Word Nerds Chapter 8: Learning Through Assessment

** AAAHHHH I just saw that this didn't post this morning!?! :o(  I'm sorry y'all!  I've been in my room all day and this is the first time I've been on the computer.  Thanks for hanging in there! **

This is it!   This is the last chapter :o(  I'm kind of sad to see it end...  This book had some amazing ideas and I cannot wait to implement them into my classroom this year!  Next week I will finish up with the Epilogue and have a Vocabulary Linky Party so EVERYONE, yes even you, can link up all your vocabulary ideas or freebies so we can all grow together as Word Nerds!

One of my very favorite bloggers and lunch date ladies, Tamara from Mrs. Russell's Room, will be your host for this chapter!  Click on the image below to head on over to her blog and check out her thoughts and ideas on chapter 8!


Here is my quick run down of learning through assessments:

• "Assessment is one of the first steps, one of the last steps, and part of everything we do in between." - AMEN!  Assessment does not mean a test at the end and let's see how we fared.  It will never go as good as it could have if you had monitored your student's learning all the way through.
• How to plan for vocabulary assessment: think about the goals and purposes of the assessment, use authentic measures of vocabulary progress, plan for ways to assess depth of understanding, and be aware of comprehension connections. 
• LOVED how they laid out their Vocabulary Cycle Plan with related assessment and time frames!  Exactly what I have been wanting the whole book :o)

Formative vs. Summative Assessments:

• "Formative assessment is a plan to gather day-today information about learners, what they are learning, and what they need to learn."  I felt like this summed it up nicely!
• LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the metaphor about the soup!  "When the cook tastes the soup, that's formative; when the guests taste the soup, that's summative."  Did I mention how much I LOVE this metaphor???
• Different assessment strategies: thumbs up/thumbs down, observation, analyzing student work, teacher questioning, and student-generated questions.
• Give practice tests so students don't stress on the actually graded test because that's the first time they hear the word "test."
• Also, let student's create their own vocabulary test so they get a better understanding of applying their words.

I have had a blast hosting this book study and have learned SO MUCH from not only this book but y'all too!  I appreciate all of our hosts along the way and everyone else who jumped on the bandwagon and linked up as well!  Check back next week for Vocabulary Freebies Linky to build up your arsenal.  Have a great vocab idea?  LINK IT UP!  Don't forget the check out Tamara's blog and link up your thoughts and ideas down below!  Thank you all again, it has been a tremendous experience and I have loved every minute of it :o)

Word Nerds Ch. 7: Spreading Vocabulary Wings

The authors open the chapter with morphology and immediately introduce the Crystal Ball activity.  I. AM. IN. LOVE.  When you check out our host's posts you'll get a more in depth look at this activity but I will try and sum it up.  All the students are doing is breaking down a word into prefix, root, and suffix.  From there they find the definition of those three parts and then come up with as many words as they can think of that include those specific parts (use that schema!).  What began as breaking down the meaning of one word, essentially turned into the students learning 41 more words!  I always taught morphology in my class but I don't think my kids ever "got it" like these guys did in the book.  Definitely reevaluating how I will be teaching that next year!  And I have to add in that I also adore the Pirate vs. Rascal talk!  I will also be incorporating that into most of my vocab lessons, not just after I read the book!  I'll go into my detail on that topic later, whenever I try it in my class, but I know these ladies are going to tell you all about it and I don't want to spoil it ;o)

Our lovely hosts for this chapter are Shannon from I Run Read Teach and Allison from Eberopolis (who started back to school today!?).

 





 

Head on over to their blogs to learn more about morphology, using children's literature (they name specific books!) as a way to teach different forms of vocabulary, and so much more!  Don't forget to link up your thoughts and ideas below as well!

 

 

Word Nerds Ch. 6 - Celebrate to Validate!

Y'all I cannot get over how many good ideas are in this book!  I can't wait to do them all!  As I read I try and go back to past classes and think, "Oh yea, they would have LOVED that one."  or "They would have done so much better had I done this with them."  Anyone else do that???

