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WE will be having giveaways ALL YEAR LONG!
Flash Friday Freebie and GIVEAWAY!
BE SURE TO STOP by on
MONDAY ~ August 11th and enter to win!!
Laura Graham from Where the Magic Happens is hosting this AWESOME Giveaway!
Thank you to Laura and stop by her blog today!
ARE you READY??
HERE is a starter list JUST for TEACHERS to help you be prepared for setting up your classroom!
We hope this helps you feel a little more organized for
BACK to SCHOOL!
If you would like a copy of the checklists pictured above - CLICK HERE!
# 1 Must HAVE for Back to School
I am looking forward to setting up my Ultimate Teacher Binder that I got from my friend Joey Udovich ~ Talk about amazing !! This binder has it all - and it really took some pressure off me! I feel like I have everything at my fingertips to stay organized for the upcoming school year! Thank you Joey!
You can check out her binder in her TPT store!
She even has videos posted on HOW to assemble and use the binder so you get the most out of it!
# 2 Must HAVE for Back to School 
Bins for your leveled books in your classroom library. The ones pictured here are from Really Good Stuff or you can check out your local Dollar Store, Dollar Tree, Big Lots or Wal-Mart for baskets that are much less expensive. You can see my book baskets in this picture.
# 3 Must HAVE for Back to School
I use these tall bins in my classroom for various things.. MAINLY they are perfect for my Reader's Workshop. The students store their Independent reading books here and their Reader's Workshop binders. Then when it is time for Readers Workshop I call the group by colors. I coordinate their book bins with the color of their take home BOOK BAGS. (# 4 must have on this list)
# 4 Must HAVE for Back to School
I used these BOOK bags for my students this year to carry home their books for the week.
They were required to keep a Reading log and every Monday they would turn it in.
Grab your copy of the Reading log here. The children gained fluency and improved their comprehension because they read the same 6 books over and over throughout the week. Find out more about this LOG in a future post. (follow us on bloglovin')
READING LOG SAMPLE
Click HERE to grab a copy of this Reading log FOR FREE !
This Lucy Calkins inspired product will be just what you need to decorate your Writing area when setting up your room this year. Included in this product:
You can grab this Writing product in our TPT store!
Don't forget the SALE everything is 28% off so put it on your wish list and check one more thing off your TO DO list!
WE hope you all have a wonderful BACK TO SCHOOL experience. Please leave us a comment and tell your very own MUST HAVE for the beginning of the year. WE would love to hear from you!
Close Reading in the Primary Classroom
We are very excited to be linking up with Laura Graham from
Where the Magic Happens for our "Diggin In" Series Blog Hop!
The beginning of the year often brings anxiety for many teachers no matter how long you have been teaching! In the last few weeks of summer, we can't sleep... or when we do sleep we are dreaming about our classroom.
Our WISH for you this school year is to help you
feel prepared for the new year.
Typically during the STAFF days prior to our little learners arriving, we are bombarded with curriculum training. All we usually are thinking about is... where is my reading area going to be set up, what theme am I decorating my room in this year, and why are the custodians still looking for my furniture ?? OMG - how am I going to set up my entire room in only a few days??
WE are here to help ease your anxiety when it comes to
CLOSE READING!
What is a Close Read?
Last year our district focused on Close Reads as an integral part of our ELA program. In my district, we have been encouraged to do a non-fiction close read once a month. The New York State Education Department has encouraged us to use Close Reads as part of our ELA instruction as a means to dive deeper into the text to gain a richer understanding of its meaning. The complexity of the text is a key component. Students should be reading texts that are difficult for them during the initial read. Vocabulary within the text should be challenging as well. Students need to do multiple readings of the text to uncover a deeper understanding and gain richer meaning from it. Non-fiction close reads have been at the forefront of the training that I have received. This year, I am hoping to gain more knowledge about how to do a Close Read with a fictional story. Once you understand the theory behind the Close Read and the format to do a Close Read, you will feel more
prepared to use them with your students.
prepared to use them with your students.
“Essentially, close reading means reading to uncover
layers of meaning that lead to deep comprehension.” Nancy Boyles,
Educational Leadership January 2013
A Close read is…
Engaging
Has a defined purpose
Sees connections
within text
Provides a reason to learn
Teaches students to
dig deeper
A process to learning more
Close reading.. Is not a change to what you teach
– just
how you teach it.
Close Read with my second grade students!
What is the format for a Close Read?
Our wish for you as you start the new school year is to help ease your anxiety by giving you the tools you need to do a Close Read in your classroom this September. We hope you download our
If you like our Sharks and Whales Close Read, you can check out our Close Read Mega Bundle that has many more Close Reading activities for you to do with your students this year!
Each Close Read activity in the Mega Bundle has 1-2 non-fiction articles about animals, vocabulary development activities, comprehension activity sheets, assessment activities, and writing tasks that are challenging and enriching for 2nd - 3rd grade students. There is also a craft activity to go along with each Close Read. The craft activity kept all my early finishers busy!
There are 7 complete Close Reads in this 170 page bundle. The animals that the kids will learn about in this Mega Unit are: Honeybees and Wasps, Bats, Polar Bears and Panda Bears, Groundhogs and Hedgehogs, Frogs and Toads, The Life Cycle of a Frog, and Sharks and Whales. If you are interested you can check out this Close Read Unit in our store using the link below!
