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12 Days of Freebies: Day 12 AND Half Off!
Hello again friends!
I am so excited to share with you my Christmas Event…
12 Days of FREEBIES!!
Beginning today, and for the next 12 days, I will be posting a FREE resource for you and your students to enjoy all year long.
To get started with the freebie fun, click either of the images below to download your free resource!
I will also be offering 50% off related resources for one day only!
To see today's half off resources, click on the image below…
So, be sure to check back each day to see the new freebie and what deals you can grab that day for half off!!
Happy Holidays!!
Get Ready for 12 Days of FREEBIES and Half Off Deals!
Hello Friends!
I wanted to find a way to say thank you to all my teacher friends this holiday season.
You all work so hard and love our kids each day.
Each day you are a gift to your students, and I wanted to find a way to give some gifts to you!
So here is a sneak peak at the gifts that are headed your way…
12 days of freebies will begin this Sunday, December 7!
Each day I will post a new free resource for you and your students to enjoy in the classroom all year.
I will also be offering HALF OFF related resources, something I have never done before! These will be almost double the savings of our site-wide sale days! wahoo!!
You will be able to click on the image below each day and it will take you to the deals!
So, be sure to check back either on my blog, or my TpT store each day to see the freebies and the deals!
Happy Holidays!!
Advent Calendar from Primary Chalkboard
My friends and I over at The Primary Chalkboard are celebrating this month with our own Advent Calendar.
Each day we will have a little treat for our readers from one of our authors/bloggers.
You can only get the treat on that day, so make sure you check back often.
Click on the image below to get started and see what treat is available today!
BIGGEST SALE EVER!! PLUS SURPRISE DEALS!
I am super excited about Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale I can barely stand it!
Teachers Pay Teachers is having their annual Cyber Monday sale December 1-2, where you can save 28% off everything by using the code TPTCYBER at checkout.
BUT…
I wanted to start my sale even earlier! I am throwing my own Black Friday deals. I feel like Oprah right now!
Who doesn't LOVE Oprah!?
I am offering crazy deals I have never even offered before!
Be sure to check out the main page of my TpT store each day for a special surprise bonus discount good for one day only!
Click on the image above or HERE to visit my store and see all the deals!!
Happy Halloween SALE!! 20% off EVERYTHING
Hello Friends,
I wanted to let you know that I am having a Halloween Sale at my TpT store from October 30-November 1.
Don't miss out on saving 20% on all my resources!!
Click on the image below to see over 300 reading, writing, and language resources for grades 2-8!!
I wish you all a very Happy and safe Halloween!!
Speaking & Listening Skills With a Book Talk
I wanted to share with you a lesson our home school classroom did about teaching good speaking and listening skills.
Speaking and Listening skills are so HUGE because these skills are used not only in every subject in school, but throughout our daily interactions with others.
To see how we learned speaking and listening skills with a book talk example, watch this short video!
Here is the blank mini-lesson anchor chart:
I hope you all have a wonderful time enjoying your new listening and speaking skills!!
If you need reading and writing units of study for your classroom, you can click here.
Best wishes,
Jen Bengel
Reading Workshop: Sharing Feelings About a Text
I am super excited to share with you all a reading mini-lesson about how we can teach our young readers to share their feelings from reading.
So many things are happening inside a reader's mind every time he/she reads. One of the things the brain is doing, oftentimes without the reader even realizing it, is developing feelings.
As we read, we are reminded of personal experiences or recall things we know. Those memories trigger emotions in our minds.
Using Interactive Edits to Notice What Authors Write
I am excited to share my latest thinking about interactive edits. In the past, I have used D.O.L. (Daily Oral Language) worksheets in my classroom in the hopes that my students would correct all the mistakes in poorly written sentences. I hoped, that by knowing how to correct numerous errors in poorly written sentences, they would be able to write correctly themselves.
My thinking completely shifted when I learned about Jeff Anderson and his idea of showing students well-written sentences, rather than putting poorly written sentences in front of them. If you ever have the opportunity to hear Mr. Anderson speak, TAKE IT! He is phenomenal…and highly entertaining I might add.
Check out this amazing 3-minute video of Jeff Anderson as he explains how to invite students to notice great writing.
Getting EVERY Student Writing Poetry
I wanted to talk today about something that we should be teaching our students throughout the year…POETRY!
I absolutely LOVE teaching and writing poetry.
It is magical for me when every student realizes that they are all poets that have something important to contribute to this word.
I am going to share the way I get all my fifth graders to start writing and enjoying poetry.
Like every class, there are those students who start writing a million ideas in a million different directions.
Then there are those who have no ideas and spend 30 minutes finding anything and everything to distract themselves from attempting to write poetry because it's just not easy.
There is a way to bring both these extreme types of learners together and have everyone else in between successful as well. The way I introduce writing poetry is to NOTICE really great poetry as readers. We begin by exploring lots and lots of different poetry anthologies that interest students.
