Making Connections & Hurricane Sandy!

There has been so much going on lately, and I'd really like to start posting more!  Not enough time in the day, right?...Anyways, we all know the crazy effects of Hurricane Sandy and the impending storms the past 24 hours...I woke up this morning to find my world cold, white, and fluffy outside!  Our newly carved pumpkins have snow hats about 4 inches high, and my pup is loving the mysterious powder that occurred overnight...And because of the big surprise, NO SCHOOL TODAY!  So, this gave me the perfect opportunity to start posting again!

Jaxy decided that the low-hanging bushes would be his fort, and I caught him just in time to see him get spooked by a clump of snow on his butt...Until I have my own kids at home, he is my entertainment, and I love spoiling him with attention!  :)

Anyways, I stated in my previous posts that I have been praying for a classroom job, although I love Title I!  I miss the units, structure, and student/parent relationships that you can grow with in the classroom.  Good news!! A couple weeks ago, I was offered a 1st grade position in a WONDERFUL 1st grade team at Big Elm Elementary!  I don't start until the next school year, but I am overwhelmed with excitement!  So much to do, prepare, and plan for!  I'm hoping over the next couple of months to post my projects that I plan to prepare for next year - As this will be my first "classroom" teaching job, I have so many ideas, and Pinterest is only adding to my obsession.  As a reading specialist, I have tons of activities and experience with small group instruction - So, here are some of my most recent activities - Grades K - 5!

I'm in love with this book called, Comprehension Connections, by Tanny McGregor.

It's a small book that is easy to read and straight to the point...Now, I know as teachers, we are sometimes the WORST students - BUT, this book is totally worth the read!  It helps you create real concrete connections for your students with the basic comprehension strategies, such as metacognition, synthesis, connecting, etc. It uses real objects & scenarios to introduce students to these complex ideas.  They come to the conclusion on their own with these strategies (INQUIRY)!   Anyways, when I saw that I would be teaching a group focused on "Making Connections," I thought this book would be a perfect resource :)

I forgot to take pics of the "Reading Salad" we made to introduce the aspect of thinking and connecting while we read - but below is a picture of another teacher's interpretation.  The kids added "green leaves" (to represent text - every time I read).  Now as I read, I stopped to think-aloud, and share with the students what the text was making me think about - they added "red tomatoes" every they heard me think aloud.  We noticed that "REAL Reading" in not just reading the words, but being aware of what the text is making us think about!  (I used the book, The Man Who Waked Between the Towers" by Mordicai Gerstein for my think-aloud - it was interesting to see how the kids connected to the twin towers, and what they remembered about 9-11.)

 

This was my favorite part - sharing our connections with our "thought bubble!!"  Since we live in WV, I picked the famous book, When I Was Young in the Mountains, by Cynthia Ryland (WV author!).  My kids could really connect to this book, as they have lots of experiences like Cynthia Rylant does in the book!  I assigned a reader, a thinker, and a writer.  The reader read a page out of the book off of the document camera, the thinker shared their connections in the thought bubble (using one of our "thinking stems" we wrote on post-its and added to the bubble), and the writer wrote those connections on our graphic organizer below FREEBIE!!

Our thought bubble!  

Click to download!

The kids LOVED sharing their memories and connections about their lives in the mountains :)  We also did a little mini-lesson on how we use our memories, and things that have happened in our lives, to help us connect.  It was kind of like a "connection race!"  I showed a picture on a powerpoint (FREEBIE download below), and the students had to write down as many things that the picture made them think of in 20 SECONDS.  We shared our thoughts, and expanded on them to connect. HOWEVER, on the last picture, I showed a picture of the Pentagon...they all looked confused, and couldn't write anything down...This facilitated our discussion that if we don't know anything about a topic, we cannot connect with it.  And therefore, we need to go to outside resources to find out more about it!

FREEBIE Connection Powerpoint

After our introductions, modeling, and guided practice, the students moved on to a novel to apply their knowledge of making connections.  Below is a FREEBIE of the thought bubble templates we used to show we wanted to make a connection.  I printed these thought bubbles out on cardstock (pretty colors of course), laminated them, and attached them to a popsicle stick.  As we read, the students held up their thought bubble if they had a connection they wanted to share!  We also used post-its to record these thoughts in their books.  Enjoy!

Click picture to download FREEBIE!

I have so much more to share, but I need to take a break!