Making Connections Lesson Freebie

As I'm in a new position now, I don't have my own classroom anymore. However, I still like to be in classrooms as much as possible, so I was very grateful to have the opportunity to try out a lesson in some second grade classrooms a few weeks ago. It was a great success, so I wanted to share it in case anyone out there could use it.

This is a modified version of the Connect lesson found in How to Teach Thinking Skills Within the Common Core.

Teaching kids to make connections can be complex. The purpose of the lesson was to help children make connections between the texts they'd read during the week and the weekly essential question. I started off by bringing in a beach bag with several related items inside such as a towel, sunscreen, goggles, and arm floats. Grouping students, I had them partner talk about each item as I revealed it. We took turns sharing what the partners said to one another. At the end of the activity, I had students look at all of the items and try to decide how they are connected to one another. The students jotted down their thoughts on the back of the graphic organizer I provided. 

This was the perfect segue into talking about what it actually means to make a connection. I provided this graphic as an explanation. We discussed how when we make connections we JOIN ideas together:

Next, we started to use the front side of the graphic organizer. 

I used an ActivInspire flipchart that I made to guide the lesson, but I've converted it to a PowerPoint to include in this freebie (because of image terms of use). I had students jot down what they knew about the essential question (which was about the environment). We took one text at a time and talked about ways that it fit with the essential question, jotting down our notes in the square sections of the graphic organizer. Finally, the students observed the similarities between the texts and the question and jotted a statement about how they were all connected. 

I had done a lesson very similar to this in upper grades previously and was curious as to how it would work with second grade. It went very well! The students understood the JOIN acronym and had no trouble connecting their texts. 

If you'd like the materials and the lesson plan I used, you can grab them for free here in my TPT store. If you use them, please drop me a comment and let me know how it worked for you!

Classroom Reveal Part 2: Library Organization

Part two of my classroom reveal is all about the library. I happen to be a little obsessive about children's literature, and have amassed a pretty large collection of books. I had a pretty good system in place for organizing them, but was getting a little tired of all the multi-colored baskets, so I decided to streamline everything. Here's a peek:

I swapped out my colored baskets for white. I think this gives it a clean look.

I kept my books organized by genre, authors, etc... but I wanted the look to be color-coded but easier on the eyes. I decided to use a small space on my new basket labels for the color codes. From left to right, this is a close up:

I always get the question from other teachers or parents, "How do the students know where to put the books back?" My answer to that is coordinating book labels. I make matching stick-on labels that I print on Avery shipping labels. I had a super parent volunteer come to school and place the matching stickers on every single book in my room.

Finally, I went through a few ideas for attaching my labels to my baskets. I started with book rings, but didn't like how they looked and how they labels swung around. I decided to use plastic cable ties that I found at Big Lots for less than $1. Since my baskets are white they blend in pretty well.

If you're interested in my basket/book labels, you can find them in my stores on TPT and TN. They come with pre-made labels as well as a fully editable file of each color so you can add your own labels if you'd like. 

I'm so excited to have this section of my room finished, and love the way it turned out!

Classroom Reveal Part 1: Focus Wall

I've been working like crazy in my room, just like many of you out there in blog land, and finally think I'm almost done. Isn't fixing up the room so much fun? I just love organizing and decorating in preparation for the kiddos!

When you first walk in and turn left, you'll see my closet small group area. A few years ago I covered the closet doors with black sheets and added a cute polka dot border. This year I've added clothes pins (hot glue is my best friend) so I can easily change out the weekly skill/strategy posters.

My table is at the bottom of the picture.

Here's a close up view. See my clothes pins? (I spray painted them black).

