Written in Ink

Squids and poetry - a vivid literacy connection! This creative first grade teacher had me assist her during a squid dissection
project and a lesson on poetry. The highlight of the morning was when the kids wrote their names in squid ink retrieved from the ink sac in their squids innards. In between helping kids pop their squid's beaks out and locate the underside of the eyeballs, I wrote down their comments. Later, I read the "found" poetry aloud to them. My poem ended with the teacher's cheery question, "Who wants squid for lunch?" After we cleaned up the slime and disinfected the desks, I started working on a squid poetry link with the kids. The students were just starting to brainstorm sensory words when half the class from next door was shuttled into the room, due to an emergency involving the next door teacher's mother. (Real life - it happens.) So, I didn't get to see the actual poetry get written, but I do have a small slip of paper with my name written in squid ink. (Is that cool, or what?)

What's in a Name?

I was working in a third grade class last Thursday. As I asked table groups to share in one class, I looked up and noticed these great names. Who wouldn't want to be in the "friendly," group? Or the "peaceful," or the "impressive," group?

He who has the most words, wins!

A colleague and I just finished teaching a graduate class on robust vocabulary instruction, which we called, "Words, Words, Words." The feedback was so positive! Besides professional reading and exploring a number of on and off-line resources, we designed the class with some work time so that teachers could research and create vocabulary practice games and activities to use in their own classrooms. (I love the idea from a first grade teacher shown above- the kids throw a squishy ball into a grid and attempt to read the vocabulary word or use it in a sentence. If they are correct, they get to "keep" the word. The student with the most words wins. )The teachers were so appreciative. Teachers never have enough time!

Portland IRA Regional Conference

In February, I was very lucky to able to go to the IRA Regional Conference in Portland, Oregon, this year. The authors, literacy leaders, books, green grass and temperatures above zero were a big boost to overcome my winter doldrums. I've been sharing the latest literacy news with colleagues, friends and even my family!

Demonstration Classrooms

A huge bonus in my job is helping to arrange and facilitate demonstration classroom visits. I love the professional conversations that these visits inspire.

Syllables are my friends

I'm afraid students at some schools think of me as "the syllable lady," because I've been teaching so many model lessons about the six syllable types, syllable division patterns, affixes, roots and base words, lately. I do enjoy delving into words, disecting them and putting them back together again. I like giving kids tools to figure out those multisyllabic words that they usually just skip or "read around."

A Place to Learn

As far as I'm concerned, the classroom environment is critical. I think children learn better when they feel safe, cared for, and know where to find stuff. There are lots of wonderful examples of encouraging classrooms in my district. Fun, happy places that children look forward to coming to every day.

Blah, blah, blah

Here's the sample butterfly blabber I created the night before I tried it in first grade. Sadly, I couldn't get it to work in the classroom...(read story in the previous post)

The Butterfly Effect

Butterfly Day in first grade. Here's the oral language project I designed: Wearing my butterfly sweater (a la Ms. Frizzle), I helped teams of students brainstorm, write and record butterfly "talk." They practiced and polished their lines while I wrestled with the technology demons. My goal was to publish the short blurbs on Blabberize, so that a "talking" butterfly would deliver their speeches. Alas, I could not get the bugs to blab - so we recorded them on Garageband, instead. We didn't get the cute butterfly pictures, but hearing their own voices still had a magical effect on the students.

The Office

This is my spot in "cubbieland" - a maze of pocket cubicles in the renovated strip mall our district uses for the central office.

I put on lots of miles, traveling between my eleven assigned elementary schools. I plan, rehearse, think, rethink, read (books on tape), write (in my head), eat and dream in my office on wheels.

Second Grade Writers

Second grade was the last grade I taught before becoming a literacy support teacher. They loved to write! - small moments, poetry, science notebooks, songs, stories, friendly letters (we had penpals) animal reports, fables and how-tos. The photo in my blog title shows former students performing a reader's theater written by one of the girls.