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Showing posts with label The Thinker Builder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Thinker Builder. Show all posts
Sunday, February 14, 2016

5 Favorite Read Alouds for Spring

Once the craziness of Valentine's Day ends, I get the itch to look ahead towards spring, and one thing I love to do is pull out some of my favorite books to read aloud to students. Here are a few of my top picks, accompanied by a teaching focus to use with each one.


#1 Tops & Bottoms by Janet Stevens

Tops & Bottoms is the tale of a rabbit who lives on a bear's property. Through a series of cleverly made, self-serving deals with the bear, the rabbit grows and harvests a variety of vegetables, each time taking the crop's best parts for his own family. This time, Bear, you take the tops and I'll take the bottoms. Deal?... and off the rabbit goes to plant carrots and the like.

Use Tops & Bottoms to teach theme. The story contains several, including ones involving work ethic, the lengths one goes to help one's family, and the "little guy" besting the "boss man." Be sure to include the illustrations to help students discover and understand certain themes. For example, the bear wears boots throughout the story, adding to the impression that he is "the big boss." Some say there are even ties to plantation owners and the struggle of slaves, so even though the story is written at a third grade level or so, some pretty deep and meaningful discussions can be brought out.

#2 Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming

In Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!, Mr. McGreely does battle against three little bunnies who continue to break into his garden and eat all of his vegetables. Mr. McGreely goes to great lengths to protect his garden... fences, moats, walls, you name it. But the bunnies always figure out a way to thwart his efforts.

Use Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! to teach onomatopoeia. Each time the bunnies break into Mr. McGreely's garden, a slew of snappy sound words accompany the illustrations, showing their sneaky exploits.

If you are interested in my literature unit for Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!, you can see it HERE.

#3 The Gardener by Sarah Stewart

The Gardener is one of my favorite books with which to teach. Set during the Great Depression, Lydia Grace is sent to the city to live with her Uncle Jim and help in his bakery. The story is told through the letters that Lydia Grace writes back to her family. Though at first Lydia Grace is unsure of her new environment, her positive attitude and spirit help to change more than just herself.

Use The Gardener to teach character growth. Though Lydia Grace is the main character, use the details in her letters to infer changes in Uncle Jim. The clues can be subtle, as Uncle Jim never says a word, but the change is profound.

If you are interested in my literature unit for The Gardener, you can see it HERE.

#4 Weslandia by Paul Fleischman

In Weslandia, the main character, Wesley, a sort of social outcast at school, develops (with a little magic, of course) a brand new plant he calls a swist. Wesley's backyard gets filled with the new plant, and Wesley begins using parts of the plant for food, shelter, and various gadgets. Wesley eventually develops products from his plant that he sells to the same kids who bullied him! A whole new civilization is born in Wesley's backyard.

Use Weslandia as a companion to your science unit on plant growth or even in conjunction with your economics unit. (Yeah, it's that versatile.) Integrate engaging projects with students' plant learning, like asking students to develop a new plant of their own, with diagrams and explanations of its parts, needs, and uses. Extend the project into the economics realm by having students use their plant as their natural resource to create imaginary products to sell.

#5 City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems

Oh City Dog, Country Frog, how I love thee. Seriously, this simply told, touching story from Mo Willems (yep, the pigeon author) and illustrator Jon J. Muth (how this book didn't win the Caldecott I'll never know), takes the reader on a journey of friendship, at times full of love, and at times heart-breaking. Though the story travels through all four seasons, it begin in spring and ends in "spring again." The text is minimal, but very powerful, which makes it a perfect choice to reread and use multiple times during the year, even with upper elementary.

Use City Dog, Country Frog to teach how to create mental images. (Use it for a lot of things, actually.) The concise style paired with Muth's illustrations compel readers to use their five senses to dig into deeper understanding. After reading and discussing, try rereading the book once more, asking students upon completion to draw and explain their "lasting" mental image, the image seared into their mind that they will remember until they are old. (Yes, it's that good.)

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What are some of your other favorite picture books to use during the spring?

www.thethinkerbuilder.com



Monday, November 16, 2015

Turkeys! Fact-Based Opinion Writing

During the week of Thanksgiving last year, my third graders did some opinion writing that was centered around the question: Should turkey be Thanksgiving's main dish?

