Hi girls! I'm back! Here are some questions to get us going and I will post my own comments later today- -Has anyone ever tried using writing partners to practice some of the skills needed to stretch our words? -Since this session is about stretching out words, what center do you use regularly (not during (WW) that you feel best supports kindergarten writers? -How do you feel about using puppets to help the understanding of speech bubbles? -How could we best use an AIS teacher to help support editing and conferencing? Just with certain students regularly or with everyone as an additional teacher?
I love her way of describing how to stretch out the whole word, which makes your writing easier to read. I'm so happy she pointed out (a few times), the goal is not to teach children to spell everything correctly, or to get stuck on doing that. I asked about the writing partners because I often use them for conferences, but wanted to explore the idea of having one student draw a generic picture, then the partner do the labeling. Then they could compare and reflect, or help each other hear more sounds in each word. For speech bubbles I have previously asked kids to bring in a family photo, and let them add on speech bubbles of what each person would be saying. Her mention of using pets for this also made me think of the popular new movie The Secret Life of Pets, and that would be a high interest picture we could print to have the kids add speech bubbles during morning work or some other non Writer's Workshop time. In the mini lesson there is a good reminder about the importance of dramatic play, but I'm not as good at using puppets as Liza is :) I'd like to post the phrase "How could I make it even better?" in large print in my room. That's a great way for kids to reflect on so many things during the day! I like the true stories as well, and because I had to focus on meaningful conversations this year, I'd like to have the students take home their true stories BEFORE they are complete, to have their parents have a conversation with them about it. I don't want them to do any writing, but the parents will remember more details and could have a great conversation about the story, which would hopefully lead to better writing the following day. One of my favorite parts was how she tied the celebration (even including a toast) to the Common Core!
I love the idea of posting, "How could I make it better?" in the room!! (Maybe on their tables, on the rug, in their cubbies, in the hallway, and in the closet just for me. Ha,ha!) Great idea! I also love the idea about using the family photo for introducing speech bubbles. I did not use puppets to introduce speech bubbles last year, but I did do some acting out with the students. They loved it! They thought it was so funny when I couldn't say anything because I didn't have a speech bubble. We used dry erase boards for the speech bubbles and acted out a few different scenarios, mostly about playtime.
Sending home the "true stories" before they are complete for parent info is a great idea. It will also double check that it really is a true story!
I did not use partners for editing this year until the students were able to write sentences and read back their writing with confidence and independence. Does anyone use partners for editing this early in the school year? I feel like the gap in levels of writing is huge in the beginning of the year and it doesn't really level out until later on. I had kids who could write, and write and write as soon as I introduced sentences, but others were still struggling to write beginning sounds.
I focused on magnetic letters and then stamping CVC words to match the pictures to reinforce stretching out words during centers first, before having them write with pencil and paper independently. I think this worked for my kids because I had quite a few students who struggled with fine motor skills. It was easier for them to stretch the words out aloud and manipulate the letters to spell the words, than to to do this and focus on correct letter formation. It also helped with frustration from mistakes. With the magnet letter center, I only put a limited amount of letters on then board for their choices too, depending on the group that day. I pre-taught and monitored progress of the center during guided reading. For the stamps center, I always tried to remind them to cross out mistakes and re-stamp the correct letter above the crossed out one. This helped me to monitor the center as well as limit frustration from mistakes.
I replied to Kelly C. about the puppets. I did not use puppets, but i acted out stories/scenarios with the kids to introduce speech bubbles. We use dry erase boards as the speech bubbles. The kids thought it was funny when I "couldn't talk" because I had no words in my speech bubble. They were definitely eager to use speech bubbles in their writing after that mini-lesson. I liked Lucy's analogy about baking the best cupcake she could for her best friend. I missed that the first time I read it. Too bad we couldn't bring cupcake in and have the kids decorate them for a celebration!!
On p. 133, Lucy talks about setting up small-groups to support writer's at different stages. I guess this is what I struggled with when I did not set up partners for editing early in the school year. How do you girls set up and manage these small groups when you are the only adult in the room during Writer's Workshop?