Our lovely host for this chapter is Jen from Teaching, Life, and Everything in Between!

 

Here are some goodies (and of course my thoughts) from this chapter!  There are a lot of good party ideas and I thought to myself what a party means to my class.  Usually we have a compliment party (After they receive a certain amount of compliments from people around the school as a whole class) and it is a movie and popcorn, or maybe an ice cream party.  We also have a dance party if everyone brought their homework in on Friday!  Just a quick 4 minute song and the kids just rock out.  Occasionally I will let them pick the song and find the edited version, lol.  We also play "Sparkle Bang" right before a spelling test (it's kind of like Around the World) and the kids beg for it every Friday.

As I was reading I could only think of how motivating these "parties" would be for my kids to study more at home.  It is 5th grade and being "cool" is in full effect.  They don't want to be embarrassed by not knowing something and if they know there will be a party at the end where they can show off their stuff, they're going to work really hard all week!  Can you say LIGHTBULB???  If it works for homework and spelling, how have I never thought to do it for vocabulary?!  So while reading this I had a moment of epic failure and then turned it around real quick because now I have a huge source of good ideas that I will implement this coming year!  Here are some of the goodies they mention:

Block Party/Welcome, Words! (You get cookies!)

Toasting Party

Celebrating Velcro Words

Jeopardy! Party

Deal or No Deal Party (loving the game shows!)

Charades or Show Me Party

Dance Party

Luau Party

American Idol Party

Art Show Party

Holiday Parties (Fall Festival, Thanksgiving, Winter Holiday, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day)

 

 

If you want to get in depth detail of each party, don't forget you can look at the book free online at the publisher's website!  Also, head on over to Jen's blog and check out her summary and thoughts and ideas!  Don't forget to link up your thought as well down below!

Word Nerds Ch. 5: Active Vocabulary Practice

Oh my gosh!  This book is a glorious wealth of ideas and information and is such a find!  Chapter 5 alone has so many goodies!  I'm at the point now where I'm trying to figure out how to fit all the ideas I've been writing down in my Teaching Ideas Journal into my vocabulary instruction.  I need to just slow down and realize I can't do EVERYTHING EVERYDAY, lol, no matter how fun it seems.  I'm also really excited to transfer all of these ideas to Science, Social Studies, and Math!

This week the lovely ladies Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper and Jen from Diving into Learning will be your hosts for the chapter!  Click on their buttons below to find out what they have to say about active vocabulary practice in the classroom.  Holly is an intermediate teacher and Jen is a primary teacher :o)

 

 

 

Chapter 5 was all about practice!  You know when your kids practice their multiplication facts or spelling words.  It obvious when it comes time for their test and they still don't know any more than what you taught them the first day.  They have to practice!  Usually we have SO much to do that we rely on parent involvement to help with this.  For the most part that works but not always and not necessarily because parents don't care but because life happens, three jobs happens, going back to school themselves happens, etc.

This chapter includes numerous ways to practice in your classroom as a whole group, small group, or as individuals.  Because there are so many great ones and we have two fabulous hosts, I'm just going to tell you my favorite from each!

Whole Group: Chain Link
We have something very similar in our Word Work station as a worksheet and I can't believe I never thought to put it to kinesthetic use!  Every student has a vocabulary word (lanyard).  The teacher will call up one student and they will stand at the front of the room.  Now all the other kids are trying to figure out a connection from their word to the word up front.  Say the student standing up front has the word port, well another student with reflection raises their hand.  They would say, "My word is reflection and at a port, you can see the reflection of boats in the water."  That child will then go up and link arms with port.  Now students have the opportunity to think if they can come up with a connection to port OR reflection (they can link up on either side).  This is a very higher order thinking game and should be done at the end of your vocabulary cycle after lots and lots of practice.  This is one of the only times we do not let them use their vocabulary journals to reference back to because this isn't supposed to be the literal definition but the application.

