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Modeling comprehension strategies is KEY for readers of ALL ages. That's why reading TO and WITH your child is vital, even if they are in upper elementary school! So much of comprehension is silent, meaning our readers never hear or see it. As I mention in our Reading Comprehension Series, we need to be explicit in thinking out loud to SHOW readers how we comprehend and monitor our comprehension when reading.

*This post contains affiliate links.

Modeling our comprehension out loud may seem quite unnatural to some of us. I know it did for me when I first started teaching. That's why I've compiled these book lists as they can help facilitate modeling comprehension strategies with your child. They are written in a way that you can't help but ask questions, or predict what will come next, just to mention a couple. These books are some favorites that I've used over and over again in the classroom, as a reading tutor, and now as a homeschooling mama.

Even if you don't feel your child needs to work on comprehension, these are HIGH quality texts than can be read and enjoyed together any time.

Books for Teaching Reading Comprehension

If you're new to the teaching of reading comprehension, I highly recommend that you get your hands on some of these books you see below {click here or on the image below} and read the seriously amazing ideas inside. If you are a classroom teacher, most of these books are geared towards you, but homeschooling parents can definitely glean from them, too.

My number one recommendation for homeschooling parents or parents in general is 7 Keys to Comprehension by Susan Zimmermann because it is written without as much teacher jargon. If you're struggling to model your comprehension out loud and wondering where to start, Improving Comprehension with Think-Aloud Strategies by Jeffrey Wilhelm is a great read that explains the reasons behind it and steps you can take to make your think alouds ROCK!

And if you're unsure what comprehension strategies are to begin with, you'll find a quick overview of the different comprehension strategies kids need to understand in our post, Comprehension Strategies: Reading Equals Thinking.

50+ Texts for Modeling Comprehension

In the lists below, find our suggested books for each comprehension strategy!

Now you can take these book lists to the library or book store ~
Just download our printable comprehension book list!

Enjoy!
~Becky

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50+ Books for Modeling Comprehension Strategies

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Modeling comprehension strategies is KEY for readers of ALL ages. That's why reading TO and WITH your child is vital, even if they are in upper elementary school! So much of comprehension is silent, meaning our readers never hear or see it.

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Time after time I hear from teachers and caregivers that they have a child who is great at saying all the words right (decoding), but that they have no clue what they have read. Unfortunately, this is a common problem with our young readers. Generally a great amount of effort is directed to teaching a child to decode words yet the comprehension piece is not addressed with the same vigor. Decoding, comprehending and being fluent are all important pieces of being a strong reader and in my opinion should all be given equal modeling time. This week we are going to look at how you can model comprehension strategies for your child.
Full Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Your support of Growing Book by Book is greatly appreciated.
There are several comprehension strategies that readers can use when reading. These strategies can be modeled for very young children and work equally well for adults. The key is that we model our thinking for each strategy to the learner. When we model, we think aloud while reading to or with the student so that they can hear our thinking about what we are reading. Let's look at what this would sound like as we delve into each comprehension strategy.

Comprehension Strategies

Making Connections

Readers make connections to the text (books, magazines, etc.) using their background knowledge (schema). There are three types of connections: text-to-self (connecting a text to something in your life), text-to-text (connecting a text to another text) and text-to-world (connecting a text to something in the world).
What does it sound like when we are modeling our thinking to a child?
This part of the story reminds me of....

This makes me think of...

Visualizing

Creating a mental picture of the story as you are reading enhances your reading comprehension. I like to tell kids that as you read you turn the words into a movie in your head. Letting children draw pictures about something they have read also helps to develop this strategy
What does it sound like when we are modeling our thinking to a child?
When I close my eyes, I can see...

My mind picture is changing as I read because...

Questioning

Questioning helps to clarify and deepen understanding of text. We often categorize questions into two categories- thin and thick. Thin questions generally have one right answer and can be found by referring directly back to the text. Thick questions generally have more than one right answer and require the reader to use their own thinking plus information found in the text to answer.
What does it sound like when we are modeling our thinking to a child?
I wonder why...

What would happen if...

How can...

Determining Importance

Determining importance involves deciding what information is important and what information isn't essential. This is a key strategy to use when navigating non-fiction text. It's crucial to teach children the features of non-fiction text such as captions, titles, italicized and bold-faced words, graphs, etc. so that they can utilize that information to determine importance.
What does it sound like when we are modeling our thinking to a child?
I think the key idea is...

I'm going to pay special attention to this part because...

I'm going to look through the table of contents and the pictures first to help me get a feel for this text.

Inferring

When we infer, we read between the lines. This can be challenging for students because they have to use the text and their own thinking to develop meaning. Inferring involves predicting, drawing conclusions, finding meaning and using evidence from the text.
What does it sound like when we are modeling our thinking to a child?
When I read_____, I think_____, because_________.

As I read, I'm going to jot down notes of things that I think are important.

Synthesizing

This is probably the most sophisticated of the strategies because your reading and thinking is constantly evolving. You have to summarize, draw conclusions, pull things together and respond. Basically, you are using all of the other comprehension strategies together to shape your understanding.
What does it sound like when we are modeling our thinking to a child?
These are the facts____ and this is what I'm thinking____.

I think the author is trying to...

Reading this passage has or hasn't changed my mind about...

As I read, I'm going to jot down notes of things that I think are important.

Though it's helpful to model each strategy separately, it's important to remember that we utilize multiple strategies when reading and that some are more useful than others when navigating text. Spending time modeling these strategies when reading to or with your child will help your child develop their comprehension while reading.

Would you like to read more about helping your child with comprehension strategies? A great resource for parents and teachers is the 7 Keys to Comprehension by Susan Zimmermann. Susan is also the co-author of one of the best and first books on reading comprehension called Mosaic of Thought.

Interested in texts that can be used to model each comprehension strategy? Check out my favorite texts to use to develop each comprehension strategy.