Towards the end of the year, my AIS provider was able to squeeze writing support into her schedule for my AIS kids for a few weeks. At this point of the year (March/April) their was a big gap between my AIS kids and the rest of the class's writing skills. It was a huge help to have the AIS teacher in the room to provide guided practice for the small group of students who were really struggling. It allowed me to float around the room for the rest of the kids much easier. Once that small group of kids got the little "push" that they needed, their writing confidence greatly improved and they wanted to share their writing for the first time. I really hope that the AIS providers will have more time to push-in during Writer's Workshop time this year. Hopefully, it will help those few kids move along before the gap is severe. It is also beneficial for the kids to see the AIS teacher during other times in the day besides reading. It will help to reinforce that reading and writing go together!
I agree Kelly, it would be great if CT/AIS had more time to push in for writing, especially for the small group instruction aspect of the writing workshop. There is some reading/writing connection in the LLI intervention, I know you are familiar with this :), but the consistency of daily support in writing workshop would be even better. Ah ha! Another place to post Kelly C.'s sign "How could I make it even better?"
I agree; it would be awesome for AIS/CT teachers to have time to push in during writer's workshop. Since they've created an additional AIS position, I'm hoping to be able to do this!
I loved Kelly C.'s point about using reading centers to support writing and emphasizing the reading/writing connection. Another important piece I have noticed, that fits into both areas of instruction, is a strong base in phonemic awareness. With the push to get Kindergarteners reading so quickly, I have noticed that sometimes less time is spent on hearing rhymes, syllables, onset/rimes, phonemes in words, as well as creating a strong letter/sound foundation. Some students are moved into reading and writing words before they have mastered these important base skills. Especially for struggling readers and writers, as I'm sure we all know, they need more explicit and frequent instruction in this. With a stronger phonemic awareness base, I think the idea of stretching out sounds in words to write all of the letters may help support them in both reading and writing.
As for puppets...I'm having flashbacks of "Dinosaur School." I'm personally not a huge fan of puppets in general, but if it will help, I'll take one for the team and give it my all. :) I like retelling familiar stories. I used to use masks on popsicle sticks to retell fairy tales. Specifically for speech bubbles, we could probably copy pictures from familiar books and draw in speech bubbles that the kids can tell what each character is saying.
I 100% agree!!! We seem to have less and less time and focus on rhyming, syllables, etc.. Unfortunately it feels like we have to jump into full out reading so fast and early and these skills are forgotten. I agree that it is definitely worth it and super important to take the time to solidify these as much as possible.
Haha Kim! I was flashing back to "Dinosaur School" too... Which I might add, may have scared me for life! Lol just kidding! I would totally use puppets to introduce talking bubbles if it would help the kids. 😃
I really liked Lucy's cupcake story as a way to explain a reason for making their writing the best it can be and I also think it would be an easy concept for the entire class to refer back to. I love the idea of the "How can I make it better?" poster and I'm definitely thinking about incorporating a cupcake into it!
I'm not a huge puppet fan either, but I'm up for it! However, I think students have fun and remember it better when they are the ones "talking" with the bubbles. I have a chalkboard talk bubble that students use to make me and each other "talk".
I have a couple of centers that directly connect to this part of writing. One is filling in talking bubbles. All I do is make a couple of different pictures with people or animals in them and give each a talking bubble. Students just choose a picture and add the words in the bubble. Later in the year, I add a writing piece to my sound sort center so students have to match pictures to their beginning or ending sound and also then write the word. I don't make the pictures super easy on purpose (not just cvc's) so that students will have practice stretching out words that have multiple sounds. It also helps them be more comfortable taking risks with the length and kinds of words they write.
Lisa, I too liked Lucy's cupcake story to help students use their best writing. It made me think of the bulletin board we started the year off with last year. :) I am definitely going to incorporate it into my writing lessons this year.
Usually I give each student their own whiteboard to practice stretching out words during the mini-lesson, but since this is a mini-lesson we return to again and again, I have varied it by having writing partners share a whiteboard sleeve to stretch out words together. I think it helps students who struggle with the skill to practice hearing and recording more sounds by combining their thinking with their partner’s.
In the beginning of the year, I use a center solely focused on phonemic awareness. There is a picture of an item and beneath the picture are dots that correspond to the number of sounds in the word. For example, a picture of a dog would have 3 dots beneath it and a picture of a bee has 2 dots. Students touch each dot as they slowly say the sounds in the word. (We practice these picture cards during guided reading beforehand). For later on in the year, I have a similar center with a picture and corresponding boxes. Students push magnet letters into the boxes to stretch out words. There is also a good CVC app on the iPad for working on word families.
I am all for embracing the silly in kindergarten but am not a huge fan of puppets. Kind of like the grandma gimmick Lucy sometimes uses, I just can’t bring myself to commit to that acting!
