Sunday, December 16, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Reading to Self
As part of the Daily 3, my students have plenty of time to read to themselves. They are encouraged to move around the room and find a comfortable spot to set up and delve into their books. My room is set up with a coffeehouse theme, but I had to draw the line at comfy couches, pillows, and rugs. The cost of those items aside, I couldn't deal with the lice & bed bugs that would undoubtedly accompany those fluffy, comfy seats.
However, while 'shopping' at Crayons to Computers I found these great yoga mats. Soft on one side, rubbery on the other. (And $29.99 at Target...holy cow! Have I mentioned how lucky we are to be able to shop at Crayons!?)
And they were much too large to have 20 kids spreading them out all over my room.
Not to mention, there was a limit of 2 mats per person. So I asked a few co-workers to grab them & send them my way, and quickly accumulated 10. I chopped them in half and voila...reading mats for every student!
What does Read to Self (or your version of silent reading) look like in your room?
However, while 'shopping' at Crayons to Computers I found these great yoga mats. Soft on one side, rubbery on the other. (And $29.99 at Target...holy cow! Have I mentioned how lucky we are to be able to shop at Crayons!?)
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Student Council
If I'm honest, I want nothing to do with the idea of student council. Really. It seems like a lot of work, and I've got a pretty full plate. One of my goals this year is to say "no" more often, so I can focus more energy on fewer things that are important to me. So when I was approached by one of my students, Tiandra, about starting a student council, I hesitated. I put it off. Finally, I told her that if she put together a proposal that outlined what she envisioned "student council" to be, I'd look it over.
3 full, hand-written pages later, I felt like I couldn't say no. She'd put so much thought into this concept, I had to say yes. A lot of her ideas were far-fetched and impractical, but a lot of them were REALLY good. Her idea of a student council that focused on community service, creating a sense of camaraderie between students, and eliminating bullying really spoke to me.
After reviewing with Tiandra what we both deemed important to the student council, I set up the rules for each position: president, vice-president, secretary, & treasurer. I outlined the expectations for the campaign, their speeches, and the election itself.
Each candidate had to submit an application, and in turn, received 4 blank posters to create their election posters.
They had a week to put up posters, give out stickers, and campaign during recess & lunch. Then each candidate had 3 minutes to give a speech to convince their fellow classmates why he/she was the best person for the job. Most of the candidates' speeches didn't come close to that limit, but they put a lot of effort in to it. I applaud the students who stood up in front of a crowd of people and give a speech. It takes courage & I don't think I would have had the guts to do it when I was in 6th grade.
What does student council look like for your school? Any ideas as I get this off the ground?!
3 full, hand-written pages later, I felt like I couldn't say no. She'd put so much thought into this concept, I had to say yes. A lot of her ideas were far-fetched and impractical, but a lot of them were REALLY good. Her idea of a student council that focused on community service, creating a sense of camaraderie between students, and eliminating bullying really spoke to me.
Each candidate had to submit an application, and in turn, received 4 blank posters to create their election posters.
After the speeches, the students returned to the classrooms and voted. I tallied their votes and announced the winners at the end of the day. There were a few tears, but overall I think the students elected some great candidates. Unfortunately, Tiandra, our original organizer, was not elected, but she will still have an important role as the council develops. I'm excited to see what they have in store for their classmates (and me!) as the year continues!
What does student council look like for your school? Any ideas as I get this off the ground?!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Signature...finally
My friend Maria at Curious Firsties is awesome. She helped me finally insert a signature to this blog-because I clearly couldn't figure it out by myself. Yep, I should have figured this out on my own. But I kept inserting the wrong code or putting the right code in the wrong spot. Finally, it's done. Now it feels like a real blog! Thanks, Maria!!
Cast Your Vote
Election Day! For my students, this means NO SCHOOL, as our buildings are used as polling places. For me, it means INSERVICE DAY, where I spent my day working with my colleagues (and had a full hour to eat lunch! at a restaurant! with other people!). But I digress. The election process is one that my students still need exposure to and help wading through, especially in a presidential election year, so I planned to teach my lesson on the day before...and hope they could learn something to go home and maybe teach their someone else a thing or two.
I found a really fantastic lesson on the election process/electoral college on the blog One Hoosier Teacher. Check it out here. I found it a long time ago and saved it (thanks, Pinterest), knowing I'd need a great lesson for the first Tuesday in November. I pretty much mimicked her whole lesson since it was perfect, but I did adapt a couple of things for my class.