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Time after time I hear from teachers and caregivers that they have a child who is great atÂ saying allÂ the words right (decoding), but that they have no clue what they have read.Â Unfortunately, this is a common problem with our young readers.Â Generally a great amount of effort is directed to teaching a child to decode words yet the comprehension piece is not addressed with the same vigor.

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Books with Adjectives

These are some of our favorite books with adjectives. Some of them are teaching books that explain adjectives and how you use them and others are books that have a good number of adjectives in them. My kids enjoy listening to me read them aloud. Afterwards, we sometimes do "adjective hunts", looking for places where the author has used a good deal of adjectives.

*This post contains affiliate links.

Books that TEACH about Adjectives

Hairy, Scary, Ordinary: What is an Adjective? and by Quirky, Jerky, Extra Perky: More About Adjectives Brian P. Cleary - If you like Jack Prelutsky and Shel Silverstein, you'll like the playful way that Cleary teaches kids about adjectives in these two books. Not only that, he has an entire series for parts of speech.

Many Luscious Lollipops by Ruth Heller- This is another series of books that focuses on the different parts of speech. I love how Heller uses pictures to help kids understand the concept of adjectives.

If You Were an Adjective by Michael Dahl- This cute book shows kids what kinds of adjectives go with specific nouns. I love the images and how some of the words even LOOK like the adjectives. And, once again, Michael Dahl has an entire series dedicated to the parts of speech, like the two other authors I've mentioned in this list.

Books that MODEL Adjectives

A is for Angry by Sandra Boynton- My tots and preschoolers love Sandra Boynton books, but this one is also great for older kids because of all the rich vocabulary and adjectives!

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes- My kids have enjoyed ANY Kevin Henkes book I've ever read to them, but this one is probably my favorite...well, maybe it's tied with Chrysanthemum.

The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle- Not only the the ladybug described as grouchy, but each animal the grouchy ladybug meets along his journey is described with adjectives as well. PLUS, this is a great book for teaching time, too.

Poetry is also a GREAT place to find descriptive language. One of our favorite read aloud poetry books for doing this is The 20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury selected by Jack Prelutsky.

Activities that Teach Adjectives

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Books with Adjectives - This Reading Mama

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Books with Adjectives These are some of our favorite books with adjectives. Some of them are teaching books that explain adjectives and how you use them and others are books that have a good number of adjectives in them. My kids enjoy listening to me read them aloud.

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When we were in school, we were taught to memorize algorithms, rhymes and math facts. For some people, this worked. But for most- they hated math, thought they weren't good at math, didn't understand numbers and/or forgot the rhythms and algorithms. Math education looks so different now is most classrooms. Teachers are showing kids WHY and giving them multiple strategies that focus on place value. Students are being taught to make models, or simple drawings, to show or prove their work. These drawings don't always come naturally and often require lots of concrete practice with manipulatives. But the times is well spent. Students remember what to do and, more importantly, why they are doing it.

One of the biggest skills taught in the 3rd grade is multiplication. I love teaching it using all kinds of manipulatives and models. Here are five models that I teach my 3rd graders.

This is probably the most basic multiplication model. It really helps to reenforce the concept of multiplication as a collection of equal groups. The first factor in the math fact tells how many groups there are. Students draw a circle for each group. The second factor tells students how many objects are in each group. They can draw Xs inside each of the circles. Now students can count each X, skip count the circles or use repeated addition to solve for the product.

I think that it feels very natural to teach the number bond model after teaching equal groups. Again, it makes it easy to see the repeated addition. This model is easier to draw because the student uses numbers instead of Xs. However, this is a bit more abstract and your intervention group may need more time before jumping to this model. The large circle represents the whole or the product. Each of the smaller circles represents a part or a group. The number inside the small circle represents the number inside each group.

I call this model a tape diagram because of the math curriculum we use. If you are familiar with Singapore Math, they call this a bar model. Either way- it is an amazing model. It typically becomes my students' favorite because it can be used with any operation and with multi-step problems. It also is a good precursor for fraction models. The entire tape represents the whole or the product. The tape is then divided into equal groups. The number inside represents the size of each group or unit.

I teach arrays because it really helps students to best understand how and why the multiplication chart works. It will also help lay the foundation for solving for area. An array is also easy to use when demonstrating the distributive property. You can have one large array and use a line to break it in half to make two smaller arrays. The only downside is that the students must draw all the Xs and sometimes they are a bit sloppy with this. Graph paper makes it neater! The first factor tells the students how many groups or rows to draw. The second factor tells how many are in each group. When it is all drawn, students can skip count the rows to solve.

A number line tends to be a bit more abstract than the other models. I like to use it though because I believe it lays the foundation for using a number line for elapsed time. The first number tells the student how many jumps they will make. The second factor tells the student how large each jump will be. They will need to be able to add or skip count to make this model efficient. If they have to draw in every line and count- it takes far too long.

Teaching math models requires lots of modeling from the teacher. I typically use word problems when teaching math modeling rather than just a fact. However, students do want to draw bananas if the problem is about bananas. That is why I always call them models instead of drawings. I remind students that this is not art class!

Not all of my kiddos will master all five of these models. And that is ok! I have given them several tools for their toolbox and they can choose the one that they are most successful with. Most of my kids will master several of these models and will have a strategy to use when checking their work.

I require that my kids use some sort of math model for every math problem. We have a problem solving routine that helps them to be consistent. You can read more about that by clicking on the picture below.

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5 Multiplication Models You Should Teach

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When we were in school, we were taught to memorize algorithms, rhymes and math facts. For some people, this worked. But for most- they hated math, thought they weren't good at math, didn't understand numbers and/or forgot the rhythms and algorithms. Math education looks so different now is most classrooms. Teachers are showing kids WHY and giving them multiple strategies that focus on place value.