I imagine having an AIS teacher push in to the room during writing would be wonderful in any capacity! Some of my non-AIS students would ask when it was their turn to go with Mrs. Dear, so it would be exciting for them to have that opportunity to interact with a different teacher. I think rotating the small group each teacher is meeting with or students they are conferring with could have a positive effect.
Kylie, I'm glad I'm not the only one! I completely agree about the Grandma character. I really don't think that's a role I will play in my acting career! Lol
While I have not used puppets in the past, I am not opposed to using them. I liked Lucy’s idea of using a popsicle stick and a picture in place of a puppet. I think that would be something I would be more likely to use. I think that it would be really engaging for students to see which in turn would help students to understand the idea about using speech bubbles. I can picture my students from last year buying right into this!
I liked the idea Kylie had about having the AIS teacher work with students that she does not normally see. I too had the same thing happen in my room where students who do not normally receive AIS services wanted to know when it was their turn. I think this would be a good opportunity for the classroom teacher to be able to work with the AIS friends, while the AIS teacher worked with the other students in class, as well. It would be a wonderful resource to have another teacher in the room during writing instruction time to help with editing and conferencing.
I liked one of the ideas Lucy suggested for writers who finish editing their work early. She suggested having those students add dedications, awards and author biographies. We all have those students who finish early and this would be a nice opportunity to provide them with some enrichment work. Students learn about different awards in library class, know about themselves to write an author biography and could be taught what a dedication is. I think all three of these ideas would be motivating for students.
Many of you have already mentioned using personal white boards with dry erase markers to practice writing words. I think using partners to help create words would be a really great activity. I could see great benefits from setting certain kids with each other. Maybe this is another thing that I could implement this year.
For centers, I use a few centers to help the kids spell words. One of the centers that I use all year is stamping. They spell cvc words and then transition into word families. I also have the kids play many games over the course of the year that help them spell words.
For word bubbles, I have never taught them using puppets but I do use a mock talking bubble that I made on a stick like Lucy suggested. I have had it for years and I have the kids act out their stories using the stick. When they are "talking" in their stories, they hold the talking bubble over their head and say what they would write in their story. I really like how Lucy has the kids draw talking bubbles for each person in their picture. I think that is such a good way to remind them to write what each person is saying in their story!!
I think having an AIS teacher push in the room during Writer's Workshop would be so helpful. It would be great for the AIS teacher to also hear the mini lesson and help the kids execute the lesson taught that day. It would help to keep everyone on the same page. If we had that extra support, we could team teach during the scheduled block to best meet the needs of students. I feel like some days it might be best for the AIS teacher to teach in a small group but other days to conference with individual students working around the room. I think this would be another way for the AIS teacher to work with students that they don't normally work with. 😃
I completely agree about writing support from AIS teachers! I like how you brought up having the AIS teacher hear the lesson. Even if there's not time to attend the mini lesson, it would be very helpful to confer with the classroom teacher regularly to know what lessons they are doing and what their instructional focus is. As an AIS teacher, I could then be sure to reread those particular Lucy Calkins lessons to best support the students. It would be helpful to have a couple of Lucy Calkins units for AIS/CT teachers.
I have never specifically had partners work together during writing workshop to practice stretching the sounds in words. I have usually had partners work together to help each other plan and edit their writing. I have students play different games during centers that have students practice stretching the sounds in words, especially CVC words. In one of the games, the students pull a card with a picture of a CVC word on it and then practice stretching it out and writing the corresponding letters. When students start doing this, I have a rectangle with three boxes, one for each letter as a visual guide. When students are stretching the sounds in words, I also prompt/encourage them to use their whole body. I stretch my left out and tap (with my other hand), my hand, my elbow and my shoulder as I slowly say the beginning, middle and end of a word.
I like the idea of having the students bringing in a picture or using a picture of high interest so that they may add speech bubbles (and imagine what the characters are saying). Last year, I read a book that used speech bubbles in the pictures. I think using puppets can be another effective way to show and model speech bubbles to students. However, I don’t think it would be in every teacher’s comfort level or teaching style to use puppets to introduce speech bubbles. I have never used puppets for this purpose but I would be willing to try it to as I think the students would enjoy and remember the lesson.
