Hey, hey, hey!!!
I hope all of you have had a nice, RELAXING break thus far-you all deserve it!! :)
In our team planning right before we went out for break we were talking about the new year and new goals for our kiddos. Every year we do my little New Years glyph (free in my TPT shop) but this year, we wanted to add more MEANING behind it.
We plan to do the glyph except this year instead of the kiddos just picking any New Years Resolution (b/c besides let's be honest...how many 1st graders REALLY get the importance of "eat healthier" or "exercise more"!?!? HA!) we are going to tie it into our unit of study for writing workshop.
Our fabulous Language Arts coach sent us this link to a blog post that really helped inspire me...
https://chartchums.wordpress.com/?s=new+year.
If you read that post it can give you new, fresh ideas for the new year in your classroom.
There were several ideas/quotes/perspectives in the post that really stuck out to me.
In our mini-lesson when we get back we will spend time reflecting on ourselves as authors and ask ourselves "What is something I can do, as an author, to improve my writing?"
*This craftivity may take us a few days in order for us to really get the meaning, importance and point across to our students, but THAT'S OK! We want them to understand that real authors set goals for themselves, and what better time to do that than in the NEW YEAR!!
As the teacher you will model your goal during the mini lesson and then allow them to go back to their seat to brainstorm their goal(s). You can allow the students to meet up with their partner to share their goal(s) and even use their partner as a resource to help make their goal(s) even better.
Be sure to stop throughout workshop time to praise students with great goals. This not only lights up that kiddos world, but it also gives ideas to other students who may need that extra little "push."
When the students have completed their glyph, we plan to share them, praise them, and hang them out in the hallway for others to admire :) Directions for the glyph are provided in the download!
OH! And to add a little flare...you could buy those little party blowers from Party City or even at the grocery store and tape them on to the mouth of the face each child will create with the glyph because we need to CELEBRATE our new writing goals and our next step in becoming better authors!! :)
Enjoy the New Year friends--it's going to be a GREAT one!!!!
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Elf on a Shelf EXTRAVAGANZA!!
Hi there!!
I'm a tad late on starting my North Pole friend in our classroom but HEY better late than never!
In our classroom we don't do an Elf on the Shelf, but rather we write a letter to the North Pole and just ask our friends up there to send us any friend to watch over us to ensure we are all being good boys and girls :) The North Pole has sent us a GINGERBREAD GIRL this year! Yippeee!!!
Monday will be our first day and I am so excited for our "Winter Wonderland Welcome Party" that all my firsties will walk in to tomorrow. If you haven't started a North Pole friend yet, IT'S NOT TOO LATE! The 2 weeks before winter break seem to be a tad more...challenging per say in regards to behavior so this gingerbread girl is going to solve all of my problems ;)
Below is a calendar I made for these next 2 weeks before we get out for winter break, PLEASE print it out and use it if you need any ideas on things for your guy/gal to do in the classroom! On the calendar you will also find that I tried to list the items you would need for each day. If you would like a further explanation on each day keep reading...
WEEK ONE:
Dec 8: "Winter Wonderland Welcome Party"-This is the first day our friend from the North Pole arrives so we have to do it BIG! Above the classroom door will be a banner that says "Hi Kids" that I have made and hung, and fake snow will be on the floor leading them into the classroom. On each table pod there will be a "snowman" (I made these by taking a tooth pick and putting two large marshmallows on it, draw on a face with a Sharpie and VOILA- snowman). I will also have our gingerbread girl sitting on my back table with a letter from the North Pole introducing her along with some "treats" she brought straight from Gladys, Gingerbread Mama, up in the North Pole. PS the treats are mini marshmallows that I will put in a Ziploc bag for each kiddo to take home and enjoy with mom and dad...IF they have been good, of course ;)
Dec. 9: Shelf Reading-We have built in shelves in our classrooms (you cold do this on any book shelf though), so our Gingerbread Girl will be sitting on a stack of Christmas/winter books and on top there she will be reading my favorite How the Grinch Stole Christmas By: Dr. Seuss. I will have a little index card note that says "To Mrs. Uselton's Class Love: The North Pole" and there will be a wrapped present. Inside will be a new Christmas/winter book for our classroom library that we get to read at the end of the day :)
Dec. 10: "Be Good"-In our classroom is a large student work wall so today our friend will take down all the student work and replace it with a big sign that says BE GOOD LOVE, ______. Our classroom flag poles are right above this wall so I will place the Gingerbread Girl up on top with a Sharpie marker...very guilty :)
Dec. 11: "Bananas for Band aids"-How much do your students love to put band aids on?!?! I sure hope it's not just my class! Well, today Gingerbread girl found the band aid bucket and will be sitting right inside/next to it and she will have band aids all over her and I will put some around the surrounding area with the wrappers every where *GASP*
Dec. 12: "Stick with Me"-We have a small little treasure box in our classroom that houses all of our fun stickers that the students earn. Today, Gingerbread Girl will be sitting INSIDE and have stickers all over her and (if I can remember haha) will have a new pack of Christmas/winter stickers for each kiddo in the class!
