Winter Wonders Blog Hop

Welcome to my humble little blog! One year ago today, a group of teacher-bloggers launched the website Adventures in Literacy Land to share tips and tools for effective literacy instruction. I am so excited that I have been able to be a part of this amazing group of ladies!

In honor of reaching our first full year of blogging together we are hosting a Winter Wonders Blog Hop and Birthday Celebration. Join us, if you will, to read a short post by each author, download a free literacy resource, and enter a raffle for a chance to win a Barnes and Nobles gift certificate at the very end!

As an upper grades reading teacher, one of my students' biggest struggles is finding the main idea and supporting details. There are SO many ways to review this skill, so I just wanted to highlight a few of my favorites.

• Have students fill out main idea and details graphic organizers for writing. I like teach this for basic 5 paragraph essays anyway, and then you can expand it to where they come up with three details to support each original detail. They get to practice the skill on their own and also learn a great way to organize their writing.
• Create short "headings" for paragraphs. This is one of my test-taking strategies, but I think it's very beneficial for the students. I emphasize SHORT headings and even explain to my students that it doesn't always have to be a complete sentence. I just want them to understand what key words are important in each section.
• Highlight key words that appear frequently and/or use tally marks for most common words/ideas. This really helps students visualize what the author continues to discuss, and it can also help with multiple choice questions to narrow it down to the best option.
• Let students come up with the main idea or detail when given the opposite. I begin the year giving them the main idea because it's easier to create details about a topic. But about halfway through the year, I switch it up. Then it's great practice for students to focus on key words and ideas to come up with a main idea that really matches all of the details. They really struggle with this one, but it's so important.
• Give students main idea and details to sort into the correct pairs. This is actually the freebie that I prepared for you! I use this a lot in my independent centers, but I like to make sure that each set is similar enough that it's a bit of a challenge to the students. Some of the cards require students to really pay attention and decide what fits best.

Click on the graphic below, but be sure to download soon because it will only be free for 24 hours! Sorry, the time has now expired on the freebie, but you can still purchase it for $2 in my shop!

Hope you enjoy my freebie and the rest of your journey through our blog hop!

Blasting Off the Year with High Flying Ideas

Welcome to our back to school blog hop! I hope you have gotten some great tips for back to school. If you're just starting out, make sure to head over to Andrea's blog (Reading Toward the Stars) where the hop begins! 

I don't have my own group of kids anymore (Title I Reading), but I have been lucky that some of my co-workers let me come into their classrooms to start CAFE lessons and help prepare the students for Daily 5 (or 3 in some of our upper grades classrooms). We are now entering our third year of full implementation for Daily 5 and CAFE, and I just have a few quick tips for starting it in your own class!

• I recommend starting with read to self. Use the T charts they discuss in the book, then have EVERYONE practice it together, then come back and discuss what worked/didn't work. 
• Don't get discouraged when your kids only have a stamina of 1 minute. Chart it and celebrate growth! They have to start somewhere, and they will get there!
• Get the kids into "Good Fit Books" as quickly as possible! I know at the beginning, you're just trying to get them to read quietly while you work on running records and other beginning of the year assessments, but the faster you can do this, the easier it will be for them to build their stamina. 
• Once they have the hang of "Read to Self", go ahead and introduce the other stations the same way. I would have everyone do the same thing until they are all used to each station.
• Use your own judgement for whether you will give student choice or assign stations. Some classes are ready for it from the beginning. Others need a lot more guidance. Trust your gut, and remember you can always change it if it's not working for you!
• Have some kind of "assessment" for the stations to make sure they are on task. Since I work with struggling readers, I have MANY students who "read to self" without actually understanding a single word. Have them do a quick reading reflection or a sticky note summary...something to help hold them accountable. It doesn't have to be a grade, but it's important for them to know that this isn't just a time for them to sit quietly and pretend to be a good student.

There are SO many facets of Daily 5/CAFE! This is only scraping the top. Fortunately there are a ton of resources out there (and btw, they should all be free on TPT, so don't worry about paying for them). If you haven't already read the book, that's the best place to start. The sisters really break everything down into a very manageable and easy-to-follow format. I keep my book close-by to refer to even after 3 years!

Keep on moving to Jennie's blog for more tips to start the year off right!

Super Sleuths Blog Hop #2

This is a blog hop, and you are at the second stop! If you just started on my blog and want to go to the very beginning (so you don't miss ANY freebies), click on the image below to head to Carla's blog.

Along this journey, you will learn about various reading strategies from reading coaches/specialists ranging in grade levels. You will also be able to collect freebies at each stop AND enter for a chance to win a special prize at the very end. So get out your magnifying glasses and gloves, and start collecting!

