Engaging Read-Alouds with Accountability

Read alouds are one of my favorite parts of teaching! Unfortunately, in this test driven system, 3rd graders are expected more and more to be doing passages instead of listening to read alouds; especially as testing season nears at the end of the year. Obviously, any teacher with a degree in their field took some class somewhere on reading and knows that read alouds are extremely beneficial for students not only learning to read, but "reading to learn".

As my team knows, I can be very stubborn when I feel like I am championing a cause. Typically, my cause is fighting against teaching to the test. This year, I continued my read alouds multiple times a week right through testing season to the end of the year. I refused to switch to only passages during testing season, even though that was the push. If I went more than 2-3 days without a read aloud, my kids would get super dramatic and say, "Can we please read something....you haven't read to us in forever!" I know my students appreciated not being rundown with test prep and this actually ended up being the highest scoring year I've ever had for state tests. They rocked it!

Sometimes, my read aloud are just read alouds.
We enjoy a good book, I model fluency, we turn and talk, and we enjoy sharing our thoughts and predictions.

However, this year I decided to step my read alouds up a notch by having the students bring their white boards to the carpet as an added piece of accountability. Using my document camera to project the book on my SmartBoard, I would stop throughout and ask them to use the text and record the answers to skill/strategy questions I asked on their board. The added step of independently recording their thoughts/answers on their white boards before turning, talking, and sharing, really boosted engagement. Not only could I monitor which kids weren't getting the "big ideas", but I noticed that the turn and talk times were more balanced because both students had extra time to think about their opinions before sharing.

Here are the basics of how I run white board read alouds in my classroom:

Pros
-The students get the benefit of a read aloud PLUS skill/strategy
-Students are practicing skills in context (which I noticed actually boosted their results on reading passages)
-Total Engagement: Everyone is participating because everyone is writing a response on their whiteboard.
-This is an amazing way to informally assess your students.
-I have done this with a picture book and a chapter book, it works both ways!
-The students love it! They feel more involved in the read aloud process, even if they aren't called on to share.

How
First, select a skill to focus on and a book that can provide practice with that -or- select a book to read and flag the multiple different skills you can use the book with.
Then:
1. Read the book
2. Find a good place in the story to stop
3. Ask a question about the text
4. Give the students time to jot their thoughts/answers independently
5. Give the students time to turn and talk with one buddy
6. Call on a couple students to share out
7. Continue Reading

Tips
-Don't stop at every page, read enough at one time so that students can get into the story.
-Have rules for the white boards so they don't become a distraction. My rule is that there is no drawing, doodling, or erasing while I'm reading. I remind them to uncap their markers when I ask a question and to cap their markers before I start reading again. They actually get really good at this and will remind a neighbor if they are off-task.
-Give them time to write independently before sharing, this is their extended think time. You will definitely get better results from the process.
-Pair up students for turn and talk before starting, this will make the process go a lot smoother.
-Pre-select the book to fit the specific skill you are covering. For example, when we were working on homophones, I looked for a book that had a couple pages with more than one homophone.
-Use a document camera so students can see the text.

*Tip* Give students a sentence frame that they must use in their response.
This will help them practice sentence formation and it will boost
academic language use for your ESOL students!

Examples of Questions You Could Ask:
-Write down all the compound words you see on the page.
-Find a four-syllable word on the page, write it on your board, and divide it into syllables.
-Put all the names on this page in ABC order.
-Which two words on this page are homophones?
-The author said the character is clever, write a synonym for the word clever.
-What is the setting for this page?
-What is the problem that --- has on this page? How do you predict the problem will be solved?
-Write two character traits that describe ---.
-What caused --- to happen? What was the effect of ---?
-The text says the character walked very slowly and the picture shows that he looks concerned. What can you infer about where he is headed?
-What would be a good title for this chapter (or heading for this section)?

Hopefully, at least one teacher reading this will give it a try in the fall. Let me know what you think or if you already do something similar in your classroom.

Oh, Baby! Creating a Maternity Binder

For the past couple of days I have been talking about how to prepare for maternity leave. I will be leaving for my second maternity leave at the end of September and I am kind of freaking out that it will still be back to school season. As soon as summer began, I dove into creating a maternity binder to help me feel more organized and ready for my leave.

When I sat down to create my binder, I had to think about some things first. This will probably be different for every teacher.

I considered:

-What do I have to do? What does my district and principal require from teachers going on leave. How long do I have to plan for? What do I need to do concerning grades and report cards.

-What do I want to do? Some teachers are comfortable leaving the minimum amount of plans they are required to, this was not me last time. I left plans for my entire six weeks (vs. the two I was required to), because I'm crazy. I'm thinking I might plan for my entire leave again this time, just because we are departmentalizing and I will be responsible for another teacher's reading class,

-What can I count on my team for? My teaching partner is amazing! She teaches math, I teach reading, and we teach our own classes social studies and science. Luckily, I have plans for all my SS/science units from years past, but I know I can count on her to fill in any gaps.