Small Group: Vocabulary Board Games
Pretty self explanatory but on edhelper.com they have board game templates that she used and she printed them off, glued them on file folders and laminated!  You can reuse these with any vocab cycle!  I would probably have one group of cards that are my vocabulary words and another that is a task (eg. come up with a 7up sentence, what is a synonym for this word?, etc.).  If you get it right (your teammates will let you know) then move ahead however many pieces the dice tell you, if not stay where you are and try again with your same cards.

Individual: Word Illustrations
Essentially for this activity, students will illustrate their vocabulary words by combining the word and the meaning into a drawing.  One of my favorite examples was a little girl who had the word era and drew three women, one for each letter.  The e was a picture of a woman wearing a long dress and big puffy hair, the r into a woman wearing a shorter dress and high heels, and the a into a girl wearing her hair in a ponytail with jeans and a T-shirt.  She explained that this shows how clothes and hairstyles have changed in different eras... LOVE!!!

Those are just a FEW of the goodies that are found in this book!  Link up below with your thoughts and ideas from chapter 5 and don't forget to check out Holly's and Jen's blogs for their summaries!

Word Nerds Ch. 4: Squeezing the Juicy Words - Adding Synonyms & Antonyms

Today we are exploring our Word Nerds Book Study Chapter 4: Squeezing the Juicy Words - Adding Synonyms and Antonyms.  Doesn't the title just make you want to delve right in?!  Our lovely host for this chapter is a fellow Texan, Kelly from Koonce's Korner!  I just love her and love her blog :o)  So cute, the both of them!  Click on the image below to head on over and see what she has to say about Chapter 4 and synonyms and antonyms.

Here is my quick run down of Chapter 4!

Thoughts and Ideas:

• LOVED how they used the dictionary and thesaurus as a constant resource!  My kids use them, but as a last resort.  They dread having to open a BIG book, haha, but hopefully it will just become second nature to them now.
• I'm also really liking how they keep referencing the Common Core Standards.  I don't know about y'all but in our county (at least for grades 3-12) it is all new and will be rolled out next year.  So any little bit can help and it's always nice to know that should my methods ever be called into question, I have the proof to back it up!
• "Velcro Words" = words that will stick to your brain (totally stealing this).
• "Juicy Words" = impressive synonyms or antonyms (we call them Jeopardy Words in my room but same concept).
• Code Switching - so important!  Some of my kiddos don't have the most supportive home life and the kids in their neighborhood might make fun of them for using big words or think that my student is acting "uppity."  As sad as that is, it's a fact of life.  With Code Switching, we are teaching our kids when it is appropriate to use those Jeopardy Words.  Now some might be able to share their words at home and their families will foster that conversation more but same might not.  Great tool!
• I always worried with non-examples.  I had students that would get confused and misinterpret their vocabulary word but after reading this chapter I think it was more of the way I taught.  I need to delve deeper into my non-examples so students really understand the breakdown of their vocabulary word.  This one was all on me and I hope to do better next year!
• The lanyards!!!  I have been waiting for this part since I got the book and saw the students on the cover, haha!  Even though I teach intermediate, I really liked what they did in the primary classroom with the lanyards.  I thought that was a brilliant idea for students to line up by synonyms or antonyms, taking it a step further and switching, etc.  I am TOTALLY doing that this year!  If you need lanyards (like this girl) I found that Oriental Trading has a TON to choose from for a fair price.  Some are just lanyards and some have a badge attached so you might need to go exploring to find what you're looking for here.

Well that's all I've got on this chapter!  Don't forget to check out Kelly's blog above and link up your thoughts and ideas on Chapter 4 as well :o)

Word Nerds Chapter 3 Part 2 and Bloglovin Winners!

I know, I know.  I'm SUPER behind on this post.  It was due last Thursday but the craziness with trying to get this house, getting all of our paper work in order and just trying to get the other stuff in my life done has been hectic to say the least.  Better late than never!

