I am linking up with Sabra from Teaching with a Touch of Twang for a book study on Word Nerds!
I am absolutely LOVING this book and all the amazing ideas for helping our students appreciate words!! Check out the link ups for the other chapters if you haven't yet:
I am posting about Chapter Five: Active Vocabulary Practice today.
Chapter five is filled with many ways for students to practice vocabulary in both the whole group and small group or independent settings. In this chapter the authors state, "One step of the instructional model is practicing new words in a variety of settings. Our students love to act, draw, sing, and talk, and they thrive when they are engaged in active learning. We rotate different types of practice activities during each vocabulary cycle..."
As I was reading the various whole group and small group/independent vocabulary activities, there were some new activities I had never heard of and variations of strategies I have tried in my class. I wanted a way to remember all of their suggestions, so I made this reference guide to refer to quickly when lesson planning. You can download it here for FREE!
This really sums up chapter five. I hope you find this reference useful and enjoy trying a new way to provide active vocabulary practice in your classroom!
Next, I am linking up with Kristen from iTeach 1:1 and Aylin and Amanda from Daily Learning to the Core for their Technology Linky party! This week's topic is all about iPads.
I had one iPad to use with my class this year (better than none!) and I just started to get my feet wet with some apps and ways to incorporate the one iPad with my students.
I have a pinterest board filling up with all the ideas I need to sift through this summer for the iPad.
This post by Stephanie at 3rd Grade Thoughts was a great starting point for me in incorporating iPads in math independent practice morning work time.
With just one iPad available this year, (next year I am supposed to be getting three more!) I kept a schedule where I rotated the iPad use during math independent morning work time and during ELA Daily 5 (well, 4) rotations for word work. I also used it during math intervention time with a few apps. I was intrigued by this post of a Dewey Document Camera Stand also by 3rd Grade Thoughts and it is on my wish list.
My favorite blog post about my iPad was when I blogged about using the iPad as a checkout system for my classroom library here.
I can't wait to see how the iPad will enhance our classroom learning environment this year!
Finally, I am so excited to announce the winner of my Birthday/Blogiversary giveaway!
The response was overwhelming and I am so thankful for all your support!!!
I learn something new every day from this wonderful, supportive blogging world!
And...the winner is...Debby D.!! Check your email:)