As I began the lesson on the electoral college, I reminded my class that the electoral college is NOT a place of higher education, not a place to where they can earn a football scholarship, and certainly not a place with dorm rooms & fraternity parties :)
It's a confusing process, this electoral college, and it's one that I'd venture to say many adults don't totally understand. I used the book Grace for President as my read aloud for the day. The book does a decent job of explaining the electoral college in a humorous manner.
Then we viewed this infographic. It helped the kids to see the process on the screen and actually be able to follow it. When I felt like we had a pretty good working knowledge of the process, we moved on to their own voting process.
I have 20 students in my morning class, and 18 in my afternoon class. In order to reach our quota of 51 (50 states plus Washington, DC), I also asked other teachers and staff members to vote in our election. Then I gave each student a slip of paper with his or her own state on it, and gave them a minute to find their state on the map & find their number of electoral college votes. Some kids complained about their low number, but that made me feel like they really did understand the process.
After they established their numbers, I dangled the carrot. I told the students they'd be voting...not for Romney or Obama, but for Coke or Pepsi. They had a minute or two to decide which soda they wanted to vote for, then I opened the polls. They brought their state slips to the table, deposited them in the ballot box, and chose their soda.
Then we voted on the site 270towin. My class really liked this part, and waited with anticipation to see whether the state would turn red (Coke) or blue (Pepsi).
In the end, it was a landslide. Coke won, 323 to 209. For those of you counting, no, that doesn't add up to 538. I had one student who opted out of voting, claiming she didn't like Coke or Pepsi (can you imagine?!). I used it as a semi-teachable moment...pointing out that lots of times, people opt out of voting, and even though it's your civic duty, I certainly couldn't force anyone to cast a vote. But I also pointed out that even as one person opts to not vote, the entire state of Nevada would not ever really opt out, so those 6 electoral college votes would actually be counted in a real election.
I think the kids really enjoyed the lesson, and not just because they ended up with a can of pop. (Yes, I know I've called it both soda and pop in this post. What can I say-I grew up in Buffalo, NY, but live in Cincinnati, OH. I haven't fully converted to the dark side!)
I found a really fantastic lesson on the election process/electoral college on the blog One Hoosier Teacher. Check it out here. I found it a long time ago and saved it (thanks, Pinterest), knowing I'd need a great lesson for the first Tuesday in November. I pretty much mimicked her whole lesson since it was perfect, but I did adapt a couple of things for my class.
As I began the lesson on the electoral college, I reminded my class that the electoral college is NOT a place of higher education, not a place to where they can earn a football scholarship, and certainly not a place with dorm rooms & fraternity parties :)
It's a confusing process, this electoral college, and it's one that I'd venture to say many adults don't totally understand. I used the book Grace for President as my read aloud for the day. The book does a decent job of explaining the electoral college in a humorous manner.
Then we viewed this infographic. It helped the kids to see the process on the screen and actually be able to follow it. When I felt like we had a pretty good working knowledge of the process, we moved on to their own voting process.
I have 20 students in my morning class, and 18 in my afternoon class. In order to reach our quota of 51 (50 states plus Washington, DC), I also asked other teachers and staff members to vote in our election. Then I gave each student a slip of paper with his or her own state on it, and gave them a minute to find their state on the map & find their number of electoral college votes. Some kids complained about their low number, but that made me feel like they really did understand the process.
After they established their numbers, I dangled the carrot. I told the students they'd be voting...not for Romney or Obama, but for Coke or Pepsi. They had a minute or two to decide which soda they wanted to vote for, then I opened the polls. They brought their state slips to the table, deposited them in the ballot box, and chose their soda.
Then we voted on the site 270towin. My class really liked this part, and waited with anticipation to see whether the state would turn red (Coke) or blue (Pepsi).
In the end, it was a landslide. Coke won, 323 to 209. For those of you counting, no, that doesn't add up to 538. I had one student who opted out of voting, claiming she didn't like Coke or Pepsi (can you imagine?!). I used it as a semi-teachable moment...pointing out that lots of times, people opt out of voting, and even though it's your civic duty, I certainly couldn't force anyone to cast a vote. But I also pointed out that even as one person opts to not vote, the entire state of Nevada would not ever really opt out, so those 6 electoral college votes would actually be counted in a real election.
I think the kids really enjoyed the lesson, and not just because they ended up with a can of pop. (Yes, I know I've called it both soda and pop in this post. What can I say-I grew up in Buffalo, NY, but live in Cincinnati, OH. I haven't fully converted to the dark side!)
