SSR- Week 8

Sustained silent reading, or SSR is when students have an opportunity to read silently for pleasure in their classroom. One of the great things about SSR is students have an opportunity to read without having any tests or assessments that are attached to the reading. Allowing students to read for pleasure helps them find joy in reading. My goal is to teach in younger aged classrooms and ideally, I would have SSR in my classroom on a daily basis. I would like to have natural lighting and a relaxing atmosphere for my students to read in. Having a large variety of books and genres in my classroom is a goal of mine. If students are not able to read independently, I will read a chapter book daily for our SSR time. Making sure students are engaged and relaxed during SSR time is important for them to truly enjoy it, in my opinion. Helping students create their own love of reading and literacy is something that I hope to do in my future classroom. 

Week 7- Fantasy Books

Fantasy Books

   1. 2.     3. 4.         5.

 6. 7.      8. 9. 10.

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

• Description- The first book in this series and Harry Potter learns that he is actually a wizard! Harry is living with his aunt and uncle when he is summoned to attend a school for wizards. He learns of his past and his birth parents, along with how famous he really is. This book is full of adventure, friendship and excitement for the reader.
• Grade level- 4-7
• Awards- Nestlé Smarties Book Prize 1997 Gold Medal. FCBG Children's Book Award 1997 Overall winner and Longer Novel Category. British Book Awards 1997 Children's Book of the Year.
• Author- J.K. Rowling
• Published- 1998

2. The Lightning Thief

• Description- An American Fantasy Adventure novel based on Greek mythology and is the first book in a series. Percy Jackson is a young boy who finds himself in a training camp for children of the Greek Gods. Percy finds himself in the middle of a dangerous battle and learns who he really is.
• Grade level- 4-7
• Awards- Warwickshire Book Award (UK) 2007
• Author- Rick Riordan
• Published- 2005

3. The Hunger Games

• Description- The Hunger Games is how the “New World” maintains control over society. In this book, a young girl volunteers to take the place of her sister to fight in the Hunger Games. This is a story of bravery, courage, fear, strength and love, along with action packed adventure.
• Grade level- 7-9
• Awards- Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Awards, Cybils Award for Fantasy and Science Fiction, California Young Reader Medal: Young Adult, Hal Clement Award
• Author- Suzanne Collins
• Published- 2008

4. The Fellowship of The Ring (The Lord of the Rings #1)

• Description- In a sleepy village young Frodo is given a ring and must protect it from people who wish to do evil with it. Frodo must  go on a long adventure to destroy the ring before it ruins anymore lives.
• Grade level- 4-7
• Awards- Prometheus Hall of Fame Award
• Author- J.R.R. Tolkien
• Published- 2003

5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #1

• Description- Greg Heffley is starting middle school and keeps a diary with all of the experiences he has. This book has a lot of humor and is an easy read. Greg is seen as a “weak link” in his school and he hopes his new sidekick, Rowley will help him during his awkward middle school years.
• Grade level- 4-8
• Awards- Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award, Kids Choice Award for Favorite Book
• Author- Jeff Kinney
• Published- 2004

6. Warriors- Into the Wild

• Description- Four clans have shared the forest for generations but now they are in grave danger and another clan is getting stronger everyday. An ordinary house cat named Rusty may be the strongest of them all.
• Grade level- 6-8
• Awards- N/A
• Author- Erin Hunter
• Published- 2004

7. A Game of Thrones

• Description- This book has war, knights, battles, swords, magic and more. Winter is coming and can last for years and everyone must get ready. Will a fateful encounter change the course of kingdoms.
• Grade level- 7-12
• Awards- N/A
• Author- George R.R. Martin
• Published- 1996

8. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia)

• Description- The air-raids during WWII have required 4 siblings to move from the city into the country. The siblings soon find a way into a hidden world with fauns, dwarves, talking beasts and giants. A witch is taking away the peacefulness of this land and the 4 siblings must find a way to help those living there.
• Grade level- 6-8
• Awards- Retro Hugo Award for Best Novel
• Author- C.S. Lewis
• Published- 1950

9. The Lost Hero

• Description- Jason woke up on a school bus holding a girls hand, but he doesn’t remember anything. He’s on a bus for “bad” children and it all feels wrong for Jason. Where is he going and why is the camp called “Half-Blood”?
• Grade level- 5-9
• Awards- Juniors Young Readers Choice Awards
• Author- Rick Riordan
• Published- 2012

10. Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

• Description- 3 children are placed in the care of a murderous relative after their parents die in a fire. This book has a dark and mysterious feel to it, even though it is written for children. The children find some interesting things about their family, including conspiracy.
• Grade level- 5-10
• Awards- Colorado Children’s Book Award, Nevada Young Readers Award
• Author- Daniel Handler
• Published- 1999

Books for Unit- Week 6

My unit is on word families and is meant for first grade students. The following books are some examples are what could be used in a word family unit...

