Teacher Time Management During the Summer

Happy Summer friends!  We are spending our time playing in softball tournaments and visiting colleges across the Southeast.  I love the places we get to visit, and they always give me a little inspiration for my classroom.  While I don't spend the entire 4 days of the tournament glued to my computer, I do have activities that I take with me that help me make a more smooth transition to the school year in August.  Today I wanted to share a few of them with you, in case your life was also spent waiting and watching your kids and their activities.

#1 Read and/or Annotate
One of the best parts of the summer break is that teachers on social media start posting about books that they have begun reading.  While I'm ALL FOR READING for pleasure #givemeallthebooks,
I also like to try and get in some reading for my grade level.  Florida tends to make this a little more easy for me because they publish a list of Florida Sunshine State books.  These are novels by amazing authors that they believe students in Florida should read.  While many of you may not live in Florida, it is a great list to get some good ideas from.  I always try to read at least half of the 3-4 list before school starts because then I can recommend books right away to students when they come back to school.  I always brag on the ones I really really liked to get students interested in reading again right away.  A few of the Sunshine State books are also part of my Reading Tasting Party at the beginning of the year.  It always helps motivate my students, and my stamina tends to rise quickly with these types of activities.  Currently, I'm reading A Whole New Ballgame by Phil Bildner.  Here is an Amazon link (its an affiliate) if you want to read more about this book.

Here is the link to see the Florida Sunshine State books for the year.  This is their main page, and from there you can navigate to each of the book lists.  

Florida Sunshine State Young Reader's Award Books  

There are lists that are 3-5 and 6-8.  I also love checking out the other levels that I'm not teaching. 

#2: Sketch Out Your Classroom and Jot Your Ideas

Another thing I like to do at the ball field is sketch out my classroom and create a things to do list. While I've seen other teacher parents sit at the field and cut laminating, I save this for nights I have to be at practice, NOT for when I'm traveling across the Southeast... too many other things to bring.  I do always carry a notebook with me and I love to spend time sketching out ideas for how I can maximize the space in my classroom.  I also like to look at different ideas that I've saved on Pinterest, and then give myself a reality check for accomplishing those things.  I mean, let's BE HONEST!  Everyone WANTS a Pinterest worthy classroom, and yes, I'm envious, just like others who drool over everything under the sun that is color coordinated.  But I'm a realist, and I know that what is really going to make my classroom amazing, isn't my coordinated teacher box, but the amazing lesson plans and activities that I create for my students.  So I spend my daydreaming time at the ball field thinking up lesson plans and activities.  I make a list of activities I'm thinking of, and then either find the resource on TpT or make it myself to use.  Lots of times if it is an idea for an interactive notebook page, I'll sketch it in my notebook, and then when we are back at the hotel in the air conditioning, I'll put the page together on my computer.  When I get home from the trip, I print it out, tweak it, and put in in my INB sample binder for when I'm ready to teach it.  To me this is a no pressure situation.  I'm at the field, not much else going on, and I let my mind wander.  Sometimes, it wanders its way to school things, and that's when I think creatively about my notebooks.  Other times, meh... I want to read that trashy novel. LOL.  The point is, you have a notebook available, in case the thought comes.  My idea for this novel project came at the ball field, and my class LOVED doing this! Novel Book Report Project

#3: Make a To Do List and Check it Twice

Again, for me it's all about that notebook.  At the beginning of the summer I lay out a few goals that I want to accomplish.  NOT A TON... JUST A FEW!  

We all need to give our brains a break.  It's like doing a reset.  But I do have a few things that I like to take care of before school begins, because it makes the beginning of the year a little less stressful.  For example, I try in the summer to learn to make a few different weeknight meals.  I have teenagers who get home before me, and this summer they are going to learn the art of food prep and meal creation.  Momma doesn't need to do it all.  I've gotten a few meal magazines to take with me when we travel.  I'll make some decisions about meals we may want to eat and and that take under 30 minutes to cook.  This summer we'll be trying them out, and adding them to our monthly meals list.  Another goal that I have for the summer is to get some long term plans in place.  I'm the PLC facilitator for my grade level, so I am going to create our long term plan and goals on a calendar that I can share with my admin and team.  Because the calendar is online, it is easy to access while I'm sitting at the ball field, so in my day dreaming mode, I'll be able to enter dates and thoughts, and be ready for teacher pre-planning.  Usually, I strive for 3-4 big to dos.  If I get super motivated, and those were easy to accomplish, then I set a few more.  But the point is to NOT GO GOAL CRAZY!!!  You want to feel accomplished when the end of summer rolls around.  I want to feel like the summer was productive without feeling like I slaved over my computer.  But having a few goals helps me to prioritize my time when I am sitting and waiting.  Again, I go back to that notebook at the ball field.  I write down calendar dates, to dos, thoughts, ideas, lesson plans, interactive notebook ideas etc.  Then when I get back to my computer, I work on putting those thoughts into my online planbook, or creating new INB pages.  Right now, I'm working on INB pages for our place value unit.  It is going to feel SO amazing to know that I have an entire unit created and ready to launch at the beginning of the year.  It keeps me motivated, and learning all summer long!

