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Take a look. What's your play personality? How might you bring this with you into Writing Workshop?

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Components of Balanced Literacy with Links EKC

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Shared Reading - Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

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Shared Reading - Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

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Example illustrated checklist KG (and up)

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Example illustrated checklist KG (and up)

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The Sounds Around Town by Maria Cariuccio

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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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Spelling Stages - Determining  Instructional Focus

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Spelling Stages - Determining  Instructional Focus

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Spelling Stages - Determining Instructional Focus

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https://www.amazon.com/They-All-Saw-Brendan-Wenzel/dp/1452150133/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=they+all+saw+a+cat&qid=1601298886&sr=8-1

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Over the years, kindergarteners have shown me that the kinds of environmental tools that they will actually use are: ones which are at their level, ones which they have meaningful memories (or ownership) creating, ones which they can see themselves in (via photographs or interests), and ones which they can touch and interact with.

Such thinking led to a transformation of the word wall in our classroom.

First, we replaced static words on a magnetic board with moveable word cards in pocket charts (an idea shared with me by Nekia Wise, Assistant Principal of PS 59 in NYC). The pocket charts allow kids to access and interact with the word wall, taking the snap words (or high-frequency words) in and out of the pockets.

With this setup, kindergartners loved taking the cards that they needed during independent time and in small group instruction. So much so, that we needed additional copies of cards stacked behind each snap word in the pocket charts.

Due to high demand, we decided to keep the snap word pocket chart in an additional location -one that kids could quickly access near the writing center.

The words in this pocket chart, in contrast, were organized in the order in which we had learned them. Here, it became evident that children had an easier time finding the snap word they needed to spell. They also enjoyed the extra practice of reading all of the snap words together. Many children seemed to prefer and have success with this sequential ordering.

With this in mind, when our Staff Developer, Shanna Schwartz, shard an idea from Renée Dinnerstein's kindergarten classroom - the snap word train - we were excited to give it a try.

The Snap Word Train

The snap word train features enlarged snap word cards, placed sequentially across a prominent wall (typically above the meeting area). The train grows as children learn new snap words.

My kindergarten colleagues and I have been using the snap word train for several years. We've noticed many advantages with this kind of layout:

1. Children have an easier time finding individual snap words:

In order for children to find snap words on a word wall, they need to be able to isolate the first letter sound. This can be especially challenging with snap words that begin with digraphs and vowels, or when children do not know letter-sound correspondence. Keeping the snap words on a sequential train makes the process of finding specific snap words more accessible.

The snap word train also allows children to exercise their visual sequential memory. In Visual Memory: Studies Show Visual Memory Superior to Auditory Memory for Reading and Recalling Details, the Integrated Learning Strategies Learning Center explains, "Visual sequential memory is your child's ability to remember symbols or characters in a certain order. This skill is especially important in spelling."

2. The words are large enough to be seen from anywhere in the classroom.

When snap ward cards are written in a smaller font, children often have to move closer in order to see them. This is not ideal during independent writing time, when they need to spend as much time as possible writing (and minimize transitions!). When the snap word train is strategically placed along a prominent wall, writers can easily see the words from wherever they are sitting.

3. They make for fun pointing and reading games.

When the snap word train is placed close to the meeting area, the class can quickly read the cards for a warm-up before shared reading (doing this in different kinds of voices makes it especially fun) or play a few rounds of"I spy." Children can also use pointers (or make their own, as pictured below) to practice touching and reading the snap words during small group instruction. With two pointers, kids can play "fly swatter," where they race to be the first one to touch a snap word that is called out.

4. It's exciting to see the train grow (and many children love trains!)

Have a big celebration when a new word is added to the train! New snap words can be kept near the easel, or in another location, while kids become familiar with them. After the class has practiced reading and writing new snap words across several days, they can cheer as the new cards join the train. This celebration can be followed by a choral reading of all of the cards on the train.

Kindergartners typically learn between 30-50 snap words, so thinking about space for the train is important. When the words on the train stretches all the way across the wall, children can vote on whether to continue the train across the next wall, or to make another story of the train above or below the first one (depending on the space in the classroom). Perhaps kids could even help add wheels or an engine to make the snap word train look like a real train!

5. Any word can become a snap word.

Being able to transfer skills between content areas makes learning more sticky. Snap words can be introduced purposefully (as suggested in the linked post), in alignment with reading or writing units of study. Other high-interest words that children are writing often can be learned as a snap word and added to the train. As a rule of thumb, if the word can be illustrated, it can be added to an alphabetically-organized word wall. If not, it can go on the snap word train.

What About the Rest of the Words on a Word Wall?

Kindergartners begin with a "Name wall," as recommended in the Units of Study in Phonics, by Lucy Calkins and Colleagues from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project. Names of students, staff, or book characters are the first words added beneath each letter during a name study (based on Patricia Cunningham 's brilliant work).

The name wall, then, can grow into a "Sound" or "Alphabet Wall." Children can add meaningful pictures or photographs beneath each letter. Later in the year, as children learn blends and digraphs, they can add words with blends beneath each letter. High interest, or content-specific words (ones which can be illustrated with a visual, for support with reading) can also be added under each letter. Currently, in my classroom, the Alphabet Wall is placed directly below the snap word train on our magnetic board (as seen above). In previous years, I've also found success with the pocket chart Alphabet Wall, displayed at an accessible height.

At the end of kindergarten, we can help children prepare for first grade (when snap word cards are typically organized on a word wall). To do so, children can help decide where the snap word cards go on the Sound/Alphabet Wall. Snap word cards could also be kept in both places - the word train and Alphabet Wall - all year. For students who used a snap word train in kindergarten, first grade classrooms can also do the guided work of transitioning kids from a snap word train to a word wall at the beginning of the year.

