Paideia Seminar: Part One

Recently, our school AIG teacher lead an afternoon of Common Core PD.  I have to admit, I was skeptical at first.  When I heard we were learning about "seminar" I thought, "How in the world does this pertain to my kids?" I had never heard of it and knew it was introduced to 5th grade by her earlier on in the year.. All I could think was "I really hope this afternoon is not going to be a waste!"  It definitely wasn't.

For anybody who hasn't heard of Paideia Seminar, it's basically a way to get kids holding conversations about pretty much anything.  It requires kids to listen to what other's are saying and be an active participant by responding to what other participants are talking about (Common core!).  In a perfect world, the facilitator (YOU) would just have to ask some questions and then the kids will lead the way.  In many cases, you may just have to ask an opening question and that will get the kids talking, listening, responding, connecting to a text, to their life, to what others are saying.. They answer the questions you had on your plan without even being asked because they are thinking deeply about the text and building on what others bring to the table. Oh, you just MIGHT have to stop them if you run out of time (Awe shucks)!

We held our first seminar last week (our AIG teacher came in a facilatated for us!).  It was definitely less than perfect but for our first one, I was happy.  First, the kiddos read a short passage and wrote down anything they were thinking. This story was about a horse who really wanted to be a tap dancer.  So she practiced and practiced.  When she thought she was good enough, she held a recital for her friends.  Her friends were less than impressed.  They told her she could not dance, she was just an animal like the rest of them.  The horse didn't let her friends get to her and continued to dance which made her very happy!

 



We went over rules (Coming to a post soon!) and set up our chairs in the circle so that everyone knew we were all equal contributors to the conversation.

 

Then of course came the conversation.  We talked about things like how the horse felt.  Had there ever been a time where you felt like that?  How did you handle it?  Did the friends make the right decision when they told her she couldn't dance?  What would you have done?  Would you have told the horse the truth?  Is it ever OK to lie to someone if you are going to hurt their feelings?  

 

The conversation needed A LOT of prompting from our facilitator.  But our goal is to be able to hold meaningful and purposeful conversations where we are able to link back to the text and are comfortable enough to share our own thoughts and questions.  Hopefully without a lot of prompting from me!  All in all, I am so excited to use this more frequently in my room and only wish I knew about it at the beginning of the year!

 

Keep a look out for more Seminar posts coming soon  (Rules, A Seminar Plan, Choosing texts, and more) so you can hold a seminar in your room (From grades K-12)!  

Animal Experts... Research in a Primary Classroom

How many times do your kids do a research project during the school year?  With the new CC Standards, I think we are going to see more and more research projects being done in classes throughout the country more often.  This year in my room, we've done a number of research projects, including a U.S. Symbols Project, a Black History research project, and currently, an Animal Expert Project (This unit hopefully coming soon).  The kids l.o.v.e. these projects because they get to pick what they learn about.

To start our Animal Experts project, we previewed LOTS of books, this way, the kids don't choose just any ole animal.. Dogs= BORING... Cats=Snooze fest!!.. Porcupines?= Fabulous... Armadillo?=Wonderful!! My kids are researching animals and insects like a bee, an ant, a lady bug, a toucan, arctic fox, polar bear.  They are learning all about some animals they never even knew existed.  Oh, did I mention it goes with our science unit on Animals & Life Cycles??

Then, we used our non-fiction books and the computers to jot important notes about the animals appearance, diet, habitat, predators, life cycle, and fun facts.  Here's a little freebie for you...

To do some internet research, we used PebbleGo.. a seriously awesome website that is perfect for K-2 kiddos!

You need a subscription to use it, but they do offer a free 2 week trial if you want to check it out.  The site has great features, like videos, maps, and a read aloud option.  Here are my kids doing some computer research...

 

All of this took us just about a week (Choosing an Animal, Researching with Books, Researching Using Internet).. but we also have done a good number of research projects that we dont have to talk about what's important to stop & jot, what I expect etc. 

Now, we are beginning to write and this time I decided to give them the freedom to write their expert book in anyway they choose, as long as they included nonfiction text features, and some type of organization (which of course, I model, model, model)  I'm scared of what some kids may do, but others are already off to a great start..I'll just have to steer those other ones in the right direction.

