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Saturday, April 30, 2016

Making Guided Reading Work: A Simple Plan

Here is my Simple Guide to Guided Reading:

First, you have to set up your Guided Reading Table:


Children love routines. It makes them feel safe and comfortable. But they also seek novelty and their motivation to learn is peeked when we present information in different ways. That said, I like to keep my Guided Reading routine the same each week, but each day I toss in some fun, new ideas.

Since Guided Reading is taught through small group instruction, and is designed to provide differentiated teaching that supports students in developing reading proficiency, I begin by assessing my students (see more on assessment below)and meeting with them in small, homogeneous groups. These groups are flexible and change as often as needed.

So what does a typical Guided Routine look like?

Basically, I like to plan my small group lessons around these concepts:

Monday: Alphabet Work: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, and letter recognition.

Tuesday: Sight Word Work: Reading and spelling sight words (I limit my lessons to one or two sight words.)

Wednesday: Reading Strategy Work:  Discussing and practice reading strategies such as blending, segmenting, stretching out words, etc.

Thursday: Comprehension Work: Practicing comprehension strategies such as digging deeper, looking for evidence, and re-telling stories.

Friday: Writing Work: Practicing writing by completing the writing prompt that relates to the story or topic that week. 

How to bring novelty into your weekly Guided Reading routine?


Monday: Alphabet Work: (Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, and letter recognition)


We might focus on initial sounds by placing a cube on each image that begins with a particular letter. 
We might use clear and colored spoons to practice word families or onset rimes. This cute idea came from Heidi's blog:  http://blog.heidisongs.com
And we reinforce letter recognition by using alphabet pin cards, laminated letter tracing cards, and bingo markers that help us practice letter formation . 

Tuesday: Sight Word Work: (1 or 2 Sight Words) 
Click the image to grab the set of Pocket-Lockets. 

We create Sight Word charts where students use the sight word in a sentence, the teacher writes the sentence, and the student gets to sign their sentence.
We use my Pocket-Lockets set to create a pocket watch or a locket by spelling a particular sight word with letter squares. Students get to wear their pocket watch or locket home. 
And we use choral reading to read our Sight Word Mini Books together.
We use laminated Dragonflies in First's cute  iPhone templates to copy sight words or write a sentence using a sight word with dry-erase pens.

Wednesday: Reading Strategy Work: (Reading Strategies) 

Click the image to grab this cute, FREE set of posters. 
We use multiple copies of small trade books, phonetic books, or familiar literature books to practice reading decoding strategies together. We discuss the strategies found on these FREE posters from Mrs. Ricca's Kindergarten and share how we used them to read. 
Students also practice partner reading their book during this time. 

Thursday: Comprehension Work: (Comprehension Strategies)

Students use their trade books, phonetic books, or familiar literature books to discuss new vocabulary, look for evidence in the illustrations or text, and re-tell parts of the story. Concepts of print, such as identifying characters, the setting, the problem, the solution, or sequencing parts of the story are also addressed. 

Friday: Writing Work: (Writing Component)
Click the image to grab the American Symbol Flag Writing Template. 

Students respond to a writing prompt that relates to that week's story or a concept of print, such as the characters, the setting, etc. I use my Writing Prompts every Friday. We also used my Career Writing templates after reading about community helpers and my American Symbol Flag template after reading about our national symbols. 

A Word About Assessments:

I have used ESGI for the past 8 years and it has saved me hundreds of hours assessing my students and using the amazing data to drive my instruction and RTI. It's easy, provides you with so much useful information about your students, and you students will LOVE it so much they will actually beg you to test them! Really!
Click the image above to grab your FREE trial!
Remember to enter your code: KFUN.
You can learn more by grabbing your FREE 60 day trial (no credit card necessary) by CLICKING HERE. Add the promo code KFUN when you grab this FREE trial and you will automatically qualify for a $40 discount off of your 1st year! This is a GREAT company. They won't try to trick you into enrolling for a year. Use their built-in tests or create your own to meet your own school's assessments. After you try it, you will love it.


