The Owl Spot's Cyber Monday (and Tuesday) SALE!

Yep, that's right! The Owl Spot is on SALE for Cyber Monday and Tuesday.   If you're like me, you're sitting on your couch, DREADING going back to school tomorrow. Thanksgiving break was way too short, and Winter Break seems too far away.

I have the solution for you, though. I just finished a new Christmas product that I'm quite sure will help you get through these next couple weeks, all while keeping your students occupied and engaged while still learning.

(drum role....) CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS READING PASSAGES AND ACTIVITIES
Click the image link for a preview...

I loved researching about these fun holiday traditions (hanging stockings around the fireplace, sending Christmas cards, finding the "Christmas Pickle"). I know your students (and mine) will love reading about them, too.  

Here's my SPECIAL gift to you... if you purchase my new Christmas Traditions during the Cyber Sale (reg. $5 - take 25% off), you can receive a new game (that's not even in my store yet) called Grammar Races for FREE! 

Just email me your name, email address, and your order number. I will email you the game as soon as I'm able to finish it.  I'll have a primary version and an intermediate grades version (you'll have to let me know which one you want).  This game will be available in my store after the New Year.

Sending me your email will also give you access to 10 Free ELA and MATH Games to use in your classroom.  All of these products will make these last weeks until Winter break bearable!

Here's a few other newer products that would be a great snag during the Cyber Sale...

1. Basic Geography for Elementary Grades - Journal, Review Game and Assessment

2. Aesop's Fables for Big Kids Readers' Theater Bundle

3. Emoji Multiplication Mystery Puzzles

4. The Spider and the Fly Poetry Analysis Pack

5. Math Mystery Pictures
Primary
Intermediate Grades

Well, I'm going to go load up my cart!  Make sure grab these great deals (and freebies!) during the sale!  I'll chat with you soon about writing workshop and other great classroom stories!

Happy Teaching! - Martha from "The Owl Spot"
www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/the-owl-spot

Writing Workshop Wednesdays

How's Writing Workshop going? I had to take a break from workshop (horrors, I know), but I'm so happy to be getting back to it this week.  We've had some schedule changes, and now I feel I have the "write" amount of time to jump back in (pun intended!).

I'm going to focus for a bit on gathering ideas for writing. Since one of the main focuses of Writer's Workshop is student choice, our students need to be able to come up with their own ideas for writing. Here are some great ways to help you teach students how to get ideas for their writing.

1. Picture cards

I have a little basket of picture cards in my classroom that are meant to stir up the imagination and get my students writing. These are usually pictures that make you go "huh?" or make you wonder or marvel at something. My students love these!  And just because I love giving you some tools, I'm attaching a couple picture freebies here!  (These were all taken by family members, and I have permission from them to share with you.)

2. Picture books

The picture books that you have on your shelf or in your library can give students a wealth of ideas for their own writing.  One of my favorite ones to use is "All the Places I Love" by Patricia MacLachlan.  I like using this book at the beginning of the year, and then having students write about a place that they love. "Bat Loves the Night" by Nicola Davies is perfect for writing about an animal in a nonfiction context.  Any of Patricia Polacco's books are perfect for writing about family memories. 

If you are using a picture book for helping your students gather ideas, I would make sure that you've read the book to them ahead of time.  During your mini lesson, you would want to refer to the book, show some pictures, and do a "think aloud" about how the book can give you some other ideas for your own writing.  For example, if using "Owl Moon" by Jane Yolen, you could talk about what it would be like to go hunting for other animals, such as mice in a barn, an alligator in a swamp, or a fish in a pond. Or, students could recall a special memory they shared with a close family member that brought awe and amazement.  

3. Heart-mapping

I wrote about this one a few posts back. You can read about it here.

4. Expert Wall

Your students are all experts at something, whether it's knowing a lot about the Titanic, how to build an electrical circuit, how to cook, how to get past the hard level of their favorite video game, or how to make microwave popcorn.  Create an "Expert Wall" where they can list what they are an expert about.  This gives them confidence to write about something they know (usually in a nonfiction context, too). It also gives them the understanding that other classmates might know a lot about something they'd like to learn more about. This gives some great opportunities for interviewing an expert, asking questions, and broadening their own interests. As students grow in their knowledge of the world around them, they can add more "expert" topics to their portion of the Expert Wall.

