Monday, September 2, 2019

Happy Labor Day Everyone!

Wow, we cannot believe it is Labor Day, and that we have already been in school for seven days!  The time has have flown by, but we have to say we have been having a lot of fun.  Our students are amazing!

Once again, our first-day explorer kick-off was a hit.  The kids loved coming into the classroom to find their desks filled with explorer gear that they could put on immediately.  After exploring the classroom and completing their checklist, the students wrote about what they saw.  It was fun to read what they focused on during their exploration.

Anne and I also gave out three of our painted rocks!  The students' faces lit up like twinkling stars on a clear summer night when we announced their name!  They were shocked, but so proud of themselves.  One boy even said, "I'm going to keep this forever."  He received the "leader" rock. Another boy received the "thoughtful" rock, and a third boy received the "helpful" rock.  I know the kids loved them, but it made us feel even better to give them because they were so well deserved and unexpected.

Now we just need to incorporate a rock writing lesson or SEL lesson so we can use the rocks we bought from the science store.  In that lesson, each student will receive their own rock to write about and keep.  We will write about it here once we plan it.

We've decided to begin our math unit as an inquiry lesson about multiplication.  When we went to Teachers Pay Teachers to find vocabulary sorting cards for Eureka Math Grade Three Module One/Lesson One, we did not find exactly what we wanted.  What to do????  I made a set.  Anne is going to put them up for free in our TpT store incase the link I gave you does not work.  Before beginning the lesson, we are going to have our students get into groups of 3-4 and match the words as they see fit.  Then, they will watch a Module One/Lesson One video to learn about the lesson.  They will complete the homework page with a partner.  Then, after they have "played" with the concepts of that lesson, we will do the Problem Set together.  Hopefully, they will have a complete understanding of the concepts on that page, but if not I will fix any misunderstanding or confusion on the spot.  Finally, the kids will go back and correct any mistakes they made on the homework page they did independently.  Our goal is to have the students more engaged in the lesson for a longer period of time.  We have found that these long Eureka math lessons are an invitation for kids to "tune out."  We will let you know how it goes.

**As a side note, we have decided to not send home the homework pages from Eureka Math.  Instead we will send computation pages home so the students can meet the standard for memorizing all for operations up to 12.**

For Module One/Lesson 2, I have decided to begin with an activity called "Odd One Out."  That lesson focuses on rows, columns, and products.  I'm hoping this activity activates my students' thinking about those concepts.  I will also incorporate some of the lessons from Amy Lemons The Magic of Math Multiplication Grade 3.

Students decide which picture does not belong with the others.  They must have reasons to support their decision.

That's all I have for now.  I'm going to type up my plans for the week before enjoying the rest of my Labor Day.  I hope you all do the same.

Kim and Anne

Our Rock Project

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

I'm super excite about an idea I got after reading the novel The Truth About Mason Buttle, by Leslie Connor.  This book is a National Book Award Finalist; however, I do not recommend it for third-graders.  While I loved the story, the message and the theme--it is emotionally heavy.  Everyday I had to stop reading after awhile and take a break.  The story is about bullying, tragic death, police investigations, judgement, etc.  It is also filled with kindness, patience, compassion, and acceptance, but it is still to much for third graders, in my opinion.

In the story, the main character, Mason is not only bullied, he is unable to read or write.  So, he visits his special education teacher every day.  One day, Mason finds her painting inspirational words on rocks with glitter.  He does not question her project, but days later, when he is extremely upset, the teacher hands him the rock that says "Loyal."  She explains that he is a loyal friend, and she is giving him the rock to keep in his pocket as a reminder of his loyalty.

After I finished the book, I could not stop thinking about those rocks.  My incoming students know that rock-collecting is a passion of mine.  It has been since I've been 7 years old.  Last year, they would ask me to show them the different rocks I was carrying in my pockets. The lightbulb went on! I decided I, too, would paint leadership words and symbols on rocks.  Then, each week Anne and I will  look for a student who deserves one of the rocks.  The chosen student would need to display that trait all week or show it in a big way.  Then, on Friday we would award the rock to that person.  I cannot decide if the class should decide which trait to work on, or if we should just keep an eye out for someone displaying one of the traits and then reveal it and the recipient on Friday?  I'll let Anne decide.  She's our decision maker.

