Back At It Again

Wow! I forgot I had created this blog a couple of years ago; I am glad I found it. This is a perfect day/time to get back into it. I am now teaching 3rd grade. It's my first year teaching this grade and it is difficult. So much has happened in these last couple of months. I'm so ready for the school year to end. Well, I will keep it short for this evening. I will be back!!

Tutoring and Saturday Writing Camp

Wow! I feel like my weekend went by fast. I had to help out with the 4th grade Writing Camp. This camp is to prepare the students (who still need help) to become successful on their TAKS Writing test; Texas' state standardized test. After the Writing Camp I stayed for another hour to work in my classroom. I just couldn't resist. Normally I don't go to school on the weekends.

Tutoring Monday is over with for this week. I'm surprised how fast the day went. I dragged into work in the morning not looking forward to my long Monday. Before I knew it, it was time for the kids I tutor to go home. I am beyond joyful that the five students I tutor enjoy staying after school. They say it is fun. I try to make math tutoring as fun as possible, but I still make sure I am teaching the skills they need.

Resource to Teach Main Idea

Reading Passages That Build Comprehension: Main Idea & Details 


Main Idea Resource

by Linda Ward Beech                                                              

• Grades 2-3

• 35 reproducible pages

• High interest non-fiction reading passages

• Targets main idea skill

• Mini-lessons

• Teacher tips

• Can be used at home and school

• Pre and post assessments and answer key

As a teacher I know the importance of teaching main idea to students. At the same time it can also be a difficult reading comprehension skill for students to fully master. It is our responsibility that students understand this skill because it is tested on state standardized tests. Also, understanding the main idea and details will help children better understand the story. Here is one resource that you can use in your classroom while enforcing main idea and supporting detail skills.

Grades 2-3

This book is targeted for 2-3 graders; however, it can be used in upper grades such as 4th and 5th if you have students whose reading level is low.

Assessments

Before you start teaching the main idea there is a pre-assessment that will help you see what your students understand about main idea. Towards the end of the book there is a post-assessment as well.

Teacher Friendly

This book published by Scholastic is very teacher friendly. It has a mini-lesson at the beginning of the book. First it shows you how to introduce the concept. Afterwards it explains how to model your thinking when introducing the concept. Next, the author, Linda Ward Beech helps define the skill on teaching main idea and details. Finally, the author gives the students an opportunity to practice the skill with main idea reading passages. Ms. Beech also provides a record-keeping sheet that you can use to track your students’ progress as each reading passage is completed.

Student Friendly

When teaching main idea you want materials that will keep your students’ interest. The main idea exercises use high interest non-fiction passages such as a short passage on Mount Rushmore. There’s also child-friendly clip art in the main idea reading passages instead of those boring black and white photographs that seem to be geared more towards adults.

Conclusion

Reading Passages That Build Comprehension: Main Idea & Details by Linda Ward Beech is a great resource under $10 that you can use in your classroom during your guided reading block. This book is also great for parents to use at home in reinforcing main idea skills.

Tutoring Begins

Now the tutoring has began so we can get the students ready for TAKS (Texas' standardized test). I began tutoring today after school for one hour and 45 minutes. I really don't look forward to tutoring each semester, but I went in today with a positive attitude instead of focusing on the four months that this will last. And you know what, that hour and 45 minutes went by quickly. The five students I was tutoring enjoyed themselves. We focused on numerical fluency and estimating. I believe we had fun because of my attitude and it projected on them. I'm glad day 1 of tutoring was a success!

5 Day Thanksgiving Break

Yes, I feel very liberated right now. It feels wonderful knowing I have the next 5 days off from teaching. I can do whatever I want at whatever time I want. Like right now I am still up at 1:50 a.m. Crazy hour, but if I had to work tomorrow I would not be able to do this.

I will definitely enjoy my days off. Spend time with family and do some Christmas shopping!

New School Year-4 Months Late

I actually forgot about this having this blog. I'm was just sitting here relaxing at home and all of a sudden I remembered the blog. This may sound hard to believe; however, with teaching and personal issues going on this blog fell out of my radar. Better late than never!

This school year (2010-2011) is my third year teaching 4th grade and my sixth year teaching. It has been a bit of a challenging school year for me with the increased demands of the job. There has been various occasions I just wanted to walk out of the classroom and leave teaching for good. The main thing that kept me going during the last two months is the students and last, but not least; the time off. I would definitely miss it. I think the district I teach in is shifting in a new direction so this could be the increase of demands. I will ride it out, but I do believe I have to look elsewhere for another teaching position at the end of the school year. I have been at the same school for six years and this year the dynamics have changed to where I don't feel comfortable anymore. So in the meantime I will start working on that resume and cover letter. Of course, also give the best I have to offer to my students.

TAKS Is Over!

Yippee!!! I am so relieved that TAKS testing is finally done for me. These last two days have been very long. The constant walking around the classroom to monitor my students made time drag. I would look at the clock and only 5 minutes had passed. Talk about boring. My feet are suffering for now and I feel worn out. Looking forward the the weekend to recuperate my energy and normal feeling to my feet.