Common Core Daily Reading Comprehension

If you read my Common Core Math Review blog post the other day, you will see that a friend introduced me to a few new resources.  Here is one I'm using for reading:

Once again, my students LOVE getting their packet each Monday.  I like this because it teaches all the important common core strategies and uses some interesting articles.  For example:  in week 24 the comprehension skills are nonfiction text features and visual information.  The comprehension strategies are determine important information and organization.  So the daily stories is a nonfiction story on great white sharks, reading a table of contents, reading a time line, and another nonfiction on an ant colony.

It is nice that each day's comprehension story is short and sweet.  I use another book with this one to give them more exposure to longer passages. 

This book has different passages and then an extended response that correlates with the theme of the other stories.  I have been using this one a lot before ISAT to give my kiddos exposure to writing those fun extended response questions.

By utilizing both resources (and all the items I buy from TPT), I feel like I'm covering a whole bunch of different reading comprehension stories in different ways.  Until we get guidance from our administration on where our district is going with common core...this is what I'm doing.

Is anyone else having fun implementing common core WITHOUT resources given to you from your administration???? 

What a Great Book!



A little while back the author, Vincent Mastro, contacted me through my blog to see if I would be interested in reviewing his book.  After being honored of his request, I jumped at it and said, YES please!  He sent out the first book in his series.

Now if any of you are familiar with Aesop fables you will know that A) books for third graders on this topic are few and far between and B) most of our students never even heard of Aesop Fables.

I sat down and read his book.  I was amazed how well it was written!  I mean it kept me engaged and wanting to turn the next page.  The word choice Mr. Mastro used was so fluent and so kid friendly.  The main character is a little raccoon named Aesop and the stories are told from his point of view! Can anyone say what a great lesson on point of view??? And since Common Core RL.3.2 says "recount stories, including FABLES, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text"...what a fantastic way to teach these Aesop fables to children! 

The three stories in the first book are:  The Tortoise and the Hare, The Friends and the Bear, and The Crow and the Pitcher.  The author has come up with lessons that go along with the stories and the common core. 

Let me share with you an example.  In the story The Crow and the Pitcher Aesop's friend the crow is very thirsty.  He wants to drink from a pitcher that is half full.  The crow cannot reach into the pitcher to get a drink.  So he starts dropping pebbles into the pitcher to raise up the water level.  Aesop helps his friend do this until the water is high enough to take a drink.

The author, Vincent Mastro, has come up with a wonderful lesson on how to incorporate Common Core Standard 3.MD.2 to measure and estimate liquid volumes.  He suggests that you have 2 or more different shaped containers that hold the exact same amount of liquid (of course not telling your students that).  The students pick which container would have more volume.  They then estimate how many pebbles it would take to make the water overflow.  You have the students drawing diagrams throughout the entire lesson.  Then they can compare and contrast the two containers and write a hypothesis about their findings.

Ingenious!  And so darn easy!  The book is geared to younger children ages 3-7, but after talking to other bloggers who have been lucky enough to read this book, it is our opinion that even third and fourth graders would really benefit from these stories.

I am going to purchase book 2 and wait for more to come out.  I have already made a plan to incorporate the book in my measurement unit.  I have also planned lessons on using the other two stories for character education lessons about perseverance and in literature about fables.

 

Book 2 includes the stories:  The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs, Three Equal Shares, and The Oak and the Grass.  Book 3 is in the works and will include:  The Boy Who Cried Wolf and The Lion and the Mouse. 

 

Fractured Tales - The End

This week we read our final story The Three Hawaiian Pigs and the Magic Shark.  I'm sad to say it is over.   The kids had so much fun with this theme (which is why we always do it at the end of the school year).

This story is about three pigs that live in Hawaii.  The wolf is replaced by a shark.  They make houses out of things like:  pili grass, driftwood, and lava rocks.  Some of the fun disguises the shark used were:  a shave ice man, a beach boy, and a lei salesmen. 

Since we live in Illinois, it was so fun exploring Hawaii with the class.  We researched Hawaii.  They worked on a fun book report that used cut outs of Hawaiian objects (like a pineapple for the problem, a palm tree for characters, etc).  The kiddos had a ball making their posters.

For our Fun Friday, we greeted each child with an "Aloha" and gave them a different color lei.  Later in the day we showed the students a instructional video on hula dancing.  We all got together and had  a luau.  We hula danced and played the limbo.  We even ate Popsicles while we pretended to be in Hawaii! 

Here they are reviewing the hula and then performing it with the video.

Too cute! 

 

 

    Check out the boy with the orange shirt and flower hat. 