Here are the steps I take:
1. I read several different poems I enjoy to the class, sharing my thinking about each poem. I often talk about my emotions, connections, and experiences with the text. I also discuss the author's use of language and the way in which he/she put the words on the page. This modeling is a critical first stage in showing students examples of what readers should be thinking about when analyzing poetry.
Here are some of my favorite collections of poems!
2. I lay out bins of poetry books and tell students that today they are going to spend some time enjoying poetry as a reader. I ask them to choose a book to read and then pick one poem that really stood out to them while reading and copy it into their poetry anthologies (blank bound cardstock paper). They MUST copy it EXACTLY as it appears in the book. This helps students think about line breaks and spacing in poetry. They even copy any illustrations!!
3. At the end of class I ask students to share the poem they copied with a partner. Then I have them talk about why they chose that poem.
That's it! We repeat these steps over the course of several days until I feel students have been exposed to enough poetry that they are comfortable enough to try writing their own. That is when we move into writing a poem about a poem. We look back at all the poems we have copied and try to write our own that is similar to one of our favorite poems.
I have found this way to introduce poetry really fun and successful for every student. Plus, it gives me great insight into what types of poetry my students enjoy reading. We keep an anchor chart of all the things we notice about poetry and add to it each day. This chart is extremely useful when students transition into writing their own poetry.
If you would like to learn more about the process of reading, thinking about, and finally writing poetry, you can visit my TpT store, where I have a month-long Poetry and Figurative Language Unit of Study for the reading and writing workshops. The units have identical lessons, but are broken into individual grade levels so that all 40 lessons can be attached to the grade-specific Common Core State Standards. Click on the pictures below and you can download the FREE preview to see the first four days worth of lessons!
Click on the link below to see the units available in my store:
Jen
Getting Started with Guided Reading
The Steps in a Guided Reading Lesson:
1. Introduction (2-3 minutes)
2. Reading the text (10 minutes)
3. Talking about the text (5 minutes)
4. Teaching objective (5 minutes)
ii. The teacher can ask open-ended questions specific to the reading strategy being taught.
5. Word work (3-4 minutes)
6. Assessment Assignment (optional: completed independently)
7 Ways to Prewrite
Today I want to share with you 7 prewriting strategies we use to ensure everyone is a successful writer!!
Strategy 1: Making a List
***Students can make a list of lots of different things! Some of our favorites are:
a. What I Would Do With a Million Dollars
b. My Favorite… (foods, tv shows, movies, friends, etc)
c. Things I Want to Do Before I'm an Adult
d. My Dream Vacations
e. If I Had Unlimited Wishes I Would Wish For…
Strategy 2: Make a Web
Strategy 3: Sketching
***Sketching can be a great strategy for your artistic or reluctant writers to get ideas and details about a writing topic! Remind students that a sketch is a quick drawing that is meant to develop ideas and details for a potential writing piece. Kids LOVE sketching!!
Strategy 4: Make a List From a Topic on Your First List
***After students have a list, ask them to circle 3-4 items on the list that really stand out to them. Tell them to think about the things they could write more details about. After they have their few circled, have them write each topic on a clean page of paper. Then they can make another list with even more details from each topic. this is a great way to narrow down writing ideas!
Strategy 5: Branches
Strategy 6: Cartoon Strip
***My kids LOVE to write with cartoon strips. It's a great combination of sketching and writing. When I told my son he could write cartoon strips he went from being a reluctant writer to begging for more than 20 minutes of time to write! They are a great way to encourage reluctant writers!!
Strategy 7: Timeline
***This is a great prewriting strategy for informational or nonfiction text writing. It can work great for personal narrative, biographies, or memoirs as well!
The Mini Lesson
Step One: Have students copy the mini lesson into their writing notebooks
Step Two: As a class, brainstorm a list of ways writers can gather seeds during prewriting (your class may have other ideas than the 7 we thought of)
Step Three: Model a few of the strategies with your own prewriting notebook
Step Four: Invite students to share which strategy they will try during writing today. Make sure every student quickly shares his/her plans for independent writing time. This will ensure that they are all ready to write and you can hold them accountable at the end of the workshop.
Step Five: Give students time to write. Walk around and conference individually with students who may need additional support.
Step Six: Gather back together as a class. Have students share what they were working on with partners (ensuring that every student is involved and held accountable). Have a few share with the class.
The lesson and prewriting strategies can be used all year long to produce great writing!!
I hope you all have a wonderful time writing with your students!!
If you need reading and writing units of study for your classroom, you can click here.
Best wishes,
Jen Bengel
5 ‘Must Do’ Back to School Activities
Hello again teacher friends!
I am so excited to share in the always amazing Bright Ideas Blog Hop!!
