We do such a great job teaching fiction and nonfiction text structures in our classrooms but there is one structure that sometimes gets left behind... POETRY! The amazing thing about poetry is its versatility! Poetry can be taught in reading, writing, and language. It also can support math, science, and social studies! Poetry easily follows a theme and can be part of our morning meetings or shared reading times in the classroom. I loved using poetry during our study of fairy tales. My 2nd-grade students jumped at the chance to write shape poems about Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Poetry also allows us to hit our speaking & listening standards along with fluency! Great discussions can be had and students will have opportunities to focus on meaning, connections, and visualizations. Students will be able to explore language through rhyme while also supporting grammar, sentence structure, and parts of speech. Poetry also builds vocabulary by exposing them to words they have not heard before. Older students can begin to analyze poems. Watch this short video that will walk you through 5 simple steps.
This video is a great explanation of the structure of a poem. Click below to view!
Check out these freebies on Teachers Pay Teachers! Lots of goodies to get you started!
Be sure to head over to Teaching with Jennifer Findley and read all about poetry in her classroom. Plus, download her FREE poetry booklet! Click below!
Her poetry BINGO is super fun too!
Be sure to check it out!
Get your kiddos writing poetry using this nonfiction book on Epic Books called, How to Write a Poem. Touch base with nonfiction text features while you are at it.
Teaching poetry is so powerful and it can be pushed out to support so many different curriculum areas! Think-your READ centers!
Have you even joined a book club? Delicious snacks, fun company, and engaging conversations! This idea can be brought to life in your classroom through Literature Circles. What is a literature circle you ask? Literature circles are small groups of students who have gathered together to discuss and analyze a piece of literature they chose. Each member of the group is assigned a role to help guide the discussion. Click below to watch a video about possible jobs/roles for students during a literature circle.
Literature circles provide students with the opportunity to think critically as they read, share their thinking, ask questions, and respond to the reading selection. Giving students the opportunity to discuss the text supports critical thinking and listening to other's ideas helps them form new ideas. (This is a GREAT opportunity for students to use their DOK flipbooks to support their questioning or our reading salads to engage metacognition.)
The key to a successful literature circle is organization that supports collaboration.
Want to get organized for literature circles? Check out this freebie from Tales from a Very Busy Teacher to get started!
Teacher Thrive has great tips for getting your LC up and running right away!
I Love this blogpost and the freebie over at The Measure Mom. She has discussion questions and book talk guidelines that will help you dive right into your literature circles!
Now here is a fantastic post from Glitter in Third Grade to help you begin to compile books for your Literature Circles!
Be sure to scroll to the bottom to view some wonderful book lists!
This week on the blog, I would like to jump into the world of numberless word problems! We want our students to be able to process what the problem is asking before they jump into the numbers. How do we get them to do that? Take the numbers out! One very important strategy we can borrow from our reading instruction is visualization! When you present word problems without numbers, students are forced to visualize what is happening in the problem.
Without the numbers, students are not distracted by the roadblocks of numbers. Their thinking becomes more open & flexible. You will see students beginning to feed off of each other. All of a sudden, word problems will be fun, their favorite part of math! I found this amazing blog post from Primary Bliss Teaching! It walks you through the steps you need to instruct students with numberless word problems. There are also 2 free downloads of resources to use in your classroom!
I love this Notice and Wonder strategy from The Teaching Channel to launch a numberless word problem! Take a peek below!
You can grab a FREE recording sheet from Miss Poulson on TPT by clicking below!
NWP in KINDER!!!! Check out these little problem solvers in Kindergarten.
These students are so engaged in the discussion. Along with math thinking, students are practicing their speaking and listening skills too!
Where the Magic Happens Teaching has a great post on numberless word problems and an easy to use math frame to support students with organization and showing their work. Read more about the Protocol by clicking below!
