Ever wonder why students seem to remember rules, operations, or facts when put to a catchy tune?  Have you ever wanted to create or find a song for that concept that just seemed to be too difficult for some to remember or learn?  After becoming quite frustrated that some of my students in my word study group were not catching onto the “vowel consonant-e” pattern, I began to think of a way in which I could get it to “stick.”

A colleague of mine recently found many songs on YouTube that related to various concepts, including word study.  In previous blog posts, I have commented on using YouTube for science or social studies, but also wanted to make readers aware of the songs teachers can use during Language Arts.

As always, it is best practice to view the complete video before showing them to students.  It is also best practice to monitor the advertisements and commercials that tend to come with some of the videos on the site.

Word Study Videos:

The Electric Company: Veronica Jackson’s “Bossy R”

Super “e”!!!! (hip children’s song by Mark D. Pencil)

Vowels Save the Day

Short Vowel Song

Song About Contractions: A Contraction has an Apostrophe by Miss Jenny

Contraction Rap 1st Grade

Teaching By Magic- Homophones

Song About Compound Words: Compound Word Whiz With Miss Jenny

Prefixes and Suffixes

Eight Parts of Speech! 

Parts of Speech Music Video

It was amazing how many different videos were on YouTube related to these various concepts!  The visual and audio aspect of learning is captured during these types of learning experiences, and can really impact a particular child’s understanding.  When all else has failed and you are about to pull your hair out (haha!) just remember to think outside of the box, or use modern technology to help you out!  It is amazing what our kids remember and connect to in this generation…good luck and rock on!

I absolutely love watching students engage with books, and really enjoy the experience.  I find it so amazing to watch the natural curiosity come out of my students when they are encouraged to wonder about the book.  This week, my students began working on the reading comprehension strategy of asking questions before, during and after reading.

As I read books to my students this week, they were encouraged to share their questions with the class.  We discussed the idea that powerful questions rely on students’ asking questions that relate to the main ideas and supporting details in the story.  Many students noted that the words and illustrations in the story helped them form their questions.  For some, their initial thought was to make a prediction rather than create a question. It became great practice in analyzing parts of questions, and determining how to ask appropriate questions which relate to the topic. (Student questions were recorded on chart paper under three different sections labeled before, during and after.)

After I recorded the questions the students posed before, during and after reading, we went back into the story to determine if we could answer any of the questions.  It was at this point that some of my students realized that the author continued to provide hints toward the answers, but the reader was required to turn the pages to read more in order to accurately answer the question.  A few of my students compared this experience to popular TV shows which delay telling the winner until after the commercial break.  I thought this was a great perspective to take on how books can be engaging to students, and a great example for students to help with their own writing.

Many of the questions posed by the students were easily answered by finding the details written directly in the story.  However, there were other questions which required the students to connect the details, use their schema and infer the answers.  This served to be even more interesting to my students who enjoy problem solving and critical thinking.  It was great to see and hear the students piece together the details and then build upon their peers’ answers to come up with a detailed and well defined answer.    (On the chart, we would code the questions with an “A” if the answer was directly stated in the story, or an “I” if we had to infer the answer.)

After we were done modeling this strategy for the whole class, the students were encouraged to try asking questions during their independent or partner reading.  It was great to see the enjoyment the students had while asking their own questions and critically thinking about what was happening in the story.

Below is sampling of books I typically use during my mini lessons on asking questions before, during and after reading:

The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg

Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger

The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland and Tatsuro Kiuchi

Weslandia by Paul Fleischman

What professional goals are worthwhile to achieve in 2012?

Goal setting is a powerful thinking technique that gives us a long-term vision and short-term motivation.  It helps us organize our time and resources to make the most out of our life.  When we achieve our goals, our self-confidence increases tremendously and obstacles are overcome with a sense of great accomplishment.

As the year comes to a close, this is a good time to evaluate how well we met our professional goals.  This is also a great time to set a new goal for 2012 that will make a positive impact next year.   The list below highlights a few goals I have heard teachers share as well as a few of my own:

•  “Learn more about the Common Core Standards by discussing them with my principal.”
• “Use Twitter to communicate ways to use technology in the classroom.”
• “Increase my classroom library and label previously bought books.”
• “Lessen the amount of work I take home.”
• “Spend more time with my family and not on school-related things.”
• “Seek online, engaging Apps to help my students learn how to spell.”
•  “Increase my students’ reading stamina by creating a monitoring chart.”
• “Create a weekly schedule to help me be sure to conference with all students.”
• “Organize and accomplish my list of tasks by using a spiral-divided notebook.”
• “Organize and label my desk drawers and cabinets.”
• “Connect with parents more by sending home a weekly newsletter.”
• “Use social media to learn more about literacy-related topics.”

