Using Trifolds in Guided Reading

Does anyone else struggle with holding your kids accountable for reading their guided reading chapter books? Or what about keeping them focused on a strategy while reading their assigned chapters on their own? These are two of the biggest issues that I face with my guided reading groups. To help with this problem, I started using trifolds to help keep my kids on track while they went back to their seat to read on their own. These have proven to be really helpful for my kids in so many ways. They now know exactly what to focus on when they are reading, they have opportunities to record their thinking, and we are able to have meaningful discussions about our reading when we meet as a guided reading group again.

Here are some tips for using guided reading trifolds in your classroom: (I'm not an expert, these are just things that work for me!)

1. Focus on a specific reading strategy for the majority of the book

This is something that I've learned over the years while teaching guided reading. Instead of changing the focus every chapter of the book, decide on a specific strategy to use for the majority of the book. This is less confusing for the kids and helps them focus on using the strategy over an extended period of time. Find a book that really lends itself to the strategy/skill that you are teaching. For example, in one of my groups we are focusing on inferring character traits. I thought about which book would really lend itself to teaching character traits and decided on Because of Winn Dixie. In this book, you really get to know the characters and there are lots of different traits that can be used to describe each one.

2. Explicitly teach each reading strategy/skill before using the trifold

A great way to do this is to use think-alouds. I love to read books aloud to my kiddos (during our reading workshop minilessons) and think-aloud for my students. It really models the thinking that goes on while reading. Before having the kids practice the skill independently on their own using the trifolds, allow them many opportunities to hear you think-aloud and to discuss their own thinking as a whole group. Once students understand the skill/strategy that you are teaching, you can have them try it independently using the trifolds in guided reading.

 

3. Plan for time in your guided reading groups to discuss each student's writing in their trifolds

 

Do you have times in guided reading when you ask the group a question (What is a summary of this chapter? How would you describe Winn Dixie?) and all you get is blank stares? Ahhh!! It drives me crazy! These trifolds allow you to have meaningful conversations with your students using the writing that they recorded while reading independently. Instead of the blank stares, students are looking at their writing and sharing their thinking with others in the group. This is so powerful! I always encourage each student to use evidence from the book to support their thinking (see the example below where a student referred to a part in the book and wrote down the page number). This makes discussing each chapter so much easier!

 



 

If you are interested in learning more about using guided reading trifolds, you can check out the product below that includes trifolds for 11 different strategies (character traits, character feelings, inferring, questioning, summarizing, making connections, making predictions, setting, unknown words, visualizing and sequencing). The download also includes posters to use while teaching each strategy. Just click on the picture below to see more views of everything that is included!

 

 

Teaching Students How to SHOW not TELL in Writing

I was scared. I felt sad. I was really happy. Do these sentences sound familiar to you? These are the types of sentences my students were writing a couple of weeks ago when explaining how they were feeling in their writing. Now they are writing sentences such as, "My heart started pounding and my palms were sweaty." and "I jumped backwards and threw my arms up in the air!" Their writing is so much more interesting and they are really showing how they were feeling instead of just telling it.

So how did my third graders make this jump in their writing? Meet my newest unit, Now Showing... {A Unit on Showing not Telling in Writing}

To start off the unit, I showed my kids examples of telling and showing sentences. I asked them which type of sentence was more interesting to read. They all agreed that the showing sentences were more interesting. I then explained that over the next week or two, I was going to teach them how to show not tell feelings in their own writing.

The first activity that I did with my students is called "Feelings Charades." My students LOVED this activity and it really showed them how to describe a feeling in detail rather than just telling it.
Volunteers in our class acted out different feelings while the rest of the class recorded the body language/actions that they noticed (eg. hanging head, shuffling feet, shoulders hunched, etc.) This game helped my students understand how to "show not tell" a feeling in their writing. They loved acting out the feelings and were begging to do more than the six feelings I had planned.

After we finished the activity, I gave each student a "Showing Feelings Chart" to add to their writing binder. I explained that they could use this chart as a resource throughout the year if they needed help with showing a feeling. There are twelve different feelings explained on the chart.

Later in the week, I read many Patricia Polacco books to my students and had them listen for examples of "showing not telling." Patricia Polacco has many examples in one book alone. For example, in Chicken Sunday, there are 8 examples of a feeling being shown not told. Each of my students were assigned a different feeling before I read the book (different feelings were typed on cars and passed out to each student). While I was reading, they had to listen for an example of that feeling being shown. If they heard an example, they held up their card and we stopped the story to discuss how Polacco had described it. I love using mentor texts in writing workshop and Polacco's books are always so enjoyable for the students. Three of the books that I used in this unit are:


                              

For each read aloud, I've included a chart of the "showing not feeling" examples and the page numbers that they can be found on. Also included in the unit are a brainstorming list, practice pages for students to turn telling sentences into showing sentences, and a recording sheet for students to write down showing sentences that they find while reading on their own. If you'd like to check out my unit on TpT, just click the image below!

