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Videos for Narrative Interactive "Read" Alouds

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Great resource to understandings and planning for phonics

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If you're not sure how phonics fits within your daily instruction, or crave a more effective process for teaching phonics, Heidi Anne Mesmer is here to help. In Letter Lessons and First Words, Heidi Anne provides a research-based vision of what lively, engaging phonics instruction can look like, along with practical, classroom-tested tools to make it happen in your classroom.

Heidi Anne provides a one-stop shop for phonics instruction, including a clear scope and sequence of what to teach, a quick assessment to differentiate instruction, a simple lesson framework, and three activity-filled units matching key developmental milestones.

More than twenty classroom videos bring the content to life, showing children working with letters, words, and books at various stages of learning. Additional resources include:

A "know the code" chapter explaining English spelling (and online glossary)

Answers to common questions

Guidance about choosing books for readers at different stages

new info about how children cognitively store words and why inductive tension is important.

Isn't it time to re-imagine how you teach phonics? Letter Lessons and First Words will show you the way toward joyful instruction for today's classrooms.

Read Heidi Anne's Blog post Developmentally Responsive Phonics Instruction: A Research-Based Approach

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Research-based strategies for lively, engaging phonics instruction with young children. - Heinemann

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Practical examples of Shared and Interactive Writing

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Conferring Toolkits: Class Stories, Shared Writing and Interactive Writing

I like to keep my writing toolkits pretty plain and simple. I don't want a lot of extraneous stuff in there cluttering up my folders. So, in order for something to make it into my toolkit, it has to be helpful for a lot of kids, for a lot of reasons.

That's why I find class stories, shared writing and interactive writing to be indispensable tools for conferring.

In case you aren't already familiar with the power of writing together, you can read an older post about shared writing, here. And another post about oral storytelling here. For even more, you should read Interactive Writing, by Andrea McCarrier, Gay Su Pinnell, and Irene Fountas.

Whether it's storytelling, or shared writing, or interactive writing, any piece of writing that your whole class created together is going to be extremely helpful to have at your fingertips while you are moving about the classroom conferring.

I used to do all my shared writing and interactive writing on very large chart paper, so that I could easily display it on the walls and kids would be able to read it from their spots around the room. I still do this-but I've been doing lots of shared and interactive writing lately using regular sized copy paper on a document camera. I can still tape the smaller pieces to a larger chart-sized paper to display the whole story-and I can make photocopies of the work to carry around with me more easily.

Here are a few ways that I use shared writing and interactive writing as part of my conferring toolkit:

Tip #1: When your whole class knows a story, you can easily pull it out during a conference to work on revision. For example, check out this story, written together with kindergarteners (they told me the words, I drew the pictures and wrote).

The original story needed some work, don't you think? In a conference with one child, I taught her about making a beginning that really sounds like storytelling. We used interactive writing: she wrote the word wall words for the new beginning, and I wrote the other words:

In later one-one conferences, the story wound up getting put in a different order, and a new ending was added. Copies of this story still live in my narrative conferring toolkit, and I use it often for adding labels, adding dialogue, and many other teaching points.

Tip #2: When the text is familiar, it makes a great piece to have kids add to or work on during a conference as practice with a new strategy, before transferring the strategy to their own writing.

In a first grade classroom, we started this poem as a group one very warm day in April (the heat in the building wouldn't turn off even though it was 70 degrees outside!).

Then, when I taught a small group that they could use repetition, we did this:

Of course, none of the kids were writing about being hot in their own poems-that is certainly not the point! No! But they did all work on using repetition and comparisons. I added both group poems to my poetry toolkit, to use with future kids - as great mentors for using comparisons, punctuation (or not), and repetition.

Tip #3: I often will manipulate the class writing to intentionally leave parts out, so that you can add those parts in conferring or small group work. Like in this persuasive letter that a group of third graders worked on (telling me their ideas, with me scribing:

Notice the ending is somewhat weak? That was intentional on my part. The kids told it to me that way, and I left it. I anticipated that endings/conclusions in persuasive writing would be something to focus later on in the unit, especially in small groups and conferring, so I decided not to write a strong ending the first time around. I made copies of the letter and stuck them in my conferring toolkit so that whenever I meet with a kid or two and want to teach different ways to write endings/conclusions, we could practice on this letter.

*****

Don't forget to stay with us all week long as we share what's inside our conferring toolkits!

