Top Picks from Debbie Miller

In her book, Reading With Meaning, Debbie Miller suggests many children's book that are great to use for teaching certain comprehension components. I want to have a comprehensive list in one place rather than having to go back and page through her book, so I thought I would post the list here and then I can have easier access to great book suggestions as I go through the year.

Book Clubs for Kids:

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman

An Angel for Solomon Singer by Cynthia Rylant

Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger

How Many Days to America? by Eve Bunting

The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland

The Magic Fish  by Freya Littledale

Oliver Button Is a Sissy by Tomie dePaola

Sleeping Ugly by Jane Yolen

The Table Where Rich People Sit by Byrd Baylor

The Titanic Lost and Found by Judy Donnelly

The Mummy Lost and Found by Judy Donnelly

Wild, Wild Wolves by Joyce Milton

Williams' Doll by Charlotte Zolotow

Tried and True Text for Mental Images:

Close Your Eyes by Jean Marzollo

Color Me a Rhyme by Jane Yolen

Creature of the Earth, Sea, and Sky by Georgia Heard

Footprints and Shadows by Anne Wescott Dodd

Goodnight to Annie by Eve Merriam

Greyling by Jane Yolen

I Am the Ocean by Suzanna Marshak

Mountain Streams (CD)

The Napping House by Audrey Wood

Night in the Country by Cynthia Rylant

Night Sounds, Morning Colors by Rosemary Wells

Putting the World to Sleep by Shelley Moore Thomas

Quiet, Please by Eve Merriam

The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer

Say Something by Mary Stoltz

What Does the Rain Play? by Nancy White Carlstrom

When I'm Sleepy by Jane R. Howard

Wild, Wild Sunflower Child by Nancy White Carlstrom

The Zoo at Night by Martha Robinson

Tried and True Texts for Schema:

Fireflies by Julie Brinkloe

Hazel's Amazing Mother by Rosemary Wells

I Know a Lady by Charlotte Zolotow

Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber

Koala Lou by Mem Fox

My Great-Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston

Now One Foot, Now the Other by Tomie dePaola

Oliver Button Is a Sissy by Tomie dePaola

The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant

Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

The Two of Them by Aliki

Tried and True Texts for Inferring:

Creatures of the Earth, Sea, and Sky by Georgia Heard

Fireflies by Julie Brinkloe

Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting

For the Good of the Earth and Sun by Georgia Heard

Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger

How Many Days to America? by Eve Bunting

If You Listen by Charlotte Zolotow

Miss Maggie by Cynthia Rylant

Mother Earth, Father Sky selected by Jane Yolen

Oliver Button Is a Sissy by Tomie dePaola

The Royal Bee by Frances Park and Ginger Park

Where Are You Going, Manyoni? by Catherine Stock

Winter Fox by Catherine Stock

Tried and True Texts for Asking Questions:

All I See by Cynthia Rylant

Amelia's Road by Linda Jacobs Altman

An Angel for Solomon Singer by Cynthia Rylant

Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting

Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger

The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland

Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons

The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg

The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

Why Is the Sky Blue? by Sally Grindley

The Wise Woman and her Secret by Eve Merriam

Yanni Rubbish by Shulamith Levy Oppenheim

Tried and True Texts for Synthesizing:

The Alphabet Tree by Leo Leonni

Charlie Anderson by Barbara Abercrombie

Fables by Arnold Lobel

Frederick's Fables by Leo Leonni

Oliver Button Is a Sissy by Tomie dePaola

The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills

See the Ocean by Estelle Condra

Smoky Night by Eve Bunting

The Story of Jumping Mouse by John Steptoe

The Table Where Rich People Sit by Byrd Balor

Tea With Milk by Allen Say

Tried and True Texts for Determining the Importance of Nonfiction:

Series:

Dorling Kindersley Readers, DK Publishing, New York

I Can Read About..., Troll Associates, New York

First Discovery Books, Scholastic, New York

Eyewitness Books, Knopf, New York

Newspapers:

Your local paper

Weekly Reader

Magazines:

National Geographic for Kids

Time for Kids/Big Picture Edition

Ranger Rick

Zoo Books

Calliope: World History for Young People

Kids Discover

Cobblestone: The History Magazine for Young People

Read Alouds:

The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren

Poppy by Avi

Poppy and Rye by Avi

My Father the Dragon series by Ruth Stiles Gannet

I love this book!

