Sarah Plum

K-5 Resources for Diverse Classrooms

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Close Reading? It’s a SNAP!

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I recently contacted SNAP! Learning for a demo of their close reading portfolios. My students currently have access at home and at school to Reading A-Z’s RAZ Kids program, and have previously used iStation. While my students are happy to utilize technology in any form during reader’s workshop, I have felt like something has been missing — a focus on reading closely, and reading for deeper meaning!
I had seen a few of my blogging pals chatting about SNAP! Learning’s close reading portfolios and I was intrigued. I liked that students would be led through a series of tasks, and that it was more than just clicking multiple-choice answers like they do currently on RAZ Kids.

Once I got my login for my demo, loading students was a breeze! I used their downloadable Excel spreadsheet to quickly load students in. One feature I really loved off-the-bat was the ability to group my students into their reading groups. This feature tied into the assigning of tasks, which made everything seamless. All told it took me about 20 minutes to setup my class with logins and create initial assignments for each reading group.
As I teach ELL’s, modeling is a MUST. I created a “dummy” account for us to use as a class, and we went through one of the close reading portfolios together on the SmartBoard. This was an AWESOME experience, as it let me see already how students were responding to the open-ended tasks, and gave me some great ideas about how to incorporate this into their daily digital learning.
One thing I really appreciated about the way the close reading portfolio was setup is that it doesn’t rush kids. We didn’t complete the portfolio in a single sitting — we experienced the text the way it should be when reading closely, and really dove in head-first! We took turns typing our answers, which was admittedly a bit of a learning curve for my kiddos that aren’t totally used to typing a significant amount of text.
We practiced logging in and out, and picking back up where we left off. It’s important to me that my kiddos return to a task until it’s completed, rather than just clicking through things randomly (as I’ve seen them do with RAZ Kids). Their time spent with technology should be valuable, not just technology for the sake of it!
After we’d modeled all aspects of the program, I allowed students to use SNAP! during their technology rotations in reader’s workshop. Students were able to use it with a high-level of independence, and while not perfect, their responses signal to me that they are thinking and reading for meaning which was my goal!
As a teacher, the reporting and resource side of the SNAP! products is phenomenal. I love that unknown or tricky words highlighted by students during the first part of their close read show up in their wordlists! This gives me such insight about the academic and tiered vocabulary that my ELL students are still in need of.
I also am in complete and utter LOVE with the guided reading companion lessons for the close reading portfolios. We’re starting life cycles this week, and it just so happens there’s a 2nd/3rd grade portfolio for the life cycle of the butterfly! This text is an ELL-teacher’s dream, as the three-lesson setup complete with cloze notes, vocabulary, and text-feature focus is PERFECT for creating accessibility for your varying ELL levels.
I’m thrilled to be able to use the close reading portfolios and companion lessons the rest of this school year, as there’s so much instruction to be had! I’d highly recommend requesting a demo (click this link here) and seeing for yourself all that this product has to offer!


Disclosure Statement: I was not financially compensated for this post. I was graciously given an opportunity to review this product, and all opinions are my own and based on my direct experience with the product.

BIG news — and a giveaway!

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I’ve got some awesome news!!! Educents is opening a marketplace, which means now you can purchase items from seller stores any day — in addition to the great deals they already offer! There are over 500 stores in the marketplace ready for you to save some money, including MINE! Some great bloggers and I are joining together on this blog hop to introduce ourselves and show you the great products we have in our stores!

My name is Sarah Plum, and I’m a second grade teacher in Northern Virginia! My passion for teaching is deeply rooted in the population I currently serve, which is a very diverse population of primarily English Language Learners. In everything I do, I strive to reach my incredible students and open doors for them so they can achieve their dreams!
In addition to being a second grade teacher, I’m also a Mom to two very sweet boys! My oldest son, William, is currently in Kindergarten and is LOVING school. My youngest son, Henry, is about to turn two and is in love with all things musical — he loves to move his body and dance!
My husband, Rich, is also a certified teacher. He is the absolute best part of my life (other than my two sweet boys) — and my partner in crime! If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be able to continue to do what I love and create resources for other educators to use in their classrooms.
When I’m not working or creating, you’ll find me exploring the D.C. Metro area with my family! We especially love visiting the zoo in the spring and summer, and we know the Natural History Museum by heart! (The above picture was taken this winter when we FINALLY got to tour the White House — talk about COOL.)

