25 till 25.

Photo credit: Instagram 
My countdown app on my phone reminded me today that it's 25 days till 25. Ugh. 

My birthday hasn't traditionally been a big deal. My birthday falls near the end of the month in the summer, and growing up, with one parent as a teacher, we just didn't have a lot of money, so sometimes, it was overlooked. 

As I got older, I tried to emphasize my birthday for myself, and it has haphazardly worked. I'm lucky that I have been surrounded by a good group of friends that have sent me flowers, texts, and Instagram shoutouts to remind me how much they love me. 


This year, though, I am setting my birthday hopes high. I turn 25, which for me, equates to a quarter life crisis. A quarter of my life - 1/4, .25, 25% - is over. For me, this is a powerful moment. 

The images I had in my head of 25 don't match what I am experiencing right now, and I am having a hard time letting go of the ideal that I grew up working to obtain. Does that mean that those things aren't ever going to happen for me? Of course not, I know that logically - I know that there is so much time to have a family and get married and be responsible for the rest of my life, but I am still very much struggling with it. 

So, in order to bring in 25 the right way, I am taking the month of August - creating a birthday month dedicated to my birth and me conquering 25. Every week and weekend will come with a fun activity or time spent doing something that I want. I deserve for 25 to be wonderful and happy and filled with love. August, get ready - you have so much in store! 

Here's to 25 in 25...

Five Wonderful Things.

CNN, during the work week, has a running article that focuses on five news events to start your work week with. I find myself drawn to this article for numerous reasons, but I really like how easily it identifies five important events that may define your day - some are more serious than others, and there's always a token funny pet video, but it had me thinking about my own weeks and days, and how I can identify moments that can provided definition and clarity in a sometimes crazy world. The result of those brain-storming moments: Five Wonderful Things on Sunday evenings - a reflection on what made the week memorable or things that I am looking forward to. 

To the first edition of Five Wonderful Things

1. 50 Shades of Grey trailer premiered. Yes, this is a wonderful thing for me and countless other women (and men) who fell head over heels in love with Christian Grey in the hit serious. Today ran a two day series showcasing the trailer and behind the scenes footage that had me melting. I even re-read the whole series this weekend, hopefully sustaining my need until Valentine's Day 2015. Who doesn't love a megalomaniac CEO and his hopeless addiction to a bookish regular girl? 

2.  My best friend got a puppy. While this doesn't affect the world on a macro scale, it most certainly affects my micro world. He has been wanting a puppy for a while, and he finally got one - which is life changing! I am so in love with that little nugget, he fits in my hands right now and I am soaking up puppy snuggles until he gets too big. 

3. Back to school sales are in full swing. This is such an exciting time for me. I am obsessed with school supplies! As a teacher, I buy in bulk - spending a large sum to jump start my classroom, but I don't mind spending the money. If you know how to buy smart and which stores allow more than the limit for teachers and use price matching, you can make a huge dent in the sticker shock of back to school shopping. 

4. I get paid on this week. This is so important for so many reasons. I know money will not buy happiness nor does having money ensure that you will feel fulfilled, but that stretch from June till the end of July is a long time not to get paid. Thank God for parents and grandparents who are willing to still help you out when the times get tough. 

5. On Friday, I'm taking out some former students. On Friday, I am taking out a few of my former students from last year, and I could not be any more excited!! While I love all of my classes, I made such a connection with this class - I was so sure of myself as a teacher, which made for better relationships. 

So, here are my five wonderful things that are giving me hope or gave me hope. Think about your weeks and identify five things that keep you wanting more - the beauty in life comes from small things and moments. Don't overlook those - no one is going to come and remind you to be appreciative.


Have a great Monday, loves!
Till next time, 
-xo, Lucy 

Must-Read Monday!