Here are the rocks I have painted so far.  I sprayed them with a clear gloss, but I think they look foggy.  I will try again, on new rocks, but only do one coat and see if they are clearer.

I cannot wait to use these rocks with the kids.  I'm thinking of reading the book Everybody Needs a Rock by Baird Byer.

Ok, I'm off to school to clean.  Have a great day.

Kim

Great First-Day-Ideas Websites

Friday, August 2, 2019

I CAN. NOT. BELIEVE. IT. IS. AUGUST!!!  I'm excited to go back into my classroom, set it up, and plan lessons.  I'm excited to meet my new students, too.  What rattles my cage is having being on a schedule once August 19th arrives!  I love summer mostly because I can do whatever is on my To-Do list at my own pace.  Believe me, I am going to take full advantage of that these last few days of summer break. :)

So yesterday I decided to revise our lesson plans we use for the first three days of school. I was able to get into that focused, relaxed, motivated mode, and it was invigorating.  I looked back at some of my favorite teacher sites I tagged this summer on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest.

The first site I reviewed was  Not So Wimpy Third Grade Teacher.  The author of this website is Jamie Sears.  She has a wonderful Facebook group, TpT store, blog, and Instagram site.  Her first day of school ideas are great.  I have incorporated some of her activities to freshen up my own.  We always like to add new ideas to our lesson so we don't get bored.  My favorite idea on this site was reading aloud Words and Your Heart, by Kate Jane Neal.  I bought this book last February to use for Valentine's Day writing, but it fits perfectly here.  To go along with the read aloud, Jamie does the toothpaste activity.  A fifth grade teacher friend of mine used to do this activity.  I love it, but Anne and I have never used it with our class, so this is the year.  It is a great SEL hands-on activity.  Check it out.  Jamie even gives you the templates for the toothpaste responses.

You can find all of this and more on this site.

We are going to again read Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun: Having the Courage to be Who You Are, by Maria Dismondy.  Anne and I have the students make a heart because it symbolizes so many of the messages in that book.  There are repeated phrases in the book that include the word heart.  Great connection between books, themes and symbolism.

Love this book.  We read it for the first time last year.

The next site is The Thinker Builder. The author of this site is Michael Friermood.  He has several first day of school activities that get students up and moving.  His "All About Me" Rollups seem so cool.  I read about this after I had finished our plans, but you better believe I am going to incorporate this during our first three days of school.  If we run out of time, then we will do it the following week.  It's too cool to miss.  He also created a spin on the traditional "People Search" called "Maze of New Friends."  I love his blog and his TpT store.  Check them out!

So excited to try this.  It sounds cool and I think the boys will like it.

Ok, I'm off to look over my plans, revise and add in some new cool ideas from the amazing teachers I just mentioned.  Enjoy the last of your summer break.

Anne comes back from vacation tomorrow.  She will look over our plans and make revisions if she thinks they need some.  Maybe we will post those plans.

Kim

Testing To See If The Font Does Not Change

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Today I am testing out a theory.  I cannot figure out why the font on my other posts changes, but I'm thinking it is because I am adding the pictures as I go.  I am going to try typing everything first and then add the pictures.

I will explain in more detail about our first day of school kick-off.  It is really fun and goes with our explorer unit.  Anne and I dress up like we are going on a safari.

I'm going to buy a bug catcher and magnifying glass from the dollar store to add to my costume.

The students do not know what to make of it when we greet them in their lines that first morning.  When they enter the classroom, they find safari hats, a squishy globe, and binoculars on their desks.  They also have a scavenger hunt sheet clipped to a board.  Their first activity is to explore the "World of Third Grade," and try to discover what we will be learning about right away.

You may have seen this before because I think we wrote about it last year or the year before.

We tape these to their safari hats.

This has been a hit with the students for the past two years, so we are hoping it will be again this year.  I am still undecided whether to continue this first-day tradition, or think of a new "get-up."  For now, we are sticking with what we have done.

