Tuesday, March 4, 2014

The Remembering Club


This time of year can feel like it drags a little as teachers and students start counting the days until spring break. Our students seem more distracted, which makes holding their attention a challenge. This isn’t usually the case with an entire class, (at least I hope not!) but you could probably name a handful to which this applies! I recently created “The Remembering Club” for my unfocused students. After whole group instruction (when my first graders seem most preoccupied), members of The Remembering Club come up one at a time, to tell me something they just learned. I record their successful responses on a chart. 
Yes, this is straight recall, but these students need it in order to progress to the higher level thinking we strive for. We also have quick discussions related to the application of this information as well as our whole group follow-up assignments. Whenever a student gets to the end of his/her “row of remembering”, he/she gets a prize. Instead of playing with shoelaces or looking out the window, my  Sidetracked Sam and Sally are now watching me and whatever I am holding or using to teach. Print your own Remembering Club chart (either horizontal or vertical) and watch the progress!

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Can't Miss March Books

As you are pulling out your books for March, consider adding these to your list. Some are endearing, others are inspirational and several are quite silly. Plus we’ve included some ideas for reading follow-up. Let us know if you have some good March books we should be sharing with our classes!