Fun is Good!

I am so proud of my little firsties this week!  They have been hard at work creating wonderful projects based on the Dr. Seuss books we have been reading.  I wasn't sure how the whole menu/choice thing was going to go.  (Read about my plan here.) Although I am not a control freak in my classroom by any means, my class is a little on the "wild" side this year and I was worried what might happen if I stepped back to truly be a "guide on the side" and let my students take charge of their learning.  They have come through with flying colors! I have watched as they have helped each other learn how to use a new app, Telestory, create scripts for news reports, figure out how to make puppets and inventions from craft supplies and recycled items and create all kinds of wonderful projects to celebrate Dr. Seuss.  ( I didn't even hyperventilate when one invention accidentally got glued to the table!)  I've been there to make suggestions, help fix some technical difficulties with iPads, and use the sharp scissors to cut pipe cleaners, but, as I noticed this morning, I haven't had to step in as often to redirect behavior or give reminders to stay on task.  In fact, my assistant principal did a walk-through observation today (which just about gave me a heart attack when she walked in!)  My thoughts were along the lines of, "Oh no, the room is a mess; the kids are all over the place; it's so loud!" but one of her comments was that 100% of my students were engaged and taking ownership of their own learning.
I really want to share some of the news reports they created using Telestory, but I'm having some trouble with getting the videos to play on different devices.  In the meantime, here's one of our PicCollages.


I am SO glad I took this leap outside of my comfort zone and I can't wait to try it again!  (Hmm... what can we do with our upcoming fairy tale unit?

Twitter Inspired: Student Choice

#AddictedtoTwitter

Every Sunday evening there is a wonderful group of teachers who "meet" on Twitter and chat about issues pertaining to first grade.  This chat is called #1stchat and is hosted by Leka DeGroot and Valerie Ruckes.  I have learned so much from this fabulous PLN!  Check it out each Sunday at 8PM ET! (Twitter chats can be a bit overwhelming to follow at first.  I recommend using a Twitter dashboard/organizer; I use Tweetdeck on my laptop and just downloaded Plume to try on my Android phone.  I've also heard good things about HooteSuite.)

Last Sunday's chat was about student choice and was guest hosted by Karen Lirenman. (Here's a link to the transcript.)  The timing of this chat was perfect as student choice has been on my mind lately.  A group of teachers at my school are participating in a book study of Alan November's Who Owns the Learning? which has inspired me to provide choice to give my students a sense of ownership and help them learn become more engaged with their learning. I've given my students a menu of activities to choose from this week for our Dr. Seuss unit.  (Read about my plan here). My class is so excited about these activities!  I introduced the menu last week, and we discussed each activity.  They've been bringing in supplies for the creative choices all week and sharing their own Dr. Seuss books for our book basket.  I can't wait to see their projects!

Oh, The Places We'll Go!

I am so excited about the next 2 weeks!  For the past several years my team and I have been doing a Dr. Seuss week at the beginning of March, complete with our own mini read-a-thon. (Read about our day 2 years ago here.)  But we've always felt rushed to complete everything before spring break, so this year we have decided to expand our unit to 2 weeks.  Two weeks with Dr. Seuss- YES!

I might be sorry in a few days, but I've decided to jump in and try something VERY different for me.  A few years ago I created a differentiated menu of activities for our Dr. Seuss unit.  Due to lack of time, I've never been able to implement it completely, but my kids have always enjoyed the activities from the menu that we have been able to complete.  Since I will have more time this year, I want to be able to give them these choices and add in some opportunities to use the technology tools we've been exploring. So here's the new menu I've created.

To introduce the menu I've created a Powerpoint presentation that I can post on our learning management system, Canvas.  (I'm loving Canvas; I should blog about it soon!) That way the kids (and parents) can easily access the menu and see examples.  Here's a link if you'd like to check it out:

Dr. Seuss Menu Directions

Hopefully I'll be back sometime next week to update how it's going!

Comfort Books

A friend pinned a link that led me to an blog post titled " In which I share 10 books I read over and over (and over.)"  The author refers to these as her comfort books, and although we only share one title on our lists, I can totally relate!  I have always been a re-reader. It started in childhood. I loved reading more than anything and read ALL the time, but even though I made frequent trips to the public library, I often found myself lacking new reading material so I would simply re-read something I already owned. Also, I tend to read very fast because I get so caught up in the story and can't wait to find out what happens.  If I enjoyed the story, then I want to read it again for the details. And then again because I'm just not ready to leave the world the author created!

I read some books multiple times with my class as well.  Sometimes a few students will kind of moan and tell me that we've already read that, but most children like to hear a favorite book read again.  (How many of you who are parents have books like Goodnight Moon memorized because your child asked for them over and over? "In the great green room...")

As an adult, I like to revisit the books that gave me so much pleasure as a child or teenager.  Books like the Betsy-Tacy series just make me smile and long for simpler times, and books like Little Women become even more powerful through adult eyes.

So, without further ado, here is my list of comfort books.

