Ocean Inquiry - Nonfiction Study & Common Core

My class is devouring all of the nonfiction books that we have in our media center on oceans as we continue our inquiry study.  Many brought in books from home that they had on oceans along with shells they have collected from visits to the beach. They each have a science journal (composition notebook & post-it-notes) to record their Wows (!) New Learning (NL) W ( I Wonder?) as they read about the different life under the ocean. I divided the books among tables and had them jot their findings on post-it-notes.  This was a way to front load our inquiry unit.  Next, the students wrote their top 3 animals on "official" note cards.  I had them choose 3 because 1/2 the class wanted to choose sharks and I am keeping the groups to 4 each (one will have 5).  These are pictures of their science journals on their first browsing through our books on ocean habitats.

The next job was to place the children into groups.  Wow - that was the tough part!  My desk looked like a post-it-note mess.  I place the children by interest and made each group heterogenously mixed in ability. After putting the groups together, I gave each child a post-it-note with their animal on it.  Then we played a four corners game (which would be 6 corners, since we had 6 animals), and they met the members of their team.  There were cheers coming from all corners and the excitement of their research began.


Next, I just let them "hang out" together discussing their animal, talking about what they hoped to find out, and just getting to know their group.  There was laughter, discussion, and questions about how they were going to begin their project. We learned about the different sources to find information, including our media center, books, magazines, the Internet, databases, and websites.  


Our favorites technology tools were:

Our school subscribe to Pebble Go this year.  Love, love, love it!  Click HERE to check it out.

WONDEROPOLIS - I Wonder Questions (FREE Site)

It has a question of the day, but you can type in your topic in the search bar.

To view how Searchasaurus works click HERE to see a "How to Use Video from EBSCO."
Click HERE to go to EBSCO's Elementary School Website.
Check with your school to see if you have access to EBSCO's Searchasaurus.

So are you wondering how to "Fit it All In" during the day?  We have computer lab once a week (no computer teacher - just me) and we used that 45 minute period to take our science notebooks to record our information.  I also have 2 computers in my classroom that the students access during Reader's Workshop.  They have the option of continuing their research during this time.  Here are pictures of the dolphin group's science journals as they record their information.  Notice the exclamation points as a representation of "Wow's" along with NL (New Learning) and W (I Wonder).

 

As we continued our topic of Nonfiction Text Features, the students took it upon themselves to add diagrams to their artwork.  I love that they did it without me even suggesting it.  They are taking their research very seriously and were preparing for their art project on their ocean animal.

Another way to "FIT IT ALL IN" is to use your Guided Reading group time and work with the different research groups.  Since they were heterogeneously mixed by ability, they were able to scaffold their learning, and I was able to guide them through the research process.  I used a mini-chart tablet to write down their thoughts as a springboard to continue our research.  I met with 2 groups each day and was able to finish this part in 3 days which was very manageable.  I incorporated phonics and reading strategies with these students as we came to unknown words in our books, and we also continued our study on Nonfiction Text Features as we found them in our texts.

Guided Reading Group Time - Charting our Learning and Referencing Our Sources

 

Guided Reading Group Time - Charting our Learning and Referencing Our Sources

Charting our WOW's during Guided Reading Groups

Guided Reading Group Time - Charting our Learning and Referencing Our Sources

 

Guided Reading Group Time - Charting our Learning - I wrote in larger print with the first group and realized I was going to go through paper way too fast.  Plus the added benefit of small group learning is that the text can be smaller.

Guided Reading Group Time - Charting our Learning and Referencing Our Sources

Each group had to plan what colors they would need for their art project, make a list, and turn it into me. This was another way to give them ownership and promote cooperative learning.

And we are not finished yet.  I will post my seal group soon along with their finished projects soon.  We are in the planning phases of how to present our information to the class along with how we will share our information with the school.  And the learning continues as many are now continuing their new learning by researching an individual topic of their choice during their "Read to Self,"  "Read to Someone,"  "Listen to a Book," and "Write Something" time during Reader's Workshop.  

Do you want to Know More about the Common Core Standards Used During Our "Ocean Inquiry Study?"  Read below to see specific standards covered from K-2nd grade.

