Featured Archives - Ideas by Jivey

Are Picture Books COMPLEX Enough?

September 18, 2017

A question I am asked frequently, because of my use of picture books as mentor texts, is: “Are picture books really complex enough for my upper grade students?”

And my answer always is…

YES YES YES!

There are many aspects that contribute to a text’s complexity- not just the “level” (whether that be Lexile or AR or F&P).

For one, a student’s prior knowledge contributes to complexity. What may be complex for one may not be for another. It will be dependent on their background, exposure, vocabulary, and experiences.

Picture books are not "too easy" for the upper grades students, no matter what the Lexile number might say! Find out why you should still be using picture books to teach in grades 3-5!

Secondly, I totally think picture books are like Disney and Pixar movies… how many times have you laughed at something in one of those movies and a kid looks at you like, what’s so funny?? You can read a book to a kindergarten or first grade class that they enjoy, but a ten-year-old would pick up on underlying themes in that same book that the little ones don’t.

One book example that comes to mind is The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson. Did you know it has a Lexile of AD490L? If you went strictly by the quantitive element, you wouldn’t think it would be appropriate for an upper grades classroom. But how many six-year-olds do you know that would pick up on the metaphor of the fence in this story? There is such a deep level of understanding that can be discussed with this book on segregation issues!

And that leads me to my next point… YOU as the teacher are one of the BEST aspects that contribute to complexity! You can amp up the rigor of a text simply by asking the right questions!

Choose a book that relates to the standard you are teaching, and as you read, ask comprehension questions throughout to show them the importance of thinking while reading! Not only can you ask questions to prompt them to think the way you want them to, you can also do think-alouds to demonstrate your own thoughts and feelings. This is done so easily with picture books!

In case you needed any more convincing, here are four more reasons that picture books make great mentor texts:

1. The story is usually done in 32 pages. When you refer to parts of the story in your lessons, most likely, students are going to remember. You can read a great picture book one day, and then use it for various lessons for days after that! Often times, you can teach SEVERAL standards with one picture book.

2. Picture books hold students’ attention with illustrations and vivid language throughout. Seriously- some of the BEST examples I’ve found of figurative language, vivid verbs, and sensory details come from picture books.

3. There are so many amazing historical fiction books, science fiction texts, and even math literature. We know there isn’t enough time in the school day to read a book before every lesson (as much as we’d like to) so spread that book as much as you can!

4. Please do not think I’m saying to never read a novel with your students again. Chapter books, extended texts, novels… whatever you want to call them… are still so important! Students have to build stamina and stick with a story that really builds- I totally agree. But students also need to see, hear, and understand so many different styles to become better readers and writers. What better way than to read mentor texts all year long?

Are you interested in learning about how to do more than just “read” a picture book to your students? Do you want to make your read-alouds more meaningful?

Enroll in my Interactive Read-Aloud Mini-Course to get the what, why, and how of reading picture books to promote deeper thinking with your students! Save 20% when you enroll through this post! You’ll have lifetime access to the video lessons, as well as a special exclusive IRA questions bonus AND the lesson and materials for the model/demonstration video I present so that you can implement it in your class, too. There is also a certificate of completion to use for PD credit (if applicable in your district)! You will be excited to start interactive read-alouds right away in your classroom!

Or maybe you’d like to get ready-made mentor text lessons for the week?

Join the club!

No really… there’s a club!

Vocabulary

Make Vocabulary Stick With These Five Activities

September 15, 2017

Vocabulary must be taught in context, and should be an ongoing process, in order for students to truly comprehend the words. Learn about five easy ways you can make vocabulary stick with your students.

As you learned in my previous post, it’s time to throw the vocabulary list OUT! Students need the words in context, and they need practice with the words over the course of the year- not just the week you introduce them.

This post is going to give you five ways you can keep vocabulary instruction alive all year long!

INTERACTIVE WORD WALL

Yes, that’s right. INTERACTIVE. That means it doesn’t stay the same all year. Get student input on how to arrange, and later, rearrange, the words. Words could be sorted by parts of speech. They could be placed on individual strips with room under the words to allow for lists of synonyms. You could even allow students to create illustrations to be displayed with the words. I’m sure students will even have their own ideas of how to sort them!

