Resources
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Comment Starters for on line commenting
comment_starters_for_on.docx | |
File Size: | 66 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Essay writing strategy
- A non narrative strategy you can teach students to use is for each bullet point, they can include (color coded in the example below) a fact, a thought, a quote, a story and a number (small statistic)
- Teachers love learning with each other. I think that is important because learning can feel lonely if you have no one to share your new ideas with. The other day in the teacher's room, Mrs. Poole shared and idea with me that I just loved and said "I love sharing ideas with you because you get so excited about new learning". One day last week, all the fourth grade teachers met to have lunch together because Mrs. Karam learned some new ways to teach essay writing and she wanted to share the ideas with everyone else. As the teachers ate lunch together, they all learned something new by sharing how they might take Mrs. Karam's ideas in their own classrooms. Sometimes teachers have professional days where only teachers come to school and no students come. In fact, 3 times a year teachers have professional days where the whole day is just about teachers learning new things together.
Conversational Prompts List for Essay Unit
pushing_our_thinking.docx | |
File Size: | 48 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Collecting ideas for Essays
Ways Writers Get Ideas
Personal Essay
* Think of a special person and write your thoughts out long about that person.
ex: My mom always makes me feel better when I'm sad.
* Think of a special place and write your thoughts out long about that place.
ex: The beach is the best place to spend a summer.
* Think of a special object and write your thoughts out long about that object.
ex: My ring was my great grandmother's and when I wear it I feel connected to generations of my family.
* Choose an important feeling and write your thoughts out long about what makes you feel that way.
ex: I feel angriest when I feel like I am being treated unfairly
* Think of an issue in your life and write your thoughts out long about it.
ex: Landfills scare me. People should think long and hard before throwing something in the trash.
Questions to support higher order thinking in a Character Unit of Study
Here are some questions to teach students how to think deeply about the characters they "meet" in books.
characterquestions.doc | |
File Size: | 29 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Handy Grammar Link
This is a quick list of grammar concepts and examples for each one. I thought it was easy to use and wanted to share it as a resource.
http://www.cybraryman.com/partsofspeech.html
http://www.cybraryman.com/partsofspeech.html
Initial blends K-1 teachers
Here is a nice visual for teaching blends. Large colored blend/consonant cluster cards you can print out.
consonant_cluster_cards.pdf | |
File Size: | 135 kb |
File Type: |
Scope and Sequence
Here is a suggested scope and sequence of reading skills taken from the Common Core Standards. Each grade level has some suggested units and the standards that would match up to each unit.
scope_and_sequence_3-6.xls | |
File Size: | 816 kb |
File Type: | xls |
Small group strategy lessons
Here are two examples of small group strategy lessons I prepared for a grade 6 class. To plan these lessons, I looked at the reading assessment data I gathered on the students in the group as well as the Common Core Standards.
strategy_lesson_grade_2_level_k.doc | |
File Size: | 31 kb |
File Type: | doc |
strategy_lesson_grade_6_level_t.doc | |
File Size: | 35 kb |
File Type: | doc |
strategy_lesson_grade_6_level_u.doc | |
File Size: | 32 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Grouping students for Reading Instruction
Below is a spreadsheet I made for grouping students for Reading Instruction. I believe it is necessary to create groups weekly. While groups may stay somewhat the same, as you will want to group students together with similar or the same reading level, you also must take into account the skills and strategies of your readers when making groups. I have provided an example of what the spreadsheet might look like filled out with the needs of the readers in each group in mind. In my fictional class, I grouped students by reading level but I also took into account what those readers needed to be taught. The ideas for the "focus for instruction" column were taken from the Common Core Standards. I used grade 4 for my example. In a differentiated reading workshop model, I would envision a classroom teacher informally or formally assessing their students daily, grouping students weekly, and checking the common core standards to make groups and plan for instruction. Please contact me if you would like to work on flexible grouping with me in your classroom.
class_grouping_sheet.xls | |
File Size: | 30 kb |
File Type: | xls |
class_grouping_sheet_example.xls | |
File Size: | 31 kb |
File Type: | xls |