Showing posts with label Teacher Resources. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teacher Resources. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Mystery Unit Unfolds!
The mystery is just beginning!
We are reading From the Mixed-Up File of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.
I found the BEST WEBSITE! http://picturebookreport.com/category/from-the-mixed-up-files-of-mrs-basil-e-frankweiler/
As the creator Meg Hunt states on the site,
Picture Book Report is an extended love-song to books. Fifteen illustrators will reach out to their favorite books and create wonderful pieces of art in response to the text that has moved them, shaped them, or excited them. From sci-fi to children’s books to fantasy to serious novels, we’ll cover them all. For three weeks out of every month there will be a new illustration every day from one of us along with our thoughts, process, anything we can come up with. Together we will try to excite readers both new and old and capture some of that magic of storytelling.
I love these illustrations and can't wait to show the kids. They are going to flip. Hope the site isn't blocked.
Each student has picked 12 spelling words from the following list:
scene
mystery
spy
disguise
detective
red herring
clue
solve
suspicious
suspects
hunch
investigate
question
case
crime
wrong doing
solution
alibi
sleuth
witness
victim
evidence
proof
treasure
innocent
guilty
reason
explain
decide
evidence
footprints
fingerprints
gumshoe
Can't wait to show the kids this site too! They will have a chance to explore the site with the net books this week.
http://www.metmuseum.org/
Monday, January 2, 2012
Happy 2012!
Mor over at A Teacher's Treasure is having a 2012 resolution link. I thought I would join in!
directions:
1. copy and paste this image to your post & link it to this party!
2. Make sure you include both personal & professional goals.
3. No more then 3-5 goals for each.
Here are mine!
Personal:
1. Goodbye to fast food.
2. Goodbye to Diet Coke.
3. Hello to Zumba 3 times a week: Monday, Tuesday...Saturday?.
Professional
1. Lesson plans posted every week, on time!!!
2. Read 1 new children's lit book a week.
3. Take 2-3 pics of the classroom and student work and post to website.
*******************************
The first half of the school year is almost over...and I honestly think it was great. The break is a nice time to reflect and revamp some of the lesson plans and learning expectations for the class. We have covered several different genres and I am excited to begin a Mystery Unit!
Here are some mystery book recommendations:
Here are some mystery book recommendations:
Encyclopedia Brown
A Series of Unfortunate Events
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
We finally finished Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was such a wonderful book and I think many kids are convinced that the book is better than either of the movies!
We will spend the next week or so reading many books by Chris Van Allsburg. He is the author of Jumanji and Zathura. He is both an amazing author and artist.
I found the book images from http://a-b-c-delicious.blogspot.com/, along with this GREAT description of his work. "Chris Van Allsburg is an AMAZING artist and storyteller. His picture books are full of mystery, suspense and science fiction. They are not best suited for little ones, however you could read Z was Zapped and a few others to younger readers. Although he is best known for his beloved Christmas book, The Polar Express, most of Van Allsburg's books are perfect for reading in October, with the mystery and eeriness that his books are full of. Welcome the autumn season in by reading The Widow's Broom and The Stranger. His illustrations are so incredible, you really have to spend more time looking at the pictures than reading the words. He captures so many emotions and leaves the reader thinking all the time. When you pick up these books for your child, make sure you read them together and discuss what happened in the book. Read it more than once and reinforce what you discussed. He leaves a lot of clues and children have to use inferencing to figure out exactly what went on. Inference is a sophisticated and important comprehension skill that good readers need to develop. Chris Van Allsburg is a great way to practice that skill with your child. His books are so fun! I promise you'll enjoy them as much as your child."
We spent time pre-testing over the Ninety Most Common Misspelled Words. We covered 40 of the words. The kids added the words they misspelled to their spelling list, and included social studies and science words if they needed extra to make a list of ten words. This spelling test will be on Friday.
We will spend the next week or so reading many books by Chris Van Allsburg. He is the author of Jumanji and Zathura. He is both an amazing author and artist.
