NaNoWriMo Update

I have posted before about taking on the NaNoWriMo challenge with my students. For the last two years, I have spent the month of November plugging away at a novel with a goal of 30,000 words. They wrote and published their own books and told me that I should do the same with my two novels. So I figured, why not? It was many hours of proofreading, formatting, researching information about self-publishing, more proofreading, and more formatting, but I think it was all worth it in the end. The proof of the second book is already on its way, and with any luck I'll have both done before the school year starts.

The best part? For at least this year, I'll have a book that none of the kids have read. I won't have to hear, "Oooh, I know what happens!" and it'll be a great literature discussion! Here is Book 1!

NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. During the month of November, people from all over get together and set their own personal word count goals, with the big idea being that you get a novel drafted in a month (or at least a good start to a novel). Last year, I happened to find the NaNoWriMo website just a tad late, on November 1st. But as it was a weekend, I figured I had a whole day and a half to revamp my writing plans for the month and bring out a new challenge! My students had mixed reactions, but even the most reluctant were happy when they could set a small word count goal, such as 500 words. We didn't quite plan as much as I would have liked, but the enthusiasm was infectious, and final word counts ended up between 1,500 and 9,000 words. Of course, if they were going to do it, I figured I had to promise to do it too, and I ended up writing a novel over just over 32,000 words.

I knew it was a project that I wanted to do again, and the resources that are available from the Young Writers Program are amazing. So, this year we started in October with the planning stages. First, we put away our inner editors, and then we started planning characters, settings, plot arcs, dialogue... all the things that make a good story! We set our word goals, and when November 1st hit, we all started writing. At the end of the month, everyone in the class had once again met their word goals, and my small group of 6 boys had written a total of more than 45,000 words, including one Choose Your Own Adventure book. A student from the previous year wanted to do the project again and added 10,000 words, and I wrote a sequel to my first book to add on another 30,000 words for a total of just over 85,000 words! Incredible! 

We took a short break from the novels, and then started on the revision/editing process. Since students are always looking for new books to read, and I'm always looking for ways to get them to respond to literature, this was a perfect match. Each student got to take home another book and proof and comment right on the draft as they read. The kids conferred, revised, read, edited, smiled, and asked eagerly for the next book. We then worked on formatting the text in class, and during art class they worked on cover designs and publishing. In the end, each of the kids had their own published novel.

And me? Well, the kids kept telling me that I should publish my book, too. So that's my next project. Here are a few of their published books on display.

Student-Led Portfolio Conferences

November is a time for Parent-Teacher conferences, which I must admit are not my favorite. I spend so much time trying to think of everything I need to say to a parent, organizing my ideas, gathering work samples and finding just the right way to phrase some of those difficult messages. And inevitably, the minute a parent leaves or an hour later it hits me... the one thing I forgot to tell them!

Spring is another conference, but this time around students are leading the way. Over the next few weeks I will spend time reflecting with my students, sharing in their joy of obstacles overcome and looking at what challenges still lie ahead. It is hard enough for me to organize my own thoughts, but to get students to do it and share it with their parents is even harder! The students have individualized short and long term goals, but that is just the start!

Last year, teaching third grade, there was one standard sheet that the students had to fill out for every subject area they reflected upon. While I think it was good to get the kids into the mindset of reflecting upon their own work with the same questions over and over, the drudgery of the same sheet of paper with each reflection wore some of them down. So, this year I decided to spice things up a bit and create a mix of forms for the kids to use. A few self-assessment sheets where they get to fill in smiley faces or number bubbles, some charts and lists, and then a few written responses and goal setting sheets.  We will spend the next few weeks reflecting, organizing, and preparing for conference day, when the students will take the lead and share their own assessment of their progress so far this year. I am looking forward to their thoughts, opinions and reflections!

I have tweaked a few of the sheets so that they are more generic for any other teachers who may be looking to do something similar with their own students, and I have placed them in my TpT store. Included is a long-term goal sheet, a short-term goal sheet, and a full set of printable sheets for students to use as a reflection tool for a student-led portfolio conference. Reflection sheets are a set of questions that a student can answer related to that area, and can be used in conjunction with work that they have pulled from the year. Sheets include:
*Cover Sheet
*Student Checklist
*Math Self Assessment (4th Grade Everyday Math topics up to Ch. 7)
*Math Reflection Sheet
*Reading Reflection Sheet
*Writing Reflection Sheet
*Spelling Scores Recording Sheet
*Science Reflection Sheet
*Social Studies Sheet
*Work Habits Self Assessment
*Growths and Goals Sheet
*Goal Setting (with parents) Sheet
*Special Area Reflection Sheet
*Generic Reflection Sheet

Phonics Cards - Vowels and Digraphs

A second-grade teacher at my school found a set of phonics cards that she thought would be great to hang on the wall behind the table where she pulls small groups, but the cards were only sold in the UK.  She scoured TpT for something similar and found nothing, so she told me about it, knowing that I'm always looking for new stuff to create. So, after days of searching for graphics that would fit each vowel and digraph, it's finally complete! And, now that TpT is allowing you to correlate your items to the Common Core standards, it's aligned with standards in K-2.  So, if you would like to check it out, you can visit my TpT store.
 

