Things I've Found

As I wrote about earlier, it's a long weekend for us due to Veteran's Day.  While I'm freezing because it's 70 degrees inside our home, apparently others are having a snow day. (Looking at you Mrs. A in Wisconsin!).  

I decided to tackle cleaning out our guest bedroom because it's been a box fort for a few months now.  When I switched classrooms, I went from nine bookcases down to three...so it's been an adjustment.  I also am not doing small groups based on novels this year, but instead pulling based on skills, standards, and Reading Rangers levels.  I feel I get to conference with each child more, but I miss having lengthy discussions about novels.  I'm sure there is a way to balance both, I'm just not there yet.

As a result in these changes, I have a lot of teaching supplies still at my house.  I'm shifting through the boxes, deciding what goes to my classroom, what gets donated, and what is just plain outdated.  

Here's what I've found:

1. Binders full of paper copies of novel guides I created but were erased from my hard drive.  Hallelujah!  Many of them have already been recreated and improved for TpT, but there are a good several dozen that have yet to be updated.  I know what I'll be doing over the next few months!  My goal is to have 200 TpT products by my 2 year anniversary (July).  I'm at 158, so I think that's definitely doable!

2. My good wall stapler.

Yes, I've been missing this for months.  I came pretty close to becoming this:

I bought a second online but it just wasn't the same.  While I love office supplies in general, this is one of my favorites.  The wrist strap means I don't have to constantly bend down because I've dropped it.  The stapler molds to my hand and the staples can't fall out.  I'm a little too excited to be reunited with my good stapler.

3. Green staples.  Why do I own these?  Perhaps I can do something Christmas themed with them.

4. Expo markers.  Dozens of them.  Along with binder clips, pencils, glue sticks, post-its, and student scissors.  I may not need to buy office supplies for a long time (hallelujah).

5. Old Presidential Time lines.  When I say old, I mean they don't include Obama.  Or Clinton. Or Bush.  So...those have to go. 

On the bright side, I'm a few hours away from having a spotless guest bedroom!

Double your impact!

I posted another project to donorschoose.  I requested copies of Steal Away Home, Seed Folks, and My name is Maria Isabel to use with small groups.  I read portions of these novels as read alouds (mentor text) with my fifth graders last year.  They loved the stories but were disappointed when they found out I only had one copy.  I'm requesting eight of each novel to use with small groups. I love when more than one student is reading the same novel because they discuss their ideas with one another outside of our group meetings.

I'm also requesting eight copies of House of Hades to continue our quest with Percy and co.  In the grant, I also asked for some interactive number lines, math manipulatives to stress teaching powers of ten (but in a way that's helpful to my visual and kinesthetic learners), and some classroom organizing materials.

Donations to my classroom are 100% tax deductible and for the next week are being matched through charitable organizations.  Use INSPIRE at checkout to double your donation! (Up to $100).

Even if you can't donate right now, please keep my classroom and young students in your mind.  Pass along this information to any interested parties and I will be extremely appreciative!  Thank you.

Kindly,
Ms. Vice
(and the munchkins of room 71)

Grouping Ideas

I love new teaching ideas. I like to try new strategies and change up my classroom.  I find that some change (not to the big things of routine, structures, or procedures) keeps everyone interested...myself included.  Burned out teacher robots make me sad.  My classroom is not the same year to year because my students aren't the same from year to year.  If I expect my students to be continually reflective, adaptive, and grow from knowledge and experiences, I should expect the same from myself.

So yes, I spend a good deal of my free time thinking about teaching.  (Don't worry, I've never been better at that work-life balance!).  I love what I do and when passion and careers come together, it's a beautiful thing.

 I like this idea for placing students in small groups:

Specifically I like that it would get my students up and moving.  I like that there is a problem solving component.  I like that I would have control over the groupings.

Would this take a little bit of prep time? Yes, of course.  But after I've decided on groups, the rest would be mindless writing and cutting while watching TV the night before.

This would be great during the first week of school but could easily be used throughout the year.  

Spin off ideas include using famous duos or trios to have students find their partner(s)!

Naturally, my brain started spinning with possibilities, so I'm pleased to announce a new TpT product on creative groupings!  

With over seventy pages and a cheat sheet for teachers, it's a great way to make new small groups or partners.  I designed this to work for partners, groups of 3, groups of 4, and larger groups (5 or more).  I used different colors to help with organization. Print it once, laminate, and you're done!

(Thank goodness it's summer and I can indulge my creative tangents without feeling guilty!)

