Momma with a Teaching Mission: 1st grade

Showing posts with label 1st grade. Show all posts

There aren't many words to describe the year that was 2020. As educators, we learned and grew so much! If you didn't know about Google Classroom, Nearpod, Bitmojis, Screencastomatic or Zoom (just to name a few) before March of 2020, you definitely climbed that learning curve! I have been so proud of my fellow teachers in all that they have learned, never skipping a beat. When the rest of the world was shut down, here we were learning how to teach and do what was best in our circumstances for our students. Wow.

So where do we go from there? Many schools are returning back in person, I have been back in person since October 2020, with all my students being in person. I know many teachers who are continuing to expand their bag of tricks with teaching both in person students, as well as online learners (at the same time). Some fellow educators are teaching a hybrid A-B schedule, and some of my friends are also still teaching from home with their students being all online.

So now that I am back in person, have I mentally blocked everything I experienced and learned in the past year? Well some things LOL, but definitely not those great teaching practices that have helped me to enhance engagement and my teaching within the classroom. Here are some things I found really have been lifesavers while returning back to in person learning after COVID.

First and foremost, Google Classroom. Posting assignments within Google classroom has been a sanity saver, especially for students who are absent or missing work. I also love being able to post links to websites or articles that students can access without having to print everything. I have my Google Classroom set up by days of the week, then after the week is over I will create a new topic (that week's date, for example 'Week of March 1st') and then I will move assignments from the M, Tu, W, Th, Fr topics down to that 'Week of' topic. Google Classroom is super user friendly, and absolutely my top pick for what I've continued to use within my classroom, even with all my students face to face.

My Bitmoji classrooms are another favorite, and not just a favorite of mine, but also my students. I love how you can use the Bitmoji classrooms for a variety of uses. What we used to do around the room SCOOT, with task cards posted, and a recording sheet, students can now do a SCOOT within the Bitmoji classroom. I also have independent reading and reflecting centers, for students to listen to a book being read, and then respond to it--- this is a crowd favorite among my students. I've created new Bitmoji classrooms each month, and they enjoy listening to the books and different themes featured each month. Another use for the Bitmoji classrooms is if you have a class website within Google Sites. Kids enjoy and take pride in their class website.

I have to say I was not on the Nearpod bandwagon when I first learned about it a few years ago. Probably because I thought I didn't have the time to learn this new stuff!! I learned about Nearpod the beginning of last school year, before COVID hit and I'm so glad I did. Not only does Nearpod have a library of already created lessons, but you are also able to create lessons within Nearpod, this is so cool!! My kids love to compete, so they love the time to climb lessons, and beg me to make more every time we play!

What have you found that are your favorite tools that you are using, or plan to use when you return back to in person teaching?! I'd love to hear about it!

Getting ready to start a unit on fractions?! Hands-on and providing opportunities for young learners to make meaning of their learning is my top priority. Whether you are teaching second grade, or fifth grade, or any in between, I know you can use these ideas for your students. Here are my favorites tools and go-to manipulative with teaching fractions to my elementary students. This blog post contains affiliate links and when you click on the products and choose to purchase them, I will make a small commission.

Fraction Action is wonderful in increasing student's vocabulary on fractions! Vocabulary is essential in helping students grasp the concepts. Lots of different examples to show students fractions in various ways.

Fraction Fun is a great book that makes the concept of fractions easy for students to understand. This book dives into numerators and denominators and the beginnings of comparing fractions!

Full House is a fun, whimsical way of reinforcing the concept of fractions! I would suggest this book more for primary though as concepts are basic.

The Lion's Share was one of the first books I purchased for my teacher read aloud library, so this one holds a special place in my heart! This is a great story that visually helps students to see the value of different fractions.

Fractions in Disguise is another book I purchased years ago, as an elementary ed teacher I wanted as many books as I could get to build my teacher library. This book introduces simplified and reduced fractions with equal parts, so I would suggest this for grades 4-6.

Sir Cumference and the Fraction Faire is another book I enjoy reading to my students. This teaches the basics of fractions to elementary students. I enjoy all the Sir Cumference math tales!

