My Journey with Journeys

This year I am piloting a Language Arts program called "Journeys" by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. My school district is looking at a few programs, mainly Journeys and Open Court for the younger grades K-4, that are common core based.  I am a workshop style teacher and I loved using novels in my classroom with a combination of Read Alouds and skill work. so I was nervous about adjusting my style to suit the needs of a program.  (We had a Spelling Program for the Spelling curriculum called "Spellography" that some of the other 4th grade classroom continue to use during the piloting phase).

I spent the first few weeks of September aligning all the skill and strategy work that is in the program because I needed to see the visual piece of the year, by literally making charts for each lesson.  I also wanted to secure my homework routine and align that part of it with my Greek and Latin root word study, incorporating the vocabulary words from each week's lesson.  And....I also wanted to be able to keep a picture book Read Aloud a week that encompassed the big ideas from the BASAL reader and continue making meaningful anchor charts for each story/skill/strategy.  So far, so good.  I am truly likely this program.

Here's what I love (so far)...

1.  The structure of a program.
2.  The strategies and skill work.
3.  The online pieces (such as a listening center!)
4.  The stories in the BASAL are good!
5.  Some of the workbook pieces.  But not all...I try to steer away from daily worksheets, but I have to try all the pieces.
6.  The companion story that goes along with the anchor text ties it all in together.
7.  The home letters to the parents are informative.
8.  A great focus wall poster that you hang each week.
9.  The context vocabulary cards.
10.  The spelling words/spelling program.
11.  The ability to choose between a workshop model and a traditional model.  In the workshop model, the focus is clearly written so you can post it in your classroom or on the anchor chart.

I will be updating this post/or writing an updated post later in the year.

Care about Character | Morning Meeting Lessons

I find that morning meeting time is extremely important.  You communicate with students a variety of topics such as the calendar, schedules, etc.  One decision I made this year was to focus on themselves, focus on character.  I found a great resource which I've been using during this time.  I've mapped out a particular day to focus on character, which is on Tuesdays.

(Each morning I try to focus on something important.  Right now I have it set up like so...Monday:  Calendar and Upcoming events, Tuesday:  Character, Wednesday:  Read Aloud, Thursday:  Think about it and Friday:  Fill your book box Friday).

Each month has a different theme.  August was Optimism.  September was Integrity.  October is Perseverance. Students are given a packet to keep in their home to school binder (S.T.A.R.  Binder) and I also post the information on our "Care about Character" wall.

During the month, the students and I talk (or will talk) about what the words means, examples of actions representing the word, and if we have demonstrated any of these actions.  This has also been a great cross over to our Language Arts block because students are able to bring these Character traits into discussions about character in stories.  I'm looking forward to the rest of the year!

My Classroom Library | Second Post

Using the Library

I use a pretty simple system in my classroom.  It's not perfect, but it works for me.  It also is a simple way to have students practice procedures and responsibility.

See for yourself!

Students find a book they would like to take out and then they take the card out of the back, write their name and place it in their book box (or start reading!)  The card gets stored in a little bucket.

When students want to return a book, they reverse their operations.
They need to find the card, place it back in the book, and find the bin where it goes.
I have made little maps for the bookcases so kids could find bins easier.

One thing that has been on my to do list for a long time is to scan and catalog every book I have in the library.  That way I can easily search or find a book that I need or a student needs.  I was lucky enough to receive funds from our AMAZING school's PTSA to purchase an IntelliScanner which is specifically designed for things like classroom libraries.  My plan is to eventually get into a system, where I scan a bin of books every week or so until it's complete (I haven't gotten there yet, but I will!)

My Classroom Library | First Post

One of the reasons I love my classroom and the beginning of the school year is because I get to share my classroom library with brand new faces!  This is definitely the focal part of my classroom.  It takes up a majority of the back wall.  Right above the library are three big windows that look out onto a beautiful wooded landscape.  (I am one lucky teacher).  Also, we are sometimes visited by some beautiful birds at our window feeder including most recently a woodpecker!

