10 ideas for Zoom Classroom Meetings #RemoteLearning

I think we can all agree–remote learning is hard! But one of my favorite things during remote learning is meeting with my students during zoom calls. I miss them, and I love seeing their sweet little faces! But as much as I love meeting with them everyday, we need some novelty in our meetings.

In our district, we do not teach live during zoom calls. Not all kids can attend at the same time (especially if there are multiple kids in the house and not enough devices for everyone), so we record our lessons and our zoom calls are reserved for community meetings. That's why it needs to be fun, engaging, and build classroom community while we're apart.

Here are 10 ideas to keep things engaging and novel. The first 5 are easy, no-prep ideas. The next 5 include game boards you can download from me for free.

1. Show and Tell: If your class is anything like mine, this happens whether you like it or not! You are essentially in their home, and they love showing you around and showing you their favorite toys. Go with it!
2. Scavenger Hunt: I've seen this one all over the internet! It's very popular and fun for the kids. Ask them to go and find something in their house that is red, something that is small, something that is soft, something that they sleep with, something that they love, etc. I give them a time limit of 30 seconds or 1 minute, otherwise we end up sitting awkwardly waiting for everyone to come back! Just be cognizant to ask neutral questions that are culturally responsive. Not everyone has the same things in their house, so keep it open-ended.
3. Joke Day: Ask students to tell a joke. This one is really fun! Try telling them ahead of time so they can find a good joke. I assigned them joke books to read on Epic and MyOn, and most kids came prepared with a joke!
4. I Spy: This is a fun and easy way to choose who gets to speak next. I keep the clues about the students–I spy a girl; I spy someone who is wearing pink; I spy someone with brown hair, etc. The student who has been "spied" gets to give clues about the next person. When it is their turn, they get to share something. 
5. Read Aloud: I did a read aloud with my students everyday when our learning was in-person, so why not virtually? I choose a chapter book with short chapters and read them a chapter each day. I like to combine this with one of the other games as well.                                                                                       
6. Pictionary: This is a lot of fun! First, share the word with the student who will be drawing by sending a private chat message. Then have that student share his/her screen and choose "whiteboard." I choose 1 - 3 other students to unmute and guess the picture so it is easier to hear and everyone gets a turn. I set a timer on my phone for 45 seconds. If they do not guess the picture in 45 seconds, I let other students guess too. I came up with words and categories that were related to the standards and easy to draw. You can get my list of words here with more detailed directions. I played this with my students on zoom. I'm not sure if it will work on all virtual meeting platforms.                                                                                                                                                   
7. Sweet Sight Word Shoppe: This game is played like hangman if you remember that old classic! There is a hidden sight word on each slide, and each letter in the word is covered with a box. If students guess the wrong letter, they must ‘eat’ a sweet treat (the teacher deletes a treat across the top). To win, students must guess all the letters in the word correctly before they run out of treats and get a stomachache! This is a great way to practice sight words, and you can sneak in a teaching point about syllables and that there is at least one vowel in each syllable. It helps them with strategy in the game, and it's a first grade standard! Use knowledge that every syllable must have a vowel sound to determine the number of syllables in a printed word. (CCSS: RF.1.3d) Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. (CCSS: RF.1.3)                                                                                                             
8. 4 Strikes and You're Out: This is another game that is played like hangman, but with math! There is a hidden number sentence on each slide, and each digit is covered with a box. If students guess the wrong digit, they get a strike. To win the game, students must guess all the digits correctly before they get 4 strikes and they’re out. This game builds number sense and computational fluency, including missing addends. More specific directions can be found in the download.  Understand that the two digits of a two-digit number represent amounts of tens and ones. (CCSS: 1.NBT.B.2) Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10. (CCSS: 1.OA.C.6)                                                                                      
9. Math Bingo: This is another classic game that is fun to play on zoom!  Students find the sum of the math facts and cross out those numbers on their game board. The one who gets 3 in a row first wins! You could also play blackout and keep going until all the numbers on the board are full.  I have students draw a game board on a piece of paper at home and randomly fill in numbers that are between 1 and 20. This was definitely harder for my first graders than I thought, so we needed a lot of time just to set up our game boards! Once their game boards are made, draw a math fact and solve it together as a class. If that number is on their game board, they cross it out. This game gets easier the more you play it, but I recommend having an extra adult or 2 on hand when playing this game with young kids!    Add and subtract within 20, demonstrating fluency for addition and subtraction within 10. (CCSS: 1.OA.C.6)                                                  
10. Memory: This game is just what it sounds like--memory. Match the Memory is a free website that lets you create memory games with words, pictures, or both. I created a sight word game (which you can find here) that has a sight word on each card that students have to match to the same word. Reading the same word over and over is great practice! I also created a math memory game (which you can find here) that has numbers up to 120 that students have to identify and match.  I also created a Math 2D Shape Memory Game with pictures (which you can find here). These memory games are easy to create and play, so you can try making one with your own content too. During a zoom meeting, I share my screen and click on the waffle with 9 squares in the right hand corner. This labels the cards with a number for the column and a letter for the row allowing students to tell you which 2 cards to flip over. Unfortunately, when you share your screen on a zoom call, you are the only one that can touch your screen, so students can guess, but they can't actually flip the cards over. But it's still a fun game to do as a class! Read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words. (adapted from CCSS: RF.1.3g),* Count to 120, starting at any number less than 120. In this range, read and write numerals and represent a number of objects with a written numeral. (CCSS: 1.NBT.A.1), Distinguish between defining attributes (e.g., triangles are closed and three-sided) versus non-defining attributes (e.g., color, orientation, overall size); build and draw shapes to possess defining attributes. (CCSS: 1.G.A.1)

