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There are multiple videos in this playlist that offer tips for teaching young children literacy

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About the program

The best predictor of how children will do in school is how much they know before they get there. The parents, teachers, and researchers in this program are working to discover how we can give our kids the tools they'll need to become strong readers.

Transcript

Ava: Inside ...

Kimberly: Going in!

Reba McEntire: We used to think a child's education started in kindergarten.

Reader: Bebo! We need a bebo!

Reba: But that can be years too late.

Dr. Needlman: There's a whole foundation that gets built over the first years of life.

Reba: These doctors, parents, and teachers are helping preschoolers get a good start on a great future.

Dr. Palacios: When we ask children to rise up to higher expectations and higher standards, they don't let us down.

Reba: Funding for "Toddling Toward Reading" is provided by the United States Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs.

Reba: Hi, I'm Reba McEntire. My mama used to teach in a one-room schoolhouse near Chockie, Oklahoma. My grandmother was a teacher, also. And if this music thing hadn't worked out, I might have been a teacher myself.
Reba: Reba: In the next half-hour, we'll meet some families, teachers, and researchers around the country who are discovering what it takes to make the most of those early years. Our first stop is Washington, D.C. When my son Shelby was born, I finally had a chance. That's because a child's education starts on day one - long before he goes to school. So when we sang songs together or talked about riding a horse, Shelby didn't know it, but he was getting ready to read.
Bringing Up Baby (Washington, DC)

Kimberly: How do you say it?

Ava: Azul, Azul!

Reba: Long before children set foot in a classroom, we can start giving them the skills they'll need to become strong readers.

Dr. Robert Needlman: Learning to read is much more than a set of skills you get in school. There is a whole foundation that gets built over the first years of life.

Reba: Laying that foundation starts with mom and dad.

Reba: All it takes is some quality time...
Reba: Ava is lucky; only 60% of parents of children under five say they read to their kids every day ... leaving the rest to play a dangerous game of catch up. Dr. Needlman knows that children who are not read to early often start school at a disadvantage.
Reba: Two year old Ava Johnson and her mother Kimberly spend time reading and talking together every day.

Kimberly: She loved books from the very beginning, then she used to chew on the corners and just start to play with turning the pages. Now she's gotten to the point where she just starts to appreciate the story itself.

Needlman: We know from very close study that when parents read with their children they are really teaching language. And language is tremendously important for children's emotional development and also for their ability to succeed in school.

Reba: That's because early language development and later reading skills are intimately connected. The more you talk with a baby or toddler, the bigger that child's vocabulary will be by age three. So even if parents are not reading with their kids, they should be talking with them all the time.

Ava: Uh-oh, what happened? The box fall out?

Kimberly: The box is falling out, isn't it?

Dr. Todd Risley: when you only talk a little bit, it's only business. It's, "Come here," "Sit down," "Stay there." It's simple. It's not abstract. It's not fun. When you talk more, you're not talking more business; it's about something else. That's the good stuff [and] the more the child talks, the larger the vocabulary they have, the more different kinds of words and phrases that they use in their oral language, the easier and more readily they become readers.

Reba: Studies show children who are poor readers by the end of the first grade are likely to remain that way in the fourth grade. And children who struggle with reading are more likely to drop out of school in later years.

Needlman: If you look at the parents with the least amount of education 30 percent of them say that they are reading aloud with their children every night, 70 percent don't. So that shows us what a long way we have to go.

Reba: To get there, Dr. Needlman co-founded Reach Out and Read. It's a national organization that works with health care providers like Dr. Nicole Lang to offer early literacy training as part of regular pediatric care.

Dr. Nicole Lang: Welcome. Welcome.

Needlman: The inspiration for Reach Out and Read was the realization that reading was a tremendously important part of children's development and yet, we in pediatrics didn't know anything about it.

Reba: Since pediatricians see both children and parents from day one, they're in a great position to help kids get a head start on reading.

Lang: We have so many frequent well-child visits and we teach families how to be healthy and this is a part of that.

Lang: You know, he may just want to put this in his mouth because he's teething and that's normal too...

Needlman: When we bring a book into the exam room and we actually see how that child responds to the book and see how the parent responds to the child responding to the book. It gives us an in to talk with the parent about a very important topic - Which is: what can you do to help your child grow up intellectually alive?

Lang: Sometimes there can be literacy problems with the parents or grandparents - or if they weren't read to as a child they don't see the importance of reading to their own children. I say talk to them, sing to them read to them.

Reba: Dr. Lang also tells parents to watch for early milestones in learning to read.

Reba: At six months old, Isaiah should be reaching for the book, eager to turn pages.

Justin's Dad: Can we find a candle?

Reba: Two-year-old Justin should be pointing...and identifying pictures.

Reba: He should be able to say at least 50 words and talk in two to three word sentences.

Justin: Where's da lion?

Reba: Children who miss milestones should be checked for hearing issues or developmental problems. Kids with lots of ear infections should see a doctor too because the infections can lead to language delays.

Reba: But even for kids like Justin, who are doing well, the time spent reading together can really pay off.

Needlman: How much reading is enough?

Parent: Is that the book you want to read?

Needlman: If parents say well you know, I read to him 5 minutes every day. I ask the parent, how does it feel? We love it. Ok, so, if you love it make it 10 minutes, and if you love 10, make it 15. We know that when children grow up to be successful readers they have been read to often, on average, 30 minutes a day.

Kimberly: I feel so fortunate to have had such good exposure to reading and books my whole life. Reading isn't just a luxury - it's really about your health and a child's well being.

Needlman: Whether children are read to at home on a regular basis is one other way that disadvantage gets transmitted from generation to generation - and we have an opportunity to interrupt that cycle.

Lang: We're giving them lots of good info that they are taking to heart - and when we talk about reading and how important that is they say - ok, well I should be doing this too. Just as I give them fruits and vegetables, you know, I'll also read to them.

Kimberly: [reading] That's what you must do... and the beetle lent the spider a helping leg or two.

Child-Parent Centers (Chicago, Illinois)

Reba: Keeping parents involved even after kids start school helps kids stay on track ...and that's why Chicago has established a network of Child-Parent Centers. So on this frigid day in January, Althea Slayden is headed in to school with her 4-year-old daughter Nygeria.

Althea: Nygeria ... she loves to come to school. Even on Saturday she asks me, "mom is there school tomorrow?"

Reba: This school is the Parker Child-Parent Center and, considering its success, it makes sense for everyone to be excited.

Reba: Chicago's high school graduation rate hovers around fifty percent, but studies show that students who attend one of these centers have higher test scores, are less likely to use special education services, and are more likely to graduate from high school.
Reba: Sonja Griffin used to work at a child-parent center as a parent resource teacher. Now she manages all of Chicago's Child-Parent Centers.
Althea: I work eight hours a day, and this center has been a great help as far as getting them the education that they need.

Reba: In addition to a strong academic program for the kids, a big factor in this success is the involvement of parents like Althea.
Reba:...Althea is down the hall in her own classroom.
Sonja Griffin: Teachers working with the children in the classroom is one thing. But when you draw the family in, the family is such an important component. Because when they go home, who are they with? They're with their mom or grandma or dad or whoever the primary caregiver is.

Sonja: We know that the more the parent works with the children at home, and the more involved they are, the more it carries over to the later grades. And in early childhood, we're setting the foundation for the child's later success in school.

Reba: And when she's not in Ms. Jordan's preschool class with Nygeria,...

Class: Tomatoes!
Reba: So when kids read "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" in class...
Althea: Good morning. How are you doing Ms. Robinson?

Reba: Waiting for her is Ms. Robinson, the parent resource teacher.

Althea: Miss Robinson is very energetic. She's outgoing, she's funny, she will make you fall in love with her.

Reba: One of Ms. Robinson's primary goals is giving parents the tools they need to help their kids become good readers.

Carol: Our children need to learn more than basic words. They need to be exposed to synonyms. If you say something's big, what's wrong with saying it's enormous?

Carol: "Who's that crossing over my bridge?" said the troll.

Reba: .... parents can reinforce that learning at home by sharing a fun activity they learned from Ms. Robinson.
Reba: The teachers here know that children are much more likely to succeed in school when they have a happy and successful home life. Reba: Ms. Robinson uses a variety of methods, from workshops to field trips, to help parents develop their skills and find the right balance in their lives. Reba: Jessica Washington enrolled her son Corey at Parker just this year and she already notices a difference. Reba: For many adults, school can be an intimidating place. So the welcoming environment here makes it easier for parents to stay involved. Ms. Robinson's vote of confidence means a lot too.
Robinson: What's wrong with the troll?

Parent: She wants to eat it.

Robinson: You may eat the troll.

Carol: Many times our parents come in... with problems pertaining to literacy. For example, one parent came in and said, when I read to my child, I... I have a problem... being expressive or being fluent. As the parent resource teacher I may read a book to them and model how the story should sound and schedule workshops or activities where we can develop those skills.

Carol: If you pick up "The Napping House" and you say something like, "this is a house, a napping house, where everyone was sleeping,"...your child wants to feel the emotion. "In a cozy bed." He can almost feel it!

Kids: [singing] Martin Luther King

Carol: In the parent resource room we're trying to develop the whole parent.

Carol: So if you're saving for gifts, you start saving what, 8-9 dollars a month?

Jessica: We're closer. When I was Cory's age we had nothing like this, and if my mom was around and was able to use the parent room then I would have loved it because she was always working, always in school, and if she could have come here it would have been very good for me. I would have loved it.

Carol: There's not a parent who's ever crossed the threshold of this parent room who did not want the very best for their children. Their children are their treasures.

Class: [singing] Martin Luther King

Inclusion (Decatur, Georgia)

Avery: Come on, come on.

Reba: Here in Decatur, Georgia, there's a five-year-old girl who can't wait to get started on her day.

Reba: Born with Down syndrome, Avery faces some big challenges when it comes to getting by in school.

Sherri Copenhaver: What we want to focus on are basic life skills and, of course, the most important of those is reading.

Reba: That's why her mom was so excited to find the Coralwood School, a public preschool program that's helped Avery develop her language skills, an important precursor to reading.

Avery: Mommy!

Lisa Nasser: Yes ma'am.

Reba: Coralwood's inclusion model means that children with special needs, like Avery, learn alongside typically developing kids, like her friend Caroline.

Rebecca Blanton: The program originally began for students with special needs. But in about 1990 we realized that for children to learn from other children we needed some typically developing students in the building and it has worked great because both sets benefit from it.

Reba: For Avery, this environment means that she gets to spend every day working with other students who can model those skills that are sticking points for her.

Dr. Susan Neuman: The special needs child in very early years benefits tremendously from being in these classrooms. They develop friendships. They see how other children work. They learn to adapt and accept their own disability. And they learn to have peers who help them in certain ways.

Reba: Lisa Nasser, Avery's special education teacher, remembers her first day working with Avery:

Lisa: Avery came to us this year almost nonverbal. She depended on sign language and she was an observer.

Sherri: My biggest goal for her was speech. I want her to talk in full sentences and she's finally starting to do that. Now they're like maybe three- or four-word sentences but...she's made huge strides. We've gone from sign language to three- and four-word sentences, so I'm thrilled with that.

Avery: Bend... over...please

Jennifer Mazarkey: Just in the last few months Avery has shown amazing progress. At the beginning of the year, she might say yes, no, hi, bye. Now she told one of the other teachers "my lips are chapped." You could tell that she understood what that meant. And that's another big part of language; it's not only being able to say it, but to understand what you're saying and what it means.

Reba: When it's time for Avery to learn to read, she'll need intensive one-on-one help. But the steps she's taking in class right now are critical.
Reba: When my son Shelby was little, tucking him in at night was always a special time. We'd snuggle together and start reading about kittens or dump trucks. What a great way to end the day! My favorite part was when we discovered a new author we both loved.
Reba: And while Coralwood's dedicated staff plays a large part in this progress, they're the first to recognize that Avery has some other helpers, too.

Susan Garrett: The children provide as much stimulation and modeling as teachers and therapists do.

Reba: This modeling is something that speech language pathologist Susan Garrett sees every day, and it's one of the main reasons that Coralwood provides almost all of its therapies in the classrooms.

Susan Garrett: When we were doing the napping story and we were emphasizing the 'n', Avery wasn't interested in looking at me but she was interested in looking at Caroline.
Reba: Sandra Boynton may officially be a grown-up, but she remembers how it feels to be a kid.
Susan Garrett: Miss Avery, can I hear you? Let's look at Caroline

Reba: So while Avery has a long road ahead to become a reader, Coralwood is giving her a good start - and it all began with a bus ride...

Sherri: I remember when I put her on the bus for the first time and she was three. And I pinned a note to her that said my name is Avery Copenhaver, please make sure I get to Sylvia Goggin's class. And I was a wreck, she was fine, you know. She thought it was an adventure.

Lisa: What does that say? It's your name. What does it say?

Avery: Avery

Lisa: It does say Avery!

Sandra Boynton! (New England)

Reba: You might not expect a quiet Connecticut farmhouse to inspire this...

Kids: [screaming] Loud! Loud! Loud!

Reba: ...but that's because you might not know who lives here:

Sandra: S-a-n-d-r-a-B-o-y-n-t-o-n, exclamation point.

Sandra: I love working with color. I love working with pen and ink. I'm basically a professional kindergartner. I like cutting and pasting and coloring all those things.

Reba: Over the last thirty years, people have bought 500 million Boynton greeting cards. Meanwhile, she's written 35 children's books about dancing chickens and elephants who wear pajamas and jump rope before going to bed.

Sandra: First and foremost, I write my books for me. I think that's true actually for any children's book writer that you're... writing for yourself as a child. And I think children's book writers seem to be absurdly in touch with their own childhood.

Reba: Sandra grew up in Philadelphia, the daughter of an English teacher, and her life changed when she first discovered "Little Bear."

Sandra: The book that made me want to read was "Little Bear." It was a book that took you immediately into this world and I just wanted to be able to read it to myself and not just wait to have it read to me.

Reba: Inspired by Maurice Sendak, Sandra started drawing herself: hippos, cows, ducks, dogs, cats, chickens, pigs, ewes, and gnus.

Woman: It's just the hippo way of saying "Belly Button!"

Sandra: Pictures are incredibly important in a book. Because they are what a child is reading - not reading the words. They're hearing the words but they're reading the pictures.

Sandra: It was a great luxury to have small children when I was writing most of my books. I have four children. And they're effortless critics and you can tell when something's working if you have a child right there...You can try it

Erin: The Belly Button Book is a great example. I mean, what toddler, you know, between 2 and 3 doesn't know where their belly button is and is always exploring and I think she writes things that are relevant to children at a young age, and they're easy to follow.

