Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites {Chapter 5 & 6ish}

Hi, Friends! How are ya? I’m excited about jumping into the book study about Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites by Marcia L. Tate! While we’ve been enjoying lazy days around the house, I’ve had pen and highlighter in hand busily doodling over the pages as I’m reading. Hopping from post to post to read how this book is impacting other teachers has been inspiring!

When I read Michelle’s post about Strategy 5, I just had to jump in because this chapter addresses a topic that is near and dear to my heart…something we use in our classroom every.single.day. In fact, her chapter kind of incorporated every single chapter leading up to it.

Before I jump into Chapter 5, here’s my big “take away” or “A-Aha!” from each of the previous chapters.

Chapter 1: Brainstorming and Discussion….Classrooms should NOT be quiet places. There should always be a consistent hum or buzz about the room as children are working and learning together. Opening their mouths to talk allows oxygen to get to the brain which in turn allows for a greater depth of learning.

Chapter 2:  Drawing and Artwork…I could write about this strategy all day, every day! Art is not fluff! Can I say that again? Art is not fluff. It’s the stuff…that you can use to your advantage to make many meaningful cross-curricular connections. Art inspires creativity. Art requires creation, problem solving and THINKING. Art inspires deeper learning by engaging all senses.

Chapter 3:  Field Trips…Sadly, the decreasing of school budgets have brought a screeching halt to taking field trips. To improve in this area, we’re going to look for opportunities to learn outside of the 4 walls of our classroom on campus. I’m also going to get with my favorite techy guru to plan a virtual trip! =)

Chapter 4:  Games…I need to use them more. In classrooms full of boys, games are a great strategy for learning because boys are inclined to compete in everything!

NOW…Chapter 5…Graphic Organizers, Semantic Maps, and Word Webs! =)


The best classrooms are ones where students are actively engaged in the learning-talking to one another, moving to learn content, connecting ideas together, thinking positively, and having a purpose for learning. ~Marcia L. Tate

Creating graphic organizers incorporates all of these things! Not only are they engaging, but they’re fun! Every Monday, we create a word web together to introduce our phonics focus for the week. The kids get so excited listing words that it’s hard to get them to stop! I LOVE to doodle! Win-win!

While you may not like to draw or are thinking you couldn’t make a stick figure with a ruler….don’t worry! Have a projector? Well, project a picture you’d like to use and trace away. Your kids will never know and they’ll think you’re an artistic genius! Even if you use your own stick figures, they’ll still think you’re an artistic genius!


We incorporate guided writing toward the end of every week [during guided reading]. This is how we address our comprehension skill. Graphic organizers help students to represent abstract concepts in a concrete, organized, visual format. The brain remembers images more easily than just words. When graphic organizers are used to change words into images, both left- and right-brain learners can use those images to see the big picture. (Gregory & Parry, 2006)

Each group completes a graphic organizer or responsive writing that is specific to their guided reading book. Here, after students read quietly…we discussed story structure and I wrote what they told me about the book. After I wrote to provide an example for them, students created their own story maps by copying the information in  an attractive, engaging format in their guided writing journals.


Same week. Same concept. Two different guided reading groups.

If time allows, students also enjoy sharing what they’ve learned and all students get to experience the gist of each of the different guided reading books that have been used over the course of the week.


This is an example of something new we’ve just recently started. As we approach the final six weeks of the school year, our stories are getting harder and much longer. So that students have additional exposure to the story of the week, two of our reading books have been placed in a work station bin for students to read the story independently. After reading the story, there is an 'I Can' statement provided to guide them toward creating their own graphic organizer. Because we’ve been faithfully creating these each week in small group, they’re now ready to make them on their own!

I Can statements don’t always have to be fancy. Sometimes, they can get whipped up from a sharpie and blank sheet of typing paper. The important thing is for students to have an organized model to follow, IF they need it. =)


Graphic organizers can take on fun shapes too!


In our classroom, kids help create everything. They are much more likely to be engaged and remember what was taught if they have a hand in creating it. Just sitting and watching me have all the fun isn’t actively learning.


This year, we’ve also focused on pumping a little life into our graphic organizers! Just like they can take on shape…they can be 3D too! Using 3D graphic organizers lends itself to project based learning….yet another, brain compatible strategy to grow those dendrites!


