let the text inspire you

In class we've been talking about what we can do as readers - what ideas we're making.
One girl decided to make her own book (in Google Docs) after one from her Raz-Kids bookshelf  about immigration really resonated with her.
Two others are in their own "book club" - they borrowed the same book from the library and get together to read and discuss, sometimes even at recess.
I shared these simple projects with the class in the hopes that others will find inspiration and act on that.

This is a quote shared by Kathy Collins during our week of PD. Click to download from TpT.

are non-fiction texts still important?

Early last week, I posed the question to the class, “What is a story?” This led to some really interesting discussion and wonderings. After some whole-class talk, one of my girls stopped everyone when she asked, “Are non-fiction books still important since we have the Internet now?” The room was abuzz as they all started talking at once about their opinions, which set up a lovely inquiry for the remainder of the lesson.

Students chose a side and started completing a persuasive writing graphic organizer to get their arguments and reasoning in order. (This had been introduced the week prior, so it was fresh in their minds.)

      

The next day, students were introduced to the persuasive essay format, complete with well-written paragraphs and transition words. Pairs then used their graphic organizer to inform their essays, and these are beautifully written pieces!

         

Our next step will for students to present their arguments to the class or in small groups - we haven't figured that one out yet.

This was such a great way for my kids to practice communicating, reasoning with logic, writing supporting details, and focusing on persuasion. I never mind when my "plans" get derailed by a student comment or question - that's the beauty of inquiry to me!

tuning in to r.j. palacio's wonder

For our new read aloud, the students were already excited about Wonder.

As a tuning in activity, we linked our knowledge of making inferences and identifying character traits. I scanned the first thirty pages or so of the book, and picked out a few strong examples of voice from August Pullman's narrative. I typed these up and the kids started reading, discussing character traits based on the excerpt, and justifying their inferences.

(Big problems uploading photos of student learning, so these are a few of the speech bubbles they read.)

This took about 20 minutes to prepare, and the kids were really excited to read more about August! This was even before I read the dust-cover teaser, too. We've probably read those first thirty pages together now, and my third graders are completely hooked.

visible thinking: zoom in

Today we started a new Visible Thinking routine, Zoom In, that I'm hoping to keep up with in the class.
[Side note, I'm attending a weekend workshop with Ron Ritchhart in November at our school and I'm really looking forward to it!]

I've started with this image of a Story Rollercoaster, which is just another way of representing the plot structure. As you can see, only one small part is revealed:

We started discussing the piece a class, focusing on the first two parts below. As more parts are revealed, we'll move onto the other two parts.

This kids had some really interesting ideas! Everything from it looks like kids are in bathtubs to I see one person of each gender so maybe it's about being fair [one of our dispositions] to I think there are people from all over the world. Of course there were a lot of connections to personal experiences, too.

The best part was the way the kids started building on the ideas they were hearing, which they quickly told me is called piggybacking. Love that they know this term! Also, going from obvious observations to more thoughtful conclusions was eye-opening for a lot of them.

Next week I'll reveal more and we'll continue, but the level of engagement involved with this was so so great! It's the perfect way to start tuning into narrative writing.

'extra yarn' movie posters

I had a spare few minutes on a Language block the other day (few minutes meaning about 25... oops), so I grabbed this great book to read to the class:

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett

It's a great little story about a girl who finds a box of never-ending yarn and is able to knit sweaters for (literally) her whole town. When offered a high price to sell it, she refuses. In the end, there are some great themes to be drawn out, none of which were beyond the clever brains of my kids. They got it straight away and were really into the story.

Afterward we talked about movie posters and the short slogans or catch-phrases that appear to entice you to watch the film. The kids made movie posters to advertise this great book, complete with slogans such as, "Give kindness to receive kindness," and "Money can't buy happiness." They're still working on them otherwise I'd have pictures to show you... but it was such a fun activity and an engaging concept!

main idea mystery bags

This week students brought in "mystery main idea" bags to practice investigating main idea.
While they were, of course, incredibly tempted to play with all the related objects, it was still a great exercise in helping them recognize theme and defend their ideas using evidence.
Here are just a couple that were brought in:

Spaghetti dinner

Picnic

Off to the Beach!

The South Pole

First Aid

procedural writing - giving directions

Here's a very fun, very active activity to help teach students about the importance of using detail and being specific. (Best if there is another adult around to help out!)

First, pair students up (we almost always use The Hat because the kids never want to chose their own partners anymore, which astounds me every time). Two is best, but I have one of those classes where there's always going to be a group of 3.

Have them each choose a destination in the school and a reason, and write it on a piece of paper attached to a clipboard. We used this sentence starter:
We are going to the (ES Field/washroom/canteen) because (we have PE after recess/sometimes you gotta go/we are hungry).

