We teach our students about Martin Luther King Jr. but I believe as adults he can still teach us a thing or two about how we could and should live our lives. I find it incredible that even years after his death his words still have the power to make me stop, think and consider how I might better myself.
Here is an adorable little story that helps students to see that even small deeds done for others can result in big blessings and even young people have the ability to make a great difference.
It would be a fantastic one to use when teaching the skill of cause and effect as one small deed leads to another in this cute story.
It also has a math connection as on the last page it shows how one good action was multiplied again and again and resulted in lots and lots and lots of good deeds.
Love this book!
So after my last post, I got email asking if I could explain how I handle guided reading since abandoning the flexible grouping scenario.
I am going to share that briefly here.
I have gone back to what I used to do in the past. I am running what I call my "Reading Rounds".
Our class mascot is the "Wildcat" so I found some little wildcat readers to use for the graphics.
I like flexibility in my groupings so I am using paperclips to attach the small circles. That way I can switch and change them very easily. There may be some days that I am running two writing rounds and one reading round, other days that I want to run read to self, work on writing, and read with a partner. It totally depends on student needs. I also like being able to adjust the student groups so names are written on post it note strips so I can move them as needed.
I have reading round buckets that I use to put in the materials needed for the rounds. These buckets sit on top my students' reading basket bookshelf. Each student has a basket that they use to put in their self selected or teacher selected reading books. They use these for reading rounds and independent book nook times.
I have my students placed in four reading groups. When they are not meeting with me, they are at one of the rounds. They report to their assigned reading round bucket to gather the supplies they need to complete the activity. They stay at that reading round for about 20 minutes working on the "must do" and then a "can do" literacy activity.
After about 20 minutes we move the little circles on the chart and students move to their next station.
Hope this all makes sense! Let me know if you have any questions.
Do you want to try out this system?
In honor of the great Martin Luther King Jr. I am going to "do something for others" and put this on TPT as a free item.....
head here for your download:
youngdor8@gmail.com