I found the book images from http://a-b-c-delicious.blogspot.com/, along with this GREAT description of his work. "Chris Van Allsburg is an AMAZING artist and storyteller. His picture books are full of mystery, suspense and science fiction. They are not best suited for little ones, however you could read Z was Zapped and a few others to younger readers. Although he is best known for his beloved Christmas book, The Polar Express, most of Van Allsburg's books are perfect for reading in October, with the mystery and eeriness that his books are full of. Welcome the autumn season in by reading The Widow's Broom and The Stranger. His illustrations are so incredible, you really have to spend more time looking at the pictures than reading the words. He captures so many emotions and leaves the reader thinking all the time. When you pick up these books for your child, make sure you read them together and discuss what happened in the book. Read it more than once and reinforce what you discussed. He leaves a lot of clues and children have to use inferencing to figure out exactly what went on. Inference is a sophisticated and important comprehension skill that good readers need to develop. Chris Van Allsburg is a great way to practice that skill with your child. His books are so fun! I promise you'll enjoy them as much as your child."
We spent time pre-testing over the Ninety Most Common Misspelled Words. We covered 40 of the words. The kids added the words they misspelled to their spelling list, and included social studies and science words if they needed extra to make a list of ten words. This spelling test will be on Friday.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
The Inspired Apple: Organizational Binder & Behavior Management Clip C...
My Pinterest find of the day was this link to an organization binder for the students from The Inspired Apple. With the fourth graders changing classes this year, organization is definitely going to need to be taught. I didn't think to put a binder on the supply list, but thankfully Staples has them for just a quarter this week. Last night I was able to get 16 which is a great start. Love these ideas:
The Inspired Apple: Organizational Binder & Behavior Management Clip C...: " Omiword, y’all. I have to be honest. I had *no* idea how much work goes into putting together an organizational binder for my kiddos..."
The Inspired Apple: Organizational Binder & Behavior Management Clip C...: " Omiword, y’all. I have to be honest. I had *no* idea how much work goes into putting together an organizational binder for my kiddos..."
Monday, August 15, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Reading Rockets: Children's Books and Authors
Love all the great resources Reading Rockets has, including author interviews. I am planning on highlighting a different author each month. But who to highlight? And when? Lots of planning to do this summer!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Fun2TeachAndLearn
http://sites.google.com/site/fun2teachandlearn/literacy&language
Last find of the day...need to rest a bit before a long night at swim team meet.
Last find of the day...need to rest a bit before a long night at swim team meet.
Another find...4th grade curriculum plan!
Overview of the Grade 4
Reading Curriculum Calendar
From The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project
Southington Reading Curriculum
Unit 1 - Authoring an Independent Reading Life, and Becoming Lost in Stories
•Readers readjust to a reading life within fourth grade, making wise book choices, and setting goals.
•Readers play an active role in comprehending what they read.
•Active Readers use a variety of strategies to build deeper understanding of text.
•Readers develop partnerships to allow us to talk about our reading.
Unit 2- Reading with Minds on Fire - Readers Infer and Grow Ideas about Characters
•Readers respond to the text in order to relate to our characters and become invested in their journeys.
•Readers synthesize into a summary that contains the important elements of a story: characters' traits and motivations, main events of the plot told in sequence, the big problem and how that problem is eventually resolved.
•readers respond to our characters, actions and behaviors to form deeper understandings of their journeys and the text as a whole.
•Readers examine our characters' journeys and respond by reflecting on the journeys we embarked on in our lives.
Unit 3- Nonfiction Reading and Independence in Reading Fiction
•Readers read expository texts to learn what the author is trying to teach us about the topic.
•Readers recognize text structure within expository texts.
•Readers use their notes and materials to present information.
•Readers read narrative nonfiction texts.
Unit 4- Testing Unit
Unit 5 - Maintaining a Varied and Independent Reading Life, and Reading with Close Comprehension: Genre-Based Clubs
•Readers work within a book club with 2-5 other students to read a common text, set expectations for the group, contribute to the book club, hold conversations with each other, help each other us strategies, and push each other to read more.
•Students will explore their interest in the genre of adventure.
•Readers react to text in order to form a personal response that will allow them to discuss the strong emotions evoked by adventure genre.
•Readers use the strategies to predict and envision the character's challenges and options.
Unit 6 - Personal Response to Book Clubs
•Readers linger over their thoughts about books and let themselves become emotionally affected.
•Readers have reading friendships which help them to make deeper meaningful connections and understand the texts they read.
•Readers look closely at the connections they have made with a text. They use these connections to expand and explore their thinking and come to new realizations about the text.
Unit 7 Content Book Club
•Readers research, read and learn about an unfamiliar topic/topic of interest. They skim, scan, and read a wide range of texts in order to learn about a new topic. They use important information from a variety of sources and synthesize ideas within and across books.
