Chartchums and Types of Anchor Charts

Do you use anchor charts in your classroom?
Do spend time on Pinterest looking for new chart ideas?
I know I do.

I have another resource for you all on anchor charts.
Chartchums...
Have you heard of this?
There is a website and a book.
Click the images below for more information on both.

I have only seen the Amazon glimpse into the book, but loved what I did see and read.
The book goes into why anchor charts are important to learning.
It goes into brain-based learning and visual literacy.
Section 1 goes into what to put on charts.
Section 2 goes into helping students use the charts independently.
Section 3 goes into assessing the success of charts.
I am thinking I am going to need to purchase this book!

The website has a slew of anchor charts.
Here are just a few examples:

There is also some great information to go along with the charts.  I have only looked at a couple so far but am looking forward to checking this site out more.

Did you know there are different types of anchor charts?
Here is what I learned from the Teachers College training:
Genre- purpose to define and give characteristics of genre currently being taught
Routine- purpose to teach and remind students of certain behaviors
Process- purpose is to break down a specific skill, idea, goal, etc into easy steps
Strategy- purpose is to provide students with a menu of options for a specific skill, idea, goal, etc
Exemplar (annotated text made by teacher, class, and/or student)- purpose is to show strategies in use

Do you use anchor charts in your classroom?

Antoinette :)

Lots of Learning with The Teachers College

I received some amazing training this past week.
As I included in an earlier post, I am in training with Natalie Louis from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project.

One aha moment was Inquiry Lessons.
Have you heard of this?
This was my first time hearing of them and they are complete genius!
Which is to be expected from Lucy Calkins and the Teachers College.

Here is an example of one way you could use an inquiry lesson:

Inquiry Lessons These lessons happen about three times throughout a unit; approximately every eight days.  It is not considered a mini-lesson as it will take quite a bit longer.  The purpose is to assess student progress and monitor what learning from daily lessons they have and haven’t tried. First, the teacher reviews learning from the unit by looking over anchor charts created. Next, using his/her writing notebook, the teacher models rereading entries and evaluating what learning has been tried so far. Keeping the students together whole group, the teacher will encourage them to do the same with their notebooks.  The teacher walks around coaching students. Then have the students discuss what they have tried out with their writing partners. Next, the teacher will look over the charts and reread through notebook to determine what he/she has yet to try from the unit’s learning. After that, the teacher determines a goal as to what he/she would like to try in their writing. Keeping the students together whole group, the teacher will encourage them to do the same with their notebooks.   The teacher walks around coaching students. Last, the teacher will send the students off to work on achieving their goals. This lesson should be repeated about 8 days later and include additional learning since the last inquiry lesson.

In my earlier post, I included a video from Vimeo which the Teachers College shared.  Click here to read the post and view the video.  The Teachers College has 40+ videos on this site and the handful I have viewed are wonderful.  I am looking forward to watching many more.
If you haven't checked out the Teachers College Vimeo channel, you should put it top on you list of todos.  Click the image below to go to their channel.

On a side note- I am new to the world of Twitter and am extremely excited to say that I received a Tweet (I think that's what they're called lol) from the Teachers College, thanking 4321Teach for sharing their video!  I was so excited, that I took a screen shot of the Tweet to share with everyone! :)
I know... I'm a dork! lol

I want to share another Vimeo video from the Teachers College channel.
It is an inquiry lesson done slightly differently than what I described above.  This lesson's focus was to help students transfer learning from persuasive speech to writing a persuasive letter.  Same concept of reviewing and assessing previous learning though.

Hope you enjoy it!

Have you ever taught an inquiry lesson?  What do you do to involve your students in reviewing and assessing learning throughout a unit?

I would love to hear your ideas!

Antoinette :)

Vimeo- Teachers College Reading and Writing Project

Have you ever searched for videos on components of Balanced Literacy on the internet?
Mini-Lessons...
Conferences...
Small group lessons...
Share time...

Have you ever been a little disappointed with what you found?
Well the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project has decided to do something about that.

Do you know about Vimeo?
It's sort of like YouTube...
You can upload, share, and view videos.
The best part about Vimeo, in my opinion, is that on this site, Lucy Calkins and the Teachers College are uploading and sharing videos for teachers all over the country to view.
Oh yah, and it's free to view!

When you are in Vimeo, do a search for TCRWP (Teachers College Reading and Writing Project) to find their videos.
Or click on the image below to go straight there!

The video below is one we watched in my training.  The little boy is absolutely adorable and there is so much to learn from this conference.

Have you ever used Vimeo?

Antoinette

Everyday is Red, White, and Blue in my classroom

Happy Independence Day!!!