Autobiography Writing Unit

My kids finished up their autobiography writing unit last week and I couldn't be happier with how their books turned out! They absolutely loved making these books all about themselves =) We started the unit off by reading different autobiographies and discussing what made them interesting. I then introduced the book that they would be writing called "An Autobiography of Me!" Any time they get to publish their writing in a book form, they are so motivated to write.

We started by filling out the planning page and then I modeled how to turn their ideas on the planning page into complete sentences in the book. Each book has a table of contents, blank photo boxes on each page, and a caption box for each picture. We also took time to review the different parts of a non-fiction book including the table of contents, headings, captions, photos, etc. I let my students choose whether they wanted to illustrate a picture on each page or whether they wanted to bring in real photographs of themselves. I would say about 90% of my class opted to bring in photographs. It was adorable to see them as babies!

These books turned out great and were a fun way to learn about autobiographies, non-fiction text features, and writing. If you'd like to check out more about this unit, you can click on the picture below to read more about my "It's All About ME! {A Mini Autiobiography Writing Unit}" on TpT. It includes the planning page, student booklet, autobiography poster, and an editable teacher autiobiography book!

Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) Freebie

I don't know about your students, but my students think that they have to guess at every answer after reading a text selection and answering questions about it! It's like they think they are going to get in trouble for going back in the text and finding the answer! To teach my students about the different types of questions, I use the QAR strategy. It teaches students about the 4 different types:

Right There- Questions whose answers can be found right in the text. Often, the words used in the question are the same words found in the text.

Think and Search- Answers are gathered from several parts of the text and put together.

Author and You- Answers to these questions aren't directly in the text. Students need to think about what the author has told them and what they already know about the topic.

On Your Own- Answers are not in the text- students need to think about their own personal experiences to answer.

After teaching my kiddos about the different types of questions (and doing LOTS and LOTS of practice!) they understand how to answer questions so much better. In a couple of weeks, we have a huge 2nd grade test- I'm hoping this strategy will help them feel more successful!

If you'd like to download the free QAR poster, just click on the picture below!

Celebrity Read Alouds

Today, my kiddos got to listen to a read-aloud by a celebrity. I'm serious. Melissa Gilbert (you know, from Little House on the Prairie) read the book My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother by Patricia Polacco to my class today. The kids were so entranced and completely wrapped up in the story. It was so fun!

........Okay, so maybe Melissa Gilbert didn't really come into our classroom, but we did get to hear her read this book to us on a new website that I just discovered- Storyline Online. A first grade teacher at my school introduced me to this website and it is absolutely amazing! Storyline Online is an online video-streaming program featuring SAG members (Screen Actors Guild) reading childrens books aloud! You can choose from many different stories including the following:

Harry the Dirty Dog (Read by the one and only Betty White)

Me and My Cat (Read by Elijah Wood from Lord of the Rings)
 

My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother (Read by Melissa Gilbert)



The stories have music in the background and the illustrations are highlighted to help make the book come to life. Each story has links for questions, related activities, and a downloadable activity guide. I am so excited to have found this little gem! My kids were BEGGING for another story at the end of the day while waiting for dismissal. I played the story on the Smartboard while they waited for the bell to ring- it was perfect! No more chaos while everyone eagerly awaited the bell to leave.

Be sure to check the website out when you get a chance- it's pretty cool! You could use this on your Smartboard, at computer centers, or any other way that you can imagine. Enjoy! =)


Guided Reading Progress and Interactive Writing

Last week, I decided it was time to reorganize my guided reading groups. My kids have made so much progress since the beginning of the year and their groups needed adjusted. Some kids jumped up several reading levels and needed to move out of one group and into another. That's what I love about flexible grouping in guided reading. The kids aren't "stuck" in one group. I can move them around easily depending on their needs at that time.

Since I needed to make changes, I collected the guided reading books out of their browing boxes. They keep these browsing boxes in their cubbies and bring them to guided reading when I call their group. They get out the book that they read the night before (this is in their guided reading bag) and reread it. This is when I take a running record on one of my students. When they are finished rereading the book, they place it in their browsing box. During reading workshop, they can choose from the books in our classroom library as well as the books in their browsing boxes. This is an easy way to help your kiddos that are struggling with fluency. Rereading familiar books helps them to read quickly and fluently. My students love reading books out of their browsing boxes because the books are at their level and are familiar to them. (Although lately they've been telling me, "These are sooo easy!")

Here is a pic of my guided reading table after collecting the books out of their browsing boxes...

