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Teaching with Intentionality

Ideas and Resources for Purposeful Teaching

Read Alouds, Reader's Workshop, Reading Comprehension & Strategies

Launching Reader’s Workshop

July 13, 2017

Every teacher loves a great back-to-school read aloud.  There are so many popular titles to use as springboards for first day experiences, engaging students in making new friends, or getting back into the swing of school routines.  But what about a read aloud for introducing reader’s–workshop?

I have found the perfect story that will not only set the tone for your reading instruction but also foster a growth mindset toward reading we’d all like to instill in our students.  This book has been powerful in launching my readers’–workshop when used with the following activities.

Wolf! The perfect read aloud.Wolf!, by Becky Bloom, is a story of a wolf who comes across some barnyard animals who can read.  In the story, the wolf is determined to learn to read, but he has a lot of misconceptions about what makes a good reader when trying to impress his friends.  This is the perfect storyline to get students focused on what good readers do, and to help dispel any misconceptions they may have about what a good reader is.

Introducing the Story

Before introducing the story, I have my students do a brainstorming activity.  On a Post-It, I ask students to write what they think makes a good reader.  After a few minutes of think and jot time, I have students share their ideas as I record them on a chart paper.  As you can see from the anchor chart, students said many different things about what they do. You can also see some misconceptions students shared, but when recording their responses, I don’t comment on any of them.  I simply take note of their ideas and tell students we will revisit this list later.

Next, students go to the carpet for the read aloud.  I preplan the occasional turn-and-talk during the story to get the students thinking about what Wolf thinks a good reader is, as well as what the barnyard animals think.  Later in the story, I also ask students to evaluate those points of view based on students’ own perspective about what makes a good reader.  Wolf’s perception changes in response to the animals’ comments each time he goes back to the farm to read to them, so of course, I also ask students to think about how his point of view changed.

What Good Readers Do

After the read aloud, we revisit the list we created on the chart.  I have students consider Wolf’s experience in the story and talk in table groups for a few minutes to discuss whether they agree or disagree with the various ideas on the chart.  Then, I ask students to share their thinking in a class discussion and have them explain why they think the idea is important, or why they might disagree with an idea.

Launching Reader's Workshop Anchor ChartTwo things happen at this point in the lesson.  One, students review good strategies and reiterate why they are important, and two, the misconceptions get dispelled.  Dispelling these misconceptions transforms students’ way of thinking about reading and about themselves as readers, just as it did for Wolf in the story.  Students need to have the mindset that a good reader is defined by what they do each and every day (strategies & good reading habits), not by their performance with regard to reading level, the thickness of their chapter book, or the speed at which they read.  Yes, we want our students to move in the right direction with text complexity and fluency, but for this lesson, I want to foster growth mindset in my students.  Notice, I crossed out those misconceptions as we talked about them.

A perfect story for readers.I want to point out that students usually leave one important idea off this list, which needs to be added.  This is why I turn to the last part of the story and reread where Wolf gets caught up in the stories with the other animals.  I want students to come to the conclusion that good readers also enjoy reading, and rereading this part of the story prompts them to add this.  If students have already included this on the list, I would star it to remind students that our attitude toward reading is just as important as the strategies we use.

Reading workshop strategies.The next activity lays the foundation for the purpose of our reader’s–workshop: to grow as readers.  Students are given an interactive notebook template which becomes one of the very first entries in their reader’s notebook.  During this activity, we brainstorm various strategies that have helped them with their accuracy, fluency, and comprehension.

I teach third grade, so my students come to me with a variety of strategies they have learned and continue to use.  Together, we create these lists of strategies and write them under the appropriate flaps in their readers’ notebooks.  I find it easier to take one component at a time. i.e. We begin with accuracy and then move on to fluency, etc.  (Note: the objective isn’t to list ALL the strategies, but to list main ones students use that are helpful to them.  At the end of the lesson, I share with students that we will be adding strategies throughout the year as new ones are introduced during reader’s–workshop.)

You can download this complete lesson in its entirety by subscribing to my free resource library.

