How "common" is the Common Core?

Do you think the CCSS is “common” teaching?  For me, for ELA in particular, for the most part... Yes - for me, I consider it to be common.  It is what I do every day.  There are a few changes that I think will be difficult for everyone (including myself) but they are changes that we probably should have made a long time ago. 

 

In a nutshell, here is what the ELA CCSS emphasizes:

1.   Tiered Vocabulary – more to come on this topic…

2.   Language .  Now, this is not just your typical run of the mill language.  Yes, it includes conventions and their effective use and vocabulary just as the previous standards did but it also has a deeper meaning.  ORAL COMMUNICATION!!!  We need to teach our students to “text talk” so to speak.

3.   Speaking and Listening.  Being able to carry on a “flexible” conversation, being able to communicate ideas and have opinions, being able to collaborate. 

 

In order to do this within small group, I created a rule for the students.  They must respond to the previous comment about the text prior to sharing what is on their mind. 

So for example let’s say I stated that I thought Alice (in the text titled below) was a naughty little girl that didn’t listen because…  A student would have to say something like: “I disagree because…” OR “Yes, I agree with that because…”. 

 

It creates a group of intensified listeners and it is truly remarkable to see.  Now, I have only tried this with my 4^th graders so far but this coming year I am going to be working on this with my younger kiddos as well.

 

 

4.   Text-dependent questions.   Finding and using evidence-based answers is a common theme throughout all of the standards K-12.  I'm going to create another post on creating text-dependent questions and how to know the difference.

 

The students need to learn to respond to text.  How do you teach that?  Well, I start off small.  For example… the focus of instruction for my 4^th grade group was on character analysis.  I used a mentor text:  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A teacher once asked me: “don’t the kids you pull need all comprehension skills?”

My response?  Not necessarily. Some students might be good at retelling or sequential order so I wouldn’t need to focus on that.

So how do I choose the skills to work on/focus on with my groups?

I choose them based on what I see that are common denominators within the group.

My 4^th graders had a ton of difficulty with inferencing - ALL. YEAR. LONG.  This included making EVIDENCE-BASED predictions (being able to explain why they predicted what they did and then reading on and being able to assess whether or not their prediction was correct), and character analysis which included character traits.

I found this information out just from working with the students.

For example, in previous guided reading lessons, I asked deeper questions about why a character did something or what does that (a particular action) tell us about the character? I would get blank stares!!!

As many times as I tried to reword the question, they still weren’t getting it!  They weren’t understanding what I was asking them to do!  I thought for sure they would understand what character analysis was and how to answer questions but they didn't and they couldn't. 

So, I showed them. 

I started off easy. Using pictures – asking: How do you know the character is happy – oh because he’s smiling!

Okay so how would you sound if you were happy? Blah blah blah.
You get the idea. 
Scaffolding at its finest.

I then used a guided reading text set (a.k.a. leveled readers) with my small group to get them to try to find the evidence in the pictures and then, find the evidence within the words.

 

I used this book to work on character analysis and to work on Monitoring and Clarifying (this book is a higher level text and it is difficult mainly because it has flashbacks from Suzy's journal interweaved throughout the story).

If they can understand the idea using pictures, they will understand the gist of it when trying to find evidence within the text(words of the text).  They just need to do it often or more often so it becomes second nature to them.

 

This explanation of language is really also the explanation of answering questions with/ responding to text with EVIDENCE BASED ANSWERS!!!

5.   Responding to Reading --- Being thoughtful about our answering, writing evidence based answers, really delving into the book.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My instruction hasn't really changed all that much.  I still do read alouds just like I always have.
Using "mentor texts" is really just a  fancier way of saying that you are doing a "read aloud with a purpose".  My choice in texts and guided reading texts is much more purposeful. 

Good teaching is meeting the students where they are and building on what they know.  It is what we do.  It is scaffolding, guiding, and modeling strategies.  Something we have always done.  The only thing that has changed for me, is that I now get to use some really interesting and unique "mentor texts".  I created a list of mentor texts that go along with each of the 6 essential comprehension strategies.  More to come on that in another post. 

I think creating text-dependent questions is going to be the hardest part.  Mainly because I find that it is sooo very time consuming.  More to come on this topic as well...


How has your instruction changed with the adoption of CCSS? 

Thanks for Reading!


~*Gina*~

 

    

 

Chevron Anyone?

So by popular demand, I created a "chevron" themed classroom decor set.  It is "rainbow" chevron so it will surely brighten up any classroom!   I like it so much, I think I might use it in my room!
Check it out HERE and download the preview for some freebies!

I added some leveled book labels for book bins in this set and then I got to thinking about leveling student texts.  Is it really such a great idea to level all of your books if you are a classroom teacher?  I'm not a classroom teacher.  I am a Reading Specialist so the books that I have leveled are my leveled text sets that I use for guided reading.  The bins the students choose from to take home to read nightly contain a mixture of levels, levels that the students have no idea what they mean - I use the EIL (Early Intervention levels) with DRA levels as well.   