 

It was crazy! You can't tell in the picture but I also had books on the window ledge, books on chairs, books everywhere! After putting all the books together, I bundled them up and placed them in the red bins that I use to keep my guided reading groups' books in.

 

 

It was so exciting to move up levels for each group and get rid of the lower books altogether. I used post-its to help me remember the level of each group while I was putting the books in the bins. (And yes... if you can read the post-its, I have a span of level from C to O!!!) Now we are all set for guided reading groups this week with new groups and new books! Woo hoo!

 

 Last week, we had an in-service about guided reading and one of the points that was brought up was that interactive writing can and should be incorporated into guided reading. To be honest, this is something that I hadn't really thought about and wasn't doing. I really liked the idea of having a 5 minute lesson using interactive writing at the end of guided reading with each group. The only problem was that I didn't have any sort of chart paper to use that was small enough for my guided reading table. My teammate, Casi, and I were brainstorming and thought that it would be easy to just cut a regular sized chart paper tablet in half. I already have a table pocket chart at my table, so I could just put the chart paper over it. Here's a couple pics of the table pocket chart before and after.

 

      



I'm so excited to start incorporating interactive writing in my guided reading groups. I think it will be especially beneficial for my lower readers and writers!

My Year in Preview and Fun with Fairytales Unit!

Happy New Year everyone! I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for me =) I have a feeling it's going to be a GREAT year!! I'm linking up with Michelle from Making It As A Middle School Teacher for her "Year in Preview" linky party. Here's what I have coming up:

I am especially looking forward to a weekend away with my husband in the Amish country. It is absolutely beautiful there and so relaxing. We love to shop for furniture and enjoy all of the delicious food (cheese and wine especially!) that you can find there. I also am already excited for our Field Day at the end of the year. Our PE teacher, Mr. L, always plans the most amazing field day for the kiddos and staff. Each year has a different theme and all 20+ rotations are centered around this theme. Last year was pirates and it was such a blast! He sets up a slip-n-slide on the hill in our school's backyard, water balloon sling shots, HUGE bounce houses, cornhole, and so much more. It is definitely the best day of the school year! (Alright- I am really getting ahead of myself here- we still have months until Field Day!)

For those of you going back to school tomorrow, I hope you have a great week back! I still have a few days off, so I've been planning for what my kiddos will be doing when we return. Before break, we started a fairytale unit and the kids have LOVED every minute of it! We've really only covered fairy tales so when we go back next week, I plan to focus on folktales and fables. If you're interested in checking out my "Fun with Fairy Tales, Folktales, and Fables" unit, click on the image below. (My favorite part of this unit is the fable writing activity. So fun!)

 

Happy New Year everyone!

 

Main Idea Madness and Then/Now Freebie

Happy Sunday everyone! I am having such a hard time finding time for everything so I apologize that my posts have been pretty few and far between. I wanted to share a couple of things with you today. First up, I have a FREEBIE for you! This past week, my students learned about how life in the past is different from life today. Two wonderful books for teaching about life in the past are:

Then and Now by Heather Amery

 

If You Lived 100 Years Ago by Ann McGovern

 

 

On Friday, my students did a T-chart partner activity to write and illustrate what life was like in different areas: shops, streets, railways, schools, family rooms, country, beaches, kitchens, garage/smithy, bedrooms, transportation, communication, clothing, games, jobs for women, and jobs for men. The kids worked in groups of two and really had to "synergize" with one another. Here are some pics of my kiddos hard at work =)

 

 

 

I gave my students copies of pages from the books to help with their ideas and illustrations. These turned out really great! I mounted the finished products on construction paper and hung them in the hallway. Check them out!

 

 

Don't you just love 2nd grade illustrations? They are too cute! If you'd like to download your FREE copy of these T-charts, just click on the image below. Enjoy!

 

 

Next up-- I am so excited to share the "Main Idea Madness" unit that I created. We've been using this unit over the past couple of weeks and it sure is helping! In the past, teaching my students about main idea and details is always a struggle. It is just such a hard concept for them to understand. My favorite part about this unit is that it starts out pretty easy and builds up to more challenging activities. In 2nd grade, students have to be able to identify the main idea of a text as well as the main idea in each paragraph of a multi-paragraph text. Whew! That's hard! After using the activities in this pack, they are beginning to understand =) Woo hoo! This unit is packed with reading passages, graphic organizers, and meaningful activities for your kiddos. If you'd like to check it out, just click on the image below!

 



 

Have a great week!

 

 





New Blog Design and Other Fun Stuff!

I am sooo excited about my new blog design! I was looking for something unique for my blog and came across Sour Apple Designs's DIY. I was thrilled to be able to design my own blog! It was fun, fast, and super easy to do. The hardest part was choosing all of the colors, fonts, and designs. What do you all think?! I still need to tweak a few things, but it's close to being finished. If you're interested in designing your own blog, I highly recommend this website. Click on the image below to learn more about it!

