Reading/Math Tub Choice

I really love the structure of my reading and math tubs this year.  If you want to find out about reading and math tubs, you can read my previous posts.
http://justaddclipart.blogspot.com/2011/10/trying-out-reading-tubs.html
http://justaddclipart.blogspot.com/2011/10/reading-tubs-update.html
http://justaddclipart.blogspot.com/2011/07/math-overhaul.html

I've never been super confortable with giving my children choices during independent work times.  I guess that's the control freak in me.  I like the control of grouping my children (either by ability or behavior).

But, I decided to give "choice" a try as we come to the end of the year.  I have a pretty good class this year, and I thought they could handle it.

I first started by adding student choice to Math Tub time.  We do math before reading each day, so it just made sense.  I told my kiddos if they could make good choices all week with math, we would give reading a try the following week.

I've been really pleased with their choice-making abilities.  Granted it's not as quiet as when I was picking the groups, but I think it adds a little more enthusiasm for the activities.

So... how does it work?

Well, I have 18 kids and 4 tubs each week (4 reading and 4 math).  At the beginning of our tub time, I let the children come up one at a time and make their choice on the Promethean Board.  They know that only four children can pick each tub- then that tub is full.  The two children picked to make their choice last get to be the fifth child at two of the tubs (so there are 2 groups of 4 and 2 groups of 5).

Here's what my flipchart looks like.  I just quickly change out the names of the tubs each week, to help the kids know where they want to go.

** If you're interested in this week's tubs: The homophone match was from First Grade Parade, the i sort came from Cara Carroll's March Unit, the Popcorn sort is from Babbling Abby's popcorn adjective unit, and the lightning bug round-up game can be found here for free.**

As they are making their choices, I also write it down on a little chart.  I probably don't have to do this part, because they remember what has already been completed.  But, I like to see what's been completed by the end of the week.  Maybe I'm trying to keep a little control??

After they make their choice they go ahead and get started.  This has helped space out the kids getting started, so they all aren't moving at the same time.

How do you do choice in your classroom?

Attitude Adjusted... I Think

I'm sorry for the negative tone of my last post.  My intent of this blog is not to complain about my job.  I actually love my job-- and this year I have a great group of kids.  My gripe isn't with Skpye at all.  I just get bogged down with always being asked to do more.  It seems there are always new standards, new assessments, new philosophies, new technology, new paperwork, new procedures that all get in the way of the job I love (all of that with no pay raise-- actually a pay cut if you teach in Alabama).  That's what frustrates me the most.

Thanks to all of you who commented about your Skype experiences.  I truly appreciate your ideas and your willingness to communicate with my class.  I'm planning to get in touch with you and set up something.  There was even a sweet teacher from Egypt that wants to Skype- how cool is that? 

I am in agreement that my firsties will love it-- let's be honest though, what do they not love?  They were also "in love" with the Fruit Loops and marshmallows I gave them to practice place value, the Band-Aids, surgical masks and gloves we used to do contraction surgery (some even took the masks and gloves to daycare to play doctor kitties!), and they still beg me to go back to the field and run laps around the track (which they obviously didn't see as punishment during recess one day last month). 

{There's that little bit of bad attitude creeping back in.}

So, I'll end with this. 

I thought about it all week.  Of course I immediately came to Philippians 2:14 that says"Do all things without complaining."  Even my principal's quote of the week was about having joy and a good attitude (hope she didn't think of that one after reading my last post!).  I'm a rule follower and will do whatever my job requires of me.  I'm trying harder to do it without complaining.  Of course my kids will love it, and it will be a great experience for them (and me).

I'll keep you updated on how it goes.

If you made it to the bottom of this post, you deserve a little freebie.  This week my kiddos are learning about long e, spelled -ee and -ea.  Here's a little word work to practice long e.  Those that finish early always enjoy creating their own puzzles on the back.  Click {here} to download a copy.

