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This blog provides literacy ideas and activities that can be used in an elementary classroom, along with literacy centers and other teacher resources.

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Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books

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Picture This! Teaching with Picture Books

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Blogger, Dawn Little, shares how to use picture books to teach literacy concepts.

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This blog provides posts related to all things literacy and includes sample lessons, activities, and books that can be used in an elementary classroom.

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This post begins a 10 part series about the Common Core Reading Informational Text Standards for grades 3-6. It is also not a coincidence that I just finished my Common Core Reading Informational Text Reading Comprehension Response Sheets for 3-6 either...the informational counterpart to the Reading Literature set I published in the fall.

(Click on the image for more details)

Rather than throw it up here and tell you it's available and on sale this month (which it is), I have decided to dedicate 10 posts to the 10 RIT standards for grades 3-6...diving into each standard one post at a time to help better understand what the standard is asking students to know and show, and what it isn't. I have spent the last three years teaching the common core informational standards to students, and wrote an extensive blog post last year about how the implementation of it was going in my classroom. I have also spent the last two years providing professional development and common core training at my own school to teachers, other schools in Wake County, other schools in North Carolina, and even schools in Arkansas {shout-out to Sonora Elementary School in the Springdale School District,woot-woot!!}, Indiana {shout-out to all the elementary teachers & literacy coaches in the Monticello School Corporation, woot-woot!!}, and Georgia {shout-out to Barnwell Elementary, Dolvin Elementary and Metlock Bridge Elementary in the Fulton County Schools, woot-woot!!}! I will be traveling this spring, summer and fall to Kansas, Texas and Tennessee, and back to Georgia. Needless to say, I know the common core standards by heart...like my math facts. I just know 'em and I cannot stress enough how "just knowing them [fluently]" has made my life so much easier, and how much just knowing them will make your teaching life easier, too. [Side note: memorizing math facts may not be a common core standard, but it makes my life easier just knowing it...think about that.] Call it Standards Fluency or Standards Awareness, I don't care, knowing and understanding each one is KEY...trust me, these standards, are KEY DETAILS for my livelihood. So, one by one, I will try to break each one down, beginning today with Standard One, the evidence standard.

[Side note: I include 6th grade in my work because in many schools across the country, 6th grade is still a part of elementary school, still on the elementary campus...the campus you are on for 6th grade shouldn't matter...but I want my elementary 6th teacher friends to know...I would never leave you out! :-) ]

Back-up: The organizational structure of the standards is sweet. For both Reading Literature and Reading Informational Text, standards 1, 2 and 3 are housed under the structural umbrella of "Key Ideas and Details"...as Lucy Calkins says in her book, Pathways to the Common Core, "standards 1, 2, and 3 are all about *what* the text is saying."

**Also, whenever I use the initials TBE, I mean Text Based Evidence**

To hyper-summarize standard 1 into one word or phrase, Standard 1 is all about Textual Evidence (and Analysis). What is Textual Evidence? Textual Evidence is support lifted directly from the text that is the basis for an answer, inference, claim or a question. When "doing" this standard, students must reference the text.

For third graders, this means that now when you ask the 5W1H questions, they must also provide evidence from the text that supports their answers, instead of the old days, where just their response or answer only, was good enough.

For fourth graders, this standard means that in addition to providing answers to questions, they too must provide evidence from the text that supports their answer, even when the evidence is not explicitly stated by the author. Fourth grade evidence, may be in the form of explicit evidence, where the text support is a "right there text" or inferential evidence, where the author does not come right out and spell it out for the reader. Anything that the author does not type out in the form of exact words put on the page, but conveys through other words, is an example of an inference.

[Short side note: when teaching this to students, ask them to remember what it's like to be a writer, like in Writing Workshop, when we ask students to "show not tell"...writers who write the words and readers who read the words use the same strategy...writers ask, "what words can I use to show how I felt/acted, etc.?"...readers ask, "what words did the writer use to show how the character felt/acted, etc.?"...the answer to that question is the text evidence for how you think the character felt or acted.] (see Michelle Obama passage example below)

For fifth graders, they will do exactly the same thing as fourth graders, but they should be able quote the passage, section or sentence when they are making their inference.

To demonstrate this standard, let's take an excerpt from an informational article about First Lady, Michelle Obama, titled Meet Michelle Obama, A Special Lady.

"Michelle Obama grew up in Chicago in a small apartment. Her mother and father worked hard for Michelle and her brother. They taught Michelle and her brother to work hard at everything they tried. Michelle was very smart. She skipped the second grade! She was on the honor roll in high school. There she graduated second in her class. For college, Michelle went to Princeton. She studied social studies, or how communities of people live together. She tried her best at everything. After Princeton, Michelle went to Harvard University to study law. She joined protests at Harvard. The protestors wanted to get more people of color hired as professors. Michelle wanted to make Harvard fair for all people."