Besides creating resources (which is something I truly love to do) and explore D.C. with my family, I love to read! I know, I know, shocking that a teacher would love to read, but it’s true!

http://www.amazon.com/Number-Sense-Routines-Building-Numerical/dp/1571107908/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8My favorite professional read lately has been Number Sense Routines by Jessica Shumway. Developing number sense is something I’m super passionate about in my classroom, and I’m always looking for ways to beef up my daily instruction in that area. This is a quick, easy read with a WEALTH of information — I’m on my third read!
http://www.amazon.com/One-Only-Ivan-Katherine-Applegate/dp/0061992275/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1427942903&sr=1-1My favorite read-aloud is (no surprise here) The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. Reading this with my class changed our whole dynamic — and my life as a teacher — but it is genuinely just an amazing book to read aloud. The chapters are brief, the characters are endearing, and the content drives MANY discussions. I’m very passionate in my belief that every educator should read it!
http://www.amazon.com/Da-Vinci-Code-Robert-Langdon-ebook/dp/B000FA675C/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8 
My favorite pleasure-read is The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. I first read it in high school and I’ve since read it four times, discovering something new each time. I love a good thriller — both in print and on film — so this is the PERFECT book for me. If you haven’t read it, you should! If you have, try reading a few of Dan Brown’s other great novels — I’ve read many of them!
 

http://www.educents.com/matter-matters-scoot-a-review-game.html

I’m super excited to share with you this EXCLUSIVE Educents freebie, direct from my Matter Matters pack, just released (and on-sale). This freebie features a 20-question SCOOT game to help your students review the key elements of matter, its three states, and the phase changes that can occur.
If you’re not a big SCOOT fan, but you love task cards, you can use this game all the same and make it a science station or task for an early finisher. Likewise you can also change things up and do a daily review throughout your unit by featuring a single question or use it as a write-the-room — the possibilities are endless!
Be sure and follow my store for more freebies and exclusive sales — you can do it by clicking the image below, and then click on the gray heart that says “Follow Me!” below my store name. If you’re not sure where it is, don’t worry — I’ve got a handy graphic below! 
http://www.educents.com/theres-no-place-like-second-grade
I’m THRILLED to be linking up with some other amazing educators to give away some Edubucks that you can use in the brand new marketplace or on the always-fabulous deals. Enter below, and then be sure and head to visit my other pals to see what freebie they’re offering up!