Interactive Notebooks

A few days ago, a fellow teacher and former colleague reached out to ask about interactive notebooks.  I've used notebooks for a few years now, each year with more student success, so I figured I'd offer some tips and tricks about implementing notebooks in the classroom.  Hope it helps Mrs. A! (Since this would have been way too long for an email!)

First, what is interactive notebooking?

Basically it's a notebook that students record their thoughts in.  They simply don't copy down information like mindless robots, but rather interact with the material.  They reflect upon it, analyze it, deconstruct it, edit and revise it, modify it, and so forth.  They record their thinking as they work with the material. There are things that are glued in.  There are lots of graphic organizers.  There is probably a combination of pencil, pen, marker, highlighter, tape, glue, and post-its within the pages.  It's a student-built resource that holds the record of their educational journey...and it can become a hot mess if not dealt with using structures and consistency.

Second, why?

You also might want to think about what your end goal is with the notebooks.  Are you using them because it's a school mandate?  Did your site get a huge donation of them and it's now a surprise expectation that these notebooks will be used?  Did notebooking become a buzz word and make its way into your site's school improvement plan?

Hopefully you're using notebooks in your classroom because you want to...but if you're forced to, hopefully this post makes the process a little bit easier.

Is it a place for them to only write down what you say?  Is it a completely free space for them?  Chances are, it's somewhat of both.

For me, notebooks have been a place for them to record their educational journey through different subjects.  The notebooks aren't for me, I've mastered fifth grade content.  The notebooks are for students.  It's a place for them to not only record the "big ideas," but make meaning as well.  It's a place for them to build a glossary of terms and record how characters change over time.  It's a place for them to model math strategies and show a problem several ways.  It's a place for them to write their thoughts and peer edit on drafts.  It's a place for them to annotate their thinking on close reads for poems and write their reactions to specific events in their novels.

It's their place to show their learning.  Like young minds, notebooks are best when used frequently.

Before using notebooks, some things to consider:

1) How many notebooks will you want your students to use?  

I recommend one per subject because I think it prepares my students for middle school, but it's ultimately it's a teacher decision that should be made prior to implementing notebooks in the classroom.  While I like one subject per notebook, I know other teachers have used the multi-subject notebooks.  Others have done two subjects in one notebook, starting one subject at the beginning and the other from the end and working forward.

2)  What type of notebooks do you want your students to use?

While you don't have complete control over what families bring in, you can ask for different types of notebooks for different subjects.  Last year we asked for both spiral and composition notebooks for different subjects.  

If possible, have the whole class use the same type of notebook for each subject.  In a perfect world, they'd all have the same color too...a teacher can dream!

Spiral notebooks: We used these for math, writing, and small group reading.

We used these because math problems or writing prompts frequently span more than one page and spiral is easier for students to flip to the next page and keep going.  The pages also easily rip out if students need to turn in work or collaborate with peers.

**teaching tip** Make sure students know the pages will be ripped out for an assignment prior to starting the task, that way they don't accidentally rip out something they needed to keep.

Floppy journals (usually provided by the school): We used these for word study (phonics, syllable types, Greek and Latin roots, etc).  If floppy ones aren't available, I'd use a composition notebook for this subject.

I cut these in half using the paper cutter at school but rumor has it Staples, Lowes, or a hardware store will cut them in half for you!


Composition notebooks: We used these for (whole group) reading and science.  

We used these because they were larger (we took more notes in these subjects) and the pages didn't rip out as easily.  They also held up better to gluing in graphic organizers such as these:

My inserts can be anything from FCRR character charts to closed notes for science to a poem we are going to use for a close read.  My general rule of thumb is if there is a precise drawing or copying the information will take them more then 5 minutes, I type it up and prepare it myself.  I usually prepare these on 1/2 size sheets so there's no overlap, but for some of my special ed students, I make a full size sheet and have them fold it in half to glue in.

I do go over my gluing procedures with them the first week of school because even fifth graders need reminders.  I expect them to put a large X in the middle and trace the edges of the paper before passing along the glue stick.  I have them show me with their fingers how we glue before they even touch glue sticks.  This does help eliminate their innate desires to coat the entire backside of the paper with globs of glue.  Hey, I'm not made of money to continually buy glue sticks! 


3) Organization of the notebooks

Before implementing notebooks, you'll want to decide how you want them organized.  I usually spend time the first week setting up notebooks with my students, modeling under the ELMO (document camera).  Whenever I have students take notes, I model in my own teacher notebook.  While this is time consuming, it's nice to have an accurate model for students who are absent.  Plus it's nice to have to reflect upon lessons to make the necessary tweaks!