Scrambled Sentences in Reverse

I love finding a new spin on an old activity.  For months now, my kids have been unscrambling sentences during reading tubs.  The sentences started off super easy and short, then became longer, then capitalization and punctuation were left out...  Now this activity is getting too easy (which is a good thing, right?)

So, it's time for a twist on the ol' scrambled sentence.  After reading Julie Lee's post about mirrored words I had an idea.  The kids will use mirrors to read each reversed word; then they can unscramble the sentence.  I'm hoping this will add a little pizzaz to this activity.

I decided to go with a spring theme as wishful thinking that spring will be here soon.   Plus it makes it a little more versatile to use anytime between now and May.  Click {here} to download a free copy.  Please let me know how it goes if you try it with your kids.

A Peek at My Week(s) and Two Freebies

Wow!  The past two weeks have been so busy!  And it doesn't look like February is going to be any slower.  I have so many ideas to share.  I guess this post will be a little random, but that's how it goes.  So, in no particular order...

We celebrated the 100th Day ... two weeks ago...    This year I wanted to simplify the day, while making sure I still included some new Pinterest finds.  We started off the morning by making gumball machines.  I was inspired with Mrs. Lee's Kindergarten gumball machine.  I wanted each of my kids to make their own gumball machines-- with, you guessed it, 100 painted gumballs!  I wasn't quite sure if this would be the biggest disaster of the year or a really fun idea (but I talked the other 8 first grade teachers into giving it a try with me!).  So, with VERY explicit instructions we got to work.  The kids assembled their machines first.  Then I carefully showed them how to dip the Q-tip into the paint and dot, then dip and dot, dip and dot--- until they had 10 dots of one color.  I set up two colors of paint at five set of desks.  After they finished one color they were free to do the second color.  When everyone was finished we rotated to the next table.  I was in shock!  My very chatty class was SILENT!  It was first grade teacher gold!!  They were so busy dipping, dotting, and counting that they didn't make a peep!  They were very proud of themselves when they had 100 pieces of gum.  And no one screwed theirs up-- they all turned out just as neat as the one in the picture!  Click {here} to get a copy of the poem at the bottom.

We also completed a 100th Day Mystery Picture.  I gave my kids a sheet with two hundreds charts on it.  Click {here} to get your own copy.  Then I called out one number at a time and told them what color to use.  With each square they were guessing what the picture would be.  Easy, fun, and a great way to assess number sense.

This past week we wrapped up our study of winter/snow/arctic animals.  We were inference investigators thanks to Abby's super cute Snow Day Case Files.  They LOVED it, and learned a thing or two about making inferences.  Although, I was a little surprised at some of the inferences they made-- guess my schema and their schema are way different :)  I can't wait to follow up with Cara's "No David" lesson tomorrow.

We also read "The Mitten" and did a little activity.  Each child chose an animal then wrote 3 clues using the sentence frame "Who _______?"  At the bottom of the mitten they wrote the answer.  (Example: Who is white?  Who is small?  Who can hop?  A rabbit, that's who!).  I actually typed their clues as they finished writing them.  It tied in perfect with our phonics study of wh/qu and questioning.  We discussed using good descriptive words so that we could easily guess the animal.  Click {here} for a copy of the mitten page I found on Jan Brett's website.

This is my sample, and yes-- I used clipart for the picture!  An artist I am not!

And, now for a few freebies.   The first one is for math.  The kids will use the monster cards and practice adding 1 and 2 and subtracting 1 and 2.  This is another great assessment of number sense to 100.  Click {here} for a copy.

 

The second one is for reading.  It seems that I might be a tad behind some of you-- we are still stuck on short vowels in StoryTown.  Hopefully soon we'll be moving to long vowels.  Until then, here's a little more short vowel practice.  The kids will use a vowel die to create words, then sort the words as real or nonsense.  My kids have actually already completed this same activity created by Made for 1st Grade, but it had a winter theme.  As I was listening to my kids complete the tub, I kept hearing them say things like "If I roll a "e" then I'll be able to make the word "red."  I loved the activity so much that I created a new one for February.  I hope that's not against copyright rules.  Click {here} for a copy.

