Moving On Up!

Hello!  Sorry I've been absent for a while.  I'm finally finished with all my Dad's estate business and it's a huge relief.  I'm also taking classes at a local university in an effort to add a K-12 reading endorsement on my teaching certificate.  The last class starts on Monday.  The other teachers in the class and I are talking about going out for a post reading cohort "celebration" at a local watering hole after the final class.  I also get to take the fun and exciting Praxis (national test) for Teaching Reading in a few weeks.  I'm opting for the computerized version of the test versus the paper version this time.  Hopefully, I'll get my test results a little quicker that way.  We shall see!

The good news is that I am moving classrooms for this school year.  For the past four years I've been in a little closet sized room.  Now I get a much larger space next to the school library and next door to Mrs. Pokey!  It's not a full sized classroom, but is a converted conference room.  I'm super excited because it's much larger than my old space and...wait for it....it has a WINDOW!!  Yes, a window to the outside!  I will actually have natural light and a view.  Sure, it's a view of a playground and a field, but I'm still thrilled!  A window!!!

The bad news is that I had to pack up all of my things at the end of the school year in anticipation of the move.  Ugh.  Now, I have to go in and unpack all of my stuff.  Oh well, it will force me to organize which will make Mrs. Pokey very happy.  (She's much more organized than I am and I know I annoy her sometimes with my more disorganized work space.  We get along very well in spite of our organizational differences, though.)   Our head custodian emailed me on Wednesday and told me that I could come in to school and start unpacking in my new room.  She and her assistant have been great about helping me out and I appreciate it very much.

Wooooo hooooo!!  I can't wait to get in and start unpacking this week!!  I'm doing a happy dance.

Play Dough

Another kinesthetic learning activity I enjoy using with students is working with play dough.  Sometimes I buy the premade commercial version. (I admit it.  I like the smell!  It takes me back to my own childhood.)  Other times, I make my own.  Here are a some great recipes from a blog called Pre Kinders. 

I've taught students to roll the dough into "snakes"and then make letters, numbers and shapes.  They've made their names in dough and let them dry.  I have a set of alphabet "stampers" students can use to write words in slabs of play dough.  Other times, we've done life cycle representations, rock layers and other science concepts.  The possibilities are endless AND lots of fun, too!!

Finally, I wanted to share a great website with a wonderful play dough theme section.  I've used the emergent reader book and many of the activities with my kindergarten students with great success.  The website is Making Learning Fun. 

School Sparks

I enjoy finding new websites to help me with my teaching.  This week, I've had a great time discovering School Sparks.

It's a wonderful resource for preschool and kindergarten readiness skills.  I know several of my students will love using some of her worksheets and activities.  The deeper I get into the School Sparks website, the more treasures I find!

Go now and check it out!! 

http://www.schoolsparks.com/

Word Callers, Part 2

A while back I wrote a post about the book Word Callers by Kelly Cartwright.  If you haven't read it, I recommend the book.  It's not a difficult read and it makes a lot of sense.  We've had some success with it. 

I found these notes from a presentation at the National Reading Recovery Conference.  If you're interested in Word Callers, take a look at the notes. 

http://www.readingrecovery.org/pdf/conferences/NC11/Handouts/Cartwright_WordCallers.pptx.pdf

Word Callers

At school we are doing a professional book study on Word Callers by Kelly Cartwright.  For next week's class, I have to assess three students.  One is supposed to be a higher level reader, another an average reader and the third a lower level reader.  I probably won't do all English Language Learners, though.  I have several classroom teachers who have offered to let me assess their students. 

We tried the initial assessment on each other at this week's class.  It's interesting to see how different people categorized the cards. There are at least seven different sets of cards that come with the book.  The initial assessment consists of watching students categorize a set of cards into four groups.  The students are timed on how quickly they catagorize the cards.  Also, the students tell the assessor why they chose the groups and how the cards are related.  

It should be interesting!  Stay tuned as I learn more about students who are "word callers" when they read. 
   

Phonics Dance

Last year, Mrs. Sunshine and I used the Phonics Dance to help our students learn the alphabet and its sounds.  After our students mastered the alphabet portion, we started in on the "Hunks and Chunks".  The children really enjoyed learning and reciting the hunks and chunks.  It took a while for them to learn all of the "Hunks and Chunks", but it was worthwhile.  It really seemed to help our ESL students with their learning how to read.  Mrs. Sunshine made a powerpoint of each hunk/chunk and we used it with the large Smartboard in our shared classroom several times daily.  By the end of the year, Mrs. Sunshine, Mrs. Foil and I were all top-notch "Hunk and Chunkers".  Who needs aerobics when you do the "Hunk and Chunk" portion of the Phonics Dance four to five times per day???  It's a great TPR (Total Physical Response) activity, too. 

Here's a fun YouTube video of a second grade class doing the "Hunks and Chunks".  It's not our students, of course, but you'll get a good idea of how it works. 

The Phonics Dance and its accompanying Hunks and Chunks were designed by Virginia Dowd.  Her website is The Phonics Dance.  Take a look at it and give The Phonics Dance a try.  Mrs. Sunshine and I were thrilled with how much it helped our students last year. 

Below are some examples of some of the powerpoint slides Mrs. Sunshine used.  You can buy the precolored cards from Virginia Dowd's website or you can copy the black and white ones from the book and have a willing helper color them for you.  Mrs. Sunshine's daughter colored a set of Hunks and Chunks and a set of the Phonics Dance alphabet for each of us.  She is such a sweetie!  Thanks, D. Sunshine, for the help.