Helping Students See Their Progress

Hey everyone! It's Bex here from Reading and Writing Redhead. Another school year has passed and at the end of the year I do a lot of reflecting on how things have gone.

Sometimes I feel like my kiddos don't really understand how much they have progressed and at times I think I forget too. A bunch of years ago I came up with an idea to help! We always do a fairly simple comprehension activity in the fall. Our school uses the Treasures reading program and the first story is David's New Friends. We read the story together and I give out a fairly simple Beginning, Middle, End activity. We discuss together the story and I ask for student suggestions as to what happened in each part of the story. We also talk about what to do if you don't remember, and someone always suggests to go back and look through the story and get ideas from the pictures and text! Then the kiddos go ahead and complete the page without help (which is SO hard to do for me, I am dying to help!!). I collect them and correct them and file them away for parent conferences.( By the way, this year I showed them again to parents at the March conference as we looked at their child's current writing work. It was a great way for them to see growth.)

Then, about a week before school ends, I pass out the old Treasures books from the first half of the year again. The students are usually perplexed - "But we already read those stories!" I have them choose either to read the story again to themselves or with a buddy. I explain we are going to read David's New Friends and complete the SAME assignment they did in the fall and then I will give them the old one so they can compare.

A couple of my fellas rereading David's New Friends.

  

After everyone is done and before we pass back the papers from September I ask how they thought the story was to read- thumbs up for easy, thumbs in the middle for just right, thumbs down for hard. Most give a thumbs up! I  give a reminder that in the fall most of them thought it was just right or hard to read! Then the fun starts!

Here is someone's before and after paper (sorry I should have put the September paper on the left)!

Such an improvement in many areas- handwriting, spelling, sentence length, detail, even comprehension. In the fall she just copied a sentence from the story for each story part. Now she wrote her own response and fairly detailed responses at that!

This is another girl's before (on the left) and after papers. 

It is interesting to see changes like letter size, capital letters not being in the middle of the sentences any more, improved spelling, but also interesting because I think she could be doing better. With her skills she can write longer sentences than the ones on the paper in June. They are really almost the same length as the ones in September. When everyone raised their hands and commented about the comparison, many kids said things like, "Oh my paper in the fall had 4 word sentences and my paper today has a 13 word sentence",  "My sentences were so short in the fall! They are twice as long now" and "I wrote one short sentence in September but 3 sentences for each part today!" I hope by seeing other's pages and hearing how they improved she might be inspired to put a wee bit more effort into her work in the fall.

So in any case, I hope this gives you an idea or two on how to get your students to actually see their progress. A tip I have is be sure to store the September work in a VERY safe place so you don't lose it. Then a kid or 2 will be disappointed because they can't see their own work. I had someone who refused to do it in the fall and I forgot about it until it was time to do this one.

What do you do to help your students see their growth. Comment below and let me know!

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Five Engaging End-of-Year Literacy Activities

Ah, the end of the school year is near.  I have nine more days to be exact, but who's counting? ;)

It can be challenging to keep students motivated, but with a little planning, the last few weeks of school can be meaningful and fun.  Here are some time-honored end-of-year literacy activities you may want to consider.

Balloon Pop Countdown

Mrs. Pehanich's Classroom, Shepherdstown Elementary School.

Build excitement and enthusiasm for the last few days of school. Surprise students with a Balloon Pop Countdown.  Each day a balloon is popped and a special privilege is revealed.  Here are a few of my favorite treats...

• Mystery Reader:  A Guest Will Visit and Read Today
• Read (or Learn) Outside Today
• Write with Markers (Instead of Pencils) All Day
• Lights, Camera, Action:  Readers Theater on the Stage
• Tech Day:  Play Your Favorite Online Literacy Games
• Book Buddies:  Read to Younger Students Today
• Foamy Fun:  Practice Spelling (or Cursive) in Shaving Cream

Memory Books

Activities by Jeanine Enns and The Reading Mama

Looking back can be so much fun, but it’s also a great instructional tool for reviewing the year's learning.  Create your own memory book or download these free templates... 

• Class Memory Book:  Students each prepare a page for a {memory book} that can be added to your classroom library.
• Individual Memory Book:  Students can reflect on their favorite memory, class field trips, and the friendships they've made in their very own keepsake {memory book}.

Craftivities

Craft-activities by Kelly Dolling, Jessica Travis, and Janet Rainey

Who doesn't love a good craft and writing activity?  Use the links below to download a craftivity that will have students reflecting on - and writing about - their school year.  A great keepsake!