Open The Door and Teach

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When I entered the teaching profession, I often heard this advice — “sometimes you just have to close your door and teach.” It was almost always uttered in conversations surrounding standardized testing or the collection of data, and it was always said in hushed tones.
It’s tempting… it’s tempting to just close my door and teach. To pretend that the data doesn’t have to be collected, or that I’m not responsible for it.
But it does and I am. That’s not changing.
What is changing is me; how I teach when I find those moments where I can, when I need, to depart from the plan. What is changing is what I do with that precious time I have with my students.
It all hit me when I opened my Scholastic box (you know the one — red, white, and full of joy) a few weeks ago. One of my bonus books was The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. I recognized it because a blogging buddy of mine (Rachel from Mrs. O Knows) had blogged about it during our Virginia is for Book Lovers Blog Hop.
I took it out, read the back, and thought about my journey as a reader. The one I wrote about so passionately just a few days prior. I had said of that journey:
“And yet again, Mrs. Butkus changed that. The Giver changed my life. Her handing me that book is such a large part of why I became a teacher. I’ve read that book DOZENS of times. I’ve given it as a gift to every adolescent child in my life. I’ve given it as a gift to adults that need to be book lovers, too.
Each time I read it, I think of Mrs. Butkus. How she knew, just knew, I needed it.”
I knew instantly, my kids needed this. And so did I. I needed to know that somehow I’d leave my mark on their hearts the way Mrs. Butkus did on mine. I needed to know that they would remember something important, something beautiful, something incredible about their time in second grade.
And so each day, for twenty minutes, we sat together. We sat together and we read Ivan’s story.
I wasn’t sure how my kids would respond. I wasn’t sure they’d sit through twenty minutes of reading without pictures. I wasn’t sure they’d understand all of the nuances.
But they did. They didn’t just sit through it — they connected. They grew.
Before I knew it, twenty minutes would become thirty. One day we skipped guided reading altogether and read for an hour.
And all the while, tempted to close my door, I didn’t. I kept it open.
I shared what we were doing with others. I implored them —  you have to read this book. Read it with your kids! Come read with us! I got some strange looks, because of course, reading for an hour from a 300 page chapter book wasn’t on the plans.
But it was important. It was necessary. It was life-changing. For them and for me.
By mid-book we had cried together, laughed together, and gotten angry together. At one pivotal moment in Ivan my kids asked to write sympathy cards for the characters. Their words of hope and connection and love were beyond all understanding for me as a teacher. Reluctant writers poured their hearts out onto the page along with a few tears. Never had I seen them take something so seriously or participate so fully.
Until the end.
One day last week we read Ivan for 30 minutes before dismissal. There were 15 pages left when the announcement to pack-up was made. My kids were panicked — they wanted to stay and finish. They desperately wanted to know how Ivan’s life would end up. They begged to stay afterschool but reluctantly trudged home.
I sat quietly in my classroom that afternoon, thinking of what to do. Do I throw out the lesson plans the rest of the week, shut my door, and teach about this text? I’m supposed to be doing x, y, and z from our reading unit. I’m supposed to be teaching letter-writing and compound words and giving three tests.

I looked at a note one of my kiddos had left me — “what’s next?” it read.
The next morning I opened my door.
During math we sat together, like we’d done every day for the previous weeks, and we finished Ivan. Tears in our eyes, shaky voices, we finished. One of my sweethearts raised their hand — “what’s next?” he said.
I paused, and said, “What’s next?” right back.
I made this during a workshop I went to on Saturday.
We were asked to illustrate & write about a recent moment that impacted us.
Suddenly a thousand little second grade voices chimed in — let’s research the real Ivan… can I go and check out gorilla books? I want to learn to draw Ivan… let’s have a party to celebrate him… Can I write a sequel?

Yes. Yes. Yes. YES.
We did all of those things.
Some of fictional Ivan’s favorites and a few of the real Ivan’s favorites.
We ate them while we watched a documentary on apes.

The One and Only Ivan, The One and Only Me.
I threw out the lesson plans, opened my door as wide as it could go, and I taught. I invited everyone in to experience the joy and love of learning that was happening in Room 108. This special, amazing thing that you can’t bottle, you can’t replicate — it just is for however long you can keep it.
When we sat down and talked about Ivan later that day, we talked about why we loved it. Then we drew him as a part of an art installation we’re making to convince others to read it. Three things happened that blessed me immeasurably as a teacher.
  1. Ivan was declared to be “inspirational” because, as one little girl put it, “he made you really think about your attitude and outlook on life, and by the end of the book… well, you change. Not just him… you too.”
  2. A character’s death (I won’t spoil it for you) was declared to be a favorite part, and when I challenged the student on why death would ever be someone’s favorite, she said — “because it made me feel. No book has ever done that.”
  3. And when another student lamented that their drawing was terrible, a classmate — unprompted leaned over and said, “just believe in yourself and what you’re doing will turn out just fine. Believe, like Ivan.”

Open the door. Open the door and teach.
Find a week, a day, an hour, a minute and don’t worry about the data or the lesson plans or the pacing guide.  Don’t worry about thematic math centers or whether your anchor charts are just so. Let your students decide what’s important — “what’s next?” — what’s authentic.
Find that moment where you are sitting with them on the carpet and they are breathing life into themselves as readers, writers, and mathematicians… where they’re breathing life into your teaching. Don’t get lost in the reports, the grades, the pressure.
Open the door.

If only for an hour… open the door.


