel -rare.

Every child is a gift. They gift us with personal and professional challenges, they gift us with new understanding, they gift us with teachable moments, and they gift us with "ahas". Some gifts are wrapped in fine paper. We must open them delicately. Others are wrapped in bright colors. We must value their differences. And some are wrapped in duct tape. We must unwrap them one layer at time to discover their worth. Some of the worthiest gifts are the hardest to unwrap.

So how do we set up our classroom in such a way that we can spend our time teaching, learning, and unwrapping our gifts?

Set Procedures and Routines

We need our classrooms to run like clockwork. Introduce one expectation, one procedure, one routine at time as you come to it by need. Teach it, model it, practice it, review it. Your expectations for behavior need to be high, but remember to practice patience when a child doesn't follow directions. Redirect their behavior by reteaching. Yelling, threatening, and sarcasm serve one purpose: to tense you up to the point that you can't unwind. Keep your cool and redirect, redirect, redirect. If a procedure or routine doesn't work (you are spending too much time redirecting too many kids), then change it.

Get to Know Your Students

The most important thing you can do is to take the time to get to know each student as an individual. This takes time of course, but the more you know about your students the more you can spark their interests for learning, keep them engaged, and develop a relationship of understanding and trust. What activities do your students do after school? What is their family situation? What interests them? How do they feel about school and the subjects you teach? What is important to them?

Dealing with Difficult Behaviors

The duct tape kids are not going to make it easy on you. They are going to push you to prove they can trust you. They will act out because they are hiding. Something is going on with this child. Don't assume they are just "bad". There is always something beneath the behavior. They act out for a reason. They seek attention for a reason. Often they are trying to cope with something bigger than themselves, or crying out for help. Children with serious behavior issues require more time and patience. Sometimes you need to change your thinking, change your strategy, and ask for help.

Most likely you will get a variety of packages this year. They will be quite different from last year. Each package is special; unique. It's the combination of the packages that makes each year a new one. Some will make you smile, some will make you cry, some will make you laugh with joy, and some will break your heart. Accept your packages. Sign your name on the dotted line. Take them in. Unwrap them, because all of your packages will help you grow as a person and as a teacher. Expect to learn something new from your packages this year. Expect the best, and give back nothing less.

Classroom Management Tips & Forms

Back to School Packet

Reading Survey

Tips for Switching Classes in Elementary School

Curriculum requirements are causing more and more elementary teachers to hang up their multi-subject hats to embrace team teaching. Over the years I have seen teachers try two-way, three-way, and even four-way switching arrangements. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. It depends a lot on the team players. Are you a good fit? Do your ideals and philosophies match up? Do you work well together? Do you each have a subject area strength? Have you taught and do you understand the other subjects well enough to have a healthy respect for your team members? These are questions you should consider when planning to switch classes.

Tip 1: Rules, Procedures, & Routines

Life is easier when you are on the same page. Plan together and decide on rules, procedures, and routines. Talk about what is bothersome to you versus your team members. Expect a little give and take. If teacher A has major issues with kids bringing mechanical pencils, but it doesn't bother you, then consider giving in to this rule. You might be bothered by something else. If you are consistent across classrooms your students will fair better. This doesn't mean that you have to be exactly alike. Kids do need to learn how live within each classroom. Middle school is coming.

Tip 2: Switch on Time

Be respectful to your team members time and switch on time. If you are scheduled to switch at 10:00, then have your kids out the door and on their way to the next room at two minutes till. There is nothing worse than one class standing in the hall waiting for 10 minutes for the other class to get out. Not only does it waste instructional time, but it opens up opportunities for kids to misbehave while waiting.

Tip 3: Hold Parent Conferences Together

Never, ever meet with a parent without your team members. You can solve a lot of problems by meeting with parents together. Work out a system for scheduling conferences. If parents see that you are on the same page and are seeing the same behaviors in a student they will usually back down from an emotional argument. Stand together as a team and meet with parents as a team.

