Early Learning Central

Early Learning Central is a great resource for differentiation in the Early Years classroom. They talk about having a deep understanding of the students and an awareness of the stage of readiness that each student is currently in. Each day, we need to think "are the students ready for this lesson?" Quite often, in any class, providing choice is the answer to differentiation. Simply put, kids know what they know and they know what they like. It is a whole lot easier for us to provide choices and see what kids choose and how they perform - than to try to predict every possible outcome and assign work.

Running Records

Oh, eworkshop. Do you have everything?!

Of course we can't forget assessment

I think the biggest point here is that the information we gather during assessment is key to programming for each student's individual needs. Why bother teaching a lesson if nobody needs to learn it? The kids are the reason we are here. Sure, we need to follow guidelines set out by the government. There is curriculum to cover. Pressure. Standardized testing. But, at the end of the day, if the students have not been adequately challenged - and LEARNED something, well why do we bother teaching at all? To ensure that the data we gather is useful, we also need to remember that assessment needs to be differentiated. If a student is not great at writing, but we keep giving him a pencil and expecting him to retell a story - we are not going to have an accurate result. In this example, an oral retell is just fine - because we want to know if he is connecting and inferring, not how well he writes!

 My future students will:

- be able to set goals for themselves based on the clear and kid-friendly expectations I provide for them
-  know what level four work looks like because it will be modelled for them before they give it a go
-  receive lessons that are tailored to each of them according to ongoing assessment
-  understand the feedback they are given, and use it immediately to set goals for improvement
-  have choice – how to practice new skills, and how to showcase what they know

The future me will:

-  be supportive and attentive
-  set clear goals based on success criteria, and plan smarter
-  provide timely and useful feedback – this is the only way that students can know if they are on the right track
-  involve students more in the planning phase of my lessons and units
-  feel confident that my students will learn and be challenged appropriately 

 

Anchor Chart

So I was surfing pinterest today, and I came across a great anchor chart. I mean, I have used anchor charts and I am quite artistic, but I have no idea why I didn't bother to make my anchor charts look fancy and interesting! This teacher's blog was a bit inspiring. I think I will use this inspiration to make some fun and useful anchor charts of my own :) http://www.teachertrap.com/search?q=reading+is+thinking Reading is thinking

Students who have special needs, or are ELL, will benefit from visuals on anchor charts. When I go back and use the charts with my students, I can point to the pictures and words.

Typing Class

I know this is a blog about reading, but I came across a neat idea about writing today (and the two go together, right?) Typing lessons can be a great way to disguise modelling good writing in the older grades. The teacher can use a piece of writing that students have been working with in class - this way the texts are already levelled to meet the needs of each student. The piece of text should take about 5-10 minutes for the student to type. It may take a few 'typing tests' to discover the right number of words each student needs. Set the timer and tell students to type as much as they can in the time allowed. When time is up, they can compare what they typed with the original, looking carefully for punctuation and spelling, etc.

This seemed like it might be a worthwhile task, as it provides a fun and digital way to practice a piece of modelled text. The teacher who I observed using this technique, really had the kids excited about improving their typing. She downplayed the modelled writing aspect - it was grade 7 after all. The kids didn't groan 'we've read this before!" In fact they seemed glad to have the inside scoop. The class had a number of students on IEP (many of whom were boys) and it was great for them to have the opportunity to practice a type of modelled writing without it seeming 'babyish'. I'm going to add this to my repertoire...

Thinking back to boys literacy, this type of task provides technology and a challenge - it is a bit like a game. Once we start thinking outside the box, we will reach the boys in our class.

The Learning Circle

The learning Circle is a series of documents for teachers.Students will benefit from participating in meaningful experiences that broaden their knowledge and understanding of First Nations in Canada. http://www.etfo.ca/resources/forteachers/pages/default.aspx

It is absolutely critical that each student feels like part of our classroom community. Using resources from many cultures will not only help all students feel like they belong, but it will promote a culture of acceptance and celebration of difference.

eworkshop

Guide to Reading http://www.eworkshop.on.ca/edu/resources/guides/Reading_K_3_English.pdf This is probably the best resource for teaching literacy in ontario. It covers almost everything you will ever need to know to run an effective literacy program. In fact, if you teach math, check out the math one too. Guide to Math and Writing too

Number the Stars

After listening to Jeffrey Wilhelm talk about Number the StarsI just had to borrow a copy from the local library. It really is a great book. It is the kind of book you would want to save for intermediate students, as the little ones just might not get it. There is quite a bit of visual imagery in the book, and it explains details (for example, it was odd that that the uncle was visiting so late because he should not have been out past curfew). A young person may not simply catch on to the fact that it was odd for a Jewish person to be out late during the war. I think I will keep this book in mind if I should ever need to teach about the holocaust. It sure is nice to have March Break to just sit back and read a book (a bit of a break from work and course) Number the Stars

Guys Read

http://www.guysread.com/ Guys Read is a web-based literacy program for boys founded by author and First National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature Jon Scieszka. If you are looking to beef up your classroom bookshelf with books for boys, check out the guysread website. It has a plethora of book suggestions that will appeal to boys. They claim to have put some research into what guys actually like – so it's worth a try, right? It is American research, but I think that Canadians must be comparable in terms of stats. Jon Scieszka mentions that “boys don’t have enough positive male role models for literacy. Because the majority of adults involved in kids’ reading are women, boys might not see reading as a masculine activity.” This was very thought provoking. I thought about my my own kids – I do most of the reading at bedtime. I thought about the elementary school system – mostly women. I guess maybe he is right on this observation!

