Guest Blogger Bette: OWP Take-Aways

I have hit the guest blogger jackpot! Chelsea was talking up my blog and another awesome Ohio Writing Project colleague asked to share her summer take-aways....uh, heck yeah! So without further ado, I will let Bette introduce herself! Thanks again, Bette (and Chelsea!)

Hi, my name is Bette Williams. I am a kindergarten teacher at Bogan Elementary. I have taught kindergarten for 15 years. I really enjoy writing activities in my classroom and try to combine the activity with a craft for a culminating activity as often as possible. I am currently in the Ohio Writer's Project 4 week summer session where I have met some amazing teachers and have been getting great ideas to  include in my writer's workshop this school year. Here are my thoughts for a kindergarten character study.

What you need: 

-Several different versions of the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears such as: Believe Me, Goldilocks Rocks by Nancy Loewen.

 

 

-A character web of Goldilocks using the traditional story.

-Several colors of construction paper, tissue paper, googly eyes , markers and glue.

1. Read the traditional story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Fill out the character web together as a class, brainstorming ideas as students copy responses onto individual papers (you can do this as a class, depending upon the time of year and student ability).

2. Read Believe Me, Goldilocks Rocks by Nancy Loewen.This story is a modern version of Goldilocks. She takes a dare from Red Riding Hood to visit the bears home while they are away. The kids will love how Goldilocks uses  her cell phone to take pictures as proof of her adventure. Discuss the difference in this view point. How is Goldilocks the same/different? 

3. Again brainstorm ideas for a character web of Goldilocks. How is this character web different? How is it the same?

4. Create a Goldilocks using the supplies listed above. Goldilocks should match the character web created. Is she a traditional Goldilocks or does she look more modern? Let the kids really experiment with this project. I have the basic shapes available, arms, legs, head and a trapezoid for the body. Students can change the body shape , and skin color, and add googly eyes.

Other books your students may enjoy:

 

Beware the Bears by Alan MacDonald

The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett

Yours Truly, Goldilocks by Alma Flor Ada (this text works for letter writing and is a great book to pair with upper class buddies. For example my class works with a third grade classroom.)

Common Core: I can statements

K.RL.1    I can ask and answer questions about what was read.

K.RL.2    I can retell a story.

K.RL.3    I can name the characters , setting , and events in a story.

K.RL.9    I can compare characters and events from different stories.

K.RI.9     I can compare two stories

Reader's Theatre

One of our sweet librarians shared this resource with us last week and I am in LOVE!

Featured here is a teacher's dream: Authors Avi, Sharon Creech, Walter Dean Myers and Sarah Weeks perform their books and share insights and strategies for incorporating Reader's Theater into the classroom.  A few of my writer hero's promoting reading in SUCH a unique way!  I can't wait to show my students when we get into our poetry unit especially!

 

Fluency Coaching

Check out this SWEET video from ATP with her adorable daughter Malia.  Even Malia gets it that fluency is SO important to comprehension!

Love it!

Reader's Theatre

Right before Thanksgiving we practiced reading fluency in an exciting way.  Using scripts from Fabulously Funny Fairy Tale Plays, students worked in small groups to perfect their reading fluency in these areas: pace, volume, phrasing, and most of all, expression.

 

It was such a fun way to show off out learning!  And we got to share our final show with a fourth grade classroom!

 

Check out these pics from last year's group performing Spiderella, Goldilocks and the Three Bullfrogs, the Emperor's New Hair and more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

New this year....we performed in my room using my sweet new stage (more on it here and here):

Author Night

What a great evening we had with Cynthia Lord! It was great to see students and parents coming together to hear her advice on writing and fun stories about her books.  She even told us about SEVEN upcoming books being released in the next two years!!

The room was set up for 200 guests. Cynthia kind of laughed at me when I told her that and assured me she would be happy with 50 attendees on a week night.  

Guess what? We had to put out more chairs!! The event organizer estimated we had about 230 parents, students, and community members!!

It made me so proud of our school and department. I hope this becomes a long-term partnership with Cynthia!!

Happy Cynthia Lord Day, 2013!