When I posed the question to students, their feelings were surprisingly strong...

"Of course we should have turkey! We've eaten it every year in my family." Or, "Are you kidding me? Let's get rid of it! My dad always overcooks it. It's so dry and disgusting. I'd rather have pizza."

Needless to say, students could explain their opinion by pulling from their personal experiences.

But I knew we could do better.

I discussed with the class that when you are trying to build an argument to support an opinion, a carefully chosen FACT that is explained and connected to your opinion can make a big impact on your audience. 

But where to get the facts? Sure, we could launch into a bunch of research to find the perfect fact to support our opinion, but that's a whole other thing, isn't it? I really wanted to focus the activity on the writing, not research.

So that's why I had already prepared some turkey facts for them!


I had collected eight facts about turkeys, and put each one on a different card. After reading through the facts together, students cut apart their cards and worked together to sort them into categories: facts that supported YES, turkey should be the main dish; and facts that supported NO, turkey should not be the main dish.


When students shared how they sorted their facts, the differences were interesting. Sure, some facts strongly supported one opinion. For example, most students said the fact, "Turkey has more protein and less fat than other meats like chicken and beef," supports the opinion that turkey should be the main dish because it's a healthy option. But other facts, like, "An average size turkey takes about 4 hours to cook in an oven," could support either opinion. Some students said that it would be better to have a food that didn't take as long to cook, but other students said that cooking in the oven so long was a good thing: it gave families more time to visit together and it makes the turkey seem more important.

From my perspective, I just loved how students were thinking and analyzing each fact, independent of their personal opinion.


I then had students choose the facts they thought would help support their own opinion. I modeled how to effectively incorporate a fact into your argument, how you can't just throw it in and leave it up to your reader to interpret (we just found out that some facts can be interpreted differently). You needed to explain how the fact supports your opinion.

The last step was to write their opinion piece!


Afterward, I liked how the lesson went so much that I created a few more pieces to go with it, including:
  • a preliminary "poll question" to hook students
  • a poster of the turkey facts
  • a poster of the focus question
  • a planning organizer for the student writing
  • an extension activity where students look at the focus question from different points-of-view.
It also includes a detailed lesson plan. If the full resource interests you, click the image below for more details.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fact-Based-Opinion-Writing-for-Thanksgiving-Question-1-2208371



Happy Thanksgiving! Stop by my blog, The Thinker Builder, anytime!




Wednesday, September 16, 2015

The "Do NOT Do This!" List for Writing Ideas

A few months ago I came across this image on Pinterest, and I completely misinterpreted its purpose:

http://www.byrdseed.com/the-dont-do-list/
Photo by Marshall Astor via www.byrdseed.com

It's actually a nice little article to teachers about feeling okay with not saying "yes" to every request. You can click on the image above if you'd rather read that.

But that's not what I thought the post was about. Looking at the image, I thought for sure the author had come up with a new "idea list" for students to generate, to use as a resource in their writing. I almost didn't click on it because I was so confident I'd figured it all out just from the image. 

And then I clicked on it, and found out I was wrong.

Oh well. It was a nice little article.

But I still liked my wrong idea.
So let's go with it.

The thinking behind my idea of the "Do NOT Do This!" list comes from my belief that one of the most integral qualities of a strong writer is the guts to be bold... to take a risk, take a stand, take a different path, carve a new path... to look at the act of writing as an ongoing experiment. Writers surely fail more often this way. But writers surely learn more this way. And here and there... a gem surfaces.

If you're like me, in the first few weeks of school, you help students set up different lists to brainstorm writing ideas, to load up a collection for when one is needed during the year. You've got the "I'm an expert at..." list, the "My hobbies" list, the "Happy memories" list, and of course the "Sad memories" list.

But the "Do NOT Do This!" list takes some guts. It produces writing a bit more... dangerous, more edgy. It flips some of the more common idea-generating-lists on their heads and gets students thinking differently.