Are any of these goals worthwhile to you?  Choosing a professional goal might make the biggest difference in your career in 2012!

Happy New Year!

In honor of the New Year, I would like to update Daniel Pennac’s Reader’s Bill of Rights for the 21^st Century Reader.   

Every reader has:

1.      The right to not read

I may not read everything I choose.  With Big Universe, I can save as many books on my bookshelf as I like, and I can read them or just save them.  Maybe I’ll read some more than once (see number 4), and delete others.  My choice of reading material should be my most personal and self-directed choice

2.     The right to skip pages

I may choose to read the first page of each chapter, or just the captions in a book.  Either way, I am reading.  I am taking from a book what appeals and has the most importance to me.  I am learning,   and enjoying it.

3.     The right to not finish

Not all books are right for all people, and not all books can be chosen by their covers or brief descriptions.  If a book fails to excite me and hold my interest, I have the right to abandon it.  Perhaps it is too difficult, and I will abandon it until I am ready to read it comfortably, or perhaps I will get from it all that I need from the first few pages.  Forcing me to finish a book simply because I started it will certainly turn me off reading, and make me choose very, very slender books in the future!

4.     The right to reread

Conversely, some books are worth rereading, and I can gain something new from it each time I reread.  It’s like revisiting a favorite vacation spot, or returning to a particularly good restaurant; each time we experience more, taste more, enjoy more.

5.     The right to read anything

Sometimes a magazine is the perfect read, sometimes I’ll want the biggest, deepest book I can find.  I can read eBooks, listen to audiobooks, or thumb through a picture book; each is a valuable learning tool and enjoyable reading experience.  The book is not the medium, it is the ideas conveyed by the text or spoken word, so format does not matter. 

6.     The right to escapism

Books can transport us to other times, other places, other ways of thinking.  If we cannot escape through reading, is there any other reason to read for pleasure?

7.     The right to read anywhere

With my portable eReader, my phone, my CD player, my MP3 player, my netbook or my laptop computer, I really can read any time, any place.  .  I can carry books, or access millions of titles in an instant.  I can listen to a book in my car, in the dark, while washing dishes, or while walking down the street.

8.     The right to browse

With thousands of books at my fingertips, I can browse and put hundreds of books on my Bookshelf, without committing to any of them.  Choosing books should be as fun as shopping for candy – everything looks good, and we can select a little of everything to savor later.

9.     The right to read out loud

Some passages beg to be read out loud.  Some people retain better what they read out loud.  Some books are read aloud to us, and we can understand better than if we tried to read it ourselves.  Audiobooks can increase attention and vocabulary, and help readers build language skills.

10.  The right to not defend your tastes

We not only can read whatever we like, but we can share our selections with others so much easier with Big Universe.  Because it is a social reading and writing site, with thousands of books on all reading levels, readers can choose from a myriad of topics and formats, and share what they find interesting.

I wish all of you a Happy Year of Reading, and hope that you all enjoy the Right to Read!

•  A student can create a personalized, interactive online bookshelf.
•  Each student can create and share books with friends online.  
• Students will learn how to navigate social media features.
•  Each student can choose to read several online interactive books on their personal independent and guided reading level.  
• Students can accumulate AR points from reading the online books.
• Students will enjoy reading engaging, age- appropriate content.
•  Students will be exposed to a variety of online books.  The books have been written by various authors from several different publishing companies.
• A student’s online bookshelf is carried over from grade to grade 
• Students can be the author of a personalized book through choosing from several design features

1. Create super powers for characters and rewrite your least favorite scene(s) using these powers.

2. Choose a character to create a descriptive “Wanted Ad”.

3. Create a department store ad using items from the book. You could also create book-related action figures to market and “sell”.

4. Choose a conversation scene to write what the characters may have written if exchanging emails and/or texts.

5. Choose your favorite scene(s) to create a play.

6.  Create a “commercial” using persuasive advertisement techniques (bandwagon, repeated words, jingles & slogans, etc.).

