Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Good Expository Introductions... it's time to let "Hi, my name is..." go.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Integrating Valentine's Day into your curriculum
Monday, January 20, 2014
Join Our Book Study! Igniting a Passion for Reading, chapters one and two
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Book of the Month: Ruby's Wish
Ruby's Wish is a great story about a little girl who lives in China in the past. She is part of a large family with many, many children. The boys in the family are treated specially and allowed to go to school with no other responsibilities. But Ruby wants to go to school, too! She shows her grandfather how much she wants to go. I always get choked up at the end, even when I read it to the teachers (so embarrassing).
So this month, to display the Book of the Month, this is the bulletin board I put together.
The curtains and the "introducing..." part are always up for the Book of the Month board, but we change out the cover and the other materials on the board with each new book. This time, I opted for some fun facts about Chinese New Year (which Ruby celebrates in the book.
I found my facts here: 18 Top Facts about Chinese New Year
I decorated each fact with adorable clipart from Creative Clips
And I learned to make the Chinese lanterns from this TPT freebie from First Grade Hip Hip Hooray!
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Expository Text: Main Ideas Anchor Chart & our upcoming plans for third grade!
Main Idea is really hard. For third and fourth graders, anyway, it can be a challenge. Once, my class and I were reading a short text about Abraham Lincoln. It gave details about how he had to walk miles to school, when there was a school, and how he did his reading by candlelight. He had to chop firewood and do all sorts of difficult things to survive as a kid.
As we were reading this, I could see how the students were reacting. "Wow," they were thinking. "Harsh."
So when I asked for the main idea, I was a little surprised at the idea they came up with.
"Life was hard in the 1980s."
WHAT?! Ummm.... yeah, but not as hard as it was in the 1800s!
Anyway, kids are goofy, so something we think they're getting the big idea, but they're missing an important piece of their comprehension. Like the century or something.
To help students with main idea, we planned out a few lessons that we think will scaffold their learning. We're starting off with a hands-on activity like this one from Super Second Grade
Basically, students in groups get a bag with several items all connected to one idea. They have to identify the supporting details and then put them together to make a main idea.
Teachers will use the understanding students acquired through this activity to make this anchor chart:
Then, we'll practice identifying the main ideas of an article. Teachers are going to use the Bamboo Bears article from the Austin ISD Language Arts Resources site as a source of text. The teacher will white out the subheading for each section and have students use the details in the section and the repeated ideas to create the main idea statement, or a new subheading.
Afterwards, they can check it against the original subheadings! It's a fun and engaging way to practice identifying the main idea!
Afterwards, they can check it against the original subheadings! It's a fun and engaging way to practice identifying the main idea!
To teach main idea using the gradual release model, check out my Reading Strategy Miniack: Main Ideas.
We're going to follow up with some tools from my Nonfiction Pack to help kids practice main idea in a variety of ways: sorting, graphic organizers, foldables, and more! Get all 65+ pages on sale this week for 5.00 on TPT!
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
The importance of teaching genre: I don't understand basketball...
To create the chart, we wanted to pass out a variety of texts that are either fiction, poetry, or expository. We have previously taught the genres of fiction and poetry, but expository text is something new for our kids (as a genre of reading). Students will identify the genre of each text and then use it to review the characteristics of fiction and poetry. The teacher will create a chart from the students' background knowledge.
After the first two columns are complete, the teacher will directly introduce the purpose and characteristics of expository texts.
The idea behind this is the same as helping me learn how to watch basketball - it helps kids know what to look for in a text. If I pick up a text and say, "This is fiction. I'm going to look for a main character who has a problem and solves it," that gives me some mental velcro to stick the important pieces of the story to.
If I pick up an informational text and say, "This is expository text. I'm going to read to be informed about a topic. I'll look for main ideas of each section to find out what's important," I will be prepared to read that text and pull out what's important.
It's all about making meaning!
And kids who make meaning of text are more likely to read something. Which is why I hate basketball.
Want a free tool to help kids identify and use genre to comprehend? Grab my Genre Rings here!
Friday, January 3, 2014
Hats off to a New Year Craftivity, Bulletin Board, and Freebie
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
2014 Here I Come! *Linky Party
Olivia was born in mid-September and she is my favorite person.
We're so excited to start trying to have one of our own in 2014.

The hunnybun and I got married on October 5 and it was such a beautiful day full of our families and friends.
We went on a honeymoon to London and Rome and walked down Abbey Road,
attended mass in St. Peter's Square and saw the Pope,
and I walked up the tiny narrow stairs to the top of St. Peter's Basilica! Incredible days.
Of course, some crummy stuff happened too in 2013. Not too crummy; just a little crummy. I gained, like, ten pounds, my brother and sister-in-law (and favorite person Olivia) moved to another city in Texas - it was a great opportunity for them, but I miss them a lot, the hunnybun has had some tummy trouble, I was told I had a heart murmer - and then told nevermind (yay) and I had my wisdom teeth out. If you haven't seen the video, you should click over and check it out. Worth the five minutes, I've been told.
So 2014 has a lot to live up to. I've got some big plans (I say this as God laughs, so they say) and we're hittin crunch time when it comes to familyville. So here's the plan for 2014, courtesy of Second Grade Nest Linky Party!
My first personal goal was to make a baby. That might sound silly, and you may be thinking that's not something I should share with the world haha. But too late. I already did. I'm an open book, people, and 2014 is the year of baby. I'll keep you posted on progress.
Be nicer.
So when I recently went to the doctor, he told me my hormones were weird. Like, he showed me a little graph and he said, "We like to see a difference of no greater than 3:1." And I'm good enough at math to know the ratio was more like 4.5 :1. And so I said, "Ummm....could that explain the bouts of crying over commercials and my wont to snap at my husband when he says things like, "Can you do me a favor?" and he said....yes. So yeah, I've been a bit snippy around the house with the hunnybun and I should be nicer. I go from Mary Poppins to Sweet Dee Reynolds in twenty second. So I'll work on that.
This year, I'm starting a book study for my teachers K-5. We're reading Igniting a Passion for Reading by Stephen Layne and our first meeting is January 7! I'm excited to start this book study because it's completely voluntary and I believe that's when staff development works the best. So my goal is to have a successful book study with my teachers to help us all grow in our reading instruction and grow our students in their independent reading habits.
I also want to set up a little library full of multiple copies of books so students can check out books to read in pairs or groups. I think it's a great way to motivate our readers who are reluctant and also to engage our very able readers!
I want to learn more about promoting my blog and my TPT store, and making it more like a business. I love blogging and working on products, but I feel like there's more meat to it and I want to learn about making this more of a priority!
Baby? hahahahaha.
I want to walk three times a week at least. I like to walk once I'm outside, but when I'm in my cozy toasty house, it's tough to pry myself off the couch, out from under my laptop and drag myself out the door. Also, once I get there, I'm supposed to walk faster that I usually do. Because strolling don't do nothin for my hips.
So check out Second Grade Nest and get inspired to work on your own goals!
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