Newspaper Generator

Tuning in to EdmodoCon today (it's a virtual conference put on by Edmodo...check it out here).


One teacher shared a quick and easy resource that looks really cool with lots of uses!


The Newspaper Generator creates a jpeg with your typed text that looks just like a front page! 

How cool!  I could see using it as a student project or even on an assessment!  Other ideas??

Guest Blogger Chelsea: OWP Poetry Take-Aways

Back by popular demand (okay, she actually asked if she could write something for me...even better!), I have a post for you today from the one and only Chelsea Wirtz.  

Chelsea wrote a great post for me a few months ago (has it been THAT long?!) using Screencast on Exploding the Moment that you should check out here along with an introduction to Mrs. Wirtz too.  I'm so glad she's drinking the OWP Kool-Aid and can't wait to steal hear more of the great ideas she has worked on this summer!  Be sure to check out hew new blog here.

When I thought about going back to school for my Master’s degree, (after not being a students for four years!!) the idea of joining a program and adding yet another thing to my plate was exciting, stressful, and yes, overwhelming.  Many friends (including Amy!) suggested that I try an Ohio Writing Project class to see if it might be something I’d be interested in.  I took an OWP weekend workshop in February called "Revision and Reflection."  Needless to say, I was instantly hooked.  When the workshop ended on Sunday afternoon, I left with a plethora of resources that I could use in my very own classroom.  This was the first class that I had ever attended where I didn’t feel like I was just completing busy work.  I knew that OWP’s courses would help me become a better teacher. 

Lucky for me, OWP offers of Master of Arts in Teaching in English program, in which you earn a Master’s degree through their courses and research.  The first step to this program is to complete OWP’s four-week class, a workshop called "Teaching of Writing."  Throughout the past four weeks, I’ve met some phenomenal teachers, made some friendships that I know will last a lifetime, and gained a variety of ideas that I plan to implement in my own classroom. 

Although this summer seems to be sneaking away quickly before my very own eyes, I’m excited to try some of the great ideas my friends have given me.  I’m truly inspired to spice things up!

This year, I plan to teach poetry at the beginning of the year as a personal writing unit.  In my experience, 5^th graders are hesitant to write poetry, but through Love That Dog by Sharon Creech, they gain an appreciation and love for poetry.  My goal is to deepen this love.  During my OWP four-week experience, I gained some insight that I’m excited to share with all of the poetry-loving teachers out there!  Below are my top three favorite ideas that I’m excited to try out in just a few short months!

1. This I Believe

The This I believe project is one that awakens the heart and observes who each participant is individually.  According to www.NPR.org, “During its four-year run on NPR, This I Believe engaged listeners in a discussion of the core beliefs that guide their daily lives.  [NPR] heard from people of all walks of life – the very young and the very old, the famous and the previously unknown.”  What better way the start the year off by asking your students what they believe.  How many opportunities do children get to tell others what’s most important to them?  This is an excellent way to get your students thinking about what makes them unique, and I’m quite sure that you will instantly learn a great deal about your kids by the end of this activity. 

You might start this activity by showing students an example for inspiration.  For his 100^th day of school Tarak Mclain, a seven year old from Austin Texas, chose to write 100 This I believe statements.  Listen to Tarak read thirty of his statements using this link: Tarak Mclain

After hearing Tarak’s ideas, have students create a list of This I believe statements in their Writer’s Notebook.  You can specify a number, if you wish, or have students write as many as they can think of.  Have students choose their top ideas to form a This I Believe poem. 

This I Believe by Chelsea Wirtz

I believe in exceptions to the rule.

I believe in compromises.

I believe in laughter and fun.

I believe in the motto “everything happens for a reason”

I believe in making the most of each day.

I believe in being thankful for what I have.

I believe in giving back to my community.

I believe in thinking of others before myself.

I believe in saying “I love you” before I hang up the phone or leave for the day.

I believe in walking in someone else’s shoes before reacting.

I believe in second chances.

I believe in getting to know new people.

I believe in “it’s okay to be different."

I believe in the motto “God will only give you when you can handle."