This month I am going to share with you 5 ‘Must Do' Activities for the first week back to school.
I started Homeschooling my 3 kids! They are in 10th, 7th, and 5th grade.
Here are the ‘Must Do' Activities we did on the first day of school:
#1: Creating a class set of Norms
#2: Decide What You Need from Each Other to Learn Best
#3: Create a Classroom of Kind Words and Respect for All
#4: Begin a Class List of Books You've Read Together
#5: Set up Your Reading and Writing Workshop Notebooks
Back to School Giveaway and YouTube Party!!
Hello Friends!
I am so super excited to join my friends over at the Primary Chalkboard for a blog-hopping back to school party and giveaway!!
We are doing things a little different this time around. In order for you to get us to know us a little bit more, we all created short video clips with some awesome back to school tips!!
It's a YouTube Party people!!!
AND…
We are having a HUGE giveaway!!!
and entering our SECRET WORDS into the Rafflecopter.
(I know you were going to do that anyway, so… 2 birds, 1 stone).
We will be linking up 5-6 new videos every day this week…
so you can come back, watch, and enter every day!
You can see my video tip on how to use quotebooks in your classroom here:
I hope you can use quotebooks in your classroom too!!
Okay, now you know my secret word and you can enter it into the rafflecopter!
Good luck and I hope you round up lots of great ideas and tips for a fabulous school year!!
Picture Book Activities for Back to School
I wanted to share four of my all-time favorite picture books for back to school! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to use picture books as a way to build a classroom community of learners that share and understand the same background of mentor texts.
Yes, fifth, sixth, and even middle school kids enjoy listening to picture books (even though they may not admit it!). Below is a list of picture books and activities I use to begin building our classroom community.
Activity: After reading the story of how Miss Malarkey never gave up on a reluctant reader, explain that you are going to be just like her. Tell students that you will always be there for them, encouraging them to find ‘just right’ books throughout the year. Take some time to explain your classroom library and how to choose ‘just right’ books (books that are not too difficult, easy, or boring after reading the first page)
If you would like more lesson ideas for using books like these you can check out the following back to school resources available at my TpT store by clicking on the link below:
BACK TO SCHOOL RESOURCES
Back to School Sale!
Interactive Notebooks and the Common Core
I wanted to share a post with you on how we can use Interactive Notebooks to strengthen our students' understanding of the Common Core Reading Standards.
As teachers, we all know that one of the best ways to learn is through active involvement. Students learn best through creating, making connections, and thinking critically.
Interactive lessons and activities are great ways to keep students actively engaged in their learning!
Interactive Notebooks in Guided Reading |
I have found that using interactive notebooks to teach the reading informational and reading literature standards is one of the best ways for students to learn.
Some Reasons Interactive Notebooks are so Effective:
Different Reading Times Interactive Notebooks can Be Used:
Talking About New Learning with Interactive Notebooks |
Ways to Use Interactive Notebooks:
To learn more about teaching the Reading Common Core State Standards through the use of interactive notebooks, click on the product images below:
12 Strategic Actions in Reading
Hello teacher friends!
As many of us are preparing for back to school, I wanted to share the 12 strategic actions in reading.
As we all know, reading is such a complex task. There are so many layers of thinking going on inside a readers mind before, during, and after reading. As teachers, It is nearly impossible to assess all that readers are thinking.
Because reading is so complex, and we can't see thinking, we need to teach our students to understand their own thinking. Unless students choose to share their thoughts with others (through oral or written communication), those thoughts stay hidden.
If we teach students to understand the 12 strategic actions that occur before, during, and after reading, they will begin to self-regulate their thinking. They will begin to become independent learners who recognize when their brains are processing new information through reading.
One very important and successful way to teach our students to become independent learners who can recognize their own thinking is through modeling our own thinking.
We can read to our students and share our thoughts aloud before, during, and after reading, being sure to model thinking from all 12 strategic actions.
Another way we can teach our students to become independent learners is to teach and define the 12 strategic actions and guide students to recognize these actions while they are reading independently.
According to Irene Fountas and Gay Sue Pinnell's book, The Continuum of Literacy Learning:
The 12 strategic actions are as follows:
1. Solving words
2. Monitoring and correcting reading
3. Searching for and using information
4. Summarizing
5. Maintaining fluency
6. Adjusting reading rate
7. Predicting
8. Making connections
9. Synthesizing
10. Inferring
11. Analyzing
12. Critiquing
*** Once we make our students aware of these 12 actions that happen while we are reading, we can encourage them to recognize this thinking when it occurs during their own reading time!
Our Family is Adopting!
Hello hello hello teacher friends!!
So I have been extremely busy these last 10 months because I have been preparing to adopt our new son from Uganda!
The road has been long and exhausting. But every time I think it gets too hard, I remind myself of the happy ending that is soon to come! And I remind myself that I have been working on this for 10 months, but my son has been waiting for a mom for 7 years!
