reading
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I’ve gone and glogged again! My latest glog is all about Fountas and Pinnell’s framework for guided reading for teachers from kindergarten to second grade, though the information is certainly transferrable to all the grades. I love making glogs because you can see all of the information and synthesize everything at once. The video that’s…
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I have seen firsthand how turning and talking to a reader or writer next to you can energize students. Sometimes I’ll ask a class a question, and wait for a couple timid hands to slowly raise themselves. I’ll quickly follow-up with, “Turn and talk to the reader next to you about…” After a minute or…
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At last week’s staff meeting, a teacher queried, “How can we hold kids accountable for their independent reading?” Such a great question! What else is out there besides book talks and reading letters? I began exploring and discovered Padlet. A Padlet is basically an online bulletin board. You can upload photos, files, or videos to…
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Man, I love a word wall. I always thought I did a good job with word walls because they easily covered close to half of my classroom wall space. Then I saw this image from an article in an issue of Science and Children called, “Interactive Word Walls” by Julie Jackson and Rose Narvaez: The…
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My family lives close to An Unlikely Story, the amazing book store owned by the author of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Jeff Kinney. When they announced that author, Kate DiCamillo, would be visiting the bookstore, we signed up right away. Unfortunately, so did MANY other people. *We* were put on the standby…
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I love finding inspiring quotes in the books I’m reading! In fact, my students have a whole section of their reading notebooks devoted to quote collecting. It’s impactful work because it encourages: “reading like a writer.” Being aware of how words are composed influences and excites us as writers. I want my writing to have the same kind…
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For assignment #7, Potterheads created birthday cards for Harry. Harry would’ve LOVED these! Payton’s birthday card for Harry: John’s birthday tidings for Harry: Charlie’s birthday wish for Harry: Killian’s birthday greetings:
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This is it, Potterheads. The LAST chunk of The Sorcerer’s Stone and the LAST assignment. There are only the last three chapters for you to read, and they’re so exciting, I won’t be surprised if you finish them in one sitting. Since I’m posting this a bit late, let’s make sure you’ve finished the book…
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We’re SO close to the end! In fact, if you’ve been pacing yourself with my weekly assignments, I predict you won’t be able to resist finishing the book after you read the next two chapters! Go ahead and devour what remains if you wish! However, I’m only going to assign chapters 13 and 14 for…
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Inspired by the three-headed dog, Fluffy, and the mountain troll that terrified Harry, Ron, and Hermione in recent chapters, Middleboro’s Potterheads imagined their own fantastic beasts that could’ve been guarding the sorcerer’s stone or trolling the hallways scaring Hogwarts’ students. Beware! CHARLIE’S CHEWGOTHAGON The Chewgothagon has fangs that are three feet long. It uses it’s…
A SEA OF TALK 