Grammar Study by: Janet Angelillo

After reading Mechanically Inclined I wanted to learn some more about how to implement grammar into my K/1 classroom. Grammar Study has a lot of great ideas for students in the elementary grades. I have attached a few of my own graphic organizers that are appropriate for young children.

Picture: The left picture is a grammar skills sheet that the students complete each week on the new skill. The first day of the study we talk about the new grammar skill (compound words) and we read a passage from a book that they are familiar with and find the skill within a text as a whole group. The second day students find the skill with partners in books that they have at their tables and write the words in the first box. There is also a box for questions they may have about the skill of the week. On the third day students create their own definitions for the new skill and talk to a partner about their definitions. On the fourth day students create two sentences using the new skill. This can be from their writing or made up that day. On the last day of the study students play a game with a partner and sort words into two piles compound and non compound words, nouns and proper nouns etc. This is also a quick assessment I use to see who has grasped the concept and who needs more help! In Grammar Study, Angelillo talks about setting up a schedule for the week and I thought that this schedule would be easy to use with all grammar skills and the students would get used to the format.

Pictures: In the first picture students sort their grammar of the week into groups using authentic texts from the classroom. They find the grammar skills with a partner or independently and put them into the correct column. In the second picture students are given sentences from books we have read together and they have to place them under the column that demonstrates that skill. After they complete the sort they have to explain why they sorted the sentences the way they did.

SYNOPSIS
Asking students to memorize the rules of grammar is of limited value; on the other hand, helping them understand the power of grammar from the inside out has the potential to transform their writing and develop their lifelong love affair with language. A brilliant writer herself, Janet Angellilo shows you how to teach your students all the essential skills they need related to grammar through a deeply engaging inquiry study of grammar. For example, she introduces strategies such as "mentor sentences" from well-loved literature as a way to teach students the "sense" or "cadence" of a complete sentence. Janet emphasizes grammar inquiry as the initiation into a literate life fascinated by words.

Mechanically Inclined by: Jeff Anderson

As a primary teacher, I know that children learn from doing. In Anderson's book he gives tips and ideas about how to incorporate grammar into everyday lessons using a variety of children's literature. There are no worksheets and no time consuming lessons. Much of this book is geared toward middle school aged children, so I modified some of the lessons that he created so they would work for my Kindergarten and First grade students. Below you will find a variety of activities we have used in our classroom this year. I feel that the ideas Anderson tries to encompass in this book are as follows:

• short daily instruction in grammar and mechanics within writer's workshop
• using high-quality mentor texts to teach grammar and mechanics in context
• visual scaffolds,including wall charts, and visual cues that can be pasted into writer's notebooks regular, short routines, like "express-lane edits," that help students spot and correct errors automatically

Picture: In the picture above, I have created a wall chart called "What is a courteous writer?" And we discuss different grammar techniques that we use in K/1 such as capital letters, punctuation, nouns, spacing, verbs, etc. The book has wall charts with grammar for older children so I modified the typical grammar chart and told the students that they could be a courteous writer when they used these techniques in their pieces.

A Place For Wonder by: Georgia Heard & Jennifer McDonough

If you are having trouble getting students excited about writing nonfiction, "A Place For Wonder" is a great resource for new ideas to use with your students. I used almost all of the ideas in this book and created my own student sheets with her ideas in mind. The ideas in this book are very easy to implement and modify to fit the needs of all elementary students.

Picture: In the picture to the left, I have created paper that works for most of the students in my classroom as they write their nonfiction books. If this paper does not work for certain students I create more lines for higher writers and larger picture boxes with less lines for picture writers.

Below: The pictures below are different sheets that I have created for students to collect their wonderings. I have used all three and they all work well. The first picture is useful when you want students to find answers to their questions right away because there is space for both questions and answers. In the second picture the students choose a topic and write down their old schema and then they write down questions that they still have about their topic. I use this when students begin choosing their topics, so I can decide whether or not they know enough about their topic to move forward or if they need to possibly choose a new topic if it is something they have no schema about. The last picture is just for students to write down their questions about a certain topic. When they write down their questions I have them choose the questions that they really want to know about in order to start their research.