-How do I want to plan? I decided that I would rather leave digital plans than hard copies. I will have all plans from last year organized and accessible to the sub, but I will be using planbook.com as the primary way I plan. I just got into planbook and I love it! You can attach documents, links, and pictures. I love that my sub, teaching partner, and I can all access the plans and that it will be a living document throughout my leave.

-What do I want to include in my maternity leave binder? Here are some things I settled on:

• Morning and Afternoon Routines
• Other Class Procedures and Routines
• Class Job descriptions and how it works
• Bus List
• Push-In/Pull-Out List
• Daily Schedule/Encore Schedule
• Homework Calendars
• Pre-made monthly newsletter
• Spelling Lists
• Emergency Procedures
• Parent Contact Info
• Where to find things in my room
• Where to put things in my room
• Pacing Guides/Unit Test Schedule
• How to do Guided Reading/Math

I ended up making the binder into an editable PowerPoint file that I posted in my TPT Store.

Check it out if you're interested.

***4TH OF JULY SALE*** UPDATE: My entire store is on sale for July 4th and 5th! ***

I hope this series about prepping for leave helped calm at least one teacher's nerves. I would love to hear tips and tricks from your maternity leave, please comment below.

---Preparing Students and Firming Routines
---Organizing Your Room for a Sub

Oh, Baby! Organizing for Maternity Leave

Today I'm back with more tips for the ultimate stress-free maternity leave. Yesterday was all about prepping your students and today is all about prepping your room. If you are a super-organized teacher, then this is the easy part for you, you probably already have most of this done. I myself, swing back and forth between being the most well-planned and organized teacher you've ever seen, to not being able to see the top of my desk for weeks at a time. Since this time, my leave is at the beginning of the year, I should still be in my pristine, "everything has a place" mode...here's to hoping.

Here are some of my organization tips to help you "dot your i's and cross your t's":

 Organize, Sort, File: Try to have everything is it's place when you sub takes over. This can be difficult because you may have to leave unexpectedly. Take some time at the end of each day to sort and file whatever mini-stack has accumulated throughout the day.

 Label Everything: I mean everything. File cabinets, files in the cabinets, desk drawers, cabinets, pull-out bins, shelves, crates, tubs, baskets, etc. Placing stickers on each shelf or cabinet with a number or letter can help tremendously. This will not only help you leave an easy guide for your sub, but it helps students find exactly what they are looking for. I don't know about you, but when I am preggo in the classroom, I take full advantage of all those sweet offers to help.

 Leave Detailed Notes: This will help the sub know exactly where to find things and exactly where to put things. Real talk: your sub might not read all your notes, that's life. But imagine how easy you will be breathing if you come back to find out they did. My sub for maternity leave last time was amazing. She was super organized and when I returned, everything was in it's place. No digging through random stacks of paper or having to file mountains of crap left in a corner. It was wonderful!

 Organize Units: Make sure your curriculum units are organized neatly and in a location where you sub can access them. Even if you are leaving plans and pulling specific things for them, you never know if your sub might need an extra activity. I left my units out last time, even though I planned, and I came back to find that my amazing sub had added to my resources with things the team had shared at meetings. Also make sure to leave other things your sub might need in a central spot, like: homework, spelling lists, or newsletters.

---Preparing Students and Firming Routines
---Creating a Maternity Leave Binder

Oh, Baby! Preparing Students for Maternity Leave

If you read my "Five for Friday" yesterday, then you know I am expecting. I am filled with both joy and anxiety. My due date is September 30th, so IF I make it to that date, I only have 4 weeks to prepare my classroom and students for my six week departure. Like the Type-A, OCD teacher I am, I have already started doing many things to prepare.

I've noticed from scrolls through my Instagram feed, that many of the fabulous teachers I follow are also expecting and due around my timeline. My hope is that this post will help any teacher prepare for maternity leave, especially those who have to step away at the beginning of the year. Or, help any teacher who has to prepare for another extended leave due to health or family leave.

When I had my first daughter, it was at the beginning of April, so my experience was a little different. I did learn that there are two crucial things that need to happen before you leave:
1. Prepare Your Students
2. Establish Routines

Talk About It: Begin the conversation about your upcoming absence. Don't let it be a surprise or something you mention for the first time a week before you're due. Even though your students can see that you are pregnant, younger ones won't actually realize that you will have to leave for a while when the baby is born.