Then, have all of the pairs switch clipboards. Their job is to read the first sentence from the other group, and then write the very first thing that must be done in order to reach that destination by actually doing the step. Most caught on pretty quickly that all of the procedural writing pieces would start with "walking to the classroom door, turning the handle, pushing it open, and going through." (So each pair of kids walked to the door, turned the handle, pushed it open, and went through.)

Then the partners come back in the room and switch clipboards with another group. They complete that last step all over again with the new destination, doing the next step, and writing the directions down. The key is that after they complete a step and write the directions, the partners always have to come back to the class to switch clipboards.

In the end, students were walking all over the school to get to the final destinations (the reason an extra adult is so so so helpful), arguing over how specific each step should be ("Then you walk 87 steps down the hallway." "No, then you walk 94 steps down the hallway!"), and participating in so much collaborative procedural writing! They LOVED this one, and it's one I'll definitely want to do next year.

Afterward, we did a quick reflection about the learning activity itself using my huge, awesome display Venn.

the science of happiness

Last week, I asked my class to engage in an experiment.

I had them think of one person in their lives that is really important.

Then, they thought of the reasons why this person is so important.

They wrote letters to that person (mini-lesson: parts of a letter - score!).

Their homework over the weekend was to read the letter aloud to that person.

Some had to write emails as their letter was for someone in another country; some made phone calls to local family member or friends; some arranged visits with the help of their parents; some even got on Skype to share!

Afterward, I asked them to share what they noticed.

They came back with things like: 

"My dad put the letter on the fridge! He loved it!" 

"My mom put it up where she works in our house, like in her home office. Now when I see it there I always feel happy."

"It made me feel really, um, good!"

This was not my experiment:

I showed the kids this video afterward.

They stayed an extra ten minutes after the end of the school day talking about how the letters made them feel, what they noticed about the video, and how happiness is so important.

Grade three!

Yes, there are a couple of choice words in the video, so it's something to be mindful of.

(Of course, you can always skip that part if you're on the ball - it's not crucial.)

When the kids looked at each other with surprise and started talking about those words, I was able to simply and calmly ask, "Is that what's important in the video?"

It was a clear no and I didn't hear another word about it.

I really loved the rich discussion that came out of this experiment and I feel it's a great exercise for all of us!

PS - Anyone read "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin?

Sparking Student Motivation - Mini Munsch Awards

I completely forgot to post about this idea that totally saved a near end-of-year lesson meltdown.

We were studying Robert Munsch.
I love his stories, the kids love it's stories, he's great. 
The class listened, enraptured, as I read "They Share Everything."
They laughed. They cheered. They chorused the lines.
As soon as I closed the book, though, they were goners.
Even the ones I can always count on.
Goners.
Hopeful, I explained the writing activity - an easy one.
Some groaned. Some whined. Some harrumphed. 
And then they groaned and whined and harrumphed altogether.
It was a collective mess.
No one wanted to write.
I explained the activity again, this time with a smile and what felt like a pathetic little "he he..."
I'm sure I heard crickets.
One or two half-heartedly picked up their pencils.
I knew I was losing them.
And then I thought I might lose my cool...
But in the last instant, I blurted, "You know, I have a special reward for the awesome writers today. The awesome writers today get to be my Mini Munsches!"
I hardly knew what I was saying...
Eyebrows raised. Shoulders straightened. Ears bent.
I told them I was going to use my time while they were writing to make some special awards.
So while I got busy, they lifted their pencils and they wrote.
Oh, they wrote! They wrote amazing things! 
It was some of the best writing I've seen all year from some.
Here's what my awesome writers took home: 

Phew.

Crisis averted.

Check out Head Over Heels for Teaching for more motivational ideas:

 

The Writing Process for Older Grades

Now that we've almost reached the end of the year, it's writing task time again.
With school still in for another month, I hear you asking...
Why the hurry?
That's because instead of counting down to the official last day like most other people in the world, the parents here have already started asking, "So, when can Jimmy stop coming to school?"
We probably won't see many kids past the last day in May.
So we've gotta get our writing done!

I decided to make a set of Writing Process posters with details on each step so students can be self-sufficient working through it.
I call it The Writing Process for Junior/Intermediate Grades.
These will be great, especially since I'm moving up to grade three next year.
{I'm so excited for the change!}
And I've finally made something that Jeff can use in his class, as he's moving down to grade six in our new school!
Plus, I got some super cute new clip art from Jessica Wieble that had to be put it to use straight away :)

Click the pictures below to take you to my TpT and have a browse.
{There's a cursive font set and a regular manuscript set.}

Happy writing!

- Amanda

Poetry for Earth Day idea

A big, big thanks to the ladies that commented for the Birthdays Around the World Pack! I was so happy to send this to all three of you and I hope you enjoy!

