October Alphaboxes
Tap into students favorite traditions and activities by using Alphaboxes to brainstorm all things Fall. Give each student an Alphaboxes sheet and challenge them to list words related to October. They do not have to have a word under each letter. Also, a box may have multiple words. Students can use their Alphaboxes sheet to choose ideas to write about. Write stories, letters, poems, or expository essays all about Fall things! For an Alphaboxes PDF, click here!
A good writing program begins and ends with authentic writing tasks. Focusing on retrieval level grammar skills, without any connection to context, does not help students learn to make the decisions writers need to make.
Children’s books can be effective vehicles for motivating children to think and reason mathematically. (Burns, 2004) A children’s book is a great way to launch or assess mathematical learning.
For every math unit, select 2-4 children’s books that contain situations related to the concepts and that allow students to use new skills and strategies. Be sure to choose wisely!
Reading aloud helps students expand their vocabulary and connect mathematical thinking to real life situations. Stories help students organize, store, and retrieve conceptual information related to the skills, strategies, and processes needed to think mathematically.
Children’s books provide a perfect starting point for engaging students in authentic problem solving. Students need time to hypothesize and experiment with strategies in real world situations. Stories provide a context that helps students construct conceptual understanding of math ideas.
When I heard Jillian Heise, 7th & 8th grade teacher, on a podcast talk about the 180 pictures books she reads to her students each year, I fell in love with the idea and the outcomes for students. Each day, for five minutes, she reads a picture book aloud to her students. After a brief discussion of the text, she documents the read aloud on a grid outside her classroom.
While at the International Literacy Association Conference this summer, I attended a session that focused on helping struggling readers develop executive skills for academic success. Kelly Cartwright, author of Executive Skills and Reading Comprehension, A Guide for Educators, made a research-based case that many students are not experiencing success because of underlying issues. These executive function issues are not evident of the surface, but can easily be identified and addressed. Her research has found that executive skills begin to develop early and are a good predictor of proficient reading in grades two and beyond.
Have you ever struggled to find the right words or explanation of something? Most of us have been there once or twice. Students struggle with this, too. So, why not build something to represent your thinking? Constructing a model of what you are picturing or thinking can help to solidify conceptual understanding. Using legos, building blocks, or play doh, students build to represent an idea or understanding of a concept. This can be a less intimidating option for students to show their understanding or thinking about ideas or topics.
Do you remember teachers reading aloud to you in school? I was blessed with teachers who read aloud in elementary and secondary school.
Relationships are the foundation of a successful school year. Not just teacher and student relationships, but parent and teacher relationships.
