inferring with poetry

Eraser and the School Clock is a poem by Gary Soto. It was on the 5th grade MCAS reading comprehension test a few years ago. The poem is about a child struggling through a math test. During the test he/she starts daydreaming about time stopping. Teachers are frozen in time, but not him. He dreams of going out to the schoolyard to hit homeruns. Children need to have strong inferencing skills to tackle this poem. As you can see from the poster I wrote key phrases from the poem in which the student would have to infer.Student responses could be put on the right side.Christine

can't live without these books

Here is my list for the top ten picture books for 4th/5th graders. I am answering  Cathy's challenge http://reflectandrefine.blogspot.com/  from her blog 1. The Watertower by Gary Crewes. Boys love this book. Its science fiction which is really hard to find in a picture book.  The pictures have "clues" hidden in them. I had to read this book three times and really STUDY the illustrations to understand it.

2. Mysteries from History: The Mary Celeste written by Jane Yolen. She wrote four of these books but this one is my favorite. The text features are really interesting as well. If you can get the kids hooked on this one they will read all four.  

3. My Freedom Trip by Frances Park. I love this suspenseful story about a child escaping  from North Korea.4. Phillis Wheatley: A voice of Her Own. This is a beautiful picture book about a fascinating American poet.A great choice if you teach American History to kids because the setting is Boston during the Revolutionary War.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  5. El Chino by Allen Say. Wonderful story about a Chinese-American who wants to be a bullfighter. Its a great book to use to teach the theme: Be yourself.

6. and 7. Eve Bunting is the best. It is hard for me to just pick one of her books for my top ten so I will pick two: Train to Somewhere and Gleam and Glow.

8. Netties Trip South by Anne Turner. This story, written as a letter to a friend back home, is about the conditions of slaves in the south right before the Civil War. Nettie witnesses a slave auction and it changes her perspective on her own life.

9. Molly Bannaky by Alice McGill. Molly becomes an indentured servant and moves to the American Colonies. Great choice if you teach American History as well.  (She is also the grandmother of Benjamin Banneker).

10. Up North In The Mountains by Marsha Wilson Chall is an easy book to make connections to . Its about a child who has fond memories of her days at the lake with her grandparents.Hope you enjoyed my list! Christine

I'm trying to share the good stuff

I found myself in here a few times. Maybe you will too. Christine

From Geeky Mommas Blog

An Open Letter to Teachers (My 2 Cents)


Bud Hunt wrote an excellent, thought-provoking blogpost, An Open Letter to Teachers, that gave me just the lift I needed today as I get ready to return to school in two days. I urge you to read the full text from Bud, but just a few things he suggests are that teachers:





Try hard not to work all the time.

Take learning risks; for yourself and your students.

Be a good role model for your students.



and my personal favorite:



Need no one's permission to postpone a due date or modify an assignment for the benefit of a student.



Any time I've had parents express concern over an assignment, my response is to offer to modify the assignment and to ask what the parent feels the child is capable of doing. This is typically not where the parent was going and usually diffuses a potential confrontation. There are however, times when I've made modifications based on individual needs and it has meant the difference between success and failure for the student.









I'd like to add my own 2 cents to Bud's list; just a few more suggestions. Please add more of your own in the comments.

Eat!

Eat lunch every day with another adult. Do not eat alone in your classroom while you work. It's important to have some adult time during the day.

Draw big circles.

Circle items in your plan book that you didn't get to. Get to it the next day. When you rush just to get through something, you're not doing your students any favors.

Ask and you shall receive.

Build an online Personal Learning Network of colleagues using Classroom 2.0, Facebook or Twitter where you can go, after hours, and share resources and ask for help. Do not add students or parents (current or past - unless they are truly like family to you) to your Facebook friends.

Beware of The Energy Suckers

You know who they are. The teachers who have nothing nice to say, complain all the time and won't go away? Learn to look at your watch and say, "I have a meeting"or just don't encourage the conversation. It's difficult for one person to carry on a conversation entirely alone when all the other person does is smile and nod their head.

Enjoy the Autonomy

Having been in the classroom for 26 years and district admin for 5, I can tell you that classroom teachers have a lot of autonomy. Enjoy the fact that you can get a creative idea and implement it the next day if you like. Everyone above you must jump through flaming hoops of red tape in order to move anything forward. Believe me.

Beg forgiveness

Should you ask permission for everything or beg forgiveness for a few, if any, mistakes? I say, beg forgiveness. Your students will be better off. Just don't be stupid; after all we don't want to read about you in the paper.

Be realistic

As an elementary teacher, my first day of school motto has always been, "If they get lunch and they get home, the day's been a success!"



Bud says, "And share the good stuff. Your stories are all human ones, and they are all special, just as each one of you, and each of your students, is special. There is always someone curious about what you’re up to."

using mosaics in the classroom

Mosaic for Bud, Not Buddy    http://bighugelabs.com/mosaic.php

I used a Flickr (big blue labs) to create this mosaic for a story I read with the 5th graders, Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. A mosaic could be used to discuss the narrative elements of a story.The teacher could make the mosaic for class discussion or the students could make them as a classroom project. You could also ask the children to provide text based evidence as to why they chose each picture. Mosaics can also be printed and displayed on a poster board.
Christine

Sythesizing lesson

I got this lesson directly out of Debbie Miller's book Reading With Meaning. At first glance the book seems to be written for primary teachers. I've read it a few times and I got a lot out of it for teaching 4th/5th grade.Synthesizing is the most difficult of all of the reading strategies to teach. I really like this lesson because it is easy to see how the readers thinking changes. Those key words: I'm thinking, At first I thought...but now I'm thinking are so important to model with kids. They need to have plenty of experiences with text in which they come across new information and it changes their mind about what is really happening with the characters. I received a class set of Smoky Night by Eve Bunting from Donors Choose so I am able to do this lesson whole group. Christine

culture/customs

What is culture? What are customs? Nim and the War Effort  by Milly Lee is a great book to help children understand what it is like to grow up in another culture. I have the students look for text based evidence of Chinese culture under these three categories:

• mealtimes and food
• language
• other customs

You can also use Nim and the War Effort to teach theme and conflict.

Another great picture book choice when you explore the concept of culture/customs is Encounter by Jane Yolen. This book is about a Taino indian boy who meets Columbus. It fits in nicely with my 5th grade American History curriculum but I also like it because it is told from a different point of view. Elementary grade children are so familiar with the story of Columbus. This book turns that story on its head. It really helps children think about what they are reading. Christine

companion books

Eve Bunting is one of my favorite authors. I love to read Train To Somewhere with my class. It is the story of an orphan who is sent on an "orphan train" trom NY to the Midwest in hopes of being adopted. The genre is historical fiction. Orphan trains did really exist in the U.S. in the early 1900's. I really enjoy combining fiction and nonfiction related to the same subject. The story Ophan Train Riders is the perfect companion piece. It is the true story of Lee Nailing, a child who travelled on the orphan trains. You feel like you are with Lee as he travels on his journey in hopes of finding a loving family. You can see from my poster the BIG Question that arises: Why were their so many orphans? Great opportunity for further research but the book does give you the reasons in a clear cut way. Christine