It's Monday - such a great day for carpe diem and just being awesome! (: 

Typically, my Monday posts have an overall motivational tone, building up for a great week and a chance to take a few steps closer to your dreams, but today, I am trying something different - a Must Read Monday

It's no secret that I love reading. That's an understatement, really - I am obsessed with it. I carry a book or my Kindle with me every where. I subscribe to magazines by the dozen, and visit the library more than three times a week. I love it, and as a nerdy girl and a teacher, I want other people to love it as much as I do, hence the birth of Must Read Monday

My current obsession right now is a suspense author, Michael Robotham and his mind bending thrillers. Michael's series center around Joe O'Loughlin, a criminal psychologist who makes a living breaking into criminals' minds and picking apart their actions. Robotham creates a literal page turner that winds together so many literary elements, but pulls it off in a flawless fashion. Noteworthy mentions by him: The Suspect + Lost (related titles), Shatter, and Bleed for Me

I am also reading a lot of DIY books, thrifty living, and urban homesteading - my mom and dad are twenty first century pioneers and have more than inspired me to take a leap into self-sufficiency.  My favorite two, so far this summer, have been: 
- be thrifty. edited by Pia Catton & Califia Suntree -> It's organized by categories into tips to be more thriftier in your daily life. It covers everything from home improvement to cooking to beauty routines. I think, especially in your twenties, that it is important to be financially literate and practice good money habits that can carry you through life. This book is easy and well written and filled with practical tips. 
- The Bust DIY Guide to Life by Laurie Henzel & Debbie Stoller -> This has been my favorite DIY book this summer. The cover is pink and immediately caught my eye, but the content kept me interested. Tips range from Repurposed Fashion to From Scratch in the food section. It is easy to follow and organized well, so you can look by section or from cover to cover. 

With Monday being such an important mental step in the week - it can be a struggle week or a success week, take your pick - it's important to find stuff for you to enjoy for yourself. For me, it's reading - for you, it may be something completely different, but that find that release and find that free time for yourself. It's invaluable for success. 

Until next time, loves 
- xo  

Strategy (almost) Saturday.

I totally missed Strategy Saturday, but here it is today! (: 

Today's topic: Close reading in the content areas 

Last week, we touched on the importance of vocabulary in the content areas and the use of graphic organizers, and close reading is a reading comprehension strategy that can encompasses those skills as well. Content areas, remember, are anything but literacy (reading/writing) - so science, math, social studies, etc. 

Close reading is not literal close reading, as in bringing the page closer to your face - I had a student ask me that one time (: Close reading is a reading comprehension strategy or format, whichever you prefer that is focused on multiple reads with questions that are content based, reading based, and require the students to text annotate to make inferences, conclusions, and find the main ideas in multiple areas of text. I love love love close reading, and I think it has multiple benefits when used appropriately.  

Caution! This is not a throw together lesson, this is not I went to sleep at 7 PM and forgot to plan, so let's do a close read. NO. Please don't do this. Close reading has the potential to bring together so many ideas and concepts when used correctly, and if you have not prepared - if you have not annotated the text, created high level questions and attempted to answer them, and you have not made sure there are multiple standards - reading and content - being covered - then, my friend, close reading is not for you. If the planning is not intentional, the results won't be either. 

I've read many blogs and articles on close reading, and I want to make sure that the advice I give you is easy to implement and follow - sometimes, we are so theoretical and we always envision a perfect classroom, but that isn't the case - so here are 5 easy steps to putting together a close read! 

1. Cluster standards. Cluster your reading standards (RI/RL) with content standards. For example, a cluster might include: 
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.1: Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.2: Determine two or more main ideas of a text and explain how they are supported by key details; summarize the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.3: Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.4: Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.


5.L.2.1: Compare the characteristics of several common ecosystems, including estuaries and salt marshes, oceans, lakes and ponds, forests, and grasslands. 
5.L.2.2:  Classify the organisms within an ecosystem according to the function they serve: producers, consumers, or decomposers (biotic factors). 
5.L.2.3: Infer the effects that may result from the interconnected relationship of plants and animals to their ecosystem. 

