4th Grade Writing Tips (Gerri Smith)

GERRI SMITH – How do you manage to get such great Writing scores out of many low-performing students every year? Is there a special secret or skill you can share? (from Anne Tillis)

Anne it’s amazing that you asked me this question. I’ve never given serious thought to how I get the scores I get except prayers. I prayer on behalf of every child. As I look back on the students that I’ve taught, I now see one thing that is common with all the children that wanted a “6.” They had a passion that drove them to receive and believe everything that came out of my mouth regarding strategies that could improve their writing. On the other hand some students come to fourth grade not knowing anything about writing. So I allow them to jump in at their own pace until they are comfortable with what we are doing in class. Comfortable means sitting in my office with BC and writing down everything he is trying to tell me about his vacation. When I read it back to him, he says, “No, that’s not right,.I’ll write it myself!” After several visits in my office he now believes he can do it himself. How about MB who hid under his desk the first time we started to write in his class? He too, ended up in my office and we had a discussion to try and figure out what I needed to do to help him. Whatever it takes to win their confidence in me helping them achieve, I’ll do it. There’s no formula or straight shot to getting good results . Each child and each class is unique in their own way and I have the privilege of finding that out each new school year.

Thanks for asking,

G. Smith

Strategies for Reluctant Readers (Lauren Werch)

Dear Lauren~
You and I have worked together for almost 10 years! However, you never cease to amaze me with your patience, love, and strategies! You are a true advocate for all children!

Question~ I have seen you work miracles with reluctant readers. Please share some of your favorite and most successful strategies.
Love ya!
Christina

Christina,
Thank Goodness you aren’t asking me for math strategies because that is where I learn from you! Before I initiate strategies with our many reluctant readers, I use three “best practices” that are already used by many teachers at Chets.

The first best practice I use is to build a strong relationship with these readers. They need extra love, trust and someone that believes in them. They also need a lot of motivation!

The second best practice I use is to diagnose specifically the reader’s strengths and weaknesses using reliable assessments. Knowing what I must teach the reader is essential to helping them move forward and target interventions appropriately to the area of reading they need.

Finally, the third best practice I use is to reduce the student ratio as much and as often as possible to either small group (3-5 students) or individual instruction. In all the years I have been attending reading conferences and reading the research, it is always the instructional intervention cited as being most effective.

Once I have completed this “up front” work, the following are some of the intervention programs or strategies I have found to work the best in each area of reading (however, I am ALWAYS looking for new ideas!)

PHONEMIC AWARENESS: Although I encounter very few readers with this need, the Great Leaps program has worked really well for this area of reading.

PHONICS: I am blessed to have been trained in one of the premier reading programs called Lindamood Bell. This program gave me the best foundation for teaching this area of reading, which is a sequential, direct instruction approach combining many modalities of learning.

FLUENCY: I have found out, most recently, that the most success to get readers on the road of fluent reading is to have them read a lot. Supported reading in text and repeated readings gives them the confidence to do this independently, which is the goal.

VOCABULARY: I always integrate new words within what we are reading and only a few at a time. I chose words I believe are most relevant to my readers.

COMPREHENSION: This cannot be ignored at any level of instruction, so I focus always on the areas of thinking a reader does before, during and after reading. Many times you must force a reader who struggles to stop and do this thinking.

I hope this helps someone in someway. I would really appreciate any new or different ideas passed on to me- let’s get some conversation going!! Lauren

Inclusion (Christina Walag)

Dear Christina,
As a second grade mainstream teacher, please tell us how this classroom environment compares to a general education class. What obstacles/challenges have you encountered and how have you overcome them? How do you differentiate your instruction with such a wide variety of learners?
Love,
BrookeDear Brooke~
I have been a mainstream teacher for most of my teaching career and I love it! How does my classroom compare to a general education class? I can only imagine… Through collegial conversations, there seems to be a wide diversity of learners in all classrooms…and many students with special needs that have not been identified yet.
Since the county has implemented Full Inclusion, we haven’t worked out the challenges of having students with more significant needs. Many of these students have never been in a large classroom setting. We are still trying to figure out how to fully meet their needs! However, in a collaborative effort with my awesome teaching partners, Lauren Werch and Lauren Morgan, we have learned how to think out of the box ! Here is a sample of some specific strategies we use in our classrooms:
« Technology
« Intervention Groups
« Behavior Plans
« Lots of Positive Reinforcement
« Flexibility
« A Sense of Humor
How do I differentiate instruction with such a variety of learners? I use a lot of peer support, repetition, positive feedback, small groups, and some students are given more time to complete assignments. I bet you didn’t know that often an ESE student is the one who gives support to a regular education student…What better way to build a child’s self-esteem!