Last week I downloaded a great little freebie from TpT:

It includes a sweet little poem about our Earth and all the simple beauty it has to offer.
BUT, I did not simply copy the poem and have my kids illustrate the sentences.
That's because we have been working on writing Genius Sentences lately.

So naturally, we used our knowledge and our creativity to expand on the ideas in the poem.
Their job was to take the idea and change it.
Make it fantastically descriptive.
Make it wonderfully thoughtful.
Make it the most amazing poem I've ever read!

They turned out pretty cute.
Just an idea for you.
Happy hump day from Kuwait!
{Is it June yet?}
- Amanda

My class on Piano Guys...

Totally engaged.
'Nuff said.
Look em up on YouTube!

The Mystery Kitchen... Is it yours?!

For spelling homework, students are sometimes asked to complete one of these Tic-Tac-Toe activities.
 
Fun, right?
I thought so, so I shared it on my blog awhile ago.
Other teachers have thought it a fun activity, too - yay! - and downloaded it.
How do I know?
Well, one of the squares asks students to send me an email with a typed list of their words.
So, naturally, I included my school email address.
{Which has the word "Kuwait" in it.}
But I forgot to delete it before I uploaded.
Since January, I've gotten about two emails a week from students in I-don't-know-where in the world, listing their spelling words.
I thought this was a funny oversight on my part.
But today, that oversight got even funnier when I received an email with this picture attached:

Now the mystery remains: Whose kitchen is this?!?!
It's funny to me that parents do not second guess as they are typing the email address - "Hmm...Kuwait? That's strange. Oh, well. Send."
- Amanda   

Making Predictions

Ahhh, weekends... they're so wonderful. 
As much as I love them, Jeff and I still decided to go into school today. Ruxin face. (Side note: Anyone else watch The League? 

It's grimy - very, very grimy {i.e. offensive, boundary-pushing, adult humour} - but it's also hilarious.)
Anyway, I feel ready for the week, so that's great news.

In the last few weeks we have been focusing more on making predictions. It's one of those skills that I feel should be so super easy peasy, but it's surprised me more than once how tough it can be for some wee ones to wrap their heads around. 

I like to do a lot of I Do-We Do-You Do activities in my lessons, because, well, it's just an awesome philosophy... so I showed this simple graphic organizer on our Smart Board, modeled thinking about a book I grabbed randomly from our tiny class library, and the rest is history. Actually, it's more of an ongoing skill, so not really history at all, but you know how it goes. Feel free to grab the Making Predictions recording sheet by clicking below.

- Amanda

Reading!

I like reading. I used to like it more. Or maybe it's just that I used to have more time for it. This school year, it has been a ginormous struggle for me to actually sit down with a book and read. I'm a busy lady, what can I say? 
But then, I thought, "How can I encourage and expect my grade 2s to read when I barely make time for it myself?" And then I felt majorly ashamed. 
Enter: reading program the second. We call it "Rad Readers" - alike in name, yes, to our "Awesome Readers", because hey, there can't be a shortage of adjectives meaning wonderful, amazing, captivating or super-duper important before that word "reading". So now, I have one of these fancy new things hanging out in our classroom with my name on it!

It works like this: I read a chapter, I get a bead. And, uh, of course, you know, the kids read a book, the kids get a bead.  (I literally JUST introduced this to my students this morning, hence the lack of beads.) So far, I have two. Go me! I'm reading Lonesome Dove, and am actually loving it. It's so far removed from my real life (it's very cattle country in the southern US) and I just love the characters.

Speaking of cowboy books, I've also read and really liked it, too! If you think you might have a penchant for gritty vengeance, cowboy hoopla, or old country hardships, give it a shot. (Even if you don't, maybe you do but just don't realize - which is how it seems to have gone down for me. I guess it's the farm girl still trapped inside me, even after ....oh, 15 years off of the farm!) 

Here's hoping my kids love this little bit of encouragement as much as I do so far! On a similar note, our Awesome Reader program is going swimmingly! I'm so loving how excited the readers get each day. I made a schedule and sent it home to parents with the fluency rubric to, you know, keep all parties involved. Good times!
Happy reading, all!
- Amanda

Digraph craft for "wh"

It was a super short week for us - we had three days off for Kuwait National Day and Liberation Day and the break was nothing short of amazing. Don't get me wrong, I love my class and yeah, Kuwait can be a tad boring, but nothing beats sleeping in and lazing around! Also, because we only had two days of school this week, many {and I mean many!} students did not show up at all - so it was pretty lax. Which means that lesson plans were shuffled right on over to next week. 

So next week we will finally get to making these super cute WHales to celebrate our spelling focus, the wh digraph. I can't take credit for this, though, as I found the idea at this super awesome site, Krokotak. 

