Getting Literacy into the Home

Back in college, I learned about something called Literacy Bags. These themed bags were a way to get books and activities into the homes of students. I spent many hours putting my Literacy Bag together for an "A" in the class. At the end of the semester, I put it away and never thought of it again until.......

this past school year. I always wanted to do Literacy Bags but as you know, time slips away. I start every year with great, inspiring ideas. Then, before I know it, the year is over and if I am lucky, I implemented one new thing into my classroom. Literacy Bags just never got off the ground. 

My colleague, Mrs. C, and I worked on a version of the Literacy Bag for our ESL students. We called them Learning Suitcases. I think when we hear the word "literacy" we think reading. However, literacy is so much more than that. Yes, literacy is the the ability to read and write. However, it is also the competence or knowledge in a specified area. Mrs. C and I wanted to include reading, math, science, and social studies activities. This is why we called them Learning Suitcases. 

Now I am not going to preach about the importance of learning in the home. We all know this. What I am doing is suggesting a practical way to get it done!  

I don't have pictures of the actual product, but try to follow along. Basically, I ordered these amazing plastic briefcases from Amazon. Then, I created activities in reading, math, science, and social studies around a specific theme. I focused on Weather since it was a Kindergarten and First Grade unit of study. Some of the activities were letter matching games, sight word games, number recognition activities, etc. I also included books that went along with the theme. Everything I designed was appropriate for grades K-2.  

Each week, one student took the Learning Suitcase home. The parent letter explained what the Suitcase was and how it was to be used. I also explained it to the students. They were super excited to share the Suitcase with their families. Here is what the families gained from the Learning Suitcase:

1. Parents and children engage in meaningful, vocabulary rich conversations.
2. Students practice and build mathematics and reading skills.
3. Siblings interact with each other.
4. Families have fun TOGETHER.
5. Students gain ownership as they are responsible for the materials.

Also, thanks to the wonderful paraprofessional, Mrs. L, I was able to have all the directions translated in Spanish.  

Here is a link to my TPT's store where you can purchase the materials I made. Good luck with your next Learning Suitcase!  

Hands-on Vocabulary

Since starting my new position as a K-4 ESL teacher, I haven't really blogged any great stories about my students.  Which makes me sad, because there are many. As a classroom teacher, I always enjoyed my ESL students. There is something to be said for those little boys and girls who enter our schools trying to learn curriculum and another language. I always admired how brave they were.  This year, I get to spend my days working with small groups of students who speak another language. It has been such an eye opener. For instance, I have one student who would only speak Spanish to me in the beginning of the year. This was challenging because I don't speak Spanish!  However, this little 5 year old quickly learned how to communicate with me, his peers, and his other teachers!  

Quick side story about this student.....

I am giving my kindergarten group a standardized test (don't judge...it's required by the grant our school district was given). Instead of the questions being numbered, they have a picture. For instance, instead of saying "place your finger on number one," I would say "place your finger on the little cat". This quickly became very comical!  When I would say, "place your finger on the little cat," the kindergarten student would start to meow.  When I would say, "place your finger on the little duck," the kindergarten student would start to quack. When I would say, "place your finger on the little bunny," there was a pause....what does a bunny say?  The kindergarten student simply said bunny, bunny.  He makes me smile! 

A big part of teaching ESL is the vocabulary piece. I am always looking for ways to give my students hands on experiences to learn new vocabulary. Last month, I was teaching my beginner kindergarten students about kitchen tools.  I came up with an easy, inexpensive way to teach this vocabulary. Use paper plates, bowls, plastic spoon, fork, napkin, and cup and have an imaginary meal!  Students need to ask each other to pass the condiments, say please and thank you, and set the table. All of the paper and plastic products were then glued to a piece of construction paper. The labeled 3-D diagrams were then hung in the hallway!  At the end of the unit, these place mats were sent home with students. Families could then use them to reinforce the concepts. Simple but effective!

We're Going on a Treasure Hunt (At Target)

We’re going on a treasure hunt

We’re going on a treasure hunt 

Going to get some fancy ones

We’re not scared!

Uh oh! a cave 

a sparkly shiny treasure cave

We can’t go over it we can’t go under it

Oh no we have to go through it

tip toe tip toe tip toe

I was singing that song in Target today.  I walked into the store, and the dollar bins starting yelling at me.  They were begging for me to dig through them.  "Toilet paper, toilet paper, toilet paper," I said to myself repeatedly.  I mean that's the real reason I stopped into the store. I just needed toilet paper and maybe a new eyeshadow.  I quickly tried to walk past them.  I stared straight ahead and booked it. But really, what's the harm in just looking through the bins?  I don't have to buy anything.  Isn't that funny?  We are teachers, and we can't pass up a dollar deal.

This is my parents storage room in their house.  This is four years worth of third grade classroom stuff. The bins are stacked as high as my hips. Do you think I need more dollar bin stuff?

I'm glad I stopped at the dollar bins, because I found some treasures. The first are these amazing word strips which are dry erase.  My dry erase boards are pretty large and can sometimes be awkward to get out.  I love them and use them all the time, but if we are practicing writing sentences, we don't need an entire board.  These word strips will be just perfect!  They are 4 for a $1.00.

The second gem I found were these sticky notes.  I bought two packs.  I wanted to buy more but after digging and basically emptying the bin, I found out there weren't any more. Imagine everything you could use them for.  Ask the students to write a thought about characters, setting, plot, and theme.  Have them write their opinion about a topic in Science or Social Studies.  They can wear their thought on their shirt and others can respond.  You can make a "parking lot" and have the students park their thoughts there.  There are so many options!  

I am extremely proud of myself because that's all I bought today!  Just these little treasures...............whoops, I knew it.....I forgot the toilet paper. The dollar bins have won again!

Moon Phases That You Can Eat!

The Internet is a great resource for teachers.  I often find myself amazed by the creative ideas I find.  What did teachers do before the Internet?  Between Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Blogs, we are in a great world to collaborate.

Here is a Science idea that Mrs. E and I found a few years ago.  In third grade, we are required to teach the Phases of the Moon.  After spending a week teaching all of the content, I enriched the lesson with a hands-on activity.  Students used Oreo Cookies to create the phases.  The original idea and directions can be found HERE. The picture below shows one of the my students work.

You never know how an activity is going to go until you try it out with students.  Here are some tips:

• Remind your students the cookies are not for eating yet, BEFORE you hand the cookies out.
• If you are only teaching 4 phases, you will need 2 cookies per student.
• Have extras on hand, because some of the cookies will break when students twist to separate.
• When complete, wrap students projects in plastic wrap or a large ziploc baggie to take home.
• A popsicle stick works well for scraping and moving the cream inside the cookie.
• If you have students who are diabetic, there are sugar free chocolate cream cookies available at most grocery stores.
• You will have at least one student who can't help himself and have to lick the crumbs of their fingers.  Keep hand sanitizer near by.