Inspiration

I'm linking up with Dana, from Fun in First Grade . . .
Something that always inspires me is a great Torey Hayden book! Hayden was a special education teacher, among other jobs in the same field. She wrote numerous nonfiction books about her experiences. Each book allows me to refocus on WHY I teach and reminds me that I can make a difference in the lives of kids. Hayden works through some serious behavior and emotional trials. She approaches her students in a way I admire and she believes in them, when many others have given up. If you haven't read one of her books, pick up One Child.

Giveaway Link

Check out the giveaway on Teaching and Tapas!! I gave my guided reading mini lesson for Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse, by Leo Lionni. There are so many great products you could win - they are sorted by grade level, K-5. Thanks to Alyssha, from Teaching and Tapas, who set this all up!

Enjoy :)

Concept Confessions

Week One

I want to start a post each weekend . . . where I confess the concepts I have been working on with everyone. Feel free to confess your concepts! We can all gain from everyone's' productive weekends – or we can gain from other people being productive! 

Okay, this weekend was all about GRAPHING. Many of my students need to work on interpreting graphs and have IEP goals linked to such skills. SO, I was on the prowl for graphing activities. I found some I really like, take a look:


             A graphing lesson by Ashlyn Ellsworth     
St. Patrick's Day graphing by Ashley Hughes


            Create-A-Graph, by Amanda Richardson


I will use these activities with my kids, as a fun introduction or quick review. I wanted to go into some depth about parts of graphs/charts (labels, titles, types, etc,). I made a SmartBoard lesson with some links to help with that. 

I also created a quick, generic form to practice some basic questions that go with interpreting graphs/charts. I attached that to the SmartBoard lesson, along with some pictures of graphs/charts. Use these resources to model, teach or allow independent practice. 

My concept confession is "Gotta Graph It!"