Word Nerds In Action

One of my goals the last few years, has been to try and increase the level of vocabulary knowledge my students have. I'd search year, after year, in hopes of finding new innovative ways to teach vocabulary. Ideas beyond worksheets and dictionaries. This was unbelievably difficult to find. That was until I stumbled upon this fantastic book.

Word Nerds: Teaching All Students to Learn and Love Vocabulary, the title alone was my goal. As a student I remember being bored beyond belief by this topic. Flash-forward years later and I felt my students were having the same exact feelings.  Initially, I'll admit I was pushed toward researching vocabulary strategies because I noticed that year after year, my students struggled with this topic or strand. However, it is a subject that I have always felt difficult to teach.  After repeatedly attempting and seeing 26 sets of bored eyes,  I'd give up. I'd rationalize that it was more important to spend this precious time teaching something else.

Chapter 1 answered one of my big questions- "What's the Big Deal About Vocabulary Instruction?" All texts are filled with words, which are fascinating. But, even if our students can read the words they may not always understand the meanings. Teaching students strategies to learn new vocabulary will impact all aspects of a student's life and is connected to their reading, writing, language, speaking and listening. However, will these words stay with the students after the lesson? Will the students understand the words in a deeper manner? Will the students learn to love vocabulary?

I am on my fourth 10 day cycle and I have found that the answers to all these questions are yes. After the first few days I noticed my students were making connections with our vocabulary words. They would cheer when I'd announce it was time for vocabulary. I saw their engagement in the activities.

For my PC1, I asked my peer coach to interview some of my students, randomly, regarding their thoughts on this new vocabulary program. I wanted to know what they thought of it, without me around making them feel obligated to give a certain answer.

"I like when we play Scramble and all the games. They help me learn my words and what they mean. We go over them every day and this helps me learn. We get to see besides just hearing, visualization helps me."

"I like the Word Colors because I can be creative. It helps me because it's fun and I want to learn more. I like the independent activities too because I like searching for the words."

"I really like this way of learning. Doing fun stuff helps me learn because it gets in my mind and stays there. Playing games helps me remember, but my favorite is Scramble. I like both the independent work and the games because I like working by myself sometimes, but also enjoy group work."

"This is a fun new way to do vocabulary- like games. It's not boring, it's more interesting and easier to learn. I like talking about how alike and different these words are. It makes it easier for me to learn."

"This helps me learn definitions of words a lot more. Seeing the synonyms and antonyms when we get in our groups helps me get to know the words much better."

Their interviews made my day and are continuing to make my year. I love seeing how engaged they are with their learning and how this knowledge is carrying over to other aspects of their education.

Here are some examples of our daily activities.

Day 1:

Day 2:

Day 3:

Some Examples of Days 4-9 Activities:

There are so many other fun activities we've done and some that I still can't wait to do. From Vocabulary Rap, to Charades, Tableau, Chain Link, Game Board Links, Line it Up, Power Point Portrayals, and Crystal Ball Words among others. I am beyond thrilled that this summer I stumbled upon this book. It has greatly transformed the way I teach vocabulary and best of all,  my students love learning this otherwise dry topic. 

Character Trait Activities

Summer is such a busy time of the year! Despite it being known as a time for a little R-n-R I have found myself being a busy bee and suddenly it is mid July. Where has it went? Knowing how fast time is zooming by, I have already found myself planning for the upcoming year. Reading is a subject that I find myself planning for a bit more than the others. Probably because it is one that instruction can vary from year to year and group to group. Plus, I love finding new novels to teach out of and inspire students to pick-up a book and grab onto reading.

I have been flying through books more than usual- for two reasons. One, I have gotten back into my nightly reading habit and two, I have found some really amazing books this summer that I can't put down. Check out my Instagram for a peek at those. 

I have made a sloppy copy on all of the mini-lessons I'd love to get through in the beginning of the year (it's way to messy to share at this point). Granted, they will take me a couple months; however I rarely find myself getting into guided reading before October with all the instruction and ground rules needed before we begin. After all, the more they understand the do's and don'ts in the beginning- the easier it is on me in the long run. So- I've decided on starting off the first couple of weeks with the basic story elements: character, setting, theme, conflict and plot structure of a text. Granted they will be revisited multiple times in the year. If you haven't checked out Linda Hoyt's Interative Read-Alouds book- do so. She has some amazing lesson plans for very common picture books. Plus each lesson is laid out so well- anyone can do it. She has it broken down to "on page ___ say this; ask that" I literally will write the questions down on post-it notes and stick them to the page.   I have found the kiddos love them just as much as I do. 

Next, I am diving into my first read-aloud novel. It's either Fish in a Tree  or Island of the Blue Dolphins. Both are amazing books and have strong characters- it will just depend on how many of my new kiddos have read Fish in a Tree already. Plus- they could both be considered narratives, which is the first genre of writing we cover in the year. 

The first mini-lesson is going to be on internal and external traits. I always find that when I ask a student if they can give a character trait for a specific character, they go to the physical appearance. However, there is more to a character than that. I found this great anchor chart over at teachertrap.com that I am going to adapt and use with the kiddos- which they will copy in their Reader's Notebooks. 

