Corkulous is Fabulous

 

 

The other night on Twitter I found a recommendation for Corkulous, a creation app. I checked it out and immediately started planning ways to use it in my classroom.  There is a simple, free version. I prefer the pro version for $4.99 because it offers more creative design elements. This app is very easy to use and offers a simple tutorial.

 

For my first board, I decided to set up a review of expectations for Mystery Book Clubs.  The students were preparing for their first meeting and I set this board up as a checkpoint for students to make sure they were prepared.  I put three blue notes displaying the three main parts of our book club contract.  I put a visual of their Detective Case File. I listed some possible jotting ideas for them.  I connected my iPad to the Smart Board and walked students through the display as the focus of my minilesson. They were hooked!  New technology will hook them every time, my teaching pirate friends!

 

The students had genuine conversations about the topics I posted on the board. I recorded the names of two students who did not complete their reading. Before the minilesson ended, those students had finished their reading (I know it wasn't appropriate book club procedure, but they accepted responsibility and wanted to join their clubs).

 

Then the magical unicorn of teaching ran across the front of the room in all its glory...one student asked, "can we add something to your board ?"  YES!!!! So you can see in the picture above that we added in some yellow arrow reminders for Block 2 and a purple note at the top complimenting one of the groups. I know the next time book clubs meet the other clubs will be trying to get their group to earn a purple note on the corkboard!  I in no way planned that, but the students took ownership and created their own activity!

 

The corkboard display was equally as successful in my second block.  These students were also interested in adding elements to the board. They wanted to let Block 1 know that everyone in this class was prepared (a little friendly competition never hurt). They really wanted to know how to add the design elements onto a board.  They wanted to know what each piece of material was in the design file. When they saw that photos could be added, they said we should put pictures from clubs doing the right thing as examples.  So you can see above that we added those in with yellow explanation tags.

 

I think Corkulous is going to be a hit with my third graders. I already emailed our technology coordinator asking if we could add this app onto our school iPads. The students are itching to use them to create a project.  They are hooked!

UPDATE:  Each time I use this cork board, the students find more information to add on to it. 

 

Book Clubs: Books in a Series

I wanted to share a couple of anchor charts and some of the organizational tools I am using for the beginning of my current unit, Book Clubs: Books in a Series.

 

 

I decided to use a hot pink star as a visual cue for my students. 

 

I placed hot pink stars on the baskets of series books in the classroom library.



I added a hot pink star to the focus board to show students were studying a new unit, book clubs, but were still focusing our learning on following characters into meaning.



Students will have their first book club meeting tomorrow, so check back for more details!

Students use the following chart to help guide their Book Club conversations.

Students came up with reading behaviors that demonstrate what Book Clubs look like and sound like.

More Books! Time to Reorganize the Library

I went shopping at my favorite used book store, The Last Word. Lucky for me they were having a $1 and $0.50 sale!  Woooo!

 

I picked up these two sets of books because they have Hispanic main characters. Children like books when they can relate to the characters. I think my Hispanic students will enjoy these books.

 

I am always on the hunt for good mystery books for my students. I was excited to find several books from The Woodland series. I was also glad to find lower leveled mysteries, J and K.

 

I found a variety of nonfiction books in levels I-S.

 

These are books from popular series in levels J-Q. I have been motivating my students to read more chapter books to increase their stamina. These books will help them stay on target.

 

Hardback books for $1--no further explanation needed.

 

Multiple copies of series books levels J-R to use for books clubs.

 

With all of these new books, I had to reorganize my shelves in the classroom library. One set of shelves is fantasy and realistic fiction levels A-T. Another set of shelves is chapter books levels L-V. Another set of shelves contains all nonfiction books levels A-W. One set of shelves contains baskets of books levels J-P that can be found in a series. The final shelf is a variety of books from a variety of levels.

Teacher Library

At the end of the school year in June, I cleared all of the shelves above the counter and sink in my classroom. I created piles of books that were related to the Lucy Calkins reading workshop themes. I pulled out my teacher resource books that I actually use--not the ones that have nine inches of dust on them! I created piles of my books that were subject-specific.
 

 

One shelf contains only teacher resource materials directly related to Balanced Literacy. Books that I have not looked at for years were posted and sold on Amazon or given to Goodwill.

 

One shelf houses all of the books for series book clubs. They are leveled and grouped in sets.

 

Another shelf contains mystery book club sets and single mysteries. I do not put these out in the classroom library until the mystery unit of study because if they have been out for months, then the students are not as excited to read them. Students get motivated to read books that are new to the library.

 

 

I labeled one shelf with books that are related to PBIS (our discipline system). It is important to use books in all areas of teaching, not just reading instruction. I only have a small collection of books for the social issues unit of study. This small stack of books is a great visual to remind me that I need to expand my collection of books for that unit. Now when the Literacy Facilitator at my school, or a parent, asks me what kinds of books I need I already know how to answer the question. I also put the materials for our writing program on this shelf. Being a Writer provides all of the actual books to use as anchors for the writing lessons, but I also have some of my own books that I add to the lessons.

 

I am a literacy teacher, but I still have great Math materials that I use with my students on rainy days when we can't go outside. This also will make it easy for me to share books with my Math teammates when they are looking for a literacy link in their lessons.