I believe in kindness.

I believe in “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

Another great way to incorporate this activity into your classroom is to have students write statements about which rules they think should be applied to the classroom.  This would be an excellent way to create a “classroom constitution”.   

2. 6 Word Memoirs

This activity is one that would be fantastic to use to get kids to START writing, especially at the beginning of the year!  I mean hey, you only have to write six words!  Easy, right?

 The idea of a 6 Word Memoir is to tell a story in just six words.  If you try this out on your own, you may realize that it’s probably harder than you initially expected. 

Examples of 6 Word Memoirs:

·         Going back to school is difficult.

·         Who knew I was still shy?

·         Huge weight is off my shoulders.

·         Some people need to open up.

·         Classroom community makes the room exciting.

This would definitely lead to some fascinating stories that I’m sure your students would be excited to expand on in their Writer’s Notebook!    

Visit http://www.sixwordmemoirs.com/ to see how your students can post their memoirs on the official 6 Word Memoir site!

3. Class Symphony

For this poem, students will choose their favorite song.  Encourage students to not only consider the most popular songs that are currently playing, but songs that also have a deeper meaning to them personally. 

Then, have the kids write their favorite line(s) on a sheet of paper or a sentence strip.  Post the lyrics on a bulletin board or wall, and there you go – you have your very own class symphony.  It’s amazing how beautiful the words to the many different songs sound when you read them together as one.

I hope you can use these ideas to build a safe and fun writing community for your kiddos!  Happy writing!

-Chelsea

Field Trip

Team Character had a great time on our field trip to Ault Park and the Cincinnati Observatory!! We were so thankful the weather held off!

We loved learning about the habitats and wildlife in the Cincinnati area at the park.

The Observatory was so neat to see! We learned even more about space and got to see the oldest working telescope in the US! 

If you want to check out either place over the summer, I highly recommend it!

Getting back to Blogging

Do you ever walk away from something for so long that it starts to get hard to go back?  Like running or an organization project or blogging?  I hear ya.  I promise I will return, and have so much fun classroom stuff to share SOON, it's just been so far down the priority list.

For now, let me just share some cool resources that have been piling up, both of which are from ATP!

For timelines, check out Thinkport Tool, a really cool way to construct timelines electronically with equal intervals.

Also, we're moving into our careers unit soon and think this interest survey would be a neat way to start helping the students think of potential future careers.  Although teaching was not my #1 recommendation... hmmm...

Hope you're doing well.  I hope to be back blogging (and running for that matter) soon!

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):

Teachers Are Earning Millions of Dollars!

Check out this interesting article titled, "Teachers Are Earning Millions of Dollars Selling Their Lesson Plans on the 'iTunes of Education'"

It's a great read about a great resource.  Teachers, if you aren't on there yet, you need to be!  I have been selling on average one item a day lately!

Apps for Teachers

There are tons of blog posts about apps for teachers to use in their classrooms to help with student learning.  This isn't that post.  Instead, I want to tell you about two apps that make MY life easier as a teacher.

1. Do It Tomorrow-Free

This is the mother of all "to do lists."  It has two pages of lists; one for today, and one for tomorrow.  If you do not cross an item off "today" it automatically gets moved to "tomorrow." (You can also manually move items between days).

It's a great way to prioritize what needs to be done today and what can wait.  Plus when you "check an item off" it makes a really satisfying sound.

2. Take a Break-Free

"Take a Break" was recommended to me by a masseuse, so you know it has to be good!  When I can't sleep and am tossing and turning about assessments and meetings and all the business of teaching, I put on the "stress relief" meditation program.  It may sound cheesy, but it really helps for those days/nights when you just can't turn off the running list in your mind.

There are nice options (as you can see above) to customize the program, too.

I hope these help in some way!  I'd love to hear about apps that make your teacher life better!

America Before Columbus

Happy Columbus Day!  I'm enjoying a nice day off.  We've never had Columbus Day off and it's more a matter of coincidence with the way our calendar fell this year, but I am celebrating (brunch & a massage, what, what?!)!

