Freebie Friday

I wanted to start something new on Fridays...

I have found great resources through the blogosphere and Teachers Pay Teachers, etc. and I want to share those with you! Here are some of my recent favorite freebies:

Since I've been blogging about the book study over at We Read, We Blog, We Teach,

I thought I'd share their post full of Daily 5 Freebies.

Sandy at Soaring Through Second has been sharing freebies for each day of her vacation!

One of my favorite blogs, Clutter Free Classroom, has flash freebies in the summer. 

And one of my TPT favorites is from Page & Christy- a free lesson for Popcorn and Movie Day!

Of course those movie days are educational!

Cafe: Chapter 2- The Cafe Notebook and Record-Keeping Forms

I'm following along with the Cafe book study over at We Read, We Blog, We Teach. Today I'm sharing my thoughts on Chapter 2, which just happens to be my very favorite part because it's all about organizing and office supplies. ;)

There were a few discussion questions that Katie posted about Chapter 2 that I will try my best to answer.

 

Discussion Question: How have you previously tracked students and kept track of data during your reading/writing workshop time? If you currently are doing something to the Sisters, what did you do before that?

I used to have file folders for each student. They were a place I kept everything I needed for conferences and assessments. They had first grade assessments (ones we used to check the students' skills coming into first grade), running records, trimester assessments, pretests, etc. They also had test scores from the NWEA MAP test we take. It was hard to keep them organized since it was easiest to throw the papers in the file. It was also easy to never look at them again, which wasn't very conducive to guiding my teaching.

Enter my Conferring Notebook/Brain/Pensieve that you can read about in this post.

As I was reading about how The Sisters select their notebooks one major thing jumped out- they search for the most beautiful notebook they could find. I love beautiful notebooks! :) When they are working with teachers, they often have Notebook Parties. We have those at our school, too! Before a meeting, the primary team meets and makes a big mess of scrapbook paper and stickers. You can see what I made last year in this post here. I'd definitely recommend it- we had a blast and we love hauling our notebooks and plan books around because they have been beauti-fied.

Back to the Conferring Notebook- Section 1 of The Sisters notebook holds Teacher Notes. A calendar and keeping track form are first. A tip from The Sisters: when you make copies of these, hole punch the calendar on the right side of the paper and the keeping track form on the left side or vice-versa. That way they are facing each other to make it more user-friendly. The calendar is used to write down "appointments" you make with small groups or individuals. The keeping track form is to keep an at-a-glance list of the dates you met with individual students.

You can read more about The Pensieve at The Daily Cafe website that The Sisters have created.

Discussion Question: What are your must have notes that you like to keep on your groups and individual students? Have you ever done something similar to the calendar to keep track of appointments with your students?

I used to write in my plan book which small group I was going to work with each time. It ended up to be meeting with each student in a small group two days a week but it was consistent and I wasn't meeting the needs of kids that should have been meeting with me more than twice a week.

Section 2 of the notebook holds individual tabs for each kiddo. In each tab, there is a Cafe Menu (to highlight the skills that students have mastered) and two conferring forms- one for reading and one for writing. I don't use the writing conferring form since I have a separate writer's workshop time.

Discussion Question: How do you plan on setting up your binders, or what do you plan on doing if you will not be using the notebook approach to monitor progress?

I will be using the same binder I have been using. I love that I have everything at my fingertips- assessments, notes, etc. I keep it with me all.the.time.

Do you have a particular type of binder or dividers that you use? Where do you tend to get them from?

I love, love, love my personalized binder from Zazzle. I'd recommend signing up for their e-mails, they have some really great deals! There is also a coupon code on The Daily Cafe website.

Cafe: Chapter 1- Introduction

I'm following along with the Cafe book study over at We Read, We Blog, We Teach.

Stephanie blogged about her thoughts from Chapter 1 here and I thought I would share mine.

One of the first things that The Sisters talk about in the chapter is the fact that their basal that they had to teach from wasn't meeting the needs of their students. Do you have a basal? We use Storytown by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. We've had it for a few years now but we did realize that it was fine for those average readers but our kids who were above or below grade level needed more.