I also love the idea of having the poster of “How can I make it even better?” around the room. I am going to do that next year. It would serve as a reminder (for both the students and myself) to more details. Writing workshop is a time during the day, when it is so helpful to have an extra person in the room working with the students. Having an AIS teacher push-in would be great, especially when conferencing with students while they work at their tables.
I often use writing partners for peer editing (both writing content and conventions), but have not done a lot with having the collaborate to work on stretching sounds. I love Lucy's lessons. She is very realistic about kindergartners and so creative in her delivery.
Like Jess, I use the stamping center to help children work on hearing CVC sounds and later word families. I use white boards, Elkonin boxes, and sound segmentation games (hop scotch, pocket chart sorts, etc.) during center time. I utilize parent volunteers during center time, as well, to work on this skill with small groups of students.
I'm not the biggest fan of using puppets (or pretending to be Granny, for that matter). But I love the idea of having kids bring in photographs for writing speech bubbles.
I am excited to be joining the AIS team this fall, and I'm really hopeful to be able to assist during writing time! As a kindergarten teacher, writing was one of my absolute favorite times of the day, and I hope to share my passion for writing with my AIS students too! I think it's important for AIS teachers to be familiar with Lucy Calkins' lessons and to have frequent conversations with classroom teachers, so they are on the same page. I heard suggestions that AIS teachers work with small groups of their students and that they assist others in the room. It would be great if I could do some of each!
For speech bubbles I get these cute booklets from reading a to z of various animals doing silly things. They write in the bubbles what the animal is saying. I like the idea Kim had about retelling a familiar story and using speech bubbles above the characters. We do readers theater throughout the year and I think it would be great if the kids had a speech bubble that they can hold up above the head. Kelly is right...I do like the puppets but anything silly that is memorable is something the kids can hold on to. As far as stretching out words...one center I did this year is give the students in one of the centers a baggie of a letter tiles and a blue stand (someone was getting rid of it in the hallway 😀) The students mix up the letters and try to build different words in their stand. It was very motivating to them. It sounds simple but they worked hard on it and really liked trying to stretch out the words. Then they recorded their words on paper.
Hi girls! I'm back!
ReplyDeleteHere are some questions to get us going and I will post my own comments later today-
-Has anyone ever tried using writing partners to practice some of the skills needed to stretch our words?
-Since this session is about stretching out words, what center do you use regularly (not during (WW) that you feel best supports kindergarten writers?
-How do you feel about using puppets to help the understanding of speech bubbles?
-How could we best use an AIS teacher to help support editing and conferencing? Just with certain students regularly or with everyone as an additional teacher?
I love her way of describing how to stretch out the whole word, which makes your writing easier to read.
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy she pointed out (a few times), the goal is not to teach children to spell everything correctly, or to get stuck on doing that.
I asked about the writing partners because I often use them for conferences, but wanted to explore the idea of having one student draw a generic picture, then the partner do the labeling. Then they could compare and reflect, or help each other hear more sounds in each word.
For speech bubbles I have previously asked kids to bring in a family photo, and let them add on speech bubbles of what each person would be saying. Her mention of using pets for this also made me think of the popular new movie The Secret Life of Pets, and that would be a high interest picture we could print to have the kids add speech bubbles during morning work or some other non Writer's Workshop time.
In the mini lesson there is a good reminder about the importance of dramatic play, but I'm not as good at using puppets as Liza is :)
I'd like to post the phrase "How could I make it even better?" in large print in my room. That's a great way for kids to reflect on so many things during the day!
I like the true stories as well, and because I had to focus on meaningful conversations this year, I'd like to have the students take home their true stories BEFORE they are complete, to have their parents have a conversation with them about it. I don't want them to do any writing, but the parents will remember more details and could have a great conversation about the story, which would hopefully lead to better writing the following day.
One of my favorite parts was how she tied the celebration (even including a toast) to the Common Core!
I love the idea of posting, "How could I make it better?" in the room!! (Maybe on their tables, on the rug, in their cubbies, in the hallway, and in the closet just for me. Ha,ha!) Great idea! I also love the idea about using the family photo for introducing speech bubbles. I did not use puppets to introduce speech bubbles last year, but I did do some acting out with the students. They loved it! They thought it was so funny when I couldn't say anything because I didn't have a speech bubble. We used dry erase boards for the speech bubbles and acted out a few different scenarios, mostly about playtime.
DeleteSending home the "true stories" before they are complete for parent info is a great idea. It will also double check that it really is a true story!
I like your idea to involve parents in the storytelling process! Maybe we could also send a copy of the anchor chart to help guide their discussion.
