Happy New Year! It is time to celebrate with the "Currently ~ Just January!" link-up.

Happy New Year Everyone!  Thank you so much for popping in today as I link up with Anne in Residence for her monthly link-up:

 

Beginning

 

We are fully remote for the first week of January.  I see my students every day online, but it is so much better to see them in person.  I am hoping for our hybrid schedule for next week!

 

This week we started with Non-Fiction Reading and Writing.  I have been busy creating teaching materials.  Here is an example that I made on Canva which is an online design resource.  I use this site frequently, and it is easy and fun to use!

 

 

Feeling

 

As the week goes on, and I adjust to teaching online, I feel more confident.  It is amazing how quickly you forget when you do not use the technology for two weeks.  Every day gets a little better!

 

I am also feeling grateful that all our snow has melted so that I can go out for walks every day.

 

By the way, if you would like to check out an adorable book and enjoy the snow vicariously, here is a suggestion:  

 

 Organizing

 

I am definitely not organizing at my house!  I spend most of my time working on Google Classroom independent work which I need to assign every day for my students.  Every day I assign the Morning Message as a Google Form with 5 multiple choice questions; 2 questions to answer about our read-aloud; a chapter that I read to the kids; and a multiplication review.

Resolving

 

I am resolving to write in my blog more frequently!  I need to make writing a priority because I consider my blog a type of diary or record of what I am doing.  I have gone back to read some older posts, and I totally forgot what was going on "back in the old days."

 

The last in school day before Christmas, I decided to do dictionary work with the kids.  

 

I asked, "Who knows what a dictionary is?" 

Answer:  "Back in the old days, people had to use dictionaries to know how to spell words."

 

None of the kids had used a dictionary.  Amazingly, they were engaged and fascinated that they could find words they knew in the pages of the dictionary.

 

Consequently, I resolve to talk about the "old days" so the kids know how much life has changed in such a short time.

 

 Check out another creation I made on Canva!

 

 Wondering 

I wonder every day when life will be "normal" again.  I love walking with my friends and family outside because that is the only way to have a visit.  I wonder if school will ever be "normal" again, too.  What do you think?

As always, I appreciate your visit!  Please leave a comment to say hello!  Stay healthy and be happy!

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Moving On With More Reading Strategies

Hello, and welcome to another installment of Teaching Little Miracles' Link-Up::

If you'd like to catch up from the beginning of this book study, head here:

The Reading Strategies Book - Breaking It Down

Goals 1 and 2

Goals 3 and 4

Goals 5 and 6

Goals 7 and 8 

Goal 9 - Determining Key Details

Determining key details is the difference between taking a highlighter to every single word in a textbook, and highlighting just those facts that align to your purpose for reading, or that align to what the author is trying to say. (p. 247)

*Goal 9.1 Compare New to Known

This goal is all about making connections between the text and what you already know in order to create an understanding of the new information.

*Goal 9.5 Gather Up Facts

How I wished someone had taught me this strategy ~ write down what you learned from your reading.  It was so difficult to write a book report because I couldn't remember any details I had read.

*Goal 9.15 Using Analogies

I love analogies and think that they are so fun to do when we have some extra time.  They're like riddles!  This strategy encourages readers to think of why an author would compare two things.

Goal 10 - Getting the Most From Text Features

This goal is HUGE and SUPER IMPORTANT with all the emphasis on non-fiction that happens to be on our state tests!  Over the years, I've tried to add more and more non-fiction books to the mix in my classroom library - although I must admit - most of the books remain fiction ones.  I'm always on the lookout for new non-fiction anyway!

*Goal 10.4 - Caption It!

One year during MCAS testing, a student asked for help (not that I could help) about a question that asked about the caption.  She didn't know what a caption was.  Now I make sure to teach and review captions all the time!

*Goal 10.15 Maps

Maps are educational and fun!  I've spent the last two summer taking professional development that involves maps.  Consequently, I am so happy to highlight this strategy.

 It's also helpful that maps are non-fiction text features, too!

Here's an analogy for you:   Summer is to watermelon as back to school is to:

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What a week ~ Five For Friday!

Every week seems to fly by when we're working so hard!  We learned a LOT last week so I'm looking forward to linking up with Doodle Bugs!

Morning Messages

I try to make my Morning Messages as relevant and educational as possible:

#LOTSOFSOCKS

My students (mainly the girls) and I had fun wearing mismatched socks on World Down Syndrome Day:

At Morning Meeting, we had a meaningful discussion of visible and invisible disabilities.

Non-Fiction Text Features

When I explained that we would all be making our own Non-Fiction Text Feature poster, several kids exclaimed, "We already did this!"  Immediately upon passing out the headings, someone asked, "What's a caption?"  It just goes to prove how much we need to spiral back and review:

That turkey sandwich from Time For Kids looks so delicious!

Book Recommendations

If you're looking for a fun and humorous book, you definitely need to read:

Click on book to read more at Amazon.

The donkey insists on misusing the verb, "to be."  The kids LOVED this book, and sometimes, you just need a book to make everyone happy ~ in addition, to reviewing helping verbs!

I also started reading this chapter book during snack:

Click on book for more details.

First, Clementine and her family live right in Boston; they visit the "Make Way For Ducklings" statues in the Public Garden ~ all in the first chapter!  The class field trip is to Plymouth Plantation!  This is a perfect read-aloud to spiral back to review the Pilgrims, and it's a fun book, too!

Giveaway/#Spring Back In

I'm taking part in a giveaway.  Click here to enter!

Also, there's a hashtag sale at TPT:  #springbackin ~ all products are $3.00.  I've included this product:

It's marked down to $3.00!  Please check out the sale and other Five For Fridays!

Enjoy the wonderful weekend!

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Happy Holidays Five For Friday!

Happy times are here - it's Christmas vacation!  We have been extremely busy in school this week - we had to make sure to use all that energy in a positive way.  Here's what we've been doing:

Morning Messages

This week's messages focused on different holidays:

My favorite holiday is "Look on the Bright Side Day" because I try so hard to remain optimistic and persistent in all situations.  These days I'm trying to convince my students to like math.  Every time I mention subtraction, I hear groans.  Math phobia sure does start young, and it's really sad because math can be so much fun!  Luckily, the kids LOVE multiplication, and they've done well learning their facts.

Non-Fiction Text Features

We had so much fun creating posters about non-fiction text features using our Time for Kids.  Each student created a poster that included examples of captions, maps, charts, special print and pictures.

Pet Reindeer

Using the My Pet Reindeer project from TPT, each student drew a reindeer and wrote a story to accompany their drawing.  Here are some examples:

Holiday Happenings

This week was Spirit Week which included a variety of outfit challenges such as "Ugly Sweater Day" and Pajama Day.  Plus, I received several beautiful gifts.  I love this gift bag decorated by my student, Aedyn:

On the bottom right is a Dr. Seuss gingerbread that Sierra made for our Gingerbread Exchange.  It's the only gingerbread I took a picture of that our class made.

Book Recommendation ~ Perfect for National Braille Month (January)

My student, Sierra, brought in an excellent book about a seeing eye dog.  An added bonus was that the author is local.

Click on picture to check out more on Amazaon.

In this book, Sarah and her working dog, Perry, share a typical day in their lives.  They even visit a school!  It's a perfect book to read next month as January is National Braille Literacy Month.

Happy Holidays!

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