At our school we do two reading blocks. One is "flex reading" where kids are put into groups by ability level. The other is a homeroom block where we have a heterogeneous group. We originally used this homeroom block for our basal and then supplemented materials for our shorter "flex" groups. After a few years of this, the first and second grade teachers got together because we knew there had to be a better way. I had been using some of the Daily 5 and Cafe strategies in my flex group because I was working on a project for my Master's Degree. We looked further into The Sisters' plans and decided that this is what kids needed, but it would mean a fundamental shift in the way we had been doing things. 

The first and second grade teachers proposed that we begin teaching basal in our flex groups so that we could use it for the main curriculum in the grade level groups but that we could also tailor it to meet the needs of our above and below grade level readers. We formulated a plan and brought it to our principal. I'm so glad she made us really work out how we were going to use our reading time because we all were on board and took ownership of how we were going to teach reading from now on.

Now we teach our basal in flex groups. The higher readers read the story maybe once or twice in the week and then use the skills and strategies that are taught in the basal in other literature. The below grade level groups read the story with guidance and work on the skills and strategies in texts at their levels. We aligned the Cafe strategies to correlate with our basal strategies and use those to teach our whole group Daily 5 lessons before the kiddos break into their choices. We work with small groups in our homerooms to focus on those strategies and others. We know our kids inside and out. They are getting their needs met in any class they are in. We feel better about what we are doing and why we are doing it. 

Phew! That's a long story but I'm so glad that we changed what we were doing. We really feel we are putting kids first now, instead of the scripted one-size-fits-all basal. 

Tomorrow Chapter 2 is due! Here is the calendar from We Read, We Blog, We Teach if you'd like to read along, too!

Winner and Cafe Book Study

The winner of last week's giveaway is...

Mrs. Jordan!

I will be e-mailing you shortly!

This week I'm following the Cafe Book Study over at We Read, We Blog, We Teach. If you aren't familiar with The Sisters, Daily 5, or Cafe, I definitely recommend checking out the blog or the links.

 I have been using Daily 5 for several years in my first and second grade classes. My team was lucky enough to get some professional development money to help us pay to see a two-day workshop by The Sisters a few years ago and we LOVED it. We were even talking about heading over to Chicago to see them again it was so good. 

The Daily 5 is a management tool to help you organize your class to allow you to use small group instruction to target different groups of readers. The Cafe, however, is the meat of the small group lessons. The Sisters have created four categories (Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, Expand Vocabulary) of traits that good readers possess. You use the lists under each category to create small groups of students who need to learn that specific trait. The Cafe book is awesome- it teaches you everything you need to help those kiddos!

I will be reading along with the book study and sharing my ideas here. 

Some questions for you and a giveaway!

Quick update: I think the Homegrown Doodle font link in this post works for downloading! Lauralee tried it after I sent her the link and it worked for her! Thanks for helping me figure that out Lauralee! Just right-click and click on "Open in new tab" or "Open in new window" and it should open up a blank tab but it will also download something. Hopefully! :)

As I was walking in to Target and saw the school supply banners hanging near the carts suddenly it was like summer was on fast forward. I feel like I have to plan, plan, plan!

I know I have a good chunk of summer left before I go back for teacher workshops at the end of August but I have been thinking about school a lot lately. Like at 4am. Ugh! I even had a dream that it was the first day of school and my principal came in and told me I was switching grade levels!

I have a few things that I'd like to change in my classroom and I'd be ever so grateful if you would share your ideas with me. For a little incentive, I'll pick a random comment and send that person some teaching goodies from Target. How about it?

First- attendance. How do you do it? I've tried the Popsicle sticks in cups, a list of choices with velcro that the kids stick their names on (see photo)...what do you use? If it makes a difference, we usually have three lunch choices (home lunch, hot lunch, alternate lunch).