 

Reading Tubs Update

After trying reading tubs for a week, I know this is the direction I want to go with my class this year.  It has been a natural fit, most likely because it's so closely structured to math tubs.  The children had no trouble at all adjusting to this new change.  And, an added bonus-- I "found" a little more time in the day for writing!  Here's how my reading block looks now:

9:30-10:00- Whole group- phonemic awareness, phonics, grammar lessons
10:00-10:45- Writing
10:45-12:20- PE, Lunch, Recess
12:25-1:05- Reading Tubs (pretty much Word Work and "Listening" choices)
1:05-1:25- Read to Self
1:25-1:40- Comprehension Lesson

The only change I decided to make was to Tub 4.  I started Reading Tubs thinking that Tub 4 would be computer.  But, it turned out to be too much computer time.  So now my kids will listen to a book (using BookFlix, TumbleBooks, or Storyline Online), then have some sort of writing response.  After they are finished, they can go back to the computer until the time is up.

Here's a peek into Reading Tubs for this week.

Tub A- Fall ABC Order.  This is an activity I purchased from the ladies at Made for 1st Grade.  If you haven't checked out their units, you should.  I bought the Fall pack and loved it so much that I bought the Scarecrow unit, Thanksgiving unit, and Indian unit.  After finishing the tub, the children will play Roll, Say, Keep with sight word cards.

Tub B- This past week my kids learned about nocturnal animals.  They made a cute owl/bat that a co-worker created.  We ran out of time to add facts to the bat and the owl.  So, this week my kids will use nonfiction books to write bat and owl facts on their owl/bat.  After finishing this tub, the children will listen to books on the iPod.

Tub C- Scarecrow Scrambled Sentences- This is another activity created by Made for 1st Grade.  After finishing this tub the children will "Read to Someone."

 Tub D- After listening to a book online, the children will write a response- "What is your favorite part and why?"

Trying out Reading Tubs

Although I have supported Daily Five for the past couple of years, there has always been something(s) about it I didn't like.  I've changed it so many times that it hardly even resembles Daily Five anymore.  Last week, the girls on my team got the wild idea to try Reading Tubs instead of Daily Five.  I was so interested and excited that I stayed late on Friday afternoon trying to get it all set up for this week.  Here's a first peek at Reading Tubs...

Reading Tubs are structured just like Math Tubs.  The children are grouped into four groups (for now by reading ability, but they could definitely be mixed ability).  I decided to label my reading tubs A, B, C, and D so I don't confuse the kids.  Each child will go to one reading tub a day, for four days.  Three of the tubs have a Word Work activity.  The fourth tub with be computer (Starfall, BookFlix, Storyline Online, or Tumble Books). 

After students are finished with their tub, they will have a second choice available.  The four choices are a reading game, listening to books on the iPod, read to someone, and computer (Tub D will stay at the computer the whole time- no second choice). 



Here's my Reading Tubs chart



Here's my Math Tub chart

 Here are the materials for reading and math:

PROS:
- shorter time spent- I plan to give the kids 35 minutes to work on Reading Tubs, instead of the 45-50 minutes we are currently spending with Word Work/Listening choices of Daily Five.

- less transition- Transitions are a struggle for my class this year.  Instead of the whole class moving at once to a new choice, each child will move when he/she finishes the work.

- fewer materials needed- Currently I need at least 5 sets of a Word Work activity, and even with that my children have to work with a partner.  When one group doesn't finish Word Work on time it messes up the next group of children who should be using those materials.  With Reading Tubs, I can create 4 sets and all children can work alone and not have to worry about someone else needing their materials.

CONS:
- less time for listening choices- With this system the children will only go to a listening choice if they are finished with their Word Work.  Hopefully this will be motivation for them to finish early, but if not they will miss about 10 minutes of listening time.


I had parent/teacher conferences all day today, so I haven't actually tried out Reading Tubs yet.  I can't wait to get started with them tomorrow.  I'll let you know how they go.