"It's the ordinary things that seem important to me."Alex Colville
Artist
? Elementary School, St. Catherine's, Canada
When I switched my program this year to a faster paced, quicker transitioning 10 minute activity method, I was incredulous to hear cheers to the most simple, low preparation activities! No longer was I spending hours and money prepping multiple "incredible" lessons for each day. All of a sudden, I was a superhero teacher in the eyes of my young students for simple, repetitive activities. I was disgusted! LOL Not really! But, I did see my teaching a little differently. Now once or twice a week, I add in a complicated, high preparation, more costly lesson feeling confident that my program is balanced and beloved throughout. I have also found some time for my family! Can't go wrong with that!
Terrain (Level of Difficulty): 💖
Kit List:
Please see below. The resources needed are listed as I talk about them.
The Map:
When I sat down to figure out my language activities and how I would structure my program, I had "The Daily 5" in the back of my mind. I've, but once, successfully run that program the way it was written, but I do like the facets of the language program the way it is laid out. I like to call my program a "Dissected Daily 5." I take each part out and work it separately instead of in centres to ensure quality instruction, student work, and assessment. So, when I sat down to consider the 5 ten minute sections of my language block, I thought about the different aspects of The Daily 5. There had to be:
-Read to Self
-Read to Someone
-Work on Writing
-Word Work
-Listen to Reading
I added printing because I was concerned about the pencil grip that too many of my children did not have and how that would affect their stamina in writing as time progressed. I also kept Guided Reading but I placed that outside of my 50 minutes and I will address this today too.
Read Aloud: I start my language block with a read aloud each day. While I am reading, the children have an opportunity to take a breath from their recess break. Depending on my focus, I allow the children to doodle, Sketch to Stretch, or colour.
Each week, I pick a theme for the week. The themes could relate to:
-character education
-comprehension strategies
-vocabulary development
-my PBL unit
-science, social studies, art, health, drama, music... subjects
-current events
-author study
-student interests
I choose 3 books for the week. No matter the theme, I try to ensure the stories are high interest and varied in tone, style... Each day from Monday to Wednesday, I read one story that we discuss with the focus that I have in mind but also whatever the children find interesting.
On Thursdays, I draw a 3 circle Venn diagram. I structure these periods based on 3 important philosophical ideas from great resources.
1. Several years ago, after reading an article about 21st Century Learning, I came to understand the importance of compare and contrast along with making connections. So, on Thursdays, we compare our stories for similarities and differences.
2. Another great influencing resource, "Disruptive Thinking" by Kylene Beers and Bob Probst has guided me in this activity. As we compare and contrast the books, we consider what is in the book, what our thinking is, and how the book will affect our lives as we proceed.
3. The third resource, which I got from a teacher in the intermediate division is also really important. If we want to improve our ideas of equity and belonging, thinking about our resources is essential. By using Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop's concept of "books as mirrors or windows," I am able to include the children in participating in choosing books that make everyone feel like they belong. In fact, as the year progresses, I can see that my students will be choosing the 3 stories for the week.
On Fridays, I do a Magic Story. I have posted 2 examples so far of some of those and I will continue to share my Magic Story ideas as I continue this Blog.
Shared Reading: When I taught online last year, my little ELL first graders fell in love with having a poem that they practiced everyday and were able to read on their own by the end of the week. I know that much of that reading was from memory but they were so proud of how they could read! Nothing else is more important! My second graders have taken on the same enthusiasm for our weekly poem. In fact, they chose on their own to present a light poem to the school for our online assembly this December. I use the shared reading poem to:
-improve vocabulary
-work word decoding strategies
-introduce poetic forms
-focus on vocal expression and fluency
-discuss the role of punctuation
The students keep their poems in a duotang and I write them on a chart. We mark the poems with highlighters and notes and drawings to note what we are focussing on.
Word Work: I do a variety of activities that I repeat weekly.
It is important to note that I do not do weekly word lists and spelling tests. Application of spelling rules is really the only measure of a child's ability to spell. As a result, I used facets of the "Words Their Way" program and my new all-time favourite program called, "Secret Stories." And, I can say that generally my kiddos this year are better spellers as a result than students I have taught in years past because they get it!
Secret Story Introduction: If you haven't heard about this program, look it up! In all my years of teaching, I have never seen such a comprehensive idea that appeals to children, is based on research, and shows incredible results in short periods of time. If I am going to put higher preparation, money, and time into a lesson, it will likely be here. I back up the story with props, videos, and excitement. There is a wonderful Facebook group for teachers who work with Secret Stories. You can get lots of ideas from there. I focus on one story for a couple of weeks.
Word Sort: You can read lots about word sorts in the "Words Their Way" program. I give the children a list of words that fit into 2 different categories and I always include one or more oddball words that show exceptions to certain words. When we go back to school in January, I will focusing on the Secret Story about the vowel <Ii>. The words that I give the children will have short <Ii> and long <Ii> words. I will include a few different long <Ii> patterns for sub-sorts as we get closer to the end of 2 weeks. I will include "field", "thief" and "believe" as oddball words. You'll need:
-word lists cut up and placed in baggies (one for a group of 3)
-word sorting cards (see page 3 of the above file)
I let the students work in groups of 3 without instruction about the words for a while the first time. Since I repeat this activity 2-3 times per week, the children develop knowledge as we go and as they ask questions. There are lots of different types of word sorts.
Word Wall: Every primary teacher that I know has a Word Wall. It is important and helpful and teaches a lot more than just spelling, reading, and phonics. It teaches children to use their resources. What most primary teachers forget to do is teach the Word Wall. I thank my teaching partner right now for showing me this. By teaching the Word Wall, I increase the chances that children will use it and make it a living resource in the classroom.