What do you do during your classroom zoom meetings? Whatever you choose to do, enjoy that time with your students!

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How Fast Should a Student Be Able to Type?

 How fast should students be able to type? 

There is no universal answer to this question, but it is a question that we have to start addressing in elementary school. We don't want keyboarding fluency to get in the way of students sharing what they know. We want them to have transcription efficiency with keyboarding so working memory and cognitive resources are freed up for ideas. This is especially important when they are taking a test on the computer. In my district, every student beginning in kindergarten has to take a test on the computer within the first 30 days of school to determine if they need to be put on a READ plan. But then we have to wonder; are we putting some students on a READ plan simply because they don't know how to type/navigate a computer? The high stakes testing that begins in 3rd grade is also done on the computer, so keyboarding fluency is an issue that we have to start addressing in elementary school.

Unfortunately, there is no exact word-per-minute count that everyone agrees upon. Most keyboarding research is focused on middle school, and it's more than 10 years old. Technology has changed a lot in the last 10 years! If you check the Common Core State Standards, the expectation for typing begins in 4th grade, but there is no exact number attached to it:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.6
With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting.

The CCSS do not become more specific for older students. Here is the standard for 11th - 12th grade:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.6
Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.

So how do we know if our students are college and career ready with the fundamental concepts of technology operations and troubleshooting skills they will need to be successful? 

That's a tough question to answer.  It's a question that we have been wrestling with at my school for years, so we decided to do our own action research. We started with the end in mind. We began with this question:

How fast should an adult be able to type? 

If you check the internet you'll see claims that the average typing speed for an adult is anywhere between 40 - 65 wpm. I did find some recent research called Observations on Typing from 136 Million Keystrokes that states, "Typing speed of an average professional typist is usually from 50 to 90 wpm, and some advanced typists work at speeds above 120 wpm." 

If we want our high school graduates to be equipped for a job as a typing professional, they should be able to type at least 50 - 60 wpm with 80% accuracy or better, so we made that our goal for a 12th grader. We worked backwards from there creating a reasonable expectation for each grade level, then we monitored our students to see if this fit our expectation for students in the classroom. We are continuing to monitor our students keyboarding progress, but so far, the rate on this chart seems like a good measure of their success. 

Testing season is upon us, and we monitoring whether or not we think our students are ready for that high stakes test online. Based on our action research so far, we found that if 3rd graders' typing fluency is at least 10 wpm with 80% accuracy or better by March/April, they're going to be in a good place to focus on the content of the test, and not the typing. The same has been true for 4th grade (15 wpm with at least 80% accuracy) and 5th grade (20 wpm with at least 80% accuracy). 