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Mini Posters and Bookmarks

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I posted before that I feel like I have nothing to offer because my district is very strict with what we teach and how we teach it. It needs to be VERY closely related to our Language Arts adoption, SRA's Imagine It! (the new Open Court). Well a few of your responded saying that you actually are fellow Imagine It'ers! I was soo excited and I immediately started digging through some stuff. These are some bookmarks I made that have the comprehension strategies on them. I am sure they can apply to other teachers out there too. Also, I am attaching some mini posters I put on my whiteboard.

Bookmarks!

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Comprehension Strategies Bookmark and Mini Posters

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I posted before that I feel like I have nothing to offer because my district is very strict with what we teach and how we teach it. It needs to be VERY closely related to our Language Arts adoption, SRA's Imagine It! (the new Open Court).

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We have such an awesome opportunity to empower students to set goals and celebrate with them when they reach their goals. Most students don't reflect on their own learning naturally. It's not an innate skill that students have when they come to school. Actually, most adults don't have that skill either. It's something that needs to be taught.

This past week, we've done quite a bit of work in our year-long journey of setting goals in second grade.

First, as I've mentioned in previous posts, I've been implementing Whole Brain Teaching. One of the components is a Super Improver Team. Here's our wall:

Each student has a star and for making improvements, they receive a sticker. When their star has 10 stickers they move up to the next level (blue - learner). They keep going. For every 10 stickers, they move up the levels.

The introduction of the Super Improver Team led to a discussion about how to make improvements and goals setting. What kinds of improvements could students make? What would "count" to get a sticker?

So we started talking about SMART goals. We started with the concept of setting "specific" goals and made this anchor chart of the concept of SPECIFIC. We looked at the word specific in a Frayer Model and looked at some examples and non-examples. That aspect is the most powerful part of the anchor chart. I didn't make it very "pretty", but students got the idea of what they word specific means.

Take a look at more SMART Goal Setting Resources in this blog post.

For our first goal, I decided to focus on behavior. It is a bit more tangible than an academic goal, and students are still learning how to "be" in our classroom, so it's the perfect opportunity to change a few things before they become a habit.

I gave students some ideas on good behavior goals. Basically, I wrote down all the things that have been annoying me, behavior-wise, for the past week. I listed them in a positive light, i.e.: what a student could do, not what they can't do.

I gave students an opportunity to look over the goals with their table groups. Each student chose one goal to work on for the next week.

I put the "Improvements" in page protector sleeves so that I can use them when I conference with a student. I can circle three or four and say something like, "I notice that you could really use some improvement on these. Which one would you like to choose to work on?" That way, there's choice within structure. I can guide what a student chooses, but the student still has choice.

I did add a couple more at the end (on the copy you see above), that aren't necessarily annoying behaviors, but improvements that my quieter students could make. You know, those kids who just sit there, but aren't disruptive!

After students determined what they wanted to work on, I had them write it down. I'm sure there's research on this somewhere, but I've heard that writing down a goal means that you're more likely to accomplish it.

In addition to the more complicated Goal Setting and Data Portfolios I have, I came up with this simple goal setting form that I can tape down to a student's desk and that we can collect over the course of the year.

We set to work writing down our behavior goals. Here are a few student examples.

You can see that some students need a bit of work on choosing ONE goal. I also realized after we did this activity, that the "I will . . . " part of the goal setting form, doesn't always lend itself well to behavior goals, since most behavior goals are an action in and of themselves. They don't always require an additional action statement that tells how you're going to accomplish the goal.

I changed up my form a bit to have a variety of options, including learning and behavior goals and a couple of different formats. Would you like a copy? Click this link SMART Goal Setting Forms or the picture below. Take a look at more SMART Goal Setting Resources in this blog post.

The final part of goal setting that is very important, especially for children is the celebration! Children need to know that there's something waiting for them when they accomplish their goal. Some people have an intrinsic motivator to set and accomplish goals. I'm one of them. But, most people don't. The celebration is a great motivator.

As a class, we brainstormed a variety of celebrations, both big and small. Most celebrations were for our class goals, but a few of these could be for individual goals, too. The idea was to get students excited about accomplishing their goals.

SMART Goal setting isn't just for individuals. I use to all the time to set class goals. We set behavior goals on our ScoreBoard (more positive than negative points), percentage goals on our computerized math program, number goals on how many stars we got for doing homework, etc.

There are a myriad of possibilities for whole group goal setting. Figure out what you want your class to do and set a goal on it.

I've done a few other blog posts on Goal Setting, if you're interested in more information:

Do you set goals in your classroom, either individual or whole class? I'd love to hear how you help students see that their actions are important and make a difference in their lives.

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Student Goal Setting in Elementary School

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We have such an awesome opportunity to empower students to set goals and celebrate with them when they reach their goals. Most students don't reflect on their own learning naturally. It's not an innate skill that students have when they come to school. Actually, most adults don't have that skill either.

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Scroll down to see the third grade writing goals.

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I'm sorry I've been so M.I.A. lately. A big reason for that (besides soaking up some quality time with my girls) is the summer course I've been taking. I'm taking part 2 of my writing specialist right now (I took part 1 in the spring session). It's been a lot of work (so glad I decided against taking 2 courses this summer), but it's been good work. I've spent a lot of time reflecting on HOW I teach writing (which I LOVE), and I'm so excited to bring some of these ideas into the classroom in the Fall.

A large focus of my course has been on differentiating instruction in the writing classroom. One of the ways I already do this is through the creation of personal writing goals for the students. I really started my focus on this at the beginning of last year. During my first writing conference with my students (after our first diagnostic), the student and I decide on a personal writing goal based on their needs (example: organization, word choice, sentence structure, etc.). During subsequent conferences, the student and I evaluate if they have met the goal, and move on to a new goal if they were successful. Around January I decided I needed a more visual way of displaying their writing goals - hence the writing goal clip chart. The one I was using last year was a good fit ... but it wasn't a perfect fit, so I knew I wanted to work on it over the summer.

