The day Marc Brown came to our school

This is so weird. I made a video. Of myself. Talking. About Marc Brown.

Honestly, I don't even know what to say. Here it is.


Apparently, the Candlelighters (an organization to provide support to families of children with cancer) have been hosting an amazing fundraising contest for years. The contest is that the school with the most pounds of clothing donated wins a visit from a guest author. 

So throughout the month of February, my Facebook posts all looked like this: "Please please please, if you have any old clothes/shoes/linens you'd like to give away to a good cause, give them to us! We are collecting clothes for the Candlelighters charity and a chance to win an author visit from MARC BROWN!"

I told my husband, "I don't care if you have to go to work naked! Fill these bags with clothes!" I harrassed my neighborhood and my family with similar messages. I demanded that everyone clean out their closets. I'd given so many clothes that I keep forgetting what I have left in the closet. We HAD to win! 

I obsessed over gathering clothes for weeks. And I wasn't the only one. My teachers and kids were obsessed, too. We did our best and hoped it would work.

And then, two days ago, we got the call.

We. 

Won.

 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

We collected 12,800 pounds of clothing. Out of 42 schools in our city, we collected the most.

Marc Brown was to visit our school...in two days! Our school erupted into a flurry of Marc Brown-i-ness. There were Arthurs everywhere. We paused our other plans and did the most fun stuff.

 

I, for my contribution, immediately did the most important thing I could think of. My buddy and I made an Arthur photobooth and a bunch of props to use, like Arthur ears, glasses, D.W. hair, and Buster ears, too. 

And then I took pictures of everybody in it and made a bulletin board: Find Your Inner Arthur.

We ordered shirts (to be done in two days!) and someone made an incredible cake and balloon arches. We made silhouettes of the characters to put on the windows and every grade level worked on Arthur projects.

We had so much fun getting ready for this visit. My buddy and even I drove to various spots to buy as many Arthur books as we could with a giant PO. And do you know what? NOBODY carries Arhtur anymore! We were horrified! Barnes & Noble, Target and the (very few) other bookstores in our town were like, "No, we can order them, but we don't carry them." What a disappointment. (Fortunately, when Marc Brown came to our school, he brought some of his own books!)

When I left work on Thursday evening, the hallways were blossoming with Arthurs, Busters, and D.W.s in every possible spot. Kids were gesturing to their work and saying, "I made that! We all did that!" They brought me to tears with their pride.

This morning, we were expecting Marc Brown at about 8:15. He showed up at 7:45! We already had the Arthur theme music playing over the loudpseaker. I was walking down the hallway, taking pictures of the kids' work and trying not to cry when I heard the news that he'd arrived.

My principal guided him down the hallway and he (with his kind personality) stopped and admired all of the kids' work, commenting on how incredible and wonderful it was. (Which really just shows me how incredible and wonderful HE is.)

We were downright giddy. I hung on his every word. Any time he praised the work the kids had done, I wanted to cry!

And then Arthur and D.W. arrived.

Right before his presentation, I got up the nerve to ask him to take a picture in our photo booth. AND HE SAID YES!

And this happened:

Marc Brown put on the Arthur ears that I made and stood in front of the backdrop that we made and took a picture! AAAAAAAAAAAA! I can die happy.

Once he was in the library, we set him up in his spot and made sure his equipment was ready. Our first group, K-2, buzzed into the library, complete with Arthur ears on every last kid.

Marc Brown's presentation was incredible. He drew Arthur (both original Arthur and modern Arthur) and told us the story of how Arthur came to exist. Then he asked the kids to help him brainstorm animal parts to create a brand-new kind of animal character. They had a blast! They demanded the leg of a chicken and the leg of a hippo. The ears of an elephant and the neck of a giraffe. The nose of a pig and the wings of a dragon! 

Actually, one of the kids asked for fish legs...but...you know.

The kids laughed and asked questions and just generally had their little minds blown.

He shared pictures of his house (I want to go to there) and of his goat named Hillary Clinton, who apparently met the real Hillary Clinton. And she didn't think it was that funny. (The person, not the goat.)

After his presentation, he signed books galore for teachers, kids, and parents. He did it all with a smile on his face. It was truly amazing. I don't think the man had twenty seconds to himself. He didn't have a drink of water, he didn't go to the bathroom, and he didn't even get to stand there quietly. He talked and smiled the whole time.

And then he did it all again for 3-5.

Marc Brown is an example of a kind, humble person with great talent who takes the time to make people feel good about who they are and what they can do and be. We were blessed to have such an experience.

