Novel Studies

I love English Language Arts. Reading and writing are my favorite thing to teach (Social Studies comes in a close second with Math and Science trailing by about a million miles).  In fact, one of my main reasons for becoming a teacher was because of my experiences with ELA classes (that is an entirely different post...). Perhaps the greatest thing about reading and writing is that you can really hone in on the things that interest you. When you learn about Science you have to learn all about magnets. There is no choice. In contrast to this, if I do not want to read books in the science fiction genre I do not have to. The literature world is a wonderful world indeed! 

Within my classroom, one of my biggest pushes is self-selection of text. With that being said, if my high readers are choosing to read Captain Underpants I start to do an "I'm going to go crazy" dance. Now I let them have a break book every once in a while. After all, the brain needs down time too, but if I see more than one Geronimo Stilton book being read... the dance begins. 

I use Fountas & Pinnell to obtain my students' guided reading levels. I complete the assessment 2-3 times per year (at least I make every attempt to do this, time constraints can hinder this) and use the information that I learn to help the student make wise reading choices. They are responsible for using the information about their reading to select their independent reading books at a level appropriate for them. I also use the information to select novel study books for the students to choose from. Here are the steps that I follow:

1. The students with a like Guided Reading Level are given multiple copies of 3-4 books at their level. Each student reads the back and first chapter of the book.
2. The group (sometimes I break the group into smaller groups if I have more than 5 students at the same level) then conducts an informed vote of which book they would like to read. I break ties with a coin flip and the runner-up becomes the next book. 
3. The group evaluates their book and determines the reading assignments, usually 2-3 chapters per night, and documents the readings in their assignment book. They always provide me with calendar of their reading as well.
4. The students complete their reading as scheduled. With each chapter they fill out an index card with vocabulary terms that they did not understand and at least 2 "why" questions. 
5. Every other day the students meet with their group, discuss their reading and index cards, and conduct their own "Book Club". I meet with each group, some more than others depending on their needs, to facilitate enrichment, additional discussion, and provide clarification as needed. 

This Novel Study format works wonderfully. It enables students to use peer collaboration to challenge themselves and learn/practice responsibility. It also allows me the opportunity to work more in-depth with students who need remediation and assistance through small groups, one-on-one, close reads, and more. 

As the school year is drawing to a close I realized that I wanted to see just how much growth and independent reading skills my students have. I know the data, most of my class started at or below level in reading and now most are above grade level. Their final assignment was to read a great piece of literature and complete a more traditional novel study. This assignment is still a self-paced assignment and I have to say my students were excited to hear that when they completed the book they completed their reading assignments from me for the year. I have never 25 more motivated students who were asking to read for a longer time. 

I created the novel studies for my class and my personal favorite is now available on Teachers Pay Teachers. It is amazing and highlights the great novel, War Horse. For each reading assignment there is a vocabulary activity, reading comprehension, and 6th grade enrichment activities. This book is a Guided Reading level Z so it is a bit challenging, but I have students who are ready for it. If you would like to check it out and use it with your kiddos please feel welcome to get all of the information here.

The Idea Book

In our classrooms it is fairly common to utilize writing journals. I know that I use mine with my 5th graders all the time. Sometimes it is to begin pre-writes, work on rough drafts, write down important grammar notes that I want them to be able to reference, or for everyday writing prompts. Other times I want them to use their writing journals for their own personal ideas. A personal journal of sorts. I cannot use the word diary or the 14 boys in my class would stage an uprising...

My idea book is just what the name implies. A book in which I write down any and all crazy ideas that pop into my head. Sometimes I will get an entire unit plan that just appears. These appearances do not always come at the most opportune times, but I try to always have my Idea Book handy so that I can at least jot down a few things quickly, something to jog my memory a little later on when I am able to really get my thoughts out. I have used this Idea Book to plan some fun and engaging projects (I try to implement a project-based classroom as much as I can), websites that I use for instructional purposes, and just everyday classroom activities.

Fun Decimal Operation Review

I am very excited to return to school next week! I just can't seem to stop my brain from working this Spring Break and I have created a number of new activities for my students. I also have developed quite the list in my Idea Book (see a future post about this) for new activities that I would like to develop. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am working with my students to ensure that they are well-prepared for their CRCT assessments. I am doing my best to not give into having my students do a paper-factory's worth of practice tests. It is a struggle as this is my first year at my current school and you never want to "rock the boat", but it is most definitely not what I believe in. Instead my class will be returning to school on Monday with a fun twist and variation of some common games. I am in the final stages of creating the fun and engaging documents that will help other teachers enact these games, but have finished a couple of them.

We studied place value and decimals waaaay back in the beginning of the year. I use a lot of centers and menus within my math class so we never really stop working on any of the concepts. Spiral review is huge in my classroom, but the week we return will consist of a lot of academic review games while I work in small groups to focus on one skill per day. One of my favorites is a review on Decimal Operations.