I also thought I'd share a great resource with you, America Before Columbus, produced by National Geographic.  This video is engaging and informative and a great tie to our curriculum.  It really does a nice job telling about life before Columbus and his crew landed at San Salvador and showing the impact of their expeditions.

Here is a link to view the full video

Wishing you a day of good retail sales and no infectious diseases.  (Sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Thanks, Scholastic!

I got my first box of Scholastic Reading Clubs (formerly Book Clubs) orders for the year today.  Wow!!  Scholastic sent me a pack of TEN free books.  I saw that advertised when I ordered, but I had no idea they would be so good!!

 

 

Check out the other titles I got for FREE with my bonus points.  Woooo!

 

Check it out if you haven't!

Happy Fourth of July!

I hope you are out celebrating our beautiful country with friends and family.  In honor of our nation's birthday, I have a wonderful resource for you, "Today in History" from the American Memory Collection of the Library of Congress. 

Today's entry is hopefully pretty obvi... buuutttttt add it to your bookmark list for great primary source documents throughout the year.

 

 

 

God bless the USA!

Top 100

Doing some research for my online class and stumbled on these two awesome resources I thought I'd share.  Check out the Top 100 Fiction Books Read and Top 100 Nonfiction Books Read by American students. 

What I love most is that they're sorted by text complexity/grade level.  Nice to have when planning new CCSS curriculum.  At least it's something to make this overwhelming task a little easier. 

Any of your favorites make the list?

Historical Thinking...Say what?

What a special week on the blog...TWO amazing guest bloggers! 

 

I am blessed by many wonderful colleagues.  But every time I have a PD/workshop/curriculum day with Jen, I truly come away a better teacher.  She is a deep thinker and analyzer.  She is creative and energetic and always makes sure we are doing what is best for by students.  She is great mom to two hilarious kiddos and is so.much.fun to have dance parties with in the car.  I am thrilled to share some of her insights on historical thinking with all of you.

Amy, thanks for the invite to write on your blog. I hope I don't dissapoint and I will go ahead and warn your readers...I am a wordy girl.

One of my new endeavors next school year is to incorporate ways to help my students become historical thinkers. What is historical thinking and why does it matter? I will try to answer those questions. If this is something you are currently doing I would love to hear how you are using this method in your classes, and if you are not, hopefully you will find value in using this strategy in your instruction.

A little background...I have just finished my 14th year of teaching and have had a diverse background of being a special education teacher at multiple levels (8th, 6th, and 5th) and am now a 6th year general education classroom teacher for 5th grade Language Arts and Social Studies. I am fortunate enough to be part of a group of teachers who are taking courses under a grant focused on Teaching American History. One of my ATP's (Awesome Teaching Peers) (sorry Amy, I wanted to be an ATP, you know how I like to use the same acronym but change the words) has asked that I be a guest on her blog so I wanted to share my thoughts on historical thinking and literacy.

What is historical thinking? Historical thinking is a process. A process that requires students to evaluate a variety of sources (primary and secondary) then ask questions about those sources. The quesitons are not the typical comprehension questions about what the source says, but questions that develop a healthy cynicism of why was the source written, what is significant about how it was written or when it was written. Historically, what was occuring at that time and in that place? What was happening in other places around the world? Instruction with historical thinking as a focus asks students to think critically about the documents in front of them and encourages them to check the facts through seeking additional evidence.

Colleagues from our TAH grant practicing historical thinking strategies

Finally, the goal is to push students to validate the sources and information within the documents they are reading. Key components of thinking historically are sourcing, contextualization, close reading, and corroboration. If you are interested in reading more about each of these components you can visit this site by Stanford University. There are also AWeSoME videos on The Teaching Channel that demonstrate these steps. The Teaching Channel is an amazing resource I discovered this year and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has not used it as a resource. 

A bonus resource/lesson I'm going to use next year about the life of Ghandi: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/reading-like-a-historian-contextualization

Why does teaching historical literacy matter?

 

Two words, background knowledge.

