QAR

I am so excited to share with you all today!  This is one of my very favorite strategies to teach!  Question, Answer, Relationship-QAR for short!

We are moving into the end of the year and that is when the assessments start whether we want them to or not. This strategy is spot on for helping students understand the different types of questions they will encounter & how they can go about finding the answers. 

It is important for students to be efficient in answering questions.  Understanding what they are looking for is super helpful!  

Questions Types:

• Right There
• Think and Search
• Author & U
• On my Own

Here is a video that explains the question types and how students can use them to guide their reading.

How can this type of explicit instruction on question types support our learners?

• It can help to improve reading comprehension.
• Supports students in how to ask questions about their reading and where to find the answers. 

• Encourages student to think beyond the text and make connections. 
• Encourages students to use higher level thinking skills while thinking creatively about the topic

Watch a teacher in action as she runs a small group reading lessons using the QAR Strategy!

(Click the Image)

Below you will find some free resources to support your kiddos in small group reading and in independent reading. 

Love that this strategy can be used in math too! Try it out with a math word problem or a graphic! 

Elaboration

Thank you for another great week at THE VIEW!!!!!!  PLCS were awesome with fantastic discussion around building background knowledge and our new Brainingcamp math tools! 

You know I LOVE brain research!  I stumbled upon an awesome learning strategy that is backed by BRAIN SCIENCE!!!!  HELLO!

ELABORATION!  

This is all about our speaking and listening standards!  Students are asked to explain and describe learning with as many details as possible! 

This is a GREAT video about teaching speaking and listening strategies & the Handing off Routine! 

By simply going beyond basic recall and encouraging students to make connections new learning will be cemented in the storage parts of the brain. 

Remember these guys?????  Well, let's get going on them!  The Science of Reading is ALL about making connections and we want our students to connect to CONTENT & texts! Click the images to grab them for FREE!

Students should be engaging in open ended questions.  They can answer with as many details as possible and then head back into check their thinking &  elaboration! 

Watch this video all about this learning strategy! 

Students can engage in this type of questioning through large group class discussions.  

I LOVE Gallery Walks for this and the FISHbowl!

Check out these 2 anchor chart to help students elaborate! 

Background Knowledge

Hi All! Thank you so much for an amazing week at PVES!  We were sooo excited to have our whole school family back together again!  

In PLCs next week, we will be talking about Background Knowledge.  Now we all know that our kiddos all come with different levels of schema/background knowledge. We work to build background knowledge through nonfiction texts and videos.  

This is a great video from Reading Rockets discussing background knowledge!

While digging for how background knowledge supports SOR I came across The Baseball Study by Recht & Leslie.  This friends seems obvious but it in many ways it the opposite of what we have been doing in the classroom with leveling students.     

This image from the video says it all!

This study found that prior knowledge/background knowledge creates a scaffolding for information. Knowledge counts in understanding and comprehending a text.  

This post from Amplify Blog explains the study in a bit more detail. 

So we know background knowledge is important for comprehending what is being read. How do we increase it for our students?

I LOVE this blog post from We Are Teachers!  So many good ideas to help increase background knowledge through classroom lessons. 

A couple of my favorites from this post are:

#1 Connect with virtual experts: I have had sled dog mushers, bee farmers, turkey farmers, chefs and so many other guests come to my classroom to extend on our learning.  

#5 Integrate: Bring science and social studies into your reading block!  Pair your fiction books with nonfiction books to build background knowledge.  

#7 Don't Skip the Back Matter: I LOVE author studies!  It is so powerful to then transfer the author's writing style into your writing lesson.

#15 A little video goes a long way: For us this is easy with our 1:1 technology.  

Know that because you are taking the time to build background knowledge for your students, they will be able to distinguish between words with multiple meaning & infer with ease.  EL students will benefit when faced with idioms, metaphors and other literacy devices that rely on background knowledge.  

I am so excited for our discussion in PLC!  

Braining Camp Math Resources

We did it!!!!  We made it to Easter Break and we finished virtual learning.  Our kiddos are coming back.  We are going to be able to settle in FINALLY as a school family.  Thank you all for everything that you have done and will do in the future. PVES is a wonderful place to work and it is because of all of you!

I know your brain might not be ready for math over break but I wanted you to know that in Classlink.  Through our Mpowerment Grant the whole district will now have access to these awesome digital math resources from Braining Camp!!!!

I am so excited for you all to try these out!  

• No need to login at all!
• Teachers can use them on their smartboards!
• Students can login on their devices! 

Here is a quick tutorial to get you started! I love that there are different mats for you to use with each tool. 

Check out the tutorial pages by clicking the image below! (They do take a bit to load.) Each tool has a tutorial that goes along with it.  If you are struggling with SmartINK...you can use the pens to mark up your math lessons! 

You can create links and codes to share out with your students!!!!  (Great for word problems!) Just click where it says share on the sidebar of the tool!   You also can click the lightbulb to get ideas to use in your lessons!   

Finally, there are webinars listed to help support you with the apps and building lessons for your students!

Ya'll check these out!  Super excited to see these in action in your classrooms! 

Social Emotional Learning

Hi All!  Thank you for another awesome week in PLC!  I love the talks we had about orthographic mapping. How fun to see this PLC activity already happing in the classroom! 

This week on the blog, I thought I would share some resources for Social Emotional Learning.  With our kiddos coming back, we need to keep in mind that this is another transition for them & with transitions there can be BUMPS in the road.

What is Social Emotional learning?  It is the ability to understand & manage emotions, set and achieve goals, feel and show empathy for others & build relationships. All of these skills can be supported in the classroom through morning meeting, books, games, and social stories. 

We all know that our students are going to need time and support with getting back in the groove of 5 days of in person learning. (Heck...we are too!) 

I know we have been using our SEL Slides during our meets this year but I wanted to share some more resources to help support you! 

I love this video and how it explains the importance of SEL in school, work and life!

Think about your class and your past classes.  Look over this poster.  Many of the "behaviors" that we see in our classrooms stem from poor Social Emotional Skills. 

Identifying the behavior and finding the social emotional skill that supports it will allow you to plan out a systematic way to address the behavior and provide support to the student. 

Love this list of SEL books!  There are so many good ones to add to your morning meeting or interactive read aloud! Click the image to head to Nourishing my Scholar and read about each of the books.  

During your morning meetings, don't forget about those morning check ins!   Here is a simple way to check in with your kiddos from Playful in Primary!

The Pathway to Success is filled with 25 ways to support social emotional learning in your classroom!!!!  So many goodies!  Love the journaling, the breathing cards & the focus on positive self talk. Click the image! 

Spend some time watching this video and making connections to executive function. Listening to these kiddos is sooooo powerful! Edutopia did it again! 

For those of you that spent time this summer on Conscious Discipline I love the Brain Smart Start!  The focus on being safe and disengaging stress through breathing is so powerful! 

Setting up a safe spot in your classroom can be super helpful to students struggling with Social Emotional Learning.  I love how this post has a goal of leading the students back to the class. 

So, as you begin to think about plans for after break, be sure that you are thinking about SEL and what you can do before our students come to have outlets in place for students that may need extra support.  

I can't wait until everyone is all back together again!  

Semantic Gradient & Vocabulary

Hi All! I am so excited to see you all in action with your blending boards!  Thank you to Chaunte for providing some training and to PVES for suppling ALL our teachers with their very own boards!

I know we are still finding our comfort zone with our small group reading but these blending boards are going to be sooooo helpful with high frequency word mini lessons, vocabulary & phonemic awareness!  

Remember with the Simple View of Reading, we need to ensure that our students have a strong understanding of decoding and language comprehension before we get to independent reading comprehension.

Our new blending boards will help support us with the decoding and word recognition part for sure. 

Let's talk Language Comprehension!  

Basically, language comprehension is understanding and making sense of the spoken language. Remember the ROPE!  

Along with our blending boards, we can also support the Simple View of Reading by explicitly teaching the  vocabulary from texts that we are using in small group & large group reading.  

Mrs. Allen shared this awesome vocabulary activity that I think would work perfectly in your small group reading.  It is called Semantic Gradients!

• This activity helps to broaden and deepen the students understanding of related words. 

• It helps student distinguish between shades of meaning.

• It enhances students vocabulary! 

It is pretty simple.  Choose 2 words that are the opposite of each other and place them at either ends of a line.  

Choose 5 synonyms for each word. 

Create a bridge/line in between each word and add the synonyms to connect the words.  

Students can also take the words and place them on the bridge between the words and discuss their reasoning.  

Allow time for them to discuss the relationship between the words.  

Check out this example below!

This activity can be done with Book vocabulary too!  

Teachers can choose a specific vocabulary word.

Use the text to create a list of similar words. 

(Place your word in the center of your bridge.).

You can read more about this activity over at Reading Rockets!

I SOOOOO see paint samples for this activity!!!!  Instead of a bridge create a ladder!  I can see these put on rings for students to use during their independent writing time.  Click below to see this free activity on TPT.

OMGOSH!  How fun is this!!!!  I love the idea of kiddos using What's my Word game after they have engaged in semantic gradient activities!  Grab the FREE activity sheet and read more about this activity and others over on Education to the Core!   

Getting your students to be comfortable with "playing with words" will support their decoding, encoding & vocabulary!  

Spring Break!

Happy Spring Break!   

U ALL have MORE than earned it!

Thank you for working so hard this entire school year.  You have rolled with the punches and come out on top.

I hope you all find time to unwind and relax with family and friends!

Below I am putting together some fun ideas to help  you make the most of your time off...if you need it! 

 

50 TIPS for SELF Care for Teachers!

So MANY great ideas here like...

Belly Laughing (Ian keeps me laughing all the time!) 

Sleeping with a Weighted Blanket (This is on my list!) 

Plant something (Gonna try this for sure!) 

How about these fun and inexpensive ideas for spring break?  A picnic sounds amazing!   I also am going to declutter and learn how to sell on Facebook Marketplace! 

How cute are those mason jars?????? OMGosh....and the little succulents in the egg shells!

Check out a new place to eat!  SOOO many yummy choices below!

LOVE this place for farmhouse furniture!  

How about 33 of the Best Beach Reads?

This list could go on and on but I am sure you have some things on your list too!

Enjoy this much needed time of rest!