Tip 4: Community Supplies

Lighten the load your students need to carry around by taking up basic supplies (colors, glue, markers, etc.) and putting them together as community supplies. Help students organize a binder (every binder is the same) to keep their things together. An example: planner, conduct card, reading log, homework folder, subject sections.

Tip 5: Conduct & Behavior

Discuss conduct & behavior at length to determine how you will proceed. Come up with a mutually agreed upon plan. Keep your expectations on the same page and consistent.

Tip 6: Weekly Meetings

Plan to meet together to plan, discuss students, and solve problems. A team that plans together will get along better and things will go smoother. Emails and last minute changes can be frustrating for busy teachers. Try to work schedule issues out ahead of time. Talk about behavior plans for students with issues. Discuss how you will work together to motivate the reluctant student. Think of ways to challenge the gifted students. Consider where you curriculum meets. How can you work together to integrate your subjects? Planning is the key to success.

Tip 7: They Are All Your Kids

One thing that tends to happen is that homeroom teachers think of their class as just "their kids". Remember that all of the kids you teach are your kids. They are also all your team members kids. Don't think of them as the other teacher's class, but as one big class of students. You are sharing all of the kids with team members and they are sharing with you.

Tip 8: Professional Talk

Talk to each other. Don't let things simmer. If you are having issues with a team member, schedule a time to sit down and talk. Stay professional. Be very careful to keep your tone objective and explain your issues without offending the other teacher. For example: Your team member never lets class out on time. You feel as if you are wasting precious instructional time. Sit down and say, "I've noticed that we are switching later and later. This is making it hard for me to get everything in. Can we come up with a plan to make sure we switch on time?"

Tip 9: Give and Take

You cannot win every battle, or have everything your way. You must learn to give and take. This is the hard part of switching. You will have to compromise at times. Consider how important something is to you. Can you give it up? Can you see it through? Be honest in your discussions. Perhaps your team member comes up with something you think you could start, but honestly can't see yourself following through. Tell your teammate, "I'm not sure I can follow through on this and stay consistent. When things kick up later in the year and get busy I am afraid I will fall behind. How do you manage it? Will you get upset with me if I can't do it anymore? I'm willing to try, but I can't make promises." Let your teammate know what you can handle and what you don't think will work for you. Never start something you know you won't continue. On the other side of the coin, be open and willing to try new things. If they are not working for you, tell your teammates. Perhaps they have ideas that will help you, and possibly, they are ready to give it up as well.

Tip 10: The Kids Come First

As you work together to make decisions, always keep the kids at the front of your mind. They are first and last. We don't have to do things that are overwhelming for us, but we shouldn't do things that are overwhelming for the kids. Discuss everything from classwork to homework. Consider what they can do and what will motivate them to do more. Always ask yourself, "Is this best practice? Is this the best thing for kids?"

Extend Your Reading Center

My classroom reading center is packed with baskets full to the brim with fiction books. I'm out of baskets and out of shelf space. It bothers me that I don't have a way to make nonfiction, poetry, and magazines accessible to my students. Today I had a brainstorm.

I have four tables in my classroom. I am heading to Lakeshore Learning to purchase four colored plastic boxes (red, blue, green, and yellow). I will place one box on each table (now my tables have color names for easy classroom management). Inside each box I will place nonfiction books, poetry books, and magazines.

In order to keep my table boxes fresh, I will rotate the boxes each week. At the end of the month I will refresh the box with new titles. I have an elaborate check out system for my reading center (library cards, pockets, card box). The books and magazines on the tables will not be available for check out (to go home), but always there for reading during class. I'm a big believer in free choice, independent reading (just right books of course). This simply adds a new layer of what students can choose to read during class. I will include magazines like Highlights, Cobblestone, and Stone Soup. I plan to print my name on address labels to quickly attach to my books and magazines that go in the boxes. My hope is that students will explore different genres on their own, and my idea is to make more books and magazines available to them.

Back to School Themes

Dust off your desk, it's that time again -back to school. Are you trying to think up a fun theme to decorate your classroom and jumpstart your year? I've got you covered. Theme packets include: a Microsoft Word 2007 newsletter template, binder cover, classroom job cards, mini chocolate candy bar wrappers, blank calendar, bookmarks, folder labels, desk name plates, incentive chart, calendar pieces & headers, birthday chart, Student of the Week, bulletin board patterns, more chocolate (books & websites). You can download free samples here.