The reason I shared this process of identifying typing speed with you is because THESE NUMBERS ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL KEYBOARDING FLUENCY RATE. There is no official keyboarding fluency rate at this time, but this is a reasonable guideline based on what we know and what we see in the classroom. I created the keyboarding fluency infographic, graph, and SMART goal page that you can download here on Teacher Sherpa. I also like to use these pages in SeeSaw so students can upload their progress and record their goals.

How fast should students and adults be able to type in your experience? Do you know how fast you type? If you check out this research page, it has a place where you can take a test to see how fast you type! Observations on Typing from 136 Million Keystrokes Let us know your score!

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Literacy + STEAM = Design Sprints: The World is Not a Rectangle

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Student engagement matters. This infographic based on the Levels of Engagement from the research of Phillip Schlechty define what level of buy-in you really have from your students. Sitting quietly does not necessarily equal learning. When students are authentically engaged, they learn at high and profound levels.

So how do we create high levels of engagement in our classroom? Design sprints are one answer! They fit perfectly into a Project Based Learning unit, which is another way to create high levels of engagement. I recently learned about design sprints from my friend Kristen at  innovationinfirst.wordpress.com while I attended the #InnEdCO18 conference in June. Design sprints ask students to answer a question or solve a problem in a specific amount of time using the design thinking process. The ISTE Standards for Students defines the deliberate design process as: A methodology for problem-solving; a series of steps used to solve a problem and design a solution. For example, human-centered design process, project-based learning, engineering design processes, scientific method. 

This design sprint is going to focus on Project Based Learning. This is the third post in this 4 part series: Literacy + STEAM= Design Sprints (Check out the first post in this series What If . . . and the second post in this series Abby Invents Unbreakable Crayons). Discover great picture books to launch a design sprint with a STEAM challenge in your classroom. 

The World is not a Rectangle A Portrait of Architect Zaha Hadid by Jeanette Winter

This book, published in 2017, is about the creative designs of architect Zaha Hadid. She was an Arabic, a Muslim, and a woman who designed unusual, flowing buildings without traditional corners, and that made her designs controversial at times. She wanted her designs to reflect nature in the world around her. One of her quotes is the title for this book: "The world is not a rectangle. You don't go out into a park and say, 'My God, we don't have any corners.'" This book does a beautiful job of showing the inspiration for Zaha Hadid's work. It describes, "Her buildings swoosh and zoom and flow and fly." It shows illustrations of the swaying grasses and marshes that inspired the Signature Towers in Dubai, and the wind in the sand dunes that inspired the Bee'ah Headquarters in Sharjah. She holds the shell that inspired her design for the Al Wakrah Stadium in Qatar, and she sees the Guangzhou Opera House in China that looks like pebbles in the water on the outside, and, "Inside the opera house, a singer is the pearl in an oyster shell." This tribute to the career of Zaha Hadid includes facts about the life of this influential architect and over 10 of her designs and the inspiration behind them: galaxies, the flow of the water, the mountains, and jungles. Zaha Hadid passed away in 2016, but she left her mark on the world. A note from the author at the end of the book sums it up perfectly, "When I first saw photos of Zaha Hadid's architectural designs in 2010, the buildings seemed to fly. My spirit took flight–to a place in my imagination that only landscape had taken me before. I had to find out more about her."

Science + Engineering + Art = Minecraft Designs

I took a class this summer from my good friend Brandon Petersen who works for Microsoft, and I learned about how to use Minecraft EDU in the classroom. It is amazing! It is the perfect tool for students to use as an entry event or to create a product during a PBL unit. My district invested in computers from Microsoft, and with it came a free Minecraft EDU account for every student for the next 3 years! Woot! Woot! If you don't have Minecraft EDU accounts for your students, you can purchase school licenses for $5 per student (Click here for more info).  There are some amazing things you can do with Minecraft EDU as a learning tool in the classroom, and there is a whole bank of lesson plans to get you started.

Using the PBL Project Design Overview from BIE, here is a PBL unit that can be done in the architectural style of Zaha Hadid with flowing lines that mimic nature, so students can become architects using Minecraft EDU.

