Not Your Normal KWL

Hi there!  I don’t know about you, but when I went to school to become a teacher I was told that the KWL chart was one of the best ways to begin learning about a new topic.  It accomplished the task of activating prior knowledge, had students asking questions and setting a purpose for learning, and then they recorded any new information that they learned.   I still think a KWL chart is extremely useful and can be very meaningful for students, but I have personally found a new way of beginning units and I don't think I will be going back - a Schema Chart.  

*The idea for this cutie penguin chart came from the very talented Cara Carroll*

Here’s why I love me some schema charts: When students share what they “know” about a topic on a KWL, sometimes they are not correct.  For example, Penguins can fly.  As a teacher, what do you do when that happens?  Do you tell them right then that they are wrong or do you write the incorrect information on the KWL only to have to cross it off later?  I never liked that decision because I didn’t think either one was a good solution to the problem.  I didn't want to ruin the discovery of learning and I also didn't want to knock down the children who were brave to volunteer information only to tell them they were wrong.  That child will never raise his/her hand again after that.  But by using a Schema Chart you don’t have to make students feel bad anymore and you can let them DISCOVER their own misconceptions while learning.  

We begin each unit by sharing all of our schema about the topic we are about to study.  I use post-its so we can easily move them around later if we need to.  When I first introduce the terms SCHEMA and MISCONCEPTIONS I explain that schema is what we “think” we know about a topic. Sometimes we “know” something and then realize that we didn’t have all the facts.  This is called a misconception.  I’ll say something like: “Is it ok to be “wrong” when we really thought we knew something?  Of course - it happens to the best of us!  Is it fun to be wrong?  No, but in our classroom we don’t make anyone feel bad when they get an answer wrong.  It’s all part of learning.  None of us, including me, knows everything there is to know, so we won’t make anyone feel bad if they had a misconception.  We just move our ideas over to misconceptions and write down some of our new learning.”  Give them a quick explanation of how we will handle misconceptions and how that is all part of the process of learning.  Of course, it’s all in the way you, as the teacher, deliver it.  

The next two parts of a schema chart are the same as a KWL - QUESTIONS and NEW LEARNING. We think of questions we want answered and as we move through the unit we add new learning to our chart.  And again, we move misconceptions over as we discover our new learning.  

When I started using schema charts to begin my units I  really saw my 1st graders using the language of schema and misconceptions.  I heard them support each other when they learned they were wrong and say, “Oops, that was a misconception!  Now we have some new learning!”  It really was a great thing!  

Now,  you can make your charts look cute and more engaging like my penguin or reindeer, which of course take a little longer.  

Or you can just use a piece of chart paper with columns for each part.  Personally I like the visual, but sometimes I don't have the time or might forget to prepare my charts ahead of time.  Here is one that I did on the fly about 5 minutes before we started learning about The First Thanksgiving.

The kids were eating snack while I was making it and it was actually so fun for them to see me put this together and talk about what they thought we would be doing next.  Bad teacher planning on my part, but it did spark a bit of curiosity.  

After I realized how much I really loved using schema charts to begin my units, I created a little pack called Be a Fact Finder that I could use with ANY nonfiction unit.  

It includes chart pieces and a student component of the schema chart, as well as tons of other activities that can be used during whole group or guided reading and writing.  My favorite are these Stop and Think bookmarks and signs.

Click HERE if you want to check this pack out in more detail.  

I would love to hear any other ideas you have for sparking interest and activating prior knowledge when you begin a new unit.  Comment below and share :)

Have a wonderful holiday!!  

Reading Comprehension for Beginning Readers - 1st and 2nd Graders

I used to teach 3rd grade, for 8 years, and before that I taught 4th grade for 2 years.  I liked how independent the kids were.  I liked how I could joke with them and they actually got my jokes.  I especially loved how those years were such a huge turning point in a child's elementary life and I was the one to help them through it.  Students in those grades actually remember, for years, the things you do in the classroom....and come back to tell you ALL about it!  It really is a great age to teach!!

What I didn't love, however, were the state assessments.  Yuck!  They really sucked the fun out of teaching for so many weeks leading up to the tests.  Then when Common Core was adopted and the tests consequently changed to being so much harder, so much longer, and frankly - so much more unfair....I decided I needed a change too.  That was when I took the opportunity to move to 1st grade.  This was the best decision I could have ever made because 1st grade is just ME.

First grade and me go together like peanut butter and jelly.

I could go on and on about the things I love about my little firsties, but what I love the most of all is knowing where my students have to get to in a few short years and being confident that I can be the person to help them get there.  I feel effective!  And isn't that what all teachers want to feel?

You might be wondering why I went on and on about all that and how it has anything to do with reading comprehension.  Well I'll tell you.  When I watched my little third graders - and yes, they are still little in 3rd grade - struggle through a reading test for HOURS and feel defeated, it broke my heart.  I wanted to do anything I could to try to prepare them for the stamina they would need and the strategies to get through it.  Now that I'm in 1st grade I feel like I can help them on this journey by providing as many opportunities to practice strategies they will need but at their level and with my support.  It is my hope that I can give them the foundation that will help them down the road.

So this year I started creating some opportunities to guide my students through the process of reading comprehension.  It definitely is a PROCESS - am I right?  So besides being able to read (kinda important) - what DO children need to be able to do when answering reading comprehension questions?

Here are 5 things that I think young readers need to learn when it comes to reading comprehension:


One of the hardest things for students is just knowing what exactly a comprehension question is even asking.  I spend time teaching those question words: who, what, why, where, when, and how.  I teach them how to read those words, of course, and then also what kinds of questions they might see with each of them.