So, my Personal Writing Goals Clip Chart was born. I will use it in the classroom to help students track their personal goals. They will use a clothespin to do this (do you see my beautiful washi tape clothespins - I made them in true multi-tasking style while watching my daughters' soccer practice). I will write the students' names on the clips in sharpie (but I know some of you prefer to use numbers).

Another great part - this visual will quickly help me see what students to pull for a quick guided writing lesson. All students on the same goal strip can come together for a focused minilesson - discussing their goal in reference to the assignment they are working on.

The writing goal strips can also be used to build a set of success criteria for writing for the whole class. You could start with one or two goal strips, adding a new strip to the chart each time a new goal is taught through a lesson, ending with the full chart by the end of the year. The strips are held together with binder clips / book rings (LOVE the metallic rings I found at Staples), but in the past I have used ribbon to hold the strips together. The binder clips make it easier to change the goal strips.

There are 2 sets of goals included in each resource - one has the common core standard written on each strip, and the other set does not have the standard listed (which I will use in my class). I have sets for all grade levels - K-8. You can preview any of them by clicking on the links:

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Differentiation in Writing - Goal-Setting Clip Chart

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I'm sorry I've been so M.I.A. lately. A big reason for that (besides soaking up some quality time with my girls) is the summer course I've been taking. I'm taking part 2 of my writing specialist right now (I took part 1 in the spring session).

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Setting GOALS with Students ~ RtI ~ SMILE Goals for Making Progress

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GOAL SETTING FREEBIE! Teach your students how to take ownership of their own learning by setting goals for themselves. The product is designed to boost progress in your classroom and complement your RtI / intervention program.

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Welcome to Workshop Wednesday!! 🙂

Today is my LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! Oh my heavens, I can't believe it. I can smell the sweet fragrance of summer just around the corner!! 🙂

Before I get into the meat of this post, I wanted to let you know that Workshop Wednesday will be changing JUST FOR THE SUMMER. During the month of June and the month of July, I will have two different topics (one for each month) that will remain open for the whole month. I hope that you won't all forget about me this summer with a less frequent linky, but I just don't think my linky parties lend themselves as well to our posts when we aren't in school. I've got some ideas for these two though- I think you'll enjoy them, and they'll still be easy to link up to! 🙂 More to come soon!!

OK, so now on to the good stuff!! Today's topic is reading responses! How do you have students respond to their reading?

I'm so excited to share this with you, because it has definitely been a work in progress over the last couple of years! I teach my students to record their thinking on sticky notes as they read. This requires a lot of modeling and think-alouds in the beginning of the year, of course, but they become REALLY good at it!

**I apologize for not having any personal pictures of all this!! My kids took home their notebooks before I could snap some pics! Darn it!!**

I give them this bookmark which I made based on the "Talking Back To Books" Poster from Beth Newingham. (I print them on different colors of cardstock and laminate them- mine still have them completely intact from the beginning of this year!)

These bookmarks train their brain to think as they read. Once I feel like they have the hang of writing as they read, I discuss levels of thinking with them. I found this great anchor chart on Pinterest last summer and made it for this year (mine was already put up, so here is the original pin picture I found...):

We talk about how we only want level two and level three sticky notes because they really show we are thinking. I then teach them how to "write long" off of a sticky note. I found another great pin last summer to show this idea, although I have been teaching my kiddos for the last couple of years how to do this. Here is the pin:

It is very important that they have level two or level three sticky notes to be able to write long... otherwise, as you can imagine, their response won't be... long. Ha!

I used to have them write me letters, but I feel like sticky note responses are easier for me to keep up with as far as grading and conferring goes. I still have them write me letters sometimes, but writing long from a sticky note is done at least weekly, and it's super easy to check in on with them for comprehension! In fact- here are the labels I made for sticky note conferences! 🙂

I walk around with these labels on my clipboard and meet with as many as I can... then I just stick these down in the reading profile folders after I've filled up one label page! I have quick evidence of their independent thinking. We talk together as I fill it in about their compliment and their thing to work on!

Your turn! Make sure to grab the button and link your post back to this post (no TPT store link-ups, please), then make sure to leave some love for at least two others in this linky party!

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Workshop Wednesday: Response to Literature {FREEBIES!!}

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Welcome to Workshop Wednesday!! 🙂 Today is my LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! Oh my heavens, I can't believe it. I can smell the sweet fragrance of summer just around the corner!! 🙂 Before I get into the meat of this post, I wanted to let you know that Workshop Wednesday will be changing JUST FOR THE SUMMER.

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The Teacher Studio: Learning, Thinking, Creating

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Every year I love to help my students really reflect on themselves as readers--and I strive to help them understand that reading is more than just getting the words right...as we start the year I really try to help them understand all the different factors that impact the ability to read and make sense of texts...

reading "behaviors" such as book selection and focus

accuracy and fluency skills

building a rich vocabulary

an understanding of text structures

taking the time to read and think deeply

the ability to write thoughtful responses

literature discussion skills

and, of course, even more!

Once students begin to recognize that there are SO many components to reading, it becomes easier to talk about our strengths and goal areas as readers. Many of my students who struggle with one area of reading can recognize that they DO have strengths in others--and, with a growth mindset, we can start to tackle other areas with a positive attitude! In fact, we talk at length about how readers often need to revisit old goals when they start to tackle more challenging books--where accuracy and fluency might not have been a problem at an easier level, students many now need to revisit some of those strategies as they encounter new words. Learning to read is a constantly evolving process--not something that students can either "do" or "not do"...and I think it can be very reassuring to students to recognize that there isn't an "end" to the learning. We are ALL learning to read.

Over the years, I have "collected" learning targets related to all these different areas of reading...I have them all put together in little flip books which help me talk to individual students about goal setting and also to have learning targets visible easily for small groups. It has made life so easy--and really helps reinforce the complexity of reading...and helps students see what they are doing well!