On Monday, May 11, we hope you'll join us for our twitter chat. Just use #TWTBlog to participate in the conversation!

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Conferring Toolkits: Class Stories, Shared Writing and Interactive Writing

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I like to keep my writing toolkits pretty plain and simple. I don't want a lot of extraneous stuff in there cluttering up my folders. So, in order for something to make it into my toolkit, it has to be helpful for a lot of kids, for a lot of reasons.

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Collated access to books by levels, genre, series, etc.

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Level Bands AB - KLM

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Text Complexity K-2 Tool for Supporting Readers.pdf

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Helpful to introduce A/B books with emergent readers or instructional leveled texts for guided reading.

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Homework for Session 3

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-Think of a typical convention that presents as a need for your students.

-Design a text that can be interactively edited by students. (digital or in demo notebook)

-Consider if this would be whole class or small group.

-Share with small group.

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Model for how a lesson can go.

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Make a copy to plan as a small group.

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There is an easy way to improve your child's chances at school. It will entertain and delight him. It will strengthen the bonds between him and you. And it is virtually free.

Sound too good to be true? Actually, it isn't. The magical method: taking time to read aloud to your child.

In an era of high-stakes testing and education reforms and revolutions, research has repeatedly proved that one simple parenting technique is among the most effective. Children who are read aloud to by parents get a head start in language and literacy skills and go to school better prepared.

"Reading aloud to young children, particularly in an engaging manner, promotes emerging literacy and language development and supports the relationship between child and parent," concluded a 2008 review in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

In other words, reading that bedtime story may not only entertain and soothe Johnny, it may also develop his vocabulary, improve his ability to learn to read, and - perhaps most important - foster a lifelong love of books and reading.

Developing that passion for reading is crucial, according to Jim Trelease, author of the best-seller, "The Read-Aloud Handbook." "Every time we read to a child, we're sending a 'pleasure' message to the child's brain," he writes in the "Handbook." "You could even call it a commercial, conditioning the child to associate books and print with pleasure."

This reading "commercial" is critical when competition for a child's attention is so fierce. Between television, movies, the internet, video games and myriad after-school activities, the pleasures of sitting down with a book are often overlooked. In addition, negative experiences with reading - whether frustrations in learning to read or tedious "skill and drill" school assignments - can further turn children off from reading.

That can have long-term consequences. As Mr. Trelease succinctly puts it in his handbook, "Students who read the most, read the best, achieve the most, and stay in school the longest. Conversely, those who don't read much, cannot get better at it."

Reading aloud is, according to the landmark 1985 report "Becoming a Nation of Readers," "the single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading."

Despite this advice, however, some educators and many parents don't read aloud to children from a young age and thus fail to nurture avid and skilled readers. Indeed, this is especially true for children in low-income families. According to the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, only 48 percent of families below the poverty level read to their preschoolers each day, compared with 64 percent of families whose incomes were at or above the poverty level. Children from low-income families are also less likely to have exposure to print materials.

Groups such as Reach Out and Read (ROR), however, are working to combat this problem. The Boston-based non-profit extols the virtues of reading aloud to parents when children go to their check-ups at the pediatrician's or family physician's office. The group also helps provide reading materials for families of lesser means. And ROR has been remarkably successful: "Studies which examined language in young children found an association between the ROR intervention and statistically significant improvements in preschool language scores, a good predictor of later literacy success," its website reports.

The good news for families is that this sage piece of parenting wisdom is easy to follow. Reading aloud to your child requires only a book - free, with a library card - and your willingness to spend a little quality time with your child. And while the sacrifices to read aloud are few, the benefits are many: Your child may learn to read better, think better, imagine more richly, and become a passionate and lifelong reader. More than these long-term benefits, however, are some more immediate: The pleasures of spending time with your child and sharing the enjoyment of a good book.

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There is an easy way to improve your child's chances at school. It will entertain and delight him. It will strengthen the bonds between him and you. And it is virtually free. Sound too good to be true? Actually, it isn't. The magical method: taking time to read aloud to your child.

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Good guide to using morphology to help with spelling and vocabulary

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This reference manual includes several useful features:

takes teachers through how English spelling uses morphology to represent the meaning of words

teaches word sums and word matrices as tools for examining word structure and constructing and deconstructing words morphologically

contains a series of ready-to-use lessons, helping teachers and students act as word detectives who problem-solve the links between structure and meaning

targets vocabulary, reading, and spelling skills!