Mmmm...Chocolate!

Chocolate Classroom Theme Packet

Join your love for chocolate with rich and delicious books:




In case that's more chocolate than your waistline can stand -

Rrrbbit...Frogs!

Frog Classroom Theme Packet

Hop into these croakin' good books:



If you would prefer to put your frog on a lily pond -

Bloom a Garden!

Gardening Classroom Theme Packet

Plant a few seeds with these books:



In case you don't have a green thumb -

Go to Hollywood!

Hollywood Classroom Theme Packet

Here are a few star studded books to make your classroom shine:



If you would prefer home on the range to a star studded classroom -

Giddy Up!

Western Classroom Theme Packet

Here are some rootin' tootin' books to read:



Well, it's time to get cracking! Welcome back to school!

Back to School Packet
Back to School Primary Packet
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Monthly Newsletter Templates

Revision is Reshaping

Last week I had the incredible opportunity to attend the Highlight's Foundation Writer's Workshop. I found myself in the midst of American utopia when I arrived in Chautauqua, New York and entered the Chautauqua Institution. It seemed as if time turned back 100 years with the lovely Victorian houses lining brick streets, no cars, children playing their violins on the green, opera and orchestra performances in the amphitheatre, and so much more it would take too much time to describe.

The workshops are focused on writing for children (preschool to young adult). The faculty was made up of authors and editors, including Jerry and Eileen Spinelli. At one point someone asked the conferees to raise their hands if they were teachers or librarians. I would estimate this made up almost 50% of the group. I was fortunate to attend from a generous grant provided by Fund for Teachers.

Donald Graves is well known for saying, "Revision is seeing again." You certainly must take another look, and another, and another at your work. Each time you put a piece of writing aside for awhile, dust it off, look at it again, and make changes, you are seeing it again with fresh eyes. We try to teach our students to set their writing aside today and look again tomorrow (although this might be too short of a time period). We hope that stepping away from it will help young writers to look at their work more objectively, to see what they missed before, to find those places that need reshaping.

This week I realized that revision is reshaping. Grammar and conventions can be fixed with copy editing at the end (not that you shouldn't fix something when you see it), but it is not the focus of revision. Shaping a piece means finding voice and reshaping the story to make it tighter with more layers and depth. This is not an easy process. Many authors reshape their stories dozens of times. Sometimes they scrap their piece all together and start over.

Students need to learn how to spend quality time with their pieces, working and reworking them until they are so polished they shine. Take out a piece from earlier in the year and look again. Reshape a piece that isn't quite there yet. As teachers, we are shapers. We help students to reshape their writing into an interesting story with strong voice. Voice comes from the language used and the cadence of the sentences. Writing is art and music and poetry.

This past week my eyes have reopened. I came and saw again. As a writer I am learning how to reshape my manuscript, but as a teacher, I am learning how to reshape my teaching of the craft of writing. This is the beginning of a story without an end. Writing is a craft that even Newbery awards winners continue to learn. I know because I watched Jerry Spinneli participate in workshops all week long as a learner. In order to teach we must continue to learn. In order to teach writing, we must write.

Grant Money and Opportunities for Teachers

Do you dream of a classroom filled with the latest technology? Do you want to travel to another country to study something connected to your curriculum? Check out the following opportunities:

Digital Wish

If you haven't heard of Digital Wish, you've got to check it out. Sign up and make your technology loaded wish list. There are donors out there who want to help you get what you need for your classroom. Have you heard there was a two for one Flip Camera deal for teachers? Now you've found it! Teachers contribute lesson plans that use technology on this site as well.

Funds for Teachers

Go on an academic adventure during the summer and bring your learning back to the classroom. Funds for Teachers provides grant money to send teachers all over the world to complete dream projects. The possibilities are endless and the creative ideas boundless.

Adopt a Classroom

Sign up with Adopt a Classroom where donors help teachers by funding classrooms with critical resources and materials.