Synopsis (Barnes and Noble)

In A Place for Wonder, Georgia Heard and Jennifer McDonough discuss how to create “a landscape of wonder,” a primary classroom where curiosity, creativity, and exploration are encouraged. For it is these characteristics, the authors write, that develop intelligent, inquiring, life-long learners.

The authors’ research shows that many primary grade state standards encourage teaching for understanding, critical thinking, creativity, and question asking, and promote the development of children who have the attributes of inventiveness, curiosity, engagement, imagination, and creativity. With these goals in mind, Georgia and Jennifer provide teachers with numerous, practical ways—setting up “wonder centers,” gathering data though senses, teaching nonfiction craft—they can create a classroom environment where student’s questions and observations are part of daily work.

They also present a step-by-step guide to planning a nonfiction reading and writing unit of study—creating a nonfiction book, which includes creating a table of contents, writing focused chapters, using “wow” words, and developing point of view. A Place for Wonder will help teachers reclaim their classrooms as a place where true learning is the norm.

Heard discusses various activities that can be used in any primary classroom. I have modified the lessons and have created my own version of her proposed activities. Please feel free to use what you would like. I used these lessons last year with my first graders and they really enjoyed all of the activities.

About the Authors by: Katie Wood Ray

If you are struggling to get your students excited about writers workshop, this book is a wonderful tool. Katie Wood Ray shows you how to implement the workshop approach into your classroom and create lessons that the students will love. The book has a great deal of lesson ideas as well as general rules for creating an environment conducive for creativity and a passion for writing. I continually go back to this book as a reference and for fresh ideas to try with my kids all the time!
Pictures: In the word study picture above the students receive 3-5 words a week. Each students words are different based upon ability level and they choose which activities they would like to work on all week with the words that were provided. Through authentic activities students learn to read and write the words correctly. IN the second picture the students list words that they feel are "boring" words such as good, and they come up with WOW words like extraordinary in place of their boring word.
In the book Katie Wood Ray also shows students that it is okay to have spelling errors and she created a wall chart called "I am not afraid of my words" where students write a word on the chart that they have spelled and then the teacher writes the correct spelling next to the word to show that it is okay to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes.

Synopsis (Barnes and Noble)

About the Authors is about the littlest authors - those in kindergarten through second grade. Based on a profound understanding of the ways in which young children learn, it shows teachers how to launch a writing workshop by inviting children to do what they do naturally - make stuff. So why not write books?

Gifted educator and author of the best-selling What You Know by Heart (Heinemann, 2002), Katie Wood Ray has seen young authors do just that. And she wants your students to be able to do the same. Beautifully describing young children in the act of learning, she demonstrates what it takes to nourish writing right from the start:

• a supportive environment that enables even the youngest students to write
• respect and sensitivity to the way children really learn
• inviting instruction that both encourages and elevates young writers
• rich language that stimulates writing
• classroom talk and children's literature that energize young writers
• developmental considerations that shape the structure of the workshop, making it natural, joyful, and absolutely appropriate.

What's more, Ray explains step by step how to set up and maintain a primary writing workshop, detailing eleven units of study that cover idea generation, text structures, different genres, and illustrations that work with text. She also draws on data, projects, and the language of teaching used in the classroom of first-grade teacher Lisa Cleaveland. Ray allows readers to "listen in" to Lisa as she helps her young students learn from professional writers, work with intention, and think about their own process.

Chockfull of examples of little books by young children, About the Authors is proof positive that a primary writing workshop is a smart writing move.

Teaching with Intention by: Debbie Miller & Peter Johnston

The most important thing about being a teacher is flexibility. Every year your classroom dynamics change and because of this you have to be flexible in how you set up your classroom, the rules that you have, the routines that you follow and the lessons you plan are all hinged on the students in your classroom and how they work with one another and individually. In this book Debbie Miller works in various classrooms to observe the unique ways different classrooms implement student share and deep thought.

