Hi all,
I hope you had a very happy Thanksgiving and to those of you who went home, welcome back!
Thanks to those of you who completed your "What Stuck With You Today?" survey. It's very helpful in my planning.
We have an exciting class coming up this week, in which we'll be talking about Writing and doing the long-promised Mystery Skype!
DIVISIONS
What are Primary and Junior grade levels?
In Ontario, we split elementary school into 4 divisions: JK and SK are kindergarten, grade 1-3 are Primary grades, 4-6 are Junior, and 7-8 are Intermediate.
ASSIGNMENTS
For the Day Plan, can we work in partners who created their Lesson Plan at a different grade level?
Sure. Ideally, I'd like you to focus on different division, but if you have someone you particularly would like to work with, go ahead. You have three planning assignments in this course - Lesson Plan, Day Plan and Unit Plan. Between the three of them, make sure you focus on at least two divisions.
As soon as you know what grade level(s) you're planning your Day Plan for, you can fill it out on the Day Plan Hand In Box.
Can we look at the Curriculum Development assignment together?
I'm happy to meet with a small (or large) group after class time to look at the assignment(s) you have in other classes, but we can't afford the class time to go through other professor's assignments. If you'd like me to take a look, though, let me know and we can meet after class.
LIBRARY
What can you expect from a school library?
School libraries greatly vary based on site and budget. Currently, the OCSB has turned their library spaces into "Learning Commons", rooms with not only book storage and borrowing, but also computers and (sometimes) Maker Spaces. My school library currently is of the old model, but we do have a SmartBoard in there along with the stacks of books and circulation desk.
READ ALOUDS
How do you find a Read Aloud that works for all your students?
In the course of the year, read a lot of things out loud to your students. You can find great recommendations from colleagues, Twitter, blogs and even your students. I expose my students to a huge variety of texts throughout the school year. For a read aloud novel, I usually pick a few that I've heard of or enjoyed, introduce them and have students vote.
What do you do to engage all students in Read Alouds?
I read in an exciting, excited voice, I often have funny voices for characters. I stop periodically to make connections, ask questions and engage students. Often, I'll have students discuss in partners or small groups as well. I often have students reflect, connect, synthesize, predict or infer in their Reading Journal notebooks. They can do this in writing or with drawings or both.
READERS WORKSHOP
How do you teach the necessary skills for students to be engaged in reading?
You use mini lessons, based on what you want to teach your students and what you notice they're needing extra support in. Start Reader's Workshop daily with a 5-10 minute lesson and have students practice those skills in small groups and independently.
Respond to your students needs and interests.
How can you do Guided Reading in a class of 30 students?
Do some full class mini lessons, give the students time to work independently (Daily 5 has a great gradual release of responsibility structure to help students learn to work independently) and then pull small groups to have conferences with.
When students are reading at different levels, how do you work with all the groups?
Simply, you take turns. Most students should be working independently or in partners during Readers Workshop, so that you can pull small, focused groups for more detailed, targeted teaching and assessment.
How do you judge comprehension when all students are reading at different levels?
Assess! Standardized tests like PM Benchmark and CASI can help to give you a baseline. Then, split students into ability groups and assess as you go to see if they need more challenging or simpler texts to work with.
You will work with small groups of students in conferences, so it will be easier to assess their comprehension.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT
Do you have a "teacher look" for when students misbehave?
I don't think so. I try to use non-verbal hand signals (finger against mouth, etc) to help students stay on track or use verbal prompts ("Find a better space to sit", etc) instead of giving a dirty look! You might have to ask my students if I have on, though!
COLLABORATIVE DOCUMENTS
Can we add the Five Finger Test to the Best Tips to Teach Reading Document?
Yes. Please do!
In fact, please keep adding to all our collaborative documents, including:
These documents are for you, not for me! The more you add to them, the better. They will be made public and posted on the blog at the end of the course on the "Resources" page so that you can refer to them later in your career.
See you on Wednesday!
Shauna
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