Funny brain teaser I give my kids every year:

Do they have 4th of July in England?
(The kids almost all say no, because England lost the war.)
But the answer is yes.  The calendar in England has a July 4th.

I know, I know... cheesy right?

Now on to making every day Red,White, and Blue with a patriotic room theme!

I have posted about it before here.

I will give you the highlights.

Also known as my teacher bulletin board.

I love having a border around my white board space!

I created these posters last summer as part of Made It Monday.  Find them here.

Dressing up my file cabinets. 

The kids are called a "Congress" instead of a class.  So this is their classroom library.

Don't want to forget the patriotic bulletin boards.
You can see more of them here. 

The end of June/ beginning of July is my shopping season for classroom decor.
Now on to the new stuff!

My kids are going to be at rectangular tables next year!  These cups are going to be used for scissors.  They were a surprise gift from Antoinette!

A giant bucket to collect our pop tabs for Ronald McDonald House, our school charity drive. 

plastic table cloths

I LOVE using plastic party tablecloths for covering bulletin boards.  They are much cheaper than fabric and they don't fade.  Each of these was less than $4.00!

Here I come, Made It Monday: patriotic flower pens!

This giant paper clip is going to be my reminder to "keep it all together."
Found at Hobby Lobby on clearance!

This is one of the trays for turning in papers.  Found it at Hobby Lobby on sale!

More trays for my desk.  Found at Target, 2 for $4.00!

Sssshhh... don't tell the fire marshal I bought these to hang under my upper cabinets.  (He waged war on paper products near or on walls last year.)  When he comes through these will be sitting on my counter, because he won't care if they are there.

Even my teacher bag fits into my room theme.

One last thing that EVERY teacher who likes their custodian needs.

A GIANT MAGNET! $4.00 at Michaels!!!

Our custodian is always reminding us that staples are bad for vacuum cleaners!
I plan to use this to pick up all the dropped staples from my hallway and classroom bulletin boards.

Hope your 4th of July is full of friends, food, and fireworks!
EmilyK

Reading Workshop- Notebook Connections

Have you read Notebook Connections Strategies for the Reader's Notebook by Aimee Buckner?
It is a MUST READ!!!

I am currently reading it (amongst many other professional resources) and am LOVING it!

I want to share with you some of the great things I have learned just in the first chapter.

Chapter 1- Reading, Writing, and Harvesting Hope

This chapter, at first, talks about the bridge between reading and writing.
This is SO true!

"The reading-writing connection is a bridge of understanding that helps the reader write more reflectively about his or her reading and the writer write more purposefully for his or her reader.  Taking time to focus on this bridge gives students the opportunity to think both as a reader and a writer."

- Aimee Buckner

In a writer's notebook, students can collect their ideas and thoughts about what they are writing.

In a reader's notebook, students can collect their ideas and thoughts about other people's writing.

Aimee was looking for a way to challenge her students to really think while reading.
But more than that, she wants them to think beyond reading...
To become lifelong readers and writers.
She decided notebooks was the perfect way to take this "from hope to reality".

Why Notebooks?

Here's what Aimee has to say:
- It is a tool which can capture student thinking and understanding of the text.
- It allows students to generate and elaborate on responses to text.
- It is a book of strategies students can rely on- from book to book, from genre to genre.
- It pushes their thinking beyond retelling a story.
- It is flexible enough for students to respond in a variety of ways, yet structured enough to provide explicit instruction.


Aimee Buckner has another book which she wrote prior to Notebook Connections.
It is called Notebook Know-How Strategies for the Writer's Notebook.
I haven't read it yet; probably should have read it first.
But I am too into Notebook Connections to stop now. lol

I can't wait to tell you more about this amazing book.
It is an easy read with information that will make you want to change the way you think about, and teach, reading and writing.

Do you use, or are interested in using, reader's notebooks?
Have you read Notebook Connections?
If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts about the book and how you use notebooks in your classroom.

Your long lost friend (since I have been MIA for quite sometime),
Antoinette :)

Hey, it's Emily.  I don't usually hop on to the end of Antoinette's posts, but I couldn't help myself.  I LOVE Aimee Buckner!  More about Notebook Connections to come.  Happy Friday! :)

Reading and Writing Workshop- 3 Teacher Resources

Balanced Literacy is new to my district and we are learning so many wonderful things to use in our schools.  The first step in implementation was getting the structure going in our day-to-day schedules.  Teachers from the district wrote units of study based on the Common Core State Standards which are being used throughout the elementary schools.  This step, I feel, has been achieved for the most part.

Now that the structure is in place, it is time to deepen our understanding of reading and writing workshop.  So 3 teacher resources have been recommended to me and I would love to here all of your thoughts on them.

