Finding Main Idea- Cute Video!

Main idea is one of those tricky concepts for lots of kids.

The teacher down the hall discovered this awesome video for main idea; she says the kids are in *love* because it's to the tune of Justin Beiber's song, "The Beauty and the Beat"




I will certainly use this myself! 

Here is the anchor chart I use to teach how to find the main idea:

 

Happy Teaching!

 

Text Mapping

Recently, in my grad class, I learned about text mapping, have you? If you haven't, it's pretty much like having a conversation with the text, either "talking" about something in particular or just anything. The teacher who modeled it for our class told us that we could write thoughts, connections, questions, basically whatever! Then my professor continued by saying we could use text mapping for a particular skill also. Well, I decided to give it a go in my own classroom, to see how third graders do it...

We have been reading about how pictures and illustrations help us as readers, so I thought I would connect how having a conversation with the text would do the same. My students were in groups of 6, which I later found out was WAY too many! The next time I did this activity, I made groups of 3, worked beautifully!

To prepare for text mapping, you need to photocopy part of a book or print whatever text you want the students to talk with. Then, glue the text on a larger sheet of paper, I just used butcher paper that we use for bulletin boards. When you teach your students how to text map, model first! I used our document camera to show first how to mark what I want to say, then what I want to say.

Send your kids off, each with a different color, to have their own conversation! I walked around and wrote questions about their comments, or gave an answer to one of their questions, or made a connection.

 

Go give text mapping a try, you'll be glad you did!

Happy Teaching!

~Beth

Reader’s Theater

Reader's Theaters are known to be super beneficial for students. With a reader's theater, the kiddos can bring the writing to life and be the voice they think the author is intending. They are able to put context to their reading. I love using reader's theaters!! With PA taking the state tests for the past two weeks, we have had some extra time down at the end of the hall. I thought what better way to utilize this time than to bring in some reader's theaters?! Currently, our reading unit is focusing on the presidents and the preamble, so I scooted over to Scholastic and this reader's theater website and found a couple that we could use.


I am a huge advocate for letting students learn as they go, so I gave them the scripts, they practiced and helped each other with picking voices and movements, and they even got creative with props they made! I love seeing their little minds at work!

So, after a long two weeks of hard work and practice, we were ready to put them on. I invited the other third grade ELA teacher and her class over to be our audience.

 Do you use reader's theaters in your classroom?

Happy Teaching!


~ Beth

Reader's Workshop

I love reader's workshop!! Like I said in an earlier post, I've tried the Daily 5 for a few years and in a few grade levels, but just plain ol' reader's workshop is for this girl! Like any workshop model, we begin our day with a mini lesson on the rug. We have two rules: (1) I teach them something new and (2) the kids learn. I know, kinda cheesy, but when I ask, "What's your job today?", they all respond with "to learn!". Music to my ears : )

So then comes the fun part... I posted earlier about how I do individual conferences, so I thought I would let you all know what the rest of the kids do. Each kiddo has a reading binder that keeps everything in it, literally. We have tabs set up and everything. That's a whole other post in itself! Two of the sections are Reading logs and Reading Response. When they start a new book, they write it down on their reading log and graph it on the Genre graph. Both of these I stole borrowed from Beth Newingham; she's so awesome! In the Reading Response section, readers can write down their thoughts on stickies and keep them using the sticky note keeper, or on a response page.

The rest of the time is devoted to...you guessed it, reading! That's why I love this so much; how can we expect our students to grow as readers if we don't give them enough time to read?  I have carpet squares and rugs that my students can take to where they want to read. But, some still just choose to stay at their desks to read.

What do you do for reader's workshop? How do you have your kiddos pick where they sit? Leave a comment below!

Happy teaching! : )

Crate Seats

I just had to jump on this bandwagon; crate seats are super cute and great for organizing! I made my crate seats last summer and have survived this year with a group of third graders and held up surprisingly well! I got my crates at Big Lots, fabric, ribbon for the handles, and foam at Hobby Lobby, and wood slabs at Lowe's. All I did with the wood was take the crate into Lowe's, they measured the crate and cut the wood right there in the store for me. It was awesome! Here is what they look like:

I have my crates at my guided reading table and they have everything the kids would need for group: a whiteboard, eraser, Expo marker, pencils, highlighter, and post it notes. I put all the smaller things like pencils into a pencil box so they just pull that out when they come to group. They have been a real lifesaver.

Do you use crate seats in your classroom? What do you use yours for?

Happy teaching! :)

Reader's Workshop: One-on-One Conferences

For the past few years, I have become very familiar with the reading workshop model used by many classrooms, the Daily Five, but still only used guided reading groups. I used all the stations, the check-in sheets, and all that good stuff. After reading a post on Beth Newingham's Scholastic blog, I decided to make a change. I already used most of the components Beth already used, but I added individual conferences. I must say, BEST DECISION EVER! If you haven't already tried individual conferences, do it!  :)  I read Day-to-Day Assessment in the Reading Workshop and it truly helped to get these conferences up and moving. The book breaks it down so easily!

So for the past few weeks, I have been seeing kiddos one-on-one and learning so much about them as readers. Each conference starts pretty much the same: I sit down next to them, that's right, even if they're on the floor :) and ask how their reading is going.

We talk about what we discussed the last time we met and decide if he/she needs to keep the same goal or move on to another. Then, I take a minute or so reading with them, and maybe taking some time to teach a skill or reinforce the skill they are already working toward. You may be wondering, how does a student choose a skill? Simply put, I ask them, "What do you want to work on as a reader?" Sometimes I get a "UMMMM, I don't know..." then other times, "I want to work on main idea and details because I'm not sure how to find details." I know the latter is quite amazing to hear! :) I keep track of everything we talk about in my data binder on a sheet I created.

 

Each box on the page has the child's book title, page # (to see how they're coming along in the same books), date, notes, and next time. I made the notes section very general because every student has a different skill they want to work on. I use the "next time" section to jot down something I need to remember to discuss with that student between conferences at the next conference. 

I love these individual conferences because it holds the students accountable for their own learning and I love seeing them be so excited about how they are getting better at their goals.

Happy teaching!

Prefixes and Suffixes

According to research, one of the best ways to learn vocabulary and comprehend better is learn word parts, or for third graders, prefixes and suffixes (Samuels and Farstrup 2008). I like to teach one prefix and one suffix a week. I introduce the affixes on Monday and then throughout the week, my kiddos are able to practice. Sometimes their practice is to find as many words that have that prefix or suffix in their independent reading books as they can. Some kiddos are working on learning prefixes and suffixes better for their personal reading goal.

After I introduce each prefix and suffix, I attach it to the door frame. The prefixes go on the left side and the suffixes go on the right side. As a quick assessment before switching classes, I can glance to the door, choose a prefix or suffix, and the kids tell me a word with that affix as they line up. They love it and I can tell who knows them! Here is what I do:

 I searched high and low all over Pinterest and TeachersPayTeachers and internet land and couldn't find a set of prefixes and suffixes that matched my needs exactly so I made a set myself. Click on the picture to take you to my store!

 

Happy teaching those prefixes and suffixes!