One of the standards that we grade on our third grade report card involves comparing multiple texts by the same author. I try to do one author study each trimester and I have found that it helps my students grasp many skills that go along with Author's Craft as well. I try to pick authors who are gifted artists of their craft, so I am sure my choices are popular among other teachers as well. The last three author studies I have done include Jack … [Read more...]
Classroom Tour: Classroom Library
School has started here....I can't believe it! I was able to get my classroom mostly ready a few weeks ago because I was going on vacation with my family. I returned home from vacation on Sunday and hit the ground running on Monday! We had Professional Development days on Monday and Tuesday and the kids started on Wednesday. I have been busy busy, but I wanted to share a few photos of my classroom as it starts to take shape! Here is my … [Read more...]
Author Study: Jack Prelutsky
Our school wanted us to be sure to incorporate more author studies. This coincides with our standards, as we are expected to see if our students are able to draw conclusions and generalize about authors and their works. One trimester I did an author study with Eve Bunting books and another trimester I did an author study with Patricia Polacco. I decided to add a poet to my author studies and settled on Jack Prelutsky! He is a favorite … [Read more...]
Updating Posters and Signs in My Classroom
Well, after several years of teaching, I figured it was time to update some of the posters and signs that I have made along the way. I went into my classroom the other day because I know that time in August will be limited and I dug through the things that I hang up every year. I pulled out a handful of hand written signs that were in desperate need of a facelift. I brought them home and got to work on the computer. Here's what I came up … [Read more...]
Interactive Reading Journals/Notebooks: Starting The Year Off Right
A few years ago before the school year started, I stood in my classroom with two huge piles of notebooks. I knew there had to be a way to practice our reading standards and skills while creating a reference tool for my third graders. I had always used a writer's notebook, and I really liked the way I could teach mini lessons and my students could reference the information if they needed to. I looked around online and learned about the concept … [Read more...]
Author Study: Eve Bunting
In third grade we are in the middle of our first author study. We chose the beloved Eve Bunting! In our reading anthology we read, "A Days Work" which is a wonderful story with a great message about telling the truth. Eve Bunting always tackles the tough issues, and she is a great author to use to teach about theme and the message in … [Read more...]