He was ready to board the plane and fly out to Hawaii!  :)

 

 

Fractured Tales - Week 3

The next story in our fractured tale unit is called The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.



This story is told from the point of view of the wolf.  He is in jail and talks about what "really happened".  It is so cute.  The wolf talks about that he was only trying to get some sugar to make a cake for his dear sweet granny.  The kiddos loved this story!

I have the children choose whose side of the story they believe:  the wolf's or the pig's.  They must pick only one side.  Then they write an essay giving details about why they chose that side.  They get to color either a pig or a wolf to color, cut out, and glue holding their essay.

Sorry...I couldn't get the darn thing to rotate!

Another activity I do is to assign different parts for the kiddos to act out in a court activity where we put the wolf and the pigs on trial.  I have lawyers, a jury, attorneys, etc.  They have to write out what they would say and why.  Then we perform the trial and I act as judge.  I get to pick which side of the story was better explained in details.  The winners get a small treat.  Okay, so each student gets a small treat because they did an awesome job!

Our Fun Friday was to eat cereal, since it seems like an opposite like the story.  We also watched a fun fractured tale movie called "Goldilocks and the 3 Bears Show".

This is a super cute movie that has a lot of famous stars as the voices.  And the best part is....it is G rated (we can't show any movies in our district that is not a G rated movie...try and find movies that the kiddos will like that are G rated...NOT FUN!!!)  Oh well...a great time was had by all.
 

Fractured Tales - Week 2

It's time for week number 2 in my fractured tale unit.  This week we read the story The 3 Little Javelinas.

This tale is fractured because it has the hairy pigs (javelinas) that live in the southwest and a coyote instead of a wolf.  They make houses out of tumbleweeds, cactus ribs, and adobe bricks.  Another fun story!

One activity we did was to have the students draw the three different types of houses the javelinas used in this story.  It was very interesting...living in Illinois, the students had no idea what tumbleweeds, cactus ribs, and adobe were.  This was a great time to do some computer work and look up these things on our computer.  The students really enjoyed seeing these things come to life on the computer screen.  They had some knowledge then to really illustrate their pictures more realistically than the book showed.

The next thing we did was to discuss the Southwest area.  Once again...computers to the rescue.  After seeing different things from the Southwest, the students had to compare that setting to our own area here in Illinois.  The students made cute travel brochures of the southwest, using details from the story, our discussions, and their research.

This week's Fun Friday was to eat chips and salsa.  We wore sombreros and Southwest clothing.  Some of the students wore cowboy hats because it was the West (heehee- gotta love third graders). 

We borrowed maracas, tambourines, and shakers from our music teacher.  The children watched a YouTube video showing some high school students performing the Mexican Hat Dance.  We then got together with the other 2 third grade classes and performed the dance for each other, using the instruments and modeling the video.  I should have video taped it, but didn't think about it.  Oh my goodness was that fun!

Next week's story will be...The Three Hawaiian Pigs and the Magic Shark.

Fractured Tales - Week 1

If you follow my blog, you will remember that a couple of weeks ago I blogged about my old reading series that I couldn't let go.  It was my disaster theme.  Well, the kiddos LOVED it! 

Now comes my next favorite theme of the year...fractured tales.  This is also in the same old reader that I just can't part with.  I'm so excited to start this theme.  Not only because it is my last reading theme of the year, but also because my group this year is VERY funny and creative...they are going to LOVE this unit.

I start out by reading a real version of "The Three Little Pigs".  We discuss what the narrative elements of this story are.  Then we start talking about what a fractured tale would be.  They have no idea.  So I have them fill in a Mad Libs type activity paper about a short tale.  They use different things that will make their paper different...or what we call fractured.  Then all the light bulbs start going off.  I hear...oh, that's what you mean....we just turned this into something fractured...and so on.  Super fun discussion.

Then we read the story "The 3 Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig". 

If you haven't read this story, it is super cute!  Instead of the 3 pigs, we have 3 adorable wolves.  Instead of the big bad wolf, we have the big bad pig.  The pig knocks over the houses using things like:  a sledgehammer, a pneumatic drill, a wrecking ball, etc.  After we read this story we discuss the narrative elements.  Then using a chart, we compare the original version of the Three Little Pigs that I read to them and this story.  We had so much fun comparing and contrasting.

Each Friday of our Fractured Tale unit I will have a Fun Friday. This Friday to go along with this story, we will have a "Construction Day".  The children will snack on pretzels (kind of like logs) and then they will construct their own house out of materials that they bring in from home.  I sent a note about bringing things in and gave lots of examples.  They have been bringing them in all week...toothpicks, cereal pieces, dried pasta, even beads.  They are so excited for Friday to come so they can become construction workers!