• {Memory Makers}:  Students will capture their favorite memory with a cute camera craft.
• {This Year Was Sweet}:  Students will record their sweetest memories with this cupcake booklet.
• {That's a Wrap}:  Students will wrap up their thoughts about the school year on a movie clapper board.

Letter Writing

Activities by Amy Labrasciano, Hope King, Khyrs Bosland

Letter writing provides a valuable opportunity for students to think about themselves as learners, reflect on their school year, and consider their future goals. Click on the links to download free templates.

• Dear Teacher: Students write a {letter} of introduction to their upcoming teacher. 
• This Year Rocked: Students write a {letter} to incoming students. Help make their first day a little less scary. Share helpful information and highlights from the school year. 
• Hello Future Self: Students write {letters} to their future selves. Invite them to write about the things that matter to them - friends, family, school life, and other interests. Ask them to make predictions about their future.

Get Students Ready for Summer

Bookmark by Erin Holleran

Activities by Whitney Parlin and Jen Bradshaw

Get students excited about reading and writing over the summer and help them prevent the "Summer Slide".

• {Summer Reading Bucket List}:  Students visit the school library and complete a list of 10 books they would like to read over the summer.  
• Decorate a Journal:  Students create a summer journal by decorating a composition book with pictures and patterned paper.  
• {ABCs of Summer}:  Students keep track of their summer adventures by completing this alphabet booklet.
• {Summer Fun Jar}:  Students decorate a jar and fill it with fun activities that will build background knowledge and maintain literacy skills.  Each day over the summer, they can pick a slip out of the jar to complete. 

Time to Share!

What are your favorite end-of-year literacy activities?  Please share your ideas with our readers...leave a comment.  :)

*Special thanks to Melonheadz and I'm Lovin' Lit for the graphics used in this post.

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Figurative Language Writing for Mother's Day

Hello, Royal Readers! Are you feeling the stress and insanity of the end of the year yet? I know I am! Today's post is a little idea for writing that you could use to review figurative language, character traits, AND you can send it home for Mother's Day.

I know I am all for combining as many things as possible, especially in the limited amount of time we have left to teach. This idea I borrowed from a sweet friend of mine who taught 2nd grade. Here's the short version:

• Have students make a list of characteristics for their mother. 
• Then turn those traits into similes!

As with any teaching (writing especially), you will want to model everything first. So I will share the process for my own mom! I kept it to just 5 traits. You could have them list as few or as many as you wanted. It may not be a bad idea to have them list more than they need and then choose the best for step 2.

You may want to provide a list of possible character traits to help them brainstorm. This list from TPT is very full AND free!

Once students have their list, get them to think about what jobs, animals, or objects also show those traits. I modeled the same pattern in each line so the only part they have to think about is the simile.

Once they've got a few that they are proud of, give them some pretty paper to write it, and you've got a sweet, unique card to send home!

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Writing: Sentence Fluency

Hi! It's Melissa again from Don't Let the Teacher Stay Up Late here to talk about...

I know in Virginia, our 5th grade students are working hard to prepare for their big writing assessment at the very beginning of April, and all the snow we've had is just causing more stress for the poor teachers. However, we had a ray of hope last week at our school in the form of professional development...no joke! Our school system began implementing Six Traits this year, and we had Fred Wolff of Six Traits Live come to our school and do LESSONS with actual classes for teachers to understand how to implement his ideas in the room.

I was able to sit in on the 5th grade lesson for sentence fluency, and there were two simple yet powerful tips that he taught. If you read my blog on Wednesday, you will just want to skip to step 2, but that's where the meat is anyway! Step one is pretty simple.

He began the lesson by reading an excerpt from Gary Paulsen's Harris and Me and then having a student write the first word of each sentence. We circled words that we didn't typically use to begin sentences (basically anything other than a pronoun, person's name, or "the") and talked about how most of the sentences started with a different word. This helped make it sound more interesting. He gave the students 5 "Power Starters" and encouraged them to try and use these words to make stronger sentences and add variety.

His suggestion to teachers later was to have a "When Week", etc, where students practiced making sentences with each specific starter.

But there's more to sentence fluency than just having different beginnings. You also need a variety of lengths, and I think this was my students' favorite part!

