Say Goodbye to the Pool...Hello to the Classroom!

You are probably angry just seeing this picture! But slow your breathing.... :) 

As summer comes to an end (somewhat- I know it's still July!) us teachers get ready to head back to the place we are needed- our classrooms! I love summer as much as anyone else but I do get genuinely excited to start the new year. It's a fresh slate filled with new school supplies, new faces, and new lessons that we have been pondering over the summer. 

There is so much that goes into returning to your classroom for the school year. I know I think about the following: 

1. Do I want my desks in rows to help me learn names the first few weeks? 

2. Do I want my desks in tables so my students can get acclimated with the group work? 

3. How many days will I span my "Getting to Know You" activities and classroom procedures? 

4. Are there any procedures I want to adjust from previous years? 

5. When will my students have library orientation? 

The list goes on but we all know we still deserve to enjoy our summer! No matter what grade you teach there are certain ideas racing through your mind in the days leading up to the first day of school, and at the forefront for me is Reader's Workshop. 

Reader's Workshop Philosophy

In 6th grade, my students have two English courses and we balance the two by alternating which class will be running workshop during a given quarter. My class will have workshop until October to start the year, and I tried many new ideas last year that I would like to iron out this year. 

Two phenonminal resources that I have used are: 

Reading Workshop: Creating Space for Readers by Frank Serafini

Reading Zone: How to Help Kids Become Skilled, Passionate, Habitual, Critical Readers by Nancie Atwell

These two authors provide great insight for how to set up workshop in your classroom and practices to use with your students. 

Click HERE to hear from Nancie Atwell on the "Reading Zone" 

Laying at the Pool= Making Lists of Ideas for Workshop

If there is one thing a teacher can do well it's multitasking. While enjoying long summer afternoons at the pool, I justify my relaxation time by bringing my journal and writing down ideas that come to me on those warm afternoons. Here are some ideas I have for workshop in my classroom in the fall: 

1. Literature Response Logs: Serafini uses these with his students and they are a great upgrade to the traditional "reading logs" we have all used at one point or another. It keeps students honest with their reading, but is more authentic and purposeful.

Response Log Draft

Response Log Expectations Draft

2. Atwell has a wonderful way for students to categorize books they read: 

Holidays, Just Rights, & Challenges 

I will have my students categorize their books in this way, and encourage them to read a variety from each category. 

3. I want a way to be sure students can avoid distractions when they read. Atwell puts a sign on her door during silent reading. I think my students would enjoy knowing there is a sign that prevents intruders from disturbing our valuable reading time! 

We can still soak up the sun, and more importantly soak up these last few weeks of summer. Keep the ideas you have this summer and know there is a wonderful place for them waiting in your classroom! 

Cue the Irony: Blogging about Blogs!

http://www.nfschools.net/Page/3240

As I have gotten more comfortable using a blog, I find myself longing to create the same authentic experience for my students. Writing for my sixth graders begins to take a shift in middle school. Last year I received feedback from my students that we do not complete enough creative writing in my class. I have to admit that the shift to Common Core has taken away some of the creative writing- I am ashamed! My students thrive during our poetry unit in the spring because they are writing for an authentic audience: Their classmates. (And they have more freedom in their writing)

Early in the year, I want to set up that very experience. I have used Kidblog in the past, and will continue to do so. It is extremely user friendly and still gives the same safety and security I am comfortable with having in my classroom. I have set up a class blog for each of my 5 sections of classes. Once students are familiar with our class blog, I want to broaden their horizons! The screenshot below shows the blog I used this past school year. I was able to easily and quickly assess student understanding through formative assessments on the blog. The students loved reading one another’s posts and looked forward to this activity in class!

I am fortunate enough that all my 6th graders in the fall will be equipped with their own iPad throughout the entire school day. I just learned that there is an iPad app for Kidblog that will definitely come in handy! I am excited to have my students download the app and access my blog even easier than in the past. One of the joys in technology is that it really can make your life easier as a teacher! (While some days it may not always seem that way!) 

As with anything in teaching, there is a learning curve with using a blog in your classroom. Over the past few years, I have come up with a list of tips to help teachers set up their own blog within their classroom. There were days I would "think on the fly" so to speak (as many of us do if something in our plans doesn't go quite our way) but I found these on the fly days to be some of the best lessons I have had! I hope these tips are helpful for you as well!

Blogging in the Classroom

A change I hope to make in the fall is for my students to create their own blog: An Online Portfolio of Work. I have been the "Controller" of the blog so to speak, and I want to let go of some of that control. I want my students to create their own backgrounds, posts, and identity through their written work. 

This will also be excellent for my student's future teachers to have access to their written work as well. I love using blogs in that students look forward to reading comments their classmates post. The feedback they receive from one another can be more rewarding than any feedback I can give. They also do not have to constantly have access to their Workshop Folder that stays in my classroom throughout the year. They can take pride in always having access to their completed work.