Now, it is admission time. I love having my focus wall visible because I can refer to it often and it's a great reminder for the kiddos. However, I inherited a storage system for our previous series focus wall materials that just didn't work for me. All of the items for the week were put in manila envelopes, but the vocabulary cards were in a box, and I had to write the spelling words each week. Needless to say, I didn't keep up very well with this every week. Since we're starting a new program and a great friend of mine pre-made all of the focus wall materials for my grade level for the whole year I decided it was time for a new system:

Our new program didn't provide storage boxes or crates for our leveled readers, so I decided to put them in the pink, green, and blue crates. They're in that particular order for a reason. You see the ties on the curtains above? Those colors correspond, so I'll always know that pink holds units 1-2 materials, green holds units 3-4, and blue holds units 5-6. Here's a look inside the pink crate:

I love these crates because even though we have 4 sets of leveled readers for each week, I can easily fit two units worth of readers in them, plus all of my focus wall materials. The focus wall binder also serves as a divider between the two units. You can't tell from the picture, but there are also file folder dividers between each week's set of leveled readers. Here's a closer look at what's in the binder:

Let me say up front that I did not create these awesome resources so I can't share them, but my friend who created them will probably either place them on her website or maybe in her store. (She's still trying to decide if she wants to go the store route). I basically printed all of the materials, including spelling and vocabulary words and placed them in plastic sleeves in my binder. Each binder can hold 2 units worth of materials. When it is time to change out my focus wall, I'll take the full page resources out (sleeve and all) and clothes pin them to the wall. 

It did take some time to get all of this printed and put away, but I know that it will keep me efficient in the long run, and it is a system that will help me keep my focus wall up to date. How about you? Have you tried something like this before? Or do you have a different system that works for you? I'd love to hear your ideas. 

Camellia Net: Alabama's Digital Library

Alabama readers, check this out! If you're looking for e-books Camellia Net is the place to go. Camellia Net (Get it?...our state flower) is Alabama's Digital Library which connects libraries all across the state. All you need is a library card to sign up and you can borrow books. I first heard about this service from a friend at a Christmas party last year, but didn't look at it right away. I then got busy and forgot about it until yesterday. My sister reminded me and even went through the site with me, so I decided to give it a try on my Kindle Fire HD. Here's what I found:

Go to the site, and choose your library. To sign in, type in your library card number.I had to do a little treasure hunting to actually find my card!

Search in the search box, or browse by genre.

You're allowed to borrow five books at a time. Each title has an icon in the upper right corner. If the icon is darkened, it is available for check out. If it is gray, you can place it on hold and an email will be sent to you when it is available. 

Tap the book you'd like to borrow and tap "Borrow." 

You'll be given two options: Download or Read in Browser. I chose to download my book and was sent to the Amazon store where I had to choose which device to have the book delivered to. You can also see in the bottom corner that it shows I have two books checked out. After you've finished reading, you can just return the book.

If you're like me, you've probably heard of this before and maybe got a little side-tracked and forgot about this awesome service. Well, here's your reminder! Go log in now before you forget :)

If you're still reading and from another state, congratulations!!! I didn't want to leave you out, so I will tell you that I did a quick Google search and found that most states have a similar system in place.

CORE Academy

I'm very excited to be a part of JSU's CORE Academy for the next few days. I'll be presenting two sessions with my friend, Cara (Teaching...My Calling), over the next two days dealing with integrating technology and using social media.

Here's a sneak peak of our LiveBinder of resources we plan to share:

Hope to see you there!

Reading Buddies and QR Codes

If you really want to see your kids be leaders and get excited, partner them with some younger children. We had the best time today reading with our 2nd grade friends. Two weeks ago, my kiddos worked to create QR codes to go along with the biography about George Washington Carver in the 2nd grade readers.  We put all our work in this Google Doc:

 

Then, I reformatted it to make it easier to print onto one page. The kiddos cut out the codes and taped them to the agreed-upon pages in the books. Then we borrowed as many iPads and iPhones as we could get our hands on and headed down to 2nd grade!

My class was so excited, and I was really impressed with them. They took charge of their groups, and worked well with the younger children. I heard them saying things like:

"Who would like to read first? Okay, you can start on this page..."