This is another line of math texts I love! Pigs in the Pantry: Fun with Math and Cooking makes the connection between qualities and cooking in recipes. This would not be the text I would base my fraction teaching from, but more of a fun book to add into the instructional unit!

Fraction tower cubes are a great hands-on way for students to compare the fractional units, as well as explore with equivalent fractions. This would be great for homeschooling families, or as an exploration center within a classroom.

Magnetic fraction circles is another great hands-on tool to help students visualize and see the fractional sizes. These are durable and great for teacher and student use alike.

Pattern blocks are a great way for students to create alternative models of a fraction. If the yellow hexagon is their whole, how could they recreate that hexagon shape by using alternative shapes? What fraction of the whole would one of those shapes be?

Plastic fraction tiles is another great hands-on manipulative that allows children to line up the fractions to visually see how many eighths fit into a whole, or how many sixths fit into a half.

Hopefully you've found some new tools or texts that you will be able in teaching your students about fractions! Let me know if you have any favorites I've forgotten!

Momma with a Teaching Mission

So when I asked my students, what does the word opinion mean? One of them shoots their hand up and yells, my momma cooks with them. Upon further discussion, they thought I meant onion....oh sweet children :)

So we first looked at this chart. We thought about our feelings about different things, and how sometimes they change.

Then we read Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, we talked about how the main character did not want green eggs and ham throughout most of the story, but at the end he changed his min (and his opinion).

We then did a four corners activity. I have 4 large post-its (the big blue ones). I made a t-chart on each one with two different choices. One said Pete the Cat books OR There was an old lady books, one said winter or summer, one said hot dog or chicken nuggets, and one said art or pe. I split the class into 4 groups and at each 'station' gave them a post-it, which they wrote their name, and decided which side to place their post-it note. After a few minutes, I had them rotate until we were finished.

After we were done rotating around, we looked at each chart. I asked the students which the majority of our class liked more--they looked and were able to tell me the side that had more, and were able to say because it has more post-its than the other side (when I asked how do you know?!). Then I had students from each side raise their hand and share WHY they liked winter more than summer or vice versa. We did this for each chart.

The next day, we searched the black friday sale ads for toys we wanted on our Christmas list (we did this in early December). We wrote down a toy that we wanted on a post-it note and then we came back together on the carpet and discussed which toys we would choose and why. When we were finished, we had the students write The toy I would want is ______ because ________.

The next day, my special ed teacher and myself (we co-teach this group of students), brought in toys from our homes. We told students we had to play with toys to help Santa figure out which toys he should give other boys and girls around the world that were the same age as them (6 and 7). We had them set up as stations and had the students rotate around the different stations to play with the different toys. Afterwards we debriefed and talked about what toys were our favorite and why, as well as which toys we wouldn't recommend for Santa to get other boys and girls and reasons why. When we were done, we had the students write My favorite toy was ________ because __________.

And then I had to be out for a meeting. Don't you hate that!! When you feel like you are on a teaching roll, and something happens and you have to be absent!

It's all good, because I created this set of prompts for my class for my substitute to use, as well as for me to use for 'quick writes'! You can find a freebie of this HERE! Or the FULL verision can be found - Opinion Writing FULL of CHOICES!

After the holiday break, we will be continuing to work on opinion writing, so stay tuned for more engaging activities to do with your kiddos!!

Wishing you all a Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas!

Momma with a Teaching Mission

Have you ever just thought....."what am I doing.....?" Like not when driving, or doing some chores, but literally in the middle of one of your lessons---what am I doing?! It's like I'm speaking a foreign language, these kids just aren't getting it.

The common core standards are certainly rigorous, but the problem I have with the depth of those standards is the fact that I find it hard to delve into them until my kiddos are able to function independently and be able to read (to a certain degree).

Even though this year is year 3 for me, I honestly feel like I am doing more work! I'm not sure if it's just because it is the beginning of the year, or because I'm only teaching literacy to 2 groups of kids, but whatever it is I feel like I am struggling!

Now, I don't mean it's not going to happen for every kid. I mean most kids will be able to master the content of their grade level. However, for the bottom 8-10% (maybe a bit more) they will not be able to master that content! So why do we keep testing them and expecting them to make the huge gains, while they are falling further and further behind---and they know it!!