A Peek at My Week Ahead – 3/15

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Two weeks in a row?! YES ma’ams and sirs! I am on fire!!! Or, I’ve just figured out a routine for myself so I can bring you my visual plans each week. Either way, I am so excited to be linking up again with the one and only DeeDee Wills to give you a peek at my week ahead!
Disclaimer (Again): I have to do extensive lesson plans for my district, so rather than reinvent the wheel and put them in a more standardized format, I’m going to be giving you the “big picture” of what I’m up to. At the end of the post, you can download a PDF version with clickable links. Anything that’s outlined in black is clickable and will take you to that resource, video, or product. I use a mix of free and paid resources, so definitely check it out if you like what you see!

We finally took our unit assessment (the kids did GREAT, wahoo!!!) and so now we’re moving on to our next unit. We did some review last week of money concepts and place value, and now those skills will be put into our centers for independent and guided practice. I like doing that because I don’t have to waste valuable whole-group instruction time, but during guided math students still get to access, practice, and receive feedback on those skills.

This week is ALL about word problems. Two to three times a year I do a week-long “Word Problem Bootcamp” to refresh our word problem strategies. I utilize the 4.5 Step Plan, based on Polya’s problem-solving framework. My kids eat, sleep, and breathe this framework and it helps them TREMENDOUSLY. I can confidently say without it we would not be the effective problem-solvers that we are.

This week we’ll be using our March themed word problems to practice showing what we know at each step of the problem-solving process. (You can grab a freebie St. Patrick’s Day sampler, here.) With the snow days and distance between us and our last “Word Problem Bootcamp” some of my friends have gotten a little lax and it’s beginning to show in their “My Answer” boxes. So! We are going to fix that up by going back to basics, doing a little interactive note-booking, and TONS of practicing. Toward the end of the week we’re going to focus on writing our own word problems (I’ll be posting those resources shortly!).

We took our making predictions assessment (they did fabulously, by the way!) and now we’re ready to head into two weeks of intensive reading instruction before we have Spring Break. We’re continuing to meet for 25 minutes daily in a small group setting with each student. We’re continuing our “Bootcamp” to refresh our centers — pictured above — and really work on those decoding and fluency skills. I’ll be infusing another one of my favorite close reading resources with our series’ reading books too. I’m excited to continue getting to know my students as readers even better than I already do!

We’re also going to continue our group read-aloud of The One and Only Ivan, which has stolen our hearts. Friends, please please please run out and get this book and read it with your class. I have never seen my kiddos more engaged, invested, and just in tune with themselves as little humans. It is unbelievable.

In writing, we’re beginning our persuasive letter-writing unit! I adore this unit because I get to bring out some of my favorite mentor texts, including one that I was read when I did my own letter-writing unit in second grade! We won’t be doing a lot of formal writing this week, but rather we’ll be responding to each text, deconstructing what letters have, etc. I look forward to sharing our anchor charts with you toward the end of the week!
This week we’ll be diving into compound words (with silent letters) in our phonics unit, so I’ll be using two great resources from some TpT friends — Compound Words Task Cards from the awesome Teaching With a Mountain View, and Bloomin’ Compound Words Craftivity from the awesome Applicious Teacher. I’ll also be using my bloggy BFF’s new phonics card games again for review — we love them!
It’s still MATTER time!!! Gosh, I could just teach this unit all year. Really, I could! With me being unexpectedly out of the classroom a few days last week (writing a 21st Century Grant — more on that later this week), we’re still at the beginning of our study. We’ll continue to lead with our visual vocabulary posters, co-creating an anchor chart, having a learning experience using our interactive PPT, and then close with our vocabulary four-square. We’re going to do some experiments toward the end of the week which I’ll be documenting in detail… And we’re going to incorporate some informal assessments (with the exit slips pictured) as well as some interactive flipbooks for them to study at home. {My matter printables will be up on TpT by mid-week.}

If you’d like to download my visual plans and have ALL of the links to click on and refer to, click the button above. 🙂

A Peek at My Week Ahead – 3/8

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I am so excited to FINALLY be linking up with the one and only DeeDee Wills to give you a peek at my week! I have always always always wanted to do this, as I absolutely love going through and seeing what everyone else in blogland is up to.
Disclaimer: I have to do extensive lesson plans for my district, so rather than reinvent the wheel and put them in a more standardized format, I’m going to be giving you the “big picture” of what I’m up to. At the end of the post, you can download a PDF version with clickable links. Anything that’s outlined in black is clickable and will take you to that resource, video, or product. I use a mix of free and paid resources, so definitely check it out if you like what you see!

