New to teaching reading?

Here are some resources that helped me when I was first converting from traditional reading groups to guided reading groups.  I've also been fortunate to meet Pat Pavelka and sit in on one of the professional developments that she lead in my county.  


All of these book covers are linked to Amazon so that you can read more about them!!

My guided reading mangement is full of sticky notes, group meeting plans, and notes filled with ideas...it is very well used.

The Making Connections book was a HUGE help to me and helped me to realize that I really wasn't putting enough wait on getting my students to make connections with what they were reading.  I HIGHLY recommend this book.

                       (Amazon does not currently have this book in stock.)

During the 2nd semester I give the question prompt book to my literature circle group and let them use it to come up with questions to ask each other.  It is great for self directed learners!!

The Create Independent Learners book is new to me and I haven't read it, but if it is like all of the other Pat Pavelka books, it is highly worth purchasing!

If you are knew to differentiated learning and how it can shape your centers, this little book is great, too!

Good luck with reading this year.  If I can help in any way or if you have questions that I can possibly answer, I am here, or just an email away!

This and That And a Little More

First off, I found a lot of coupons, so if you are a couponer or need to run to the grocery story, maybe this will help.  It also has some really good offers like the ones below:


Click on these offers to check them out:

Also, there is quite a bit of Instagram going on among bloggers.  Here are a few of the activities!

Here is what Jessica says:  Are you on instagram?  If so join me in connecting teachers on instagram! Copy or screenshot the above photo and post it on your Instagram with the hashtag #teachersfollowteachers. You can then click on that hashtag to find other teachers to follow! 

Alisha, aka The Bubbly Blonde is asking that teachers take pictures of great Back 2 School finds.  Upload them and use the hashtag in the pic!!

Last but not least, here is an item in my Teachers Pay Teachers store that I recently revamped:

This is a pretty cool set of 'stuff' if I have to say so myself!  Lots of fun activities for kids to do so that they can learn more about sentences.  It is kinesthetic in that there are games and sentence sorts incuded!  There are enough activites in this packet to last at least a month, or maybe more!

Well, that is all for today!!  I hope you found something that you can use!

Reading Without Limits Book Study: Week 5

Happy Wednesday, everyone!!

                                    Feel Free to Pin This!


If you haven't purchased the book you can find it at Amazon!  Just click on the link below and you can go straight to the book to purchase it.

Just click here to purchase!

Here are the answers for Chapter 7:

1.  What is one of your 'most relied upon routines?

My most relied upon routine is counting down from 10 to 1.  When I do that, my students know that I mean business and that they better be in their seats by the time I reach number 1.  I have 2 other routines that I use and they just so happen to be freebies!  Just click on their picture to download.

The first freebie is a set of desk citations I use to warn my clutterbugs that there desks, cubbies, or other areas need to be cleaned up.  You can tell that this is one of the first products I made for Teachers Pay Teachers.  I've come a long way, baby!!

The second freebie is a set of behavior punch cards that I use with my whole class.  It is sort of a 'caught being good' reward system with those with all of the bees punched out by the end of the week earning a trip to the treasure box.  Everybody needs some form of a paycheck, right?

2.  What is a muscle memory routine?

It is a routine of some sort of action that imprints on the brain. The action of DOING it or SAYING it reinforces the behavior that we want.

3.  Explain figure 7.1 on page 186.

Maddie recommends that we repeatedly expose our kids to behaviors or routines that we want by defining accepted behaviors and unacceptable behaviors.  Role playing is perfect for this!  She also recommends that we incorporate something 'bizarre' (for example, acting in a manner not expected) to help students remember what is expected.  I do this in my classroom by wearing wacky 'reading hats' when I am teaching guided reading.  Why my hat is on, I am NOT to be disturbed unless a student has one of the 4 B's:  Blood, Bruising, Barfing, or Broken.  I have an assortment of hats which range from a tiara that lights up to a sombrero and I even have a frog hat!!  

4.  How can you incorporate "hot or not" in your classroom?

I love the example of how to treat books and creating an anchor chart about this.  I can see expanding the idea to apply it to grammar skills such as, "Is this a noun?  Hot or Not".  I think it would be a lot of fun!

5.  Read through the routines on pages 192 to 205.  Choose a routine you can use and summarize it!

Summaries will vary!!

