a Rafflecopter giveaway
Monday, April 28, 2014
Friday, April 25, 2014
Spreading a little sunshine...and a freebie.
I'm blogging over at A Class*y Collaboration today and my post is all about my newest TPT product!
Here are some sneak peeks to tempt you to visit me over at A Class*y Collaboration.
There's also a link to a FREEBIE!
Curious?
Well then...head on over!
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Thursday, April 17, 2014
100 Minutes....How do you balance your literacy block? ~ Book Study and Giveaway
For the past few summers I have been hosting and co-hosting a variety of book studies here at Thinking of Teaching and have found that it is a super rewarding experience. I love hearing the thoughts of other teacher bloggers about the reading and the response that come in about my own reflections.
For this summer I have picked 100 Minutes: Making Every Minute Count in the Literacy Block by Lisa Donohue
Here are some options to purchase the book:
Why did I pick this book?
Well, I've read The Daily 5, The Cafe, checked out the sister's website, heard them speak live and visited countless blogs and pins about The Daily 5...yet I just can't get it to work in my class. It doesn't seem to fit my teaching style.
That isn't to say that I'm throwing it all away! There is a lot of about The Daily 5 that I love...the mini-lessons, building stamina, the CAFE board, etc but...I want to mesh it with something else.
In Part One of her book, Lisa Donahue talks about all the things she has tried and done in the past during her literacy block and I swear it's like reading my own teaching story. How do we fit everything? What do the other students do when it's guided reading time? Where does modelled reading fit? How often do they have to work through the entire writing process?
The introduction to Part One alone has gotten me hooked!
I can't wait to dive in, start reading and even better....start talking to you all about it.
But first, who's in?
I'm looking for co-hosts for the duration of the book study. Being a co-host is simple....you sign up to host a chapter (or 2), post your thoughts, provide a linky so others can link up with their thoughts, and if you want to have a giveaway or a freebie that coincides with your chapter.
(A freebie or a giveaway is not necessary!)
If you are interested in being a co-host
for the 100 Minutes Book Study
please click here to fill out the form.
Well, I've read The Daily 5, The Cafe, checked out the sister's website, heard them speak live and visited countless blogs and pins about The Daily 5...yet I just can't get it to work in my class. It doesn't seem to fit my teaching style.
That isn't to say that I'm throwing it all away! There is a lot of about The Daily 5 that I love...the mini-lessons, building stamina, the CAFE board, etc but...I want to mesh it with something else.
In Part One of her book, Lisa Donahue talks about all the things she has tried and done in the past during her literacy block and I swear it's like reading my own teaching story. How do we fit everything? What do the other students do when it's guided reading time? Where does modelled reading fit? How often do they have to work through the entire writing process?
The introduction to Part One alone has gotten me hooked!
I can't wait to dive in, start reading and even better....start talking to you all about it.
I'm looking for co-hosts for the duration of the book study. Being a co-host is simple....you sign up to host a chapter (or 2), post your thoughts, provide a linky so others can link up with their thoughts, and if you want to have a giveaway or a freebie that coincides with your chapter.
If you are interested in being a co-host
************
But wait....maybe you aren't sure you want to co-host but you definitely want to read the book and join in on the discussion. Well, that's great too!
The book study will start on May 23rd...so you've got lots of time to grab a copy and get reading. We will discuss one chapter every 4-5 days. I will be posting on most of the chapters along with the co-hosts and we will provide a linky so that you can join in on the discussion as well.
To help celebrate this great book study, the amazing people at Pembroke Publishers have provided me with a copy to giveaway! They also gave me a copy of Word Nerds by Brenda Overturf as a prize....whoooo hoo!
(I missed out on the Word Nerds Book Study last summer
...but I hear there's another one in the works for this summer.)
Finally, for fun I'm going to throw in your choice of any product from my TPT store as a prize as well.
Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter to win a copy of 100 Minutes, Word Nerds, or a product from my store.
The giveaway ends May 2nd.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The book study will start on May 23rd...so you've got lots of time to grab a copy and get reading. We will discuss one chapter every 4-5 days. I will be posting on most of the chapters along with the co-hosts and we will provide a linky so that you can join in on the discussion as well.
To help celebrate this great book study, the amazing people at Pembroke Publishers have provided me with a copy to giveaway! They also gave me a copy of Word Nerds by Brenda Overturf as a prize....whoooo hoo!
(I missed out on the Word Nerds Book Study last summer
...but I hear there's another one in the works for this summer.)
Finally, for fun I'm going to throw in your choice of any product from my TPT store as a prize as well.
Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter to win a copy of 100 Minutes, Word Nerds, or a product from my store.
The giveaway ends May 2nd.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Day of Pink- Let's Unite Against Bullying
April 9th is International Day of Pink. As educators we deal with bullying everyday. We see it. We discuss it. We know it's happening. And yet, it's not stopping.
What is the Day of Pink?
April 9th marks the International Day of Pink. It is a day where communities across the country, and across the world, can unite in celebrating diversity and raising awareness to stop homophobic, transphobic & all forms of bullying.