WEEK TWO:
Dec. 15: "Sweet" Friend-Today Gingerbread Girl will be on the back counter in the classroom with an empty bag of Christmas color M&Ms and she will have spelled out "be good" (or any message you choose) in the M&Ms.
Dec. 16: "Let it Snow"-In Texas, we RARELY see snow {unless it is a Christmas miracle} so Gingerbread Girl will bring it to us! For today you will need to have made snowflakes using q-tips. I use 3 q-tips and just hot glue in the center, make an X with 2 of them and then glue the 3rd going horizontally across...snow flake! I will put some random q tips around her because it is always more fun when she makes a little mess ;)
Dec. 17: Spying is Tiring-Gingerbread Girl is worn out from all of her spying and flying back and forth from the North Pole each night, so she needs a nap. Gingerbread Girl will be stuffed inside the tissue box and you can make a little pillow out of tissues for your friend too :) *P.S. A tip for noise control today..."Sh...Gingerbread Girl is sleeping we need to make sure we are using our whisper voices today ;)
Dec. 18: Sack Race-EEEK! This is a first time for me to do this and if all goes as planned, this may just be my favorite! I have little stuffed animals in my classroom sitting on the window sills so I plan to pick a few of my faves, along with Gingerbread Girl, and each friend will be put in a brown paper lunch sack on my back counter. I am going to scatter them in a horizontal line as if they got bored during the night time/after the students left and had a SACK RACE! I think the students are just going to die over this one...so is their teacher!!! :)
Dec. 19: "Sweet Treat before I go..."-Today is our last day before we get out for winter break so it is Gingerbread Girl's last day with us. Today we will have a letter from her that reads "Dear 1st Graders, Today's my last day, I must say goodbye. Tonight I must go, to the North Pole I'll fly. But Santa will be here with gifts and good cheer, And I will be back the same time next year. So be a good boy and girl, And smile with joy. Remember the fun times with __{insert North Pole friends name}__, OH BOY! I will miss you! Love, ____"
Gingerbread Girl will have an empty box of candy canes and a note taped on it that says "I brought you a candy cane before I go...but you have to find it :)" You can tape these all over the room and students can go and find one for each of them to take home!
Wow!! SO much fun!! I hope you and your class have the best time with your friend from the North Pole!!! I would love to see/hear any ideas you use in your classroom! You can e-mail me at keluseltonATgmailDOTcom.
I'm a tad late on starting my North Pole friend in our classroom but HEY better late than never!
In our classroom we don't do an Elf on the Shelf, but rather we write a letter to the North Pole and just ask our friends up there to send us any friend to watch over us to ensure we are all being good boys and girls :) The North Pole has sent us a GINGERBREAD GIRL this year! Yippeee!!!
Monday will be our first day and I am so excited for our "Winter Wonderland Welcome Party" that all my firsties will walk in to tomorrow. If you haven't started a North Pole friend yet, IT'S NOT TOO LATE! The 2 weeks before winter break seem to be a tad more...challenging per say in regards to behavior so this gingerbread girl is going to solve all of my problems ;)
Below is a calendar I made for these next 2 weeks before we get out for winter break, PLEASE print it out and use it if you need any ideas on things for your guy/gal to do in the classroom! On the calendar you will also find that I tried to list the items you would need for each day. If you would like a further explanation on each day keep reading...
