Word Nerds
According to the Virginia Department of Education, many of the reading selections on the Reading SOL test are incorporating more complex sentence structure and vocabulary. SOL 5.4 states that students "will expand vocabulary when reading." Student performance data from the VDOE shows that students need to continue to develop the
following skills:
Because of the increased rigor of the Virginia Reading SOL test, there is a new focus on vocabulary instruction in the classroom. Students need to be provided with opportunities throughout the year to work with the components of vocabulary understanding. They need opportunities to work with roots, prefixes, and suffixes. They need opportunities to work with synonyms/examples and antonyms/non-examples. They need opportunities to develop a schema of words that will help them figure out the more challenging, multisyllabic words they will see with the more rigorous way vocabulary is tested on the SOL. Provided with these opportunities, students will begin to develop a love of language, which is what we really want in the end.
As promised, this blog will serve as a means for me to share some of my favorite professional resources. Books that have changed the way I think about teaching. Books that have provided insight into how to incorporate best practices into my instruction. And so, without further ado, let me introduce you to Word Nerds.
Word Nerds is an amazing resource on how implement vocabulary instruction that not only improves students' word knowledge, but also turns students into lovers of language. The authors show you (and provide you with the resources needed) to weave vocabulary into each school day using multisensory instruction that includes music, art, literature, movement, games, drama, writing, test-taking skills, and technology. I read this book last summer and incorporated some of the ideas/activities into my vocabulary instruction. Pleased with the results, I reread parts this summer with plans to incorporate the full vocabulary cycle as part of my daily routine. I am excited to let you know how it goes!
Here is some more info from the Stenhouse Publishers website:
With support from literacy specialist Brenda Overturf, Leslie and Margot have developed a five-part plan—introducing new words in context, adding related synonyms and antonyms, engaging students in several days of active learning, celebrating new words, and assessing vocabulary development—that teaches all students to learn and love vocabulary.
This easy-to-read reference explains how to plan, teach, and assess based on the latest research in vocabulary instruction and learning. Forget copying definitions from the dictionary and completing boring worksheets! Word mastery comes from intimate knowledge of language. From prediction to practice to performance, students from all backgrounds can discover how to make words their own. After incorporating Leslie's and Margot's vocabulary plan into your daily instruction, you and your students can become word nerds, too!
Click on the link below to preview the book and to get a free study guide.
http://www.stenhouse.com/html/word-nerds.htm?r=g030&gclid=ci3hkitoomacfwor7aodebuaga#sthash.N9g2uwLc.dpuf
a)
Use context to clarify meaning of unfamiliar words and phrases.
c)
Use knowledge of roots, affixes, synonyms, antonyms, and homophones.
f) Study word meanings across content areas.Because of the increased rigor of the Virginia Reading SOL test, there is a new focus on vocabulary instruction in the classroom. Students need to be provided with opportunities throughout the year to work with the components of vocabulary understanding. They need opportunities to work with roots, prefixes, and suffixes. They need opportunities to work with synonyms/examples and antonyms/non-examples. They need opportunities to develop a schema of words that will help them figure out the more challenging, multisyllabic words they will see with the more rigorous way vocabulary is tested on the SOL. Provided with these opportunities, students will begin to develop a love of language, which is what we really want in the end.
As promised, this blog will serve as a means for me to share some of my favorite professional resources. Books that have changed the way I think about teaching. Books that have provided insight into how to incorporate best practices into my instruction. And so, without further ado, let me introduce you to Word Nerds.
Word Nerds is an amazing resource on how implement vocabulary instruction that not only improves students' word knowledge, but also turns students into lovers of language. The authors show you (and provide you with the resources needed) to weave vocabulary into each school day using multisensory instruction that includes music, art, literature, movement, games, drama, writing, test-taking skills, and technology. I read this book last summer and incorporated some of the ideas/activities into my vocabulary instruction. Pleased with the results, I reread parts this summer with plans to incorporate the full vocabulary cycle as part of my daily routine. I am excited to let you know how it goes!
Here is some more info from the Stenhouse Publishers website:
With support from literacy specialist Brenda Overturf, Leslie and Margot have developed a five-part plan—introducing new words in context, adding related synonyms and antonyms, engaging students in several days of active learning, celebrating new words, and assessing vocabulary development—that teaches all students to learn and love vocabulary.
This easy-to-read reference explains how to plan, teach, and assess based on the latest research in vocabulary instruction and learning. Forget copying definitions from the dictionary and completing boring worksheets! Word mastery comes from intimate knowledge of language. From prediction to practice to performance, students from all backgrounds can discover how to make words their own. After incorporating Leslie's and Margot's vocabulary plan into your daily instruction, you and your students can become word nerds, too!