When I was a classroom teacher, I had a zip disk (yes, I'm showing my age here) that contained the levels of my entire classroom library.  (Sad to think that all those books are still all packed away in the basement at the farm.  5 plastic tubs of books.  Does anyone need some?  I'm willing to give them to a good home if you come and pick them up! They are for 1st/2nd/3rd graders.)

Do you level your library so that the students can see/know their level? 

I never did.  Why?  Because I felt that it could discourage students from seeking more challenging texts about topics of interest to them. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see some of the kinds of books students will struggle through because they find them so engaging.  I had a student, a struggling reader, who just loved these Mercy Watson books.  Word by word, she pushed herself through each and every book in the series.  And guess what?  She pushed herself so hard, she made so much progress that by the end of that school year she was considered to be on grade level.  A miracle?  No.  She had the will, the want to do well.  She was engaged and excited about these books.  With struggling readers, engagement and excitement is usually half the battle.

How do you feel about leveling your classroom library?

Thanks for Reading!

~*Gina*~ 

 

Organizing Takes Skill... or maybe just some Pretty Labels

     I have been working really hard on organizing (and deep cleaning) my home.  Luckily, my son is a great sport and loves to... or, well... tries to ---> help.  I have completed reorganizing all of my cabinets in my kitchen and cleaned them out. We usually blast the radio and dance while we are cleaning and organizing.  It is so much more fun that way!  But what a job. 

     Now, I'm on to closets and all the bins that can be found in those closets.  I've only lived in this house for about 3 years and I have so much "stuff".  Just like in my room at school - soo much "stuff". 

     Soooo, I did what any normal teacher would do!  I started labeling everything.  It just looks waaay more organized.  Wouldn't you agree? 

     And of course I got to thinking about my room's organization and made these.  I'm not sure if I love them or if I will make different ones but either way, they match my red book bins in my room.

Thanks for reading!

~*Gina*~ 

 

Classroom Themes and organization

     Today was such a lovely day for a swim!  Gianluca and I splashed til about 3pm and then he begged me to go to the farm so he could check on his miniature pig, Patsy.   She's cute but too smelly for me to handle so I decided to do some planning. 

I feel like the summer is almost over so I want to get as much planned as possible since I probably won't be able to get into my room until the day before school starts.  I can't wait to see our new ceiling tiles and new shelving units!  Plus, I get a new HP Revolve, 2 iPads (through a grant) and a brand new laptop with projector all for me to use with the students!  I think I get a SMART board too!  YIPEEE!

I probably won't have much time to get things organized before the kids come so I decided to plan out my room theme.  I have such a tiny itty bitty room so I have to be sure I am extra organized and extra neat.  I have these mini crate bins that I use as book bins.  (I think I have the most books out of any teacher in my building but with the smallest room!) The bins are red so I wanted to add a pop of red with other prints this year so that everything matches.  I recently read this blog that said something along the lines of "decorate your room as you would your home" - I took that to mean that I shouldn't put tons of crazy colors together which is what I have always done - everything bright -  But... this past school year, I became a minimalist.  I have a ton of "stuff" for guided reading, word word "stuff", books and "stuff", writing "stuff" and the list goes on.  I need to figure out a way to cover up my "stuff" to make it a more inviting and homey space. 

I'm going to hit up Walmart to buy some shower curtain rods for my new and improved cabinets but I won't be able to do that until I actually see them. 

Anyway, back to the theme for my room.  I thought about doing polka-dots but that is soooo overdone.  Then, I thought, what if I did black and white chevron but I'm pretty sure EVERYONE is going to be doing chevron this year.  I want to do something different! 

So I have been on the hunt for animal print anything that I can put in my room!  It is sooo me!  Anyone that knows me or has been to my house knows that my husband and I love animals - he likes to hunt them or attend to them at the farm and well I just like animal prints :) 

I created the 1st 100 word wall words with leopard print and a pop of red (so that it will match my crates).  I will use these for my Kindergarten students and then I will use Zebra print for my first graders.  I'm thinking maybe giraffe print for my 2nd graders.   I'll be working on finding the perfect backgrounds to use in order to create the 2nd 100 and 3rd 100.  I have to keep them totally different because I use one word wall for 3 grades (I know it sounds crazy, right?) so the students need to be able to see which is theirs.  I have to do it this way because I see so many grade levels.

Any ideas on animal print decor??? 

Here is the link to my fancy leopard print word wall cards for Fry's 1st 100 sight words. 

I'll be sure to post the other sight word lists when I finish them.

Thanks for reading!