I only made up a quick pattern, which you can grab right HERE.

Character with Henkes

Hello hello,
Just a quick share tonight. I've adapted this lesson I found on Read Works to continue discussing Characters as we explore the story elements next week. We will be referring to this poster, 

charting the personalities of Lilly and Mr. Singer, then writing about why we like or dislike a chosen character. It's definitely a simplified version, but I teach ESL and only have 80 minutes for Language Arts everyday. Feel free to grab the two pages in my TpT here.
- Amanda

Awesome Adjectives

We are working on descriptive writing in Grade Two right now. We've spent several lessons learning about adjectives. For ESL students with limited vocabulary, this is a ... difficult ... concept. Well, maybe not difficult as a concept, per se, but more difficult in the sense of I-just-don't-know-the-English-word-for {insert adjective in Arabic here}. At any rate, while I was in London I had my students complete a creative worksheet with my so-wonderful EA that I think really helped them.

Has anyone ever heard of Scholastic Grammar Tales?

I was lucky enough to find this set in our library so I nabbed it! It's a set of storybooks that teach grammar skills, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs... So the class read "The Bug Book (Adjectives)" to start thinking about what bugs might look like, feel like, be like, etc. I made a fancy sample {I'm clearly not an artist!} of the worksheet to be completed to help them out with some ideas.

Click below if you'd like the blank template for your own class!

Finally, I got a wonderful surprise from my wonderful husband yesterday:

Love him!

- Amanda

Building reading fluency

The other day a parent said to me, "You know, I'm really trying to help him read more like a person, more normal." I told him that I'd actually heard a lot of fluency improvement specifically in his child's reading, so a good job was being done! I added that fluency and expression are difficult things to "teach" - it seems to me to be more about modeling. Of course, teaching a largely ESL class, many of my kids are like little robot-readers because they don't have the natural language flow yet. So I thought on it. And thought it. Then thought some more. Finally I remembered a blog post I'd read - a looooong time ago! Funny the things our brains hang on to...

Starting this quarter I'm going to be implementing a program called "Awesome Reader" into our daily learning! Students will basically be practicing at home {with the help of their families} to read a book {A-Z readers I give based on their level or a parent/teacher-approved/familiar-to-the-student book} to read aloud in front of their classmates. Special cheering and lots of encouragement will make this work, and I know it will be a  big hit with the right enthusiasm and modeling. It's a great way to get some oral communication assessment in, too.

Big thanks to Second Grade Sparkle for this great idea. You can find her "starter pack" here if you think this idea might be great in your class, too.

Happy reading!

- Amanda

All Kinds of Nouns

I have a class of keeners. {Mostly... This one still gives me trouble but we're - I'm? - really working on it.} On Thursdays I have conversations like this:
Young'un: "I'm so sad, Miss. I can tell you why?" 
Me: "Yes, please! Why are you sad?" 
Young'un: "Because it is a weekend now."

How sweet, right? Love it. Even better are my Sundays, when I have conversations like this:
Young'un: "I'm so happy, Miss! I can tell you why?"
Me: "Yes, please! Why are you happy?"
Young'un: "Because now it is school! I missed the school so-so-so-so much!"

And I'm not exaggerating. Maybe it's because I had one of those classes last year, or maybe because I've changed a lot of my teaching style this year, or maybe it's all the Whole Brain fun we're having - whatever it is, it's working! This year I feel more calm, more organized and I'm getting much better results academically with my students. Hamdullah!

This week we did some review on nouns. When I raised a blank flippy book to show the class the activity for it, I basically had to fight down the cheers - they were SO excited! In the end, they look like this: 

   

Why exactly that is exciting I'll never know, but I'm glad it's a lesson that works! One to keep in the plans.

The next day, we talked more about proper nouns. We started by looking at these "caps" on the Language board and discussing types of words that are proper nouns {with lots of example-giving}. 

Caps for capital letters - ha! Not an original idea but I do love a good pun. After giving each student 4 colour-coded Post-Its, they wrote their own examples and we posted them for display.

I know, I know, no blue Post-Its. It's a problem for me, too. The most annoying thing about those pink ones is that I KNOW I have blue notes somewhere in my room. Could I find them for this lesson? Not for the life of me. Was that super frustrating for me? You bet. I have a little classroom Type A in me at times... I'm learning to let go :) If you're interested in making the hats {which we also used for sentence writing - a cap for the capital letter and a ball for the period/full stop}, you can find the file here on TpT and here on TN. Or simply click the pictures to find it in Google Docs.

And now to continue my report-comment-writing, best-cookie-ever-baking, American-Horror-Story-watching, anchor-chart-making weekend! {My co-workers will be pleased I have added in two, yes TWO!, activities that involve relaxing and not thinking of my class.}

Happy weekend to you!

- Amanda