The other three stories we will be reading in the next 3 weeks will be:  The 3 Javelinas, The 3 Little Hawaiian Pigs and the Magic Shark, and The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs.  I will blog about one each week and tell you what types of activities we did and what each Fun Friday was. 

I even have some Fractured Tale Reader's Theaters that I do.  We invite the parents in and other classes.  I'll blog about this in the coming week as well.  What a great way to end the school year on a fun note!

New Constellations

Have your read the story Coyote Places the Stars?  Well we just read it.  It is a cute native American tale about how a coyote placed stars and made the constellations.

An activity I like to do with this story is having the students make their own constellations.  It is so much fun!  First, I pass out a strip of sticker stars.

 

Then they have to connect the stars.

After they are connected, they have to get up (to throw away the sticker wrapper). 

They have to look at their paper to see what they visualize. 

Once they visualize their constellation, they add details and a title. 

 

And finally...the completed hallway bulletin board. 

 

I also had them write a creative writing essay about their constellation.  I told them to enjoy this creative writing time, since in third grade it doesn't always happen!  :)

 

The students had so much fun. And this is a way I can sneak in visualizing and constellations (especially since we don't get to teach space anymore at third grade)!

 

Have you entered my giveaway yet?  Click on the picture to enter...it ends Sunday!

 

 

Tried it Tuesday Linky

I'm linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper for her first ever linky...Tried it Tuesday.  This post is about something I made, lost, found, and tried!


Click on the button to link up!  
I saw this idea over the summer on Pinterest.  I made it and was super excited about it.  Well I put it in a safe place...so safe that I forgot about it until this week!  Don't you hate when you do that.

Sorry...I don't know the original owner.  If it is you, please let me know

Anyways...I used it on our current story Lon Po Po.  I didn't want to have the students write on the poster with dry erase markers or use sticky notes, so I cut paper to fit the poster. 

I wrote the title on a strip.  As a class we discussed the theme.  I had 5 strips left.  I have my students sitting in 4 groups of 5, so I gave each group one strip and they had to answer it.  Then they had to decorate it to match the story.

Here is the final product. 

Didn't it turn out cute?  Now I have to go hunt down other things I made this summer that I put into that safe place!

And don't forget about my giveaway.  It ends Sunday.  Click on the picture to go directly there.

Chocolate Unit

Hi everyone!  So sorry I haven't blogged in a few days.  My son was sick again...that darn stomach flu has really hit his school hard.  This is his second time since we've been back from Holiday Break!  Fingers crossed that darn flu bug can leave his school soon!

I'm getting ready to start my chocolate unit next week.  The unit lasts for two weeks (the most time I can use before state testing starts)!  I don't know if your school has a no junk food ban, but we do.  It really puts a damper on teaching a chocolate unit when you can't actually eat chocolate!

Oh well...I will be using the story Chocolate Touch in my classroom.  Have you read the book???  Great story and the children can really relate to it.  I have some fun activities that I am working on to update my unit.

I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory aloud to my class during this unit, too.  I bought the adorable graphics from Melonheadz that go along with this story.  Can't wait to put them to good use (I already made a fun character trait analysis project to go with the characters from this story)!

 



Does anyone use either of these two stories in their classroom?  Do you have any good ideas that you would like to share with me?  Would you like to see some of my "chocolate-tastic" ideas in the coming weeks???? 

Predicting Fun...with a groundhog???

Okay so I was teaching predicting to my students last week.  And one thing lead to another and the next thing I know we have groundhogs done for the bulletin board.  Let me explain how it went.

I wanted to work on predicting with my students, so for fun I read them the story The Little Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow.  Now if you are a follower of my blog, you know I LOVE these books.  So I passed out index cards and had them number their cards 1-8.  Then I showed them the cover of the book and read the first thing the lady ate.  The students had to predict what would be the next thing she ate.  We continued doing this throughout the entire story. 

The students kinda figured out what her final object would be, but they had to predict what she ate next.  It was so much fun!  When we got to the end of the book, they drew a picture of the final item she ate.  Then we talked about predicting.  We talked about how the ideas at the beginning were a lot more random and once they started figuring things out, their predictions became closer.  It was amazing watching their little light bulbs going off about narrowing down...so proud...

Okay so then what???  We started talking about how predicting is a part of everyday life.  Like predicting who will win a game, the groundhog, etc.  So I had them take a groundhog outline I made and make a prediction about if the groundhog will see his shadow or not.  They had to start their writing out with "I predict the groundhog will/will not see his shadow.  I predict this because---"  They turned out SO cute!

Here is my groundhog outline.

