Balanced Literacy - 100 Minutes

I am SO excited to be joining in on this book study! I have been read the first few chapters of Lisa Donohue's book and now that school is officially out (hip-hip!) I can sit down and devour the rest. Hope you join us in the awesome book study!

Students need time for:

-explicit teaching

-guided learning

-independent work

"Technology should never be an additional thing to teach...but instead be an integrated component of daily instruction." (p. 14) Love this! I get asked all the time by other teachers how they should teach their students to use a computer program or an app. I constantly tell them "don't" because all they need to do is show the kids what they should be doing and the students will catch on (with a few exceptions) and run with it. Our students know how to use technology better than we do most of the time.

"The concept of anything other than the 21st century is ancient history to our youngsters." (p. 14) 

Enough said.

"...routines need to continue to deepen and become richer as the year progresses." (p. 15)  This was an "ah-ha sentence for me. I constantly revisit our Daily 5 routines, but I seldom deepen them. Lisa Donohue, you are brilliant!

"Once routines become stale and mundane student engagement quickly decreases." (p. 15) Students need a variety of choices with "familiar routines."

Lisa goes on to talk about "The Basics" of the 100 minute literacy block. I loved this part of the book because I love, love, love seeing into other classrooms and that is what this section felt like to me.

100 Minute Literacy Block

Reading Time - Whole Class - 20 to 30 Minutes

(this is what I think of as Shared Reading in my classroom)

-introduce strategies

-model thinking

-student discussion

-question students (Blooms Taxonomy)

AWARD Time - Individual/Small Group Work - 40 minutes

-students work individually on skills or with the teacher

Writing Time - Whole Class - 20 to 30 Minutes

-introduce writing strategies

-model writing

-discuss writing

"Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape." (p. 18)

Lisa ends with a section titled "100 Minutes in Action" that gives us a glimpse of this process over a couple months. This part is priceless! Can't wait for more :)

How to deepen my routines. This part made me think so much. I've started to come up with some ideas that will be shared later on!

I don't have a "100 minute" block of time next year. Sad, right? So I will have to figure out how to break this up in two sections. I can totally do it, but I wish I had that 100+ minutes.

-How do you all "deepen" your routines?

-What do daily schedules of other teachers look like with the 100 minutes built in?

Make sure to link up with Beth over at Thinking of Teaching with your thoughts and follow along with us on this awesome book study journey!

Reviewing & Center Fun!

I love this linky! Holly is the best. Make sure to check out the linky or link up!

My classroom is in total review mode. I have been using this book and love it!

This is a digital download and comes with 882 pages of colorful activities and assessments. I should be getting some moola here for the promotion, but I am not :) 

Here are a few examples:

I put the math activities in folders because they had lots of pieces. There is an activity for EVERY standard! 

The reading activities are in file folders and come with a bunch of amazing graphic organizers. 

Short and sweet post, but I really wanted to post about this book. LOVING IT! Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Task Binders, Not Task Cards

I am not a task card fanatic. In fact, I only have a few task cards that I have actually cut out and can call cards. They get bent and misplaced. I am not a fan of cutting them all out just to have to do it all over again after a year. Yes, I know some teachers are able to have their task cards used for years, because they are super careful with them. I'm not one of those. If I have task cards, then we are going to use them! The kids will delve into them. Now that I have stood on my soap box :) let me show you how I use TASK BINDERS.

I simply print the task cards (front to back if possible), put them in a sheet protector and then into a binder. Done and done in 3 minutes. No laminating, no cutting. If more than one student needs the task cards then they either share or take a page out. As you can see in the above pic, there are eight task cards visible so the students can easily move on without bothering the other student. If a page happens to get ruined, I simply print a new one out in 5 seconds.

I have quite a few of these. I also use the folders with the clasps that hold sheet protectors. These are cheaper and work just as well. Using task cards this way definitely works for me! Let me know how you use them.

Go link up with Tara for Monday Made It!

SpellingCity Review (used with Words Their Way)

Linking up with the amazing and fabulous Holly for Tried it Tuesday! I LOVE Tuesday just because of this linky :)

So, I have been using SpellingCity.com for part of our Word Work and for spelling tests.

This has been going on for a while now and I love it more and more every week! I use the free account. First of all, I differentiate my spelling groups using Words Their Way. This is the BEST for differentiating spelling. I have used it for 8 years now and still love it. In the past 8 years I have never had a parent complaint about spelling. Now just because I said that I will probably have one this week. Ha!