Toyota Tapestry Grants (Science)

Do you have an innovative idea for science for your school? Apply for a Toyota Tapestry Grant and make your idea a reality.

Paperback Swap Books for Schools

Paperback Swap has a donations for schools program to get books into schools and in the hands of children. Submit your school name to request a donation.

Free Educational Videos

Sign up to receive free videos to integrate into your classroom curriculum available from these sites:

Video Placement Worldwide

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Teacher's Domain

Top Ten Ideas for Teaching Poetry

April is Poetry Month. It's time to break out a little Silverstein and try a bit of Frost. Bring in the poetry to get the language in so you can get the language out. Poetry is the silver pencil of writers, the golden spoon of language, and the heart and soul of our inner most thoughts.

Here are ten ideas for teaching poetry:

1. Read aloud a poem everyday. In less than a minute you can expose your students to a variety of poets. Try classics, humor, contemporary, cowboy poetry, rhymes, patterns, and more.

2. Poems are meant to be read aloud. Don't leave your kids out. Read a poem chorally and act it out. That's right! Get your kids moving to the poem. Find a great poem and choreograph fun movements to get the brain pumping and the body working.

3. Try out poems for two voices and allow your kids to partner read. Let your students practice their oral fluency with a dramatic reading done in pairs.

4. Poetry performances are an exciting way to get kids interested in poetry. Place students in groups of three and give them a short poem. It's their job to choreograph movements and practice reading the poem aloud. They can read it chorally or share lines.

5. Try writing poems using different patterns. Find great poems with fun pattern students can emulate. Experiment with various poetry patterns and allow students to play.

6. Use images to inspire students to write poetry. Brainstorm words and phrases using their five senses and vivid language. Use similes, metaphors, personification, and alliteration to kick poems up a notch. Write poetry freely!

7. Set up poetry centers where students can read, write, and listen to poetry. Create centers that give kids the opportunity to play with language. Free time to explore poetry in an unstructured environment will give their creativity a boost.

8. Use Valerie Worth's Small Poems to kick off a round of poetry writing. Gather up small items (paperclip, dice, pencil, hair clip, button, etc.) and place them in a bag. Let students draw an item out of the bag and write their own "small poem".

9. You simply can't go a year without getting your kids to write a bio poem. Write it, type it, print it on cute paper, laminate it and send it home for Mother's Day. Bio poems make wonderful keepsakes.

10. End your poetry unit with a special event. Hold a "Poetry Cafe" where students read aloud and perform original poems for their classmates and parents.

For more ideas and resources on poetry, check out Effective Teaching Solution's Poetry Pages.

Partner Reading

Partner reading adds a new layer to your reading workshop. Begin by assigning partners based on two criteria: (1) similar reading abilities, and (2) relationship. Partners will read texts and discuss them, so it is important that they can both read the text on their own confidently, and they get along well enough to engage in conversation (not to mention stay on task).

Select texts for partners (or allow partners to self select texts) on their reading level. Each child reads the text on their own, and then they get together to talk. Model this by selecting a student partner, reading a selection together, and talking about it in front of the class. Discuss rules of conversation:

(1) Both partners should get equal talk time.

(2) Partners should use respectful words and phrases to start and continue their conversations.

Teach students simple words and phrases to help them stay on task, use good manners, and keep the conversation flowing.

-"I agree, but I would like to add-"

-"I disagree because-"

-"What do you think?"

-"Could you show me the evidence in the text?"

-"I think-"

-"One more thing-"

-"A question I have-"

-"One thing I noticed-"

You can brainstorm more phrases like these with your class and write them on chart paper. Post the chart prominently to remind students how to hold discussions.

What can partners read? Short or long fiction or nonfiction, poetry, picture books, chapter books, magazine articles, news articles, and more. Partners can read different selections for discussions, choose their own books to discuss, or you can assign the whole class a reading text and then partner them off for discussion.

An example for whole class reading:

Reading text - 1/2 page on a science topic

Before reading - Gather students to discuss vocabulary and write what they already know about the topic on chart paper (and questions they might have).

