100 Minutes Book Study Chapter 7 - The Foundation of Independence

Time to continue with our  book study of 100 Minutes by Lisa Donohue. If you missed my previous posts you can find them below:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6

Today I am linking up with Brenda from Primary Inspired for Chapter 7.

 This chapter is another one where I have written and highlighted all over the pages!

My thoughts on Chapter 7:

Donohue states, "The key to successful small-group instruction is independence and it begins in the first few days of school." In order for you to work with a small group of students, the other students need to be doing something productive.  In this system that is called AWARD time.  The thing that separates this from others systems such as the ones used in Daily 5 is "the intentionality with which students' independent work is connected to the learning that is happening during other times during the literacy block."  I love this because I often felt that the accountability piece was missing in Daily 5.  I have had many students who can look quietly engaged in reading or writing, yet never do a lick of work.

In this system, students go from a guided reading situation, to working on a written reading response.  The next day they work on independently reading and then independently practicing the skill from the day before. Likewise, in writing, they would go from independent writing to a conference on one day to independent writing and then a peer sharing the next.

The thing I am most excited to try this upcoming school year is to add this intentional piece.  Having students be more accountable will be a key part of this.  I love the gradual release of responsibility that is shown.  I also really like having the peer mentor piece of writing added to it.  I  used peer mentors this year and it worked really well. I like the idea of students meeting with myself or their mentor each day.

I want to think more about what my students will be responsible for in the way of both reading responses and writing.

Next up- Chapter 8: Small Group Learning

Be sure to visit our co-host Emily from Emmy Mac's Class on June 21st to continue this learning journey with us. 

Two for Tuesday - Sale

I am loving Tuesdays this summer thanks to the Teaching Tribune and Two for Tuesday! I have been able to grab some great bargains on items from Teachers Pay Teachers and find some great new sellers to follow!  Everyone who is linking up has two items priced at 50% off today only.

The items I have discounted today will have your students becoming very persuasive!

 The first item is A Lesson in Persuasive Writing. Included in this unit are:

• Common core standard addressed• Grading rubric• Lesson plans• Vocabulary Cards• Prewriting graphic organizers • Letter writing graphic organizers
Suggested books are also included.
Aligned to Common Core Standards. 


 The second item involves both persuasion and research as your students try to persuade you to get a class pet.  They will also try to convince you what type of pet to get as well. Can we get a Class Pet includes:
• Common core standards addressed
• Student “I Can Statements”
• Grading rubric
• Lesson plans
• Vocabulary Cards
• Prewriting graphic organizers 
• Letter writing graphic organizers
• Research graphic organizers
• Math activities (budget and graphing)

Report Final Pages include:

• Table of contents page
• Pet physical description page
• Pet’s Habitat page
• What they eat page
• How to care for the pet
• Interesting facts page
• Customizable pages
• Bibliography page
• Glossary page
• editing/writing checklist

Suggested book, internet, and grant resources are also included.

100 Minutes Book Study Chapter 6 - Exploring Different Purposes and Audiences

Still plugging away, reading, thinking, planning, etc. with the book 100 Minutes by Lisa Donohue and loving it!  If you missed my previous posts you can find them below:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

Today I am linking up with Erin from A Piece of the Apple for Chapter 6.




 Of all the chapters, this one has to be the one that I have written and highlighted the most in as I came up with a ton of new ideas for next year.  Along with a few A-ha's and why didn't I think of that? moments of course!

My thoughts on Chapter 6:

The author opens the chapter with the importance of frequent writing for students to learn to become better writers. She talks about all the varieties of writing we do such as writing letters to friends, sharing recipes, emails, etc. Students need to the opportunity to write in a variety of ways in order to be able to write for a variety of purposes and audiences.

One suggestion the author used was to use writing prompts including what she described as an artifact box.  An artifact box is filled with tangible items that students might gain inspiration to write from.

Throughout the chapter she discusses different varieties of writing and possible ways to prompt and teach students how to respond to them.  I love that she also gives possible success criteria for each style of writing as I know on my team at school, that was one of the most difficult thing for us to come up with on our own.  Writing seems so subjective, that it is often difficult to find success criteria that everyone agrees on.  Her success criterias will be a good starting point.

Our district has adopted a pacing guide and units that we as teachers all follow throughout the year.  My biggest challenge with this is that we introduce something, and then only go back to it if we have time.  Where does that leave my struggling writers who need additional practice?  I will of course follow our pacing guide, but, I am going to build in additional time to allow students to practice each form of writing each quarter.  I can't wait to see the progression of a narrative from the beginning of the year until the end. I am excited to see how they develop as researchers and writers of expository text from August until May.

I will also be setting up a few index card boxes with writing prompts for students to explore during their independent writing time.

I want to think more about using graphic organizers more effectively.  Lisa Donohue has shared a few in the book and I want to explore them more.  We have used the Write From The Beginning program at our school, and it seems like my students do not want to write anymore by the time they are finished with their graphic organizers.  It seems like we overburden them with all of the "stations' of writing.  Do all pieces really have to go from brainstorm, to revision, to editing to final copy?  Can't some stories be rough drafted quickly because the student can't wait to write it down and then edited and published? Can some stories die at the brainstorm stage because the writer really can't think of much to add?