I actually implemented this part of the lesson with one of my 4th grade groups on Friday to help prepare them already. They complained at first that we weren't doing games, but by the end they were hooked!

First, I gave them a recording sheet you can download here to find the first word and number of words in the first 10 sentences. As you can see below, we crossed out the final category (part of speech) because my kids just aren't ready for that yet. I still included it because I hope to get there soon. Then I gave each of them Abe Lincoln's Dream, which we read earlier in the week. We did the first two sentences together, and I had to help them a little to make sure they didn't skip little sentences and stopped in the right place (there was a tricky sentence that had a quote with a question mark at the end and then two more words after, so they needed guidance there).

After they finished with the first ten sentences, I gave them the second sheet and helped them make a line graph using the data they collected (Math in reading? What?!).

We discussed how the line graph reminded us of a heart monitor, and it looked like a "life line". I asked them what happens if the line stays the same or barely moves ("You're dead!"), and then we talked about how it's the same with our writing. We need to have a variety of sentence lengths to keep things interesting and make our writing more lively.

After going through the process once, they were ready to try it on their own. I gave them a nonfiction book that we had been working through, and they were SO engaged!

I was so proud of them because they quickly noticed that the first 6 sentences in this book are about the same length, but that the book started to pick up the pace at sentence 7. They could point to their graph and show me exactly when it started to get interesting.

Later, we will do one of these on their own writing (which is what 5th grade is already doing), and we will discuss ways to improve the fluency by making sentences longer or shorter. However, this first step of making them aware was VERY important and well worth the time it took!

What other struggles do your students have with writing? How many of you are preparing for a big writing assessment right now?

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Helping Students Stay on Topic

Hello new friends!  I am very excited to be joining a wonderful group of teacher bloggers as we embark on this new Literacy Land adventure.  I began my journey in education as a middle school social studies teacher.  I went to a professional development about incorporating reading strategies across content areas and I started thinking that maybe I wanted to teach reading instead.  That opportunity arose in my district and I became the seventh and eighth grade reading teacher.  Did I have any idea how to teach reading?  NO!  So I went back to school and got my master's degree in reading.  After teaching reading for a few years, I was given the opportunity to become a literacy coach for grades 4-7.  While I was coaching, I achieved National Board Certification in Reading/Language Arts.  Currently, I am a Master Teacher (instructional coach/facilitator...there are so many names that mean the same thing) for grades preschool through third grade.

As part of my job as a master teacher, I have to analyze our test data to determine an area that needs to be focused on school-wide.  Once I have narrowed down the focus, I research strategies that would help our students succeed in that area.  One of the great things about my job is that I don't just tell my teachers, "Go try out this strategy because this book/article/website said it would work."  I have to field test, or try it out, first with a group of students in our school.  Once I work the kinks out of the strategy, I present it to my teachers in manageable chunks.  Looking at the data, we were struggling with creating a piece of writing that stayed on topic and was organized.  What to do?

I researched and found the four square writing method and began to try it with the first grade students my first grade teacher graciously loaned to me.  We worked on using the graphic organizer for a couple of weeks before we picked one of the graphic organizers and wrote our first piece of text.

Step One:  Model, Model, Model
It doesn't matter what grade I teach, I am always impressed by the power of modeling.  I modeled how to turn the information in the graphic organizer into sentences to write the paragraph.

Step Two:  Guided Practice
In the next lesson, the students and I worked together to start our paragraph.  We used a graphic organizer that we had previously completed together.  We only focused on the topic box and the first detail box.  The next lesson took the remaining boxes and turned them into sentences.  I wanted to take a piece at a time, so I had the opportunity to assess them before we wrote the whole paragraph.

Step Three:  Group Practice
Before taking the plunge and having the students write their own paragraphs, I wanted to give them more practice by working together in groups.  Each group was given a different completed graphic organizer (each one had been completed during guided practice earlier in the unit).  They were also given a half-sheet of chart paper and a marker.  The groups had to write the beginning of the paragraph that would match their graphic organizer.  After they completed the beginning of the paragraph, I assess by reading and writing down next steps.  I used the next steps to plan my small group writing time.

Are these the best sentences ever?  No.  Could they use some style?  Yes.  Am I happy with the product?  Yes!  Our goal has been to make sure that the details they use in their writing match the topic.  The next steps are to finish this draft, revise, edit, and write a final published copy.  The published pieces are going to be displayed in the hallway.  All we are working on is content and I am pleased with our beginnings.