Anyway, here is how we use Spelling City in our classroom...

On our class blog there is a link:

Which takes my students directly to my teacher page on Spelling City. On my teacher page are the lists for each group:

The groups are posted on the wall and the students know which group they are in. After they click on their group, their list is brought up. At the top of the list they can only do the free activities, but there are plenty!

Here are the free activities:

My students use them all! I also print out the Handwriting pages for each group and make them do that for Word Work as well. The handwriting of my students is atrocious this year!

Now, you all need to go link up with Holly!

Book Baskets that Rock!

Hi to all my wonderful and amazing teaching buds! It has been a LONG and fabulous two weeks. My students have reached 20 minutes of stamina in read to self, word work, work on writing, and read to someone. Fabulousness!!!! I am waiting for my computers before we tackle listen to reading. I seriously have a great bunch of kiddos, a little chatty, but great :)

I am linking up with the fabulous Holly for today's Tried It!!

So................

I splurged...with my teacher supply money :) 

I bought super awesome, durable book baskets for my students to use during D5! I was nervous after I hit the purchase button and I wondered if I had done the right thing until they arrived and I pulled the little beauties out of the box.  I seriously get those Christmas time feelings every time I get a teacher package!

I'm seriously LOVING them! They have a nice display pocket on the front. I cut paper that size and let my students decorate their tag anyway they wanted (okay, so I had a few ground rules). 

My students love these more than I do I think!

Here is an in-action shot. Notice the book baskets on their desks. They are quite big! Bigger than I thought, but perfect for book baskets. I also love the clear color :)

Okay, that was quick, but I need to get my kids up and going with some breakfast in their belly. Go link up with Holly ~

MMI: Math Letters, Dying, Daily 5 Board, BUILD Board

Hi everyone! I took a blog break for the past two weeks and it was awesome!! I was getting burned out :) I am now back at it though and ready to jump in with both feet. I go back to school in one week and the students come next Thursday. I've been hard at work in my classroom and can't wait to finish it up so I can post pictures :)

Anyway, here is my Monday Made It for this week!

Item 1: My cute Math is Great!!! sign that will go with my Math wall! 

I will be putting this up in the morning and will definitely share my math wall with you.

Item 2: Dyed Popsicle Sticks

Here are the "things" I used to dye my sticks. I also poured a bit of vinegar in the water. Like a teaspoon.

I left them over night in the water!

Here is a top pic of my sticks. They are actually a little darker than the pic shows and I love them. I wrote my numbers on with a Sharpie and then put a dot on the top of each stick. This way I can tell if that student has been called on by simply flipping the stick upside down so no dot shows.

Item 3: Bulletin Boards

My simple Daily 5 and BUILD Math boards. I like to keep them simple. I also made the cute little girl in front of the boards :)

Item 4: Job Signs

 I am lovin' these so much! Every student in my classroom has a job. Every. Single. Student. It is their classroom and I expect them to help me take care of it too. More to come on this later...

Update: Click here to read more about my classroom jobs :)

Item 5: Math Curriculum Map

I've been busy busy busy aligning our enVision Math program to the common core and creating a day-by-day curriculum map outline for it. I'm talking about HOURS of time on this one. I finished it Thursday and was super excited! I wish our district would have just purchased the new enVision Math that is already aligned to the common core...but I'm not that lucky. Ha!!

Happy Monday everyone! Make sure to link up with Tara!

Summer bucket list-writing stations, jobs, math notebooks

I am so excited to be linking up with A Cupcake for the Teacher for the Summer Bucket List linky!!

What is on my summer to-do list?? Well, there is a ton! 

1. Read this...

Actually, I want to do a book study on it. Anyone interested?? I know it was done last summer, but I did Daily 5 and Cafe last summer. So leave a comment if you would like to study with me :)

2. Math journals...

I love the idea of cutting the journals in half! You need to check out Renee's blog too because she gives the super cute labels to you for free!!

3. I have a TONS of lamination to cut out! 

4. Get ALL the decorations ready for my room...

5. Unpack my classroom...

I have an AWESOME classroom this year! It is huge and was just painted! So excited. And yes, that is my son climbing all over everything :)

6. Make student job applications...

Every student in my classroom is required to do a job and they apply for the jobs they would like. Holly, from Fourth Grade Flipper, did an awesome post about this. You can find it here. I need to redo my applications that I used five years ago and get everything set up and ready to go for the first day of school.