Guess My Word Game - Every child has a whiteboard and a marker. I have a one minute timer. I start the game by choosing a word on the word wall. The children have one minute to print correctly as many words from the Word Wall as they can in the hopes of printing my word. They get a point if they printed and guessed my word. The students take turns choosing the words too. The leader gets a point if noone guesses their word.
How Many Times Game- When I notice that the children are struggling with the spelling of a particular word, we will play this game. I give the children one minute to print the words on their whiteboards as many times as they can. It's that simple but the children love it.
Rainbow Writing - Using a variety of different coloured markers, the children trace words that they are working on.
Musical Chairs - We start with enough words for each student to have a chair. On each chair, I place a word. I play music and the children move around the room. When the music stops, they sit in a chair and take out their word. They read their word and ask the person in the chair beside to spell it. The partner does the same in turn. Chairs and words are slowly taken away but a student can earn their way back into the game by spelling a word correctly that another student makes an error on.
Making Words: I have a purchased Making Words program for primary students. You can purchase one or make your own. To run these activities, each child will require letter tiles. You can purchase Scrabble tiles for less money but I honestly use the photocopied alphabet squares from the program. Each child has a set of their own in a baggie with their name on it. Each child also has a mat to organize the letters they are working with for making words. For my kiddos, the most exciting part of this activity and the part that brings cheers is the mystery word at the end. They mystery word uses all of the letters that they started with.
Sticky Note Fridays: On Fridays, instead of testing the children on a list they studied at home, I challenge the children to write 3 new words they have learned from the week on a sticky note. Don't forget to take your Word Wall words down or cover the wall before you do this unless you want the children to use that resource. I will often wink at a student that I see using the resource if I don't cover it.
Independent Reading: I have over 2,000 books for students to read. I know because I spent the summer labeling, sorting, and organizing them. That is simply too many for children to sort through and I want to give children opportunities to try out a variety of different books on a variety of different subjects. Each month, I put out 6 new "categories" of books for the children to choose from. In each category, there are fiction and non-fiction books, picture and chapter books, magazines and newspaper clippings and books.
Partner Reading: At least once a week, I have the children share a book and read to each other. They can read a sentence, paragraph or page each and take turns.
Readers Theatre: There are lots of free ones available online and the children get into small groups to act out their play by reading their parts. This is a good opportunity to focus on expression.
Flashlight Fireside Reading: On Fridays, the children bring their flashlights and a stuffy to read their book with. I darken the room and play a fireplace on the screen. The children can read on, under, at their desks using their flashlights.
Important: To keep the children accountable to the reading, I often have the children working on a challenge during their reading.
-find a word from the Word Wall
-find a word with a particular spelling pattern
-describe the main character
-describe the setting of the story
-do an SWBST on the story
-make a connection to the story
-tell me another story or book that is similar to this one
-talk about whether this story is a mirror or a window
-...
The children read for about 5-7 minutes and I leave a few minutes at the end of the 10 minutes to pick 2-3 students randomly to share their answer to the challenge.
Printing: I know that a lot of people consider this an old-school skill that shouldn't take up time in the curriculum anymore. Maybe, because I am old, I think it has value. After I have finished teaching it, I don't hammer it. I do the teaching for the fine motor skills, to increase speed and neatness, and to build graphic design skills that I teach later in art. I choose to teach D'Nelian printing for a couple of reasons. It leads naturally into cursive writing (I know what you're saying! "What? You go there?") and also it is a little fancier which leads to my graphic design lettering. Believe it or not, the selling feature is the cursive writing. Children, still today, are intrigued by cursive writing and they all want to be able to sign their names (which is as far as I go in cursive writing instruction). I do the printing on a plastic folder with a sheet of printing paper inside it. The children use a whiteboard marker the width of a pencil so that it helps. There are lots of exercises... and occupational therapy sites that speak to fine motor.
Guided Reading: I kept my Guided Reading sessions with the students. Depending on the reader and where they are at, I may do one to one reading, partner reading, small group or larger group guided reading sessions. I don't keep myself by a particular rule and instead use the needs of the children to guide my schedule. I generally keep a particular structure for a month and re-evaluate at the end of the month what might work for the next month.
While the children are reading with me, the others are involved in simple repetitive games that build skills in language or math or both. I have a large white board and each game has a corresponding number. The children are assigned or choose partners and role for the game that they will play during this period. I keep the groups small to avoid a whole lot of noise and movement and conflict.
Partners: This is a whole learning experience on its own. I use a variety of methods for getting the children into partners quickly and like everything, I taught these methods first before I use them during Guided Reading. I want the focus to be on very quick learning and transition. Here are some ideas:
-matching picture or word cards that are placed on children's desks before they pick them up and find their match
-playing cards for matching numbers or suits
-part, part, whole cards for numbers
-puzzle pieces
-colour-coded clothespegs or popsicle sticks
Games: I keep the games simple and reusable with a variety of different topics, concepts or skills.
-Bingo
-Spending and Spelling (thanks to the great minds in the math team at the Upper Grand District School Board)
-Bump
-Spinner Games
-Story Writing online
Tip #13: KISST
If you didn't hear it, let me repeat it again! Keep It Simple Smart Teacher! Much of these games and activities I have learned over time. When I started my 10 minute fast paced program, I didn't create a whole bunch of new things. I chose games and activities that I already knew and did. I shortened them up and adapted them to fit my new schedule. Pick one new game to learn or one new activity. Trying to take the whole thing on will not be the balanced, simple approach that certainly I was looking for.
Adventure Recipe: What Games and Activities Do You Do?
So, you've read through my activities. What do you do? What games do you do with your children. What adaptations to the ones I have talked about do you include? I am looking forward to add more games, activities and details to this post. Please share what you think and do! Can't wait!
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