Woman: [reading] Belly Button you're oh so fine. Oh, bellybutton, I'm so happy that you're mine.
Reba: With a PhD in Education and more than 30 years in the classroom she knows how to create a literacy rich preschool environment.
Sandra: I love the sound of words. I love even the look of words. I think the rhythm of language for young children, or really anyone, the rhythm of prose or poetry is remarkably important. I mean, it's important for George Elliot as with Maurice Sendak

Jane: It's very sing-song so right from an early age, they're able to hook right into it and follow along and anticipate what's coming next and which is really the most fun. Because before you turn the page, they know what the next thing is going to be.

Reba: That's something that Sandra likes to hear, because pleasing her fans is very important to her.

Sandra: If I'm asked to sign a book and it's not chewed on the corners, I'm a little offended, um-hmm.

Reba: Now that's a compliment only a children's book author could appreciate.

Reading Maestros (Corpus Christi, Texas)

Class: [singing] Buenas noches, buenas noches. Como estais? Como estais?

Reba: One thing that parents can appreciate is a good preschool program. In many communities they can be hard to find...

Dr. Rebecca Palacios: Muy Bien! Gracias.

Palacios: A lot of people don't embrace it because they think oh, well, you're just going to go and you're going to sleep and they're going to play and nothing's going to happen and I think what people don't understand is how much work goes into a quality preschool program

Reba: One ingredient is a well-qualified, well-trained teacher - and they are in short supply. Only half of preschool teachers have a four-year degree - and often that degree has little to do with early childhood.

Reba: So while they probably don't know it, this class of four-year-olds has lucked out with Dr. Becky Palacios. She teaches the Spanish half of a dual language program in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Reba: Her cardinal rule - keep your expectations high.

Palacios: I think that the curriculum that we've developed is pretty demanding. If we're going to talk about bears we're going to talk about the natural habitat, where they live, where they are in this world, why the geography's important. I think it's demanding only what's best for students. When we ask students to rise up to the higher standards or higher expectations, they don't let us down.

Reba: A curriculum like this allows children to build their vocabulary and to develop their background knowledge. If you know a lot about bears already, it's a lot easier to read and understand a story about bears when you get to first grade.

Reba: And of course, in preschool, it's very important to have fun.

[kids yelling]

Reba: When children are actively engaged - collecting leaves or playing with a purpose - they develop the social and early literacy skills which will help them succeed in school.

Reba: Dr. Robert Pianta has been studying preschoolers for more than 25 years.

Dr. Robert Pianta: We know they learn how to get along with other kids, they learn how to line up and be able to find the bathroom in a school and we know that they learn things about the world, about math and shapes and letters and numbers, all of which roll into the skills that... make a big difference when...they walk in on that first day of kindergarten.

Reba: Keeping all these four-year-olds on track is no easy job.

Palacios: When you enter a classroom, especially in a preschool program you have to be high energy, high patience with the students and be well prepared.

Reba: Dr. Palacios has 23 students in her class - 22 four-year-olds and one 30-year-old - Denise Caldera.

Denise Caldera: When I started my lesson, I said, "Ok, everybody sit down quietly and cross your legs and put your hands on your lap..."

Reba: Denise attends Texas A&M University, and she's studying to become a teacher.
Reba: As a mentor, few can match Dr. Palacios, with her knowledge of the field, her long experience, and her sheer love of teaching.
Reba: She spends part of every day observing and working with Dr. Palacios. Denise has seen already how much this can help.

Denise: Muy bien.

Denise: We're gonna be there every day all day. It's basically we're going to be in charge of the classroom. We're going to have to implement lessons. We're going to have to grade. We're going to have to have parent conferences. And if we have no exposure in the classroom and we don't know what it's like to be in the classroom, then we're going to be completely lost.

Reba: The combination of college coursework and a mentor like Dr. Palacios is giving Denise the tools she'll need to manage a classroom by herself.

Pianta: In the training of early childhood educators, it's critical that the training programs offer them opportunities to go in there and practice executing their knowledge of child development with children, get support about that and feedback about that from somebody who's experienced and knowledgeable in those kinds of experiences have been shown in a lot of research about the training of teachers to be probably one of the most critical features in predicting those teachers' skills when they have a classroom of their own.

Denise: Before I started working with Dr. Palacios I thought preschool was about babysitting, and naps and playing but after watching her - I mean, these kids go through strict curriculum by no means is it naptime and daycare.
Reba: Reba: To order a DVD of "Toddling Toward Reading" - or to order the entire "Reading Rockets: Launching Young Readers" series - please call 1-800-757-6845. To learn more about preschool and early literacy, please visit us online at pbs [dot] org.
Palacios: What have you experienced? What do you see in classroom management?

Denise: Well, you saw my second lesson. Out of seven kids four were crying. (laughter) Almost myself included, I was so close to crying. I was trying everything with them and it seemed like nothing was working.

Palacios: So why didn't I bail you out?

Denise: Because in my classroom there will be nobody to bail me out. I will be on my own and I'll have to handle it.

Palacios: And I wanted you to realize that you have to learn what doesn't work so you can learn what will work.

Palacios: I think being a clinical teacher to pre-service teachers is really important. We need to make sure that we leave a legacy for the teachers that are going to follow us. We're seeing a huge shortage because a lot of these young teachers or new teachers leave within the first 3-to-5 years of their teaching experience. They cite that one of the things is lack of mentoring. They are not helped when they come into the classroom:

Denise: Si encontraron? Si.

Palacios: I always wanted to be a teacher because I felt that this is where I belonged; I had this calling to work with children. And as far as I can remember through my school career I saved strategies, I saved songs I learned in Elementary - art projects, things that were focused on exploration, things that we learn by doing.

Reba: With a wait list over fifty and parents lining up around the corner to get their kids in the program, Dr. Palacios is obviously doing something right.

Class: (laughing)

Jennifer Gonzalez: [Justin] comes home really excited and he can't wait to tell me everything that he's done. He wants to get everything out so fast that he actually started stuttering...'cause he had so much to say. [laughter]

Palacios: I've had a lot of opportunities to leave the classroom. People always asked me, "you have a doctorate, why do you stay in a preschool classroom? Why are you there?" And I tell them it's not about who I am - it's who the children are. And I'm going to get a little emotional here, but I think it's about the kids and not about me.

Reba: When I was little, two of my heroes were John Wayne and Joe Namath. As I grew older, though, I realized the some heroes weren't always in the spotlight. They were people like my own mother - parents and teachers who are doing the hard work of raising our kids.

Reba: With their help, we can send more of our children on to school - and out into the world - ready to find success.

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The best predictor of how children will do in school is how much they know before they get there. The parents, teachers, and researchers in this program are working to discover how we can give our kids the tools they'll need to become strong readers. Ava: Inside ... Kimberly: Going in!

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One family in Raleigh, North Carolina, shows how playing word and rhyming games puts their child on the road to reading success.

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Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)

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Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC)

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Signing in with appropriate rights will provide you with access to published material. (Refresh your browser if you arrived here after signing in at another ALA resource.)

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Using comics or graphic novels in your teaching is a fun way to keep your students motivated. Reluctant readers and writers tend to get excited over using comics because comics writing is less intensive. Students can be imaginative in their writing and creative in their choice of characters and props. Using comics can even increase a student's vocabulary. Jennifer Haines wrote an excellent article about Teaching With Comics. In this post, I've provided ideas for Using Digital Comics to Motivate Reluctant Readers and Writers.

1. Comic Life

Students can actually use their own photos and create captions for each. The layout looks like a page out of a comic book. It's so easy to use; you just drag and drop. There lots of options compared to other online comic applications. And, students can use for Language Arts, Social Studies and even Science. The basic version is free through Softonic. The upgraded version Comic Life 3 costs $29.99. The app can be purchased for $4.99. Such a great way for using digital comics!

2. Comic Creator

Another great way students can begin using digital comics is through Comic Creator by Read Write Think. It's very simple to use and features are limited. Students can print their comics in black and white. Students decide on their panel and then add the graphics that are provided. They can select props, backgrounds, bubbles and people. Comic Creator is free.

3. MakeBeliefsComics.com

This application has a few more options than Comic Creator. Students can add color to their backgrounds and choose the number of panels. Students can rotate objects, adjust the size in this application. New characters and scenes have been added. There are more selections in this application than Comic Creator. MakeBeliefsComics is free and students can print their products.

4. ToonDoo

This comic creator is in color. Students can actually save their work and come back to finish their book. This application requires a free account. There are lots of options in ToonDoo. I love it.

5. PicCollage

My friend Erintegration has a great tutorial on creating comics with PicCollage. Students design their grid and will then take photos of scenes they would like to have in the comics. After all of the scenes are placed, students will add speech bubbles and write the text for each scene. I can't think of a better way to use for a book study.

6. Google Slides

I downloaded this background from a site with stock photos. Then, I uploaded the template as a background in Google Slides.

- Type "cartoon characters" in the search box. (with png added at the end of the search).

- Drag the selected images to the frames.

- Type "speech bubbles png" in the search box. Drag the speech boxes over to the selected frames.

- To add additional bubbles, like bam, boom, etc., just type those words with png at the end. Or, type words for additional props.

- Select the text box to add wording for the comics.

Click HERE for your free frame. These can be edited. (You'll be prompted to make a copy.)

These different options should help your students in using digital comics, but feel free to share any others you know of in the comments below.

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Using Digital Comics to Motivate Reluctant Readers and Writers With Sample

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Using comics or graphic novels in your teaching is a fun way to keep your students motivated. Reluctant readers and writers tend to get excited over using comics because comics writing is less intensive. Students can be imaginative in their writing and creative in their choice of characters and props.

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There are SO many incredible apps out there, and I know whatever list I come up with is going to be missing tons of great stuff. But I might as well start somewhere, right? So I thought I'd share 10 iPad and iPhone apps I love for helping elementary students with reading and writing skills. The majority of the recommendations below work with multiple grade levels and are free, but the paid ones are worth the investment, in my opinion.

Kids can practice rhyming words, prefixes and suffixes, synonyms, homophones, adjectives, and more in this colorful and engaging word matching game. Choose between single player and team mode. (Free)

If you've ever "elfed yourself" at the holidays, you know how entertaining and hilarious Jib Jab can be. Now the company has a special app that makes kids the star of their very own storybook. The free version provides one book, with additional stories available for individual purchase or through a monthly subscription free. Though the app lacks sound and interactivity, the story lines are appealing and the photo creates a great practice opportunity (and motivation) for kids to read. (Free)

This interactive read-along app allows kids to hear the story being read to them and record themselves narrating the text so they can listen to their own version as they flip through the pages. Games, finger painting, and sing alongs are fun bonus features. (Free)

allows kids to create their own unique shows with animation and audio so that digital storytelling is simple. Children can write their own scripts around original stories or demonstrate knowledge about a particular topic (sure beats writing a summary paragraph.) Best of all, Puppet Pals is totally free. (Free)

Web-based SpellingCity is well known for its engaging spelling and vocabulary practice, and its mobile app doesn't disappoint. Add your own spelling words or use an existing list, including compound words, sound-alike words, and SAT vocabulary. 7 interactive learning games ensure variety and engagement. (Free)

Leveled for grades 2-6, these reading comprehension activities require children to remember elements of a story in order to advance in the game. Children practice a wide range of reading skills, from author's purpose to context clues. ($0.99)

This classic fairytale seems to come alive through interactive features. In addition to lovely art work, an original soundtrack, and a narration conducted entirely by kids, this app offers lots of interactive opportunities. Find hidden characters, chase the pigs, and even blow down the houses by huffing and puffing into the iPad's microphone. ($5.99)

With Noodle Words, emerging readers can make the word "spin" actually spin, and the word "jump" actually jump. Though the word sets are limited at this time, the appeal to young children, easy-to-use interface, and creative word play opportunities make the app a worthwhile purchase. ($2.99)

The highly interactive apps from NatGeo supplement leveled text with photos, audio, and video in different ezines about animals and nature topics. Children can read the text themselves or use the read-to-me function. It's a fantastic way for children to develop reading, writing, and listening skills while learning about the fascinating world of animals. (Free)

Perfect for new spellers and has increasing levels of difficulty. Join Zip the alien in building a new rocket! Each word kids spell correctly helps him choose the pieces he needs. Once all the pieces are in place, you can launch the rocket and watch it soar into space. 4 levels of difficulty ensure that a variety of ability levels are covered. (Free)

If you're also interested in eBook reading programs, you might want to check out SnapLearning. They have been a longtime supporter of The Cornerstone, and I believe strongly in the value of their digital resources. They provide hundreds of grade-appropriate eBooks, both fiction and non-fiction, which you can assign to your students and send to their devices! The eBooks come with interactive exercises and assignments which you can later review and assess. Best of all, the content is Common Core-aligned. If you want to check out their close reading portfolio (which is an awesome set of interactive exercises), you can request a free trial demo.
What iPad and iPhone apps do you use to support elementary kids in developing reading and writing skills? Share your favorites in the comments.

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There are SO many incredible apps out there, and I know whatever list I come up with is going to be missing tons of great stuff. But I might as well start somewhere, right? So I thought I'd share 10 iPad and iPhone apps I love for helping elementary students with reading and writing skills.

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The Digital Daily 5 in the ELA Classroom

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With Common Core standards and with so many of our assessments moving to an online format, it is essential that students are able to navigate technology

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Example of writers workshop in a 4th grade classroom

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Example of writers workshop in a 4th grade classroom

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So I took these photos yesterday, but by the time I got home last night I was in a coma!

Here is what my writer's workshop looked like on the day 4! Yippee! WE! ARE! FOCUSED!

After the mini-lessons, students return to their desks to work on their own writing. Students pick their own topics, which makes them invested in what they have to write about. For some students "writing" means drawing a picture. For other students, they are adding letters and words. That is the beautiful thing about writers workshop. It is automatically differentiated! Supporting students who tell their stories through illustrations makes success possible for every single students!

We are working on our stamina, so we writing for 7 minutes right now! It is hard to be patient... but I know we will build upon that. Experience tells me that through consistent effort, my students will be able to write with a sustained focus for 20-25 minutes by the end of September.

UPDATE: The writing units are now complete! Each unit has detailed and scripted lesson plans. This takes the guess-work out of "how" to teach writing. With these lessons, you are supported every step of the way.

You can see them by clicking HERE.

That is it friends! I am going to fall asleep so quickly tonight!

