Creating Reading Engagement in the Junior Classroom!

Scrolling through my Facebook page this September, I see many Junior Division educators looking for suggestions to get their students engaged in reading.  They face classes filled with children who seem unwilling to contemplate reading anything that doesn't appear on their phones and tablets, creating anxiety among those of us charged with teaching students to "read and demonstrate an understanding of a variety of literary, graphic, and informational texts, using a range of strategies to construct meaning" (Ontario Language Curriculum).  Clearly, this is a daunting task, but two activities that I introduce early in the school year appear to help my students become invested in our classroom library AND able to see themselves on a journey as a reader.

The Student-Created Classroom Library

Over the years I've come to appreciate the importance of students taking on the responsibility of sorting, organizing, and labeling our classroom library.  In my early years as a Junior level teacher, the students would arrive on the first day of school to find a beautiful reading nook, with books already organized by genre, author, and series.  This was before the arrival of Pinterest, with its wealth of class library images to inspire me; I made my own colour-coded, laminated labels and neatly affixed them to the appropriate (also colour-coded) book bins.  It was pretty...but the kids took no ownership of this library, because they had no input into its creation.

So I decided to hand the creation of the class library over to them....and it was amazing.  It still is, every single year!  One day in September I tell my students that they will be sorting, organizing, and labeling all the books that are randomly on our shelves, and they immediately begin throwing out ideas as to how this should be done.  Generally, the process goes something like this:

1.  Students brainstorm book categories.  For example, they may start simply with "Fiction" and "Non-Fiction", and then move into sub-categories.  For example, fiction could be sorted by genre (mystery, historical, adventure....) while non-fiction could be organized by topic (sports, space, trivia...).  I record their ideas on chart paper, and the class finally votes on their final classification system.

2.  Students create labels for the many, many bins I gathered over the years.  Usually just index-card size labels are fine, but I do have some old pre-made labels floating around, and I let students use those if they wish.  Once a label is made, it is hole-punched twice (once in each corner) and attached to the bins with dollar-store zip-ties.  Labeled bins are placed on student desks.

3.  Students work in pairs, taking a handful of books from the shelves and deciding where each book should go.  (We have already discussed using the information at the back and inside front covers of books to help determine genres.)  Books are placed neatly in the appropriate bins.

4.  Bins are placed on the shelves, according to whatever criteria that year's class has decided upon.

This may not result in the prettiest classroom library I've ever seen, BUT all my students understand exactly where and why books are located in particular locations in the classroom.  They can easily find a particular book, and return it to its proper location.  Some years students also place numbers on the bins, and then use pencil to record the bin number on the inside of each book.

In this picture you will see that many books still remain on the shelves.  This was a "work in progress" over several days!!

My Life as a Reader

One thing that every student I have ever taught can tell you about me is that I LOVE books and reading.  My favourite part of each day is our read-aloud (you may see from the photo above that we were reading Holes early last year)!

I like to invite students to think about the reading experiences that have shaped their own lives, and ask them to create timelines of their lives as readers.  Of course, I model this first!

I use timelines for a variety of purposes throughout the school year, but this is one of my favourites!  I took time to "think aloud" about the reading experiences that resulted in change or growth over my life, and recorded these experiences sequentially on a line, noting:

• my age
• the book or experience
• the significance of the experience

Then I ask students to do the same activity.  Most do it with pencil and paper, but many will use some type of technology to make things more organized and legible.  Sadly, I have lost the images of my students' work, so I have only included my own example.

I have found that this activity helps students to recognize that they have already experienced growth as a reader, and it also inspires them to discover new authors and genres in the year ahead.  

And...these timelines make a great display during Open Houses and Meet the Teacher nights!!

Margie

P.S.  Check out my "Coach's Corner" TPT store for more great teaching ideas!

The World's Easiest Classroom Management Tool!!

After two weeks in my Grade 5/6 classroom, it feels like everything is coming together, and I'm starting to feel confident and even more excited about the year ahead.  These two weeks have brought many changes to my class list, as I am sure is true of many of you, and tomorrow I will welcome yet another new student to our room, bringing our total to 24 (10 Grade 5s, and 14 Grade 6s).  Instead of feeling overwhelmed by the thought of another student to familiarize with our room, I'm feeling calm.  I've got this!

My Behavior Management Toolbox
As I have for many years, I have used an old "small parts" toolbox to house my most powerful classroom management tool:  my token system.  This system takes about 5 minutes to set up each year, is a snap to use, and is easily understood (and loved by my students).  What's not to love?  I have used it at a variety of grade levels from Grade 1 to Grade 5/6, and it works for all students, but particularly for my most challenging pupils.

