Friday Tip

Happy Thanksgiving! I thought everyone would enjoy these super-cute paper plate pilgrims we made in social studies this week.  I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday! 

Friday Tip

We have been working a lot with closed syllables this year. An easy way to remember a closed syllable is check and see if a consonant is blocking the vowel, or closing it in.  We sometimes refer to this as the vowel being in jail.  Words with only one vowel are single syllable words (we are not getting into diphthongs at this point). If a student has trouble with this, have him or her color all of the vowels in with a red pen or marker.  This will help them see how many syllables are in a word, and how to pronounce the word. (If the syllable is closed the vowel is short, if it is open it is usually long).

"stup" is supposed to be "step"- However, the same rules apply for nonsense words.  

Touch Math Multiplication

Now that we have delved into the wonderful world of multiplication, I am introducing the class to a variety of problem solving strategies.

1. Skip counting using the touch points from their Touch Math charts. 

2. Repeated addition

3. Counting up

4. Or if all else fails, they can put manipulatives into groups (This is how most of us were taught, it's not a bad method, but it is not efficient and does't help build number sense) 

In this video, Davis solves 2x7 using the Touch Math method.  

Wilson 2.1 - Glued Sounds

This week our class started step 2.1 in the Wilson Reading System.  In this step the class is introduced to welded or "glued" sounds.  all glued sounds are presented on green cards.  This is a way of differentiating sounds and concepts with color. The set up of the board is very important; the top rows end with bonus letters (f,l &s) digraphs are under the consonants and they are yellow because they only make one sound. the suffix "s" is a different shade of yellow and it is on a larger card.  

Glued sounds are marked by simply boxing the letters.  We are scooping the words so that when we get into multisyllabic words students will already be used to scooping syllables.

This is our glued sound drill; I was going to edit out the part where I say "action" because I am told to, but I thought it was kind of funny, and it shows the personality of our class. (they are such hams!) 

Pumpkin Seed Multiplication

This week I introduced the class to multiplication, and I was able to revive one of my favorite math lessons.  Mrs. McMurphy's math class joined us, and we used the science lab to conduct this two day experiment.  First, we reviewed some facts about pumpkins, how they grow, different varieties, etc. I read "How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin" by Margret McNamara and Brian Karas. This is an excellent little book about a class that is learning about multiplication.







The class was then divided into two teams.  One team had a small white pumpkin, and the other team had a large orange pumpkin.  We made predictions about how heavy the pumpkins were, how many stripes they had, the circumference, and of course, how many seeds they have.

We checked our checked our predictions about the weight, circumference (both metric and standard), etc.  I was vey impressed at how close many of the students' predictions were!





We then cut open the pumpkins, took out the seeds, cleaned and toasted them.

Today we brainstormed ideas about the best ways to count the seeds.  I was relieved when the class decided on their own that the best way to count the seeds was to divide them into groups of 2s, 5s, or 10s.  With that, the class was divided into two "clubs," the Twos Club, and the Fives Club.  The Twos Club made arrays of seeds in groups of, and the Fives Clubs made arrays of seeds in groups of 5.

After all the seeds we sorted we skip counted all of the seeds.  

We then made repeated addition problems to represent our arrays.

Finally, we turned out repeated addition problems into more "efficient" multiplication problems and voila! we checked our predictions, worked in collaborative groups, learned problem solving strategies, multiplication has been introduced & made concrete, connected to prior knowledge and understanding, related to real world examples, and hopefully fun! 

A special thank you to Tanya Hand and Lori Aycock for donating the awesome pumpkins!

Innovate Workshop (21st Century Literacy)

This Friday Noble Academy will host the NCAIS Innovate conference.  I will be presenting a workshop with Mrs. Romero titled Literacy in the 21st Century K-4 Classroom.  I thought I would share our presentation with you. 

Presentation linked here

Friday "Trip"

This week's Friday tip is about our trip to the Lazy 5 Ranch.  We had a great time learning about all kids of animals and getting up close and feeding them!  Although all students in grades K-5 attended, Mrs. Blodgett took the girls in a group, and we men stayed together. (I didn't realize until now that I didn't get many pictures of the students in the other groups- sorry about that!) The weather was invigorating and seasonable while we visited a petting zoo, went on a hay ride, enjoyed an al fresco lunch, went to to a country store, and we even had a spirited game of checkers before heading home.