Then, we will work on creating a character trait chart for the main character- using evidence from the text to support our thinking. In order to help with this activity I am going to copy this character trait sheet from Read Write and Think. I am also going to introduce Ms. Leslie Ann's- A Trait A Day  to increase their vocabulary and give them some more ideas. 

Another resource that I absolutely LOVE from Ms. Leslie Ann is her Bloom's Taxonomy Ladders. I got them last year and used them very consistently with my students. There are both fiction and nonfiction- plus they can be used with any novel or passage and focus on higher order thinking skills. It was a great way for me to check my students comprehension on their independent and literature circle novels. I've also used her non-fiction ones for the students science textbooks. These are really a great resource and are super easy to use. 

The technology integration is going to come with Level 6 and I can not wait for my kiddos to complete this. If you haven't checked out the app Tellagami yet, do so!

 It is really great and can be used for many different types of projects in meaningful ways. Last year I had a student create a tellegami based on a character in his novel- he created the perfect job for him in the future. Not only did the student read the book,  wrote a passage on what he wanted to say, read it aloud fluently, but also thought creatively and used his critical thinking skills to justify. Lots of skills were wrapped up into this one meaningful technology project.

How great was that! As of now- this is what my brain has come up with. At least I am set for a couple of weeks. Check out last year's character trait's post for some examples of the read-aloud books I've used in the past.

Why I Have My Students Justify

I've always been a firm believer that there is a difference between reading and comprehension. So often I see students that have great fluency and read well, however they have a difficult time understanding what they read. This is why I believe it is so important to teach different comprehension skills directly along with higher order thinking skills. I came across this excerpt on higher order thinking skills and feel that this list does a great job at giving ideas while answering  the question: How do you know your students are engaged in higher order thinking? Here are some great strategies.

 Visualize a problem by diagramming it
 Separate relevant from irrelevant information in a word problem
 Seek reasons and causes
 Justify solutions
 See more than one side of a problem
 Weigh sources of information based on their credibility
 Reveal assumptions in reasoning
 Identify bias or logical inconsistencies 

Justifying solutions and explaining with evidence was a strategy I really tried to integrate into my teaching this past year. I started by integrating this strategy into reading and then found myself using it in all subjects. What can I say, it gave me a great idea what each individual student was understanding and still needing help with. As with anything I try, I tend to start small then build up. That's the cautious person in me, I like to get my feet wet before I jump in.  I began with my guided reading groups and I must say, we had so many amazing in depth conversations. They were truly fabulous. Meeting with a group of 5-6 already allows a teacher to grasp each students understanding super well, however this strategy really gave me even more of an idea.  This strategy was so great that by the end of the year I noticed it was carrying over to other classes (like spanish). All on their own, the kiddos were explaining their thinking. All because it became a habit. 

Anchor chart and example words I got over at Life In Fifth Grade by Ms. Leslie Ann.

After the justifying concept was introduced in the beginning of the year- I wanted to test the waters with a getting to know you activity (after all we do so many of these in the beginning of the year-why not step it up a bit). Each student took a look at themselves and brainstormed a list of character traits. They typed them out and then cut out a profile silhouette I took of them.  Eventually they glued their character traits onto  their silhouette.

Now came the justification! They were to take a selfie (what kid doesn't like that) on their iPad and then using ChatterKid app to explain their reasoning for each trait (great way to integrate writing and  fluency as well). At the very end, we connected the silhouette and ChatterKid justification through Aurasma. Here is an example of how they turned out.

Granted, I may be a bit biased, but I think they turned out awesome! It was such a fun, engaging activity to get to know your students. Plus it got them to work on justifying, writing, fluency and technology integration. I must say, that this will be an activity that occurs every year in my room. 

Food For Thought

It's safe to say that teaching is something I love. Even amidst pages and pages of standards, high stakes tests and jumbling up a schedule in attempt to fit everything in. Granted, all of these examples are causes for crazy gymnastics moves (somedays) and reconfiguring daily schedules at the drop of a hat. However, teachers are known for needing to be flexible. Whether this flexibility arises from a daily event, a state test, a student issue, technology not cooperating like it did five minutes before, or a lesson not quite turning out as planned. Those 26+ sets of confused eyes can definitely haunt a teacher at night and require him/her to have ample amounts of coffee the next day.

 I am currently working on my next blog post- The Importance of Justifying and upon doing some research I came across this quote from Karen Tankersley's book, Literacy Strategies for Grades 4–12:

"Content instruction should strive for depth rather than breadth. To process what they read with insight and a critical eye, students must be able to consider the text as a whole and understand what the author is trying to communicate."

This quote got my wheels spinning, sidetracked my "in the works post" and is actually making me practice my own flexibility.  Why are teachers feeling the pressure of teaching content an inch thick and a mile wide, when the majority of students  don't understand the said material on a deeper level. Why are we okay with allowing surface level understanding to occur for students? Why are we willing to be flexible with everything else around us, but yet struggle with being flexible with the stack of content we get through each day or our methods of teaching it?

