Fourth and Fritcher

Co-Teaching Strategies

In a perfect world your co-teacher would be in your classroom the whole day! Wouldn’t it be amazing for the teachers and the students to have two teachers sharing the load from the moment the students walk in to the moment they walk out? In some districts, co-teaching is used only during ELA and math; but we know that learning disabilities don’t put on the brakes when science or social studies begins. And, there are some scenarios in which a general educator is working with two different special educators!

Special education teachers who take on the role of a co-teacher have to wear many hats throughout the day and it oftentimes involves teaching in other classrooms. The co-teachers that I know have so many other classrooms they service that my classroom is just one more stop in their busy day. They give all they can when they are there but they are only human! We have had to be very creative in how we make this work for both of us (and the students). Here are some things to try if your team is short on time and patience with the co-teaching life!

PLANNING

Set up one day a week to plan. Choose a time and place that can be consistent and stick to it. Choosing a time before or after school helps to not congest the already busy day. Also, choosing a planning time outside of the scheduled day helps alleviate rushing if the regularly scheduled planning period is coming to an end.

If your co-teacher doesn’t have the time for planning before or after school, digital planning is the next plan of attack. In the past we have set up a shared folder in Google Drive (with a variety of docs, slides, etc…) that can be worked on collaboratively from home or when there is free time. This allows both parties to be involved in the planning process, but they don’t have to be present at the same time and place. This format also provides for a written history of your year that can be used for future reflection and planning.

DISCIPLINE

Co-teaching can be tricky when it comes to discipline. The two teachers have to be on the same page for behavior and management expectations. This also comes with being comfortable with each other as co-teachers. Creating a solid classroom behavior system makes it easier for both teachers to keep the expectations clear for the students. At the start of the year, include your co-teacher in the process of designing and introducing the classroom expectations. Students need to see that both teachers are on the same page. Each teacher will have their personal level of patience, but the way the students are handled needs to be consistent. Consistency will allow the students to respect the teachers as equals as well. It is fine to play good cop - bad cop with situations, but make sure that the roles switch because the good cop teacher will be viewed differently by the students.

GRADING

It is amazing when your co-teacher takes on some of the grading of homework and assessments. I have always had co-teachers that wanted to be involved in the students’ progress and seeing the assessments first hand allowed them to be. When co-teachers don’t share everything, expect there to be stress in the co-teaching relationship.

In the purest form of co-teaching, the general educator and the special educator are equally responsible for every student in the class. The mindset of “my kids” “your kids” needs to be discarded. Special educators should be grading the entire stack of assessments, not just the “sped kids’ papers”. Yes, special educators (in collaboration with the general educator) will need to assess and inform regarding a student’s IEP goals, but that should not be done in a vacuum.

To avoid a “my kids” “your kids” mentality, make very clear expectations of what each teacher will be responsible for and split it from the beginning. This obviously can be modified as the year goes on, but don’t assume that the co-teacher knows what you expect. Again, using a cloud-based system of recording assessments helps share the information in real time and allows for flexibility in who is grading which assessments. Plus, if everything is kept in one place, it helps speed up the process when annual reviews come around.

TEACHING/PRE-TEACHING/RE-TEACHING

Co-teaching provides an amazing opportunity for pre-teaching and re-teaching to occur. The concepts and vocabulary can be pre-taught to everyone (or certain students in need) so when the introduction of a unit occurs, the new information is able to be connected to prior learning. Having two teachers to split up the teaching is valuable as well. Just as no two students learn the same, no two teachers teach the same. It is great for students to be able to hear information through different approaches and multiple times.

In closing, being in a co-teaching relationship can be amazing for everyone involved. But it doesn’t come without frustration or trying a million things before it feels right. Don’t give up on it right away. And, don’t be afraid to scrap what isn’t working and try something new. Use your creativity to find the right blend that works for everyone involved. It takes a few years to build the trust between teachers so that everything flows without a hitch. In the end, co-teaching is amazing and the kids will love having two teachers that can love and support them on different levels.

End of the Year Behavior Management

When it comes to classroom management, routine consistency is the key. Seasoned teachers know that when time is invested early on in classroom routines, the success will carry through the rest of the year. But by the time May comes along the necessity turns to novelty. Even though the normal schedules get interrupted by assessments and play days - the students still crave structure. Here are a few ways to make school fun while still keeping them under control!

Voice Levels Board

This simple hand-made poster can be made on poster board or on a Google slide. It creates a visual for the students to self monitor their noise in a fun way. Every student wants to keep working with a buddy as long as they use a “Spy” voice. As the year goes on their classroom talking voices increase. This poster is a great way to keep them thinking about their inside voice!