EEK! Spiders

Our classroom has been transformed into an arachnid habitat!  Did you know that spiders are a symbol of Halloween because in days of old it was believed that they would hide in corners and "eves drop" on  conversations? The spiders would then return to the witch who had sent them and they would report what they learned! The spiders in our room are friendly, but they are listening to what our class is doing. After Halloween, each classmate will have a "conversation" with their spider, and they will need to write down what the spiders observed in class. - It will be interesting to see if the students' spiders remember material from lessons or if they will only remember social tidbits! 

We made the legs out of a solid sheet of construction paper, and then we divided the sheet into 1/8 pieces.  Because we have been learning fractions, this was a fun way to assess cross-curricular understanding.  We then painted paper plates and affixed our spiders' bellies and legs.

Digraph/Short Vowel Drills

Everyday our class starts with a drill of short vowels, digraphs and glued sounds.  The most important part of the drill is saying the correct sound; to insure this happens, every sound is associated with a keyword.

Friday Tip

This past week we celebrated Columbus Day.  Perhaps Columbus didn't "discover" a new world, but he did increase awareness about the western hemisphere. Columbus kept a journal which was later published under the title, I, Columbus.

As a class we discussed the importance of Christopher Columbus, as well as the myths that surround the stories about Christopher Columbus.  We looked at his journal, and created our own journals.  In our journals we wrote about what our first memories are, what we remember about the first day of school, and what our dreams and aspirations are for the future.  

I think the class did a really neat job with this! I think we have some natural born journal keepers (or future bloggers?) in this class!  

I think this would make a fun project to catalogue special days and celebrations. At the end of the year you will have a student created scrapbook/journal!  

Days of the Week!

This is a fun song we have been learning to help us remember the days of the week.

Wilson 1.5

We have progresses to stub-step 1.5.  In this step we introduce new sounds called "glued" or "welded" sounds.  These are sounds that can't be tapped individually, so we "glue" all the letters together and say the sounds together.  For example, if you tapped the word "ball" you would pronounce the word as "b-ah-l. " Glued sounds "all" "an" and "am" are all tapped with two fingers tapped together.  Glued sounds are presented on a single card and are green to differentiate them from other cards.  

We have also learned "bonus letters." A single syllable word that ends in f, l, or s after a short vowel has a bonus f,l, or s added to the end of the word.  Notice that the rows of letters end with an f, l, or s- this is to help reinforce the bonus letter rule.  Bonus letters are kept on the bottom of the alphabet with the digraphs.  Glued sounds are at the bottom.  Notice that all of the vowels are salmon, consonants are yellow, and glued sounds are green.  

Students are also adding these glues sounds to their rules notebooks, and we review the sounds every day.  

We are focusing a lot on word families this year, and we are implementing word sort strategies presented in the Words Their Way program. Glued sounds are also considered word families, and we have been building all kinds of words in the "all," "an," and "am" families.  

A fun strategy to use at home is to build as many words in each family as possible, put the words into piles and color code them! We will be focusing a great deal on word families and doing a lot of sorting and color coding in class over the next few weeks.  

Friday Tip

Our theme for October is "Autumn" all of our writing, and many of the books selected for read aloud this month will follow our autumn theme.  Soon we will be looking at multiplication as repeated addition using pumpkin seeds, and we will conclude the month with a trip to the Lazy 5 Ranch pumpkin patch!

Marking Words

Marking words is a very important part of learning how to be strong readers. Words should always be "marked-up" before taping. For example, the word chess has 5 letters but only 3 sounds.  This can be confusing if the word is not marked first. We do not tap /c/-/h/-/e/-/s/-/s/, but rather we scoop the syllable first (this is a good habit to start with single syllable words so that students get in the habit before multisyllabic words). Next underline the digraph, we star the bonus letter and mark the vowel as short or long.  Now we only have to tap the three sounds /ch/-/e/-/s/.

Friday Tip

By popular demand I thought I would share this file for an organizer I made for teaching how to write a personal narrative to 3rd graders a few years ago. Please let me know if the link does not work for you.
File linked here

This file was originally created using Mac Pages, and there were some formatting issues when I tried to convert it to Word file.  BUT, the link should work.

Friday Tip

This weeks Friday Tip has come on a Saturday, but it's a really fun a useful project I found on This website.  Have a great weekend!  