The International Day of Pink was started in Nova Scotia when 2 straight high school students saw a gay student wearing a pink shirt being bullied. The 2 students intervened, but wanted to do more to prevent homophobic & transphobic bulling. They decided to purchase pink shirts, and a few days later got everyone at school to arrive wearing pink, standing in solidarity. The result was that an entire school stopped homophobic & transphobic bullying.
The message was clear: anyone can bully, any can be victimized by bullying, but together we can stop it.
Each year on the second Wednesday of April, millions of people wear pink to remember that positive actions make a difference. And that the change starts with each one of us.
~ from DayofPink.org
This April 9th my school board will be participating in the Day of Pink as a day to promote awareness of bullying and to raise awareness against homophobic and transphobic bullying specifically. We have participated in the past years but again this year we are specifically talking about homophobic and transphobic bullying.
I am so proud.
Regardless of your beliefs and faith, I hope that you too believe that no child deserves to be bullied for who they are. The Day of Pink is a way we can all come together to keep our children safe.
Take some time on April 9th to talk to your students, your children, your co-workers, everyone you know about bullying and how it hurts. Let's keep our children safe. Talk about this!! It's scary and unfamiliar, yes....but losing even one child to bullying is scarier.
My school has pledged to wear PINK on April 9th. Anything to show that you care for the children who deal with bullying everyday.
Last year I talked about this with my class and we had an open and serious discussion about how bullying hurts, specifically homophobic and transphobic Together we are going to pledge to stop bullying and accept everyone for who they are.
If you would like to take a pledge along with us then click on the image below to pick up the pledge/reflection form I created for my class.
The font used is Mr. and Mrs. Popsicle from Kevin and Amanda fonts.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Growth and Changes in Plants- Learning Goal Cards and Assessment Strategies
I have a great new product for you all in my TPT store. It's the biggest product I've made yet and I'm pretty excited about it.
Here in Ontario we study Growth and Changes in Plants as part of the Grade 3 curriculum. I know a lot of my American teacher/blogger friends teach about plants as well because I've seen so many great posts, pinned wonderful ideas on Pinterest and purchased your products on TPT!
So really this product is for everyone!
If you click on the image below you will see an outline of what this resource contains...and I've included a picture of each item in this post so keep reading!
First up, we have the Big Ideas about Growth and Changes in Plants. These can all be displayed at the beginning of a unit or as you move through the Big Ideas.
I also think it would make a great review task at the end of your unit to have your students sort the Specific Expectation under the Big Idea headings where they fit the best.
I designed this poster to go on the bulletin board where the learning goals will be displayed.
There are many different ways to use the learning goal cards. They can be used to display the goal of the current lesson or as an accumulation of the goals you have covered already.
Below is an example of the learning goal cards. Each one as been paraphrased from the Ontario Curriculum so it is more student-friendly. I have also included the number that correlates with the specific expectation as they are found in the Ontario curriculum.
**NON-ONTARIO TEACHERS: If you are interested in these learning goal cards but do not want the number that correlates with the Ontario Curriculum, please contact me. I can make a set without the numbers if there is any interest in that!**
Also included in this pack are individual copies of each of the learning goals. These can glued into your student's notebooks to identify the learning goal of a note or activity. They can be used as prompts for a Science Journal or with the assessment tasks that are also in the pack! (Yes, there is more!!)
I have included three of my favourite self-assessment tasks in this pack. The best past is that they can be used with any Science curriculum...so you will get a tonne of use out of these, year after year.
Click on each of the images below to see the assessment task up close.
Well, I hope you are as excited as I am about this Growth and Changes in Plants "I can..." Big Ideas and Learning Statements Pack.
Please click on the image below to head over to my TPT store to buy your copy!
I am already working on a similar package for the other 3 Science Units in the Grade 3 curriculum as well as the other subject areas. If you like what you see and would like a specific curriculum set of learning goals to be created please contact me!
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Where is Education Going....?
Right now, as this post is going live, I am at an interview for a new school that is opening in my board. In preparation for this interview the principal asked me to read 2 articles and watch a TED talk video. I've embedded the video below because it's just amazing....
If this is the philosophy of this new school and the principal....I want in!
If this is the philosophy of this new school and the principal....I want in!
Friday, April 4, 2014
Making Predictions (Freebie)
I really enjoy teaching students about making predictions. I have seen how excited that students get when they are making predictions and thinking about a book they are about to read. I also know that making predictions is an important first step for students to use their schema on a more regular basis and to infer about stories and characters.
In the past I have used a strategy that involves making predictions using vocabulary words and narrative text structure.
The way it works is simple. As you read through the text you will need to pull out important words (about 10-15 words) from three different categories: characters, setting, and plot. It's important to make sure that it isn't super obvious which category words belong in because the discussion that happens between the students is very valuable.
Here's a few pictures of my students from last year at work.
In the past I have used a strategy that involves making predictions using vocabulary words and narrative text structure.
The way it works is simple. As you read through the text you will need to pull out important words (about 10-15 words) from three different categories: characters, setting, and plot. It's important to make sure that it isn't super obvious which category words belong in because the discussion that happens between the students is very valuable.
Here's a few pictures of my students from last year at work.
Here's a freebie so you can try it in your own class.
Enjoy!!
And for my non-Canadian friends, here are some facts about my great country! Happy Friday!
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