Here are the questions for Chapters 8 and 9:

Chapter 8

1. What is a pitfall you have faced in your classroom. How did you fix it?

2.  Why do you want lessons to be bizarre?

3.  How do you address pitfalls?

Chap 9

1.  Share an 'aha' moment with us. We want to learn from YOU!!

2.  What is the difference between racetrack and halftime conferences?

3.  What is a grow goal? How can you manage them in your classroom?

4.  On pages 238-239, Maddie gives a format for reteaching. Summarize the format.

Here is a button for you to use on your blog if you would like to incorporate your thoughts into a post:

Timed To Get Organized!

Hey everyone! It's Heather - better known as HoJo - from HoJo's Teaching Adventures! Today I want to talk to you a bit about classroom organization. There are so many wonderful ideas on Pinterest, but a few more can never hurt - right?

The first suggestion is organizational labels. When I first started in my Kindergarten room, I had a wonderful shelf FULL of materials. But they were all scattered all over the place and students had no way of putting them away in the correct space. That sort of thing drives me crazy, so I had to get organized! Click on the picture below to get your 20+ labels for FREE!

Every year I have good intentions of keeping my reading conference well run and organized. And each year I used to fail. But then I created this FREE conference sheet. It helps me track meetings with individual students. I am able to take notes about the book/page they are on, the date we last met, and what was discussed. I can meet with students individually or in small groups. To get your free copy, click on the picture below.

One thing I feel I'm fairly good at is parent communication. Aside from the weekly newsletters that my school requires, I try to send out a monthly e-mail to all parents and call them at least once a quarter. I keep track of all this through my Family Communication Log. You can get your free copy by clicking on the picture below.

Last spring I made the decision to get rid of my teacher desk. So one of the things I've been busy doing this summer is finding room for all of my "stuff". I saw the neatest idea on Pinterest (via Tattling to the Teacher) to use an old over-the-door shoe organizer in the classroom. Needless to say, I love it! I don't have a picture quite yet, but just follow me on my blog to see when I share it later this summer. 

I'm also in the process of updating my classroom library. I'm sorting books by genre, and each will also have the book level and AR level right on the inside. It's a work in progress, but here's one photo of the progress I've made so far... I just need to find the time to make labels for each bin and ensure each book is labeled to so it returns to the right home. Again, follow my blog so you can see my progress on this as the summer continues.

{Wow - poor quality pic! I'll blame my phone for that!}

Finally, I want to share my Classroom Organization Pinterest Board with you. With over 100 pins, you are sure to find something that would work in your classroom!

What organization tools are a must for you? I'd love to hear about them in the comments below or over at my blog!

A huge thank you to Jennifer for letting me stop by today. 

Thanks!

~HoJo~

And the Winner of the Backwards Planning Book is...

                          
                                 Just click here to go and read more about the book!

We already have another giveaway already in place, so if you would like to go and register for it, just click here!

Reggio-Inspired Approaches! Say What??

This book comes straight out of the School of Education at Harvard....so it will help you with your ed-you-kay-shun!!!  The information for this book came from Harvard's Project Zero.

Amazon says:  

A progressive, research-based approach for making learning visible

Based on the Reggio Emilia approach to learning, Visible Learners highlights learning through interpreting objects and artifacts, group learning, and documentation to make students' learning evident to teachers. Visible classrooms are committed to five key principles: that learning is purposeful, social, emotional, empowering, and representational. The book includes visual essays, key practices, classroom and examples.

• Show how to make learning happen in relation to others, spark emotional connections, give students power over their learning, and express ideas in multiple ways
• Illustrate Reggio-inspired principles and approaches via quotes, photos, student and teacher reflections, and examples of student work
• Offer a new way to enhance learning using progressive, research-based practices for increasing collaboration and critical thinking in and outside the classroom

Visible Learners asks that teachers look beyond surface-level to understand who students are, what they come to know, and how they come to know it.

The quest of this book is to teach teachers that education must be visible....to show proof of learning.  The authors say there are several characteristics that visual classrooms must have:  purposeful learning, social learning, learning is representational, empowering and emotional.  They believe that learning should be a collaboration between the students and teachers, and even the students among themselves as this leads to critical thinking.  The critical thinking that takes place isn't limited inside the classroom community...it can cross grade level lines or even be cross-curricular.

