Category Archives: Literacy

Recycled journals

Recycled Journals-

At the beginning of our study of “Fatty Legs” I made these recycled journals with the class for recording all our responses before, during and after our reading. The journals are made out of paper shopping bags of different sizes, and colours of recycled and loose leave paper. The spine of the books are made with washi tape, masking tape and staples. The engagement factor was high. The students felt a very strong sense of ownership over the books. I don’t think the unit would have been as successful if I had used regular exercise books.

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At the time the 35 minutes it took to make these journals seemed to be an expensive use of time. The classroom was a mess from making these books. I realize now that the messy 35 minutes was really an investment that paid off every morning during our language arts time. Each student took pride and care in their work. Almost no one was missing work or any entries in their journal. Those who were absent were eager to catch up on any pages they missed when they returned to school

Fatty Legs – A True Story

Fatty Legs

The group has become excellent at developing questions using our “Think Aloud” protocol… I like to build a lot of intrigue before starting any text.

Using just the cover illustration we developed a number of rich “why” questions. We resisted the urge to try and answer them right away! We will revisit them when we are deeper into the story!

  • Why are they wearing the same clothes?
  • Why is one girl standing in front of the others?
  • Why does this one girl have red socks?
  • Why is it snowing?
  • Why is it a true story?
  • Why do they look depressed?
  • Why is it called fatty legs?
  • Why are none of their eyes showing?
  • Why are they not wearing any snow gear when it’s snowing?
  • Why do they look like twins?
  • Why is Fatty Legs in bold red printing?
  • Why do they all have short hair?
  • Why is there no background?
  • Why is one girl crossing her arms?

I’m ready to delve into this book… I didn’t originally plan to do a unit on this before I started my practicum but after I heard about this book and read it I knew this would be a good fit for my class. I think Fatty Legs is the perfect book to open a discussion on this topic, so much so that I went through great lengths to gather enough copies to have a class set! I have some copies from the public library, some copies from two different high schools, a copy from our school library, and some from the district resource centre! I hope one day the school district invests in a class set of this book as I think other teachers would like to use it. Another grade five teacher in the district has used the book with her class and between us I think we have created enough resources for other teachers to get started with this book. The story is beautifully illustrated, sensitive, and developmentally appropriate. I spent some time meeting with the district Aboriginal Curriculum Mentor Teacher and I feel ready to carefully and respectfully approach this text and the sensitive topic of residential schools.

 

The Salmon Twins…

A book my students love!

A book my students love!

 

The Salmon Twins is quickly becoming one of my favourite books. This book is beautifully illustrated and weaves together legends and traditions from many Coast Salish First Peoples. The first time I read this book with the students it felt a bit rushed. I chose to read it last monday, the same day we went on a field trip to the salmon hatchery. I read this book aloud using the document camera.

The students loved the book but field trip days are busy and when we don’t leave first thing in the morning I find the students are really distracted by their anticipation. After reading the book I immediately regretted having the students at their desks instead of our comfy gathering area on the carpet. The students all successfully identified important characters in the text but we didn’t quite get to the deep thinking I had in mind.

On the Wednesday I attended a workshop presented by Faye Brownlie on CR4YR. This was just in time. I was inspired to try this book again with the class. Through that workshop I was able to touch base and return to all the ideas I knew about effective literacy practices and pick up some new ideas too. I was reminded of all the usual strategies that I’ve used before to engage primary students in shared reading and read aloud. I thought it was worth going back to those strategies, even with intermediate students. At the workshop I sat with a teacher who was my advisor for my third year practicum. When I was chatting with her she reminded me of all the things I did with her class that she thought were really strong and effective strategies. Being around her really lifted my spirits. She’s been teaching for more years than I’ve been alive and she still comes out to Pro D events in the evenings. It just goes to show you can always pick up something new, and if you already know something it doesn’t hurt to hear it again.

The very next day, Thursday morning I gathered the students at the bleachers for a think aloud about the book. I chose one page and told the students that we were going to do something different and we were all going to ask one question. Everyone had to come up with one question about what they saw on just that one page. We also were going to resist the temptation to try and answer any of those questions! I reiterated the importance of listening to each other’s questions since that might make us change our thinking. I reviewed that questions can usually start with who, what, why, where, when, how come, etc. and that your voice goes up at the end of a question. I gave the students some time to think and then we all shared our questions one at a time. Once everyone had asked at least one question only then did I allow some of the keen students to ask a second question (I picked this up from the workshop!). After we had each asked at least one question I finally read the text on that page. We then identified an interesting character and used the glossary of the book to help our understanding.