5. Open Ended Writing Prompts

As a disclaimer, I'm not usually one to advocate for writing prompts, because they are usually given in a "whole class, everybody writes about" type of way. However, if used the right way, they can be a valuable tool.  

Keep a list of prompts in a place where students can access it. You may want to have a chart in the room with prompts for the month, or a set of prompts on a ring hung on a bulletin board. If students are struggling with coming up with something to write about, they could read through the prompt options and choose one.  The student still has choice, but the prompts are used to help with the ideas so they can get started writing something.  

Here's a link to my writing prompt task cards that I use all the time.  Here's another link for my digital writing prompts if your students have access to computers and Google drive.

                         

There are tons of ways to help your students get ideas for writing.  A lot of times, we come up with new ones as my students are just talking about what's going on in their lives. I can remember many times telling a student, "That would make a great story!"

I'd love to hear other creative ways that you help your students gather writing ideas! 

5 Tips for Grading Faster

Where's My Clean Desk?

This was my desk at the beginning of the year. Cleaned off, everything done and in its place.

And this is it now. 

The pile of things to do and grade is taking over. I feel a bit guilty, but I just left it on Friday. I have too much home and family things to do this weekend to spend countless hours trying to get caught up. 

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I’m drowning in paperwork and grading at this time of the year! No matter what year it is, where I am teaching, or what my class personality is, October and November always seem to have this constant stress of too much to do. 

Do you feel this way too? I’m revisiting my grading time savors list to help streamline my work, and I thought something here might be useful for you, too.  Check out the link below for other time saving products in my TpT store!

1.      Don't grade too much! 

The assessments you choose should reflect what the students have been learning and practicing.  It shouldn’t be a stack of everything they have done. Being a little more “picky” about what you include in your grade book should save you some time!

2.      Use an assessment for multiple things.

Ask yourself, “Can I assess more than one area with this assessment?” Maybe you have a spelling test and you have your students use their words in writing. Take 2 scores from this test – one for spelling/word work and one for writing.  Maybe you have your students write how a certain person in social studies contributed to society. Use that score for social studies and for language arts.  Does your math test on multiplication assess the student’s ability to use multiplication in real-world problems? Take 2 math scores (math computation and math reasoning). This way, you’re not grading separate papers. Big time savor!

3.      Grade in batches

This was a HUGE game changer for me!  Instead of grading Brandon’s science test, then Macey’s, then Marcus’s, now I grade page 1 of everyone’s test, then go to page 2 of everyone’s test and so forth. Grading the same thing in smaller chunks actually uses your short-term memory to recognize correct answers quicker. I can quickly breeze through a page of multiple choice questions, remembering the sequence of the answers, making grading go faster.

4.      Keep your answers on the left side of the page.

If you create your own tests/assessments, try to keep your students’ responses all on the left side of the paper.  Even if you give your students space to work out their math problems right where the problem is on the page, have your students place their final answers in a column on the left. This lets you grade quickly, letting your eyes run down a single column for answers. If you need to check the details of a problem, it’s still there, but your eyes don’t get hung up with searching for the answer.

5.      Self-checking assignments

Not all assignments can be checked by the students, nor should all of them be set up this way. But there are benefits for having students check their own work at times. Students have immediate feedback on their work. They can learn from their mistakes, and take time to look at their work to see what they got wrong. I know when I pass papers back to my students, most of them look at the grade at the top of the page and shove the papers in a folder to take home (if we’re that lucky). Checking things in class forces students to notice specifics about their incorrect answers, as well as gives them a chance to ask questions or see the correct response. Scoring things in class also saves you the time to have to go through everyone’s paper.

I self-check as much as possible in class.  I have to train my students how to do this, though. My rules are (1) pencils away, (2) checking pens out, (3) write a question mark next to something that you’re not sure of, and (4) write how many you missed at the top and CIRCLE IT.

Sometimes I have an assignment where students check their work with an answer key. It is sometimes as simple as completing a page of math problems and checking with my teacher’s manual that I lay out on a table (or the corner of my desk) for them to use. It’s easiest to make a few copies of the answer key and place them in different areas around the room. This way, more students can check at the same time. My rule with these is that if they have an incorrect answer, they must circle the problem number that is wrong and go rework the problem. They are not allowed to just copy the right answer and say it’s done. This kind of self-checking is best for review or practice pages. They are not going in the grade book, but intended to give more time and practice with a particular skill.

I hope these time saving tips help you streamline your work so you can enjoy life outside of your classroom!  I know I’m definitely going to focus more on these this coming quarter, too!

