Teaching Quotation Marks

For the brief years I taught math, the day I dreaded most each year was the introduction of long division. I have to say that teaching quotation marks is my writing equivalent. After years and years of quotation mark fails, I found what usually works best for my students. The summary of that is: start early and practice every single week. The skill is simply too complex to pick up quickly, no matter how old or young you are.

I usually introduce this skill as early as week three. I do a quick mini-lesson using the anchor chart below. If you have a student working from home or want to send a lesson home to parents, here is the best one I have found on Youtube.

I try not to make this super long. I read number one on the list and show them the difference with a short example I write on the board:

He told her he needed to find his pencil.

He said, ¨I need to find my pencil.¨

I read number two on the list and explain that the quotation marks indicate to the reader that the narrator is no longer speaking. This can be a little tricky with first person because there are times when a first person narrator´s words show up in quotation marks, but that is usually when the narrator speaks to another character, not to the reader. I do not bring this up on day one, but when we encounter it in a passage, I point it out. I almost always have a student who, once introduced to quotation marks, begins to use them all over the place when they write in first person. I have this discussion with them right away and find examples in classroom library books to show them.

I read number three and show them what this looks like using classroom library books. Some kids pick this up immediately in their own writing from that point on. Others are just not ready. I tend to leave this alone until they master using quotations at the sentence level. Then, I bring it up again.

Lastly, I introduce pattern one and pattern two. I model writing one of each on the board. I explain there are other quotation mark patterns and even other uses besides dialogue for quotation marks, but we are going to master pattern one and two before we learn anything else. I often have advanced students seek out other patterns in their library books just because I refuse to show them in advance. They are so excited when they find them on their own, and so am I!

After the lesson, I use my weekly bell work to model to students how to use pattern one and two to identify correct or incorrect usage of quotation marks. I have found that I need to do the first two boxes together this first day. I call up a partner for myself and model talking/arguing through each part of the pattern to see if it is correct. The kids really love learning how to have a discussion like this. Then, we do partners for the last two boxes. I like to do partner bell work each Friday, and the kids look forward to these conversations. I have found the kids learn more quickly about quotation marks through this weekly partner method than any other way I have tried.

Once I have taught quotation marks to the group, I can start having discussions about quotation marks in their workshop writing. However, if a student has not mastered basic end punctuation, they are not ready for quotation marks. I only have conversations about quotation marks in workshop if they are ready for them. If you try to push them in advance of end punctuation, you will end up with an even bigger mess on your hands.

I hope this helps, and I would love to hear what has worked for you.

Teaching Without Twitching Your First Year

If you are a regular follower of my blog, this post is very, very off topic. I pretty much focus on ELAR and Texas history, but today, I’m using my blog as a place to share some work with my grown-up school babies. My hair is grey enough now that I have almost an entire flock of former students heading into education during the next two years. I used to tell my students that while they were at school, they could think of me as their “school mom” and come to me anytime they needed help. Now, I tell them to think of me as their “school grandma.” Either way, this little ebook is my school mom advice to my school babies. It is full of just basic advice for the first year of teaching, things I wish I had known ahead of time and also things I learned the hard way.

As always, it is free to download and share with any newbies you encounter.

teaching-without-twitching-your-first-yearDownload

Texas Rangers

TEKS 4.3D

describe the successes, problems, and organizations of the
Republic of Texas such as the establishment of a constitution,
economic struggles, relations with American Indians, and the Texas
Rangers.

Social Studies Objective: We can describe the successes and problems of the Texas Rangers.

Proof: We can prove we met our objective by making one comment about the Texas Rangers.

Materials:

copy-of-texas-rangers-powerpoint.pptDownload

texas-rangers-class-templateDownload

You can click here to make your own copy of the class template.

Lesson:

Use the power point to provide an overview of the Rangers. I try to talk about both the successes and problems as we go along.

Problems: no supplies/low pay (Texas did not have money), although Native Americans and Texans from various countries (Ireland, Mexico, Germany) were members of the Texas Rangers, women and African American were excluded for decades. Other problems included lack of adequate weapons in early battles with Native Americans.

Successes: helped improve weapons with the help of Samuel Colt, began to be known as an elite force, which they are still known as today

After the overview, I ask students to talk with their partners about what they learned. I then ask each student to tell one thing they learned (success or problem).

As an extension activity, I use load the class template in Google Classroom. Kids can use the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame website to research a Texas Ranger and add a slide to the class project. The link to the Hall of Fame page is in the power point. Don’t use the main page because it is too difficult to navigate for them.

Teacher Resources: If you are interested in this topic personally, the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame website has numerous resources, including videos.