Here is the finished bulletin board.  They had to put detail into their groundhog, too...

just to give it some oomph!  I don't know if you can see it, but there are lots of scarfs.  I have some coming out of his hole, some with hair bows, and a couple are wearing tuxedos!

Who would have thought that a little lesson on predicting a picture book could turn into such an excellent life lesson?!  Next week we will be predicting the Super Bowl and they will have to give reasons to support their predictions, just like their groundhogs!

Adjective Fun

Adjective fun???  Really???  Sure...read on.  When I teach adjectives, I always start out simple.  I read the story Hairy, Scary, Ordinary:  What is an Adjective?

 

 

Then I give them my cute webs where they have to describe the middle picture.  They sure love getting a paper with adorable colored graphics, don't they?  I have different ones that so that the children can work in a group of 2 and not have the same middle graphic.  Some of the ones I use are:  hot chocolate, cupcake, pizza, chocolate, birthday party, etc.

 

 

The next day I have them work in a group of 3.  They get a snowflake pattern and a bunch of magazines.  They have to find words that describe winter in the magazines and then cut them out and glue them to the snowflake.  It's kinda trick, especially when I don't have many magazines from the winter seasons...mostly summer, but they did it (I really have to get more magazines!).  When they are all done, they have to put their names on the paper using an adjective to describe themselves before their name.  That was fun!  Some of the adjectives they used to describe themselves were:  loud, annoying, amazing, adorable, pretty, and funny.  Too cute!


 

 

Here is a picture of the finished snowflakes on my bulletin board. 

 

 

Aren't they lovely, amazing, adorable, blue...oh okay you get the idea! 

 





 

Leah's Pony update

A week or so ago I blogged about a story in my reader called "Leah's Pony".  I just had to share this. The story is all about a girl during the Dust Bowl who had to sell her beloved pony to help out her family's farm.  We talked about the girl, her family, the neighbors who come to the family's aid, etc...but one day I told my students that we didn't think about someone else in the story...the pony.  I had a wonderful lesson about point of view and perspective.  Then my students had to pretend they were the pony and had to write how it felt about being sold.  They had to site information from the text in their response.  Here are two examples:

This student said:  "I will feel sad and happy.  I will feel happy because she's doing it for a good cause and I will feel sad because she is leaving me and give it to Mr. B.  I don't want to leave my owner but at least I'm getting a new owner."

 

This student wrote:  "I would be sad if Leah sold me to Mr. B.  I would kind of be happy because she is helping her family.  She is helping her family by selling me and getting money.  She uses the money to buy papa's tractor.  Then everyone buys stuff and fives it to their family and I got my owner back."

 

 

They were so cute writing about this.  They said they never thought about what the pony would feel like when she was sold and then when she was given back to Leah.  What a fantastic discussion on point of view and perspective!  I was so proud of my third graders!

 

 





Reading the Common Core Way...I Think...

Warning...This is a long one----

Today I'm going to write about what my third grade team is starting to do for teaching reading.  We had a meeting a few weeks before Winter break with our BIG bosses.  They told us that we needed to start experimenting and try new things to get ready for common core.  They told us that we DID NOT need to teach the way we have been with our basal readers.

Well that took my team just a few minutes to let it sink in.  Then we started preparing.  This is what we came up with so far.

We are introducing our reading story on Monday like we always did.  We have them read the story for homework that night.  The next day we have them take the story quiz.  But we are not grading it like we used to.  Now the students have to use their book and write the page numbers for where the answers are.  We are using what the common core is saying by using the selection to cite information as a source.

On the third day, we have them read some other literature relating to the first story.  We are trying to find nonfiction pieces to go with each story, but man is it hard to find nonfiction for third graders!  They have to highlight facts that are similar to the original story and make a list of facts. 

The fourth day,they have to write an essay comparing the first story to the second story.  We started this out by giving them a paragraph frame to help them. 

And finally on the fifth day of the week, we are having them write some kind of answer to a question that they have to cite information from both texts we used during the week.

I have to say...it is HARD.  The students are freaking out with all the writing.  But they are working through it.  To hear my little kiddos saying things like:  we infer what the answer is but where is it in the story...or I know I saw that information in the selection, so let's turn to that part and reread what it said...or WOW that was fun...or taking the story quiz took us longer, but it really made us think!!!

No really...those are exact quotes of things I hard my third graders say during reading class this week.  I am such a proud little teacher!!!

I have less grades throughout the week, but our BIG bosses said that grades were not as important  (yes, they did say that and we made them repeat it many times to be sure).  We take a couple vocabulary assessments, skills of the week assessments, and writing samples each week. 

So far...so good.  We'll see how this is going a few weeks from now.  I'm sure there will be LOTS a little of tweaking!