November 1, 2015

It's been a while because life has been swamped in such a good way! I'm sorta off tomorrow because of Professional Development and Tuesday is Election Day. That means I have a tad bit of extra time tonight. :) 

Listening: I'm over the news. I just needed to check the weather for the week to be able to plan when I am going to run. :) Looks like clear skies until Friday!

Loving: Making the switch to 3rd grade may have possibly saved me from quitting my job. Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit, but not much. It's no secret that I spent the first 6 years of my career pretty much miserable in 5th. Now, I feel like I am living a dream. Literally, I pinch myself daily just to make sure I am awake. Switching grades is a challenge and a lot of work, but it's pushed me to become a better teacher. I love what I do and my fingers are crossed it stays this way for years to come. 

Thinking: I cannot get enough of, "I can do anything and everything," on a Sunday.

Wanting: I'm trying to be patient. Scores were released on November 15th last year. I am so anxious and excited. Whatever happens, life will be okay.

Needing: I just don't really want to clean, but it will happen on Tuesday! 

Yummy: Love my mom's stuffing on Thanksgiving! 

I hope all is currently well with you! 

xoxo- Kim

Check out more Currently's at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade.

{Currently-August} {8/2/15}

It's a new month and that means a new link- up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade! This new month brings so many mixed emotions. The sadness of summer closing and the excitement of a new year are two of the many. 

Listening: I really enjoy living alone. I do not take the quietness for granted. It's a plus after a long day at work.

Loving: My nieces are A-mazing! Period. End of story. That is all.

Thinking: I am going to make sure I find the perfect balance of enjoying the last bit of summer and making sure to accomplish some necessary school tasks. Our school is being renovated so the classroom set-up will happen in speed mode a few days before the kiddos arrive. It will be crunch time for sure, but it's nice that I am essentially being forced to stay away. 

Wanting: To keep trucking on my goal to run 650 miles for the year of 2015. I fell behind my monthly average in May, but was able to make up some of the miles in July. I'll need to average 57 a month to reach my goal. I've got this! 

Needing: I met with my new teammate and instructional coach last week to plan some for school. It's one of those things that you know what you are going to do, you just need to prep and get it done.

B2SRAK: I enjoy helping some pretty close gals set up their classrooms. Give me a task and I'll get it done. It's different in someone else's room because you do not become so easily distracted or scatterbrained. 

Happy August Ya'll!

xoxo-Kim

{July Currently: 7.24}

Linking up a little belated with Oh' Boy 4th Grade for July's Currently Linky Party. I may be a little late in the month, but that's okay, It's still July. I've been a little MIA via blog, but that was rather intentional. I've been enjoying summer and soaking up all of these memories and fun moments that I really haven't had time or the desire really. 

Listening: So it's Friday evening and I'm watching Harry Potter. I'm not ashamed either. I've had a jam packed week and the weekend is pretty busy too. I wanted a night to just chill. My SIL sent me a text telling me HP was on. She knows me so well. I'm trying to reread all 7 books before school starts. I'm about 1/2 way through Year 5. It's going to be close on if I finish or not.

Loving: That it is still actually summer. Less than 3 weeks before school begins and I haven't done much in terms of getting ready. It's kinda hard because our school is being renovated and we cannot get in. Fingers crossed we get in sooner than the day before the kiddos come. I am going to try and create a list of things to do, but that's always so hard when everything is in boxes. I meat with my new team this week so thank goodness we will have come planning taken care of.

Thinking: I'm excited to spend the next few days with friends and family!

Wanting: Some of my family is heading to the beach the week after school begins. It makes me really sad that I am not going, but it just didn't work out. At least I was able to go see the mountains. That's kinda like the beach, but different...right?!

Needing: Yea, I am finally admitting that I should accomplish a few school items this week. I'm going to send post-cards out to my new kiddos. That's a start.

All Star: I consider myself and all-star organizer. I get rid of things I do not use or need and usually come up with some type of system or place for other things.