Be sure to check out the other great blogs from our
Diggin In link up!
Diggin In link up!
Writing Instruction ~ Lucy Calkins and the Common CORE
Digging into Next Year
Writing Instruction - Lucy Calkins and the Common Core
Informative / Explanatory Writing
Our school district adopted Lucy Calkins Reading and Writing Workshop about 6 years ago.
I have been teaching for 20 years now - and have seen many different changes in education and curriculum over the years.
Lucy Calkins - if you haven't heard of her - is an amazing educator. When my school district purchased this curriculum. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed and I found that my colleagues were feeling the same way. I like Lucy's writing curriculum, but she tends to be very long winded. So that being said, it has been a challenge to - as we say in my school- BE LUCY.. let alone teach exactly how you know LUCY would teach writing! Over the years I have to say the kids are writing more than they ever have before which is exciting. Here is a link to the Reading and Writing Project website if you would like more information.
SO changing the way I think about and teach writing was a process for me. Lucy truly believes in students living in the classroom as WRITERS. We as teachers are expected to treat our little learners AS WRITERS. I had to go from teaching writing to my students in an organized and structured way- having most of the control.... to allowing my students to "go off and write".
My red pen (or purple marker ) is not being used as much... and I am modeling less for my students - "how to write" or what the final piece of writing should look like. (although I have to admit that I do sneak in some old school modeling lessons when I feel that my students are lost).
As teachers, we are constantly reflecting on our lessons - what worked well, what can I change... so I find that it's the same when teaching writing. I do teach the Lucy Calkins way.. but I still find that I tweak it a little for the sake of my students and meeting their needs.
IT is BEST to JUST DIVE IN and TEACH IT - The Lucy way!
If you don't actually TEACH it, how will you know what works and what doesn't? It's also important to know that the Lucy Calkins books aren't necessarily in a scripted format. They're more narrative, so if you don't try it out, you won't know what feels right and what feels forced. I always review the narrative of her books over the weekend and I tab (using post its or post it tabs)..so I can quickly reference it during the week. I have since given up on trying to BE LUCY and it has taken me about two years to feel comfortable teaching writing this way..
I will update my posts on Writing at a later date - to include more pictures... but I am out of town write now and I forgot to bring the BOOK to snap pictured of what I am referring too.. so that will have to wait until next time..
but STAY tuned.
My Tips for teaching Writer's Workshop ~ Grade 2
Informative Writing ~ Lucy Calkins
1. ALWAYS read the lesson plan well in advance of teaching that unit / lesson. Lucy tends to be very long winded and you could read her book and put it down midway through a lesson. Not because it is a bad read... but more so because it is so detailed. (which for some is a great thing).
2. USE post it tabs to help you mark the KEY teaching points as you are reading.
3. Take bulleted notes for yourself to refer to when you begin teaching.
4. Prepare ANCHOR charts prior to teaching (at least the title and main focus of the chart -outlined)
5. Have a SAMPLE idea in your mind - to share with your students... NOT necessarily model what they should WRITE and HOW it should look... but at least give them something to familiarize them to what in the world you are trying to teach... I have looked into my little learners cute faces and seen that look of "WHERE DO I BEGIN"... so this helps them to at least have an example to recall when they are sent off to go and write on their own.
6. Immerse students in the genre of writing in the weeks leading up to the unit. They will be familiar with the format of Informational Writing and what this will look like in the real world. Then I refer back to the things we read - so they have a point of reference.
7. GIVE kids extended time to WRITE EVERYDAY! It's hard to squeeze everything in .. but Writer's Workshop happens everyday in my classroom. We all know, for kids to become writers they need to write. Your students need to love to write... help to foster that in them by allowing them to write ... and write .. and write... BUT NOT always what you tell them to write - let them write about what they are interested in. This was the hardest part for me when we started using Lucy Calkins. It makes more sense to allow them to write about what they are interested in ~ but I liked correcting Writing papers that were all the same topic. I had to give up control.. it's not about me - it's about teaching our kids to become writers...good writers! IF they don't like the topic they are writing about - then they won't enjoy WRITING.
This was created for my students to use during our unit on Informational Writing.
I taught Gr. 2 this year with many students needing extra support. These pages helped them to focus on what they needed to complete ~ but I allowed them to choose what they wanted to write about.
When we first started this unit... I focused my kids on Animals.. only because they needed that direction and they all love animals. SO they chose what animal they wanted to write about. One of my kiddos just got a ferret as a pet, so she wrote about ferrets. Another girl chose spiders.
(see sample below)
Let me tell you - they took off with this running! They were writing so fast that I was amazed.. and their writing was good.. not great but good! We later focus them on how they could improve their writing - but I let them share each others writing AND go off to decide how to make their own writing better. I didn't have to TELL them what to do, they noticed it when they were working with their classmates.
My kiddos did hand in WRITING about other topics ~ one boy wrote about baseball and one wrote about family. Most kids still chose to write about an animal....because they like animals. :)
My students loved this unit and I was so glad I was able to give them the format and outline needed to help them be successful. They all felt like WRITERS and were so proud of their work.
Let us know if you are teaching Writer's Workshop in your classroom. We would love to hear from you!
STOP back soon- I will be sharing my Narrative Writing unit - Lucy Calkins inspired soon... and I promise to include more TEACHING tips and a FREEBIE from my Writing Posters and so much more product!
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