 

Historical thinking matters because it forces students to use higher level thinking skills through the analysis, questioning, debate and synthesis of information. The information we are providing for students has to have relevance and allow students to investigate, debate, and question a variety of sources in front of them. This helps them shape who they are as thinkers...as inhabitants in this massive world.

 

My personal thoughts are that historical thinking will allow student to hone in on what shapes their identity both by helping them make sense of the facts in history of where they come from and then also allowing them to form opinions and values of who they want to be. Hmmm, sounds like the type of thinking we want students to engage in during our Language Arts/Reading classes.

 

Researchers have made it clear: it is essential for teachers to teach and reinforce literacy skills on a regular basis in social studies. This is reinforced below in the quote of the author of the book FOCUS, by Mike Schmoker. Schmoker advocates the use of current events articles in newspapers and magazines as well as other primary documents because it helps to ground students in understanding the past and make connections with the present events in their lives. Reinforcing literacy skills using these types of sources will allow students to rehearse in their minds how events played out and what the effects of, or possible effects of, those events were/could have been. Simple cause and effect. Behavior and consequence. This is a HUGE life skill.

 

"I honestly believe that social studies could be on the cusp of its greatest moment-that it could soon be a subject students come to love and look forward to. But to ensure that happens, we must infuse generous amounts of current and historical texts into students’ weekly social studies diet. Such documents should include primary source documents, alternative histories, and also current issues and events found in newspaper and magazine articles. These should be introduced no later than the upper elementary grades. Such supplemental texts could be a real game-changer, with a profound impact on students’ sense of what history is and how it connects to the to their personal lives, culture, and communities."

- Mike Schmoker

Focus, Elevating the Essentials. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2011, p. 152.

David Coleman, the founding partner of Student Achievement Partners and a lead writer of the CCSS in ELA states, "There is no greater threat to literary study in this country than false imitations of literature which do not deserve to be read." The Coleman quote can be found here.

 

This speaks to another vital life skill- validation. We should expect it and we should give it. How many times have you sought validation or recognized it in others? This skill goes way beyond sourcing texts, it speaks to our character. We must teach students to validate their sources and ask questions about the information they are getting much like they should measure the validity of the information others are sharing with them. There is a plethora of potential to practice this skill if you are examining primary and secondary historical documents.

Lastly, the ELA CC standards are asking students to speak, listen and write coherently about a topic. Teaching students how to critically analyze materials outside of reading and language arts class is essential to build their foundational knowledge across content areas. The process of analyzing, recording and discussing primary/secondary documents will allow students to find their voice and be able to write with a clear point of view.
 

My endeavor feels like a mammoth leap, but a necessary one. My instructional practice will be changed by the New Learning Standards for the Social Studies and ELA Common Core in a variety of ways. My challenge is to become efficient at finding and changing the materials that I provide to students. I expect there will be change in the structure of the classroom environment and it will, hopefully, create opportunities for more student-led activities. I have dabbled in this type of instruction in the past, but my personal expectation is that it will occur more frequently next year.

I envision the materials changing in that they will, on a more frequent basis, meet the expectation that students interact with more rigorous text as well as ensuring a balance of investigation with informational text with fiction. I also believe that I will probably focus on building background knowledge more strongly than in the past. The feeling I get about the structure of the classroom is in the delivery of materials. There will be much more scaffolding and practice on the process of what it means to be a historical thinker and modeling of how to organize that information into notes. Then I will set them free to investigate, analyze and debate. Lastly, I feel that this type of instruction and the call for students to think analytically will allow for a student led community of learners. Although I feel I have had elements of this in the past, I do feel I will have a stronger emphasis on building this type of interaction as well as designing activities to foster this interaction.

If you are interested in reading more about historical thinking, I recommend visiting the sites I have referenced as well as http://historicalthinkingmatters.org/why/.

Amy, thank you for asking me to share my thoughts on your blog. Your energy and enthusiasm for teaching is an inspiration, your passion is admirable and your zest for life is contageous. It has been my honor.

OCSS Conference

I spent a few days this past week at the Ohio Council for Social Studies Convention in Columbus.  The conference delved into the present and future of SS teaching in the state.