The students were excited about working together to create a piece of text.  One group finished quickly and asked for another graphic organizer.  They wanted to keep writing!  I left school with a smile on my face thinking about how excited they were to write.

What's next?
Now that students have experienced success creating a piece of text with a group, it is time to move them into independently going through this process.

I would love to hear how you help your students organize their writing and stay on topic.  Let me know in the comments.

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Mentor Texts with Lively Leads

Introduction

Hi! My name is Wendy D., and I am joining this highly talented group of teachers and reading specialists from Ms. D's Literacy Lab.  Before moving to the Boston area, I resided in Texas. I taught Head Start, Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, First Grade and Reading Recovery over a time period of seven to eight years. I loved ( and still love) reading aloud a new picture book to students or seeing if they are amused with the same funny parts of a chapter book as I am. After moving to Massachusetts, I went to Lesley University and worked as a Graduate Assistant for Dr. Irene Fountas while she was writing her Guiding Readers and Writers book for intermediate readers and writers. After graduating with my Master's Degree in Reading (K-12), I have worked as a Literacy Coach for eight years and a Reading Specialist for thirteen years in a diverse, suburban, Title I elementary school near Boston. I love it!

 Leads 

Leads can be one of the most challenging parts of writing for students. Over the years, I have noticed that those students who read notable books have an easier time writing a lead because they have been exposed to so many different types of writing styles and authors.  In order to introduce leads to students in any grade level, I like to read a variety of exemplar texts during read-aloud time and revisit them during Writer's Workshop time.

Lucy Calkins states, "When upper-elementary students draft and revise leads, they are doing so not only with an eye toward a good lead but also because they recognize that each lead represents a different way the text could go: "If I start it this way, it'll take too long to get to the main part."        Units of Study for Teaching Writing, Grade by Grade series, 2013

When teaching writing, one way to expose students to different types of leads is to categorize them. I like to categorize leads into three different categories for students.

Mentor Texts with Lively Leads

Character Leads or Topic Leads (Nonfiction)

A character or topic lead is introduced in the first few lines of text with descriptive language that makes a reader want to keep reading and learn more.

"Have you ever wondered about turkeys? Where are the wild turkeys found and how do they live? What do turkeys eat? ... This book answers these questions about turkeys and more."
--All About Turkeys by Jim Arnosky

"From the beginning the baby was a disappointment to her mother. She was born red and wrinkled, an ugly little thing. And she was not a boy."
--Eleanor by Barbara Cooney

"Out in the hottest, dustiest part of town is an orphanage run by a female person nasty enough to scare night into day."
--Saving Sweetness by Diane Stanley

Time and Setting Leads

A time or setting lead is introduced at the beginning of the story and gives the reader background knowledge on where the story takes place.

"The Barefoot didn't see the eyes watching him as he ran onto the overgrown pathway.  His breath came in great gasps.  In the house since he had run from the plantation, he had traveled faster and farther than ever in his life."
--Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad by Pamela D. Edwards

"One day, my dad looked out at the endless desert and decided then and there to build a baseball field."
--Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki

Challenge Leads

A challenge lead is a short sentence with exact words that implores the reader to read on. It is such an interesting start that a reader can't wait to read more.

" Everybody knows the story of the Three Little Pigs.Or at least they think they do."
--The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

"It should have been a perfect summer."
--Enemy Pie by Derek Munson

 Mini-Lesson Idea for Writer's Workshop:

Choose a few favorite read-alouds from your class and revisit them. After reading the lead and a bit of the text, discuss with your students what makes this lead grab your attention. Begin to classify them on chart paper and post them in your writing center.

As a follow-up, students can begin adding leads from their own independent texts. In addition, they need to be prepared to explain why they thought it was a character/topic lead, setting/time lead, or challenge lead, as well as why it grabbed their attention and caused them to read on.

What is one of your favorite books to teach leads?

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EVERYONE'S A WINNER WEEK {Day 5}

This blog launch week has truly been a collaborative effort between 20 people, plus 1 artist and 1 blog designer who came together to create this beautiful blog design.  Welcome to our Castle!

This week, Jan. 6th - 10th EVERY follower is a WINNER!

EVERY follower who leaves their e-mail in the rafflecopter below, 

will be e-mailed our Blog Launch Exclusive Freebie Prize Pack!

Each day this week the blog authors have shown you strategies to use with different aspects of literacy.