With the first marking period ending, and not feeling very successful based off the data I've collected. I decided to go back to the drawing board and start simple.

After hours of questioning myself, and what EXACTLY my students needed. I came to the conclusion that they just simply need MORE time. And unfortunately, time is not something I can created or give out freely, there is just not enough time. So, we will just do the best with the time we have! And keeping it simple!!

What do I mean by simple? Well how much simpler can you get in first grade than writing a sentence! With my lowest ability kiddos, this is what I did:

Day 1: We took a 'field trip' around the building, and I took action shots with the kiddos using the school's IPAD. When we returned to the room, I downloaded the pictures to my computer, and we viewed the pictures as an entire class (all 14 of us) and thought about the who and the what they were doing. I asked them who was in each picture. Then I asked them what was the person doing? From there, we agreed upon a sentence for a few pictures to tell what was happening. I then gave the students an index card, and they choose I picture that we viewed to write a sentence (including capital letter, spacing between words, and punctuation). After they finished their sentence, I had them take a red crayon and circle the WHO that was in their sentence, and then take a BLUE crayon and circle the DID WHAT that was in their sentence.

Day 2: I modeled whole group writing a sentence from the pictures that we saw. The students went back to their desk (meeting with myself or the special education teacher), and we created sentences using post-it notes. The teacher would write each word on a post-it note (this would be a sentence the student created). The student would then manipulate the post-its to create his/her sentence. The student would then transfer and write the sentence.
DAY 3: I printed out the pictures on writing paper (with lines at the bottom). I modeled writing a sentence, having the students tell me the who and the did what of the picture I was modeling. I then sat out about 9 different choices for them to pick to write their own sentence about. Many students surprisingly did not pick the picture that had themselves in it.
DAY 4: I printed out pictures that did NOT have the students in them. I wanted to see if they were able to create sentences for the pictures that did not hold such an important meaning to them. Again focusing on a complete sentence with the who and did what.
DAY 5: I printed out fictional cartoon-ish pictures to see if the students were able to create meaningful sentences for these pictures.

I think teachers have to meet their students where they are, not teaching above them because that's the curriculum expectation, or not teaching below them because it's not in the curriculum. Keep pushing them, or meeting them at their level.

Momma with a Teaching Mission

Ok, so picture this. You go to your local grocery store to pick up some Grandma Utz chips for yourself and some Martins BBQ Ruffles for your hubs. You arrive only to find out that your grocery store is only carrying one brand on plain lightly salted Lays. NOTHING ELSE. That's it! BOR-ING, who doesn't want a variety to choose from when shopping!

So how is it any different if you teach reading via a whole group lesson? I'm gonna tell ya something, it's not! Yes, I'm sure you may be meeting the needs of some of your learners, HOWEVER, many of your learners are wanting or needing or CRAVING something different or
something more!!

So let's talk about hitting a home run during your reading block!!

I hear the groans. But Melanie (that's me), I have so many excuses why I shouldn't teach small group! Ok so maybe those are the exact words you would say---but maybe it sounds like one of these...

Ok so maybe you have been teaching since 1998, or 1983, or 2005---however long you have been teaching THANK YOU :) Second of all---have you always done it the same way? Maybe your school has purchased different programs---you have taught under different curriculum---but your delivery....has your delivery remained the same?? Just because you have always done something a certain way, doesn't make it right. Yes, it may be the way you are the most comfortable. But in a nation (the US) we have approximately 40% of our students reading below grade level----something ain't working!!