Friday Tip

This week's Friday tip is well-known by all the Noble Academy families, but I thought I would share with those not familiar with the "Noble Way." Keeping homework and completed assignments organized is a challenge for most students. Last year we started using these "Nikki" folders so that everything would have a place, and everything would be placed in it. The front of the folder is used for completed assignments going home as well as forms and papers from parents returned to school. Inside the the folder one side is for homework to do, and it is placed on the other side when it is done.  Super simple idea but such a time saver!

Word Wall

So what is a word wall, and how is it used? I am using our word wall a little bit differently this year because of the nature of our class.  Most word walls are blank at the beginning of the year and words are added throughout the year.  We do add new words each week, but we started the year with 100 of the most common sight or "trick" words from first grade and kindergarten already posted.  We review these words, and the students can use the word wall as a reference for spelling these words.  We add new words each week after the class has had the chance to work with these words in class, guided reading lessons and for homework.  We are constantly review the spelling of these words by chanting and clap-spelling.  Because these are high-frequency words, it is likely that students will read them often. Having the words posted permanently in the room provides a great opportunity to practice writing these words in our writing. 

"Word Walls are useful because they make sight words more visible in the classroom- and when words are visible, students learn to read more readily." -Gail E. Tompkins

Wilson Key-Words &Sounds

Vowel sounds are reviewed every day.  The proper way to review is to
start with the letter name, keyword, and sound.  i.e..
"a" apple /a/. 

It may seem silly, but keywords for sound retrieval are vital!  It still amazes me when I see a student self-correct using this simple strategy.  If the student spells the word "fish" as f-e-sh, they can self correct by using what I call their built-in spell-check.  Start with the vowel.  What is the keyword for e? Ed. What sound does the "e" make? /e/. Usually they immediately see their mistake and correct the word. 9 times out of 10 spelling mistakes are made by confusing vowel sounds.  because of this we review the vowel sounds every day.  We are only focusing on the short sounds this semester, and long vowels will come next semester.  However, we are not "avoiding" long vowels, in fact we are still looking at them through our daily sorts and Words Their Way lessons.  At this point long vowels are described as saying their name in words.  We will get much deeper into this during the second semester, and look at various ways words with long vowels are spelled.

Digraphs also have keywords and sounds.  Any guesses when to use "ck" option  for the /k/ sound? 

Friday Tip

These "window readers" are great to help improve reading fluency, and they also assist in improving accuracy.  Many students get overwhelmed when they see lots of words on a page, but these little windows help to narrow the focus into processable chunks.  They also minimize reading errors because they help the eye to focus and mentally segment words.  They come in many different colors, but there is some research that suggest yellow is the best at helping the the eye process information to the brain. I picked these up at the local teacher supply store- the best $0.99 ever spent!

Ice Cream Graphing!

We have had a great time graphing the past few weeks, and who doesn't love graphing fun things like ice cream? By a landslide chocolate is the preferred flavor, and I am still amazed that no one voted for strawberry!  The favorite topping was by far sprinkles- not sure why, do sprinkles even have a taste?  Ah, the good ol' days! My personal favorite is butter pecan, but the kids did not want to have anything to do with that!  Maybe next we will graph the least favorite flavors.  Has anyone had bubble gum ice cream?  A huge thank you to Mrs. Blodgett for organizing this!

The Homework Debate

The research is all over the place when looking at the pros and cons of homework.  Some experts cite the importance of reinforcing concepts learned earlier in the day while other experts cite evidence that claim there is no co-relation with homework and increased retention or advancement.  I'm not sure how I feel about homework, but I do know that it can be the cause of a great pain and torture for some families, while other parents like homework because it is a way for them to feel connected to what their child is doing at school.
As a teacher I am very hesitant to send home work that needs a great deal of explanation or assistance because I don't want to confuse my students.  Most of the work I send home is work that is self-explanititory or work that is basic memory or commutation work.  However, I know that this does not give a great deal of insight into the concepts we are learning in class.  I do like the act of having my class be responsible for taking something home, working on it, and bringing it back.  I believe just the act of turing in assignments teaches accountability and independence.  But, is a worksheet or spelling practice the best way to do this?

I'm curious what others think about homework.  Should it be something that is done as a family? Is it something that should be done completely independently? Is homework relevant in the 21st century? Can we think of other ways to help kids at home without the "drudgery" of an assignment, or would they be willing to work with parents if nothing was officially assigned?

