This year I decided to really "tackle" Close Reading! I have been all over pinterest and teacher blogs to find the best tools. And I have read countless articles and books to find the best strategies. I recently found one strategy that has completely changed everything about how my students and I read informational texts.... This brilliant strategy comes from Kyleen Beers, the co-author of the book Notice and Note . Recently, some of the teachers in my district had the opportunity to attend a workshop that she presented. A couple of them brought back amazing strategies to share, including this one..... Here's how I use this strategy... {Please note, that I have adapted the strategy to meet the needs of my 4th/5th grade class!} 1. Before reading a selection with my class, I create a list of about 10 to 15 words and phrases that relate to some of the main ideas of the selection. I type them up and project them. They could also be written on the board. ......

Do you have upper elementary students who struggle with decoding longer, multi-syllable words ?  During my time as an ESL teacher and a grades 4-5 Title Reading teacher, I stumbled across a method that seemed to work quite well for my readers struggling with this skill. When I used this method with my students consistently within guided reading groups, I witnessed marked improvement on how well students attacked those longer, multi-syllable words. Step 1:   Prior to class, scan the text for about 5 multi-syllable words that are likely to be challenging for students.  (This step is easy, isn’t it?  We teachers tend to know exactly which words our students will struggle with.) Step 2:   (During your guided reading group)  Ask, “How many syllables are in the word __________?”   For example, “How many syllables are in the word “imagination”?  My students often clapped it out to determine the answer. Step 3:  Draw t......

When I taught first grade I would use spelling sorts ALL THE TIME. Students enjoyed cutting and manipulating the cards. (Who doesn't like to cut/paste?) I have wanted to have a sorting center in my classroom for a while now and FINALLY it hit me to combine sorting cards and math :) SIMPLE! I already had the perfect pocket chart to use. It has been stored in my closet, and I was so happy to take it out! I bought the above pocket chart from LakeShore.  ( Click Here ). I decided to start with rounding since that is a skill my students need a refresher on before they move on to fourth grade. I was amazed at how even though they are good at rounding, they found this activity challenging. One way to make this simple skill challenging is to NOT give them the categories. Ways to Extend the Sorts 1.  Have students write down the categories and the cards in their math notebook. 2. Have students explain how the cards in each category are related. 3. Have s......

Knowing the answer is one thing...but being able to justify your thinking by citing text is an entirely different type of skill. Taking the text and combing through it, like an old man at the beach with a metal detector, determined to find some treasures, not only takes strong reading comprehension skills but also takes some perseverance, to find what we're looking for. Here are the six steps I use in my classroom, to teach this important reading skill: 1. Teach the Specific Steps to Cite Text Evidence No secrets here...I'm a firm believer in teaching kids explicitly how to do the skills we want them to have, whether it's reading or math or any other subject. Often times, I like to make my thinking public, so that my modeling will give the kids an idea of what they can do to reach a particular learning goal. Mentor texts are a great tool to use here and can be read in one sitting, using lots of examples. About the steps...To cite text evidence, w......

The Internet is a wonderful tool to help aide students in researching topics.  With our society depending on computers more and more, it's important for students to learn how to use it to find information.  The struggle I had when I first started teaching; however, was making sure students located safe websites.  When I first started teaching in third grade, I used my classroom website to host links that I posted.  It took me hours to compile these lists for my students because they were not all researching the same topics.  Nonetheless, I did it because I knew the value of using the Internet for research and wanted them to have that experience. Two years later, I moved up to fifth grade and had the opportunity to have over a third of the students in my class that I had a couple years earlier.  They were used to using the Internet, but because they were older, I wanted to give them a little more freedom.  I sat down and found some great ways teac......

I absolutely love teaching poetry!  That explains why I teach it ALL year!  Each month I focus on TWO types of poetry and then during POETRY MONTH, we review all of our work, create poetry portfolios for a review, and have a POETRY SLAM!  Read on for details! 1.  BULLETIN BOARD At the beginning of the year, make a bulletin board to display posters of the different types of poetry.  Leave a space below each one to place a student example.  Review it with your class and tell them by the end of the year, they will have written an example of all the types.  For the time being, put a little sign under each type of poetry that says something like, "Under Construction" or "Coming Soon!"  I place a large 12" X 18" black piece of construction paper under the posters. 2.  MONTHLY POEMS Each month, introduce a new type of poem and teach the rules for that poem.  If you created a bulletin board like above, add a student examp......