Here are some great time saving helps that you may be interested in from The Owl Spot!

Editable Grid Sheets

Time Manageable Helps for Teachers

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The Writing Process

It's been a rough first week back to school for me, and I'm glad to get back to blogging about Writer's Workshop!

Hopefully, if you're just getting back into the swing of things in your classrooms, too, you've been able to start implementing some aspects of Writer's Workshop into your schedule.  If not, it's never too late to start!  (click here for my post about what Writer's Workshop is)

So, as I begin my year with my students, it's important that I start them out with understanding what the Writing Process is. When students work through a process, whether it's in writing or reading or math, they work using a concrete model to reach a goal.  In writing, the goal is to have something that is ready for someone else to read.  In 5th grade, I use these steps:

1. Prewriting (brainstorm ideas)
2. Drafting (get your ideas on paper)
3. Revising (change the way you wrote something)
4. Editing (fix things that need fixed)
5. Publishing (ready for the readers' eyes)

When I taught primary grades, I usually combined the revising and editing stages as there is less of a focus on revising.

I wanted a creative way to introduce the writing process to my students that would help them understand what happened in each stage. So, what better way to create, change, fix, and finalize something than playing with play dough!

1. Prewriting

I gave my students a ball of play dough.  I found cheap containers of play dough at my local dollar store. You could also make the dough, but I didn't want to take the time when I knew I could get it for fairly cheap.  I told my students that we were going to have a contest to see who could create the best animal with their play dough.  I gave them time to experiment with ideas first, which represents the PREWRITING stage of the writing process.  They sure got creative!

What should I make? Lions, tigers, bears... so many options!

2. Drafting
Once they had their fun with experimenting with their play dough, they began thinking through what animals they actually wanted to create for our little competition.  They began putting pieces and parts together to see what they could create.  Their initial ideas didn't always turn out like they imagined, which goes perfectly with the DRAFTING stage of the writing process.

It's a start!

3. As they began to make changes to their animals, I emphasized that this represented the REVISING stage; the stage where they might move things around (just like they might move an arm or leg on their animal to balance it out a little better). They also might take something off their animal and change the way the piece looked, similar to using different words to state their ideas better.

This doesn't look like I thought it would!

4. As their animals were coming along, they began to see the need to fix things, such as a leg that was too thick, or an body that wasn't proportional to the head. In the picture below, a student realized that the animal head was actually too heavy as it fell off the animal!  We talked about how this models our need for EDITING when we need to fix things in our writing that aren't correct (spelling, punctuation, grammar/mechanics issues).

Oh, no! The head won't stay on!

5. Finally, it was time to get it ready for the judges. There was a fine line up of play dough animals, from dinosaurs and snakes to dolphins and cats.  But the judges could only choose 1.  This showed us how important it is to make sure our writing is ready for the reader. If our work doesn't get our thoughts and ideas across well, then it's not as effective as it could be.

So, the winner was...

The Dolphin!

This activity helped my students understand the stages of the writing process.  As students began writing their various stories, letters, poems and reports, they were able to track their own progress through the process.  That way, they can stick to a plan for their writing, making the goal of publishing a tangible one for them!

I'd love to hear how you introduce your students to the writing process!  I know there are tons of creative ideas out there!

Thanks for reading!
Martha

5 Quick Tips for the Writing Mini Lesson

Happy Wednesday! I am in the middle of getting my classroom ready for my 5th graders this year, and am so excited to start Writer's Workshop this year!  

So, this morning I thought some quick tips for conducting a writing mini lesson might be a help for me to think about and for you as you're planning, too!

(These Quick Tips come from my Quick Guide to Implementing Writer's Workshop in the Elementary Classroom, which can be found here.)

The Mini Lesson

I think of the Mini Lesson as the “Heart and Soul” of Writer’s Workshop.  This is where the teacher imparts his/her knowledge about writing to the students. It’s in a very small chunk of time, so the mini lesson has to be specific, succinct, and immediately applicable. 

Here’s some tips:

1. The Mini Lesson should not be introducing a writing prompt for everyone to complete. 

There should be choice in the writing topics for students, which allows them to own their writing.  Yes, a teacher has specific writing genres to cover. 

2. Mini Lessons focus on one specific skill.

3. Mini Lessons many times depend on student needs.

What your students do in Writer’s Workshop drives your topics for your mini lessons.  Having a line up of Mini Lessons always helps for those times!  (I’m busy creating an Anthology of Mini Lessons just for those moments!)