Any thoughts?

Friday Tip

We use "magic reading stars" to help us track the words we are reading.  It is amazing the difference having something like this makes to the accuracy and fluency of reading.  Of course you can use a pencil or a even a finger, but it isn't half as fun!

Our Class Has a Very Bad Case of the Stripes!

Our language arts class read A Very Bad Case of the Stripes by David Shannon last week.  I love this story for its message- not being afraid to be who you are and letting your light shine.  This is a great story to read at the beginning of the year because it can be an ice breaker and a good getting to know you book.  First we read the book, and then we discussed what we like that other people might not like or understand.  Camilla Cream, the main character, loves lima beans, but she is afraid to admit it because she thinks her new classmates will think she's strange.

We wrote about the things we like, and then we gave ourselves a case of the stripes by adding colors to our own black and white pictures.

Then we took it one step further and studied the book by looking for effects and what caused them to happen.  Once we were finished we put our work up in the hall to prove that we are not afraid to be ourselves.  Maybe our case of the stripes will be cured!

Calendar Month Song

Part of our calendar time is devoted to learning the days of the week and the months in the year.  We have been singing this song to help us remember the months.  The class has been asking me for a while to be uploaded, so here it is!  I think that they are a fine group of singers!  We also review temperature, weather patterns, money, graphing, number sense, tallying, seasons, variety patterns, and much more during our daily calendar time.

Paper Plate Clocks!

Today we made these cute little paper plate clocks.  Many students find it difficult to tell time, especially in today's world of digital clocks.  I like making these clocks because it provides a very tangible and concrete way to check the time.

How it works:
Have the students arrange the hands on the clock so that they are pointing to numbers.  The hour hand (short/red) is read first.  Just say the number it is pointing to.  In this case we would say "6." Then follow the minute hand (long/blue) and fold up the flap.  Say what it says under the flap.  In this case "15." Now put it together- 6:15.  As the class gets more comfortable with this procedure we can challenge them to say the time without opening the flap, and they can self-check.

How to make:
Write the numbers on a plate (always start with 12, 3, 6, and 9).  Then add the other numbers 2 finger spaces apart.  cut a slit between the numbers and glue the plate (only put glue in the middle) to another plate.  fold up the flaps and add 00 under 12, 05 under 5 , 10 under 2 and so on.  cut out hands from construction paper and attach them with a brad.

It's easy as that, and the kids had a fun time making them!  These will stay in their chair pockets, and we will use these as a form of "quick checking" when we start math class.

Wilson 1.3 Digraphs

This week I introduced the concept of digraphs.  This is nothing new for the students and the same digraphs and keywords are used in FUNdations.  However, digraphs can still be tricky because they contain 2 letters, but they only make one sound.  As you can see from the clip we are still working on letter-sound relations, but I have been impressed with the classes' ability to "tap" unknown words.  Don't judge my videography skills too harshly, but I thought this would give a little insight into the wonderful world of Wilson.  In the clip a student says the wrong sound for a letter.  When that happens, always direct them back to the letter and keyword combination. 9 times out of 10 this will lead to self-correction.

We will also be incorporating Secret Stories into our reading class as a way to make digraphs more memorable. Secret Stories are pictures of digraphs that are related to a story.  I'll add a post about Secret Stories when we get deeper into that.

The Words Their Way sorts are connected to the Wilson rule we are covering, and it is another way students can connect with words in a tactile and authentic way.  When working with the word sorts at home, encourage your child to explain why he or she put their word in that particular pile. Being able to verbalize the rational behind the sort, and teach another about it is an excellent way of remembering the material.  Homework has been pretty skimpy this week, but it will pick up some next week once the class is back in the habit of marking words and self-correcting.


I'm curious how many parents are comfortable "tapping" at home, would a primer clip about tapping be helpful?

Friday Tip

We have completed our first full week of school, and I feel like we have started on a great foot!  Although next week is a shortened week, it will be a very full and busy week.  We are also going to start our regular homework regime next week.