I started building my classroom library since I student taught and it has grown and evolved very much since then.  I could fit all my books into once plastic bin but now I need about 10 boxes to store them all.  A quick overview of the library:

1.  Books are organized in bins by author or topic.
2.  Students "check out" books with a card system.
3.  Students store books in "book boxes" for easy storage and easy grab for independent reading.

How do I get books?

One way I gather a lot of books is at the famed Nevins Library Book Sale at Methuen Public Library here in Massachusetts.  I've been to other library book sales in the area, and this one is defnitely the best.  I can grab hardcovered books for $1 and paperbacks for $0.50.  My wallet made out easy this time only spending $20.00 but I had a bag of books!  I always go in trying to find something and the rest is extra.  My goal is to add to bins that may need a boost or add to my literature circle books so I can have multiple copies.

Another great way I can get books is through Scholastic with club points.  Which is great because I order so frequently from Scholastic that I have free shipping with every order.  It's also really nice for for families because they can order right online and have the current catalog to choose from.  A lot different from when I ordered Scholastic when I was in 4th grade.

Lastly, Amazon has a great "used book" option when you are looking for a book.  I can usually grab a book I need for a unit for about 1 penny.  The only "flip" side of that is that shipping costs about $3.95.  But to grab a great book for under $4.00 still is a great deal.

Enjoy!
Stay tuned for more posts regarding my library.

I'm Home!

I am so excited to be back in my old classroom!  My previous home for 4 years, I was in the building for one year and now I am back.  The moment I walked in on a hot summer day in July, I felt like I was home!  One great benefit, besides the amazing view, is the air conditioning.  Having to unpack and set up for 6 days in late July and early August was manageable.  Here are some great pics I took yesterday. I'm pretty happy with the set up this year.

I have a certain system that I use, which serves me and my students well.  I set up the room with spaces (or corners), designating each space a certain subject, so resources aren't scattered about the room and confusing.  For example I have "my office area", "Classroom Community Space", "Math Workshop and Resource Space" and a few more.  They are also marked with a cute little bunting that I made on word.

I chose to go with a black and neon theme this year, and I love it!  I had some inspiration, of course, from Pinterest.  Enjoy!

Valentines!

I wanted to share my valentines for the kiddos.
So adorable, and so easy!
Enjoy!

Literature Circles | Day One

Back from another snow day and delay, right into the swing of things...
Today we met in our literature circle groups and started day one activities.  Overall this took us about 60 minutes.  Here's exactly what we did in order:

1.  Both classes received their clothespins and other supplies (packets and books).
2.  Groups sat with their literature circle group and support teacher.
3.  Groups read the rules (my advice to the children is to have the person whose birthday is next read the rules, see poster):

4.  Then students finished the cover of the literature circle packet (name, group members, illustration of book).

5.  Next students opened up their book packet and completed "Before Reading" and "Who is....Kate DiCamillo or Roald Dahl". For the author bio page, Sue and I split up the classes and I took the Kate DiCamillo groups and Sue took the Roald Dahl groups.  Then we came back together after about 10 minutes.

6. Finally students read the directions for day one literature circle planning and received information on their clothespins.

What are the clothespins?  Each student received a clothespin with their name on it.  When students are completing reading and their literature circle jobs, the clothespin is inside the bucket (see picture), when students are done with the assigned reading and their jobs, their clothespin is on the rim of the bucket.  This allows students to easily see who is done so they can work on something else until their group is ready.

All groups decided on a page number (everyone chose a few chapters to start), placed their clothespins in the bucket and then students were able to independently read for a few minutes before we ended.

bucket (clothespins are inside)

Literature Circles | Behind the Scenes Planning

During our Literature Circle kick off week, after hours, there was a lot of planning happening.

Who would be in what group?
What books would we read?
How would we group the kiddos?

First of all we decided that the students would be cross grouped.
This would allow some peer learning to occur.  I also wasn't worried because we had enough teachers to support each group.

Secondly, we decided that we would allow the students to give input on the book they were interested in reading.  This would allow a more invested reader.  How did we do this?  Well very much like the Academy Awards night, during the first day of our kick off, we had each teacher take 2 books (different titles) and every so often we would pause the day one discussion and read aloud to present each book.  Every student heard all 8 titles and plot.  The following day (Wednesday) the students completed a google doc in the computer lab to specify their 1st and 2nd choices and why.