Vivid Visualizations

Monday, July 29, 2019

Good morning!  I know, Anne and I haven't posted for months, and now I've posted twice in two days.  I think it's because I'm getting antsy for all things school and third grade.  I'm getting excited to get back into my classroom to clean and decorate. It's one of my favorite things to do. However, once I'm given the "okay" to go in, my days will be a whirlwind, so I wanted to take advantage of this calm moment to share some cool websites I learned about while taking a graduate literacy course this summer.

The course was called Activating Students' Creative Thinking Through Literacy ELA Grades K-5. I did not realize the rigor these concepts, theories and activities would provide for our students and us.  It is all very exciting.  Below is an excerpt from my final research paper that may give you some insight into the course objectives.

“If we teach today’s students as we did yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.”

John Dewy

According to Module One’s foundation reading resource, activating students’ creativity is vital because it will aid educators in teaching students how to be flexible in their thinking, so when they encounter new situations they can solve problems in innovative ways.  We must explicitly teach our students to think creatively because they are going to be performing jobs and having careers that have not even been invented yet. We need to change our teaching so it matches what our students will face when they leave our classrooms. Now more than ever, we need to teach our students how to be creators and innovators, (Spencer, 2019).

“Creative Teaching and Teaching Creativity” (2018), as well as Module One’s foundation text, had similar definitions for the word creativity.  It is the “generation of a new product that is both novel and appropriate in a particular scenario.” Research has shown that creativity increases motivation, deepens understanding and helps students develop intrinsic rewards and enjoyment. These feelings lead to life-long learners, which is my ultimate goal as a teacher.  According to the article, implementing activities that promote creativity, help students make cross-curricular connections, which in turn deepens understanding.

To synthesize everything I learned in this course, I wrote a lesson plan that includes seven literacy activities that will give students opportunities to make their thinking visible and divergent. The lessons are designed to help  students move from the knowledge level of visualization to a deep understanding of this literacy strategy. Not only is the visualization reading strategy one of our favorites, we believe it is one of the more useful strategies our students can use to deepen their reading comprehension, as well as their love of reading.

You can find this entire lesson plan bundle on our TpT store.

Below is a website that explains this thinking strategy: See Think Wonder.  You can use this strategy with any lesson, however in this plan I use it with the Newsela article titled Sunglass Cat.

You can use this strategy with any text, too.  In my lesson plan I use it with Dog Breath: The Horrible Trouble with Hally Tosis by Dave Pilkey.

I cannot wait to use these lesson plans in the fall.  I'm most excited about my kick-off lesson.  Anne and I are going to dress up like movie directors complete with sunglasses, megaphone, beret, and clapboard.  This is because we teach visualization as making a movie in our minds.  The kids will all get a pair of movie star glasses, too, to use when we visualize various texts and genres.  This lesson plan bundle includes visualizing poems, music, fiction and non fiction texts.  At the end, the students must use their understanding of visualization to design an animal shelter.  It will be the first time we will incorporate a project-based activity when teaching reading strategies.

Below are some websites I found useful when researching how to activate my students' creativity.  We hope you find them helpful, as well.

Artful Thinking

Visible Thinking

K20 Learning

See Think Wonder

I will try to post our first day scavenger hunt and our safari outfits we wear on the first day of school later this week.  Otherwise, Anne and I will post it when she gets back from vacation.

Have a great rest of your summer.

Kim 

Does Anyone Read Blogs Anymore?

Sunday, July 8, 2019

It's been a minute since we've written a blog.  Does anyone read blogs anymore?  It seems like I've spent most of my time this past year scouring Instagram, Facebook, TpT, and Pinterest to get ideas for my classroom instruction.  Instagram is my favorite resource because it leads me to all the other social media.

Although, to be honest, I've missed writing on our blog.  I've missed sharing all of the exciting ideas I found and have used in my classroom.  I've missed sharing the lesson plans I have written for our Teachers Pay Teachers store, and I have missed sharing the latest literacy research I have learned from the courses I have taken.

