Minds in Bloom!

Greetings, bloglings!

Head on over to Minds in Bloom to see my guest blog post on integrating Montessori and the Common Core!

I also added a few more Montessori-based products to my TPT store this week.  Today was the last day of summer school, and I am feeling ready for the new year!


Grammar Symbol & Definition Cards


Grammar Symbol Posters


Place Value Riddles


Singular & Plural Noun Activities


Infinity Street Place Value Materials

Happy Friday Eve,

Poetry in the Elementary Classroom

Greetings, bloglings!

I've started planning this year's Writers' Workshop, one of my favorite subjects to teach!  I always loved writing as a student, and I especially love it as a teacher.  I love to read what my students write, because it's usually hilarious, and it is so exciting to see students transform from reluctant to fearless writers.  They begin to develop their own unique voices, especially as third graders.  

Writing Process Clip Chart

In Writers' Workshop, we focus on the process of writing.  Our mantra is, "When I'm done, I've just begun!"  I try not to offer too many corrections as that can cause young writers to shut down; instead, I strive to guide them through the process of learning from their own and their peers' mistakes.

One specific area that I plan to focus on a bit more this year is poetry.  We read poetry daily, and we do a unit on it in April for Poetry Month, but I want to make sure that my students engage in writing poetry all year long. 

Students need to be exposed to a variety of poetry beginning at the early elementary level in order to fully access its benefits and develop an appreciation for it.  In addition to being a great vehicle for self-expression and connecting with others, poetry teaches students about language and speaking from the earliest nursery rhymes.  I find that most students enter second grade with the misconception that all poetry has to rhyme, so we have fun exploring different forms with different rules, as well as free verse poetry.  

I created these writing journals for my students to publish their work as we learn about different forms of poetry throughout the year.  You can see the Table of Contents that lists the forms of poetry included in the journals on the product's page at my TPT store.  

Poetry Journals for Elementary Writers

The journal includes a cover page, 19 pages with headings that include the type of poem, a brief description of its structure, a line for the student's title, unlined space for writing and illustrating, and an About the Poet page.

Here are some books for inspiring and celebrating poetry in your classroom throughout the year:

Julie Andrews' Treasury for all Seasons has become a staple in my classroom; we read from it on a daily basis!  Every morning, one student is chosen to select a poem to be read aloud.  It's a large collection of beautiful, seasonal and holiday-themed poetry divided by month, so it never gets old!  

We study insects in science every other year, and Joyful Noise is an amazingly dynamic collection of insect-themed poems.  The poetry in this collection is especially rhythmic and full of onomatopoeia.  It's the perfect text for demonstrating that poetry is meant to be read aloud:  All poems in the collection are for two readers, so students read the lines either alternately or simultaneously, making it a great tool for buddy reading and building fluency.

Here are some of my other favorites:

How do you teach and incorporate poetry in your classroom?

Freebie Friday: TPT Store Templates & Tutorials!

Greetings, bloglings!

It's Friday and I've got more freebies for you!  Because Photobucket changed their third party hosting rules, I needed a crash course in designing my TPT store quote box banner.  After sprucing that up, I decided to update my store logo, as well!  Here are free templates and tutorials for both:

Quote Box Banner Template

Directions:

1. Download the template at the link above.

2. Design the banner on the third slide as desired.  The existing background color will look transparent on your storefront.  The slide is completely editable, though.

3. Save the third slide as a jpeg (select all on the slide, right click, 

click 'Save Picture As,' and save it as a jpeg image).

4. There are a few different ways to do this, but I use Pinterest to save the image as a pin to a private board.  This allows you to get an image URL for the code you will use in step 7.

5. Right click on your pin, and click 'Copy Link Address.'

6. Visit Bitly.  Paste the link address that you just copied into the provided box, and then you have your shortened URL for the HTML code.  Keep this page/tab open.

7.  On TPT, go to 'My Account,' select 'Store Profile,' and click 'Edit.' Paste the following code into your Quote Box:

<a href="PASTE LINK HERE"><img src="PASTE TINY URL TO YOUR IMAGE HERE"></a>

*If you are reading this on mobile and the full code does not appear for you, it is also included in the template download!

8. Paste the tiny URL from Bitly, and then add any link where you would like store visitors to go once they have clicked on your banner.  This might be to a product page or your blog.

9. Save your edit, and check out your store; the banner you created should appear in your quote box!

TPT Logo Template

Directions:

1. Download the TPT logo template at the link above.

2. Use the template on slide 3 to design your logo. If you want to use a photo background, right click on the circle and select "Format Shape," select "Picture Fill" and upload your desired photo.  Only what is inside of the circle will appear on your TPT logo.

3. Save the slide as a jpeg.

4. On your TPT store, go to 'My Account' and click on the 'Store Profile' tab.

5. Click 'Edit.'

6. Upload your logo by clicking on 'Replace Photo.'  You may want to trim the edges a bit so that the black line does or does not show, depending on your preference.

7. Once uploaded, the logo should be updated on your storefront!

I hope these instructions were clear. Let me know if you have any questions!

Happy Friday!

Student-Centered Classroom Library Organization

Greetings, bloglings!

Today I tackled the monumental feat of organizing my classroom library!  I weeded out some older, sad looking books and added some shiny, new-ish ones that I've been admittedly hoarding in my closet lest little fingers crumple their crisp pages.  

I was not planning on it, but I have almost completely rearranged my classroom again!  It's not entirely finished; I have a few odds and ends to work on and I am anxiously awaiting my class list so I can label all of the things!  Luckily, one thing that I do not need to worry about is labeling the library's book bins and shelves.  

When school begins, I will open the library gradually until students have access to the entire library, and students will create the labels themselves.  My mom is a retired teacher, so over the years I have inherited hundreds of books from her.  This has greatly enriched our literacy environment, but it can be a challenge to keep the bins and shelves organized throughout the year.

A few years ago, I had some mini-librarians who loved to organize and re-organize whenever they noticed the books getting mixed up.     

Fountas and Pinnell recommend that classroom libraries have between 300-600 good books that vary in genre, length, and difficulty (be sure to visit that link to read the research behind this!).  It is incredibly important for students to be surrounded by a variety of books, and that the library area is as spacious, attractive, organized, comfortable, and prominent as possible.  The literacy benefits that this offers for students across all grade levels 

is fascinating.

Here is my freshly organized library:

It now surrounds our morning meeting space.  The library lived in the back of the classroom last year, but I wanted to put it in a more prominent and accessible area.  I am already looking forward to starting our lessons on genres and library organization when the students will make the bin and shelf labels!

For this activity, we introduce a few books from each shelf or book bin in a book tasting format.  In small groups, students determine the best genre/category for the collection, and they create the labels on index cards with clear text and illustrations to support each other in navigating the library throughout the year.  I laminate these cards, attach them to the bins, and voila!  We have a labeled library that the students take pride in.  They understand how and why libraries are organized as they are, and they are better able to take ownership of this integral part of our classroom.

Students also decorate their own "book bags" (using Crayola markers on blank, canvas tote bags) that they use throughout the year:  These are for holding longer chapter books that students will read for several days.  It keeps the classroom books separated from other books that belong to the school library or are from students' homes.

While it might be more efficient to label the library ourselves, or to keep it labeled and organized in the same way from year to year, it is definitely beneficial for students to engage in the organization process themselves.  Students need to learn how to interact with books on many levels, which includes taking care of them, as they explore their individual interests, develop a deeper understanding of literary genres, and access many texts in a new, shared space.

How do you organize your classroom library?