Standards provided by NCDPI and Corestandards.org

As a teacher, you need to make realistic groupings with standards - if you have to reach to make it fit, then your students will too. Reading instruction, especially when integrated, needs to be intentional and direct - take the guess work out! RI.5.3 is a difficult standard for some students to understand, because it deals with interactions in informational text, and that's a foreign concept for them. They know characters interact with each other in literature, but to tell them that informational text has the same sort of idea blows their minds, which is why instruction needs to be intentional. I paired RI.5.3 with 5.L.2.2, because students can see and verbalize those interactions within a food chain, pyramid, or web. Remember - make it intentional. 

2. Create the assessment
This may be a controversial step for some, because there is a school of thought that says simply completing a close read is an assessment, but I disagree (and you can disagree with me too, it's okay.) I teach high-risk students, the majority of my students meet more than one at-risk factor, and require intentional practice, which is why my close reads always have an assessment. I want them to take their knowledge from annotation and questioning and produce something that shows me they understand the connections. An assessment for a close read that is integrated with content areas will be content centered. What does that mean? That means their assessment will focus on their content knowledge, rather than a reading skill, but any good teacher will tell you that in order for them to complete the assessment, they will have had to demonstrate the reading skill or skills within the close read to begin with. 

Examples of assessments: digital presentations, skits, brochures, etc. 

3. Choose a text
THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP (to me.) If the text isn't good, anything after that won't be either. 

Take your time choosing a text - don't spend days, but spend a quality amount of time choosing a quality text. If the text doesn't lend itself to higher level questions (inferences, interactions, etc.), then it shouldn't be used for a close read. Students (and teachers too) need to realize that a close reading raises the bar for the reader, so the bar should be raised for the text. 

Things to consider: Text should be grade level. Yes, let me say it again, text should be grade level. Students who are struggling readers can reach assistance throughout the close read, but the text should be grade level (especially when the content areas are integrated.) Text should be short, but long. The text should be short enough that it's not overwhelming or seems like an endless task, but long enough that there are at least 3 reads and the opportunity for multiple questions, including higher order questions. 


*Preface: 99% of all close read lessons begin the same. 

Lesson 1: Teacher reads aloud and students identify vocabulary they do not know and work in small groups to determine meaning with your assistance. 
Lesson 2: Students reread in small groups and annotate text. Text annotation should be one of your first lessons of the year
Lessons 3 - x: These are the close read lessons with questions, graphic organizers, etc. Close reads can have innumerable lessons, but I recommend never doing more than 4 or 5. 

The steps that follow are preparing for lessons 3 - x. 

4. ID problem vocabulary that may need instruction, create 3 levels of questioning, and find a graphic organizer. 
This is the meat of the close read, and probably the planning step that will take the longest. This is the step that creates the progression for the students. 

You should identify any vocabulary that would require direct instruction - the only reason you should do this is if the meaning cannot be inferred from any portion of the text. This is rare, so just use your judgement, and give your students credit for being problem solvers. 

Depending on how many close reads you are having your students do, your questions should progress in difficulty and higher order thinking skills.  Three levels of questioning is beneficial to you at planning, but the students won't be able to categorize them, because you'll lump together when assigning them. Level one questions are recall or right there in the text questions - requires very little thought. Level two questions are inferences, conclusions, connections to world/self/text - require background knowledge. Level three questions are analysis, evaluation, and creation - these require text support and the student's own thought. All types should be present in every close read. 

Also, try to find a graphic organizer to help students with vocabulary or a reading skill (inferences.) By having a graphic organizer, modifications for struggling students will be easy to execute. It will make your job easier. 

5. Check questions, activities, and assessment with standard. 
At the end of your planning, check the flow and consistency. Make sure all standards are addressed in some form or fashion, make sure the close read is aligned to the assessment and the final expectations. This is making it intentional. Students shouldn't have to guess at what you want them to do. 

That's it, ladies and gentlemen - that's a close read. It's not scary. It's not a beast. It's a valuable, higher order thinking reading comprehension strategy/framework that allows students to see how reading skills integrate into real life. It makes intentional connections through actual text work that is completed by the student. 

