tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-356344882024-03-22T01:05:20.310-04:00TheSmartieBlogTheSmartieBlog will be a place that I will share my thoughts on topics that teachers ask me about in workshops & conferences across the United States.Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796183279306402415noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35634488.post-35028460282623070052016-09-26T22:03:00.000-04:002016-09-26T22:03:23.148-04:00Teaching Reading IS Rocket Science Webinar Questions and Answers<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Thank you for attending my webinar hosted by ESGI on August
31st. I enjoyed the opportunity to present the <i>Reading Aptitude Continuum</i> to you and explain how you can use
targeted assessments to drive your reading instruction. if you want to watch
the webinar for the first time, watch it again or share it with a colleague, it
is available on </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__YvYgzmc2E&feature=youtu.be">YouTube</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were lots of thoughtful questions before and after the
webinar. Thank you for your engagement. I always admire the commitment of
teachers—even after working all day at school! Here are some key points to
remember about reading instruction and the <i>Reading
Aptitude Continuum:</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">· Teachers can target skills and teach to individual and small
group needs by understanding progression of skills.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">· Less is More! If we are trying to teach everything, we
actually teach nothing. Young children need focused instruction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">· Great teachers never forget that our introduction of
skills is one-third of what children need. They then need guided practice
time (one-third of the time) and independent practice (one-third of the
time). If we continue to teach, teach, teach, students don’t ever have
time to practice and master skills.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">· The best assessments change what we do each day. It
is imperative that we have quick and easy assessments and charts that allow us
to immediately use the data to instruct students. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">You can learn more
about the <i>Reading Aptitude Continuum</i>
and my tests on ESGI on a previous post on </span><a href="http://thesmartieblog.blogspot.com/2016/08/reading-aptitude-continuum.html"><i>The
Smartie Blog</i></a><i><span style="color: #222222;">. </span></i><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">The entire <i>Reading Aptitude Continuum</i> is available
on a thumb drive for </span><span style="background: white;">purchase </span>at <a href="http://www.thesmartiezone.com/shoppingcart.html"><b>thesmatiezone.com</b></a>.<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"> The
thumb drive contains the reading ladders, instructions, printable flash cards,
and score sheets, as well as customizable versions of the cards and score
sheets. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">To access the tests, you can also </span><a href="http://www.esgisoftware.com/ESGI/?promo=thesmartiezone#intro_video.aspx" target="_blank">try ESGI FREE for 60 days</a>!<span style="background: white; color: #222222;"> Sign
up with promo code <b>thesmartiezone</b> to save $40 off your new
user subscription. After entering your students, go to the Test Explorer to
locate all of my <i>Reading Aptitude</i>
tests. You can see the list of 112 tests </span><a href="https://support.esgisoftware.com/hc/en-us/articles/209160826"><b><span style="background: white; color: black; text-decoration: none;">here</span></b></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">. An introduction, lists of all included
skills and the reading ladders are available to ESGI teachers </span><a href="http://ww6.aitsafe.com/cf/add.cfm?userid=80169334&product=Reading+Aptitude+Continuum+Ladders+and+Instructions+Digital+File&price=10.00&units=.0625&return=www.thesmartiezone.com/shoppingcart.html"><b><span style="background: white; color: black; text-decoration: none;">here</span></b></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222;">. I love that ESGI has allowed me to take what
would be a massive amount of work and make it useable and quick for teachers to
assess kids!</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">Remember, if you want to watch the webinar for the first time,
watch it again or share it with a colleague, it is available on </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__YvYgzmc2E&feature=youtu.be">YouTube</a>.</span></div>
Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796183279306402415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35634488.post-51819444974788117702016-08-09T22:56:00.001-04:002016-08-09T22:59:57.744-04:00Reading Aptitude Continuum<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is the Reading Aptitude Continuum?</span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As
I present around the country about reading, I am often asked, “What do you use
and is there a more purposeful assessment available?” To answer that question,
it is important to understand that reading occurs on a continuum and that at
times, our biggest e</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;">nemy is our belief that assessments that are grade
specific, as opposed to skill specific can help us determine what our students
need. The assessments that I have created are based upon skills, not grade
level. They can be utilized with any student in the process of learning to
decode for reading. This can be a child that happens to be at the Pre-K level,
a struggling intermediate reader, an ESL student, a student with disabilities
or any other student in the process of learning to read.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As teachers, each of us needs to
determine what is a student’s skill level, what needs to be taught and what
skills comes next. <b>The purpose of the <i>Reading Aptitude Continuum</i> is to provide
teachers with a framework that allows you to see skills in a progression that
will aide your students in becoming successful readers. </b>Every time we test
a skill and find the student unsuccessful, we have to look to the prior skills
and then determine what to teach. When the student has successfully mastered
the skill, we then move to the next skill assessment. <b>Targeted assessments
should drive our instruction</b>.