4. Mini Lessons can be related to others.

They can be sequels to each other. Many times, I begin by reviewing what we talked about the day before and build on those ideas. 

5. Mini Lessons must have teacher modeling involved.

I know… that’s what many of us DON’T like doing. But it’s essential. Sometimes I’m teaching the new skill/concept AS I’M WRITING.

I love keeping these tips in mind as I'm planning out my mini lessons.  The key is SHORT, INTENTIONAL, and SPECIFIC TO STUDENT NEEDS.  I have more details about each of these tips, as well as a long list of mini lesson ideas in my Quick Guide to Implementing Writer's Workshop in the Elementary Classroom.  Grab your copy today!  There's a free mini lesson included in the guide, too!

A Quick Guide to Implementing Writer's Workshop



Happy Teaching!
Martha from "The Owl Spot"

How Do I Get My Students to Start Writing?

If you've ever asked this question to yourself or to someone else, don't worry: you're not alone! I think we all struggle with this. Here are a couple of ways that I've used that has been helpful to get my students writing during Writer's Workshop!

1. Heart Mapping

Georgia Heard in "Awakening the Heart" begins her book by talking about Heart Mapping.  I love this concept.  It gets students thinking about what things are close to their hearts that they can writing about.

 

Heard uses this method when teaching students to write poetry, but I've expanded it to all forms of writing.  Students want to write about what matters to them, and that's what this exercise gets them thinking about!

Here's how it's done:
*  Have students draw a large heart on one of the first couple pages of their writing journals.  In the picture above, we actually cut these out and attached them to the inside front cover of their writing journals. I wanted students to be able to find these quickly to get ideas.

* Inside their hearts, have them write the names of things that are important to them.  For instance, it might be the names of family members, pets, places they've visited, anything that is a favorite... I think you get the idea.  I always do one on chart paper as they are working on theirs.

* Asking students questions about things they like (what's your favorite dessert, what's your favorite sport... etc.) helps them think through the things that are close to their hearts.

* They can draw a picture or symbol to go with some or all of their ideas.

* After they "fill up their hearts," they can section the items off by drawing lines (if they want to).  I tell that that they are making it look kind of like a stained glass window. It's important to keep in mind that they do not have to fill in every spot in their heart maps. Many times throughout the year, students will think of something they can add to their map. And you'll also have experiences in class (field trips, experiments, school activities) that they may want to add, too!

* Once they have finished, they have this beautiful reminder in their writing journals of things they can write about if they need some ideas.

(I do not have any affiliate links or kick-backs for mentioning Georgia Heard's book - I just love it!)

2.  Read picture books that spark writing ideas!

You can get so many writing ideas from reading picture books.  For example...

* "All the Places to Love" by Patricia MacLachlan is a perfect read to get students thinking about a place they love to visit. The descriptive words are a great model for writing about their own favorite spot.

* "Thundercake" by Patricia Polacco can remind students of things they are/were afraid of and how they overcame their fears.

* "Saturdays and Teacakes" by Lester Laminak is great for writing about special memories with special friends/family members.

* "The Relatives Came" by Cynthia Rylant is a for writing about a time students went on a trip or vacation.

* "Diary of a Worm" by Doreen Cronin (or any of her Diary books) is a great format to get kids thinking from another animal's perspective.

There are so many amazing picture books oozing with writing ideas.  You have to think like a writer when you read them.


3. Pictures

You know the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words."  Well, get your student to begin writing those words down!  I've made it a routine in my classroom to start our day with an ELA skill building activity, and one of those is a Picture Writing Prompt. These are a favorite with my students, and many times, they will continue their story later on. Check out the links below for the FULL YEAR of ELA Skills activities. 

Here's something for you to try (or to have your students try).  I'm sure there will be lots of amazing ideas from this picture!

ELA Bell Ringers for Upper Elementary Grades printable

ELA Bell Ringers for Upper Elementary Grades digital

ELA Morning Work for Primary Grades digital

I'd love to read your stories and/or poems!  Even better, I'd love to read what your students have to write! Share in the comments :-)


Happy Writing!
Martha from "The Owl Spot"
www.the-owl-spot.blogspot.com
www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/The-Owl-Spot

Setting the Stage for Writer's Workshop

Welcome to "The Owl Spot" as we set the stage for writer's workshop.  This is my 2nd installment of my Writer's Workshop Wednesday posts, and it's one of my favorites!  

