5 Tips for using Informational Text

We all know that informational text is playing a bigger role in our reading instruction.  Teachers are also aware that their instructional day is packed and that the content areas of science and social studies often gets squeezed out.  I've gathered some tips to help you use your science and social studies texts and curriculum to teach the required reading skills. Stop thinking of the content areas as a separate part of your day,, bring them into your ELA block.

1.  Show students the difference between literary and informational text structure.  

     One of the first things students need to understand is the structural difference between literary and informational text.  Literary text will generally have characters, a setting and a plot that has a beginning, middle and end. While informational text will usually be organized by topic with sections having main ideas and details. To help students compare these two types of texts you can use a T-Chart along with sample texts.  Set the students up in small groups.  Give each group a few text samples and a T-Chart.  Let them explore the text and make note of what they see.  You can sum up the activity by having them list things the texts have in common and some of the major differences they noticed.  Make sure you have a list of the main points you want to make with this activity.  Depending on the age of the students you can guide the summing up discussions to make sure all the main points are covered. 
Click on the image to download the organizer.

2.  Teach students how to find information using the table of contents and index.

     I think the two most important features of an informational book are the table of contents and the index.  As students begin to use informational texts for research projects they will not always be reading the entire book from beginning to end.  They will use the table of contents and the index to find the specific places in the book that has the information they need.

     A fun way to give students practice in using these features is to have a scavenger hunt.  Choose an informational text for which you have enough copies for each student or each pair of students.  I always did this activity with our Science and Social Studies texts because we had a class set.   Write a set of questions that can be answered from the text.  Make sure some of the questions require the table of contents and some require the index in order to find the answer. I also leave a space to write the page number where they found the answer and if they used the table of contents or the index.

3.  Use graphic organizers to gather information.

     Graphic organizers are a must for gathering and organizing information.  There are many different types of graphic organizers that can be used, depending on the text structure and the type of information to be organized. This handy chart will give you an idea of which organizer to use with your students. 
Click on the image to download the chart and 3 free organizers.

4.  Choose reading strategies and or skills that fit the text.

     Throughout the year students will be learning many different strategies and skills as they become better readers.  You’ll want to choose just one or two to use with this lesson with informational text.  When you’re planning, read the text with fresh eyes and think about the skills and strategies you’re using as a reader.  Mark places where you used specific skills or strategies. When you finish, go over your notes and decide which skills/strategies fit the text and also fit the needs of your students. Then you’re ready to plan you lesson!

5.  Reread the text to teach different comprehension skills.

     Now that you have your first lesson planned, use the text again to target a different skill or strategy.  On the first day you may cover main idea and details with a graphic organizer.  On the second day the focus may be cutting down the details to just the most important ideas and writing a summary.  Later in the week you might focus on vocabulary or author’s word choice. Reading the same text again and again is always a good thing!

Kids love learning about things in their world.  I hope these tips will help you begin using more informational texts in your ELA lessons.

Getting The Most Out Of Reading Comprehension

The transition from 2^nd Grade to 3^rd Grade can be a tough one.  Students are no longer learning to read, they are reading to learn.  I have had (and am continuing!) to adjust my teaching practices in order to meet their needs and the higher-level comprehension skills that are expected of them.  I want to share with you some resources that I have found to be effective for increasing comprehension at school and at home. 

I loved Debbie’s post this month on the importance on daily reading.  My new schedule doesn't allow for daily read aloud time anymore, but I'm trying to squeeze it in as much as I can.  I am also trying to push reading at home more.  I've always sent home a reading calendar to record nightly minutes.  This year I revamped mine, had students set a goal, and reward them with a more special prize each month they meet the reading goal.  

Check them out here.

I want my students (and their parents) to get the most out of their reading.  As I was brainstorming with colleagues on the best way to accomplish this, I came up with these reading comprehension question cards.  

Check them out here.

This week I went through the 3^rd Grade Reading Standards and came up with questions for most of the Literature Standards.  I plan on copying the question cards on different colored card stock, laminating, and putting them on a ring for myself, my instructional aide, and my parent volunteers.  This will help us all ensure we are asking 3^rd Grade appropriate questions and helping make the most out of our daily readings.  I am also going to send a copy of the questions home, so parents have an idea of the types of questions their child should be answering when reading.  It is no longer simple, closed questions.  Students are now expected to answer open-ended, higher-level questions about complex level texts.  I will be adding to this packet over the next month or so, as I continue to unwrap the reading standards. 

In addition to my two products, I want to share with you two products that I have been loving from The Teacher Wife.  

I bought these two reading comprehension packets back when I taught first grade, and I am still using parts of them in third.  They are FULL of questions and activities to use with any book, a valuable resources to have!

