Word study resources

As we being to look at which word study program we are going to be using in the future, I've spent a lot of time researching and looking for ideas.  I came across this idea a while back and it's just been sitting on my desktop.  So I'm going to share it with you.

This is something that can be done outside of the word study time, and I actually envisioned it being used during writer's workshop more than anything.  It's called "Have A Go."  From what I've researched, I think it can be traced back to Faye Bolton and Diane Snowball in their book, Teaching Spelling.  The concept behind it is that a child needs to make an attempt at spelling the word correctly before the teacher will jump in and help them.  They sound out the word and then the teacher will help them work through it until they get it correct.  Franki Sibberson talks about all the different components of word study in her article, Word Study is More Than Spelling, on the Choice Literacy website.  I can't seem to find the original source for this Have-A-Go that I've found.  It's a PDF that I've put on the Literacy Lab website.

If you use something like this, or something a little different, I'd love to see what you use or how it works in your classroom!

Great resources for great resources

There are two sites that I keep coming across as I wade my way through my day blogs.  Just like many of you, there are wonderful teachers out there doing wonderful things.  Many of them share their ideas and resources on their blogs and they are free (my favorite!!).  But many of them have put countless hours into creating their materials and they decide to sell them.  They are always a reasonable fee and an instant download to your computer.


One site that I find a lot of teachers have posted to is Teachers Pay Teachers.


The other is Teachers Notebook.

Both sites offer lots of free resources as well as resources available for a fee.  Fee range in price from a few cents to a few dollars.  I rarely see anything over $5, unless it is a really big file with lots of pages and information.

Take a few moments and check them out!  Maybe you have something you'd like to share/sell as well ;)

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!

I'm a little late on the New Year's greeting and I'm a little late on the welcome back.  That's what happens when my kids decide to get sick.

But I wanted to share a link to a website that I thought had a great back to school idea.  If you can't use it this year, then pin it to pinterest and keep it for next year :)

Christan at 4th Grade Frolics always posts some great ideas.  I loved her back to school idea (she also talks about some great math packs which might be of interest to you as well).  I think it's a great idea to re-visit Lucy's resolution lesson at this time of the year and get kids going on the right track for the rest of the year.  She has a great book mark that she shared for free.  This would go great with a mini-lesson around revising resolutions and may help to get students thinking about their reading habits again.

Follow up to Thinking Clouds

Last week, I posted a link to Thinking Clouds that can be used during guided reading groups to help kids stay on task as well as to foster conversation about their metacognition once they are done reading.  One of the clouds is "Author's Purpose" and it says on it, "It's all about PIE."  I found another great free resource to go along with that and help teach what PIE stands for.  This website has a set of short posters that explain each of the letters in PIE (persuade, inform, entertain).  I printed them off and laminated them to have on hand when the conversation comes up.

Guided Reading- Think Clouds

**I haven't blogged all year...oops!!  But I have recently come across a lot of really great tools to help with literacy and I thought I would try to keep stuff here.  That way friends and colleagues can look here for what I've been finding.

I get a lot of questions about guided reading and how to manage all that is involved with it.  One thing that gets difficult with guided reading is the fact that the kids at the table are all reading at the same time (which we know is best practice) but the teacher can only work with one at a time.  I found a little tool to monitor reading even when you aren't listening in. Hope King , who writes the blog 2nd Grade Shenanigans,  posted some great Guided Reading Think Clouds.  I have been using them during my LLI lessons for the students at the highest levels and they love them!!  In fact, sometimes they fight over who gets to take them.  

The thought behind them is that when the student notices their thinking, they take the Think Cloud.  This way, when you are done reading with everyone, you can use the think cloud as a discussion spring board.  They are great for all levels, but I have found a lot of success with my higher readers (which are at levels L-N).  I've even been able to get a few kids talking about their thinking when they wouldn't do that before!

Getting organized

I'd like to think that I'm an organized person, espeically in my classroom.  But I find myself creating new ways to be organized every year.  I get new folders.  I get new crates and baskets to put papers into.  I get new calendars to write on.  I've tried lots of things and still haven't found exactly what I like.  I thought I would quickly share a website that has lots of idea for getting a classroom organized.  It may have too many ideas (if that's at all possible).   The one thing I have learned is that everyone is different and different things may or may not work for everyone.  But it may be worth checking this out to get some ideas.  I know that I have!

Getting Organized

Back to School Freebies and Ideas

Back to School Success Kit

I came across this in my blog hunts for the evening.  I am going to modify some of it to use in my classroom, but thought I would post it to share with anyone else who would be interested.  A lot of what she has made reminds me of Harry Wong's list that can be found in his book, The First Days of School.  This was made for an early elementary classroom, so some may need to change it to fit their own needs, but it might be worth taking a look.

I am keeping an eye out for other back to school ideas and freebies.  A lot of what I find has been on pinterest.com.  Unfortunately, I think their sight is having issues right now, so I will post more of my finds tomorrow.