DeleteI love the family photo idea and how you involve the parents in the writing process!
DeleteI did not use partners for editing this year until the students were able to write sentences and read back their writing with confidence and independence. Does anyone use partners for editing this early in the school year? I feel like the gap in levels of writing is huge in the beginning of the year and it doesn't really level out until later on. I had kids who could write, and write and write as soon as I introduced sentences, but others were still struggling to write beginning sounds.
ReplyDeleteI focused on magnetic letters and then stamping CVC words to match the pictures to reinforce stretching out words during centers first, before having them write with pencil and paper independently. I think this worked for my kids because I had quite a few students who struggled with fine motor skills. It was easier for them to stretch the words out aloud and manipulate the letters to spell the words, than to to do this and focus on correct letter formation. It also helped with frustration from mistakes. With the magnet letter center, I only put a limited amount of letters on then board for their choices too, depending on the group that day. I pre-taught and monitored progress of the center during guided reading. For the stamps center, I always tried to remind them to cross out mistakes and re-stamp the correct letter above the crossed out one. This helped me to monitor the center as well as limit frustration from mistakes.
I replied to Kelly C. about the puppets. I did not use puppets, but i acted out stories/scenarios with the kids to introduce speech bubbles. We use dry erase boards as the speech bubbles. The kids thought it was funny when I "couldn't talk" because I had no words in my speech bubble. They were definitely eager to use speech bubbles in their writing after that mini-lesson.
I liked Lucy's analogy about baking the best cupcake she could for her best friend. I missed that the first time I read it. Too bad we couldn't bring cupcake in and have the kids decorate them for a celebration!!
On p. 133, Lucy talks about setting up small-groups to support writer's at different stages. I guess this is what I struggled with when I did not set up partners for editing early in the school year. How do you girls set up and manage these small groups when you are the only adult in the room during Writer's Workshop?
Towards the end of the year, my AIS provider was able to squeeze writing support into her schedule for my AIS kids for a few weeks. At this point of the year (March/April) their was a big gap between my AIS kids and the rest of the class's writing skills. It was a huge help to have the AIS teacher in the room to provide guided practice for the small group of students who were really struggling. It allowed me to float around the room for the rest of the kids much easier. Once that small group of kids got the little "push" that they needed, their writing confidence greatly improved and they wanted to share their writing for the first time. I really hope that the AIS providers will have more time to push-in during Writer's Workshop time this year. Hopefully, it will help those few kids move along before the gap is severe. It is also beneficial for the kids to see the AIS teacher during other times in the day besides reading. It will help to reinforce that reading and writing go together!
I agree Kelly, it would be great if CT/AIS had more time to push in for writing, especially for the small group instruction aspect of the writing workshop. There is some reading/writing connection in the LLI intervention, I know you are familiar with this :), but the consistency of daily support in writing workshop would be even better. Ah ha! Another place to post Kelly C.'s sign "How could I make it even better?"
DeleteI agree; it would be awesome for AIS/CT teachers to have time to push in during writer's workshop. Since they've created an additional AIS position, I'm hoping to be able to do this!
DeleteI loved Kelly C.'s point about using reading centers to support writing and emphasizing the reading/writing connection. Another important piece I have noticed, that fits into both areas of instruction, is a strong base in phonemic awareness. With the push to get Kindergarteners reading so quickly, I have noticed that sometimes less time is spent on hearing rhymes, syllables, onset/rimes, phonemes in words, as well as creating a strong letter/sound foundation. Some students are moved into reading and writing words before they have mastered these important base skills. Especially for struggling readers and writers, as I'm sure we all know, they need more explicit and frequent instruction in this. With a stronger phonemic awareness base, I think the idea of stretching out sounds in words to write all of the letters may help support them in both reading and writing.
ReplyDeleteAs for puppets...I'm having flashbacks of "Dinosaur School." I'm personally not a huge fan of puppets in general, but if it will help, I'll take one for the team and give it my all. :)
I like retelling familiar stories. I used to use masks on popsicle sticks to retell fairy tales. Specifically for speech bubbles, we could probably copy pictures from familiar books and draw in speech bubbles that the kids can tell what each character is saying.
I 100% agree!!! We seem to have less and less time and focus on rhyming, syllables, etc.. Unfortunately it feels like we have to jump into full out reading so fast and early and these skills are forgotten. I agree that it is definitely worth it and super important to take the time to solidify these as much as possible.
