We are, of course, reading Tacky the Penguin. SO funny. I love him. When I write a musical it will be based on Tacky. We are using this fabulous unit by Deanna Jump I found on TpT to help us out!
It has lots of thinking maps with penguin clipart, book templates, reading, and math activities.
We will be using a blubber glove (!) to experiment (!) and see how penguins stay warm. Basically, you coat a ziploc with crisco and it mimics the blubber. Kinda makes me sad when I think about Crisco being in cookies AND being blubber... Anyway, we will hold ice with and without the glove and compare and contrast! How fun?
I have put together a penguin book basket full of fiction and non fiction for browsing and partner reading. They are super excited and think the penguins are SO cute!
I need to find a penguin cam somewhere online so we can see some in action! I just love this week!
Also- I have decided as the year comes to a close (22 days) to only do one-on-one conferencing with my kiddos for reading. No more small groups! I did 5 today and they were really great for me to see where the kid is excelling/struggling. Here's my breakdown of the conference.
1. Choose which 5 kids to see each day. 2 low, 2 mid, 1 high.
2. Choose a text to hear them read (I am only doing cold readings. I made a end-of-the-year basket including BOB books of varied levels, Level 1 books, and a few 2nd grade level books- all fiction)
3. Call the child over, intro the text, listen to them read. I do assist them with words, giving them strategies to use. I also take notes in my CAFE notebook while I listen .
4. Ask comp questions about the text.
5. Ask student what they did well on and what they need to work on. (encourage, encourage, encourage)
6. I identify something to work on as well. I model, they practice. **this is a point I am working on this week. I'm bad about modeling it myself and forgetting to have them practice**
7. I write down the strength and point to work on. They SEE me write it down. No secrets in the notebook :)
8. Repeat! It takes less than 15 minutes with each child.
It's pretty easy and I love how much I get to see them using the strategies with a brand new text. I would love to hear how other people run their conferences!!
Have a happy week!
I love 1:1 conferring! It's the best way!
ReplyDeleteHi! I'm your newest follower!
ReplyDeleteI love doing independent conferences. I think it is much better than small groups (except that you can't read with each child as often). I have stopped small groups, except with my lowest kids. With the Daily 5 format, I have almost an hour to pull kids to read with me. Within 2 days I can read with everyone. They beg to read with me (who doesn't love a little time by themselves, in a room of 20). I generally only let them read a few pages, depending on the length of the book. I'll ask a few comprehension questions and try to point out something they can work on. Sounds very similiar to what you're doing. I've found that when teaching in small groups it's hard to really know the children on an in-depth level, plus it makes classroom management more difficult (I sometimes feel trapped in a corner with my group, and unable to quickly help those that need help on other activities). Sorry this post is so long! I guess you can say that I really love individual student reading conferences. Oh, it also allows you to keep great records of their reading progress throughout the year (awesome for parent conferences and report cards).
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ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you about conferencing. I am considering not doing small groups very frequently at all next year!