Here is one teacher's take on using blogs for personal and educational use

4th and 5th graders at Garrison Elementary School in California were even featured on Fox5 news for their blogs. These students use their own blogs similar to the blogs I hope to create for my students. The student interviews are fascinating in that some one boy admits to never being much of a writer until he began his blog. Some students even have readers in Malaysia! What an empowering experience!
Click HERE to view the news segment.

Some possible topics I hope to include in next year's blog: 

(I am also open to any other suggestions!)

About Me

Favorite Childhood Story (a segue to reading to students in our Early Learning Center) 

Fictional Character I Am Most Alike

Book Reviews 

Posting Book Trailers 

Connecting Fiction to Non-Fiction (find a topic out of a fiction book to complete additional research)

Technology is ever changing, and it would be foolish to not embrace the change as educators. It is amazing to think: What will they think of next? Remember The Jetson's? 

The Jetson's Future of Technology (or is it already the future?)

Live from Room 207! Bringing the Theater to the Classroom

In the winter I complete a Reader's Theater mini unit with my students. Last year, I wanted to weave the classics into this unit along with student choice. This also happened to be around the time of the Oscars, so I thought about a perfect way to mesh the two and host the Oscars in my classroom!

What began as what I thought to be a "cheesy" way to spice up Reader's Theater turned into much more than a mini unit! My students walked the "Read" carpet, participated in live interviews, and had to practice their acceptance speeches for their awards in the class. I wanted to enhance the speaking and listening in my classroom, and this unit did just that. I saw many students come out of their shells and get really excited for this unit. This unit was two parts: The first part was reading the script aloud and acting in class, and the second was a written response comparing the themes of two scripts in Reader's Theater. I received such great feedback from the students that I will be doing this again next year. I will try to allow more time for students to practice in class. Mid-point of the school year is a great time to do this as students feel comfortable with one another.

To help build background knowledge, I showed previews I found on YouTube to gain students' interest if they were not familiar with the scripts.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Preview

2014 OSCARS brought to you by Horrigan Productions!

1. I made enough awards for each student to win in each class. Students then had the choice to go to the podium and "accept" their award. The awards ranged from; Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Most Cooperative Cast Member, Most Believable Character, and so on. The audience members cast their votes, and I wrote out the certificates.

2. The "Read Carpet" was the highlight of the event! Red butcher paper taped to the floor was all I needed to make this event come to life! I had a "microphone" (a round hairbrush covered in black paper) and held interviews much like Guiliana on E! It was a great way for students to feel comfortable in front of the class because we had fun with it! 

While this was very interactive and a fun activity in class that I hope created fun memories for students, I still had to the hold the balance with a form of assessment. After all scripts had been read in class, we discussed possible themes for each and students took notes on these themes in their journals. Students partnered up with someone from another Reader's Theater group and they discussed the themes together. Finally, students compared their own theme with the other theme. Below is the link for the graphic organizer my students used.

Reader's Theater Written Response Organizer

One of the most rewarding aspects of this project was how many students checked out classic literature from my bookshelves. Students were excited to read Little Women, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and many more!

What are other ways to bring the classics into the classroom?

Summertime? Simply a Chance to Plan for Next Year

Ten months with my vibrant, enthusiastic, driven sixth graders seem to fly through time quicker than I could have imagined. I am so proud of how far my students have come and can only hope for the same growth as they venture into 7th grade and beyond. 
As a previous traveling teacher, this was my first year with my very own classroom. Dreams of bulletin boards, decorative book shelves, and displays finally came to life! After multiple trips to Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Lakeshore Learning and more, I realized I couldn't possibly perfect my teaching home in a single year. During the summer and throughout use of this blog, I hope to share ideas and inspiration about what I hope to implement in my classroom in the fall. Summer has only begun, and of course planning is what we teachers do best! Happy summer everyone!

Instill a Love of Reading

I created a shelf in my classroom to display books we love. In the beginning of the year, it begins as books Mrs. Horrigan loves, and soon evolves into a place where my students' favorite books are put on display for their classmates to see. Each week, I host 'Book Chats' about books proven to be popular, and I allow an open forum for students to contribute if they have read the book. It creates anticipation and excitement about reading- what more could an English teacher want!? The titles literally fly off the shelves each week. I hope to add a second shelf next year in order to display more great reads for my students.

How To:

1. Purchase a gutter from any home improvement store.
2. Cut the gutter to your desired length- mine is approximately 3 feet long to hold 5 books at a time.
3. Use the remaining length to create more shelves if desired. 

Further Reading:

This leads me to wonder: Where does a love of reading begin for my students? An interesting article in the New York Times poses that very question.