7. Create a map by tracking the setting(s) throughout the book.

8. Rewrite the story in a different genre such as poetry.

9. Create a list of your favorite character quotes from the book.

10. Rewrite the story choosing a different setting, climax, character(s), problem, and/or solution.

11. Create comic strip scenes based upon the book.

12. Choose a character from the book to create a mock interview.

13. Use details from the book to create a song.

14. Create a crossword puzzle using vocabulary words from the book.

15. Use details from the book to create a Jeopardy game.

16. Use details from the book to create a test or quiz for a classmate.

17. Create letter tiles to play Scrabble.  Only use vocabulary from the book.

18.  Create a collage or illustration quilt based on the book.

19. Use details from the book to create “Top 10″ lists.

20. Use details from the book to create a “product”.

21.  Create Charades cards to act-out literary elements from the book.

The problem is that when we tell kids they have to seek connections as readers, we’re teaching them to stop engaging in stories and start looking for distractions. And no one can be engaged and distracted at the same time.

Nancie Atwell

I was sitting with a group of teachers last week as they analyzed data from a recent reading assessment. They were discussing student strengths and areas for improvement. One of the areas students did not score well involved connecting personal experiences to the text as well as having background knowledge to assist in understanding. These teachers discussed things they have done to help students make those needed connections. One of the things mentioned involved creating a 2 column chart with experiences on one side and connections on the other side.

The teacher explained that she had students fill in the experiences side after they read the title but before reading the passage or book. So if students were going to read something about tornadoes, like Tornadoes by Anne Wendorff on Big Universe, then they would write and/or draw any experiences they had or knew about related to that topic. That could include if they had seen the movie The Wizard of Oz and the tornado in that story, the recent bad weather we have had in this area, or the practice tornado drills students do in school. This was just to get students thinking about the things they might know related to the topic. The second column is a place for students to write connections they have with what they read. This part is done after reading. Students can write and/or draw things they thought of while reading. The teacher sharing this chart said that she had used these charts (often just made by folding a piece of paper in half) with students with good results, even for her lower level students.

This 2 column chart is a before reading and after reading activity not a during reading activity. I feel like during reading, students need to be involved with what is happening in the story or passage rather than what may or may not be happening in their minds, which connects with the quote at the beginning of this post. I think the time to have students things about connections as readers is after they have read. When someone is reading, we want them to be engaged with and focused on the story.

I have been working diligently to teach letters and sounds to Kindergarteners. It is amazing how quickly children at this young age can learn. However, as an Interventionist, I continue to seek meaningful ways to help struggling students learn these beginning concepts. I have found several manipulatives to help my struggling students learn letters and sounds efficiently.

1. Letter Arcs- This is an effective tool for teaching letter/sound recognition. Many engaging letter arc ideas can be found at this helpful website as well: http://alphabetmats.com/activities.html

2. Letter Sorts- This is a great way to teach similarities and differences among letters/sounds. (I use a Venn diagram to support my visual learners.) These are a few ways students can sort letters:

Letters with circles vs. No circles

Letters with tails vs. No tails

Letters with dots vs. No dots

Tall letters vs. short letters

Letters with slant lines vs. No slant lines

Letters with curves vs. No curves

Uppercase letters vs. Lowercase letters

3. Name Puzzles- Use construction paper to write down then cut-up a student’s name. Help the student put their name together. Instead of cutting up individual letters within a student name, try cutting names up by syllable or onset & rime. These are a few additional ways to use Name Puzzles:

Have students tell you the letters/sounds in their name

Use Math to count the number of letters in a name

Point to a letter and ask the letter name

Say the letters in the name forward/backwards

Trace and say each letter with a finger

4. Rainbow Writing- I like to use plain white paper to write the student’s name. Then I place this paper in a sheet protector (I find reasonable sheet protectors at Walmart). Encourage students to use colored dry erase markers to write over their name. My students enjoy this activity very much!!

5. Alphabet Books- Use alphabet cards with pictures to encourage students to name the capital letter, say the lowercase letter sound, and name the picture. Teach letters out of order to help students problem solve instead of relying on the “alphabet song”. Possible examples include the following:

“M, /m/, moon”

“A, /a/, apple”

“P, /p/, pig”

6. Sound Trinkets- I have a collection of trinkets that begin with each letter of the alphabet. After several shared experiences, I encourage individual students to sort these trinkets on a Venn Diagram mat according to the first sound they hear.