I have been reading the book Reading With Meaning by Debbie Miller and it is awesome! Debbie's words are very inspirational to me and really motivate me for the upcoming school year and my new group of students.

Some great quotes from Debbie's writing:

"Learning to read should be a joyful experience.  Give children the luxury of listening to well-written stories with interesting plots, singing songs and playing with their words, and exploring a wide variety of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and rhymes. Let them know when they say or do something smart; give them credit and ask them to share.  Help children access what they already know and figure out how to help them make connections to something new.  Be genuine.  Laugh. Love. Be patient. You're creating a community of readers and thinkers; you're building relationships and establishing trust."

"Showing children we care about them and love being their teacher is an important first message."

"Gradually releasing responsibility to children as they gain expertise, teaching a few strategies of great consequence in depth over time, and giving children the gifts of time, choice, response, community, and structure guide my work and allow me to make thoughtful decisions based on principles I believe in."

"If we expect big things from our children, we must expect big things from ourselves, too.  For years I'd been told what to do in my classroom and how to do it.  Glossy teacher's guides with smiling children on the cover even told me what to say. I didn't always read the words in italics exactly as written (I considered myself a rebel even then), but I'd get the gist of the lesson from the guides.  Beyond running off worksheets and making cute activities for centers, I never had to think much about reading at all. Come to think of it, the kids didn't either." 

(This totally encapsulates how I am feeling about reading right now!)

Debbie Miller also cites a quote from Lucy Calkins who is another of my favorite teacher models:

"It is significant to realize that the most creative environments in our society are not the ever-changing ones. The artist's studio, the researcher's laboratory, the scholar's library are each deliberately kept simple so as to support the complexities of the work-in-progress.  They are deliberately kept predictable so the unpredictable can happen." 

Goals

Today was the first day back and it was so nice to see everyone and hear about what everyone did over the summer. Most of our day was spent in a staff meeting of sorts, discussing the new schedule, PBS, changes to our school rules, and other such business. 

We have new school hours 8:20-2:20 and no more early release Thursdays. For some reason despite the fact that they day is shorter, it works out that we have more time for math and a solid 30 minute period for science/social studies. It looks like the new schedule is going to be a good change.

We also have new school wide rules as part of our PBS program. Instead of the 4 R's, we now have the 3 B's

Be safe

Be kind

Be responsible

I think that will be a good change. 

We were also asked to create our professional goals for the year. As usual, the First Grade teachers completed the assignment as a team. We love to be united. :0)

Our goals are as follows:

1) Given a combination of Treasures and Fast Track Phonics instruction, at least 85% of First Graders will be at or above grade level reading benchmarks as measured by Spring DIBELS.

2) Write and send home a newsletter written in both English and Spanish at least once a month  (in addition to personal newsletters/letters).

3) Create a more student centered mathematic environment through the use of differentiated instruction and activities as well as more hands on activities utilizing manipulatives. 

In addition to the team goals, I also have some personal goals such as implementing more writing to learn activities, assessing writing on a weekly basis using a goal sheet and sticker chart for each student, and completing some reading incentive activities like last year's goal of reading 100 books as a class.

I have a feeling it is going to be a good year.

Last Day of Summer Break

 I decided to do something adventurous on my last day of summer break. I had wanted to hike Dog Mountain all summer, so today was the day. 

The total distance is about 7.1 miles and very steep. It took me 3 hours total which included a short break at the top for lunch. The views from the top were outstanding. The field of wildflowers was not really in season, but being outdoors was so peaceful and quiet.

I am tired out!

