One of the things I have struggled with for much of my teaching career has been the dreaded reading log.  If you read this post (which was one of my first, so you probably didn't ;) ) you know that I just couldn't take the "Mom, sign this" type logs.  My kids weren't reading.  They weren't practicing their skill.  They weren't responding.  They weren't doing much of anything other than wasting paper.  So, many years ago I decided to make a change....and my Reading Log for Thinking and Responding was born.  It has been going along just splendidly, but I thought that this year, since I am getting more into the inferring and indepth thinking about reading (as evidenced through all of the Core Lit stuff I am doing...and LOVING!) I would add a few more sections to get the kids digging even deeper into their reading. First, I added a "making inference" section.  The kids need to make an inference but then, and here is my favorite part, ......

Here we are again, talking about our book study (can you tell I am LOVING the Core Lit route???)  So today I wanted to share what we did with character traits. In our book, Bridge to Terabithia (Movie Tie-in) , there are two main characters that we follow throughout:  Jess and Leslie.  The first few chapters do a great job of describing them, so I asked the kids to create a foldable with a picture of Jess and Leslie on the front.  They were to take evidence from the story (you know, reading closely and all) and create their character sketches. Then, on the inside, I asked the kids to make a double bubble map about these two. They were to find character traits and then list the evidence underneath the bubble.  I asked for direct quotes, but if you remember this post from a few days ago...we are still working on that. Anyway, what is AWESOME about this is that as the characters change, and we learn more about them and their personalities, we just go ba......

We have been really focusing on finding evidence and supporting our answers during our reading of Bridge to Terabithia .  Our discussions, though very lively and thought provoking, have been lacking the "back up" of the book.  The students seem to know what they want to say, and are sticking with the plot of the book, but actually going back into the book and finding where they came up with the answer is a bit tricky. So this past week we did something that really got the kids digging into the book and looking at their evidence.  I think it was pretty successful, so I thought I would share with you.   I gave the students four questions to answer about the chapter (if you are reading Bridge, it was questions dealing with chapter 7) Then, in groups, I asked them to answer the questions, citing at least three different references from the book.  I actually did ask them to quote the story and this is what I got. You can see, some really ......

We have been looking at subject verb agreement in class as of late and I just wanted to show you what we have been doing as far as showing "evidence".  It sort of came out naturally as I was teaching and really, I am surprised I never thought to do this before. Most of the time, when I ask my students why a sentence is correct, or a word fits in where it does, the standard response is "It just makes sense".  Well, that just isn't jiving with me anymore.  I mean, there has to be a reason WHY it makes sense and for our subject verb agreement statements, I have finally found a way to show it! So here is what we did.  After learning all about how a singular subject needs a singular verb and a plural subject needs a plural verb, we went to the task of dissecting sentences using our workbook.  Yep, we used the workbook.  First the students had to decide upon the subject.  What is it and is it singular or plural? Then, the verb was identified as singu......

It's been a long time since I have written a Test Prep 180 post....but here we are again, back in the "testing" mode.  Today, during my small group, we did something I found useful, so I thought I would share...just in case you could use it in your room too. We have been looking at the released questions, specifically the questions that ask about writing strategies.  They are different than the comprehension questions, and require different thinking skills, so we created this little chart in our notebooks.  Sorry for the terrible picture.  I did this on my easel white board. Basically, the students told me what made comprehension sections different than writing sections, and then told me the different types of questions they may encounter.  This isn't all encompassing, but it is a start and it really helped my students to see that these two sections are, indeed, different. We then looked at one released passage with three questions.  We literally t......

I am HUGE on showing evidence when the students are writing about their reading.   I always am saying, "It is not enough just to *know* it.  You have to know WHY you know it."   I just feel that showing the reasons and knowing why they think/choose/believe something in a reading passage to be true focuses the students and helps them read between the lines, a task they are so often asked to do when taking the state test.  Thinking Maps are an excellent way for the students to really get their ideas on paper and show their thinking. One thing I always make sure to do when using the maps is have the students include evidence in the frame of reference or outside of the entry on the map itself.  Here are some examples of how I ask my students to record their reasoning for the things they put on the maps. Bubble Map -- when describing a character in a book, I ask the students to give evidence as to why they thought Snow White was "trusting".  Outside the bub......