Shirleen
Teacher of middle school reading language arts in the Midwest.
Teaching With a Mountain View: Top 10 Tips for Building Fluent Readers + Link Up! We have all heard about the shift that happens, usually between second and third grade, when students (should) go from learning to read to reading to learn. Unfortunately, for some students, their ability to read to learn is stifled by their inability to read fluently. Even for those kids who can read at an average pace, the faster and more accurately they can read and decode, the more effectively they can comprehend.
When I taught third grade, and now as an interventionist, the importance of fluency is empathized more than ever (and has definitely met some critics). I know that fluency is NOT the end-all, be-all, but a lot of research proves that it is important, and a lot of schools are trending toward fluency being a high priority. I have compiled a list of some of the resources and strategies I have used when teaching in the regular education classroom and as an interventionist. 1. I know what you’re thinking—this is obvious. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Day 1 of new passage ONLY: Every Day: 8. Survival Gardening: Part 2. Survival Cache The answer to everyone’s question is “No”, we are not too late to get started on our Survival Garden for this year, not for most of the population living in the United States and Canada. It keeps snowing on me here in Utah, so I’m still waiting. This is the 2nd post in a series on Survival Gardening Read Part 1: Survival Gardening I just moved into a new place and so I haven’t been able to do my fall preparation like I normally would, but that’s just the way it is sometimes, so don’t sweat the small stuff.
Just like survival in the woods, we start wherever we are and go from there, we do the very best we can under the circumstances. Many times people are frustrated because they hear the radio shows, read the books, view the Emergency Foodvideos, and find their situation doesn’t match up to what they are hearing from the experts. So with that aside, you can start your garden with me, and we’ll do the best we can, and we WILL have a nice garden. Read the rest of the article. Survival Garden: Part 1. Growing A Survival Garden May Soon Become A Necessity! Have you considered that... survival gardening may soon be a true matter of survival and not just a choice?
With the rapid decline of our financial system and food supply, grocery store produce and other products, may soon be at a crisis level shortage like we have never seen. At that point, gardening would no longer be a "choice" for a more self sufficient lifestyle, it would be a matter of survival for everyone! This scenario is fast-becoming very probable and real. With the costs of living rising all the time, you can see the practical benefits of growing your own garden... you can save money, increase your family's health, and become more self sufficient all at the same time by growing vegetables in your backyard. Take advantage of whatever garden space you have, even if your garden may not provide all the food that you need, it will have a dramatic effect in reducing your food bill. 1. Small Garden Space All Seeds are NOT alike...
Online Etymology Dictionary. LibriVox | free public domain audiobooks. List of songs by Category such as Vocabulary; Grammar; Discussion Topics etc. worksheet - Free ESL printable worksheets made by teachers. 500+ Free Kids music playlists. Fun_with_rhymes. Children Rhymes - Roger's Rhymes - www.PoetPatriot.com. Children's Songs with Downloadable Kids Music - songs and lyrics from KIDiddles. Educational Hip-Hop. Guide your students to develop higher-order thinking skills through high-interest writing.
Once students have listened to Flocabulary songs and learned information in any subject area, they can synthesize what they've learned by writing their own rhymes. It doesn't have to be part of just the language arts curriculum. Writing rhymes can help students master content knowledge in all subject areas and write effectively across the curriculum. Check out the basics of academic rhyme writing with this overview. Basic Rhyme Writing for Memorization First things first. Start with a simple lesson that gets your students writing rhyming couplets. Writing Rhymes to Master Vocabulary As powerful as they are for remembering content, rhymes are equally impressive for learning and mastering new vocabulary. Elevating Rhymes with Figurative Language Few elements of writing separate great writers from average writers as clearly as the intelligent use of metaphors and similes.
Writing Rhymes That Tell a Story. ESL Song Lessons - tefltunes.com - Why Use Songs. <div style="font-size:9pt; text-align:center; color:Red;"> This site requires a javascript enabled browser. <br />Please enable javascript then refresh the page. <br /><a href=" id="ctl00_HowToJavascriptLink" target="_blank">How to enable javascript</a><br />(opens in annother tab or window) </div> Why Use Songs In ELT? From experience you have probably seen that most students love teachers bringing pop songs into the classroom, but are there any proven benefits of teaching through songs? So far there has been relatively little research in the field, but here we present 20 reasons why you should consider using songs more often in your lessons: Most students are highly motivated by song-based activities, which they perceive to be fun.