First Grade Back in the Day

Ms. Gura's First Grade 

Samuel Staples Elementary School

1989

 Wasn't it great how the photographer asked us to yell something as he shot the photo as evidenced by our open mouths??? Now, they don't even make the kids get together for a real group shot, they just make a composite of all the individual pictures. 

I am third from the right in the top row sporting the adorable navy blue sailor dress.

I can still name everyone that was in my class. :0)

Keeping the Humor

Lifelong Readers

I am currently reading Growing Readers by Kathy Collins. I am both fascinated and motivated by what it says. The way Kathy discusses her young students who seem mature, well spoken, and thoughtful fascinates me. At the same time, her description of her reading workshop motivates me because reading in my classroom is very different and I would love to incorporate some of her ideas.

In the world of teaching reading there are two camps; those who strongly believe in researched based instruction and those who strongly believe in the whole language approach. I have read about both, been interested in both, thought about both, but only taught one.

My school recently adopted the Treasures reading program by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill which falls into the category of researched based. As a newer teacher, I often find comfort in the organization of the lessons and scripted material that offers a crutch to any teacher that needs a little support. The repetitive nature of the lesson structure makes it fairly simple to plan for and easy to teach. I often wonder what I would do if I had to think up lessons from scratch on a daily basis to immerse my students in good literature. I question whether I would be able to accomplish such a feat and be so good at it like Debbie Miller, Lucy Calkins, and Kathy Collins whose books describe a more whole language approach. I do know, however, that when I create lessons from scratch, I am much more invested in them and there is a different enthusiasm to my instruction.  

I worry that although my students are getting the research based goods that incorporate the big five essential components of reading instruction, they are not gaining that exceptional love and appreciation of reading that Kathy's students seem to have. In a typical day, my students read from decodable paper books and anthologies, but the amount of time they spend engaged in real literature is shorter. The push all year seems to be about making benchmarks and learning to read, but not reading for more practical purposes. 

Kathy talks about "just right" books which her children choose and place in their reading baskets on a weekly basis. Through her mini lessons, she teaches her students how to determine what constitutes a just right book (a book that can be read with about 95% accuracy and comprehension) and she sets up the routine of how the children will choose these books, think about these books, and talk about these books with partners each week.  Students in the class may be reading at very different levels, but each student has books that are "just right" for him or her to read during independent reading time. While students are reading, Kathy can roam the room and discuss the books with students or ask questions to ensure that they are "thinking while they read."  The students know that reading is about enjoying books and learning from them.

I would love to add some of these aspects to my daily reading lessons. 

As a teacher in my district, I am mandated to teach the particular program we adopted. I have felt in the past that research based programs and whole language programs are mutually exclusive, that you are either on one team or the other, but I am starting to change my point of view.  

Although I have to use Treasures as the foundation of my reading instruction, this does not mean that my own personal investment in reading should fall to the wayside. In my personal life I read all the time. I am a collector of books. I love to learn. I love stories. I love books. As a teacher, I focus so much on the instruction of reading, that there is less emphasis on teaching my students to love reading. I think that, at times, my teaching does not reflect my own spark and passion for the art and purpose of reading. 

That needs to change!

Although I cannot use a reading workshop format for my reading instruction in lieu of the research based program, I certainly can use less of the blue scripted writing in the teacher's manual and more of my own enthusiasm and heart to accompany the lessons. 

There is business that must get taken care of such as the phonemic awareness and the spelling, but there is also a world of great books out there that I want my students to be a part of. I want them to discuss characters and authors like Kathy's students. I want them to think while they read and reflect on the stories thoughtfully with their peers. I want them to know that they can do this and they will...if I give them the right encouragement and the right tools to do so. 

I think this year will be a year of experimentation and change in my classroom. I am finally taking the wheel and owning my instruction and I am excited about that. I know it takes time for teachers to get it right. The teachers I idolize and look up to certainly have a lot more experience than I do which plays an important role. I just think it would benefit me to be more evaluative of what I do in the classroom and try harder to make it my own. 