"Here's how you scan a QR code. You want to try it?"

"See this picture...?" 

"Good job reading that!"

"Let's focus on our story."

"Did you know...?"

And you know how you always wonder to yourself if your class really remembers what you're teaching? Well, I'm here to tell you, mine did! I was amazed to hear snippets from my kiddos that they'd learned in Alabama History as they explained things to the younger children. Segregation, Tuskegee University, boll weevils destroying the cotton crop, etc...It was so exciting to hear them explain these concepts! 

Probably the best moments of all for me were seeing my kids so engaged in literacy learning/teaching, and the comments they made when we came back to the classroom. 

"I love how they all looked up to us like we were the adults!"

"All the kids in my group were so interested in what we were doing!"

"My group took turns really well."

"Can we do this for the other 2nd grade?"

This was a fabulous learning activity that we'll be doing it again for the other second grade classroom very soon. 

Books I Want to Read Reading Roundup Linky

It's no secret that I am a major book lover. I come from a long line of readers, and read constantly...blogs, e-magazines, twitter feeds, professional articles, and of course, books! So when I saw that Mary, over at Pinter's Potpourri started this awesome reading linky, I knew I had to get on board! What a great way to share books and get some ideas.

Here's my To-Read list:

Professional Book:

Teaching Grammar: What Really Works

I love to teach grammar, and I loved learning it as a child, but I get so frustrated when my students will "learn" a concept in grammar, but not apply it in their writing. I just don't get it. I hold them accountable and that seems to help, but this year only ONE child could come up with anything when I asked them what they knew about nouns (see my post about that here). I'm hoping this book will help.

Pleasure Reading:

A Memory of Light

The last book in my favorite fantasy series, The Wheel of Time, is coming out in just two days! I love to read fantasies, especially the really far-out ones. They're just about the only stories that I can lose myself in. Reading a fantasy is one of the few times when "school" is turned off in my brain. I've read through this series about 4 times and am still not tired of it. The plot and characters are so complex that rereading is a pleasure!

Book to Teach a Skill:

The Loathsome Dragon

I've never read this particular book, but I adore David Wiesner's work. Its so imaginative and interesting! I imagine using this book to review the common themes and traits of fairy tales. I'm sure it will also lend itself well to making predictions and drawing conclusions. His books usually do.

I can't wait to dive into these books and see what others will be reading. So, what's on your list? 

Text Structure Magic (and a Freebie)

Don't you love it when everything comes together? I had one of those magical moments today during reading and had to share! Like all of you, I'm working diligently to implement the new Common Core standards, and this week I decided to focus on 4.RL.5:

Explain major differences between poems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structural elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, descriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text.

I knew I'd need to start small with this one, so I chose two texts to begin with and made a graphic organizer for my students to use.

We started by simply comparing and contrasting the features and structure of a chapter in our science books about rocks and a short story about a mountain eroding called The Sun, The Wind, and The Rain.

I modeled at first, then allowed students to work with partners and contribute to the organizer. Above is the neat copy I typed up. Trust me, you DON'T want to see my dark, doc camera, chicken scratch on the board version.

Next, I gave everyone a blank organizer and assigned two short texts from this week's basal lessons to read and compare/contrast with their table groups. One was a narrative, and one a newspaper article. After the students worked with table groups, we regrouped so that every person was in a new group and able to share what their group mates had discussed and written on their organizers. (Sorry I forgot to take pics of the kiddos' work). I'll try and add them tomorrow.

What was really great about this lesson was all of the connections we were able to make. We're learning about rocks in science, narrative story structure in writing, and plot structure in reading. At one point, we even reviewed subject/verb agreement as we were adding things to the class chart. Love it! Such a great lesson, using a simple idea.

And here's a little freebie for you: the blank graphic organizer. Just click on the link text below the picture to snag it!

