FCRR Shout Out

I've blogged about FCRR before and it's a wonderful free resource for literacy stations.  I love that it's broken up into grade level bands (K-1, 2-3 and 4-5) as well as into the big 5 components of literacy instruction (phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, phonics and comprehension).  They've also revised many of their student activities to align with the Common Core State Standards, which is also extremely helpful.

I've used the stations with my intervention groups and during my small groups.  I especially like the fluency stations at the beginning of the year when I'm explicitly teaching the four components of fluency (accuracy, rate, expression and phrasing).

Since it was reading week last week, I took advantage of the lax schedule (we had assemblies and Discovery Education testing as well) to play some reading games with my students (when they weren't being pulled to make up missed assignments, since the trimester ended Friday). 

One of the stations they played was "fact and opinion football":

I had a group of football fans fully entertained for a good twenty minutes.  When they ran out of cards, I had them make up their own statements for the group to guess.

The second station was "incredible inferences":

(Yes, my classroom rug is polka dotted...that's just how I roll!)

I used counters from our math kit as pieces, but you can use virtually anything. I'm pretty sure almost every teacher I've met has some sort of kit of pieces.

They had a great time with these reading games and I liked the skills that were reinforced. I know many of my students struggle with getting past the literal words in the text, so this was a fun way for them to practice "digging deep" and making meaning of the text.  They're getting there with inferences!

Happy reading :)

Silent Reviews

During the intervention portion of our day, we've been working on math and test review.  I decided to spend ten minutes reviewing idioms and figurative language, since many of my ELL (English Language Learners) students still struggle with these.

I display the question card on the smart board:

I give them think time (very necessary for mental processing of right and wrong answers), then ask for their responses.  Instead of shouting out, they hold up their responder cups!

All of them can respond at once without a word.  Plus it's a great formative assessment because they don't really have time to change their answers.  I then have them defend their answers to a neighbor, thus working in the justification piece where they must provide evidence.

It's a great, fun way to review concepts where they all participate without shouting.

SBAC practice

During our intervention block we've been working on testing strategies and math.

We pulled practice SBAC questions.  Students work independently on the problem(s) before sharing their strategies with a partner. 

We also work through the problem together:

I love how much they're getting into the math review!  They don't see it as pointless math problems, but rather real world puzzles which adds an element of fun.  They like these meaningful math challenges and I like hearing them share their strategies with one another.  

New (math) Strategy

During our intervention block this week, we've been using Discovery Ed testing to review previously taught math standards.

I had them using white boards & markers last week so I decided to switch it up. 

Each group got scratch paper and every student got a different colored marker (for accountability purposes).

I'd pose the problem on the board and they'd start working independently on solving.  Pretty standard procedure in a classroom.

However, I switched it up by having them rotate their papers at my whistle.  They had to jump right in and work on continuing how their neighbor had started solving...which wasn't necessarily their strategy.

I liked that this strategy stressed solving the problem different ways.

We switched a few times, then they discussed the strategies as a group.  I love when they can engage in such meaningful math discourse and model their thinking a variety of ways.

I'm thinking about trying this strategy next week with written responses as well.  Or perhaps as a quick write to warm up for writing.

There's something extra fun about using markers in the classroom.  The students are so much more engaged, which is wonderful.  Bring back the joy!

Equivalent Fractions Bingo

During our intervention block, we've been working on equivalent fractions.

By no fault of their own, our kiddos have a very limited understanding of what fractions mean so we've been doing a lot of whole group intervention.

I found this adorable freebie on TpT, created by Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas and available here that has been so much fun for my kiddos!

She's also made Darth Vader & Princess versions, which my other small groups enjoyed!

I love doing math stations because it's a formative assessment and I can pull small groups.  I love hearing their discourse (discussions) and how they help each other find equivalent fractions.

Echoing Green

For our intervention block this week, we've been working on reading strategies.  We went over how to record our thinking and that we read poems more than once.  

They did an awesome job finding the shifts in mood in the poem Echoing Green.  Last year our amazing coaches (M & G, love you both!) did a close read lesson with us with this poem.  Based on what they did with us, I had my students color the "happy" words in one color and the "sad" words in another color.  I was really impressed that collaboratively figured out that the poem is happy in the beginning and shifts to sadness toward the end.

I modeled on the smart board.

Their think sheet.

Kagan strategy of "pair up and share" to get them movin' and talking :)

Tomorrow we'll re-read the stanzas and talk about the theme.  Next week they'll create a written response about the poem.

They just get so excited about reading!

Multiplication Strategies

For the intervention part of the day, we've been working on multiplication.  The fifth grade standard says students have to solve using the US standard algorithm, but we are stressing multiple ways to calculate the product.

I give my students a warm up problem, have them work independently for a few minutes, then share with a neighbor how they solved the problem.  If the group got different answers, they work together to solve it again, thus practicing their math discourse.  (Also, mathematical practice #3 about critiquing the reasoning of others).

Here's a snapshot of one group's work:

The strategies they typically use are:

1. US standard algorithm

2. British standard algorithm (very similar to US but with more of an emphasis on place value, as seen in the top image)

3. Partial Products

4. Estimation or compatible numbers to check for reasonableness

5. Repeated addition

6. Halves & Doubles

7. Lattice Method

I love that they're focused on the process of finding the answer rather than the one right answer.  It lends itself to much richer mathematical discussions about the value of numbers.

RACE strategy

During our intervention part of the day, I've been working with students on subtracting decimals to the thousandths, figurative language, theme and poetry.

We moved into working with constructed responses and one of my favorite strategies is RACE:

RACE stands for:

Restate the question.  Students use words from the question to formulate their opening or topic sentence.  This helps them to focus their answer.

Answer the question(s) that are asked.  For our district, constructed responses tend to have several parts and it's important for students to answer all portions.

C: Complete sentences.  Students need to remember the rules of grammar, spelling, etc when writing their responses.  We went over that one sentence does not suffice.

E: Evidence your answer, twice.  This helps them with main idea and key supporting details, as well as quoting accurately or inferring details from the passage.

Multi-syllabic words

Batter Up!

We didn't acknowledge Halloween in my classroom.  Quite frankly, the behavior of some of the students didn't lend itself to a celebration and many students don't celebrate the holiday, so we avoided it all together.

Instead, I celebrated Boston's win :)

I used this adorable baseball themed center, made by Katie Appel and available for FREE here for my intervention block.

We blended through the multi-syllabic word cards, identified syllable types (CLOVER) and played with a partner.  It was a fun sports-themed center and definitely worth downloading!

Happy reading :)