It's Not Too Late!

If you've already begun adding snap word cards to a word wall, you can have a conversation with the class about the snap word train. You might say, "I've noticed that it can be tricky for us to find the snap words when they are so little or spread across the word wall. I saw another classroom where the words grow into a snap word train! Can I show you a picture? Should we see if this might help us quickly find the snap words we need?!"

Alternatively, if you teach first or second grade and have children who do not know letter-sound correspondence, you can keep a sequential chart of snap words (on a pocket chart and/or on an individual chart for folders) in addition to the word wall, as an additional support.

If you have found other successful ways of organizing or teaching snap words, please share your ideas in the comment section!

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Over the years, kindergarteners have shown me that the kinds of environmental tools that they will actually use are: ones which are at their level, ones which they have meaningful memories (or ownership) creating, ones which they can see themselves in (via photographs or interests), and ones which they can touch and interact with.

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EKC

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FIS KG Planning Writer's Workshop Template

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natashyahays@gmail.com

Website: erinkentconsulting.com

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_Parent Interactive Board for Kindergarten (1)

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writing teaching parent book making "down time" "kathy collins" "matt glover" "lanesha tabb"

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Resources for parents to support their children's learning in writing and reading.

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allison_cornish@fis.edu

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TC Pre-K-G6 Narrative Writing Progression

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TC Pre-K-G6 Narrative Writing Progression

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Get access to files anywhere through secure cloud storage and file backup for your photos, videos, files and more with Google Drive.

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Got: The importance of a compliment with each conference and the need to keep records of conferences. The planning document will help me with planning the unit.

Want: How to use play and what the kids are doing in the classroom as a springboard to teach the skills in literacy.

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I think the Goal Setting Conferences can be very useful for report writing/ conferences with parents too

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Got: I will use the sentence phrase: As a ____ you are doing ____. This helps because _____.

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Got: Lots of new ideas to try while conferring with my students.
Thank you!
No wants for now. Looking forward to the next session. :)

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Got: keeping the goal sheets in their writing folder.
Got: Goal setting conference.
Want:  how can I keep it short when the student doesn't stop talking about their story.

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Got: lots of useful tips about structuring conferring time with the children.
Wants: Further linking between literacy sessions, the PYP and play

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Gayle_Angbrandt@fis.edu

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MAKE A COPY FIRST

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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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Flyleaf Publishing - Online Materials Portal

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For Students - Flyleaf Publishing - Online Materials Portal

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Sign up for free at the bottom of the page

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A couple of years ago, and I wrote a collection of guided reading books to go with the Who's Doing the Work? K-2 Lesson Sets (Stenhouse, 2018). Carnegie Learning has graciously agreed to let me share the fiction titles from this collection with you, here on this site.

There are 15 titles ranging from Level A to Level J. I have built flipbooks with each title, and embedded them here on the site. The text below, one of my favorite in the collection, is an example of the set-up for each book, and will show you how the flipbooks in the collection work. Missing Socks, like all the books in the collection, includes illustrations designed to engage students and deepen the story.
​

Mindfulness:
​There are three titles in the collection that relate to mindfulness. Happy (Level C) is about a little girl who is exploring different kinds of happiness, such as the calm happiness of a breeze vs. the palpable happiness of a surprise birthday party. Hurry Up, Slow Down (Level D) is about a little girl who is walking to school with her father and is caught up in the simple beauty around her. Finally, Everyday Beautiful (Level H) is about two boys who have been asked to find something beautiful. One boy overlooks the natural beauty around him while another shows him how simple things can be beautiful.

There are five titles in the collection that use science related to light and shadows to tell a story. They range in levels from C-J. We wrote these to align with science standards. If you teach light and shadows, you may find these texts a nice way to integrate your science content into your reading instruction.

The books are all in flipbook format and are free to use and share with children, but they require a password to access them. To get the password, complete the form below. When you hit submit, a password will pop up on the screen. Use that password in step 2 (below) to access the books.

If you already have the these digital versions of some of the books should be helpful. Although you don't need the lessons to use the books, if you are interested in the lessons that go with the books, they are available from .

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Free Virtual Guided Reading Book Collection

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A couple of years ago, and I wrote a collection of guided reading books to go with the Who's Doing the Work? K-2 Lesson Sets (Stenhouse, 2018). Carnegie Learning has graciously agreed to let me share the fiction titles from this collection with you, here on this site.

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The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten - read aloud

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The Day My Mom Came to Kindergarten - read aloud

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Got:
-Many book recommendations that I can use for professional reading and in the classroom.
-New ideas about incorporating a variety of text types, and new ways of looking at planning for shared and guided reading.
- Some great discussions in small groups about poetry and sharing of ideas.

Wants:
- Focus on how to include more play and inquiry while still following the workshop lesson schedule/weekly plans
- Interactive writing
- Small groups focus

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I'd like to include shared writing

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Got: Reminders for the types of text for shared reading  and the many, many skills that can be highlighted during shared reading.

Want: Small group conferring and how to use what we see happening in play and in other times during the day in interactive writing.

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Got: reminders and extrapolation on the values of shared reading + other forms of reading

Wants:

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Got: Importance of Read Alouds - thinking out aloud, encouraging children to engage with the story/character.
Wants: Small group reading. how does it / should it connect to the minilesson?

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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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Advancing Literacy (formerly TCRWP) is a research think tank and staff development organization based at Teachers College, Columbia University. The videos in this...

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lea_karr@fis.edu