Because of my adoption agency's policies, I am unable to share any specifics about the process or about our son until we are back home safe in the states. I will say that he has this picture of our family and he is so, so, so excited to have a mom and dad!
But, I can say that very soon the five of us will be boarding a flight to Uganda!! My husband will stay for about 10 days. My children and I will stay for as long as it takes for us all to be able to fly back home. I have been told this will be at least 2 months, but likely longer.
We are so fortunate that we are able to stay this entire time. I am going to be homeschooling our children. And because I work solely on the internet, I can work from Uganda! The kids are very excited about working in the orphanage and learning about their brother's culture.
As you can imagine, the cost to fly 5 people to Uganda, stay in country for several months, and then fly 6 people back is not cheap. And the cost along the way has been high as well. We are nowhere near wealthy, but we just keep pushing our way through the process. We refuse to use the excuse, ‘We can't adopt because we can't afford it.' And for the past 10 months, God has made a way to pay every bill that has come our way!!! It truly is incredible!! He is so much bigger than our bank account! 🙂
Back to School Adoption Fundraiser Bundle!!
So enough blabbing from me. I am writing this post to share an amazing back to school adoption fundraiser bundle some of my friends have helped me put together.
You can save 50% off all these resources and help support our family's adoption by purchasing this bundle!
But, hurry, because the bundle is only available through September 30th.
To see the bundle, click on the image below!
It includes 20 back to school and fall resources ranging from grades 1-8.
How Else You Can Help:
Adoption Coffee!!
I have bought so many of the amazing coffees offered, but here are two of my favorites!!!
Thank you all so much for your kind words and loving donations! We are overwhelmed by the support we continue to receive. Our family is forever changed in so many great ways. We can NOT wait to share our entire story with y'all one day!!!
Lots of Love,
Jen Bengel and Family
A Step-by-Step Guide to teaching Spelling Each Week
I wanted to show you a fun, engaging, new way I am teaching spelling this year!
I don't know about you, but I am tired of the old traditional ways of teaching spelling, where all the students in the room memorize the same 20 words each week.
There is no differentiation in learning with this method.
What if students already know how to spell all 20 words?
Or what if the words are just too challenging?
In either situation, no real new learning will occur all week!
But, there is a way to teach spelling in a way that every student will be challenged at his/her own level! And the focus will be on studying patterns, not memorizing a list of words. Let me show you how by going over the 5 days of instruction in this spelling process:
Day One: Whole Group Lesson and Choosing Spelling Words
Step One: Teach a spelling or word study skill in a mini-lesson format to the entire class. During the lesson, the students will help in making a list of words that follow the particular spelling pattern for the week.
Day Two: Review and Independent Practice
Day Three: Reflection of New Learning
Day Four: Partner Reteaching, Tips, and Practice Test
Day Five: Partner Spelling Test, What's Next…?
Thank you so much for stopping by!!
You can view a FREE sample of the year-long Interactive Spelling Curriculum by clicking the image below
Or, click on the images below to see the resource available for your grade level!
Thank you so much for reading this post! I hope it was helpful to you and your students. Best wishes!
Jen
Ways to Invite Students’ Real Thinking!!
Hello friends!
I am so excited to be a part of the Bright Ideas Blog Hop again this month!
So, have you ever thought…
‘I wonder if the questions I am asking are getting in the way of my students thinking?'
‘Are my questions distracting students from their own thinking?'
‘What genuine thinking am I missing from my students because I am distracting them with specific questions?'
Ways to Invite Students' Real Thinking:
1. Give them time to turn and talk.
During, and after reading, allow students time to turn and talk to a partner that is sitting next to them in class. Instruct students to simply share their thinking about the text. They may have questions or share a connection from their past experiences. Because we all think differently and we all bring our unique past experiences to the text, every student will have their own thoughts about the text.
Turning and talking works in every subject, gets all students involved (not just the few that always raise their hands), and acts as an invaluable informal assessment.
2. Prompt students with open-ended questions like:
What are you thinking?
What questions do you have so far?
What are you wondering?
Tell me more.
Can you so more about that?
What made you think of that?
Why do you think…?
3. Let your students' thinking guide your questions
Sometimes we plan our set of questions that we are going to ask, but they may not be the right questions that match our students' thinking.
Be open to thinking of questions that will take your students' thinking to a deeper level. Use what they share with you as a baseline to ask deeper questions related to their initial thoughts.
In this way, we are teaching in response to our students' thinking, not inserting or telling them what to think.
I hope these few tips have given you a new perspective into how we ask questions as teachers in class!
If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider joining me on pinterest or at my TpT store.
For more bright ideas from over 130 incredible teacher bloggers, please browse through the link-up below. Choose a topic or grade level that interests you. Thanks for visiting!