This chapter was all about introducing your vocabulary and I have to admit that there were few similarities in what I do and what these ladies do : /  Not to say what I've been doing is wrong, but it was interesting to see the different methods of implementation.  Our vocabulary cycles usually only last five days: give the words on Monday and test on Friday.  Yes, very old school, I know.  The idea of focusing on words for ten days would be great!  I'm definitely going to have to bring this up to my team at our next meeting!

I loved the idea of the sentence and word prediction and the vocabulary journals.  I already know that I will have to work hard at not giving them the answer right away during the prediction process, lol.  My question is, what do you do with those low babies that absorb the first thing they hear and they stick with it?  I'm guessing the ten days will be enough time to rewire their brains, haha.  I also LOVED how she essentially taught social studies while introducing the vocabulary words!

That's it for this chapter, it was pretty short and sweet!  There are lots of ideas I plan on implementing and I would like to keep some of my old goodies as well, but if I'm extending my vocabulary cycle to ten days then there is time to fit it in in other places.  How do you introduce your vocabulary?  By clicking on the image above you link up and see what others have to say about their vocabulary introduction!

Now for the good stuff, my Bloglovin giveaway winners!!!!

Congratulations to Andre and Emily!  Emily was also a winner for my 300 follower giveaway!  Buy a lotto ticket girl!  Thank you to everyone who followed me on Bloglovin and all your support!  I have found so many fun blogs to follow throughout this giveaway and I love my daily Bloglovin feed.  So fun!

 



Word Nerds Chapter 3: Making Introductions

Hey y'all!  I do not have my post ready yet for Chapter 3 (ugh, I know?!) but we had some CrAzY stuff happen the last couple of days and hopefully I will be able to share the good news with you tomorrow, along with all my 300 Follower Giveaway Winners, on my Five for Friday post.  So fingers crossed!

BUT there are some wonderful ladies out there who have prepared a fabulous summary for you today!

Joy from Joy in the Journey and Kaitlyn from Smiles and Sunshine
 

 

Head on over to both of their blogs and see how they introduce their vocabulary.  Go ahead and stalk look at the rest of their blogs because they're super cute!  I was very excited (still am) about this chapter seeing as how this is where it will all start come August!  I love to see the different ideas people use!  Don't forget to link up your post if you are joining us as well :o)

 

 

 

Word Nerds Chapter 2: Classrooms that Foster Word Confidence

A little housekeeping before we get into our book study...  I know everyone has seen the news about GFC going away and the switch to Bloglovin'.  Well I'm doing it!  I'm taking the plunge!  I would appreciate if you already follow me (or you want to!) to please begin following me on Bloglovin' :o)  Okay, now that that is out of the way, onto our book study!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

 

Our Word Nerds Book Study continues with Chapter 2: Classrooms that Foster Word Confidence!  The chapter takes you through both a primary and intermediate classroom and shows you how two different teacher foster word confidence in their daily routines.

 

Our two lovely hosts for this book study today are...
 

Raye from The Caffeinated Teacher and Misty from Think, Wonder, & Teach.  Click on their button below to check out their posts.

 

 

 

I'm going to give you just a brief run down of my thoughts on this chapter but will leave the bulk of the information to the wonderful ladies above!

 

Thoughts and feelings!

• I was definitely intrigued by the idea of having kids practice getting excited and then immediately stopping to come back to the lesson.  I never thought about that approach because my first couple of years my kids had no trouble with that area whereas last year's students could not come back quickly after getting excited or going off for an activity.  Definitely be doing this next year!
• Loved the concept of a teacher-convenient classroom vs. student-convenient classroom.  After reading the descriptions I really thought about my classroom and, thankfully, realized it was student-convenient!
• The choosing vocabulary words went right along with my other book study on building mathematical comprehension!  Use words from the content you choose, words from your standards, and words that the students will see in other subject areas but need to know to be able to decode questions and what not later (Tier 2 words).  LOVED the metaphor of "Goldilocks" vocabulary words - just right for the students in front of us.  Don't we all know how that changes from year to year!
• I'm totally going to start calling it a Vocabulary Cycle as opposed to a unit!  It's so true!  With a unit, it ends and the student's never retain it, but a cycle continually repeats itself and the students will need to recall the words throughout the year and their life!
• Whenever I introduce vocabulary I always like to use a Prezi presentation with a kid friendly definition and a visual, but I really like their idea of the Vocabulary Planner to help me sort out all the information I need.  I would also like to go to some sort of Vocabulary Notebook.  Does anyone do this in their classroom?  Thoughts?  Ideas?  Problems?