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Fluency on Fridays
My Fridays are completely different (schedule-wise) than the rest of my week. Monday-Thursday are identical with an hour & a half of Language Arts plus a 30-minute block for Social Studies. I do this twice since there are 2 sections of 6th grade in my building.
But Fridays are another story. On Fridays we go to the library, which is 30 minutes long. To be honest, I considered skipping "library time" altogether this year, because a part of me feels like it wastes time & isn't very productive. In the end, I chose a time for both of my classes to visit the library once a week because our awesome library aide, Mrs. Genton, does a great job of adding minilessons to make it a worthwhile experience.
In addition to our 30-minute library time, we also are required to administer a weekly assessment through a system called Pro-Ohio. This is straight-up test prep, but it's "disguised" as something more because it has to be done online. Unfortunately, my kids won't take an online state assessment for a couple more years. Instead, I print out the test so they can read the passages, mark them up with their own thoughts & ideas, and then bubble in an answer document at their seats (you know...what they're going to be asked to do later this year, for the state test?!). Then later each student takes his or her answer sheet to the computer & quickly logs in his or her answers into the system.
The last wrench I throw into my Friday is a weekly fluency check. I follow a variation of 6-Minute Solution, where the kids read aloud the same selection for one minute with a partner. They do this once on Mondays and again on Wednesdays. On Fridays, however, I have them read through the passage to me, so I can get a gauge on each student's fluency. At minimum, it takes 20 minutes to get through my entire class, but it always is more like 30-35 by the time it's all said & done. There's also a comprehension component, so the students are responsible for 4 multiple choice & 1 open-ended response question, too.
So on Friday, my day typically looks like this:
*Homeroom/pass out Friday Folders with the week's important papers to go home
*30 minutes in the library
*Back in the room, students work on Pro-Ohio assessment at their seats. While they work, I call each student back to read aloud to me, then return to their seats to finish their Pro-Ohio and work on the fluency-check questions. When they've finished all of that work, they can choose one of their new library books to read, work on words with Scrabble or Boggle, or work on an unfinished writing piece. I can usually cycle each kid to the computer to log in the Pro-Ohio answers during this time, and often there might be a spelling or grammar activity to finish, too.
*Then we move on to our 30 minutes of Social Studies, and have just enough time to finish up with our weekly lotto before we switch for the day.
That's it! It's a relatively easy day, I'll admit, but it works for us and the kids like being able to move around the room while they're working. I always go into the day feeling like I should have more activities planned, because on paper, it doesn't seem (to me) like all that much work is being done. Yet inevitably, we run out of time and are scrambling to finish up each week, which will probably surprise no one :)
But Fridays are another story. On Fridays we go to the library, which is 30 minutes long. To be honest, I considered skipping "library time" altogether this year, because a part of me feels like it wastes time & isn't very productive. In the end, I chose a time for both of my classes to visit the library once a week because our awesome library aide, Mrs. Genton, does a great job of adding minilessons to make it a worthwhile experience.
In addition to our 30-minute library time, we also are required to administer a weekly assessment through a system called Pro-Ohio. This is straight-up test prep, but it's "disguised" as something more because it has to be done online. Unfortunately, my kids won't take an online state assessment for a couple more years. Instead, I print out the test so they can read the passages, mark them up with their own thoughts & ideas, and then bubble in an answer document at their seats (you know...what they're going to be asked to do later this year, for the state test?!). Then later each student takes his or her answer sheet to the computer & quickly logs in his or her answers into the system.
The last wrench I throw into my Friday is a weekly fluency check. I follow a variation of 6-Minute Solution, where the kids read aloud the same selection for one minute with a partner. They do this once on Mondays and again on Wednesdays. On Fridays, however, I have them read through the passage to me, so I can get a gauge on each student's fluency. At minimum, it takes 20 minutes to get through my entire class, but it always is more like 30-35 by the time it's all said & done. There's also a comprehension component, so the students are responsible for 4 multiple choice & 1 open-ended response question, too.
So on Friday, my day typically looks like this:
*Homeroom/pass out Friday Folders with the week's important papers to go home
*30 minutes in the library
*Back in the room, students work on Pro-Ohio assessment at their seats. While they work, I call each student back to read aloud to me, then return to their seats to finish their Pro-Ohio and work on the fluency-check questions. When they've finished all of that work, they can choose one of their new library books to read, work on words with Scrabble or Boggle, or work on an unfinished writing piece. I can usually cycle each kid to the computer to log in the Pro-Ohio answers during this time, and often there might be a spelling or grammar activity to finish, too.