Setting Reading Goals for Reader’s Workshop

Reader's Workshop StrategiesTo wrap up this activity, I begin to talk about how every reader has different strengths and weaknesses, and that during reader’s– workshop, we will be exploring our own strengths and weaknesses so that we can set goals to help us grow as readers.  I explain that everyone will have different goals based on where they are and what will help them.  I also explain these goals change, just as Wolf adjusted his goals throughout his journey in becoming a reader.

Not only has this anchor lesson been powerful in helping my students understand the purpose of reader’s–workshop and to foster students’ growth mindset, but it has also set the stage for next steps: reflecting about themselves as readers and setting goals.

(See my blog post about setting specific reading goals students can understand and manage.)

I hope you will take a moment to read this wonderful story and find a way to incorporate it into launching your reader’s–workshop.  If you are interested in more seed lessons for launching reading strategies, click the resource cover below.

 Seed Lessons for Growing Thoughtful Readers
If you are looking for increased engagement during read aloud time, please see this comprehensive read aloud resource to make planning and learning so much easier when teaching literature standards!
Happy Teaching!
by laine 
back-to-school

Favorite Freebies

August 3, 2016

I’ve been humming this tune as I put my classroom back together after a restful (but HOT!) summer.  I know it’s a song we hear in December, but I can’t help but love the resources I have found on TeachersPayTeachers.  When I search this site, I find myself being inspired by the many incredible gems offered by such creative teacher-authors.  And to top it all off, many of these finds are free!  Here are just a few of my favorite freebies that helped decorate, organize, and assist with the functionality of my classroom as I prepare for Back-to-School.

Bulletin Board Helpers…

I refer to different genre throughout the year as I introduce new stories.  Michelle McElhinny created this wonderful freebie, Genre Posters, which includes a wide variety of mini-posters that describe each type of genre.  This display only includes the genre I teach in 3rd grade.  However, there are more posters in this generous freebie than what is seen in this picture.  You can check out this resource and download by clicking the link above!
I’m loving my CAFÉ and VOICES bulletin boards.  Casey of Bright Ideas in Third Grade made my day when I came across her Daily 5 Letters Combo Pack, Color Block CAFE Headers, Writing VOICES Letters Combo Pack, & Writing VOICES headers.  The colors she uses in these resources go well with my chalkboard décor and can brighten up any room.  Her headers include general “I can…” statements to remind students the importance of each component in CAFÉ and VOICES.  Note: The cute Hot Mugs graphics were designed by Sarah Pecorino Illustrations.  They were so fitting for this board, I couldn’t resist buying this clip art.
To top it off, Down Under Teacher has made my life a lot easier with these CAFÉ Strategy Cards for comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanded vocabulary.  I printed, laminated, and sorted the strategies so that I will have easy access to them throughout the year as I introduce these strategies.  As you can see, they are clipped together, placed into their pockets, and are ready to go.

Getting Organized…

I love the idea of clearing off my desk and putting supplies where they’re easily accessible.  Jana Guerra We Heart 1st has this fabulous freebie for getting teachers organized.  What’s more, these Chalk and Arrows labels are editable!  These pockets hang above my desk, leaving more surface space for other important things.  These can be easily used to organize student supplies as well.

 

 

Classroom Management…

As teachers, we all have our own classroom nightmares.  For most of us, the management of student pencils is one of them: the student without one, but had one a minute ago or the whirring of the pencil sharpener during the most inopportune times.  The Wise Owl has answered teachers’ prayers with her Winning the Pencil War resource!  This incentive system is a win-win for both teachers and students.  Teachers don’t have to hear the pencil sharpener during the instructional day, and students are motivated to keep track of their pencils.

We all know having a great positive behavior system in place before school starts, is crucial.  We want to give students specific praise for the good habits we are trying to instill in them.  Christy Howe has designed a resource, I Was Caught Being… Good!, that includes 12 different certificates for positive behaviors.  In this resource, she shares the way she implements this reward system in her classroom, from creating a “Character Counts” bulletin board to sharing with family and friends.  These awards are editable as well, which means you can choose the specific behaviors whether they are academic, personal, or social and create awards to fit your students’ needs.