There you go folks, the writing in the margins so to speak!  You should see my book, lol.  It's all sorts of highlighted and written on with doodles and notes.  I'm thinking of bringing into the classroom to show my kids how I text code as I read and they can too!  Don't forget to check out Raye and Misty for their amazing insight to this wonderful book!  Head on back later today for Day 3 of my 300 Follower "Fun in the Sun" Giveaway!  If you haven't entered for Day 1 or 2 yet... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?  There are so many wonderful goodies from some extraordinary bloggers :o)

Word Nerds Book Study: Chapter 1 - What's the Big Deal about Vocabulary Instruction?

It's finally here!  We're kicking off the start of our summer book study and I will be your lovely host for Chapter 1: What's the Big Deal about Vocabulary Instruction?  This is a long post, but lots of fun pics and videos included, :o) so please forgive me now.  I wanted to make sure I got the goods for those of y'all who are still waiting on the book to arrive.  Don't forget you can also read a free online preview (the whole book, lol) at the publisher's website!  As you read you will notice that a lot of my thoughts are in italics next to what the book says.

Let us begin...

Chapter 1 discusses the importance of good vocabulary instruction in classrooms, especially with at risk kids (a good portion of my kiddos).  The authors connect the instructional strategies to the Common Core standards: Reading, Writing, Language, and Speaking and Listening.  No matter what grade you teach, all of these standards are hit ACROSS GRADE LEVELS!  Love that!  They also give you key components for your vocabulary instruction and discuss the positive results of a six-step instructional plan.

Key Components: "Because the old method just aint cuttin' it"

• Some words are more important to teach than others - Tier 1 (words they know coming in to school), Tier 2 (high frequency words that you will use all day/for any subject), Tier 3 (academic vocabulary).  Base most of your instruction on Tier 2 words as Tier 3 words you will teach in context.
• Students have to learn words at more than one level - Did anyone else think of Marzano's scale when you read this?! LOL
  
• Students learn words when they experience them multiple times - One study said 6 was the magic number and another said 12.  I feel like you could just go with 9 and call it a day but I'm going to go with 12 just to be on the safe side ;o)  After you start thinking about it, twelve is not a lot in the span of a week (or however long your vocabulary units of study are) so it shouldn't be too hard to accomplish.
• Asking students to look up words in the dictionary and write the definition does NOT help them learn words - over 60% of student created sentences from dictionary definitions didn't make sense.  When introducing your vocabulary words, use kid friendly language!
• When students learn words, they build patterns and networks of meaning called "word schemas" - They use synonyms, antonyms, prefixes, suffixes, and/or root words to break down an unfamiliar word.  The students with sparse word schema are going to have a more difficult time inferring the context.  In our class we create a different prefix/suffix note card each week.  The kids learn a new affix and its meaning, come up with examples and create a visual on the front that would help them remember the meaning.  I pick one to put up on our intermediate version of a Word Wall.
  
• Students can learn some words through the use of wide reading - Use different types of text, trade books, periodicals, direct instruction, etc.!
• Students can learn some words through rich conversation with adults and peers - Just think about how many times your students say something and you know it was straight from their parent's mouth!  The majority of this section blew my mind!  Children's literature contains two times as many rare words compared to a conversation between two college educated adults and more than all adult conversation except courtroom testimony!  The example from The Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon was amazing supporting evidence - "The Creams were swamped with all kinds of remedies from psychologists, allergists, herbalists, nutritionists, psychics, an old medicine man, a guru, and even a veterinarian.  Each so-called cure only added to poor Camilla's strange appearance until it was hard to even recognize her."  Check out all those terrific words!