They’re great for every subject area. Again, let kids help create charts! Let them color them, touch them….construct them. Let them guide the creation of them. It’s in the “doing” that they’re learning. If time is an issue, {When isn’t it?} I create the background and the kids add the content.


They’re not just for reading! We’ve adapted the Frayer model for tons of uses in math too! We fold and learn a lot! =)


We build our classroom community with them as often as possible. This little book is one of my all time favorites! I usually whip it out as we review routines to begin the second semester. One of my coworkers introduced it to me years ago and I’ve been reading it ever since!


Here’s my reflection on Strategy 5. I hope you’ve found a little something helpful in this post. I’m looking forward to continuing this book study. Each of the sections I’ve read so far have been a big affirmation of personal beliefs and strategies we’re enjoying in our classroom. It’s also given me a greater understanding of the brain research that supports each of these strategies. Reading this book has allowed me time to reflect over how I can improve those strategies and consider how to add more tools to the “toolbox”.

Strategy 6 is all about the use of HUMOR in the classroom. What can I say? I’m goofy. I have the attention span of a 6/7 year old. I love to laugh! It makes the kiddos and I ooper schmooper compatible. Humor is usually one of the bullets my administrators list as a strength on my yearly evaluation. I think it’s their very nice way of saying…thanks for sharing your goofiness! LOL!

It’s important to love what you do. How else can you express joy, if you don’t enjoy the work you do every day? My BIG TAKE AWAY from Chapter 6? Sarcasm is the opposite of humor. It tears children down and can be demeaning. Don’t use it. While older students or advanced students may be able to get the humor part of it, most young children cannot and it can be damaging to them. Soooo, share a laugh. Wear a funny hat or shirt. Dance! Play! Make a funny face and LOVE what you do!

I hope you’re enjoying this book study as much as I am!

Stop by Fabulous in First to read about Strategy 5 and hop through the links.

Stop by One Extra Degree to read about Strategy 6 and hop through the links.

 

Later, gators!

Speak a WHO?

Hey, Friends! How are ya?  It’s that time! Time for another bright idea!
 

This one….has quickly become a class favorite! While searching online for an animated version of our story of the week, I came across an adorable website that couldn’t be a bit easier to use! It’s called Speakaboos. Have you ever heard of it? Speak a WHO? Speakaboos!

If you choose, you can enter an email address to receive a FREE story each month. Free! Yep! I’ll take it! There’s also an app for THAT! Don’t want to enter your email? No worries, just close the window and move forward to the website. It’s super simple, organized wonderfully and reads “everything” as the mouse moves over the screen.

Sooooooo, you know what my kiddos asked to use as their listening station for next week, right?

Yep! You guessed it! Speakaboos! Action stories, fairy tales, sports stories, ABCS & 123s…..students can also click the wheel at the bottom to choose animated stories by character.

The stories can be viewed within a frame or enlarged to fit the entire screen. SUPER kid friendly, beautifully designed…..and now another little resource for you to add to your toolbox!

I hope your class will enjoy it as much as we have. Now a class favorite….the question is no longer Speak a Who? Now, it’s when CAN WE Speakaboo?! Click HERE to visit the site and check it out!

If you enjoyed this bright idea, consider joining me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for more ideas to come!

For more bright ideas from a variety of other bloggers, please browse the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks for stopping by! Happy Reading!

An InLinkz Link-up

Guided Reading Routines

Hi, Friends! How are ya? Ready for the weekend? Me? Oh, yeaauuuuh! It’s been a doozy of a week! The highlight? I finally got to do my favorite thing on the planet! ….work with my kids on reading! TO TEACH! The beginning of the year comes with so many “must do’s” it’s almost as if the actual teaching gets put on the back burner. Welllll, being the type of gal that prefers teaching over assessing any day…..actually getting seated at the guided reading table with a group of kids was an absolute blast!

After introducing our last area for Daily 5, it was time to dig in to the meat of why we spent the 1st 20 days building stamina to work independently.

Last week, I promised to share a little more about our guided reading routines.  As we’re starting to build them….here’s a little peek into our 1st week!

Our guided reading block is a solid 2 hours. Every precious minute of it is jammed packed with mini-lessons and small group activities. The wonderful thing about our schedule is having extended instructional blocks. Our daily literacy block basically flows like this……Guided Reading, then Mini-Lesson, Guided Reading, then Mini-Lesson and Guided Reading, then mini-lesson followed by independent work (if time allows). In the past I had begun with a mini-lesson…..

