Reading Archives - Page 3 of 9

Sparking Student Motivation: Fun Informational Passages!

October 19, 2014

Let me tell you what I LOVE.

I LOVE tricking kids into thinking working is super fun. 😛

My kids were begging me last week to learn more and write more. Have you ever heard of such a thing???

I shared with you last week that I am working on getting my students to respond deeper using Jennifer Findley’s Rigorous Reader’s Response Letters. We are also working on reading informational paired texts… and we were working on some skills with Stellaluna this past week… so I decided to write some articles about bats for them to use for close reading and annotating, and for them to use for their response letters! The first day, I gave them the first article on Kitti’s Hog-Nosed Bat- the smallest mammal in the world! We did some close reading, then I had them practice their first independent response letter using the same checklist from last week. Seriously, with their excitement level, you would have thought I’d just given them candy. They could not WAIT to write about what they had learned about these bats, and what they could infer. Some of them are seriously impressing me with their inferring skills too! Check this one out:

Spark Student Motivation with Ideas by Ivey

As I was peeking at some of their responses, a few were still not going as deep as I wanted, so on Friday, I had a few students share (including the one above) and then we did another class shared writing response. Here is what the students suggested I write:

Then, I let them know they were getting another article about bats that day- they cheered! One of my students said, “Ms. Ivey, can we do more articles next week about other animals? This is fun!” I swear, I am not making this up!! (I actually thought to myself at that moment- I can link this up with Joanne!! Ha!!)

They did the same thing as the previous day with their new passage about a megabat- the Spectacled Flying Fox. I will most likely use these responses for a grade since we have practiced a bit now.

I decided to take these articles a step further and add some paired text multiple choice and constructed response questions…. then I thought, if they liked these articles so much, I’m going to need more… so I made some for owls and spiders, too! (‘Tis the season after all!)

And of course, you know I can’t keep them all to myself… you can get them in my TPT store!

For the first 48 hours, this product is 20% off! I hope you enjoy!

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Five For Friday ROLLER COASTER! {and a Columbus FREEBIE!}

October 10, 2014

Friends, I have been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad blogger! 🙁 For this, I am so sorry. I am going to try my very best to blog more because I absolutely love doing it! My life has just been totally, upside down crazy the last few weeks!! I have absolutely felt like I was on a roller coaster, so I decided to make my lesson plans align with my feelings. :o)

I looooove using the book, Roller Coaster to teach how to write about a small moment.

This ENTIRE book is the story of riding a roller coaster, from the minute they walk up to get in line, to the minute they get off. NOT when they woke up, then went to the park, then walked around, then ate lunch, then rode the roller coaster, then went home. (Sound familiar to anyone??) Ha!

To get them thinking about JUST the small moment they are going to write about, I have them draw a “snapshot.” They must show only what would be in a photograph- so they can only be doing one thing in that picture. Then, they label it and write details about that moment using their five senses.

Write about a moment with Ideas by Jivey

Here is how I set it up- you can also see I had them think of how they would introduce and end the story on the sides.

I began writing my small moment story on chart paper to give them an idea of how to get started. My small moment happened, unfortunately, just this week on Monday!

I pointed out how much I had already written, but I had only just BEGUN the “small moment!” I showed them how I had to set the scene for my reader. :o)

Of course, since I was using Roller Coaster for writing, I also used the mentor sentence from my fourth pack and we worked on prepositions from my fourth interactive language arts notebook, too!

We are still chugging along learning about our explorers using my Explorers Pack.

Learning about explorers using Explorer Pack with Ideas by Jivey

We actually did this one last week, but with Columbus Day coming up, I thought I’d offer it to you… for free! You can download it here from my TPT store. I appreciate your feedback if you download the freebie! :o)

We also made brochures to advertise for a CRUISE with the explorer! :o) This one is from one of my super high gifted kids… *they don’t all look this amazing…*

Lastly, we are learning to write good, in depth responses to what we read! I am using an amazing pack from Jennifer Findley this year to help my students write better responses. Here is the one we wrote together this week to “try it out.” Next week, they’ll write their own!

In depth responses using Jennifer Findley's amazing pack with Ideas by Jivey

So you see, even though my blogging has been a bit lacking, we’ve still been doing tons of fun things!! I hope you can borrow some ideas from this post for your own classroom! :o) Have a great weekend!

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Workshop Wednesday: Reading Workshop {Weather Integration}

September 17, 2014

Welcome to another Workshop Wednesday!

Today, I’m going to share with you how my Reading Workshop is going- mainly the mini-lesson portion of it. Can I just tell you, my very own Better Than Basal product I created this summer to go with all of my mentor sentence texts has been a lifesaver!? And I’m really not just saying that because I made it or because I’m trying to make you buy it… my planning time has literally been cut in half every week because no matter what skill we are working on, 9 times out of 10, my mentor text will align to it. It has seriously been so amazing each week when it’s time to plan. If you want to read more about how I use mentor texts in the classroom, check it out here (but make sure to read the rest of this post for ideas too)!

Over the summer, I shared with you how I set up my Reading Workshop during the Reading In The Wild Book Study.

