If you are looking at how to add creativity to guided reading, you have come to the right place!
How Wonder Can Impact a Classroom
Wonder. That one word can have a profound impact on your classroom just by reading one simple book. Author RJ Palacio has transformed how conversations can be held openly in classrooms about how children are treated in school.
School can be tough for kids. The increased demand and rigor of how academics are now taught to children requires perseverance and resilience on their part. On top of that, children can be judgmental about others based on a variety of factors. This is where literature can be used to help students to understand that
The main character in the book Wonder, August, has faced discrimination his whole life due to his facial deformity. This book tackles the issue of how a child like him is treated in a school setting. It tugs at the heart strings because the book not only dives into Auggie’s thoughts and perceptions, but also the people close to him as well. It leaves the reader rooting for him throughout the story.
This novel is a great choice for teachers to read aloud to their students. Not only can various reading strategies be taught throughout the unit (predicting, inference, connections, point of view, and theme to name a few), but also the message of “choose kind.” It is our job as educators to teach children kindness towards one another, and this book is a great example to use.
Kid Tested and Parent Approved Travel Booklets
Kid Tested and Parent Approved Travel Booklets
As parents we have taken many family vacations where we have heard our children say, “Are we there yet? I’m bored. How much further?” We were at our wits end as to how we could make travel fun for our children.
Sure there are electronic devices that we could shove in their faces. However, we know that wasn’t a great solution for the whole trip. As a result, our idea of Vacation Travel Booklets came into play.
Vacation Travel Booklets
Each Vacation Travel Booklet has 12 pages and is easy to assemble. The first page is a cover page that has the destination name, a place for your child’s name, and a chance to color in a picture or pictures from the destination. Page two includes travel information for the trip and your child’s pre-trip thoughts. The third page has a fun word find puzzle that relates to your destination. Page four is the popular license plate game where your child tries to find different states’ license plates. Here are some examples below.
Standards Based Guided Reading Novel Booklets
Ever since the adoption of the Common Core Standards, teachers have been struggling to tie the rigorous requirements into the teaching of guided reading for all students’ reading abilities. There has never been a “one size fits all” approach when it comes to the teaching of guided reading. Teachers have struggled with finding a resource that will hit the common core standards while providing the differentiation needed to meet students at their instructional reading levels. Well, the wait is over! Wise Guys has developed Standards Based Guided Reading Booklets that can be used with any novel. Yes, you heard us correctly. As two experienced teachers who have taught guided reading for over a combined 20+ years we have created a guided reading novel booklet that covers the CCSS for literature and can be used with all of your guided reading groups.
No more teaching the CCSS in isolation. You can now teach and assess the CCSS for Literature with one resource and one novel!
We are providing you with our Guided Reading Booklet and CCSS aligned rubric to assess. All of these tools can be used to help your students become proficient in each standard area.
Lockdowns: The Reality of Today’s Schools
Ever since I was in kindergarten, I can remember practicing both fire drills and tornado drills all the time. The alarm would sound, and like a well-oiled machine we would move to our place of safety. It became second nature for us and we were able to run through the motions effortlessly. I felt safe in the schools when we did this.
For the past twenty years, I have had my own students run through these same drills. Once again, it is almost robotic-like how the children know where to go and what to do. It has always made me feel good to know I can move my students to safety quickly and efficiently.
But a few years ago, things started to change in schools. The number one threat to students was not a fire or a tornado, but an intruder. Worse than a burning building or a school being torn apart by a deadly twister, school shootings have taken center stage. Never in my 37 years being in the public school system did I ever think that there was a higher chance of having an intruder in a school building than a fire or tornado. Unfortunately that day has come.
Creating a Classroom Economy
Teaching your students about the value of money and how to work within a budget is crucial to their success later in life. We have developed a unit for creating a classroom economy that emphasizes real-world situations for your students.
One thing that we do prior to even beginning the unit is to reach out to a local bank to see if they are willing to donate supplies and even have a guest speaker from the bank come in and talk about finances. We have created a script for you to follow when contacting a local bank. Use it if you feel it is helpful. You can find it in our bundled resource here.
Intrinsic Ideas to Celebrate Reading Success
As teachers, we have used multiple incentives to get our children to read. Whether it be earning a prize, handing out certificates, giving students candy/pop, or a movie day- educators have often associated rewards with reading motivation. But those rewards are only short-term, and these incentives lose their appeal only after a few months of implementation. What can we do as reading teachers to foster a love of learning that is intrinsic and not motivated by extrinsic rewards?
Below is a short list of ideas that you can use to foster a love of reading in your classroom that will hopefully last a lifetime for your students (not just for the school year).
Using Growth Mindset to Increase Student Engagement
Increasing student engagement in the classroom should not be hard to do. Whether it be at the beginning of the school year, or even most of the way through, it is important to connect with your students. Using growth mindset to increase student engagement is one of the best skills you can develop as a teacher!
We have developed a Growth Mindset questionnaire that you can download for FREE by clicking here. It is designed to get feedback from your students that will help you with increased student engagement. You will find out their favorite types of music, what books they like to read, what topics interest them, what you can do as a teacher to make learning fun, and a place to let them tell you what they want more of in the classroom. It finishes up with some true/false questions that will be interesting to tabulate when they have been collected. [Read more…]
How to Start the Half of the School Year Strong
The holiday season always brings joy to both students and teachers. It is a time to rest, relax and enjoy time with family and friends. But it is also a time to look at the second half of the school year and how to start it off strong. We have some tips, tricks, strategies and resources that will get you energized to start the rest of the school year off on the right foot.
Tips
Before you leave for winter vacation, make sure your room is ready to go when you return in January. If you are the cleaning type, it is a great time to wipe off student desks, counter tops, ledges, and your teacher desk too. If you like to stay organized, it is the perfect time to put away your teaching resources from the curriculum you just taught, and to take out the materials you will need when you return. Another tip is to think of a new desk arrangement for when the students return. It will give your classroom a new look and students will be excited to sit in a different spot.
Moving Forward in the Classroom after the Presidential Election
The Presidential election is over. Although Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, Donald Trump secured enough electoral votes to become the next President of the United States of America.
The nation has been literally divided over their support of these two candidates. It has been a difficult political season. Both sides have displayed hatred towards each other. How can we heal as a nation, and how can we teach our children about unity and working together after such a divisive election? We will attempt to answer these questions and provide some ideas that you can use in your classroom to help all students move towards a common ground.
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