DeleteHaha Kim! I was flashing back to "Dinosaur School" too... Which I might add, may have scared me for life! Lol just kidding! I would totally use puppets to introduce talking bubbles if it would help the kids. 😃
DeleteI really liked Lucy's cupcake story as a way to explain a reason for making their writing the best it can be and I also think it would be an easy concept for the entire class to refer back to. I love the idea of the "How can I make it better?" poster and I'm definitely thinking about incorporating a cupcake into it!
ReplyDeleteI'm not a huge puppet fan either, but I'm up for it! However, I think students have fun and remember it better when they are the ones "talking" with the bubbles. I have a chalkboard talk bubble that students use to make me and each other "talk".
I have a couple of centers that directly connect to this part of writing. One is filling in talking bubbles. All I do is make a couple of different pictures with people or animals in them and give each a talking bubble. Students just choose a picture and add the words in the bubble. Later in the year, I add a writing piece to my sound sort center so students have to match pictures to their beginning or ending sound and also then write the word. I don't make the pictures super easy on purpose (not just cvc's) so that students will have practice stretching out words that have multiple sounds. It also helps them be more comfortable taking risks with the length and kinds of words they write.
Lisa, I too liked Lucy's cupcake story to help students use their best writing. It made me think of the bulletin board we started the year off with last year. :) I am definitely going to incorporate it into my writing lessons this year.
DeleteUsually I give each student their own whiteboard to practice stretching out words during the mini-lesson, but since this is a mini-lesson we return to again and again, I have varied it by having writing partners share a whiteboard sleeve to stretch out words together. I think it helps students who struggle with the skill to practice hearing and recording more sounds by combining their thinking with their partner’s.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the year, I use a center solely focused on phonemic awareness. There is a picture of an item and beneath the picture are dots that correspond to the number of sounds in the word. For example, a picture of a dog would have 3 dots beneath it and a picture of a bee has 2 dots. Students touch each dot as they slowly say the sounds in the word. (We practice these picture cards during guided reading beforehand). For later on in the year, I have a similar center with a picture and corresponding boxes. Students push magnet letters into the boxes to stretch out words. There is also a good CVC app on the iPad for working on word families.
I am all for embracing the silly in kindergarten but am not a huge fan of puppets. Kind of like the grandma gimmick Lucy sometimes uses, I just can’t bring myself to commit to that acting!
I imagine having an AIS teacher push in to the room during writing would be wonderful in any capacity! Some of my non-AIS students would ask when it was their turn to go with Mrs. Dear, so it would be exciting for them to have that opportunity to interact with a different teacher. I think rotating the small group each teacher is meeting with or students they are conferring with could have a positive effect.
Kylie, I'm glad I'm not the only one! I completely agree about the Grandma character. I really don't think that's a role I will play in my acting career! Lol
DeleteWhile I have not used puppets in the past, I am not opposed to using them. I liked Lucy’s idea of using a popsicle stick and a picture in place of a puppet. I think that would be something I would be more likely to use. I think that it would be really engaging for students to see which in turn would help students to understand the idea about using speech bubbles. I can picture my students from last year buying right into this!
ReplyDeleteI liked the idea Kylie had about having the AIS teacher work with students that she does not normally see. I too had the same thing happen in my room where students who do not normally receive AIS services wanted to know when it was their turn. I think this would be a good opportunity for the classroom teacher to be able to work with the AIS friends, while the AIS teacher worked with the other students in class, as well. It would be a wonderful resource to have another teacher in the room during writing instruction time to help with editing and conferencing.
I liked one of the ideas Lucy suggested for writers who finish editing their work early. She suggested having those students add dedications, awards and author biographies. We all have those students who finish early and this would be a nice opportunity to provide them with some enrichment work. Students learn about different awards in library class, know about themselves to write an author biography and could be taught what a dedication is. I think all three of these ideas would be motivating for students.
Hi Ladies,
ReplyDeleteMany of you have already mentioned using personal white boards with dry erase markers to practice writing words. I think using partners to help create words would be a really great activity. I could see great benefits from setting certain kids with each other. Maybe this is another thing that I could implement this year.
For centers, I use a few centers to help the kids spell words. One of the centers that I use all year is stamping. They spell cvc words and then transition into word families. I also have the kids play many games over the course of the year that help them spell words.