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So I took these photos yesterday, but by the time I got home last night I was in a coma! Here is what my writer's workshop looked like on the day 4! Yippee! WE! ARE! FOCUSED! After the mini-lessons, students return to their desks to work on their own writing.

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I've had a number of people find my organization of the Writer's Notebook to be very helpful; hooray! However, many need more information on how to actually implement the Writer's Workshop (also called Writers' Workshop & Writing Workshop). When I found this visual today (and repinned it on Pinterest- Stephanie Madison) I knew I had to get it up here. It didn't have the creator, but the original graphic can be found at: http://media-cache-ec3.pinterest.com/upload/173670129351766770_LI9UQzFs.jpg It's a perfect visual for the basic breakdown of Writer's Workshop:

That pretty much sums it up! You start with a mini-lesson about whatever you are working on in writing. This can be guided by the standards that you're working through and the curriculum you have. We don't really have a writing curriculum in our district, so I mostly make stuff up based on the standards and what I see the kids need. See my post on dictation ( http://applesofyoureye.blogspot.com/2012/09/dictation-dictado.html ) for more on how to focus in on what your kids need practice with on writing. You can use this 5-15 minutes for any mini-lesson your students need. Your students can take notes on what you taught them/copy down information from your mini lesson, draw the graphic organizer you used, etc, in the Writing Notes of their Writer's Notebooks, like this:

Then, students have time to do independent writing in the My Writing section of their Writer's Notebooks. In a beautiful world that did not have high-stakes, standardized testing, you could always let your students "free write" during this time, which is to say they can write about any topic in any form, and never complete an edited or published copy of anything ever. However, since we're teaching in the real world, this independent writing time is a balance between free writing and writing to a prompt/general theme. For me, it is probably about 30% free writing and 70% writing with some sort of guidelines, although even they can be very loose. It is my understanding that the "official" Writer's Workshop model does not ever "make" a student write about a prompt, but rather offers prompts for them to write about. In Oregon, we have a district assessment (which for 4th grade is reported to the state as well) for all of our students in which they must write to a prompt in essay form and take their writing all the way through the writing process. This is why I make sure that my students practice what they will be graded on (and what I will be judged on) so that they are successful. I try to do fun & flexible prompts so they are always interested; I'm planning a post on our personal narrative unit and our scary story/fall story unit, so check back for those soon!

While your students are writing independently, you get to pull small groups (for advancement or for interventions) or conference with individual students. I look for students who have writing skills that are above and beyond fourth grade, and I'll pull that small group of students to work with so I can help them take their writing further. For every writing worksample we do (I try and do one about every other month but I'm constantly scanning their classwork, dictados, etc) I also form intervention groups. Some examples include students who are still struggling to capitalize the starts of their sentences, trouble identifying misspelled words, breaking writing into coherent paragraphs, staying on topic, adding sensory & descriptive words, capitalizing "I," etc. While the rest of the class is silently and independently writing, I pull these intervention students and do a mini-lesson/activity with them to help them develop the writing skills their missing.

I also conference with every one of my students about every other month. After each work sample they do (as in a formal writing piece to a prompt or theme that they have not had outside help with), I grade them according to the 6 writing traits. Then, I meet with each student individually and discuss all the greatness in their writing. Next, I tell them a few things that they can work on, and they choose one of them to be their writing goal, and they record it in their Writing Goals section of their Writer's Notebook. They take a tiny sticky note and write their name on the front of it. On the back, they write their new writing goal. Then, they stick that goal to the writing trait that it falls under (like, "split writing into paragraphs with one main idea" would go under Organization). Until next month when we meet again, they will work on that goal. I usually have them tell someone else their goal, write it on a slip of paper to take home, read it to themselves with a whisper phone, etc about once a week to keep it fresh in their minds. The next time we meet, we see how they're doing with that goal; if they've got that one, we set a new one. Here are some examples of writing goals:

Next, students share their work with others. This can be broken into two separate sections, as suggested in the top visual, with the first being time for students to share with a partner and then the whole class. I usually just leave 5-10 minutes for them to share, and I mix it up. Some days they share to a partner, some days to their table group, some days a few students share to the whole class, some days everyone shares to the whole class. I think this helps in keeping things interesting and helping them stay motivated; sometimes I tell them who they'll be sharing to, and other times I don't, so they always have to be doing their best work, and it makes it more exciting to share. Note: this is the easiest part to leave out of the Writer's Workshop process, but LET THEM SHARE! This is a great motivator for some students and what makes it fun too. This gives them an audience and a chance to get feedback from peers and you on a daily basis. Based on your findings from what you saw in students' writing that day, you can plan for tomorrow's/next week's mini-lesson and go from there.

All that being said, I usually don't have a full hour of Writer's Workshop every day. Because I incorporate writing throughout the subject areas and do dictado, I simply don't have enough hours in the school day to fit in a full 60 minute Writer's Workshop time too. My writing time is usually about 30-40 minutes. I do a 5-10 minute lesson, 20-30 minute independent writing/conferencing time, and then a 5-10 minute share time. I don't think workshops, writing, math, reading, or otherwise, should be inflexible molds that are followed to a T. You know your students and what they need. You get to decide how to best meet their needs. Writer's Workshop is just an awesome way to organize your writing time, to help your students become better writers, and to ENJOY writing! That's why I've been using it ever since I found out about it around six years ago. My students love it, and I do too.

Questions? What isn't working in your writing time? What's going well? Leave a comment to let me know what future blogs you'd like to see too. Happy Writing!

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I've had a number of people find my organization of the Writer's Notebook to be very helpful; hooray! However, many need more information on how to actually implement the Writer's Workshop (also called Writers' Workshop & Writing Workshop). When I found this visual today (and repinned it on Pinterest- Stephanie Madison) I knew I had to get it up here.

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It's Just Right ~ Reader's Workshop Bookmarks

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Here are the perfect bookmarks for your students to help with the 5 Finger Rule and the Goldilocks Strategy for choosing a just right book! Just print on cardstock and laminate for durability and you are all set! Visit my TpT store

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Reading with Meaning and Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis' bookStrategies that Work . In addition Debbie Diller has been instrumental in the development of Literacy Centers that support the Reader's Workshop model. My favorite website for Reader's Workshop is byJennifer Myers who has provided video links for the Reader's Workshop in her second grade classroom.

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Reader's Workshop Quick Assessment {Snap Shot Page}

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A snapshot quick assessment page for reader's workshop (grades 3-5).

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We just finished our second full week of school and have fully launched into our Reader's and Writer's Workshop. My district adopted the Reader's and and Writer's Workshop model of instruction last year. In the past, we used elements of the workshop in our teaching, but last year we were provided with thorough professional development throughout the year and truly hit the ground running full force.

It wasn't easy. We had to make sure we read through all of the literature in order to know and understand the content to teach, introduce new procedures and routines for the students to follow, find time to collaborate with the other grade level teachers, and put into place brand new assessments to monitor the students' progress. Plus, the workshop model was brand new for both the students and parents as well. There were tons of questions to answer that we didn't always have the answer to at the time.

Now that we've been through the process for a full year, it's amazing to see how far we've come in such a short amount of time. While there was a lot of work to be done that first year, I can honestly say it was worth it. Not only did our students' test scores go up, but we saw a complete difference in the students' attitudes about reading as well.

Our students are now getting excited about reading! We've observed them having literary conversations on their own without being prompted by a teacher. They know how to tell if a book is "Just Right" for them and return those that are too easy or too difficult. They're now reading orally with expression and understanding the what's going on in the books they are reading. Most importantly, they're ENJOYING reading! This year, when I told them we would have about 15-30 minutes per day to read independently, the students actually yelled out "YES!!!!" and had huge smiles on their faces. Years ago, if I told my students they had to read for 30 minutes, they would roll their eyes and start complaining.

In order to make sure the workshop runs the way it's intended to, I need to make sure the students are absolutely clear about the expectations that will take place during Reader's Workshop. This year, during our launching unit, I made this anchor chart and spent time explicitly teaching into it.

One of the main things I'm a stickler about is during the mini-lesson "Everyone MUST be present." It seems silly, but reviewing this everyday has eliminated those moments when you ask those really thought provoking questions and the person who you call on to share their answer asks, "May I please go to the bathroom?" and you want to scream and pull your hair out. We've all been there, I'm sure! This guideline helps reinforce the importance of the mini-lesson to the students.

During independent reading, my students know they will be held accountable for their reading. Each week, they get a grade for their independent reading based on an Independent Reading Rubric I adapted from Lucy Calkin's. Click here to download the rubric. If the students are constantly switching their reading spots, gazing around the room, chatting with others to distract them, they will not be too happy with their independent reading grade for the week. So far this year, everyone has been fully engaged during this time. Let's hope this lasts all year!

I allow my students to pick their seats during independent reading. I have two carpeted areas in my classroom. One in an alcove in the back of the room that has a beanbag chair and butterfly chair. The other is in the library where we meet for mini-lessons. Giving the students the choice of where they sit during reading helps them stay focused and engaged. Personally, I know I can't read sitting up in an uncomfortable chair at a desk. Therefore, I don't expect my students to either. I would be one of those kids stretched out on the carpet laying on my back with my book held in the air. I don't care how they're sitting as long as they're engaged in their reading and not distracting others. My expectations are also very clear that if they are asked to go back to their seats for any reason, they lose the privilege of moving throughout the classroom to read for an entire week. So far, so good!

One thing I am REALLY trying to improve this year is making sure we fit in some type of closure or share time at the end of every workshop period. I need to make sure I monitor my time more closely to make it happen. Typically, I'm assessing or conferring with a student, look up, and realize the workshop is over already! However, I think it's so important to provide students the opportunity to talk about what they did as a reader that day and hear from others who are at similar reading levels. I'll let you know how I do later on in the year. :)

Like I mentioned earlier, so far we've had a wonderful start to the reader's workshop. Launching was a blast and I can't wait to see how the other Units of Study go this year. Wish me luck!

UPDATED:

Are you looking to launch reader's workshop in your classroom this year? Check out my Reader's Workshop Launching Mini-Lesson topics HERE! :)

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We just finished our second full week of school and have fully launched into our Reader's and Writer's Workshop. My district adopted the Reader's and and Writer's Workshop model of instruction last year. In the past, we used elements of the workshop in our teaching, but last year we were provided with thorough professional development throughout the year and truly hit the ground running full force.

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File folder activities are great for classroom literacy centers. They are typically used to reinforce skills so they are ideal for independent work. For these activities, I've included a word sorting activity, a word writing activity and then a fill-in-the-black activity on the back of the file folder. There's a little bit of assembly involved, but it'll be well worth it as, if laminated, the folders can be used over and over again. Here's a few pictures:

Here's the activity for Consonant le:

...and here's a picture for the oi/oy file folder activity. You'll notice that some file folder activities have 2- , 3- and 4- areas for sorting and writing. I've included step-by-step assembly directions for each format.

The File Folder Phonics activities are available for a variety of phonics skills. You can find the activities in my online Teachers Pay Teachers store or on the Make, Take and Teach website:

File Folder Phonics- Consonant le: Teachers Pay Teacher store, Make, Take & Teach website

File Folder Phonics- oi/oy: Teachers Pay Teachers store, Make, Take & Teach website

File Folder Phonics ou/u: Teachers Pay Teachers store, Make, Take & Teach website

File Folder Phonics oo/ew/ue/ui: Teachers Pay Teachers store, Make, Take & Teach website

File Folder Phonics ar/or/ore/oar: Teachers Pay Teachers store, Make, Take & Teach website

File Folder Phonics er/ir/ur: Teachers Pay Teachers store, Make, Take & Teach website

File Folder Phonics a/ai/ay: Teachers Pay Teachers store, Make, Take & Teach website

File Folder Phonics e/ee/ea/y: Teachers Pay Teachers store, Make, Take & Teach website

File Folder Phonics o/oa/ow: Teachers Pay Teachers store, Make, Take & Teach website

File Folder Phonics i/ie/igh/y: Teachers Pay Teachers store, Make, Take & Teach website

All 10 file folders activities are available in a bundle! The bundle is also available in the Teachers Pay Teachers store or on the Make, Take & Teach website.

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File Folder Phonics (Make, Take & Teach)

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File folder activities are great for classroom literacy centers. They are typically used to reinforce skills so they are ideal for independent work. For these activities, I've included a word sorting activity, a word writing activity and then a fill-in-the-black activity on the back of the file folder.

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Got a train lover? I've got the perfect hands-on literacy activity for you! Train Track Word Building will have your little engineer practicing their letter sounds, spelling, and word building. Best of all, you can adapt this alphabet activity in all kinds of ways. Make it easier or harder depending on your child's reading level. Take the lead or let your children do the building. Most importantly, have fun with your kids while learning!

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

We recently received a copy of Old Tracks, New Tricksfor review. The book was written by Jessica Petersen, the blogger behind Play Trains!, and is fantastic for inspiring creative train play. Immediately after we read the book, and after sitting untouched in our closet for months, our train set came out again! It got my daughters and me thinking about all kinds of new ways to use our train tracks. Since we have a beginning reader in the house, this word building activity was a bit hit.

All you need for this activity is:

Write letters on the little circle stickers.

Stick them onto the middle of your train tracks. You'll need to fold the edges down into the tracks, and they may not stick firmly. It's okay. We only put letters onto the shorter track pieces, so that it blending letter sounds would be easier. Make sure that the tracks are all oriented the same direction when you put the stickers on so that they'll connect correctly.

Start to put some words together!

Or let your kids put words together.

After you've made some words, have your child drive a train over the word as they sound it out. They'll say each letter sound as they come to each letter, blending the sounds as they go.

You can make your words short or long, depending on how well your child is reading. It's easy to change out letters to work on CVC words, word families, sight words, phonics, or spelling lists.

Wasn't that EASY?! The possibilities for Train Track Word Building are endless!

You May Also Be Interested In

From Other Great Bloggers

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Train Track Word Building | What Can We Do With Paper And Glue

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Got a train lover? I've got the perfect hands-on literacy activity for you! Train Track Word Building will have your little engineer practicing their letter sounds, spelling, and word building. Best of all, you can adapt this alphabet activity in all kinds of ways. Make it easier or harder depending on your child's reading level.

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I am over the moon excited to share the newest newsletter subscriber freebie today! It's a MEGA pack of phonics cards that includes

beginning letter sounds for consonants

short vowel sounds

long vowel sounds

hard and soft c/g sounds

blends

digraphs

& triphthongs {see below}

We're talking well over 60 color phonics cards that can be used for lots of different purposes in the classroom or at home!