And today, as I stand in front of my closet and try to figure out what to wear to school tomorrow, I keep asking myself, "Where's that green sweater? What happened to my blue blouse?" and I realize that I stuffed all of them into a bag in a frenzy to donate.

I guess I have to go shopping!

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Teaching Figurative Language with a Mentor Text: Mud! *Freebie!

  This month, the Reading Crew is celebrating spring! It's a fun link-up featuring a variety of mentor texts related to spring and a great freebie to go with each one. Check out all the posts and collect the mystery words from every post! Then use them to enter the Rafflecopter to win an Amazon giftcard and buy your own copies of the books!   There are two link-ups: K-2, and 3-5. Each has its own Rafflecopter, set of words, and great ideas. Happy Reading!  

Mud is a beautifully written book, perfect for growing students' writing language! Mary Lyn Ray uses vivid figurative language to describe the transition in seasons, from winter to spring. The word choice and sentence variety are incredible, and it's appropriate for all levels in elementary. 

It's simple enough to be enjoyed by any kindergartener, and complex enough to be emulated by any fifth grader. 

To begin the lesson, before you read a single page, introduce the idea of reading like writers. Writers choose their words carefully; they have a purpose for everything they do. As you read Mud together, you'll want to notice all of the beautiful language that Mary Lyn Ray uses to help the reader feel and visualize the changing of the seasons, resulting in mud.

 This resource (freebie, yay!) will guide you through the four main steps you'll use to have students notice, name, explain, and try figurative language in their own writing. 

They'll notice the language with you, help you build an anchor chart recording the figurative language you noticed, and participate in a discussion about why the author chose to use that language. These steps will work with ANY mentor text!

 

The figurative language used in the book includes onomatopoeia, personification, simile, alliteration, and sensory details.

Lines such as, "A cold, sweet smell rises from the ground, like sap in the snow," are beautiful and students will notice something special is happening! 

Every line is interesting, which makes this a great book for discussing beautiful lines.

After you've noticed the figurative language, named it, explained it, and charted it, you'll use the included graphic organizer to brainstorm figurative language to use in your own writing and model writing a descriptive paragraph for your students. Then your students will write their own descriptive paragraphs using their own figurative language!

Building in opportunities for students to see the reading-writing
connection in action are an absolute must! This freebie includes a page to help students identify figurative language during their independent or home reading. Noticing is the first step to being a great writer and reader!

 

Grab the freebie on TPT!

This freebie follows the gradual release model. It's a great way to teach new strategies in reading and writing! Get a gradual release freebie and reading resources and tips in your inbox by entering your email address below!     Before you move on to the next post, my mystery word is Mud. [HERE] is the link to the form you can use to keep track of the mystery words at each stop. You'll need them for an entry on the Rafflecopter below.

Rafflecopter for Grade 3-5

March 18-March 25

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you for hopping by! Be sure to check out the rest of the great Growing Readers & Writers posts for freebies and fun!

 

An InLinkz Link-up

 

An InLinkz Link-up

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12 MORE Ideas for Celebrating Read Across America

You know when you have a huge, crazy event and you're running all over the place and totally stressed out, and then as soon as it's over, you say, "Next year, it's going to be even bigger!" That is what I do after every Read Across America Week. And my librarian just about dies every time I do it.

I know everyone else celebrates Read Across America next week, but my school celebrates a week early, so we can avoid trying to overbook our guest readers.  

We do fun stuff all week long to celebrate reading and have a little fun. Here are 12 of my favorite things from this year's Read Across America celebration!

#1 Photo Booth

Before all these shenanigans began, I made some cute frames and props to use in a "Seuss Yourself" photo booth. The teachers used the photo booth to take cute pictures. (We also kept the photo booth up for our guest readers on Friday - it was adorable!)

All of those pictures were printed and we made them into a "Seuss Yourself" bulletin board!

This was our calendar for this week:

Monday

#2 Seuss Snack: Thing One & Thing Two cupcakes

#3 Dress-Up Day: Wear green for Grinch Day!

Guest readers: retired teachers

Tuesday

#4 Seuss Snack: Lorax Nutter Butters

 #5 Dress-Up Day: Wear a mustache for the Lorax Day! Always a favorite.

Guest readers: Teachers switch classes and read to their neighbor's kids!

Wednesday

#6 Seuss Snack: Red & Blue Seuss Popcorn Use melting chocolate in Seuss colors. Lay the popcorn out on parchment, waxed paper, or paper towels and drizzle away!

 

#7 Dress-Up Day: Wear stars for Sneetches Day! This was a new one for us, and honestly, I really loved it.