*Then we move on to our 30 minutes of Social Studies, and have just enough time to finish up with our weekly lotto before we switch for the day.
That's it! It's a relatively easy day, I'll admit, but it works for us and the kids like being able to move around the room while they're working. I always go into the day feeling like I should have more activities planned, because on paper, it doesn't seem (to me) like all that much work is being done. Yet inevitably, we run out of time and are scrambling to finish up each week, which will probably surprise no one :)
Monday, October 8, 2012
Spelling City
One way I've been trying to have my students practice thier spelling & vocabulary words is through this great site, Spelling City. The kids can play games, practice their words, and hopefully find new ways to use their new words.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
CAFE Board Makeover
So, since I've been working on using the Daily 3 & following CAFE in my room, I've been making changes as I go to make the system work as best as I can for our class. I started out with my CAFE board in the front of the room on a small bulletin board, because I felt like I had nowhere else to put it. It looked like this:
It's a terrible picture...but again, it was kind of a terrible board!
My friend Monica noticing me agonizing over the lack of creativity & space with the booard, and suggested I go outside the actual bulletin board onto my whiteboard. Brilliant. Totally brilliant. I found these insanely cute strategy posters FOR FREE and went to town.
Now it looks like this:
And here are some close ups of the actual board:
My friend Monica noticing me agonizing over the lack of creativity & space with the booard, and suggested I go outside the actual bulletin board onto my whiteboard. Brilliant. Totally brilliant. I found these insanely cute strategy posters FOR FREE and went to town.
Now it looks like this:
I also found these super cute magnets to use on the board. They go with my cofeehouse/bake shop theme perfectly! I love the Target Dollar Spot more than I probably should.
So, I guess my room is on its way to being finished? No better time than mid-late September, no? The sprucing up continues and hopefully I can do a tour-of-my-room post soon!
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Killing Them Softly
This week was a really tough week. For the kids, I mean-not for me. It was essentially a break week for me, but my students are probably ready to jump off of a bridge. Sure, we were off on Monday for Labor Day, but Tuesday-Friday was just one big assessment. Tuesday & Wednesday our students had to take a Pro-Ohio Baseline test in Reading & Math. Pro-Ohio is an online test-prep program that gives the students practice for our state-test, the OAA. Then Thursday & Friday, we had the kids take an actual OAA practice test, again in Reading & Math.
Oh, did I mention that it was close to 100* in our rooms all week? By Friday afternoon, the kids looked like overheated zombies. I brought in popsicles to congratulate them for making it through such a miserable week, which they were excited about, but I think they were just grateful to be done with tests!
I think next week we'll actually start with real "school". My plans include an actual launch of Reader's Workshop as well as some real, live Writing! I'm excited to do something besides monitor test-taking, and I think my kids are excited to do something besides bubble in answer documents. Stay tuned for an update!
Oh, did I mention that it was close to 100* in our rooms all week? By Friday afternoon, the kids looked like overheated zombies. I brought in popsicles to congratulate them for making it through such a miserable week, which they were excited about, but I think they were just grateful to be done with tests!
I think next week we'll actually start with real "school". My plans include an actual launch of Reader's Workshop as well as some real, live Writing! I'm excited to do something besides monitor test-taking, and I think my kids are excited to do something besides bubble in answer documents. Stay tuned for an update!
Monday, August 27, 2012
Week One...Done!
The first week of school has come & gone already-I can't hardly believe it. Our first week was filled with procedures, routines, & familiarizing ourselves with one another. I didn't focus too much on the Daily 3 this first week-I mostly focused on putting routines in place and making sure these big, bad 6th graders were comfortable in their new digs.
I started the year with my favorite read aloud, The Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch. When I was 12, my aunt gave me a copy of this book to remind me that even though I might not look like a real princess, I could still save the day. I try really hard to emphasize this same lesson with every 6th grader, because who didn't struggle with self-image at that age?!
One component of the Daily 3 that I did accomplish is their book baskets. I decided to go the shoebox route, and spent the last weeks of summer collecting 40+ shoeboxes from everyone I've ever met. I may end up regretting that choice, but it seemed to be the best one at the time thanks to the Great IKEA Scramble over the summer :)
My intervention specialist & I cut wrapping paper for each child's box, then they each decorated their boxes to suit themselves. They were pretty proud of their work, and so am I.
