faulker099

Hello Everyone! Another of the more popular blog posts I've done is the one from quite a while ago on "How's My Writing?" Again, I would not be doing my job as an educator if I did not continually upgrade my lessons.  As I work more and more with our youngest writers, maintaining a safe environment for them to work is paramount. Revising and editing is the hardest part of teaching writing. It is our job to be encouragers of our young writers’ work. Our students have worked so hard just to get their ideas on paper and then they are asked to revise? “But it sounds good the way it is!” “Yes, that’s what I wanted to say.”  “I checked everything, and I didn’t see anything to fix.”  You have heard it.  It is my experience in working with hundreds of first-grade writers that adults should maintain certain beliefs about revising and editing. * I am a firm believer in providing examples of modeling every part of the revising process and setting specific goals for specifi...

Hello Everyone! One of my most popular blog posts is one from many years ago on retelling. I looked back at that post and...WOW!!!  I totally needed to redo that unit!!! It looks so tired!!! I think I was just starting out with this whole "sharing via this blog" thing. It is surprising how much I have learned about creating products, making them look more engaging for kids, taking better photos, giving credit to the artists who create the clip art, finding clipart that is "cuter,"  and even adding copyright logos to some of my creations. I couldn't wait to redo my retelling unit. I have forever done the retelling rope...I mean ...for years! And many of you have adopted that strategy, but I decided to simplify...you know KISS, and make the story parts color coordinated with dots. The Retelling Rings and/or Story Sticks are easier for kids to make and will be "handy" reminders of the parts of a narrative. They can keep the manipulatives in their book bas...

Hello Everyone! Thanks for stopping by this little bl og. Just a quick share tonight.  It's report card time, and I have a few reports to get finished before Friday!  I didn't want to hold on to this unit for too long, because as I use it this week, I see the connections starting to develop!   As teachers and parents, you know that reading comprehension is paramount for all ages. Reading Comprehension is the making of meaning of texts. When readers see how the ideas in a text connect to their own ideas, lives, and experiences,  the meaning of the text becomes more evident.  When connections are made, reading can come alive for a reader. Readers need to be aware of the different connections there are to be made. For our youngest readers, I like to focus on “Text to Self” and “Text to  Text” connections.  As readers mature, “Text to World” connections can come  into play. When young readers are given a purpose for their reading, they are able ...

  Hello Everyone!!! Writer's Workshop is in full swing! We have worked hard on composing with pictures,  collected ideas, increased our focus to small moments, worked with writing partners , and are now trying to make our stories come to life.  Lucy Calkins,  in her Writing Units of Study , describes the next steps as writing in “Itsy Bitsy Steps.”  Jennifer Serravallo,   in her Writing Strategies Book ,  discusses organizing in sequence.  Working on helping kids unfold their stories in steps is a something that takes more than one mini lesson.  It will take mentor texts,  modeling, re-organizing, revising, and a little element of manipulative fun.  I like to start off by sharing one of my favorite  books, One Day   by Rebecca Dotlich . You have to get this book!  It shows kids how important it is to include all the parts of a small moment.   We then talk about spiders and how they build their webs step by s...