I hope you will try close reading this year and allow students to explore text multiple times - quality over quantity! 

Until tomorrow, loves - xo, Lucy 

Weekly Wrap Up + Preview of Strategy Saturday!

It has been a whirlwind week and what a better way to reflect than Thoughts for Thursday. This week, I have been writing integrated literacy lessons for my district, which is one of my favorite things to do! It's very nerdy, but I love writing lesson plans - I love providing assistance to teachers who need more confidence in the classroom or to teacher who just want more - I love it. 

We were writing in a new lesson template, UBD - Universal by Design, which in layman's terms, is backwards design. By outlining transfer goals (what do you want them to do at 40 years old), understandings, knowledge (what do you want them to know), and skills (what do you want them to do) - you can better prepare for misconceptions or challenges your students may have. It also makes you plan the assessment first, which is just good teaching practice, but most people forget that essential step. If you know what the assessment will look like, you can better prepare your lessons, because you know the expectation. Planning your assessment first is for your benefit! If you don't have a clear picture or a clear set of expectations for your students to meet at the end, then your lessons will be poorly planned and executed. 

Okay - that's my soapbox for the day. (: 

This week, aside from being extremely busy in my professional life, I have had some not-so-busy moments in my personal life. It's been a slow summer for me - I haven't done a whole lot, I haven't hung out with a lot of people and it hit me this week. I've just been feeling very lonely and unfulfilled and while it's no one's job, but my own to make sure I am happy and fulfilled - we all have these moments. We all have moments where we wish our friends lived closer and reached out more. We all have moments where we wish we had all the money to travel all over. We all have those moments.  I had mine this week. 

Yes, I'm a positive Patty, but this week, I struggled to maintain it, but I am thankful for an amazing friend who reached out to me and got me to go to an amazing church service, where my heart was filled with Jesus and friend love. 

Little moments like that remind me to not be so hard on myself and the others around me - we are all going through silent struggles, and even if you're best friends, there might be things they aren't telling you, so it's your job (my job) to give people a little bit of grace and understanding throughout our journey through this life. 

So, as we put on our party hats and thank God and Ice Cube for Friday, remember to treat others with the same grace and understanding you give yourself. It goes a long way. 

ALSO: Strategy Saturday is tomorrow and the post will be focused on close reading in the content areas! Swoon - who doesn't love multiple reads and graphic organizers! 

Enjoy Friday, loves - until tomorrow, 
xo - Lucy 

Strategy Saturday!

Welcome to Strategy Saturday - a weekly highlight of a best-practice that will help strengthen instruction and better prepare your students for success! This week, I want to talk about graphic organizers, vocabulary, and content areas. 

When I speak about content areas, I am talking about social studies, science, and math - pretty much any subject other than ELA. I am isolating content areas, because vocabulary is such a critical piece to mastering their knowledge, especially if you are a student who is at-risk. 

An at-risk student can be considered a student who qualifies for free/reduced lunch, a student who is ELL, or a student who is reading below grade level. A student can be at-risk in one or more categories, and that just raises the bar of need for that student, and should raise the bar for our teaching. That is where graphic organizers come into play - graphic organizers are a great tool to help students learn vocabulary in context and acquire words in such a way that their uses are transferable. 

Vocabulary has such a special place in my heart - I wrote my master's thesis on this (I can e-mail it to those who want to read 80 pages on vocabulary and special populations.) So, I've done the research and put it into practice in my own classroom, where every student meets at least one at-risk category. So, let's get on with how to use this in your own classroom: 

1. Select appropriate vocabulary. 
- Make sure vocabulary words are tier II or tier III words - these are the words that have multiple meanings, cannot have their meaning derived from context clues or are related to a specific discipline. Examples: constitution, denominator, civil, producer 
- Keep it short. I teach 5th grade and I do no more than 5 words per class session. Use your professional judgement. 