When we're all done with our expert books, we are going to create and present powerpoint presentations about our animal!  They are so excited.  Keep a look out for that post coming in the next few weeks!



I blame it on the moon

You ever have one of those days where you go home, you have a splitting headache, you are exhausted, and you are just thinking, "What in the world got into my kids today?"  Silly questions right?  Oh boy did I have one of those days today.   Boys punching and tackling each other and getting sent to the office, out of control chattiness, extra lots of calling out, redirecting, annoying classmates, and Ms. G at 1:35 wishing the art teacher luck and I going to collapse in her room.  I'm a racking my brain thinking, "What in the world happened today?.. this is not normal.." Then it hits me.. yup... I BLAME IT ON THE MOON.. THE FULL MOON to be exact.  

I hate that full moon.  I don't really understand how it has an effect of the classroom or the kids.. and it's still even 3 days away (The day of our Seussical Performance ahhh!).. but boy was today exhausting.  I'm hoping the effects of the full moon have entered and exited my children's bodies, but a guess a girl can only hope.  

One of my kids comes up to me today & asks for a snack (We usually have some community snacks for those lovelies who forget or usually come without one).. Well, my snack cabinet is empty.  I mean cobwebs empty.  When I tell them I don't have any, one of my other loves comes up to me and says, "Well, I guess you better get yourself to the grocery store to get some.." Whaaat?  Where did my sweet little ones go? 

OK, off of my rant on the full moon... for now.  Onto some fluency chat!  How do you promote oral and silent reading fluency?  Did you know that around the age of 7 and 8, students are just gaining the ability to bring their eyes ahead in the text while reading the words they've already read?  Because I totally didn't.  Recently, my grade level team had a meeting with a woman who is head of a research study being conducted in our schools about Whole to Part instruction (info on this will come at a later date) .  She explained to us that children can read quite a significant number of words more fluently if they are doing silent reading as opposed to out loud and that constant out loud reading can have a deterred effect on their eye/reading coordination.. does that make sense?  And lets think about it... if they are reading out loud to your or someone all of the time, they are reading a significantly less number of words in just 15 minutes.  I'll have to look up the exact numbers, I can't remember.

Well, one way I promote both silent and oral reading fluency is by doing the following...

With my lowest kid who is in a group of his own, we read 1-2 passage a week that we also use to focus on word i.d. skills.  When he and I meet on the first day, I ask him to read the passage to himself silently and underline any words he doesn't know.  Most of the time, he can figure out the words after he's gone through the passage in it's entirety.  If there's one he doesn't know, we try to figure it out together.  Once we've figured it out, he reads the story again, silently to familiarize himself with it.  The third time, I ask him to read it out loud to me.  Then I ask him to illustrate the story to show his understanding.  The next day, he will read the story again, 1 time to himself, 2 times outloud to me.  The passages go in a binder with flashcards on the words we are working on and sent home each evening/ returned to school each day.  These then become part of his reading HW and he feels comfortable with it because hes already read the passages 6+ times.  Bonus: Seeing & Reading all those words over & over & over again is building his word i.d.  Now only if we could figure out his spelling....

For my other kids, we have been working on read aloud plays and oh my word do they L.O.V.E. it!  Currently we are working on Fairy tales and this has been their favorite.  When I make my groups, this is how they work.

Day 1: Give students the play, ask them to read the ENTIRE play silently to themselves 2x before we meet the next time.

Day 2: Talk about how the characters sound during each part and how they might be acting.  Practice together.

Day 3: Students read the play again to themselves, imagining how the characters sound in their head.  Maybe a whole group run through (Students are NOT assigned a part to memorize or know.. instead they are expected to know the whole play and each time we practice, they pick a character out of a hat)

Day 4: Whole group practice (Again pick out of a hat- students will most likely be a different character this time)

Day 5: Performance (Pick out of a hat for the performance- it keeps everyone accountable for reading and knowing the whole play and building their fluency for every single part!

And that's pretty much it.  Seriously  y'all, they really love these plays!  Here are some websites I've found that are great for finding and printing plays people have made from many many wonderful stories (Word of Warning- These plays are by no means "cute" but it's important that students practice with the typical 12 pt font.. this also builds their reading skills..)

