It's STILL March - grab a book to relieve stress!

 

It’s STILL March.   Our clocks have sprung ahead and allegedly, the seasons have switched from Winter to Spring.   Yet so many of us feel the days dragging on and feel what many have termed to be “Teacher Burnout”.   Oh it’s real alright.   The stress of Testing, the pressure of the year counting down and so much material still to cover, and quite frankly, simply the monotony of the daily routines can be enough to make March feel like the month that never ends.   But what if we could change all of that and help your students too?

Why not try?

Sometimes Reading can feel more like an accumulation of skills to be assessed (fluency, accuracy, word speed, comprehension, reading level) than the Gift that you are passing along and refining for the next generation.   We, as Teachers, have to step back from time to time and remind ourselves that Kids Who Read Regularly Become Better Readers.   So how do our students do with the love of Reading?   Elementary Teachers are tasked with igniting a Love of Reading that needs to be blazing because it frequently dies out as kids reach 8th grade and beyond.    In all honestly, most kids these days read very little because they are on screens.   Pages in a book are supposed to compete with social media, video games, short texts and posts exchanged between friends, and the increasingly popular graphic novels.   Consequently, attention spans are becoming shorter and books are losing their intrigue with this generation.

We need to work to change this while we can!

So what does Reading have to do with alleviating Teacher Burnout?   It’s simple.   Great Novels can transport us to new places and introduce us and our students to new people and sweep us off onto wonderful adventures!   

I will never forget the first time that I read Because of Winn Dixie.   It was over a decade ago and I had not yet seen the movie.   I had wanted to preview the book to see if my students would enjoy it.   It didn’t take me long to get caught up in the book and I literally read it cover to cover in one sitting!   What a fabulous story!   Even if your students have seen the move already, I guarantee that the book will still delight them!     I love this book so much that I have all kinds of great resources on my TpT store just ready for you to jump right in!  

Maybe you teach older kids, who like you, are bothered by the ever changing weather from snow to rain and often gray and chilly, then you might appreciate being transported to a society that has figured out how to make everything just perfect.   It feels so ideal… so predictable… so problem free.   But things aren’t always what they seem.    Readers will soon discover that there is a peculiar old man who can unlock a whole new perspective for all of us.   He is known as The Giver.   Lois Lowry is a master at storytelling in this classic and unforgettable novel.   Dive right into a great Novel Study with my The Giver Novel Study Resources available on my TpT store!  

Another great way to expose your students to great books is through a class Read Aloud.   If you’re not sure what books to read out loud to your class, I highly recommend the book entitled The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease.   It’s a game changer for Educators and Parents.   (Note:  the book has gone through significant changes in recent years as Jim was no longer able to oversee it.    Despite newer editions being available, the older 6th edition is still my favorite!)  

I hope that diving into some timeless classics will help alleviate some burnout for you.    Books can be very therapeutic for teachers as well as students!   Novel studies can be amazingly refreshing for everyone!   Open a book and enjoy the adventure!

Let’s Get Reading!

Martha

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6 Strategic Steps to a Rewarding Readers' Theater Experience

Sometimes we all just need what my neighbor likes to call “Fresh Eyes”. We need a new perspective for what we’re doing, a renewed purpose for how we’re persevering through our days. Remember that we are ideally equipping our students to be Readers for LIFE!

6 Strategic Steps to aRewarding Readers’ Theater Experience!

A few years ago, I heard a staggering statistic that most kids (especially boys!) will stop reading for enjoyment by 8th grade! 8th grade! That means that this Elementary and Middle Grades window of time is CRUCIAL to winning kids over to becoming readers for life! Of course, WE KNOW that becoming lifelong readers will help them to be more successful overall in so many areas of life, but they don't know that and they aren't able to think that far ahead. 

That's why creative strategies like Readers’ Theater are so important! We as teachers can build our students' fluency and strengthen their internal reading voices alongside them, while demonstrating that reading can be FUN! I’ve heard a lot of teachers say that they hear a lot about Readers’ Theater, but they are just not sure how to actually pull it off in your classroom. Honestly, successful Readers’ Theaters always start with a solid, usable script! I've created some of my own for both primary and upper elementary that I think work very well. (You'll find them over at The Owl Spot ) 

So I want to give you 6 surefire great steps towards a rewarding Readers' Theater experience! Here we go! 

1. Do some planning ahead of time! Choose a high interest script and make sure that everyone gets their OWN copy. Plan your timeframe. (Most teachers like to start on Monday and wrap up on Friday! Just 15-20 min per day works great!) 

2. Model reading the script out loud for your students. (Feel free to pull in some colleagues like a librarian, lunch aide, secretary, or principal to add that extra boost of fun!) 

3. Divide your students into Readers’ Theater groups so that everyone in a group has a part. (Plan your groups ahead of time and assign parts ahead of time! Most teachers prefer for each group to have at least one strong reader.) Encourage your students to go ahead and highlight their own individual part. 

4. Read through the script several times to ensure correct pronunciation and to model fluency, intonation, and good oral reading practices when there is punctuation. Students should always be following along with their own script to build their own sight word recognition. 

5. Allow each group to practice at their seats and then again in front of the class. Provide appropriate, constructive and helpful feedback to your students. Remind them that there is no need to memorize their parts! The whole concept behind Readers' Theater is that they will be READING their parts and working through a script! 

