Fake vs. Real Reading

Today as my students were "Reading to Self", I noticed that a few of them were, in actuality, "pretending to read while I madly flip pages in my book"... Not what we want.

So I called my darlings together to have a meeting. I wrote "Fake Reading" and "Real Reading" on the board (i'm 95% sure I stole the idea from pinterest... ). I told them some of their classmates were not really reading, they were pretending... Then I asked for examples of what the "Fake Reading" looked and sounded like. Surprisingly, it was the culprits themselves with most of the answers!! haha. We listed flipping pages, talking, playing with clothes and shoes, wiggling around, and playing with the book. Then we listed what "Real Reading" looks and sounds like. Then we talked about which things we should be doing. It was a very good discussion.

Later when we "Read to a Friend" it went MUCH better! Yay! The magic trick to having them read quietly was to have them put their hand on their throat and whisper so quietly they couldn't feel their throat moving. It has worked brilliantly! We call it "a true whisper".

Then today during writing I introduced the conferencing aspect. We have a sign up on the board and 3 kids can sign up at a time. When one is finished they erase and the someone else signs up. It was HILARIOUS! They all wanted one-on-one share time (sweet firsties!) so it looked a lot like vultures circling a carcass! They kept hovering and staring at the board, just waiting for someone to erase their name! I don't think any of them got any work done. I hope tomorrow will go better. But, it is adorable to see how excited they get about it.

ALSO- today I was showing them a game for Math Workstations and we played as a class. It's called Save the Whale! It practices number bonds to 10. The poor whale is trapped in a ditch and you have to make the pipe long enough to pour water into the ditch so he can float out (hilarious premise.). So the pipe is x units long and you have to find the one to make it 10 units long. No joke- 3/4ths of my kiddos were getting it right on the first try! What?!?! Genius children. Now granted, it does have tic marks so you can count and figure it out- but I did NOT point that out. They just figured out. I was so happy/speechless!

Ok. LAST thing. NUMBER BALANCE MAGIC!!!! If you don't have this magical tool, please consider purchasing one. Our lovely Math in Focus comes with one (but we bought an extra as the MiF is back ordered....).

This thing is pure first grade MAGIC. You put a hanger (or tag as I called them today... sometimes I have NO brain...) on a number to represent the whole. Then you put hangers on the other side to represent the parts. Ex. whole:6 parts:2 and 4. When you do, the whole thing equals out. And all of my kiddos clap! EVERY TIME! I really felt like a magician today showing it to them. I get the feeling that number bonds are going to be a *snap* with these kids. Love it!

So much to show!

I have determined that I am not good at keeping the ole blog current. I do apologize.
Today I have PICTURES! We've been so busy lately. This week starts The Wizard of Oz!!! Yay!!!

Ok, to catch up: here are some of the non-fiction bubbles we made. I checked out about 25 non fiction books on their levels and they each chose one. We practiced reading them, then used post-its to mark 3 important facts, one thing the subject loves (or if their subject was non-living, something they loved about their subject), and one picture they would draw. They turned out so CUTE!!Scarecrows... What in interesting topic to choose!
OH- I almost forgot! We decorated the bubbles to look sort of like the subject. We did NOT draw the subject on the bubble, just tried to make it look kind of like it... She did a good job on decorating the scarecrow bubble with plaid patches! So awesome!Firetrucks. Lovely diagram.


This one is sweet because its about Taylor Swift. LOVE the diagram. She labeled her guitar and feet. Hilarious!
I realized that the kids really did understand what they were doing. However, the final product wasn't perfect. There were quite a few incomplete sentences. I get torn between proofing every thing they do, and just letting them do it on their own. *sigh* Its hard to know what is best.


We did a quick week of small groups focused on dinosaurs. I had some leveled texts so we used them and then did a whole class art project. Here is where I got the idea! Genius!


Demise of the dinosaurs by meteorites!