Kindergarten English Language Arts - Reading Informational Text

Key Ideas and Details

RI.K.1. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

RI.K.2. With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

RI.K.3. With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

Craft and Structure

RI.K.4. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

RI.K.7. With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).

RI.K.8. With prompting and support, identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.

RI.K.9. With prompting and support, identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

RI.K.10. Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

1st Grade English Language Arts - Reading Informational Text

Key Ideas and Details

RI.1.1. Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

RI.1.2. Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

RI.1.3. Describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

Craft and Structure

RI.1.4. Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text.

RI.1.5. Know and use various text features (e.g., headings, tables of contents, glossaries, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text.

RI.1.6. Distinguish between information provided by pictures or other illustrations and information provided by the words in a text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

RI.1.7. Use the illustrations and details in a text to describe its key ideas.

RI.1.8. Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.

RI.1.9. Identify basic similarities in and differences between two texts on the same topic (e.g., in illustrations, descriptions, or procedures).

Range of Reading Level and Level of Text Complexity

RI.1.10. With prompting and support, read informational texts appropriately complex for grade 1.

2nd Grade English Language Arts - Reading Informational Text

Key Ideas and Details

RI.2.1. Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

RI.2.2. Identify the main topic of a multiparagraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.

RI.2.3. Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.

Craft and Structure

RI.2.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.

RI.2.5. Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.

RI.2.6. Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

RI.2.7. Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute to and clarify a text.

RI.2.8. Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.

RI.2.9. Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.

Range of Reading Level and Level of Text Complexity

RI.2.10. By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2–3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.


Common Core Writing - Research to Build and Present Knowledge

Kindergarten

W.K.7. Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., explore a number of books by a favorite author and express opinions about them).

W.K.8. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Common Core Writing - Research to Build and Present Knowledge

1st Grade

W.1.8. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Types of Texts and Purposes

W.1.2. Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide some sense of closure.

Common Core Writing - Research to Build and Present Knowledge 

2nd Grade

W.2.7. Participate in shared research and writing projects (e.g., read a number of books on a single topic to produce a report; record science observations).

W.2.8. Recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

iPads, iPods, iPhones Oh My!

Wonder what I have been working on this past week?  I have started loading all of my multimedia files for the Smart Board, Interactive Whiteboard (IWB), and computer into files for the iPad, iPod, and iPhone.  Previously, you could only purchase them as a CD pack set at my conferences.  Whoever said loading things to Teachers Pay Teachers was easy . . .  Oh my it is so time consuming loading pictures, demo versions, the files, the categories, and I am half-way through my 15 files.  I think I can I think I can . . .

Click HERE to view my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.

Anyway, if you have one of these gadgets for your classroom, are getting them soon,  here is a fun way to have access to these videos or multimedia files as an individual center during Reader's Workshop, "Read-to-Self" or "Listen to a Book" during the Daily Five.  These gadgets make it easy to differentiate for your students.  Since the multimedia files cover a wide range of skills from  letter sounds in Pre-K to more complex phonics patterns for 1st and 2nd grade, I am able to choose the multimedia file that addresses the skills my students need to work on individually.  I also use these with my students who are on Response to Intervention (RTI) and special education students too. And what's more fun that using an iPad, iPod, or iPhone to do it? And you are not limited to your own classroom.  Maybe your own child or grandchild has one of these gadgets and needs practice, reinforcement, or review on learning these skills.  My 6 month-old grandson's favorite is "Five Word Families!"  I know I am starting him young! LOL!

I should have all of the files on TpT by tomorrow night.  And who knows, I might just get a splurge of energy and get it done this evening.  If you are like me, I am on the countdown to the end of school.  It is a mixed blessing as there is so much to do and so little time. Testing, assessing, teaching, mixed in with a whole lot of fun.  I have such a great group of students this year, and I am already missing them.

Thanks for stopping by and check back again soon.  Our "Ocean Inquiry Study" is in full-swing, and I can't wait to show you the great work my students have done in researching about their "ocean animal."

Listening and Following Directions Fun

I found them!!!!!  If you have attended one my sessions:  A Circle of Friends:  A Circle of Learning, or my "Games" session, you have seen my famous "grabbers" and possibly volunteered to play the games in the session. (Thank you!) They are sometimes hard to find.  I usually find them at Michael's or Toys R Us around Christmas.  This weekend I was at Target, and I shouted to the rooftops with excitement when I found them.  So for my Tulsa, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Florida teachers who attended one of my recent sessions- go to Target.  They are even higher quality and sturdier than my original ones.