2. Create in-context learning
- For students who are at-risk, you CANNOT just simply give them the definition. No, absolutely not. We, humans, do not learn and acquire words that way. Even as adults, when we encounter a new word, we assimilate - what is it like, what is it not like, etc. We have to do this for our students - we have to scaffold that assimilation. You might have a child who speaks 4 languages in your classroom (I did) and that's a lot of vocabulary floating around their brain - help them nail it down. 

3. PRACTICE
- A student needs to interact with a vocabulary word between 15 to 17 times before they have gained full control, which means introducing it at the beginning of your lesson and not talking about it again is not a best practice. Make them use it. Hold them accountable. Don't underestimate their ability to use high academic vocabulary correctly. They will surprise you. 

This is where graphic organizers come into play. 

Miss Scott's Favorite graphic organizers: (All of these will be available to download - click here.) 

1. Frayer Model: The Frayer model is an all time favorite. It focuses on students classifying words based on examples and non examples. It can be a four or five square model depending on your class needs. I use a five square model, because all words should be able to have a visual representation to go with their definition. A visual helps when they can't remember the word or definition, they can remember the picture. I use this to learn new vocabulary words, so there's a lot of teacher given information on mine, but you can easily use this as a formative assessment for a unit (Fractions) or a specific vocabulary word (States of Matter.) The possibilities are endless. 

2. Vocabulary Matrix: These are great when you can group like words together. For example, I used a vocabulary matrix when we were learning about ecosystems, and my students created a matrix with the words: producer, consumer, decomposer, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore. All of those words describe organisms' place in food chains and food webs, so easily represented on a matrix. The matrix has similar components to a Frayer model: word, definition, characteristics, example, and visual. Again, it's helping students acquire vocabulary based on classifying. 

3. Cloze Reading: This is a great vocabulary strategy to help students gain control of the vocabulary through meaningful activities. Students have to practice using the words to gain control and to assimilate them fully, and it's our job to facilitate those interactions. Cloze readings can be easily differentiated (adding a word bank, pictures or hints), they can be easily generated, and can be used at all grades levels for almost any content area. The idea is simple - given a piece of text with words omitted, students can fill in the blanks using their content and vocabulary knowledge. I use these are warm-ups, review, assessments, or word wall activities. I have shared an example - I created it in less than ten minutes, but you get the idea. 

Wrap-Up
3 things you learned: Frayer models, vocabulary matrices, and cloze readings are just three of the ways to better your vocabulary instruction within your classroom. 

2 things you might have questions about: How do you create an effective word wall? How do you encourage students to use the graphic organizers once created? These will be answered in a later Strategy Saturday

1 interesting fact: A student needs to interact with a word 15 -17 times before they have acquired the full ability to use it. 

Remember: all materials can be found here! PLEASE leave a comment or drop me a line, I am looking for feedback if you liked, loved, or hated it! See you next Saturday! (: xo

Strategy Saturday [: (Sneak Peek!)

TM LS
As the summer winds down, and the possibility of this blog becoming so much more than just my own twenty something diary of musings and life anecdotes - I really have been thinking about what do I want to share? What do I want this blog to become? So, I am starting with Strategy Saturday. Every week, I will be posting a new best-practice for whole group, small group, or individual instruction. I realize this is a specifically for teachers feature, but I have been thinking about other ways to reach everyone who reads my blog, so stay tuned for those - but until then, welcome Strategy Saturday

This Saturday's post will be graphic organizers for vocabulary content instruction- so that's your sneak peek for Strategy Saturday - just one of the many things I have planned for this baby of mine. 

You guys - Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus, the Internet - have embraced my journey, my continuous search for meaning, and my not-quite (finished) quarter life crisis, and I want Ginger On the Move to grow into something that will be lasting, so thank you for starting this journey with me, and let's get this party started! I haven't stressed this, but PLEASE comment and contact me - leave me feedback, ask questions - I would love to hear from you guys! (: 

By the way: brag moment - I created the banner for Strategy Saturday, which I think is pretty good for my first time graphic design try. 

