Tips, Titles and Tools for Teachers
Resources for Literacy, Classroom Libraries and Language
This week I spent a lot of my time in classrooms during reading workshop in both schools. I was able to lead a few CAFE lessons (using spoons!) and confer with readers during Read to Self or independent reading time. As always, thank you for sharing your students with me. I am so grateful for the way all of you have welcomed me into your classrooms!
Since most of you are working on launching your reading workshop and matching books to readers, I thought you might enjoy this beautiful blog post by author Cynthia Lord about the power of choice. It made me reflect on the words I use as a parent and as a teacher. I highly encourage you to take a few minutes to read it ~ I think you all may love it as much as I do!
Happy Reading,
Shelly
Wonderopolis
Wonderopolis is an fabulous resource for any classroom! If you have never checked it out, this website posts a Wonder of the Day. If it's been a while since you have visited the site, it has some new features. For each daily wonder, you will find:
*Have you ever wondered... questions,
*A video related to the question,
*Wonder Words (which is vocabulary from the passage) with a link to a Wonder Word Challenge where students match a few words and definitions,
*Did You Get It?, which is a knowledge quiz to use after reading the passage,
*A link at the bottom of the page where you can print a copy of the passage for your students to use (possibly for close reading), and
*Try It Out activities related to the Wonder of the Day that you can use in your classroom.
Wonderopolis offers a search option where you can look for wonders related to a unit of study. You could also choose to have a daily or weekly time for your class to visit Wonderopolis. In the upper grades, Wonderopolis could be a station for students to read and explore informational text.
The National Center for Families Learning has created an outstanding Educator's Guide for using Wonderopolis! There are ideas in the guide that can be applied to classrooms K-12!
For kindergarten teachers, this is a great blog post on Ideas for using Wonderopolis in kindergarten.
Ideas for Wonder Walls
12 Steps to Creating a Language Rich Environment
This blog post from Scholastic has excellent recommendations for creating a Language Rich Environment that can apply to any grade level or content area. You may be doing many of the things the author recommends, but I thought there were some new ideas that teachers may want to try out! I enjoyed her suggestions of anchor charts and collecting examples of awesome language with students as a way to support all learners, especially those who struggle with language and vocabulary.
Classroom Library
The First Days of School: What Do Our Classroom Libraries Say to Young Readers?
Cathy Mere shares a list of messages our classroom libraries (regardless of age) should convey to our students. Her list includes the following messages as well as Pinterest boards with awesome book titles for each message!
You're welcome here.
All readers matter.
I already know you.
Books are valued here.
We'll grow this together.
Come read with me.
How to organize a classroom library: 20 points to consider
Even if you feel that your classroom library is well organized for you and your students, I still recommend checking out this recent post by Carrie Gelson! She has some great suggestions for reflecting on your classroom library!
My classroom library: Beyond the books, 10 important features
Carrie Gelson shares great ideas for organizing your classroom library. I love how she posts key vocabulary on book jackets to display for students! I also love that she has a bin of Favorite Read Alouds that kids can visit to reread favorite read aloud books.
Great Early Elementary Read Alouds
A Fun Series From Kate Messner
Spunky Character Series From Abby Hanlon
Heartwarming Series From Cynthia Lord
Then a girl just her age brings a guinea pig named Jelly Bean to the shelter. Suzannah promises that she'll find the little creature the perfect home. But what if no one wants an abandoned guinea pig?
Great Upper Elementary Read Alouds
All The Answers
What if your pencil had all the answers? Would you ace every test? Would you know what your teachers were thinking? When Ava Anderson finds a scratched up pencil she doodles like she would with any other pencil. But when she writes a question in the margin of her math quiz, she hears a clear answer in a voice no one else seems to hear.
With the help of her friend Sophie, Ava figures out that the pencil will answer factual questions only - those with definite right or wrong answers - but won't predict the future. Ava and Sophie discover all kinds of uses for the pencil, and Ava's confidence grows with each answer. But it's getting shorter with every sharpening, and when the pencil reveals a scary truth about Ava's family, she realizes that sometimes the bravest people are the ones who live without all the answers...
Crenshaw
In her first novel since winning the Newbery Medal, Katherine Applegate delivers an unforgettable and magical story about family, friendship, and resilience.
Jackson and his family have fallen on hard times. There's no more money for rent. And not much for food, either. His parents, his little sister, and their dog may have to live in their minivan. Again.
Crenshaw is a cat. He's large, he's outspoken, and he's imaginary. He has come back into Jackson's life to help him. But is an imaginary friend enough to save this family from losing everything?
Beloved author Katherine Applegate proves in unexpected ways that friends matter, whether real or imaginary.
Circus Mirandus
Do you believe in magic?
Micah Tuttle does.
Even though his awful Great-Aunt Gertrudis doesn’t approve, Micah believes in the stories his dying Grandpa Ephraim tells him of the magical Circus Mirandus: the invisible tiger guarding the gates, the beautiful flying birdwoman, and the magician more powerful than any other—the Man Who Bends Light. Finally, Grandpa Ephraim offers proof. The Circus is real. And the Lightbender owes Ephraim a miracle. With his friend Jenny Mendoza in tow, Micah sets out to find the Circus and the man he believes will save his grandfather.
The only problem is, the Lightbender doesn't want to keep his promise. And now it's up to Micah to get the miracle he came for.
Shelly Moody
Grades K-5
Atwood Primary School
Williams Elementary School
Email: smoody@rsu18.org
Twitter: @shelmoody