I chose to start with small group instead of a mini-lesson because our literacy block falls just after intervention. By doing this, I make sure not to do any new teaching of concepts before my littles who may have been pulled out return to the classroom.

Each round begins with students “checking in”. This year, I added “teacher table” clipart to the check-in for the group that is rotating to the table to check in first.

The first thing we do is review sight words.

Students practice writing on a laminated sheet of paper. A whiteboard could be easily used instead. I chose to go this route because taking whiteboards in and out was a little too big and bulky for me. Last year, I used contact paper to adhere them to the table. This year, students and I are sharing the space at the table, so I’ve left them free standing. You can click HERE to grab them, if you think you’d like to use them.

After reviewing 3 sight words, students are introduced to their book for the week or begin rereading their book with prompting. The goal of this time is active processing. I want to see my students encounter challenges and observe them as they problem solve to decode words. It’s during this time that I take individual running records and make notes of student reading behaviors. It generally takes about 8 minutes or so.

After reading, we go over a quick discussion prompt that explores a comprehension strategy.

Then, one new sight word is taught. We go through the 4 activities below in order to learn this sight word. Each student has a little bin in front of them that houses magnetic letters to build the new sight word, pencils, a highlighter, expo marker and an eraser.

Finally, we complete one of two activities. Early in the week, guided reading lessons conclude with word study. At our school, we use Wilson Fundations. It’s at this time, that we work to learn phonics patterns. During visits to the guided reading table later in the week, we complete guided writing or reading responses to deepen comprehension.

My file cabinet sits just behind the table. On word study days, we use these cards for word building. On guided writing days, I provide an example of the graphic organizer students will complete on a small whiteboard. Because it is not used daily, I’ve attached it to file cabinet with velcro. Sticks when we need it….pulls free when we don’t! =)

Guided writing notebooks are kept on a shelf close to the guided reading table. The label on the front of each bin indicates the name of the group…blue, purple, green or red. The symbols also correlate to the leveled readers from our series that we use for guided reading. We’ll use these journals throughout the year to complete guided writing, reading responses, and graphic organizers. They do not leave the classroom.

Here’s an example of the graphic organizer we completed this week over sequence of events. The picture shows 3 out of my 4 reading groups. Same concept…differentiated. The first group responded by recording complete sentences from the story in the order of how they happened in the story. The second group, copied the time order words and illustrated what happened first, next and last. The final group, framed the verbs from their story’s pages and labeled each sticky note with an action from the story. That’s it! The End…ish.=)

Each rotation to the table lasts about 18 minutes…..jam packed from start to finish!

This is the little bin I keep close at hand during guided reading. For now, it houses little pointers, magnifying glasses, pencils, bloom’s questions, LOTS of sticky notes, stickers, coding dots, pictures for vowel sorts and letter formation cards. Other things may be added as the year progresses.

What are my OTHER kids doing while I’m at the table with a small group?

They’re checked into Daily 5. They’re moving through routines for read to self, read to someone, listen to reading, work on writing, or word work to grow as readers and writers.

Of the 5 areas that students work on, I only have to prep materials for two of them. The first one of them is work on writing. There is one sterilite drawer at the writing table. In each of the 3 drawers is an activity to write on a given topic, focus on words, or build sentences. Each activity is complete with an I CAN statement to foster reading independence and a quick confidence boost!

The 2nd of these areas is word work.

Like writing, each bin houses an I CAN statement. All of the materials that students need to complete an activity are inside the bin. These activities will follow a pattern throughout the year to build students’ independence and familiarity.

How do I motivate students to complete quality work? The simplest, easiest thing that I’ve found to motivate my students is hanging their work up for ALLLLLL to see!

A clip up comes with having your work framed as an example for your friends to follow too!

And how do my students feel about this time of day? Oh, just like I DO! They love it……

Thanks for being patient as it took me a little longer than expected to get this post up! Getting ready for the week ahead? Click the pic below to grab the activities that my firsties will be working on! You can click HERE to check out my lesson plan format.

Happy guided reading, friends!