 

 

This is my nonfiction shelf. There are books with Social Studies links. There is a section of books that are nonfiction about animals since that is a huge writing unit for third grade. These are books that do not have Fountas and Pinnell levels, but still contain wonderful, grade level material. The final section is my collection of biographies. Just like mysteries, I do not put these books in the classroom library until we are studying that unit.

 

The final shelf holds books that support the beginning units of the year--Building a Reading Life and Characters into Meaning. It doesn't look like I have very many books for these two units, but I make sure I use strong literature for these two units--quality, not quantity.

Biography Book Club Jottings Assessment

This is one of the forms I used to collect data on my students and what they were learning during our biography and narrative nonfiction unit. I asked them to choose some of their jottings from their Biography Book Club books and then they had to tell why they chose those particular jottings by circling the choices at the bottom of the form. I used these forms during conferencing to celebrate success and address any weaknesses.

 

During the conference with this student, I complimented her descriptions of Rosa Parks' character, but we talked about how to better reference the text and explain events in her life that showed she was that type of woman that was described in the jottings.

 

I complimented this student on her independent use of a chart from a previous minilesson. We discussed synonymns to use that are more detailed than just caring and helpful.

 

I complimented this boy on asking such an intense question. In addition to a quick reminder of capitalization, we discussed other people he has read about that also changed the world. I encouraged him to make more connections between other texts when reading.

 

I complimented this student for referencing the text, but reminded him that when he is a biography reader he should not just be recalling facts. I had him practice relating to the text instead of just retelling details. I led him to the thought that maybe the statue was so big because Dr. King did big things for civil rights.

I was proud of the student, Bryan, because the other members of his book club were absent on the day they did this activity so he put all of their names on the jotting.

 

EMPATHY!

 

relating...not just recalling

 

again relating...not recalling

 

 

This child is religious and often makes connections to her church. In this jotting I complimented her for relating to Abe Lincoln reading the bible. We talked about reasons why he possibly chose to become a stateman instead of a minister.

 

I complimented this student on asking a question and then drawing a line to write the answer to the question after he found it in the text. I encouraged him to reference the text with a few more details. I complimented him on relating to Black Beard's family because he thought the pirate should protect his family and not the gold treasure.

 

I complimented Mya for referencing an event in her book and relating to it. I told her I agreed with her 4-star rating of her jotting.

 

I complimented this student on being in touch with the text and asking questions to help understand what she was reading. I told her that I agreed with her star ratings. She is limited English proficient (LEP) so I think that her questions were justified. We had a basic conversation about Obama and his life. It was not too deep or detailed because that is not what she needed at this time.

 

EMPATHY!

 

Great use of character traits and referencing the text.

 

I complimented this student for referencing the text, but we talked about the difference between fact and opinion when reading a biography.

 

When I conferenced with this student, I had him show me the fancy writing that he found because I thought maybe he was not understanding italics. It was actually a photograph of Declaration of Independence. We had a conversation about how writing has changed from old times and the different types of writing we might see and use today.

Impromptu Poetry Moment

One of my students asked if she was allowed to write a poem as a jotting. I had never considered this before so I told her, "sure, as long as it relates to your book."

This is what she came up with after meeting with her biography book club and discussing Abraham Lincoln:

 

I am so proud of her for extending her thinking beyond a simple sticky note jotting. She took what she knew about poetry and combined it with information she learned from her book. When she shared her jotting with her book club one of the boys shouted out, "Kyndall had a poetry moment!"

Retell, Recall, Relate

I have noticed during conferencing that some of my students are still making jottings that simply list something that happened in the book. When I talk with them they have wonderful things to say about their book. They ask questions and share wonderings. They envision and show empathy for the character. They talk about feelings and connections to other books. Their jottings do not reflect their thoughts though.

This week I am going to do a jottings reteach minilesson. I am going to lace the words retell, recall, and relate into my read alouds. I think my students need a little reminder using some new vocabulary and a new anchor chart to set them straight. I hope this will help them make some thicker jottings for their book club discussions. If all goes well I will post photographic proof of thick jottings later this week!

Book Club Dilemma for Low-Level Readers

In a previous post, Book Hunt, I described how I went about finding books to use for our Biography Book Clubs. I had a difficult time finding books for my low-level readers though. I searched on Reading A to Z and the lowest book I found was a level J and I need D, G, and H. I looked for some passages on Read Works, but the lexile-leveled passages on there were not low enough. So I had to get creative!

I have some old Social Studies big books that were part of a retired series. I use them to cut out pictures, paragraphs, and nonfiction text features to use as examples in various lessons (see my posts Biography Boxes and Bullets and Repurposing Those Old, Boring Textbooks). I decided to look through them and see if there were any biography pieces.  Jackpot!

 

I cut out all of the biography passages and created my own biography big book.

 

I dedicated the book to two of my students who have made great strides in reading. They will be the first two students to use this book.

 

The large print and simple sentence structure will allow my low-level, special needs students to participate in their own biography book club. They will read together with their exceptional needs teacher and personal needs assistant. They will be able to make jottings on large sticky notes.

 

Some of the passages had great text on the back. I created a flap so students could read both sides.

I also found some worksheets with short biography pieces. I cut the worksheets apart and created multiple copies of these small biography books. The vocabulary is a little bit high for the group that will use these books, but I am going to do the first read with them. Then they will break apart and read it independently and make their jottings to prepare for their discussions in book club.