Getting Students to Test Their Best!

So, it is that time of year where state testing mumbles and grumbles fill the air! It's the part of the year that I honestly hate! Yes, I know, I said hate... but, it is true! The thought that one test determines the success of a child is honestly mind blowing to me. Yes, there are other measures and instances where you look at students portfolios to see there capability, however the initial measure is ONE test score. I really and truly hate that idea!

Here is what I have done in the past as well as how I need to do things a little differently this year. Looping has been truly wonderful, but I have to reinvent all my bag of tricks because they have seen them all! =) Don't worry though, I will show you how I am going to change the idea up a little bit later! Below you will find a link to last years freebie.

First off let me tell you that I forbid the name of the test to be said in my classroom all year long. I NEVER say we are learning this because of {insert name of test}! I believe that students need to see the purpose in what they are learning and that is not because of a test. Now this next one you are going to think I am crazy but, on all the "practice tests" you have to administer, I take off the name of the test too! =) I know what you are thinking but I just feel it is necessary.

Next idea I am going to share with you is charting their success! On all the practice tests they take in reading I allow them to chart their scores. We started this practice in December. However, I do things a little different. I allow them to chart two scores for each test! Here is why... feeling successful and believing you can do it, is key to making your students realize they CAN do it! Hearing you tell them they can do it is only one part. They need to see it and fell it as well! So here is how it works in my room.
Step 1: Once we start I start the timer, I time them and when they are ready they raise their hand and bring it up to me.
Step 2: Next I grarde their test and give it a score as well as write the time they completed the test in. Step 3: This is when I allow them to go fix their answers.
Step 4: After they do that, they bring the test back to me for a second score.

You should see their smiles when they realize THEY were the ones that fixed their answer choices and improved their score. That is the "feel success" portion of the practice! Then as we move into graphing of their scores, it becomes the "see success" part of the practice! It is truly a confidence builder. If they can find the right answer the second time, then they could of found it the first time!
After all of the students finish we go over it as a class. During this time we look at text evidence, share learning through how they fixed answers, looking at word parts, and finally review some testing strategies! You can grab a copy of the graphs that I use below!

Which leads me to my next topic of the day! =) Testing strategies! If you have followed my blog, you know that I have used game controllers as a way to teach testing strategies! Recently I have put together a unit with all the testing strategies I teach as well as a few activities to review these strategies. Here is my new unit!

I have included 10 testing strategy posters. All posters come in two sizes as well as being in color and grayscale.

I have also made a few additional teaching posters and positive quote posters to encourage your students!

Last, you will find anchor chart poster ideas and student labeling sheets. I also created a mini book where students can write I can statements on how they use each strategy. 

Okay, so now i will show you what I am working on for this years group. My team came up with the saying, "Hiking to Success" and let me just tell you I have ran with this idea!  Here is the cover so far and please don't worry, I will be back with a finished unit later in the week. I have to stay, I am really excited about the materials I have created! I also just might have another freebie for you! =)

 Coming Soon!

I hope everyone is having a great week! See you soon!

Fan Freebie {Valentine's Day Gift Tags}

Hey, I am going to make it quick tonight! I am dropping in to give you a little freebie for Valentine's Day! If you are a fan of my Facebook page, you can pick up some gift tags for your students!If you are not a fan yet, all you need to do is head on over to my Facebook page and click on the "Like" button! Once you do this you will get access to all the freebies I post for my fans!  You can't get these freebies at my TpT store, they are just for the fans!! =) Thanks for all the love and just click on the image below to take you over to my page. 

Also if you still need a few activities for celebrating Valentine's Day in the classroom, I have put both of my Valentines day units on sale!  Just click on the images below to take a closer look at them.

        

One more freebie before I head on out. I have posted in my TpT store some Minute to Win It Valentine's Day fun games with follow up activities. I am telling you, your students will love them!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day!

I am so excited to finally share....

I know it has been a while since I have posted but don't worry I have been very, very busy putting together a massive resource. But before I get into all that I have to say HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I can't believe this is my first post for 2014. This got me thinking about all the other amazing blogs out there and what they have been up to. That is when I remembered Doodle Bugs Five For Friday Linky and decided that is where I would start.

