Finally- A Break!

It is finally Thanksgiving Break, but that just puts this teacher's mind in overload. I've been thinking about vocabulary. Specifically, how do I grow student vocabulary? I think teaching vocabulary must be done with purpose, yet with repetition and fun. Think about how toddlers learn words and how to speak. The more I think about a vocabulary enriched classroom, the more I think about interacting, talking, analogies, multiple meanings, and synonyms. Students must have anchor words that are common to all. From those anchors, we can branch out and connect words and context. The key here is context. Think about the toddler who understands the word ball, and then associates anything round to the ball. In order to understand, we must give loads of examples within context and loads of connections. I think when I go back to my classroom, we will draw an anchor in our notebooks and pick 5 words with which we can work. There will be no guess work as the words will be common words for everyone. Common words are just as important as common text. As a teacher, I can never assume all students are familiar with any text. Each student comes to my room and yours with various levels of background knowledge and it is important we all have conversations and interactions with words. Speaking of common text, to start our common words, I will obtain our words from a shared text-Amelia Bedelia. Many students are familiar with the story; however, I will read it to everyone and have conversation before extracting our common words. Stay tuned......I will post the lesson for anyone to use! Feel free to Gobble it up! (Yes, the pun was intended!)
:) M

Read Aloud...not just story time!

I was once asked what I felt was the most important thing I did in the classroom. Without hesitation: Reading to my students. Many teachers feel they do not have time to do this; however, I make the time at the beginning of each class. Why is reading to students powerful? As a teacher, you can never assume all children have the background knowledge of a story or piece of text. I am amazed every year at the number of students who have never heard of fairy tales or nursery rhymes. It is critical for all students in my class to have a common text with which we can all refer or discuss, make connections, and just enjoy together. In future posts, I will talk about the texts I use and why. I will leave you with this: every day, my students come into class asking if I intend to read to them. :)

Hopping Right in!

I have been thinking for a long time how I can help more students.....more than just the students who are in my classes. After 28 years in the classroom, I have hopped into the world of blogging so I could share my classroom knowledge and curriculum ideas. :) So Here We Go.......Hopping Right IN!!!!!