Monday, March 30, 2015

Thinking about my signals

I'm currently reading The Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley (thanks Brian Dassler) and it has me thinking about the signals I give students.

The signal that I hope I give off is that I value thinking.  Some people have dogged the new standards but I feel like their intentions are valuable. I appreciate that my students are thinking at deeper levels.  One way I try to instill thinking is by modeling my own.  I try to do it in a natural way, struggling and all!  I want my students to see that I have to push myself just like they do.

This year I have come to rely on our journals in ALL subject areas.  What I love about journals is that students can track their progress in regards to their thinking.  It also gives them a reference point to refer to whenever they are struggling.  The materials I create for my students have language stems to help them organize and expand upon their thinking.

During the course of this year, I have created interactive journal material that I haven't shared....UNTIL NOW!

Here is a freebie/preview for you to check out:

I shared this standard that focuses on the main purpose of a text because I have found that my students need extra support!  In an informational book an author can explain, answer and describe to share their main purpose and sometimes that can be tricky to understand.  I also included a recording sheet that I explain more in the full product on TPT.


If you are interested in the full product, which has a journal activity for every Informational and Literature standard, check it out here:


If you aren't utilizing interactive journals, then I challenge you to try them. When planning activities for your students, think "What signals are the students getting from me?"


No comments:

Post a Comment

***