Mrs. Clarey, you made my brain hurt. :)

Here goes the marathon of posts to fill you in on our work lately...it's laden with photos...you've been warned!!!

We've reviewed our class "CARES" rule (we care about each other, ourselves, and our learning) and generated many fabulous character words to describe how we show that we care. I used the thinking stem "I expect my class to be _____..." to get the ball rolling. How great are these?!

Opinion Writing - Lucy Calkins Unit #2

I'm not sure who is more excited for this unit and learning to write essays, me or the students. Writing essays sounds so grown up, don't you think? To get our toes wet, we began with having everyone use the same thesis statement ("I love ice cream."). After brainstorming reasons why we love ice cream, each of us chose three (written in blue), and then we added evidence to support each of these reasons (written in green). This format is called BOXES and BULLETS. 

Today we began using the following structure (or outline) for writing an essay. (Don't you wish you would have had this back in high school???) We are using our boxes and bullets work to follow this plan for how to draft a strong essay, and through this have already had many opportunities to look critically at how and where to use paragraphs, how to write fluent and complex sentences, how to incorporate transitional words and phrases...and we are only on our first topic! We have already discovered how great this format will be not only in writing workshop, but in all our subject areas. Just listen to the ideas we have already come up with...

• In Inkheart, Basta is a nasty character.
• The midwest is a great place to live. 
• The Patriots should not be allowed to play in the Superbowl. (Oh yes, that was a hot topic this morning and one that got almost everyone fired up to write their opinion.)

Social Studies - touring the regions of the USA

Learning goals as we read about each of the 5 regions:

1. Learn about amazing places in all 5 regions of our country.
2. Learn what makes each of these regions unique, and what the places within each region have in common. The "big idea" or "essential question" I've challenged my students to discover is, "What makes the NE the NE? What about these states causes them to be lumped together as a region, and what makes this area unique and different from the other states and regions?"
3. Understand elements of economy, geography, government, history, and people in each region and holistically in our country.

We have already read our chapter on the Northeast. Below you will see our concept map, or notes, on this region. (Each student has their own mini-version of this.) As we read we are plugging in key information by category and adding illustrations, key terms, etc. After reading, we identified what truly makes the NE the NE, and those things are labeled on the green post-it notes. The photo doesn't show this, but this table extends all the way across our board to the right and has space for the other 4 regions. After touring our entire country, each student will be asked to write in-depth about one of these regions for their final project/reflection/assessment. 

The assignment for our last Page Turners meeting was a huge hit. Students LOVED choosing and sharing items to represent their character. Dan came dressed to match his character, and Jack presented IN character. Everyone did a GREAT job!!! 

Number Talks - The following collage of photos shows the charts from our first 4 number talks. The purpose of these is to increase our ACCURACY, EFFICIENCY, and FLEXIBILITY with computing mentally. During a number talk, students are asked to solve a problem mentally and use as many strategies as they can. After giving think time, I ask students to share their solution to the problem (these are recorded in the boxes in the top right corners of each chart), and then I ask several students to DEFEND a solution while sharing their strategy. Below you will see how I've recorded their thinking (each chart shows multiple defenses from students). 

The final picture is of the Notice and Note signposts that we have introduced in-depth. Take a moment to read through each chart. I am confident that as you read about each signpost you will find moments from books you've read coming to mind.

Phew! Thanks for sticking with me until the end. The class is working SO hard on so many things and soaking up new information like a sponge. So proud of them!!!

December 1-5

Learning this week has been AWESOME!!! Here are a few snapshots!

READING - One of my absolutely favorite reading "tools" to teach students is from a professional book I read last year called Notice and Note. The foundation of the book is that all fictional stories have "signposts," just like streets have roadsigns. And just like responsible drivers pay attention to those road signs, responsible readers pay attention to signposts. I dare you to ask your child about the significance of each signpost to see if you can find an example of each of these in the books you've read! (i.e.: I'm currently reading The Book Thief,  which begins with three memory moments about Liesel, the main character). Over the coming days and weeks we will go deeper with each of these signposts to learn more about what to watch for (NOTICE), and what we should ponder or question (NOTE). 

