Relationships

Not much learning happens without a relationship between the learner, the content, and a mentor. It is crucial to build relationships with your students starting the moment they walk through the door. Students must feel safe and be able to trust you. In an effort to build lasting relationships, schedule time during the first day or two to talk individually with each student. Create an informal or formal interview that will help you get to know each of your students interests, family, past experiences, and attitudes. Show students that you care about them and their story. We all need to be acknowledged in some way. Acknowledge each student on week one and build your lessons based off of their interests. It's a win-win for everyone! Click here to access our reading and math interview downloads.

Routines

One of my favorite pieces of advice I ever received at a seminar was "You have to go slow at first, so you can go fast later." That couldn't ring more true! In the beginning of the year, take time to show students exactly what you expect of them. Publish your schedule, expectations, and provide time to practice each routine. Engage students in determining and creating explicit processes and rules! This way, students take ownership. By mid-year, students will quickly become more independent because they know what to expect and know how to complete the routines put in place.

Best wishes this school year!

-Randi Anderson

1. Bio Poem

Create a bio poem using Read, Write, Think's Diamante poem creator. Students type their name and the topic of the poem will be "me". Students are prompted to brainstorm words that describe themselves and give the class a deeper picture of who they are. The website gives the option of printing, sharing, and saving final poems. Click here to check out this digital tool!

2. Student Selfies

Lets take a selfie! Have students create a self-portrait to post on a classroom “Wall of Fame.” Students will use hashtags to give information about themselves to the audience. Click here to get a student selfie activity!

3. Student Memes

Help students start off positive by creating memes about positive actions to share. Publish student memes on a bulletin board or social media outlet! Click here to get the lesson guide and positive meme ideas!

4. Social Media Profile

Students will create a social media profile page to illustrate and write about themselves. Display the pages on a bulletin board or wall in your classroom. Students will love viewing other student's profiles and getting to know their new classmates. Download a FREE blank Facebook page template here!

5. Class Photo Album

Create a class photo album at the beginning of the year to allow students to tell their stories. Students will love getting to read about themselves and their classmates. Use our FREE class album activity from Teachers Pay Teachers!

Have you ever thought of using YouTube videos as texts in your classroom?

Choose a brief video for students to practice using critical thinking skills such as making inferences or questioning the text. One of my favorites is Bulldog Teamwork. We treat the video just like a text. Starting out with a video instead of a text, engages the learner and sets them up for successful use of the target procedural knowledge. Ask questions like:

• What genre is this video?
• What message is the author trying to convey?
• What is the author's purpose?
• What can the view tell from the video?
• What evidence do you have to support your claims?

If you are concerned about using YouTube due to the sometimes sketchy ads or suggested related videos, consider using safeshare.tv. You copy the link from YouTube and paste the link on the shareshare.tv site. The video will play ad free. Using videos from YouTube is a great way to engage your students and get them using metacognition skills.