Today's Friday Tip is on Saturday, but I hope it is found to be helpful.  This tip is something I adapted from an idea I gleaned from Pinterest.  I saw the idea that some teachers glue clothespins to ribbon to display student work, but I thought why not glue two magnets to the clothespins and attach the pins that way.  One magnet is glued to the pin, and the other is on the back of the ribbon holding the pin in place.  Because the pins are magnetized, they can be adjusted for large and small projects, and they prevent holes in the wall.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Wilson 1.3

The board should look like this at the
beginning of step 1.3

We will be starting with Wilson sub-step 1.3.  In this step we will focus on short vowel sounds in closed syllable words i.e. mat, cat, rat, etc. When "making" words students move the tiles over to the other side of the magnetic journal.  In this step, words will have 3 tiles, each tile represents a sound.  Sounds are "tapped" on fingers and then the word is pronounced.  Notice that the vowels are a salmon color, this makes it easy to differentiate vowels from consonants.  In three-sound closed-syllable words the vowel is in the middle of the word.  because "qu" makes a single sound it is on one card. Students are taught that "q" is a chicken letter because it is afraid to go anywhere without its buddy "u." The "u" after the "q" therefore is not considered a vowel, but rather just "q's" buddy.

There are a lot of materials that are needed for a Wilson class, and I thought I would add a bit of an explanation about that so that there is a better understanding of how the system works.  The journal is used to write controlled words and sentences. This year I put the Student Notebook in a report cover to make it less bulky.  I also omitted the pages that the students will not be using this year from their notebooks. The notebooks are used to write notes and keep track of the patterns and rules we are learning is class. The Magnetic Journal is the journal referenced above. The reader is used for dictation, as well as sentence and paragraph reading.  Most of the words in the reader are controlled by the current sub-step.  The words that are not controlled are called "sight words." This is different from FUNdations where they are called "trick words" -same concept, different name.  We also practice writing using whiteboards.

Touch Math

Touch Math is an excellent strategy for children to use when they are adding and subtracting.  When adding, I teach the class to start with the largest number and add the smaller number using the touch-points on the chart.  I'm not using the term commutative property at this point in the year with 2nd/3rd graders, but I am stressing the fact that it doesn't matter which number is added first.  As we progress students will have a better foundation of arithmetic principles, and then we will associate the properties with their specific names.  I have found that a big reason students dislike math is because they do not understand the "wordy" lingo associated with operations.

When completing Xtramath at home I suggest using the Touch Math strategy of adding the smaller number to the larger number, even if it takes a bit longer.  At this point I think the process and building a stronger number sense is more important than making "good time" on Xtramath. Speed will come with competency.

Xtramath!

What is Xtramath, and how will it help with math facts? This short video explains the "ins and outs" of Xtramath;  if you have any questions please let me know.  I am encouraging students to start with the largest number and add on from there.  For example 9+2: say 9 and then add 2, ---- 9, 10, 11.  I will add a post about how to incorporate Touch Math soon!

Friday Tip

As we all know, kids sometimes struggle with amount control. This is a great tip I picked up from a fellow teacher:

By adding a rubber-band to the pump of a hand sanitizer bottle you can control the amount of sanitizer that kids use.  It's a very simple idea, but it works great and no more dripping wet hands!



Have a fantastic weekend!

First Full Day!

Well, I think we are all exhausted after today and the first full day back to school.  Today my reading class took the Words Their Way assessment for spelling.  This assessment will allow me the ability to better differentiate my spelling groups.  We are taking a new approach to spelling this year, and we are not going to have formal Friday spelling tests like we have had in the past.  Research has shown that spelling tests are ineffective for most students, especially students with any kind of learning difference in language.  Instead we will be assessing patterns that are found in the English language.  For example, if we are learning closed syllables with the short /a/ sound, we might have an assessment on Friday having the class spell the words, cat, hat, cab, lab, etc.  However, the students will not be given these words ahead of time, they will simply use their knowledge of language to spell the words.  I know this may sound unorthodox, but I think it will be much more authentic and be of better use to the kids.  I will be giving more information about this later, but thought I would go ahead and test the waters.  I would love to know any thoughts you have on this, so please leave comments, and we can get a dialogue started.



Today we also reviewed school rules, and read the book David Goes to School by David Shannon.  This is a good way to introduce expectations and rules without seeming to be to "preachy." After reading the story we made our own Davids and created scenarios of how to act appropriately at school.
I was very impressed with the classes coordination, and ability to create some very sophisticated characters.  I can already tell that this class is going to be amazing!