I found this video of Sean Astin reading it aloud as part of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation  program Book Pals, a program where actors read children's literature to help motivate our students.

• Students can learn some words through word play - Let them learn and play with words through multisensory activities.  Our learning cubes, Vocabulary Dance Out, and so many other great resources that I will be sharing later instantly come to mind!
• Students can learn some words by direct instruction - Marzano's Six Step Instructional Program.
  

  

  
  

  Ideas for this program (click on the images for more information):

  
  

  
  

  Learning Cubes

  
  

Vocabulary Notebooks

 
Wordbooks app for iPad or iPhone

*I really like this app because you can create your own vocab book and it will find the definition for you!  If you don't like what it has to say, type in your own definition.  It also has a matching/quiz type card game.  Great way for students to review at any time and... IT'S FREE*
 
• Most students need word-learning strategies to become independent readers - Context clues and morphology (students find a key to unlock the meanings of longer, multisyllabic words).

 Things that made me say "Oh my gosh!" and my thoughts:

• I loved how she opened the chapter with the example of Brenda learning to read Spanish fluently but having NO idea what she was reading.  I could instantly think of at least six students who do this!  Anyone else???
• Teachers use simpler words to help a student understand (especially with at risk kids)... I totally do this sometimes :o(  I will say that I have tried to be better about saying both ("What is your hypothesis, your guess, for this experiment?") especially if I'm talking to my ELL's or SLD students.
• I feel like that piece on children's literature needs to be mentioned again!  It just goes to show, and prove, that trade books are essential in the classroom!  Our textbooks are only written at our specific grade level, whereas their literature is giving them a wide range and full scope.  LOVE IT!

I'm so excited for this book!  I feel like it has so much information and goodies (and that was just in the introductory chapter) that I can't wait to see what else it has in store for us!  Don't forget to link up your thoughts on Chapter 1 below and if you could, after your name, please put what grade you teach so that other primary or intermediate teachers can locate your thoughts and ideas as well. Come back next Thursday when Raye from The Caffeinated Teacher and Misty from Think, Wonder, & Teach will be our wonderful hosts for Chapter 2: Classrooms that Foster Word Confidence!

Five for Friday

It's the first Friday of summer and I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!

This week in review...

1. It's summmmmmmmmmmerrrrrrrrr!!!!!!  Enough said.

2. This summer I will be partaking in two book studies!  I myself will be hosting Word Nerds as many of you already know.  For my friend Beth from Thinking of Teaching, I will also be hosting chapter 3 (and discussing along the way) for the book study on Building Mathematical Comprehension.  I am very excited for both of these!  Since I have talked to death my book study, lol, I will give you a little information on Beth's!  Building Mathematical Comprehension is by Laney Sammons (the same author who wrote Guided Math) and is all about connecting your reading strategies and academic language to math!  I can't wait!

 

 

3. Well I finally got one!  I'm so stinkin' excited about my new pencil sharpener!  I had been seeing them all over the place and thought... No way, those look like throwback, albeit very cute throwback, pencil sharpeners that we did away with.  Well I WAS WRONG.  And I have never been so happy to be wrong :o)  Tomorrow I will be posting my review so come back and check it out!  I mean, look how sharp those pencils are!?

4. I had to go to a workshop this week about a new reading series we are adopting from Pearson.  Anyone know anything about it?

Now I will be the first to admit that I am not a HUGE fan of textbooks.  Nothing against textbooks or teachers who use them, but I am more of a teach from novels kind of gal.  Remember, I teach fifth grade.  If I taught younger students I might feel otherwise but my kids are about to be entering middle school and should be able to comprehend and analyze passages longer than four pages.

We also have to teach this textbook with fidelity till December to see how it goes.  A lot of people keep saying, "You won't have to do lesson plans now.  It's all there for you, you don't have to do anything."  But I'm one of those weirdoes who LIKES doing things.  I like to create new lessons and find other's activities that worked well for them and implement them into my classroom.  Again, I don't mind using it occasionally and I am excited about parts of this whole kit and caboodle, but I'm not a fan of someone telling me how to teach all the time and making all of us teach the exact same way.  (It's my Texas-Irish blood, I'm very stubborn that way, lol)  Teachers are just as unique as our students and what works for one might not work for another.  If we have to differentiate for our kids why not for our teachers?  Okay, off my soapbox now, haha!