Conference Highlights/Sources:

Gapminder.org  It's a really neat visual representation of geographic and social data at a world level throughout history. This came out of a session on integrating math and science in Social Studies.

National Geographic's Map Machine  really cool maps that can be fully edited to include labels, latitude and logitude, or any other features you want to include or not.  I'll be using this for sure.  This was from a presentation by the Ohio Geography Alliance.

A quote from presenter David Staley, "We can not longer teach with a focus on answers.  We need to focus on thinking."  His analogy about this tech-driven world was, "We're only five years away from Siri and Watson (of Jeopardy super-computer fame) getting married."  School should not be about accessing a data bank of knowledge.  Amen!

 

Have you heard of the PBS show History Detectives?  I really want to start watching it.  They are doing the work of  making theories, organizing and uncovering evidence, interpreting, writing historical narratives, and engaging in discussion and debate.  This is history "as a verb" as one presenter explained it.


Mostly I realized my district is already doing a lot of things right, which is always a good thing to take away.  All in all, it was a great way to feel up to date with current social studies pedagogy and a good time bonding with a few colleagues who attended.

Personal Essays

We're in full swing of our first writing project, Personal Essays.  They're going well and I'm super impressed with the writers in my classroom this year.  We have topics ranging from "My mom has taught me how to care for others," to "Even though moving is hard, it can also be exciting," to "Football has shown me how to have teamwork and responsibility."  I'm loving the one on one conferences I've gotten to have so far with my writers on their various topics.

For mini lessons, we've been working on a series of structure/ drafting lessons.  I'm pumped to be sharing them on TpT.  Check them out and let me know what you think!

Not the prettiest wall chart....but good stuff the students discovered after reading sample essays.

 What are your students writing these days?

Teachers Pay Teachers

 

Have you heard of Teachers Pay Teachers?  It's a pretty awesome site with great resources.  It's based on the philosophy that the best teacher materials come from other teachers. Most items require a few dollar charge to download, but any I have paid for have been outstanding and very comprehensive.  Plus there are 40,000+ FREE items. 

Files can range from lesson plans, to classroom signs, to fun and exciting projects (ATP and I used this end of the year celebration last year) and had a blast with it.

I am so excited to have sold my first product on TpT just this week.  I am still VERY, VERY new at adding products (one of the summer goals I didn't quite get to), but it seems like a great way to make a few extra dollars off of items I have already worked on creating.  Check out my file "Incorporating the Arts into Writing" here.

Let me know if you find other good stuff I should look into.

Dull Pencils are Pointless!

(pun intended)

So last week was not only exciting because it was the first week of school, but it was also the christening of my brand new pencil sharpener.  You may wonder why I am so excited over a pencil sharpener... but actually, if you do, you may not be a teacher.

I have actually written letters to my pencil sharpener (PS) during journaling time (closer to hate mail really) about how it was totally distracting a whole community of writers from the task at hand.  Old PS was loud, always broken, and would completely eat a brand new pencil down to almost nothing before doing its job.

New PS is a complete redesign from Classroom Friendly Supplies.  Troy and the good people at CFS have retooled the old sharpener in a way that is quiet, effective, easy, and fun for students to use.  (Watch the video here to see it in action.)

 

Check out that point!  And it stays for a really long time.

 

This is the clip the sharpener comes with to hold it in place.  We're having moderate success getting it to stay.  I wrote an email to Troy at CFS and he personally responded (talk about customer service!) with the recommendation to use hot glue to more permanently affix my new friend.

 

 

It's positioned only a few inches from old PS who hangs on the wall.  No one seems to visit him at all this year and pencil sharpening disractions have been almost nonexistent this year. 

 

It's a little messy after a few days in action, but the students love it.  One students came up to me today and suggested adding a little piece of tape to hold the clear shavings tray in place and I think we'll try that to minimize a little of the mess.

 

 

 

I asked my students to rate our new pencil sharpener and they all gave it two thumbs up!