We then identified four key vocabulary terms from just that one page: Elder, Salmon, Greedy and Woodworm. I set out that my only criteria for the written response was that you use those four words in someway to show your understanding. I told the students that when they had a plan of what they were going to write they could quickly signal to me with their hand and I would give them the nod that they were ready to go back to their desk to write and illustrate. I told the students that if they didn’t have a plan yet they could stay at the carpet space to chat with me. I am really enjoying this strategy… it is really increasing our productivity- no one leaves the carpet without a plan! This allows me to “catch” everyone who needs my attention and no one is getting lost in the physical space of the classroom. Students who are not yet ready to begin working independently can choose to stay and talk to me until they feel ready. The work output was impressive. Some students completed more than one page and the illustrations were wonderful.

I followed up on Monday to let the students know I had read their work and responded. I kept my assessment simple but meaningful. The main goal for me was to show students that I was looking at their work and listening to their ideas. Another teacher at the school mentioned to me that her philosophy for assessment is all about quick turn around and timely feedback for students. I printed my little checklist onto sticky notes and got to it!

 

Assessment-SalmonTwins-Example

Today I revisited the book at the carpet space to introduce a new thinking routine “Circle of Viewpoints”. We used “I feel” statements to identify what the characters may be thinking at different parts of the stories.

Here’s an example:

Viewpoint: “I feel sad because I miss the twins”

Character: Grandma

The students really had fun with this one. We said the viewpoint and then allowed others to guess who the character was. It kind of felt like a bit of a game! We also talked about how “I” statements can be used to be respectful when we have disagreements with others. This thinking routine may be a keeper just like our compass routine.

It’s funny… it was a rocky start and I didn’t know that this story would capture the student’s attention for so long (or mine!). It’s been a wonderful interlude connecting our science unit about salmon to beginning deeper investigation, understanding and appreciation of Canada’s first peoples.

 

“You Can Do Anything!” – Reggio Inspired Story Workshop

Story Workshop

“Are you going to write your story now?”

I had the opportunity to observe “Story Time Workshop” in kindergarten and grade 1. Story Time Workshop is a reggio inspired literacy approach. Something that is really influential to me is the poem “The Hundred Languages of Children” by Loris Malaguzzi. I believe that if you are listening to their voices close enough you can hear all one hundred of children’s languages (and maybe 100 more!). The story time workshop is about encouraging children to tell their own story in a way that honours their language of play.

The basic methodology to my understanding:

The children play with an assortment of materials, they have choice as to which materials they would like to use and all materials are set up in a way that is aesthetically beautiful and inviting. Some materials available today:

  • paint in analogous colours
  • wooden blocks interspersed with branches
  • thematic loose parts and materials for valentines day
  • clay and dough with accompanying tools
  • sheets and lights for shadow projections and sand with loose parts

The children use their materials to represent their stories through play. They discuss with each other and they create. Once they feel that they are ready or “done” they are encouraged to write their story. They grab their clipboard and start recording their stories. After this, they may return to the materials to to further represent their stories. Throughout this process the teacher is documenting through a variety of mediums (like video or photograph). The act of documentation in itself shows students the teacher is listening.

The students in this class are really engaged in the workshop. They love to write their stories… I think because they are given ample time to play and represent their thinking. I had similar results with successful writing when I waited until towards the end of my pumpkin investigation to do a writing activity.

Even the youngest K’s in the group understand the story workshop. I was playing with some loose parts with some of the children. I must have slowed down because a little one looked at me and said “Are you going to write your story now?”. With that prompt… I got right to work! She understood the framework and held me to that same standard for creative play and story writing.

Overall it was a wonderful experience. The atmosphere of the room is different from a traditional classroom. I was particularly intrigued by something one little girl said to me. I had sat down, grabbed some beads and said “I wonder if I can make a pattern?”. The girl said to me with conviction “You can do anything!”.

Wether she meant that she had full faith in my abilities or she meant that I had choice in what I wanted to do… I’m still not sure. However one message is clear, the environment in a reggio inspired program views students as powerful and rich, they can do anything.