First...  Engaging Young Writers by Matt Glover.  I was lucky enough to be able to sit through a half day session with Matt Glover and it was so inspirational.  This book would be for K-1.

Have any of you read this book?  If so, what are your thoughts on it?

Second... Wondrous Words by Katy Wood Ray.  I owned this books YEARS ago and am pretty sure I read it.  Unfortunately, I don't remember it.  This would be for upper elementary teachers.

Any thoughts on this book?

Third... Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller.  Once again, I have been lucky enough to sit through several sessions with Debbie Miller.  She is an amazing person.

How about this one?

I would love to hear your thoughts on any of these books.  My principal is interested in purchasing some for the teachers in my building and has asked my thoughts.  Of course she knows I haven't read them (or can't remember the one I have lol) but I would love to have some insight before giving my opinion.

Thanks so much!  Look forward to hearing you all's thoughts. :)

Antoinette

My Patriotic Classroom: The Tour & Classroom Jobs

I decided to pair the remainder of my classroom tour with Blog Hoppin's Teacher Week.

Last time I posted about my Patriotic bulletin boards.

Now I am going to give you the rest of the tour and share my classroom jobs, with a patriotic twist!

I decided my students won't be a Class but a Congress.

They won't be boys and girls, but rather Representatives and Senators.

That means we don't have just any old classroom library!

The Library of Congress

I have part of organized by Fountas & Pinnel level, and the other part by genre/series.

We have tables instead of desks, so this is their supply storage.

Yes, I found the 23 & 24 bin labels!

I love using all 2 drawer file cabinets.
It makes a nice "table" for storage.

A set of upper cabinets.
I made these curtains and signs for Made it Monday.

White Almond board.
Yep those are paper license plates!

The other side of the Almond board.

Classroom sink.

I also renamed the classroom jobs to sound more like government positions.

Computer helpers: IT dept.
Duster/Table cleaners: Sanitation Crew
Lunch helpers: Food Service
Library helper: Librarian    (I know creative right!)
Lights: Dept. of Energy
Restroom: Health Dept.
Plants: Dept. of Agriculture
Paper return: Post Master
Planner/calendar: Director of Communications
Recycle bin: Dept. of Conservation
Paper passer/collector: Office Secretary
Supplies: Warehouse
Line Leader: Girls (Senate): Senate Majority leader
                     Boys (Representatives): Speaker of the House
Job changer: Human Resources

I have 28 students this year, so some of these jobs are meant for 2 people, and the rest of the students are subs.

The other thing I wanted to mention is my behavior plan.

Behaving Our Way Through the USA

I have a stoplight system.
Good day=green
Warning=yellow
Tough day=red

I taped a US map on each kids bin.  If they have a day of green, I initial the state of their choice.
When they fill up the whole map, they will earn a special reward.  (I have not decided what exactly that  will be, though I have some ideas.  I have 48 school days to figure it out.  Since today was the second day of school!)

I flew solo on this one.  (Remember Antoinette doesn't have a classroom anymore, just office space!)

Where do you teach?

EmilyK

B2S Survival Kits and Quotes for My Office

How are working with teachers and working with students different?

Really they're not.  This time of year, classroom teachers are planning lessons to build community and relationships in their classrooms.  I too am building relationships, but with the teachers in my new buildings.  Tomorrow (or today since it's after midnight here lol) I will be doing my first presentation on my district's new units of study for reading and writing workshop.  This style of teaching is very new to many of my teachers and therefore a considerable stress in their lives.  So I decided to make a Back to School Survival Kit.  I decided against Teacher's Survival Kit as not all of the people I work with are classroom teachers.

So I checked out a variety of kits on Pinterest and various websites and decided on the items I wanted to include.  I wish I would have been more prepared and shopped for some of these items when school supplies were on sale or on the tax-free weekend, but overall was able to keep the price at a minimal.  Each kit ended up being a little over a dollar.

                                                       

Here are the supplies I used:

     - pencil

     - eraser

     - Starbursts

     - Hershey Kisses

     - Laffy Taffy

     - rubber band

     - penny

     - paper clip
     - puzzle piece

Here is the card I created to attach to each kit:

I also included a Teacher's Prayer I found on the internet.

The final product...

I posted pictures of my office and decorating ideas.  Well my office is still in complete shambles as there are tons of books in there which need to be organized and leveled and I have been SUPER busy in my two days back.  BUT...  I have created some signs which I want to frame.  Those of you who know me, know I love quotes.  Here are some great ones!!!  I created these myself (except quotes and fonts).

What are some things you all do to build relationships and community in your classrooms?

This is crucial to a successful school year, so sharing your ideas will be a great resource for fellow bloggers as well as my classroom teachers.

Don't forget we are hosting our first linky party!

We can't wait to hear about your favorite things!

Thanks,