like a south bound train

so it took me a week to get over a week off of school. I'm afraid to admit it, but I think I've turned into a creature of schedule. once I lose my schedule, I'm all sorts of off!

also - I've had a couple of people emailing me some questions about ESOL and their ELL's and all that goodness. please know I'm happy to help if you have ANY questions (not promising I'll have awesome answers to all of them), so keep them coming.

second grade

I added pictures to my previous post about syllables. click on the pictures to check it out if you haven't already!

science

in science, we are working on sound and the energy of sound. so, why not throw in the idea of INFERRING? I like to illustrate any language arts concepts that I can for my language learners.

I filled 10 old coffee containers with different objects (I make sure to use all the same containers so that the only variable is the objects themselves). I used

1) beans

2) nails

3) pennies

4) beads

5) dried noodles

6) jelly beans

7) m&ms

8) gummy bears

9) tic-tacs

10) bottle tops

my mini-locos worked their way through all ten cans, shook the can, and drew what they thought was inside on THIS worksheet.

try it out. I think talking through why my students made the guesses that they did really helped some understand inferring means and how to use that during reading.

writing

do y'all use storyboards as a prewriting strategy?

I was struggling last year with a few of my mini-locos, trying to discover a prewriting method that stuck for them. then it hit me - HELLO MAXEY - use what you know.

when I worked for fashion magazines, we brainstormed and "prewrote" using storyboards. so, now that is what my group uses. up this week - ANGRY BIRDS!

remember - my EL's are on ALL different levels of English Acquisition. 

as you can see, my students' work is not 100 correct when it is published. I try not to overwhelm them with being perfect. I truly believe it starts to kill the joy of writing if you demand perfection. I try to focus in on a few main skills at a time, and usually it is spelling that I let slide.

storyboard process -
1. draw out the story. storyboards allow for short stories or long stories. when I use these with my older students, they draw on small post-it notes and place them in the square (JUST like we did at the magazine).
2. add transition words where the arrows are placed between the squares.
3. write down any important vocabulary needed to write about the picture.
4. title
5. draft the sentences using the picture and vocabulary.

Grab a copy of the graphic organizer HERE.