So....as usual, I am going to give this book away!!  Just look below for the rafflecopter entry!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Top 10 Books for Comprehension Lessons

Are you ready to start beefing up that mentor book library of yours?  I thought this might help you get started!  All you have to do is click on the pic to go to Amazon and read more about these titles.  Every one of the books on this list is SUPER.  It would be hard to pick and choose, but if you have to, I would go for the book that helps with the skill that you have the hardest time teaching.  Just MHO!!

This book is great for grades K-3 when teaching inferring.  I wonder how that little guy off by himself is feeling??

This is one of my all time favorite books.  Not only is it great for summarizing, but it is another book that is great for inferring.  I wonder just WHAT the true story is?  Who is going to tell the true story??

This is a great book about MICHAEL JORDAN!!  I can remember watching him play basketball.  I remember learning that he didn't make the team the first time he tried out and thinking "Wow!  I wonder why he wasn't picked for the team?".  This book is great for teaching kids how to make connections to what they are reading.

This book was written for grades K-3 and is great for teaching visualization....do you see who the illustrator is??

I love this book!  I use it to reteach predictions.  My kids have heard that words several times by the time we get to biographies and/or realistic historial fiction.

This is another good one for teaching predictions!  What happened previously??

This book can be used in Grades K-3.  It is a great book to use when you need to compare 2 stories.  

The main character in this book is known for his controversy!  Written for Grades 3-6, this book can be used for making connections, inferencing, and summarization.  Maybe even some questioning after all, I know you are wondering who the main character is!!

Take a look at the author of this book!  He is better known for Chrysanthemum and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, but Kitten's Full Moon is a really sweet book.  It is perfect for visualization and imagery!

Eve Bunting wrote this book.  It is an awesome book to use when teaching questioning.  I have a question words poster pack and sort game that I use when I teach this one.

Book Study: Reading Without Limits Week 5

Hi, everyone!  Thanks for stopping by to participate in this GREAT book study again!  Are you ready for Chapters 7??  

                                    Feel Free to Pin This!


If you haven't purchased the book you can find it at Amazon!  Just click on the link below and you can go straight to the book to purchase it.

Just click here to purchase!

Here are the answers for Chapter 5:

1.  Why should a teacher follow the same procedures every time a group meets?

It allows students to memorize procedures and saves time.  It also allows students to access their schema about subjects or topics.

2.  Why do students need to read out loud?

Students need to read aloud in order to practices pronunciation of words, practices 4 fluency, and in order to practices speaking in front of others.

3.  Pages 147-152 have the procedures for a guided reading group. List them in theorder they are prescribed.

See pages 147-152 for the order.

4.  What does Maddie recommend on pg 155 as far as grouping?

Group students homogeneously and teach one grade level up.

5.  Look at table 5.1. Pick out your grade level and summarize what needs to be

taught.

(This will vary by grade level)

Chap 6

6.  What kind of seating is important for your classroom?

Students should have comfortable reading spots that lets them read without distraction.  Desks arranged in partners also helps students when buddy reading.  

7.  What does Maddie mean when she says, ‘Make college visible’?

She means that it is important that students realize that college is important and and expectation.  Teachers should talk about their experience with college and talk about classes that must be taken in order to get to college.

8.  How is your classroom set up?

Answers will vary!  

9.  What does it mean to ‘market’ your books?

Use book talks and pretty displays in order to make students WANT THOSE BOOKS!!

Somehow when making our chart for the chapter/week I messed up and listed Chapter 4 twice.....could it be because of the hoodlum munchkins that run around my house and ask a zillion questions as soon as mama pulls out the computer?  Well anyway....this is a holiday week so we can just focus on Chapter 7 this week.  Here are the questions for Chapter 7:

1.  What is one of your 'most relied upon routines?

2.  What is a muscle memory routine?

3.  Explain figure 7.1 on page 186.

4.  How can you incorporate "hot or not" in your classroom?

5.  Read through the routines on pages 192 to 205.  Choose a routine you can use and summarize it!

6.  If you will be conducting this book study with your staff (and I encourage this!) check out the webinar on the book's website and use it to teach muscle memory routines!

Recommended Books by Maddie (just click on the book to go to Amazon and look at it):

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