First Week Jitters

Hellllo……is anybody out there? Can you hear me now…OR are you coming out of a first week coma too!?? I think I might've forgotten how much work goes into the first week of first grade! Don’t laugh….BUT it reminds me of child birth. Only the labor is spread out over an entire week! My bed is still perfectly made from a week ago because I never made it to sleep in it last week! I dropped as soon as I could right onto the couch and found myself waking up there each morning. Thank God for a charged iphone battery and SEVERAL morning alarms!



Now that I’ve regained a little of my senses, I’m checking in with Kacey for a little Five for Friday catching up!


With each passing day, routines and procedures began to take shape. Our first crack at building stamina lasted for a whole whopping 30 seconds! I was flipping cartwheels (in my imagination) by Friday for having built it up to a whole 7 minutes!

I usually draw our anchor charts, but with the sonshine having started his first football season the same time as school, well……ain’t nobody got time for that! Clipart spruced up our anchor chart and to keep them uniform, I’ll be printing pictures for all 5 of them.



I did, however, whip out this little guy over a cup of yogurt Tuesday morning! This chart was definitely the class favorite of the week. We’ve learned that we can do tough stuff without quitting or giving up! There were lots of smiles as we raised our arms to flex our muscles before practicing read to self each day…



By Friday….we had gotten to know each other a little better and were ready to be on our feet for some learning fun. We used Dr. Jean’s Rhythm rhyme to generate a list of rhyming words. These little items came from Lakeshore Learning’s rhyming basket. Each student was given an object to “hide” in their hands. When I gave them the signal “ready…rhyme” they walked around the room to find their matching rhyming partner. 

Learning on our feet? Fun!



Later that day, we also learned how to format our math journals. The sheet of chart paper is laminated. Each day, I’ll write and wipe 4 spiral review topics for students to copy and complete in their math journals. Because this was our intro lesson….we worked through one square at a time. I covered the remaining squares with construction paper so they wouldn’t get overwhelmed. As students begin checking into math writing next week, they will work through all 4 squares at their own pace.

Introducing this activity whole group allowed  me to see who has trouble copying too. Now, I know how many students I will need to provide a copy to glue into their journal.



….and you know that last post? The one about the room set up? How happy I was with the finished product? Perfect plan…..? Ha! You know what happened the minute the kids showed up, right? Yep! I found out what really worked and what really did not! Kids know best…..and every afternoon, I tweaked things until we got to a format that will work best for all of us.

There’ll be no riding dead horses for us. What doesn’t work, gets tweaked until it does! 

I think this one is a winner!

Lesson plans included lots of Kindergarten review and time for getting to know one another.

Today was a day of rest….tomorrow, it’ll be time to prep for week 2! As we get ready to move full speed ahead, I thought it might be a good time for a little pick me up! A little something to help get energized….How about a fun Give Away? I can’t send you a caffeine boost, but I can help with adding a little fun to those fingertips as they work to mold little firsties!



The first week is a wrap! Enter below to have a little fun and win some Jamberry nail wraps from my teaching bud, Dani! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Five for Friday~Smart Art

Hi, peeps! How are ya? It’s an UN-TX-like 20 something degrees in our neck of the woods today! Brrrrrr…….What’s the temperature like where you are? Please send warm thoughts our way! It actually FEELS like winter and I’m not quite sure what to make of it, but I know I don’t like it! Ha! Bring on the sunshine! While we wish for warmer weather, I thought I’d catch up with the awesome Kacey over at DoodleBugs Teaching for a Five for Friday {..ahem, late Saturday} post!



Our Daily 5 routines usually run Monday – Thursday. Fridays are run a little differently. We give numerical grades on our students report cards, which require assessments. We collect grades in a number of different ways. This quick post will outline what a typical Friday in our room looks like.

Just after our morning recess, students gather at the carpet and begin selecting partners to ‘Read to Someone’. They find a place in the room with a copy of our story of the week to read and discuss. After they have completed their individual discussions throughout the room, we meet together and discuss the comprehension strategy we practiced throughout the week. Our main story, generally, comes from our reading series. Sometimes we pull stories for Reading A-Z. Other pieces of authentic literature are pulled in throughout the week and used to make connections to it or replace it, if the selection in our book isn’t a good one for the skill we’re focusing on.

Once this discussion is complete, we complete a comprehension and related phonics assessment.