DETERMINE WORD FUNCTION

In order to use the vocabulary words well, students need to know HOW to use them in a sentence. Determining the function (or part of speech) will help students learn to use them in a sentence. Model for students how to look for patterns to determine the function of the word by looking at suffixes (-ed and -ing often show verb tense, and -ly often indicates an adverb). It might even help to replace the word with another verb or noun to check it.

ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

“Warm up” the students by discussing a topic the words fall under when applicable (for example, if the book is about bats… ask, “What do you know about bats?”) Show the vocabulary words and allow them to share what they know about how the words relate to bats.

PLAY GAMES

Get students moving!! Allow students to act out vocabulary words (old and new) by asking them, “What does it look like when you…?” Another fun game resembles the game HedBanz. Write the word on a strip of paper long enough to go around their head, stapled (like a crown) – students should not see the word on their head. Students should ask questions about their word to others to help them guess the word that is on their crown.

MARZANO’S WORD WORK

This should be used as a front-loading activity, if you wish to use it. It should NOT replace reading the mentor text and discussing the word in the context of the story, but it is a great way to integrate various learning styles in order to help the words “sink in.”

I had the privilege of hearing Robert Marzano present on his six step process several years ago, and it was a nice way to change up how I had been teaching vocabulary. My kids showed a lot of growth, especially in content-area words. This process is not something you want to do for EVERY word (as in all six steps every time) – you don’t have the time, and the kids would get bored FAST.

Read this great article that explains Marzano’s Six Step Process in more detail.

Here is a short summary of the six steps:

1. Provide a description, explanation, or example of the new term.

(Tell a story that integrates the term or show a picture of the term)

2. Ask students to restate the description, explanation, or example in their own words.

(Correct misunderstandings)

3. Ask students to construct a picture, symbol, or graphic representing the word.

(Draw your own example, too)

Use the following page to create a word journal:

4. Engage students periodically in activities that help them add to their knowledge of the terms.

(Identify prefixes, suffixes, synonyms, antonyms, analogies, reminders of confusion)

5. Ask students to discuss the terms with one another.

(Compare drawings and descriptions)

6. Play games periodically that allow them to play with terms.

(Pictionary, Jeopardy, Charades, Headbands)

Interested in an entire year of vocabulary taught through mentor texts? Visit the vocabulary category in my TpT store!

Vocabulary

3 BIG Reasons Why You Should Throw Out The Vocabulary List

September 14, 2017

Stop teaching vocabulary in isolation! Check out the research that provides three big reasons why vocabulary lists don't work.

Give a list of vocabulary words to look up in the dictionary, write a sentence, and then take a quiz on Friday…… these practices have come and gone! Not only do the students not enjoy this process, it isn’t a best practice.

Research has shown that teaching new words without context (teaching just definitions) will not improve reading comprehension. Here are three BIG reasons, supported by research, why you should throw out the vocabulary list. And if you want to read even more, I suggest starting with No More “Look Up The List” Vocabulary Instruction by Charlene Cobb and Camille Blachowicz, as well as Bringing Words to Life by Isabel Beck, Margaret McKeown, and Linda Kucan! (These two book links are Amazon affiliate links. When you buy through these links, Amazon gives me a few cents which I contribute to my fabulous blog giveaways!)

Words must be presented in context for proper comprehension.

Picture books are vital – yes, even in the upper grades – to allow students to use the images to help with context and infer meaning of words. One way to present vocabulary words effectively is to teach through texts you are already using for other lessons. As Irene Fountas and Gay Pinnell remind us in Guiding Readers and Writers (2001), “if you really know a word, you can:

– Read it in many different contexts, understanding the meaning each time.

– Use it in a decontextualized way, mapping out the different meanings that are possible given the context.

– Realize the connotations that a word may have when used in a certain way (e.g., as part of irony or sarcasm).

– Use the word metaphorically if appropriate.”

Words must be used over time or they won’t “stick.”

In order to effectively employ vocabulary instruction, it is crucial to present opportunities for students to make connections between the words and concepts, and provide repeated exposures to the words. One suggestion from Charlene Cobb and Camille Blachowicz is to have a word wall- but not one that remains on the wall untouched all year. It should be used regularly, with student input.