So...a few years ago I started doing this "Me, as a reader" project that was inspired by Julie Ballew...if you haven't checked out her website, you MUST! To celebrate some of our "favorite" parts of reading--and to set a clear reading goal--we create these "Me, as a reader" projects that we display. After all our work, most students are ready to set a specific reading goal (note: We do not set goals like "I will read 5 books." These are specific goals related to improving the sophistication of their reading.). For those students who struggled with goals, some flipped through our learning target books, some met with me, and still others met in small groups to brainstorm.

Each student created three panels that reflected them as readers...some spent a great deal of time designing their panels at home...others kept it more streamlined. I didn't give a ton of class time for this...we focused on the reflections, got started on the "art", and then this became homework to finish.

The next day, we wrote our reflections on our cards, traced some "heads", had a mini lesson on face drawing (eyes aren't round, lips aren't lines, and noses aren't triangles!), and student finished assembling their projects.

As students finished, we displayed them in the hall for all to see. I love watching other students, staff members, and parents stop by to check out their cool projects!

I think this is a great example of a "project" that really has academic merit--it's not just a "craft"...and it really helped cement some critical reading "beliefs" with my students.

Interested in my reading goal resource? It has the goal posters that are shown above (I printed 2 per page) as well as student bookmarks for each one that can be used to give to students who are working on specific skills.

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"Me as a Reader"...a reading goal project

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Looking for information about teaching in intermediate grades? Math workshop? Problem solving? Best practice? Quality reading and writing lessons and ideas? Google Classroom and other 1:1 ideas and resources? Teaching tips and educational resources?

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Every Friday, we are setting aside time to reflect on our goals for the week and continue them or create new ones. This practice fits in beautifully with our Leader In Me program and helps to cultivate student responsibility, especially in the areas of homework and classroom behavior.

If you haven't checked out my previous post on creating SMART Goals and our classroom board, be sure to read that HERE.

Today, we began by jotting down some thoughts and reflections on our Weekly Goals Reflection Sheet:

We went through an example goal together and worked on explaining why a goal was or was not accomplished this week. This provided some *fantastic* discussion about learning from "failures"-- and my kids really got the chance to understand that not achieving your weekly goal was more about a learning experience than just a perceived black mark on their week. We also looked back at the SMART Goal sheet from last week and many could see why they did not achieve their goal based on one or more parts of that acronym (mainly, Attainable).

I had them attach their sticky note goal to the blank square and then judge themselves on their effort put forth to achieve this goal. This was to reinforce that even if you didn't hit the goal, the energy and effort you put into it matters. My kids were surprisingly honest with this and even those who did achieve their goal gave themselves straight or frown faces because they felt their goal wasn't challenging enough.... perfect feedback to consider when making next week's goals!

The last section is all about "Next Steps" they will take with the upcoming week's goal. Will it be a continuation? Will it build on last week's goal or be something new altogether? Why? I wasn't too stirct with this last section since I wanted them to brainstorm some ideas for their new sticky note.

The last thing I had them do was to find a Goals Partner. I let them choose the person they wanted to work with because I wanted it to be a friend that they felt comfortable sharing with as well as someone they actually wanted to check in with throughout the next week. They shared their reflection sheet from last week together and chatted about next steps for a few minutes. I had them jot down their partner because I plan on using this system frequently and build upon what a good Goals Partner does (and does not do, ha!) to help their friend reach their goal.

I am fortunate to have a friend (and Goals Partner, I suppose!) who always encourages me to write WOW Goals, or Within One Week Goals. This was the perfect acronym for my students and fit in with our goals timeline, so today we adjusted the first sentence to read, "Within one week, I will... I'll know I've made this goal because..." and we hung this wording right below our SMART Goals chart.

Although this is only Week 2 of our SMART Goals work, I am already seeing some improvement with their wording and especially the Attainable goals they are writing. I have seen quite a few kids stay on the same path, but others hop around, and many are creating goals for themselves that I would have never thought to include. I love how they've grasped the structure this provides and I'm hoping with the incorporation of Goals Partners, next week's reflections will be even stronger and their goals even more successful.

If you're interested in the Weekly Class Goal Reflection, it's available as a freebie in my TpT Store HERE.

Now, to think of my own WOW Goal for next week...

Find more Goal-Setting Posts here:

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Every Friday, we are setting aside time to reflect on our goals for the week and continue them or create new ones. This practice fits in beautifully with our Leader In Me program and helps to cultivate student responsibility, especially in the areas of homework and classroom behavior.

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In my current position as a math interventionist, I work with struggling students in grades K-5. It goes without saying that the students I see in grades 3-5 are at risk for not being successful on the state test they will take in the Spring. I've attended a number of professional development sessions over the past couple of years that stressed the need to have students involved in tracking their own data and setting goals for achievement. This past week, I began the process with my students. This should actually have been done in the fall, but better late than never.

First, let me give you a rundown of the data we used for this activity. I wanted to use the data that would be the best predictor of success on the STAAR test, so we didn't use classroom grades. There are too many factors involved in classroom grades for them to be a strong predictor for STAAR. Over the course of the year, however, our students have the opportunity to take several assessments that mirror the STAAR test, so these are the assessments I decided to use. Some of these assessments are developed at the district level. We call them DLAs, which stands for District Learning Assessments. We also recently gave a STAAR Benchmark test which, in effect, was a practice STAAR test. Because our DLAs are short (15 questions or so), we felt it was important for our students to experience a test that was the same length and rigor of the test they'll take in April (46-50 questions...don't get me started...). In addition, we have previous STAAR results for our 4th and 5th grade students, if they were in Texas and took the tests. I will reference these tests as I discuss our process.

I started with a story about running a marathon. I explained that a marathon is a 26-mile race and that people take up to a year to train for one. I told the students that in order to train for a marathon you have to set goals and make a plan, and that the goals and plan depend on my starting point.