Foundation skills embedded with fluency and comprehension strategies can
lead to creating successful readers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is ESGI?</span></b></h2>
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<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ESGI,
Educational Software for Guiding Instruction, is a simple, online assessment
platform for conducting one-on-one assessments.</span></b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
I partnered with ESGI because it is ideal for testing non-readers, emergent
readers and struggling readers. You can choose from hundreds of pre-loaded
tests—including my Reading Aptitude Continuum tests—or create your own. After
assessing students with the yes/no format, choose from charts, graphs and
reports to guide instruction. ESGI eliminates the paper, saving you hours on
assessments and providing you hours for instruction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How does ESGI help to effectively use the Reading Aptitude Continuum?</span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Reading Aptitude Continuum provides
a series of tests that are thorough, tested and reliable. With ESGI, teachers
can give one-on-one assessments, instantly visualize student performance,
analyze areas of weakness or growth, and quickly target instruction. <b>With an ESGI subscription, a teacher has
access to all </b></span><a href="https://support.esgisoftware.com/hc/en-us/articles/209160826"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">112 of the tests</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> in the Reading Aptitude Continuum.</span></b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
Once the assessments are given, the teachers can target their instruction based
on the data in the Pie Charts, Bar Graphs Analysis, Class Totals Report, and
Test History. Teachers can also print customized parent report letters as well
has flash cards to support the reading instruction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How do I get started?</span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Each ladder in the continuum contains
rungs that build decoding skills.</span><b style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While it is certainly possible for a
student to miss a couple of rungs and continue to climb the ladder, you
wouldn’t want a student to have no footings in a ladder. Pick and choose the assessments most valuable
to your class or individual students in identifying needs. Your first step will be to determine where to
start in your assessments. Based upon
your work with the student, look at the ladder and determine where you believe
he/she should start. If the assessments
are too hard, stop and go back several tests.
If they are too easy, jump forward a few. Keep in mind, that for the most part, the
assessments were created to be easiest at the start of each assessment and to
end with hardest level of the skill.
This will allow you to determine if a high level of mastery is
evident. It’s important to remember
that many skills have a quick assessment and that if there is any sense that
the student hasn’t truly mastered the skill, you may want to add to the number
of questions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Each of the <i>7 ladders</i> in the continuum contains rungs that build decoding
skills. Pick and choose the assessments most valuable to your class or
individual students in identifying needs. Each concept has directions on the
sheet, along with the questions, words, letters or phrases listed. Each list
then has a corresponding sheet or sheets of the cards that can be used for the
assessments. (The exception is the Phonemic Awareness section as all of the
concepts are done orally and require no cards) Assessment Recording Sheets are
included. There is an individual student recording sheet and a class recording
sheet. Each sheet has skills broken up by ladder or concept. Every sheet is customizable and can be modified for
the skills you are assessing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Entire Reading Aptitude Continuum is also available on a thumb drive for
purchase </span></b><a href="http://www.thesmartiezone.com/shoppingcart.html"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">here</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.</span></b><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> The thumb drive contains the reading ladders,
instructions, printable flash cards, and score sheets, as well as customizable
versions of the cards and score sheets. <b>Or</b> </span><a href="http://www.esgisoftware.com/ESGI/?promo=thesmartiezone#intro_video.aspx"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Try
ESGI FREE for 60 days!</span></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Sign up with promo code <b>thesmartiezone</b> to save $40 off your new
user subscription. After entering your students, go to the Test Explorer to
locate all of Donna Whyte’s Reading Aptitude tests. You can see the list of 112
tests </span><a href="https://support.esgisoftware.com/hc/en-us/articles/209160826"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. An introduction, lists of all included skills