Love~
Christina

Teacher Mother (Anne Tillis)

Anne Tillis,
I have always admired you. I know you have been teaching for a long time. You are such an inspiration to me. You always have your act together. How do you manage being a mother of two wonderful children and teach effortlessly?
From Sherri Anderson

Dear Sherrie,
Thank you for your very kind words, especially about my children. I am glad to know that people see them that way, as it has been just “we three” for the last 6 ½ years. I manage simply by following the same rules and standards that my parents instilled in me. They seem to have worked pretty well on my brothers and myself. They also know that they are my number one priority, and that I have high expectations for them both. I think our family has learned to rely on each other, and to support each other in both good times and bad. I am very proud of them both!
I am glad you think that my teaching is effortless, LOL! It really isn’t, and if you only knew how many sleepless nights I have, you would not say that! I think the fact that I am not afraid to try something new, and the great coaching I have received here at Chets, helps me to teach my students. I am very grateful for all the wonderful training I have received in the last ten years. I feel comfortable with what I am teaching, so that probably helps as well! I am not a mover and shaker kind of person, but I know that I can teach children, which in the end, is the MOST IMPORTANT job of all, both as a Mom and as a teacher working with the young minds of our future .
Love you,
Annie Bananie

Humor (Sherri Anderson)

Sherrie Anderson— Please share how you infuse humor and engage all types of learners so effortlessly. How does this effect your relationship with the children in your care as well as their learning? (From Tammi Sani) Dear Tammi,

Thank you for your sweet words. I absolutely love my job, and I love to laugh! I remember when I was in elementary school. I felt sooooo lost most of the time. I didn't get what was going on. But when a teacher cracked a joke or was funny, I seemed to "get it." Since then, I have always wanted to find a way to reach children that seem as lost as I was back then. Laughter helps everyone feel comfortable. If I can help even one student feel capable of learning something new by making them laugh, what could be better? I know all children can learn. My challenge is to figure out how. By creating relationships with my students they are able to feel safe, are engaged, and ready to learn. They are willing to try much harder because they know I believe in them 100 percent! I absolutely relish hearing a child's laughter. A good belly laugh gets the juices flowing. Learning then becomes easy.

Your friend,
Sherrie Anderson

Co-teachers (Brooke Brown)

Brooke Brown— Would you please share with me some advice and or thoughts about your co-teaching experience - vs. - departmentalized teaching? (From Wanda Lankford)Dear Wanda,
Co-teaching is like a marriage and school is your home. Two different people are taken from their own classroom and have to learn how to productively co-exist together. Classrooms function like a family. Sometimes the children do the “ask mom, ask dad” thing, and if they don’t get the answer they want they go to the other person. But we caught on to that tactic very quickly. :-) I found that the best part of co-teaching is getting to be with the children the entire day so you see how they function in the morning/afternoon and you see their strengths and weaknesses. I feel like I know each child more completely then I did last year when Vicky and I were departmentalized. And as a teacher in a co-teaching situation, you gain so much by having someone who you can always bounce ideas off of and always have constant support. It’s also a great opportunity to learn the ELA aspect of second grade. Just like children, the hands-on learning for me is so much more beneficial than just going to a day of training or reading a professional development book on these subjects. I am very fortunate to have a partner who has developed into a very dear friend. End result, the children see our friendship with one another and that helps set the tone for our classroom. I feel co-teaching is a win/win situation when the mix of the two teachers is right.
Love,
Brooke

How can 1st teachers prepare kids for 2nd Math? (Wanda Lankford)

Question to Wanda Lankford

Dear Wanda Lankford,
WOW! All I can say it WOW! You are such an amazing teacher and friend. I know that you touch the hearts of every child in your classroom. My kids from last year come and see me everyday and I ask them about their favorite part of their day. It NEVER fails to lead to something you have done in your class. My kids love you and all of your strategies that will help them in life. SOOOO my question is… As a 1st grade teacher, I am getting my kids ready for 2nd grade Math. Are there any strategies or Math skills that I can teach that will help them for 2nd grade? I feel that there is a big disconnect between 1st and 2nd grade Math! Help!

Heidi,
WOW! Thank you so much for your kind words. As much as your students say how much they love me it is evident that they still have a great deal of love and admiration for you. Whenever you stop by my cottage they go crazy with happiness! Thank you for passing on such beautiful minds!

Now to answer your question: Are there any strategies or Math skills that you can teach that will help students be more prepared for 2nd grade?

Answer: After chatting with my awesome 2nd grade Math team, here are a few suggestions: If your students are drawing pictures please encourage them to group

• In sets of tens
• When using tally marks, group in fives
• Be familiar with Combinations of Tens
• Be familiar with skip counting patterns
• Understanding Doubles.
• Recognizing coins and their values.
• Using the 100’s chart.

Hopefully this list is not too much. Just know that when I’m with my 2nd grade Math team we are excited about teaching and jump for joy when our students get it! With that said what you and your team have been doing has been great! So keep up the great work in 1st grade.
With love,
Wanda