 

On to other fun things... I have some new products that I am excited to share with you! First up is the classroom timeline that I created to replace the one I used last year that was totally falling apart. I have this hanging in my classroom and as we learn about different events from history, we add the event card to the timeline. The kids love doing this! This kit includes includes:

 

*Timeline (starts at 1800 and ends at 2030)

*Directions for making the classroom timeline

*18 event cards that include dates for: George Washington, Harriet Tubman, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Graham Bell, the Washington Monument, Susan B. Anthony, Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., Neil Armstrong, Benjamin Franklin, Sojourner Truth, Thomas Edison, George Washington Carver, Helen Keller, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, Rosa Parks, and Barack Obama

Each event card has the date, name, and brief description of the event. Here is a picture of the timeline in my classroom:

 

 

It is a little bare right now, but will look more complete as we add events throughout the year. To learn more about this item, click on the picture below!

 

 

I also just completed a mini-unit on Christopher Columbus to celebrate Columbus Day on Monday, October 8th! This unit is packed full of meaningful activities to use on Columbus Day. Reading, writing, phonics, and math activities are all included. In this packet, you will find: a recommended book list, an original book titled "All About Christopher Columbus: A Biography of the Famous Explorer" (This book is written in kid-friendly language that your students will be able to understand!), an acrostic poem template, a character map of Christopher Columbus, ABC order practice, number stories that include true information about the explorer, and a R.A.F.T. writing activity (your students will pretend to be Christopher Columbus and write a letter to a family member explaining the voyage). Click on the image below to check it out!

 

 

Last, but not least, this week I am planning on teaching my students how to make predictions. I think it's so important for students to make predictions while they read, but equally important is explaining the thinking behind their prediction. Using evidence from the book to support their prediction is crucial. Otherwise students make wacky predictions without really thinking about the story. Tomorrow, I plan to read the book For the Love of Autumn by Patricia Polacco and fill out this chart with students' predictions during the story. I also plan to model my own predictions and use plenty of think alouds to explain how I made my predictions. I always tell my students "Reading is THINKING!"

 





 

Well I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I am loving this fall weather and spending time with my little family. Here is a pic of my son, Grady, and I at the apple orchard this weekend. We had so much fun! Have a great week =)

 

 

 



A Little Bit of Everything!

Warning - this post is very random! It's been a busy week (and it's only Tuesday!) so I have a little bit of everything to share. Over the past week, we've been learning about making connections. I explained to them that there were three different types of connections that good readers make: text to self, text to text, and text to world. It's so funny- as soon as I teach text-to-self connections, they all have connections to EVERYTHING in the story. (You know how these go- "I have a brother named Timmy also!" or "I have a shirt like that character.") So needless to say, we spent a lot of time talking about which text to self connections helped them to understand the story and which ones didn't. I think they get it now! After they learned about the three different types, I made this chart for the students to record their connections as they made them while reading. They wrote their connection on a sticky note and posted it on the chart. At the end of reading workshop, we shared some of the post-it notes on the chart.

In writing workshop this week, we are focusing on oral storytelling. We had several trainings last year about the importance of students orally telling their story before writing. This has proved to be very helpful! This week, I introduced the story structure chart that includes the rise and fall of a good story. It shows how there is a want/problem in the story, obstacles in the middle, and then a conclusion at the end where the problem either gets solved or doesn't. (We talked about how not all stories have happy endings where the character gets what they want.) After introducing this diagram, I read several stories that followed this structure. A couple of books include Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes and Thundercake by Patricia Polacco. Today, I modeled how to tell a story and traced my finger along the diagram to make sure that I included all of the parts of my story. Then, they got a turn to oral storytell to a partner. I had them sit "eye to eye and knee to knee" and trace their finger along the lines while telling their story.

The kids loved doing this! At the end of writing workshop, I had a few volunteers tell their story to the whole class. This really helps get them ready to transfer the ideas from their head onto paper. They can't wait to start writing!

Okay, now for the last piece of my random post- the desk fairy visited our classroom today after school! I found these cute little award coupons to give to students when you find nice, neat desks in your classroom at the end of the day.

I told the kids last week about the desk fairy and then totally forgot! They've been coming in the past few mornings and saying "Oh man.... the desk fairy must not have visited last night!" Today after school, I finally delivered some awards and even added a little bit of curly ribbon to spice it up. I am so excited for them to see who she visited tomorrow! =) I also learned that I need to remind them how to organize their desks because it took me quite a while to find two desks to award! Some of the desks looked like a tornado hit them. I'll do a little refresher tomorrow on organization!!

Well I hope everyone had a happy Tuesday. Tomorrow is hump day... hang in there!