How do you get the most out of reading comprehension?

The More You Read . . .

the better reader you become. The better reader you become, the more you read!

It just makes sense that to become a better reader you have to read.  I used to tell my students that pro basketball, baseball or football players got there by practicing!  They dribbled, batted, passed, ran, jumped and practiced shooting the ball into the hoop for hours and hours in order to become the best player they could be.  To be a better reader, writer or mathematician is the very same, you have to practice.

I found this chart on Mrs. London's Free Resources that very clearly shows how reading more often leads to increased test scores.

I know the school day is very busy, but you should try to squeeze in as much time as possible for students to read.  In my classroom, if students had any extra time they were to get out a book to read. There weren't any other little time filler activities, they just got out their book and read.

Here are some tips for getting your students to read more:

1.  Make sure they have access to books at their level.  Set up your classroom library so they can easily find good-fit books.  Teach them how to find those books.  You can show them the 5 finger test. Choose a page from the middle of the book, read it.  Count one finger for each word not known or not able to read.  If you get to five fingers then this book may not be a good fit.
2.   Make finding a good-fit book part of your morning routine.  Each student should have 2 or 3 books at their desk, ready to read.  I liked giving my students a Book Baggie.  They kept at least 3 books in it at all times.  When one book was finished it was taken out and another was put in.  This Book Baggie went home every night and was returned the next morning.

3.  Make reading the one and only choice of what to do when an assignment is finished.
4.  Schedule a relax and read time after recess or lunch.  Kids can get their water bottle and find a place around the room to relax and enjoy their book.  In order to maximize the time, set a timer.  When the timer goes off, if everyone is in their spot and reading, the class earns a point toward a Friday reward.

5.  Connect independent reading to your reading lessons.  One way to help connect your reading lessons to the independent or read-to-self time is to use Thinkmarks.  Thinkmarks are small bookmarks students keep in their book to remind them of a recent skill or strategy taught during a lesson.  The Thinkmark may even have a place for students to stop and jot down notes as they read.  

 Click on the image to download a free sample of the Thinkmarks from Crockett's Classroom.

I hope you've found an idea or two you can using in your classroom this year.  Happy Reading!

Kicking off a New School Year With Kindergarten Read Alouds

We all know the beginning of the school year is full of excitement, adjustment, and exhaustion. Our classes and days can be unpredictable and it takes some time to get students acclimated to classroom routines and procedures. Even if you have a basal curriculum, chances are you don't start teaching from it right away as there are pre-assessments, community building activities, and teaching routines to attend to. If you want to kick off the school year in a fun, meaningful way; and aren't sure where to start; one of the best and easiest resources to use at the beginning of the year are themed read alouds! I've got some great book recommendations for Kindergarten that can help get your students excited and feel more at ease for the upcoming year!

Utilizing picture books in the classroom is such a vital resource for your students. Reading stories aloud creates student interest in reading, introduces important story elements, and increases reading comprehension. For your early kindergarten learners, it also teaches skills such as sitting and listening appropriately to a story.

Here are some suggestions for great read alouds for the beginning of kindergarten:

Book Titles & Authors from top left to bottom right: Clifford's First School Day by Norman Bridwell, Miss Kindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff, The Night Before Kindergarten by Natasha Wing, Kindergarten ROCKS! by Katie Davis, The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn, Kindergarten, Here I Come! by D.J. Steinberg and Mark Chambers, Countdown to Kindergarten by Allison McGhee and Harry Bliss, and David Goes to School by David Shannon

I've used every single one of the books pictured above and my students absolutely loved them! They were so excited when they found something in the book that "was the same as our class". The thing I love about these themed books is that you can literally create any activity you want to to go along with the story. Here are some examples of things I've done in my classroom:

The Kissing Hand

The Kissing Hand is a great book to help ease your kindergarteners' fears about starting school. On the first day, read the story aloud and then have your students create this poem craftivity. Students will trace their hand, cut it out, and draw a heart in the middle. You could also use heart stickers for a simple decoration. Then, glue the hand and poem onto a piece of construction paper and you've got an adorable keepsake from the first day of school. Click on the picture below to download the poem for free!

Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten

This book tells the story of how a teacher gets ready for kindergarten. After reading the story, I have my students complete this activity sheet for students to draw a picture of how they got ready to come to kindergarten. When I model my version to the class, I make a point to talk about how many colors and details I am adding to my picture. It also provides a line for name writing practice, an essential kindergarten skill.

Clifford's First School Day

This is a simple story response sheet you can use with your students. By completing this activity, kindergarteners will have a chance to practice skills such as: name writing, letter tracing, drawing pictures to match labeling words, learning the name of their school, and story retelling by illustrating.

