More Poetry Fun

Poetry is possible for young students because it is all around them. They read poems and sing poetic language.

I have created a resource, Poetry Anthology, which is organized around NINE elements of poetry and EIGHT poetic forms. An anchor chart has been created for each element and form. The charts can be displayed for student reference or photocopied for students to use at the writing centre. 

This resource is a supplement to my Poetry unit for Reader’s Workshop.

Poetry Month

April is Poetry Month!

Teaching poetry is a favourite genre to teach. If you are looking for fun ways to incorporate poetry into your reading curriculum, I have just updated my Poetry unit.

The resource is organized around THIRTEEN big ideas or sessions of poetry. Each big idea has the following:

• Session Synopsis (Lesson Plan with Min-Lesson) 
• Anchor Chart • Word Wall Cards 
• Individual/GroupTask
• Response Prompt 

I have also included a bibliography and an overview of how I organize my reading block. Student samples have also been included.

 

Show What U Know

Honoured to be have been asked to host a Facebook Live broadcast for the Saskatchewan School Library Association. The broadcast is available on SSLA's Facebook Page.

The broadcast depicts 8 of my favourite must-have ed tech tools. The tools are free, user-friendly, and applicable for K-12 classrooms. 

The accompanying slides can be viewed below:

Navigating Non-Fiction In Reader's Workshop

I hope you are having a WONDERFUL winter break! To celebrate the upcoming New Year, I have uploaded my Reader's Workshop unit Navigating Non-Fiction to my store!

The unit of study has 13 sessions for your students to investigate the genre of non-fiction. Each session has a detailed lesson plan, anchor charts, and a group task.

In the first session, students ready their minds to reading non-fiction by identifying features which distinguish fiction from non-fiction.

Each session includes an anchor chart and a group investigation!

I hope you enjoy my new resource! 

Visit my store for this resource and many others!

Building A Reading Life

It is time to begin, to set Reader’s Workshop into motion. The work of utmost importance, the work that unites and underlines the unit of study, Building A Reading Life,  is to help students become avid and reflective readers. 

The purpose of the Building A Reading Life unit is to launch a lifelong passion for reading - to  empower readers with a sense of personal agency about their own reading. This unit of study, based on the work of Lucy Calkins, focuses on ownership for building their own reading life. This powerful message resonates throughout the unit of study as readers self-select books, set reading goals, monitor their comprehension and fluency, and actively discuss their reading with peers. As the conclusion of the three bends in Building A Reading Life, students will have begun to build a reading life by fashioning a literate identity for themselves.

 

Classroom Organization

Here is a sneak peak at my unfinished classroom library. The bookshelf showcases my classroom library. The baskets are organized by genre, popular authors, favourite series, and subject areas. The basket labels change throughout as student interest dictates. The baskets are from the Dollar Store. I made my labels and the resource is available in my TPT store. The bin labels are laminated, hole punched, and attached to the basket with a cable tie. This allows quick and easy change of basket labels if needed. 

Each book is labelled with a coordinating book label. The book labels are part of my Classroom Library Label resource. The top shelf will display featured mentor texts. The black and white box holds read aloud aids - a pointer, reading fingers, sticky notes, highlighter tape, highlighters, small white board, dry erase markers, etc.

The lower bookshelf holds student duotangs and notebooks. As the students have flexible seating, their duotangs and notebooks are housed in a central location. The baskets are from Michaels and the labels are from my store. 

The bulletin board is a work in progress as school does not begin for two weeks. It is my Focus Board. The schedule cards are placed in the organizer on the left. The four clipped board will showcase the outcomes. The black board underneath will showcase I Can statements. On the far right, two canvas prints feature quotes to inspire students. I have yet to hang the third poster and the Focus Wall title.

Hope you enjoyed the preview!

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