There you have it! I keep the routine the same, but I change out the way I teach each lesson or the materials I use. Sometimes I dress the part wearing a wig and windshield wiper sunglasses if we are discussing the letter W. And sometimes we will play an Onset Rime Hopscotch game. Keep it fresh and new!
Leave a comment and let us know about some great ideas YOU have for making Guided Reading fun!




Friday, April 29, 2016

It's Here! Teacher Appreciation Week!



Grab your FREEBIE
RIGHT NOW 
& take a look at what you can win !

Click the image above to grab this
"Kinds All Year" set.

comes with tons of graphics 
for every month of the year 
plus a brand new font!








to grab the 
or enter my give-away 
to win this awesome set
below!

And don't forget to grab this FREEBIE:
I made it using graphics and 
the bonus font from the 

Click the image to grab this FREEBIE!

This FREEBIE
 comes with 5 cute flowers 
that create "onset rimes"
(not rhymes) 
that will help your students 
decode and read CVC words.

This is what each template looks like:




to grab this FREEBIE.


I made this set  
with graphics, boarders, 
and even the font, 
from 
DJ Inker's "Kids All Year" set.

You can grab the 
ENTIRE SET OF 21 COLORFUL FLOWERS
and
21 BLACK & WHITE FLOWERS
plus
2 BLANK FLOWERS
(1 in color & 1 in black & white)
by 
CLICKING HERE!

Don't miss the awesome 
store-wide SALES
April 29 - May 2, 
fun NEW products,
and exclusive FREEBIES

And... 
remember to 
sign up for their 
FREE newsletter by 



Here is your chance 

to enter the contest for 
a Free "Kids All Year" set 
of hundreds of graphics 
& a brand new font 
all from DJ Inker's


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winner will be announced on May 3, 2016.
Good luck!  :)

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Hooray! It's almost time... (enter NOW!)



Grab your FREEBIE
RIGHT NOW 
& take a look at what you can win !

Click the image above to grab this
"Kids All Year" set.

comes with tons of graphics 
for every month of the year 
plus a brand new font!








to grab the 
or enter my give-away 
to win this awesome set
below!

And don't forget to grab this FREEBIE:
I made it using graphics and 
the bonus font from the 

Click the image to grab this FREEBIE!

This FREEBIE
 comes with 5 cute flowers 
that create "onset rimes"
(not rhymes) 
that will help your students 
decode and read CVC words.

This is what each template looks like:




to grab this FREEBIE.


I made this set  
with graphics, boarders, 
and even the font, 
from 
DJ Inker's "Kids All Year" set.

You can grab the 
ENTIRE SET OF 21 COLORFUL FLOWERS
and
21 BLACK & WHITE FLOWERS
plus
2 BLANK FLOWERS
(1 in color & 1 in black & white)
by 
CLICKING HERE!

Don't miss the awesome 
store-wide SALES
April 29 - May 2, 
fun NEW products,
and exclusive FREEBIES

And... 
remember to 
sign up for their 
FREE newsletter by 



Here is your chance 

to enter the contest for 
a Free "Kids All Year" set 
of hundreds of graphics 
& a brand new font 
all from DJ Inker's


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winner will be announced on May 3, 2016.
Good luck!  :)

We have a winner!!!
Emily Levine
You won DJ Inker's "Kids All Year" 
clipart collection!
Look for your email from DJ Inkers.
:)

Friday, April 22, 2016

So Many Ideas! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Earth Day Weekend Sale & Freebie!

All Weekend Long:

You can grab my cute flowerpots and bean-planting directions that will promote science in your classroom or homeschool! 
Click the image to grab these flowerpots.https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Jack-the-Beanstalk-Flower-Pots-Plants-TK-K-1st-or-special-ed-626935
Use my special techniques that will help you children to grow more beans and less mold. 