 Drawing Conclusions/Making Inferences

If you've followed me for a while, you may know that I LOVE a good mystery! Growing up, I read Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, Mandie...if it had a mystery title, I was going to read it. Last year I started creating little "cases" for my kids to solve. These are great for drawing conclusions because the students have to use the clues given to solve the "crime". They're my own little nod to Encyclopedia Brown's short mysteries. I give just enough clues for the student to figure out the mystery, but they aren't so obvious that students get it immediately. They have to really investigate.

Sometimes I will hand out copies and have students highlight important information. Sometimes we leave it all on the Promethean board and dissect the information as a class. But students HAVE to give evidence, and that evidence HAS to be factual. When I did these in 5th grade last year, we talked about "circumstantial evidence", where students would add something like "Well, she MAY have done..." - which I found out from my hubby isn't exactly right, but it sounded more investigator-y. I wouldn't have been corrected if Steven wasn't a Criminal Justice teacher. Anyway, that doesn't count because we're ASSUMING. Using factual evidence builds a stronger case and keeps us from wrongly accusing someone.

I created a new freebie which I just added to my stores yesterday. This link will only take you to the free item until the hop expires, so make sure you grab it quick and tell your friends to stop by the hop! 

This is now a paid resource, but you can purchase it in my TPT or TN stores!

Now that you've learned a little more about drawing conclusions, you're ready for my clue. On your form, record the letter...

Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you'll enjoy my unit with your students, and if you'd like to keep informed of upcoming events from our group, please follow me on Bloglovin!

 I appreciate your interest in reading instruction and wish you a wonderful school year. Now, on to the...

  

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1. Comprehension Connection

2. Dont Let the Teacher Stay Up Late

3. The Reading Tutor/ OG

4. Learning Fundamentals

5. Reading and Writing Redhead

6. Ms. Ds Literacy Lab

7. Conversations in Literacy

8. Teacher Mom of Three

9. A Day in the Life of a Title 1 Teacher

10. Luckeyfrog"s Lilypad

11. Curious Firsties

12. All Four Reading

13. Thinking Out Loud

14. Ms. Jordan Reads

15. Big Time Literacy

16. Read with Me ABC

17. Teaching With Nancy

18. This Little Piggy Reads

19. The Literacy Minute

20. Book Units Teacher

21. Reading Toward the Stars

22. The Literacy Garden

23. Im Lovin Lit

24. Ripper Resources

25. Teachers Take-Out

26. Sweet Integrations

27. Reading is Elementary

28. The Rungs of Reading

A Reflection on Fitness and some reminders

I'm linking up with two posts today, but they are related to one another. Plus this is something I've been struggling with lately and want to get out there. I know I'm not the only one or the first linky wouldn't even have become a topic. Click on the icons below to join each linky.

&

The first is a new linky from Sunny Days in Second Grade. Each week leading up to the new year will focus on a different truth. Sometimes we need to sit back and be completely honest with ourselves. For me, I've been in a bit of a rut when it comes to fitness. It started a few weeks ago when I got sick and couldn't do my workout, but I don't have an excuse anymore. It's time for me to get back into my routine and wake up early to work out. I've lost my weight, but if I want to really tone up it's going to take some dedication. 

And that leads me to my "Tried-It". I wanted to share what I've been doing to get in shape (and what I WILL start back tomorrow). 

I bought Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred off eBay during the summer because I LOVE her on Biggest Loser and liked the idea of a quick 20 minute workout. I did Insanity at the end of last school year, and it was great. But I was waking up at 4:30 every morning, and although I was gaining muscle mass I wasn't seeing the inches go from my waist, which is my problem area since giving birth. So I decided it was time to switch things up.

This workout has three levels that get progressively more difficult. Each level has:

• a quick warm up
• 3 sets of Strength (3 mn.), Cardio (2 mn.), and Abs (1 mn.)
• a short cool down

It takes about 25 minutes for all of it. I have done levels 1 and 2, and when I started level 2, I saw my weight start dropping quickly! I actually lost about 5 pounds just in that stretch (which also coincided with the beginning of school and me becoming a little more active in general). If you're looking for a good workout, I would recommend trying this!

Two quick reminders before I go:

I know I'm a week late technically, but this Thursday will be the second Teacher Fitness Thursday, my monthly linky party. I want to talk about motivation this time around because I know I need it! What motivates you? Get your posts ready, and PLEASE help spread the word! I'll be honest. I was pretty discouraged when only 2 people linked up last month. I hope this will become more successful and really help create a community of teachers who want to get healthy.

Then be sure to stop back by my blog on Friday for the big blog hop. I can't wait to see what other great freebies have been created for you (and me)!