WEEK ONE:
Dec 8: "Winter Wonderland Welcome Party"-This is the first day our friend from the North Pole arrives so we have to do it BIG! Above the classroom door will be a banner that says "Hi Kids" that I have made and hung, and fake snow will be on the floor leading them into the classroom. On each table pod there will be a "snowman" (I made these by taking a tooth pick and putting two large marshmallows on it, draw on a face with a Sharpie and VOILA- snowman). I will also have our gingerbread girl sitting on my back table with a letter from the North Pole introducing her along with some "treats" she brought straight from Gladys, Gingerbread Mama, up in the North Pole. PS the treats are mini marshmallows that I will put in a Ziploc bag for each kiddo to take home and enjoy with mom and dad...IF they have been good, of course ;)
Dec. 9: Shelf Reading-We have built in shelves in our classrooms (you cold do this on any book shelf though), so our Gingerbread Girl will be sitting on a stack of Christmas/winter books and on top there she will be reading my favorite How the Grinch Stole Christmas By: Dr. Seuss. I will have a little index card note that says "To Mrs. Uselton's Class Love: The North Pole" and there will be a wrapped present. Inside will be a new Christmas/winter book for our classroom library that we get to read at the end of the day :)
Dec. 10: "Be Good"-In our classroom is a large student work wall so today our friend will take down all the student work and replace it with a big sign that says BE GOOD LOVE, ______. Our classroom flag poles are right above this wall so I will place the Gingerbread Girl up on top with a Sharpie marker...very guilty :)
Dec. 11: "Bananas for Band aids"-How much do your students love to put band aids on?!?! I sure hope it's not just my class! Well, today Gingerbread girl found the band aid bucket and will be sitting right inside/next to it and she will have band aids all over her and I will put some around the surrounding area with the wrappers every where *GASP*
Dec. 12: "Stick with Me"-We have a small little treasure box in our classroom that houses all of our fun stickers that the students earn. Today, Gingerbread Girl will be sitting INSIDE and have stickers all over her and (if I can remember haha) will have a new pack of Christmas/winter stickers for each kiddo in the class!
WEEK TWO:
Dec. 15: "Sweet" Friend-Today Gingerbread Girl will be on the back counter in the classroom with an empty bag of Christmas color M&Ms and she will have spelled out "be good" (or any message you choose) in the M&Ms.
Dec. 16: "Let it Snow"-In Texas, we RARELY see snow {unless it is a Christmas miracle} so Gingerbread Girl will bring it to us! For today you will need to have made snowflakes using q-tips. I use 3 q-tips and just hot glue in the center, make an X with 2 of them and then glue the 3rd going horizontally across...snow flake! I will put some random q tips around her because it is always more fun when she makes a little mess ;)
Dec. 17: Spying is Tiring-Gingerbread Girl is worn out from all of her spying and flying back and forth from the North Pole each night, so she needs a nap. Gingerbread Girl will be stuffed inside the tissue box and you can make a little pillow out of tissues for your friend too :) *P.S. A tip for noise control today..."Sh...Gingerbread Girl is sleeping we need to make sure we are using our whisper voices today ;)
Dec. 18: Sack Race-EEEK! This is a first time for me to do this and if all goes as planned, this may just be my favorite! I have little stuffed animals in my classroom sitting on the window sills so I plan to pick a few of my faves, along with Gingerbread Girl, and each friend will be put in a brown paper lunch sack on my back counter. I am going to scatter them in a horizontal line as if they got bored during the night time/after the students left and had a SACK RACE! I think the students are just going to die over this one...so is their teacher!!! :)
Dec. 19: "Sweet Treat before I go..."-Today is our last day before we get out for winter break so it is Gingerbread Girl's last day with us. Today we will have a letter from her that reads "Dear 1st Graders, Today's my last day, I must say goodbye. Tonight I must go, to the North Pole I'll fly. But Santa will be here with gifts and good cheer, And I will be back the same time next year. So be a good boy and girl, And smile with joy. Remember the fun times with __{insert North Pole friends name}__, OH BOY! I will miss you! Love, ____"
Gingerbread Girl will have an empty box of candy canes and a note taped on it that says "I brought you a candy cane before I go...but you have to find it :)" You can tape these all over the room and students can go and find one for each of them to take home!