Next up- Chapter 7: The Foundation of Independence

Be sure to visit our co-host Brenda from Primary Inspired on June 17th to continue this learning journey with us. 

Worksheet Wednesday

Today I am linking up with a free worksheet for The Teaching Tribune's Worksheet Wednesday!

Who doesn't love a little School House Rock?

My students had so much fun learning about subjects and predicates with Mr. Morton.  

I made this free worksheet to go along with the video.

You can find some more freebies at my store here.

And.. don't forget to hit the linky at The Teaching Tribune to find some more amazing freebies from amazing bloggers!

Also, if you haven't entered already, head over here for a chance to win a $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Certificate!

Two for Tuesday

I am participating in The Teaching Tribune's Summer Blogging Event for Two for Tuesday!  What that means is I have discounted two of my top selling products at 50% off for one day only, Tuesday, June 10th (and since I am a little late to the party due to kids' doctors appointments, the items will remain on sale until 4:00 PM June 11th to give you a full 24 hours to save!

The products on sale are my Kicking it Math Multiplication and Addition Units.

You can read the full post about how I implement this in my class here.

 

Happy students wearing the "belts" they have won!

 

 

Yes, belts, as in karate belts.  The program involves a karate theme and the students pass levels to earn different belts.  They LOVE this!

 

 

We start by practicing our math facts orally.  Each student has their own key ring with "belts" that have the math facts on them - problems only on one side and problems and answers on the other.  One student says all of the problems and answers while the other student coaches, then they switch.  This takes about 2-3 minutes.

 



 

Here is a close-up of the cards.

 

 

Then we complete a 1 minute timed test.  The students have folders with their current level in a sheet protector.  They answer using a dry erase marker.  I only make copies at the beginning of the year!  Yeah!

 

If they finish before the time is up, they raise their folder above their head, I collect them, grade them, and change the sheet out if they are all correct.

 

 

 

 

Their name is also changed on our level board.

 

 

 

  

100 Minutes Book Study Chapter 5 - Writing Around The Literacy Block

Today is another installment of our book study on 100 Minutes, Making Every Minute Count in the Literacy Block by Lisa Donohue.

If you missed my previous posts you can find them below:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Today I am linking up with Melissa from Dilly Dabbles who is hosting today's chapter.

My thoughts on Chapter 5:

Summer time is the perfect time to work on a book study like this.  It gives me a chance to reflect on all of the areas that went well in my classroom, as well as an opportunity to brainstorm ways to improve things that did not go over quite as well.  As I read through this book I have several a-ha moments about both.  Many of the practices that went well (independent reading for most of my students was very strong) are ones that the author advocates using.  I have found a wealth of ideas for areas that I would like to improve such as writing and adding more time for social studies and science.

Chapter 5 details how to carve out a block of time in your literacy block for direct instruction of writing. Donohue states that you can use this time to model new forms of writing, explore mentor texts, determine success criteria, topic selection, mini-lessons on grammar, and much more. I know I hit some of those things last year, but I would like to go deeper with that.

Research states that teachers need to model thinking and composing strategies when teaching writing.  - THIS is what I need to be doing more of.  I occasionally modeled writing (and got much stronger written papers from my students) but I need to do this all of the time.

Donohue also offers some great questions to ask students as you explore mentor texts as writers.  Many of these questions such as "How does the author use descriptive writing and clear evidence to support his/her work?' align with the Common Core and will really stretch my students.

As I read more and more, I am beginning to give myself permission to do less.  Many of the comments on my previous post involve teachers saying they do not have enough time in the literacy block.  I have felt that way myself and we have 120 minute blocks of time set aside just for literacy - and yet it is never enough.  I think that limiting myself to the 100 minutes (and freeing up additional time for social studies and science - which will also have elements of literacy in them) and making that time more purposeful will be better than 120 minutes of just good enough instruction.  Do I really need to spend 20-30 minutes on word sorts when students don't transfer those spelling skills to their writing? Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels this way!

I will definitely be modeling writing in my classroom more.  Students need to know what my expectations are otherwise they will hand in superficial responses and ask "How many sentences do we need to write?"

We already use Marzano strategies at our school, so I love the idea of having students help generate the success criteria.

What mentor texts will I use and why?  What technique do I want them to notice and use?
How will I plan lessons that fit into our instructional units but also allow time to address student needs?

Next up- Chapter 6: Exploring Different purposes and Audiences

Be sure to visit Erin from A Piece of the Apple on June 13th  to continue this learning journey with us. She will be hosting chapter 6.

Minute to Win It

I know many of us are out of school and enjoying our summer vacations, but for those of you who are still in, I thought I would share a fun freebie for you from Tonya's Treats for Teachers that we used the last few days of school.  Even if you are out of school, you can file this idea for next year because it is so easy!

Last year we played some Minute to Win It games as well, but I spent hours searching for them on-line and this year was just too stressful and busy to do that again.  I was relieved when I found out that Tonya had done all of the work for me (and for FREE!).  Woo hoo!

The directions were so easy I was even able to leave it for a sub when I unexpectedly had to take Cody to the doctor for his broken arm check up.

Here are a few of the games in action in our class:

So much fun!

You can download this freebie below:

Minute to Win It