4 Square: Digital Writing

Who would have thought we'd be here? Teaching our youngest readers as much as we can through digital means wasn't in the college curriculum or in my backpack full of teaching tricks. BUT, we have to do it.

Do the Best We Can

We have to do the best we can with what we have. My teachers have been scrambling to come with digital this and digital that...and we've been doing great things. We've discovered some great digital things that we never knew was out there. We've taken the tried and true and we've made it what we need because 

Necessity is the mother of invention, 

right?

Writing has been the hardest. We can find games and videos and slides and Boom Cards and so on to teach all things alphabet and reading, but writing needs to be writing. We need pencils in the hands of our kids and pencils meeting the paper. We need to look at pencil grip and letter formation and all that is writing. BUT, here we are. So, we take what we know.

Four Square

At its most basic, 4 square is a template for writing. It asks the student to move from topic (center box) to details (top to bottom, left to right). It can be differentiated and easily scaffolded. When moving 4 Square to digital, I had a few pains. I really, really want children to be writing with pencils. It seems no matter how many pencils and pieces of paper we send home, online students tend to never have these items in hand. That being said, we had to move forward.

Step 1

Just practice writing the title and their name. Students are not just writing and composing and copying, they are typing. It has its own set of problems, but we must try. 

Step 2

Choose where to start. Let's say they are kindergartners who have never written anything before and this is the first attempt. We'll have to take it slow. We'll have to make some concessions. We may have to have mom and dad help, if possible. We may have to figure it out as we go. BUT, we have to start. Students can use word wall phrases to get in the habit of writing sentences top to bottom and left to right. We'll choose simple sentences.

Step 3

Once the routine is established, shake it up. Change sentence beginning phrases. Don't let the sentences be predictable. If you are using sight word phrases, this step is an easy one. Students can use known phrases. 

Step 4

Differentiate. The name of game for success, is differentiate. Meet the student where he or she is to move them forward. For the students who are showing understanding in simple sentences and varying sentence structure, four square can be easily differentiated.  Students can write a topic sentence and use the squares for supporting details while adding "flair" to the story. They can also use the Student-made Templates. Students choose 4 items to add to their customizable four square. 

If you'd like a look, I have a 4 Square Digital Writing Sample available. Join the list at the end of the post for your copy.

If you'd be interested in the set, it's part of the 4 Square set. My theory is we won't always be doing this digitally, so I added to the Printable 4 Square sets.  Each set contains 40 Printable 4 Square Templates and 40 Digital 4 Square Templates. The Winter 4 Square Templates are ready, are you? Don't forget you can get 20% off the full-year set of 4 Square Print and Digital Templates, too.

8 Easy Ways to Integrate Maps and Globe Studies

I've told you in the past I am a Reading Specialist from a K-2 school. At my previous K-2 school, we had half-day kindergarten. That's right...3 hours to get it all done. "How?" you might ask. Well, we never taught one thing at a time, in isolation. It all had to be integrated. Here are eight examples of how we integrated the social studies standard of Maps and Globes into our day.

1. Integrating Maps and Globes into Read Alouds

I am not going to lie...I love this activity. To take them around the world in through books was really fun. We had a map of all seven continents on the bulletin board and each day we read a book set in a different continent. We can look at the different environments through the books making special notice of the clothes, the weather, the animals, you get the idea. Here are my list of favorites

• North America - Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara Joosse
• South America - "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth by Eric Carle
• Europe - Strena Nona by Tomie dePaola
• Africa - Where Are You Going, Manyoni, by Catherine Stock
• Asia - Daisy Comes Home, by Jan Brett
• Oceania - Koala Lou, by Mem Fox
• Antartica - Five Little Penguins Slipping on the Ice, by Steve Metzger

Fractions for Early Learners

As you know, math isn't my thing...but even I can do kindergarten math. Fractions at the kindergarten level area all about understanding equal parts and fair shares. We do not talk about numeral representations of fractions and we don't label fractions as 1/2 or 1/4. We only talk about fair shares.
Thankfully, all students know when something is a fair share...so use that to your advantage.

6 Steps for Success with Sequencing

I blogged about a sequencing center in 2015, but I'd like to talk about a six different steps for teaching sequence and creating success. Students can be directed through a variety of experiences moving experiences from teacher-led, teacher-directed to student-led, student-directed. As with any lesson teachers need to be direct and specific and give quick feedback. The success needs to be ensured, but the lesson needs to be interactive and practiced in a variety of ways. Here are six ways to help ensure your students succeed.

Jump Into Summer Writing

Summer is (almost) here. In Coastal Virginia, we have a few more weeks of distance learning and we can rest, recharge, and review the year and reinvent some lessons while we refresh others. Whew!

A few years ago I wanted something to offer my parents and students to keep them writing. BUT it needed to be easy to follow, quick activities and fun...because it's summer! I made this set. I just updated it with 2020 dates and added black and white versions of each month for easy copying.

Making Predictions with Early Learners

I blogged about Predicting back in April 2014, but I think it's worth talking about again.  (Click here to see the original post.)  When students can use predicting effortlessly, their comprehension can increase.  Predicting allows students to put pieces of the puzzle in front of them.