6. Allow for your students to perform their Readers' Theater as a wrap up. There is no need for costumes, but some simple fun character name tags or simple accessories seem to go a long way to boost enthusiasm and interest! (We all have those students who love to be creative! Why not task them with some simple character tags for the different parts?) Feel free to invite a younger grade in to enjoy your Readers' Theater. Audiences give a greater sense of purpose to the readers. 

I hope that you are as excited as I am to get my students improving their reading skills through Readers' Theater! Next time, we'll be looking at more specific strategies to squeeze out even more benefit from the time spent using Readers' Theater in the classroom! 

Have Fun and Get Reading! 

Martha 

 ****Because you have been a loyal follower, I want you to be one of the first people to know my big exciting news!! The Owl Spot is opening on Etsy! My Etsy store is currently under construction, but I am so excited for all of the phenomenal resources that I will be able to make available to all of my teacher friends! Check out The Owl Spot Shop on Etsy!

My Favorite Classroom Read Aloud

I think my favorite read aloud for school is Jon Scieszka's "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs." If you've never read it, you need to stop what you're doing now (well, after you read my post) and read it! I'll post a link at the bottom of this post for a YouTube read aloud of it. 

Scieszka seems to write with a bit of sarcasm that my 5th graders get. One of my favorite parts is when the wolf tries to explain why he eats the pigs: "If cheeseburgers were cute, people would think you were big and bad, too!"

The story ends with the wolf pleading for the reader to believe his side of the story. Lots of discussion here about whether or not the character is believable. There's plenty of ways to teach reading comprehension throughout the book. 

Since my students love this book as much as I do, I continued the story in a Readers' Theater play. The play picks up where the book leaves off. The wolf is being interviewed by the media about what happened. He, again, tries to argue his case while one of the pigs is defending his side. Super cheeky! 

If you want the script for your students, click on the link below. It's available in my TpT store. Included with the script are a bunch of reading comprehension activities to do with the script. My kids favorite activity is always having to choose the wolf's jury from a bunch of fairy tale land characters. 

My students are ALWAYS engaged in learning with these. One teacher told me that she landed an amazing observation when her principal observed while her kids were busy with these activities! You can't go wrong!

For more great readers' theater scripts from The Owl Spot, click HERE. 

To listen to a read aloud of "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" click HERE.

As always, happy teaching!

Martha from "The Owl Spot"

10 Minute Poetry Mini Lessons - Makes Poetry Easy for Students and the Teacher!

10 Minute Poetry Mini Lessons

Makes Poetry Easy for Students and the Teacher!

Don't second guess teaching poetry anymore! These quick, easy to follow mini lessons will expose your students to a wide variety of poems, introduce and review literary elements, and encourage students to write their own poetry! And the lessons only take about 10 minutes a day.

The 24 included poems will give you enough poems for 1 a day for a poetry month or unit focus, or there's plenty here to get you through your school year (some of the extra activities for the poems can extend to a 2 day lesson). It's perfect! 

           

Keep printing simple - each poem and student analysis/activity is on a single page. You only need one page a day for students. No need to fumble with multiple pages of copying. Teacher directions are on half page cards in a simple to follow format. Easy-peasy!

Stop in at The Owl Spot to get your 10 Minute Poetry Mini Lessons and get started teaching poetry with confidence! 

Check out these other poetry resources, too!

   

  

        

Poetry made easy! 

From The Owl Spot on Teachers Pay Teachers

www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/the-owl-spot

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So is independent reading really that important?

Yes, yes, and yes!

I know, I've been there, too. My schedule is jam packed, I have no idea how I'm going to spend extra time getting my students ready for those tests, and we have so many pull outs and interruptions that I'm lucky to get all of my content covered.  The last thing on my mind is free reading time.

But that's what my students (and yours) need the most, especially if their vocabulary fluency is low.  They need to be immersed in good vocabulary, and what better place than in good books.  

"[A] study found that the amount of time students spent reading independently was the best predictor of vocabulary development and reading achievement gains. The research indicates that independent reading is probably the major source of vocabulary acquisition beyond the beginning stages of learning to read." (Individualized Daily Reading Research, Center for the Collaborative Classroom).  

This study goes on to explain that the amount of time students are independently reading has a direct correlation to their amount of vocabulary knowledge and understanding. Books are so important!

After reading this, I've decided that I have to put more 

of a priority on independent reading in my classroom.  
I want it to be meaningful, not just something we use 
as a time filler.  But I don't want my students to feel like 
I'm forcing them to read. I want them to want to read.  

There are many student motivators out there, some better than others.  I'll apologize ahead of time here, but I'm not a fan of AR (gasp, I know!). While there are many good points to the program, I don't like giving my students the only reason for reading is to take a test and earn points.  We don't do that as adults. We read because we want to - either for fun or for information.  If we are asked questions about what we're reading, we can usually pick up the book and find the answers we need.  

Last year, I managed to be able to take my students to our local library once a month to check out books.  They loved it!  There were books there that I didn't have on my shelves, and they were around other people who really loved to read.  The bus rides back to school were usually pretty quiet as they were beginning to devour their adventures. Maybe checking into local library trips is something you'd like to do - the ladies at the library were very excited to help us make this a meaningful experience.  My students had to obtain their own library card with their parents.  

One of my goals this summer is to read "The Book Whisperer" by Donalyn Miller.  I've heard many teachers give raving reviews of how this book has changed their reading instruction. Have you read it? What is one of your                                most important/memorable take-a-ways?

  Martha