Wow!! SO much fun!! I hope you and your class have the best time with your friend from the North Pole!!! I would love to see/hear any ideas you use in your classroom! You can e-mail me at keluseltonATgmailDOTcom.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Up Close & Personal with Conferring!!
Hi!!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! The hubs and I spent the holiday in New York with my sweet family and it was exactly what I needed to refuel my heart :)
I am so excited about the post today...all about conferring! This morning during our PDR meeting the Language Arts team discussed conferring and how to work with those lower readers (A-D/E) and how to have more meaningful conferences focusing on things other than word work.
Our fabulous instructional coach showed us a webinar by the infamous and amazing Kathy Collins!! I had the opportunity to hear her a couple of times while studying at the Teacher's College at Columbia University in New York over the summer-she is hilariously awkward yet brilliant!!! If you ever have the chance to see her in person {or on a webinar}...DO.IT! She is also the author of two great professional texts, Reading for Real and Growing Readers, both have helped me grow so much as a reading teacher...Kathy Collins just gets it!
Ok...soap box about Kathy Collins done. Moving on...Here is a link to the webinar that we watched this morning...
https://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2014/09/24/writing-tool/
*This webinar is about 45ish minutes long but I promise you it is worth it!!
If you don't have time right now to watch the webinar keep reading and you can read some of the highlights from my notes during the webinar :)
What I loved most about this webinar was it targeted those readers who have read the little books in their book bag a gazillion times...I am the first to admit I need help with those kids!
The topic was all about Re-reading and Re-thinking in the following ways...
-Use a storyteller's voice
-Notice something new
-Talk about the book
-Pay close attention to pictures/study the pictures to figure something out
-Act out the story
In the webinar Kathy Collins also gives conference snippets or scenarios and that really helps me to hear the "lingo" and better apply it when working with my own readers.
I love how the teacher, when approaching a student for a conference, asks WILL YOU pick a book to read with me? That helps give the student that control, great way to start things off!
Then more ingenious stuff...after the student picks the book the teacher says "Good choice! I'm curious...Why did you pick that book out of all of the books in your book bag?" What a great way to hear the reasoning from the student while still giving you, the teacher, the opportunity to better understand and aim your instruction.
And then continuing on with the conference by giving the child choice again..."Great reason! Ok, how do you want to re read this book today? Do you want to re read it ___(insert one way)___ or ___(insert second way)___?" LOVE. Choice to the child, direction from the teacher-YES!
Kathy Collins gives other scenarios/snippets in the webinar if you want to hear more/read more!
Last thing I want to share with ya'll is about the "What might they think or say?" activity...
In the link where you find the webinar, you will also find a link to the think/talk bubbles and these are GREAT for helping students "be" the character and help to give them a voice or mind.
I don't know about you, but in my literacy library we have some great titles for the lower levels but they are the list type books so it is hard to help those books come alive since they don't have dialogue...WELL NOT ANYMORE! Bring on the think/talk bubbles!
It is so easy to make these! You can print out the page from the link (I suggest printing on CARDSTOCK), laminate, and then hot glue them on a popsicle stick. I put the thought bubble on one side and then on the bottom of the other end the talk bubble. Students can then add these to their book bag after you model how to use them the correct way :)
One of the sweet mamas in my class is making FIFTY of them tomorrow for me...bless her!
I am using a level D text called Sandcastles and here is how I used the "talk bubble" with one of my readers today...
I was working with a sweet little girl and we decided to "be" the girl (side note: when I asked her which person she wanted to be in the picture she said..."uh, girl...boys are weird." Oh, of course, sorry, silly me!)