What if I tell you that right now I can only run 1 mile. If I can only run 1 mile right now, what might be a reasonable goal for me to set for the distance I want to be able to run 2 weeks from now? (I got some pretty interesting answers to this question that were definitely a formative assessment for reasonableness!) Sure! I think if I can run 1 mile right now, I should be able to reach 2 miles in a couple of weeks.

Now, what if I tell you that I'm already running 5 miles four times a week? If I'm already running 5 miles four times a week, I'm a pretty strong runner. What might be a reasonable goal for me to reach in 2 weeks? Seven or eight miles? I think 7 or 8 miles is pretty reasonable. Because I'm already a pretty strong runner, I might make quicker progress.

The point is that you have to look at where you are right now before you can set goals. That's why we're going to take a look at how you've done on some of the tests you've already taken and then set a goal for what you want to score on the next DLA.

Now remember, if I just set a goal-I want to be able to run 2 miles in two weeks-but I don't actually go out and run, I probably won't reach my goal. So we're also going to decide on three action steps you can take to reach your goal. For example, I might say I'm going to run 4 days a week, I'm going to cut down on fast food and eat healthier, and I'm going to get at least 7 hours of sleep at night. Do you see how doing each of those things might help me reach my goal of being able to run 2 miles two weeks from now? Good! Let's get started!

We used a very plain graph, which you can download . I worked graphing skills into the activity by having the students add a title to their graph and figure out and add the missing numbers on the graph scale. Then, I told the students their scores for the previous tests, and they graphed them. I have to tell you that seeing the scores came as quite a shock to some of the kiddos. I think we assume our students know their scores and understand them, but seeing them on the graph was very eye-opening for them. I think some students were also surprised at how flat their bars were, or that their scores were actually going down. I'm happy to report there were no tears.

After graphing their scores, I asked each student to consider what they wanted their goal to be for the next DLA they will take. Some of them wanted to set the goals unrealistically high, so I reminded them of my marathon example. I still think some are a little high, but it will be a learning experience. I used a blue highlighter to mark their goal. Here are a couple of the 5th Graders' graphs. You can see that their goals are quite different.

Monday, we will discuss and decide on specific action steps they can take to reach their goals. The action steps should be very specific, such as:

Practice multiplication facts on FASTT Math 5 times a week

Spend more time and effort on my homework

Slow down and read word problems more carefully and draw pictures to help me visualize the math

Ask my teacher to move my desk so I can focus my attention better

Find a math partner to work with who can help me understand math better

These are just some examples I thought of. I'm sure the students will come up with lots more on Monday. The students are going to write their three action steps on the back of their graphs, and we'll review them every couple of weeks to hold the students accountable.

On Monday the students will also take a closer look at their data from the Benchmark to determine the standards they already know well and those they still need to work on. As we work on each standard over the coming months, we'll revisit the data and they'll be able to see growth.

Once the students take their next DLA, they'll add it to the graph and decide if they need to adjust their goal for the STAAR test.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on this process! I think holding students accountable for their own data and achievement can be very powerful and is often underutilized.

You can click to download a copy of the graph,

You might also like these posts:

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Setting Goals for Student Achievement - Math Coach's Corner

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In my current position as a math interventionist, I work with struggling students in grades K-5. It goes without saying that the students I see in grades 3-5 are at risk for not being successful on the state test they will take in the Spring.

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You never know the impact that you will have by sharing an idea, a blog, a resource. We can not do this alone.

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Read, Read, Teach is Cathy Whitehead's 3rd grade blog

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3. Using the clipboard, I have a student (they pretty much run this program for me) pull the copies for the next day. It takes a couple of days to train them, but now I can just ask her to pull copies at the end of the day, and she gets the clipboard, goes to the file, pulls the copies in order, and puts a binder clip on them.

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Cooking Up Success, Becky Welch's 3rd grade blog

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Boy, I did a great job for awhile.

Then, I took a break.

There are lots of reasons I stopped, but that is a whole other blog post.

(Let's be honest - probably not.)

I have wanted to come back.

I have missed it.

I have missed learning from others.

I have missed the connections.

I knew I had to do this!

I hope this means I am back!!!!

So without further adieu..

Listening: We are about to head out for a family get together in Middle Tennessee for the weekend. I am listening to my son singing as he packs. The daughter is watching Reba.

Loving: I am loving my summer vacation. I have exactly one month until our first day of school. ONE. MONTH.

Thinking: "WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I GOING TO DO!!!????" I am moving to second grade this fall - in one month (have I mentioned that?), and I have no idea what I am going to do. I have only taught third grade. I am moving rooms, moving teams, moving grades and my brain has been going 200 mph all summer long!!! I am sure many of my posts will be about this!

Wanting: I am wanting lots of things at the time. I want a day where I don't think about school starting. I want time to slow down just a little bit because my oldest starts high school in ONE. MONTH. I want to savor and enjoy each moment that is left.

Needing: I am needing to get my shelf painted in my room. Once that is done, my room will come along much faster! I can't complain. We have NEVER been able to get in our room this early! We are usually the last school to be cleaned. We are usually scrambling about 1-2 weeks before school starts because we were just able to get into the room.

Hoping: That second grade is a good move. I am hoping I am what these kids need. I am hoping I can make a difference. I am hoping I can enjoy every little moment.

So... that is what is CURRENTLY going on in my life.

I am excited about this challenge and can't wait to see what this month holds!

Be sure to check out the other posts at Big Time Literacy each day!

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Boy, I did a great job for awhile. Then, I took a break. There are lots of reasons I stopped, but that is a whole other blog post. (Let's be honest - probably not.) I have wanted to come back. I have missed it. I have missed learning from others.

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Facebook - has great resources and people to connect with even if you don't sell on TPT

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Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.

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3rd grade thoughts blog about goal setting

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It's parent-teacher conference time, and I always like to include students' input whenever possible. They do not attend our conferences, and without their voice, it always seems a bit too one-dimensional. I have used goal-setting sheets in the past ( HERE), but wanted to mix it up a bit this year.

