Re: [MOSAIC] Fall is a new beginning
Thanks for sharing your experience. I am a first grade teacher and have found the same success you speak of. The students are much more willing to engage and discuss what each beanie baby's role is. I work with a group of teachers who are using them also in k and 1. In 2nd our teachers have a reference sheet up where their new 2nd grade students can transition. We even had a little fun and added crabby the cross checker and Ellie the evaluator (elephant) to help us provide what our students need due to published curriculum or true needs of our learners. I havent located my elephant yet but I keep looking. From: mosaic-bounces+ali=palermoschools@literacyworkshop.org [mosaic-bounces+ali=palermoschools@literacyworkshop.org] On Behalf Of Mary Jane Chesnutt [m...@hutten.org] Sent: Sunday, August 21, 2011 8:37 PM To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Fall is a new beginning Last year was my first year teaching kindergarten in ten years. In many ways I felt like a first-year teacher all over again! There had been so many changes in teaching practices during that time! One thing I struggled with was how to approach the comprehension strategies with these 5-year-old (and not-quite-5-year-old!) learners. I found a website about using Beanie Babies as comprehension mascots, and quickly dismissed it as too cute for me. But somehow I kept returning to it, and mulling it over. Could this be an answer for helping kindergarten students grasp these abstract ideas? In January of last year I started introducing the strategies with their beanie baby counterparts. I could not believe how successful this was! Having the cute name and little stuffed animal to attach to each strategy really helped my little ones to remember and apply their learning. I used lessons from Reading Power and Reading with Meaning, and some other resources, but added in the beanie baby component. After introducing all the decoding-type strategies, I gave the kids a bookmark of them to keep in their reading boxes. I can't tell you how often I read with kids and had them come to a tough word and say, Oh, I know what to do! I should stretch out the sounds like Stretchy Snake! Perhaps some of you on the list are as hesitant as I was to try something that, at first glance, looked quite contrived. That's exactly why I wanted to post about it! Having used the beanie baby idea in my room this year, I now see it as using the toys as a kind of bridge into the comprehension strategies. It gave the kids a hook on which to hang their new learning, and a way to retrieve these strategies during reading times. They loved the beanie babies, but much more than that, I feel they really helped the children to learn. This year I plan to use the CAFE system with my kids. (I've done it in older grades, but not kindergarten.) I will use the beanie babies with their corresponding strategies as they are added to the CAFE board. I'm not quite sure how this will work out, but my hope is that it will help to integrate the comprehension strategies with the other aspects of reading instruction in my room. Here's the site where I first found the information on Beanie Babies the Comprehension Strategies. http://realclassroomideas.com/194.html I might use the beanie babies in First Grade, should I ever teach that level again. I don't think I would for Second Grade. I am convinced though that in my room, with these very young learners, Beanie Babies have been a wonderful learning tool. MJ ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive
Re: [MOSAIC] Choice Literacy/Daily Cafe?
I have a subscription to both for the first year. I personally like Choice Literacy better (even though it costs more) because of the wider scope it provides in information. The sisters contribute to Choice Literacy along with many other authors. Choice Literacy supports teachers, administrators, staff developers and coaches. I really appreciate their clusters where they group articles and activities by topic. You can access both websites without paying a dime and I will continue to get information from both, but overall I would recommend Choice Literacy. Ali Betts Instructional Coach Helen Wilcox School 533-7626 x.401 Palermo Union School District From: mosaic-bounces+ali=palermoschools@literacyworkshop.org on behalf of mary mullin Sent: Fri 2/26/2010 12:53 PM To: mosaic@literacyworkshop.org Subject: [MOSAIC] Choice Literacy/Daily Cafe? I am considering subscribing to either Choice Literacy or the Daily Cafe. I wonder if any of you belong to either and would mind sharing why you like either site. THANK YOU! mary __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com http://mail.yahoo.com/ ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
[MOSAIC] description of practice
In my district we are working on a Literacy Framework with our entire staff. We are a k-8 district. We want to create (borrow or create on our own) a rubric for staff so that teachers and administrators can identify levels of instructional practice in regards to literacy. I have located many sources for student rubrics, but I am wondering if anyone has an idea where I could locate some rubrics for teacher use that we could tweak to our needs. Our focus is instructional practices in PA, phonics, vocab., fluency, comp. and writing. It seems like a huge task ahead of us and I was hoping someone out there could help. Ali ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
Re: [MOSAIC] reading group note taking question
Wow Jen, those sound like really useful forms. Would you be willing to share and post them on the site? I would love to have a copy. I'm only sorry I can't offer help w/what you want. Thanks, Ali From: mosaic-bounces+ali=palermoschools@literacyworkshop.org on behalf of rdhee...@aol.com Sent: Thu 8/13/2009 4:11 PM To: mosaic@literacyworkshop.org Subject: [MOSAIC] reading group note taking question Greetings, I have always taught 1st grade and have had a great system in place for taking notes during guided reading groups. The forms I have are suited for first grade. It was designed so that I can check off observable behaviors at different text levels along with space for anecdotal notes and a spot for dates when student moved to the next reading level. This year, I will be teaching 3rd grade. I am interesting in how others record notes about their individual students while in reading groups. I know some people use sticky notes but I would not like to use those. Thank you, jen ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
Re: [MOSAIC] Literacy First
it would be helpful to understand this. please post it. From: mosaic-boun...@literacyworkshop.org on behalf of beverleep...@gmail.com Sent: Sun 6/7/2009 9:20 AM To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Literacy First Not just for Rachael, but for anyone, could you compare and contrast Literacy First and Reading First and balanced literacy? Please mail me offlist. beverleep...@gmail.com Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel -Original Message- From: Rachael Cecil rce...@scrtc.com Date: Sun, 7 Jun 2009 11:43:20 To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Groupmosaic@literacyworkshop.org Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] Literacy First I have taught in a Literacy First school for 8 years. We are K-2 Literacy First. - Original Message - From: Beverlee Paul beverleep...@gmail.com To: Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 12:59 AM Subject: [MOSAIC] Literacy First Hello Members - I'm relying on you once again for information. Do any of you have any first-hand or, really, any information at all about Literacy First? I need to know right away because of a potential job change. Thank you so much. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. ___ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