Time. Time is the big culprit. We want to use the time that we have as wisely as possible.  So what do we do? How can we make the most of it, teach everything we need to and do so in way that children gain a deep understanding? Through brainstorming, the one idea I keep coming back to is content area integration. Granted this is a whole different topic and requires a separate post. However, it could be a possible solution. 

"With an increase in content standards that teachers are required to cover and an increase in expectations of student performance, teachers need to teach more material in the same amount of time. Integrating curriculum allows for this. When teachers integrate literature in science or other content areas, students can focus not only content but also reading comprehension strategies in meaningful and memorable ways. Students will not only achieve gains across content areas but also improve their attitudes in content areas." ( Ansberry & Morgan, 2010)

To me, it sounds like Ansberry and Morgan are on to something. At least providing a little food for thought and material for a future post. 

Visualization: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The setting for this book is The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I don't know about you, but it can be hard for me to visualize a books setting if I have not been there. Especially a setting as large as The Met. This is one reason why I really love authors who use ample description in their writing. E. L. Konigsburg does a good job at describing the scenes inside The Met: such as the large antique bed, the knights armor etc. The figurative language that is used as well to describe the character's experiences and feelings is fantastic. Check out these similes: The bus bounced along like  an empty cracker box on wheels. Claudia's heart sounded to her like their electric percolator brewing the morning's coffee. These are just two examples why I love reading figurative language, it gives the reader description in a creative way. If you forgot about similes and metaphors- check out this video as a refresher.

Since I have never been to The Metropolitan Museum of Art and thanks to our wonderful world of technology, I thought I'd research it a bit. First, I thought I'd search for some images on Google and create a Pic Collage. These images allowed me to visualize the setting much, much  better. Could you imagine being a kid and running away here? Think of all of the places you could hide and everything you could learn! I know our characters, Claudia and Jamie, are really going to be having an adventure and thanks to this amazing book, we get to go along for the ride.

The next step I took in my research was going onto The Met's webpage.  Amidst all of the exhibit information and digital features, I found out that their is a Van Gogh exhibit on his Irises and Roses paintings. As some of you know, I love art and integrating projects into my classroom.  I have  loved browsing Kathy Barbaro's, Art Projects for Kids site since I was a first year teacher.  She has so many amazing, colorful projects and she breaks the project steps down to make them oh so simple. Of course she didn't disappoint with my Van Gogh search! She has multiple Van Gogh art projects that could be integrated (in fact we made the Wheatfield pastel drawing this year)- she even has an iris mural that would be fun for a whole class to do. How awesome could that be?

Comprehension Strategies:

Research the setting: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Search for figurative language the author used.

Start a Vivid Visualization's Graphic Organizer- Use your 5 senses in your description. 

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

For my next summer read, I decided to choose a book I have always been curious about. One of my students is reading this now and I thought why not join her. After all, what a fun way to continue sharing a passion for reading.

I was aware that this novel was in the mystery genre, but let me tell you- the first page got my mind activated with many questions. Mostly I was super curious about how this page connected with the rest of the book. Especially since the first chapter is told from the perspective of a sixth grade girl name Claude. I believe she will be our main character of the story, but that is just my prediction. Remember, readers adjust their predictions as they learn more information as they read.

In the first chapter the reader is also introduced to Claude's three brothers and the plot of the story.

The author, E. L. Konigsburg does a great job introducing some character traits for Claude and Jamie (one of her brothers- when you will read, you will find out why he is an important part to the story). Kiddo's, this is a great opportunity to keep a running Venn-Diagram that lists both of these character's traits. This will help you keep track of how these two characters are the same and different, while playing important roles  in the plot.

Comprehension Strategies:

Ask Questions: Make a list of all the different questions you are wondering about.

Compare and Contrast: How are Claude and Jamie the same and different?

Make Connections: Are there any text-to-self connections you can make?

My First Summer Read

I have to admit something happened this year that has never happened before and I am a bit ashamed of it. I started a read aloud book with my students and didn't finish it! The hectic end of the year schedule got the best of me. We started the book Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde. I chose to read aloud the young readers edition instead of the adult version. We got all the way to chapter 15- up to that point, the students enjoyed it. Especially the theme- I can't tell you how many wonderful discussions we had as a group!

Since I am challenging myself to read more this summer than I have in the past, I decided to start off my summer reading by finding out how this novel ends. I have a love/hate relationship with the cliffhangers that authors leave me with between chapters, so I thought I would finish my own cliff hanger that I created and find out what happens next. 

I promise you, the author did not disappoint! I sat and finished the last 130+ pages on a Saturday afternoon, in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. I do think that having chapters come from different perspectives definitely helped keep my mind actively going. When reading the Letter From the Author, I discovered one difference between the adult and young readers version. I must say, I liked this creative change. If I would have finished this read aloud with my students, I can only imagine all of the different ideas they would have come up with for the ending. I am so bummed that this group discussion didn't occur.  So, if you are one of my awesome students and wanted to figure out how the rest of this book develops- email me and tell me your thoughts! Happy Reading.