Just Write, Right?

I love to teach writing.

I also love to teach character education. 

During the essay unit we do, the kids observe or notice events, objects or people around them. Then, they think about what it/they mean(s) to them. It's always during this unit where I learn so much about my students. Essay beginnings such as: "What does being trustworthy mean? OR Why can't people do what they are supposed to do? flood my classroom.

Struggling writers no longer have as big of a struggle. Avid writers seem to write essay after essay; reflecting on the world around them. Yes, they are 8 and 9. And, yes, their views are fascinating and very real. And finally, YES they LOVE to WRITE. Why? Simple. They are writing about topics that interest them.

My kids also blog. They go on to our class blog and write. They edit and revise. They can't post without doing so. They write about what INTERESTS them. See, it's simple. INTEREST. You can view their blog to see the beginnings of their essays.

My kids' response to literature has improved.
Their discussions have become rich and engaging.
Vocabulary development is obvious through their writing.


I love to teach writing.

Math Differentiation!

I know what you are thinking..."yea, yea, this is a topic teachers are told about all the time." That is in fact, true. We can't be effective teachers without differentiating instruction! So naturally, I am always thinking of ways to meet all of my students' needs, which is no easy feat.

This year I teach my EveryDayMath lessons in a brand new way! Since EveryDayMath is built on the principal that we learn on a spiral (which we really do!!!), some lessons are meant to be introductory lessons. In other words, the same lesson will appear the next year and possibly the year after. The thought is, the more a child is exposed to a concept, the easier he or she will master it. (It's true, it's true!)

In order to make the most out of my lessons and to reach all learners, I teach EDM in rotations. I teach the lesson 3 times (I have 3 groups.) Each group gets what they need, so my lesson might differ from group to group. While I am teaching the main lesson, the other two groups are doing either math boxes, a review, or are on the computers.

The kids LOVE it. 

No one is being left behind. 

They are all getting teacher attention. 

They enjoy working in small groups. 

Below is a video I shot of a few students in one of my small groups.

Lenape Display

It's so interesting to watch 3rd graders create something using their own research and materials. Their creativity really shined through when they were given the assignment to create a Lenape Village based on the information they researched. Let me back track...

This is what they had to do:
1. Each student was assigned one of these four topics to research (using books and pre-determined websites)
                  --food
                  --personal appearance
                  --tools/weapons
                  --shelter/transportation

Once they filled out their graphic organizer, we did a jigsaw activity; every student was now part of a new group. Their new group consisted of one child from each topic. With their new group, a rubric, a pizza box and a bunch of materials, they had to plan how they were going to create a Lenape Village model. Each child was an "expert' in one area, so he/she was in charge of that aspect of their project. To finish their model, they added labels and captions (to tie in NF text features) and  presented their village to parents, staff, and the entire student body at my school, in a carousel-type way.

It was a huge success!

3rd graders sharing their project

Example Lenape Village

Example Lenape Village

Blog, Blogging, Blogged

A few weeks ago, I introduced blogging to my students. It had been my goal to start something like this, so I was excited to get it going! I showed them the basics, talked about a blog's purpose, gave them my expectations, and they were on their way. I still can't get over how quickly they picked up on this skill!

I wanted my kids to blog for several reasons.
1. To reflect on topics learned in school
2. To practice typing using correct conventions
3. To apply writing craft learned during Writer's Workshop
4. To have a global audience
5. To use technology in a meaningful and authentic way.

They loved it the second they tried it. They were authors and could write a journal entry for the world to see. Wow!

I am so proud of my little authors. Please follow us if you are interested! You can even leave a comment, as we will be discussing them.

http://206news3.blogspot.com/

Collaboration

       I could write about so many teaching topics that deal with collaboration. Having a student teacher and being in an inclusion classroom means that I collaborate constantly. And, it's beautiful. It's great. No one knows everything, so when more than one person is involved with a lesson or idea, amazing things can come out of it.
      Here is one example of how collaboration creates great outcomes: Last week, the special education teacher, student teacher and myself came up with a math lesson involving vocabulary word riddles. The students chose a math word that we have gone over in class, and with scaffolding, created a 5 line riddle about the word. Then, they had to demonstrate their understanding of the word by creating a real life picture. Finally, they took a digital picture. This is an example of what the finished product looks like.

Here are clues about this student's math word.

Here is this student's picture and word.

Here is the bulletin board we created.

 Observing the students figure out how to demonstrate understanding of their word was fascinating. I loved watching their thinking and creativity. This is what you might have seen if you stopped into room 206 on Friday.