New Job = New Lens

New Job = New Lens

             So this year, I got a new job.  The week before school began, there were a lot of changes and long story short, I am the new Instructional Coach for the school.
              Over the summer I had applied for and received (I had a few donations and then I paid for the rest of a half since the other half was matched) a DonorsChoose grant for great literature.  Some of it is pictured above.
               IMHO, it's my job to serve the teachers and kids.  To that end, I spent this week, doing read alouds or stokes in every classroom.  It was amazing.  It opened my eyes to what the teachers deal with every day.  As a 30 year veteran, I thought I saw everything...nope.  It was so wonderful to share these books with the kids and teachers.  We Don't Eat Our Classmates got a lot of laughs.  Say Something made us pensive.  The Fantastic Elastic Brain taught us a lot about our amazing brain.  The Most Magnificent Thing taught us about our growth mindset.  I loved it!
                You're probably asking what's a stoke?  Stokes are activities created by the d.school at Stanford.  They can be used to create focus, boost energy and even communicate mindsets.   That was a lot of fun and was a springboard for future work!  And if you've never heard of the d.school, get to know it.  It's an amazing place where people come first and space and work is always utilized with that in mind.  If you're curious about Design Thinking, visit them or better yet attend a training.
              So I hope I do a good job.  But the thing to remember is story always brings us together!

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Great Picture Books with a Latin Bent

Great Picture Books with a Latin Bent

Great books for Hispanic Heritage month!  September 15 to October 15!

Drum Dream Girl

 This was inspired by Milo Castro Zaldarriaga, a Chinese-African Cuban girl who wanted to be a drummer when girls were not allowed to be.  

Diego Rivera  His World and Ours

We all know Diego Rivera's work but this book gives a little more background especially for children.  The illustrations are by Duncan Tonatiuh who is amazing!

Viva Frida 

Frida Kahlo is one of my absolute faves!  I want my students to appreciate her work and influence as much as I do!

Separate in Never Equal

Do you know the story of Sylvia Mendez?  She and her family fought for equality back when Latino kids were segregated in California.

Danza!

This is about Amalia Hernandez, the founder of ballet Folklorico.  Her Ballet is still performing in Mexico City today.

Nino  Wrestles the World

I love me some Yuyi Morales!  She writes and illustrates this fun book which will teach your little ones about cultural elements of Mexico.

and another celebrating diversity in general...
The Day You Begin

Everybody is different but how do you handle it?  Are you brave?  This is a great book about diversity and appreciating similarities and differences.  Jacqueline Woodsen always creates magic with her storytelling.

Enjoy these magical tales!!


        

Reading Strategies

Reading Strategies

If you're an elementary teacher, then you are teaching reading strategies.

It's super important to be explicit and clear.  You have to provide kids with a toolbox of strategies to help them navigate their reading.  Stephanie Harvey is amazing and knows all things literacy.  Her book Strategies that Work has been a cornerstone for me.

We all know Reading is thinking.  Kids need to interact with the text.  The strategies are: Activating and connecting to background knowledge, determining importance, "fix up" strategies, inferring and visualizing meaning, monitoring comprehension, asking questions and synthesizing and summarizing.  

Here is one of the anchor charts I made.  I make posters out of them (there is a lot of text) and I made small versions for the kids to glue in their journals.

Now what?

First, read the book so you have a thorough understanding of all the strategies.  As kids are reading in Reader's Workshop, monitor them.  Confer with them and take notes.  The notes will remind you what you've already covered and where to go from there! 

If you need the anchor charts, they are in my TPT store!  

The direct link is here.  There are three versions; two black and white.  One is more simple and the other has sentence stems for the kids.  There is also a color version with tween readers clip art.  Enjoy reading with your kids!  Give them the tools they need and they will amaze you! 

        

Technology Tales for Kids

Monday Linky from Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers and Kathryn from Book Date!

Technology Tales for Kids

As the school year begins, it's important to teach kids about Digital Citizenship.  Here are some books that may make that easier...

Technology Tale: A Digital Footprint Story


This is a great way to explain to kids what a digital footprint is.   

Good Night Ipad


Here is a story about the importance of disconnecting!  Patterned after the classic.

Once Upon a Time...Online


Hmmm...a little girl finds a laptop...what could happen?  I love the fairy tale component.


One great resource for additional ideas is Common Sense Media.  Lots of great ideas and videos.  If you want to take it a step further, have your students create their own cautionary tales on Storybird.  Great online program to create stories with beautiful art and it's free!


        

Culturally Relevant Picture Books for your Kids

Monday Linky from Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers and Kathryn from Book Date!

Diverse Reads for your students

I had the pleasure of attending a conference session led by Lindsey Nagorsky and Dr. Sharroky Hollie about Responsive Reads.  Culturally responsive reads are texts that are culturally relevant and teach kids about the world around them.  So it doesn't mean you only read texts with Latino characters to Latino students but you read these texts to all students to open their world.

So after some research, here are some of my favorites.  I've got a DonorsChoose grant out there hoping to get these texts in my reader's hands.  This week, picture books!

Picture books

A Piece of Home 

by Jeri Watts and Hyewon Yum

This is a beautiful book about a child moving from Korea to America and the changes he has to endure. 

She Persisted: 13 American Women who Changed the World 

by Chelsea Clinton

Being culturally relevant doesn't mean just ethnicity.  It also means gender. This book is great for little girls to see themselves and picture a brighter future.

Separate is Never Equal:Sylvia and her Family's Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuth

Great non-fiction picture book about the fight for desegregation in California.  I had never heard this story before and it happened in my backyard!

The Most Magnificent Thing 

by Ashley Spires

One of my favorites.  This is great for teaching growth mindset and helping kids see they can accomplish anything if they put forth the effort.

Next week...chapter books!