The first column of the "Do NOT Do This!" list is for ideas inspired by personal experience. Students list things that you should NOT do. Tell students to think about bad decisions, injuries, close calls, accidents, betrayals, mistakes, unintentional consequences, and regrets. The innate tension within these experiences makes for a strong story.

Let me give you some examples of entries on my list:
  • Do NOT throw Frisbees while cars are passing. 
  • Do NOT eat a pickle before swimming.
  • Do NOT come to a snake fight with only one golf club.
  • Do NOT jump off a swing backwards.
  • Do NOT let your puppy sleep with your favorite sweatshirt.
  • Do NOT put an entire pouch of Big League Chew gum in your mouth.
  • Do NOT tell an animal control officer that "you ain't scared" to wrestle a 3-foot alligator.
  • Do NOT poke the hairball buried in your garden too harshly.
  • Do NOT make a deal with Luke Doxhall. Ever.
Did your eyes widen at reading any of those ideas? Don't you want to know the story behind some of them? And would you believe that every one of them has a real, true experience behind them? Believe it.


The second column of the "Do NOT Do This!" list is for ideas purely from the imagination. These ideas tend to get a little wild, or silly, or even (gasp!) violent. 

Here are a few examples of the more fantastical side of the list:
  • Do NOT leave a snack for the monster under your bed.
  • Do NOT knock on the door of the haunted house.
  • Do NOT let your little brother sneak onto your rocket ship.
  • Do NOT play with a fire-breathing dragon. 
  • Do NOT push the glowing purple button. Ever.
Admittedly, when I look at this column of a student's list, I often want to roll my eyes or sneer in disgust. But WAIT! Remember, this is brainstorming... bold brainstorming. Not every idea will be a hit. (I mean, do you really want to know what happened to the pickle?) But as students get more and more comfortable with what makes a story strong, one with conflict and emotions, they'll be better able to weed out, refine, and adapt their ideas.

Find more ideas for developing bold writers and deep readers at my blog, The Thinker Builder.
Pickles not included.




Thursday, July 16, 2015

WAKE UP Your Classroom Library!

Growing up, I attended a church built in 1868. Yes, I said eighteen-68. On the second floor, behind the sanctuary, was a library. I can still picture it: leather-bound volumes, threadbare olive-green carpeting, deep mahogany trim, and lots of shadows. There was always something missing, though.

People.

In my entire childhood, I don't remember seeing a single person touch a single book in that library.

And if I'm being honest, in my first few years of teaching, come November, my classroom library reminded me quite a bit of the lonely library from my old church.

But over the years I've found ways to keep my classroom library a hub of activity all the way through May.

One way to "wake up" your classroom library is to start an event calendar. I was browsing my public library's website a couple of years ago and came across its calendar. Man, it was hoppin'... author visits, story times, clubs, classes, even film showings. People were interacting with the library left and right. And I thought, hmm, why don't we try that for our classroom library?

The idea was to use the calendar we already had hanging on the wall to schedule a few mini "events" involving our library. I wrote briefly about the idea in the fifth part of my Classroom Library series, but now that I've had a full year to play around with it, I've learned a few more things to share.

Scheduling and following through with classroom library events breathes life into our library, builds anticipation and excitement, and helps me and my class be proactive about keeping the classroom library (and reading in general) a priority.

When I say "event," I'm not talking about anything huge and fancy. Most of the ideas below can be done in about 10-15 minutes. But actually seeing two or three events scheduled on our monthly calendar lets us look forward to them and have a little accountability to make them happen.
  • Friday Finds: Students share a book they "found" during the week that is worth reading.
  • Monday Makeovers: Give students a chance to do a complete "makeover" on their book baskets... return old books, find a few fresh ones, clean out the junk, even make a new bookmark to keep inside.
  • Tuesday Trades: Students get with partners and trade a book from their book baskets.
  • Wednesday Want That: Get students' input of books and series that they want for the library. Make a list and keep it handy next time you have a chance to grab a few new books.
  • Throwback Thursday: Have all students get a favorite book from the classroom library that they've read a long time ago, and give them time to read them with partners.
  • Friday Filers: Devote some time to spruce up and organize the library, filing all of the misplaced books. This sometimes works better with just a group of students in charge (but you might be surprised at how many students love doing it.)

