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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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"

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

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"