7. Sand Tray- I use a small cookie sheet filled with colorful sand for students to practice writing the letters of the alphabet. I prefer using the Fountas & Pinnell letter formation directions to teach my students.  These verbal directions are simple for young students and easily remembered!

BigUniverse.com book touts the inventions of Thomas Edison.

I’ve been thinking a lot about Thomas Edison this year – not because I am a great history buff, but because I like my comfort. We live in a rural setting, but have all the urban amenities – that is, until the wind picks up, the rain pours …or a butterfly goes by and the power goes out!

 We live amid the trees. Apparently trees and power lines don’t mix. The boom of an exploding transformer is something that shakes a house – even a home on a solid foundation. The sound of a wailing woman shakes the house too, especially when there are writing deadlines on the line!

I don’t need fancy clothes, or TiVo, or even fine jewelry. Just give me one working power outlet for my computer modem and I’ll muddle through the rest. I’ve learned to find my toothbrush in the dark, locate matching shoes by feel, and light a kerosene lamp with one hand tied behind my back, but…been there, done that. Sixteen times this year, in fact!

I like the convenience of electrical lighting. In-home power is truly remarkable. It’s made my life quite comfortable, and it and the Internet have made my work as a freelance writer possible. So thank you, Thomas Edison.

It’s been more than 130 years since Edison filed Patent No. 223,898 for his incandescent light bulb on that day in early November. Never one to sit on his laurels, he and his inventive cohorts forged ahead, designing generators, fuses, batteries, a prototype of today’s power grid and hundreds of other inventions like the phonograph and the motion picture camera. Edison was an incredible thinker – the “Genius of Menlo Park” – with 1093 patents to his name.

You can read more about this remarkable man and his peers on BigUniverse.com, which features “Thomas Edison and the Pioneers of Electromagnetism,” a picture book by Elizabeth R.C. Cregan and published by Teacher Created Materials Publishing. (F&P GR: Q   Lexile: 690 Grade Level: 3-4. Interest Age: 6-12).

Mr. Edison was not only scientifically minded, but was also a wise man that knew his way around language. To read a collection of his pithy quotes, visit the BrainyQuote.com website.

Thomas Edison said, “There is no substitute for hard work.” My WASP upbringing has me nodding my head in agreement. And so, Duke Energy, I implore you to keep searching for the bug-a-boo in the power lines that is making it hard to write, but easy to wail (and rail). There are no more trees for your workers to trim, so perhaps it’s time to put on your thinking caps and channel your forefather, Edison, who said: “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”

Thomas Edison Links for Kids:

• Thomas Edison Timeline
• Brief Thomas Edison Biography
• Thomas Edison Inventions
• Thomas Edison Coloring Page 

*NOTE: To read more about the great thinkers, who invented the modern conveniences that are part of our everyday lives, read Saddleback Publishing’s “Machines and Inventions,” a book in the “Science” section on Big Universe. 

Or, in Spanish read:

• “ Invenciones en la Industria de los Alimentos” (Inventions in the Food Industry)
• “Invenciones en comunicación” (Inventions in Communication)
• “Invenciones en la Industria de la Ropa” (Inventions in the Clothing Industry)

Recently, my students began working on understanding the various phases of the moon as part of the Science Academic Content Standards for Grade Two.  After assigning several nonfiction books to their Big Universe Learning accounts related to this topic, I cam across a Native American folktale which included concepts related to our science studies.  After examining the text, I decided to assign the text “How the Moon Regained Her Shape” by Ruth Heller.  Each week, my students are always eager to log onto their account and explore the books that have been placed on their “Assigned” Tab.

I was pleased to find and introduce a book to my students which incorporated both literacy and science concepts.  As a class, we discussed this type of literature, and determined the characteristics which made this story a folktale.  We also determined which phases of the moon the author was describing during various parts of the story.  It was a great way for my students to apply their science content to help them comprehend the story.

In the back of the book, the author, Ruth Heller, also includes a section called “For Creative Minds,” which details the moon observations and extension activities.  Additionally, this text also touches on topics such as Native American Culture and “How to Deal with Bullies.”  I was surprised to learn how many different lessons I could include by using this one book.  It was a great addition to my science and literacy lessons for the week!

Big Universe Learning Books About the Moon:

• “The Moon” by Colleen Sexton
• “In Every Moon There is a Face” by Charles Mathes
• “Moon” by Lynn M. Stone
• “How the Moon Regained Her Shape” by Janet Ruth Heller