Schema!

This week I planned to do an easy returning to school week with a focus on schema. My students all seem to struggle with using what they know to to figure things out as they read. Context clues and inferences are not easy for them!

I scoured the internet for some ideas of how to teach an effective lesson, and there wasn't much out there!

I planned to borrow an idea I found using shoes, but then of course I forgot my lesson appropriate shoes on the day of my lesson! I was irritated that I would have to push my lesson back a day and that I would have to improvise my classes. As I was pulling my bags out of the car I was pleasantly surprised to find not one, but two pairs of shoes that I had worn in weddings that I have been in in the last two months. (See, Mom, it HAS paid off to procrastinate getting the unnecessary items out of my car!)

I selected a sparkly gold shoe and had an idea that I thought just might make for a better lesson anyway. I placed the shoe on my table in a spot where other teachers frequently leave things for me. As my students filtered into the room they were immediately curious about the shoe.

"Why is there a shoe on your desk?" "There is not a shoe on my desk! I would never leave a shoe there! That's not where shoes belong!" "But there is! It's gold!" "Are you sure?" "See, there it is! A shoe on your desk!" "There is a shoe on my desk! Who left that there?"

And so it went. We just HAD to solve the mystery of the gold shoe! So I picked up the shoe and we compiled a list of our shoe schema. "Schema? What's schema?" my thoughtful kiddos asked. I explained to them it's what they already know and told them I hoped we could use our schema to find out just who this shoe belonged to!

We made a very long list of all the attributes they could come up with for the gold sparkly high heeled shoe they had found on my desk. When they discovered that the shoe had been worn we decided that it might be beneficial to our quest to list places this shoe may have been so we could narrow down our possible suspects. After they told me that I was completely absurd for thinking that the shoe may have been hiking before we made a list of places it possibly had been. Fancy parties, proms, restaurants, and, of course, weddings made the list. Then, the light bulbs started to go on. Since they knew I had been in weddings recently they pieced it together that it was my shoe after all.

And thank goodness they figured it out! I was able to tell them that they not only used their schema about shoes to solve the mystery; they also used their schema about me to figure out where that shoe had come from.


I loved this because I was able to use it for all three of my classes and they went into the lesson not knowing it was a lesson! They truly believed (even at 11!) that I needed help discovering just who's shoe this was. I love when a plan, even a last minute one, comes together to make a lesson work!

New Year's Printable Worksheet

As I am preparing to go back to school on Tuesday (thank goodness for one more day to get it all done!) I have been very busy finishing up my lists! Shopping List, To Make List, To Print, To Laminate.... The list of lists goes on and on!

But in the midst of all my reorganization and planning, one thing I completely forgot to do is to acknowledge the New Year with my students! After all, it's a new adventure for them, too!

As it is after one in the morning (yikes!) I needed it to be something quick, yet effective.

Resolutions are my favorite part of any new year, even though I "technically" don't make any. (Ok, yes, I am one of those millions who are going to eat better and exercise more, but I always pledge that it is a lifestyle change NOT a resolution. And if it weren't for October-December I swear I'd make it all the way through the year!) But I do think making resolutions are a good idea for my students! They have had almost 4 months to develop habits this school year, some good and some bad. Talking with them about resolutions and attainable goals is a way to (hopefully!) help them decide to make positive changes toward the rest of the school year. It can be organizational, homework related, focusing, anything!

I came up with a quick, easy worksheet that we will use on Tuesday and that can be displayed on the door for a few weeks! (Definitely want them to keep seeing those goals as a reminder!)

Happy First Day back to many of you!

January: The Journey Begins!

Well, kind of.

January always feels like the time to make a clean start, to begin something new. So, even though it is not a new school year, or even a new grading period, this January will be the start of my new blog-er-ific journey here with you!

A little bit to introduce myself. My name is Lindsey and I teach 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade reading. Which is perfect since I L-O-V-E to read! I also am an aspiring author, a would be runner, and a wine enthusiast.

What I hope to be able to do here is, while I am getting so many great ideas from others, to share my ideas as well. In teaching, I think we all have a responsibility to share our resources so that we can all become the best teachers possible! Because at the end of the day, what we all want is to be the best!

I have spent my winter break doing major overhauls! The wonderful reading team I am a part of has overhauled our curriculum, I have overhauled my classwork/centers expectations, as well as giving my whole classroom a complete re-design!

I have spent more hours than I would like to count of my "vacation" time reorganizing, redecorating, rearranging, typing, printing, laminating, hanging, tearing down and of course, scouring the internet looking for fabulous ideas I can use for my awesome intermediate students!

While I cannot believe that there are only 4 days left of vacation before I will be back in my own cozy little classroom, I am also beyond excited to get started! I know that this January will hold great things as my kiddos and I embark on a brand new Reading Journey together!