I would love to hear what motivates you in the summer!  Leave a comment below and let me know some of your goals and/or accomplishments!

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Notice and Note: Memory Moments

This week my class tackled the Notice and Note Signpost for Memory Moments.  When a reader is tracking her comprehension and she comes across a situation where a character's thoughts are interrupted by a memory or flashback that comes to the character, they are having a Memory Moment.

Memory Moments help readers understand  the plot, theme, and relationship between the character and the plot. They give us insight into the character's motivation behind some of their thoughts, words and actions.  When we encounter a Memory Moment in our books, I teach my students to stop and ask WHY might this memory be important?  The answer will tell us about a conflict, or development  that may be upcoming in the plot of the story.  The conflict may involve just the character, or may be alluding to something that will be forthcoming in the story.

I love when author's are really good at their craft... I mean, isn't that WHY we want to read their books?  Gary Paulsen starts Hatchet right out the gate with a Memory Moment within the first 3 pages of text.  Brian is sitting in the plane and he says "The thinking started."

(Amazon Affiliate Link)

My fourth graders are currently reading Lunch Money by Andrew Clements.  In chapters 5 and 6, Greg Kenton, the main character, shares two memory moments when he flashes back to the first time he meets his arch nemesis Maura.  As readers, we learn about why there is a conflict between these two characters.  I use these chapters in the book to talk to my students about internal and external conflict, and what that teaches use about a character as he/she is developing.  In this particular book, Clements shows Greg remembering something that troubles him, his competition with Maura.  This helps us to see the back story behind why Greg dislikes Maura so much.  It also helps us to make inferences about the plot of the story.  This really helps give my students a deeper purpose for reading.  They look at the novel more closely, because they are reading to prove if their inference has foundation.

(Amazon Affiliate Link)

 

When I first introduce the Memory Momentnt Signpost, I show my students an anchor chart, and we use our tabbed Notice and Note booklets.  We write examples of key words or clues we may encounter that will help us  recognize the signpost.  I also show them this video.  It gives them another overview of the signpost.

Then we use this video to practice the signpost with visual media.  It is easy for them to recognize.

I also like this video from Rataouille

If you have older students they will recognize this quick 20 second scene between Katniss and Peeta from the Hunger Games which gives great insight into the connection between the characters.

Before having my students find and discuss the Memory Moments in Lunch Money, I also remind them of previous picture books we have read that contain Memory Moments.  These include:

Saturdays and Teacakes

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Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox

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A Chair for My Mother

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Another book that I just recently found and am adding to my collection is The Day the Crayons Quit. 

(Amazon Affiliate Link)

I know this isn't a new book, I had just not thought about using it with Memory Moments until I pulled it out for our Mentor Sentences.  I LOVE when I have an AHA moment too! 

Do you have other books that you use to teach the Notice and Note Signpost for Memory Moment? I would love to hear about any new books that you have found that help students!

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Martin Luther King Jr. Opinion Writing with Martin's Big Words

Last week I focused on Martin Luther King Jr. during my writing and word work time. I wanted to share a few activities that we completed in case you were looking for something that was short and sweet, but still helped you cover some of your CCSS standards.

For our word work time I am focusing on prepositions, which was difficult for my smarties to identify in a sentence before break.  I'll be using Martin's Big Words as my mentor text, and since I don't reinvent the wheel, my mentor sentence work came from Ideas by Jivey and her mentor sentence lesson for the week.  It is part of this [Unit].  If you haven't used mentor sentences before, Jessica is a great go to person.  She has several different webcasts you can listen to, and she has written many good blog posts about how to get started.

Beyond the basics of word work with the text, we are also working on opinion writing, so my review/focus is based on opinions.  I took the "Big Words" from the text... Freedom, Peace, Together, Love, and Dream, and we worked on deciding which word was the most powerful.  Together we crafted an opinion paragraph using OREEEO as our organizer.  No, that isn't a typo... I don't use just OREO.. my students are required to give me more.. so we go for TRIPLE STUFFED!
O-opinion, R-reason, E- evidence, E-evidence, E- elaboration (give me the how and/or why connection, O-opinion/transition.  We even had triple stuffed Oreos as a quick reminder snack when we started this discussion.

In their paragraphs, students had to choose which of Martin's words they felt was the most powerful, provide a reason,  back it up with evidence from the text, and then elaborate or extend the connection. I borrowed a few copies of this book from other classrooms in my building, and I also used a reading on YouTube, (You can go [HERE] for it online), so my students had extra access to the book.
We wrote our final copies on a half sheet I created, and then we completed a directed drawing for our bulletin board.  I don't do too many directed drawings with my fourth graders, but I thought this might be a good opportunity to practice some listening skills work since we have been out for 2 weeks.  The directed drawing directions I found for free [HERE].  I love the way they turned out.

Need to order Martin's Big Words?  Click the picture below. (Amazon Affiliate)

Do you have plans for Martin's Big Words that I can add to my list for next year?  I would love to hear about them!