I will use the same two guiding questions I use when teaching students the difference between explicit and inferential evidence when I teach this skill through Picture of the Day. To teach explicit evidence, I ask, "What do you see?" (these are the observations)...for text, I say, "What do you read? What is actually said or stated?" To teach inferences, I ask, "What do you think?" and to teach inferential evidence, I ask, "What from the picture/text makes you say that?"

So, if asked (students) the question, what kind of person was Michelle Obama?...an explicit answers would be:

"She was very smart." ...the text says that

TBE: "She skipped second grade." "She was on the honor roll." "She went to Princeton & Harvard."

...an inferential answer would be:

She was motivated and driven. ....the text does not say those words, it does however say...

TBE: "She was on the honor roll." "She graduated second in her class." "She graduated with honors and tried her best at everything she did."

She fought for unjust things that she believed in. ...again, the text does not those words, it does say...

TBE: "She joined protests at Harvard." "She wanted to get more people of color hired as professors." "She wanted to make Harvard fair for all people."

In my CCSS RIT 3-6 packet, I have provided a variety of ways for students to know and show text based evidence with explicit and inferential evidence. Here are a few sample pages from RIT. 1. (And for those of you that are just stumbling across my blog, in all three of the K-2 RL, K-2 RIT, and 3-6 RL packets, each common core standard is indicated in the top right corner of each page, so you and students can know which standard you are working on. In addition, not only can these reading response sheets be used for daily opportunities and practice for writing about reading (HUGE! in the common core) but they can also be used as quick assessments for each of the standards as well. The following standards are addressed for a total of 418 pages. I really tried to cut it down, but the 3-6 informational standards are meaty and demanding...so this packet is comprehensive to include all the meat and demand.

In addition, my Text Based Evidence Graph is a highly motivating tool that helps students begin their text-based evidence journey.

CCSS RIT 3-6 Writing about Reading, Comprehension Response Sheets HERE.

Important: Standard 1 is not just about students being able to answer questions...like a quiz or general recall. The standard also calls for students to note the textual evidence that triggered a question they have while reading. A sincere, thought provoking, wondering-type question. This is a very building block skill for self-monitoring. If students are aware that their brains are turned on and thinking about what they are reading, while they are reading, then questions will naturally pop-up out of curiousity, wonderment, sincerity or confusion...which are all GOOD! We want to encourage this real form of questioning, and not misunderstand Standard 1.

Inferring is a life skill. We do it everyday. When we go outside and see big black clouds in the sky, we infer a storm is coming. When we walk in on somebody crying, we infer they are sad or upset about something....we don't know all the pieces of the puzzle, but we can use what we see, what we think will happen based on what happened last time and make a decision about what we think will happen or why something happened. Helping students see the real-world connection with Standard 1 will help many students see the relevance and importance of the standard.

I found this great questioning matrix hidden inside the book, Rigor is Not A 4-Letter Word, and I have recreated for you. It's a really neat and handy way to help students begin to ask constructed response questions.

Next post: RIT Standard 2.

Also, wanted to let everyone know that I finished my latest set of Fluency Fact Cards. Last month, the fluency facts were about the Winter Olympics and this set is about St. Patrick's Day & Ireland. You can get more details HERE.

2 sets of 18 fluency fact cards for a total of 36 cards.

2 interactive comprehension assessments included, one per set of 18 cards.

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This post begins a 10 part series about the Common Core Reading Informational Text Standards for grades 3-6. It is also not a coincidence that I just finished my Common Core Reading Informational Text Reading Comprehension Response Sheets for 3-6 either...the informational counterpart to the Reading Literature set I published in the fall.

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This website provides book reviews, articles, and book lists for teachers, parents, and students.

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The Children's Book Review, Book and Ebook Reviews of the Best Kids' Books

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Growing Readers (SM). The Children's Book Review is the kid's, parents, publishers, teachers, and author, illustrator, source for children's book reviews on

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This site provides literature discussion boards, bestseller lists, and links for teachers and parents regarding children's literature.

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This website provides students with literacy games, popular books, and allows students to write and post their own book reviews.

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Kids Books, Games, Videos | Children's Books | Scholastic Kids

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Be sure to get permission from a parent or teacher before leaving Scholastic.com, and read the privacy policy and terms of use of any site you visit. Always check with your parents before giving out information about yourself, entering a contest or sweepstakes, or buying anything online.

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This website provides blogs, research, and resources on teaching reading, literature, and how to help struggling readers for all grade levels.

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This blog provides updated posts that contain literature reviews, text features, and many other literary elements for the elementary level.

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Minds in Bloom is thrilled to have Dr. Erica Warren back to the blog today. Dr. Warren is sharing information about screening students for dyslexia and how to support them if and when a formal diagnosis is given. Continue reading to learn more! When considering the estimates that 1 in 10 people have dyslexia and that there are successful teaching methods available for this

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Minds in Bloom is thrilled to have Dr. Erica Warren back to the blog today. Dr. Warren is sharing information about screening students for dyslexia and how to support them if and when a formal diagnosis is given. Continue reading to learn more!

