Making Sure Each Student Has Just What They Need

Between my partner teacher and I, we have 15 students.  Yes, we are truly the luckiest teachers in the world.  However, amongst our 15 students, we have 4 grade levels and about 7 different reading levels.  This means that we are almost creating individualized plans for our students, especially in our literacy block.  Our literacy block includes: guided reading or novel study, Arabic class, French class, nursery rhyme work, vocabulary, reader’s response, reading for useful information (our research projects), and listening.  We use a weekly reading sheet to help our students know what they are supposed to be doing when they are not with a teacher (English, Arabic or French). Feel free to download this sheet from Google Docs if you would like to use it with your class.

For vocabulary, we are using a combination of my ESL Vocabulary packets and my Word Work Spelling & Vocabulary packets.  Both types of my vocabulary packets have 4 different levels, which gives us the opportunity to individualize our lesson easily for our students.  Those of our students who have less than 3 years of English work on the ESL packets, which focus on key vocabulary that is often not taught in school.  This week, we are working on clothing.  We have two students working on Level 1, one student working on Level 2 and three students working on Level 3.

 

 

The students who speak English at home, or who have more than 3 years of English background are working on Word Work Packets.  These packets focus in on the most common spelling patterns, while still building vocabulary.  This week, we are working on words with the Long U sound.  We have three students working on Level 2, two students working on Level 3 and four students working on Level 4.

 

 

 

All of the differentiation means about 5 extra minutes of printing time, and a world of difference for our students.  Everyone has exactly the right amount of challenge for their level.  How do you differentiate during your literacy block?

What Can Kids Learn from Adults?

   

Recently, I posted about how my school is using Facebook and Pinterest as part of our professional development.  (See the whole post HERE.) I’ve decided to pass on some of the best videos and articles I come across to you each Sunday evening.  Here is this week’s professional development post:

 

The speaker in today’s video is 13 year’s old.  She is a published author who gives talks like this one regularly.  She talks about how adults can learn from children, and pushes adults to not only let children be creative and take chances, but also to watch and learn from the decisions children make.  Her speech is funny, and articulate and would be great to show to your students or your staff.  What I most took away from her speech was how much her parents supported her and exposed her to lots of new ideas.  This is totally what I try to do with my personal children, as well as my students.  How do you learn from your children?

 

If you’re interested in more professional development videos – follow my Professional Development Pinterest board.

ISM Spotlight – Getting to Know You Bulletin Board

This year I am the luckiest teacher in the world. I get to teach at the best school ever – International School of Morocco, with some of the best, most creative, teachers ever. Each time I walk into someone else’s classroom, I get inspired and we just seem to spiral great teaching ideas off of each other. It’s a wonderful place to teach, and since we are all collaborating, it’s a wonderful place for our kids to learn – a teacher’s dream, right? I have tried and tried to convince the other teachers to create blogs of their own to spotlight and share some of their amazing ideas, but everyone is super busy. Instead, they have each agreed to let me spotlight some of their ideas right here on Raki’s Rad Resources. So, each Friday night, I will be posting an ISM Spotlight.

This year, there are three new teachers at ISM.  I’m taking some time to introduce you to them.  Last week, we met Courtney Nassar, our Year 1/ Year 2 teacher.  This week, we will meet Ixchell Tolentino, our Reception teacher (4 Year old Pre-K).  Ixchell does some of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.  I am trying to convince her that she really needs a blog of her own! She is so good at taking a lesson and working on 2 or 3 different concepts all at once!

Ms. Tolentino’s Getting to Know You bulletin board is a great example of this. 

 

Here are three of the activities that Ms. Toleninto did with her class while they were preparing this board.

Chrysanthemum Names:  After reading the book Chrysanthemum, the students  created their own Chrysanthemum flowers with the letters in their first name.  While doing this, the students worked on letters, counting, coloring, cutting, gluing etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Eye Color Chart:  The students were looking at what made them the same and different as their friends, so they compared eye colors, and colored in their eyes.  The students then created their eye color chart.  While doing this, the students worked on coloring, comparing and contrasting and charting.

 

 

 

 

 

Hair Color Bar Graph:  In addition to eyes, the students also compared and contrasted their hair color.  Instead of drawing hair, the students created hand prints of the right color.  (I am still amazed that anyone is able to hand print with 4 year olds!)  Then, the students used the hand prints to create a bar graph, and answered questions using their bar graph.  While doing this, the students worked on colors, painting, graphing, comparing and contrasting.

 

 

Come back next week for more of the awesome stuff that is happening at the International School of Morocco.

Virtual Geoboards Save the Day

This week, my math is focused on Geometry, although we are all working at different levels and on different skills.

My year 3 (2nd grade) students are working on symmetry.

My year 4 (3rd grade) students are working on the types of triangles.

My year 5 (4th grade) students are working on types of quadrilaterals.

My year 6 (5th grade) students are working on adding the angles of a triangle.