I hope you all are enjoying your summer and are having a great July. See ya'll in August. 

xoxo-Kim

June Currently

Linking up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade to share what's currently happening with me, myself, and I in June. 

Listening: I do not watch EVERY Real Housewives, but I do enjoy Orange County. I wish it was more like the olden days, but what's on will do. I have always wondered how much of these shows were scripted. The longer the show lasts the more scripted it seems. It's summer and I have some TV time to waste. 

Loving: IT IS OFFICIALLY SUMMER!!!! We had to go to school on Monday and Tuesday for closing day, planning, and professional development. Then today I took my National Boards assessment. So as of 10am today....It's summer. Here's to 9 weeks off give or take some. We all know that it's actually shorter than that with professional development and setting up. 

Thinking: I will be thinking about this for the next five months. It's crazy how long it takes for scores to be released. I left today feeling like I HAD to have done better than the same assessment last year. I just know it. It was probably better off that I scored a 1 on that portion because if I bump that up to a 1.5 I pass. I am so glad that I made the decision to retake one portfolio entry and one assessment. Between the two I need about .20 of a point to gain my weighted 4 points. Thinking POSITIVE here! I want this so bad. 

Wanting: I am going to wait until at least July, but I am so excited I am moving to THIRD grade. I still cannot believe it. I've taught 5th grade for six years. I have asked to move out of 5th grade five of those six year and was turned down every time. I am not sure it's going to hit me until I have plans set in stone and it's the first day of school. I can wait another 9 weeks for that to come though. ;)

Needing: I'm pretty content right now. Thankful for that feeling.

Summer Lovin: Stay tuned to see how summer unfolds...

Happy Summer Ya'll!

xoxo-Kim

{Sunday Scoop 6.7.15}

Things are finally starting to slow down. Two more work days until SUMMER!!!! Yahoo! I've missed the reflective part of blogging and had a few minutes to jump back into things. There's no better way that a quick Sunday Scoop with the Teaching Trio.

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Hope you all have a great week!

xoxo-Kim

{May Currently}

This meme always makes me LOL as it resurfaces at the end of every April. April showers sure did come and now we are seeing the wonderful May flowers. As I have been blogging rather regularly I am noticing more and more how FAST life goes. Man, it flies by...even when some moments feel so incredibly long. Just remember to take each moment as it arise and that life is a collection of happy moments. Keeping working on that collection... :)

I'm going to let my currently be self explanatory. I'm going to put blogging on the back burner for the next few weeks as I prep for testing at school,wrap up my portfolio for submission, and keep my running routine in action.

You can check out what some other's are up to this month at Oh' Boy 4th Grade. 

I hope all is well. Don't forget to stop and smell the flowers, unless there is a bee flying near by.  

xoxo-Kim

{Comprehensive Reading Instruction Action Plan} [4/30/15]

As some of you may know by now I have a huge love of learning. I continually want to know more about the teaching practice and what I can do to help my students be successful. I tend to pile things on my plate, but in the end it's all worth it because my brain is growing. My school district partnered with a local university to build teacher background knowledge in literacy in the hope that we can reach our kiddos more intentionally and effectively. I am finishing up my second class of the year with an action plan of how I incorporate research-based reading instruction strategies into my classroom on a daily basis. This experience and assignment has provided me with a foundational beginning for next year. Part of my final assignment is to share my learning. Here it goes...

Literacy Project Reading Instruction Delivery Model
 

Purpose: To provide differentiated reading instruction that targets students' ZPD and incorporates all of the big 5 (as relevant to student need).

The Big 5 includes phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary. These fall into the following four categories that make literacy instruction balanced: Fluency, Word Work, Comprehension, and Refining Reading.

What does this look like in Room 106?

Here is my literacy plan for this week...