Definitions mean nothing when the relationship is unknown.

Think of how many words can be used as a noun, an adjective, AND a verb, depending on how it is used, or even as one part of speech having several meanings. How are students supposed to figure this out when given a list? Answer: they don’t. They pick the shortest definition and write it!

You probably know, previewing is so important for comprehension… but that rule does not apply to vocabulary, unless you present it completely in context! In other words, it is not necessary to always “preview” words before reading a text, because the students don’t understand the context. Beck, McKeown, and Kucan advise the best time to introduce the meaning of a word is when it is encountered in the text. This can also be done after reading the entire text by referring back to the pages where the word is found.

THROW OUT THE LIST!

Start teaching your vocabulary through the mentor texts you already use and love in the classroom!

LEARN EVEN MORE about how to incorporate ongoing vocabulary activities with ANY words all year long:

Read the next post of this vocabulary blogging series!

Interested in an entire year of vocabulary taught through mentor texts?

Visit the vocabulary category in my TpT store!

3-5, K-2, Mastering Mentor Sentences

Suggestions For Making Mentor Sentences STICK In Writing

February 15, 2017

Ideas by Jivey explains how to incorporate mentor sentences into your writing time to ensure that the grammar, mechanics, and style lessons you teach are sticking!

I am often asked by people who use mentor sentences, “How can I get the kids to carry these skills over into their writing?”

Remember, the idea of using mentor sentences is to move AWAY from teaching grammar in isolation. This means, don’t have a “mentor sentence time” in isolation either! Mentor sentences must be woven into the fabric of your writing time. I know that sometimes your schedule may not allow for mentor sentences to happen at the start of your writing time, but no matter when it occurs in your day, your writing time should still include what is happening in mentor sentences.

During writing, teachers must lead lessons (and/or model) about organization, ideas, content, word choice, voice, style, and conventions. That’s a LOT of components to be taught, right? Luckily, mentor sentences covers a lot of your word choice, style, and conventions lessons and modeling! And just like with anything else, the more exposure they have to these components, the more they will understand and start to actually use them! But, of course, showing them in a ten minute lesson and then “moving on” to something else in writing is NOT going to help them apply those word choice, style, and conventions lessons.

First, I would urge you to make the mentor sentence student notebook a RESOURCE and not just another notebook. You can read all about how I set up student notebooks here. If you have students draft OUTSIDE of their mentor sentence/writing resource notebooks, they can actually flip through the notebook as a resource to get ideas. (It’s difficult to flip pages in a notebook you are actually writing in, right?) This is something you will have to model and train your students to do, but after a while, you’ll find that the students use their notebook as a resource unprompted!

Let’s look at how I would schedule writing lessons to make sure mentor sentence lessons are woven in to writing time:

On Monday, you introduce the sentence and talk about what the students notice during the Mentor Sentences lesson. Because you’ve only introduced the sentence, this is the perfect day to also use the mentor text that the sentence is from to get in an organization, content, or ideas lesson to work on during writing. This lesson and text model should be referred to all week long, as well as the focus skill from your Mentor Sentence lesson (which you’ll introduce on Tuesday).

On Tuesday, students work on seeing how the parts of speech work together in the sentence. This should also be the day you focus solely on the focus skill from the mentor sentence. You can introduce (or review) the skill by using the Interactive Activity Companions that go with each mentor sentence lesson. This will be your “writing mini-lesson.” Typically, these are conventions lessons, but sometimes are word choice or style lessons (figurative language, descriptive language, etc). Have the students practice this skill in their own writing after the focus skill mini-lesson.

Wednesday can become REVISION DAY in your classroom during writing time. Practice revising with the mentor sentence, then have students revise for that same focus skill in their own writing.

But what if my students aren’t done drafting?

Friends, writing is a CONSTANT PROCESS. We must teach our students that revision (and editing, for that matter) must be done many times and over the entire writing piece, not just when they are “done.” Think back to when you had to write those dreaded papers in college (and maybe some of you are still now as you get higher degrees). How many times did you read and re-read and add and change and delete before you EVER came to that last paragraph? This is a skill our students should learn, too. In fact, just writing this blog post, I have moved paragraphs, added sentences or phrases to be more clear, and changed words several times already… and I’m not finished! 🙂

So yes, on Wednesday, no matter how long their writing piece might be, have students work on revising. You could even have students look back at older writing pieces (not just current) to look at how they could improve them.

