1st 6 weeks lesson plan template

I think I am finished with all the lesson plan templates that I will need for the year! WooHoo!!!

This year I am really wanting to start out slow and not jump headfirst into the curriculum. What I mean by this is that I want to do a thorough introduction of many things before going back in depth on these same things. I want to take the 1st 6 weeks to teach/introduce:

Rules/Routines/Procedures/Organization Tips/Technology Tools/Reading Strategies/Reading Skills/Administer Assessments to guide my instruction!!!!!/Do teambuilding activities/Launch Writer’s Workshop/Review/Introduce English Stuff(Parts of Speech, Sentence Types, Phrases, Punctuation)/Set up our Word Study Program/Cover Homework Guidelines and Expectations

THEN the 2nd 6 weeks will be our time to start revisiting ALL that we have talked about and done. We will go more in depth with most of the above and continue this way for the remainder of the year.

Here is a screenshot of my 1st 6 weeks lesson plan template.

Here is the word document: 1st6WeeksLessonPlanTemplate

Here is the pdf document: 1st6WeeksLessonPlanTemplate

 

Small group lesson plan template

I think I have got what I want-“I think”.

Last year we were asked to begin small group instruction in 4th-6th grade(it is already in place in K-3). They talked to us about it around October. I really did try to implement it, but I was also trying to follow our reading program and there just wasn’t enough time to get everything in after whole group instruction. Is there ever enough time????

I think I taught small groups about 6-7 times if I remember correctly-the kids seemed to enjoy it, and I really felt like I knew more about my students in just those few times then I ever did during whole group. So I am pledging to spend lots more time teaching small groups and working with individual students this upcoming year. I hope that I can follow through on this-there just seems to be so much to teach (and I’m departmentalized-only teaching reading, english, spelling, and writing). Self-contained classrooms have it a whole lot tougher! 🙂

I really want to get to know my students (all 48 of them); their strengths, their weaknesses, their likes, their dislikes…..

Small group instruction will be the biggest challenge-especially if I teach them what “they” need help with (and not just what my teacher guide tells me to teach).

Here is a screenshot of my small group lesson plan template that I just made.

Here is the word document: SmallGroupLessonPlanTemplate

Here is the pdf document: SmallGroupLessonPlanTemplate

The only other lesson plan template that I need to create is one for the 1st 6 weeks of school. This one will be entirely different from the others since I really want to introduce A LOT of things to my 6th graders (note that I said “introduce”-not teach to mastery) before we buckle down and dig in!

Lesson plan template

An hour. That’s what it took. To create a whole group lesson plan template. On the computer.

Mind you, I did not say that I just did my lesson plans. That’s a whole other ballgame! LOL

So back to what I did do-I created a whole group lesson plan template that also sort of acts as a schedule-this lesson plan template will not let me forget to teach anything. Hopefully. 🙂

Here’s what it looks like.

Here it is as a word document. Whole Group Instruction Lesson Plan Template2

Here it is as a pdf document. Whole Group Instruction Lesson Plan Template2

Now I’m off to create a small group lesson plan template (unless I fall asleep)!

 

FAB FIVE finally figured out!

I think I have solved my Daily 5 dilemma from yesterday! I have tweaked it a little to suit my 6th grade classroom/time constraints, etc,etc,etc,etc (aren’t there so many etcs in our lives???). 🙂

I am renaming mine “Fab Five” mainly because we won’t have time to do EVERYTHING on a daily basis. So, my students will still have choices (most important thing), but they will have all week to complete them with the exception of Read to Self-this will me a MUST for each day.

We will only do 2 rounds of CAFE/Fab Five each day-yet another because-because I have to/want to:

1. Teach English

2. Teach Writing separately

3. Teach whole group reading-gonna try and limit this to 15-20 minutes each day since I KNOW that small group/individual instruction is the bomb!

4. I still want to do an interactive read aloud (chapter book) each day

 

I AM SO HAPPY!!! :):) I am one step closer to organizing this chaotic mind of mine!

I created the “Fab Five” posters to put on my bulletin board in power point. Here is the link to the actual power point file in case you want to edit and use for your classroom.

FABFIVEposters

Here is the pdf file that I converted the presentation to.

FABFIVEposter pdf file

Let me know what you think!

Tracking Standards

Since last year I felt like I was ambling along without any sort of REAL direction (my fault), this year I am going to make myself be aware of EVERYTHING I do and WHY I do it! To better aid me with this task (since I’m a VERY visual learner) I typed up the Alabama Course of Study Standards for 6th grade Reading-Language-Literature-Writing (everything I teach with the exception of the technology standards). I am going to print and cut and put on a bulletin board right near my desk and small group table. Each time I introduce/teach a skill I am going to highlight it to help keep myself on track.

Yeah, yeah, I know that I am supposed to look at the standards and imprint them into my brain at the beginning of the year and then keep looking at them as I plan my lessons. However, when you are given a scripted “research based” program to teach with, you just assume that EVERYTHING is covered explicitly and many, many, many times. Reality check: don’t assume anything (I’m not going to underline the chunk in that word that should be standing out to you by now!). 🙂

Now don’t get me wrong-I didn’t do ALL that Scott Foresman provides because it’s impossible so I might have missed some stuff. But, I have been told in the past to just make sure I teach the TARGET skills-the ones with the bulls eye beside them-well, I don’t think that worked!

So-here we go again! Here is the document for you to print, and I also posted it on my AL COS Standards page on this blog.

6th Grade Alabama Course of Study Standards pdf

 

Countdown to Summer

20 days til SUMMER VACATION!!!!! 🙂 19 with the kids! But, who’s counting??? I have already started thinking about what I want to do this summer to get ready for next year. Here are some things that are on my “To Do” list!

1. Attend some workshops about intermediate reading/writing

2. Organize and revamp my classroom library

3. Make charts to use with my kids next year for reading, writing, and english

4. Create a rough yearly curriculum plan

5. Figure out how to organize reading/writing notebooks for kids

6. Figure out best room arrangement for whole group lessons/working in small groups/individual conferring

7. Figure out how to incorporate some comprehension skill cards into independent work that will help with state testing

8. Read ALL the books that I want to read to help me plan my curriculum/year/action plan

9. Make table skirts (well, get my mother-in-law to do this :)) for computer table and small group table-maybe even teacher desk!

10. Create Scott Foresman Reading Street resources-powerpoints for each weekly story/week at a glance sheets/trifold discussions/and whatever else I can think of

11. Thinking about technology and how to incorporate it into my lessons

What are your plans this summer for getting ready for next year?