 

Reading Component	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Word Work 9:00-9:15	Tier III Vocabulary (Week 1 Terms) ·          Migrate ·          Natural Resources ·          Origin Stories ·          Adaptations ·          Kiva	(Week 2 Terms) ·          Geography ·          Climate ·          Latitude ·          Longitude ·          Compass	Modified Frayer Model 1.      Definition 2.     Context Sentence 3.      Illustration/sketch 4.      Connection	Continue Frayer Model	Vocabulary Quiz (Students fill in sentences with missing vocabulary term.)
Fluency 9:25-9:40 *Incorporated into Social Studies opening to lead into daily S.S. activities.	Social Studies Alive!  Introduction ·          Unison ·          Antiphonal ·          Line Around (Paragraph around)	Social Studies Alive!   Identifying reasons the North and South were fighting	Social Studies Alive!    Life on the Home front	Social Studies Alive!   Key Battles	Social Studies Alive!   The End of the War
Compre-hension 10:20-10:40	Sign of the Beaver Ch. 4 Purpose: Determine challenges faced by Matt. Model how to annotate challenges faced by Matt. Think aloud how to determine how Matt adapts to the challenges.	Integrated Writing: Using details from the text describe how Matt adapted to challenges he faced during chapter 4.	Sign of the Beaver Ch. 4 and Ch. 5 Partners work to identify challenges Matt adapted to in Ch. 5. Discuss learning. Individual Assessment: A.    Using details from the text describe how Matt adapted to challenges he faced in Chapter’s 4 and 5. B.     Explain how Matt was already well-suited to survive.	“Hot to Trot: The Secrets and Superstitions of Jockey Fashions”   Modified Close Read Main idea. Phrase meanings. 2 MCQ Quick Check	“Racing Silks in Every Color, Provided You Wear a Small”   Modified Close Read Author’s POV. Phrase meanings. 2 MCQ Quick Check   Compare BOTH texts from Thurs. and Fri.
Refining Reading 11:00-11:50	Schedule is flexible for students depending on when they are pulled into small groups. Students are able to determine the order in which they would like to complete the workshop activities.	1) Tic-Tac-Toe board (Comprehension) Students have choice of what literary text to read. Students choose 4 options from the choice board and complete according to the directions.	2) Fluency   Students time each other, practice the text, respond to comprehension questions, and determine the meaning of unknown tier II vocabulary terms.	3) Topic Journal (Reflection) Students pick a journal and write a free response or read and comment on other student responses.	4) Lexia   Mixed-Skill iPad learning program.
Guided Reading/ Focus Groups 11:00-11:50	11:00-11:30 Focus Group “No More Super-Sized Sodas”   Tamesha Nevaeh Kayden Gabby Lakyn Kayden   Summarizing.	11:00-11:30 Focus Group “Let Me Drink What I Want”   Tamesha Nevaeh Kayden Gabby Lakyn Kayden   Author’s opinion and supporting reasons.	11:00-11:30 Word Work “Larry Bird” (Theory, resort, assiduous, withdrew, accolades, ethic, tenacity)   Elijah Andrew Isaiah Ray	11:00-11:30 Comprehension “Larry Bird” Text dependent comprehension check.   Elijah Andrew Isaiah Ray	11:00-11:30 Focus Group-Theme “Twins Luck” Anija Jason Jashuad   Complete reading. Answer MCQ quick check.
	11:30-11:50 Focus Group “No More Super-Sized Sodas”   Elijah Andrew Isaiah Ray William Lemar   Main idea and supporting details.	11:30-11:50 Focus Group-Theme “Twins Luck”   Anija Jason Jashuad   Discuss focus. Read and annotate main characters and events.	11:30-11:50 Guided Reading-Comprehension-Locating evidence in the text. “The Derby Festival: Kentucky’s Pre-Derby Party” Tamesha Nevaeh Kayden Gabby Lakyn Kayden	11:30-11:50 Focus Group “Let Me Drink What I Want”   Elijah Andrew Isaiah Ray William Lemar   Summarizing.	11:30-11:50 Response to Intervention Probes   Conferring with individual students. Kayden (Shiloh) Gabby (Shiloh)
11:50-12:00 Reflection: Students fill out daily accountability log for “choice” activities. What did you learn today during workshop? What strategies did you use to help your understanding of your text? Do you have any questions or concerns about your reading? Did anything you read today give you something to look further into?