Kathy's discussion of lifelong readers really got me thinking about how I want my students to feel about reading. It's a porthole to other worlds, it's functional, it's enchanting and it's a treasure.

how ironic :0)

Classroom Management

I am trying out a new classroom management system this year. Not entirely creative since I purchased a pre-packaged pocket chart that includes different colored rectangles for each student and nameplates, but the idea is the make the expectations as clear as possible in an effort to reduce the amount of time spent handling discipline and disruption related issues. 

Each student has their name on a pocket that includes colored cards: green, yellow, orange, and red. The idea is that all children begin the day on green and remain on green if their behavior is in accordance with the school and classroom rules and expectations. Students who remain on green all week might be eligible for random surprises or privileges. 

If a student becomes disruptive, he/she is given a warning and must place the yellow card at the front of the pocket. If the first incident is more severe than being disruptive the warning step may be skipped, going directly to the orange card and a time out.

If another problem occurs with the same student, they move their orange card to the front of the pocket and are given a consequence such as a time out away from the group. 

Another incident results in the red card being moved to the front, another consequence (longer timeout, perhaps in another classroom) and a note sent home to parents. 

I have not used a system like this before, however I think that it hold students accountable for their behavior and allows them to know exactly what consequence results from what behavior.

I feel very strongly that communication with parents is an important part of being successful, so parents will be required to sign and return the note sent home to acknowledge that they received it. 

I just finished reading Setting Limits in the Classroom by Robert J. MacKenzie, Ed.D. I found the book to be very interesting and learned a lot from it. MacKenzie describes four different kinds of discipline styles: punitive, permissive, mixed and diplomatic. 

The Punitive Approach is firm, but not respectful. This type of approach to discipline typically results in angry and resentful students who want to retaliate and engage in power struggles.

The Permissive Approach is respectful, but not firm. This type of approach to discipline results in kids not knowing when they are really expected to stop because they may receive multiple verbal warnings but no clear actions to support their words. The only way students know when to stop is by testing the limits and seeing what they can get away with.

The Mixed Approach is neither firm nor respectful. This type of approach to discipline is inconsistent and does not provide students with a clear message regarding expectations.

The Democratic Approach is firm and respectful. This approach to discipline achieves guidance goals with the least amount of conflict and greatest amount of cooperation. An essential component to this approach is clear messages with limited choices. It focuses on teaching and learning which is guided by the teacher who provides clear limits, acceptable choices, and instructive consequences that hold children accountable for their actions.

Reading about these different approaches made me think about how I typically handle situations in my classroom. I would have to admit that I probably employ the mixed approach more than anything else which is exactly why I am spending more time now to plan out my behavior management strategies so that I can be consistent and clear.

I am hopeful this new system will work and will update as the year goes on. My main goal is to recognize positive behavior more frequently and focus on the good things I see in the classroom so that students are more likely to engage in positive behaviors that enhance their learning. 

My Home Away From Home

As the new school year quickly approaches, I am working on getting my classroom set up just right. Over the past two years I have changed the arrangement of my room MANY times, never feeling like I had the right fit. My rocking chair has been in every corner of the room, but I think through trial and error I have found the setup that works. 

I made some big changes for the new year--trying out some new ideas that I am excited about.

The "clothesline"

Our custodian Mike was kind enough to install a wire clothesline across the length of my room. This is something a few of the other First Grade teachers have that I have been eyeing since my first year. It is a terrific way to display student work since wall space is limited. For now I am displaying the color songs that I will be teaching the kids during the first month or so of school, but eventually they will be moved aside and replaced by writing examples and other student work.

Desk Arrangement

Previously I always started off the year having the desks in groups of four. This year I am trying something entirely different. I discovered at the very end of last school year that a sort of U shape fit nicely in the classroom allowing ample space in both the library area and the carpet time/calendar area. The kids will still be grouped (indicated by colored shapes on their desks) but the groups are not separate, except for the one in the middle. Along the back row, the kids will be facing each other as they typically do in groups, but along the sides, the four desks are in a line which will make "heads together" work a bit more challenging.  I am interested to see how the kids do with this seating arrangement. My class last year liked it a lot, but a group of students getting ready to leave First Grade is VERY different than a group of students just arriving. 