Stories to Grow By

Reading Lady

Teaching Heart

The Best Class

Well- I guess that's all for today!  I hope you gained some ideas for building your students fluency in your room! :)  

Oh yea- What is the craziest thing that has ever happened in your room during a Full Moon?

  

Conferring with your Kiddos

One-on-one meetings are the ultimate confidence builders for students.  They’re especially effective as follow-ups to (instruction), when students practice a strategy.  Your undivided attention to each child makes them feel that you care about their learning and will try to help them understand and improve (Robb 1998, 7-8).

What do you think about conferences with your students?   Personally, I love them!  Just like the quote above, they build student's confidence, and give me information to help them. These conferences are great to give you quick information about a wide range of different information! 

When you think of "Individual Conferences" I bet your mind veers straight to Reading.  Was I right?  Well, what about Math? Just a quick "How did you solve this problem?" is a conference that gives you valuable information.  Does your student get it?  How are they thinking about the problem?  Can they explain it?  Will their thinking cause any problems down the road?  Are they confident?  How can you help them?  Etc..etc...etc...

To link conferences with the Common Core, My fiancee, Justin, made these awesome conferring forms that I seriously LOVE! 

The Reading Conference form considers text complexity, which is one of the 6 major shifts in the Common Core.  Is this the right book for your student?  Is it not complex enough?  Too complex?  Just Right?  Not sure exactly what to consider when determining whether the text is complex or not?  There is an added "rubric" I'll call it.. to help you determine whether the book is right for your student.

The Math Conference form takes the 8 Common Core Mathematical Practices into consideration.  The Math Practices are listed at at the top so you can check off which practice(s) the student is working on.. as well as your observations, your coaching, and action/goals for next time.  I know that you will just love these forms and you will get great use out of them..  You can purchase them by clicking on one of the pictures below... :)  Happy Conferring!!

             

December Currently & Book Talks! :)

Linking up with Farley over at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade for her December currently!  So here goes...

This past weekend, there was a terrible tragedy in my home community.  Four high school students were on their way back home from a basketball game, minding their own business, when a careless drunk driver quickly switched lanes and rear ended the students car.  The car rolled, and finally came to a stop, but not before 2 of the students, a highschool football star, and softball pitcher were killed.  The 2 other passengers (The girlfriend and boyfriend of the 2 who were killed) were taken to the hospital and are doing well considering.  I'm asking that you please keep the families and friends of these kids in your thoughts and prayers over the next couple weeks as they deal with terrible heartbreak and confusion at what has happened and how their lives are forever changed.  Sometimes God takes people for a reason we will never know, but Chris & Deanna must have been more needed beyond the gate of Heaven than here on Earth.  It just pray the family can cherish all the good times they had with their loved ones and I thank God for every breathe I take.

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Ok..now that I got that out...onto a not so sad note.  Have you tried Book Talks in your room?  The Common Core calls for a bigger emphasis on Speaking and Listening skills and Book Talks are the PERFECT way to do it.  Here's how we do it in my class.. This is not my idea but I got this FAB idea from one of my awesome teammates and I just loved it.  

 After we have had a lot of discussion about the elements of a story, talked about predictions, questioning while reading, and author's purpose...we start our book talks!

Students are given a partner that I strategically place them with (Whaaaat? I never do that...) Partners each read the same book and write down their thoughts as they are reading.  THEN, the fun begins!  We talk all about being an active listener and responding to what your partners is saying, how to politely disagree and get your point across, and how to ask your partner questions based on what you thought or what they've just said. We also talk about making eye contact, etc.  It takes a while to get them into the routine of having a conversation about their book, rather than just reading off of their sheet but after some modeling and a few practice rounds, they've gotten pretty good at it.

WAIT, that's not it!! After some practice, we begin TAPING our booktalks!  Yes, taping.  Why you ask?  Well- this way, we can watch the book talk in action, give compliments on what students are doing well, and give suggestions for what they should work on.  It gives the students a GREAT way to reflect on how they are doing.  And they practice their speaking and listening skills.  Awesome right?  Obviously, this doesn't happen overnight.  It takes a lot of prompting, practicing, and learning- but once they've got it down, you can be confident that your students can have a meaningful book talk with someone, which also probably means they'll be a bit better at normal everyday conversation.. MAYBE? :)

Anyway- Click here to get these organizers to use in your room.  If you decide to use this, or a variation.. let me know how it works out!  I'm always looking for ways to make things better!  Only 7.5 days until break..Phew!