Today, I am going to share the two best novels for intermediate students I read this summer.  I posted both to my Instagram account and Facebook account, but as I said I've been neglectful of our blog.  The first book I want to share with you is titled, Tree of Dreams by Laura Resau.

This book is hands down my favorite story of all time.  It is a beautiful, soul-touching story of friendship, perseverance, and courage.  It is filled with mystery, danger, magic, and eye-opening facts about nature.  Its messages not only tap at our hearts, they open our eyes to the ideas that we are all connected to each other, to the trees, the animals and the stars in the sky.  Nothing is separate. We are one and when working together in synchronicity, love, compassion and healing abound.  This book has the ability to inspire all of us to live with an awareness that can make our world a more benevolent place to live.   Watch the book trailer told by the author to get a bit more information.  I think I may even show this to my students.

 Orange For The Sunsets by Tina Athaide, is another powerful read. Orange for the Sunsets is a historical fiction story about two best friends living in Africa. These twelve-year olds still have the innocence to live their lives with an awareness that allows them to see beyond gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. They can feel the goodness and the oneness that connects us all.  Unfortunately, the friendship between these young adolescents is shaken a bit by others who live in a state of unawareness and look at life through a filter of judgement, power, greed, and hatred.  This story beautifully shows the contrast through which human beings choose to live their lives. So many messages in this text speak to our hearts and help us become more awakened to how we want to live our lives and treat others.  Here is the trailer.  

Before reading these two novels, my favorite read aloud was Save Me A Seat by Sarah Weeks.  It has such a powerful message and weaves in a bit of culture along the way. I'm sure most of you know this book.  It has been out for a few years.  I will definitely be reading this book aloud this year, too.

I think I will do some sort of book review of each of the three books.  Maybe a very abbreviated version of a book tasting and then allow my students to vote for the one they want read aloud first.  All are excellent and promise a rich discussion among the students.

I will be back.  I am going to try to add short posts to the blog as often as possible.  I will also add ideas and TpT lessons to my Instagram account which I believe is lally.kim.  

Happy Reading!

Kim

PS: Anne is on vacation.  She will be back blogging with me soon.

Becoming Word Wizards Kick-Off Lesson

July 19, 2018

We have had a busy, but fun summer getting ready for the upcoming school year. Time is really flying by! Over the next few posts, we want to share a few new things we are going to be doing this year.

To start off the summer, we hung up our teacher hats and became students again, when we took the class Own Your Words: Effective Vocabulary Instruction through Advancement Courses online. The focus of this class was to implement robust vocabulary lessons and assessments to help students internalize their own academic vocabulary and then use it in their own communications.

As Jim Rohn states, "Vocabulary enables us to interpret and to express. If you have a limited vocabulary, you will also have a limited vision and a limited future." These words reminded us of the monumental responsibility that we have to each and everyone of our students. Our ultimate goal, as third-grade teachers, is to elevate our students' literacy skills to a level in which they can begin to understand the world around them, as well as communicate effectively with those in the world around them. To reach our goal, we thought, "Would it be a good idea to step up our game when teaching vocabulary?"

The course answered this question with a resounding yes.We learned we needed to tweak some things this year and make small changes that we believe will have a huge impact on our students' vocabulary knowledge. We also realized that our instruction was really only for short term learning or understanding of the words. It needs to be more robust for students to retain these words on a long term basis. However, it did validate the activities we used with our students.

Many of the activities that we will share with you over the next few blogs are based on the research and ideas from Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, and Linda Kucan in their book, Bringing Words to Life. At times we will even throw in some activities, thoughts, and articles from the well respected Robert Marzano.

To kick off our vocabulary instruction for the year, we want to get our students excited about words and make them aware of the amazing words that can be found all around them, within the four walls of our classroom, and in the world around them. We want them to view words as magical keys that allow them to have an unlimited vision and future. Below, we are sharing with you our kick-off lesson to this year's vocabulary instruction.

Kick Off Lesson

More lessons, assessments, and games inspired by Isabel L. Beck, et al., will be coming your way soon.

Kim and Anne