Bookshelf
After redoing my husband's office space at home, I had an extra book shelf that I decided to bring into my classroom. I had an idea in mind of how it could be useful and it fit perfectly in the space I was imagining. It is just the right height to slide under the white board. The compartments are also exactly the right size for the anthology books that go along with our reading program. Each unit has a different anthology and students use them daily as the books include stories related to our weekly themes. Previously I kept these book on the back ledge near the window, but having students get up to retrieve them often took more time than it should have. I think the close proximity to our carpet area will be a great change. The bookshelf also make a great ledge for storing my CD player as well as my teacher manual when I am teaching.

Computers!!!

Computers in our lab are being replaced this year, so teachers were able to request the old lab computers for our classrooms. I had one computer last year and I am thrilled to now have three! Now I can actually utilize a computer station for reading activities and math games. One computer was great, but three is even better! The computer was never in use without three or four additional students standing around watching the child who was using it. Now more students will be able to have turns. 

           

Calendar Area

The calendar area is mostly the same with the exception of getting a facelift. I find it necessary to redo the design every year because I still have not found the perfect arrangement of all the necessary calendar activities. I did add a new weather board with many different weather icons. There is an area for weather reporting as well as an area for graphing the numbers of days we have experienced each type of weather. (I hope there are enough spaces for RAIN). Our first science unit is on weather so I would like to extend the use of our weather knowledge into calendar as well. 

Keepsakes

Some memories from my own days in school...

Second Grade

Fourth Grade

Fifth Grade

A little card from one of my students

Research

This summer I completed my Master's Project which was entitled, "Best Practices and Implications of Response to Intervention for Elementary Level Non-Native English Speakers." The topic stems from my interest in both English as a second language and special education and what happens when they intersect. 

Because I chose to do my project by myself rather than working in a group, it was a lot of work that took up a lot of my time this summer. Although I am so glad it is over,  I found the research I did to be very interesting. I came across a lot of great resources related to linguistically and culturally appropriate teaching practices, Guided Language Acquisition Design (GLAD), Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP), Response to Intervention (RTI), teacher expectations, and teacher preparation.

I'd like to share some of the resources I found to be most helpful:

Brown, J.E., & Doolittle, L. (2008). A cultural, linguistic, and ecological framework for response to intervention with english language learners. Teaching Exceptional Children   40(5), 66-72.

Cartledge, G., & Kourea, L. (2008). Culturally responsive classroo

ms for culturally diverse students with and at risk for disabilities. Exceptional Children, 74(3), 351-371.

Chamberlain, S.P. (2005). Recognizing and responding to cultural differences in the education of culturally and linguistically diverse learners. Intervention in School Clinic, 40(4), 195-211.

Echevarria, J., Short, D., & Powers, K. (2006). School ref

orm and standards-based education: model for English-language learners. The Journal of Educational Research, 99(4), 195-210.

García, S.B., & Ortiz, A.A. (2006). Preventing disproportionate representation: Culturally and   linguistically responsive interventions. Teaching

 Exceptional Children, 38(4), 64-68.

Gersten, R., & Woodward, J.P. (1994). The language-minority student in special education: Issues, trends, and paradoxes. Exceptional Children, 60, 310-322. 

GoPaul-McNicol, S.A., & Thomas-Presswood, T. (1998). Working with linguistically and culturally different children: Innovative clinical and educational approaches. Needham Heights: Allyn & Bacon.

Mandlawitz, M. (2007). What every teacher should kno

w about IDEA laws and regulations. Boston: Pearson. 

Nordmeyer, J. (2008). Delicate balance: ELL students struggle to balance language and content, while educators need partnerships and specific professional learning. National Staff Development, 29(1), 34-40. 

Ortiz, A.A. (1997). Learning disabilities occurring concomitantly with linguistic differences.  Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30, 321-332. 

