Roll and Retell - Building Summarizing, Communication, and Writing Skills

Our principal has really been encouraging us to add more writing into our daily lesson plans.  "They should be writing all day long" he tells us.  The research is there to back him up.

I bumped into this Roll and Retell  page from Fun In First on Pinterest awhile back and finally figured out how to add it to our learning day.

I printed and laminated four copies of the Roll and Retell page to hand out to each of my four table groups.

After a round of Daily 5 I handed them out. I also gave each table one die.  Each student at the table took turns rolling the die and then answering the question based on the number they rolled.  They each used the individual book they were reading to answer the questions.  I felt like it would be a great advertisement for new books for each child to read when they were done with the one they were working on.  I also knew it would be great oral practice BEFORE they started writing.

Once they had a chance to talk about what they were going to write, I set the timer for 5 minutes and let them write.  Then we shared our responses.

Here are a few of their responses.

I had so much success with this activity with my students, that I created versions that cover the standards for 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades.

There are 6 different Roll and Respond Sheets that cover all of the Second Grade ELA Common Core Standards for both literary and informational text.

There are 5 different Roll and Respond Sheets that cover all of the Third Grade ELA Common Core Standards for both literary and informational text.

There are 7 different Roll and Respond Sheets that cover all of the Fourth Grade ELA Common Core Standards for both literary and informational text.

Before you go, head on over to our giveaway page to enter our current giveaway!  Every week one lucky winner gets a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card!

Dr. Susan Hall, literacy leader and founder of 95 Percent Group, mentions this Roll and Retell Activity as a Reading Comprehension Game that Students Will Want to Play Over and Over!  Check it out for the other ideas there as well!


What have you tried in your classroom lately?  Link up with Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday and share!

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Manic Monday Freebie!

Manic certainly describes today in the Malloy household for sure!  I woke up this morning like any other ordinary Monday, took hubby to work and was working on getting the 8 year old ready when my 13 year old came up to me crying, "Mom, I really need to go to the doctor!"  He had been complaining about his ear hurting yesterday, but he said it was worse this morning.  So... I rushed to my computer to dash off some sub plans and request a sub. I went to the school to drop off said plans and other son and began to make copies. Of course the copier in my wing was down so I had to rush to the other hallway! AGG!  I really hate having to get ready for a sub and I keep cursing myself for not making emergency sub plans, but I never seem to get around to making them.  Anyway.. finally left there and took my son to the doctor where it was confirmed that he has an ear infection and tonsillitis.  Well, at least I had the time off to complete a new freebie for you!

You can download it on Teachers pay Teachers here or Teacher's Notebook here.

Hoping your day was less manic than mine!

A Peek Into My Week - Mar 17 - Mar 21

Next week is going to be short but crazy!  We ended our third quarter on Friday, so we will be having Parent Teacher conferences on Wednesday and Thursday - that means half day craziness.  Friday I will have a sub because my hubby is having a procedure to reduce his migraines.  He has tried everything from physical therapy to meds to botox - with no relief!  We are really hoping this works!  With 6 boys to keep after - migraines are just not a part of the plan!

I am linking up with Mrs Laffin's Laughings to share a few things we have planned for next week:

Reading/Science

Animal Presentations

The students have been hard at work putting together their animal research reports and boards.  We will present them this week.

We used this Animal Research Project from forkin4th.

Conferences

When I hold conferences, I try to have the student run the conference if possible.  I have them complete the sheets below which I found from Lesson Plan SOS.  This really helps them guide what they tell their parents and I have found the students to be VERY honest.  Their reflections usually match their grades closely, and light bulbs seem to go off in many of their heads about their work habits.

They are often tougher on themselves then I would be, but that is often a great teaching point in itself!



 I also ask them to write a short note to their parents telling them one thing that they are proud of this quarter and one thing that they are still working on.  It works great for the conference and is also as a mini-assessment.

I also found these forms from Ms. York's class that I think I might use this year.

Do you have your students write self-reflections for conferences?  Do you have any other tips for having successful conferences?

Math

Due to the short week, we will be reviewing fractions - St. Patrick's Day style!

Wacky St. Patrick's Day Fraction Fun

and

This one is a FREEBIE!

5 For Friday - March 14

Another week down - and this marks the last day of our 3rd quarter - this year is flying by!  Time to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five For Friday for a look back at our week.

This week started out with baseball tryouts for Tyler.  This year he has moved up a division in Little League and will be on the Juniors (a step above Majors).  If you've read my blog for any amount of time, you know that Tyler LIVES for baseball.  Luke will be playing this year too, but he is on Farm, so he didn't need to try out yet.

We celebrated reading week this week and every day had 30 minutes of Stop, Drop, and Read.  The weird thing about it was that my kids normally do Daily 5 and have incredible stamina - a sub once commented that they read non-stop for 50 minutes. So, you would think they could handle this. No... They groaned every single time the announcement came over the loud speaker and I had to bribe them with extra recess just to get them to read the whole time.  GRRR!! Amazing what semantics can do.  Nevertheless, some of them did enjoy their books.

We have been working on Close Reading and Response to text this week.  We independently read an article about the dangers of soda.

Then we worked in groups to carefully read and discuss the article.  One group noted that companies paid schools to sell soda.  They labeled it "bribery" - I was impressed with their astuteness! 

I have been working at Cody's school directing the Drama Club.  While we were there he decided to tape Luke to a chair.  Ahh .. the perils of being a younger brother!  Luke was laughing the whole time, so I couldn't really be mad.  I just did what any other mother would do and snapped a pic - blog fodder right? Don't judge!

And finally, I have a little St. Patrick's freebie for you! I am linking up with Teaching Blog Addict for Freebie Friday!

These task cards are perfect for reviewing for state tests, or just general instruction.  You can get them from my TpT store here.  While you are there, don't forget to like my store so you can be notified of new freebies and updates.  Also, you will be qualified to win a $25 TpT gift certificate in my monthly giveaway!  I will be picking March's winner soon!

Have a great weekend!