Writing to Demonstrate Learning Idea

Remember how we used "Wordle" at the beginning to collect our thinking about student outcomes?  Fourth grade has used wordle as a way to develop WTDL prompts.  Check this example from Mrs. Forseth's class...

Quality

The saying goes, "garbage in, garbage out"

This is so true when it comes to developing our students to be deep thinkers and quality writers.  The texts we choose to read to and with our students must be of sound quality.  They must have characters worth knowing, themes worth contemplating, messages worth hearing, and writing worth reading.  Text presented to students must be carefully selected and purposeful.  Students need to learn the difference between texts that will "grow their brains and make them smarter" and texts that are read for entertainment.  As teachers, we need to model the difference and help students select books that will build them as readers and thinkers, as well as serve as mentors for writing.  So, before pulling a book off the shelf, be sure to reflect on the purpose of your choice and the  quality.  Our kiddos deserve the best mentor texts and independent reading material we can muster.

Poetry for Children

I've been working this week in a third grade classroom with students as they explore writing poetry.  And most of you know how I am... always on the look-out for fresh and relevant resources to add to my stockpile! I search for blogs, web sites, and books that push me a bit.  I want resources to help me plan, but I also search for mentors that push me to see beyond the obvious and ordinary...things that will inspire students and me.  I stumbled on the Poetry for Children blog and simply got lost in the links to poets.  There are so many links on this blog that are well worth sharing with students.  Many are interactive, multi-media, and insightful.  If you are exploring poetry with your students, check out this blog...(I also put a link on our blog list for easier access)

http://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com/

Teaching that Makes Sense

I found this site that seems to align with our thinking about reading and writing.  Take a look and let me know what you think.  I'll also add it to our link list for easier access.

http://www.ttms.org/index.htm

Writing to build background knowledge

As we work to build background knowledge with our students using non-fiction text, consider writing about reading structures that will enhance student understanding as well as build schema.  Here is a video from ASCD of a fifth grade class using such a strategy.  Teachers of younger grades, think about how you could adapt this strategy in your classrooms.

Rick Lavoie Video - Processing

Watch this video and then reflect on the message Rick Lavoie is sending to us.  Spend a moment thinking about what this means to you as an educator and for the kids in your classroom.

Message from the Math Vertical Team

These are the place value illustrations we decided on in Vertical Teams today-



All grades:
Ones with a dot
Tens with a stick/strip/rod/long
Hundreds with a square/flat/mat

Primary grades: 1,000 with a long rectangle (representing how 10 squares/flats/mats put together in one strip will make a long rectangle).

At the end of 2nd grade, teachers will demonstrate to students how you can also stack the 10 groups of a hundred to form a cube.

3rd grade--begin representing 1,000 as a cube. Still demonstrate that 10 squares/flats/mats in one long rectangle is the same as 10 squares stacked together to form a cube.

4th & 5th: 1,000 is a cube

All grades will be mindful of using the vocabulary words interchangeably (ex. strip/rod) as well as showing students various ways to represent base ten amounts.

An idea that was mentioned for primary grades using Calendar Math--throughout the year, change what creates your "bundle" of ten. Instead of always representing a bundle as ten straws, use crayons or popsicle sticks. This will help begin to form the idea in the minds of our students that numbers can be represented in a variety of ways.

Thanks everyone!

Kyle