Concept Confession - Marian Anderson

Have you heard of Marian Anderson?

I didn't know much about her, but I had noticed the book, When Marian Sang, in our school book room. I saw an award on the cover . . . and that always draws me in. It's black history month and I wanted to expose my students to more biographies, soooooo here we are :)

This is Marian Anderson. She overcame many obstacles to follow her dream of becoming an opera singer. The video shows Marian singing at the Lincoln Memorial, after being denied the right to perform at Constitution Hall by DAR (Daughter's of the American  Revolution) because of the color of her skin. She was supported by many, including, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Her story is one that has and will continue to inspire and encourage.

I created this packet to use for guided reading and it lends itself to a great close reading activity.

Teacher instructions are included, but the pages are pretty easy to understand. I wanted to start with some basic level comprehension - for the first reading. 

 

After some discussion of the book and further discussion of the time period -students can dig a little deeper and establish another purpose for reading.

For a third reading, I threw in some review skills - you can never review figurative language enough. It can always be tricky to understand and interpret. I also wanted my students to extend this book beyond Marian's story and connect it to themselves. 

This book was written by Pam Munoz Ryan and illustrated by Brian Selznick. It's a great read and a wonderful way to connect history, character building and language arts into one lesson. 

Concept Confessions - Tacky & the Winter Games

Three snow days later . . . and I have been able to get a lot of things organized and cleaned up!

One of the things I spent time on, was an Olympic activity. Tacky is a infamous elementary character that many kids are familiar with and love to read about. This story, Tacky and the Winter Games, brings the Olympics into the discussion. I have been wanting to create some adapted reading materials to demonstrate comprehension for my students with multiple or significant disabilities. This is my attempt with a traditional trade book - as I have created some supplemental materials for content specific learning and I have created my own text or used resources like TarHeel Reader or Boardmaker Share.

Anyway, here is peek at Tacky and the resources that compliment the book . . .

So, at the beginning of the story, the penguins are training and preparing for the games

 

... and as you can see, Tacky is always up to something a little different!

Team Nice Icy Land marches at the opening ceremonies and the Olympic torch is lit. 

The games begin ...

Tacky gets in a little trouble . . . 

    and his team struggles to find a way to keep Tacky in line and show their skills.

By the end of the book, you can imagine that somehow, Team Nice Icy Land gets things to work and they are able to compete with the HELP of Tacky!

Check out the materials I made to go with this . . . you can get your hands on a copy over at TpT for $2.00!

Two versions of this "story element" board, depending on the skill level of the student. The answer cards are the same pictures as the second board - so students would be able to match the pictures.

I work on WHO, WHERE and WHAT questions a lot with my students. I tend to connect it with functional questions - for example, "Who is going to P.E. with you?" 

Again, two versions of this sequencing activity. One version of the picture cards are numbered, so some students will work on placing the cards in order. Other students might work on ordering the pictures by ordering the numbers 1-4. Finally, other students will work on ordering the pictures. Make sure you teach the skill of looking back at the story for this! My students have made such progress by flipping through the book and matching the scene - starting at the beginning and working through the story.

Here is a board to work on topic (main idea) and theme. I have three blanks on the board, but you could offer only two choices, depending of the ability of the student. Theme can be difficult - so this will be a challenge or extension activity for many of my students. 

I am excited to use this and will make changes as I go . . . but wanted to get it out while the Winter Olympics are current!

While I was working on this, I saw lots of advertisements for the iTunes App.

I have not purchased this nor have I looked closely at what it offers, but it did say it reads the story aloud and highlights some key words. 

Concept Confession - Communication

Communicating with parents is a major part of the job . . . and finding the most efficient form, effective tool or consistent method is a never-ending battle. Just when I create a new form to write on, I start to get more emails. Just when I sort my emails into folders and label everything . . . I get more phone calls. And the phone log - ughhhh! I am not good with the follow through there.

Here are some communication tips that have worked for me. As you start the New Year, it is a great resolution to set - Improved Communication :)

Communication Journals:

Yep, the old spiral notebook is my go-to form of communication. I know, I know, I could email and have record of every correspondence. But, I can carry these notebooks around as I travel the school. I can move while I am writing - I am not stuck at my computer. I can rip a page out and start over - review before I send and add stuff I forget before the kids go home. As a special education teacher (Interventionist), I can have my Aides write quick notes too - "needs lunch money" or "please send . . . ".

I glue an information sheet in the front of each notebook:

 

And I put the student name on the front of the cover. I usually go through 2 journals per kid, in one year. I ask the parents for a few on my school supply list and I specify "college ruled" so that I can fit a lot on one page. 

A bonus of this method is - if I am out, my Aides can still write home. Another bonus is that families know I am out for the day and I am less likely to get emails or phone calls regarding the day - they know I wasn't there! Finally, the most important benefit of this "old-fashioned" communication system is student involvement. I really try to empower my students to own the journal - own the responsibility of giving it to their parents, getting it signed and bringing it back to school to me, each and every day! I have made a reward system when I needed some motivation for follow through. 