Coming Clean

Now onto the good stuff. I have been researching, reading, and getting my creative juices flowing to bring you a band new set of resources!!! The best part is that they are almost done. This means I can finally share what has been keeping me so busy.
Let me share a little background with you, or should I say come clean about something.
I have always felt a little unsure of myself when it comes to word study. I was only introduced to the idea of word study after my first year of teaching when I decided to do summer school. I am now in my sixth year of teaching and can finally tackle my goal of teaching a purposeful lesson in word study to my students. Sure I do word study lessons, but none that have left me thinking, wow my students really have strategies for unknown words now that I did that awesome lesson. Until now.
Spelling words and my school's reading series never seemed to do it for me. I always felt my students were memorizing words/rules for the time being and then forgetting them after we used them. I never saw my students retain the information and apply those lessons to unknown words. So I decided to change that.
I want my students to become meta-cognitive spellers. The kind of students that think about the words they don't know in order to figure them out!! Not just skip over them.
So in order to achieve this, I had to start at the root of the- dare I say- problem, me. That's right, me. I said it. I needed to build myself up with all the word study knowledge so that I felt confident to teach it. I needed to become that meta-cognitive speller in order for my students to become one. I started by compiling lists full of generalizations and strategies for my students. I basically wanted the best cheat sheet go-to resource for my instruction. A place for all the generalizations and guidelines of an effective word study.

Doing the Needed Research

So that is just what I did. I compiled a huge list of prefixes, suffixes, root words, as well as the generalizations to go with them. But I didn't stop there. I wanted my instruction to be the most effective and expose them to the most words as possible. I also have included a top 20 list for the most frequent  prefixes and suffixes as well as the order in which you should teach the topics with in my unit. I have done all the research here.

Within the 42 page list of words I have also added a section that can be customized with words your students come across that they think fit the word study focus but do not. These words are most commonly know as exceptions. I have found that using the words that students come up with help them learn the exceptions as well as help to deepen their understanding of the concepts being taught.

Holding the Students Accountable

Once I had the list created I then started working on a resource that the students can use to keep all their learning in. I wanted a student book full of word study AWESOMENESS!

Each page contains two teaching points of either prefix, suffix, Latin root, or Greek root. The book is created in alphabetical order for quick and easy locating so that the most time can be spent on writing, building, and learning the new words. There are words as well as pictures that give examples of the two focus word parts at the top of every page. The best part here is that I created two options. One has the meaning or the word part defined for the students to allow for them to write words, their meanings and complete an illustration. The second option is completely blank. This allows you to come up with each word part definition, coordinating words, their meanings, and an illustration.

 Learning the Generalizations

After I had the words figured out as well as the word parts I wanted to cover I set out on how to teach them. That is when I learned about generalizations.

I am sure all of you are familiar with spelling rules/patterns. After my research I learned that these rules are not really rules, they are more like generalizations. They almost always have an exception, meaning there is usually words that do not follow a rule in some way. This is what makes spelling so hard for students. However, once they understand that words might not follow the most obvious generalization they see it allows them to be problem solvers and use other spelling generalizations to figure out the unknown word.

Effective Practice

Of course, in all good instruction, practice and self discovery is key. So I have included a few word work card games to help boost student practice.

Building words, working with words, or making words, whatever you call it, it is definitely important to all word study programs. It is how your students gain experience and understanding with words. I knew I wanted to have this be a part of my resource. So you will find many word cards for students to use as well as printables for you have at your fingertips. I also included homework pages for extra practice.

Creating a Focus Display

The last resource I wanted to highlight tonight is the posters you will receive. I have created 20 different posters that you can hang in your room for students to refer to as they learn strategies, spelling generalizations, and word parts.

Each poster is bright and colorful with a definition, Word Wrestler, and depending on the word, an example. They are meant to be matching so that if you want to create an ongoing display you may do this with a cohesive look. I will also mention that I have included word wall words that can be added to your word wall. Most of the ready made word wall words fall into the category of word parts (suffix, prefix, and root). Because the words you will want to use is different with every classroom, I made a template that can be editable. I know that purpose is also important.

There is more to come on this unit but that I all I am going to share tonight! 

Since a long weekend is in my sights I hope to have this all finished up and posted to TpT this weekend! I hope you all enjoy your weekend and get some much deserved R&R!

Coming Soon!!