Click here for the link to Target and the location that sells them near you.

So if you have never attended that session and you are thinking, "This blogger is a little over the top,"  I will give you 20 ways I use these in the classroom.  We sit in a circle and pass 2 grabbers around the room after we complete the skill individually. We grab each one separately or together depending on the skill.  It is an "all-time" favorite of my classroom, and it transfers from Pre-K to 2nd grade.  


1.  Play follow the directions game using 1, 2, 3 or 4 step directions. 
2.  Spell you name. K (squeeze left grabber) a (squeeze right grabber) t (squeeze left grabber) h (squeeze right grabber) y (squeeze left grabber) and then pass to the person on the left.  Play continues until everyone has a turn.
3.  Count the syllables in your name. Ka (squeeze left grabber) thy (squeeze right grabber)
4.  Blend compound words. sun (squeeze left grabber) shine (squeeze right grabber) sunshine (squeeze left and right at the same time)
5.  Spell your word wall words. Refer to #2
6.  Segment phonemes in words. cat (squeeze both at the same time) "c" (squeeze left grabber) "a" (squeeze right grabber) "t" (squeeze left grabber) Pass to the person on the  left and continue around the circle.
7.  Blend phonemes into a word. "d" (squeeze left grabber) "o" (squeeze right grabber) "g"    (squeeze left grabber) dog (squeeze both together)
8.  Delete the first phoneme.
9.  Substitute the first phoneme.
10.  Do math combinations:  5+5=10
11.  Skip count by 2's.
12.  Count to 5.  
13.  Count to 10.
14.  Count backwards from 5.
15.  Count backwards from 10.
16.  Pattern games. Squeeze left out, squeeze right up, squeeze left out, squeeze right up
17.  Practice phonics' patterns. ay (squeeze both together) "a" (squeeze 
18.  Say your letters and sounds.
19.  Place value.
20.  Practicing left and right.



And if you are interested in attending this session, I will be presenting it at the DI Conference (Differentiating Instruction) in Vegas, Di Midwest Conference in Chicago, and I Teach 1st in Chicago through SDE (Staff Development for Educators).  You can click on the links at the top of my blog or on the right for details about the conferences.  It is one of my favorite sessions!


Happy GRABBING and "Following Directions!"  Thanks for stopping by!

In Memory of My Father

     It's been a tough week with little time to post.  Just a quick note to my readers that I will be posting again starting tomorrow.  My father passed away on Monday after a long battle with cancer, and his funeral was Friday.  
     My father had the ability to make a rhyme or song to anything.  It was one of those things that I thought was really cool when I was little, annoying when I was a teenager, and just a way of life as an adult.
     Well, if you look at my project that began last summer, I would say that I am my father's child.  I have always made up songs to teach my students concepts, but last May 2011, I decided to put it all on the line and create a CD, multimedia files, books, and literacy centers to teach phonemic awareness, phonics, and reading.
     I was fortunate enough to be able to play some of it for my father last fall while he was still able to understand what I had done.  I remember he smiled at me, and then looked at me with tears in his eyes.  
     So I guess to summarize this post, I would like for everyone this week to think about the impact singing has on teaching students.  Singing with your students can help them retain information, put a smile on their faces, and make an impact on their learning.  And if you have one of my songs or multimedia files, play it for your students and think of the man behind the teacher who created it.  Because without his passion, and quirky jingles, I might have never written "Growing Dendrites with Kathy Griffin."


Rest in peace Dad. I am glad you are no longer in pain. I love you.

FREE Smart Board Monday

I created a fun game for your Smart Board just in time for Easter!  The Common Core Standard is to work with numbers to 10.  So, this game could be used with Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st grade, or as an RTI (Response to Intervention) activity with 2nd grade students.  It is called the "Easter Egg Ten Frame Game" and is for working with subtraction using a 10 frame.  Here is a picture of what it looks like:

Click here to download this FREE activity.  Spread the word or help pin it to Pinterest!  Click on "Follow me on Teachers Pay Teachers" under Kathy Griffin to get updates when I post new activities.