Another piece of my communication system is - the homework form. Some of my students attend various classes with Aide support, where I am not the teacher. In order to help organize all of the homework, classwork, content covered, reminders, etc (relying on my students' planners is a great idea, but they are never reliable or complete), I created this form. My Aides and I fill this out during the day and we make general comments about the classes so that copies can be made for all the students who attend the same classes. It works out great and it really cuts back on me writing this kind of stuff in the journals.

And still, there is more . . . I have a website for my classroom. This website does have a homework page where students and parents can double check the assigned work. I also post links to videos or games that may be part of the homework or supplements. I take the homework from the other core classes and post it here as well. Repetition can't hurt, right? 

Now, by no means is this a perfect model. I can barely keep up some days. 

I am sure many of you have very efficient, time-saving methods. 

Concept Confessions: Numbers, Numbers Everywhere!

To start the school year, my students in 5th grade are working on some number sense / place value review. I quickly created some number cards for some basic activities - here they are on google docs.
Number Cards 3-5 digit

I am planning to use these cards for reading multi-digit numbers. The cards are color-coded:
pink - up to the hundreds (3-digit)
green - up to thousands (4-digit)
blue - up the ten thousands (5-digit)

Number Cards - Ordering

I am planning to use these cards for ordering numbers. They are color-coded as well with some sets skipping by ones and others skipping by random intervals. After students put the number cards in order from least to greatest OR greatest to least, have the student read the numbers aloud.

You could use these cards for many other "number sense" activities:
flash a card and ask for the number before
flash a card and ask for the number after
compare two cards - which is greater or less
show a card and ask how close to 100 or 1,000
flash a card and ask for the digit in a specific place value
show two cards and ask which is closer to 0, 100 or 1,000
show two cards and ask how far away they are from one another

Concept Confession - Math Madness

I have been working on math activities for my classroom. The issue comes in when the WIDE range of students requires me to make different things. So, on one hand, I was making some fraction activities and on the other hand I was making number sense activities.

                                                            Number Sense Activities


I have had the pleasure of have some extensive training on the importance of number sense. These skills provide a solid foundation for all other mathematical skills. If there are gaps or deficits in basic number sense, then math thinking will not develop naturally and students will rely on steps and procedures as opposed to understanding the concepts. With this being said, I have some students who have splinter skills with numbers . . . I also have students who are just learning their numbers. For both, I have been using these activities from my packet of Number Sense Activities:


These are number cards that could be used for an endless list of activities!

Subitize! This was something I learned a great deal about and had never intentionally taught. I used dots from dice and cards to get quick recognition, but I didn't realize the power it had for visualizing numbers.

Five Frames - basic number sense starts with 5 - this gives a framework for visualizing five and then constructing and de-constructing five.

A fun way to get students to count and make sure they are understanding the value of numbers. Try it as a brain break!

Building numbers is a great way to work on facts. Using a ten frame and two colored chips, this activity requires students to visualize the adding and what that looks like. The more they can visualize these concepts the more it becomes their OWN knowledge and takes on a personal level of understanding.

I love this one. You could play this with dice and cups, but then it would be a great center! It pushes students past using dots to COUNT the answer for both numbers. A great way to lead students to count on, but not tell them to do it.

 . . . these are some of the activities from the Number Sense Packet. My students have really enjoyed using the the materials.

Fractions

The fraction packet is new to my TpT store. It is designed for students in 3rd and 4th grade but who require some modifications to the curriculum. With that in mind, I think it would work for students in 1st-5th, whether beginning fraction work or needing some review.

Here is the cover . . . Super Heroes are big right now for my students. They have enjoyed having a character to associate with their fraction work . . . CAPTAIN FRACTION!

These two are great for reading fractions, fraction identification, and fraction matching. For kids who need challenged, I was able to use these cards to sort equivalent fractions and play Go Fish for equivalent fractions.

These task cards were the hardest for my students . . . trying to color the fraction of the group. This offered LOTS of extra practice. I could easily get manipulatives for them to physically sort and then color with a dry erase marker on these laminated cards.

The comparing cards were a great way to see if kids needed to have a visual or if they were starting to understand the relationship of the denominator and the numerator. I always allow my students to draw or use materials to figure out answers, and this one had a range of student supports.

Finally, I made a Fraction Battle Game - just like war. We mixed it up, having the larger fraction win sometime and the smaller fraction win other times. There are fraction number cards as well. It was great when the kids got equivalent fractions and had to battle for a group of cards! Competitive learning at its best!



Concept Confession

Number Two

Okay, I skipped a week . . . so I will throw two things in this post.

I have been working on a Mini Lesson to go with Patricia Polacco's  Thunder Cake! It's a cute book with some links to weather (great time of year to study that) and character development. I just posted it on TpT - but here is the character development page as a FREEBIE . . . hope you can use :)

My second concept is a social skill guide for personal space. I have a student who is struggling with knowing WHO she can hug and HOW CLOSE she can get. She wants to talk to everyone and she immediately loves every person she meets. I am sure you can think of an adult like this :) but, I need to help this girl set some limits. SO . . . I started to make a personal space guide called THE KNOW ZONES. I am still working on it, but here is a peek.

My concept confession is Thunder Cake AND Know Zones!

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!"