Working with Growth Mindset, I created a "Glow & Grow" form for students to fill out. The "Glow" side contains what they are most proud of in that subject, while the "Grow" side contains their goals, what they are working towards, or where they would like to dig deeper.

This coincidentally coincided with our science unit that included growing pea plants! Love when that works out!

We began by charting some thinking questions to get them started for each section. On their "Glow", I wanted them to move beyond the outward signs of success (like 100%, or a "high" reading level), and think more about what made them feel proud so far this year.

Along with that, I didn't want their "Grow" to be something they feel they failed, or are the perceived "worst at" in the class. I instead used it as an opportunity to create goals and think about their future in our room. This worked out especially well for some kids who only focus on the previously mentioned signs of "success". It changed the language for them, which allowed for more growth opportunities in other directions than they may have thought prior to this activity. For example, a high-level reader thought about it, and realized they were in a genre-rut. They decided to expand their genre choices to include more nonfiction and mystery. On the other side, a struggling student focused on tackling more of a familiar series instead of rushing on to a "higher level" that may have been too challenging. It was a win-win on both sides.

I encouraged students to use bullet points or complete sentences, whichever they felt most comfortable with, and I was surprised to get about a 50/50 split. On the back side, they wrote and drew their favorite part of the day, which was predominately P.E., but what else is new!?

I'm excited to share these with parents as we talk about the start of the year and the direction(s) we want to head this year as a class, and with their student. It will give us some great talking points about the student, even though they won't be there in person.

Plus, now that we've gone over the "Glow & Grow" format as a class, it can become a part of our regular feedback and goal-setting conversations.

If you're interested in this form, it can be found on TpT HERE. It is available as a PDF with my headings, or as an editable Powerpoint, where you can type in your own headings.

I hope you have fun with this and get the chance to launch into some great goal-setting behavior this year!

For more on Growth Mindset and goal-setting, click HERE.

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It's parent-teacher conference time, and I always like to include students' input whenever possible. They do not attend our conferences, and without their voice, it always seems a bit too one-dimensional. I have used goal-setting sheets in the past ( HERE), but wanted to mix it up a bit this year.

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Teaching with a Mountain View blog. Great blog with super ideas.

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Please enjoy my collection of 40+ anchor charts, updated weekly! All of these anchor charts have been used in my own classroom (Grades 2-5) with students. Click on each picture to be redirected a blog post featuring the anchor chart and other activities related to the topic!

Literacy Anchor Charts

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Please enjoy my collection of 40+ anchor charts, updated weekly! All of these anchor charts have been used in my own classroom (Grades 2-5) with students. Click on each picture to be redirected a blog post featuring the anchor chart and other activities related to the topic! Literacy Anchor Charts

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One Extra Degree blog with SS ideas

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Helping with problem solving and higher order thinking

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STEM-Works - Science, Technology, Math & Engineering Resources for Kids

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A resource for teachers, mentors, parents, STEM professionals and volunteers eager to help children learn about science, technology, engineering and math.

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A Teeny Tiny Teacher blog - behavior we are going to attempt this year.

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3rd Grade Thoughts Blog - more ideas

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It's parent-teacher conference time, and I always like to include students' input whenever possible. They do not attend our conferences, and without their voice, it always seems a bit too one-dimensional. I have used goal-setting sheets in the past ( HERE), but wanted to mix it up a bit this year.

Working with Growth Mindset, I created a "Glow & Grow" form for students to fill out. The "Glow" side contains what they are most proud of in that subject, while the "Grow" side contains their goals, what they are working towards, or where they would like to dig deeper.

This coincidentally coincided with our science unit that included growing pea plants! Love when that works out!

We began by charting some thinking questions to get them started for each section. On their "Glow", I wanted them to move beyond the outward signs of success (like 100%, or a "high" reading level), and think more about what made them feel proud so far this year.

Along with that, I didn't want their "Grow" to be something they feel they failed, or are the perceived "worst at" in the class. I instead used it as an opportunity to create goals and think about their future in our room. This worked out especially well for some kids who only focus on the previously mentioned signs of "success". It changed the language for them, which allowed for more growth opportunities in other directions than they may have thought prior to this activity. For example, a high-level reader thought about it, and realized they were in a genre-rut. They decided to expand their genre choices to include more nonfiction and mystery. On the other side, a struggling student focused on tackling more of a familiar series instead of rushing on to a "higher level" that may have been too challenging. It was a win-win on both sides.

I encouraged students to use bullet points or complete sentences, whichever they felt most comfortable with, and I was surprised to get about a 50/50 split. On the back side, they wrote and drew their favorite part of the day, which was predominately P.E., but what else is new!?

I'm excited to share these with parents as we talk about the start of the year and the direction(s) we want to head this year as a class, and with their student. It will give us some great talking points about the student, even though they won't be there in person.

Plus, now that we've gone over the "Glow & Grow" format as a class, it can become a part of our regular feedback and goal-setting conversations.

If you're interested in this form, it can be found on TpT HERE. It is available as a PDF with my headings, or as an editable Powerpoint, where you can type in your own headings.

I hope you have fun with this and get the chance to launch into some great goal-setting behavior this year!

For more on Growth Mindset and goal-setting, click HERE.

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It's parent-teacher conference time, and I always like to include students' input whenever possible. They do not attend our conferences, and without their voice, it always seems a bit too one-dimensional. I have used goal-setting sheets in the past ( HERE), but wanted to mix it up a bit this year.

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Class? Yes. Eyes and hands. Attention getter and a good blog.

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*This is a repost of one of my first WBT posts. I am reposting it now to add some context to the new Whole Brain Teaching posters in my TpT Store, and also to add some additional information that has helped me through this year :) Enjoy!

One of the very first things I tried from Whole Brain Teaching's strategies, and the easiest to implement was "Class-Yes".

The premise is simple: the teacher says, "Class?" and the students respond, "Yes!". When they say "Yes!" they also need to stop whatever they are doing and give me their undivided attention.

