The Best Standards Ever Written-Part 1

           Today I was lucky enough to attend a Key Note Session for my district’s conference.  I was aware that it was about writing and that James Cunningham was the speaker, but that was all that I was aware of.  Dr. James Cunningham is a professor at the University of North Carolina and this man knew his stuff!  The focus was what current research says and what works with the Common Core State Standards-and, in his words, “The Best Standards Ever Written” for writing instruction.  I’d have to say, after hearing him, he is right!  So, let’s dive right in!

            He quickly pointed to the “Bad News”.  The “Bad News” was to point out the reasons why writing doesn’t work in most classrooms.  Rigor demands that we focus on it, but we don’t-research says so, scores point to it being so!  Why is this?  First, and foremost, it mainly points to being the most unimportant in people’s eyes, not just teachers.  Research (I’m going to say this A LOT!) points to the fact that we, the adults, don’t take it serious.  Why?  It is “undervalued by those who remember when it wasn’t important.”  That’s us folks!  Right there, in our classrooms.  Our memories of writing keep us from making it important!  Parent’s memories of writing keep them from seeing it as important!  Yet, the demands in our jobs, and in our students’ future jobs, all point to it being a key element in success!  One of the surprising things Mr. Cunningham shared was that when the Great Recession hit, secretaries decreased while laptop use increase!  More low paying jobs were eliminated, those that didn’t involve writing, while jobs involving writing increased.  Plus, more and more college classes are involving both formal writing and writing online responses.  Writing truly is KEY to our future!  Yet, our assigned writing times in our classrooms lag behind both reading and math!  Not good!  But, there is some good news!

            The “GOOD news “ is something that may be VERY surprising to many of us.  I know it was to me!  Writing is EASIER to teach than either math or reading!  Not only that, but it doesn’t depend on a student’s home background like it does in reading!  That means that it is an equal opportunity in my book!  I can totally see this as fact in my experiences in teaching.  This year one of my struggling students was one of my BEST writers!  It was amazing to me, but this research backs it up!  Plus, as we have always known, it improves reading.  BUT, it also improves content area learning!  Think about all the applications in the content area that writing is applied too!  We just don’t always see that the writing is a KEY element! 

            What makes these the BEST Standards Ever Written?  Dr. Cunningham pointed to three key standards-Writing Standard 4, 10, and 5-and in that order!  Check this out!  Standard 4 is the WHOLE GOAL of writing in life!  Stop looking for goals, because it is RIGHT THERE!  Wow!  That was kinda eye opening!  It has been glaring at us all along, right there!  This man has it going on!  Next, Standard 10 points to a key to get kids writing-ROUTINE!  Writing has to become ROUTINE!  And it is, again, RIGHT THERE!  How about 5??  It is the Writing Process!  But wait-not like we use it, not like we want the kids to use it-but to STRENGTHEN writing in a different way! 

            This is it for right now!  Digest that, because some of his ideas and thoughts and research are kinda MIND BLOWING, yet they are things that we know, have developed an understanding for, but are used differently!  So, stay tuned-more to come tomorrow about these great new ideas coming from the most current research! 

Five For Friday Linky!

This week I'm trying out the Five For Friday Linky Party over at Doodle Bugs Teaching!  I'm feeling like I'm getting my groove back after I've shared my soul, so here we go!

So I figured I would start off with my saddest moment!  I had to say good-bye to one of my students this week.  His dad got an awesome job and they are moving away.  It just so happened that they took one last trip to the "Happiest Place on Earth" while they were in Florida.  It was the perfect opportunity to have my class make him cards for when he needs a friend.  It was wonderful to see kids work so hard for one of their friends.  It was the first time I've ever done this and I will do it again!  This is how it looked.

I'm super excited to be teaching my close read packet called What Do Birds Do When They Fly South? We started by using the Reciprocal Teaching at Work technique.  We predicted what we would find in the packet and shared our questions orally.  Then we became more focused on the first read-What is the South?  It was amazing to hear kids ask questions I asked myself while I was planning and writing!  We did our second one today on robins!  I've imported them into my Mimio software and add the pictures to the Mimio display!  It has been awesome!  

We also discussed the pace of each reading in a close read today. We discovered that the first read is a relaxing pace, working to enjoy and open our minds to the topic.  The second read is much slower, as we examine the reading for answers.  We have been reading the questions before we move into the second reading so we are more aware of what we are looking for.  Then we discussed how the last read is a little quicker, as we look to clarify our thinking.  It was a great discussion!

Some days you just hit the mother load!  Today was that day in Book Fair form!  Our media specialist set up the book fair and had teacher preview day!  I found a number of books that will be a MUST!  I am most excited about....