After incorporating classroom library events for a year, I've learned that they do indeed keep students interacting with the library in fun ways! And many of them provide opportunities for students to interact with each other too, with books at the heart of the conversations.

To keep it manageable and low-stress, I only scheduled a handful of events (at most) in a month, and some months we didn't schedule any. Avoiding a repetitive schedule helped to keep things lively and fresh. Here are a few more ideas you could sprinkle in:
  • Six on the Sixth: Randomly choose six students on the sixth of the month to each choose one book from the classroom library to highlight. I like to lean the chosen books on the tray of our whiteboard for other students to borrow.
  • Treasures on the Tenth: Some of my own personal favorites in our classroom library often get forgotten, so I choose a handful of "treasures" that look like they've been sitting on the shelf for awhile and show them to the class, read the back covers, and even recommend them to particular students.
  • Nonfiction on the Nineteenth: Choose a student or two to pick out a category of nonfiction books to highlight by setting out for the day.
  • Twisted on the Twentieth: Assign each student a partner. Instead of going into the classroom library to find a book for themselves, twist it and have students find a book for their partner. If time allows, have students first interview their partner to get to know their likes and dislikes.
  • 'Get Comfy' Day: Students get to bring in a pillow and blanket to read with for the day.
  • 'Pair It' Day: During the days leading up to 'Pair It' Day, students work with partners to read and pair books together that connect in some way, yet haven't already been grouped together through the library's organization. For example, Sam and Mike might pair the following books together: Dinosaurs before Dark (Magic Tree House chapter book), How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? (rhyming picture book), and 100 Facts: Dinosaurs (informational book). On 'Pair It' Day, students introduce the theme of their paired books, and others can select sets to read.
  • 'Share It' Day: Take a few minutes with the class to choose a handful of recent favorites from the classroom library to put together a temporary gift basket to share with another class. Attach a note that says: "We love these books so much, we want to share them with you for the week. Please return them to the basket when you finish. We'll pick them up on Friday. Enjoy!" Sometimes you'll even get a gift basket of books in return!


On my calendar you see in the photos, I signified a "classroom library event" with a little bookworm (using clip art from Our Monitos) that I laminated and Velcroed to the calendar dates. You can snag a copy of my calendar tags HERE.

Find LOTS more of my ideas for maintaining a thriving library HERE. If you are interested in the full series of blog posts on my classroom library, including arranging it, organizing it, stocking it, and introducing it to students, you can find it HERE.

Stop by my blog, The Thinker Builder, anytime!





Thursday, October 9, 2014

Table-Group Signs with Style and Charm

I'm going to go out on a bit of a limb here and say my classroom is stylish. 

To me, at least.

I've got a rustic, antique kind of vibe going on... lots of table lamps, barn-wood bulletin board paper, old kitchen hutch re-purposed into a bookcase, curtains. Yes, I have curtains. They add to my color scheme, which I try to maintain throughout my room: blues, purples, and orange. So, 'ya know: stylish. My style, anyway.

Our table-group signs, those things hanging from the ceiling above each group of students, serve multiple purposes, one being that they are a perfect way to unify the colors I've chosen with which to decorate the room.

Those signs' functional purpose, just like with anything you would hang above your table-groups, is to give an identity to each group of students. I can simply call the "orange group" and ahhhhh, everyone knows who I'm talking to.

My favorite purpose for the way I do our group signs is to build teamwork and cooperation skills within each group, because the members of each group are planning and decorating their own signs.

What follows are step by step instructions for our stylish table-group signs.

The supplies I use are large sheets of construction paper (12"x18") carefully chosen to fit my color scheme, fishing line or string, and ceiling hooks.


I give each table group a different piece of construction paper to design. Each group can design their paper however they choose. I don't give many restrictions, except to allow only crayons and colored pencils. I've found that markers can be so bold that they can distract from the true color of the sign. I like to have students all incorporate their names onto the signs too. Even when we switch seats, the signs will stay in place, and these original groups will always remain the "founding members."


After each group has decorated their sign, I collect them and laminate them. Then I roll each one and tape it into a tube, with the design on the outside.