Afterwards,……it’s time for Smart Art! We work together to extend what we’ve learned. This is also the time that requires students to have completed their ‘Must Do’ stations activity for the week. No ‘Must Do’, No Smart Art…..you can read about our ‘Must Do/Can Do’s’ HERE.



This week, students were separated into mixed ability groups to read and identify examples of cause and effect for a specific season of the year. Each group was led by a student. I explained the requirements of the group work to the 4 leaders. The 4 leaders explained it to each of their groups.



After the groups met and completed their discussions, we moved to our desks to prepare our smart art. Each student labeled the front of their foldable. We discussed cause and effect as one event that causes another to happen. Why it happened and what happened.


….then the leader of each group selected two friends to present for their group. 1 friend gave the cause, the other presented the effect and I recorded it on the board. Students then returned to their groups to write the example agreed upon by their group. They also created a symbol to represent their respective season.



Still learning…(always learning)….but in a way that’s interactive, fun and creative. We don’t use our desks a whole lot either. You’ll notice, we work on the floor quite a bit. Why be cooped up in a chair all day, when you can stretch out and get comfy? And because, we generally do this after completing assessments, we’ve already been sitting for long enough.



Here’s what our finished smart art for the week looked like! Like? Winter. Spring. Summer. Fall. I love them ALL! Do you think my kids have picked up on the fact that I like doodle frames? Ha!

Could I use this for a grade too? Yep! Sure could did!  =)



After grabbing the FREEBIE to mark must do’s in her stations, my sister from another mother asked for a cupcake to mark her remaining  tubs as ‘desserts’. I thought you might be able to use them too, so here ya go! If you like 'em, click 'em…they’re all yours!

What creative ways do you use to assess student understanding? Do tell…..=)

Collaborative Group Work~Kids’ Books!

Books! Kid created books, galore! We haven’t quite made it to Bag Lady status yet, but we did have a lot of fun with a single sheet of white construction paper last week! {And, I’ve ordered some paper bags!}



Our comprehension skill was sequence of events. To get kids thinking, talking, working, and learning together to retell the sequence of events, each student was given a plain white sheet of paper, folded into 4ths. They each met in their guided reading groups to work on sequencing events using their leveled reader.



We completed this little project over the course of 3 days as a “cap off” to our mini-lessons. Students illustrated the cover and discussed the jobs of the author and illustrator. Next, transition words were cut and glued, in order, to the top of the book pages. Students met and discussed the sequence of events, wrote one sentence on the bottom of each page and drew a picture to match the sentence. We did 2 pages at a time.



After completing retelling in small groups, students were asked to put themselves in the story! Boy, did they love this part! Their task? Write 1 question you’d ask the main character.  One of the groups’ books had a fox in it. You know where that one went, right? Ha!

Lastly, students went on a hunt for digraphs. We’ve been working with digraphs and focused on words ending with -ch or -tch. 3 tasks, 1 book……lots of discussions filled with accountable talk! Admittedly, I struggle to find time for us to share our writing aloud. I’m working on it. I’m working on it! BUT, because I knew they were so proud of these, we made sure to share them at the carpet. 

AND you want to know what happened?! They WERE beyond proud of themselves. As we were finishing up……they began to chant…Encore! Encore! Encore! {Point taken……I will make more time for sharing.}



….so I’ll continue to see smiles as big as this one!



….and have kid’s happy and excited about reading and writing like Len Leopard was about getting his spots! I apologize for the picture being blurry…I snapped it on the way out on Friday.

In between the writing and discussions lots of learning was had in small groups and stations. Click the pictures below to check out the activities we used.
 



Do you keep track of what stations your students have visited throughout the week? Here’s the simple system we use in our classroom to do just that. We call it, “Must-Do/Can-Do”.



Every week, a “must do” star is placed on a bin at stations. This activity must be completed by Friday. It is the students’ responsibility to make sure they’ve visited the station some time throughout the week to complete the required task. Do I remind them; yes! Do I make sure they visit the station…no. Again, it is their responsibility. So, how do I know they’ve completed each “must do”?

Students turn in their stations work on Fridays. If the “must do” activity is not in their folder, they must go to the station(s) and complete it, while the class completes a fun Friday activity. This is usually a game or art activity…something they won’t want to miss!



If you can use them, feel free to click the pic to grab them! How do you make sure your students visit all stations during the week?