Read Across America Skype

Take a look at the project below and let me know if interested :)

Daily 5 Series: Listen to Reading

"The fluent reader sounds good, is easy to listen to, and reads with enough expression to help the listener understand and enjoy the material." -Charles Clark, "Building Fluency: Do It Right and Do It Well!" Listen to Reading is probably the MOST popular of the Daily 5 Choices.  If I didn't give my students guidelines about how many choices they need to make each day, they would choose L2R every time...Since it's so popular I make sure that I have a variety of tools for this choice and that enough students can get to it each day while still making other choices.  Along with a variety of tools, students know the correct way to use L2R.  Here are the tools used in my classroom: L2R Tools & Resources *Netbooks*   I have 4 Netbooks for students to sign up at.  Students have clothespins with their student numbers on them and this is how they sign up for all the Listening Stations.  When one student is finished, they remove their clip, slide the next student's up and also taps them on the shoulder letting them know it is their turn.   While students are on the netbooks, they choose stories from our Symbaloo Page: (http://edu.symbaloo.com/mix/reading2ndgrade)   They know to choose books on the left side of the page because those have the words along with the story for them to Read Along with :)  We review quite often about how reading along with the story is what will help them become more fluent readers.   *Walkmans* Walkmans w/sign up sheets CD's/Tapes for Listening Stations So, yes I am going back in time and using some old school Walkmans!  I had so many books on TAPE, and my students just did not think they were "cool."  Sooo, the Walkmans made them cool again.  They can bring them to their reading nooks and they just LOVE it.  It was a bit challenging teaching them this old technology, but they got the hang of it :)  I found them on Amazon for $7 in case you were wondering ;)  *Discman* *CD/Tape Player* Students get to sit in Rocking Chair while using the CD/Tape Player   Thanks for reading and I hope this gives you some ideas/tips for your own L2R.  Please comment on what resources you use for L2R as I am ALWAYS looking for updates/additions to my own system.  Happy President's Day!

Daily 5 Series: Work on Writing

“Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.”


Writing can be a daunting task for some students, so my job is to make it fun, interesting, and new.  I try to give my students a new Writing Prompt every other week so there is time to go through the writing process, and also have time to choose what they want to write about.  I do Writer's Workshop at another time of the day, but Daily 5 time gives them "extra" time work work on current pieces.  

I always have a checklist with student names for the Writing Pieces that we currently are working on, but most importantly, I have a list of Free Choices they can make if they finish the required pieces.  This ranges from books containing Writing Prompts to technology links which students can use our classroom netbooks for.  Either way, they always have PLENTY of Writing options to choose from.


During Daily 5, students write in their Writer's Notebook.  This is a notebook of their choice which contains all of their rough drafts from the year.  

Some great links to get your students "pumped" about Writing are:


PicLits
Scholastic Story Starter
Word Tamer
StoryMaker
StoryBird

If you have inspiration to share with young writers please comment below!  Happy Writing :)