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Young fills her blog with reviews on hundreds of children's books and how they can be used in the classroom.

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Rebecca Young has been reviewing children's books for more than 20 years.

Her reviews have appeared in publications from coast-to-coast, including The Phoenix Gazette, Spokesman-Review, The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash., The Chicago Sun-Times, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Sacramento Bee and The Kansas City Star.

Rebecca also works as a school librarian at Seabury School, reading, recommending, discussing and de-griming books every week.

Stay tuned for book news and book recommendations for children of all ages.

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Rebecca Young has been reviewing children's books for more than 20 years. Her reviews have appeared in publications from coast-to-coast, including The Phoenix Gazette, Spokesman-Review, The News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash., The Chicago Sun-Times, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Sacramento Bee and The Kansas City Star.

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This resource provides updated posts that dive into literary story elements, print concepts, story structure, and nonfiction/fiction text comparisons.

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Welcome back to the 3rd installment of Exploring ELA. I'm going to cover Story Elements today. This standards spans over many grades, but gets more and more specific the older the kiddos get. I'm going to discuss primary grades (kinder, first, second, and third grade) when covering story elements.

Story Elements can be taught very closely with the retell standard. I think story elements would be a great place to start, since you have to master story elements before moving on to retelling. Retelling in first grade covers the basic character/setting/event elements. Once you start getting into second and third grade, it focuses more on the character and the problems that character faces. So, while a first grade teacher may read this blog post and think that many of the ideas are too advanced for his or her first graders, it is great to keep in mind what the students will need to learn in future grades and try to shape your teaching towards that.

Here is break-down of the standards first through third grade.

1st grade- basic story elements

2nd grade- characters' challenge and solution

3rd grade- character traits, motivation, feelings and their actions

Each grade gets a little deeper in students' inference skills. In 3rd grade, there is a lot of exploring and inferring that may not be directly written out in the text.

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Here are some of the key tasks that I think are important to hit as educators when tackling this standard:

-using short stories to teach the basics

-expanding to focus on the character and their problem

1. Introducing the Basics

Anchor charts are always a necessity when teaching mini lessons for me. I always need something to create WITH the students and have on display to refer back to throughout the unit. Here are two cute ideas from other bloggers on Story Elements.

This anchor chart and mini-lesson activity helps break each specific story element up for first grader to focus on the individual element. During this mini lesson, students will learn about the story elements one at a time or all at once, and then break into small groups after a read-aloud. Each group will focus on the story element they're given and present it to the class.

I have seen this video short floating around Pinterest and it is PERFECT for story elements. Tech tip: Use the website ViewPure to get no commericials.

2. Using Stories to Teach the Basics

3. Expanding to Focus on a Character's Problem and Solution
First grade focuses on the basic story elements: character, setting, events. Second and third grade get much more focused on the character and what happens with the character throughout the story. Second grade standards focus on the characters challenges and how they respond to those challenges. Third grade gets a little deeper and explores the motivation and traits that students have to infer from their reading.

(Images show resources from RL3.3 and RL2.3)
I've heard it called many different things:
-Problem and solution
-Challenge and response
-Problem and reaction
No matter what you call it, this standard really wants students to focus on what type of events happen to the character and what the character does in response to this event.

Character Challenges and Solutions (RL2.3, RL3.3)
Key skills to hit- character traits, problem/solution, challenges and how the character resolves it
This is a list of 6 books for each literature standards, with affiliate links to Amazon.
Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber
The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi
Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
Jamaica's Find by Juanita Havill
Enemy Pie by Derek Munson

Now, for the fun part! Time to practice, practice, practice.

Post-Its are great for all lessons: whole group, small group, independent, centers. During my small groups, I always liked to have the students draw or write the story elements on three different colored post-it notes. This helped them differentiate between the two. This is a first grade skill, but doesn't hurt to practice again and again in 2nd and 3rd.

(Passage from RL1.3)
Another use for Post-Its!
Have students write the problem and solution on a post-it note before they start answering their text-dependent questions. This always helps to solidify the difference between the challenge and how the character responds.

(Affiliate Amazon Link: http://amzn.to/2wBt4no)
Students will roll this dice and answer the story element prompt that is shown. This is a fun way to get your kids thinking about story elements without writing and answering written questions.

(Interactive Notebook piece from RL2.3 and RL3.3)
Interactive notebooks are a great activity to use during small group, centers, or guided reading. You can use the flip flap pieces for a chapter in a book, a picture book, or a short passage.

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Thanks for reading!
Grab your resources...

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This blog post is the third in the blog series: Exploring ELA. I hope
it has given you new ideas and a guiding framework to teach these
standards!

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Welcome back to the 3rd installment of Exploring ELA. I'm going to cover Story Elements today. This standards spans over many grades, but gets more and more specific the older the kiddos get. I'm going to discuss primary grades (kinder, first, second, and third grade) when covering story elements.