5. If you follow me on Instagram you have already been alerted to this! LOL At Wendy's, if you donate a dollar to... well I'm not sure because I forgot in all the excitement, but if you donate $1 you get this cute little Wendy's Frosty Key Tag.  This key tag allows you to get a free Jr. Frosty every time you get something from Wendy's for a whole year.  Absorb that... A WHOLE YEAR OF FREE FROSTIES FOR ONE DOLLAR!!!!  Now it is just a Jr. Frosty, but who cares!?  I'm very excited about this and donated about $5 and got tags for family and friends, haha!  I don't know how long this lasts so go get yours today!

That's my week in review!  Nothing too overly exciting and I'm okay with that :o)  I am very excited for tomorrow because I will be having lunch with 5-6 other fabulous blogging buddies from our area and I'm working on Monday's Made It!  Already a good weekend and it hasn't even started yet.  Don't forget to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday and tell us what you did this week!

Word Nerds Book Study Schedule

Greetings to all my blogging buddies on this terrifically, terrible, Tropical Storm Thursday!  It's a tidbit soggy outside and one of my favorite things to do when it is raining is snuggle up on the couch and read a good book!  So what better day to tell you all about my summer book study!

This summer we will be reading Word Nerds by Brenda J. Overturf.  I have already started reading it and LOVE it!  It is all about promoting and learning vocabulary in a fun, new way that your students will retain, even after the test.  One of the things I love best is that this is not only a book for ELA teachers but Math, Science, and Social Studies as well!  Any subject where you use vocab, you can use these ideas!

Now you might have noticed that I said "we will be reading..."  That's right!  I have some wonderful blogging buds that are going to be hosting certain chapters!  Whenever you see this ridiculously cute button (thank you Megan from A Bird in Hand Designs), you'll know that someone has written a review or has a great vocabulary centered activity based on this book study.

Every Thursday, starting next week, I will be posting my thoughts on the chapter and sending you over to our hosts to see what they have to think!  There will also be a linky party each week where you can link up your own thoughts or ideas for that chapter.  Some of you might want to have the book in hand (like me) or might not be able to do that right now.  No worries!  You can still follow along by reading the book online from Stenhouse Publishing.  The WHOLE book can be viewed even though it says "Preview Online."  LOVE IT!



Here is our line up of our wonderful bloggers who are hosting chapters.  Please click on their button to check out their amazing blogs!

 

Chapter 1 - What's the Big Deal About Vocabulary Instruction?

June 13th

 

Me!!!

 

Chapter 2 - Classrooms that Foster Word Confidence

June 20th

 

Misty from Think, Wonder, and Teach
 

Raye from The Caffeinated Teacher

 

 

 

Chapter 3 - Making Introductions

June 27th

 

Jessica from Joy in the Journey

 

 

Kaitlyn from Smiles and Sunshine

 

 

 

 Chapter 4 - Squeezing the Juicy Words: Adding Synonyms and Antonyms

July 5th

 

Kelly from Koonce's Korner

  

 

 

 Chapter 5 - Active Vocabulary Practice

July 11th

 

Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper

 

 

Jen from Diving into Learning

 

 

 

Chapter 6 - Celebrating to Validate

July 18th

 

Jen from Teaching, Life, and Everything in Between

 

 

 

Chapter 7 - Spreading Vocabulary Wings

July 25th

 

Shannon from I Run Read Teach

 

 

 Alison from Eberopolis

  

 

 

Chapter 8 - Learning Through Assessment

August 1st

 

Tamara from Mrs. Russell's Room

 

 

I can't wait to get this started next Thursday!!!  Please feel free to join in at ANY time with your comments or ideas!  Don't forget to get your copy of the book or read the online version along with us :o)