Learning to Write By Writing

     I was spending my Sunday afternoon on Teacher's Pay Teachers looking for resources to teach comma placement in sentences.  I have to admit I dread teaching isolated skills like this.  I know I need to because it is part of our standards.  My students will be tested on it and their results will determine if I keep my job.  But stopping creative writing in order to fill in a bunch of worksheets just seems like a step in the wrong direction.  Because of interventions for all students in Reading and Math, we have only had thirty minutes for Writing for the past several years.  In that time we have to fit in Spelling and grammar, as well as creative writing.
     As I was looking through the PowerPoints, task cards, games, and endless worksheets created by my hard-working peers, I couldn't help but remember how much fun my students had writing similes and metaphors to dazzling pictures of beautiful butterflies and weird-looking caterpillars (see previous post.)  I kept asking myself: How can I make a skill like commas more meaningful to my students and keep them writing?
     Then, suddenly, it hit me:  teach writing by writing. I quickly dug out my Common Core standards and looked at what comma rules my students are expected to know. Then I thought of ways students could do authentic writing while still practicing what they need for the standards.  Surprisingly, I found I could do both at the same time, if I was creative.  For example, my students need to know how to use commas to separate nouns in a series (Jeff took an apple, chips, and a sandwich for lunch to work.)  I decided to have the students brainstorm a list of potential Halloween costumes, such as a princess, Luke Skywalker, or The Hulk. I used Halloween because it is topical and interesting to the students.  Then they had to write a sentence for each costume idea, listing at least three things they would need to complete that costume.  For example:
To be a princess for Halloween, I would need a tiara, sparkly high heels, and a long pink dress.
Need to practice commas to set off a list of adjectives?  The Halloween costume idea still works:
My princess costume is sparkly, girly, and beautiful.
Halloween ideas also work for commas after interjections.  I projected a list of fun interjections from http://www.english-grammar-revolution.com/list-of-interjections.html.  The kids were raring to go and couldn't wait to share their sentences.
    I hope my post gets you thinking about how you can ditch the worksheets and get kids to practice those grammar skills by actually writing something memorable.

Me on the Web:

former class website:  www://4mrsjones.110mb.com

current class website:  www.4mrsjones.weebly.com

podcasts:  http://frommrsjones.podbean.com

You Tube channel:  mrsc4jones

Pinterest:  http://pinterest.com/c4jones 

The New Normal...Or Not!

I recently went to the supply closet to pick up a package of pencils for our high stakes state testing, which is next week.  Yes, in their infinite wisdom, my state department of education decided to test students at the beginning of October.  Guess they have never heard of summer learning loss!
Anyway, imagine my chagrin when I saw the packaging:

I guess even the pencil companies know the destiny of their product!
I refuse, however, to let this blog be about my beef with testing (a.k.a sucking the life out of my kids).  I categorically refuse to let high stakes testing and its evil twin benchmarking become the new normal.  I refuse to let mandatory test prep to put the damper on my students' spirit and fun, despite them being tested ad nauseum.
This week we have been reviewing figurative language.  To elicit some quality similes and metaphors, I showed some dazzling pictures of butterflies and caterpillars.  Students came up with one simile and one metaphor.  Then they met in groups to offer praises and deltas (the symbol for change).  At the end of the session, they choose one simile and one metaphor to represent the best of the group.  These bests were shown to the whole class who voted on the best of the best.  They came up with some very creative figurative language:
The caterpillar is like a gummy worm because he has bright colors.
The butterfly is a model with its beautiful features. 
The butterfly is like an Indian because its wings look like eyes with face paint.
The butterfly is an alien because it has so many eyes.
In Math, we are working on estimating and problem-solving.  As Professor Harold Hill from The Music Man said, "Think, men.  Think!"  I am hopeful that these two strategies will help steer students to the correct answers, even if they aren't exactly correct in their calculations.  
Yesterday we built arrays for multi-digit multiplication problems.  My pre-test revealed that most students had forgotten everything they learned about multiplying by multi-digit numbers, including making magnitude estimates.  Students are very familiar with building arrays for multiplication facts, however, so we built on that idea.  Yesterday they learned why we don't generally use array-building as a strategy for multiplying larger numbers.

Here two students show 25 X 35 = 875.  Many students were surprised at how big the arrays turned out to be.  This activity showed them visually what is going on when we multiply multi-digit numbers. 

Differentiated Language Arts and Math

One of my goals this year is to use more pre-tests to inform my instruction.  My first experience with this was in Language Arts.
As a fifth grade team, we identified vocabulary skills as a weakness in our students.  Part of that is knowing how to use a dictionary.  The first day of school, I gave my students a pre-test on the skills of using a dictionary to define multiple meaning words, using a pronunciation key, putting words in alphabetical order (to the third letter), and using guide words.  Using their scores, I created a personalized packet for each student with just the skills they needed.  Two students demonstrated mastery in the pre-test, so they had challenging activities which they completed as a team.

 

Three students did very poorly, so they worked with an aide in a small group on slightly easier skills.  

The rest of the class participated in a mini-lesson each day on a different skill, then worked independently on their packets.  