Thursday is the students’ FAVORITE day during Mentor Sentences: Imitation Day! Students seriously love this day, so work that love for all it’s worth! After imitating the mentor sentence, have students work to use that same sentence structure in the writing piece they are working with at that time. Of course, this should not be all they do during writing that day. Aside from trying out the sentence structure in their writing, they should still be working on applying relevant skills they have already learned. (This is a great day to encourage them to “flip through” their notebook for ideas!)

On Friday, you’ll give students the assessment to see how much they understood the focus skill from the week. If desired, you can deliver another organization, content, or ideas lesson for students to work on during writing, or students can continue applying relevant skills they have already learned.

Please understand that this is a framework, or outline, to help give you an idea of how you can incorporate mentor sentences into writing, but how you deliver it all is dependent upon your style (small groups vs. whole group, conferring, etc). This is certainly not the only way to “get it all in” and “make it stick” but it is what worked for me!

Check out a video series I created to Weave Mentor Sentences into Writing!

If you want even more IN-DEPTH step-by-step help with implementing mentor sentences, check out my courses!

If you are looking for guidance to pick the “just-right” bundle for your needs, click below!

For even more ideas, follow my Pinterest board!

Follow Ideas By Jivey’s board Mentor Sentences on Pinterest.

Mentor Texts

Kindness Nation: Use Mentor Text, Terrible Things, to Teach About Upstanders

January 24, 2017

Use the mentor text, Terrible Things, to teach students how to be upstanders, combat bullying, and support and stand up for what is right and fair. Ideas By Jivey shares a free resource and ideas to teach with the book.

At a time where our nation is very divided, we as teachers must impress upon our students that WE CAN spread kindness and love to combat the hatred and bullying. For this reason, hundreds of Teachers Pay Teachers authors have joined a movement. We want to support classrooms across the country (and world) in ways that are most needed, so we have uploaded free resources that will help do just that!

You can find these free resources by searching #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths on TpT, as well as social media. They will tackle topics like: kindness, empathy, anti-bullying, equality, inclusion, understanding and respecting others’ differences, civil rights, democracy, and civics. There are A LOT of resources, so I recommend narrowing your search on the left side using your grade level. 🙂

The forever free resource I created is for a really thought-provoking book, called Terrible Things by Eve Bunting. It is an allegory of the Holocaust, but even if you don’t teach about this event or time period in history, it is still a phenomenal book to teach students about being upstanders rather than bystanders. The story is about animals who live contently in the woods together. But one day, Terrible Things come and take all of the animals with feathers. Although they all lived together and got along before, once the birds were gone, the other creatures talked about the negative characteristics of the birds. They said they were better off without them. Little Rabbit doesn’t understand why they were taken and why no one spoke up. As the story continues, the Terrible Things come for a new type of animal, and each time the same thing happens. Finally, all that is left in the clearing are the rabbits, and one day, the Terrible Things come for them, too. No one is there to help them, but Little Rabbit manages to hide. He decides he will go off to tell other animals in other places about them, and hope they will learn to stick together and speak up for each other.

You can purchase the book using my Amazon affiliate link by clicking above on the image of the book. I use the money from my Amazon affiliate payments to fund awesome giveaways!

Before reading the book, ask students to think of things that are terrible (you may want to also prompt their thinking with words like scary, wrong, etc…) This can be done on the board as a compiled list, and/or on the included page in the free pack I have made.

Read the book. Ask the students to think about the animals (not the little rabbit) in the book. Is there anything they could have done to stop the Terrible Things? What could they have done? Discuss the words bystander and upstander. I have included posters in the free pack I created.

Review the story and discuss how Little Rabbit changed from the beginning to the middle to the end. This can also be done on the included page in this free pack. Discuss how Little Rabbit changed from a bystander to an upstander.Take a look back at the list of terrible things the class compiled. Is there anything on the list that they could change or do to make a difference? Have them list those things on their own page if completing that way. Circle the things on the board that could be changed if a class list was compiled. You might also discuss what to do to make a difference.

