Prediction Lesson - A Silly Snowy Day

 A Silly, Snowy Day is a wonderful book to use to teach making predictions. T!he students enjoyed the book. Shelley wasn't exactly truthful with her parents at the end, so we had a chance to talk about the character trait of honesty.

Fun Rhyming Book

This Scholastic book was written in 2005, but it's new to me. I read it to my students today, and they loved it! The electricity goes out so Charlie takes a battery from his sister's doll. He ends up being sent to time out and finally uses his imagination to play with his little sister. You can find it on YouTube, but it's one I have in my library. You might check it out online before you buy it.

It's a great book for Rounding up Rhyming Words. Students can also easily make connections. I'll definitely use this book again.

Rounding up the Rhymes

We collected words that rhyme and then crossed out words that had a different rime (spelling pattern). The words written in red are transfer words. They didn't come from the book; the students supplied those words. This is a wonderful spelling lesson.

Students then signed into www.getepic.com and searched for Nursery Rhymes. They worked through a similar lesson with partners. See the example below. Jiddle, forn, and fen are not words. We'll talk about this in small group tomorrow. This student did a good job collecting rhyming words (except none and home) but needs to work on transferring the rime  to other words.

E-Themes Link

Link: https://ethemes.missouri.edu/themes

Project-Based Learning Links

Small-Group Math Symbaloo Idea - to Modify

Student Learning Contract Example -- to modify

Making 10s

Rubric Example -- to modify

Padlet

Created with Padlet

Animoto for Education

Set up your free teacher account:  https://animoto.com/education/classroom

Stay Connected on Facebook

Many of you said that you haven't set up your Twitter account yet and asked me to do Instagram or Facebook. I just added a Facebook account:  https://www.facebook.com/mrscheryldick/. If you like my page, you'll get notifications when I update my blog. Thanks for staying connected!
~Cheryl

Symbaloo Tutorial

Written directions:  http://www.symbalooedu.com/wp-content/uploads/Symbaloo-Manual-2014.pdf


You don't have to register through gmail as this man states, but it's definitely an option. Once you have your account made, search your grade level to find Webmixes you might want to use. Here is one example for first grade:  http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/firstgradeedulinks.  You'll want to check ALL of the links if you're using someone else's Symbaloo.


Check back to my blog Saturday morning. I'll add the sites we talked about in our session to a Webmix and upload it for you tonight. Thanks so much for being so welcoming! I've had a great time in Vegas and made some lifelong friends. Stay in touch and see you next year!

Writing Mini-Lessons: The First 30 Days

Link to Free Download:  https://www.scribd.com/document/317920452/30-Writing-Lessons-for-2nd-or-3rd-Grade

Writing is talking on paper. If a child tells you that he doesn’t know what to write about, simply respond with this statement, “That’s so sad. It looks like you won’t be talking today.” 

Simply said, write ALOUD in front of your students for about 10 minutes each day. If you don’t finish a lesson, don’t worry. Simply pick up the next day where you left off. If you add on to your writing, students will add on to their writing. If you revise your writing, students will revise theirs. These lessons can easily stretch into 60 days, and it’ll be time well spent. Essentially, we’re teaching the same concepts over and over anyway.

Take time to SHOW students what’s going on inside your head.  When I was a first-year teacher, my principal said to me after observing a math lesson, “The difference in a mathematician and a good math teacher is that a good math teacher can teach others how to teach math. You’re a good math teacher.”

I’ve always laughed about how that was a backhanded compliment, but I agree wholeheartedly with him.  I believe the same holds true for teaching writing. If writing comes naturally to you, it may be harder for you to teach others how to write. If it doesn’t, you may be the best writing teacher out there.

Regardless of how easily writing comes to you, be sure to share the thinking that goes on inside your head with kids. Well, be sure it’s school appropriate! Some things you may want to keep to yourself. It’s okay to get stuck. If that happens, let your students help you figure out what you’re going to write next.

This packet is designed to get you started writing aloud with your students. You can use the lessons as they are written, or you can modify them to best meet your students’ needs. You can use a computer with a projector, document camera, chart paper, or an overhead projector when modeling. Just be sure the students see you writing.

30 Writing Lessons for 2nd or 3rd Grade by Cheryl Townsend-Dick on Scribd

Working with Words Lesson Plan Template for 2nd Grade

Working With Words 2nd Grade by Cheryl Townsend-Dick on Scribd

4th Grade Writing Samples -- Draft Form

Year after year, students leave my classroom loving to write and producing amazing writing pieces. Your students can write like this too! Join Cheryl at a workshop to find out how. It's surprisingly easy to do. 

These pieces are in draft form. They will be published with illustrations at a later time. 

Junie's Informational Piece on Government

Junie's Free-Choice Writing Piece

This is the story Junie is currently writing. It's not finished yet.