This activity is available on my Teachers Pay Teachers Store for only $2.99 right now! A great deal for an activity that is a lot of fun for those students who like a challenge. A great, hands-on way to incorporate learning and/or reviewing decimal operations.

End of Year Assessment

It is that time of the year. We are making sure that our students are ready to take the end of the year tests that seem to hover over our students' heads (and those of teachers as well). I live in Georgia and our state just past legislation that connects our students growth (determined from our End of Year Tests (EOYT) to our yearly evaluations. This has caused a great deal of panic for many of the teachers that I know. They wonder what the point of differentiation is when the test will be the same for all students. Why focus on the individual needs when all need to know how to successfully take this test? This is the question that many teachers are asking and it is causing them to fall into the test preparation mode within the classroom wherein all the students are doing is test preparation and taking practice tests. This is, for me, very disheartening. 

I am not a believer in tests. My main cause for this belief is that not all students can express knowledge in the same way and filling in bubbles is not an accurate means to determining what a student knows. I am a proponent of project-based learning and portfolio creation. These, in my humble opinion, are much better suited to determining what a student (or any human for that matter) has truly gleaned through a learning process. These allow you to see the true growth of a person within a subject or content area. 

To be successful individuals, students need to know how to think for themselves. They need to get their hands dirty and become involved in their learning. Without ownership of their brains they will not truly understand why they need to know what you are teaching them or how it will impact them, positively or negatively, to learn (or not learn) the material. I make sure to tell my students that my job is to provide them with ample opportunity to be exposed to the material and to help them learn it in the way that works best for them. It is, however, their brains and they have to be responsive and take an active part in the classroom. Utilizing the hands-on approach that I have within my classroom really exemplifies this. If the students are not willing to become involved in the activity then I need to find a way to reach them so that they are. 

What are some other schools of thought? As the test preparation season is here, what do you do within  your classroom to help your students prepare?

Communicating with Parents

How often do you communicate with the parents of your students? Is there something that is hindering the communication? Often it is language barriers or lack of parent involvement that hinder the home-to-school communication. As teachers we need to overlook these things and do our best to ensure that we are making every effort to reach the families of our students. Weekly newsletters can be emailed or printed and sent home. Videos and pictures can be uploaded to a class website for parents to view.

In my classroom I have a lot of similar barriers as other teachers. Many of my students go home each afternoon and speak languages that I do not know. I have parents who do not initiate or respond to communication. I cannot let this bother me. I send home a detailed newsletter every Friday. This newsletter always includes photos and/or videos of our classroom learning in action. I ask for parent volunteers to come in and use www.signupgenius.com to keep track of who and when. This is a great resource for parents to use as well. When I will have parent volunteers I put together a visual of what their job will be and send this to them. This video always includes my classroom, what they will be doing, and what they can expect to see. I want for them to feel confident when they walk into our room and so I provide them with as much information about our routine as I can.

What about THOSE students. The ones where you feel like the communication is always negative. I have those too. The ones you spend 50% of your time redirecting and teaching them how to behave. 9 times out of 10 the parents think their child is perfection and you are wrong. The other doesn't care that their child is acting inappropriately. This is my struggle. How to keep these parents informed, but without it being negative all the time.

How do you communicate with your parents? What is your struggle with communication?

Finding Learning in Nature

Sometimes a simple walk outside can lead you to something that will become lengthy or robust learning opportunities within your classroom. This happened to me one day while the lawn was being mowed. A large green caterpillar was crawling slowly along the mulch around my Red Maple tree. Being such a lover of learning I caught the caterpillar and put my oldest son to work researching what type of caterpillar it was. He quickly determined that it was a Luna Moth Caterpillar and we set up a habitat for the caterpillar so that we could watch the upcoming transformation. I brought the caterpillar into my classroom and incorporated it into my students' activities for the next week. It was a great learning experience and we  learned so much about the Luna Moth!

Interested in incorporating this beautiful creature into your classroom activities? Click HERE to go to my Luna Moth Integrated Unit!

Becoming an Education Blogger

I have contemplated blogging for a while now. I am incredibly passionate about education and my students, but always convince myself that I simply do not have the time to devote to blogging. Now, the more I see other educators who are confused, discouraged, or feeling unsure I realize that for a few minutes of my time I can provide some solace and examples that may help them. At the very least, I hope to provide a place to find great ideas, resources, and some educator humor that inevitably arises throughout the days.

I am by no means an expert in education. In fact, I am a fairly new teacher. Perhaps it is my lack of experience that has me as positive about education as I feel that I am. If that is what it is, I hope to always have the mentality of the "new teacher". I hope that I do not get caught up in any future curriculum changes and that I maintain the positive belief that I can change the lives of my students and impact their brains, their future, and their attitudes.

I love to create materials and activities for my classroom. I will post links to my Teachers Pay Teachers store and provide FREEBIES at times. All activities that I create are geared toward the 5th grade Common Core Standards and/or the Georgia Performance Standards. I have a great time creating these things and usually my students enjoy completing them. I say usually because I do teach 5th grade after all. They can be a fickle bunch!