Name of Project: Design a Zoo
Subject: Life Science
Grade Level: 2nd and/or 4th

Key Knowledge and Understanding (CCSS or other standards)

In Colorado, 2nd graders and 4th graders life science standards and essential questions focus on habitat: How do living things depend on their environment? Organisms depend on their habitat’s nonliving parts to satisfy their needs. (2nd grade). How are resources shared among organisms in a specific ecosystem or habitat?  How do nonliving components of an ecosystem influence living components? There is interaction and interdependence between and among living and nonliving components of systems. (4th grade).

Success Skills/21st Century Skills (to be taught and assessed)

Creativity and Innovation
K - 2 Creativity and Innovation Rubric
3 - 5 Creativity and Innovation Rubric

Project Summary (include student role, issue, problem or challenge, action taken and purpose)

On the Minecraft Education Edition website, there is a lesson plan called Design a Zoo. Students research 8 ecosystems and 1 animal for each ecosystem. Then they design a zoo in Minecraft that houses 5 different animals in different ecosystems.

Driving Question: Can you design and create a zoo in Minecraft EDU that simulates the habitat of 5 different animals found in 5 different ecosystems?
These Guiding Ideas were on the lesson plan on the  Minecraft Education Edition website:
What is an ecosystem? 
What is the difference between a food chain and a food web? 
What happens to animals or plants that live in an ecosystem that does not meet its needs? 
Give some examples of living things in an ecosystem and some nonliving things. 
What are the basic needs of animals? 
What do herbivores eat? What do omnivores eat? 
What do carnivores eat? 
What does extinction mean? 
What does adaptation mean? 
What are the five groups of vertebrate animals?

Entry Event
Take students on a Virtual Reality field trip to see The Birds of Denver Zoo, or The San Diego Zoo with Google Expeditions. Included in these virtual reality field trips are questions and facts to share with students as you take the tour together. For example, in The Birds of Denver Zoo, it says, "Welcome to the Denver Zoo! You're now in our Rainforest Exhibit in Bird World. In this immersive habitat there are lots of different species, but they can be difficult to spot. As you look around, find features of the exhibit that could help meet the needs of birds. Hint: food, water, shelter, and space to be active!" It also includes information about the waterfall found in the exhibit, "In this exhibit, there is a waterfall as well as a small pond. How might birds use these to meet their needs? Fun fact: Some of the birds perch by this waterfall, using it like a shower to clean their feathers!"

Then read the book, The World is Not A Rectangle by Jeanette Winter. Discuss how architect Zaha Hadid used nature as an inspiration for her architectural designs. Tell students their task: Can you design and create a zoo in Minecraft EDU that simulates the habitat of 5 different animals found in 5 different ecosystems? Then ask them if they can design their zoos with nature as an inspiration for the buildings they must include in the habitat, just like Zaha Hadid. Try to avoid corners and square spaces for their animals and use nature as an inspiration for their space.

Product
Working in groups of 5, students create a scale model of the zoo in Minecraft EDU from their initial design. (I suggest having one Minecraft world for each group of 5 students, and each student in the group can build one of the habitats for the zoo in that world in collaboration with the other members of the group). It will include 5 different habitats with a different animal in each habitat. It must include the important things that those animals depend on in their environment to survive. Students will be able to speak to the following questions as they relate to the animals in their zoo:
(2nd grade)
What are the basic needs of plants and animals?

   How are the basic needs of all living things similar and different?

   How do living things depend on their environment?

   How does an organism respond when basic needs are not met?

(4th grade)

   How are resources shared among organisms in a specific ecosystem or habitat?

   How do nonliving components of an ecosystem influence living components?

  What would happen if the Sun’s energy no longer reached Earth?

  What would happen if water were removed from an ecosystem?

Making Products Public (include how the products will be made public and who students will engage with during/at the end of project)
Because of the similarities in the 2nd and 4th grade life science unit, students in those grade levels can present and/or collaborate on the design of their zoo. They can ask students to take a tour of their zoo.
For a more authentic audience, contact your local zoo to see if someone on the staff would be willing to listen to students present their ideas and give feedback on the virtual zoos they created.