We’re catching up from an INSANE number of snow days since we returned from winter break — we’ve been so behind, so this week we’re taking our unit test on patterns {number patterns, repeating patterns, growing patterns, and even/odd} and then review some key concepts before we dive into regrouping.
One of the things I’m relying heavily on this week are the anchor charts we’ve made together, our interactive notebooks {where our vocabulary pages pictured above live!}, and my money strategies pack. My kids did really well with our money unit test, but we’re increasing the amount they must be able to count {up to $2.00 mixed coins and bills} and they definitely need a refresher after our snow days. We’ll also be playing Prince Padania’s Race to $1.00 which is one of my favorite quick, low-prep games!

In reading we’re going to be taking our unit test on making predictions at the beginning of the week and then buckling down. It has been so difficult these past two months with snow days to consistently do guided reading groups! Between required assessments, once-a-year ESOL testing, and mid-year testing, we haven’t done guided reading in WEEKS.
So this week and next we’re forgoing the mini-lessons and doing extended groups! I’ll get to meet for 25 minutes daily in a small group setting with each student. We’re going to do a “Bootcamp” to refresh our centers — pictured above — and really work on those decoding and fluency skills. I’ll be infusing some of my favorite close reading resources with our series’ reading books too. I am SO READY for this change of pace with my kiddos and to give them a strong foundation for our big push toward on-grade level at the end of the year.

In writing we’re going to work on finishing up our research unit. Boy, you want to talk about difficult? Try doing a research unit with snow days all over the place! Luckily my kids have been able to keep up with things, and I really attribute that to the simple research resources pack I made with them in mind. We do a 5-10 minute mini-lesson on the carpet where I model things using a famous American (Rosa Parks) that none of them are studying — then they break into their research groups and work! I get to meet with each group as-needed, and they can continue working on it beyond the writing block because of the scaffolded supports.
We’ll also be working on getting back on track with our phonics focus, as well as reviewing those pesky skills that somehow they always seem to forget! I’ll be using my bloggy BFF’s new phonics card games for review, and one of my favorite suffixes resources from Ladybug’s Teacher Files to work on our weekly skill.

In social studies we’re doing a quick review of vocabulary {look at that FULL vocabulary reference wall — finally!} before we take our big end-of-unit test on Tuesday. I don’t know what I would’ve done without this visual vocabulary pack I made… my ELL kiddos have just soaked up this vocabulary as you can see from the anchor chart I dictated for them (and they illustrated). Fingers crossed that as we review our vocabulary four-squares and make our vocabulary word posters they are ready to go on Tuesday!
Y’all, I’m so excited. It’s MATTER time!!! This is hands-down one of my favorite science units, and this year we’re doin’ it up big with some brand new resources. I am kicking myself for not having made these resources sooner, but I’m jazzed to have them for this group of kiddos! We’ll be doing the same thing we did with economics as far as vocab — leading with the visual vocabulary posters, co-creating an anchor chart, having a learning experience (experiment or our interactive PPT — which will be posted this week on TpT), and then closing with our vocabulary four-square.
I am so ready for them to rock this, and I am so ready to get in there and be a mad scientist with them! Woohoo for science!!!

If you’d like to download my visual plans and have ALL of the links to click on and refer to, click the button above. 🙂

One thing not pictured in my visual plans is a last-minute but always present addition — our Word Problems for Success. We do these a few mornings a week and then we do two at the end of the month to take as data that we track to make sure our problem-solving skills are where they need to be. I’m excited about some of the complexity of the problems this month, as I know it’s going to lead to a great discussion amongst the kiddos.
Speaking of that — would you look at the mathematical thinking that’s going on?! I am so stinkin’ proud of my kids.

Grab your free sample on TpT just in time for St. Patrick’s Day!