I also want to point out that the Texas Rangers that the organization has had many other problems besides the ones I pointed out here (as well as successes). I just don’t feel like that is the intent behind the TEKS for fourth grade since it seems to be directed mainly at the Republic of Texas time period. If you are interested in knowing more yourself or just want to know more to provide your students with a broader knowledge base, here are a few good places to start:

https://www.thestoryoftexas.com/visit/exhibits/life-and-death-on-the-border-1910-1920

https://www.thestoryoftexas.com/discover/campfire-stories/texas-ranger

A Hell of a Year

Sitting in my living room, snuggled up safe with my family, as my son plays “It’s Been a Hell of a Year” on his speakers, I think how true that is for my home and school family. By the end of September this year, I had lost two former students, one from my current school and one from twenty years ago. Our year began with loss of life and ended with a loss of time together.

I share that because I want to share a lesson from that. Although this is the first year I have ended school like this, it is not the first time I have lost a student.

When I was around seven, my grandfather asked me what was the most important thing a parent should teach. I don’t remember at all what my guess was, but I will forever remember his advice, “Teach them that you love them.” I have tried to make sure my own children know this, and I think I tried to make sure my students did. There was always one difference though. I always told my own children I loved them. I rarely did my school kids. It seemed unprofessional.

Last summer, I saw a discussion on a Facebook group about this subject. Is it okay to tell your students you love them? The reviews were mixed. I don’t think I chimed in, so I’m going to now.

If you have ever had a student die, and you don’t know if they knew how you felt, you will never neglect telling a class again. Period.

How do you tell them in a professional way? Well, I basically begin my year by telling them we are a school family. They can think of me as their school mom while they are there. This means if they have a problem of any sort, they can come to me. Just like a regular mom, they may not always like my solutions. However, you can bet they will be for their good. Not only that, I tell them, I am going to love them, now and forever…just like a mom. One of my students said, “Oh, you will love us in a family way.” Since, then, I often tell them, “I love you like family.”

Because of this, I had at least the peace of knowing that one of my students that passed away this year knew I loved her. I do not have that with the other one, and it breaks my heart.

The day before we left for spring break, the last day I saw my fourth graders in person this year, I told each class rotation that I loved them before they left my room. I know some of them rolled their eyes because maybe I say it too much. I don’t regret it one bit.

When we had one of our Zoom’s towards the end of this distance learning period, I said, “I love you guys,” before we ended the call. One of my students called back, “Love you too, like family.”

I have no doubt I got a lot of things wrong this year. Not that one. Like so many times before, my grandfather was right.

Last Packet Round Online Week One

You can get the printable versions of this here.

May 4th-8th 

	Writing	Social Studies	Materials Needed
Monday	Complete front of Bellwork #27	Complete Civil War Overview Page	Bell work #27–Front Civil War Overview Page I will be sending out a lesson video through Remind that goes with the Civil War  page.  It contains extra information about this topic, but watching the video is optional.
Tuesday		Complete Civil War in Texas Page	Civil War in Texas Page I will be sending out a lesson video through Remind that goes with the Civil War in Texas page.  It contains extra information about this topic, but watching the video is optional.
Wednesday	Complete Back of Bell work #27		Bell Work #27–Back
Thursday	Get some notebook paper. Write a little note to someone you live with thanking them for something nice they do for you.  It can be short. You could even try some cursive if you want.		Notebook paper
Friday	Share your work with me either through a Remind photo, text, or in our Zoom meeting.  If you are not able to send me anything, I will give you a call to help and check in.  If you are working online only, I will see your work there.		Have your work ready to share.

Pandemic Packet Online Week Three

This goes with this paper packet. Remember to make your own copy when you open the links. For our learn something new projects, students were allowed to share out with the group on Friday using Padlet. It was not required, but many of the kids really enjoyed it.

If you want to see more about how I usually handle the bell work and find answer keys, look here. The bell work here is from the fifth six weeks set.

	Writing	Social Studies	Materials Needed
Monday	Complete front of Bellwork #26	Complete the Local Government Page	Bell work #26–Google Form Local Government Page–Google Form Students will watch the lesson video and complete the form.
Tuesday	Students will complete learning something new page 3	Complete the How a Bill Becomes a Law Page	How a Bill Becomes a Law Page–Google Form Students will watch the lesson video and complete the form.
Wednesday	Complete Back of Bell work #26		Bell Work #26–Google Form
Thursday	Learning something new page 3		Google Form Learn Something New 3
Friday	Share Day!  Students share what they have learned with me.		Have your work ready to share with me.

End of Year Letter

I don’t really have any words to say here. I’m sad that this is my only good bye this year to some of my students. Some I will be sending an additional video too, but many are only doing paper. Maybe it will give you inspiration to write something better.

end-of-year-letter-1Download

Final Paper Packet

Here is a copy of my final paper packet for the year. It includes some Civil War resources and some Texas symbol writing review pages that I made. I will eventually add those resources to a post with more specific lesson plans, but right now I’m just trying to keep up with all the other distance learning things I have to make. I will post online resources as I frantically make them each week.

last-paper-packetDownload

Here is a copy of the end of year letter that I wrote to include with the packet.

end-of-year-letterDownload

Hang in there everyone! We have almost made it!

