It's that time of year again! I really enjoy teaching this unit although we have changed it a bit each year. I feel like this might be the best year yet :) During our first week we read a bunch of fairy tales. This year we read The Gingerbread Man, Hansel and Gretel, The Three Little Pigs, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood. The kids knew a lot of these stories so we made sure to read a few versions of each story.
This same week we started a writing project. The students and I did a lot of research on our fairy tales. We then made a checklist of everything our fairy tales must have. Each child picked a story to retell and we got started. They are so excited for writing each day and I can't get them off the topic! I will upload some of the stories when they are published.
This week we read three different Cinderella stories and worked on comparing and contrasting them. We also did some research on the countries they were from to get more of an understanding. We read Adelita (Mexican tale), Fair, Brown, and Trembling (Irish Tale) and Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters (African tale). I was amazed at how well they knew the tales and we were able to have a real discussion. I was in shock when they started discussing the story with each other (ON TOPIC!) like I wasn't even there. It was one of those moments when you sit back as a teacher and realize how much they have grown since September.
Next week we will begin the third week of this unit and focus on fables. I chose 11 different fables this year that have varying morals. Throughout the week we will compare and contrast the fables using charts and Venn diagrams, create story maps, and even write our own fables. I also threw in an opinion writing piece because we just finished up opinion writing. I will use it as an assessment to see if they fully grasped that type of writing.
I uploaded some more of my products on TpT this week. I also put up this fables unit. It contains everything you need including the 11 fables and all worksheets.
Click on the TpT image on the right to scroll through my new products and visit my store.
This week I started opinion writing with my students. We have such a great time discovering the difference between opinions and facts. I even overheard a student in the lunch line today say, "choice 1 is the best"to which another student then responded, "in your opinion!" I laughed the entire way to the teacher's room!
I just uploaded my opinion writing mini-unit to Teachers Pay Teachers. Click here to check it out. Let me know what you think.
I also uploaded a form I have students fill out when there is a bullying situation or something happened between classmates. I use the form when the students come to the "talking table" to discuss the incident. It is also a great way to track behavior. Get it here.
If you haven't been on TpT yet...get there fast! Click here for a link to my store.
It is Sunday! My first day of my "new years" resolution to blog at least weekly. Today I went out with some friends to celebrate one of them getting a job as an ESL teacher at a nonprofit in the city. As we talked about life our conversation turned to teaching. I find this is such a natural progression when a bunch of teachers get together! As we spoke of phonics vs. whole language and phoneme grapheme mapping, we realized that all students are the same no matter the age. She will be teaching adults English but the approach is so similar to teaching ESL children. Make it fun! Make it meaningful! Make it stick!!!
I thought back to my experiences this year. I started the year with 15 children out of 21 reading at least 9 months below level. This is almost an entire year! I sat back that first week of school and realized I would have a very different approach this year. I had to try to make up two years of education in one! After I sat back for a bit, I realized that it would be no different that any other year or any other student. I would start with the basics and take one step at a time. When they accomplished a goal we had a dance party! We graphed gains in Fry words and reading levels and celebrated each others' success! By mid year only 9 children were below level and a big part of that accomplishment was my students. They decided to learn and found out that hard work pays off! You can't make someone learn but you can teach them how to love learning.
Anyway, click here for my new TpT items and brief explanations of the items. I love making things and getting creative so if you have a game or item you want but don't want to make it yourself - email me- I will be glad to help. :) Enjoy! Remember ~ every day is an adventure!
I was showing my blog to my family this past month and realized it isn't really a blog if you don't write! :) So my March resolution is going to be to write every Sunday. Since today is Saturday I feel as though I am already ahead of the game!
I finally put some of my worksheets and organizational forms I have made on Teachers Pay Teachers. Check out my store. I think that I am going to try to put my products up as I use them in the classroom to make sure they actually work as I thought they would. So far all of my products have been used in my room successfully.
My sister in law, Mrs. Lodge, is a library teacher in Ct. Her products are incredible! Check out her blog and her store. Some of her products could easily be used in a classroom setting- or show them to your school librarian.