By: Peter Bowers

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teaching how the written word works [wvc216] books and workbooks grammar and writing workshops | trainings classroom sets games gift certificates multisensory learning beginning reading morphology and vocabulary free downloads multisensory bundles high-frequency words multisensory instruction kit books and workbooks grammar and writing workshops | trainings classroom sets games gift certificates proceeds to charity multisensory learning beginning reading morphology and vocabulary free downloads o-g multisensory bundles sight words multisensory instruction kit ecommerce

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Kendore Learning Store Teaching How the Written Word Works [WVC216] - This reference manual includes several useful features: takes teachers through how English spelling uses morphology to represent the meaning of words teaches word sums and word matrices as tools for examining word structure and constructing and deconstructing words morphologically contains a series of ready-to-use lessons, helping teachers and students act as word detectives

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Interactive writing is a dynamic, unscripted instructional method in which the teacher and students work together to construct a meaningful text while simultaneously discussing the details of the writing process. Together they plan, compose, and review text in a variety of genres. The "interactive" piece involves group collaboration in planning and composing the writing through guided conversation and a unique "sharing the pen" technique where students do the actual writing.

Interactive writing harnesses the natural interactions teachers have with their students as they compose a writing piece. It allows for real-time differentiation and tailored scaffolding. Interactive writing fits within any writing curriculum and can be adapted to your classroom's technology levels.

Interactive Writing Across Grades: A Small Practice with Big Results, Pre-K-5 is your how-to guide, unpacking this powerful method step-by-step-and grade by grade. The authors help you figure out where and how interactive writing fits within your literacy framework, regardless of the grade you teach. In these pages, you'll find the following:

An overview of the interactive writing method and how it fits into your balanced literacy program

Concrete ways to launch interactive writing in your classroom to support both process and craft instruction

Step-by-step guidance to implement the method with students of all ages

Real classroom writing from every grade that shows what to expect at each phase of the process

"Listen in on a Lesson" vignettes that demonstrate the type of scaffolding you can offer during interactive writing lessons

Discover what makes interactive writing a particularly effective teaching practice that can support both emergent and fluent writers. Interactive Writing Across Grades can help you put this method to work in your classroom immediately.

Co-published with the International Literacy Association (ILA)
Go Digital with Stenhouse
We offer ebook editions for most of our print titles so you can access on your computer, tablet, or e-reader from several major retailers including Amazon and ebooks.com. View the full list of retailers here.

If you previously purchased an ebook from Stenhouse.com, they will remain available in your digital library.

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Interactive writing is a dynamic, unscripted instructional method in which the teacher and students work together to construct a meaningful text while simultaneously discussing the details of the writing process. Together they plan, compose, and review text in a variety of genres.

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More for upper grades

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A Chair For My Mother by Vera B. Williams.pdf

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Supporting Young Readers During Distance Learning - Kristi Mraz

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Supporting Young Readers During Distance Learning - Kristi Mraz

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Blog post with ideas on how to do Shared Reading during distance learning.

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Supporting Young Readers During Distance Learning

Posted at 14:31h in by Uncategorized kristimraz

Hi Everyone,

I have been playing around with how shared reading could look over Zoom or GoogleMeet using slides. I know there are a ton of issues with kids having access to wifi, kids having access to devices, kids having family members who are essential workers and might be in childcare, so by no means is this a perfect solution. It is, however, trying to make something workable. I talk a little bit about trying to use kids photos from home to make the books, but I know thats not always possible. Just a note, its super easy to upload from Zoom to Youtube so if you make a video of yourself doing this, you can post it onto a private youtube channel for your kiddos.

A few edits after the fact:

1. Please choose topics based on what your kiddos need to hear from you right now. If food security is an issue, than this is not the best topic to write about.

2. You can certainly use existing shared reading texts, if you take a picture of the page to put on google slides, you can still cover words with text boxes.

3. If you use images of kids (I hope you do!) Remember not to share them publicly.

Here is a link to the teacher text.

Here is a link to the text I would share with kiddos.

As always, if you find the content useful and would like to donate a few bucks, it is deeply appreciated by this freelancer and her freelancer partner.