Click on the link below to preview the book and to get a free study guide.
http://www.stenhouse.com/html/word-nerds.htm?r=g030&gclid=ci3hkitoomacfwor7aodebuaga#sthash.N9g2uwLc.dpuf
Groundhog Day
As I enjoy the last few days of summer vacation, I am also anticipating the arrival of another amazingly FUN year of 5th grade. Before leaving Richmond for OBX, I headed to Elizabeth Scott Elementary School in Chester, VA to assess the situation in Room 303. For us teachers, we know that showing up to school to see our room for the first time after summer vacation is like waking up on Christmas morning...you never know what you are going to find. Well, here is what I found when I untied the ribbon:
Everything was pretty much as I had left it, just in the completely wrong places. After assessing the situation, I decided to spend a few hours moving furniture, unpacking boxes, setting up my classroom library, etc. The usual. Here is how the room looked when I left:
It wasn't much, but it will make life so much easier when I return for teacher work week in a few days. A week that seems to have less and less time for teachers to "work" with each passing year.
While I was unpacking the ghosts of Christmas past in Room 303, one of my colleagues stopped in to see what was up. My response to her was, "Same old thing." This led to a discussion of how our lives as teachers mimic that of Bill Murray's character from the movie Groundhog Day, a movie about a weatherman who finds himself living the same day over and over again until he gets it right.
I realized that this will be my thirteenth year going through the back to school routine of preparing my classroom for a new group of students. Much of what I do during this process has become very Groundhog Day-ish. It comes as second nature. It is something I could do in my sleep.
Reflecting on this, I have decided to take the time this year to step back and reassess what I do in my classroom and why I do it. As teachers, we have the rare opportunity to hit the reset button on our career every September and try to do it better than the time before. While this continues to drive my wife crazy (she can't understand why I don't just keep my lesson plans from year to year), she has accepted the fact that, for me, teaching will never get easier. I will never teach the same lessons the same way I did the previous year. I will never be satisfied with how I did it last time. I will always look for ways to improve my teaching. The fact that the only thing I have purchased while on vacation is a new set of Rory's Story Cubes from my favorite kite shop (It's the Voyages edition. I am so excited to share it with my students!) to use in my writing literacy work station proves this point.
So, this is where the story begins. This blog will be as much for me as it will for those who choose to follow it. It will serve as an outlet to explain the reasoning behind the instructional decisions I make, document the student work resulting from these decisions, and reflect on the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of my instruction. It will serve as a means for me to share with you some of my favorite resources and teaching strategies that represent best practices in the field of education.
I can't wait to see how the story ends and I hope you will join me as each chapter unfolds.
Check this out if you are unfamiliar with Rory's Story Cubes. These are great because they can motivate even the most reluctant writer, be used for partner and small group writing, and provide you a fast and easy way to incorporate shared writing in your classroom.
Here is the link to Rory's Story Cubes for you to find out where you can buy a set near you.
http://www.storycubes.com/
Everything was pretty much as I had left it, just in the completely wrong places. After assessing the situation, I decided to spend a few hours moving furniture, unpacking boxes, setting up my classroom library, etc. The usual. Here is how the room looked when I left:
It wasn't much, but it will make life so much easier when I return for teacher work week in a few days. A week that seems to have less and less time for teachers to "work" with each passing year.
While I was unpacking the ghosts of Christmas past in Room 303, one of my colleagues stopped in to see what was up. My response to her was, "Same old thing." This led to a discussion of how our lives as teachers mimic that of Bill Murray's character from the movie Groundhog Day, a movie about a weatherman who finds himself living the same day over and over again until he gets it right.
I realized that this will be my thirteenth year going through the back to school routine of preparing my classroom for a new group of students. Much of what I do during this process has become very Groundhog Day-ish. It comes as second nature. It is something I could do in my sleep.
Reflecting on this, I have decided to take the time this year to step back and reassess what I do in my classroom and why I do it. As teachers, we have the rare opportunity to hit the reset button on our career every September and try to do it better than the time before. While this continues to drive my wife crazy (she can't understand why I don't just keep my lesson plans from year to year), she has accepted the fact that, for me, teaching will never get easier. I will never teach the same lessons the same way I did the previous year. I will never be satisfied with how I did it last time. I will always look for ways to improve my teaching. The fact that the only thing I have purchased while on vacation is a new set of Rory's Story Cubes from my favorite kite shop (It's the Voyages edition. I am so excited to share it with my students!) to use in my writing literacy work station proves this point.
So, this is where the story begins. This blog will be as much for me as it will for those who choose to follow it. It will serve as an outlet to explain the reasoning behind the instructional decisions I make, document the student work resulting from these decisions, and reflect on the effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of my instruction. It will serve as a means for me to share with you some of my favorite resources and teaching strategies that represent best practices in the field of education.
I can't wait to see how the story ends and I hope you will join me as each chapter unfolds.
Check this out if you are unfamiliar with Rory's Story Cubes. These are great because they can motivate even the most reluctant writer, be used for partner and small group writing, and provide you a fast and easy way to incorporate shared writing in your classroom.
Here is the link to Rory's Story Cubes for you to find out where you can buy a set near you.
http://www.storycubes.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)