*End of the year update: our new PS was a hit! Students would actually walk across the hall to use it because it is so much more efficient than the other ones on our walls.  And it held up beautifully allllll year! 

Happy First Day of School!

Blog, how I've missed you!  This has been an action-packed week gearing up for the first day of school.

I have so much to share with you, but for now, I am going to send you to another blog (is that cheating?!).  The lovely Donalyn Miller of Book Whisperer fame (read it if you haven't yet!) keeps a blog of the same name. 

This week she wrote about read-aloud books to establish community.  I love her list, including developing communities of readers & writers, communities who value one another, communities who have fun, and communities who care about the world.

BookSpeak!: Poems about Books by Laura Purdie Salas is TOTALLY on my wish list.  Does it get any better than a book of poems about books?

Wishing you a happy first day of school as well (whenever it is/was).  I hope someone told you how much they appreciate what you do to make a difference in the lives of children.  If not, know that I am affirming you!

ReadWorks

Down to only a few days of summer left!  It's been chock-full of good learning and teaching and now I'm (mostly) excited to meet my newest bunch on Wednesday!

In the midst of all these meetings and final preparation, I have a resource to share today...

Readworks.org is a FREE (you do have to sign up for an account but it's really easy), wonderful resource that is going to be one of my "go to" resources next year.

I am most obsessed with their collection of nonfiction pieces.  It's searchable by grade, topic, reading skill, etc.  In a PD with my department on Friday we worked on developing reading workshop mini-lessons/ assessments around a specific text.  We were able to find a great piece from Readworks on the Civil Rights movement ("A Lesson in Courage") that really helped pull together the lesson.  Check it out and let me know how you use it!

Grammar Ninja

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have spent six weeks of this summer co-teaching a graduate course on grammar instruction and writing.  To say the least, it's been amusing watching people's facial expressions when I tell them the subject of the course.  Most look at me like I'm crazy, some visibly shudder, a few look as if they're replaying anything they may have just said incorrectly during the first part of our conversation.  But a special few get really excited.  They tell me how much they love grammar.  And then we swoon over it together.

In fact, I have a refrigerator magnet declaring my nerd-love of grammar.  It was a gift from my aunt and uncle and says, "Grammar Ninja: Ruthless, Deadly, Articulate."  I think grammar appeals to the part of my brain that likes order, organization, and math.  It’s logic meets language—what a wonderful combination.

If you're looking for the best professional text on the subject, check out Mechanically Inclined by Jeff Anderson.  It's sure to shake you of any traditional views of grammar instruction and put your beliefs solidly in the power of grammar in the context of writing.  This text has been the focus of my grad class and has been the touchstone of my own grammar instruction for the last several years.  I promise to share more tidbits from it this coming school year and I roll out my own adaptation of J. Anderson on fifth graders.

For now, here are two lovely grammar sources for your Tuesday reading pleasure.  One comes from NY Times writer John McWhorter.  This witty article "A Matter of Fashion" explains how culture and time influence what is considered "correct."   San Marco Says is the blog of my talented co-teacher, Mike San Marco, who teaches 8th grade English in the Kings District.  It has been my pleasure working with him and learning alongside him this summer.

New Directions

{Sister will love that I already worked a Glee reference into a post...even if it was slightly forced!}

I'm still working out a few things of what I think this blog should be.  Part inspiration, part rambling, perhaps?  I have lots of potential posts floating around but yet to take form.  So I'll start with what may be most helpful to you--a new resource for great ideas.  (You can thank me later.)

Today, while responding to students in my online grad class, I was introduced to lots of fantastic online resources.  (Isn't it nice when the students do the work for you!?)  One that I feel very fortunate to have been introduced to is a great collection of student anchor texts.  It's always a challenge to find samples of student work that feel like the right level for what I expect my students to produce, especially if it is my first time teaching a new genre.  I'm excited to have a new place to search for just the right mentors for my young writers.

Check out this little gem from Smekens Education Solutions, Inc.  Kristina Smekens has a great collection of videos, lesson plans, and resources that are all fresh, creative, and FREE!  Enjoy.