We read the words and then she had to go over and say something that the little girl would say. Just like Kathy Collins said, the little girl tried to narrate instead of "being" the girl. She said "The girl is proud of her sandcastle." So I modeled and said, "OH! So the girl would say 'I am so proud of my big sandcastle!" After modeling that my sweet pea started picking up on it in future pages-YAY...SUCCESS!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! The hubs and I spent the holiday in New York with my sweet family and it was exactly what I needed to refuel my heart :)
I am so excited about the post today...all about conferring! This morning during our PDR meeting the Language Arts team discussed conferring and how to work with those lower readers (A-D/E) and how to have more meaningful conferences focusing on things other than word work.
Our fabulous instructional coach showed us a webinar by the infamous and amazing Kathy Collins!! I had the opportunity to hear her a couple of times while studying at the Teacher's College at Columbia University in New York over the summer-she is hilariously awkward yet brilliant!!! If you ever have the chance to see her in person {or on a webinar}...DO.IT! She is also the author of two great professional texts, Reading for Real and Growing Readers, both have helped me grow so much as a reading teacher...Kathy Collins just gets it!
Ok...soap box about Kathy Collins done. Moving on...Here is a link to the webinar that we watched this morning...
https://twowritingteachers.wordpress.com/2014/09/24/writing-tool/
*This webinar is about 45ish minutes long but I promise you it is worth it!!
If you don't have time right now to watch the webinar keep reading and you can read some of the highlights from my notes during the webinar :)
What I loved most about this webinar was it targeted those readers who have read the little books in their book bag a gazillion times...I am the first to admit I need help with those kids!
The topic was all about Re-reading and Re-thinking in the following ways...
-Use a storyteller's voice
-Notice something new
-Talk about the book
-Pay close attention to pictures/study the pictures to figure something out
-Act out the story
In the webinar Kathy Collins also gives conference snippets or scenarios and that really helps me to hear the "lingo" and better apply it when working with my own readers.
I love how the teacher, when approaching a student for a conference, asks WILL YOU pick a book to read with me? That helps give the student that control, great way to start things off!
Then more ingenious stuff...after the student picks the book the teacher says "Good choice! I'm curious...Why did you pick that book out of all of the books in your book bag?" What a great way to hear the reasoning from the student while still giving you, the teacher, the opportunity to better understand and aim your instruction.
And then continuing on with the conference by giving the child choice again..."Great reason! Ok, how do you want to re read this book today? Do you want to re read it ___(insert one way)___ or ___(insert second way)___?" LOVE. Choice to the child, direction from the teacher-YES!
Kathy Collins gives other scenarios/snippets in the webinar if you want to hear more/read more!
Last thing I want to share with ya'll is about the "What might they think or say?" activity...
In the link where you find the webinar, you will also find a link to the think/talk bubbles and these are GREAT for helping students "be" the character and help to give them a voice or mind.
I don't know about you, but in my literacy library we have some great titles for the lower levels but they are the list type books so it is hard to help those books come alive since they don't have dialogue...WELL NOT ANYMORE! Bring on the think/talk bubbles!
It is so easy to make these! You can print out the page from the link (I suggest printing on CARDSTOCK), laminate, and then hot glue them on a popsicle stick. I put the thought bubble on one side and then on the bottom of the other end the talk bubble. Students can then add these to their book bag after you model how to use them the correct way :)
One of the sweet mamas in my class is making FIFTY of them tomorrow for me...bless her!
I am using a level D text called Sandcastles and here is how I used the "talk bubble" with one of my readers today...
I was working with a sweet little girl and we decided to "be" the girl (side note: when I asked her which person she wanted to be in the picture she said..."uh, girl...boys are weird." Oh, of course, sorry, silly me!)
We read the words and then she had to go over and say something that the little girl would say. Just like Kathy Collins said, the little girl tried to narrate instead of "being" the girl. She said "The girl is proud of her sandcastle." So I modeled and said, "OH! So the girl would say 'I am so proud of my big sandcastle!" After modeling that my sweet pea started picking up on it in future pages-YAY...SUCCESS!!
If your reader says something completely unconnected from the text, direct and guide them to use the picture clues to help aim closer to what would actually be said or thought.
I know that was a jam packed post, but again, I can't say enough good things about the webinar. I hope this post and/or the webinar leaves you with something new you learned and plan to try in your classroom!!
Have a great night!!
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