So what does all of this look like in action?

For each component I gathered artifacts to display the components in action. Some activities could fit into multiple component categories.
The artifacts display evidence of:
1) student engagement during the specific component
2) an assessment tool and analysis for instructional grouping
3) instructional strategy being implemented.

Fluency

 

1) Student Engagement: Students working together to practice a fluency passage during workshop.

 

  

 2) Assessment Tool: This text was used to determine the text that would be used in the fluency workstation that fit the twelve students in the classroom during workshop. 

 

After students practiced the passage they answer 3 open-ended questions to assess their understanding. Students then chose 2 tier II words to diagram for further understand. Below is the organizer students filled out for their chosen vocabulary words. 

 

3) Instructional Strategy-Whole Class Choral Reading: This week the grade-level text utilized for whole class choral reading was our Social Studies text book. This was the introduction to our main social studies lesson for the day. It lasted about 15 minutes. Before reading, I set a purpose for what to annotate with imaginary markings (because we cannot write in our books.) Throughout the week we participated in various types of choral reading. The students are most engaged when we read in unison or when groups of students read an entire paragraph.



 Comprehension

 

1) Student Engagement: Integrated Writing-Based on my think-aloud, modeling, and annotations students worked together to answer the key short answer questions. Students took turns coming to the front of the room and adding to and revising how they felt the prompts should be answered.

2)Assessment Tool: Modified Close Read for Guided reading with a focus on author's purpose.
Text students referred to.

Pre-planned text dependent questions that will lead students in understand the author's purpose. 

 

Short answer students will answer when modified close read is complete. 

 

3)Instructional Strategy: Mini-Lesson-I modeled how to determine how a character adapts to challenges.

 

Word Work

 

1) Student Engagement: Student notebook with a modified frayer model of weekly vocabulary words. Students write the definition, draw a simple sketch, write the word in contextual sentence, and make some type of connection.

2) Assessment Tool: I chose 7 tier II words from the text that I chose for a guided reading group that focused on the group being able to find evidence in the text to support their understanding of key text dependent questions. I used a modified version of the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale. The students expressed their knowledge of the words.

This text was chosen in conjunction with student interest and purpose of the group. These students were having difficulty using the text to find evidence for key comprehension questions. This is the text I chose the vocabulary terms from.

 

This assessment was created with the vocabulary words students broke apart using the Frayer model. Contextual sentences are used to ensure students understand the term rather than just memorizing the definition. 



 

3) Instructional Strategy: Marzano's Six Steps- Small group acting out the meaning of accolade. Student on the right is accepting his accolade and tearing up with joy.

This is the page I created to utilize while implementing the 6 steps. Students recorded ideas in their notebooks.

Refining Reading

 

1) Student Engagement: During workshop students have a choice to read a literary text of choice and complete four different activities on the Tic-Tac-Toe board. They then self-assess themselves.

2)Assessment Tool: Reading Proficiency results are utilized to create focus groups. This data was used to determine students that would be in the theme group, which students needed work on vocabulary skills, main ideas and supporting details, and summarizing. These assessments are administered and analyzed every nine weeks to guide instruction.

3) Instructional Strategy: Guided Reading- The first session with the students included a discussion of theme, discussing the title, making predictions based on the title, and beginning to annotate character notes. After this group is able to describe characters, we will annotate main events that influence character actions, thoughts, motives ect. From those annotations we will develop a message or lesson learned from the story.

 

I am sure that as I continue to create a well-balanced literacy block items will be modified and adjusted. I hope that you were able to gain some understanding of ways to incorporate research-based instructional strategies to increase student achievement. This project also brought to surface how many things are related and connected. As educators we just need to remember to always be intentional in our planning! Let me know if you have any ideas, suggestions, or questions! I love learning with others.

 

 

Happy Reading!

 

xoxo-Kim