Resources Needed
Minecraft EDU accounts (Click here for more info)

Reflection Methods (how individual, team, and/or whole class will reflect during/at end of project)
Have students use Flip Grid (which is now free for educators!) to reflect on different stages of the process: The research, the design, building in Minecraft, and feedback from students and zoo staff members.

Click here to make a copy of this plan on a google doc to get you started. I know you will need to make changes in order to add details of the research and learning your students will need to do, and to add specific details for your unit, but this should help you get started. There are also more great lesson plans you can find on the  Minecraft Education Edition website that relate to this life science standard:

Create A Bird Garden 

Students use Minecraft to create a bird-attracting garden.

Lesson Objectives

• Students understand adaptations for survival of living things.
• Students understand how the environment can impact a living thing.

Guiding Ideas

Students should be able to include a variety of features in their garden which will allow a bird to survive such as; a bird bath, bird house, plants of varying sizes, a fence to keep out predators etc.

Students should consider the adaptations of the particular birds they are trying to attract and design their garden based on these adaptations. For example, if the students were wanting to attract an eagle, they would need to include other small animals in their garden to ensure the eagles would be attracted to a food source.

Students should include a description of their garden on a sign-post created in their world. They should include their design decisions and the justification for these decisions.

What will be providing the birds with a food source?

What will provide the birds with a water source?

What will provide the birds shelter?

Will there be any protection available in your garden?

What information would be important to include in your signage?

What types of tools will you need to construct your garden?

What resources will you need?

Can you design it to scale?

Would your design be feasible to implement in reality? What about the school setting?

Deforestation: 

Deforestation is occurring at an alarming rate! Since the 1990’s it has doubled and continues today. Deforestation happens all over the world.

Learning Objectives

• Students will design and create Minecraft worlds illustrating the before and after effects of deforestation from 1990 or prior and 2016 in an area

• Students will make predictions for the next 5-10 years in that same area based on the rapid rate of deforestation since 1990.

• Students will research and present their call to action for slowing the process of deforestation in their community.

Humans and Elephants: 

Students investigate the relationship between elephant and man. 

Learning Objectives

• Students develop an understanding of the complex issues surrounding habitat destruction and land-use conflict
• Students use case studies to identify solutions that have been tried and tested – and use tools to assess their relative success
• Students use their developing understanding of the needs and preferences of both elephant and human communities to design and trial a range of solutions in Minecraft
• NGSS - HS-LS2-7. Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.

Have you ever used Minecraft EDU in the classroom? What was your experience? I can't wait to give it a try this year!


Don't forget to check back for more ideas in the series Literacy + STEAM= Design Thinking Sprints! The last post in this series will feature the book:

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Introducing Close Reading Strategies at the Beginning of the Year

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According to Beth Burke, NBCT, “Close reading is thoughtful, critical analysis of a text that focuses on significant details or patterns in order to develop a deep, precise understanding of the text’s form, craft, meanings, etc. It is a key requirement of the Common Core State Standards and directs the reader’s attention to the text itself.”  She also says that texts used for close readings should be short, they should be discussed in large or small groups, and they need to be deliberately reread at least 3 times. 

With those key points in mind, short films and wordless picture books are a great way to introduce the strategies involved in close reading. Like wordless picture books, there are short films that have no words, but the content is definitely discussion worthy. Taking out the decoding to focus on the content and thoughtful discussion will allow every student to be able to access the content and practice the strategies involved in close reading. 

The short film For the Birds by Pixar is a great place to start. It addresses the subject of bullying, which is a great discussion to have at the beginning of the year. 

First Read
When doing a close read, students focus on what the text says first by identifying what the story is mostly about. They can look for the main idea, summarize, or find the theme. If your students are identifying a theme, remember that the subject and the theme aren't the same thing. Bullying, for example, is not a theme. it's a subject.  A universal theme about bullying might be Overcoming Adversity; someone overcomes the problems they face with bullies. Another common theme might include Man vs. Society. The reason someone might bully another person could be from peer pressure, and they are trying to fit in by joining in the bullying. Students can come up with their own theme too by giving an opinion about the subject, such as: bullies always get their pay backs. This video helps introduce how to find a theme:

Second Read
On the second read, students focus on how the text works by looking at text

structures and text features. They might also focus on the author's craft or

what the text says by looking at vocabulary or word choice. 