What a great idea!

On Thursday, Sue and I met and laid out all the groups with the teachers.
We took a few things into consideration of course:  Reading levels, behaviors, other scheduling concerns, etc.
We actually didn't have any students choose BFG, so in the end we had 7 groups.

Thirdly, I gathered all the books.  I actually had all of them (because I am a crazy book lady, I visit used book sales like it's my second job).  And we also wanted the students to have meaningful work that they would complete when they weren't working on their jobs and waiting for their groups.  One of my favorite TPT sellers TheBookUmbrella, has just right novel work and they have all the novels that we were working on.  I am also using a James and the Giant Peach book companion by Creekside Teacher Tales, because the vocabulary cards are awesome!

I'm looking forward to sharing more with you, especially the official start of our different novel groups!

Literature Circles | Kick Off Week

Snow, snow and more snow!  I am happy to report though that we did get to kick off our literature circles this week (even with 2 delays and a snow day).  Every year I get super excited to start literature circles.  It's a great time of the year because the classroom is running like clockwork, there is amazing classroom community and the kids LOVE to read!  This year I am doing mixed groups with the classroom across the hallway.  This teacher and I have been doing a lot together this year, especially in Science and it's great for the kids to work with other classrooms to get ready for the big move to middle school.

In the past I have focused on an author study literature circle and last year I did Kate DiCamillo (which was great!).  This year I have added a little bit of a twist.  We are going to do a genre study (Fantasy) with the authors Kate DiCamillo and Roald Dahl.  Very excited!!

This week during the kick off, on Tuesday, we had the students come into my room and sit in a large circle.  One of my rules for literature circle meetings, is that students sit knee to knee so everyone can hear and see each other.  I have a great poster that we discuss that goes over the "How, What, Why, etc".  and we discuss the "rules".  The rules are read every time a group meets by the Discussion Leader.  This is a document that I created for the packet.

The packet I use for literature circles in from superteacherworksheets.com.  A long time ago, I started using the sheets from the site for this particular unit.  Unfortunately, that was when the site was free. Now you have to pay.  Luckily, I saved them as a pdf!

So how did we practice?....Well, we listened to the first 15 chapters of James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl, a little each day.  (I have all the books we are doing in class on CD for a coordinating listening center).
The great thing about this, (James and the Giant Peach) is that this will continue to be our Tier 1 read aloud novel and it will also be my Tier 2 group novel.  So these students will get a double dose of fluency and comprehension.  (it's all in the planning).

Every day we met (Tuesday-Friday) we practiced one of the jobs.  One day we did 2 jobs (illustrator and Story Connector).  I would have the students know what they were responsible for before we started listening.  I also had a book for all the students (lots of borrowing).  I feel that this is really important when you are listening to a book on tape.  I wish I could post the job pages.  They are great because they tell the students "What your job is" and "What your job is when you meet with your group".  They know both objectives which is very important.  I also have a Literature Circle bulletin board so the students can refer to it for help.

We ended the week with meeting our group teacher and our group members.  I am going to do another post talking about the behind the scenes planning that went into this unit.  Have fun!

Blizzard Bags and Online Learning

Last year our district implemented Blizzard Bags and Online Learning, a way for students and teachers to continue valuable school work during snow storms and to avoid making up many days at the end of the year.  Last year we had 3 Blizzard Bag days which cut down our make up days.  This year we have had 1 day so far and our planning on a few more.  I highly recommend reading information from my classroom site if you have questions regarding these days.  They have worked out well for our students and staff.

Blizzard Bags and Online Learning

Classroom Website | The Link to Communication

I find that having a classroom site to post dates, homework, printables, etc. is such a great resource and communication for parents and other teachers.  I use teacherweb.  It does cost money, but it's really easy to use, reliable, and I love that I can upload files, make background changes and other things, with ease.  One great feature is the "newsflash".  Parents can sign up their cell phone number and/or other numbers along with emails to receive important and timely news.  I usually use this as a reminders for important events or when the district has announced a "Blizzard Bag/Online Learning Day".  It takes out the confusion of what is going on.

I also link my website through our district webpages to make communication easier and less frustrating for everyone.