I started the year with my favorite read aloud, The Paperbag Princess by Robert Munsch. When I was 12, my aunt gave me a copy of this book to remind me that even though I might not look like a real princess, I could still save the day. I try really hard to emphasize this same lesson with every 6th grader, because who didn't struggle with self-image at that age?!
One component of the Daily 3 that I did accomplish is their book baskets. I decided to go the shoebox route, and spent the last weeks of summer collecting 40+ shoeboxes from everyone I've ever met. I may end up regretting that choice, but it seemed to be the best one at the time thanks to the Great IKEA Scramble over the summer :)
My intervention specialist & I cut wrapping paper for each child's box, then they each decorated their boxes to suit themselves. They were pretty proud of their work, and so am I.
These baskets will be filled with "Just Right" books and will hopefully help to smooth the transition into the Daily 3, since this will be the first experience with it for these kids. Stay tuned for more excitement from our room!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Day 1
Tomorrow is the first day of school! I'm actually so excited to start this year. Of course I'm sad to say good-bye to summer, but since it's inevitable, I'd rather just get started!
We started this week with 2 inservice days: Monday was full of meetings, looking at data, and reviewing last year's practices. It was a celebration (kind of) because of the projected rating our school and district will receive on the state report card. Unfortunately, official results are delayed because of some "questionable tactics" used by districts elsewhere in the state (not us!!). Still, everyone is excited about the gains we've made in the past year and we know our kids did the best they could do.
Tuesday was a day for teachers to work in their rooms and get all the last minute details together. One of my favorite parts of these pre-kid days is getting to go out to lunch with my colleagues. Normally, our 28-minute lunch period doesn't allow for much more than inhaling some food and running back to the classroom, so it's nice to experience a "leisurely" hour-long lunch at a local restaurant.
We also had Meet the Teacher this afternoon. By 6th grade, most of the kids and parents are so familiar with the school and procedures that they end up skipping this time. But it's always fun to meet the students & parents who stop in, especially those students who are new to our building. I like starting to put a face to the names on my list and familiarizing the parents with our 6th grade procedures. Plus, it helps me to be sure that I'm prepared for the first day-materials, copies, classroom supplies, etc. With attempting to implement my version of the Daily 5 (or 3, actually), I've made some changes to my room & procedures, which take some getting used to. But really, it's one more reason that I'm excited to head back to school. And with that, summer's done and we're off & running on our new school year!
We started this week with 2 inservice days: Monday was full of meetings, looking at data, and reviewing last year's practices. It was a celebration (kind of) because of the projected rating our school and district will receive on the state report card. Unfortunately, official results are delayed because of some "questionable tactics" used by districts elsewhere in the state (not us!!). Still, everyone is excited about the gains we've made in the past year and we know our kids did the best they could do.
Tuesday was a day for teachers to work in their rooms and get all the last minute details together. One of my favorite parts of these pre-kid days is getting to go out to lunch with my colleagues. Normally, our 28-minute lunch period doesn't allow for much more than inhaling some food and running back to the classroom, so it's nice to experience a "leisurely" hour-long lunch at a local restaurant.
We also had Meet the Teacher this afternoon. By 6th grade, most of the kids and parents are so familiar with the school and procedures that they end up skipping this time. But it's always fun to meet the students & parents who stop in, especially those students who are new to our building. I like starting to put a face to the names on my list and familiarizing the parents with our 6th grade procedures. Plus, it helps me to be sure that I'm prepared for the first day-materials, copies, classroom supplies, etc. With attempting to implement my version of the Daily 5 (or 3, actually), I've made some changes to my room & procedures, which take some getting used to. But really, it's one more reason that I'm excited to head back to school. And with that, summer's done and we're off & running on our new school year!
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Daily Schedule
I essentially have a week left until we return to school. This morning we finally received an email detailing our daily schedules (lunch & recess times, planning periods, duty schedules, etc.). I am really excited about my schedule this year! We have 2 sections of 6th grade in my building. Because I'll be teaching both Language Arts & Social Studies, it'll be nice to have an uninterrupted block to get everything finished for both classes. Here's what my daily schedule looks like:
8:30-8:45...Homeroom/Lockers
8:45-11:10...AM class
11:10-11:55...lunch/recess
11:55-2:30...PM class
2:30-3:10...specials
3:10-3:20...lockers/dismissal
Yes, in my building the 6th grade students still have recess. To be honest, a lot of times I feel like it's unnecessary, but other times I am gladto have a tiny bit of leverage that they have a chance to burn off some excess energy.
