Great week!

Hello Everyone!

We had a very busy 4 day week last week.  Why do I always try to cram 5 days of learning into 4 days? You would think I'd have learned my lesson by now!! PHEW!
 I think my littles are enjoying first grade so far, though!! I had one sweet mom say her little girl came home every day saying first grade was more fun than summer camp! Wow!!  I do like making learning fun, but I also want to teach responsibly by making sure each lesson sparks authentic and real individual learning.  I believe in a hands on and visual approach to learning with my kiddos. This has proven itself to me time and time again.  No student ever said, "Can I have another worksheet?" 
Here are a few things we worked on this week.
In math we worked hard on subitizing, composing and decomposing. I pulled out my bigger than life 10 frame board (made on a shower curtain liner) and made each lesson tactile and visual. 

The kids loved the superhero shields and badges I found at The Dollar Tree!

In Writing we started working with Story-boarding. We weren't able to make it all the way to publishing because of the short week, but we will certainly hit it this coming week!!  I have to say, if you have students who hesitate or have an aversion to writing, this is the approach to take.  In just four days I see my students gravitating towards their getting their ideas down on paper through their boards. By drawing their story first, they are already learning about the organization of writing and the importance of adding details.  I started off reading the book "Ish" by Peter Reynolds. (Thanks to my teammate for introducing this book to me!!)  This sweet books lets kids know that their drawings don't have to be perfect!!

I modeled a story with simple drawings and stick people.  I wrote a few words to help clarify.

Then modeled organization of board and writing

I can't wait for Monday to continue the process!!!
  Way to go Kids!!!
My Writing Unit explains the process and includes printables. CLICK HERE!!! :)

We also worked hard on learning about what a scientist is and what he/she does.  We can be scientists!!

Then we practiced our scientific observation skills by doing a fun Super Skittles Surprise Experiment!!

Look at the S floating up !!!

The Skittles science is in my Superhero unit! CLICK HERE!!

Tomorrow is our 10th day of school already!!  We are celebrating that very important number all day!!
Here's a peek!!


 

For this quick little unit, CLICK HERE!! :)

I know some of you have been having trouble downloading documents.  I have contacted Googledocs, and they are looking into it.  Please keep fiddling around and retry. You can always e-mail me and I can send you docs by e-mail!  No worries!!

Have a great week everyone!!! Let me know how things are going and if you can use any of these ideas!! Or if I need to change anything!! I appreciate you all!!

Joyfully!

Nancy

Writing- It's a Visual Thing!

Hello Everyone!!
Happy Monday!! I picked up a random book at Half Price Books the other day,  Visual Tools by Roger Essley, a diagnosed dyslexic.  The title caught my eye because I am such a visual learner. As I read through this book, I have to tell you, I almost cried.  This approach to teaching writing for a differentiated classroom has become my Ahhhh Hahhhhh for the summer.The author suggests that kids need to draw out their stories before they even begin writing anything.  Then they need to talk about their drawings, make adjustments, additions, etc, and then begin writing.  I have always had my kids draw before they write, but not even close to the extent that Mr. Essley suggests.  He calls it Storyboarding.  The process really helps kids organize visually what they want to say in their stories. Stick figures and labeling to help others understand are acceptable.  He tells many stories of kids with learning challenges who became writers because of this method.  (You've probably been doing this all along.  Sometimes I'm a little slower to get there!) 
While reading this, I couldn't help but be reminded of the struggle my oldest son had with writing. In fourth grade he was the only student in the school to get a "1" on his state writing exam. (4 being the best) :(  We were all devastated and mortified- mostly because he is a bright kid, in the gifted and talented class. We came to realize that he is intensely visual, and this was affecting his writing!  He has since graduated from the MIZZOU School of Journalism and is now an award winning broadcast journalist for ABC. He needs to see his stories!! This makes total sense to me now! If he would have been able to begin writing projects with a storyboard, I think he would have had more success in school.  
So now, how do I help my littles gain confidence in writing their stories?---through storyboarding!  I like to think of it as a kind of comic strip.  Kids draw their stories in little boxes with minimal words at first.  They verbalize all their ideas through their storyboard, gain insights from the class, and then create a "dummy" book from the boxes, adding text.  The dummy goes through editing, and then we are ready for publishing. Here are a few pics of a model I tried. 

Brainstorm ideas, and then draw ideas on paper. 

 This is a class sized model.

This is a kid sized version they can do on a plastic sheet in their writing notebooks. Attach cards with stickers helps with easy rearrangement.

Keep sheet in notebook

An envelope can be used to store cards

Make a "dummy" Attach cards to one side, add another card for text.

Add text

Keep adding storyboard cards, text.  Then revise and edit some more.
Finally, publish in whatever way you want.

I am so excited to use this visual tool with my new group of firsties.  I wish I could have my old classes back!  I just know it is going to be beneficial to so many. 
There is no way I can explain everything Roger Essley conveys in his book, but I will try to snap some pics when we get underway in the fall. 
I added this new tool to my Writer's toolbox unit, along with a ton more stuff. Just about everything you need to get ready for great writing!!

 

 




Sample of target skills



 Three different storyboard templates

6 different styles of draft book paper

the unit is now about 60 pages!  You can get it free if you CLICK HERE!!!

Einstein said, "If I can't picture it, I can't understand it." That is so true for my son, and for so many of our kids.

And Aristotle said, "It is impossible even to think without a mental picture."  Let's give our kids another tool to visualize, organize, and gain in confidence when dealing with text!  

On a side note: The storyboard tool is not just for writing!!  Use it in all the other curric. areas! 

Thanks for sticking with me through this long post!  If you have any other questions (because I know I didn't explain everything!), please don't hesitate to ask!! We're all in this together!!

Until then, have a great rest of the day!!

Joyfully!

Nancy