One thing I've learned from teaching kindergarten for 6 years is that they need LOTS of space to write and draw. Sometimes, when I create an activity, an 8 1/2x11 piece of paper just doesn't cut it. I use a ton of legal size and 11x17 paper, especially during the first half of the year. Thankfully, our school copier is set up to be able to print and copy this size - it's an easy fix to make one of the trays use different sizes of paper in the settings! Try it out! You'll thank yourself for it later when your little kinder babies are writing gigantic letters that just don't fit on a skinny little line. 

With that being said, I created the Clifford's First School Day response sheet on 11x17 paper. However, since it is saved as a PDF, you can print it on 8 1/2x11 paper - that is actually the default setting. If you'd like to print it out on 11x17 (which I highly recommend), here are the steps you follow:

1. Click "File" --> "Print"

2. Click "Page Setup" (usually at the bottom of the dialog box)

3. Click "Paper Size" and change it to Tabloid or 11x17 (may be different depending on if you are using a Mac or a PC)

4. Click "OK"

5. Click "Print"

And voila! You have a big workspace for your little learners.

But don't worry, you don't HAVE to print it on 11x17... it's just an option!

Click on the picture below to download the story response sheet for free!

What are some of your favorite read alouds for the beginning of the year? Share in the comments below, regardless of grade level! 

Mindsets in the Classroom WRAP UP!

Are you ready? Let's do this! Mary Cay Ricci makes it infinitely clear that although we obviously cannot control many variables in our students' lives, we certainly possess the ability to make a meaningful impact on them in the classroom to inspire a growth mindset! We can conspire to inspire our students by encouraging them to reach small goals everyday to boost their confidence and grow their growth mindset muscles!  As we wrap up our book study we would like to thank you so much for joining us, and we hope you have enjoyed this Mindsets In the Classroom adventure! Below is a free poster for you to print and post near your work area in your classroom to remind you to help your kids soar!
Conspire to inspire growth mindset!

•Value effort, persistence, and perseverence
•Praise effort over intelligence
•Small goals & wins boost confidence
•School improvement plans should include growth mindset goals/focus
•School staff meetings should include growth mindset talk/focus
•Parent-Teacher conferences should include education/talk of growth mindset
•Classrooms should be non-threatening, and fear free of embarrassment from mistakes or failures - in fact they should be celebrated for evidence of trying and working hard to learn & grow!

Thanks again for reading with us this summer!

Book Study: Mindsets in the Classroom

Are you ready for some fun online professional development with the Hello Sunshine teachers?  Join us as we read Mindsets in the Classroom and learn together how we can move our students, staff and communities to a growth mindset. 

Grab a copy of the book or download the Kindle version and join us!  Starting June 4th we will be hosting a linky party every Thursday, Sunday and Tuesday for the month of June.  Use the frame at the end of this post to link up and you will be automatically entered in a drawing to win a gift card!
Here is the book study order so you can plan accordingly:
Chapter 1 – June 4
Chapter 2 – June 7
Chapter 3 – June 9
Chapter 4 – June 11
Chapter 5 – June 14
Chapter 6 – June 16
Chapter 7 – June 18
Chapter 8 – June 21
Chapter 9 – June 23
Chapter 10 – June 25
Wrap Up – June 28
We are so excited to go through this study with all of you and share ideas for transforming our classrooms and schools!
Use this framework to link up with us for each chapter. 

See you June 4th for Chapter 1 !

I'm In a DAZE

Spring is in the air, and my mind is thinking about DIBELS.  I am in charge of coordinating the DIBELS testing at my school, so I dream of acronyms such as EOY and DORF at night (#TrueStory).
One test for third grade students is called DAZE.  The kids have to read a passage and use their context clues to choose a missing word every so often.  The kids are given three words from which to choose.  One big concern about this test was that it was not formatted like anything they had probably ever seen before.  The kids would have experience with fill in the blank and cloze passages, but they would not have seen multiple choice/fill in the blank passages.

Light bulb!  What if there were passages that were formatted like the DAZE passages so the kids would feel comfortable with they completed the real DAZE benchmark passages? And, what if those passages were non-fiction and incorporated retell?  It was the trifecta!

The passages are written in three levels for easy differentiation.  The first level is the passage only for straight comprehension.

 The second level is the passage with fill in the blanks and a word bank. 

 The third level is the DAZE where the kids choose from one word in each word box.

The second and third grade teachers at my school use the passages and LOVE them!

I have made seven different sets of DAZE passages, with biographies on famous scientists, explorers, presidents, and people that overcame adversity.  If you are interested in more information, please click on the picture below to head to my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  

Thank you so much for stopping by!  The ladies and I really appreciate your support.