*This post contains affiliate links.

Already a subscriber? Check out the most current newsletter sent to your inbox! It has the NEW password, so be sure you check that out! Please note that to protect my creations, I change the password to that protected page with each new subscriber freebie.

FREE Phonics Cards

This huge pack of phonics cards came about because my 3 year old {NSis} saw me making the long vowel cards and asked me to make some alphabet cards for her. So, I found some super cute clip art and went to town adding lots of different phonics cards...and out popped a new subscriber freebie. 🙂

For NSis, I printed all the alphabet cards {A-Z} on card stock and laminated them for durability. Then, I hole-punched the left corner of all the cards and attached them to a 1-inch key ring to make an alphabet flip book.

She loves to flip through it, naming all the pictures on the bottom of each card. It's been a great letter sound reinforcer for her and a fabulous way to build vocabulary. I often find her flipping through it and singing her ABC's. So precious!

The alphabet cards have the vowels with a dark pink background and the consonants in blue. There are color-coded phonics cards for short vowel sounds AND long vowel sounds. I also included cards for final x, hard and soft c/g, and the final sound of y {long i and long e}, which are not pictured.

I also made some color-coded cards for all blends {l-blends, r-blends, s-blends, & a few other blends} plus cards for the ch, sh, th, wh, ph, kn, and wr digraphs.

The reason I color-coded the phonics cards was to make it easier for kids to tell the difference between the phonics patterns, especially if several of the patterns are featured on a wall or in a flip book at one time.

BONUS! After the entire set was complete, I found more clip art and decided to make 7 more phonics cards for these triphthong patterns: scr, shr, spl, spr, squ, str, and thr!

By entering your email address, you will be added to my newsletter. As a subscriber, you will receive an email with the password to my exclusive subscriber page, where I house all my subscriber freebies. Please be patient, as it may take up to an hour to receive the email with the password.

~Becky

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I am over the moon excited to share the newest newsletter subscriber freebie today! It's a MEGA pack of phonics cards that includes beginning letter sounds for consonants short vowel sounds long vowel sounds hard and soft c/g sounds blends digraphs & triphthongs {see below} We're talking well over 60 color phonics cards that can ...

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Four years ago when I took a leap of faith into an intervention position, I realized how few resources there were out there for reading and phonics intervention groups. I read SO many books about developmentally appropriate phonics and how to go through the proper foundational steps in order for students to master phonics and not just memorize rules and strategies. After four years of being in the intervention classroom and/or intervention coordinator for my district, I feel that I can identify and fill phonics gaps for struggling learners. I'm by no means an expert and have lots more to learn, but I'm excited to share some of my favorite phonics resources with you. CLICK HERE TO GO AHEAD AND DOWNLOAD THE FREE SAMPLE!

So where should you start?

There is a natural order to teaching phonics that we are all probably pretty familiar with. You might have kindergarteners ready for CVCE words and second graders still working on words with blends. The range of phonics abilities in your classroom with vary quite a bit from year to year and group to group. Just remember that they can't move to the next developmental phonics stage until they have mastered all the prior ones. Don't skip and constantly review.

Letters

Letter Sounds

Initial Sounds

Ending Sounds

Short Vowel Sounds

CVC Words

Words with Blends

CVCE Words

CCVCE Words

Other Long Vowel Patterns

Multisyllable Word Patterns

***If your students already know how to read words with short vowels, click here to see a bundle that will be a better fit for your students!***
I've worked for months compiling the activities that I have used the past six years in my second grade and intervention classroom to share with all of you. Every time I started though, I became very overwhelmed and never finished. However, I'm happy to say that I finally did it! I am officially ready to share it all with you and even share a huge free download for you to use in your classrooms.

Here's how to get organized...

Want to purchase the plastic boxes? Click here to take a look! I don't know about you, but organizing all these of pieces is KEY in my classroom. I need to know where everything is at all times! Seriously! Don't put those cards in the wrong place! Here's another look at how I double labeled these boxes so outside and inside both match.

CVC Activities

Most of my CVC activities can also be used to introduce and practice initial sounds, medial sounds, and final sounds. Then put it all together to practice CVC. There are more CVC activities to really create a firm foundation and allow extended practice as you review these short vowel sounds as well. Take a look at the activities that are included in the bundle:

Words with Blends Activities

Gosh darn it! Who hates teaching /dr/ and /gr/ blends??? I DO! Kids have such a hard time segmenting to spell these two. Yes, students tend to be able to read and blend them fine, but segmenting is a whole different story! I've incorporated several of the same type activities to really create a sense of empowerment and confidence with our students. When students know the expectation and feel confident in the process, they will achieve greater success. Here are the activities that are included that focus on words with blends.

Long Vowel Patterns

There are only three long vowel pattern activities because very few intervention phonics groups master this skill in the younger grades. However, they are very important for second graders, so I plan on adding more to this pack very soon to focus on upper phonics.

Editable Printables

With all phonics instruction, you need printables to reinforce and provide additional independent or small group guided practice. I've included 10 different printables that you can use with ANY word list! YES! You can add whatever words you need to focus on for that particular week. Just type and print! Roll out Playdough words or add a little stamp it out fun! Type, print, and go!

Phonics Readers and Fluency Cards

Twenty different word family phonics readers and fluency strips have been added to the bundle to ensure that your students are applying those phonics skills! Make fluency and comprehension a priority while teaching phonics. Don't stress! I've made it simple. Pull activities from your kit to match the readers and the fluency strips can be used at home for additional word practice or as small group warm-ups.

There is so much more to be added to this bundle. As it grows, you will be notified of all the awesome additions and how you can use these strategies in your classroom.

Best news ever? Because I want your students to get their hands on these hands-on materials TODAY, I'm offering you a special promo price! The price will slowly increase over time as more content is added. By purchasing today, you will get all future updates for FREE!

#saywhat

P.S. This post contains a few affiliate links to Amazon. While they make the big bucks, they send a few pennies my way when purchases are made using these links to help with the up keep of this site.

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Phonics Intervention Free Download - Keeping Up with Mrs. Harris

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Four years ago when I took a leap of faith into an intervention position, I realized how few resources there were out there for reading and phonics intervention groups. I read SO many books about developmentally appropriate phonics and how to go through the proper foundational steps in order for students to master phonics and ...

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Looking back I'm not sure how this happened, but somehow I got through college without actually learning phonics rules. Hold on, hold on! I know how to read and I know letter sounds but as far as actual "rules" that I could tell my students...I was lost. And I know I'm not the only one. I've had other coworkers with the same issue coming straight out of college. This post is for those of you that have found yourself in the same boat as me.

Here are some of the basics as far as rules and terminology that I frantically had to catch up on "in the field" as they say:

Of course there's more to know about phonics but this will keep you from looking like a complete idiot in front of more experienced colleagues (as I'm sure I did) and it might help you understand what your reading series teacher's guide is talking about.

Ready for more? Check out my Crash Course in Phonics - Part 2

Here are some items from my TpT store if you're looking for some more support with phonics:

Also see my Crash Course in Phonics, part 2!

Author: Hannah Braun

http://www.theclassroomkey.com

Hannah Braun is a former teacher with 8 years of experience in the classroom and a master's degree in early childhood education. She designs engaging, organized classroom resources for 1st-3rd grade teachers.

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Looking back I'm not sure how this happened, but somehow I got through college without actually learning phonics rules. Hold on, hold on! I know how to read and I know letter sounds but as far as actual "rules" that I could tell my students...I was lost.

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Beginning phonemic awareness activities can be daunting. Seeing that phonemic awareness can be "done in the dark" (meaning that it doesn't involve using letters), it can seem as though it is an abstract concept to teach. However, building beginning phonemic awareness is vital in teaching children to read. A huge part of phonemic awareness is having the ability to segment and blend phonemes (sounds) in words. Practicing these beginning skills can be boring, but it doesn't have to be. It can be hands-on and fun!

Teaching reading intervention forces me to think outside the box. I need students to practice segmenting and blending every day without getting bored or disengaged. I've searched through my moving classroom (AKA a rolling cart) and found some ways that teachers and students can use everyday items to build phonemic awareness! Just in case you don't have the items in your classroom, I've linked them to Amazon [affiliate] throughout the post.

#1 - Bingo Chips

There are SO many uses for Bingo chips in the classroom. We love using them to blend and segment sounds. They can easily slide on any surface.

Start with two bingo chips and words with two sounds. Have students slide the chips up as they say each sound and run their finger across them as they blend them together. Since they usually come in bulk, you'll definitely have enough for all of your students.

To make it harder, give students five chips and then say a word with 2-5 sounds. Have them decide how many sounds (chips) are in the word before segmenting and blending the word. FUN TIP: Give the students magnetic wands to pick up the chips when they are done!

#2 - Unifix Cubes

Who said that Unifix cubes are just for math?

When you use Unifix cubes to practice blending and segmenting sounds, students can physically connect and disconnect the cubes as they blend and segment words.

#3 - Tape Bubbles

What teacher doesn't have excessive amounts of tape lying around? I attach small pieces of tape to itself (sticky side out) to create "bubbles."

Students can "stick" each sound to the tape bubble as they segment. It's a fun way for them to play with school supplies they aren't normally allowed to play with.

#4 - Playdough

This is an oldie, but a goodie! Give each student some playdough and have them separate it into two, three, or four balls depending on the number of sounds in the words that you are going to use. Then have them "smash" each ball as they make the sound.

The "party favor" tubs are perfect because it's enough to use for the activity, but not so much that the students will be distracted and want to play. You can even have them trade their "balls" so that they are each using different colors.

#5 - Pipe Cleaners and Pony Beads

I learned this one when I was teaching transitional kindergarten (TK). It stuck with me because it's great for the kids to wear or take home. It also gives them a sense of ownership because you can have them assemble their own bracelets before you start practicing the segmenting and blending.

Just have them slide the pony beads onto the pipe cleaners and twist the ends of the pipe cleaners to close them. I love using this with my EL/ELL students. I let students take their bracelets home and tell them to teach segmenting and blending words to their parents, siblings, and pets. They love playing teacher, and it gives them more opportunities to build phonemic awareness.

#6 - Bingo Daubers

Bingo supplies and kindergarten sure do have a lot in common. There are two ways I use Bingo daubers.

Using scratch paper, have students segment words and "dot" each time they say a sound. When they are done segmenting, they can point to the dots as they blend the words back together.

For a more permanent resource, have students create a sound "tree" with Bingo daubers. Once the paint dries, students can point to the dots as they blend and segment words. You can even write their names on their paper and laminate it to make it more durable. Keep them at your small group table so that you can easily pull them out for warm-up activities. Students love having their sound mats, and they love using their friends' mats, too!

I hope that you and your students find these beginning phonemic awareness activities fun and engaging! With so many different ways to practice blending and segmenting sounds in words, your students are sure to build their phonemic awareness skills! Are you looking for more ways to practice phonemic awareness? Check out these teacher task cards by clicking here.

You can also read and about and download some FREE Phonemic Awareness worksheets by clicking here.

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Phonemic Awareness Activities - Segmenting and Blending

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Beginning phonemic awareness activities can be daunting. Seeing that phonemic awareness can be "done in the dark" (meaning that it doesn't involve using letters), it can seem as though it is an abstract concept to teach. However, building beginning phonemic awareness is vital in teaching children to read.

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Cookie Sheet Activities for Early Literacy and Numeracy!

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Welcome to the Pre-Reading Skills Focus Series! This is a 6-part series, because six pre-reading skills are being focused on individually! This is the 5th post in the 6 part series, find the other posts here:
Print Motivation Narrative Skills Vocabulary Print Awareness
Pre-Reading Skills Focus: Phonological Awareness
What is Phonological Awareness?
Being able to break apart and manipulate the sounds of spoken language.

Phonological Awareness does not include written words, but focuses on manipulating sounds of oral or spoken language. Making Phonological Awareness an auditory skill. There are many skills that go into Phonological Awareness, see the diagram below for more information.

To help foster Phonological Awareness in your children, here are some ideas for multiple age groups:
Infants & Young Toddlers
-Sing fun songs with your infants like Twinkle, Twinkle or Nursery Rhymes.

-Talk about the things in the environment around you and discuss the sounds that different objects make.

-Use different voice levels when talking and playing with your baby: whisper, low, high and loud

-Make up rhymes that include your child's name and recite the rhymes often.
Toddlers (2 & 3 year olds)
-Play oral rhyming games when in the car. Think of a word and find some rhymes, even if the rhyming words aren't real!

-Read lots of rhyming books. Dr. Suess books are a great choice.

-Talk about words that start with the same sound. Using your child's 'letter' (the first letter of their name), come up with words that start with that letter. Emphasize the initial sound when speaking the words.

-Play listening games~ Ask your child, do these words sound the same? House-House Yellow-Yarn Bat-Bat. This helps toddlers listen with meaning and differentiate between words that are the same and different.
Pre-Readers (4 & 5 year olds)
-Show pictures of animals with simple names, such as a cat or dog. Show children how to break up the word into individual sounds, such as c/a/t.

-Encourage your child to rhyme, even with silly words. Play the rhyming name game.

-Use family member's names. See how many syllables each family member has in their name. Show your child how to clap out the syllables they hear.

-While in the car, say a word in segmented chunks. Such as, f/i/sh. Ask your child to push the sounds back together and figure out what word you just segmented.

-Talk about the first sound in words. Can your child think of other words that start with the same sound?

-Read lots of rhyming books. Point out the rhyming words and how they sound the same at the end of the word.

-Make and sing silly rhyming songs. For example: change rhyming words in Hickory Dickory Dock to "Hickory Dickory knock, the mouse ran up the rock". See how many silly versions you can come up with.

-Have a sound substitution day. When you come in contact with an object, use the sound substitution of the day in the front of the word. For example: If it is F day, you would brush your teeth with a foothbrush and ride in the far to the fark!

Have other great PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS activity ideas? Leave a comment below!

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Pre-Reading Skills Focus: Phonological Awareness

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Welcome to the Pre-Reading Skills Focus Series! This is a 6-part series, because six pre-reading skills are being focused on individually! This is the 5th post in the 6 part series, find the other posts here: Print Motivation Narrative Skills Vocabulary Print Awareness Pre-Rea

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FREE Phonemic Awareness Warm Up Activity for small group reading

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Play this spinner game to review and reinforce phonemic awareness concepts. Great for a small group warm up activity with guided reading. Simply have a stack of picture cards, spin the spinner, and complete the task. Check out my phonemic awareness games HERE

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This post includes the following reading points.
Hey-ho! I just love all things literacy and specifically working with words. I want to delve deeper into phonological development, because.. well.. I just love it! I'm a bit of a nerd that way! Are you too?

