A Unit on Figurative Language...

Recently, I used this Prezi and a variety of children's literature to explore different types of figurative language with my 3rd graders. After reviewing the definitions and examples of one type of figurative language in the Prezi, we examined how author's use this type of figurative language in context. Sometimes, we read the entire text, sometimes we read snippets of the text, and sometimes we read the text 2 or 3 times. Some of the books we used include:

Some Smug Slug by Pamela Duncan

Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish

The Little Red Hen by Paul Galdone

The Little Red Pen by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

Bedhead by Margie Palantini

Piggie Pie! by Margie Palantini

Cloudy Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett

“Ode to Pablo’s Tennis Shoes” by Gary Soto

Shel Silverstein's poems

Then students became writers themselves as they created their very own Figurative Language Flipbook. Each "flip" was designated for a different type of figurative language. The students had to include the definition of the type of figurative language, at least one original example, and a picture to support their example(s). When complete with each flip the students would assess themselves using a rubric. 

This was, by far, one of the more enjoyable lessons for both me and the students that I've taught this year. Between the Prezi, the music video, the books, and the student's Figurative Language Flipbook, the students were completely engaged. The student rubric helped the student's to take ownership and reflect on their work. The students continued to sing the figurative language song throughout the day. They loved to tell me when they heard someone use figurative language or when they spotted it in a story. In fact, they loved it so much that we had to come up with a silent hand signal. To this day, when we hear figurative language we'll quietly touch our nose and smile!

Learning about Story Elements through Storytelling Pathways

Learning the basic elements of a story helps students develop their reading comprehension. It is also foundational knowledge necessary to become effective readers and writers. I have presented this lesson plan with kindergarten, first, and third grade students. Young or older, the students were engaged and enthusiastic about creating their pathways. Also, the repetition and visuals support all learners!

Prezi Webquest

Last semester I had the opportunity to create a 4th grade Social Studies unit plan about Florida explorers with a group of my peers. We created a Webquest using Prezi (one of my favorite presentation tools). To kick off the unit, we created a Prezi on Christopher Columbus, a familiar explorer for many 4th grade students. During this presentation, the teacher will also model important presentation skills that the students will be assessed on when they present at the end of the unit. After the Christopher Columbus presentation, the students will break up into groups and learn about a Florida explorer. Students will use teacher approved websites using diigo, graphic organizers, and various multimedia tools to create a presentation about their explorer. Throughout their learning journey the student groups will follow the step by step directions stated on the Prezi Webquest. The entire unit plan, including printables and other resources can be found here: http://ucfgr4flexplorerssp12t.wikispaces.com/ Although we tried to plan our activities across the curriculum, looking back it is apparent that we had too many activities for a 5 day unit plan. In the real classroom this unit would require 2-4 weeks. Overall, completing this unit plan was a great experience. I learned so much from this project and my peers. I cannot wait to put these ideas into action in a real classroom.

UPDATE: After completing our course, my peers and I had the opportunity to present our unit plan at our university. Below is the Prezi we created for the workshop.

Make a Cloud in a Cup Lesson Plan

A second grade science lesson inspired by The Schroeder Page and based on the National Science Education Standards (NSES), Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSS), Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Florida Educators Accomplished Practices (FEAPS).




FCRR: Florida Center for Reading Research

http://www.fcrr.org/ is another fantastic website for teachers. This site provides a lot of information on best practices used to teach and assess reading it. I've found the intervention strategies for struggling readers very helpful. However, my favorite resources is the student center activities page. Lots of printables for centers and all of the activities are aligned to the common core!

KB...Konnected

Have you been to kb...konnected? It's one of my favorite teacher blogs! KB is constantly posting useful teacher resources. Many of educational websites she has shared have become my kid's favorite places to play online. She also posts tons of freebies and great printables. Check it out!