We're so blessed to have ANOTHER visit from the one and only Cynthia Lord, one of my favorite people and author Rules, Touch Blue, and Hot Rod Hamster.

I can't wait to share more about her visit after today, including a new addition, Author Night with the community.  Until I do, read about her visit last year here.

How to Buzz

Last week we taught a lesson called, “How to Buzz.”   In this lesson, we try to build the skills needed for good discussions over fiction or nonfiction text.

After going over this anchor chart, we read a short article.

sorry for the poor pic quality... you get the gist.

 

I had the students write a two-column chart called “It says/ I say” in their writer’s notebooks.  On the “It says” side, students found 2-3 quotes from the text that seemed important or interesting.  On the “I say” side, students add their own thinking or response to the text.  This gave them some talking points for our buzzing convos.

Check out this great buzzing in action:

 

 

 

 



 

How do you build students up for book or text discussions?  Any good tips?

Those Magical Moments

Friends keep asking me how this year is going... and quite frankly, it's off to a great start!  The students are sweet and eager and seem really into reading, especially.  In fact, we have already had TWO perfectly magical read aloud moments. 

Do you know what I mean by that?  Those moments when students seem to be hanging on your every word and just totally enthralled in the story?  It makes me melt.

ATP even documented one of them.  That's right, 55 kids looking up at ME!

It's almost an out of body experience and one I totally don't take for granted.  It's those moments that make you remember "THIS is why I wanted to be a Language Arts teacher!!!"

So what books were we reading, you ask?

The first (the one in this picture) was Fly Away Home by the incomparable Eve Bunting.  It's a powerful and touching story about a homeless boy and his dad who live inconspicuously in an airport.  We were using it to teach "Fix Up Strategies," but it's also great for theme, symbolism, and powerful social lessons, too.

Friday I read Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude by Kevin O'Malley as a way to introduce fiction genres.  It's a hilarious read aloud about a boy and a girl who have to work together to write a fairy tale.

Check out both... you won't be sorry!  Maybe you'll even have your own perfectly magical teaching moment!

Anchor Chart Friday

...that's not a real thing.  But maybe it will become one!

ATP and I taught about book levels earlier this week.  Thanks to an idea from sweet colleagues, we demonstrated finding a "just right" book by having student volunteers try on three sizes of t-shirt: too small, too big, and just right. 

It was a great visual metaphor to address the fact that yes you CAN read a book that's too easy, or too hard, but it won't be comfortable or good for you as a reader.

Check out our anchor chart below, which goes along with the "5 Finger Test" to check for challenging words.

 

p.s. Make sure you check back on Monday for an EXCITING give away!

Why Read?

Last week ATP and I launched our Reader's Workshop with a lesson on "Why Read?"  We talked about how reading helps you escape, helps you learn new things, process the world, grow as a writer and more.  It's such a fun way to get students excited about reading and start to build a community of real readers.




Our anchor chart...Loving my new magnetic curtain rod to hang previous lessons' notes!  I bought it here.

And then the next day my sister sent me this lovely quote from author Neil Gaiman.  Isn't it perfect?? 

Hopefully you can use it to share with your own readers.

Teach in Community: That’s What’s Up!

I am so thrilled to introduce my very FIRST guest blogger!  None other than ATP herself, Mrs. Litty Mathai.  She is a killer teacher and rocking partner, but she also has the BEST laugh, most photogenic children, and a million creative ideas.  She's the queen of reading workshop.  She's the yin to my yang, the slow-down-and-reflect to my go-go-go.  I have learned so much from her and am so excited to share some of her wisdom with you.  So without further ado, Mrs. Mathai, ladies and gentlemen!

So much is going through my mind right now as I’m sitting here on my front porch.  The breeze is blowing gently, the sun is slowly fading in and out, and the birds are chattering up a storm. Yes, you guessed it: it’s summer!!!!!  I feel like I say this every year, but man, this school year went by so fast! 