8/20/13 - Edit to add photos of the cards all laminated and hung on the wall!

Reader's Response

I designed this packet to use as reader's response homework for my students, which I assign once or twice a week. Included are a rubric, an example heading, directions for 15 different types of responses, and a recording sheet so that students can keep track of which responses they've completed and the number of points they earned for each. I have included the same set of materials both in cursive and print.

Here is a list of the responses:
Book Recommendation
Character Comparison
Crossword Puzzle
Diary Entry
I Figured It Out
I Wonder
Interview
Letter to the Author
Make Me Laugh
Nose for News
Predicting the Future
That Reminds Me
Trading Places
Write Me a Letter
You Should Try That

It is for sale on both my TpT store, and my Teachers Notebook store.

Graphic Organizers

Moving to third grade this year, I needed some different graphic organizers, and it was one of those projects I kept wanting to do, but never got around to... creating a new set of graphic organizers!  Now that school is out, it was an easy summer project to get started with! I'm sure I will add more as time goes on, but it's a good start! Click to view the file in my TpT store or in my Teachers Notebook store.

So here it is, a compilation of 22 graphic organizers, covering story writing, research, comparisons, timelines, the 5 W's and much more. Nothing fancy, but sometimes that is just what our students need to keep them from being distracted! Here are the pages included:
- 2 Story Webs
- Clock (sequencing time events)
- Story Star (5 W's)
- Character Traits (planning sheet)
- Character Planning
- Planning Sheet (audience)
- Conflict Planner
- Problem & Solution Chart
- Tic Tac Toe
- 2 Cluster Webs
- Fact & Opinion
- Timeline
- The 5 W's
- KWL
- Observation Chart
- Time and Order Chart
- Persuasion Map
- Step by Step
- Venn Diagram
- E-chart

Anchor Charts - Take 2

Well, it's been a busy few months, and I've added a few anchor charts to the list as the months have gone on, and finally got around to putting an updated version on TpT and on Teachers Notebook.  The new charts include:

Reading:
Homophones

Writing:
Their, There and They're
y to i (adding endings)
Crazy for Commas
When Do I Need a New Paragraph?
Fiction Writing

Math:
Math Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Anchor Charts

Am I the only one who dislikes making those big anchor charts? Inevitably, I run out of space somewhere, or smudge marker when the poster is all but finished. Well, no more for me. I've started moving all of my anchor charts into small, digital format. With the Apple TV (which I LOVE by the way), I can put the digital copy up on the TV for my mini-lesson and then print a copy to put in our class anchor chart binder. Some of the charts I can print for individual students to keep in their own writing binders, too. Yes, I know. They aren't all hanging on the walls, but maybe I'll still put up a few of the more commonly used charts. Anyway, I'm sharing what I have done so far on TpT. Below is the description and a link to the download page. Enjoy!

Anchor Charts
This is a collection of printable anchor charts that can mainly be used in Second through Fourth Grade. I got tired of making the large anchor charts for the walls and finding places to store them, so I began moving my anchor charts into digital format. I can introduce them by showing them with a projector/apple TV connection and then just add them to our class anchor chart binder.

I am working on moving all of my old anchor charts into printable format, so this file will continue to be updated as I add more. It currently includes:

Reading:
I PICK (available as a separate download)
Figurative Language

Writing:
Writing Process (available as a separate download)
Nouns and Proper Nouns
Other Ways to Say Said
Story Starters
Proofreading Marks

Math:
Subtraction Poem
Mean, Median, Mode and Range
Math Key Words
Equal Fractions Hopscotch

Digging in the Dictionary

Many of my students have been playing Boggle as part of their Word Work and with the incentive of a homework pass for anyone who can beat my Boggle score on a board, they have been working hard to find as many words as possible.  I've also been getting a lot of "Is this word spelled right?" at the end of every Daily 5 round.  Enter, the dictionary!  Some of the kids have been using it fairly well, although when they look up toward and try to start with 'tw', the frustration sets in quickly.  So, we are taking the week as a class to work on some dictionary skills.  I figure this worksheet will be a great filler activity for those students who are waiting for a teacher conference on their Personal Narratives!  I put it up on my TpT site in case it may be helpful to anyone else!  It is two pages and covers 4 a few different skills students use when looking up words.

Mad Libs

We are reviewing sentences and parts of speech this week, and what better way to do that than with some Mad Libs!  I always love seeing the silly outcomes, but it is so hard to be creative when the story is right there in front of you.  So, I created my own set of four, school-themed Mad Libs (Lunch Time, In the Library, Time for Recess, and Substitute Teacher) and made separate recording sheets for the kids to fill in before they write the answers into their stories.  I can check their understanding of the parts of speech that way, too.  I'm looking forward to their silly stories!  You can find all four stories with the recording sheets on my TpT store.

Writing Process

Monday we are introducing the writing process, so I created a poster outlining the steps of the writing process.  I also made a b&w version for the students to keep in their writing binder, and a tracking sheet where they can document what they are accomplishing each day.  I also created an I Pick poster since we are introducing that during Daily 5.  Both of these resources are available on my TpT store.