Read, Write, Think

readwritethink.org is one of my favorite websites for teacher resources. There are tons of great lesson plans and activities for specific books or learning objectives. They also have online activities to engage students and fantastic printables to use in the classroom. 

I've found their Strategy Guides to be extremely helpful for a student teacher. The Strategy Guides provide information on great teaching techniques and key concepts that I can teach to help my future students become effective readers.

Whoever You Are by Mem Fox: A Storytelling Prezi

Whoever You Are on Prezi
(for classroom use only)

A Storytelling Prezi:

I used Prezi to retell the beautiful story, Whoever You Are, written by Mem Fox. The images are mostly from Children of the World: How We Live, Learn, and Play in Poems, Drawings, and Photographs, which was created by Anthony Asael and Stephanie Rabemiafara (Art in All of Us). Both are books that I believe every teacher of every grade should own and use in their classrooms.

This storytelling would be a great introduction to a lesson about cultural similarities and differences. Students can explore their own cultural identity through artistic and poetic responses. Then they can compile those responses in a class book just like in the Children of the World: How We Live, Learn, and Play in Poems, Drawings, and Photographs. 

Learning how to reflect...

Powerful Learning Practice is one of my favorite teacher sites. I love to read blogs from the Voices from the Learning Revolution. These teacher reflections are inspiring. They have helped me to learn how to reflect on my own learning journey and are helping me to shape my personal teaching philosophy.

Here is my recent favorite posts from the PLP site...

 This summer I won’t be learning how to be a better teacher | Powerful Learning Practice 


I love the idea of staying connected and being a co-learner with my class!

How do you teach, really?

One day I will be a teacher.

One day, I will have my own classroom full of diverse students.

It’s a thought that both thrills me and terrifies me. As a teacher my biggest fear is that I will fail a child. I want to have a classroom where all of my children experience success. During a time when classroom environments are so diverse, this can be a difficult (but not an impossible) task.

Right now, I’m eager to grasp every resource, every morsel of knowledge on teaching, education, and children. I want to be prepared. I don’t want to go into this profession blind. I’m often found in the schools, observing the administrators, teachers, faculty and the students.

I like to ask in-service teachers what they feel was lacking in their student teaching courses. Or what they wish they knew during their first year of teaching that they were not able to learn from studying the craft.

Most often than naught, the teachers have similar responses. In their own words, they explain that it was difficult to fully understand the theories on education without putting it into practice. “You don’t get it, until you do it”.

I have to agree with them. I often feel the same. I can regurgitate information about the categories of Blooms Taxonomy, but do I really understand what those different learning levels will look like in a Kindergarten classroom setting? While the knowledge, theories, and approaches about education are important to know, it’s very difficult for me to fully connect the theories with reality until I see it in action. Sometimes I feel like my teachers are stuffing my head full of information that I have no idea how to really use. That is until last week.

Last week, I finished a week long “Boot Camp” for one of my courses and for the first time during my studies I felt that I was able to make that connection. The course was about exceptional students and the “Boot Camp” was at a school for students with disabilities. In the mornings my peers and I would go upstairs where we learned about the history, theories, and approaches for teaching students with disabilities. Throughout the day we were able to see those theories and approaches in action as we participated in activities with the students.

One day we learned about theories on behavior and various approaches we can use to help guide students to make the right choices. That afternoon, I observed my instructor putting those approaches in action during an activity with the students. I also had an opportunity to try many of those approaches myself when I was with the children and they worked!

Every day during “Boot Camp” was an “aha” moment for me and because of this course I feel much more confident in my ability to help my future students succeed. We learned about the craft, the techniques were modeled for us, and then we had an opportunity to put those techniques into action.

I understand that the act of teaching is a living, breathing thing. It’s constantly in motion, constantly changing. It’s not something you can perfect through research, but something you must do to master. I hope that my campus provides more opportunities for me to participate in “live” teaching/learning experiences like the EEX “Boot Camp”. Thank you Dr. Grillo and Dr. Hines for being such inspirational educators!