Click the image to grab these flowerpots. 

Our "Plants" exploration center. 
So many plants!

Read Jack and the beanstalk and add a cute castle to this project to create a literacy link.


Plant grass seeds in eggshells! 
Plant grass in clear cups and let the kids style the "hair"!
I found this on Pinterest. Use radish seeds. They sprout in 3 days!

I installed 3 raised bed gardens for square-foot gardening.
We grew organic edibles!


And while you are visiting my TpT store, grab my school bus craftivity! It uses recycled cardboard egg cartons and looks GREAT pinned up around your classroom for Open House. 
Click the image to grab this FREE template.
The banner is blank so you can add the name of your school or district. 

Students get to add photos of their friends to their school bus which becomes a treasured keepsake for them to take home at the end of the year.

Let Earth Day last all year long! Get your students outside, enjoy nature, and bring nature into your classroom! 
Measuring plants after reading Jack & The Beanstalk. 
Have FUN! 


Saturday, April 16, 2016

Kindergarten Memory Books: The Time Is NOW!


Do you all create a kindergarten memory book?  Leave your tips and ideas in the comment section.
Here are some of mine:

I bind my memory books before the year begins.
I use black for the cover page and I include one page for each month of the year, Aug. - June.

Each month, I glue some special projects on that month's page (front & back) and I include a photo of the child each month.

Here are some monthly ideas:
(Many of the images are linked to our TPT page where you can download the templates.)

Cover:  Die cut school bus with photo of child on the bus.

August:  1st day photo, Chicka-chicka-boom-boom tree with child's name in fun foam letters, and "My favorite sandwich" writing.

Back of August page:
 

September page:
September fall leaf poem & photo.
Back of Sept. page had the Halloween photo.  Usually there is a Halloween craft here and the bear skin with Native American symbols is on the Nov. page.

October page:  They "bought" the decorations for their cats with 20 cents.  Our receipts for 
                          November page:
Back of Oct. page faces Nov. page
Classic handprint turkey.
We use lace doilies for the pilgrim girl collars.

Back of Nov. page faces Dec. page.
 December page:  Laced stocking with wish list of images clipped from advertisements.
This photo has each child dressed up as their favorite holiday icon:  reindeer, snowman, gingerbread man, or elf.  This goes with our class graph.  The reindeer wins every year because he can fly.  :)
 (Monthly writing is available on TPT.)
Back of Dec. page faces Jan. page.
January page:  Snowman Shop.  Students buy the pieces to decorate their snowman:  
Oh, my!  He lost an eye!  
Back of Jan. page:  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
February page:  Includes photo of their Valentine costume.  The little numbered hearts create a clock.

 This National Symbol Writing template is also on TPT.
Back of Feb. page:  National Symbol writing.
Click the image to grab this writing template.
March page:  Photo dressed like a leprechaun & their self portrait doll We used it for a writing prompt.  
Back of March page had their kite writing.  They are still up in our classroom.

April page:  Career writing.  They dressed up looking like what they want to be when they grow up.  This template is on TPT.  We also have lots of career puppets on TPT too.  Click each career to see each puppet:
Fire Fighter,     Police Officer,     Chef or baker,     Ballerina,    Construction Worker,    Baseball Player.
Click the image to grab the template.


 Back of April page has our Earth Day world with helping hands.  


May page:   Life Cycle of a butterfly in pasta:  Eggs = pastina,  Caterpillar = spiral pasta,  Chrysalis = small shell pasta,  Butterfly = bow tie pasta.  Paint with tempra or acrylic paints.  
Our organic, edible raised bed garden.
I also use this model of the butterfly lifecycle so it is more of a circle.

 And this goes on the June page.  It's their VIP report.  Their graduation photo also goes here.
Back of June page.

This poem goes on the back cover:
What are your great tips for memory books?