Expert Words

So, after a meeting with some coworkers about a nugget I was (and am) worried about, my friend gave me such a great idea!

This particular nugget is struggling to automatically know the difference between "b" and "d".

She suggested that I make him the "expert" of one of those letters.  

I chose "b".

So, he now has a lanyard that says, "Ask me what sound this letter makes," on one side and the letter on the other.

He is in charge of that letter. 

If anyone else in the room reverses the letter, they go to him to see his lanyard.

He LOVES being the "boss of b".

So......as we were talking I realized that this concept could work for ALL my nuggets.

I consulted their high frequency word list of 300 words and picked one that they didn't know how to read yet.

If they knew them all, I picked a frequently used writing word.

(One little girl got switched to 'they' since I remembered that she struggles to spell it ALL THE TIME!)

Aaaaannnnndddd...I may have also forgotten that I had already given that word to someone.

Whoops!

Here is how I have it listed right now:

My nuggets write this word on every single piece of paper that I give to them.  

(Name, number, expert word, and date.)

I keep it in my binder (which is out most of the day) so that I can reference who has what if I need to.

I truly don't need to, though!

A nugget will get stuck on a word and quietly say, "Is anyone the expert for _________?" and that person will answer.

If no one answers they consult their word list.

It's magical I tell you!

Seriously, who doesn't love being the expert of something...anything??!!

Some of them have learned these words so well and so fast that they will become a two-word expert when we return from spring break.

This is the most effective word-learning activity I have ever used.

For realz.

I hope you had a great weekend.

Let me know if you start using expert words in your classroom!

Laters,

Mrs. B

Tears...

I swear...I have cried WAY too much today.

There have been tears of frustration, tears of joy and tears of sadness.

I'm not an emotional roller coaster or anything...or maybe I am.

Tears of Frustration

I started the morning with a 2-hour delay.

Not a problem in my book...

I spent the time discussing report card grades (Friday's the end of the 3rd quarter already!!) with my team.

While doing so, I had yet another crushing moment where I remembered that WAY TOO MANY of my nuggets can't read where they need to.

My class has more total than the other two combined.

We all use the same curriculum, I have been doing interventions with my nuggets before we were required to, they have been performing well on their phonics tests......

Ugh.

It makes me feel like I'm not doing something right, even though I am working my tushie off.

So, cue the tears of frustration.

Tears of Joy

I had one nugget who wasn't here when we did the SRI (Scholastic Reading Inventory - it assigns a lexile score for reading) so she went with a teacher to do the test.

She was gone for a while, which I noticed, but didn't think much of.

This nugget has worried me this year because she has some trouble processing and retelling information.

We have taken this test 3 other times this year and she has gotten a 0 each time.

When she walked back into the room with the teacher I could tell something was up.

She looked like the cat that ate the canary.

Her cheeks were flushed and she couldn't stop smiling.

I walked over and said, "You look like you have something to tell me..."

She broke out into the BIGGEST smile and said, "I went from a 0 to a 479!"

A 479!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I screamed...not a little squeal, but an all out freak-fest.

And then...

I started crying.

Man, I'm a dweeb!

I just couldn't help myself.

She was so proud of herself.

(BTW...the range for a nugget to be considered "on grade-level" at the end of second grade is 450-650, which means that she is reading well enough to be successful in third grade!)

The other nuggets were flat-out amazed.

I had to explain to them that they were good tears.

...and then they talked about it all day.

"Remember the time you cried?"

Yes, yes I do.

Tears of Sadness

So, you'd think that I would learn my lesson and realize that I'm a bit over-tired and over-emotional today.

Nope.

I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

I started out watching the Bourne Ultimatum but then switched to The Guardian.

I love The Guardian, but it makes me cry every time.

I watched it for LITERALLY 10 minutes and cried.

Gah!

I give up.

I'm watching Pitch Perfect.

I need some giggle in my world.

This video made me giggle.

These are the teachers at the middle school in my corporation doing a "Cupid Shuffle" flash mob to relax their nuggets before beginning ISTEP.

My mom is the pretty lady on the left with short, grey-ish hair in the red shirt.

Love to see teachers making their nuggets laugh by being dorky.

How was your day?

Mrs. B