WOW Board

Another simple hand-made poster that I laminate for longevity: I create a grid with letter/number coordinates. Throughout the day, I put their initials on the squares (in dry erase marker) to reward them for good behavior and academic excellence. At the end of the day, I randomly pick 2-4 squares and they receive a candy pick. The students love to get as many squares with their names on them as they can.

Compliment Stars

Hallway behavior is another thing that goes down the drain as summer approaches! I award stars to the students that receive compliments from other teachers/staff members or even other students for their hallway behavior. I put the stars on the board when we receive them. Once we receive 10 stars they get a class reward. I usually choose things that don’t cost me too much time or money. Their favorite is having lunch bunch in the classroom. Another variation of this is earning fuzzies in a jar. The more they earn the bigger the prize!

Class Dojo

Class Dojo is an app that you can download for free. When you upload your student names into the app, each student receives a monster avatar. The teacher can assign points to different behaviors or actions. There is an option on the app that allows for it to randomly choose a student. If that student is following the classroom expectation, they earn the point. If not, the teacher randomly picks another student. Each Friday, I give each student the points that they earned in real paper Dojo cash. I have also created a paper menu that has rewards that the students can purchase when they earn their dojo points and dollars.

I love using Class Dojo! You can read about my experience with this app here:

How to Create the Best Home/School Connection with Just One App!

You can find materials to support a Dojo classroom here:

Fourth and Fritcher 3-in-1 Mega Pack Bundle

Reminder Anchor Chart

Sometimes you need to have a chit-chat with your class. In the past I have gone over the rules in-depth and created an anchor chart to help them remember the expectations.

You can read about this process here:

Refocusing For the Rest of the Year

Reminder Anchor Chart

Every teacher as time goes on creates a “tool box” of management techniques that work for them. But having a May/June arsenal is a must for surviving the last 2 months of every school year! Good luck - the end is very near!!!

End of the Year Tasks in an Elementary Classroom

It’s that time of year to start thinking about what worked this year and what we can do to improve next year. I’ve had a lot of “end of year” school years. Throughout that time, I’ve learned a few tricks to help make the start of next year a little bit smoother.

1. Copies for the Fall

I start going through all the activities and original copies that I used for the year. Then I make a list of all things that I want to use again. This list works as a rough draft for plans but also a check off list for my printing assignments. Our district uses digital printing so I can upload the PDFs for the copies I want printed. I know I will add and supplement with new activities, but I like to send all of my copies for September and October before the school year ends. I set the copies due date for the first week of June so I can check it off my list and store it for the summer. It will be one less thing I need to do as I prep my room for the new students coming in!

2. Packing

Each year we have to take everything off our walls and pack up as much as we can so they can move out all of our furniture to wax our floors. This year we have to move our classroom to another building so we have to do “real” packing. But I use the same process either way!

As a team we make a label sheet on standard copy paper that has my name, room number, and a place for a box number. We send this to printing and request about 100 copies for each of us. Each teacher has a designated paper color for his/her sign. It’s a quick way to differentiate which box belongs to which teacher. With a complete move (including the furniture), everything gets a label sheet and number: chairs, tables, bookcases...everything.

As I start packing, I tape the label sheet on the box and number it. I also create a spreadsheet that will tell me which box has which items inside. When I unpack later, the spreadsheet will help me know which boxes contain what. I use the spreadsheet to determine which boxes to unpack and where. I also use the chart to organize the order I unpack boxes. For instance, I’ll put all construction paper-containing boxes near the cupboard where I will store construction paper. I might just move them there during the initial sorting phase and empty them out at a later time. As I empty boxes, I check them off my spreadsheet. The spreadsheet also helps me realize if a box or group of boxes doesn’t make it to its new destination.

Label Your Boxes: Name, School, Room #, and Box Number

3. Bulletin Boards

Most years we can keep our bulletin boards up as long as we cover them. We hope that the summer staff doesn’t get anything wet and most times we are good. But if you have to take them down each year here is a quick idea to keep all of your bulletin board materials together.

I usually spent a lot of time layering and mix and matching different borders. To save time later on, I keep the materials together to replicate it for the next year. I dismantle a bulletin board one at a time. I take all the staples out so they are ready to go in the fall. I roll up the borders in a rosette shape. As soon as all of that bulletin board stuff is rolled up, I use a large binder clip to hold it all together. Then, I also label which bulletin board it belongs to. This way in the fall you just have to put up new paper and your borders are matched and measured for easy assembly.

In the past we have used plastic dollar store table cloths or fabric for the backing of the bulletin board. But some years the district has given us issues over them being a fire hazard. So I found a better solution! I found rolls of white wrapping paper at the dollar store. This works great and matches any color combination that you use to decorate.