and the reading ladders are available to ESGI teachers </span><a href="http://ww6.aitsafe.com/cf/add.cfm?userid=80169334&product=Reading+Aptitude+Continuum+Ladders+and+Instructions+Digital+File&price=10.00&units=.0625&return=www.thesmartiezone.com/shoppingcart.html"><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">here</span></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796183279306402415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35634488.post-82577082585355511462014-01-29T20:07:00.001-05:002014-01-29T20:07:57.724-05:00Fight or Flight with Children ~ A Disaster in the Making<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As a consultant that travels working in schools and with districts, I am often in an airport and seem to find myself "people watching". This evening I have witnessed so many cases of pushing children to the brink, that I am shocked and motivated to write. This has been an extremely LONG day for many travelers as the weather has been absolutely horrendous in so many cities that don't often see this type of weather and am not prepared to deal with it. I truly understand circumstances are difficult when traveling with children and things go crazy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">With that said, there is never an excuse for an adult to engage a child in a power struggle that ultimately leads a child to behave in a "fight" or "flight" manner. Watching some of these parents has broken my heart for how children will ever learn empathy, self control and cooperation. My heart hopes that this doesn't happen in classrooms across the world but my head says that it probably does. So in defense of the children I want to share why ending confrontation with fight or flight is always a bad choice and negatively affects how our children process getting along in the real world. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Fight or flight is a natural reaction for all people when pushed to the brink. Many rational individuals can be driven to do and say things that outside of a particular situation, would never have occurred. We witness this by athletes, government officials and many other individuals that publicly have to acknowledge that they "lost it". My issue is about children and why we as adults would ever want to push them to "lose it". Whenever a person feels severely attached they have a natural reaction to run or face it. Some children may crawl up in a ball or hide their face saying things like "I hate you", "don't talk to me" </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">or just refuse to speak. This is a sure sign that a child feels like they are not being heard. Other children will lash out trying to hit, kick, bite or scream to relay their frustration. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">A good rule of thumb is to always remember who is the adult. To recognize when a child has gone from rational and is on the way to irrational so that you can be the one that stops. It is often best to provide time for each of you to breath. Depending on the circumstance you might want to put a bit of distance between yourself and the child. Many times child believe that your "hovering" will lead to further attack or the child might feel threatened. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">I encourage every adult - parent/teacher/relative/friend to remember that learning to solve problems takes time and that the least effective way to find a solution to a problem or problem behavior is to drive a child into fight or flight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Thoughts?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Donna - Author of "You Can't Teach a Class that You Can't Manage"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS;">Other </span>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796183279306402415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35634488.post-11470356475032901972013-02-11T15:57:00.001-05:002013-02-11T19:13:04.308-05:00The debate continues on Accelerated Reader<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Hi Fellow Smarties, <br />
AR "Acclerated Reader" is a topic that I am asked about again and again. Therefore, I decided that it would be the topic of this blog. It is a hard topic as you find that few people "sit on the fence" when it comes to AR. The public seems to love it, the teachers love it or hate it and most librarians I have talked to dislike it (to put it mildly). Truth is that the first link below outlines what <em><strong>Best Practice</strong></em> suggests for independent reading programs. See below<br />
<br />
Abundant reading research proves that the following components of an independent reading program increase students' reading achievement and motivation to read:<br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><ul>
<li><em>Access to books</em>: Students need access to a wide array of reading materials at their independent level.</li>
<li><em>Time to read</em>: Students need consistent, daily time to read at school.</li>
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<li><em>Reading engagement</em>: Students need classroom conditions that engage them with reading and foster reading self-efficacy.</li>
<br />
<li><em>School-wide support</em>: Schools must create a culture of reading that values reading in all subject areas.</li>
<br />
<li><em>Well-stocked libraries with qualified librarians</em>: School library collections should contain current, well-maintained collections of interesting reading material manned by trained, licensed librarians.</li>
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<li><em>Student choice</em>: Students need frequent opportunities to select their own reading materials for both personal and academic reasons.</li>
</ul>
