Reflecting on Reading Instruction

Recently I've done a lot of reflecting on reading instruction.  Lots of PD on formative assessment, feedback, writer's workshop and readers workshop has me very reflective of how I taught reading in my classroom.  Common core is not for the weak hearted! We have to change our practices so that our students are successful. We need to start asking ourselves, "What is the effect of my teaching on their learning?"  With that being said I FINALLY understand just how important it is to teach our students to be readers and writers.  This doesn't mean following a script or a program. It means a lot of hard work for both teachers and students.  We have to put the time into planning those book clubs, close reading lessons, lessons on writing and reading strategies and giving them the time to read and write during class.  Our kiddos need 30 minutes of independent reading time in class. They need 30 minutes of independent writing time in class.  It makes sense for your ELA block to look like this:  10 minutes of Word Work, 30 minutes of DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time with reading response, 30 minutes of Small Group Guided Reading, 45 minutes of Readers Workshop, 45 minutes of Writers Workshop.  I see now how your Writers Workshop focuses on informational writing while your Readers Workshop focuses on informational text.  It makes sense!!  No longer do we need to teach standards in isolation.  We need a "power" standard that drives the lesson but with that standard we also teach other related standards. Close reading has to become something good readers do naturally but we have to make it a focus in our classrooms.  If we start in the first grade can you imagine the readers we would have by the time those students enter 3rd grade.  Standardized tests are geared towards close reading and if our students have always been close readers then those tests no longer become daunting.  We aren't teaching to the tests. We are only equipping our students to be successful when they take the test. :0) 

I've bundled some of my reading anchor charts together that might be helpful to your kiddos in anchoring reading strategies.  You can print them poster size to put in the classroom or print them on an 8x11 sheet for a notebook that your students can refer to during their independent reading and responding.   You can get it HERE.

   

Movie Clip Monday ... When Two Vowels Go Walking

                                              Techie Turtle Teacher

Sharing another fun video you can use in the classroom. My firsties loved this video, When Two Vowels Go Walking! In my district we are 1:1 digitally so all of our firsties have their own iPad.  If you are fortunate enough to have iPads in the classroom I have a great tip on how to manage all of these videos.  You can post the links on padlet walls at https://padlet.com/.  Once you create the padlet wall you can go to the url address of the padlet wall and put the shortcut onto the homescreen of the iPad so your firsties can easily access it.

                                                                        

An InLinkz Link-up

Ruby Bridges Unit Update

I just added one more piece to my Ruby Bridges unit. My first grade teachers asked me to add a fact and opinion graphic organizer to the unit.  They will be using it instead of "How Ruby Changed History" with the craftivity. If you have purchased the unit or are thinking about purchasing and want something added just send an email to learningwithfirsties123@gmail.com.

RUBY BRIDGES ON TPT

RUBY BRIDGES ON TEACHERS NOTEBOOK

Movie Clip Monday ... Ruby Bridges ... Do You Know Her Story?

Techie Turtle Teacher

For as long as I can remember I always introduced civil rights in my classroom using the book, The Story of Ruby Bridges.  My first graders always related to Ruby and were so shocked at how she was treated. Some great conversations were sparked through the reading of her story.  As we enter Black History Month I urge you to spark those conversations with your students no matter what grade you teach.  Here is a video of a Read Aloud of the book!

Click on Ruby Bridges below to purchase the craftivity and lap book.

RUBY BRIDGES

RUBY BRIDGES ON TEACHERS NOTEBOOK

An InLinkz Link-up

Movie Clip Monday

Techie Turtle Teacher

It's MOVIE CLIP MONDAY!!!!

Sometimes we just need a good laugh! This is for all my first grade teachers...You know you have been there during a math lesson! :0)

Some of my blogger friends have linked up with some more video clips for you.  

An InLinkz Link-up

Sharing a You Tube Video Safely in the Classroom

Sharing a video with your kiddos can be a fun and engaging part of any lesson.  We do want to be safe when we share though!  First, PREVIEW, PREVIEW, PREVIEW.  We always want to watch the video before we ever show it in a classroom. Unfortunately, there are videos that look "child friendly" but they are not! Also sometimes when a video ends there are ads or suggested videos that come up at the end.  These ads and videos may not be appropriate.  You can use Safe Share TV to safely watch You Tube videos. It's easy peasy to use... just input the You Tube video link and Safe Share generates a safe link to the video.  When you use the link the ads and suggested videos will not appear at the end. Love it! 

Standards Based Teaching

So this year my district has started standards based assessment/report cards for grades K-5. I'm no longer in the classroom so I have watched from afar. I've seen tears...I've listened...and I've coached as well as I can with little experience in this endeavor. However, with a semester under our belt and some time to reflect I really see the benefits of standards based teaching.  No longer are we bound by a curriculum.  We pick the best from the curriculum we have and use our professional judgement to add,add, and then add more to our lessons. We have freedom now which opens up so much for our students!!! It also allows our teachers to be creative and engages our students. It's exciting to watch!  We by no means are experts but we are so much better at it now then we were on August 5. Can't wait to see how good we are at it by May 23!  

Recently, we did some planning with each grade level and mapped out the 3rd nine weeks.  When planning we found several gaps between the curriculum and what was expected in the standards. So...being the instructional partner that I am...I began searching for additional items to help teach these standards. Because first grade is my comfort zone I started there.  I really couldn't find what I was looking for so I created something for them and wanted to share with you guys too. :0)

Graphic Organizer for RL 1.4

Graphic Organizer for RL 1.5