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Supporting Young Readers During Distance Learning

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Posted at 14:31h in by Uncategorized kristimraz Hi Everyone, I have been playing around with how shared reading could look over Zoom or GoogleMeet using slides. I know there are a ton of issues with kids having access to wifi, kids having access to devices, kids having family members who are essential workers and might be in childcare, so by no means is this a perfect solution.

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Nonfiction

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Shared Reading Example - When Lunch Fights Back

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Interactive Writing Across Grades - Kate Roth and Joan Dabrowski

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Interactive Writing Across Grades - Kate Roth and Joan Dabrowski

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Explore the examples of interactive writing.

Guiding Questions:

-What experience can I anticipate setting the context for this work?

-How might this look in my classroom?

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Work with your group to plan a phonics lesson.

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K-2 Phonics Instruction Planner - Bal Lit

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Etymonline - Online Etymology Dictionary

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The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet’s go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms. It is professional enough to satisfy academic standards, but accessible enough to be used by anyone.

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Animated Storybooks

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Teachers, get your first year FREE!

Thank you to all of the incredible teachers who are educating and inspiring children everywhere!

We are offering a FREE FIRST YEAR of Vooks exclusively to all school teachers and homeschool educators! Simply fill out the form below.

A world of animated storybooks in your classroom!

Vooks brings children's books to life with animated illustrations, read-a-long text and narrated story. The ad-free platform features a variety of titles that have been engaging students all across the world. Whether being used as part of the lesson or to wind class down, Vooks is a fun and versatile tool for the classroom.

Check out some of the most popular titles on Vooks

They All Saw A Cat

The cat walked through the world, with its whiskers, ears, and paws... In this glorious celebration of observation, curiosity, and imagination, we see the many lives of one cat, and how perspective shapes what we see. Narrated by John Lithgow, this best selling and Caldecott Medal winning book will delight all ages.

Where Are You?

Meet Iz and Norb. They're cute, they're fun, and they're best buds! These silly friends love to play and go on adventures. But, sometimes play is more than just fun and games. Where Are You? helps children understand concepts like overcomming fear, and chasing your dreams.

Colors On The Farm

This Vook is perfect for the little ones. The appealing illustrations and playful use of color engages little minds to promote learning and development. Young children will love to visit Farmer John's farm and look for colors in this adorable story. And, playful rhymes make recognizing colors tons of fun.

1. Terms and Conditions: This worldwide offer is exclusive to teachers and homeschool educators. For homeschool educators, the first year free offer is for those who are actively following a long term curriculum plan, and are following any necessary government guidelines. Each account is limited to 3 personal devices and up to 30 devices used for classroom and in-school purposes. No purchase necessary. Pre-existing accounts are ineligible. Only new accounts are valid. You will receive an email confirmation once the form is submitted. No credit card required. Must be at least 18 years of age to be eligible for this offer. You will receive 365 days of free access to Vooks from date of registration. After your free access ends you may continue by purchasing a subscription. Vooks, Inc. | support@vooks.com | 25 NW 23rd Place, Suite 6 PMB #122, Portland, OR 97210

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Thank you to all of the incredible teachers who are educating and inspiring children everywhere! We are offering a FREE FIRST YEAR of Vooks exclusively to all school teachers and homeschool educators! Simply fill out the form below. Vooks brings children's books to life with animated illustrations, read-a-long text and narrated story.

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Student Friendly Cards to support readers

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Great chapter on Next Generation Shared Reading

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Who's Doing the Work?: How to Say Less So Readers Can Do More

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Amazon.com: Who's Doing the Work?: How to Say Less So Readers Can Do More (9781625310750): Burkins, Jan, Yaris, Kim: Books

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For creating a scale...

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Spelling Stages - Determining Instructional Focus

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K-2 Read Aloud Text

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From Caldecott Honor-winning author-illustrator Marla Frazee, a thrilling picture book that takes readers up, up, up to the highest point of a roller coaster, where no book has ever gone before! Wheeeeeeee!

This exhilarating amusement park visit begins with a line of prospective riders, eagerly awaiting their turn . . . with at least one person who has never done this before. Zooming, swerving, dipping, and diving, this delightful story featuring a breathtaking ride and a hilarious range of reactions, will help readers lose their roller coaster anxiety. Marla Frazee's witty narrative and slyly building of tension delivers an experience unlike any other and will have readers begging to take another ride.

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From Caldecott Honor-winning author-illustrator Marla Frazee, a thrilling picture book that takes readers up, up, up to the highest point of a roller coaster, where no book has ever gone before! Wheeeeeeee! This exhilarating amusement park visit begins with a line of prospective riders, eagerly a...