You can create lessons around songs that can be used to practise any of the main language skills. Songs To Teach English Grammar Songs To Teach ESL Topics References: 24 Entertaining Short Stories For Middle School. 24 Entertaining Short Stories For Middle School Reading in middle school is tricky, and it’s not simply a matter of decoding and fluency. Middle school students are an interesting bunch, with rapid brain development, emerging identities, and a varied assortment of readiness, background knowledge, and maturity in any given classroom. This can make selecting short stories for middle school students a challenge. The following graphic may help. weareteachers.com, a treasure trove of teachers resources, put together the image below to help jumpstart your thinking. As for additions, we might suggest “Everything That Rises Must Converge” by Flannery O’Connor, though it’s likely better suited for 8th graders and above. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 24 Entertaining Short Stories For Middle School.
Free Audio Books for Children | Free Audio Stories for Kids | Audio Stories & Brain Games for Kids to Play. Windswept(5 mins) Written by Nadine D’Souza. A Copperpod tree learns that it takes two to tango. Piggis Play Games(6 mins) Written by Dave Donicci. Boy and girl pigs tackle outdoor games. The Persistent Rain Cloud(6 mins) Written by Nadine D’Souza. The Tale of Peter Rabbit(7 mins) Written by Beatrix Potter. Petie’s Peanut Butter Pizza(7 mins) Written by Joan Winifred . How The Camel Got His Hump (8 mins) Written by Rudyard Kipling. The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies (8 mins) Written by Beatrix Potter. The Fantabulous Cumulo-Nimbuli Pump(8 mins) Written by Chuck Brown. The Three Little Pigs(8 mins) Traditional. The Tale of Benjamin Bunny(9 mins) Written by Beatrix Potter. The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin(9 mins) Written by Beatrix Potter. The City Zoo(9 mins) Written and Illustrated by George Comninos.
Rapunzel(10 mins) Traditional. The Legend Of The Black Sea(11 mins) An old fisherman learns the importance of giving others the benefit of the doubt. Jack & The Beanstalk(27 mins) Traditional. - Analyze Your Writing With This Tool. HemingwayApp is a web tool to help you to analyze your writing, suggest changes and make your writing better. This web tool does a few pretty interesting things. You can write or copy/paste a text on the tool. The web tool offers you some changes that will make your text better to read.
It highlights the hard and long sentences to read, overuse of adverbs, passive voice, complex words or phrases. A few ways to integrate into our classes: Great for students to check their writing before they hand it to the teachers.Good for EFL teachers who can check the readibility of a website or a text.Great tool for writer wannabes! Try it today! Middle School Literacy Lesson Plan: Poetry Podcasting. Leveled Books. Why Use Reading A-Z Leveled Books Reading A-Z's English leveled books have been carefully written in accordance with standardized Leveling Criteria and quality checked with custom software. Leveled books are available in a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction genres and strengthen connections in literacy and content-area instruction.
Many are also available in Spanish, French, and British English. How to Use Leveled Books Leveled books are used in guided reading, or leveled reading, small-group instruction. This approach recognizes that a wide range of reading ability exists within any grade level or age group. Students are placed in similar-ability groups and given developmentally appropriate books to read. Leveled Book Support Resources include lessons, worksheets, discussion cards, and comprehension Quick Check quizzes to support and guide instruction.
ALL the resources that support a book can be found on its home page. Leveled Book Formats Leveled Book Support Resources. Fluency Boot Camp! | Reading. Writing. Thinking. Sharing. Break up the mid-winter slump, and bring Fluency Boot Camp into your classroom! What is a Fluency Boot Camp? No… you will not be shipping your students off (sorry), nor will students have to march around the room (your choice), but I can guarantee that your students’ brains will be sweating as they participate in the classroom fluency camp you create! Just like any boot camp, students will build confidence through practice and drills. You can organize it for just one day, or you can set it up to last a full-week or month! Keep in mind, after just one day, students will start melting-away their non-fluent reading habits… and by the end of the week or month, students will be on their way to becoming confident, fluent readers!
Are you sold on the idea yet? How to Organize Your Fluency Boot Camp Fluency Boot Camp can be modified and customized for pretty much any grade-level and classroom situation. Here’s a Fluency Boot Camp Planning Page to help you get started! Fluency Boot Camp Materials.