~*Gina*~

Reading and Writing Project

I am always on the hunt for great resources, especially resources with usable assessments. 

The Reading and Writing Project has been around for a long time but it updates its content regularly. 

Check out their website and all of the great ready to use assessments that are listed. 

Follow this link to go to the website.

Go to this link to view the reading assessments.

*Gina*

It's just Word Study to me

   Today was not a pool day so Gianluca and I decided to make our own fun with some chalk and bubbles.

    I thought it was supposed to rain but didn't feel that it was coming (I can usually predict the weather with my sinus pressure).  So... I decided to water some of my plants, most importantly: my lovely hydrangeas.  (They are still alive by the way.) I was talking about hydrangeas to my friend Katie - how they always die on me!  I'm on my 3rd plant and in order to plant more, my goal is to keep at least one alive.  She told me they need LOTS of water.

I thought about the word HYDRANGEA and started laughing uncontrollably at myself.  See what I'm getting at?  "Hydra" meaning water!?!?!

Wow, I couldn't believe I didn't see that before!

Then, I thought back to word study...

Did you know that one of the most effective decoding strategies for students in grades 3-5 is to chunk words into parts?

The word parts are meaningful (hello!!! "Hydra" is meaningful!!!) and can easily be read by these little youngsters.  That is why this strategy sticks.

And... teaching word parts will help the students easily understand those crazy long vocabulary words!  

Here's how I do it.

Before I begin teaching any type of word parts to my students, I think about what kinds of word parts there are.

1. Compound Words - 2 words that combine to form a new word.  Examples are words like butterfly, firefly, baseball (can you tell it is summer based on my examples?).

2. Onsets - All consonants that precede the vowel in a syllable or word. An example would be "STR" as in the word string.

3.  Rimes - The vowel and all consonants after it in a syllable or word until the next vowel.  An example would be "it" in the word "sit".  The onset would be "s" and the "it" would be the rime.  If the word was "split".  The onset would be "spl" and the rime would still be "it".  Get the idea?

4.  Prefixes - any syllable attached to the beginning of a word that changes the meaning of that word.  An example would be "re" in the word "restart".  I would also teach the students what each prefix means.  It will help them with those more challenging vocabulary words! (CCSS wink, wink)

5.  Suffixes - any syllable with meaning attached to the end of a word that changes the meaning of that word. An example would be "flavorful" as in the food is full of flavor.

6.   Inflectional Endings - this is a special set of suffixes that change the number when added to nouns.  It changes the tense when added to verbs. (I also teach the double consonant rule here)

7.   Possession - I added this one here only because it causes my little kiddos so much frustration!  If only the English language were as simple as say French or Italian, we could just say "the pen of my aunt" instead of "my aunt's pen".  This little apostrophe causes much confusion for readers and writers alike.  It is sooo important to teach! So, I added it to my list.

~How do you help your students chunk words?

~What charts do you think will be useful for the students?  I can think of so many I'd make and use but my room is so teeny tiny! (I have the old principal's office)

~What tasks have you assigned in groups to helps students follow through with this strategy?

~How do you document students' understanding and use of this strategy?
(I'm VERY interested to hear about this last one so please respond!)


side note: This blog has had 500 views already!  Let's try to make it 1,000!  And be sure to become a follower! (click over to your right!)

Thanks for reading!

~*Gina*~                

What can we say beyond "Sound it Out" ???

Yesterday started out as such a lovely day.  The weather was gorgeous!  We got to the pool around noon and swam for about 3 hours - I think Gianluca found a new love for swimming!   My sister came to the pool and we decided to sit at one of the picnic tables and enjoy some fresh fruit.  And all of a sudden, out of nowhere it started pouring! I mean torrential downpour with freezing, ice cold rain that was coming in sideways! 

They immediately closed the pool, and the mob of people --- well it seemed like we were all running for our lives --- but in reality, we just wanted to get to our cars.

Although my sister and I were soaked and freezing, we managed to keep Gianluca warm and somewhat dry.  When we returned to my house, the sun was shining! 

I couldn't help but laugh and think "you've got to be kidding me" ~ I often find myself laughing in my head about similar situations when I'm working with students. 

Sometimes, I feel like the same thing is happening with my struggling readers.  We start out smooth sailing, making progress - they see the light!  Then, it pours.  They come to road blocks, get frustrated and sometimes even angry with themselves.  And I always have to remind myself to keep them relaxed.  How do I do that?  Well, by keeping myself relaxed and telling them that it is OKAY to try.  That good readers TRY and when we make mistakes, we TRY AGAIN!  And then, the light starts to shine again. 

I typed up some cues I use to help students stay calm and to understand what to do when they can't decode a word.  These cues/prompts are much more than simply telling them to "sound it out" ~ Because, what if they don't know what sound to make?

You can find the cues HERE!  

Thanks for reading!

~*Gina*~