Learning the Vowels and Common Core

Teaching those pesky vowel sounds in the early childhood classroom can be challenging. Students must learn the difference between a consonant and vowel, the sounds for each vowel, and that every word must have a vowel.  These concepts can be abstract for our little learners.  So why not make it fun by making vowel flags, singing a song, marching around the room, and ending the activity with a vowel hunt.  


Today's post will show how I teach the short vowel sounds in my classroom, and at the end of this post, I will show the correlation and connection to the Common Core Standards. I first play the song "I Know My Vowels" from my CD "Growing Dendrites with Kathy Griffin" (c) Copyright 2011.  Sometimes we watch the multimedia file on our interactive whiteboard or Smart Board, and sometimes I just play the song on the CD player depending on the objective.  Here is a sample of the multimedia file:

Interested in purchasing the multimedia file for your Smart Board, Interactive Whiteboard, or student computers for $3.00?  Click here for a link to it on my TpT store.

Want to purchase the mp3 version of this song for $1.00?  Click here for a link to my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

We decorate our "vowel flags."  The children personalize their flag for next activity.
I hot glue a Popsicle stick to the back of the flag.  We turn the song on again and use our flags for marching around the room to the song.  The children love to wave their flags while they sing.  This is a picture of one of my students with her flag.  

We keep our flags in our desks and use them for several activities over a few weeks and then bring them back for review.  I have three different recording sheets that go with the song/flag activity.  I differentiate the activity depending on the needs of my students.  The recording sheets look like this:

The focus is to locate words, write them in the appropriate column, and highlight the vowel.

Differentiating for students who are ready to find words with blends.  The focus is to locate the words, write them in the appropriate column, and highlight the vowel.

Differentiating for students who are ready to add word endings which is part of the Common Core Standards. Students locate words with vowels that have the word endings listed on the recording sheet and write them in the appropriate column.  Students may also locate words and then add the word endings too.

We use our flags frequently as we learn, practice, and review our vowel sounds.  On the last time through, I have the students record the words they find that contain the vowels directly on their flag.  When they are finished, they take their vowel flags home for a home-school connection. Here is a sample of one of my flags along with the directions. Click here to download a copy of the vowel flags and recording sheets.

Cut the sheet into 2 flags, hot glue or tape (packaging tape works best) to the back of the flag.

The pictures below show how I differentiate the activity to meet the needs of my students.  Sometimes we make vowel flags for the short vowel sound, and other times we focus on finding words that make the long vowel sound or they "say their name."

Do you like this vowel activity?  It is part of the "I Know My Vowels Activity Pack" from my Teachers Pay Teachers store.   Click here to view it on Teachers Pay Teachers. Click Download Preview at the top of the TpT page to see more activities from the packet.


You can also purchase the book set for guided reading or use as a "Just Right Book" for book boxes. Click here for a link to the book set on my TpT store.


Common Core
So exactly how and where does "learning the vowels" fall within the Common Core Standards?
For Kindergarten:
English Language Arts Standards: Language
Conventions of Standard English
L.K.2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
*Write a letter or letters for most consonant and short-vowel sounds (phonemes).
*Spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships.
Reading: Foundational Skills
Phonological Awareness
RF.K.2. Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
*Blend and segment onsets and rimes of single-syllable words.
*Isolate and pronounce the initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in three-phoneme (consonant-vowel-consonant, or CVC) words.
Phonics and Word Recognition
*Demonstrate basic knowledge of letter-sound correspondences by producing the primary or most frequent sound for each consonant.
*Associate the long and short sounds with the common spellings (graphemes) for the five major vowels.
For 1st Grade:
English Language Arts Standards: Language
Conventions of Standard English
L.1.2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
*Spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions.
Phonological Awareness
RF.1.2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).
*Distinguish long from short vowel sounds in spoken single-syllable words.
*Isolate and pronounce initial, medial vowel, and final sounds (phonemes) in spoken single-syllable words.
*Segment spoken single-syllable words into their complete sequence on individual sounds (phonemes).
Phonics and Word Recognition
RF. 1.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.
*Decode regularly spelled one-syllable words.