Welcome to the Notice and Note book study! Today is all about the parts of the book that make you pause and reflect on what you just read: the signposts. First off, let me say that I am L.O.V.I.N.G. this book! Once I was finally able to start reading, I couldn't put it down! There are so many great ideas to use in your classroom. Some things you might already do and some things help you take it a step further. My section was all about the signposts we see in literature as we read. While…

One of my goals this summer was to read several professional books in an attempts to improve my teaching. So far, I haven't finished the first one (Guided Math by Laney Sammons.) However, I have the great privilege to team up with some other great teachers to participate in a book study on Guided Math in Action by Dr. Nicki Newton. So, starting today and going through August 6, we will be reading through each chapter of the book and sharing our thoughts on the material. I am also going to be…

Clip art by Amanda WittenbornWelcome to part two of Teach Like a Pirate Book Study! It is not to late to join in, so if you are looking for some inspiration for your teaching, grab a copy of the book

Tweet Welcome to my guided math book study! It is not to late to join in! Every week, I will provide the links to past posts so if you are just finding this book study you can jump right in! July 2 Chapters 1 and 2 July 9 Chapters 3 and 4 July 16 Chapters 5 and 6 July 23 Chapters 7 and 8 July 30 Chapter 9 Guided Math in Action Chapter 3: Managing the Math Workshop This chapter starts out with this GREAT quote " We must spend 40 hours a year dealing with students' pencil problems (dull or…

I recently assigned a one-pager final project to my sophomores for their culminating Night project. I wanted to combine as many rigorous ELA content ideas as possible, while also designing a fun project for students that provided them with a bit of choice. To make this project rigorous, I required my students to include multiple MLA-cited quotations with a literary analysis explanation. These are skills my students have learned and practiced all year long, so it was a way for me to assess…

My first year in my own classroom, I spent so much time looking for free center activities and then printing, laminating, and cutting. In the first chapter of the Daily 5 book, the “two sisters” talk about all the “things” done during literacy time. They say, “We had spent the majority of our time preparing for and reviewing the children’s busywork.” And, um… guilty. When I read the Daily 5 book for the first time, I remember feeling a little underwhelmed because it was all so simple. It’s…

Welcome back! Today I am going to discuss chapters 3 & 4 from Guided Math in Action as part of a book study hosted by Adventures in Guided Math. Chapter 3: Managing the Math Workshop I liked how the

Tweet Welcome to part one of Teach Like a Pirate Book Study! It is not to late to join in, so if you are looking for some inspiration for your teaching, grab a copy of the book and join our discussion! Feel free to leave your discussion in the comments or if you have a blog and want to do a post about it, leave a link in the comments. Teach Like a Pirate Here is the posting schedule July 12 Passion and Immersion July 19 Rapport and Ask and Analyze July 26 Transformation and Enthusiasm August…

Welcome to my guided math book study! It is not to late to join in! Every week, I will provide the links to past posts so if you are just finding this book study you can jump right in! July 2 Chap

Welcome to my guided math book study! It is not to late to join in! Every week, I will provide the links to past posts so if you are just finding this book study you can jump right in! July 2 Chap

Welcome to the first installment of the Guided Math in Action book study. I hope that you have had an opportunity to read through Chapters 1 and 2. If not, please consider picking up a copy of your own (available at Amazon.com). I promise it is a book that you will refer to again and again. In the first chapter, we are introduced to a class that is involved in a guided math lesson. The teacher and her students were involved in a mini-lesson on subtraction with regrouping. I learned about a…

Follow my blog with Bloglovin Today's post is supposed to be about Chapters 3 and 4 from Guided Math in Action by Dr. Nicki Newton (have I told you that you should probably own a copy of this book?) However, my family had a pretty dramatic event take place this week and I was only able to prepare my thoughts for Chapter 3. What was the event you ask? Well, my wife gave birth to a little girl on Friday afternoon. Catherine "Kate" Alice Pearson is now a member of the family. Isn't she…

Our book study continues with Chapter 5: "Balanced Assessment - The Key to Grouping Students." This chapter was all about using different assessment to help group students for small group instruction. Dr. Newton discusses ways for pre-assessment, ongoing (or formative) assessment, and evaluative (or summative) assessment. This chapter was chock full of practical ideas, but there were some things that I was left wondering about. More on that in just a bit. Now, on to the questions. Question 1…

Starting this week, I will be participating in the Guided Math in Action Book Study hosted by Sarah and Courtney from Adventures in Guided Math. I can't wait to read the book and learn from others! I

Chapter 6 is all about how to plan a Guided Math lesson. It was relatively short, but there was some really good stuff inside. I especially enjoyed the "peek in" of a Guided Math lesson. Dr. Newton provides a framework for guided math that is broken into 3 sections. These sections include the mini-lesson, student practice, and share time. Mini-Lesson In the mini-lesson, it is our job as teachers to hook the students into that day's learning. We do this by making some kind of connection. I…

I have to admit that this chapter about having math conferences with your students, was the toughest chapter for. That being said, it is probably the chapter I needed to read the most to improve my in