There are a bunch of topics cycling through my mind that I could write about. In fact, I feel like I need to do a second guest blog post for Amy at some point.  With two kids under the age of 4 and working full time, it’s been a challenge to even write one.  Nonetheless, the kids are both at a sitter, and I’m enjoying my very first day of summer, solo. By the way, isn’t Amy, great?  I love how she always shares her ideas freely and wants to build into other teachers too. There is no “I’m not sharing that with you” mentality ever.  I think that since we have been Language Arts partners the past few years, we have meshed our philosophies on how to teach Reading, Writing, and Social Studies and both of us have walked away learning at least one new thing each year.  Which brings me to what I would like to reiterate to teachers everywhere: just like we need to LIVE in community, we need to also TEACH in community.

 eaching in community has so many benefits. The first benefit is that it pushes you to try out new ideas and reflect on your teaching practices, which only lead to growth, growth, growth. I have tried out several new ideas the past few years, and I’m always glad that I did. I just completed my 15^th year of teaching, and I don’t think that I could have done it without my colleagues. Sure, I could lock myself away in my room and do my own thing---and yes, there are times I do that, but ultimately, it is when I open my doors and seek out colleagues that are doing some great projects, lessons, or simulations where I feel that excitement to take on a new challenge and try it out with my students. I have always taught Language Arts on my own until the past few years, and let me tell you, I have grown way more these past few years sharing and collaborating than ever before!

Ultimately, my students reap the benefits of my learning in community. The ripple effect when teachers learn and share with each other is massive. Remember that it is  easy to stay stagnate, but much more challenging and more rewarding to seek new ideas and new endeavors!

 The other benefit of teaching in community is that it helps you continuously reflect and mold your teaching philosophy. I want to be the kind of teacher who is constantly reflective of best practices. How did that lesson go? Was the questioning challenging? Did all my learners “get it”? What evidence do I have that they all understood? Am I reaching everyone’s learning styles? How am I going to challenge that student? Did I model the teaching point well? What can I improve for next time? Do I need to stop and reteach? What modifications do I need to support my learners?   Geez, the questioning that goes through a teacher’s mind during one lesson is rapid-fire and ongoing. It is nice to stop and talk to a colleague about how best to improve lessons and units of study. You will gain new perspectives on different ways to approach a lesson. Who wouldn’t want that?

Once you decide to open your doors and let other colleagues “in,” your wall of “Oh, I got this on my own” comes down, and I promise you that you will grow as a teacher.   I want my students to learn as a community of readers and writers. Well, guess what? Why wouldn’t I expect that of myself? At the end of the year, I had my students do some reflection (yes, they take after me J), and write a letter telling me how they have grown with Reader’s Workshop. Madi, one of my sweeet students,  told me that she really liked it when we closed out our workshop lessons with a circle share time.  That’s a time where we sit in a circle and voluntarily share how our reading is growing, specific strategies that have helped us become better readers, cool books that we are currently reading, and new learning from our reading buddies. Madi said she liked it because that brief time (five minutes a day), helped her to see how other readers were solving problems or becoming stronger readers and it pushed her to do the same. If Madi can recognize the power of community to help her grow as a reader, as educators, we should recognize the power of collaboration and teaching in community.

Hope everyone who reads this has a great summer! Thanks, Amy, for giving me the opportunity to do this…feel so honored that you wanted me to share my two cents!  “Make a difference, ya’ll!”  But first have fun this summer!! You deserve it!!



ATP is the queen of clip art!  While I didn't include that in her post, I knew she needed some sort of visual.  So here are the two of us dancing it out at field day this year.

Harlem Shake

A special Friday treat for you... My class performing our "Reading Workshop Harlem Shake."  Enjoy (sorry it's so pixelated!  You can also watch it on YouTube)

 

 

 

6 more days!

Historical Perspectives

I can't believe how fast this school year is winding down and that my summer plans are already beginning to take shape.  Among those is an online class I will be teaching with the Ohio Writing Project.  It's one of my dear loves and a great network of teachers who want to continually grow in the art of teaching.

Our course is called Historical Perspectives (fancy!) in historical fiction and nonfiction.  I'm so, so excited to share with these teachers some of my work with book clubs and writing, but even more, to learn from them. 

And the resources and ideas are already coming in.  I met last night with SATP (Summer Awesome Teaching Partner...she has to have a derivative of my school team's nicknames!) and it's going to be an amazing course.  Contact me or OWP now if you're looking for summer credit!