Then I punch three evenly-spaced holes around the top rim of each tube.


Next, I tie pieces of fishing line, two feet in length, to each hole. Fire code for our district requires an 18 inch gap from the ceiling to whatever is hanging from the ceiling.


I pull the three pieces of fishing line together and tie the ends into a knot.


Then I hang the knotted end onto a ceiling hook that is positioned over each table group.


There you have it. The signs remind me of pendant lights, without the light, of course.


The custom student-design of each sign and the bold pops of color make these table-group signs my favorite type of "hangy thing" in my classroom.

And they also add a little style. I think.

http://thethinkerbuilder.blogspot.com/








Come visit me at my blog, The Thinker Builder!



Saturday, August 30, 2014

A "Work Together" Blog Hop!

You are in for a treat!

Many of the Who's Who authors have teamed up for a special blog hop. It's a "Work Together Weekend" everybody!


With Labor Day coming up, we thought it was the perfect time to share ideas about students working together in the classroom. Our participating authors each have a post, located on each of our own blogs, with a link to the next blog in the hop. Enjoy reading all of our ideas and picking up a bunch of great freebies as you hop along through our blogs.

Are you ready to jump in? Click HERE to head on over to Second Grade Stories, with Lisa.

Oh, and have fun!

http://thethinkerbuilder.blogspot.com/



Saturday, July 19, 2014

Setting the Tone in the First 10 Minutes of the First Day of School




The first day of school is full of so many things: anticipation, wide-eyes, school supplies, new faces, maybe a few butterflies. And I'm notorious for trying to get too much done on the first day...
I want to get to know my students.
I want them to get to know each other.
I want them to unpack their school supplies.
I want to show them around the classroom.
I want to teach them procedures, and more procedures, and more procedures.

And not only do I never fit it all in the first day, the tone I set while trying, the "mood" of the room, if you will, is not exactly what I intend it to be.

On a normal, middle-of-the-year day, I want my students to come into my room in the morning knowing it is a calm place, a cooperative place, a place where we work hard, try new things, and have fun.

A couple of years ago, I asked myself a question I thought was a bit unrealistic: Could I get that "middle-of-the-year" tone started within the first ten minutes of the first day of school? Could I find a way to slow down, shove my laundry list of activities and procedures aside temporarily, and show my students right from the get-go what this classroom should look like, sound like, and feel like?

I took on the challenge.

The thing is, it's not something that I get a lot of chances to try. I mean, really, I get ONE first-day-of-school per year. So, after a couple of good cracks at it, here is what I've found to work for setting the tone in the first ten minutes of the first day of school.

Prior to students arriving, I put a freshly sharpened pencil at each student's desk, as well as a "first task" that students will work on when they come in. For me, I try to make this first task something that can be done independently and is extremely low-stress. I don't want to have to explain anything to students about how to do their first task. A "Finish the Picture" like the one below works pretty well for third grade.

 

(Grab six free "finish the picture" tasks on THIS updated version of my post!)

As each student enters my classroom on the first day, I greet them warmly, and then I ask them to keep their backpack zipped up and to hang it on their cubby hook, then to find their seat and get started.


Giving students a simple but engaging task to do at their seat frees me up to start making personal connections with individual students right away. 

Still within the first ten minutes, my whole class is sitting at their seats, drawing away, with a nice little hum going.  Meanwhile, I'm walking around, kneeling down at different table groups, asking students how they are feeling about third grade, who they already know, what they are going to eat for lunch, and so on.

After a few minutes, I ask the class to share their drawings with their table groups and to talk about how their drawings are alike and different. In the grand scheme of things, I really don't care one bit about these drawings. It's the talking I want. Communicating with each other right off the bat about their ideas.

Pretty soon, I'll start introducing some of our classroom procedures, and eventually I'll let them go unpack their shiny new backpacks. But in the first ten minutes, I've shown my students that we get started working right away, that I care about them and what they have to say, and that sharing our ideas and thinking with each other happens a lot.

http://thethinkerbuilder.blogspot.com/

Come visit me at my blog, The Thinker Builder!

UPDATE: Wow, I never would have guessed this little idea would have picked up so much steam. Thanks! You can pick up SIX "Finish the Picture" pages, totally free, by clicking HERE.