Synopsis (Barnes and Noble)

"I believe in the power of collaborative classroom communities where everyone's ideas are valued and respected. But had you been in my classroom that day, you'd have never known it. You'd have thought I believed that I was the one with all the answers."

Effective, intentional teaching begins with a strong set of beliefs, but even the best teachers — including Debbie Miller — struggle to make sure that their classroom practice consistently reflects their core convictions. In Teaching with Intention, Debbie shares her process of defining beliefs, aligning practice, and taking action to ensure that children are the true beneficiaries of her teaching. As Peter Johnston writes, "Through this book we have Debbie's teaching mind on loan. She engages us in the details of a teaching life from inside her mind, showing the thinking behind her teaching and the consequences of her actions."

While Debbie's previous book, Reading with Meaning, chronicled a year in her own classroom, Teaching with Intention brings us into classrooms of teachers and children she has met over the last five years in her work as a literacy consultant. From setting up the classroom environment to the intentional use of language, from comprehension instruction to lesson design, Debbie is explicit about what she does and why. At the same time, she encourages teachers to develop their own belief statements concerning teaching and learning, and includes key questions to guide them in this important process.

In an environment where the handing down of scripted programs and "foolproof" curricula is increasingly the norm, Teaching with Intention offers a compellingreminder that truly transformative teaching is built from the ground up, and is rebuilt every year, by every teacher, in every classroom, with every new group of students.

Reading with Meaning by: Debbie Miller

This book builds on the previous two book posts. Debbie Miller shows you how to gradually release responsibilities in your classroom to your students and confirms the importance of sharing student thinking and creating lots of opportunities for deeper thinking.

Picture: This was a great book to help me start my share square and begin teaching children how to have conversations with one another. This book also showed me how to create a climate that was age appropriate and an environment where all ideas are wonderful!

Synopsis (Barnes and Noble)

If you have ever wondered how to teach comprehension strategies to primary-age children, read on.

First, imagine a primary-grade classroom where all the children are engaged and motivated; where the buzz of excited, emerging readers fills the air; where simultaneously words are sounded out and connections are made between the books of their choice and the experiences of their lives. Then, open these pages.

Welcome to Debbie Miller's real classroom where real students are learning to love to read, to write, and are together creating a collaborative and caring environment. In this book, Debbie focuses on how best to teach children strategies for comprehending text. She leads the reader through the course of a year showing how her students learn to become thoughtful, independent, and strategic readers. Through explicit instruction, modeling, classroom discussion, and, most important, by gradually releasing responsibility to her students, Debbie provides a model for creating a climate and culture of thinking and learning.

Here you will learn:

• techniques for modeling thinking
• specific examples of modeled strategy lessons for inferring, asking questions, making connections, determining importance in text, creating mental images, and synthesizing information
• how to help children make their thinking visible through oral, written, artistic, and dramatic responses to literature how to successfully develop book clubs as a way for children to share their thinking

Reading with Meaning shows you how to bring your imagined classroom to life. You will emerge with new tools for teaching comprehension strategies and a firm appreciationthat a rigorous classroom can also be nurturing and joyful.

Comprehension Connections by:Tanny McGregor & Stephanie Harvey

If you have read 7 Keys this is the next book you need to own. Comprehension Connections takes the 7 keys and creates anchor lessons to share with your students at the beginning of each of your units. This is another essential book to have to create students that are deep thinkers across content areas.

Picture: In the picture to the right, two students put on their "visualizing glasses" before they read to see their mental images. In Comprehension Connections, McGregor makes visualising tubes out of toilet paper rolls. I just modified the concept.

Synopsis (Barnes and Noble)

Inferring, questioning, determining importance. It's not easy to explain these abstract reading strategies to elementary readers, yet knowing how they work and how to use them is an important first step to connecting with texts. Fortunately Tanny McGregor has developed visual, tangible, everyday lessons that make abstract thinking concrete and that can help every child in your classroom make more effective use of reading comprehension strategies.