Ok so you are not comfortable with the whole idea of teaching lessons via small group. You have some questions and concerns---that makes you a great teacher!! All great teachers I know get nervous or anxious about trying something new. But, let me just be blunt, get over yourself ;)

So maybe you're a primary teacher like me, or maybe an intermediate teacher. Maybe you're thinking---seriously? who is this chick? My kids are so far from being able to work independently--I would never be able to get any small group work done with the others interrupting! It's all about building that stamina--whether it is math, reading or writing stamina. Yes I have to agree, there is somewhat of a developmental ability to remain on task while a teacher is working with other students, but hopefully I can help with that! Start off small, I didn't start off with rotations on day 1. We worked on practicing each skill and building our stamina. Then like on day 15 I finally showed and we practiced how to do rotations. After 2 rotations, I would hold a short meet back at the carpet reminder of rules during rotations (no talking to teacher when meeting with groups, ask 3 before asking me)

Maybe you are questioning pulling small groups because you are concerned with what the other students will be doing at this time. Maybe you are thinking--hey I've tried daily 5 and that stuff the kids are supposed to be doing while I'm meeting with the other students just does not work in my classroom. The other students will be engaged in meaningful activity based off the learning they did with you in the small group session. I oftentimes end my small group lesson with them and tell them to go back and work on the skill we just talked about. My students do 'rotations' (which if you have read other posts you have heard me talk about). My rotations are similar to daily 5, with more of a control factor from the teacher. I have an editable powerpoint that I flip every rotation. The 4 rotations the students move through--meet with me, read to self, word work, and buddy read. Two of these rotations are very social (buddy read and meeting with me) and two of these rotations are completely independent. I do that purposefully. They do one social rotation followed by one independent (or vice versa). The word work is completely based off their needs---if they are struggling with reading CVC words, I may have them building words with alphabet charms from my daughters' bracelet making kid, or building rhyming words with blocks. If they are struggling with basic sight words, I have some more tactile tools, like sight words written with puffy paint, or a salt bin for them to write the sight words. If they are more capable readers I have them working on unscrambling sentences. The word work (most of the time) aligns with the skills they are working on in small group with me.

Ok so maybe the last excuse that you may be thinking---my students are 1st graders (or 3rd graders or 8th graders) and they need to be taught their grade level standards and content!! Ok, I agree with you TO A DEGREE! But my question for you then is....what if they can't reach the grade level be-low's standards? What is the point of teaching them standards if they can't master 2 grade levels (or more) below. MEET YOUR KIDDOS WHERE THEY ARE! If they need to learn to read---teach them--don't waste their time or yours trying to compare and contrast two texts when they can't even read! Yes, I think all students need exposed to their grade level standards and curriculum or content, but what a dis-service we are doing by continuing to push them through and shove content down their throat that is so foreign to them.

Ok so I apologize if I've made you feel guilty. Well, not really. I WANT you to get out of your comfort zone. I WANT you to try something new. I WANT you to get mad that approximately 40% of the students here in the United States are reading below grade level. So here are your challenges :) You're welcome.

My school does MAP testing (Measurement of Academic Progress), maybe your school does something similiar. This MAP testing that my students do three times a year gives me data based off their RIT score. I use a tool called the Learning Continuum to see what skills my students need to work on. In reading, the MAP tests breaks the students scores into 4 areas: Foundational, Literature and Information, Language and Writing, and Vocabulary. I then created a table in Powerpoint based off the data from the different scores and areas. One student may be in the lowest scoring group for Vocabulary, but may be in the highest group for foundational skills.

For my lesson plans, I have made multiple copies of these data sheets. I then just highlight the skill I am working on with them when they meet with me.

Your school doesn't do any sort of testing like MAP testing?! That's fine! You can do some formative data collection to see what skills your kiddos need to work on.

I'm sure many of you pull small groups based off F&P level, fantastic, but that's not the needs I'm speaking to. Look at everything---from the way they form a sentence, to grammatical errors, to reading fluently. Your groups should be fluid---meaning they are constantly changing based off your students needs.

Data collection is key! The more data you collect, the more you know what your kiddos need. Yes, little Johnnie may read on an F&P level of J, however, he really struggles with fluency and comprehending the text. And let me also add, I don't mean take more grades. I mean informally (formative assessments) assess your students---pull groups based off skills and based off their needs. Continue to collect data--DAILY! The more you do it, the more skilled you will become at data collection--you will see and wonder why you hadn't done it before!

So hopefully you aren't gonna continue to serve up your kiddos those plain old lightly salted Lays potato chips---through a little Grandma Utz and Martins BBQ in there :)

Questions? Comments? I would love to hear from you!! Wishing you all the best in teaching reading :)