Questions to ask yourself:
 
Are you going to have students number pages?  Does each side have its own page number or will both sides of the page have one number?  Will they use both sides of the page?  It's best to have this figured out before you model setting up notebooks with students.

Are you going to have your students keep a table of contents?

How often will they update the table of contents?  Will they do it as part of a lesson closure or during the opening?  I recommend writing the topic in together and acknowledging that the students' page numbers will not all be identical.

Will you have them color code their notebooks? Read more about this idea here. 



4) Model, model, model

I model writing in my notebook whenever I have students copying notes.  I do a lot of T charts where I have my notes (teacher input) on one side and students record their thinking (student input) on the other.  I model writing in the table of contents, I model making sure I'm on the right page, I model making sure I'm in the right notebook.  I then have them check in with their shoulder or face partner and give me a thumbs up to ensure that everyone is where he or she needs to be.

Frustrating and redundant? Absolutely at times, but it's worth taking a few extra moments to make sure everyone is on the same page (literally).

I prepare a lot of my lessons on smart notebook and I don't necessarily want my students copying down every single word I've typed.  To help them learn to decipher the important information, I will highlight the "must have's" that go on the teacher side.  We then discuss the information and I let them "chew" or "talk it out" with their table teams.  I then allow them reflection time to record their thoughts on the right hand side of their notebook (student input side).  From there, we'll come back together and I'll ask for volunteers to share what they put on the right hand side, thus allowing me to do a quick check for understanding and gauge the room.  After 1-2 students have shared, I'll do an informal check for understanding with hand signals (based on the student's response):

Thumbs up: We wrote basically the same things.

Thumbs sideways: We were close but I had a few things different.

Thumbs down: We didn't really have anything similar.

During this time we also talk a lot about how this notebook is their resource.  They might need to write down a lot of information for them to make meaning of concepts and that's okay.  They might need to draw diagrams. That's okay.   I make sure to model different strategies to help them determine how they like to take notes.


5) Procedures 

Before starting notebooks, you'll want to think through procedures and "what if?" situations.

What will you do if students leave their notebooks at home?

I usually have them copy on a blank piece of paper to glue or staple into their notebooks later.


What if a student is absent?  

I have a peer write for them.  Since I use Kagan groupings, there is (ideally) a higher student in each table group.  That student usually writes pretty quickly, so when he or she is done with his/her notebook, I have that student copy for the absent peer.  

Since my students don't all write at the same speed, I usually have them discuss the ideas in a whisper while their classmates are finishing up writing.

What if a student is in the restroom?

I try not to have more than 2 students out at a time, but I'll have them pass their notebooks to a peer to write for them while they're gone.  After a few weeks, students are pretty good at realizing which of their peers can write legibly and quickly for them.  I do have them pass their notebook to a peer at their same group to save time.  (You know, the looking around the room for their best friend, the slow walking to the best friend, the not-so-silent giggles with the best friend, then the same process on the return from the restroom...no one has time for that!  Pass it to a neighbor and go do your thing kiddo!)

The inevitable "what if I run out of room?" question from the students will occur.  I must have answered this on a weekly basis for my fifth graders, but I simply have them turn to the backside or next page and keep going.

6) What goes in the notebook?

You've thought about what type of notebooks you want and how they'll be used in the classroom.  Now comes the fun part...what the heck goes in them.

Well, the content naturally varies by subject matter and age.  Having only taught fifth grade, I can speak about elementary notebooks with much more authority then high school ones.

Reading

For our reading block, we separated into three sections: phonics/word study, whole group (skill/strategy) and small groups (differentiation).  

Phonics: (5-10 minutes a day)
We started the year going over what makes a syllable, going into the six types of syllables, reviewing long and short vowel sounds, reviewing verb tenses, irregular words, and going over the nuances of the English language (when Y becomes I and so forth) before moving into affixes (prefixes and suffixes) and Greek and Latin roots.  At my previous school, almost all of our students were English Language Learners (ELL) and I had an inclusion classroom, so several of my students were special ed.  We couldn't start with fifth grade standards (affixes and roots) because we needed to fill in their knowledge gaps.  So we reviewed K-4 phonics content during the first twelve weeks.  Did my previous administration agree with this choice? No.  Did we have great growth in Aimsweb because the students were getting daily practice on strategies to read multisyllabic words? Yes.  That did get them off our backs. 

For phonics, we introduced the skill on Monday, did a closed sort Tuesday, did an open sort Wednesday, used fill in the blanks on Thursday and did a quick check on Friday.  We read aloud words with the skill both in isolation and in paragraphs daily.  This phonics time was our warm-up.

