Currently,
my coteacher and I are working incredibly hard on students answering questions
(both orally and written) in complete sentences. We have been relentless with
this expectation and I must say it is paying off! So this week in reading, we
again are working on strengthening our comprehension in addition to answering
questions in complete sentences (and even adding evidence.. gasp!)
So like the
rest of you reading this blog, I am always looking at ways to spice up my mini lessons!
Capturing and maintaining first grader’s (kindergartner’s, fifth grader’s.. you
get the gist) focus is a job within and of itself. And with my constant desire and urge to integrate
other subject areas, I thought of a fun way to not only spice up my mini lesson
but help my kids with their math! (yes, math!)
First, I carefully decided on my
read aloud: Pinkilicious and the Butterfly! Since we are learning about
butterflies in science, I found this to be the perfect book. Though fiction, it was very informative and related to our class' newest "class pet," Cookie the Caterpillar! I then thought about how can I ask my students questions
and keep them engaged? I quickly
reflected on yesterday’s math lesson: 3D shapes. To put it bluntly: some kids
got it and some kids just flat out didn’t!
So I walked over to my shapes’ bag and dumped them in a bucket. I then
drew (I use that word loosely) each type of 3D shape we were learning about on
an anchor chart. Within less than 5
minutes, my super awesomely integrated mini lesson was prepared!
At the beginning of
my mini lesson, we quickly reviewed what we have been working on as readers and
mathematicians. (I love starting my mini lesson with the STUDENTS reminding me
what we are working on) After a quick naming of each shape on my anchor chart,
I asked students for question starters. I paired each starter with a shape and
let the fun begin!
Once my read aloud
was finished, I strategically called
students up one at a time. My focus for
each student was different and based off of what I know they are struggling
with: naming 3D shapes, flat vs. curved sides, answering higher level thinking
questions or simply speaking in complete sentences! Each student closed his/her
eyes and picked a shape. Based off of it’s features, each student had to name
it without seeing it. The students got to
tell them if they were correct or not! After the “shape reveal,” We
QUICKLY talked about each shape and it’s attributes focusing on curved sides
because they just did NOT get that concept. (being as this truly was a reading mini lesson) Then, the student had to answer a
question using the question starter of the corresponding shape from my anchor
chart! Oh and since my coteacher and I love a good theme, accessories didn't hurt our cause to spice things up!
 |
| When learning about butterflies, why not BECOME one?! |
 |
| Close your eyes. Pick a shape and GUESS! |
It was a HIT! The
kids were laughing, smiling and LOVING this “game.” This lesson’s success got
me thinking that this type of mini lesson can be done with ANY topic:
multiplication facts, stages of a life cycle, types of graphs, fractions, objects..
the list goes on! Simply replace the
shapes in the bucket and the shapes on the anchor chart with whatever topic
your students are struggling with! Get creative! Pair each item with a question starter and
voila!
I challenge you to
think about how can you not only spice up your next mini lesson on asking and
answering questions (or anything really!) BUT how can you integrate another
subject area?