Today, four blog authors will share information about

Hello and welcome to our new collaborative literacy blog! I am Amy from Eclectic Educating. I am currently a reading specialist in New Jersey.

As a teacher, I try to make my instruction meaningful and have a clear purpose. During reading, I try to choose high-interest stories and books that are relevant to my students' lives. For this reason, I often choose articles and short stories from popular magazines. When learning is interesting to students, it becomes much more meaningful. Students need to feel that their work serves a purpose.

This is particularly true for writing. Sometimes the purpose may simply be to enjoy the experience of writing through short stories and fiction. With the Common Core coming down the pike, however, it is becoming more and more important for students to be able to read a text and respond critically through writing. This will often be in the form of informational texts.

To practice this skill, I think it is important to choose articles that will mimic the style of the assessments students will be taking for the Common Core. This is where I think articles play an important role. Popular magazines such as Ranger Rick, Highlights, and National Geographic aim to capture students' attention through high-interest articles, which are perfect for your classroom instruction! If you do not have a subscription to any such magazines, have no fear!  EBSCOhost is a fantastic database for finding great articles. Here is a video tutorial that will explain how to use the database.

After reading these articles, have students analyze and critique the author's viewpoint. Let students support their opinions with facts from the text. Remember, choose topics that are interesting!  To get you started, my freebie for the giveaway includes a nonfiction text about chocolate milk. It explains the pros and cons of this delicious treat. When finished, students must choose whether they are for or against chocolate milk in schools. Then, they must support their opinion with facts from the article. In my experience, students get pretty passionate about chocolate milk! I hope you enjoy the resource! Happy writing!

Hi, everyone!  Andrea here from Reading Toward the Stars!  A few months ago, I had a vision of starting a collaborative blog with a group of reading and literacy interventionists who share my passion for helping struggling readers!  I am so excited to be here with all of this talent!  I spend 14 years working in third and fourth grade classrooms but always wanted to do so much more to help my struggling readers.  Three years ago I got that chance in the very school where I started working!  Now I can't turn back!  It is my dream job!

I work with many grade levels and have spent some time in third grade where they worked on subjects and predicates.  To scaffold for my students, we used puzzles to create sentences and decide if they made sense or not.  I created my exclusive freebie as part of our summer school curriculum.  It is a set of subject and predicate puzzles that students can use to create sentences and then decide if they are serious or silly.  The students had fun with it and asked to do it again and again!

Hi! I'm Melissa from Don't Let the Teacher Stay Up Late. I've had the pleasure of teaching in the same school all eight years that I've taught, spending the majority of time in fourth grade before I was given the opportunity to work as the reading specialist for grades 3-5.  Today I am sharing a writing freebie to use for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day later this month.

Even older kids love the hype surrounding holidays, and they get excited about doing any kind of craft. When I do this activity, we take some time to read about Martin Luther King, Jr. and discuss civil rights so students understand a little more about his speech. Then we spend some time talking about dreams that we have for our country/world. I try to encourage them to really think about what's important so the writing is stronger and more meaningful.

I'm so glad you have decided to join us in our new collaborative blog, and I hope you will continue to follow us as we share our literacy knowledge with you. Enjoy all of your new freebies, and have a Happy New Year!

Reading and writing go hand in hand, and so often struggling readers are struggling writers.  Luckily, there are ways we can help our students build skills in both areas.  We can do this by analyzing mentor texts by reading comprehension skill and writing trait. As we teach students to think as writers, we teach them to think about their reading too.

Recent studies have shown that studying the Six Traits of Writing has helped students improve writing scores and skills.  The Six Traits include Ideas, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, and Writing Conventions plus Publishing.  Each trait can be addressed with a writing piece through the use of mentor texts for modeling, shared writing, mini lessons during writing workshop, and with writing rubrics and anchor papers to model what proficient writing looks like.

The unit I am sharing with our blog launch is using the book, Oops! by Colin McNaughton.  This unit includes reading comprehension skills and writing materials for students to write their own fractured fairy tale. Here's a sneak peak at what you'll receive by becoming our follower.

I hope you and your students enjoy using it, and I welcome you to our blog.  I hope you return often to hear all of the great ideas our team has to offer.

Thank you for taking time to visit our blog throughout the week.

It's the last day to get the Exclusive Launch Week Freebie Prize Pack, 

follow our blog and leave your email in the rafflecopter below!

Good Luck!  We hope you win one of the 4 Grand Prizes!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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