In their notebooks, they'd record the skill name, the rule(s) and examples/non-examples.   For ELL students, the non-examples are extremely important.  They'd also write down their sorts and do their quick checks.  

Whole Group Reading (30 minutes)

We glued in mentor texts (usually poems), graphic organizers, table of contents, copies of chapters, scanned reader's theater pages, etc.  We wrote over the mentor texts, a lot, taking note of character changes and author's word choice.  Here are some snap shots:

Theme reference chart 

\

New Colossus mentor text 

Example from phonics notebook 

Example of reader's theater script (they were learning the components) 

K/W/L (know, want to know, learned) chart and circle map all about components of literature

 

mentor text with student thoughts underneath  

 what makes a reader (making meaning and internalizing goals for the year)

 Keeping track of characters in our novel The Lightning Thief 

 

Table of contents for The Lightning Thief 

 

Phrasing activity (left) and overview of Greek gods (right)

 

Leaving space underneath a poem to record additional thoughts

mentor text (poem) that can be flipped up to record thoughts

Table of Contents to help students organize their notebooks

Steps for comparing and contrasting settings, so students can refer back during guided practice

 Text and places for them to record their thoughts

Example of an FCRR foldable 

Fluency guides

homework ideas

modeling what should be recorded

Creating T-charts for debates

Annotating their thinking

Graphic organizers (brightly colored so they can easily be found) with places for students to put their own examples

Small group reading: (1 hour)
We glued in fluency rubrics and character charts.  Much of their SG notebooks were dedicated to written responses about their characters.  I'd assign the groups chapters and their homework would be to respond to these questions by our next meeting date.  I had the higher half of the grade level, so they were able to handle this task.  They also did a lot of their must do activities in their notebooks.


Math

For math, this is where they'd copy down the vocabulary and work through problems with me.  I like to print problems on sticky labels for them to work on collaboratively.  We also made foldables for vocabulary.

Note taking guide for students to explain their thinking 

Science

We glued in glossaries for our science notebooks and diagrams, which students labeled and explained.  I made them a graphic organizer for their wonderings so they could eventually create their own science inquiry questions.

 

Making maps of our classroom

Writing

We made a FANBOYS foldable and did some sorts (revising vs. editing) in their notebooks, but these were mostly for their quick writes and drafts.  We used post-its with peer editing and different colored pencils when revising and editing.


Notebooks can be a daunting task but when taken slowly and used daily with students, they are a great place for students to make meaning of their learning.  As a teacher, you are guiding them to create their own reference materials and take charge of their understanding of the topics.  You are providing them with a place to navigate the content and challenge their previously held conceptions.  Yes, notebooks can be a lot of work...but it's worth it.

Any other tips and tricks fellow teachers?  Mrs. A, I hope this helps!

Good luck! 

CRT Data

Confession:

I rarely check my work email over the summer.

I deleted the app from my phone and since I'm not in my new school's system yet, I don't see much of a point to log in daily only to delete spam and teacher coupons (looking at you Lakeshore). 

I saw my (former) principal post on Facebook that not only were CRT (Criterion Referenced Test) scores in, but she was excited about the results.  So naturally I asked to see the fifth grade data because well, I'm a numbers nerd!

I was at my new house painting so I figured I'd check the data in a few hours.  Well, my grade level beat me to the analysis part.  In a matter of minutes, I had six texts from my former grade level sharing their excitement about particular students.  

While I'm sure I'll get official reports with the break down of each class, I couldn't wait.  My insomnia got the best of me and sure enough, I was up at four am crunching numbers and making graphs.  I couldn't be more pleased with my class results and know that I didn't accomplish this feat alone.  It took our entire grade level working tirelessly, together, for ten months to achieve these results.  For those at my school who did not approve of our quasi-departmentalization experiment, I'd like to waive this data in their faces...but I won't...because I am a professional.  

I had the privilege of working alongside some of the most inspirational fellow teachers.  I will miss being able to pop into their rooms and the amazing collaborative mindset we all shared.  For various reasons, we are all starting at new schools and collectively represent third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and special education.

Math

(I didn't teach math besides our intervention block and number talks, so these scores are due in a large part to the amazing effort of my two neighboring teachers.  Well done ladies! I trusted that my students were in very capable hands each and every day.)

I'm a visual person, thus the graph.  Here is my class data for math:

1 student exceeded
22 students met standards
3 students were approaching
6 students were emerging


Science

We shared students for science and I taught the FOSS Landforms kit four times before getting my own class back for CRT prep.  When my homeroom wasn't with me, they were with my fellow teachers learning about environments, mixtures and solutions, force and motion, as well as variables.  We broke our year into four seven week rotations and started switching the third week of school.  We didn't switch right away because we wanted to set up science notebooks and go over the scientific method with our homeroom classes.  

