Showing posts with label anchor charts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anchor charts. Show all posts

Predicting through Synthesis

Last week I shared how I had a reading group where all the students were in different books. Well, this week, they did predicting through synthesis. Predicting is one of those skills that all readers learn how to do early on but well worth revisiting at each reading level because the depth that students must use this skill changes.

I started with a modeled lesson using "Wednesday Surprise." The format was "At first I was think... but while I was reading my thinking change .... Then my thinking changed ... Then my thinking changed again ... My new understanding is ... This format requires students to determine what was important as they are reading so that they can add and change predicting. Remember that synthesis is all the reading comprehension strategies to create a new understanding of the book. The group determining important anchor charts are below.

Using "Wednesday Surprise" to get this group started was great but they still need help making the connection between all the pieces needed to using predicting to create a new understanding of the text. So we did "Just a Dream. (I love his books.) We used the same template as before. 

This book required the group to also do more inferring because of the pictures. This didn't stop them from creating a new understanding of the book.

This week student's will do this task on their with their own books using the same template. I can't wait to see what they come up with. Tying all these strategies together was not easy for them but in the end they got it. 


Have a great week. Stay warm or in my case hang onto something (high winds for yet another day)




Small Group Math

Last year I went looking for a new math curriculum, that had strong number sense and would work in either small groups or one on one. I had been using Saxon Math but I was finding that it align so well with our Curriculum Alignment Project (CAP). CAP outlines what needs to be taught when and for how long-its the curriculum and Investigations is the resource. CAP ensures that every student in the district is getting the same thing regardless of what building your in. The problem with Investigations is that it doesn't translate well to small groups or one on one, so it's not used frequently for interventions. We do use it for double dosing students (students getting the same lesson twice).

I found Singapore Math. It came from a recommendation because they had seen improvements in their intensive math groups. Here's what I love about it. It's deceptively thin text books were created with an understanding on how students actually learn. The lessons are structured with the gradual release model(which is huge in my district) which allows students to learn mathematics meaningfully and talk about it like mathematicians. It also aligns better with what they are learning in class. Students love this program because of all the hands on work they get to do. They have said way more tha what they get in class. The girls that I work with in math need all the hands on and language support they can get in math and then some. The down side is the language skills students need to work independently. One way I have worked around in more language supports is creating mini-anchor charts as a visual reminder of what key words mean.
Graph Key Words Math Key Terms

About Me

Welcome to my all thing special education blog. I empower busy elementary special education teachers to use best practice strategies to achieve a data and evidence driven classroom community by sharing easy to use, engaging, unique approaches to small group reading and math. Thanks for Hopping By.
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