Reading Workshop mini lesson with Ideas by Jivey

You can print/save this page for free from Google Docs if it’s helpful to you, or get more in depth info in my Launching Reading Workshop Pack.

We are studying the water cycle and weather in science right now. I LOVE integrating my science and social studies content into as much of my day as I can, so I choose my mentor texts to do just that. This week’s mentor text is Come On, Rain! It is a gorgeous book full of vivid language about a rainstorm rolling in on a sizzling hot day.

Check it out on Amazon!

We have been working on finding supporting evidence in texts, as well as using evidence to draw conclusions, so we used a page from Better Than Basal as I read Come On, Rain! Monday, and also a page from the Nonfiction Companion Mini-Unit as I read just one page from Can It Rain Cats and Dogs? on Tuesday. This way, we practiced standard R.1 with fiction and nonfiction!

Come On, Rain and finding supporting evidence in texts with Ideas by Jivey

The students told how the author gave clues that rain was coming.

Finding supporting evidence in texts with Ideas by Jivey

The students answered the question, “Why do clouds have different shapes and colors?” They wrote evidence from the text about the different types of clouds and realized that all of the clouds are formed differently, which is why they are different shapes!

Both of these activities were done whole group as my mini-lesson, then my students were/are able to apply this skill to their own book during independent reading when they write their reading response for the day. (They must give evidence from the text to support their thinking in their reading journal.)

We are going to do the questions page one more time this week with Can It Rain Cats and Dogs? because this is a harder skill, and I also love sharing some of the cool information in this book!

Check it out on Amazon!

Later this week on my blog, I will share more about how I’m teaching weather. We’ve done some super fun things already, and more fun is still on the way! :o)

An InLinkz Link-up

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Five For Friday!

August 16, 2014

Happy Friday! Whew, what a week!! You with me?? Here’s what I was up to this week…

I’ve been working on getting all of our workshops set up and rolling! I got this goodie during the TPT B2S sale – I have been using Math Workshop for several years, but I loved that this had foldables to go with my set-up!

We also started working on building our reading stamina this week. My kids are up to 13 minutes! :o)

Freebie Reading Stamina Poster with Ideas by Jivey

Launching Reading Workshop with Ideas by Jivey

You can grab this freebie poster here! It’s also included in my Launching Reading Workshop Pack!

I always start Writing Workshop by having the students collect some good seed ideas. I found a book that I used to use in 3rd grade (…that I had totally forgotten about!!! Do you do that, too?) and the kids loved it!

Collecting good seed ideas with Ideas by Jivey

It is seriously the cutest book! Click here to buy it on Amazon!

I had my students make 12 boxes in their notebook, and after reading each page, I had the students write down a time they felt the same way as the girl!

These will make great stories later! :o)

I was actually able to get in a few mini-lessons this week! One of them excited my kids SO very much. I like to show Pixar short films in reading for comprehension strategies… after all… they are just visual stories! We watched Partly Cloudy and used Lovin Lit’s awesome summarizing flapbook from her Interactive Reading Literature Notebook to practice “Who, Wanted, But, So, Then.”

Lovin Lit's flapbook from her Interactive Reading Literature Notebook with Ideas by Jivey

I was a good kid when I was in school (no, really!), but the only thing I ever got in trouble for was talking… I think sometimes my classes are my payback for that. 😛

I’ll leave you with this little funny. I certainly have a couple of these kiddos this year…! :o)

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Using Mentor Texts in the Classroom: Maximize Your Time!

August 10, 2014

I LOVE a good piece of literature, don’t you?? And I REALLY wish that I could just read all day long, but I can’t… because there just isn’t enough time! (Can I get an AMEN?) So instead, I maximize my time with my favorite texts by using them several times for several subjects!

I’ll start with reading since that’s usually where we think of using a good book. We do not use a basal reader at my school. I know there are many of you out there that love your basal, but for me, it doesn’t fit in with how I like to teach. There are definitely some good stories in the basal, and I see some benefits in all of the students having the same text in front of them… but I want my students diving into texts that are on their level to become better readers. This is why I use guided reading – to teach my students skills on their level. I have small sets of different leveled books in my classroom, and my school also has a fabulous book room of sets for small groups!

Of course, that does NOT mean I don’t ever teach whole group. This is where mentor texts come in. I use a Reading Workshop Model in my classroom (read more about that here). I start with a mini-lesson that teaches them how to demonstrate one of our common core standards; during my mini-lesson, I get to use those fabulous books that I love. At some point in my day (usually on Monday because I like to use a book for an entire week), I read the mentor text to my students. Since this is the first time they are hearing the book, I generally read it just for the purpose of entertainment. Then, when it’s time for my reading mini-lesson, I refer back to the book- sometimes just reading a few pages of it to focus on a skill. This helps to keep my mini-lesson “mini.” I often use a graphic organizer to help guide their thinking. It also allows for an “I Do, We Do, You Do” lesson- I can start the graphic organizer with them, then they can help suggest something to add to it, and finally they can finish it on their own. Of course, then they’ll also be able to use that graphic organizer with their own book to show their thinking!

