Oh Technology

I love technology but sometimes it fails. Last summer I had a hard drive crash and lost a lot of teaching materials.  I tried every possible rescue option, but it simply was lost.  Many of the materials weren't backed up elsewhere (like dropbox) and I've painfully learned my lesson.

However, there is a silver lining.

I did find paper copies of nine different teacher guides while sorting through my teacher materials.  I'm retyping them and revising to ensure that they're up to my standards.  Teacher guides that I made a few years ago need some revision, plain and simple.  As I've learned more, I've taken this knowledge and poured it back into my products.

The upcoming teacher guides are:

The Bad Beginning (#1 in the Series of Unfortunate Events)
The Reptile Room (#2 in the Series of Unfortunate Events)
The Wide Window (#3 in the Series of Unfortunate Events)
The Miserable Mill (#4 in the Series of Unfortunate Events)
The Austere Academy (#5 in the Series of Unfortunate Events)
The Vile Village (#7 in the Series of Unfortunate Events)
The Hostile Hospital (#8 in the Series of Unfortunate Events)
The Carnivorous Carnival (#9 in the Series of Unfortunate Events)
Brian's Winter (a sequel to Hatchet)
The River (a sequel to Hatchet) 
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (#1)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (#2)
 

All guides will be available within the coming weeks on TpT!  You can follow my store and get emails from TpT as soon as I upload products.

Happy reading!

New Bulletin Board

It was that time again.  The bulletin board change time.

Normally, I don't mind.  However, bulletin board changes coincided with DRA testing and progress reports, so it was a tad stressful trying to get everything accomplished.

Since we've been doing a lot of comparing and contrasting with mentor text like Seed Folks, Tiger Rising, Sarah, Plain and Tall as well as Sign of the Beaver, I decided to carry on the trend.  

I had my small groups pick one event from their small group novels and write about how two different characters reacted to this event, drawing on evidence from the passage.  

We have to post an introduction to our bulletin boards (or as they're called in our performance zone, "Academic Wall Displays").  The introduction should include the task, the learning targets and what standards students are working on.

Naturally a final draft is WAY more exciting if it's on colorful paper!  

I had my students brainstorm and write rough drafts in their notebooks, edit with a partner, then write their final drafts.  Space on the back was provided as well.

(Following example not pictured)

One student wrote about an incident with a bear from Brian's Winter.  In this passage, Brian Robeson (from Hatchet) befriends a skunk (whom he affectionately names Betty).  I was worried I would get a shallow response about how one is a boy and one is an animal.  Instead I was pleasantly surprised when she wrote about how both characters are dealing with loneliness, homelessness and find comfort in their routines with each other.

I'm so excited they're "thinking deeply" about what they're reading!

Hatchet has sequels?!

I read Hatchet for the first time around fifth grade.  

I loved the book, so I was excited to read this timeless classic with my own fifth graders.

(The covers have changed over time, which was interesting to discuss with my students.  You can read about it here!)

When I was first starting out, I used donorschoose to write a grant for copies of Hatchet.  In doing so, I realized something:

Hatchet has sequels. 

Not just one, but several sequels.  How did I not discover this until I was an adult??

So naturally I requested six of each and through the amazing generosity of friends and strangers, this grant was funded and I received the novels.  (I have another project expiring soon...)

The Sequels:

Brian's Winter: 

In this novel, Paulsen responds to reader's notes about the ending of Hatchet by posing an alternative ending.  Essentially, millions of readers watched Brian struggle for months and were a tad disappointed where he seemingly effortlessly flips a switch and is rescued within a few hours.  This novel looks at Brian's struggles through fall and winter.

The River:

Like Hatchet, I'm lucky enough to have several covers in my classroom which allows for great conversation about the illustrator's intent.  In this novel, Brian is asked to go back into the woods with a psychologist (Derek) so that the government can learn his survival techniques.  Naturally, things don't go according to plan and Brian must deal with the consequences of nature.

Brian's Return:

Brian returns (duh) to the Canadian wilderness he's grown to call home.  He works with his therapist, Caleb, and struggles to find where he truly belongs.

Brian's Hunt:

This is the final adventure with Brian.  Brian meets a wounded dog, worries for his Cree friends...and lots of tears are involved.  Consider yourself warned.

Just for fun, Guts

I've never done this novel with a small group but it's awesome to get an informational text from Paulsen.  I learned a lot about his life and how it truly is reflected in his books.  

I have teacher guides for all of the novels and am in the process of revising them to improve the rigor of the questions.  They'll be available individually and as a bundle pack on TpT soon!  

Happy reading :)

character charts

As we're finishing up our novels, we're posting our character and setting charts on the wall:

 I think I'm running out of space! I think I'll take them down, put them on a book ring:

And create a flipchart.

Plus, that'd free up valuable wall space!  Based on one of my fabulous neighbor's suggestions, I'm going to make a "shout out" board where I can post good examples of their "must do's" and work.

I had a major problem last week with a very small percentage of my classes not doing the must do correctly and on time.

Part of it was my fault for not explicitly modeling, but part of it was due to their desires to rush to do centers. 

So, as always in teaching, I'll make adjustments for next time.

I think having the positive motivator of being on the display board will definitely help! Stay tuned :)

paper slide

During the last week before winter break, we made paper slide videos for our must-do.  I set the expectations:

But didn't pass out a rubric due to time.  (We had Discovery tests to finish, a writing task and a grade level reading test so time was limited.)  Next time, I'll do a rubric so they can self-assess.

Each time they're getting better, which is awesome to see their growth. 

They worked collaboratively:

And we watched their final projects on the last day before winter break!  Since they used their names, I won't post the link here but it is available on our kidblog sites (for my student & family readers).