I think this is the first time that I'll have complete blocks of uninterrupted teaching time for both of my classes. It's also the first time in many years that my planning period has been at the end of the day. I can see this going one of two ways: either I'll be so exhausted that I'll get nothing done during that 40-minute block, or I'll be really motivated to get everything done so I am ready for the following day. Considering I'll eat lunch at 11:10...my money is on Choice A.
8:30-8:45...Homeroom/Lockers
8:45-11:10...AM class
11:10-11:55...lunch/recess
11:55-2:30...PM class
2:30-3:10...specials
3:10-3:20...lockers/dismissal
Yes, in my building the 6th grade students still have recess. To be honest, a lot of times I feel like it's unnecessary, but other times I am glad
I think this is the first time that I'll have complete blocks of uninterrupted teaching time for both of my classes. It's also the first time in many years that my planning period has been at the end of the day. I can see this going one of two ways: either I'll be so exhausted that I'll get nothing done during that 40-minute block, or I'll be really motivated to get everything done so I am ready for the following day. Considering I'll eat lunch at 11:10...my money is on Choice A.
Friday, July 27, 2012
The Daily 5
I'm currently in the middle of The Daily 5: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades. I'm dying to get through it and attempting to adapt it to my 6th grade class. I've been following "We Read, We Blog, We Teach" for the book study and cannot get over how many great ideas people have about using this for the upper grades.
While this isn't the first time I've taken an introspective look at my teaching, it is the first time that I've really wanted to revamp EVERYTHING in my Language Arts world. As I enter my 14th (!) year of teaching, I feel like a first-year teacher all over again, wondering how exactly I'm going to make this work. Here's hoping I can figure it out in the next 3 1/2 weeks.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Library Journals
At our school, each class goes to the library once a week. For the departmentalized grades, the Language Arts teacher usually takes each of his/her classes. In my case, that means I take 3 classes of 6th graders to the library, and our day is Monday. To be honest, it makes for a nice way to ease in to the work week!
In the library my students are required to choose 3 books: a fiction, a non-fiction, and a book of their choice. All of these books should be (roughly) on their reading level. The kids show me their books before they can check them out with our librarian, so I can check the levels, genres, etc.
The students are responsible for reading their books throughout the week, both in class and at home. At the end of the week, they have to write about one of them. Each Friday, in their library journals, my students write me a letter telling me about their book. The letters need to follow the standard friendly-letter format, and consist of 5 sentences. The first sentence should tell me title/author, and often their opinion of the book. The rest of the letter can tell any number of things: what they liked/hated, favorite/least favorite part, new facts learned, predictions for the end of the book-honestly, whatever they want to share with me about the book.
I respond to each letter each week (yep, that's 48, if you're counting), and with most students, it creates a back & forth dialogue between the two of us. At the end of the school year, the kids will have a nice comprehensive "list" of the books they chose to read throughout the year.
In the library my students are required to choose 3 books: a fiction, a non-fiction, and a book of their choice. All of these books should be (roughly) on their reading level. The kids show me their books before they can check them out with our librarian, so I can check the levels, genres, etc.
The students are responsible for reading their books throughout the week, both in class and at home. At the end of the week, they have to write about one of them. Each Friday, in their library journals, my students write me a letter telling me about their book. The letters need to follow the standard friendly-letter format, and consist of 5 sentences. The first sentence should tell me title/author, and often their opinion of the book. The rest of the letter can tell any number of things: what they liked/hated, favorite/least favorite part, new facts learned, predictions for the end of the book-honestly, whatever they want to share with me about the book.
I respond to each letter each week (yep, that's 48, if you're counting), and with most students, it creates a back & forth dialogue between the two of us. At the end of the school year, the kids will have a nice comprehensive "list" of the books they chose to read throughout the year.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Introduction
My name is Sarah Leever, and I am a 6th grade teacher at an elementary school in Ohio. I teach Reading, Writing, & Spelling to 3 different classes of 6th graders. We are a K-6 building, so I have the "kings of the school".
I'm startig this blog as a way of keeping parents up to date, as well as expose my students to the world of blogging and using the Internet for more than just Facebook and video game hints. I'd also like to share lesson ideas with other educators and hopefully get some new ideas, too.
I'm startig this blog as a way of keeping parents up to date, as well as expose my students to the world of blogging and using the Internet for more than just Facebook and video game hints. I'd also like to share lesson ideas with other educators and hopefully get some new ideas, too.
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