 

Back to School…

Meet and greet at the beginning of the year is a great time for parents to get to know you as a teacher.  It’s just as important for us to get to know our students and families.  I have gleaned a lot of information from using my Back to School Parent Survey.  It’s a great questionnaire to put on students’ desks when parents come to Back to School Night.  This survey allows parents to share a little bit about their child and give some insight to things of which you may need to be aware, without pulling you aside for a deeper conversation in a room full people.  This has been a lifesaver because it allows me the freedom to spend equal time meeting and greeting all families, parents feel they have an opportunity to express what they want me to know, and the information is on the completed surveys so I can refer to them at any time.

On the morning of the first day of school, kids stroll in at different times.  Some are very early and some might have found their way in after the bell.  I always like to have something on students’ desks that require little direction from me and that will keep them busy as parents come in and introduce themselves (if they’ve missed the meet and greet).  This All About Me Pennant Banner by KimMiller is a perfect activity to get students settled that first morning.  It is also a perfect ice-breaker for students when they pair and share once they are done.

There are so many great freebies on TpT that can make this your best year ever!  What’s one of your great finds?  Please share links to any awesome gems in the comment area below that have beautified, organized, or helped you manage your classroom better.  We all love a great resource!

*Clip art for heading by Sarah Pecorino Illustrations and Digital Designs & Art.

More Resources

Grab even more resources found in my TpT store, and sign up for my free resource library to gain access to exclusive freebies only found on my website.

  