Very Interesting Video: A Class Divided

Donors Choose

My mother in law first told me about Donors Choose last year. She recommended checking it out as it is a great way for public school teachers to obtain classroom materials that they cannot afford to (or don't want t0) purchase with their own money.

I decided to give it a go.

I created a proposal requesting some math manipulatives and games for my students. I was having a hard time motivating some of the kids during math and they were struggling. I was searching for a way to make math more enjoyable, bearing in mind that kids are more likely to learn if they are having a good time and math makes more sense when you have things to move around and manipulate. 

The fun part about creating a proposal for materials is the shopping! There are many education websites linked to the site where you can do some virtual shopping and add desired items to your cart. When finished, you have a completed list of items that you are requesting and a total cost which includes the cost of shipping. 

Don't get me wrong, this is not just an easy way to get whatever you want for free...Your request has to be student centered, reasonable, and meaningful which is why you are required to submit a proposal for review in which you describe the materials you would like, how you will use them, how the students will benefit etc. 

Once submitted, the proposal gets reviewed and, if accepted, gets posted on the  DonorsChoose.org webpage. Potential donors can browse through the proposals and if there is a particular proposal that speaks to them, they can make a donation towards the total cost. I was fortunate enough to have two wonderful donors who submitted enough money to cover the cost of the math games and manipulatives I had requested.

I received notice that my proposal had been funded and was asked to confirm the shipping address of my school. Shortly after that I received the thank you package which included a disposable camera, the names of my donors, and instructions on what to do next. As part of the process, teachers are required to photograph their students benefitting from the donations (whether it is using the materials or participating in an activity), they are also required to have their students write thank you notes to the donors, as well as write a personal thank you note describing the impact the donation had on the students. Within a few weeks of returning the thank you package, I received a box including all of the materials I had requested.

That was an exciting day! I showed my students each of the new things we had gotten and they were just as thrilled as I was. During an indoor recess shortly after the arrival of the new games, all of my students played math games instead of blocks, coloring, or computer games!

Once you have established an account with Donors Choose, there is a point system. You begin with three points and you can spend and earn points by completing various actions. Submitting proposals costs points (based on the cost of materials), but by responding to email notification quickly and returning the thank you materials you can earn back points. 

Once submitted a proposal has about 6 months to be funded or it is removed from the site. Since I had excellent luck with my first proposal, I decided to create a second. This time, I requested non-fiction books relating to science and social studies themes I cover as well as picture books written in Spanish for my students who participate in Spanish Language Arts. The proposal has been listed for awhile and so far I have not had any donor action, but I am still hopeful! 

Teachers typically spend a lot of their own money on classroom supplies. Donors Choose is a fantastic way to receive donations rather than using personal funds. So many teachers have inspiring, creative, and magnificent ideas, but are limited by the costs involved. If you are one of those teachers that has a fantastic idea brewing, but needs some materials to make it work, I strongly encourage you to check out DonorsChoose.org and give it a go!

My current, hopefully soon funded, proposal

Boardmaker

I was first introduced to Boardmaker during one of the special education courses I took at Portland State University. Typically, the program is utilized with students who have special needs, although since getting it, I have used it for TONS of different purposes in my classroom for all students.

Basically, the program has a large data base of picture icons to represent different objects, phrases, and activities that children might see, say, or do at school and/or home. Using the program, you can create picture schedules, communication boards, and games galore for students to use. I have also found that in addition to being a great tool for students with disabilities this is also a great tool to use with English Language Learners. 

In the past I have been frustrated with clip art in that it did not depict the image I was looking for. Boardmaker has been fantastic at providing images depicting just what I want. Included in the images are foods, games, school subjects, sports, people, actions, numbers, coins, animals and much much more. I have found it easy to use and very versatile.

Not inexpensive, the program retails for $299 (which will increase to $329 on August 22nd) and that is the least enhanced version. I was fortunate enough to win  prize money through the Kappa Delta Pi Education Honors Society which allowed me to purchase the program.