As teachers, we (usually) enjoy decorating and organizing our rooms for a new school year.  Sometimes it gets overwhelming with all of the photos circulating on Pinterest and Facebook.  I like to make a checklist, though, to help me stay focused (grab the checklist at the end of this post for free!).

One area on my checklist is to set up my content related areas, one of them being my Writing Center.  In this center, I have an interactive bulletin board for students to track their writing process and a shelf with writing tools for my students to use (different kinds of paper, checklists, dictionaries, editing pens, etc.).

For today, I wanted to focus on the Interactive Writing Process Board (or display). 

One set of mini lessons I teach after I go over procedures for Writer's Workshop is what the Writing Process is.  It's important that students know what happens in each stage, as well as where they are in the process as they are writing.  

Creating an interactive board doesn't have to be as hard as it sounds.  You just need a way for students to visually track their own process.  It also makes it easy for you to catch a "status of the class" just by looking at your board/display.  

You want to make sure you have these items on your board/display:

* Stages of the writing process

* Short explanation of what happens in each stage - this can be either on the board/display or somewhere nearby.

* Movable pieces with student names on them.  These should attach to the different writing process stages. There's so many different ways you can do this!

1. Clip chart - students move their clothespins to the stage they are currently working on with their writing. Super easy!

2. Magnets - keep your writing process stages on a magnetic surface. Use dollar store/die cuts, etc. with student names on them for your movable pieces.  Just add a magnet to the back!

3. If using a true bulletin board, you can use any movable pieces. Students attach them to the stage with push pins!

Here's some picture ideas...

These are the pieces to a writing process board. 

The posters explain each stage, while the students use the clip chart to show where they are in the process. Super easy to set up, even if you don't have much board/wall space.

Here's one that I used a magnetic surface:

Since my theme was Sea Turtles that year, my students had magnetic name pieces (sea turtle eggs) that traveled to each of the stages of the writing process. This year I had to display my explanation posters in a different area.

Here's another one...

This one goes with my current Alice in Wonderland theme. Students have their writing process posters above the "Tea Party."  On the first day of school, students design their own teacups to use as their movable piece. Because this is on the wall, they use sticky tack to move their pieces on the corresponding teacup.

I've seen so many creative ways to do this! One teacher used a dog theme, and printed out dog bowls, one for each stage. Students had bones with their names on them to move to the different bowl.  Another favorite was a race track. The Writing Process stages were around the track, and students moved their race cars around!

Have fun making your classroom setup meaningful to what you are going to teach your students! 

I'd love to hear how you display your writing process so your students can track their writing!

Link: Free Checklist for Setting Up Your Classroom

Link: Writing Process Poster Set

Thanks for reading!
Martha from "The Owl Spot"

Writer's Workshop Wednesdays

I love teaching writing!

I don't hear many teachers saying this, so I know I'm in the minority here.  I think I like teaching writing because I love to write.  It's something that I've loved doing since I was in third grade.  I remember writing a story about an elephant running away from the circus, and thinking that I wanted to write books when I grew up.

So here I am, teaching 5th graders how to write.

How?  Through Writer's Workshop.

After going through some pretty intense training for Writer's Workshop when I taught at Tigerville Elementary School in SC, and then being a part of the Upstate Writing Project with Clemson, I'm a firm believer that Writer's Workshop works. It's not just another program that was thrown at me to figure out and implement immediately; it's a well-researched way to build a community of lifelong writers in your classroom.

Enjoying writing outdoors

So, what is Writer's Workshop?

1. A time when students pretty much get to make choices about what they write.

2. Mini lessons

3. Time to write

4. Talking about our writing

5. Teachers modeling writing

6. Using Mentor Texts as examples

7. Sharing and celebrating the authors in all of us


It's my favorite time of the day (my students say the same thing)!  And once you understand how it all works, I know you'll love it, too.

Check back with me every Wednesday for Writer's Workshop Wednesday. I plan on posting helpful tips and hints for being successful with this in your class. I promise each Writer's Workshop Wednesday post will have you excited to try something new with your students!

I'm giving away a couple customized Writing Process Clip Charts - leave a comment below about writing in your classroom (a moment of success or an area of frustration is fine).  Make sure to leave your email address, too, so I can contact you!  I'll choose the winners by Saturday, July 29. 

Martha from "The Owl Spot"

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