You know that phonological and phonemic awareness skills are important and also necessary to understand as a Pre-K-2 teacher.

It is vital that you know and understand what phonological and phonemic awareness is, as it is the foundation for reading success.

According to Calfee, Lindamood & Lindamood, 1973: Children's ability to attend to, and manipulate phonemes strongly correlate with their reading success through to the end of their schooling.

It can be tricky to wrap your head around. You may be confused by the terminologies, definitions, skills sets and acquisition. Well this is the place for you!

Lap it all up in one neat blog post that can also be downloaded fo' free you all! Let's get down to it straight up!
What is Phonological Awareness and why is it so Important?
Phonological awareness skills are the basis for reading. Without these important skills, potential reading difficulties may arise in the early years.

A child who has concrete phonological skills will have a strong platform in which to develop reading skills.
What is Phonological Awareness?
Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate sound structures within words.

Click here to download the image above fo' FREE!

Phonological skills include:

Rhyme: rhyme awareness and construction

Alliteration: Discrimination and production

Sound and Word Discrimination: Hears units of sounds within a sentence, identifies which word is different

Syllabification: Syllable segmenting and blending

Onset and Rime: Blending and segmenting

Don't confuse phonological awareness and phonemic awareness! While phonemic awareness falls under the umbrella of phonological awareness, it is just one aspect of phonology.

Subscribe to get word work ideas. Plus download your FREE Vowel chart now.
What is Phonemic Awareness?
Phonemic awareness is one part of phonological awareness.

Phonemic awareness deals with the phoneme. Phonemic awareness is the ability to hear and manipulate sounds aurally.

A phoneme is usually defined as the smallest unit of sound.

Phonics is the system in which sound structures and phonemes are represented.

Phonemic Awareness Skills (also fits under the phonological awareness skills umbrella) include:
Individual Phoneme Skills (aural, no print involved):
Individual Phoneme Isolation:(beginning medial and final): Isolates phoneme in given word

Individual Phoneme Blending: Blends phonemes to make a word.

Individual Phoneme Segmenting: Identifies phonemes in words
Syllable Manipulation:
Syllable (onset-rime) Deletion: Deletes onset and then rime in given words

Syllable (onset-rime) Substitution: Substitutes onset and then rime to make new words

Phoneme Manipulation:

Phoneme Deletion: beginning and final

Phoneme Addition: Adds phoneme to make a new word

Phoneme Substitution: Substitutes a phoneme to make a new word

Note: Phonological skill sets seen above are in chronological order of assessment and teaching.
Why is Phonological Awareness so Important?
Phonological awareness is a vital set of skills that allows us to learn how to read.

Phonological awareness skills provide children with a means to access the written form; phonics. You might know phonics as sound and letter combinations used to represent words.
Research suggests that trouble with phoneme awareness and phonological skills early on is a gauge for poor reading and spelling skills.
According to the National Reading Panel Report (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000), "The level of phonemic awareness that children possess when first beginning reading instruction and their knowledge of letters are the two best predictors of how well they will learn to read during the first two years of formal reading instruction." (Adams, Foorman, Lundberg, & Beeler: 1998 -Phonemic Awareness in Young Children: A Classroom Curriculum.
What does this Mean for me as an Educator?
Did you know that:

"According to the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 37 percent of fourth graders and 26 percent of eighth graders cannot read at the basic level; and on the 2002 NAEP 26 percent of twelfth graders cannot read at the basic level. That is, when reading grade appropriate text these students cannot extract the general meaning or make obvious connections between the text and their own experiences or make simple inferences from the text. In other words, they cannot understand what they have read." Reference: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

Based on this and similar research outcomes, it is vital that early childhood educators understand both phonological and phonemic awareness skills. It is necessary that these skills are explicitly assessed in the first year of formal schooling and again in the second year.

Moreover, teachers need to understand how to integrate phonological and phonemic awareness curriculums for their emergent readers.

Most importantly, it is essential that teachers have access to systematic intervention resources that complement individuals. These skills are most important for Pre-K, to first grade as they are the foundation for reading, as covered. Children with reading difficulties, may benefit in re-assessment and interventions.
How will Assessing and Providing Interventions Help my Students with their Phonics Development?
We know that a robust phonics base curriculum (among other things like: comprehension, vocabulary and fluency) lends itself to higher reading outcomes.

Comparatively, the same applies with the relationship between phonological and phonemic awareness skills, and phonics skills.

We spend a lot of time planning, implementing and assessing phonics skills and knowledge. Is this to the detriment of more foundational skills? Do the students struggling to grasp: letter-sound relationships, vowel sounds, r-controlled vowels, and other spelling conventions actually struggle on a deeper level? Have you assessed these students' phonological and phonemic awareness skills? Are they missing something that can easily be revisited with an intervention session?
Where can I Find Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Assessments and Interventions for my Students?
There are many sites on the net that provide basic assessments. However, I found many of them frustrating as I needed a more global assessment that was explicit for the developmental ranges in my students. So many sources seemed to leave out key skills, aghhh. After a year of investigating what will work, I came up with my own systemic and explicit assessment.

Here are the skills the assessments will cover.

Click here to download it fo' FREE!

After almost 6 months, I devised a HUGE phonological and phonemic awareness assessment and intervention bundle that is conveniently, a 'grab and go' resource. I wanted to create intervention printables that involve very minimal prep, just copy, grab counters and die, and that's about it! Click the images below to see the BUNDLE.

Note: Click here, to see this file in my Teachers Pay Teachers store; Clever Classroom. Or see more images of the file here.

In the intervention digital download you have access to: information pages, tracking pages, assessment pages, as well as print and go games for interventions. I know children learn best from hands-on activities like games so I have included a few for each skill (as seen in skills listed above in the boxes). The games are all black and white so you can place them in a binder, each inside plastic sleeves, or laminated. They will be ready to use at a moment's notice with individuals or small groups.

Above is a snapshot of the Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Binder. Photos of the binder can be viewed here.

This will be a great time saver, not to mention an explicit and systematic way to ensure you're assessing and teaching phonological and phonemic awareness skills and preparing competent readers.

Thanks for dropping by, I hope this post has been of value to you.

You can download the entire blog post for free here.

If you would like to keep up to date with more phonological and phonemic awareness posts, or other word work and reading themed posts, you can follow this blog by clicking here.

Or you can be part of our community who receives information about all things word work straight to your inbox. to join us.

Happy word work!

Emma

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What is Phonological Awareness? - Clever Classroom Blog

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This post includes the following reading points. Hey-ho! I just love all things literacy and specifically working with words. I want to delve deeper into phonological development, because.. well.. I just love it! I'm a bit of a nerd that way! Are you too?

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1-2-3 Come Do Some Dolch Sight Word Activities With Me

Reviewing the Dolch sight words, or word wall words, can become a bit tedious and boring for students as the months fly by. Yet it's important to keep at it, 'til recognition is automatic and students become fluent.

With that in mind, I designed the Spin and Read Dolch Word Game packet, which includes an alphabetical Dolch word list for Pre-Primer, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades, plus the Dolch list of nouns.

It's that "something different" that will hopefully keep interest high and your students engaged, as they review the words in this fun way.

The game is played as a whole group. Run off the word list of your choice, laminate and trim, so that you can use the game boards each year. (There are two game sheets on one page for quick printing.)

Children use a pencil and a paperclip to make their spinner. They spin it to see how many words they will read. After their turn, another child spins their spinner and reads from their list of words.

To make the game more interesting and fun, run off the 24 voice cards. Children pick a card and read the word(s) using that kind of voice. i.e. soft, loud, silly, mad etc. If you don't want to have separate cards, I've also included 3 voice choice posters that you can hang up. Children can then look at the poster and choose a voice.

Be sure and demonstrate each voice, and then have students give it a try. My firsties LOVED doing this so much that they asked to read stories using some of the voice choices. For more practice, have students repeat the word after the person whose turn it is, reads it.

5 Dolch word lists (PP-3rd, plus a list of Dolch nouns)

24 voice choice cards

3 voice choice posters to hang up

a list of other sight word review games

a list of links for Online sight word games & activities

Besides reading the sight words with a silly voice, I've included a few other activities that you can do to make reviewing the words more engaging and fun for your students; such as Flashlight Fun, Alphabet Adventures, Happy Highlights, Plastic Letter Play, Read the Room and Hangman.

There's also a list of links for Online sight word games and activities; such as star words, make a match, color word fun, sight word hangman, missing letters mystery, pick and click and spellbound.

Finally, there's a quick 3-minute video on YouTube that reviews 100 high frequency words for PK-1st. The words are flashed on the screen and read in a child's voice. I've listed all of these in the packet .

Click on the link to view/download the Spin & Read Dolch Word Games

Thanks for visiting today. It's my mom's 89th birthday weekend coming up, so there's much to do on my "To Do" list. The sun is shining; the snow is sparkling, and I'm ready to hit the floor running. Woo hoo for energy. Wishing you a creative and cozy day.

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing you will be successful." ~ Albert Schweitzer

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list of voices children can read words in

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1-2-3 Come Do Some Dolch Sight Word Activities With Me Reviewing the Dolch sight words, or word wall words, can become a bit tedious and boring for students as the months fly by. Yet it's important to keep at it, 'til recognition is automatic and students become fluent.

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Writers Workshop / Student Conferencing "Deli-Style" - Classroom Management

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Writers Workshop / Student Conferencing Resource. I've always tried finding ways to have less verbal interruptions in class. One day, while standing in a deli, I realized that the other customers and I knew exactly when our turn was because of the "ding!" of the bell and the number

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According to our class Days In School Chart we are in 33 days! I finally feel like the mounds of work are dwindling and I am able to leave the classroom at a decent hour. Luckily there has been no surf, so I have devoted more time into my class. I know that sounds horrible, but if there are any sort of waves near me I leave school as quickly as possible to be in them!!

I wanted to share with you how my Daily 5 rotations have been going this year. I started out slow by taking it step by step just like The Sisters advise. We started with Read To Self and really worked on that. The book bags have been a great help and I love that they don't break or fall apart when the kids drop them.

We worked on choosing our Just Right Books and I displayed this cute poster in our reading center, along with our rotation chart for exchanging books.

The kids love the book bags and it is amazing to me how quickly they progressed and are reading to themselves. They don't wander around the room, go get drinks or head to the bathroom. They sit there and read. Often they get so excited about what they are reading they want to share with a friend, which leads to our next area Buddy Reading.

The Sisters call this Read To Someone, but that sounds a bit boring so I changed it. This class loves Buddy Reading. We worked on this as a whole group for awhile and they really have it down.

To make it easier during our Daily 5 time I set up these buckets with lots of book pairs from the library.

The buddies grab a bucket and find a quiet spot in the room to read.

(I got those cute little Daily 5 labels from a link on Pinterest)

﻿Word Work is another favorite choice. I have given lots of options for this area and I ask that they work by themselves to make sure they are on task and doing the work. They can ask for help from a friend if they need it, but it is amazing how engaged they are, especially when they make their own choices!

Work on Writing is one area that has taken some time. I started Writer's Workshop this year and it has been very successful, but it did take time to get the kids to make choices about what they wanted to write. When they have their own choice, they suddenly draw a blank. So I gave them some options during this time. They can finish something they have already started, they can write in one of our Message Books, or they can choose a Topics To Write About card.

I saw this on Lori's blog Teaching With Love and Laughter and I just had to have it!! Click here to go to her great post on this!! My kids love choosing a card, taking it to their seat and writing about it. What I love is that they can physically take this little card (the size of a business card) to their seat and look at it to keep them on task. So simple, yet very effective!!

The most popular area is Listen To Reading. This fills up quickly because the kids get to go on the computers.

Right now they are going to either Starfall or Silly Books. I haven't really focused on setting up more sites for them to go to. Our school also uses Kid Biz which focuses on non-fiction articles which they listen to and answer questions about. This is very difficult for many of my students right now, because they need lots of practice with non-fiction. It is perfect though for those new CCSS.

But the problem is this is my noisiest center!! They are all over there talking and laughing and it disrupts the rest of the class.

Well I am excited to tell you that my Donor's Choose project for individual CD players just got funded!! Hurray! Now I can have students choose a player and go sit somewhere on their own to listen to stories.

My biggest problem with my Daily 5 has been giving the students their choice of where to go.

I love this clip chart. I made it simple to see the pictures and they clip right on it to have a spot. Well this took FOREVER for them to get. They all clipped on Listen To Reading even though there was no spot. They stood there staring at it for 10 minutes before making a choice. I almost decided to just make a chart as to who would go where! I just couldn't take the fact that so many were just standing around for almost the whole time. Well after lots and lots of practice they have learned to make a choice and get started. I just pop on my teacher hat (a big straw beach hat) and get started with my group. The kids know that when my hat is on, they cannot disturb me! The kids who were standing around discovered that they had wasted their time and didn't get to do an activity. They were bummed, but the next time they chose a lot faster.

We also had to really work on how to fill out their chart to know where they were supposed to go.

Many of them had no concept of what to do with this. So we had to go step by step and write our name, the date and talk about it over and over again. I had to physically show many of them exactly how to fill it out. Once they finish all 5 areas then they can go where they would like to. Some are still confused with it, but it's coming along.

All in all I am happy with the way my literacy block is going. I think all the students are highly engaged and really like all of the activities. I had an EA walk in one morning and I didn't even see her come in. She dropped of some papers onto my desk and told me about it later. She said she looked over and I had my big beach hat on and was working with my group, while all the of the other kids were hard at work. She said "Wow, I would love to be in your class, it looks so fun!!" That made my day:))

Now if I could just get my math time to be as engaging!!

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According to our class Days In School Chart we are in 33 days! I finally feel like the mounds of work are dwindling and I am able to leave the classroom at a decent hour. Luckily there has been no surf, so I have devoted more time into my class.

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Hi friends!

We've been working really hard on fluency and inflection in our voices lately in class. I *love* using this quick,easy peasy, fast, effective, and engaging {can you tell I puffy heart love it?!} fluency activity with my kiddos.

I just write sight words with a punctuation mark after each one down a sentence strip.

And it REALLY helps my kids to recognize the change in their voice when reading. Early on in the year I do this same thing with letters, but we're past that point now. You could easily do this with CVC or CCVC words, etc. to make it suit your students best. I could use complete sentences, but when I really want them to practice with punctuation, I whip these puppies out and practice. It's a great warm-up at teacher table!

