Book Review: Seedfolks- by Paul Fleischman

I recently read a book called Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman. It is a story about a diverse neighborhood who transforms a vacant lot, that was filled with garbage, to a garden. Each chapter of this book was told from a different person to expose us to different perspectives and in the end, the story comes together.

This book's theme is heavily based around community and there are many different ways to include this in your classroom. One idea is to create a "quilt" where each square is a different character. You could even have the students create their own chapter of the story. It can be based on themselves, a fictional character, or an extension on a previous character in the book.

Seedfolks Quilt:
To do this, pre-cut out squares of paper and have the students represent their character they were assigned. Each one should have their name, a quote, and some image that represents their character. Then when everyone is finished, you can put it together on the wall.

Chapter Extension:
The students can pick a character from the story, make up a new character, or use themselves to create a "new chapter" to the book.

I really enjoyed this book and I hope you will check it out! It is a very easy read and the chapters are very short.

Working On My First Student Literacy Profile (SLP)

I have been super busy the past few weeks. One of the projects I've been working on for one of my courses is a Student Literacy Profile (SLP). I have been in the classroom working with a bright young boy in second grade who, for the purpose of privacy, we will call Christy. I feel that I have learned a lot about him in the past few weeks with my few visits.

A Student Literacy Profile (SLP) is used to find out more about the student's literacy skills. We are using the Basic Reading Inventory book by Jerry L. Johns to create our SLP.

So far I have learned a lot about Christy. I conducted a Personal Interest Survey and Reading and Writing Attitude surveys. I found out a lot about his family and I learn more every visit. I have also conducted a BRI Word List and Oral Reading Passages, both narrative and expository.

Last Friday when I visited to work on my fluency assessments, the teacher was celebrating Dr. Seuss' birthday, March the second! It was a lot of fun and brought up great memories! The teacher even wore a "Cat in the Hat" costume! It seemed like everyone had a great day!

Transition Songs for Preschool

For one of my courses, we are required to work in a preschool class to make up for our observation hours. Today was my first day working with the children and it was so much fun! Time seemed to fly by in that class and I cannot wait until next week!

Transition Songs:

During my experience, I was able to see some of the techniques that the teachers use to keep the students under control. They used a lot of songs to help the students transition from one activity to the next. We have been talking a lot about this in class. Transition songs are fun little songs you can either have memorized or make up on the spot to direct the students' attention to you or the next activity. 

One example is:

Clean up, clean up,
Everybody, everywhere!
Clean up, clean up,
Everybody do their share!

When you use these transitions, you need to also use other cues to help the students. Using body movements or changing your voice will have a better affect on the student. If you want the students to sit down for a read aloud, you will lower your voice while singing.

Here's another article I found with more examples of transitions:

http://www.brighthubeducation.com/teaching-preschool/70613-transition-songs-to-help-students-change-classrooms/

Book Spotlight: Tom by Tomie dePaola

Tom by Tomie dePaola is a very quirky book about a boy and his grandfather. I happened to read this book in class last week and loved it! This book does have some shocking elements to it such as chicken heads and meat grinders, but it was very enjoyable and had a very funny ending.

Now this book may not be the best book for every student in your class. Just within the small reading groups we were placed, we had very different opinions about the story. However, I can see young boys who like gross things or students who have a strong connection with their grandparents enjoying this book. It may be the perfect book to spark your students' interest in reading. I highly suggest you check out this book, or some of Tomie dePaola's other books, to get a little more variety in your class! 

About the Author:

Tomie dePaola has been writing children's books for over 40 years and has written hundreds of books. He does a lot of his own illustrations for his stories and, since he began publishing in 1965, he has won multiple awards for his books.

For more information about the author, please check out his website at:

http://www.tomie.com/

And to watch interviews with Tomie dePaola, visit:

http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/depaola/

Classroom Management Techniques

I'm back from winter break! Classes finally started up again this week and I thought I would get back to my blog. In one of my six classes we were assigned observations already! So I went ahead and took care of it today. This took place with preschool aged children and it brought up the subject of classroom management. We even touched on it in class today. My professor gave us different ideas and techniques that we can use to facilitate the children and keep the classroom under control. Classroom management does take time to master but, using these few tips may just help you keep your classroom from looking like a tornado! Good luck out there!

Different Techniques:

1. Use Positive Suggestions- 

Rather than saying, "No running", or "Stop hitting", you should say what they should do. For example, "We walk to get in line," or "We keep our hands to ourselves." When you say, "Don't run!" all the students hear is "Run!"

2. Modeling- 

You would think modeling would be common sense but, you need to act or model the behaviors you want the students to have. If you break a  rule in class such as, "no chewing gum," then the students are going to break it as well. It can be easy to forget sometimes but their needs to be consistency.

3. Give the Students Choices-

The students may not always be happy doing their work but if you give them choices, the students will feel empowered and independent. It works better than giving them straight up commands. 

4. Use Hand Gestures and Body Language When Giving Directions-

Using your body in combinations with directions helps to give the students more connections to what you are doing and will remember them when used repeatedly. If you lower your voice while telling the students to read quietly, it also helps to reinforce that idea. 

5. Short Songs/Dances to Redirect Attention-

You can also use songs and dances to get the students attention or redirect them. I observed this many times today in the classroom. Sometimes students will get fidgety and need to move so this can be very helpful for keeping your students on track.

6. Encourage Behaviors You Want-

If a student does a great job of cleaning up his/her mess, you should comment on how well the student did. Say something like, "You did a great job at cleaning your desk!" to encourage the student to repeat the action. Avoid saying, "I like how you ..." because the student will focus on how you respond rather than internalizing that good behavior. They will focus on "pleasing the teacher" instead.

7. Be Aware of Your Surroundings-

This is a simple tip to help prevent a conflict from getting out of hand. Sometimes just walking up to the students when they begin to argue can help them resolve their issues and prevent an all out fight. 

"Eye Can!"

One of my professors was talking to us about a student she had who kept struggling with being extremely self conscious about her work. She tried to tell her that she had nothing to be self conscious about but that didn't seem to work. She then she came across with a cute idea that really helped her student. She created her student the "eye can". She gave it to her student to hold her pencils so every time her student was feeling self conscious, she could look at the "eye can" and think "I can!".

I thought this was a great idea so I wanted to share it with you. To the left is my own "eye can" creation! to make one of these, simply recycle an old can and decorate it with eyes! I chose googly eyes but you could have the student draw their own eyes for their pencil holder. Just remember, "I can!"

Critical Thinking Strategies: FQR

One method to help your students with their critical thinking  is to use the Facts, Questions, Response (FQR) strategy. This is a note taking method that helps student's to organize their thoughts as they read.

Facts:

The first column is used to record different important facts of the story. This can be difficult for some students because they want to record EVERY fact. So to help them take better notes that they will remember tell them, "Write the facts in your own words and don't copy every fact." If the students record the facts in their own words, they will remember them much easier.

Questions:

The Questions column is used to help the students think about what they are reading. They may ask why a character did something and later can discuss it with the class or a friend. The student may even have the question answered by the end of the story. If not, the student can do more independent research to answer these questions. This column aims to help with the comprehension of the story.

Response:

Response is a way to make personal connections to the story or relate to the students' personal feelings and thoughts. Students may make connections to other texts (text-to-text connections) or to personal experiences. This helps the student to build on prior knowledge.

This method can be used for both picture books or chapter books. It can even be used in textbooks or instructional books.

Below is an example you could create in class to show the students when you teach them how to use it. Remember to model your critical thinking when teaching this strategy! Do this by reading a book, thinking out loud, and recording your thoughts.