Today I gave the post-test and 90% of the class passed.  Go kids!
My second experience with pre-tests was did not go as smoothly.  I pre-tested my Math class for the first unit.  Most of the material should have been review, but clearly it wasn't.  So I greatly reduced the scope of the unit, since I had only alloted two weeks for it.  My original plans were to teach factors, multiples, arrays, prime, and composite numbers, prime factoring, multiplication properties, and divisibility rules.  I decided to stick with factors, multiples, primes and composites.  We spend a week on factors alone because it was so difficult for them.  We did many activities:  Venn diagrams, foldables with examples and rules, games from our Math series, and traditional worksheets.  We even color-coded a hundreds chart with colors that represented the different multiples.  Students were allowed to use their interactive Math notebooks, their student reference book, or the definition wall during the test.  
Despite all of this, many students failed the test.  When I thought about why I had two very different outcomes, I came to the conclusion that my Language Arts students corrected their own pre-test.  They knew what they needed to work on.  I also used differentiated instruction with my Language Arts class where I didn't do as much of that with the Math class.
For the Unit 2 pre-test, I came across a site called Mastery Connect.  Mastery Connect is a site that links Common Core assessments in Reading and Math and tracks student progress.  The basic service is free.  I couldn't find an assessment that really matched the skills I will teach in Unit 2, so I made one and posted it to the site.  It was easy to add the scores to my "tracker" and visually track what skills students have and need.

Math Lesson Structure

It's been two weeks since school has started.  This year in fifth grade we have homogeneous groups created by the fourth grade team.  Because of this, I have had to come up with a new Math routine/structure.  I want to take advantage of every minute I have them for instruction, particularly because fifth graders have significantly less time for instruction than they do in fourth grade.  In fourth grade they had two hours, including enrichment.  In fifth it is down to one hour and fifteen minutes.
10:00-10:15:  Agendas, Homework, and Fact Folders
Students trickle in from the other five fifth grades (no bells at our school) and get out their Agendas with homework on top.  This allows me to quickly check in homework and write in their agendas.  They copy down the homework for the next day (which is already on their desks).  After that, they set up their Math fact folders which is a blank worksheet under a clear sheet of plastic which they write on with a dry erase marker.  Each child is on a different level of multiplication facts.  This takes the most time, since they aren't used to creating their fact sheet and monitoring themselves.  I hope this will take less time as the year progresses.  If students finish all of this, they may start on their homework.  I was going to have some type of Daily Math or Problem of the Day, but why go through the trouble of finding and copying all of that when they could start their homework?
10:15-10:30:  Mini-Lesson:  Review or Introducing a New Concept
As my aide goes around to check their fact folders, I take the kids to the carpet to do a review activity.  Often we use personal whiteboards that are in a basket in the middle of the carpet.  
10:30-10:15:  Back to Desks:  Main Lesson
Students come back to their desks and check the status of their Fact Folders.  If they passed a level, they record it on the chart in the folder.  This process is taking about five to ten minutes now.  I hope we can cut this down significantly in the coming weeks.
This is where and when I deliver the main content of the lesson.  I am making good use of the students' interactive Math notebooks.  After some challenges getting started (again, this class has difficulties following multi-step routines/directions) the students are already really enjoying them.  Each Monday night's homework will be creating their weekly student reflection page in the notebook.  Since their journals are so small (composition books cut in half) I decided to do this instead of the traditional left side-right side organizational structure.  These journals are so new for them I don't want to overwhelm them with coming up with multiple pages.  We usually fill one page a day in class.

Back to School: First Week (and a FREEBIE)

 Front board:  Whole Brain Teaching Rules up top, class theme (Olympics) on right side, homework board on left.  On the marker tray:  new books for the classroom library.

It's the end of our first week back to school.  Well, it's a full week for me, two days for the kids.  This is the second year of my loop from fourth to fifth.  The kids entered the room with an enthusiasm you rarely see on the first day.  There were lots of hugs and high fives.  Because many of the students kept in touch during the summer through Edmodo (a closed, socio-educational network), friendships picked up right where they left off.  It felt more like coming back from Christmas vacation, rather than coming back from summer vacation.  Even those students who did not go on Edmodo during the summer made connections with each other.  Two of my students found out that they lived just down the street from each other.  They played together several times a week during the summer.  I nearly cried when I heard this, because these two boys are perfect for each other!  Where one is strong academically, the other is weak.  Where one is weak socially, the other is strong.  How wonderful that these two boys got together and formed a bond!

My nook:  Common Core standards bulletin board (from Teachers Pay Teachers), the green desk organizer my husband made for me, and the fiction series part of the classroom library.

The great thing about looping with a class is, the second year, classroom routines are effortless.  I didn't have to tell anyone how to move their counter on the attendance/lunch count board.  I didn't have to explain the attention signal.  They even remembered our Whole Brain Teaching rules and actions!  This made activities just speed by.  I'm glad I only had two days with the kids because I found myself with time on my hands that I did not expect.  Next week I need to plan more activities.  The time that I would normally spend this time of year teaching routines can now be spent actually doing curriculum.
The flip side is that, since social bonds are so strong, that students tend to be more chatty.  Although they know the rules, they can have a hard time following them.  I found, during Morning Meeting, I had to spend nearly as much time as I did last year reviewing what the Greeting looks like, sounds like, and feels like.  I had to do the same with Read to Self (Daily 5).

This week's FREEBIE:  Partner Share Cards

One goal I have this year is to harness my students' strong social connections to enhance their academics.  One way to do this is through daily partner shares.  In DPS students share something about the book they are reading during Read to Self.  I made up two types of cards:  HOW to Share and WHAT to Share. Each goes in a different container.  At the end of Daily 5, I pull one card from each container for a quick, 5 minute share time.  I'm hoping to have a bit longer share time on Fridays where kids can share their favorite books with the whole class.  Already having one year of Daily 5 under our belts, this class is a group of voracious readers.  Even though I have added 40 new books to my classroom library already, my students still need to hear recommendations.

Me on the Web:  

NEW AND IMPROVED Class Website:  4mrsjones.weebly.com

2009-2011 Class Website:  www://4mrsjones.110mb.com

Podcasts on Educational Topics:  http://frommrsjones.podbean.com

You Tube Channel:  mrsc4jones

Pinterest pages:  http://pinterest.com/c4jones