Novel study and Literature Circles

Still experimenting with pinterest as a tool for my own learning… My best advice so far is to use the comment section to include your own thoughts and writing which I have done on almost all my boards. When you are pinning something take a few seconds to erase whatever comment or caption that pre-exists and put in your own thoughts about the image. This adds your voice to the conversation.

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I arranged two pin boards about novels that I studied with my literature circle group. I collected a variety of images that I thought accompanied what I had read in the novels. Then I added quotations and my own thoughts to the caption boxes. The product I’m left with is a very visual and thorough representation of my learning.

Professor Filipenko asked me to share this method with the class today.

I’m trying to think of ways I can use this method with my students… I would love for each student to be able to do this… I think pinterest could potentially be a very powerful tool for learning but I have to think carefully about privacy, policy, and terms of use. (The woes of being in the first wave of teachers to be true digital natives).

 Screen Shot 2015-02-02 at 10.52.33 PMI would recommend The Breadwinner for Grades 5-8 and The Bone Collector’s Son for Grades 7-9. Both books are excellent (and I found many text-to-text connections between the two!).

 

Greetings from grade 5 – spelling and vocabulary

 

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“Look- this apparatus is in a deep slumber”

A good portion of the morning was dedicated to practicing our spelling words. A student next to me was hesitant to get started. I managed to engage him using the unifix cubes. I started the word slumber- he was quick to keep going and adding on. It was a very organic hook. He saw me start to do it and wanted in on the building without me having to suggest it. This student in particular even opted to stay in during recess to continue making a crossword for each unit of words.

 

IMG_1674“No brain breaks allowed”

We couldn’t decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing!  The students were so engaged- by the time we thought they might need a brain break they absolutely did not want to stop making their crosswords (on paper and for some students- 3D!) One student even wrote “No brain breaks allowed” on the board. My SA is wonderfully accommodating to students. The students who made theirs 3D were permitted to take their crosswords home with them just like their peers who made crosswords on paper.

“My Pumpkin Book”- Literacy activity

I decided to make little books with the students. I thought it would bring them a lot of joy to be authors and illustrators. This activity included science, literacy, fine motor skills and directed drawing. These books were made over the course of two blocks of time on Thursday (before and after music). I was at first planning on doing this activity over the course of several days but the students were so engaged my SA encouraged me to keep going while I had their attention!

I think the reason why this type of activity was so engaging for the students is because of all the hands on activities we have done with pumpkins up to this point. Doing this type of activity at the beginning of the project probably would have been a flop, at this point however the students have tons of knowledge about pumpkins that they wanted to represent and share with others. The book is simple, a cover and three pages. “Outside my pumpkin. Inside my pumpkin. My pumpkin on Halloween.”

I was really happy with the outcome of these little books. The highlights for me were the students “reading” the predictable text to me when they were done. The students were really proud of their work. Many students indicated they wanted to show their families and put the books in their journals. Also nice, was that my SA really liked them. I felt like she was really proud of me and that was a good feeling. She’s so supportive, I’m really lucky to have her.

Now my students are scientists, authors and illustrators- we are on a roll!

 

Literacy week and reading week update

This week is literacy week at the school I work at and reading week at the school I attend. This means that since I have a bit of a break I’ve been able to work a little more this week. I love the parallel of the university students catching up before midterms and the local school children getting excited about reading.

A few special events were planned. Yesterday evening the lovely librarian at our school hosted a family event at Chapters and I stopped by for a little bit. I thought it was a really nice event, there were cookies and some prizes for the students and the atmosphere was very welcoming. Many staff members, the vice principal and principal were there too. I thought that was great because it created a comfortable and informal opportunity for parents to chat with them. It created another opportunity for parents to be involved in school life since I know not all parents are available during the drop off/pick up times because of work schedules and the general business of modern family life.

Today we had a special dress up day at school and all the children came dressed as a character from a book. Some popular characters were Pinkalicious, Transformers, and super heroes. One of my personal favourite costumes was a kinder student dressed convincingly as Arthur. I decided to dress up as the fish from “One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish” by Dr. Suess. I made a necklace with each of the fish that I wore with a blue shirt. I made my costume by drawing each of the fish and then colouring them in, then I cut them out and glued them to some card stock, hole punched them and strung them on a piece of ribbon to wear.

I’ve been working a lot in Kindergarten lately so my Dr. Seuss outfit was definitely appreciated by many enthusiastic early readers.