Tips, Titles and Tools for Teachers
Resources for Reading and Writing Workshop
Here are the 5 Hearts of RTI with a few of my favorite quotes from the post.
Classrooms with HEART
"Never lost sight that we may be the only place a child is celebrated. That thought alone should inspire us to celebrate from the HEART."
Practices with HEART
"Time is a precious gift and we shut down our HEART each time we waste even one minute. ... Daily HEART MUSTS include read aloud, independent reading, and one-to-one conferring."
Interventions with HEART
"... thoughtfully responsive experiences with books that inspire engaging conversations enriched by teachers who let their HEART lead the way."
Data with HEART
"We must stop using numbers to define children and start using the child's name and our knowledge of that child based on real life learning day-to-day experiences."
Schools with HEART
"What we buy are only 'things' until a knowledgeable teacher breathes life into them in the best interest of children."
I encourage all of you to take a few minutes this week to read this post. In this time of data collection and analysis, I think it contains some important reminders for all of us about what matters most of all.
Happy Reading,
Shelly
Blog Posts to Support Writing Workshop
Keeping the 'Mini' in Mini Lessons
Although this post is from a middle school teacher, most of her her tips can be applied to any K-5 classroom. Katie's suggestions may help you shorten your teaching time so that students can spend more time writing.
This blog post from Elizabeth Moore includes great phrases to include in your writing mini lessons!
Great quote from this post:
"There are many things we can't control in the classroom: the amount of time we have, the number of students, the size (and sometimes temperature) of the classroom space. But one thing we can control is the language we use that conveys choice, vs language that conveys assignment."
A good compliment can accelerate learning. ~ Lucy Calkins
Imagine being in the writer's shoes in a conference ... we would all want to hear something we did really well in our writing! This blog post includes great tips on how to ensure your writing conferences include a clear compliment for each writer.
Rethinking Graphic Organizers for Writing
I think we've all noticed that the Units of Study program doesn't include a graphic organizer recommended for each type of writing. In this post, Dana Murphy explains the scaffolds that are included in the program to support writers.
Interactive Read Aloud
Tamra Wight Author Visit ~ February 7!
Here are some links that Tamra recommended to support her visit!
Tamra's Pinterest Board for Cooper and Packrat in the Classroom
Mystery on Pine Lake Inspiration
Tamra's YouTube channel with wildlife videos
This is a list of Tamra's Loon Watch blog posts from 2016 that you can share with your students. Amazing photographs!
Last week I also shared the Curriculum Guides for each book. Enjoy!
If you are interested in ordering the books from the Cooper and Packrat series, remember you can order with Islandport Press and use the discount Williams17 for 30% off your order!
Shelly Moody
Atwood Primary School
Williams Elementary School
Email: smoody@rsu18.org
Twitter: @shelmoody