•Readers who read like a Scientist/Social Scientist read with interest and intent. They ask questions about what they are learning and begin to predict or hypothesize about the answers to their questions. They activate their prior knowledge, they infer, and grow new ideas and questions about the topic.
•Readers read and learn about their topics by using everything they remember about strong nonfiction reading (determining the main ideas, figuring out new vocabulary, reading to learn, and visualizing).
•Readers read a variety of genre to learn new information about their topics.
•Readers who get ready to teach others about their topic return to their variety of texts to read like a writer.
Reading Curriculum Calendar
From The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project
Southington Reading Curriculum
Unit 1 - Authoring an Independent Reading Life, and Becoming Lost in Stories
•Readers readjust to a reading life within fourth grade, making wise book choices, and setting goals.
•Readers play an active role in comprehending what they read.
•Active Readers use a variety of strategies to build deeper understanding of text.
•Readers develop partnerships to allow us to talk about our reading.
Unit 2- Reading with Minds on Fire - Readers Infer and Grow Ideas about Characters
•Readers respond to the text in order to relate to our characters and become invested in their journeys.
•Readers synthesize into a summary that contains the important elements of a story: characters' traits and motivations, main events of the plot told in sequence, the big problem and how that problem is eventually resolved.
•readers respond to our characters, actions and behaviors to form deeper understandings of their journeys and the text as a whole.
•Readers examine our characters' journeys and respond by reflecting on the journeys we embarked on in our lives.
Unit 3- Nonfiction Reading and Independence in Reading Fiction
•Readers read expository texts to learn what the author is trying to teach us about the topic.
•Readers recognize text structure within expository texts.
•Readers use their notes and materials to present information.
•Readers read narrative nonfiction texts.
Unit 4- Testing Unit
Unit 5 - Maintaining a Varied and Independent Reading Life, and Reading with Close Comprehension: Genre-Based Clubs
•Readers work within a book club with 2-5 other students to read a common text, set expectations for the group, contribute to the book club, hold conversations with each other, help each other us strategies, and push each other to read more.
•Students will explore their interest in the genre of adventure.
•Readers react to text in order to form a personal response that will allow them to discuss the strong emotions evoked by adventure genre.
•Readers use the strategies to predict and envision the character's challenges and options.
Unit 6 - Personal Response to Book Clubs
•Readers linger over their thoughts about books and let themselves become emotionally affected.
•Readers have reading friendships which help them to make deeper meaningful connections and understand the texts they read.
•Readers look closely at the connections they have made with a text. They use these connections to expand and explore their thinking and come to new realizations about the text.
Unit 7 Content Book Club
•Readers research, read and learn about an unfamiliar topic/topic of interest. They skim, scan, and read a wide range of texts in order to learn about a new topic. They use important information from a variety of sources and synthesize ideas within and across books.
•Readers who read like a Scientist/Social Scientist read with interest and intent. They ask questions about what they are learning and begin to predict or hypothesize about the answers to their questions. They activate their prior knowledge, they infer, and grow new ideas and questions about the topic.
•Readers read and learn about their topics by using everything they remember about strong nonfiction reading (determining the main ideas, figuring out new vocabulary, reading to learn, and visualizing).
•Readers read a variety of genre to learn new information about their topics.
•Readers who get ready to teach others about their topic return to their variety of texts to read like a writer.
WOW mini-lessons GALORE!
Elementary Four Blocks Lesson Plans
http://www.margb.com/RISD_web2/Other%20Elementary/elementary_four_blocks_lesson_pl.htm
http://www.margb.com/RISD_web2/Other%20Elementary/elementary_four_blocks_lesson_pl.htm
30 Ideas for Teaching Writing - National Writing Project
30 Ideas for Teaching Writing - National Writing Project
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Smartboard Links and Resources
Definately want to remember and share this site!
http://www1.center.k12.mo.us/edtech/SB/templates.htm
http://www1.center.k12.mo.us/edtech/SB/templates.htm
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Google Docs
I have been using Google Docs for about two years now. I highly recommend this great service to anyone! Two main reasons: 1. It is free and easy to use. 2. I love that it works seamlessly with Blogger. 3. Did I mention online storage for free!
I am thinking about giving a presentation at the Mahoning County Tech Conference this fall on Google Docs...maybe that would increase my chances of becoming a Google Certified Teacher!
I am thinking about giving a presentation at the Mahoning County Tech Conference this fall on Google Docs...maybe that would increase my chances of becoming a Google Certified Teacher!
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