Some ideas for using the program:

Picture Schedules: Laminate icons that depict different activities a student participates in throughout the day. Place a large strip of velcro on a student's desk and velcro on the backs of each activity card. Place icons in the order in which they will occur and have a small basket or container the icons will be placed in once the activities have been completed. Often children on the Autism Spectrum Disorder are visual learners. Utilizing this type of schedule allows them to know what is coming next. 

Communication Boards: The program includes specially formatted templates for making communication boards. This would be used for students who are non-verbal or have special communication needs. Essentially a board (piece of paper) is created based on a particular topic and the icons included are all related to that topic. The board helps to facilitate communication or conversation about the specific topic. In class my teacher used an example of Thanksgiving. Icons on the board represented different Thanksgiving foods and activities. There were icons for "I like" and "I don't like" as well as transportation icons to indicate how the student might be traveling. We worked in groups where one person could ask questions and the other person had to respond only by pointing to the various icons and phrases. It was really fun to experience how useful the tool could be for someone who is non-verbal and how much I could communicate without talking. Often students will have communication notebooks or binders they carry with them which include boards on various topics.

Making Learning Fun: I made several games using the picture icons from the program. When my students were learning about money, I made game cards with picture icons of food, games, toys, and animals. Under the picture there was a price indicating the cost of the item. I also made another set of cards using coin stamps that had coin amounts matching the amounts on the item cards. Students spread the item cards out in rows so they were all visible. The coin cards were placed in a pile, face down. The kids would turn over one coin card at a time and had to find the item with the same price in order to buy it. 

I also used picture icons as items my students could purchase from my store. I laminated pictures of fun food items such as popcorn, an ice cream cone, pizza, and cotton candy with prices below the picture and placed magnets on the back. I arranged them on my whiteboard and created my "store."  I would have a student choose which snack they would like and all the kids had to figure out whether or not that child could afford the snack given the amount of money represented by the coin cutouts I placed on the board (also laminated with magnets on the back) The kids loved it!

Sentence Frames: I used a lot of picture icons while teaching my English language development group. I frequently use sentence frames with this group in order to facilitate the use of complete sentences. For example when we were using comparison words to compare animals the frame was:

The ________ is ___________ the _________.

         (animal)         bigger than            (animal)

                      smaller than

                         heavier than

                        smarter than

                          faster than

                                    slower than

In order to help the students, I used picture icons of the animals for them to arrange in order to create a sentence that makes sense. They might place a picture of the elephant in the first blank and a bird in the second blank and choose the comparison words bigger than. Then they would read the sentence:

The elephant is bigger than the bird. 

Because reading too many words in English can be challenging, the addition of the pictures helped the students to read the sentences more fluently. 

Job Chart: Finally, this year I set up the classroom job chart using the picture icons. At the beginning of first grade, many students cannot read the jobs that they are assigned to. Rather than checking the chart and knowing what they have to do, they have to ask me to read what it says. Now, there are picture icons and words to label the different jobs. For example, the most coveted job, line leader, now has a picture showing a line of students with an arrow pointing to the first student in line. Underneath the image it says line leader. Now, students can independently check the job chart and do their classroom jobs!

Most often, this program is used by special educators and speech pathologists, but as a general education teacher I have found it very useful for my classroom in many ways. It was particularly helpful with my student who had Autism last year, however really helped to spruce up some activities used with the whole group. 

Click on Boardmaker for a link to the products. 

6 + 1 Traits of Writing

I attended a workshop this summer called Writing to Learn presented by the Northwest Regional Education Service District. Of all the things I did this summer, I think it was one of the most useful experiences I had. The workshop indicated the significance of using writing as a tool to learn, emphasizing the importance of writing during subjects such as science, social studies, and math as a way to better understand the concepts being learned.

Previously, writing for my first graders was simply writing in their journals. They were provided time to write about any topic they wished. Typical entries included stories about families, pets, and friends with some video game and super hero themes from the boys. Although this kind of writing is very important for young students, I realized during the workshop that writing can be about so much more than that! This year my class will learn through writing about amphibians, weather, states of matter, math story problems and much more!

