New Worksheets!

Well, I said I'd work to add more worksheets this summer and here they are! A new science category for Kindergarten to 2nd grade. Be sure to check out:

• The Five Senses


• Life Cycle of a Frog and Life Cycle of the Butterfly


• Part of a Plant


• Living and Non Living Things

Your feedback by way of comments is most appreciated. For those of you who like me are enjoying the summer vacation, the best to you! I'll keep plugging away at worksheets and you can be sure that I'll share them with you.

Summer Learning

2 Steps backwards and 1 forward. I've been teaching long enough to see how much some students slide over the summer. I have merely one tidbit of advice to all parents. Let your child read to you this summer, read to them and ask good questions that demonstrate comprehension and higher level thinking skills. What does this look like? Well, when you buy books for your children, make sure that they're at their instructional level - not ones they can read with ease or that they struggle on every word with. Books that for the most part, they need some help. As for questions, avoid the yes/no type. Think about asking questions like:

'Why do you think the author ended the story that way?'
'What advice do you have for the author about this book?'
'What character really made this story and why?'

Help children understand point of view, ask questions that make them think about point of view.

For a few more questioning tips on books, check out these.

Math Rehab!

This week a fellow colleague/teacher shared with me how he remediates in math. He uses some interesting terms to ensure that students get the big idea behind the math concept. So, for instance let's say the concept is integers and the 4 operations. There's an exit ticket which is essentially a quick test with the basic questions about the concept. If the student miss the boat, in other words they can't add/subtract/multiply and divide with positive and negative numbers. They are put into math rehab. Math rehab provides them with some extra time to learn the concept. Math rehab will occur with additional homework or a few missed recesses. Sure makes the kids pay attention as they want their exit ticket.

Not a great year? Kids getting away on you?

With summer holidays just around the corner, maybe it's time to reflect on this year and start acting and learning from those reflections. Teaching is much harder that it seems. Some teachers just get it and others really have to work at it. One of my colleagues asked what my secret was. I'm not sure I have a secret, I do know that I have high expectations for both learning and behavior. If I say it, I mean it and I don't say it mean. The other piece of advice I often give is to read a good book on classroom management. Harry Wong's is a favorite of mine, why not give it a whirl this summer?

See also, functional behavior assessments and behavior contracts for additional support.

Here are another few staples of mine:

• Show respect, when you give respect, you will get respect -- most of the time.


• Encourage the student, boost their confidence, show you care and provide them with the attention they so need for acting appropriately.


• DON'T in power struggles, DON'T show anger. DON'T retaliate.
  Understand that inappropriate behaviors are a cry for attention.

Stop With the Recounts!

Surely by now, you've discovered that kids can write re-counts, even if they can't write anything else! So why bother with those daily journals? Where's the learning? Aren't you a little tired reading:

I went to the mall with my mom. Then I bought a new video game. I played my new video game with my friend Jack. Jack liked it. I liked it too. I hope when I go to the mall again, I can get another new video games. I like playing video games.
The End.

So what do you do? You balance your writing program. Provide opportunities for opinion writing, persuasive writing, procedural writing, and expository writing to name a few.

Another strategy to 'get them writing' is to ask higher level thinking questions and give them a free write. How about, 'If I could make the world a better place' or ' Why uniforms should or shouldn't be allowed to be worn at school' or 'Why every student should have a laptop'.

Have anymore ideas? Post them and share with our fellow educators.

Differentiated Instruction and Assessment

The typical classroom seems to have a spread in grade level ability that varies somewhere between 2 to 6 grades. For instance, in your grade 8 class, the math ability will be anywhere from grade 4 ability to grade 10 ability. And you, as a teacher, must teach to them all and ensure that each of them reaches their potential! How, you ask? Well, like me, you're probably told to differentiate your instruction. You can search anywhere online and see that differentiated instruction is well defined. However, to get started, you need group work, get your class working in groups. When you're working with a specifc group, you'll need to figure out what the rest of the class is doing. One of the things that works really well for differentiated instruction is 'Literature Circles'. Check out the worksheets and give it an honest try.

Be sure to check out the Teacher Tube video on how to use literature circles in your classroom.

Reading Recovery - I'm not convinced!

Reading Recovery is a reading intervention program (an expensive one too) that few educational, if any, jurisdictions can afford. So, why use Reading Recovery? It gets good results in a 1 to 1 setting. Then again, most teachers would get great success and enhance performance in that setting as well. However, it's not real. Educational jurisdictions need to look at intervention programs that work well in groups, not in a 1 to 1 setting. Oh, and I doubt you'll find any research out there that shows that Reading Recovery helps to improve standardized test scores beyond the primary years. Not much bang for the buck now is it?

Most boards are now dropping the program and all I can say, is that it's about time! So, let's move forward at teach students how to read in evidenced based ways. Phonics will always have its place, word walls/word cards are essential, an effective word study program is essential! But of course, these suggestions are just part of what is needed for a well balanced literacy program.

Share your thoughts, especially your point of views on Reading Recovery.