Now, reading is over…but I’m not done using that text! That author got published for a reason, you know… usually because they show awesome craft and skill in their writing! Don’t you want students to notice that as they read? I know I do! I use my mentor texts for grammar and writing through the use of mentor sentences. Haven’t heard of mentor sentences? Read more about them here! I want my students to recognize what good writers do, and then incorporate those skills into their own writing. For 10-15 minutes each day at the start of writing time, we look at a mentor sentence that was taken from the mentor text we are reading that week. We notice all the wonderful things about it, we figure out patterns in parts of speech, we revise the sentence, and we imitate the author in our writing- all over the course of the week. I also like to use the theme of the mentor text for an on-demand writing prompt. (If we read Enemy Pie, for example, which is all about being a good friend and making friends, I might give them a writing prompt that week that asks them to describe ways they are a good friend.)

Writing is over……… but I’m usually STILL not done with the text! I love finding books that I can also incorporate in with science and social studies! There are so many great historical and science fiction texts out there. Now I can use that SAME mentor text to pull out information that the students need to know during science and social studies time, too! You can find a great example of this in a freebie I have listed on TPT:

Better than Basal Free Unit with Ideas by Jivey

This freebie uses the mentor text, The Wretched Stone by Chris Van Allsburg. There are so many fabulous skills that can be taught with this book in reading and writing, and it also lends itself well to exploration in social studies! (This freebie does not include the mentor sentence lessons for the book- it does include the reading lessons and the writing prompt.)

If you like the freebie and want more, I have also created a pack of FORTY of my favorite mentor texts to use in the classroom with over 100 graphic organizers WITH answer keys!

Favorite Mentor Texts with Answer Keys Freebie with Ideas by Jivey

There is ALSO a nonfiction companion mini-set!

Freebie Complete No Prep Mini Unit Lessons Using Mentor Texts with Ideas by Jivey

These forty texts are all of the same texts for which I have created mentor sentence units, too!

Mentor Sentence Units for Froty Texts with Ideas by Jivey

And…if you’re like me and want more bang for your buck, you can pick up ALL of the mentor sentence units, interactive language arts notebook activities, and the Better Than Basal 40 book unit in the BIGGEST & BEST Mentor Sentence Unit Bundle, which will save you $20!

I hope this helps you “see” how to incorporate mentor texts into your classroom! For more ideas on using great books across the curriculum, check out my friends’ blog, Amanda and Stacia at Collaboration Cuties!

They have a Must Read Mentor Text Linky and a tab of all the past link-ups so you can get even more ideas of how to use the same book in many areas!

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Reading in the Wild: Reading Workshop Schedule

June 26, 2014

Hooray! I’m so excited to help host this section of our book study! Catherine from The Brown-Bag Teacher was such a wonderful coordinator of this study, and she knows me and my workshop ~~addiction~~ love, so this was a perfect week for me to host!

Let me start off by telling you what Donalyn Miller suggests in her book for setting a schedule:
She goes by the rule of thirds. She suggests: one third of your reading time is devoted to independent reading, conferring, and small groups; one third direct instruction; and one third independent practice. I think this is a great rule to go by, because it’s not like those other books you’ve read that just say “you must have two hours for your reading block.”

Well……. I would LOVE two hours, but that isn’t what I’m given. At my school, our schedule is given to us. So here is what I do- (click the page below to download the PDF- and ignore the funky colors on Google Drive!)

(This page came from my Launching Reading Workshop Pack,
where I go into great detail of what I do in each block of time.)

I don’t exactly follow the rule of thirds- mine is more like half and half. That is mainly because the fourth grade students at my school are expected to sustain independent reading for at least thirty minutes. It is also what I have found works best for actually getting to a group AND conferring all in one day. While I’m working with a group or conferring, my students read in their book nooks. This helps to give them a place to feel comfortable while reading.

These are some of the book nooks I used two years ago. This past year, I had some of the same, and some new ones- including a few more pillows because they LOVE pillows.

Then, as I shared with you last week, the last 15-20 minutes of my school day is our read-aloud time, and nothing takes its place!

I am going to leave you with what I think is the most powerful line from this section of the book:

What matters is that our daily work in the classroom values best practices and doesn’t become bogged down with a lot of must-dos and tired activities that crowd out authentic learning opportunities for our students.

My schedule might not work for you. Donalyn’s might not work for you. The point is, you do what you know is right in the time that works best for you and your schedule. Everyone has their own unique teaching style, and no one else will ever be Lucy Calkins! I took what I liked from Lucy, and also Debbie Miller, Stephanie Harvey, Beth Newingham, Irene Fountas, and Gay Su Pinnell… and I put it all together to make my workshop happen. Maybe you’ve done that too, and now you can add “Jivey” to your list of people! :o)

I’d love to hear from you about what your schedule looks like, either by linking up or by posting in the comments below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Sparking Student Motivation: Fun Informational Passages!

Workshop Wednesday: Reading Workshop {Weather Integration}

Five For Friday!

Using Mentor Texts in the Classroom: Maximize Your Time!

Reading in the Wild: Reading Workshop Schedule

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