As with anything we teach, it's important to start out with some modeling and guided practice.  I use my whole group reading time to model using our read alouds.  I use my guided reading time to practice with texts at their level.  When it comes to practicing independently I wanted to give my students the opportunity to just work on the questions, so I made these Picture Comprehension pages with some basic questions like: Who is in the picture? What are they doing? Where are they?  And then also some inference questions like: Why do you think they are doing that?




These allow the students to practice reading those question words, but keeps it quick and simple for independent work.




The next skill that children need to learn is to read ALL of the choices when answering multiple choice questions.  They need to get used to being tricked by similar answers and not just pick the first one they read.  So again, I use the Picture Comprehension to practice this, but I also made these simple Sentence Comprehension pages for that as well.



Many of the choices are similar and students really need to pay close attention to the answer they choose.




It's important for us as teachers to understand that children don't naturally know how to answer comprehension questions.  We need to start out simple in order to help them practice and be successful from the get go.  When students get into reading longer passages they will need to pay close attention to detail and be able to search for important clues in the text.  Again, I like to provide the support of pictures to help students practice this.  Important clues can be found in the text and also in pictures.



These Picture Match Books have become a favorite in our classroom.  The kids cannot get enough of them!!!



I also use these CLOZE Comprehension pages for practice.  Children need to fill in the missing words and then answer a couple questions about a short passage.






One of the hardest parts of reading comprehension for beginning readers is the amount of time it takes to get through a reading passage and THEN they have to go back and find answers to the questions.  Teaching students to find the key words in questions and then skim through the text to search for the answer is one of the best skills they can have in their back pocket.   This takes TONS of modeling and guided practice.  When I am working on this with students I really like to have a short passage with questions to answer.



I teach them to read all the choices first, pick out key words to search for, and then skim to find those words.  In the Earth Day example shown I would have students read #1 and the choices.  Then we would skim for the numbers 2 or 22 in the passage since numbers are easy to skim for.  The next questions in this passage involve a little more inferring, but we would still search for key words to give us clues that help us answer the questions.




The final strategy I teach my first graders really goes along with #4.  When they are skimming for key words, they then need to underline where they find the proof for their answers.  We try to make this more interesting by using crayons or highlighters when we practice.  This also lets me see quickly if students are actually using this strategy and doing it correctly.



When we take the time with our beginning readers to model, model, model, then guide, guide, guide, and finally practice, practice, practice -- it gives them the time they need to internalize these strategies.  They do so with manageable texts and are able to build up their comprehension confidence.  I strongly believe that providing these opportunities for them early on is the key to helping them further develop these skills in later years.

So for a quick recap, here are the 5 strategies again:




You can find these reading comprehension pages in my seasonal Building Readers packs.



The ones pictured here are from the Spring Edition (March-May).  I also have Fall (September-November) and Winter (December-February).

    

I have plans to make more of these packs as well because I've seen such a difference in my students as readers this year.  These have become an important part of our reading routine and I think they could do the same for your class.  

Back to School Resources for 1st Grade

Hi friends!

I wanted to write a quick post to show you my must-haves for this time of year.  There is a One Day Sale over at Teachers Pay Teachers and I thought a post with some of my favorite resources might be helpful.  

First up is this All-In-One bundle I made for anyone just starting the year in 1st grade.  These packs keep me sane in the beginning of the year, so I put them together into this bundle.  You can read more about it HERE or click on the picture to see it in my store.  

I also bundled some of my favorite math resources that I use starting Day 1.  You can read about it HERE or click the picture.  

This next one is a new resource that I created.  I can't wait to use this with my RTI groups this year.  You can read all about it HERE.  

For small group instruction, I also made these Guided Reading packs.  This post gives you some more information on these babies.  

How about this fun sight word program?  My kiddos LOVED this and really learned their sight words.  I am in the process of writing up a post to show you these packs.  

But for now, here's some quick pictures to give you a preview.  

Finally, some Fall themed resources for my favorite time of year (that isn't summer vacation of course).  

These are two new fall themed packs that I just finished and am also excited to use this year.

  

I know that was a lot to throw at you, but I didn't want a sale to go by without letting you know all about it and sharing what I will be using!!  

I will be back soon to give you more about my prep for back to school (we go back after Labor Day).

Happy shopping!!!

Weekend Warriors: Guided Reading Organizational Tips

Coming at you this weekend with some of my absolute FAVORITE bloggers for our monthly Weekend Warriors posts.  This month's theme is...

Today I'm going to share a little bit about how I *try* to stay organized for my guided reading groups.  

First, and most important, I like to keep everything I need as close to me as possible.  I try to find a spot in my room for my guided reading table to be where I can have bookshelves, plastic drawers, and whatever else I can to hold all my STUFF!  Because after 13 years of teaching - I have A LOT of stuff!  

In the picture above I am showing just a few things I keep close by for guided reading time.  There are so many things that are not pictured, so I will try to list as many as I can that are not pictured.  I always keep: plenty of sharpened pencils, erasers, highlighters, markers and crayons, whisper phones, sight word flash cards, letter tiles (pictured below), letter stamps, running record timer, table top pocket chart, sight word/word work games, and SO MUCH MORE!



Then there's the question of where to store the centers and activities students work on during guided reading time.  I have a variety of different centers so I have multiple storage techniques, but this is one of my favorite ways to organize centers (when they fit).

I have tons of these file organizers.  I have one for each "set" of centers that I use and then a bunch more for flash cards.  I actually need to buy more :)  

So those are just a couple ways I try to stay organized during guided reading.  I need to utilize my time for instruction and not finding materials because 5 reading groups go by in a flash and need to be time well spent.

If you are looking for more resources for your guided reading time - click HERE. 

Now hop around and find out some more organizational ideas for your classroom.  I am on my way too because I can always use more organizational tips.  

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