Next- helpers. In the past when I've looped first and second grades I usually have groups of helpers that change daily in first grade (we call these their color groups and there are usually about four kiddos in each group). Whenever something comes up during the day, I just ask that group of kids to help out. The following year I have a boy helper and girl helper each day. I put all the boys names on a ring and the girls names on a ring and just flip them daily. It usually ends up being a different combination of kids which is nice! How do you use helpers? How often do you rotate them?

Word Work boxes are also tricky for me. I use Daily 5 and have for many years. I find that the older the kids are the less they want to practice their spelling words with the boxes I have. I have tried play dough, Wikki Stix, stamps, whiteboards, scented markers, letter tiles, etc. I want the kiddos to be more accountable for working during their Word Work time. In the stamping box we have a sheet that has headings of "Stamp" and "Write." I think most of the time they just color or stamp people's names. Any ideas on how I can improve these boxes and accountability?

My biggest overhaul will be Writer's Workshop. It ALWAYS gets put on the back-burner for something else. I need to be more consistent and have a plan of action. Can you recommend any books that I should read before school starts? Or have any ideas? We've been asked to use 6+1 Traits and we do grade three writing prompted pieces based on the traits (one prompt per trimester). We also have a writing curriculum embedded in our basal but it is d.r.y. I want kids to love to write!

Okay-  think that those are my three questions for now. At least they were the ones that kept me up from 4-5am this morning. 

Thanks for your help! I will choose a random comment on Friday morning and send out some teacher goodies to that lucky duck! Be sure to leave your e-mail address for me so I can contact you! (A little tip- if you want to keep your e-mail safe and avoid any spammers that may be lurking about, just enter your e-mail address with spaces in between and "at" instead of @. For example "janedoe at gmail" or "teacher at hotmail dot com.")

Trimester 3: Checking In

We all know how antsy kids get in the spring. Our spring has been full of odd weather so my class is definitely out of sorts. Our staff also found out that our school will be changing from having looping classes for grades 1-2 and 4-5 to having first grade stand alone and looping 2-3 and then 4-5. Our principal had us fill out a wish list of grades we would like to teach and we haven't heard her final staffing decisions yet. 'Tis the season for changes for next year!

Here is an update on my goals for Trimester 3:

1. Change Daily 5 Stations

          My students are starting to use some of the word work boxes in ways in which they are not intended 

          (ahem- play dough). I plan to make them more accountable for practicing their spelling words.
          Update- success! My plan is working! We started Daily 5 notebooks and now the students write their choices for each round daily. I check their notebooks each day when they meet with me for Daily 5. So far I've seen a good improvement in their spelling scores! I've also added easy and creative ideas for them to use during Word Work. 

    2. Write More

      

        I am going to have them write more across all areas of curriculum, making sure they have proper 

        sentence structure.
        Update- going well so far! I have been trying to plan more cross-curricular lessons and using writing in them. We've been writing poems about insects in our poetry books, writing letters to characters in stories, and working more on proper grammar.

    3. More Consequences

        This sounds bad but I don't mean it to be. I need to hold the kids more accountable for their actions

        and this means creating consequences and following through.

        Update- I've started a rainbow behavior chart that some other classes are having success with. The kids all start on green and can move "up" to blue and purple by being good listeners and going above and beyond our expectations for behavior. They move down if I need to remind them of the expectations. It is going fantastically. I've had a few kids on purple (which is really hard to get!) and they get a note home to Mom and Dad. I've been pairing that with my beaded key chains from #5 and if they are green or blue at the end of they day they earn a bead for their key chain. If they are on purple they get to choose a special bead. The kids LOVE it and it has been extremely motivating. To be honest, it has worked better than I thought it would.

    4. Change Their Line Order

         I have been having them line up in all sorts of orders to mix them up- by birthdays, last names, 

         first names, etc. but I think I'm going to have to have them boy/girl from now on. 

         Update- we did have boy/girl lines for awhile but the behavior chart has led me away from that. The kids are making great choices to try to move up so we don't need assigned places anymore.