Students read the text independently.

Students partner off and discuss what they learned, answers to questions they had, and any new questions that popped up during reading.

After reading / talking - Gather students and notate what they learned and new questions on the topic.

This simple activity is a great way to start a science or social studies unit. I am finding that the lowest, most reluctant readers engage in this process the most. Some kids need to talk about what they are reading in order to truly understand it. The discussion adds a new layer to their comprehension and confidence. Partner reading offers endless possibilities across the curriculum.

How to Teach the Six Traits of Writing

The Six Traits of Writing is an assessment designed by teachers and administered through Northwest Regional Education Laboratories. Many years ago, a group of teachers studied hundreds of pieces of student writing to determine the traits of quality writing. Six traits emerged: ideas, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, voice, and conventions. An analytical assessment was designed and the Six Traits was born.

Fast Forward to Today

Formal Six Traits training teaches teachers how to assess and score papers, as well as a how to teach the traits. Teachers are taught to spend chunks of time on each trait. There is a benefit to spending time with each trait, but I propose spending time with the Six Traits within genres.

Students need to apply what they learn in the Six Traits to a variety of genres, so they understand that all writing pieces exhibit the traits. Our students need to strengthen their word choice in nonfiction, as well as fiction. Words choice in nonfiction looks different than it does in fiction. Students can learn how to improve the quality of their writing by strengthening the traits within specific genres.

The Basics Steps

Your curriculum guidelines determines the genres you teach, or you may be one of the lucky few who gets to choose the genre best suited for your students. Decide on a genre to study, and then collect professional and strong student examples to use as models. Analyze pieces of writing for all of the traits (this is assuming you've spent some time introducing each trait beforehand), and the organizational text structure. What are the critical attributes of the the genre?

Model brainstorming an idea for writing within the genre. Prewriting can include "thinking", so "think out loud", and show students how you write notes as you are thinking your way through the piece. Writers do this differently, and the genre often determines how writers approach the prewriting stage.

Model drafting a piece, focusing on organization. You must consider the lead, transitions, conclusions, and the text structure. The organizational text structure is critical to the genre. Take your draft and model revising word choice and sentence fluency. Voice naturally follows. Correct conventions along the way, and model a final edit of conventions before creating your final copy. Type up your final copy and distribute it to your students. Allow your students to assess it using the Six Traits. Follow the same procedure again working together on a shared writing piece before releasing students to write their own paper.

As students work on their own piece, teach mini lessons in the traits. Choose specific objectives based on your curriculum and student need. Ask students to apply their learning within their paper. Teach grammar within word choice, and spelling within conventions.

An Example in Fiction

Fiction requires the study of plot, characters, and setting. Study pieces of fiction as readers before attempting to write fiction. Students need to understand how to put together a simple plot, how to create vivid characters, and how the setting is integrated throughout the story. Collect a text set of fiction picture books with strong plots, characters, and setting. Spend time analyzing the books and identifying the attributes of fiction.

Once students understand at a deeper level how fiction is put together, begin introducing the traits within the fiction genre. Each time you read a book together, think about where they author may have gotten the idea. Start a list of places to find ideas on chart paper, and continue to add to the chart throughout the unit.

Fiction writing is organized by plot structure, but there are different patterns students can discover in fiction. Common patterns include transformation stories (the character changes in the story), circle stories (the story ends and begins in the same place), back and forth stories (there is a back and forth struggle throughout the story), and copy cat stories (one character attempts to "copy" another character).

Fiction provides a wonderful opportunity to explore word choice. Punch up your noun and verb lessons, and teach literary devices. Find examples within fiction stories to use as models. Kicked up word choice creates a stronger voice. Take it up a notch by focusing on sentence fluency. Read aloud examples of how authors slow down or speed up text through the use of short and long sentences. Notice sentence beginnings, the structure of longer sentences, and how authors mix up sentence lengths.

Authors edit throughout the drafting and revision process. If they see a mistake, they fix it. Teach your kids to pay attention to conventions in each read through. A final edit requires students to pay close attention to capitalization, usages, punctuation, and spelling.