Pandemic Packet Online–Week Two

If you missed it, here is the link to my paper packet materials. I tried to make everything as closely aligned as possible for both of my groups.

This is the link to the online material I used for week one.

Week two is below. When you click on the video links, it will take you to my Youtube versions. If your school blocks Youtube, just email me. I will share a copy from my Google Drive that works better for some of my students. The other materials will take you to a link to make your own copy of my work. That way, you can use and edit without being linked to mine.

I’m not a big fan of answer keys, but you can find the answer keys to my bell work for these pages here. Just look for week 25.

	Writing	Social Studies	Materials Needed
Monday	Complete front of Bellwork #25	Read the Three Branches page. Use the Google Form to answer the questions. Watch the bonus video here.	Bell work #25–Google Form Three Branches  Handout Three Branches Google Form
Tuesday		Read the Texas Government page. Use the Google Form to answer the questions. Watch the bonus video here.	Texas Government Handout Texas Government Page–Google Form
Wednesday	Complete Back of Bell work #25		Bell Work #25–Google Form
Thursday	Complete Learning Something New Page 2	Read the Instructions. Complete the Google Form.	Learn Something New Handout Learning Something New Page 2-Google Form
Friday	Share day! Join us at our weekly Zoom to share the reliable sources you came up with. Let’s make a plan together for the next steps of your project.

Should you split writing and reading??

Remember the good old days when all we had to worry about was STAAR? This is a post I don’t think is very timely during the middle of a Pandemic, but here is the thing: I have wanted to write it since last summer and have literally not had a second. Now I actually have a string of seconds..so here goes.

Last year, right before school, we had a training on the new ELAR TEKS. The day before the meeting, my AP pulled me aside and said, “Now, don’t stress when the presenter says we need to combine writing and reading.” I think it was her way of saying, “Don’t get into an argument. ” She may know me too well haha.

The presenter actually never even mentioned it and was super informative. I really love the way the new TEKS were designed. So before you come at me with how reading and writing are meant to be integrated, know that I don’t fully disagree with that. I totally see how they go together. BUT…you better put them together the right way. Otherwise, your students will suffer lower reading and writing levels.

First, let’s look at the clock.

435 minutes per school day total. 8:00-3:15

45 PE
30 Lunch
45 Intervention/WIN time *Although this is instructional, at our school it doesn’t include writing. It only focuses on reading and math.

20 Recess

140 minutes= amount not in content classroom

  295 minutes total daily instructional time

Now, let’s look at which teaching teams can departmentalize and still keep writing and reading together in a sensical way. Remember that even when you “combine” reading and writing you are STILL trying to teach, practice, re-teach, and extend EVERY TEKS. If you are going to do that in a meaningful way, you need TIME.

Two teachers per team: Yes, it can be done. Combine away without guilt! The math teacher won’t like it though. In this scenario, the math teacher also needs to do science and social studies. You have 148 minutes of instructional time per teacher per day. If the math teacher allots for 30 minutes a day teaching science or social studies, the teacher STILL has 118 minutes left for math. Meanwhile, the ELAR teacher has 148 minutes for reading and writing.…that’s 74 per subject. This can be done well.

Three teachers: No! Absolutely do NOT combine reading and writing!
 98 minutes per class—Do you really want/need to devote  98 of your minutes every day to science/SS? That seems excessive when you consider the ELAR/Math needs of most students (especially tested grades). It makes more sense to shorten the subjects that don’t take priority here. Why would you give reading/writing only 49 minutes each when you have an option for longer?? Even if you take out 15 minutes each day from reading for science and 15 from writing for social studies, that still leaves the reading and writing teacher with 83 minutes each (a total of 166 minutes of ELAR a day). That makes so much more sense than only 98. Keeping it divided into two subjects is like adding over five hours of ELAR a week. Add that up for a year.
Three teachers like this gives ELAR the best time allotment, but it is a lower math allotment with only 98 minutes for math. If I were admin, I would look at my weaker area. Is ELAR scoring lower? Do a three team split. Is math lower? Do a two team split. Yes, I understand that this shorts science. Yes, I know it hurts the fifth grade teacher. Again, look at works for your campus. I would do the math here as well. Are my science scores the scores that are keeping my campus rating low? With the way the rating system is set up, I would say that is unlikely. However, keeping your students growing in reading, writing, and math….that can really be a big deal.

Four teachers: Don’t be insane. Do NOT combine reading and writing.
74 minutes per class…okay…I’m not even going to do this one. Basically…its unlikely any ELAR teacher is going to cover enough reading/writing in that amount of time. You are seriously even considering giving 37 minutes per content area. It’s insulting. If you have four grade level teachers, for the love of all that is good–divide the teams into two teaching teams if you must combine reading and writing.

Five teachers: Have some common sense and either do a two/three teacher split or give each teacher a subject. If you have a three teacher team—see above.

I’m not a math major…so some of this may be off a minute or two, but anyone who tries to say they must combine reading and writing into one class period in order to cover the new TEKS adequately may have looked at the TEKS…but not a clock.