Still using the short film For the Birds, have students think about what words
they would use to describe the birds. Have them use evidence from the film to 

support their thinking. Here is the video again, but with comments embedded to

help students think about the birds character traits :

Third Read

Students focus on a deeper understanding of what the text means 
by inferring, analyzing, and evaluating the text on the third read. They might
compare it to another text or connect it to the larger world with text to self 
connections, text to text, text to media, or text to world connections. 

With this short film, on the third read have students make a connection to your

classroom. How can you address bullying in your classroom? You can also 

compare this short film to the wordless picture Bluebird by Bob Staake. Just like

the short film, this picture book has no words, but it is definitely discussion

worthy. Every student will be able to access the content and deep thinking, and 

this book is intense. The story is a very sad one that includes death, so you may

want to preview it first to make sure it is not too intense for your class. I am 

including the book trailer for this book, but a video does not do it justice, so 

you'll want to look at a copy of this powerful wordless picture book yourself. 

You can download this lesson on Teacher Sherpa. It includes QR codes and links to all the videos in this post so you can use it with iPads or laptops/chromebooks. It also includes the text dependent questions for the first read, the second read, and 2 options for the third read, along with blank pages to use with your own books and/or videos. 

 

How do you introduce close reading in your classroom? I hope you'll consider using short films and wordless picture books to kick it off in your classroom. They're a great tool that will allow you to have deep conversations regardless of a students' reading level. Enjoy!

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Dr. Seuss Videos with QR codes

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Thursday March 2nd, 2017 is Dr. Seuss's birthday and Read Across America Day. Are you ready? I made QR codes for 8 videos of Dr. Seuss stories. Your students can use them at a listening center. I like to put the QR code inside the book so they can follow along. 

Click here to download Dr. Seuss Videos with QR codes on Teacher Sherpa!

You can also use the CCSS aligned questions in Thoughtful Log entries as higher level thinking response to literature. I wrote a blog post about how to use them here. Here are some Thoughtful Log Entry examples that you could use with these Dr. Seuss stories:

Green Eggs and Ham

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

How would you describe the main characters in the story? What is he/she like? What did he/she do in the story to make you describe the character this way?

CCSS RL.2.1, 3.1, 3.3, 4.1

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

How did the character (Sam I am) respond to the problem? (He could not get the other character in the story to eat green eggs and ham) Why did he/she act this way? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

CCSS RL.2.3, 3.3, 4.3

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Which words in the text rhyme? How does that supply rhythm and meaning to the way you read it?

CCSS RL.2.4

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Which words provide the text with regular beats? How does it effect the way you read it?

CCSS RL.2.4

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Which lines in the text repeat? How does that supply rhythm and meaning to the way you read it?

CCSS RL.2.4

The Sneetches

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

What is the theme of this story? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

CCSS RL.2.1, 3.1, 4.2

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

What is the central message, lesson, or moral of the story? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

CCSS RL.1.1, 2.2, 3.2

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

When did this story take place? What evidence from the text makes you think so? 

CCSS RL.1.3, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1

(It could be argued that this story is taking place today. We have problems in the world today that could be compared and contrasted to this story. It could also be argued that it took place in the past. This story could be compared and contrasted with reasons that war broke out in the past.) 

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Why do you think the author wrote this text?

CCSS RL.2.1, 3.1, 4.1

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Describe the overall structure of the story:

•Beginning introduces the story

•Setting

•Major Events

•Ending concludes the story

CCSS RL.1.3, 2.5

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Does any part of this book (characters, settings, problem, theme, plot) remind you of another story? How? Use evidence from both texts to support your answer.

CCSS RL1.9, .2.9, 3.9

(This story's plain belly Sneetches could be compared to the character The Lorax. Both characters have an opinion that is not very popular and they are not treated well due to their beliefs.)

The Zax

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

How would you describe the main characters in the story? What is he/she like? What did he/she do in the story to make you describe the character this way?