Compare/Contrast Text Features Graphic Organizer

FluxTime Studio: Easy Animations

Searching for a quick, easy, FREE tech tool you can use in your classroom? FluxTime Studio is a site that allows students to create animations, then email them as ecards. We used it this week and my kids LOVED it. You can use the links in the email to embed them into blog posts or post them on your website. Here's how I used it with my class:

Our basal story this week was about some migrating whales, so during reading on Monday, students chose a sea animal to research. They were to find three facts about their animal and download a picture to their jump drives. Then, I posted an assignment in Edmodo:

In the computer lab students wrote and edited their posts. After they finished, they watched the FluxTime video I had posted for them on Edmodo. That's one of the great features about using Edmodo. You can create a library of videos for your students to use. Here's the video I made:

Finally, students created their animations. I posted the finished animations to our classroom website, and helped a few students embed links in their blog posts. This was only their second week on KidBlog and third on Edmodo, so they needed help with embedding. 

Click HERE to see one of my student's posts with his animation linked.

ToonDoo in the Classroom

ToonDoo is an easy, engaging, FREE tool that you can use in your classroom. Super easy to use, my students just logged in and followed the on-screen directions to create their Toon. I made this set of instructions and uploaded it to VistaPrint, but I forgot to use them. Even so, my students caught on very quickly, which is a huge plus when using a web 2.0 tool!

Feel free to use this. I uploaded to VistaPrint and
put the image on Oversized Postcards.

I used ToonDoo this week as an extension for the story we were reading about Jim Thorpe. My class has a group on Edmodo, so I posted the link and the log in information for them there. They were to create a cartoon about sports. Here's an example:

By kilgosclass | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

My students loved this tool! They even worked on it at home! Of course, we'll have to go over expectations for correct grammar and mechanics for online projects. (Don't worry, that's coming up this week!) But for last week (3rd week of school) I just really wanted to get them excited about some of the tools we'd be using and make connections from our literature.

**Important Note**
I made one account and all of my students logged in at once, but you might want to make more because I noticed the process slows down or stops when more than about 10 are using at the same time.

How about you? Have you ever used ToonDoo or something like it? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Favorite Picture Books

Books are a bit of an obsessions for me, so when Lindsey over at The Teacher Wife started the Favorite Picture Books linky, of course I had to join in! There are way too many books I love to list them all, but these are my top three:

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, by Chris Van Allsburg, is probably one of my all time favorite picture books. Its the story of a man who is trying to publish his writing, and so he leaves one illustration from each story with a caption and title in a box with a children's book publisher. He intends to return to the publisher's office, but he mysteriously never does. The book is essentially the author's note and 14 full page illustrations that are unrelated to each other. Kids LOVE it and its a great way to inspire story writing. I have it in portfolio edition, so as I read it I can hang the posters around the room. There are also tons of resources on line and even websites where kids can submit the Burdick stories and read those of others. Here's a Vimeo I found just now. I have no clue how he animated those pictures!

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick from Daniel Savage on Vimeo.

Weslandia, by Paul Fleischman, is the story of a boy who doesn't fit in, but refuses to conform to his neighborhood's view of "normal." For a summer project he begins growing a crop, but eventually ends up creating his own civilization using parts of the plant he grows, complete with a written language and special numbering system. By the end of the story, Wesley himself is the trend setter. Here's a TeacherTube video I found with someone reading the book aloud if you're interested:

Free Fall, David Weisner...well, anything by David Weisner, is simply amazing. He writes wordless picture books and I love, love, love to share them with my kids! The illustrations are so detailed and there's just a sense of wonderment that his books inspire. I also found this book on YouTube:

Well, I didn't start out looking for videos to go with each book, they just popped up on my search engine when I was looking for the amazon links. I think it is so cool though that there are extensions like these available. 

Want to see more? Hop on over to the linky:

How about you? What are your favorites?

Objective Display for Monday Made It!