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Hi friends! We've been working really hard on fluency and inflection in our voices lately in class. I *love* using this quick,easy peasy, fast, effective, and engaging {can you tell I puffy heart love it?!} fluency activity with my kiddos. I just write sight words with a punctuation mark after each one down a sentence strip.

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My students absolutely love the writing center. I probably have over 15 options for them to choose from when they go there now. These options were slowly introduced throughout the year so that they know exactly what to do with each activity. By now they are experts at all of them! I have to say that their favorite activity is writing letters. I have stationary, post cards, writing paper, envelopes, and play stamps there for them to use. They write letters to each other all the time...and one student even wrote a letter to President Obama asking if he could have a play-date haha.

Last week I introduced another writing activity to them and added it into their center....the students are loving it. I gathered a bunch of brochures

and I let the children look through them. Then, they can choose a place that they really want to go and write about it! They are so cute! Here are some examples:

"I want to go to Kennedy Space Center. It is really far. I had a really fun time. It is also really cool."

"I want to go to Busch Gardens. It has dolphins."

"I want to go to the Theater of the Sea because I want to go swimming with dolphins."

"I want to go to the world's largest McDonalds. I can eat there. I can bowl. I can play there."

I want them to start looking closer at the brochures and use more details in their writing about the place they choose, but I thought this was a good start :) I also have some other options in my Writing Center pack where they can use their brochures to write!

Now, I may need to get together with some of my blog friends out there and trade brochures!! My students would love ones from other states!! :)

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My students absolutely love the writing center. I probably have over 15 options for them to choose from when they go there now. These options were slowly introduced throughout the year so that they know exactly what to do with each activity. By now they are experts at all of them!

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This poster was created to give students a visual cue of what letters make more than one sound. This will help them to become more automatic with the decoding strategy of flipping the sound.

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Getting students excited about guided reading groups

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Getting students excited about guided reading groups

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Guided Reading is an important part of the day in a primary classroom and you want to make sure your students are excited to meet during small group. To keep your kids engaged and to make it a productive and successful guided reading time you need to be prepared. Today I am sharing 4 things that that will get students excited about guided reading and participating in small group lessons. These tips will help keep your students motivated, excited and engaged during guide reading time.

1. Reading Phones/Whisper Phones

Does this sound familiar? When I work with my small group I hear these same things every.single.time - "he is being too loud!" "I can't hear myself!"
Enter the reading phones. When you place them to your ear like a phone and use a talking voice you can hear your voice nice and loud. If you use a loud voice then you hurt your own ears. Well, the change was immediate! Students immediately lowered their voices and used a whisper voice. During our guided reading time now, everyone can sit at the same table and read to themselves without complaint. Yay! The only thing I need to say now is "Don't lick the phone" or "Don't put the reading phone in your mouth" Ewwww! Thank goodness for Lysol wipes.

2. Finger Lights

I LOVE finger lights for tracking text. They are a 4 for a $1.00 at the Dollar Store and worth every penny. When students are reading they slip on a finger light to track the text. They can light up each word so they know exactly where they are on the page. These lights have worked wonders for my students who are still struggling with word awareness. They are also fantastic for activities where students are returning to the text to find something. Some examples might be to find a long vowel word and light it up or find the sentence that tells us the setting of the story. Using finger lights has definitely increased the engagement during our small group time.

3. Whiteboards

If you have been to my blog before you will know about my fondness for whiteboards. I use them all.the.time. During Guided Reading, I use them for pre and post reading activities. I love that they allow me to save paper. There is way too much paper floating around the classroom as it is. I often snap a photo of a response I want to save and place it in their digital portfolio on Seesaw.

If your class is anything like mine the first 5 minutes of your small group time is interrupted with a bazillion questions and problems. I have tried various strategies to help kids learn to problem solve on their own but there are those times that I just have to stop what I am doing and go and deal with the problem. This is where browsing books come in. I got this little idea from Jen Jones from Hello Literacy. At the beginning of our group time, I put a collection of books on the table that are slightly lower than my students current instructional reading level. They know that when they come to my table they are to pick a book and start reading. Since these books are not overly challenging they dive right in and are able to be independent. This is a good use of their time and it allows me time to problem solve.

Share this post with your friends ~ Pin the image below to refer to later.

Are you interested in learning more about how I teach Guided Reading and what my go-to teacher tools are? Click below to find out.

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Guided Reading: How to get students excited about it!

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Guided Reading is an important part of the day in a primary classroom and you want to make sure your students are excited to meet during small group. To keep your kids engaged and to make it a productive and successful guided reading time you need to be prepared.

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I sure am happy that it's Friday! I swear, I really, really do - that there was one of these...

...this week. My first grade sweeties were barkin' at the moon this week. One little guy said "We're really wild today, aren't we?" Uh, yup.

I wanted to share with you how I do Read-to-Someone {Partner Reading} in my classroom. We do a modified version of Daily 5. I've blogged about it a few times. Just search "Daily 5" on my blog to read about that.

Monday through Thursday we do Daily 4 and save the 5th component, Read-to-Someone, for Friday. Something you might not know about me - I'm a recovering micro-manager. Over the years, I've been letting certain things go that I wasn't always able to. {It's OK if your water bottle isn't on the upper right corner of your desk}

Read-to-Someone when I'm trying to do guided reading groups?

Just can't do it.

I change everything up on Friday's and I love it! I look forward to those days where the whole day just has a different flow to it. The kids love it too.

We start Read-to-Someone by me sharing my observations with the class from last week. I write on two sides of the paper. On one side I record what they've done well and on the other side I record what they might need to work on {I record those generically - I don't mention names}. Really, I'm keeping notes because it keeps them focused and doing what they should. My notes are mostly complimentary and are written knowing that I will be sharing them out loud and want to focus on behaviors {both reading behaviors and behavioral} that I want to see from everyone. I do note other things that are more for me - I just don't share those with the kiddos.

Once I do that, I do a quick mini-lesson. Mostly, these mini-lessons focus on comprehension, fluency & expression. One day we worked on how our voices should sound when we come to periods, question marks or exclamation marks. Another day we talked about using a teaching voice when reading nonfiction. Today, our focus was retelling a nonfiction text. They all go to their partnerships with a specific goal or task in mind.

I can't stand it, I have to come clean. I told you I'm a recovering micro-manager. I always pick my kids partners. I just can't bear the thought that somebody might not get picked or always be "the one" leftover. Oh that just tugs at my heartstrings. I pick partnerships either with Stick Pick...

Or using my "old fashioned" {according to one of my kids} sticks. Have you seen this trick?

Once they have their partners, they get their personal bookshelves - this is where they keep the books they've read all week during Read-to-Self...

...find a cozy place to read...

...and I walk around with my handy dandy clipboard, coffee in hand, taking notes. You should hear my classroom - each. and. every. time. Without fail, I can almost promise you, 100 percent of my students are on task and uber engaged. It's magical.

I tried doing Read-to-Someone the other four days during the week - but I just couldn't manage it. Inevitably, they were too loud, too silly, or too whatever...but not too into what they were supposed to be doing. I don't know - it might work for you, but this REALLY works for me.

We end each partner reading session with a compliment. My first graders are really good at giving great, specific compliments. We've practiced and practiced not just saying "I liked your reading" or "you did good". We started off using prompts - but now they are great at coming up with their own. Here are the prompts we used at the beginning. If you grab it - leave a comment letting me know what you think.

Once we've finished making each other's hearts sing - we get ready to "go shopping".

I assign each student a "magic letter". This ensures that they will fill {6 books} their personal bookshelves with books that are at their just right level. Typically, their magic letter is a level or two below their instructional reading level. I want these books to really fit them so that they can practice fluency, expression and comprehension throughout the week.

I do, however, want my firsties to practice knowing how to choose a good fit book on their own. After all, library books and bookstore books don't have your magic letters on them. So, we talk about IPICK a lot and each student is able to pick two "dessert books". These books are from anywhere in our classroom library.

And there you have it! If you're doing Daily 5 what do you do differently from The Sisters that just works for you?

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I sure am happy that it's Friday! I swear, I really, really do - that there was one of these... ...this week. My first grade sweeties were barkin' at the moon this week. One little guy said "We're really wild today, aren't we?" Uh, yup.

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Learning Twist on a classic classroom game

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Learning Twist on a classic classroom game

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Today I wanted to share about about using 7-Up to introduce new vocabulary. This is a quick and material-free way to engage students with words they are learning!

When introducing a new word to students, our school follows Jan Richardson's method. Then, we throw in a little 7-Up twist. It looks something like this -

1. Say the word out-loud and have students repeat/write it.

2. Define the word for students.

3. Give students an example and a non-example. {Example: Bill was a very obstinate young man, refusing to go get the package because it was raining. Non-example: With a little coaxing, Ann agreed to check with mail in the pouring rain.}

4. Ask students to connect to the word and share their connection with a partner.

5. 7-Up!

One of my most frustrating vocabulary moments is when I introduce a word and ask students to use it in a sentence. The scenario plays out like this...

Me: Now, in your mind, use the word "obstinate" in a sentence.

{insert awkward silence of think time}

Me: Okay, 3's please stand to share your sentence.

Student 1: Mom says I am obstinate.

Student 2: He is very obstinate.

Student 3: I try not to be obstinate.

We just wasted over a minute of classtime thinking and sharing about the word obstinate, and I have no idea if students actually understand what the word means. Here enters the game of 7-up.

So, you repeat the above Steps 1-4, but when asking students to use the word in a sentence you tell them they're going to play 7-up. They get all excited because it's a "game" and then, you say their sentence has to have at least 7 words. Then, someone shouts out "That's going to be hard!" To which, you respond, "I challenge you to play my game." My kids are ALL about games and challenges, so they immediately want to 'beat' me for the BEST sentence. After students have shared with a shoulder partner, they nominate 3 peers to read their sentence for the class and we vote for the most phenomenal example of the word.

Ha - simple right?!? In 1-2 minutes, students have heard, written, connected with, used, and listened to the word in action. Plus, they had fun because they thought it was a game! I always use 7-up as a whole-class, but also pull it our during small groups. When I use it in small groups, I pull out colored index cards (oooohhhh) and have students write their sentence, as well.

Well, friends, that's it. Quick and easy vocabulary instruction that helps students have 8-10 exposures to a word in just 2ish minutes! Thank you SO much for stopping by. If you're interested in other FREE classroom resources and freebies, sign-up here for teaching ideas to land in your inbox each month.

Now, for a question - How do you introduce new vocabulary to students???

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7-Up Vocabulary Practice - The Brown Bag Teacher

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Today I wanted to share about about using 7-Up to introduce new vocabulary. This is a quick and material-free way to engage students with words they are learning! When introducing a new word to students, our school follows Jan Richardson's method. Then, we throw in a little 7-Up twist.

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Here is a fun activity to get students to stop using boring words and expand their vocabulary. This synonym activity has students write a "boring word" onto an ice cream cone and then synonyms are...

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I am so so excited to be linking up with The Primary Chalkboard for the No Worksheet Wednesdays series! How did this idea start? It was the idea of the amazing Christina, from Sugar and Spice with Miss DeCarbo. She had just returned from the National Reading Recovery Conference, and had picked up a few professional reading books. Among them, was the book:

A lively and interesting discussion followed, and we all agreed that it was time to go "back to basics." So here we are! Future link-ups will be held on these dates:

So, what did I do two Wednesdays ago in preparation for this link-up? Well, we were still working on our Presidents' Day Flip Book. More specifically, we were set to read and learn about the responsibilities of the president. I knew I needed to get my second graders to a place where they could accomplish this task on Thursday:

So, before we read the text, we focused on some hands-on vocabulary building...old school style, and made Word Posters. Here's how I did it:

1) Required Skills Mini-Lesson: Whole class mini-lesson on dictionary skills (abc order and guide words)

2) Guided Practice: We did a sample poster together. I left it pretty open-ended, and told them they could represent the word in any way they thought would be helpful. (pictures, definition, examples, cut-out photographs, and even non-examples)

3) Guidelines and Expectations: Ok, here is where I botched it up. We do a lot of inquiry work in my classroom. Kids are working together on a regular basis. So, I skipped the expectations talk, and just let them get to work. Big mistake! I had to stop our session, pull everyone back to the carpet, and go over our rules for working together. Here is the poster I have in my classroom.

These are the rules that we have come up with together, during the course of the year. Each time we have a collaborative task, we always wrap it up with a discussion about our "successes" and "challenges". Students share any issues that came up in their groups, and then students work on coming up with a solution. We add the solutions to our poster. This makes the rules relevant and meaningful to my students.

4) Independent Practice: Students went off with their partners to go create their posters. They looked up their word in a dictionary, and worked on paraphrasing what their word meant. I made sure the poster paper was large enough so that all 3 group members could be contributing to their poster at the same time. By leaving this task open, all students were able to participate. I loved that even my students who struggle with reading and writing were able to add drawings and labels that represented their word, and made their learning evident.

All Hands On Deck = A Happy Teacher!

Here are a few finished posters:

Think the poster above is a little bare? That's ok, because we will add examples and character's names throughout the year who demonstrate this trait!

Their posters were seriously cute and authentic (not perfect), and they loved making them! As a teacher, the discussions I heard while walking around were rich and meaningful. Students were negotiating, compromising, agreeing and disagreeing respectfully, and coming to a consensus.

5) Group Presentations: Each group was then asked to present their word to the class. Each student was expected to contribute to their group's presentation. After the group is done, we use a wonderful idea I got from Stephanie Harvey. After students share, the audience may respond with:

b) Connection (In my classroom, this has become "Important Connection", to make sure we stay focused on the big ideas

d) I also added the option of " Suggestion". The audience members usually have lots of suggestions for each group.

After all groups had finished, I gave all of the groups an additional 5 minutes to add any ideas to their posters. These posters now hang in our classroom, and are a great focus wall for character trait discussions during our ELA block.

6) Debrief: Don't forget to go over the "successes and challenges" of working together.

The next day, we were all set to read! We did a quick review of the words using a Powerpoint that I had made (which I will get into in a future post). (BTW: My approach to vocabulary instruction is based on the work of Isabel Beck. If you have not read her book...it is amazing!) Affiliate link below.

With all of this background knowledge about the vocabulary, the students did a wonderful job finding text evidence to complete our reading task, the following day!

Here is a little freebie poster that you could use in your room for having students respond to each other. This poster works well for all subject areas, including math!