4. Planning Spreadsheet

My fourth grade team has created a google sheet to lay out our content literacy and standards plan of attack. This is powerful when you see what articles and books you are using for each lesson. It demonstrates where you have gaps and where you need to incorporate different lessons for different standards. This also leads my team to the discussion about spiraling curriculum. We want the students to work towards deeper learning over mastery. The more exposures and applications students have to standards and skills, the deeper the learning will be. It is even more powerful when we are hitting those areas in Social Studies and Science!

The NYS standards (NYS Next Generation Standards) have been revised to combine the old literature and informational standards. So, instead of keeping track of 2 sets of reading standards, it has been condensed into one!

These are some simple things that will help you think about how you will wrap up your school year while still preparing for the start of the next. As we get more experienced as teachers, we learn a few tricks that make us say, “Why didn’t I think of this sooner?”

How to Host a Book Tasting in an Elementary Classroom

Does it seem like your students are choosing the same books for independent reading over and over again? It's no secret that students choose books they are familiar with or have read before; and there is merit in reading a book more than once. But, I was looking for a way to break up the monotony. Then, I stumbled across Book Tasting.

Book Tasting! It sounded like such fun. But, as I started to explore the facets to this fun, my head began to spin. I decided to scale it down a bit and provide my students the "basics". My goal was to keep as much of the fun as I could, but to also experience an easy set up and easy clean up.

The following is how I run Book Tasting in my classroom...

You Will Need:

Dollar Store plastic tablecloths for each table (if you want to be really fancy, get the red and white picnic table-themed covers)
Placemats (I print mine on cardstock)
Genre Placards (for each section/table)
Student Trifold (copy one for each student, and a few extra)
12-15 books of each genre/category (our librarian was a huge help with this!)

To Set Up:

Place plenty of placemats at each table. You need at least one placemat per student but it's even better if you can set a couple extra out. The extra place settings will give the students a larger sense of choice as they approach the table for their turn at the genre/category.
Place one book on each placemat. As each student sits at the table they will have one book already in front of them when their time begins.
Place additional books in the center of the table.

To Book Taste:

Explain to students about how to book taste. Look at the cover (front and back), the spine, read any text on the covers, flip through the pages, notice any illustrations. Finally, sample a bit of the author's writing. If students have tried a decent-sized sample and the book still isn't interesting to them, that's when it would be time to switch the book.
Set a timer. Let students know they will have X-amount of time to explore the books at that table.
When the timer has about one minute to go, have students make their final selection and write down the book information in a trifold. Most vital are the title and author. But, they can also note the genre, number of pages, and what they like about the book. The trifold will become a reference point for them in the future. When they look back on what they wrote a month (or two or three) ago the notes will help them remember the book.

I use different genres each time. If I have more than one book tasting in a school year, I try to have different genres compared to the previous book tasting.

Book tasting this year involved all 3 fourth grade classrooms in my building. We divided up the genres so each classroom offered something different. We moved kids through the rooms according to homeroom. While visiting each room, students had designated time at each genre/category.

We had plastic tablecloths decorating each table to bring color and novelty to the rooms. We also copied the placemats and placards in a variety of colors to catch the students’ eyes. We had enough time for students to rotate through two of the three classrooms. There was a bit of grumbling when they mathematically figured out that they would not be visiting one of the three rooms!

Each placemat had one book ready to go. Students chose a place to sit. Once the "round" began, students could sample the book in front of them or they could swap it with a book in the middle of the table. Toward the end of their time at that table, students used their trifold to record basic book information.

Overall students were able to book taste at least 5 different genres. Books remained available for a short time afterward in case students wanted to peruse a genre they didn't get to during the tasting.

Sign up and receive your own set of Book Tasting Resources for FREE.

Free Book Tasting Trifolds and Placemat!

Weeks later, I still see student trifolds inside reading folders and binders. Some students keep them nearby for their next trip to the library. Book tasting gives students an opportunity to look at and consider books they might never explore independently. One of the most common revelations during book tasting relates back to the adage "don't judge a book by its cover"!

To read Part 1 of this blog (ideas and drafting) on Writer's Workshop, click here -> Writer's Workshop: Part 1

Drafts are done...now what?

Once drafts were complete we started focusing of the beginnings, endings, and everything in between. After each edit session we went back to our drafts and made them better. Our drafts are always “under construction”. One of the hardest concepts for students to embrace is that idea that writing is never "done". When I have a student proudly proclaim after the first draft, "I'm done!", I kindly retort, "When you're done, you've just begun."

BEGINNINGS/ENDINGS

Just like with every step of the writing process - model...model...model. As teachers we too often take for granted that our students know exactly what we expect of them.

We created another anchor chart that had 4-5 different ways to begin a narrative. I passed out index cards to each table group. The cards were numbered to correspond with the numbers on the anchor chart. For example, the first way to start a story might be using a sound that catches the reader’s attention. The topic on the card was the first day of school. Each group worked together collaboratively to come up with a beginning using a sound and that topic. We did this until we had gone through each way to creatively begin a story. The students loved hearing how the other groups came up with ways to begin their topic story.