We received a booklet containing images of many great graphic organizers and templates to utilize during writing to learn experiences. For anyone who teaches in Clatsop County, Columbia County, Tillamook County, of Washington County in Oregon, I highly recommend looking into when this course is available for teachers in your district! Not only is the class itself great, but you get a lot of great ideas and materials to bring back to your classroom.

During the class, there was discussion of the writing traits that are used to assess writing pieces for state assessments. I realized I was not at all familiar with these traits. I decided to take a peek at the new borders.com website to see if I could find a book describing these traits.

I found a great one!

6 + 1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide for the Primary Grades by Ruth Culham is a terrific resource for teachers who are newer to writing instruction. There is also another version available for teachers of grades three and up.

Culham thoroughly discusses the traits: ideas, sentence fluency, organization, word choice, voice, conventions, and presentation. She not only clearly explains each trait, but also includes a rubric for each trait ranging from "Ready to Begin" to "Established" and provides examples of student work at each level for each trait. She walks the reader through the process of assessing and explains her reasoning for the level she assigns. She also provides a list of picture books that correspond with each trait that can be used for helping students to better understand the traits. Additionally, the book contains kid friendly rubrics that can be presented to students so they know what is expected of them.

I highly recommend this book. I read it in one day and am very glad I did. It is a resource I will keep close by when assessing my students this year.

Back to School

It is almost time to go back to school. When I was a kid, I always remember this as an exciting time filled with new clothes, brand new school supplies and a curiosity about the year to come. As a teacher, I find myself getting excited about the same things. I carefully shopped for "back to school clothes" to give myself a professional look for the new year. I visited the local  teacher supply stores in which I am like a kid in a candy store, choosing my new lesson plan book and other materials to get the year off to a great start. I checked out my class list and read the available information about my new students in an attempt to get to know them before I actually meet them. Bottom line, I feel myself getting excited. Of course it is hard to go back to work after a blissful summer of relaxation, but I have come to that point where I feel I am ready to go back.

In addition to my simmering excitement, I am filled with a great motivation to surpass what I have done in the past. I am a person who always wants to achieve bigger, better, greater. I am not happy to just do the minimum, I want to do it all. During my first two years of teaching, I completed endorsements in English as a Second Language and Special Education. I participated in a part time cohort, taking courses in the evenings after work, and topped it off with a Master's Degree. As if learning the ropes and being a new teacher were not enough, I dove in the deep end and just about kept my head above water in order to achieve my goals, but I did! I am a better teacher because of it. 

I don't just want to be a regular teacher. I want to be a phenomenal teacher. I approach this year thinking, what can I do differently this year to make it better than years past? How can I ensure that this year my students behave so I can spend more time teaching and enjoying the kids than waiting for them to stop talking and interrupting? How can I be the best teacher there ever was because I don't want to be anything less?

A new year is a time for new beginnings, so rather than get bogged down with worries, allowing them to become roadblocks, I see it as a time for a fresh start. My mom pointed out to me that one of the best things about teaching is the fresh start that comes with every new year. New students, new parents, new ideas, new commitments to success. I am motivated, rested, and ready.

I found myself writing a lot of goals this summer. In addition to writing a 43 page Master's project paper, I wrote in a journal for the first time since I was a kid. I kept track of ideas, hopes, teaching strategies, etc. because I felt that if I wrote them down, I would be more likely to actually follow through with them. I love writing and I love setting goals, so it worked out well for me. I am starting the new year with a laundry list of things I want to accomplish, but I know that I will because I am committed.  

As part of my Master's project, I read a lot about the importance of high expectations for students. I realized the true significance of believing in my students and providing them with every opportunity for success.  I also realized the importance of having high expectations for myself. 

As the year progresses, I would like to share the good, the bad, and the inspiring things that take place in my First Grade classroom. Some days will be great, some days I will feel like a complete failure, but I will always go back. 

Year 3, Bring it on!