Don't forget to check out all of these other amazing No Worksheet Wednesday ideas. (click below)

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No Worksheet Wednesday Ideas and Link-Up

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I am so so excited to be linking up with The Primary Chalkboard for the No Worksheet Wednesdays series! How did this idea start? It was the idea of the amazing Christina, from Sugar and Spice with Miss DeCarbo. She had just returned from the National Reading Recovery Conference, and had picked up a few professional reading books.

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A few weeks ago I had the idea to incorporate sports into a vocabulary review. Many of my students play basketball on a team and/or play at recess, so I incorporated basketball into our review. My son received this over the door basketball set for Christmas so we brought it to school one day. He told me to " make sure they don't break it, but you CAN show them how to dunk it." Although I didn't share my dunking skills, my fifth graders LOVED this!

I knew they'd notice the goal as soon as they walked in so I wrote a little message beside the board: "Are you ready for vocabulary basketball?"

It was a fun way to review vocabulary in an engaging way. We split into two teams. I had the vocabulary words written on the board and I'd call out definitions. If they told me the correct word, they earned 1 point for their team. Then, they could earn 2 points or 3 points by making a basket. I had ribbon on the floor to show what would count as 2 points vs. 3 points. They had a BLAST!

Most of our vocabulary words come from our read alouds, but most of the words in this unit were student generated. I kept a sheet of paper that students could add words to as they read independently. If they found a word they didn't know or one that they thought would be a good vocabulary word, they could write it down. ﻿

Vocabulary review - basketball style - was a HIT! ﻿

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A few weeks ago I had the idea to incorporate sports into a vocabulary review. Many of my students play basketball on a team and/or play at recess, so I incorporated basketball into our review. My son received this over the door basketball set for Christmas so we brought it to school one day.

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Get kids interacting and improving their language skills with this fun game! I liked the vocabulary spinner that I saw ( ), so I made my own! For the activity, I tossed vocabulary words in a lunch bag. Kids flicked the game spinner, then pulled out a word. Once they had their word, the fun began!

Students act, draw, rhyme, or define their word. They might also have to put it in a sentence, name what part of speech it is, or give a synonym or antonym for it. It's a game of chance! Below is a tally sheet I made for kids to keep score.

To make a spinner, you simply print design on card stock and laminate. Then, you add a paper clip, click to find out how to insert it in your spinner.

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Get kids interacting and improving their language skills with this fun game! I liked the vocabulary spinner that I saw ( ), so I made my own! For the activity, I tossed vocabulary words in a lunch bag. Kids flicked the game spinner, then pulled out a word.

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Could be useful with upper elementary school/middle school students

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At the copier this morning, I found an old vocabulary graphic organizer. It was that one with "definition, picture example, and non-example". I had forgotten about this type of organizer and tried it out with my class this morning. They loved it!

We used the graphic organizer for one of our spelling words (of the students' choice).

My more independent students were able to look up the definitions on the computer and complete the paper themselves.

My newer students and I worked on the sheet together...it was a simple and great vocabulary activity for everyone!

The only problem? The paper was a little (ok a lot) outdated and hard-to-read.

So I whipped up my own version this evening. I added some different categories, such as "suffixes" so we can write the different tenses/forms of the word. I also added a "related words" category, since I know this is something that will be very useful for my ELL students. I hope it is something you might be able to use as well!

Do you have any favorite graphic organizers for vocabulary? Or activities for vocabulary that work well for your students?

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At the copier this morning, I found an old vocabulary graphic organizer. It was that one with "definition, picture example, and non-example". I had forgotten about this type of organizer and tried it out with my class this morning. They loved it! We used the graphic organizer for one of our spelling words (of the students' choice).

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Although created for math, could be adapted for any subject

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Teacher Directions:

Type out vocabulary words for current unit, one per page.

Copy enough for each group of two students to have a copy.

You can have the students split their vocabulary list. I could hold the words up first and my partner can give me clues. Once I am out of words, we switch roles. Otherwise, you can have each student do the entire list. I hold all the words up, my partner gives me clues. We shuffle our vocabulary words and switch roles.

Hold one vocabulary word up to your head.

Your partner needs to give you clues until you say the word.

Place another word to your forehead and repeat the first two steps.

If you would like to receive more activities like this in a weekly email sent every Friday (in time for next week's plans), Click now to join our mailing list!

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Warning - Your students will want to play this again and again! Teacher Directions: Type out vocabulary words for current unit, one per page. Copy enough for each group of two students to have a copy. You can have the students split their vocabulary list.

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Well, my school year has barely ended, and call me crazy, because I am already planning and creating for next year!! I have a list a mile long of new ideas that I can't wait to try out for next year. My first one?!?! Close Reading Toolboxes!!

This post contains affiliate links to amazon.com. If you make a purchase from amazon.com through the links on this page, CreateTeachShare will receive a small commission. This helps to support the blog, and allows me to continue creating and sharing educational content with my readers.

Close Reading has become a huge reading practice in my classroom, and has helped my students to get through those challenging informational texts. Since it has become such an important part of my reading routine, and I wanted something to spice it up and make it more engaging for students. I keep coming across Close Reading Toolkits on Pinterest, and have been really wanting to make something for my students to use when they sit down with an informational text.

While cleaning out my cupboards last week, I came across these photo cases that I never ended up using for anything. Instead of adding them to the pile of staff room giveaways, I decided to use them to create Close Reading Toolboxes!!!

These photo boxes come in a larger plastic box, which holds six individual photo boxes. These are perfect for a set of Close Reading Toolboxes to be used at a Literacy Center or in Small Groups.

I created two labels for the outside of the larger plastic box, just to keep it fancy. ;) Then I created a label to put on each of the individual plastic boxes...

On the inside cover of each box, I created a reference sheet for the different tools that each box contains.

What Goes in Each Box?!?!

HIGHLIGHTERS to highlight important words or phrases.

PENCILS for text-marking.

MAGNIFYING GLASSES to search for text evidence. I found these at my local party store, but they can also be found on Amazon through an affiliate link. CLICK HERE to find them!!

STICKY NOTES to record important ideas.

TEXT MARKING SYMBOLS FOR CLOSE READING

Putting it All Together!!

The idea started with this plastic box of individual photo boxes. Click the pic to find them at amazon!! (The following is an affiliate link.)

{CLICK PIC FOR MORE INFO}

I printed each of the individual pieces and laminated them. Then used double-sided tape to attach each of the labels.

Finally, I filled each photo box with a highlighter, a pencil, a magnifying glass, sticky notes, and a list of Text Marking Symbols for Close Reading.

Click the pic below to download the labels for these Close Reading Toolboxes!! This will make such a fun summer project for getting ready for next school year!!

Looking for more ideas for Teaching Non-Fiction?!?! Follow my Pinterest board below!!

Check out this post featured on the
TpT blog!

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Well, my school year has barely ended, and call me crazy, because I am already planning and creating for next year!! I have a list a mile long of new ideas that I can't wait to try out for next year. My first one?!?! Close Reading Toolboxes!!

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Interesting Ideas for round robin type reading

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Interesting Ideas for round robin type reading

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11 Alternatives to Round Robin (and Popcorn) Reading

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There’s no evidence that round robin reading helps students improve, so we gathered alternatives that teachers can use instead.

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Independent reading
Students read silently by themselves and at their own pace (Taylor, 1993).  The selections must be at students' reading level in order for them to comprehend what they're reading.

Reading Aloud to Students

Teachers use the interactive read-aloud procedure to share selections that are appropriate for students' interest level but too difficult for them to read by themselves (Barrentine, 1996).

Guided Reading

Teachers scaffold students' reading to teach reading strategies (Fountas & Pinnell, 1996, 2001).  Guided reading is conducted with small groups of students who read at the same level.

Shared Reading

Students follow along as the teacher reads a selection aloud (Fisher & Medvic, 2000).  Primary-grade teachers often use big books-enlarged versions of the selection-for shared reading (Holdaway, 1979).

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Provides a short description of four types of reading done within the classroom environment including reading aloud, independent, guided, and shared reading.

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My sight word activities this year have included a lot more movement for my active learners. Learning our sight words has been a bit more of a challenge for some of my kindergartners. A few are struggling to learn and keep those sight words learned. This group is also a very active and mobile bunch so I have switched things up to accommodate their learning style. They are loving it!

One of their favorite sight word games to play and that they ask for is Pass the Plates. I write the sight words they are working to learn onto paper plates. The newest word or the word they are struggling with the most to learn gets a sticker. The students stand in a circle with the plates face down, one plate per student (or you can do less if you like). Play some music or set a timer for a few seconds. The students pass the plates in a circle. When the timer goes off, they turn over their plate and read their word. The child that has the plate with the sticker is out. Continue playing until you have one winner, taking out plates as you lose students. You can have several small circles going at once if desired. The kids really do like this game and they get to read their words over and over.

My friend, Tammy at Forever in First, gave me this idea of sight words on labels. You can stick them on the students heads or backs so they can't see their word.

They have a list of their friends' names. Then they walk around reading and writing the sight words from their friends beside the correct name. I have everyone read their list so they can figure out which word is on their own back or head.

This idea came from another bloggy friend, Barb at Grade ONEderful. I write sight words on the board. The kids walk or dance around to the music. When I stop the music, I call out a sight word from the board. They write it on their clipboards and then it all starts up again.

After we have all the words called out, I call out the words and the students check them off of their clipboard list. I'm sure you know just getting to use clipboards raises the engagement level right there!

Another fun one is Sight Word Races. Two students stand with their backs to the easel where I have written sight words. I call out a word and the students turn to see who can find the word and get it erased first. You can have a student call out words so more students are involved at a time.

One last active sight word game is our Sight Word Walk. All I did was write the sight words on bright index cards and scatter them around the room in a circle. I added fun cards like move ahead two, switch with a friend, go back one, etc...

I rolled big dice and everyone moved that many cards forward and read the word they landed on for that number. Roll again, count and move forward and read again.

These sight word games have all been a lot of fun and get the students up, moving and learning!

You may also want to check out these RTI intervention binders below by clicking on the picture:

Fluency Intervention Binders- build fluency to improve comprehension!

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My sight word activities this year have included a lot more movement for my active learners. Learning our sight words has been a bit more of a challenge for some of my kindergartners. A few are struggling to learn and keep those sight words learned.

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ANYWAY...Catherine mentions how teachers can use the iFake Text Generator for:

Morning Meeting Messages

Reading Journals

Introduce/Review Vocabulary

After seeing Catherine's post, I did a lesson with a 2nd grade class who used the iFakeText Generator to write a conversation between George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as if they were alive today. They LOVED it. It required A LOT of thinking for those 2nd graders to weave in as much information as possible but it ended up being a wonderful activity.

THEN..last week..I saw a Facebook post from TechChef4u that was advertising the FREE app, Texting Story. Once again, I lit up!

Not only does this app generate text messages, it turns your work into a text conversation MOVIE. Check it out:

If you are interested in creating a conversation that plays continuously so you don't have to keep pressing play, upload the saved video into the app GifToaster and turn it into a GIF that you can embed in a Google Doc/Slide, blog or website! Here is an example (the only issue is that you don't get to hear the cool texting sounds when it is turned into a gif)

This app is so easy to use and very intuitive. You can even upload pictures for each character as well as send images and emojis🙌 in the texts.

Under Settings you can add your two names, select their text color, add a profile image as well as choose some other options:

Note: It documents your every move. If you type a word/phrase and then delete to add something different, it will show up. The Clear Story button under Edit Story needs to be pressed if you want to start all over.

Students would have a ball using this tool in the classroom and it would truly make your lessons memorable. What are some other ways we could use this with students?

I hope Texting Story comes to the web for all of you Chromebook users! I haven't found a web tool like it. Let me know if you run across one that makes these type of texting conversation movies. In the mean time, check out Gone Google Story Builder. It is similar but instead of texting, students create a Google Doc interaction and can have multiple characters.

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Make Your Lessons Memorable with the Texting Story App

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ANYWAY...Catherine mentions how teachers can use the iFake Text Generator for: Morning Meeting Messages Reading Journals Introduce/Review Vocabulary After seeing Catherine's post, I did a lesson with a 2nd grade class who used the iFakeText Generator to write a conversation between George Washington and Abraham Lincoln as if they were alive today.

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As teachers, we all know the correlation between the amount of time that kids spend reading and their reading levels; quite simply, the more kids read, the better they will be at it. Studies consistently show the key role that reading volume plays in the development of comprehension, vocabulary, general knowledge, and cognitive structures. In Reading in the Wild, Donalyn Miller states that "we cannot overlook one truth: no matter what standards we implement or reading tests we administer, children who read most will always outperform those who don't read much". Even though we know this to be true, I have found that many teachers struggle with fitting in independent reading time in their classes. With standards to meet and tests to prepare for, independent reading is often something that falls to the wayside... and this is so sad!

Why should independent silent reading be practiced in our classrooms?

In his book, "Building Student Literacy Through Sustained Silent Reading", Steve Gardiner states that "a significant number of research studies have examined sustained silent reading programs, evaluating their effectiveness with students from primary grades to graduate school... and most of these studies show that SSR is successful in promoting and improving student literacy". Later is the book, he goes on to state:

"Giving them time to read is clearly the most important thing I do with my students. It:

-develops an understanding of the qualities of good readers;

-meets needs the teacher might not know about; and

-gives students a chance to connect with reading is an unstructured situation."

Every time our students pick up a book, they are faced with new ideas, words, and sentence structures. Every minute spent reading builds upon the next, making reading easier and more enjoyable for our students.

Some of the additional pluses I have found while allowing my middle school students time for silent reading include:

-Opportunity for student choice - Most reading done is school is assigned. Independent silent reading allows students to read material they choose on their own.

-Builds reading confidence - As silent reading time is meant to be uninterrupted, they must work through trouble spots on their own, which helps them to become confident readers.

-Students actually want to read more - Reading, sharing, and talking about books in a positive way encourages students to want to try new genres, experience different authors, plow through the next book in a series, and ultimately read more!

Some tips for setting up a silent reading program in your classroom.

As you can probably tell, I am a huge advocate for silent reading in my middle school classroom. For the past 10 years, I have been having my students complete 10-15 minutes of independent reading time at the beginning of each class. I will admit that it took a lot of trial and error for me before I turned silent reading time into something I felt was both beneficial and personally meaningful to kids. Below, I have included some of my best tips and tricks for setting up a successful silent reading program for middle school learners.