All of my students’ plans ask me to have them create shapes using pin boards, which I (with my US accent) would call  geoboards.  Geoboards are one of those random manipulatives that I do not have access to and have not been able to find here in Morocco.  But, have no fear – iPads to the rescue!  We have a regular iPad and 3 mini iPads in our classroom, so we have plenty of technology access.  One of my favorite apps is Geoboard app, which is completely free and super simple.  Students have access to a full sized geoboard and “rubberbands” of a variety of colors.  Students can use the bands to create lines and shapes and work on a large variety of geometrical concepts including symmetry, shape properties, angles, are and perimeter.  Here is a look at what one of my student did when asked to make the three different types of triangles:

    

The great part about having geoboard as an app is that you can take a screenshot of their finished project and these screenshots can even be a part of a student’s online portfolio.

Edmodo Makes My Flipped Classroom Easier

It’s time for the Wednesday Website suggestion!! For two years, I was the Technology Specialist at a school in Georgia. During that time, I amassed a large collection of websites that I use with my students. You can download my E-Book of Websites for the Elementary Classroom for free from Teachers Pay Teachers or Smashwords, or, you can check back here each week for the Wednesday Website suggestion.

 

This week, I’m bringing you my Website suggestion via video.  I created a quick video for you using Screencast-o-matic, of how I use my most go-to site – Edmodo.  Edmodo a site I use for a lot of different things.  All of my students’ homework is done using Edmodo – allowing me to easily create a flipped classroom for my students.  I also use Edmodo to organize in class projects and to connect with other teachers.  Here is the video I created about Edmodo:

 

 

Edmodo has made a huge difference in my classroom.  In the beginning of the year, I give my students a cheat sheet to help them with their homework.  Feel free to download this cheat sheet from Google Docs.

 

 

How do you use Edmodo in your classroom?

 

Our Math Notebooks – Part 2

The first week of school, I posted about our Interactive Math Notebooks.  Over the past two weeks, we have added to our notebooks significantly. 

Each week, we add our lesson focus, math idiom, text book pages and assessment to our Table of Contents.

During Week 3, we worked on Number Pairs and how we use them to solve addition and subtraction problems. 

During Week 4, we worked on Multiplication & Division.  Year 5 & Year 6 (grades 4 & 5) worked specifically on dividing with remainders.

   

We have also added our math idioms. 

In addition, we have begun planning our first math videos.

We also took our first quiz, which was glued into the notebook and signed off on by parents.

Of course, we have also spent time applying our new knowledge with our text book pages, and “remembering” to format our pages correctly – with the date, page number, and problems labeled with a .) after the number – separating problem numbers from work.  We’ve also spent a ton of time talking about what it means to SHOW YOUR WORK.

Overall, I am loving the Interactive Math Notebook process.  I love the students having quality information to refer back to while they are working on text book pages.  I love the thinking that goes into reflecting on each lesson.  But, best of all, I love the structure and organization that this process is giving to my students.

How are Interactive Math Notebooks going in your classroom?

Are Your Students Able to Design Apps or Program Computers?

  

Recently, I posted about how my school is using Facebook and Pinterest as part of our professional development.  (See the whole post HERE.) I’ve decided to pass on some of the best videos and articles I come across to you each Sunday evening.  Here is this week’s professional development post:

 

The speaker in today’s video is 12 year’s old.  I’m not sure which is more inspiring – the fact that he has designed multiple iPad apps or the fact that he stood in front of that audience and recorded a TED talk.  Either way, this is a great video to watch with your students to show them that they can do anything they’d like to do.  I am in the middle of doing research into creating apps with my students, but it seems like this idea could be beneficial and motivational to so many students.  Do you have an app design club at your school?

 

If you’re interested in more professional development videos – follow my Professional Development Pinterest board.

Use Guided Questions during Read Aloud

Reading stories aloud to students have been proven as a powerful way to improve students’ vocabulary and fluency.  Read aloud models proper reading expression and has the ability to expose student to text that is well above their independent reading level.  However, one skill that is often over looked during read aloud is comprehension strategies.  Read aloud is a great time to model comprehension strategies, and to have students monitor their own comprehension strategies. 

Teachers can model comprehension strategies by doing a think aloud.  While reading, take time to stop and tell students about the predictions, connections, visualizations, questions and inferences that are going on in your mind.  As teachers, we often assume that because we are doing these things while we read, then our students must  be doing them as well.  Unfortunately, this is not always a true assumption.  Students must be trained to do this.  By modeling for students how we are comprehending, we are reminding them to use comprehension strategies while they read.

In addition to modeling comprehension strategies, we should be showing students how to monitor their own comprehension strategies.  I do this with guided questions and read aloud journals.  Each day, my students have a guided question, which we talk about BEFORE we begin reading.  This way, when students are listening to my read aloud, they are listening with a purpose.  (This is especially helpful for ESL and SPED students.)  After reading, they record their answer on their Read Aloud Journal, and we discuss their answers as a class.

I think about this in the Before – During – After reading concept that we often teach our students.  Before reading, we think about what we should be focused on.  During reading, we use and model our strategies.  After reading we think about what we read or heard.