Programming for kids

With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations — and share your creations with others in the online community. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century. Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. It is provided free of charge.

http://scratch.mit.edu/

Kano - Make a Computer

Kano - Make a Computer
Kano is a computer that kids build and program, using simple instructions. The ideas is that they can do the whole thing by themselves.

Race and Ethnicity Kit

Click here --->Race and Ethnicity Kit


If you are looking for a starting point for discussions about diversity in your classroom, this is a resource provided by the TVDSB. Many great resources are suggested to promote awareness and acceptance of diversity in the world. It is critical to provide resources that students can relate to. It is also important for all students to celebrate the fact that people come from many backgrounds and cultures. I have read some of these stories to my class simply for enjoyment and information. The book called 'wavin flag' was particularly enjoyable.

Gender Equality

Do you believe that boys learn differently? Do boys hate plain vanilla? I feel like many of the things that motivate boys, are also things that motivate girls. If we, as teachers, follow these guidelines: take me seriously, challenge me to think, nurture my self-respect, show me I can make a difference, let me do it my way, point me toward my goals, make me feel important, build on my interests, tap my creativity and bring out my best self; we will start the journey for a generation of lifelong, engaged and motivated readers. These needs apply to boys and girls. It is about gender equality- providing the same resources and supports for both sexes!

Girls just don't get it...

Here is a link to my first attempt at creating a Pixton Comic strip from Pixton.com. I hope you enjoy it! Boy's Literacy

Boys may not connect to some fiction books. When I am reading aloud to the class, I should be looking for mentor texts, not just books I like. On the other hand, if I am trying to demonstrate a think aloud, I need a book I can connect to. This is going to be tricky!

Some humour

When I Get Older: The Story behind "Wavin' Flag"

Relatable story
While framed as a story about the immigrant experience, K'naan believes newcomers and citizens alike will find the story relatable. "The implications are similar," he said. "One of them is for relating to and the other is for understanding; and so I wanted to contextualize the immigrant experience for children so that it doesn't seem like it's some 'other.'

The idea of an immigrant to a child, it can seem like its own universe where 'That's what those people are.

I love what K'naan is saying here. Some of the kids will hear this story and relate to it. Others students will have no experience with immigrating and hearing stories like this will help them realize some of the hardships that their peers have encountered. We tend to shield kids, keep them in a little protective bubble. Our children don't need to be so bubble wrapped. In fact, the opposite is true. Our kids live in a global, digital world. They will see more in a week than we have seen in a lifetime. Parents will share news from all over the world. Think: internet, youtube, snapchat, twitter, vines, facebook, and more. Kids are more connected than we know. As adults it is our responsibility to help kids make sense of the world, have a critical eye, and most importantly - have empathy.

"No one is inherently such; and immigrants have had their own language and their own family, and they were loved by their own grandparents. These are things, I think, that for a child need contextualizing."

K'naan has a great point. It is not like people are really from somewhere else, we are all just citizens of earth. We all have a family and are loved. We have more in common that we could ever list. CBC article about the book

Raspberry Pi

A new technology for kidshttp://www.raspberrypi.org

Are we differentiating instruction?

We are living in exponential times.

Please click here to view a video

A really great book to teach about water in the environment

"The development of two languages in childhood turns out to be a profound event that ripples through the life of that individual. " Ellen Bialystok, Bilingualism in Development. Cambridge University Press, 2001, 247-248.

Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension is a process not an end goal. Each student needs to make meaning before, during and after each literacy experience. One cannot be considered a proficient reader unless they are actively engaged, comprehending, and metacognitively aware. Our instruction needs to be built on ongoing assessment of each student and constructive feedback to each student. Initially we must explicitly teach and model how to make connections to self, to world and to text. Key comprehension strategies must be modeled and explicitly taught. Comprehension is an ongoing process. Before, during and after readers think about the purpose for reading. Carefully using these comprehension strategies students will learn to effectively question and evaluate, therefore building higher order, deeper understanding of texts. Critical literacy, also part of the before during and after reading process is crucial for student comprehension. The most important factor, of course, is the answer to the question, “Am I meeting the needs of all my students?” We cannot merely assume that they will just 'get it'. Comprehension needs to be explicitly modeled and taught, at increasingly complex levels, on an individual, as needed basis. Print and visual texts are available in various reading levels, and students must be offered choice each day. Also, we must build differentiation in our forms of assessment – choices about types of responses to reading. Our instruction needs to be prescriptive and proactive.

Differentiated Instruction: Three ways

Content
Using reading materials at varying readability levels Putting text materials on tape or speech to text software Using spelling or vocabulary lists at readiness levels of students Presenting ideas through both auditory and visual means Using reading buddies, partners, volunteers, etc. Meeting with small groups to re-teach an idea or skill for struggling learners, or to extend the thinking or skills of advanced learners
Process
Using tiered activities through which all learners work with the same important understandings and skills, but proceed with different levels of support, challenge, or complexity Providing interest centers that encourage students to explore subsets of the class topic of particular interest to them Offering scaffolding, or other supports for students who need them Varying the length of time a student may take to complete a task in order to provide additional support for a struggling learner or to encourage an advanced learner to pursue a topic in greater depth
Products
Giving students options of how to express required learning (e.g., create a puppet show, write a letter, or develop a mural with labels) Using rubrics that match and extend students' varied skills levels Allowing students to work alone or in small groups on their products Encouraging students to create their own product assignments as long as the assignments contain required elements

Welcome to my newest blog - Reading: What does it all mean?