by laine 

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  • A Bad Case of Stripes is an awesome book 📚  to teach character trait analysis and message!  I love 😍 when I can take a few lines from the text and turn it into a language lesson- adjectives, similes, and nouns. "Camilla was striped from head to toe.  She looked like a rainbow 🌈 ," lent itself to the imagination💭 of all my third graders.  She was a leopard🐆 , a disco ball🕺, a zebra🦓, a tree🌳, a chicken🐔, a fish🐟... You name it, my students brainstormed so many adjectives and thought of great comparisons that would represent those adjectives so well.  Lessons like this, you can't help but love what you do. 💗 
You can find a link 🔗 in my profile. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Interactive-Read-Aloud-and-Book-Companion-Bad-Case-of-Stripes-RL32-33-36-37-4177690 *
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#teachersofig #weareteachers #iteachupperelementary #iteachuppergrades #teachersofthegram #iteach345 #iteach3rd #iteachthirdgrade #iteachthird #elementaryteacher #elementaryteachers #teacherspayteachers #teacherspayteachersfreebie #teacherspayteachersresources #iteachthirdgraders #teachingwithintention #intentionalteacher #anchorcharts #readingstrategies #readinganchorcharts #instateachers #instateacher #iteachela #teachingreading #readaloud #readalouds #iteachreading #interactivereading #interactivereadaloud #studentengagement
  • So after finding adjectives in our poem, I gave students a list of rhyming foods. Students worked in partners to come up with their own versus using adjectives to describe  foods to add to Sarah Silvia Cynthia Stout’s garbage problem. ❤️ I love when poetry lends itself to so many authentic activities. Loved the student engagement. *
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#teachersofig #weareteachers #iteachupperelementary #iteachuppergrades #teachersofthegram #iteach345 #iteach3rd #iteachthirdgrade #iteachthird #elementaryteacher #elementaryteachers #teacherspayteachers #teacherspayteachersfreebie #teacherspayteachersresources #iteachthirdgraders #teachingwithintention #intentionalteacher #anchorcharts #readingstrategies #readinganchorcharts #instateachers #instateacher #iteachela #teachingreading #readaloud #readalouds #iteachreading #interactivereading #interactivereadaloud #studentengagement
  • Love, love, love ❤️ 💕❤️ my Emoji pillows and rolled towels for an easy way to create seating flexibility in my classroom during read-to-self time and partner reading.  I usually start out with students finding a place in the room to read, and as I walk around to listen 👂 to students read or talk about their reading, ⁣
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I choose those who are totally engaged in their reading activity to grab a towel or pillow and find a comfortable place to read.  Each day is a new day for students to practice reading expectations, so I really like to select different students who are trying to apply what good readers do. ⁣
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What do you do to help motivate your kiddos to focus on engagement while independently reading or reading with a partner? ⁣
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#teachersofig #weareteachers #iteachupperelementary #iteachuppergrades #teachersofthegram #iteach345 #iteach3rd #iteachthirdgrade #iteachthird #elementaryteacher #elementaryteachers #iteachthirdgraders #teachingwithintention #intentionalteacher #readingstrategies #readinganchorcharts #instateachers #instateacher #iteachela #teachingreading #iteachreading #studentengagement
  • Fluency Friday was awesome today❗️ Students read the poem Sarah Silvia Cynthia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out, by Shel Silverstein. We highlighted adjectives throughout the poem and even used a list of rhyming foods and thought of great adjectives to describe those foods to create our own versus to add to the garbage heap. This Friday the 13th 🗓 / full moon 🌕 didn’t have a chance to get our ELA block off track!
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#teachersofig #weareteachers #iteachupperelementary #iteachuppergrades #teachersofthegram #iteach345 #iteach3rd #iteachthirdgrade #iteachthird #elementaryteacher #elementaryteachers #teacherspayteachers #teacherspayteachersfreebie #teacherspayteachersresources #iteachthirdgraders #teachingwithintention #intentionalteacher #anchorcharts #readingstrategies #readinganchorcharts #instateachers #instateacher #iteachela #teachingreading #readaloud #readalouds #iteachreading #interactivereading #interactivereadaloud #studentengagement
  • As we begin the school year strong, one of the most important reading activities I do with my 3rd-grade students is a method I use to increase student engagement 💯. Though there are benefits to turn-and-talks during 📖 read alouds, I still struggled with not getting a true sense of what my individual kiddos were getting and what was a struggle or misconception. ⁣⁣
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The Think🤔, Jot ✏️, Share 💬  method provides for my students an opportunity to think about the question in front of them, jot their ideas once they've had a moment of think time, and share their thoughts with a partner.  While I'm able to engage with students during think and share times to offer support, the biggest plus is that I have a formative assessment that gives me so much insight 🔍 into their application of the focus standard and their written expression.  I also use response booklets to plan my next steps👣. ⁣⁣
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In addition to this, I can repurpose my read aloud to teach multiple focus standards, and my students have an opportunity to reanalyze a familiar text with a different purpose for reading. ⁣⁣
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If you want to increase your students' engagement during read aloud time, you can find a 🔗link in my profile for this Think, Jot, Share post.  The resource provides a complete guide for implementation, management, and preplanned questions for literature standards to make planning a breeze.....and so much more. ⁣⁣
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What do you do to increase your students' engagement during read alouds? ❓❓❓⁣⁣
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https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Interactive-Read-Aloud-Booklets-Book-Companion-RL3-2-3-3-3-4-3-6-3-7-4182596⁣⁣
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#teachersofig #weareteachers #iteachupperelementary #iteachuppergrades #teachersofthegram #iteach345 #iteach3rd #iteachthirdgrade #iteachthird #elementaryteacher #elementaryteachers #teacherspayteachers #teacherspayteachersfreebie #teacherspayteachersresources #iteachthirdgraders #teachingwithintention #intentionalteacher #anchorcharts #readingstrategies #readinganchorcharts #instateachers #instateacher #iteachela #teachingreading #readaloud #readalouds #iteachreading #interactivereading #interactivereadaloud #studentengagement
  • I love lifting a line from our interactive read aloud and using it as a mentor sentence. With this sentence, my students had a great discussion about how some nouns can become adjectives.  i.e. though butter and peppermints can be nouns, they describe the tea and cookies in this particular sentence. ⁣
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My students enjoy mentor sentence activities so much, they sometimes like to go the extra mile and illustrate their cloned version of the sentence.  In this sentence, students had our principal, Mr. Price setting up a table with hot cocoa ☕️ and ice cream cake 🍰, the kind with sprinkles on top. ❤️ I just love the illustrations. ⁣
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#teachersofig #weareteachers #iteachupperelementary #iteachuppergrades #teachersofthegram #iteach345 #iteach3rd #iteachthirdgrade #iteachthird #elementaryteacher #elementaryteachers #teacherspayteachers #teacherspayteachersfreebie #teacherspayteachersresources #iteachthirdgraders #teachingwithintention #intentionalteacher #anchorcharts #readingstrategies #readinganchorcharts #instateachers #instateacher #iteachela #teachingreading #readaloud #readalouds #iteachreading #interactivereading #interactivereadaloud #studentengagement

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