Don't forget to link up with Farley!!

Later Y'all!

Non-Fiction Fun and a few Freebies!

Thanks to this handy dandy book....

...I have had a lot of success launching my non-fiction unit this year.  I love Debbie's ideas.. especially the conventions notebook & wonderbox (which my kids have also enjoyed!)

We just started last week on Monday.  This is how our week went last week with our Reader's Statements...

Monday- Reader's know that non-fiction texts are different than fiction texts

Tuesday- Reader's make predictions about what they will learn in non-fiction texts

Wednesday- Reader's know they don't have to read a non-fiction text from front to back.

Thursday- Reader's can compare and contrast fiction & non-fiction texts.

Friday- Reader's can notice and remember new learning from a non-fiction text. (Incorporating Schema, and connecting new learning with what we already knew).

For comparing and contrasting Fiction with Non-Fiction, I asked students to come to the carpet with a fiction book and a non-fiction book.  Then, I actually gave each student a Venn diagram.  We talked about what we use Venn diagrams for and how we would fill this one out.  Then, I asked students to work with their reading budding to search their books to find similarities and differences in both texts.  

Click the picture to get a copy of the venn diagram for students to fill out.

They did a really great job on this!  Probably a little bit due to the fact that I strategically assigned their partners.. Whaaat? Teachers never do that.. do they?

So the thing that they were MOST excited about is our Wonderbox!  We've only done it once, but even on FRIDAY AFTERNOON (Yes, Friday afternoon) when we had only about 3 minutes left before the dismissal bell rings, my kiddos are asking, "Ms. G, do we have enough time to figure out a wonderbox question?" I felt awful saying no :(.  Ok, so our Wonderbox (Thanks to Debbie Milller) is just a box in our classroom where students write questions about things they are wondering.  Here is the handy dandy little slip they fill out...

When they have something they are wondering, they write down the questions and drop it in our Wonderbox.  Then, 2-3 times per week, we pull one question out of the box and see if we can find the answer.  This has taught them to think about.. "Hmm, where will we find the answer to this question?? Oh probably in the weather books in the weather bin!" We have also talked about giving credit to the right person and citing our information by writing the title of the book where we found the information, the author, and the page number.  We will build up to using online sources as well.  We have a "Look what we've learned from our non-fiction books" bulletin board.  Students will make small posters that have the question, the answer, and the citation for each Wonderbox question we complete.  

Now- what happens if we can't find the answer to the questions?  What else than to ask other people?  But we all know that's nearly impossible with our crazy days.  So we put up a bulletin board outside of our classroom that says. "We can't find the answers to these questions, can you help us?- Don't forget to tell us where you found your information! Here's an example.." (Pointing to an example)  We attached markers to the paper with string and will check it everyday to see if anybody was able to answer our hard to find questions!  Wish I had a picture of it, but I forgot to take one!

So the last thing we did this week that y'all might like..  On Friday, when I introduced noticing and remembering new learning, we talked a lot about Schema, thinking about what we already knew about the topic we were going to read about, and then keeping track of our new learning on sticky notes.  I referred to the schema as a "File" in their head that stored all of the information about that topic. I had a big file folder cut out of poster paper.  We put what we already knew about weather on one side of the open folder on sticky notes.  Then, we read a book about weather and kept track of our new learning on a different color sticky note and put it on the opposite side.  Last, we made new schema by connecting what we already knew with what we learned to make it easier to remember.  They really got it!  They put it to good use when they got their own "Schema" Folder (I gave each student a file folder).  They had to do the same thing we had done during our mini-lesson.  They seriously loved it!  They keep their Schema folders in the Book Box so that they can always use this strategy.

So- that's what going on in our world of Non-Fiction!  Hope that maybe you can use some of the freebies.  I'll post sometime during the week about our "Conventions Notebooks."  We are starting those this week!  Hope everyone had a great Monday, I know I did.. I LOVE days off!! :)

TTFN