These are some things that students have said are “Terrible Things.” It is your decision how terrible you want to get on your chart (i.e.; murder and death). And can we all just take a minute to laugh that vegetables made it on the chart? 😉 And of course, tests and homework. 🙂

There is also a reflection sheet in the pack, “Don’t Be a Bystander” – students can use something from the list or their own additional thought to explain what they could do to stand up for something that they know isn’t right.

As I mentioned, LOTS of TpTers have come together in this movement. Here are just a few more resources that would compliment this lesson well:

There are SO many more on Teachers Pay Teachers. Just search the hashtags, #kindnessnation and #weholdthesetruths!

Thank you to Jillian for the awesome images to promote our movement!

Uncategorized

The Importance of Differentiation in Reading

September 25, 2016

If you’ve been a teacher within the last decade, you know the word “DIFFERENTIATION” isn’t just the latest and greatest buzzword. It’s crucial across all subjects to be able to meet the needs of the different learners in your class.

For a teacher just starting to differentiate, the idea of it can sometimes seem overwhelming. It does require more planning, but once you get to know your students, it becomes easier. This post is going to focus on differentiation in reading instruction, but the ideas can apply to many subjects!

WHAT DIFFERENTIATION LOOKS LIKE

Teaching the standards with a variety of levels of texts to meet different levels
Teaching the standards in tiered levels (providing access to all learners for the standard)
Giving students choice on how they demonstrate their knowledge based on learning styles
LOTS of formative assessments to determine who understands and who needs more support

WHAT DIFFERENTIATION DOES NOT LOOK LIKE

Teaching the same lesson to every small group
Gifted students always teaching low learners
Ability-grouped classrooms

Why should you differentiate instruction in reading? And why AREN'T you differentiating reading assessments? Ideas by Jivey lays it all out for you and helps you head in the right direction!

I will go ahead and tell you upfront, I am NOT a fan of basal programs. They don’t allow for in-depth teaching of reading comprehension and, of course, many students either cannot read the story on their own or should be reading material at a much higher level.

For this reason, I believe in using a reading workshop model. I start with a mini-lesson to teach a standard using a mentor text then I pull small groups of students. While I pull small groups, students are reading independently (from a text on their instructional level). The small groups I pull are generally based on reading level, but sometimes based on skill need.

Ideas by Jivey reminds you to stop leaving students out teaching only whole-group. Teach students in small groups to differentiate for levels of learners.

In my small groups, I generally expand on the mini-lesson skill using a leveled text appropriate for the readers in the group. Depending on where we are in a chapter book, this isn’t always possible, so sometimes it is a review of previously learned skills. The students are learning grade-level standards, but not necessarily with grade level appropriate texts: some are lower, some are higher.

Activities in reading also look different, based on my students. They are STILL working on the same grade-level standard as everyone in the class, but with modifications. I might provide a sentence stem, partially filled graphic organizer, or word bank for students who are below level. Students who are above level will have more open-ended opportunities to complete the activity. (This is called tiered-level learning.)

Why are we differentiating instruction, but not differentiating assessments?

Reading assessments should also look different! After all, are you assessing whether they understand the skill, or assessing whether they can read the text? I believe if you are determining whether students have mastered a comprehension standard, the student should be able to read the assessment passage on their instructional level.

Using differentiated reading assessments has only recently become a common practice. For this reason, there aren’t many resources out there with grade-level appropriate questions with differentiated passages… which is when I come to the rescue. 🙂

I have created assessments for grades 3-5 that you can mix and match based on what your students need. The passages are written on four levels (2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th) so that you can assess on your grade level, but provide instructional level texts.

There are six fiction and six nonfiction passages for each strand: key ideas and details, craft and structure, integration of ideas, and all standards combined.

There are also a variety of ways to mix and match the assessments to create long and short assessments on different standards! I didn’t number the questions so that you can use as many passages as you’d like in your test. You might also consider assessing on just one standard with a few texts, or assessing multiple standards with just one text. You can even assess a standard with fiction and nonfiction! The possibilities to mix and match are endless!