For word bubbles, I have never taught them using puppets but I do use a mock talking bubble that I made on a stick like Lucy suggested. I have had it for years and I have the kids act out their stories using the stick. When they are "talking" in their stories, they hold the talking bubble over their head and say what they would write in their story. I really like how Lucy has the kids draw talking bubbles for each person in their picture. I think that is such a good way to remind them to write what each person is saying in their story!!
I think having an AIS teacher push in the room during Writer's Workshop would be so helpful. It would be great for the AIS teacher to also hear the mini lesson and help the kids execute the lesson taught that day. It would help to keep everyone on the same page. If we had that extra support, we could team teach during the scheduled block to best meet the needs of students. I feel like some days it might be best for the AIS teacher to teach in a small group but other days to conference with individual students working around the room. I think this would be another way for the AIS teacher to work with students that they don't normally work with. 😃
I completely agree about writing support from AIS teachers! I like how you brought up having the AIS teacher hear the lesson. Even if there's not time to attend the mini lesson, it would be very helpful to confer with the classroom teacher regularly to know what lessons they are doing and what their instructional focus is. As an AIS teacher, I could then be sure to reread those particular Lucy Calkins lessons to best support the students. It would be helpful to have a couple of Lucy Calkins units for AIS/CT teachers.
DeleteI have never specifically had partners work together during writing workshop to practice stretching the sounds in words. I have usually had partners work together to help each other plan and edit their writing. I have students play different games during centers that have students practice stretching the sounds in words, especially CVC words. In one of the games, the students pull a card with a picture of a CVC word on it and then practice stretching it out and writing the corresponding letters. When students start doing this, I have a rectangle with three boxes, one for each letter as a visual guide. When students are stretching the sounds in words, I also prompt/encourage them to use their whole body. I stretch my left out and tap (with my other hand), my hand, my elbow and my shoulder as I slowly say the beginning, middle and end of a word.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of having the students bringing in a picture or using a picture of high interest so that they may add speech bubbles (and imagine what the characters are saying). Last year, I read a book that used speech bubbles in the pictures. I think using puppets can be another effective way to show and model speech bubbles to students. However, I don’t think it would be in every teacher’s comfort level or teaching style to use puppets to introduce speech bubbles. I have never used puppets for this purpose but I would be willing to try it to as I think the students would enjoy and remember the lesson.
I also love the idea of having the poster of “How can I make it even better?” around the room. I am going to do that next year. It would serve as a reminder (for both the students and myself) to more details. Writing workshop is a time during the day, when it is so helpful to have an extra person in the room working with the students. Having an AIS teacher push-in would be great, especially when conferencing with students while they work at their tables.
I often use writing partners for peer editing (both writing content and conventions), but have not done a lot with having the collaborate to work on stretching sounds. I love Lucy's lessons. She is very realistic about kindergartners and so creative in her delivery.
ReplyDeleteLike Jess, I use the stamping center to help children work on hearing CVC sounds and later word families. I use white boards, Elkonin boxes, and sound segmentation games (hop scotch, pocket chart sorts, etc.) during center time. I utilize parent volunteers during center time, as well, to work on this skill with small groups of students.
I'm not the biggest fan of using puppets (or pretending to be Granny, for that matter). But I love the idea of having kids bring in photographs for writing speech bubbles.
I am excited to be joining the AIS team this fall, and I'm really hopeful to be able to assist during writing time! As a kindergarten teacher, writing was one of my absolute favorite times of the day, and I hope to share my passion for writing with my AIS students too! I think it's important for AIS teachers to be familiar with Lucy Calkins' lessons and to have frequent conversations with classroom teachers, so they are on the same page. I heard suggestions that AIS teachers work with small groups of their students and that they assist others in the room. It would be great if I could do some of each!
For speech bubbles I get these cute booklets from reading a to z of various animals doing silly things. They write in the bubbles what the animal is saying. I like the idea Kim had about retelling a familiar story and using speech bubbles above the characters. We do readers theater throughout the year and I think it would be great if the kids had a speech bubble that they can hold up above the head. Kelly is right...I do like the puppets but anything silly that is memorable is something the kids can hold on to. As far as stretching out words...one center I did this year is give the students in one of the centers a baggie of a letter tiles and a blue stand (someone was getting rid of it in the hallway 😀) The students
ReplyDeletemix up the letters and try to build different words in their stand. It was very motivating to them. It sounds simple but they worked hard on it and really liked trying to stretch out the words. Then they recorded their words on paper.