How many of you are required to display your daily/weekly objectives in your classroom? I'm not really required, but it has been suggested. My problem...I'm not so great at keeping things like that up to date. I worry that I'll get so busy I won't update the objectives. And then I saw this adorable idea on Pinterest:

That is so stinking cute! Surely I'd be motivated to keep these up to date! Enter this week's Monday Made It project: Dollar Tree frames + cardstock + awesome pages I made = Tadaa!

They're laying on the concrete around my pool, which I should be in, but...there's so much to blog about! Anyway, I'm sharing the file with you! If you're addicted to polka dots and love owls, just click the text below the picture, and you'll be taken to the Google Doc. I did make a page that says Social Studies since I realize many of you may not teach Alabama History. :) Enjoy!

Click here for your copy!

Thanks again, Tara for doing the Monday Made It Linky! I've loved all the great ideas!

BeeClip: Digital Scrapbooks for Students

Have you seen this free tool yet? I came across it while reading a post over at CristinaSkyBox. Beeclip is a free digital scrapbook for students. You don't even have to log in! Similar to Glogster, students can upload images, add text, audio, or video, and change the backgrounds. You can even download and print when finished. Something else impressive--I tweeted my find, and almost immediately received a reply from @BeeClipEDU saying thank you and offering assistance. I had a few questions, which they answered almost immediately. They're on top of things!

Here's the one I made in NO time: I used some pictures and a video my kiddos made at the end of the year.

More than one student can edit the same project at the same time on different computers. You can enable or disable the ability to use Google Images, Flickr, and YouTube. And even after you embed, if you make edits to the project, the embedded project changes right along with it!

I can think of so many uses for this that would definitely take a whole different post. Stay tuned...

Reviving Four Blocks: Self-Selected Reading

A few days ago I posted some thoughts about changing my reading block to look more like it did when I taught the Four Blocks way. (Reviving Four Blocks). I was surprised and excited about the comments I received about how several other people are interested in this approach, so I decided to do a series dedicated to each of the blocks. I decided to tackle the Self-Selected Reading block first because it's my favorite!

What is it?

This block is all about students reading texts that they have selected themselves and are on their level. Similar to Read to Self (Daily 5), students choose their books and read to themselves while you confer with individuals. It is easy to make this block multi-level because each student can be reading on his or her own level. It lasts about 30 minutes, or maybe a little longer if you have the time.

Structure of the block:

• Read aloud: Beginning with the read aloud is perfect for me for several reasons: 1). It ensures that I won't skip the read aloud! 2). I can model reading strategies during the read aloud that I want the kiddos to use while reading independently. 3). It activates reading strategies that students will use when reading independently. After the read aloud, I send them off to read to themselves, usually with some instructions, like "Be ready to share the connections you made when we come back together." or "Mark any unfamiliar words that you find so we can discuss them." This can really be anything that you're currently working on, or even a strategy that came up during the read aloud.
• Conferences: I love conferencing with my students because I've found that they're much more open when its just you and them. It's a great way to build relationships while getting to know students as readers. I try to meet with each child once a week, but with larger class sizes, it may take two weeks to get to everyone. Here's the form I made that I plan to use for conferences next year.
• Sharing: At the end of the block, students come back together as a group to share what they've read, strategies they've used, or information they've learned. This is a great time for students to present book reviews or you to do a book blessing as well. You could do the sharing part every day, or set aside some time two or three times per week. If you're short on time, and you're lucky enough to have student response clickers, you could even have students text in something to share. 

Why I love it:

When all of my students are doing self-selected reading at the same time, the atmosphere in the room is calm and peaceful. There are very few distractions, and it is harder for students to "pretend" read. The structure provides me with a schedule to include the parts of instruction that I'd love to do every day but sometimes skip otherwise. I also love that students have a choice about what to read. 

So, how about you? How does your Self-Selected Reading/ Read to Self/ DEAR time look?