7. Writing station...

I need to redo my writing station for my Daily 5 this summer. I have 10 binders (one for each month) and am creating 5 weeks worth of writing station activities for each month. HUGE PROJECT! I am also going to have a writing folder for each student like the cute picture above from Teach Junkie.

8. Math stations...

I just need to sit down and start surfing the web on this one. I have ideas floating around but nothing concrete. Any ideas or posts you could share??

9. This is the most important one of all! HAVE FUN WITH MY KIDS!! 

We have been out of school since Thursday and already had sleepovers with cousins, went fourwheeling, driven by the swimming pool 4 times and yearned for it to be warmer, and we are heading to the cabin tomorrow! We have camping on the list, swimming lessons, summer preschool (my 4 year old can't wait), hiking, reunions, lots of baking, gardening, and running through the sprinkler just to name a few!!

Daily 5 Check In on Smart Board

I've had SO MANY emails about this Daily 5 Check In on the Smart Board and it isn't mine. I just wanted you to know I have created this for you and it is completely free.

All you will need to do is copy it, paste it in Publisher or PowerPoint to add your students and then right click to save as an picture.  Make sure to change the resolution to the highest and then copy the pic and paste into Smart Notebook. Waaaalaaa! If you are in need of a check-in that is a bit different just let me know. 

Also, please follow me if you aren't already. I like followers.

Daily 5 Check In on Smart Board

Hey everyone!
The arsonists were caught and booked on Saturday. THANK GOODNESS! And thank you all for your concern.

Now, checking in for Daily 5 (3 in my classroom) has been fabulous! Please remember, I teach in a middle school and have my students for only 52 minutes a day. So, I do one aspect of Daily 5 a day, but I have created a Smart Notebook page for those of you who do all of D5 everyday (very jealous).

Santa

 Snowman and Tree

 Snowman

Tree

My November/Thanksgiving Check In

Honestly, I wish I could just give these to everyone who wanted them. But, since I purchased the clipart, I'm not allowed to. So, these will go into my TpT store but the first three people to comment will get their choice free. Leave me your email address :) Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Daily 5/Cafe in a 6th grade classroom

So, I've been noticing around the blogging world that there are very few posts/info on how to run Daily 5 in a period based 6th grade classroom. I figured I would share what is working in my classroom...

Stats of My Classroom

-I teach 6th Grade English Language Arts

-I have seven 52 minute class periods

-I teach 25-33 kiddos in each class

Daily Schedule

-2 minute Self Start

-15 minutes of Daily 3/meet with students for individual or group strategy work

-20 minute lesson

-13 minutes practice

-2 minutes cleanup

Daily 3

-Read to Self, Word Work, Work on Writing are the 3 I do. The students are required to select one a day and they have to complete all three before they can start over.

-Students check in during self start and choose a Daily 3 to work on that day

-Students keep D3 work in their binder which stays in my classroom

-I collect D3 work once a week

Read to Self
-I purchased this Reading Strategies tic-tac-toe from Mrs. O over at Mrs. O Knows.
-Students are required to complete one activity each time they do Read to Self.

Work on Writing
-Students have 6 sets of these writing prompts to choose from
-Writing binders including pictures of our vocabulary from Inside Story with paper behind to write. The pic is in full color and in a sleeve. All vocabulary pictures stay in the binder the entire year and students can respond to any of them.
-Whole class journals with writing prompts from here. I revamped these and put pics on them as well. I will definitely upload these for you sometime soon.
-I am making a blogging bulletin board kinda like this pocket chart for my students to respond to. This is in the works and will be blogged about soon!

Word Work
-I use different spelling/vocab activities, but make them fit the season. For instance, this week my students did Spooky Sentences, A Halloween Letter, and Teeny Tiny Tricks when working with their vocabulary.

My Thoughts

-Love how D3 is working in my classroom

-Next year, I am going to build stamina on all Read to Self, Word Work and Work on Writing at the same time right at the beginning of the year.

-Would not trade D3 for anything! 

-Love my CAFE and VOICES boards that correlate with D3.



PLEASE let me know what you are doing in your class room! D3, D4, or D5? How much time do you have? How do you have students check in? I would love to know.