In the past we have also searched through familiar texts to show different ways authors begin the novels they read every day. Once we had practiced each type of beginning, I modeled how I update my seed story’s beginning. Then, they went back to their journals to update their seed story as well.

When it came time to practice endings we did a similar activity with the ways to creatively end a story. Their stories were then updated to end with a memorable note. Both of the anchor charts are posted for the students to use at anytime. This step was helpful in reminding students that "The End" and "That's my story. Bye!" are not the best use of an ending.

TRANSITION WORDS

Transition words are definitely the way that stories flow in an organized fashion. Many students that are aware of what transition words are tend to use the same favorites - first, then, and next.

We started by brainstorming as a whole group. I asked students to write down transitional words and phrases on sticky notes. We placed them all on an anchor chart. It was satisfying to see students walk up to the chart during their drafting to seek out transitions!

To help organize the words and phrases, I created a visual for them to see which words could be used at the correct points in their story.

This visual was a traffic light that had transitional words that went with the green, yellow, and red parts of the light. Green beginning story words and phrases were: "first" and "in the beginning". Examples of middle words (yellow) were: then and next. Finally, the red words are the words that can finish up a story.

I wrote a sequence story about making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The paragraph was written so each sentence was written on different sentence strips. But to make things interesting, I left out all of the transition words. Each group had a set of sentences they needed to put together in the correct sequence. Each group also got 5 post it notes to write down different transition words. The students placed the transition post-its into the story at the correct places. Each group enjoyed sharing their choice of transition words they used to make their stories flow.

Each student received a traffic light transition word chart for their binders. The students then went back to their drafts to see if they could add or change up any transition words to make their stories more organized. They love to highlight them in the corresponding color to signal if they are green, yellow, or red transition words.

CHARACTERS

In the past we have tried to brainstorm characteristics about the characters they are creating, but that doesn't always correlate to a well developed character in their writing. It seems like we get one sentence that just has a list of the character traits that they brainstormed. Developmentally it is very difficult for them to be this stylistic as writers. But we can show them what good writers do with characters to give them a starting point.

For this topic of instruction I decided to pull different text examples from the novel we were using at the time. In the novel, Eagle Song, the author describes the characters indirectly. So I pulled various quotes from the text for the students to dig deeper into the character and the traits they were demonstrating.

Each quote described how a character was thinking or acting. Each quote had to be thought about in order to describe each characters’ traits. This was one way to show how authors describe characters without coming right out and saying it. Modeling what good writers do helps make new writers better.

I also created a poster to remind students about choosing better adjectives. I explained that when they are drafting they can write down the first words that come to mind. But, during the editing and revision process, they should go through and note which words should be improved upon. The poster helps students identify some of the words that need revision.

Seasonal Poster Fun!

EDITING/REVISION

Checklists are great. But, too often, we will hand a checklist to a student and expect them to move through each line to improve their writing. The reality is students usually check off the item just to move forward in the process without actually doing the steps.

Although I still have a checklist available, I also have students chart their writing.

This may be my absolute favorite strategy to teach while working through writer’s workshop. This is a Ruth Culham strategy that I learned years ago when I was first introduced to the 6 + 1 Traits writing program.

Each child uses a chart labeled with 3 key columns:

- first 2 words in the sentence
- number of words in the sentence
- ending punctuation mark

I prepared a mock paragraph that has some obvious grammar infractions and a run-on sentence that I new would demonstrate the strength of this chart. As I entered all of the information into the chart, my mistakes and repetitions become clear to the students. This activity demonstrated that sentences shouldn’t start with the same words and they definitely shouldn’t have too many words. I showed them very explicitly what I would do if I realized I have a sentence with 25+ words in it. They quickly saw that this humongous sentence should be broken into 2 (or even 3) smaller sentences.

When they started charting their own paragraph, I reminded them, "If you see a sentence in the upper teens for word count, go back and split it up into multiple sentences." They found out very quickly that they are putting too many words in a sentence. Splitting up a run-on sentence can be a challenge for a lot of students. I encouraged them to think about where one idea stops and the next idea begins. Oftentimes, that is where a period can be inserted. Another great thing about the editing chart is it becomes immediately obvious that they are starting sentences with the same words repeatedly. This strategy is one of the most powerful ones that I teach all year!

I have had students asking to chart because it helps them keep so many areas in check while they are writing. Just recently, we were doing a writing sample and a student re-create a chart on a whiteboard so she could chart her paragraph. Teaching strategies that will grow with them and be applicable in other aspects of their education is so valuable.

In a nutshell, the importance of explicitly teaching in any subject area is well worth the time! Slowing down, giving explicit step-by-step instruction, and modeling the expectations is some of the most powerful teaching we can do.