I (Heart) Wordnik

When teaching students new reading strategies I like to authentically highlight and model how I use these strategies as a reader myself.  A few years ago my father-in-law sent my husband a subscription to the Wall Street Journal for his birthday.  The financial section, among others, has been a gold mind for me when modeling comprehension strategies and using prior knowledge, context clues and dictionaries to figure out unknown vocabulary and make meaning of what I am reading.


Tonight I discovered a new "dictionary" tool, Wordnik.  Wordnik is an online dictionary focused on how words are used today.  


I love the platform.  Simple.  You type your unknown vocabulary word into the search box and then click on the (I LOVE this part) "I ALWAYS FEEL LUCKY" button.

I was lucky each time I entered a vocabulary word tonight.  I received a straight forward definition (or 2 or 3) and several examples of how the word is used.


While I read the paper tonight I had my laptop open and within reach.  When I came across a word that needed some clarification I typed it into Wordnik and in the span of a few nanoseconds learned that a Charlatan was a person who makes elaborate, fraudulent claims, occluded was an adjective meaning closed or obstructed (I almost had this one with prior knowledge and context clues!) and that efficacy was the power or capacity to produce a desired effect.


I can't wait to introduce this tool to my second graders this fall!  


What kinds of online dictionaries do you use in the classroom?

Digital Observation Forms

I, like many of you, have been searching for a better way to contain all those observational notes I collect when conferring with students and share that information with our Title 1 and Special Education teachers for years.  Last year I tried using a "penseive" like the one the CAFE sisters suggest.  I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread in the beginning, but by the end of the school year I realized it wasn't the best tool for me.  I still wasn't able to communicate the way I wanted to with our Title 1 and Special Education teachers and I found the notebook to be a little cumbersome.

I was given an ipad to play with this summer by my school district and decided I would first use it as a teaching tool for me.  I created a conferring observation form for reading, math and writing using Google Forms.  I kept the forms as simple as possible.  Below is a sample of the Reading Observations form that I made.  I am keeping the form and all of my reading lesson plans on a private Google Site that I made for easy access while conferring.

The reason I think this is so wonderful is that each time I submit an observation it puts all the data into a spreadsheet.  I can view the data in several different ways: by student, strategy, books the student has read, etc.  Also, by sharing the form with my colleagues we can all enter our data while working with students and view it!  This will allow all of us to be on the same page with our struggling students...the information will be at the tip of our fingers. 

TodaysMeet

I LOVE using this site as a quick assessment tool in our second grade classroom.  I almost forgot all about it until a co-worker asked me what it was called the other day.  This afternoon I introduced TodaysMeet to my tech savvy second graders.  TodaysMeet is a kind of mini facebook or twitter type website.  Students make posts to specific questions that I ask and those posts appear in real time on the site for all to read.  Using this site allows me to assess understanding for a specific question I am asking and also clues me into a students independence with spelling and other conventions.  Students get practice writing a response for others to read as well as more practice reading which is great.  You can create a TodaysMeet page that lasts for as little as 2 hours or one that continues for up to a year.  Today we wrote about what we liked most about reading and a response to what we thought Dr. Seuss was trying to teach us by telling us the story of Gertrude McFuzz.  I am sure there are a million different ways we could use this tool in our classrooms.  Here is a link to the two we used today.  They will only be "open" for one week.

What do you like most about reading?

Gertrude McFuzz

What are some other ways you might use TodaysMeet in your classroom?

Daily 5 - Read to Someone

All year we have been doing Daily 5 reading in our second grade classroom. The Read to Someone choice hasn't always been a successful time for every reader.  Even with lots of coaching and reteaching some children continue to have only one partner read the entire time...until now!  My students are loving the "You Read to me, Ill Read to You" books by Mary Ann Hoberman and Michael Emberly.  If you haven't discovered these books yet I highly recommend them.  My class especially loves the Very Short Fairytales book.

Do you have any suggestions for making Read to Someone successful for students?

The Reading Teacher-November

I am behind in my professional reading!  I am finally getting back to the November issue of The Reading Teacher.  I think I glanced at it briefly when I carried it in from the mailbox weeks ago.  The article Seven Rules of Engagement; What's Most Important to Know About Motivation to Read by Linda B. Gambrell (2011, pp. 172-177) is a great reminder of the power of motivation for young readers.  I am finding the "classroom tips" for each rule most helpful.  To be honest, it has been very tricky motivating the group of readers I have this year.  Here are a few of the tips I plan on incorporating in January:

1. Begin doing a weekly "teacher book-selling session."  Quick share 10-12 books to pique student interest.

2. For those little ones who continue to choose independent reading books that are to difficult..select 4 or 5 books related to the students' interest and then have them choose 2-3 of those while conferring.

3. Don't label any books as "easy."  Label them as "hard," "harder," and "hardest."

Hopefully these small steps will help all the readers in my class BELIEVE that they are capable and competent!