Two resources just to whet your appetite:

1. Our required text is going to be one of my ALL-TIME FAVORITES!  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.  You will not be disappointed...even if you're not a history buff!  It's told through letters by some of the MOST endearing characters in all of literature.

 

2.  The other is an article, Nonfiction as Mentor Text: Style, by Myra Zarnowski, Marc Aronson, Mary Ann Cappiello of School Library Journal.  It gives an annotated list of great nonfiction texts with VOICE and author's craft!  Always a win.  I can vouch for An American Plague by Jim Murray.  It flies off my shelf when students discover the amazing Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson.  TWO amazing texts!

Mary Ann Shaffer (Author)

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Sidenote:  When I did a Google image search for the OWP logo for this blog, two pictures with yours truly in the background popped up!  Good thing it was a good hair day!

 

Happy Week-Before-Testing-Week Week!

Here's a little gem for you:

How are you getting ready for testing?  Yesterday we created some awesome Show Me presentations.  Check them out!  It was way better than the way I used to review these skills and the students love watching their classmates themselves.

Mood Music

This week we've been learning about mood in writing.  I introduced the concept with a tweaked version of this anchor chart.

Then we practiced finding the mood in our own texts and used this graphic organizer, a clever play on "Mood Rings," to add in text evidence.

The next day we watched this short animated video and talked about how music is often used in movies to convey mood.

"The Piano"

To practice, students have been given one of twenty passages to find accompanying music.  Here's my sample (text from Ray Bradbury's short story The Long Rain).

Where did I get that awesome somber music you may ask??  Freeplay Music is perfect for this assignment.  It's a database of free instrumental music that's searchable my genre, tempo, instrument, and feeling.  Perfection.

I can't wait to hear what my students share!

Show Me

Have you heard of the app "Show Me?"  It's rocking our world at school.

Before SB my students and I tried it out for story mountains.  I am in L-O-V-E.  It was so fast and easy and a great way to informally assess each kiddo.  Follow us!  http://www.showme.com/Amy-Sheets

There are so many great ways to use it.  I'm excited to try integrating it into our poetry unit soon.

So jump on the bandwagon!  You won't be sorry.

March Madness Champion!

Our champion has been decided!  It was down to Harry Potter versus Fever 1793.

And the winner is...

 

Fever 1973 by Laurie Halse Anderson!

 

 

What a shock!  It was a narrow victory...down to the buzzer if you will!  If you haven't read it, my students and I highly recommend you do now! 

 

Happy March Madness!  Looking forward to next year's already!

 

Final Two!

We're down to the final two in March Madness! 

 

The latest round has brough us to Harry Potter versus Fever 1793.  I'm shocked the latter beat out The Hunger Games!  Who said historical fiction is boring?  My students and I love it!

 

Final Four

We're down the Final Four in our March Madness Brackets!

Today I added a twist!  Students had a chance to influence their classmates' votes by writing one paragraph about their favorite book.  Fever 1763 and Rules have some avid fans!

sweet student strategizing which book to write about

With that being said, here are the results:  We're down to Harry Potter versus Narnia and Fever 1793 versus the Hunger Games.  It's an exciting race!

Elite Eight

My students were so excited when they walked in this morning about March Madness!  I love this group of boys that gathered.  I think this is the moment when one said, "This is like Duke versus Indiana!"*

I hope that I am able to ride the wave of NCAA March Madness and spark some reading madness!  I think they were about to start taking bets...

I only wish that I could open a pool on this.  I know I would do much better than basketball!

So here it is!  The winners of the "East Conference": Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Fever 1793, the Hunger Games, and Rules.  I think my favorite match up is Fever versus Wimpy Kid.  Could there be any more dissimilar books?  It's going to be an exciting division for sure!

And the winners of the "West Conference": Harry Potter, The Tale of Despereaux, Matilda, and Narnia.

 

Stay tuned for the announcement of the Final Four next week!

 

*Thanks to CJ Hop for confirming that this did indeed make sense.  My basketball knowledge is severely lacking.