</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If your school can boast that they have these components without AR, you aren't alone. Many schools have these built in each and everyday. They also don't "bribe" kids to want to read. See, if you read the research on AR their claims don't "compare apples to apples" most of the time. I would love schools that already employ these components to go against the schools that use AR. I think that we would be surprised. AR schools would probably come out on the short end of the stick for motivation and definitely have less money to put into the above! Here are some articiles, our best attempt to encourage children to read should be based on research of schools with best practice versus schools with AR. I think that we would find that our monies would be best spent elsewhere. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/2010/09/reading_rewarded_part_ii.html">http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/2010/09/reading_rewarded_part_ii.html</a></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.sdkrashen.com/articles/does_accelerated_reader_work/">http://www.sdkrashen.com/articles/does_accelerated_reader_work/</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/gary-stager/mission-accomplished_5_b_1408896.html?ref=tw"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/gary-stager/mission-accomplished_5_b_1408896.html?ref=tw</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://greenwich.patch.com/blog_posts/what-i-learned-from-kids-about-accelerated-reader"><span style="color: blue;">http://greenwich.patch.com/blog_posts/what-i-learned-from-kids-about-accelerated-reader</span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://thereadingzone.wordpress.com/2009/03/15/accelerated-reader-frustrations/">http://thereadingzone.wordpress.com/2009/03/15/accelerated-reader-frustrations/</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span> </span></span>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796183279306402415noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35634488.post-37028587433314937452013-01-30T21:23:00.001-05:002013-01-30T21:23:06.770-05:00Valentine's Day Riddle Book<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Balloon","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I wanted
to share an activity that my students love!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><a href="http://thesmartiezone.com/freestuff.html" target="_blank">Valentine Riddle Books</a> are fun, cute and challenge children to be
“thinkers”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Title a BIG Book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Who’s in my heart”?</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add all of the children’s pages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> D</span>irections and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">free</b> blackline
masters are included for creating one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The idea comes
from my <em><a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Riddle-Books" target="_blank">Riddle Books</a> </em>packet.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLO4zPHjFYGe_9RYBqflqLpmYQE_AfW-bUsaPF-cAEcKel6cjKCeyLzdDEo2ZDwWXvD3purtkVBwvfGzPTrgkKAoGin2gDlLKGNhyNOxfVTGTWmKcqh9foODodPIaGm8avvJ1lg/s1600/hearts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVLO4zPHjFYGe_9RYBqflqLpmYQE_AfW-bUsaPF-cAEcKel6cjKCeyLzdDEo2ZDwWXvD3purtkVBwvfGzPTrgkKAoGin2gDlLKGNhyNOxfVTGTWmKcqh9foODodPIaGm8avvJ1lg/s400/hearts.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thesmartiezone.com/freestuff.html" target="_blank">Valentine's Day Riddle Book</a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Balloon; font-size: large;">Please share with a page or two your children create and feel free to share this idea!</span></div>
Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796183279306402415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35634488.post-57496675874582987232012-11-13T21:24:00.003-05:002012-11-13T21:48:47.069-05:00Monthly "Home" Work Calendars<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Monthly “Home”Work Calendars provide activities that connect school learning with their home environments. The calendars are based upon different levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of thinking skills. While some days children will use list, count, and find from the lowest level of thinking (the “knowledge” category) other days will require them to plan, create and rate from the highest levels of thinking, “synthesis and evaluation”. I have included activities for each of the 6 Thinking Levels. The calendar can provide parents with ideas on the types of activities that they can be doing with their children to connect learning between school and their lives.</span><br />
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Calendars include opportunities to build skills in math, language, speaking, reading, writing, science, social studies and many other valuable skills that bring learning to life for children. Many activities require parent involvement that will lead to better communication skills. Don’t miss this opportunity to provide the homework families often request with valuable activities that you know allow children to enjoy and experience learning in a natural environment. Children can complete any box on the calendar for any day which will give children choices and build motivation. You, as the teacher, can decide how many boxes a week or month you would like students to complete. Show our children that homework can be fun!</span><br />
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In addition to the calendar I have supplied thoughts and research on the topic of homework. The CCSS, along with 21st Century Skills move us in the direction of teaching children to learn and to become independent learners. I hope this will help as you connect home school with “home”work.</span>
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/November-Home-Work-Calendar" target="_blank"></a><br />
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November "Home" Work Calendar</div>