LOVE MONSTER!  

This will go perfectly with my next writing, Monsters and Love Bugs in a Jar!   How great is that!  Now it will flow amazingly!  The other books are great for read alouds during Morning Meeting!  Mama Built a Little Nest was a beautiful read!  It had many nests in the story and some of them match birds that are in my close reads!  I also know that my kids will eat up The World of Birds!  We are the first class at recess and there are many days that we get to spot the amazing bird life on our campus!  They will want to bring it to recess!  I'll be right there with them!!

Today I had the funniest moment with my husband!  My oldest son was sick today. So I decided to explain to my husband that many years ago, when I had to stay home with my kids when they were sick, it would frustrate me to no end! He got to go to work! I had to write plans, I had to figure out how to get them to the school or go in, and I had to think all day long about the fact that a sub was in my room and what in the world was going on!  Well, now my husband works from home!  Easy, right!  He stays home, I go to work!  Sick child stays with him.  That's just it-I was frustrated this morning that I couldn't stay home!  I can't even justify that my child needs me enough for me to stay!  He's a teenager and we had the meds he needed right there, at home!  It was a eye opening moment!  I needed to value those days because they are gone!

I am super excited!  I've had the best TPT month ever!  It is such a great feeling!  I am also very thankful to everyone who made purchases from my store!  I've been really thinking about what to do with my earnings, as this was just an opportunity to earn a little extra!  With a lot of prayer and consideration, I will be using a large portion of my sales to save up for a missions trip with my church!  This will be a two ticket purchase, as I will be bringing my teen age son with me!  I'm not sure where we will go yet, but God knows!  There are a few possibilities and more will open as I save!  I am so blessed that this can happen with the earnings I will make this year on TPT! Thanks to everyone again!

So, that's it!  My Five for Friday!  What was your top five this week!  Leave me a comment to let me know!

Jumping Through TIme While Studying Then and Now in Social Studies

I’m going back to then, which was only about 10 days ago!  Yes, all the waaaaaaaay back to then!  Why, because I’ve procrastinated!  Yes, I have!  I’m really good at it too!  So, where did I leave off-oh, yes, then!  I’d like to step back in time to the fun we had in class learning about then and now!

I actually have to go back to earlier in December first.  We had an awesome time learning about the history of the Christmas tree.  Remember I said I’d share a great idea I had for a hall display.  Here it is!  (Pin it for next year!) 

We started with a tree in the hall.  Nothing fancy.  In my packet I put some printable ornaments from then.  We started there.

 I then created some now ornaments (I will be updating the packet to include these for those who purchased it!)

This is our final product!  It came out AWESOME!  I got lots of complements from other teachers about how great it came out.  The kids loved looking at it too! The great thing about it was that the kids could use the tree as a visual to help them with their Venn diagram. 

They loved completing the time line also.  We’ve learned a lot about Queen Victoria because of this unit!  She’s responsible for many of the elements of our holiday (making it stylish!) including having a Christmas tree in the palace and sending Christmas cards!  Who knew!

Anyways, we had some real fun with ornaments too!  Here are two that we made with the St. Nicholas/Santa Fresh Read included in the packet.  They are great fun to make!

Hand Santa

Trace your hand with your thumb pointing out and your fingers together.

Glue the red paper across the thumb area.

Cut around the hand to create the hat.

Stretch a cotton ball out.

Put glue on the beard area. Glue the stretched out cotton ball there.

Take a second cotton ball and pull off a ball.  Then stretch the rest out. Put glue on the band and the end of the hat.

Glue the ball on the end.  Glue the stretched out cotton ball on the hat to form the band.

Punch a hole in the hat and add string.  Then they can hang!

Totally cute "now" Santas!

St. Nicholas Ornament

I found this on a Scandinavian site.  It is super simple.  A large triangle, a smaller triangle for the face/beard, and a medium triangle that is rounded for the hat! Super simple but a "then" ornament! 

Here's how they looked on our tree!

By far the best parts of our study included presentation of materials by our very own.  First, one of my students was able to share Hanukkah with us.  First we read the material and completed our learning.  During this time we used her as our primary resource.   The next day she brought in her book and talked specifically about what her family does.  The kids asked great questions and she shared great information!  It was AWESOME!

And, to celebrate in a different way than normal, our Christmas party was really Then and Now centers!  The kids had a real blast!!  It was so great!  My wonderful, former teacher, homeroom mom ran the station for quill pens!  Her sister-in-law works at Old Williamsburg and this is her actual job, to use quill pens and write tickets, etc.  My homeroom mom was given a set of quill pens and she dug them out of her stash to bring them in to use! The focus of the center was to learn to write like in the past, because they would write Christmas letters to friends. It was truly amazing to see the difference in kids’ handwriting.  Those that struggle to form letters with pencils did incredibly beautiful handwriting.  (What are we doing wrong today then!)  The kids worked diligently to create the letters and really loved this part of the first station. 