Our rotations ended about two weeks before the science CRTs, so we used that time to incorporate Discovery Ed video streaming into our reviews.  We also practiced taking notes from multimedia presentations, a valuable skill they'll most definitely need in middle school.  However, we did this with the Magic School Bus videos and they did an amazing job.

Here is my class science data:

Numbers wise,
6 students exceeded standards
17 met standards
6 students were approaching standards
3 students were emerging on science standards

I'm quite pleased with my little scientists!


Reading

If you are new to my teaching blog, know this: I love reading.  I love discussing books with my students and watching them fall in love with literary worlds.  I love watching their excitement when they learn more about the world around them from informational text and seeing them become self-motivated to learn more by reading more is simply wonderful.  

I broke my reading data into two groups: my small groups and my whole class.

I had the higher half of the grade level for small groups, so naturally these numbers are expected to be more in the meeting category.  My job for small groups was to push these fluent readers to become more critical thinkers.  

Numbers wise,

23 students exceeded standards
28 students met standards
7 students were approaching
2 students were emerging

I'm quite pleased with my small groups!

For my whole class, which is inclusion, here are my results:

7 students exceeded standards
13 students met standards
4 students were approaching
8 students were emerging (of these 8, all were either students with IEPs or in the RTI process and still made growth over their previous scores)


I'm thrilled with my students' performances.  Did they all meet standards? No.  Did they all make growth? Yes.  

With my data analyzed, I can emotionally bid this past school year adieu.  I did my best.  I taught them strategies and how to think critically.  They learned and proved their knowledge on these tests.  It is time for a much needed, relaxing summer.

New Literacy Stations

With the school year winding down (and testing being over!), my students had some time to collaboratively enjoy reading stations based on the novels they read with me in small groups.

These stations are now available here on my TpT store!

New centers include:

A chronological order sort for The Son of Neptune with an included answer key. 

 Including answer keys was one of the things I revised this year after seeing what a difference it made with my own small groups.  Instead of being interrupted to referee on events, I would simply hand them the answer key when they were done so they could check themselves.  Some groups could handle having the answer key at the beginning of station time, but some needed time to try the center without being tempted to look at the answers right away.  

The second center is for Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter.  

Students will separate out characters and descriptions to fit the appropriate magical camp.  My students loved doing this center and even though they'd read different novels (some read the Lightning Thief while some read the Lost Hero), they could still work on the center together!

Additional centers will be posted over the summer, I just need to move first!

Does it make me a bad teacher if I say no?

My small groups are wrapping up now that our end of the year count down is in single digits.  I'm giving my munchkins the weekend to finish up their novels and having our reflective end of year conversations about how much they've learned.

Today I was asked something I've never been asked before.

One of my girls asked for summer homework.  

I'm not talking about a book list or packet of worksheets.  No, she wanted the rest of the Harry Potter series chunked out into assignments with homework questions, for her summer.  She also wanted me to print her copies of my teacher guides so she could quiz herself.

I think I'm flattered? 

Does it make me a bad teacher if I say no to making her homework questions?

I told her she can email me or talk to me on my teacher facebook about the books and that seemed to pacify her desires.

New Novel Guide

Somehow in all the craziness of the end of the year, which is extra hectic this time, I managed to finish another novel.  My students are halfway through this book and will finish before the end of the school year, so I just wanted to make sure I did as well.

While reading and discussing the novel with my youngsters, I created a teacher guide to go along with Lemony Snicket's second prequel to The Series of Unfortunate Events.  In this novel, the narrator Lemony is challenged with another mysterious case of finding the missing brilliant chemist Cleo Knight.

In true Snicket fashion, the book left me frustrated with a whole new set of unanswered questions.  The third prequel, Shouldn't You Be In School? isn't scheduled for release until October of this year.  Oh Lemony, why do you do this to me?

The 20 page teacher guide is available here on TpT!

Dear Lemony Snicket...

Many of my small groups absolutely love The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. 

 One group is reading the prequels but is quite upset only two of the four have been released. 

 

 I told them this is how I felt growing up waiting for Harry Potter sequels and to deal with it.  (Perhaps not the best teacher response but they need realize not everything in life is handed to them immediately.  Sometimes they have to wait for what they want.)

For one of our must do activities, they were instructed to write a letter to an author, sharing their feelings about the book.

Here are some of the responses to Lemony:

Quite the sassy remark!

I love their passion.

Happy reading!