Sunday, June 8, 2014

DIY Magnetic Frames: "Class-Up" Your Classroom Whiteboard!

My classroom has two ginormous whiteboards that cover the length of two of my walls. It's a lot of whiteboard space. More than I need, really. So this past year, I started using picture frames to help break up the space and focus students' attention to certain sections of the board, like my reading group schedule for example. The frames also added a little charm and uniqueness to the room.


So here's how I made them:

First, I went to Goodwill and bought a few cheap, framed pictures. (The ones I bought were each less than $5.) I tried to choose ones that had "real wood" frames so they would last longer.

Next, I removed all of the artwork, glass, staples, and paper, so I was left with empty frames.



Then it was time to paint the frames. I used one color of semi-gloss spray paint to help unify the variety of the frames' shapes and sizes.  I propped up the frames on some wooden blocks and sprayed two coats onto the fronts and edges. For a more "blingy" look, try using a high-gloss paint--I think a glossy black on one of those fancy guilded frames would look totally cool.



After the frames were dry, I hot-glued magnets around the backside of the frames. You need some strong magnets for this. I used thick, disc-shaped magnets that have a strength rating of "6."



You can buy packs of 50 of these magnets at craft stores like Hobby Lobby.  The number of magnets you'll need for one frame depends on its weight, but I ended up using at least a dozen magnets per frame.

Once I added enough magnets so the frames wouldn't slide down the board, I was finished! I use these frames for morning messages, math group assignments, reading group schedules, you name it.


Don't forget to stop by my blog, The Thinker Builder. Have fun building!

http://thethinkerbuilder.blogspot.com/



Monday, April 28, 2014

How to Teach Your Students How to CHECK THEIR WORK

A student walks up with with his finished math test and hands it to me. I glance at the clock. I think, Hmm, 10 minutes ago I gave you this test.

But I say, "Did you check your work?"

"Whoops," he says and takes back the test. He remains standing in front of me, and proceeds to give each page a quick glance, nodding.

10 seconds later, "Okay, I checked it. Here you go."

Oh, thank you, child. Thank you for your thoroughness. Thank you for NOT noticing the simple calculation error you made on number 5, and for forgetting to answer both parts of number 8, and for misreading the question on number 9. 

And by the way, you skipped number 10. But don't worry, I will notice these silly mistakes for you tonight as I grade your test, wondering how much of this content you actually know or not.



After many of these interactions with students, or something similar, I decided to have another crack at teaching my students how to check their work. Simply reminding them to check their work was rarely helpful. Did students really know what I meant? Did I really know what I meant?

After some reflection, I broke the concept of "checking your work" into three levels. I modeled how to do each level, and then I taught students when each "level of checking" was best to use. This idea has worked well in math especially, but can be applied to other subjects too.


Level One Checking
I consider a "level one check" to be the lowest level of checking your work (but better than nothing). After completing your test or assignment, you return to the beginning and check to be sure that you have answered every question. Basically, you are checking to see if you skipped anything. It is quick and takes little thought, but might be the right choice in certain situations, like if you are running out of time.

Level Two Checking
When you check your work at level two, you return to the beginning of your test or assignment and you reread the first question. You then look at your answer and see if it makes sense. If it does, you move on and do the same for the rest of the questions. If it doesn't, you work the problem again to try to find your error. With level two, you really keep your brain turned on. It helps eliminate those "silly" mistakes.

Level Three Checking
Checking your work at level three is like a full attack. This is when you read each question again and rework the problem. You then compare your answer to your first attempt to see if you got the same thing. This takes a lot of time and mental stamina, but might be appropriate for certain sections, like a problem with multi-digit addition or subtraction.


 
Click the pic above to grab the poster!
 
Getting students to care about checking their work isn't easy. It takes a change of mindset that completing the last question is not "the end." It also takes the realization that we all are capable of making absent-minded mistakes. I've found that teaching students how to use these different levels of checking has helped give students more ownership and the ability to make wiser choices when it comes to checking their work. I hope the idea can help your students too!
http://thethinkerbuilder.blogspot.com/