CCSS RL.2.1, 3.1, 3.3, 4.1

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

What is the theme of this story? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

CCSS RL.2.1, 3.1, 4.2

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

What is the central message, lesson, or moral of the story? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

CCSS RL.1.1, 2.2, 3.2

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

How did the character respond to the problem? Why did he/she act this way? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

CCSS RL.2.3, 3.3, 4.3

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Would you respond in the same way as the character in this story? Why or why not?

CCSS RL.3.6

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Why do you think the author wrote this text?

CCSS RL.2.1, 3.1, 4.1

Ten Apples Up On Top

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Which words in the text rhyme? How does that supply rhythm and meaning to the way you read it?

CCSS RL.2.4

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Which words provide the text with regular beats? How does it effect the way you read it?

CCSS RL.2.4

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Which lines in the text repeat? How does that supply rhythm and meaning to the way you read it?

CCSS RL.2.4

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Record yourself reading the text aloud (or part of the text) and use different voices for each character.

CCSS RL.2.6

Dr. Seuss' ABC

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Which words provide the text with alliteration? How does that supply rhythm and meaning to the way you read it?

CCSS RL.2.4

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Which words provide the text with regular beats? How does it effect the way you read it?

CCSS RL.2.4

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Which lines in the text repeat? How does that supply rhythm and meaning to the way you read it?

CCSS RL.2.4

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Record yourself reading the text aloud (or part of the text) and use different voices for each character.

CCSS RL.2.6

Hop on Pop

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Which words in the text rhyme? How does that supply rhythm and meaning to the way you read it?

CCSS RL.2.4

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Which words provide the text with regular beats? How does it effect the way you read it?

CCSS RL.2.4

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Which lines in the text repeat? How does that supply rhythm and meaning to the way you read it?

CCSS RL.2.4

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Record yourself reading the text aloud (or part of the text) and use different voices for each character.

CCSS RL.2.6

The Lorax

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

How would you describe the main character in the story? What is he/she like? What did he/she do in the story to make you describe the character this way?

CCSS RL.2.1, 3.1, 3.3, 4.1

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

What is the theme of this story? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

CCSS RL.2.1, 3.1, 4.2

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

What is the central message, lesson, or moral of the story? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

CCSS RL.1.1, 2.2, 3.2

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

How did the character respond to the problem? Why did he/she act this way? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

CCSS RL.2.3, 3.3, 4.3

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Would you respond in the same way as the character in this story? Why or why not?

CCSS RL.3.6

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

What does this word or phrase from the story mean? (Thneed)

What evidence from the text makes you think so?

CCSS RL.4.4

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Why do you think the author wrote this text?

CCSS RL.2.1, 3.1, 4.1

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Describe the overall structure of the story:

•Beginning introduces the story

•Setting

•Major Events

•Ending concludes the story

CCSS RL.1.3, 2.5

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Who is telling the story? How do you know? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

CCSS RL.1.6, 2.6, 4.6

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

How is this story similar to another story? Use evidence from both texts to support your answer.

CCSS RL.2.9, 3.9

(This book could be compared to Just A Dream by Chris Van Allsburg)

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Does any part of this book (characters, settings, problem, theme, plot) remind you of another story? How? Use evidence from both texts to support your answer.

CCSS RL1.9, .2.9, 3.9

Horton Hears A Who

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

How would you describe the main character in the story? What is he/she like? What did he/she do in the story to make you describe the character this way?

CCSS RL.2.1, 3.1, 3.3, 4.1

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

What is the theme of this story? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

CCSS RL.2.1, 3.1, 4.2

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

What is the central message, lesson, or moral of the story? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

CCSS RL.1.1, 2.2, 3.2

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

How did the character respond to the problem? Why did he/she act this way? Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

CCSS RL.2.3, 3.3, 4.3

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Would you respond in the same way as the character in this story? Why or why not?

CCSS RL.3.6

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Why do you think the author wrote this text?

CCSS RL.2.1, 3.1, 4.1

Thoughtful Log Entry Question:

Describe the overall structure of the story:

•Beginning introduces the story

•Setting

•Major Events

•Ending concludes the story

CCSS RL.1.3, 2.5

Click here to download Dr. Seuss Videos with QR codes on Teacher Sherpa

Click here to download Thoughtful Log Entries

Enjoy!

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