#8 Fun activity: Read Across Capistrano. Every student (and teacher) sits in the hallway and reads! This is such a fun event for our school. It's about thirty minutes, but it's so neat to see everybody read!

 

Thursday

#9 Seuss Snack: Red & White Muddy Buddies Get the recipe here.

#10 Dress-Up Day: Wear a crazy hat for the Cat in the Hat Day! I made this hat myself, she said proudly.

Guest readers: preservice teachers

Friday

#11 Seuss Snack: Seuss cookies Our amazing niece made us these beautiful cookies to give out to teachers and guest readers!

# 12 Dress-Up Day: Seuss Yourself! Dress up like a Seuss character!

I dressed up as a scene from The Lorax. I made my shirt out of everything I could find at Hobby Lobby!

Our teachers and kids really outdid themselves with their adorable Seuss costumes! We had foxes in sox, Grinches, cats in hats, Things, Cindy Lou-Whos and more!

# 13 Guest readers: community members We invite members of the community (mostly FOTs: Friends of Teachers) to visit our classes and read to them! My incredible librarian creates a schedule to make sure that every teacher gets a reader.

I've already started planning for next year. It's going to be BIG!

  To check out the original 19 ideas for Read Across America, visit my post from last year! 

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Mentor Sentences: Grammar, Word Choice & More

Do you ever read your students' writing and go, "Ummm... I am pretty sure there are some sentences in here somewhere." 

I do that all the time.

Without reading it aloud and imagining the way the child speaks, sometimes there's really no telling what they're trying to say.

We know grammar matters. It matters because, without it, your reader has no clue what your message is.

Like a grandma reading a teenager's text messages,  they will be lost and confused. 

And this is often what I am when I look at fourth graders' writing. Unfortunately, they've been 'learning' about nouns, verbs, periods, and capitals for five years of their lives with basically no evidence to support this claim.

So we needed to take some drastic measures. Enter: Mentor Sentences.

Mentor sentences are models. Just like a mentor text, they basically show us how it's done.

To help my kids learn about a complete sentence, I wrote a simple sentence with lots of parts of speech. I wanted them to really understand what the subject was (who or what the sentence is about) and what the predicate was (what the subject does or is).

Day One

The first mentor sentence I introduced was "The terrifying tornado spun ferociously through the tiny town."

I read the sentence aloud, slowly, and asked the kids to visualize it. Why was it a great sentence? What did the author do to make it a great sentence? We recorded our noticings on the chart. We noticed things like how descriptive the sentence was and how the writer used some strong word choice.

Then we dissected it: We identified the subject and the predicate and marked them in red and green.

In their notebooks, the kids glued the sentence and marked up the subject and predicate, and the questions that would help them find those parts of a sentence.

Day Two

I gave each student a little table to glue into their notebooks. Each column was labeled with a different part of speech and there was a little space above it. 

A strategy that has helped my students identify parts of speech is questioning. Each part of speech answers a question in a simple sentence.

Nouns: who, what?

Adjectives: What kind, how many?

Verbs: Did what, is what?

Adverbs: How?

Prepositional Phrases: Where?

These questions aren't foolproof, but they are a great place to start!

Day Three

To help kids apply what they were learning about parts of speech and subjects and predicates, we practiced dividing up some run-on sentences. We marked the subject of each sentence in red and the predicate in green. Noticing when the new subject was introduced helped kids realize when sentence were run-ons. 

I don't love workbooks, but we used a workbook page and colored pencils to practice identifying subjects, predicates, and complete sentences, and we continued to build a common language for talking about writing.

Day Four

The fourth day was super fun. I gave a little baggie to each pair of kids. I'd recorded the sentence on a sentence strip and cut it into individual words. Holding my timer aloft, I said, "You have thirty seconds to build our mentor sentence!" 

Their hands flew and the cards were shuffled like mad. They did it, every last kid!

Then I asked them to separate the subject from the predicate. They separated "The terrifying tornado" from "spun ferociously through the tiny town."

We spent a minute or two reviewing parts of speech: Point to the noun in the subject. Point to the adjective that describes the noun. What word shows the action the noun did? The verb! Find the verb. Point to the adverb that explains how the verb was done. Point to the prepositional phrase that answers the question, "where?"

And then we manipulated the sentence. This was tricky. The first thing that the kids did to make a new sentence was that they switched "ferociously" and "terrifying". This resulted in:  "The ferociously tornado spun terrifying through the tiny town." This, of course, brought about a conversation about the difference between adjectives and adverbs and which words they can describe or modify.