1. Gone with the Wind: My love affair with GWTW started when I was about 11 or 12.  The movie had returned to the theaters, and my mom and her friend were going.  Her friend mentioned that she was taking her daughter who was about 3 years older than me. My mom said I was too young to go, but I begged and begged, so she reluctantly agreed.  I was mesmerized!  As soon as I could I found the book, and I've been hooked ever since.  I have read the book too many times to count, written papers on it in school, watched the movie like 20 times and own all kinds of GWTW memorabilia.
2. Jane Eyre: I get so caught up in this story every time I read it!
3. Rebecca: "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again..."  I don't remember exactly when I first visited Manderley but I do remember staying up into the wee hours of the morning to finish  reading it that first time.  I had not read Rebecca for many years when my son was required to read it in high school.  I picked it up, and even though I was familiar with the story, still got caught up in the suspense.  I kept his copy and have enjoyed it several times since.
4. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz:  Of course the movie is fabulous, but there is so much more in the book- the Hammerheads, the land made of china and even an additional witch!  For the past 2 years I have read this as our last chapter book read-aloud and my students have loved it! (Side note: as much as I love the Wizard of Oz, one of my greatest reading disappointments is that I have never been able to make it through Wicked.  I SO wanted to like this book, but I just can't get into it. maybe I should try again?)
5. Little Women: I first read this book when I was about 10, and although I enjoyed it, I have much more appreciation for it now as an adult.  The March sisters, especially Jo, are some of my favorite literary characters!
6. The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings trilogy: I still treasure my original boxed set of paperbacks, now yellow with age, given to me by an old boyfriend shortly after I discovered these wonderful books in high school.
7. The Gallaghers of Ardmore trilogy by Nora Roberts: I confess- I have a weakness for Nora Roberts' books!  Sometimes I just want what a reading consultant for my district called a "lollipop" book (as opposed to a juicy steak book that you can really sink your teeth into!) and Nora's books are my favorite flavor of lollipop.  This trilogy takes place in Ireland, has a little touch of the supernatural, lots of romance and a few slightly steamy love scenes.  What's not to love? 
8. Childhood series: Childhood favorites like Betsy-Tacy, the Little House books and What Katy Did just make me happy!
9. A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness: Even though this trilogy hasn't been around all that long, I have already read through twice completely and have read the first book 4 or 5 times. I discover something I missed or a new connection to the other books with every reading.  I love trilogies and series; reading each new book is like coming home to familiar characters or places.  This one also has the added benefit of some magic/supernatural plus a love story so it's a winner in my book!
10. Reading with Meaning:  Since this is a teaching blog, I guess a teaching book is called for!  I revisit and refer to many of my professional books, but I try to read this one in its entirety before school starts each year for inspiration!

I'd love to hear about some of your favorite books to re-read!

Saturday Smorgasbord

Well, I'm less than a week into my new blogging resolution, and I'm already off schedule!  It's been an unusual week.  My husband and I are both pretty much homebodies who rarely venture out during the week.  But we have been out 3 nights in a row this week.  We attended a retirement seminar on Tuesday. ( After 37 of years of teaching PE he's considering hanging up his gym shoes and trading them for his fishing boots).  We met up for dinner with some old friends from out of state on Wednesday, where I discovered I DO like Indian food after basically refusing to try it for years!  Thursday was our middle daughter's birthday so we went out to dinner with the family.  I'm exhausted but no time to rest since our annual Super Bowl party is coming up.  I guess I'll sleep next week, but I did want to take some time and try to catch up on my posts.

Problem solving has been on my mind recently.  I LOVE teaching problem solving- you can read about my love for it here and here.  But I'm not having the same success this year with quite a few of my friends. So this week we spent I decided to slow down and reviewed our problem solving model, UPSCheck.  Our model is based  on the work of George Polya and teaches these 4 steps: Understand, Plan, Solve and Check. We used some problems from this set I found on TPT by Brandi Wayment to practice using the model.  (I love these problems because you can differentiate by changing the numbers.)  By the end of the week I felt like my firsties were doing a much better job of showing and explaining their thinking! I'm looking forward to watching their progress during the next few weeks.

Enjoy the Super Bowl if that's your thing and the rest of the weekend!

Technology Tuesday: Plickers

A few weeks before Christmas our wonderful Classroom Technology Designer (who I would love to be  when I "grow up!") came and demonstrated Plickers to my class.  It is now one of our favorite activities!

Plickers is a tool that lets you collect data from students without each student needing a device.  All you need is one device such as an Ipad, tablet or Smartphone and a set of student response cards, and you can quickly gather formative assessment data from your students.

Here's how it works:

1. Download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play for Android on the device you will be using.
2. Go to www.plickers.com and sign in with the same User ID that you used for the app.
3. Print a set of response cards.
4. Add a class and create your multiple choice or true/false questions.
5. Display your question.  I project mine using my Smartboard using Live View, but you could also use a document camera or write the question and answer choices on the board.
6. Students show their answer by holding their response card so the letter of their choice is at the top.
7. Using your device, scan the cards.  Plickers will let you know if you have captured each student's response. Once all of the students have responded you can quickly view the data and move on to the next question. 

Sample plickers card

Scanning the responses

For more information about how Plickers works, check out the Plickers website or this post by Tabitha Carro that includes a great video.  I love using Plickers as a quick check for understanding at the end of a lesson or as a review or warm-up activity before a lesson.

I hope you'll try Plickers and let me know how you liked it!

All About a Number Freebie

I was home sick today and spent most of my time reading blogs and working on school stuff! I created a task card for strengthening number sense that utilizes one of our favorite apps.  We've been using PicCollage a lot in language arts so last week I had one of my math groups use it to show different ways to describe a number.  They enjoyed making their number collages so I thought I would make it an independent workstation this week.  I use Donna's (from The Math Coach's Corner) wonderful themed number cards (find them here) and put several cards, a set of base ten blocks and an iPad in the tub.  Simple to set up and easy to differentiate by choosing different cards for each group.

An example of Donna's cards.  This month I am using her penguin set!

Here's the task card if you'd like to try it!

Click here to download

That's it for tonight.  If you're in the path of the blizzard, stay warm and safe! (No chance of a blizzard here in Texas!)