Flipped Reading Book Study Chapters 5 and 6

Hi, everyone!

I can not believe that we are already on chapters 5 and 6. This book study seems to be flying by! I have really enjoyed reading this book and learning more about the flipped classroom!

So let's begin.........

Chapter 5 is focusing on book clubs in the classroom and how we can use these to promote online discussions and therefore creating an online community through book clubs. I love this idea. The students can communicate about the books they read in class and carry this discussion over to their homes and families. 

Book Clubs sound amazing as the chapter goes on and they are something that with a little differentiation and adaptation that any grade level can integrate into their classrooms.

I have dabbled in Blend Space and have a few lessons in the Blended Learning Format. My goal is to create a few lessons in the Flipped format and then go from there. I am planning on doing a history lesson in flipped format and do a few writing and sight word lessons in the flipped format.

I love the idea of writing skeletons instead of writing prompts. These are guides and conversation starters. I love the open endedness of them. So I will incorporate more of these in my writing in the beginning of the year and then as the students learn what is expected with different genres and skills I will begin to wean them off depending on their skill level. This of course will be differentiated in my room. 

I do not have them implemented indepthly. I am definitely adding this feature to my classroom and will be using it to crate an online community and increase their love for literacy. Hopefully, this will involve the parents more! The wheels in my brain are already turning! Looks like this may be a blogpost of it's own soon!

Chapter 6 is discussing the use of posts as a form of assessment. I really never thought about it but I found the author made some valid reasons on why it would be a good source to use. 

I think that using the posts as a form of formative assessment is a great idea. We will be able to see thier understanding through their communication of the skills through their posts. We will be able to see what points they understood, where do they need assistance, what needs to be focused on. If they are able to communicate it then they know it and understand it. I like the idea of sing them as a FORMATIVE assessment. Great resource to use to tailor and differentiate assignments.

I have my students share and talk about their books and we do short plays. They also write in their journals but I feel I need to do more. I am definitely going to implement book clubs and I am also going to have more reader response activities as well as a monthly book review board.  I am in the process of figuring out and planning my book review wall so once I have it ready I will blog and share it!!!

I loved these chapters and I am loving this book. Although it was written for upper elementary, there are so many ideas and things that we as lower elementary educators can implement in our rooms with just a little differentiation and adaptation!

Please check out the blog posts of my teaching buddies on these chapters!!!

Maggie from Maggie's Kinder Corner

Kristen from Kristen's Kindergarten

Jonna from The Primary Life

Flipped Reading Chapters 3 and 4

Hello All!

I am here to talk about chapters 3 and 4 in this really insightful book about flipping your class room for the Reading Block! If you do not have this book and would like it, please click on the picture below and it will bring you to Amazon!

So here we go with the chapter discussion! 

I have to say I love her discussion of the I do, We do, you do process and the fact that this process really does improve literacy and achievement. I know there are going to the doubters who say this can not be done but if planned and implemented correctly, blended learning can be successful. 

If the students are given opportunities to practice the skills at home on a continuous basis, then when they come into the classroom, there is less I do and more We do. We can work together collaboratively instead of my modeling as much or discussing the activities as much. Blended learning allows the students to review the lesson at home and practice the skills. But I know that all my students will not have access to these lessons at home, so I will of course have an area set up for those students to review the lessons throughout the day!

Now that I am in First Grade, the reading expectations have changed. I feel that blended learning allows for more differentiation also. There are students who will need to practice their letters and sounds and there will be those who are ready to work on their fry words or reading small stories and can work on comprehension. These are great mini lessons for them to do at home and it will increase the We Do in the classroom!

My school does LFS (Learning Focused) and Responsive Classroom. These two focuses influence our lessons and have provided us with strategies and models for learning partners in the classroom. Through LFS, my students will use Turn and Talk, Think Pair Share and You Read to me and I Read to You, to share their knowledge and ideas about what we are focusing on with their neighbors. Through Responsive Classroom, they learn to collaborate and communicate positively. I will also be implementing the Daily 5 and this will teach them more skills and influence their partner choosing.

At Home practice  allows the students to practice the skills and tools they will need to be successful in small group. Through this extra practice, students will become more adept with the skills and will be able to perform more successfully during small groups. This time will become more focused and beneficial. 

I do not have one right now. We do read with partners and we do celebrate Flashlight Fluency every Friday but book clubs have not been a part of my classroom. I will however have one this year and I am very excited about it. Of course I will have a focus question and I am going to make it a blended learning experience! More to come later as I get the details ironed out!

These chapters have been eye opening and I am becoming more and more intuned with doing some flipped lessons in my classroom. I think they will be beneficial for all those involved.

And now, a freebie, here are my cards I use for my students to choose a partner without any turmoil!

Click on the teacher below to see what some other awesome educators had to say about these chapters!

Flipped Reading Block Book Study Chapters 1 and 2

Flipped classrooms is the "in" thing right now. When I was at ISTE n Philadelphia this past month, a lot of the sessions were centered on the flipped classroom.  Before I say I am for or against the flipped classroom, I must do my own research, so I am hosting a book study with two other amazing educators, Maggie from Maggies Kinder Corner and Jonna from The Primary Life, on the book, The Flipped Reading Block written by Gina Pasisis.

This book has been informative and amazing so far! It is geared towards the upper grades but I have been able to relate it to use in my first grade classroom. If you have not seen this book and would like to get it to read along with us, please click on the book below!

I am new with the flipped learning and I am just getting my feet wet. I have created and used with some of my kids a blended learning space on Spiders. This was a home school connection project and they really enjoyed it. i received some feedback from the families and I will definitely create and implement more blended spaces as this school year goes on. 

Right now, I use all modes of communication. I use Class Dojo (I Love Class Dojo). Class Dojo is a behavipr management system that the parents can log in and see how their child is doing throughout the day. it has a chat feature so they can send me notes and I can do the same. A great communication skill. But this program also has a feature where I can print out the reports an send them home to families who do not have access to a computer. I still send home the notes and binders so I am sure all parents are being communicated with. Another feature I use is Remind HQ. This is a texting feature where I can text reminders to my families. 

Click on the spider below to go to my Spider Blended Space:

The blended learning approach will extend the learning that is happening in my classroom. It will also get the parents involved and they will be able to experience the activities with their children. It is a great way to make homework fun and interactive not just a worksheet! Not only will it benefit them at home, but in the classroom as well. In many classrooms, the teacher spends so much time talking as a matter of fact they do most of the talking. This can be very boring at times. I believe that having more of a blended approach will provide all students the chance to be successful. It will be a multi-modality approach!

Technology is an obstacle. There are many families who still do not have a home computer. Yes, they have Smart Phones but not all have computers. This causes a problem for the children to be able to participate. Another obstacle is getting the parents to understand the importance of the activity. Many will think it is something that does not need to be watched or will allow the students to just peruse and not really listen or do the follow up activities. 

I will have an area set up in my classroom where these students can work on this during the day during small groups. i will also allot time during the week for those student to be able to work on these activities and watch the videos. before this area is set up and planned for, I will be sending home a technology survey so I will have a better idea on how many students will need to access this and how large of an area I will need.

I believe that all strategies should be modeled in a flipped lesson format. I believe this because this will allow them to practice more at home and will provide the parents with a guide and will improve their understanding of what is expected and is being taught in the classroom. I believe that this will be a great way to increase the reading skills of my students!

Here are my thoughts on these two great chapters! Now click on the links below to see what my book study partners  have written!!!

An InLinkz Link-up