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/December-Home-Work-Calendar" target="_blank">December "Home" Work Calendar</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrYtID5gdos9bBmsu8GFFMXD3t1wmsD6RppJnsy4vpTPOuatOtEjSmJn1NclSzPWmAXYjy2iQIBTTqMk8maWfMt9kdQq7heDrrztmrmF8qG9JU68RHWRiD1emF7oKv4QwZco7Aag/s1600/decsample.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="320" width="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrYtID5gdos9bBmsu8GFFMXD3t1wmsD6RppJnsy4vpTPOuatOtEjSmJn1NclSzPWmAXYjy2iQIBTTqMk8maWfMt9kdQq7heDrrztmrmF8qG9JU68RHWRiD1emF7oKv4QwZco7Aag/s320/decsample.jpg" /></a></div>
Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07188171373965701330noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35634488.post-39924649995222578712012-10-16T21:10:00.002-04:002012-10-16T21:10:33.923-04:00Teaching Tip #3 - Talking Stick<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cure the call out with this easy tip</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jPf5w5GSFUA" width="420"></iframe><br />Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796183279306402415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35634488.post-6258490466306750162012-10-08T11:25:00.003-04:002012-10-08T11:25:51.466-04:00Teaching Tip #2 - Sound Spoon <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Easily add a phonemic awareness activity to your daily schedule that kids will love.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lvGRR3rODv0" width="420"></iframe>
Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796183279306402415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35634488.post-80215327169913204992012-10-08T11:22:00.004-04:002012-10-08T11:25:34.519-04:00Teaching Tip #1 - Expert Book<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Classroom management tip to allow teachers to spend more time with individuals and small groups.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7X6h6P6CxC0" width="420"></iframe><br />Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796183279306402415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35634488.post-64621575894588262522012-10-08T11:18:00.002-04:002012-10-08T11:18:27.255-04:00Primary Research Packets<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Common Core Standards, along with 21st Century Skills require that children are more active in their own learning. There are frequent references made to students learning to conduct research projects at various grade levels. Some grades add “with guidance and support” but each grade is challenged with developing lessons that incorporate “gathering information”, “project-based questions”, “using multiple sources for relevant information” and “sort and present information learned”. Children are naturally inquisitive and educators should grasp that opportunity for learning by developing “short research projects that build knowledge about a topic”.
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The primary research packets were developed to aid children in “learning to learn” and is based upon Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. You may choose to use one page, several pages or the entire packet to meet the needs of the children in your class. Challenge your high learners with the entire packet or support lower level learners with basic skills by utilizing just a few of the pages. The research packets can be used by the entire class as a shared project, by a small collaborative group or each child in your class could complete the packet individually.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following packets are now available on</span> <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Donna-Whyte" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teachers Pay Teachers</span>:</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Pumpkin Research</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Apple Research</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07188171373965701330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35634488.post-66886822855011086122011-10-26T22:58:00.002-04:002011-10-26T23:03:31.353-04:00Common Core Standards<div>Sitting in a restaurant in Normal, IL at 10 pm contemplating Common Core Standards and the development of a report card. My day was spent with a district that has created a Kindergarten, First and as of today, a pilot second grade report card that aligns with the new standards. As educators we must spend time reflecting on the quanity and quality of what we choose to state on the reporting tool. It needs to be teacher and parent friendly. Thoughts?</div>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796183279306402415noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35634488.post-74965066755478342222011-10-23T17:15:00.003-04:002011-10-26T22:00:09.121-04:00Halloween I Have Who Has CardsJust in time for Halloween - Halloween I Have Who Has Cards. Find them on <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Donna-Whyte-16/">http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Donna-Whyte-16/</a><br /><br /><br />- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhoneDonnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07188171373965701330noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35634488.post-1164387019553348052006-11-24T11:35:00.000-05:002006-11-24T13:11:12.256-05:00Homework?As an education consultant, a question that has been asked of me many, many times is: What are your feelings on homework? This is a topic so dear to my heart that I thought it should be the first one that I posted on TheSmartieBlog. I have often said that my feelings and beliefs on the topic are personal. A side of my thoughts is driven from being a mom of two teenage children who have had many "versions" of homework over the years; the other side is driven by being a teacher of young children. I often hear that homework is to reinforce concepts and/or to "bring a family together" to work with a child. My thoughts are this: Most of the research that I have read state that "homework helps starting at about 4th grade". This is a time that they seem better able to seek out assistance before completing assignments that they don't understand.