Educational resources for elementary students. Helping teachers, parents, and students become active thinkers and future leaders. We encourage giggles, grins, hugs, & high fives!
WAHOO! Summer vacation. The Beach. Family BBQ’s. R&R.
BUT, WAIT! NOT YET! First I need to pack up my classroom so I can find the things I need when we come back. Back to School is crazy enough without me NOT being able to find my MOST needed items! ( Where is MY stapler???)
Are YOU packing up your classroom?
What am I packing?
What is on my classroom packing list?
Here is my list:
Number One
It’s ALL about ME! What will I need the first week?
Teacher Editions and Lesson Plan Book
My Teacher Editions & Lesson Plan Book. I need them to plan for the first weeks.
Mostly Routines and Daily schedules. (Work on THIS before VACATION!)
Sticky Notes
Sticky notes inside to remind my “aging” brain…what I INTEND to do!
What MATERIALS will I need to accomplish this? What lesson to focus on those first weeks? What went well? What didn’t?
USE THOSE STICKY NOTES INSIDE YOUR TE!
You will NOT remember months from now… what you are thinking about TODAY!
If you get a chance to hear her, see her, and/or youtube her…
DO IT!
When I teach reading, I don’t want my students to stop and ask for help.
I want them to have skills to be independent readers.
I want them to be problem-solvers.
So, I am…
How to create a community of readers
How?
What do you do BEFORE reading?
Take a picture walk. Cover the words. Make them use the visual cues in the story. Frontload any vocabulary that may change thinking, distort comprehension, or unfamiliar to them.
Have them make predictions PRIOR to reading.
After reading, check their predictions.
When you finish reading, do something!
I LOVE this!
After reading..then what? DO SOMETHING!
Reread it for NEW information. Retell it to yourself or a friend. We use our 3 fingers retell. I love this part…DIGEST IT! Just as a good meal…when you are finished, appreciate it. Think about it.
ENJOY IT!
Read MORE!
You are NEVER done!
When you finish…read more! My kiddos love to stack ALL of their books on the left..as they finish reading a book…place it in a pile on their right. Keep reading! Their goal is to read more every day! STAMINA! Reading MATS are used to make goals.
Our goals are to read MORE!
Use your eyes to read…not your fingers.
We want kids to quit using their fingers to read.
Good readers use their EYES!
“SCOOP” up words (phrases) with your eyes. When reading, put 3-4 words together and read the phrases! GREAT time to teach prepositions & prepositional phrases!
Always reread text
Always, always…reread!
You will see more, read more, and understand more when you reread a story. Read it to a partner, a parent, a friend. The same book can sound new when you are reading it the second or third time!
We as educator’s not only need to deliver the instruction, but we do have the need to ensure our student’s master and apply the knowledge we are delivering.
For me, it was a
CHANGE of MINDSET.
When I change my lifestyle, I need a WHY?
Why am I doing this? Why is it needed?
WHY? WHY? WHY?
BECAUSE.
Collecting data is NOT about the numbers.
It’s NOT about “judging” my teaching. It’s NOT about seeing
HOW many of my students DID or DID NOT master a concept.
It’s about looking for those SMALL skills, those giant holes, those little tweeks that are missing FOR THE CHILD!
What areas are missing…so I can fill them!
IT’S NOT ABOUT ME???
NOPE!
It’s about the KIDS!
Data is to help our kids.
OK. So HOW?
There are a MULTITUDE of assessments that you can use.
In this day and age, I bet your district has a LONG list of assessments they want you to use.
USE them!
Don’t just give the test & move to the next lesson.
LOOK AT THE DATA!
You might be surprised at what you see!
I recently gave a math assessment to my firsties.
We had spent 4-5 weeks (YES WEEKS) on place value!
Tens and ones. Tens and ones.
OVER AND OVER!
After my “district” math assessment,
I noticed a trend…
On 5-6 of the tests ( 25% of my class..)
they missed 3-4 questions about
adding ten to a number.
WHAT? ADDING TEN IS EASY!
We had gone over tens & ones, tens & ones…
BUT…
I “assumed”
…remember what they say about
ASSUME…
that it would be easy for them
because they understood place value!
So…a week later of
SMALL GROUP
math ..adding tens to numbers
SHAZAM!
100% on the place value review test!
So what if I gave the review test again.
They didn’t get it the first time!
It is NOT important that
OUR numbers
look good to others!
What is important is
DO THE KIDS KNOW IT?
Knowledge vs. numbers.
WOW!
A New MINDSET!
If you are looking for some reading/writing assessments