We dug into our current issue of National Geographic Explorer.  These magazines have become one of my very favorite resources for teaching informational (non-fiction) text. Our article focused on cheetahs and how these animals survive in the wild. Students were seriously impressed by some of the physical features of these animals. Our task was to read the article, then reread in search of information about where cheetahs live and what they are like in order to take notes, and then research further in our second source, Big Cats by Seymour Simon. Pulling from multiple sources helped us synthesize information to gain a more holistic perspective of these animals. This ability to read, understand, and synthesize information on a topic from multiple sources is a huge skill for students as they mature as readers and researchers.

SPELLING / GRAMMAR - Oh...just worked a little on how to add suffixes to words and some common spelling "rules." Also spent a good chunk of time on prepositions and prepositional phrases, but of course I forgot to snap a picture of that page. Oops!

Reading Habits Survey

"Teacher as Learner" is definitely an accurate description of my teaching style. I am constantly reading professional practice books, taking courses, searching online for strategies, resources, programs, projects, etc. to improve my teaching and, ultimately, the learning that takes place in my classroom. This year as a "new teacher" to Fargo, I'm living that to the fullest!

Currently, one of the book study classes that I'm taking is on the text Notice and Note, by Kylene Beers & Robert E. Probst. The book discusses "close reading," which is clearly what we want our students to do. Read closely to fully understand characters, plot development, figurative or non-literal language, etc. The book outlines 6 "Signposts" that all literature has in common. Fabulous, right? What better strategy is there than one that can be applied to every fiction text we pick up!

Earlier in the week I asked students to answer questions about their reading habits, and I thought you might also want to ponder the survey. If you feel so inclined I'd love to have you email me your answers (even just a few questions would be fine), but please don't feel obligated to do so...I know life is busy! As I started this book I also considered these questions, and they are great food for thought...the questions here are the version of the survey that I took (the student survey will be below).

Reading Habits Survey - Adult Version

1. How often do you read each day?
2. Do you usually read printed texts or digital texts? If digital texts, do you use an e-reader?
3. How is reading with an e-reader different from reading printed books?
4. What sort of material do you read online or on an e-reader or mobile device? Is this different from what you choose to read in print?
5. Do you read any blogs or Websites on a regular basis? If your answer is yes, how large a part of your reading life are they?
6. Do you use any social bookmarking sites to communicate with others about what you are reading? How have these sites changed how you think about what you are reading?
7. Have you read anything that includes other types of media (video) as a part of the story?
8. Do you listen to audio books? Do you consider this reading?
9. What do you think are the major challenges of online reading?
10. What are you curious about when it comes to reading today?

Reading Habits Survey - Student (some of these obviously apply more to older students, but it's still interesting to read our kiddos' perspectives)

1. How often do you read each day at school? At home?
2. Do you mostly read books (novels and textbooks)? Do you mostly read on an e-reader such as a Nook, Kindle, or iPad? Mostly on a computer or a smart phone?
3. How is reading with an e-reader different from reading printed books?
4. What sort of material do you read online or on an e-reader or mobile device? Is this different from what you choose to read in print?
5. Do you read any blogs or websites on a regular basis? If your answer is yes, how large a part of your reading life are they?
6. How do you share with others what you are reading about? Through conversations? Comments on Facebook? By texting? By using a site such as Goodreads? Through a blog?
7. When do graphics (pictures, charts, video clips that might be a part of digital texts) help you understand what you are reading? And when are they a distraction?
8. Do you listen to audio books? Do you consider this reading?
9. Do you think that when you are reading something online or on an e-reader you are reading the same way as when you read something in a book?
10. Sometimes you choose what you want to read. Other times you are told what to read. How does choice or the lack of choice make a difference in how you read?