Meet & Greet: If possible, have your sub come in for a day to meet your students. If you have an amazing principal, they might pay the sub for a day (or a half day) to shadow you and see how things work in your room. Take full advantage of having the sub and begin establishing relationships and helping them understand the consistency of your routines.

Get Them Excited: Plan a mini-baby shower for your class. Bring in cupcakes, play shower games, and even have them vote on names for your little one. Anything that gets them involved and excited will help them understand why you will be gone for so long.

The last week of school my sweet class threw me a surprise birthday party/baby shower. 
They decorated the classroom, brought in cupcakes/chips/juice/my favorite soda, and even gifts! 
I will definitely miss this bunch! It was such a great time!

Explain Everything: Well, not everything... Just be very clear about the importance of certain routines and the responsibility the students will have to follow them while you are gone. Don't just explain the math workshop routine, have a conversation about how it is important for them to follow the rules and learn how to do it right, so they can continue to enjoy workshop while you are gone.

Think About the Little Things: Make sure your classroom can run without you. Do students know what to do if they need a tissue, have to use the bathroom, loose supplies, have a question, need help, lose an assignment, etc. Think of all the little things students run to you for at random times throughout the day and make sure they know what to do. This would be a great anchor chart to create and hang in your room.

This amazing anchor chart is from Haley at My Silly Firsties.

Class Meetings: Have daily, bi-weekly, or weekly class meetings leading up to your leave. This will help build culture and it will give more time for conversation about what they should expect while you are gone. One great thing to do would be to role-play scenarios of every day things that might happen, and how the kids should handle it.

(...like, for real)

Step Your Game Up: In the weeks leading up to your leave, there is no room to play the nicey-nice teacher who lets students skate by with not meeting expectations. You don't have to be mean to be firm. Students should know that you expect them to meet whatever expectation is set, consistently. This might mean being the obnoxious teacher in the hallway, being a hardcore bathroom monitor, or shooting that death glare if someone calls out without raising a hand. It can be exhausting, but if you are consistent, then it won't last long and your sub will thank you.

Record Your Routines: Whether or not your sub can shadow you for a day, you need to have all of your routines written up somewhere for them to refer to. You should also include notes on rewards or consequences that are attached to following the procedures/routines.

Create Visual References: Don't just rely on your student's memory to follow all the routines exactly while you are gone. Create anchor charts with your students before you leave. Have them just used to knowing where the charts are and following them. For my last leave, I had a routine PowerPoint with slides for am routine, pm routine, entering/exiting class, lining up, bathroom, recess, hallway, cleaning up, getting out supplies, independent reading, math centers, fire drills, etc.. The sub would pull up the PPT every morning and display the slides as needed. The kids were used to it, because I used the same thing before I left.

---Organizing Your Room for a Sub
---Creating a Maternity Leave Binder

Five for Friday - July 1st, 2016

I'm back! Whew, it's been a long hiatus! What better way then to re-enter the bloggy world then with a Five for Friday catch-up, hosted by Kacey of Doodle Bugs Teaching. This school year was a blur for me. I had a lot going on at school and at home, which left me overwhelmed...I even had to delete my Periscope so I could cut distractions. I know, I know, I am probably so out of the loop now.

I am back in full force this summer and I am kicking it off with a look back at this school year.

Wrapping Up the Year

I transferred schools this year looking for a change and I had a really difficult transition. I'm proud to say I made it through! Our last day was June 17th and now I officially have 5 years in the books!

Good-bye Trailer Life!

I spent this past year with a trailer as a classroom. There were definitely pros and cons. What I found out is that I am not the type of teacher that enjoys being out of the building and away from my team. Some of the other teachers out in trailers with me loved it and would love to stay. To each their own. I am ecstatic to be moving into the building next year, right next door to my teaching bestie!

Celebrate!

Although this was the most difficult teaching year I've had, I also had some huge successes. My classroom community this year was phenomenal. One thing trailer-living did was teach us to rely on each other more, since we were separate from everyone else. I also had the highest scoring year of my career with end of year state testing!

It's a Girl!

This winter, I found out that I was pregnant with my second. We were so excited. I had horrible morning sickness all-day long last time and this time was no exception. It made for some miserable school days. But, all is well now and our baby girl is due at the very end of September. As thrilled as I am to have the summer off during my third trimester to rest, I am super anxious about only having a couple weeks with my new group before having to split. But, because I have teacher OCD, I already created a maternity binder and have started planning for my leave.

Here's to the Summer

I am so excited for summer. Not only does it mean a lot of rest for my swollen-preggo feet, but it means one-on-one time with my daughter. I can not wait to spend all summer going on new adventures with her. These are the last days that she will have me all to herself. I have plans to keep her busy with library trips, pool days, play dates, park-hopping, and daily walks. If any of you have good ideas for entertain a three-year-old, please share.

Have an amazing Friday!