Then for Penguin Week we made a tree map, picked three sentences and wrote them on a penguin belly! Adorable.


Alright, I will TRY to update more frequently during the Wizard of Oz amazingness! :D
I hope you are having a great end of the school year!

PENGUINS!

So this week is penguin week for me and my firsties! Yes, I know it is spring. I know penguins are generally discussed in the winter. I am aware. But, our county pacing guide did not allow me time in the winter to discuss penguins, so I waited it out. I'm VERY excited!

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!

Non-Fiction Writing

So we finished our How To writing. It was very fast, and I really wish I could have spent more time on it, but hey, we live and learn. Next year I will plan differently :) The kids did a good job with their topics, but the thing that impressed me most were the book blurbs they wrote! My favorite was "Are you ready to learn how to draw a heart? Read my book!" so adorable!

Next week: NON-FICTION!
We will be making bubbles, not books. The amazing book Of Primary Importance by Ann Marie Corgill gives examples of them, so we are going to try it out. Basically, its a poster that it is a circle! They choose a topic and write 3-5 facts, draw a diagram or time line, and make a heart with something their subject loves inside. I will be making a bubble about penguins (which we will refer back to when we study penguins in 2 weeks!!).

I think the kids will really get into this! On Monday we will be choosing non fiction books. For the rest of the week they will be using post-its to flag important facts, and then writing all their information down. I'll be sure to post some of them next week.

How To

This week we are doing a *quick* How To writing study!

It looks like this: Day One (I am not at school... so this is a modified sub plan..) class writing "How to Make a Cupcake". This is an assessment. I will simply write what the kiddies tell me and we will use this to see how we can improve our writing.

Day Two: Students will examine some How To texts (I'll show them the how to I followed to make baby headbands over spring break, an example in our basal, and *hopefully* a library book as well). We will notice that these texts have in introduction, sentences organized in steps, pictures, and a list of materials needed. Students will brainstorm together about things they know how to do and choose a topic. They will use a planning sheet to get started!

Day Three: I bring in the materials for a PB&J! I ask how to make it and follow the kids directions EXACTLY! Should be pretty hilarious.... Then we will discuss how you need to be specific in your directions. They will finish their planning/start on their books today.

Day Four: We discuss the introduction. Tell people why they want to do this. Is it fun? Is it easy? Will it help them? We write a group introduction for "How to Make a Cupcake". Then they write their own intros. After those are finished, they continue to write their books. I will be furiously conferencing!! Starting with my low babies who will need the most help organizing.

Day Five: We work, work, work! Conference, write, trace, cut, glue, staple, trace, decorate, reread, and FINALLY SHARE!!!

I think it will be great. My kids LOVE Writer's Workshop and this will be a fun way to relax after Think Linking all morning long.
If you want the worksheets/organizers I made for this, just leave me a comment with your email address!! I'll happily share! (putting the last doc. up caused me much stress.... I need a tutorial haha. So for now, I'll just email it if you need it.)

Happy writing this week!

New Look!

So I decided the blog needed a fresh look for SPRING!
It's been truly beautiful here lately, and I have needed it something bad. Sunshine is a vital ingredient in my happiness. And the dears need it too!

And now readers, a gift for you! I made this graphic organizer to help us summarize a story. I purchased the clip art from Scrappin Doodles! SO CUTE! Hope you can use it.

How to Summarize a Story


I am going to start How To writing after spring break. I will start researching next week. I am very excited about it! The kids were so successful with our Moe Willems author study and I can't wait to see them explore a new genre of writing.

If you have used anything great for teaching procedural writing, comment and share! :) I saw on Proteacher a few weeks ago where a teacher had a piece of gum and asked the kids how to blow a bubble. She did -literally- what they told her. No one said take the wrapper off, so she put it in her mouth wrapped, etc... Sounds super fun! I think I will do it with How to make a PBJ! The point is to help kids really think through the directions they will write. As I said, I just can't wait!