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The Reading GPS gives teachers information about whether students are moving toward the goal of proficient reading.

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Examining the Why, What and How of each...

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Explore the schedules.
What do you see?
What do you think?
What do you wonder?

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Shared Reading Possibilities with Lower Level Texts

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Shared Reading Possibilities with Lower Level Texts

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Shared Reading Possiblities with Nonfiction - Homes (C/D)

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Use to assess needs and design phonics lesson.

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3-5 Read Aloud Text

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It's All About the Books - Mulligan, Landrigan

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How to Create Bookrooms and Classroom Libraries That Inspire Readers. A practical yet detailed guide to creating a system where classroom libraries and bookrooms work seamlessly to make it easy for teachers to find books to engage and scaffold all students in a school community.

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Components of Balanced Literacy with Links EKC

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Vocabulary Trees: Graphic organizer Helps students build vocabulary allows students to visualize vocabulary terms and how they relate to other terms or content in a text. ​

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Use to assess and design morphology lesson

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Discover expert advice, educational resources and free eBooks to support children's learning at primary school and at home, from Oxford University Press.

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Make a Copy before planning.

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A great resource where you can (or you can teach the kids to) make matrices.

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Morphology Home / Matrix Home

Welcome

Welcome to the main information page for Mini Matrix-Maker.

We aim to provide a simple low-cost web-based tool for creating word matrices, similar to the one below. For the moment, the current version is free.

Visit our Morphology Home page for other useful tools, which can help you improve your matrices.

Run Mini Matrix-Maker (free version)

Click the link below to run the program.

www.neilramsden.co.uk/spelling/matrix/run.html?version=temp

You may wish to add a bookmark to this link.

Please read the current terms and conditions before running it. They may be updated periodically.

Free Usage

We may charge for using the Mini Matrix-Maker in future, but for the moment usage is free. The most likely next step will be to include a voluntary donation box to help keep this web-site active.

Using Mini Matrix-Maker now doesn't commit you to any future involvement.

Example Matrix

View a sample Matrix Results Page, built from word sums around the base element <mode>.

What is Mini Matrix-Maker?

Mini Matrix-Maker will automatically build a word matrix for you from the set of word sums in your word family.

Normally, deciding how to organise your word matrix can be hard to get right and even one small change to your word sums can make a big difference in how the matrix looks.

Mini Matrix-Maker makes life easy for you, because all you have to do is concentrate on the word sums. From there, building an accurate, attractive matrix is all done for you.

How do you use a Word Matrix?

Word matrices are powerful tools for exploring and testing knowledge of word structure. They provide a graphical shorthand for illustrating families of interrelated words.

Word matrices read from left to right.

From them, you make single, complete words.

You may use one element from a column at a time.

You don't have to take an element from every column of a matrix - but you must not "leapfrog" over a column.

How does Mini Matrix-Maker compare with Word Microscope?

The Word Microscope program can more actively guide you in creating word sums and matrices. It recognises prefixes, bases, connecting vowels and suffixes, and includes checks and reference tools. You can also easily save and retrieve your work, or print a customised findings log.

Learn more by reading the quick comparison between Word Microscope and the Mini Matrix-Maker.

There is a Word Microscope download for Microsoft Windows, which can be used for free for a limited period.

Word matrices originated within Real Spelling. Visit the Real Spellers web-site to discover more about Real Spelling concepts and the role of matrices in understanding English orthography.

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Welcome to the main information page for Mini Matrix-Maker.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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For kids (and teachers). So good for inquiry into words!

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Helpful resource to share with parents! Short video clips on how parents might support their learners at home.

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Hi Parents. Supporting your children is difficult at any time. We are creating some videos that we hope make things a bit easier during this challenging time. If you have topics you'd like to see addressed, please let us know. You can use the Contact link on this site.

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Hi Parents. Supporting your children is difficult at any time. We are creating some videos that we hope make things a bit easier during this challenging time. If you have topics you'd like to see addressed, please let us know. You can use the Contact link on this site.

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Excellent resource for inquiry driven grammar study, even though designed for G1-G5, Middle School teachers also love it.

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The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Continuum

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The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Continuum

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Progression of skills based on reading level

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Heinemann is a publisher of professional resources and a provider of educational services for teachers, kindergarten through college.