I begin this in a very similar way that WBT Inventor, Chris Biffle, does:

However the teacher says "Class" is how the students respond. This is where the creativity and fun come in. Here are some of my favorites:

high-pitched voice

low voice and slooooow

repeat class twice or three times

"Classity Class" (response: "Yessity Yes")

"Classadoddle Doo" (response: "Yesadoodle Doo")

songs: Frere Jacques works well (I had one of my girls come up and say that she loved when I sung lullabies the best!)

"Oh Class" (response: "Oh Yes")

whispering

loud!

It typically takes us two to three times to get everyone together. We then record how well we did on the scoreboard that he also mentions in the video.
If a particularly important concept is coming up, after "Class-Yes" I will ask for "Hands and Eyes" and clasp my hands together. The students will repeat, "Hands and Eyes" and clasp their hands, stop what they are doing and look directly at me, giving me their undivided attention.

I was taken aback about 1. how quickly they caught on and 2. how much FUN we were all having-- there were times after "Class-Yes" we were all giggling a bit :)

Find these posters and a whole bunch more in my TpT Store HERE!

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This is a repost of one of my first WBT posts. I am reposting it now to add some context to the new Whole Brain Teaching posters in my TpT Store, and also to add some additional information that has helped me through this year :) Enjoy!

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She has great classroom ideas for all subjects.

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Blair Turner. 16K likes. Change the world, one lesson at a time! Follow along for inspiration, ideas, resources, and humor for elementary school teachers.

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Padlet from Common Core 2015

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Tennessee Grade 3 SS

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Tennessee Grade 3 Social Studies | CK-12 Foundation

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This 3rd Grade Social Studies book is based on the Tennessee State Standards.

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Strong integrated SS and ELA text.

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Listening and Learning Strand | EngageNY

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The Listening and Learning Strand consists of a series of read‐alouds organized by topics (called domains), many of which are informational in nature. The goal of the Listening and Learning Strand is for students to acquire language competence through listening, specifically building a rich vocabulary, and broad knowledge in history and science by being exposed to carefully selected, sequenced, and coherent read‐alouds.

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Great curriculum with strong scope and sequence.

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Grade 3 Mathematics Module 1

Grade 3 Module 1: Properties of Multiplication and Division and Solving Problems with Units of 2-5 and 10

This 25-day module begins the year by building on students' fluency with addition and knowledge of arrays.

Common Core Learning Standards

Interpret products of whole numbers, e.g., interpret 5 × 7 as the total number of objects in 5...

Interpret whole-number quotients of whole numbers, e.g., interpret 56 ÷ 8 as the number of objects...

Use multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems in situations involving equal...

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Grade 3 Mathematics Module 1 Grade 3 Module 1: Properties of Multiplication and Division and Solving Problems with Units of 2-5 and 10 This 25-day module begins the year by building on students' fluency with addition and knowledge of arrays. Interpret products of whole numbers, e.g., interpret 5 × 7 as the total number of objects in 5...

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ReadWorks provides research-based units, lessons, and authentic, leveled non-fiction and literary passages directly to educators online, for free, to be shared broadly.

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Improve your students' reading comprehension with ReadWorks. Access thousands of high-quality, free K-12 articles, and create online assignments with them for your students.

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Belinda Anderson's 3rd grade blog entitled To the Edge and Over a Bridge. Hopefully it will have resources that will be helpful.

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Pretend you are like Willy Wonka - the inventor of many delicious chocolate creations or Evan from Lemonade Wars. They are producers. These type of people create new products to help increase the economy as well as employee people in order to increase the standard of living.

Your job, if you choose to accept it, is to create a product to sell. Be sure to set your price and then persuade Mrs. Belinda to buy your product. Remember that Mrs Belinda likes vocabulary (especially vocabulary from the Economics Task Cards). The better the vocabulary the more likely she will be to purchase your product.

Write your persuasive essay on Google Docs. You may include pictures. You may use your imagination. You must have at least 3 paragraphs. Remember that your customer is Mrs. Belinda. See you at the edge.

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My third graders know that each day it is my job to push them to the edge, help them build a bridge and then wait for them as they cross to the other side. Some of them fly off the edge, some of them crawl across the bridge, and some walk straight across BUT all of them make it to the other side.

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ReadWorks provides research-based units, lessons, and authentic, leveled non-fiction and literary passages directly to educators online, for free, to be shared broadly.

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Excellent Modules with Great Scope and Sequence.

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Listening and Learning Strand | EngageNY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Listening and Learning Strand consists of a series of read‐alouds organized by topics (called domains), many of which are informational in nature. The goal of the Listening and Learning Strand is for students to acquire language competence through listening, specifically building a rich vocabulary, and broad knowledge in history and science by being exposed to carefully selected, sequenced, and coherent read‐alouds.

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This will be an informational text resource for SS.

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Listening and Learning Strand | EngageNY

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Listening and Learning Strand consists of a series of read‐alouds organized by topics (called domains), many of which are informational in nature. The goal of the Listening and Learning Strand is for students to acquire language competence through listening, specifically building a rich vocabulary, and broad knowledge in history and science by being exposed to carefully selected, sequenced, and coherent read‐alouds.

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Free online textbooks, flashcards, practice and real world experiences.

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Welcome to CK-12 Foundation | CK-12 Foundation

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These is the Padlet from Common Core Training Summer 2015

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http://padlet.com/whiteheadc/jsf2wbbzm8gl

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Activities and Materials include all of the following

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Activities and Materials include all of the following

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support the lesson objectives; are challenging; sustain students’ attention; elicit a variety of thinking; provide time for reflection; are relevant to students’ lives; provide opportunities for student-to-student interaction; induce student curiosity and suspense; provide students with choices; incorporate multimedia and technology; and o incorporate resources beyond the school curriculum texts (e.g., teacher-made materials, manipulatives, resources from museums, cultural centers, etc.).