The Difference in Nonfiction

The procedure for teaching writing in nonfiction is the same as it is in fiction, except this time you are focused on a different organizational text structure. There are different types of nonfiction: letters, editorials, news articles, information articles, instructional articles, essays, advertisements, and more. The list is rather long, so take a look at your curriculum and decide where to focus. Gather examples of your nonfiction genre to use as models. Study the structure of the model together and list out the attributes you notice.

In a study of magazine articles you will notice different ways authors organize their writing. Popular structures include: main idea and supporting details, compare - contrast, cause & effect, top ten, and interviews. If you study a variety of structures, then you can allow students to select the structure that works the best for the piece they are writing.

After spending time studying the structure of nonfiction, bring in the traits. Brainstorm a list of things kids know or want to learn. Students generally write better when they write about something they know and love. Now your students can select the best organizational text structure to suit their piece and follow the models as examples. Nonfiction doesn't need to be dry and boring. The days of encyclopedia articles are out, and creative nonfiction is in. This is where word choice and sentence fluency play a role. Apply the same techniques from fiction in nonfiction to create interesting pieces with unique voices. Don't save conventions for last. Edit throughout the writing process and once again at the end.

Assess Writing Using the Six Traits

Teach students how to assess their own writing using the Six Traits. They should learn how to assess and improve their writing by analyzing their pieces. In writing, ultimately the writer makes the decisions. Kids need to learn that all writers assess, revise, assess again, and revise again until they get their pieces "just right". Editors provide another level of assessment, giving the writer an opportunity to see their writing through someone else's eyes. Peer and teacher collaboration provides the "other" eyes for student writing. Reading your own writing objectively is a hard job. Writers depend on their critique groups, beta readers, and editors. Publication in the end is a community effort with the writer acting as the heartbeat.

Visit Effective Teaching Solutions Writing Studio

A Teachable Reading Strategy for Reading Passages

Recently I had a set of teaching objectives that I broke up in groups and created a strategic method for approaching reading passages. The method is simple, weaving the objectives together to help students tackle tough reading. This strategy is great for preparing students for standardized reading tests, and reading passages (both nonfiction and fiction) where they must demonstrate comprehension at the end by answering questions.

Strategy: Stop, Think, Track, Reread



Stop

Readers break text into manageable parts. If you are trying to learn something new, it helps to stop after reading a short portion of text in order to think about meaning, vocabulary, and new concepts.

Think
Readers think about what they've read, summarize and synthesize, and interact with and respond to the text. Once a student stops after reading a portion of the text, they need to learn to think about the text, its' meaning, and connect their own schema (or background knowledge) to the text. Many students will blow right past the words and never to stop to think about what the words mean. Stopping and thinking forces students to slow down the reading process and cognitively attend to meaning.

Track
This applies more to nonfiction than fiction. Most people do not take notes about their fiction, but a lot of people highlight, sticky note, and write notes in the margins of nonfiction books. Students can learn to track their own reading by writing short "trigger" notes after reading a major chunk of text. Teach them to focus on the main ideas in the text. For test taking purposes (or to demonstrate comprehension), students can write down the main character, problem, and solution. They may also want to make a note about the sequence of events, especially in stories that have a tricky sequence. They can go back to their side notes in order to find evidence to support their thinking when answering comprehension questions. One word of caution: slow readers in particular can get bogged down in note taking. Limit "tracking" to one to three "trigger" words to help them find the information they need.

Reread
Readers recognize when meaning breaks down. They stop and actively reread text and think about meaning. Some students benefit from reading confusing parts aloud. Sometimes a reader reads the words, but somehow manages to drift off in a daydream. They have no idea what they just read. Has this ever happened to you? Readers realize when they've read parts without thinking, stop, go back, reread, focusing on meaning.

Put this strategy together and model it by thinking out loud, and writing your thinking down in front of your students while reading the text. You may need to model several times before releasing students to practice this strategy on their own. Model this strategy using nonfiction, fiction, and practice reading test texts.