My AWESOME Homeroom Mom!

 I even had to try!  Big letters created splashing. You use sand to blot it up.  Small letters were easier and faster to form.  Cursive was much easier than print!

To complement this, we created modern day Christmas cards with stickers and glue! 

Our next center focused on a ball and stick game that was individual.  You had to catch the ball on the big end, the small end, or the stick in the middle.  Not an easy task!

While one player was doing this, the rest were playing holiday bingo!  Good stuff!

Our third station consisted of making an old-fashioned snowman clothespin.  The kids loved adding details to this one!

After they finished this, they created a modern plastic foam ornament with their picture on it! 

Our final center was trying out food from then and now.  For then, my homeroom mom cooked up some Wassail (spiced ciderish drink) in a crockpot right in class!  The kids were able to taste this drink and decide if they would like to drink this all the time!   Many said yes!  The other part of this center was to create a decorated cookie with sprinkles and the like!  Needless to say, it was one of their favorites! 

Overall, I’m really pleased with how great this unit is going.  I say going because I’m nowhere near finished!  I still have Jingle Bells and Skating close reads to go.  These are the most wintery to do after break.   I found this awesome video on Pintrest to go with Jingle Bells.  I think it will be a great way to introduce transportation in the past to my kids. It gets the point across well! 

I’ve also learned a few things about kids’ beliefs about "then".  They have no concept of how important fire was to people in the past-that they were not “kept” from it.  What I mean is that I’m sure they were afraid, it was something to be afraid of.  However, not like kids today.  They don’t understand that children handled fire, that it was used all day, every day, for many things.  The conversations about the candles on the tree alone were enlightening.  So, I’ll be creating something for fire too!  But, for now, I’m madly creating “The Sandy Day”, 

I'm going to the beach on Friday! 

a fun winter project for those of us who don’t have snow or anyone who would just like to have a fun compare and contrast unit for snow and sand! 

Holiday Whole Lot of "Nothing" Going On! (Or How I Came to my Then and Now Package!)

Today I have done a lot of “nothing”.  Yeah, I know, it’s break, but I feel like it has been nothing.  Really, it’s been a whole lot of randomness.  I’ve cleaned, I’ve cooked, I’ve tried to nap, I’ve worked on product, I’ve checked FB numerous times, and I’ve been on Pintrest too.  I just can’t seem to find the thing I want to do!  So, in my randomness, I write a blog post! 

This post deals with my up and coming month that covers the Holiday season.  Last year, I made a deal with myself that I WOULD NOT put off the Holiday fun like I did then.  It was a very sad reality that I did ONE thing last year with my class.  There was so much to cover and so much pressure to get it done that I just couldn’t!  I promised that wouldn’t be so this year!  Well, now I’m in a new grade and have new curriculum.  Here’s the reality-even with little guys I could easily wrap myself around the heavy curriculum expectations and loose the joy of the season-and that’s sad!  Before break, one of my teammates said that she was going to stop doing the reader and put all her benchmarks into Thanksgiving activities! 

         Sounds great, right! Well, where is the time to do this!  I mean, this is what I have done for years, but time has been sucked up into oblivion and, even when I have it, I’m so exhausted and over it that I do what I did today-“nothing”-random acts that don’t get anything done! 

         So, where does this lead to you ask?  To this:

I created this to be sure that my Holiday fun doesn’t drizzle away like the time I’ve wasted today!  Inside of this package, I am happy to say, is how I am covering my standards and allowing for some good, ole’ fashion fun-no pun intended!

          I am really excited about this package too!  I mean, I can add all kinds of crazy fun ornaments and activities to this and still meet standards.  So, here’s a quick overview of what’s in here:

 I realized that I didn't include the Hanukkah materials on the preview.  So, here's a quick peek.

        Take a minute to look at the bottom of the question page.  I added these cool check boxes so that the kids can really work to identify the changes over time to each area we read about!  I'm very excited to see how that goes!  

              So, here is what I am promising myself (and, now, you!)  Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be posting the fun "extras" I do with this packet.  I have a great idea for my hallway display that involves those gingerbread shapes you see on the preview.  I have a number of ornaments that I am going to be creating (and even have some comparison ideas for additional "freebies" here on the blog!)  So, check back often over the next few weeks to see what we do with this fun Holiday packet and still keep our curriculum flowing!