    5. Create Brain Builders

         I found this idea on Pinterest and I think I'm going to try it in my room. I was trying to figure out a 

         way to teach all the skills from the NWEA MAP tests and I think this might be the ticket. I am going

         to make different cards on rings for some of the strands and let the kids learn them in their free time.

         I have a list of things to start with and I'm already working on some synonym/antonym cards. I plan

         to start this after spring break, though, so we have a good amount of time.
         Update- I've printed and laminated some of the cards but haven't used them in the way that I intended. I use them for small and large group lessons but not as independent work. They don't earn beads for these but the cards are great for reinforcement and review.

Reading Pensieve

I wrote in an earlier post about how much I love using the Daily 5/Cafe method in class. I had tried Daily 5 in my homeroom and it was working well but something wasn't quite right. Luckily for me, The Sisters (Joan and Gail) were coming to do a 2 day workshop about Daily 5 and Cafe that summer and it was literally just a few miles away from my house. Yes, it was pricey, but my whole grade level team decided to go and we actually got some professional development money to offset the cost. It was the best money I've ever spent. Two days with other teachers, Gail and Joan (who are hilarious, informative, and SO kind!), and meals and snacks...heaven. I'd go again in a heartbeat and I recommend their workshop (especially the 2 day) to my teacher friends.

Check out the Daily Cafe website for more information about their books and methods.

One of the main components of Daily 5/Cafe is small group and individual reading instruction. The Sisters organize their paperwork and all of their notes in something they call a Reading Pensieve. If you remember, Harry Potter's mentor Dumbledore had a "pensieve" that he kept all his most treasured thoughts in. That's basically what this binder is- notes about your students as readers.

I wanted to share with you my Reading Pensieve (or "My Brain" as I sometimes refer to it with my students) so you can get an idea of what is inside. The Sisters have downloads for most of the pages I am referring to but you might have to be a member. They are also available in their book, The CAFE Book, which has a CD of printables.

Here is the cover of my Pensieve. I custom-made and ordered the binder from Zazzle.com. It was pricey but I have a birthday dangerously close to the start of school and there is a promo code here and if you sign up for the Zazzle e-mails the deals are even better.

Here is what's inside:

I've kept some essential tools in my pencil pouch in the front- highlighter, pen, etc.

The main tabs are "Keeping Track," "Whole Group," "Small Groups," "Reading Data," and "Students."

In the "Keeping Track" section, I have a calendar for the year. This allows me to make appointments with students and small groups- and keep them! If I tell a student I will meet with them in two days, I can write that in my calendar and remember to follow up.

In the "Whole Group" tab, I have several lesson plans that are available on The Daily Cafe to help me teach my mini-lessons in a whole group setting.

In the "Small Groups" section, I have lots of notes about the different small groups I teach during Daily 5. Above, you can see that this group was working on chunking and blending. I write a quick note to myself about what they did and then, to the right, the members of the group and how they seemed to do with those skills that day. I use a + if they seemed to understand, a check if they did okay but might need more reinforcement, and a - if they will definitely need more help with this strategy.

One photo I don't have is what is in the Reading Data tab- this section is basically for the students' reading scores on running records and the NWEA MAP tests for easy access for me.

In the "Student" section, I have a tab for each student in my class. In each one I've put a Cafe menu, another printable from the website to collect data when I meet with individuals during Daily 5.

One document I did not take a photo of is my check-in sheet for Daily 5. During Daily 5, the students can choose from five different options: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, Word Work, and Listen to Reading. In my class, students must choose Read to Self sometime during our three rounds. They can only do Listen to Reading twice during the week. I keep track of their choices using an Excel spreadsheet I created. I typed in each student's name, laminated it, and then jot down their choice each round with a Vis a Vis marker. I have a code system: R is Read to Self, RS is Read to Someone, W is Work on Writing, WW is Word Work, and L is Listen to Reading. Would you like a copy? I have a Google Doc just for you! Please note- this document only has enough spots for three choices each day since that is how many we have in my class. Also, I only keep track of their choices on a weekly basis (which is why I laminated the sheet and can wipe it off easily) because I found it was wasting quite a bit of paper to keep track longer.