#1.  
This book is fun to read and has rhyming words in it. I can use it to teach the "AT" word family.

#2. - #9.  
There are many different books that can teach students about word families. I think having books that show examples of word families, colorful pictures and illustrations will help students to be engaged and interested in what they are learning. The books in the above pictures can help teach "UCK", "ELL", "OCK", "AKE", "AT", "OT", "IN", "AM" word families.

#10. 
This book can be used to teach the "OG" word family. I like this book because in most climates in the United States, frogs can be seen. Students can relate more to this book if they have seen frogs in their neighborhood.

Lesson Planning- Week #5

I always get a little nervous when I start making lesson plans or unit plans, but once I am on a roll, I enjoy the process. I think it will be easier to lesson plan when I have a team of teachers who are teaching the same grade level and are in the same school as I am in. I've also learned that I can become overwhelmed when looking online for ideas. Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers and Education.com are just some of the resources that I have looked at, but wow, are there a lot of ideas! It's wonderful to have so many resources available, but I find that I keep coming up with different ideas as I look. Sometimes too many options are not good! I feel pretty good about the unit plan and lesson plans I am creating for this class. I still have a couple left to do, but will get those knocked out soon.  Like anything in life, the more I create lesson plans, the more comfortable I will become!

Teaching Vocabulary- Week #3

TEACHING VOCABULARY

I think like all things in teaching , we must make lessons meaningful and engaging for students and teaching vocabulary isn't the exception! Learning vocabulary is important and teachers need to make sure students have different ways of learning.  There are many ideas online for teaching students vocabulary. I was particularly interested in teaching vocabulary to elementary aged students, as this is my area of certification. Some ideas that I liked were...

• Guess My Word-      students give clues and the definition of words and other students can guess                                   the word

• Act It Out-                students take turns acting out a word and the other students guess the                                             definition 

• Vocabulary Roll-      students roll a dice and the dice has instructions on each side, for example,                                     define the word, give a synonym for the word, etc.

• Word Scramble-       students unscramble words to match the definition

• Memory Game-        make cards with the vocabulary word and the definitions and play like you                                   would play memory

Word Wall- Week #2

I really like word walls for younger grades. I've only seen word walls in the younger grade level classrooms- grades, K-3 and I feel like students utilize them well from my past observations. I absolutely think that word walls could be used in any classroom and now that I'm reflecting on this, it makes me wonder why I've never seen them in the upper grades. I spend most of my time in younger aged elementary classrooms, but will have to check out some upper grade levels for word walls. I think like all things in teaching, we must make word walls meaningful if we are going to use them. They might look cute and take up space on the wall, but without meaning, students won't utilize them. I think teachers must introduce the words before putting them up on the word wall and offer opportunities to use the words and learn about them as well. Helping students make meaning out of the word and relating the words to their everyday life will be beneficial. For example, the picture at the top of the page has the word "from" in it. Teaching students what from means and how to sound it out needs to be done before adding it to the word wall. Offering ways to use the word is important also. Making cards or invitations with the words "to" and "from" is just one way to make the word "from" meaningful. There are so many examples of word walls online and making one for your classroom that is pleasing to the eye and at eye level for students is also important. I plan on using a word wall in my future classroom and helping my students utilize it!

I think it's important to remember that word walls can be used for any content area. The example above is for math and I really like that it has words and visuals on it.


The word wall to the left with the post it notes on it is a way for students to be more involved. Students can write the words on a post it note and put in onto the word wall, which allows them to have a sense of ownership!

Week #1- Reflection from night one

These 8 week classes seem to go by so quickly and I feel pretty good about this class after having our first evening together. I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment with the assignments, however, this tends to be something I feel when looking at the syllabus for the first time with any class. The workload always seems like a lot, but taking small steps towards the finish line is always helpful! I have done a unit plan in the past, including the 10 lesson plans. I haven't spent a lot of time making assessments or with Bloom's Taxonomy and I think both of those assignments will be helpful for me. I really appreciated the professor allowing us time in class to create a blog and write our introduction. 4 hours is a long time to sit in front of a computer and changing it up is really nice. I have taken most of my classes in seat at Columbia College and that is my preference. It can be difficult with 3 kiddos and a dog at home, even though my husband is very helpful. Is there an assignment that you are feeling anxious about?

Please see my 2 truths and 1 lie below. I look forward to getting to know you better!

Truth:     Teachers must model what they expect their students to learn and do before expecting them to complete the task.

Truth:     Language Arts is multi-modal.

Lie:        Students don't need to know the goals for the work they are doing, they just need to do the work because the teacher said to do it.