This week on the BLOG, I want to share some resources about Webb's Depth of Knowledge. In PLCs, we have been exploring Marzano's High Yield Strategies and our Keys to Literacy supports Bloom's Taxonomy. DOK questioning fits perfectly into this instructional focus. What is Depth of Knowledge? DOK is the depth of understanding required to answer or explain an assessment item or classroom activity. Below is a great video to get you thinking about Depth of Knowledge and the classroom!
(Note the video states that DOK isn't just for upper grades!)
Explicitly teaching students the different DOK levels and asking them to think at certain levels is essential. When students can identify at what level they are thinking you can determine at what level they are understanding the curriculum. I love this graphic on DOK! There are provided activity ideas under the DOK wheel to support DOK in the classroom. Just click to download.
Howes in the Middle has a great poster to use in the classroom that explains the levels.
Mrs. Vanmeter also supplies us with a FREE DOK anchor chart to use in the classroom!
Another thing I love about using DOK in the classroom is that it crosses all subject areas.
This week on the blog, I thought I would share a strategy to help support you with our up and coming standards RI.5 and RL.5
One of my very favorite strategies that supports text features & structure is text mapping! It is a visual way for students see how information is organized. It allows them to see the flow of the text and reinforces vocabulary & text features. Tips:
Choose a text that connects to a fiction story from your mini-lessons.
Color code the text features.
Allow them to record what they discovered.
Model, model, model!
Display their work!
Here are some of my favorite videos:)
This is a great blog about text mapping!
CHECK this OUT from the Creative Core!
Text mapping is such a fantastic way to get students reading closely with a text!
After reviewing our K1 data walls, we are noticing a need for more vocabulary instruction. Our students may not have had the opportunity to experience some things that they are being asked to read about and they are missing the vocabulary to go along with those experiences. One way that we can support vocabulary is through explicit instruction on SCHEMA.
Students with a deep understanding of vocabulary obtained that understanding by growing their schema.
I love this visual for teaching vocabulary!
*Now, I know that we can't take our students on all the trips and provide all of the experiences that they need to grow their schema but there are ways that we can support it.
Remember our VR Headsets? They are waiting to be checked out in the library. You can take your students on a virtual field trip! CLICK here to revisit my blog post on VR Headsets!
Here are some ways to explicitly teach schema to young readers:
I LOVE this little idea below. Such a great way for our students to show what they already know about a topic.
This could be done simply with a generic head cutout and some crayons. Students could draw the images instead of cutting.
I would use one color for their schema before they read and then another after reading.
Then they could analyze their illustrations and see how much knowledge on a topic they gained from reading.
I created a template for you to use in your classrooms. Just click the image to download!
Making Connections to our Text: If you read farther into the book Comprehension Connections on page 37 you will run across the idea of Concentric Circles of Connections. This is simply teaching students to make connections to texts using their schema. Check out the anchor chart below!
Here is a great video from Pow Toons about the different types of connections that students make to the text.
Don't forget about our SCHEMA Sticks!
Oh MY! If you haven't jumped on the SCHEMA train yet this blog post from Miss Decarbo will get you on board! It is filled with tons!!!!! of great information about why we need to start teaching young learners about how to activate their schema!
Adding to our schema increases our vocabulary and betters our ability to comprehend.
Happy FIRST Fall BREAK! I am really looking forward to this little bit of time off. Starting the school year early was HARD in so many ways. Short summer, tons of classroom moves, early Summer Institute, changes in testing & learning the new testing program, new curriculum, new teammates, new students, new parents just to name a few. I want you all to take this time seriously for U! Take even just a day to give yourself a little break. To pamper just U. We work hard as teachers. We give so much! This video really spoke to me about how we need to take special care of ourselves as teachers. The part about wishing our days, weeks, and months away becasue it is such a struggle to find a work/home balance is the TRUTH!
If we work at these simple things we can be that light in someone else's life! Enjoy your much-deserved break and spend lots of time with your family and friends!
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