Being More Authentic in DOL

I love when an authentic way of doing something falls into place. Our school uses Metra for phonics in addition to Houghton Mifflin phonics. Recently, we started working with statements using the word"said."  The chart has very inauthentic ways of getting the kids to practice"said" statements. For example, Sam said, "Go fan Nan", or something similar to that...having kids repeat a bunch of phrases that are not as meaningful to them as they could be.

 

Here it's what I devised.  I've been placing statements on sticky notes so the kids can interact with them. The kids love using their names so I use four kids' names a day.

 

 

 

It says, Cyllus said,"Jerrick is a winner!"  And the other says:  Rylee said, "Bryton is fantastic!"

 

This sentence serves several purposes. It uses the kids' names in a positive statement. The kids are lifting up each other. One student arranges the sticky notes in the right order with the correct punctuation, ( which they all seem to get better this way), and the other student gets to use the pointer to have the class read it out loud, giving everyone an authentic way of using their sight words. Later, when we do Daily 5, this can be an option for Word Work.  All the names we've used so far are off to the side so they can insert anyone's name they want.

 

Oh, did I add that it's more fun for them? It's a win for everyone!

 

 

 

The only thing I would change is I would line them up a little more.  We were in the moment.

I much prefer doing these kinds of activities every day...I sometimes use their favorite , poems, and class books too.  If it's authentic, I want to use it.

Please tell me some things you do for early readers. 

 

London Calling - Love me some Technology!

I am so very blessed!  Yesterday, my kids got to  enjoy some lovely technology.  My best friend, teaching buddy, Annie, moved to London a month ago.  Knowing how much Annie was probably missing teaching, I set her up to read a book to my kids through SKYPE.  No, it's not new technology, but it sure is great technology for the classroom, so we'll celebrate!

Annie found the perfect book about a Tiger going to tea.  The best part about this book is that the author, Judith Kerr, is a beloved author of the families in England.  In addition, Annie chatted with my kiddos about English customs and colloquialisms - like what "coming to tea" is all about.  She also told them names for some of their favorite things - i.e.  "biscuits"  are what they call cookies, and that "chips" are French Fries and that what we call "chips" are called "crisps."  My kids were mesmerized.

Even though  our visual screen was limited to cell phone size, the kids didn't mind.  It was just so cool that they got to talk to someone all the way from London! 

I look forward to many more adventures with our teacher friend Annie.  Who knows, maybe we will do some long distance learning from a fabulous teacher in England.  Hello, London calling...

Oridinary Mary (not so ordinary) - Another Character Story of Kindness

This is a story that goes along with a Pay it Forward kind of theme.  Mary does something kind for one person, who, in turn, does an act of kindness for another person.  By the end of the book, you are able to see how one act of kindness can affect so many people.  (The end of the book even shows how many!)

What I love most about the book is that it shows kids that we can make a difference in the world just by being ourselves and going a little beyond what is expected of us to do something nice for another person.  It makes us feel good, and the other person feels good too.”   This is another great book to go along with our quote "Be kind in all you say and do, 'cuz acts of kindness follow you."

 After finishing reading this story, it's fun to have the kids brainstorm how they can help others just by using kind words, smiles and compliments.

May acts of kindness follow you today and every day.  

Character-The Tiger Who Wore White Gloves

 

There's no denying I love poetry, especially when it meets on the corner with character. Kids get poetry; sadly it seems, we adults sometimes lose our ability to really get into the meat of poetry and savor it.

In my classroom, we use poetry to learn to read, to learn to write, for character education and more.
 

The Tiger Who Wore  White  Gloves, by Gwendolyn Brooks, has stood the test of time.  I'm fortunate enough to have the poem t in book form because I think it's out of print. At first sight and listening, it seems to be over the kids' heads, but slowed down and discussed, it's a perfect poem about character. It's about a tiger who is way different than the other animals because he's tired of being fierce and wants to be fancy by wearing gloves.  The animals jeer him  into being satisfied with just being a tiger.

There's a part when you actually feel the crowd get crest fallen. At their tender age, sadly, they've experienced this kind of testing and feel sorry for the tiger.

For full effect, we act it out, practicing our fierceness, and then pretending we are fancy. By the end, they feel defeated just as the tiger did.