May the Force Be With You,

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Notice and Note: Using Inner Conversation to Monitor Comprehension with Contrast and Contradiction

Even though I teach sixth grade, I have to spend a lot of time in my reading block modeling and teaching students how to monitor their reading comprehension.  One of the best ways I've found to do this is by teaching my students about the inner conversation that good readers have with themselves. I start with an anchor chart of what that "voice in your head" is doing while you are reading and we discuss how readers who pay attention to their thinking, are more apt to learn, understand and remember what they read.  I teach my students that as readers they must leave tracks within their thinking.

Notice & Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst is a perfect book for educators who want students to connect with a story, and monitor their own comprehension.  In the book, Beers and Probst discuss the idea of six signposts that are apparent in good literature.  These signposts, or elements that occur in most genres of good literature, help students make connection to text and think authentically about what they are reading, instead of just "finishing" a book.  I basically devoured this book when I began reading it.  It justifies so many things that I believe about reading, and how to create a community of readers in your classroom.  It challenges students to dig deeper into text, and find the authenticity behind what they are reading.  I've begun teaching the sign posts to my students, and they are excited about reading again.  They are excited to dicuss a book, or story, or poem with their classmates.  They feel a little like detectives as they leave tracks, and make connections.

Signpost #1 Contrast and Contradictions
I began the signposts by teaching Contrast and Contradictions.  We created an anchor chart which defines the signpost, and I gave my students a tabbed book for their interactive notebooks where they could create an anchor chart for each signpost as well.  This helped to give them ownership in their learning, and a place to refer back to for anchor questions.

Contrast and Contradiction is the idea that there is a contrast between what we would EXPECT a character to be doing and what the character actually does.  An author will use this in a novel or story for character development, to show internal conflict, theme, or show a relationship between the setting and the plot of the story.  The key to the signpost is in the anchor question.  For contrast and contradiction we are looking at WHY would the character act this way?  It allows students to pause in their thinking and make inferences and connections within the text.

After explaining the concept and creating our anchor charts, I began by showing my students a video that contained several contrasts and contraditions.  I used the Pixar short Presto which is about a magician and the conflicts between his bunny and himself.

I stopped after the first section where a Contrast and Contradiction occurs, and modeled for my students in our tabbed book what was going on, and then used the anchor questions to write about what I was thinking at this point in the story.  LEAVING TRACKS!  Then I continued on with the story stopping at several other areas that showed a C/C and had students turn and talk about it, always emphasizing the anchor question, and that is the key to the deeper understanding.

When we finished with the lesson I  had them read and find at least one C/C in their independent reading books.

On the second day we reviewed Contrast and Contradiction using this great video by Brent Peterson.

Then I modeled the C/C again using the short story "Thank You Ma'am" by Langston Hughes.  This lesson is completely modeled for you in the Notice and Note book.  So if you are nervous about how to get started teaching the signposts, Beers and Probst do an amazing job walking you through the steps with students, and give tons of ideas and books to help you.

Here are a few other books that you could use to reinforce the idea of Contrasts and Contradictions with your students.  (LINKS GO TO AMAZON)

I especially liked using The Crossover by Kwame Alexander.  This Newbery winner is written completely in poetry prose, so it is a perfect way to show my students that Notice and Note Signposts can come in all forms of literature.  I have been using it as my own independent reading book example with my students.

Here is a link to the Notice and Note book if you are interested in learning more about helping your students think deeper about text.

I'll share my experience with AHA Moments soon.  Meanwhile, I would love to hear about any resources you may have for using Notice and Note in your classroom!  

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Mardi Gras Books to Share in your Classroom

It's Fat Tuesday friends!

We have been living large here since Mardi Gras began after Twelfth Night, and today our celebrations come to an end.  This is our second season of Mardi Gras, and honestly, we love every minute of it.  The colors, the floats, the bands, the beads, the moon pies, the general happiness.  I loved celebrating Mardi Gras in my classroom last week.  Of course we had to keep it real, and actually work.  It was not a day of pure sloth, but we had a great time wearing beads, playing math games <gasp> and enjoying our Mardi Gras music from Pandora. You can read about our Mardi Gras Celebration and the centers I used to learn history and practice math skills {HERE}.

I wanted to share few awesome books that are great for the Mardi Gras season that you may want to check out: (Links to these will take you to Amazon).

These three are great for younger children.  They are very easy reads for my sixth graders, but the time of year is so festive, they deserve a quick 10 minute read during SSR.


I've introduced a few to the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Series Classics.  These have been popular this month.


This book is also a mystery, and my librarian couldn't keep it in the library because it is about Mardi Gras in Mobile AL... our area!!  She wants to be sure to order multiple copies, and I've added it to my list of book purchases as well.


Finally, I wanted to share just a few pictures with you of our Mardi Gras season.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!  I would love to hear if you celebrate Mardi Gras in your classroom!  Don't forget, my Mardi Gras Math Centers are on sale through the end of today! Grab them up to celebrate during the month of February!!

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