Then they tried, "The tiny tornado spun ferociously through the terrifying town," which was pretty funny. At first, many of them seemed to think it was ok. I had them close their eyes and visualize as I read the sentence. When the giggles began, I knew they got it. We discussed how simply flipping words wasn't a great way to revise a sentence. You need to flip phrases.

Because this was the first time, I suggested trying, "Through the tiny town," at the beginning of the sentence. Then I asked them to try, "Ferociously," at the beginning of the sentence, too. They started to realize that adverbs can go in various places around the sentence, and prepositional phrases can, too. This creates more interesting sentences. 

 We charted our revised sentences on our anchor chart.

Day Five 

The last day, we used the mentor sentence to write a modeled sentence. We chose a noun: volcano (by popular consent). I asked the questions to build a sentence around the word volcano.

As the kids came up with words, I challenged them to replace ordinary words (big) with specific and interesting word choice, and this is what we came up with:

Who or what?  (Noun) Volcano.
What kind? (Adjective) Dangerous.
Did what? (Verb) Rumbled.
How? (Adverb) Violently.
Where? (Prepositional Phrase) In the middle of the town.

Whole sentence: The dangerous volcano rumbled violently in the middle of the town.

It was awesome! The kids were excited to try their own, so I asked the questions slowly so they could choose their own noun and craft their own sentence. It was so much fun. 


Have you used mentor sentences in the classroom? How has it worked for you?

Want to get started? Grab my Mentor Sentences Grammar Notebook Units from TpT! The best part? They're all aligned to the new TEKS! Every tested conventions TEK is covered, from grammar, to capitalization, to punctuation, to spelling, to author's craft! Check them out on TpT!

 

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Beyond Rubrics: Five Steps to Better Revision *Freebie!

Picture this: Tommy is hard at work on his latest expository piece; all about whales. Tommy has poured his blood, sweat, and tears into this piece. He knows it's incredible. It's full of facts and, best of all, all the words are spelled right. Clearly, top-notch writing. 

Before Tommy hands in his paper, you say, "Tommy, did you revise this piece?" 

Uh-oh! Close one! thinks Tommy. He races back to his desk, furrows his brow, and quickly erases the word, "big." In place of the word "big," he writes "gigantic." Phwew! Glad to be done with that chore of revision! Then he races back to the turn-in basket, slaps his paper on top of the stack of reports on hamsters and elephants, and heads back to his desk, accomplished.

If you're like me, this makes your heart hurt a little. We ask for revision, but our little guys have no idea what we're talking about.

Revision? You mean spelling?

You know it's true. How often does the first draft of Tommy's piece look exactly like his final draft? 

Like...almost every time!

But we made a rubric! We wrote it together! I modeled! I conferred! I cajoled! 

To no avail. Kids are still clueless when it comes to revising. Some people are probably excellent at making rubrics work, but for me and my kids, they serve the same purpose as a Carson-Dellosa apple hanging on the wall: decoration.

This. Must. End. We must teach better revision! And here's how, in five steps:

1. Use a rubric to create thought-provoking questions. 

Kids look at rubrics and go, "Yes, yes, I did all of that. I obviously earned a four." But they don't always have any actual reason for that. After having several writing conferences with children who are clearly experts in their field of writing, I'm ready to tear my hair out. Or cry. Or have a nice big glass of wine.

Instead of using a rubric full of criteria or statements, devolve that rubric into organized questions that get kids thinking. Stay focused on the criteria for the rubric and then ask yourself questions that writers ask! 

For example, to help kids think about organization, ask...

* What organizational structure did the writer use?

* Are the ideas easy to follow or does the reader get lost?

* Can you find some meaningful transitions that connect ideas and help the writing flow?

These questions require students to hunt back in the text and find evidence, and that's the difference between thoughtful revision and just looking at a rubric.

This is the Revision Guide I put together for my students this year. Grab it for free on Google Drive!

2. Collaborate by using the questions to analyze a strong piece of writing

Don't start with the worst piece ever. That's overwhelming. We want kids to know "What should it look like," before they learn what it shouldn't look like, or else they have nothing to compare it to. Let's start with the end in mind! You'll still have plenty to talk about. 

There should still be some advice you could give the "writer" (even if they're not in the room) about what they should do on their next piece.

3. Guide students through analyzing a piece of writing on their own

Give everyone the same piece. Ask a question and have students hunt for evidence to respond to the question. Then give them time to talk in teams - that's the important piece. You're building a community of writers with a common language for talking about writing! YESSS!

4. Have students analyze a partner's piece of writing

Revision circles are awesome! Everybody passes their writing to the left and the kids use the questions as a guide for providing feedback for the writer to use when they revise their writing. The writer can decide whether they want to use that feedback or not, but they have some thoughtful ideas to start with!