How It Works

• Each August I assign every student on my class list with a number, usually by alphabetical order (first names), and display a large copy of the list somewhere easily found in our classroom.  
• Each drawer in my "toolbox" is labeled clearly from 1-29 in clear Sharpie marker.  The last drawer is labeled "A" (for "all").   
• Inside each drawer are about 20 "tokens".  I've been using old Poker chips that my mom was about to donate to the Salvation Army.  I rescued them, using a Sharpie to clearly print numbers on them, and then to organize them in my toolbox.  In Drawer 1, there are 20 poker chips with "1" on them, Drawer 2 has 20 chips with "2" on them, and so on.  The "A" drawer contains 20 chips with "A" on them.  Once you've done this, you've got your behaviour toolbox ready for the rest of your career!!!
• Each student now has a drawer in the toolbox with his/her number on it, and the tokens inside the drawers are just sitting there waiting to be taken out when a student earns them.
• Beside the toolbox I have a small "Tokens" container (you can see the small green bin witting to the right of the toolbox in the photo above.
• Every time I catch a student getting right to work, following directions, kindly helping a classmate, etc., I take a "token" out of his/her drawer and drop it into the Token container.  This usually results in almost every student becoming intensely interested in their work, as they've heard the token being dropped into the container.  I rarely have to verbally remind students to get to work, as the token does that for me!!
• If the entire class is on task, I put an "A" token in the container.
• On Friday afternoons, my "Leader of the Day" closes his/her eyes, reaches into the Token container, and one by one pulls out 5 tokens.  The students to whom those tokens belong have now earned a reward of their own choosing, such as "Switch seats with another student" or "Have your name put on the school marquee". 
• If an "A" token is drawn, that entitles the entire class to a group reward, such as extra outdoor time or a "toy & tech day".  Students LOVE it when an "A" token is drawn; I've even made one of the options for a personal reward to be "Put 5 A tokens in the container for next week's draw".
• After the draw is complete, the Leader of the Day returns all tokens to their proper drawers, ready to be put into action the following week.  DONE!!

I have the various rewards on business card-sized cardstock, and keep them in a small business card holder.  Students choose a card from the holder, write their name on the back, and I also sign it.  A student can hold on to these cards (or have me hold on to them) until he/she is ready to redeem it.

I love this system as it is so easy to set up each year; all I have to do is create a new class list so that each student has his/her own number, and I'm good to go!  This past summer I had one of my old students helping me get ready for the school year (she was getting volunteer hours for this to count towards the 40 hour requirement for high school), and she spray-painted the toolbox to match the bins I was using, so that involved one extra (but easy) step.

 A friend suggested that I upload my plan to my TPT  store, including the actual cards that I've created to put in the "Rewards" holder, so I've taken on that challenge, and the whole set is now available for you, should you be interested.  I'd love to hear from others who have their own easy-to-implement classroom management systems!

Check out the full product, with tons of behavior reward cards, here:  Behavior Management Toolbox

Back to School Art Folder

After a very long hiatus, I have decided to restart my blog, and will hopefully be more diligent about posting regularly!

When I was reorganizing my teaching resources this summer, I came across the activity I like to do for the very first art class of the year - my Back to School Art Folder. The folder itself is a fun way to review the "elements of shape", and it is then used to store student work throughout the year.

5 Basic Elements of Shape

I first discuss with the class the 5 basic elements of shape:

1. The Straight Line Family:  Members of this family can be solid lines, dotted lines, horizontal, vertical, or diagonal - they just need to be straight lines!
2. The Circle Family: Members of this family have lines that come around and meet each other, but the inside of the shape is not coloured in.
3. The Dot Family:  Members of this family are exactly like the circle family, but are coloured in!
4. The Curve Line Family: These lines are wavy rather than straight, and the two ends do not meet each other.
5. The Angle Family:  Any 2 lines that come together to form a point are members of this family.

All 5 families combine together to make the shapes we see in our world.

Next I distribute a large sheet of bristol board to each student, and students fold it in half "hamburger" style. Students then get out a pencil, eraser and ruler.

After reviewing the difference between "edges" and "corners', ask students to listen carefully to the following instructions, and to create the lines and shapes as given:

1. One straight line from one corner to the other opposite corner.
2. One dot.
3. One curved line starting at one edge and ending in a dot somewhere on the page.
4. One broken line starting at one edge and ending at another edge.
5. Five circles.
6. One pointed line starting at one edge and ending at another edge.
7. One curved line starting at one edge and ending at another edge.
8. One straight line starting at one edge and ending at another edge.
9. A zigzag line from one edge to another.
10. One dot.
11. A curved line starting at one edge and ending on the same edge, passing through the dot from #10!

I then distribute Sharpie markers and have students trace over their pencil marks. They then spend the rest of the period (well, often two periods) using markers or crayons to colour in their folder. I encourage them to use only 3 colours, and to ensure that one colour doesn't border itself! 

Students LOVE this activity, and enjoy seeing how everyone's designs are different. 

I wonder what art activities you start your year with?