The Power of a Glance

#patience is so important when teaching reading.

We've *almost* finished all of the KG consonants and short vowel sounds. Students have many #sightwords in their reading repertoire. BUT this week something exciting happened with all 3 students... they glanced. Not just any glance, but a glance to the picture in the book when they came to a tricky word.
It was so slight and so sudden, but I knew they were now ready to learn a strategy for how to handle tricky words- Eagle Eye - "Look at the picture." And, of course, I stopped everything we were doing to grab the Eagle Eye poster and made a huge deal about it.

You see, free reading, or independent reading, time in my room is not so "free". It's not a time for me to take a "breather". I'm watching carefully to see how they are reading so that I know how to adjust my instruction.
Learning to be a reader with strategies for how to handle text can happen organically, but it needs to be labeled as a strategy for students to develop "thinking about reading" skills.
Using strategies helps reduce frustration and *hopefully* leads to students who try, and try, and try again- not giving up!

I spent the end of my day moving the strategy posters to the reading center. What do you think? How do you teach students how to handle tricky words?

Yes, Another Oatmeal Recipe

How many various ways can you cook up some oats?  Apparently, a million!  This is a quick recipe post... 

I received an Instant Pot for Christmas and decided to see if it would cut down some breakfast prep time for my *almost* weekly oatmeal.  Turns out, I saved about 15 minutes of cooking time and I didn't have to wait for the water to boil or stand by the stove to stir oats for 25 minutes!  

Now, if only the Instant Pot could help my veggie and salad prep time decrease! Steel cut oats, quinoa, chia, and ground flax make this a filling start to your day - not to mention its packed with calcium, iron and all the vitamins and minerals that whole grains supply. Banana is the sugar and cinnamon is the spice.  Nuts and pomegranates add a nice textured crunch! 

Around Thanksgiving I even added a scoop of organic pumpkin puree with apples and pecans- it was just the right amount of fall flavor.  Don't forget pears!!  Pears are an amazing addition to oatmeal.

Store your prepped oatmeal in lidded containers. I love these ceramic bowls with vented lids I found at Costco last summer.  This recipe yields about 5 - one cup servings.  Pop in the microwave each morning and you're good to go!Oatmeal is the most versatile medium in which to add your own flair.  In this particular pot, I added pecans and pomegranate arils.  In others, I add walnuts and diced apples, or berries.  Add whatever you like!    

All Grain Instant Pot Oats

2 cups water

1.5 cups unsweetened coconut milk (or almond or dairy)

3/4 cup steel cut oats

1/4 cup quinoa 

2 T ground flax

3 T chia

Pinch pink Himalayan salt

* Place all ingredients in the Instant Pot.

*Select Pressure Cook or Manual function for 3 minutes.

*Vent the cooker and remove the lid.

*Stir the oatmeal.  If not cooked enough, pressure cook again for 3 minutes.

*Let steam naturally release and open the lid.

*Stir in the cinnamon and mashed banana.

*Mix in other additives to your liking: walnuts, pecans, diced pears/apples, berries, all natural maple syrup, etc...

*Store 1 cup servings in lidded containers for up to 5 days.

That's it!  In under 15 minutes, you can have oatmeal to last your work-week!  I enjoy my oats with Amy Lu organic chicken sausage, or if I have time an over-easy egg with paprika.  This meal leaves me satisfied for about 4 hours, so I have no trouble making it until lunch before I start to get hungry.

What is your favorite way to prep oatmeal??
Enjoy!!

Estimated Nutrition Info per 1 cup serving (includes grains, milk, banana; does not include nuts or other fruit add-ins)

Calories: 165

Carbs: 15 grams

Total Fat: 4 grams

Protein: 3 grams

Fiber: 4 grams

Sugar: 3 grams

Calcium: 6.4 grams

Iron: 6 grams

Hubby snapped a picture of me calculating nutrition information.