Plot Summaries

The historical fiction story "Safe As Houses"by Eric Walters is a perfect example for clearly modelling story elements and the Plot Diagram.  The students created a final Reading Project to show their understanding of the story elements, and the theme(s) of the story They were provided with the success criteria throughout the process and then assessed with this rubric.

Character Study

After much modeling during our read aloud of "Wonder" the students each chose an independent novel to read.  While reading we tracked our thinking about the characteristics of the main character in our stories and the evidence in the text that helped us to draw these conclusions.  We completed a Character Poster as a final project. 

QR Code Reader and The Human Body

As an introduction to the 5 main human body systems the students participated in a scavenger hunt. Using a free app called the QR Code reader the students collected clues using i-pads, named the systems at each pit stop and labeled the correct image with each system in their Passports. It was a great way to engage and interest the students in our new science topic.

The Amazing Genre Hunt

After reviewing the different book genres, introducing the 40 Book Challenge, and familiarizing ourselves with the organization of our classroom library my students summarized their learning by making Genre Posters.

The Courage To Try

This is a short novel written by a teacher from Ontario Shawna Potje Today I introduced the book to my student only showing them the cover. We did a "write, pair, share." I gave them a few minutes to write about their wonderings and predictions then pair and share. This was a perfect opportunity to discuss "Schema" because the students all knew the book was going to have something to do with Terry Fox, having a dream, and not giving up. They used the clues on the cover...e.g. red maple leaves, the word courage in the title...and a little girl holding a sign "Good Luck Terry." We talked about the fact that not all children on earth would be able to make these predictions or inferences from the cover page clues because their background knowledge may be different. Next we set ourselves up for the activity "Novel in An Hour". Small groups of students were assigned to a chapter. After partner reading their assigned chapter students discussed the "who and what" about their chapter. Finally the students chose from a list of ways to present a summary of their chapters. (interview, telephone call, skit, song, rap, story map, news broadcast etc.) I like this as an early in the year read for many reasons: reviewing making connections, the theme

of Courage, and of course the connection to our Terry Fox Walk.

This Week in Reading

We are well into our read-aloud "Wonder". I'm finding it a great beginning of the year book to model and introduce reading strategies that the students will be encouraged to use all year long. I am integrating reading Wonder and my Language Mini Lessons with The Daily Cafe and Strategies that Work.

Friday Math Rocks

I'm a mother, a teacher, and a girl with a history of getting down on myself and feeling "Dumb". In fact in Grade 6 our teacher had our desks arranged in rows by the "academic" leveled groups that he had placed us in. The lowest group of students happened to complete a single row of desks....and was thus labelled by the other students "The Dumb Row". I was one of two girls that had a permanent spot in that row. Since I have had some terribly negative experiences in school I am much more sensitive to simply assessing students by giving them a unit test at the end of each Mathematics strand. I've felt a great deal of conflict about how I assess my students because my teaching partner loves to barrel through every expectation and then test her students. I feel my own insecurities and anxieties begin to escape just thinking about it! I hope to support individual students in a way that enables them to understand where they are at in relation to the success criteria we have listed as a class in Mathematics. Each student will self-reflect based on my feedback, and set learning goals for themselves. I don't want my students who are only in Grade Five to ever experience feelings of inadequacy, or to think that they are terrible at math, or just plain stupid. At the same time however...I feel I must be more accountable to my parents in how I communicate the strengths and areas of growth needed for my students. My Friday "Math Rocks" folders are meant to communicate what we have been working on for the week. Inside parents will find a letter outlining the purpose of the folder, the success criteria, and some homework for review. It could be a game to play, a website to visit, or a math problem that has been solved in class that the children will explain to their parents. I'd love to hear your thoughts about testing young children.