Click Here for my Lesson Plan, Bookmarks, and Poster Using the Stop, Think, Track, Reread Reading Strategy

How to Make History Come Alive in the Classroom

Teachers can probably all guess the reaction of students when they hear the words, “Take out your history books and turn to page….” Before the location in the text book is even announced, many children in the class have tuned out. We have lost them before we have begun! Instead of listening to the bored sighs and watching as kids doodle on their notebooks or daydream out the window, we should make it our responsibility as teachers to take a more proactive role. It is high time teachers everywhere make history come alive for students in our classrooms.
Perhaps the best way to achieve a more exciting atmosphere about history studies is to get excited and creative yourself. If you are bored your students will likely be as well. Don’t be afraid to venture out from your established routine. Let the textbook be a reference book and a starting point, rather than the center of the curriculum. Focus on the essential names and dates instead of forced memorization of multiple isolated facts. History is such a large body of knowledge that we can’t possibly teach them everything, and many of the things we do, if not given meaning, will soon be forgotten.

Teach recurring themes, such as progress, conflict, and resolution, and relate new information to those larger concepts. Encourage discussion about how a new history lesson relates to one just learned and to broader concepts. In math we teach how fractions and decimals are similar, or how addition and subtraction are related, but teachers often fail to make these associations with history. The more mental connections students can make, the more learning will make sense and retention will improve.

Another great way to liven up your history curriculum, or at least its delivery, is to incite emotion. We all remember events much easier if they are tied to strong emotions, either positive or negative. The stories of the past can be told in ways that emphasize the joy, fear, pain, and excitement of the characters involved. Have students imagine what it must have felt like to travel on the Santa Maria with Christopher Columbus. Was the crew frightened or exhilarated at the thought of traveling across the unknown sea? What did the Native Americans feel like when they first encountered the English settlers? Were they nervous or intrigued or angry?

Using all of the five senses is another way to breathe new life into the past. Show illustrations, photographs, and video. If a historical event is in the relatively recent past, listen to a primary source who was actually there and witnessed the action. Listen to the music of the era being studied. Sample some dishes of the time period. Bring in historical artifacts or reproductions for the students to feel in their own hands. Give kids some concrete objects and sensations to relate to the facts of history. A feather and some ink, for example, might be a good visual for the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

History will also come to life more for students if they have a chance to get actively involved. Anything that goes beyond reading the chapter and answering the questions at the back of the book is a step in the right direction. Perhaps limiting the reading of the text and answering the questions to simply one of many activities either at the beginning or conclusion of more active exercises. Of course the facts do need to be taught, but why not make it fun? Consider a game show scenario with those tired old questions or an interview with a historical figure instead.
Countless other ways exist to get students to actively participate in learning history. Children need to be exposed to a variety of literature that supports the history curriculum. Nonfiction accounts and biographies are beneficial, but historical fiction has its place as well. Respond to relevant literature with drawings, timelines, and charts. Use reading these materials as a springboard for keeping journals, writing letters, stories, and plays. Hold a debate between two opposing student groups, such as Revolutionary War patriots vs. loyalists. Allow students to express their writing, or those of fellow students, by dressing up as historical characters and acting out scenes of historical significance.

When teachers become excited about the wonderful adventures of the past, with all the emotion and physical sensations those adventures entail, students naturally follow suit. Add to the mix quality literature, active participation, and a bit of creativity, and history truly comes to life in the classroom!

Lori Jordan-Rice is a former elementary school teacher, mother of three boys, and the author of an imaginative new series featuring a fictional classroom full of memorable modern day characters alongside historical figures such as the pilgrims, the founding fathers of the United States, and Christopher Columbus. The "Miss Trimble's Trapdoor" books follow Tyler, a boy who hates school-that is until he discovers a trapdoor beneath this desk and falls into the school basement. Here he meets a wise talking dog named Barnabas Bailey who takes him back through time to teach him life lessons as he witnesses history first hand. To learn more visit http://www.misstrimblestrapdoor.com/. To obtain autographed copies of her books go to http://www.misstrimblestrapdoor.com/buy.html.


Check out Lori Jordan-Rice's Children's Books on Amazon: