iRead with iPods!

Today was a VERY exciting day in our class because we were introduced to our classroom iPod's!

My dad works with Apple Computer in the educational technolgoy department, so he knows first hand what an important learning tool the iPod touch can be.  A few years ago he purchased 2 iPod touches for me to use in my classroom with the students.

Intially, we are using these tools to work on our reading fluency. Later, once the kids have demonstrated their responsibility using them, we will add in some education apps for them to work on as well.

The iPod can be a GREAT tool to aid in reading fluency.  Many first graders, when just learning to read, read books slowly and word by word. This lack of fluency can cause them to struggle with comprehension of the text read. Many first graders have no idea they are reading this way because it is so hard to hear yourself when you are so focused on decoding and reading the words. This is where the iPods come in.  We are using the voice memos app so the students can record themselves reading and listen to what it sounds like.  They are using a text that has been introduced in guided reading with me, and they take it into the hallway to record. After they have finished recording they listen to the recording, then record again to see if they can improve on their fluency.  It is amazing the first time they hear themselves read how many of them say something along the lines of "oh my gosh! I didn't know I read that slowly" or "I sound like a robot reading! yikes!". Hearing themselves read helps them to focus on what their reading sounds like. The second recording is always better than the first as a result.

This tool is also a great assessment for me. I am able to listen to them read and track their fluency by how many words they read per minute. There is research that shows that doing these recordings significantly improves student reading fluency over the course of the year!

About half our class had a chance to practice recording today and they all did GREAT! It amazes me that they know so much about technology at such an early age. Even just a few years ago it was much harder to teach the students how to use the iPods because many had never interacted with one. Now, most students, at some time or another, have had access to an iPod, iPhone, or iPad, which makes learning to use our classroom ones a breeze.

The students who did not get a chance to record themselves today will get a chance to do so tomorrow. I'm certain they will do just as well! Every student will get a chance to use this tool once or twice each week.  I am so excited about all the learning that will take place as a result of this technology!

Monster Art

Yesterday we started a fun monster project. We read the book Where the Wild Things Are (such a classic; I remember my mom reading it to me when I was a kid), and then made connections to the story by creating our own unique "wild thing" ... otherwise known as a monster.

First the kids all had to sketch their wild thing using pencil. After they finished with pencil they used a black crayon to trace over each line then they used watercolor paints to color it in. They turned out FABULOUSLY! AND, this is the first time I have let a class paint and no one spilled any water anywhere. yay! The kids loved being able to paint. They were all so engaged and relaxed while doing it; the room has never been so quiet! haha

I seriously loved every single one of these, so here is just a preview of the great work they did (you'll notice some of the students gave their monsters names; those are not the name of the child that created it):

Today we used these monsters for a great thinking maps activity.  We started out making a tree map to describe our monsters. The students made branches for things their monster can do, has, and is. We looked at our paintings and came up with a list of things that could fit under each branch. I created the master list on the board and students were asked to choose 2 things I wrote for each branch and copy them on their own paper. We talked about how to choose something that is true of your monster, not just anything you see written.

After creating our tree map, we used it to create sentences. This is a great activity to help the students learn how to write a complete sentence. And, it's so easy because once the tree map is done, all the work is done for you and all the words are already spelled out for you.  I taught the kids how to read down the tree map to compose sentences. I was actually very impressed by how quickly they picked up on the concept. They were even able to start using the pronoun for their monster (either he or she) in their sentences.  I'm so proud of all their hard work. It took awhile, but these really turned out great. here are a couple so you can see what the writing looks like:

We will definitely be doing more painting in our class this year. The kids handled it so well and it was fun for everyone. Plus, we got some great practice writing out of it. win win!

Monster Unit Part 1

This week we have continued our unit investigating and learning the features of fiction books using a monster themed unit. The kids LOVE all the moster books! Seriously, it has never been so quite in the room as when I start to read one of these books; they are so interested and anxious to find out what happens in each.

We started off the week talking about using our schema to make connections. The kids learned that schema is a fancy word for "what you already know in your brain". We used this schema map that I found from Pinterest and recorded some of our schema about monsters. We had SO many ideas to add we ran out of space (and time haha)! Then we read the book There's a Monster Under my Bed and recognized that a lot of the ideas we had about monsters were written in the book.

I love this schema chart because we can use it for different topics all year. Once the kids get more proficient with writing they will be the ones recording their own thinking on the post it notes, but for now it's easier and faster for them to share out loud and have me write it down.

Next we added a new comprehension strategy to our CAFE wall: retell the story in sequence.  We read There's a Nightmare in My Closet and practiced retelling the beginning, middle, and end. The kids made a flip book to describe each part of the book using words and pictures. I wrote some key words on the board to help with spelling, but I left the sentence ideas up to each child (after of course we went over all the answers as a class after reading the book).  I was quite impressed with the sentences I got from each student.  Here is an example of our flip books:

We also reviewed making connections between our own lives and the text. We read Monster Mama and each student was asked to create a double bubble comparing themselves to the monster in the book. This was our first double bubble to create independently this year and they did great! Almost everyone grasped the concept of where to put the different pieces of information.  Here is an example:

Today we started a fun project relating to monsters that I will share with you tomorrow. Check back soon!

Writer's Workshop: editing

Today we talked about the 4th step in the writing process: editing. I introduced the class to our writer's eyeglasses bulletin board first thing. The students are being taught to use their "writer's eyeglasses" to look at their work a little more closely and fix some of the errors they might have made the first time.

I made these bookmarks to help students remember what information to look for during editing. We will add more to this as the year goes on, but for now I am mostly looking for editing of periods, capital letters, good spaces, and sentences that make sense and are in order.

During editing, students are allowed to use a red pencil to show what changes they made. We have practiced using some basic editing marks so we reviewed those by looking at an example page I wrote together. We went through the writer's eyes checklist one by one and fixed up each thing on the list.

After the students have attemped to edit their work on their own they sign up for a writing conference. To do this they simply move the clip with their number on it from the "I'm working hard on my own" sign to the "I need a writing conference" sign. I can then go down the ribbon and work with each student one on one to help them fix up their work to get it ready for publishing. This is a great opportunity for me to talk to each student one on one about their writing and their thought process.

Next up: publishing!

Writer's Workshop: Revision

Today in writer's workshop we started looking at what it means to revise our first draft. We read the book Hello Ocean, which is a great story that uses the five senses to describe a trip to the beach.  We talked about the ways in which the author added detail to help keep the reader interested in their work.

In writer's workshop in our classroom, during the revision stage, students get to use special blue pens. This makes revising and adding details exciting to them, but it also helps me as the teacher to see what their thought process was. Using a different color makes it clear to me what they wrote as a first draft, then how they changed their thinking and added details. We talked about different ways to revise, and I showed the class how to use an asterisk to insert information that might not fit in the space they have left.  Below is a great example of a revision to the first page of a book:

We still need to work on getting that asterisk in the right spot, but the thought is definitely there! I didn't give the kids enough credit, they set about revising their work and had so many great details to add. I thought it was going to be much more difficult to get those revisions out of them. They impress me more and more each day!

Rainbow Week

Last week we finished off our color unit with rainbow week. We read a variety of fiction stories involving rainbow colors.

Our reading focus last week was on recognizing features that define fiction books. We made a circle map describing what we already know about the fiction genre, and during the week we dug deeper into the story elements of fiction books.

I found a great story elements poster here, and made one for my classroom at the teacher center over the summer. I love the simplicity of the poster and how easy it is to use over and over with different books. With each book we read last week, we used sticky notes to describe the different elements of the story. Here is an example from the book Purple, Green, and Yellow by Robert Munsch:

Since our school is a Thinking Maps campus, we discovered how we could put this same information into a tree map format to make it easy to read. After reading the book A Color of His Own, we worked on creating a tree map together and students had to fill in the story elements from the book and illustrate each one. The finished products turned out great!

Now that we have Daily 5 up and running each day, we will be doing a lot less of the crafty activities we did the first few weeks of school. Our learning is less project based and rather is built into the daily 5 activities. Because of this, I try to choose one of those fun activities a week and save it for Friday. I call it "Fun Friday" because this is the day we break from our usual schedule and do fun, project based, activities that tie into the weekly learning. This Friday we read My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. In the story, the character talks about the way each color makes him feel. We discussed feeling words and the kids came up with a great list of feelings. Then, they each created a portrait with rainbow colored hair, and on each piece of hair they had to choose what feeling word that color makes them think of. They turned out super cute!

This week we will be continuing our fiction unit and starting up a two week theme of monsters. It's always a fun creative unit so check back to see some of the fun we'll be having!

Daily 5

Last week we really dove head first into Daily 5.  After all the practice the week before, the kids did such a great job with their daily 5 rotations! Quite often I heard something along the lines of, "yes! it's daily 5 next!" which really makes me smile. I love that the kids are so excited about reading and writing!

For those that don't know, Daily 5 is what we use as our reading rotations while I am working with guided reading groups.  Here is a peak of what we are doing:

Read to Self: Students get to choose a special seat and read independently from their individual book box.

Read to Someone: Students share books with a buddy. This is a great opportunity for them to get help from a friend, help someone else out, or discuss their connections to the books with others.  Read to someone is always a favorite!

Word Work: Students start by choosing a spelling task card. This gives them some good practice with the weekly spelling words. After they  have completed the card, they are allowed to choose one of the "fun" ways to practice their words. These include: magnetic letters, abc stamps, wikki sticks, magna doodles, and typing words on an old keyboard.

Work on Writing: Students can use this time to write stories about anything they want! If they want help coming up with an idea we have setting cards, character cards, and plot cards. Some of our favorites at this station are the Draw Write Now books, where students learn to draw something new then copy some information about what they have drawn in their neatest handwriting.

Listen to Reading: This is the all time favorite because it involves the computer. Students use a website I have set up that has links to a bunch of different sites with stories they can listen to.

Daily 5 is a huge part of our daily reading instruction. The kids are engaged in reading and writing activities and I have time to meet with each student in a small group setting to work on reading skills at their level. It feels so good to finally be in the routine of Daily 5. So much learning takes place every day during this block of time.