So, until tomorrow, cupcakes - 

xo 


Miss Know It All

Photo Credit: Art.com/Google Images
Hello, Thursday - it's so good to see you! Even though, it's the summer - it's still my favorite day of the week for silly personal reasons, so let's celebrate with a blog post! 

This week, I have attended RtI training - for those in education, it's Response to Intervention - a framework to better reach at-risk students and provide targeted instruction that is not just a referral to special education. While it is an overwhelming task and the documentation can swallow you up, it's a necessary shift to better serve our students. A presenter today said we have to unpack child by child - we have to identify needs of all students - we can't settle for mediocre instruction and expect mind-blowing results. 

To go along with RtI training, our district has posted the first units for all subjects, along with the curriculum overview for the year, which has turned my OCD planning and organizational switch on for the year. My mind has already started prioritizing standards and goals and making a to-do list that will be constantly running from now till June 2015. Whoever said teachers get the summer off can bite their tongue in half. 

I have really been reflecting on my practice and my goals for next year - teachers naturally do that, but during the summer, we spend more intentional time looking at our previous year and remembering areas of struggle that we can prepare for. 

I spoke a couple weeks ago about accountability, and I plan on using this a platform for accountability to make myself better and hopefully, make others better too, because as a teacher, that's my ultimate life goal. 

This will probably be a running and updated goal list (with pictures eventually), but here we go: 

2014-2015 Goals

  • Create individual data notebooks for each student: At a 5th grade level, my students can track their proficiency and set goals fairly easily. 
  • Create interactive math notebooks: I want my students to learn to take notes in a real world setting - that's such a valuable skill. With math, I can teach color coding, diagrams, and how to chunk information. I'm using address labels to easily post math problems in their notebooks. I want to incorporate more foldables too - I used graphic organizers this year, but I want to make more! I'm obsessed with helping my kids organize their thoughts with organizers that can be duplicated by them on their own. 
  • Create a classroom library check out system: As book worm, I have an extensive personal library that my babes can use all the time, but I want to hold them accountable for checking out books - I need to develop a system that will be easily managed as a classroom job. I've thought about an iPad app (Book Retriever) or the old fashioned card system (like an old-school library.)
  • Research: I want to become better at staying up to date with everything! I know what you're thinking, Lucy, you can't know everything and you can't do everything, but this is my livelyhood - my passion, a significant portion of my self-identity, and I will damn near try to have the most resources and the most knowledge in my brain that I can! 
Here are my goals, take this time to ask yourself: what are your goals? Professionally and personally - do you have a plan? Is it written down? Does someone know about it? Are you accountable? A dream without a plan is a wish, make it an action. Last time I checked, the dream is free - the hustle is sold separately. 

This weekend, my action will start, I will spend my time by the pool and read articles about best practices for ELLs in mathematics, because my classroom will inevitably be more than half Hispanic/Latino. 

Make your action start today! 


Motivation Monday - Lesson plan shawty edition.

Today's #motivationmonday is dedicated to teachers & their endless quest for perfection in their classroom. 

I am sitting in professional development for RtI - Response to Intervention, and I am mildly excited. The nerd, the reflective practitioner, the artist craves new information to better myself, to better reach my students, to make a difference in my school. I can't get enough, and just because, it is the summer does not mean that I stop seeking education and seek improvement. 

In North Carolina, times are tough for us - we know that, the world knows that, but do they also know how hard we work? How much we sacrifice - how our excitement grows with each back to school ad, professional development, and Teachers Pay Teachers sale? Do they know that? 

The NC Legislature and the negative Nancys' and Neds' who choose to believe their lies of raises and grandeur won't stifle my excitement for a new school year and new information to better my classroom - you won't do it, I refuse to let you. 

So, as my training begins, teachers - remember: teachers need the summertime to recharge and forget. So, spend your time recharging your tool box, your energy, your spirit and forget the negativity, the stress, and the work load. Remember why you chose this life, because it is a life. 

Photo credit: Google Images

 
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