<br /><br />There are children who get assistance (at times, too much assistance) with their homework. The parents sit with the child and go through each assignment. It often seems to be the same children whose parents are involved with many aspects of their lives. They don't need me to send homework to bring them together. They do it because they have a commitment to their children. If I don't send homework...I tend to think that they will still spend time with their children...chances are doing things that bring them closer and make them smile. Then there are the children who struggle through with little or no assistance. At times, these children complete the assignment but in fact, they do it incorrectly. What we as educators should realize is that this reinforces the "wrong way". In terms of reinforcing the concepts, what we find is the children who need that reinforcement most are the ones that get it least. They are in homes where parents don't help or are in homes where parents "can't". This can be for a variety of reasons. Parents work second shift, single parents are overwhelmed or so many of our parents are not sure "how" to help. Perhaps due to a language barrier but also can be due to lack of knowledge on how to help. Then there are families that just "don't spend time together"...I tend to doubt that my sending homework home can or will change that.<br /><br />My children had all the assistance they needed. It seemed at times that it was just busy work and they would robotically go through the steps. I am not sure that a lot of real learning occurs during this. It seemed that 95% of the time we just needed "to get it done". I resented the time it took from our family. From a personal standpoint I never like to bring work home. I do, but I don't like it and I am an adult. If you have already put in a number of working hours....it seems to me that you should then have "family time" or at the very least some "down time" at home. In my utopia world I want kids to go home and "be kids". Get some fresh air, play with the other kids in neighborhood, etc. I know that the reality is that many go home to empty houses and play video games. Accepting that which is beyond our control is hard, the truth is that WE don't get to decide what they do when they get home. It sure seems that struggling with homework shouldn't be a priority for these kids.<br /><br />Harris Cooper, Ph.D., a psychology professor at the University of Missouri, has reviewed more than 100 studies on the effectiveness of homework. In general, he has found that the benefits of doing homework seem to depend on the student’s grade level. In high school, students who regularly do homework outperform those who do not, as measured by standardized tests and grades. In middle school, homework is half as effective, and in elementary school it has NO apparent measurable effect on achievement. Now I have not conducted any research studies on the topic...but I tend to believe that as the child's grade (age) increase that their ability to "do it themselves" also increases, as does their responsibility for "learning". Learning good study habits is, without a doubt, a wonderful habit to acquire. I just don't see how giving it to Kindergarten, First and Second Graders benefits them in a way that outweighs the "burden". A great article to read: <a href="http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0013-5984(196001)60%3A4%3C212%3ADHHARO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-O">Does Homework Help? A Review of Research </a><br /><br />If your school district or grade level has made a commitment to giving homework then perhaps looking over the research would help to decide "how much" is appropriate. The National Education Association along with the national PTA suggests adding 10 minutes of homework per night incrementally with each grade level, as a general rule of thumb. Thus, a first-grader gets a total of 10 minutes, a second-grader 20 minutes, a third-grader 30 minutes, and so on, not to exceed two hours per night total in high school.<br />Note: K gets none.<br /><br />I have shared the following books with parents and teachers, perhaps one will help you discover what homework means to the children you teach.The End of Homework: How Homework Disrupts Families, Overburdens Children, and Limits Learning by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/103-3066515-4931817?ie=UTF8&index=books&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank&field-author-exact=Kralovec%2C%20Etta">Etta Kralovec</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/103-3066515-4931817?ie=UTF8&index=books&rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank&field-author-exact=Buell%2C%20John">John Buell</a> The Battle Over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents by <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/103-3066515-4931817?ie=UTF8&index=books&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;rank=-relevance%2C%2Bavailability%2C-daterank&field-author-exact=Cooper%2C%20Harris%20M.">Harris M. Cooper</a>Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796183279306402415noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35634488.post-1160191989097920612006-10-06T23:32:00.000-04:002006-10-06T23:33:15.333-04:00WelcomeWatch for elementary education topics.Donnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00796183279306402415noreply@blogger.com4