Another great thing about this poem is that it's easy to reference to when those incidents come up on the classroom....it can be read and acted it over and over and over again.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Technology Tuesday- Flipboard

It's no secret. I love learning! Countless news articles flooding the media as well as the  wonderful social media,can be a bit overwhelming at times. Thanks to Flipboard ,I can put in news preferences for both work and pleasure reading and flip through trending news stories fairly quick. In addition, I can add my social media like Twitter and Facebook and see what's happening in a flash!It's like flipping through a magazine.

I believe it's pre-installed on many phones. To think I almost got rid of it a year ago because I hadn't heard of it and want sure I needed another gadget to distract me. Time saver for sure!

I don't know if Flipboard is around to stay, or if I will always think it's a COOL TOOL.  For now, it suits me and allows me to get through to information that's important to me quickly....

Maybe this tool will tickle your curiosity...or spark your imagination.  You might create the next great gadget!

Happy Tuesday,

Praises and Prides in Community Circle - Sunday Blessings

 

So, my friends, here is Stanley, a vital part of our classroom community.  See  about class pets here.  Stanley assists our class with many things; however, his main function is to let our class members know whose turn it is to talk when we do our family meeting.  Each day, when we start our day, we do a quick whip around the circle where we get to share something.  On Mondays, we tell about our weekend, Tuesdays and Wednesdays we let our classmates know they are awesome, special, amazing, terrific.  Thursdays we count our blessings and say what we are thankful for, and Fridays we do Praises and Prides, something my dear friend Tamara introduced to me over fifteen years ago, and I've used it ever since.

 

 Sometimes we do Praises and Prides more than once a week if our class needs to be uplifted a little extra.  We pass Stanley around and praise one of our fellow classmates.  If the kids know it's coming up and that they will be asked to do this, then they are on the lookout for people in our class doing something great!   This alone adds to our positive community.  In addition, I ask the kids to tell me one thing they did well this week AT SCHOOL.  The kids feel really comfortable talking about their families and what they did well at home, but I want them to feel good and notice what they do well at school.

 

 

Stanley helps us not only notice and be intentional about our actions/interactions with each other, but he also reminds us it's okay to just be proud of the things we do ourselves.   At first students are uncomfortable saying things they did well because they feel boastful, but I try to help them learn the difference between pride and bragging.   Pride helps us stand taller, without making someone else feel smaller.  Pride creates an atmosphere of caring about the work and learning we do!

 

And thus, Praises and Prides are a part of our journey in self reflection and what we will care about as we begin our portfolio process.  How can we display something we don't care about?

 

I hope this has given you another window into the magic of our first grade classroom.  Curriculum matters, but caring matters more!

 

Have another blessed Sunday.

 

 



Student Reflection

I wanted my students to begin to do more self reflection and care about their learning. We talk a lot about me not being able to open their brains and force feed them information...we need to soak it in and apply it! Mostly, I'd love that when they leave my room, they have a thirst for knowledge and a yearning to know...and have curiosity.  So I decided that we would start doing self reflection, starting out small with something they really enjoy, coloring!  I told them I would hold a coloring contest and for them to do their very very best.  I asked them, "What would a coloring judge look for?"  The kids then came up with their own rubric from that.  We talked about staying in the lines, leaving little to no white space, coloring the whole page, and adding lots of color and patterns for interest.

 

The kids really got into it, and many took theirs home to finish.  I'm not sure if I'd choose a smaller piece or not.  It might have been better to go small to get more of a finished product and ensure success for all. 

 

Then, I created this bulletin board and hung them all up and asked colleagues of mine to go by and add comments.  They were so generous to make sure no picture was left without a comment. 

I used a covered a crayon box to make a "comment box" so that passers by could make

a comment right then.  In the future, I hope that as people see these reflections, they'll add more comments.  :) 

 

There were a lot more who completed the project

but weren't ready for feedback yet. 

 

To determine our class winners, I went to three different people with the pictures in hand and asked them to flip through the pictures quickly to choose the three that stood out right away.  Most everyone agreed on the same ones. Two of our winners actually didn't turn them back in.  :(

 

Then I took the class on a mini field trip in the hall to show them the finished product.  They were beaming!  The conversations that followed were quite intellectual as I read the comments out loud and let them know that the judges had "wishes" for the participants.  I asked them what they thought the judges might want?   Intuitively, they know.  They knew the paper should probably be finished and that it should probably follow the criteria we set up as a class.

 

All in all, it was a great segue from coloring to personal reflections for our future portfolios in writing and reading.  More on this great topic later!

 

Happy reflection days to you!