Lit Coach Recommends...

Welcome to another Friday here on the Rosebud!  

Check out what your colleagues and coaches are talking about this week:

Assessing Behaviors and Participation

Are behaviors getting in the way of learning?  Having trouble motivated students to finish the year strong?    The 8th grade team at TCMS created a Life Skills Rubric for students to reflect on their behavior, participation and work ethic for Parent/Teacher Conferences.  Many times, having a conversation around the behaviors that are effecting learning can lead to setting positive improvement goals.  While the rubric was created with a secondary setting in mind, it can easily be adapted to an elementary classroom.
 
Life Skills Rubric
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Focus on Vocabulary Instruction

Many conversations are taking place around word parts and vocabulary in the district.  It is important to remember that teaching vocabulary should be embedded into the reading and writing workshop and not taught as a separate entity.  Check out these articles from Choice Literacy about vocabulary and the Common Core Standards. 

Common Core Conversations:  Vocabulary

Vocabulary, Comprehension and the Common Core


Tired of Free Rice.com?  Looking for some great vocabulary prep for your intermediate or secondary students?  Vocabahead.com provides great videos and definitions for vocabulary words.  Use it as an opening for a whole group lesson or have students explore on their own.  You can even make your own word lists for classes!  Teachers with websites:  You can embed a customized word list into your homepage!  Check it out!

Vocabahead - Vocabulary Videos
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Conferring

Here is another great model of a reading conference.  Watch as the teacher focuses on what he notices about the student as a reader.  He draws on a previous conference and links the strategy to an up-coming mini-lesson.  Remember to log in to Choice Literacy and also check the Related Articles and Links below the video for more great information. 

Conferring About Chunking Words





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Reteaching Theme?  

As Unit 4:  Reflecting on Reading and Writing approaches, many teachers are planning to reteach theme (a learning goal that students struggled with across the district).  Songs are an excellent way to connect students to the meaning or message of a story.  Check out this article about using Miley Cyrus lyrics in a 3rd grade classroom. 

Teaching Theme 






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The Power of Personal Size White Boards

Already thinking of ways to reorganize for next year?  Try personalized white boards!   They're great for any subject - whole group, small group or independent work time.  Watch Joan explain the power of the personal size white board.  (I love the marker in the sock idea!) Make sure to check out the related articles and links below the video to see more great ways to organize your classroom.


Personal Size White Boards