5. Have students analyze their own writing, every time they write a piece

If students are expected to revise a piece of writing, provide them with the questions so they can find spots for revision in their piece. 

This takes a lot of time, yes, but it is time well spent! Kids who can talk about writing in an informed and thoughtful way become better writers! (That goes for adults, too!) So try it out! 

Need some tools to get started?

Watch this handy dandy video! In it, I model how to guide and question students to help them revise their own expository pieces.

 

And check out my brand-new product: Expository Writing Revision Guides on TPT! It's full of tips, revision guides, and samples to make this work in your own classroom!

 

  Want a free expository revision guide? Just enter your email list below! You'll get free ideas and resources to help you improve your students' writing! Pin It

The Test: What Teaching is All About

 
So a week ago, I got an email that I needed to report to a "mandatory meeting" about the "state test" after school. Needless to say, I. Was. Psyched.

I mean, let's get real: that's why I got into teaching! Watching kids fill in little tiny bubbles with #2 pencils? Who could ask for a more fulfilling day? So I made sure to arrive early at the meeting. I brought my handy dandy notebook and a purple pen. I staked out a spot in the front. I didn't want to miss a thing.

When my AP arrived at the meeting, I could tell she was pretty excited about the training, too. She'd made a powerpoint and everything! And it was full of citations of legal documents and pictures of non-examples! This was going to be good.

I was riveted during the whole meeting. Here are some of the things I learned about:

The day before the test, I get to plan out a new seating arrangement for my room! The kids shouldn't be able to communicate at all. Let's get real here; that's not what education is about. It's about choosing the right answer out of four choices! That's what we do in real life! 

So anyway, my seating chart is really really important. At any time during the test, some person I don't know and have never seen before (can you say Mystery Date?!) can come into my room and demand to see it! I have to show where each nine-year-old is sitting and write their test booklet number and their student ID! Now, that's thorough!

During the test, I get to do this really cool thing called, "Active Monitoring." That means that while the kids are taking their four-hour test, I don't have to sit behind my desk and read a boring magazine or et some work done onmy laptop. In fact, I'm not supposed to bring my laptop on that day at all! Instead, I'm going to actively monitor my students by walking around the room and making sure they're working on the right part of the test.

Here's the really challenging part: I can't actually look at the test! I have to make sure they're working on the test without looking at it! What a riot! I'm really looking forward to challenging my management skills with this fun paradox. At this point in the meeting, I made a cute little sketch of my classroom in my notebook. I used a yellow highlighter to mark the path I plan to take around my room for four hours.

Planning this fun day makes me look forward to it even more!

We learned a lot about what happens when you don't do active monitoring. And that includes: public shaming, getting fired, and losing your your teaching certificate! Wow! I feel really good that our state takes this so seriously.

It's going to be a fun day for my students, too. It'll be their 'time to shine' and show what they know! I know they're looking forward to it because they talk about it all the time. Sometimes I feel like that's what they think school is about! Ha! Aren't kids funny?

I'm so glad I've been working on independent reading stamina, because it's finally going to pay off on the test day! I'm so relieved, because I always felt like it was so much wasted time. It turns out, the kids will have four hours to complete a 40-some question test with about five or six passages. Finally, an opportunity to put all that time spent reading to good use!

During the four hour test, if they take a bathroom break, I have to make a note on their answer sheet. They don't get that time back or anything, but data collection is kind of a hobby of mine. I'm really excited to have data on my kids' bathroom habits. I think it's the missing piece to my instruction. I might even make it into a data wall.

I haven't even told you the best part: this test is going to determine if I am a good teacher and if my students are good learners! I have to say, I am really impressed by whoever came up with this system. Why spend so much time on 'authentic assessment' when a one-shot deal will serve just as well? I can't wait to find out if I'm a good teacher!

Too bad the results on some of the tests won't be ready until a week after school lets out in the summer. At least I'll have something to do on my long, boring days at home by myself! Shout it with me: DISAGGREGATE!

I have to be honest. I was totally pumped about this awesome new teaching challenge, but I was also starting to feel stressed about administering this top-secret test. I mean, it's obviously the most important thing I'm going to do in my teaching career! I don't want to mess it up! 

Fortunately, we're going to have lots of opportunities to learn. I'll get to take some online courses about 'testing security', participate in a few more faculty meetings, and read a really long handbook that will probably clear up all of my questions. When the big day finally comes, I think I'll be ready!

Do you get to give a 'high stakes test', too? Are you as pumped as me?

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