1) Make the time - With all of the other things we have going on as teachers, it can be difficult to carve out an additional 10-15 minutes of class time in our already busy schedules. However, with all of the research showing how effective independent reading is in the creation of life long readers, we really do need to find a way. This reading time gives the kids the opportunity to actually apply all of the reading strategies and skills that you have been teaching them, and is crucially important. Once you have found the time in your schedule, make sure you make the time a priority. Kids need to see that this time is valuable and important, and won't learn this if you cancel it when "more important" things come up. Show the kids that their reading time is worthy of protection, and never sacrifice it.

2) Allow for choice - As most of the reading kids do in school is assigned to them, independent reading time is the perfect opportunity to let them make their own choices about what they read. Many teachers at the school I previously taught at would allow students to bring in their own books from home for this, or would give students time to sign books out from the library. In my room, however, I have my students select books from our classroom library. My classroom library is quite extensive, with a wide variety of authors, genres, lengths, and reading levels. I am an avid Young Adult literature fan, so the added bonus of having the kids choose from our class library is that I have actually read all of the novels myself. This allows me to have great discussions with the kids about what they are reading, and also helps me to make recommendations to kids who are struggling with finding the right book. Because I have read all of the books, I know that they are quality literature choices, that are highly engaging. Yes, this does mean that I require myself to read YA lit like a madwoman, seeking out the best new titles. And it means that I spend quite a bit of money on investing in quality books for my classroom. But, as this is something I really think is important, I make the time and find the money. I will discuss some tips and tricks for setting up your own classroom library, and some of my favorite book choices for middle school kids, in an upcoming post.

3) Provide time for discussion - At the end of your 10-15 minute silent reading time, allow some time for class discussion. This doesn't have to happen at the end of each silent reading time, but it is great if you can make an effort to do this a few times a week. This is a great time to bring the class together and show them what you have been reading, introduce a new author or genre, or to give a quick book talk on a few new titles you have picked up for your classroom bookshelf. You can have students share some of their favorite reads as well, or even have a guest staff member or parent come in and talk about one of their current favorites. Our school librarian is always game to come in and share some of her favorites, and I have even had our principal come in and give a quick book talk. These discussions can really motivate other students - I have found that kids will often choose their next reading choice based on recommendations by their peers, and a new book I have shared in class rarely sits on our book shelf for long. It is amazing what a little advertising can do! Allowing time to talk about books shows kids that reading isn't just a solitary activity.

4) Celebrate Reading! - Sometimes reading can get a bad rap. Kids can come into your classroom saying that they hate reading, and that it isn't something "cool". As a teacher of reading, it is your job to make reading cool again! Make reading in your classroom something to celebrate. Give book talks, hold mini conferences with your kids to talk about what they are reading, and get excited about new books in your classroom library. Your enthusiasm about reading really will rub off on them! One of my favorite ways to celebrate reading in my classroom in by throwing a "book feast" at the end of the year. Have your students choose a favorite independent reading book, and bring in a themed snack to share with the class. On the day of the feast, have the kids discuss their books and the way the snack ties in. I clearly remember a group of boys one year who were hooked on the "Hunger Games" series - they brought in "Cinna"-buns (cinnamon buns), Nightlock Berries (blueberries), and Po-"Cato"-Chips (potato chips). Such a fun way to get kids excited about what they are reading, and to share that enthusiasm with others.

5) Model, model, model! - According to Gardiner, independent reading time "allows an adult to model the habits, choices, comments, and attitudes good readers develop". Kids need to see that reading isn't just something that kids are assigned to do, but something that is enjoyable to adults too. It can be very, very tempting to use this quiet classroom time to get some much needed work done, but try not to. Pick up a book, practice what you preach, and show kids you value the time as well.

6) Hold the kids accountable - I know some of you will disagree with me on this one, and it is probably the area that I most struggled with when setting up my silent reading time. I am all for reading for reading's sake, and fully agree that reading with a mandatory worksheet attached can suck the joy out of a reading experience. That being said, kids are kids, and not all of them are going to buy in right from the start. I found that without the accountability, I had some kids who would hide their phones and text behind their novels, or who would simply grab the first book they came across each day, resulting in them reading the first two pages of about 30 different books on our shelf. They were not investing their time in a novel, and therefore could not get excited about them. The way I stopped this from happening was that I created a series of Reading Comprehension Strategy Poster pages.

At the start of the week, the kids pick up a new reading comprehension strategy page from the front of my room, along with their silent reading book. Throughout the week, the kids are required to work on these during their silent reading time. Each page contains a few questions that can be applied to any novel they are reading, and which focus on specific reading comprehension strategies. They can work on these at their own speed throughout the week. The pages should really only take them 10-15 minutes to complete, so they don't take very much time away from their actual reading time, which I think is really important. When the kids are done, I have them glue them into their Reader's Notebooks. These are great to have on hand to refer back to when we talk about the different reading comprehension strategies in class, and give the kids some additional practice with these essential skills.

Then, throughout the week during our independent reading time, I call a few students up to my desk for a quick conference. I keep the conference very low key, and simply talk to them about what they are reading and have them show me their completed reading comprehension strategy pages in their Reader's Notebooks. This really helps to keep the kids accountable to what they are reading, and has made a huge difference in the success of my independent reading time. I think that engaging the kids with what they read really helps them to think about and make sense of what they are reading. If you are interested in trying out these reading strategy pages with your own class, you can check them out in my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking here or on one of the images I have included.

7) Allow kids to give up on a book - When we read as adults, we will often stop reading when a book doesn't interest or engage us. Let kids have the right to do this too! As I mentioned above, I really don't like to see a kid picking up a new novel each day only to read two pages, but if a kid has honestly given a book a try, and has not found it enjoyable, they should be free to pick something else. Independent reading time is supposed to be fun, and kids should be thoroughly enjoying what they choose to read. Having a large classroom library, and the ability to recommend the right book to the right student, greatly reduces the amount of books kids give up on.

8) Provide Flexible Seating - Whenever possible, allow kids to sprawl out and really get comfortable with their books. Bring is comfy cushions, exercise balls, or anything else you can get your hands on to facilitate this. If it is a nice day, and your administration is on board, you can even take them outside to lay in the grass. In the past I have been known to bring in a class set of yoga mats, move the desks out of the way, and let the kids lay out on the floor. While I haven't let the kids set up blanket forts just yet, I wouldn't be opposed to the idea!

I certainly wouldn't argue about the importance of many of the things we do in our classrooms on a regular basis - in depth novel studies, writing instruction, and group work are all essential parts of the language arts classroom. Clearly, however, we can see the importance of getting books into our students hands, and for allowing them to read independently during the school day. No matter what instructional methods we choose to use, our students need time to actually apply the reading strategies and skills we teach if we want them to become skilled readers. To do this, our kids need time to read! Silent reading time is really just another tool in our arsenal for developing life long readers, who thoroughly enjoy the reading process.

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Silent Reading in the Middle School Classroom

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As teachers, we all know the correlation between the amount of time that kids spend reading and their reading levels; quite simply, the more kids read, the better they will be at it. Studies consistently show the key role that reading volume plays in the development of comprehension, vocabulary, general knowledge, and cognitive structures.

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Student accountability during reading groups

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Student accountability during reading groups

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Student Accountability - Cassie Dahl | Teaching + Technology

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Have you ever tried student-led reading groups in your classroom? Have you ever felt like your students were not putting forth their best effort? Using student-

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Looking for fluency activities? I just updated my fluency freebie. I added some short passages. If you need longer passages, I recommend visiting Reading A to Z. This is a great site with leveled passages. There are even some free books that you can download.

Click to get your freebie.

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Looking for fluency activities? I just updated my fluency freebie. I added some short passages. If you need longer passages, I recommend visiting Reading A to Z. This is a great site with leveled passages. There are even some free books that you can download. Click to get your freebie.

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Reading fluency gets a lot of attention in the primary grades. Unfortunately, students in grades 4-8 who still struggle with fluency don't get the attention they need. Many of these students need explicit instruction and meaningful practice for fluency in order to become competent readers.
It's not easy for teachers who work with older students to fit fluency practice into their already tight schedules. Here are a few fluency activities that you can easily work into your day.

Audio-Assisted Reading

This is such an effective way for improving word recognition, as well as building proper phrasing and expression. This is also a great strategy to use in content areas such as science and social studies; often times, publishers include the audio version of the textbook for teachers to use. You can also record your own audio-versions of Audio-assisted reading is when you have a student follow along in a text while listening to an audio recording ( audio CD, audio book, or iPod). After the student gains confidence using the audio version, he/she can then transition to reading the text independently.

close reading passages or short stories for your students to use. If you're doing a novel study, check your public library for audio CDs for the title you are using. You can also make a listening center in your classroom using jack extenders, so that multiple students can read along at the same time.

Poetry Performances

Holding "poetry slams" is a perfect disguise for fluency practice. Find relatively long poems (haiku's might not be the best choice:-) from your favorite authors that are age-appropriate for your students. I love using work from There are several free resources if you're looking for scripts. Shel Silverstein or Jack Prelutsky for younger students. If you teach middle school students you may want to look into poems by Langston Hughes or Edgar Alan Poe. Poetry offers smaller, non-threatening text for students to work with, and more reluctant readers may be more motivated by the creativity and playfulness that the genre offers. The assonance and alliteration of poetry also make this medium perfect for fluency practice.
Gather a large selection of poems and have your students choose one they would like to practice and eventually "perform". Performances can take the place as simple readings in front of the class, in a small group, or with a partner. Students can also make a PowerPoint presentation that they narrate by reading the poem. Presenting options are endless; the most important thing is to get them reading and rereading the poem in order to improve fluency. Readers' Theater

Students LOVE readers' theater. They get so excited by the idea of performing in a play, even though this activity does not require students to memorize any text. Unlike a real play, there are no costumes, props, or sets needed. Dr. Chase Young has written several for younger students, and Aaron Shepard has some great scripts for older students. You can also write your own scripts, or even have your students write their own, based on picture books or a chapter from a novel. BONUS: Aaron Shepard's site has a video of The Chamber Readers reading one of his scripts; what a perfect way to provide a model for your students!

Partner Reading

This strategy pairs two readers together with the same piece of text. You can pair your students by listing your class in order from highest to lowest according to reading ability. Then divide the list in half. Place the top student on the first list with the top student in the second list. Continue until all students have been paired up.
Students in the pairs will take turns reading the text, by dividing it into paragraphs, subheadings, pages, etc. The students can also read the text simultaneously (choral reading). I really like this strategy for reading within science and social studies books, which can be particularly difficult for students. However, you can use parter reading for any text.

Timed Readings

I have several sets of close reading passages that include a format for timed reading with step-by-step instructions Timed readings are a systematic way for students to work on fluency, and it offers a great opportunity for students to monitor their own progress. Students are given a passage they have never read before. They will complete a "cold reading", where they read for exactly one minute. The total words read (minus certain errors) are counted and this is their "cold score", which they graph on a chart. They then practice reading the passage and have opportunities to listen to it read by a fluent model. Following practice and modeling, the students will then complete a "hot reading", which is another one-minute session. Again, they count the total words read (minus miscues) to find their "hot score". Their hot scores are then graphed above their cold scores.
HERE.

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Reading Fluency Activities for Older Students

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Reading fluency gets a lot of attention in the primary grades. Unfortunately, students in grades 4-8 who still struggle with fluency don't get the attention they need. Many of these students need explicit instruction and meaningful practice for fluency in order to become competent readers.

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We have all heard about the shift that happens, usually between second and third grade, when students (should) go from learning to read to reading to learn. Unfortunately, for some students, their ability to read to learn is stifled by their inability to read fluently. Even for those kids who can read at an average pace, the faster and more accurately they can read and decode, the more effectively they can comprehend.

When I taught third grade, and now as an interventionist, the importance of fluency is empathized more than ever (and has definitely met some critics). I know that fluency is NOT the end-all, be-all, but a lot of research proves that it is important, and a lot of schools are trending toward fluency being a high priority. I have compiled a list of some of the resources and strategies I have used when teaching in the regular education classroom and as an interventionist.I hope they can help you in some way.This isn't a blog post about what fluency IS, but about ways to improve it.Some of the ideas are FREE, and a few of them are links to specific paid resources that I have tested in my classroom.I get nothing in return for posting about these (my Mountain View state-Colorado-doesn't allow Amazon Affiliates), so they are simply products that I have used and believe in.

I know what you're thinking-this is obvious.Yes, to some this may be inherent.But, when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING-do you have a student read your morning message out loud, or do you do it?Do you have a student read the daily math problems out loud, or do you do it?Do you have a student read the directions for an assignment out loud, or do you do it?If you have been the one reading everything, STOP!For kids in grades 2 and up, they should be able to read all of the directions, all of the math problems, everything.I know this sounds silly, but consider all the reading you do to your students in a day while explaining something-or all the reading that they may do in their head when you could have a student reading it out loud.If a student only read one extra sentence out loud each day by implementing this, that's an extra 185 sentences read out loud over the course of a year.Worth it to me! (Counter Argument: Some teachers mention that the students need to hear examples of fluent reading, and yes, yes, yes I agree!That is what read aloud time is for.)

Update: I now have a FREE download that includes the above anchor chart! Download it for FREE HERE!

Have you discovered the Super Speed games from Whole Brain Teaching?They have them for a variety of different fluency (math and reading) skills, but the one I love for reading fluency is Super Speed 1,000 .It's a free download, and it's AMAZING!The kids practice the 1,000 most common sight words in a lightning fast game that takes three minutes a day once the students understand how to play.I will warn you-this can get loud, and loud is uncomfortable for me!I like a serenely peaceful classroom...I had an administrator walk in one day during Super Speed time, and I felt that pit in my stomach-it was so loud, she would think I wasn't managing my classroom.As she walked around and saw the enthusiasm of these kids reading their sight words, she praised the program and then shared the link with the staff at the next weekly meeting.I have used Super Speed for second through fifth graders, in every setting you can imagine.I highly recommend it!

is a freevoice recording software you can download onto just about any computer (You could use any voice recording software for this).Every week, one of our fluency centers is Audacity.The students practice a passage out of their current novel three times.Then, they record themselves reading it out loud on Audacity.They listen back, while reading the page in their head.Then, they take notes on what they noticed about their reading (How was their prosody?Attention to punctuation? Did the dialogue sound authentic?).They find 2 glows and a grow, and then on their next read, they focus on their "grow" area.They record it again and listen back.The process continues until they are ready to submit it to me.This year, I have them save it to a public folder that I can access, but in years past, they have posted it to a classroom wiki to keep track of their growth-and parents can log in and listen to their reading from the wiki, too.

Poetry is one of my favorite fluency practices, and the students always feel the same way!There are so many wonderful ideas out there about how to use poems to boost fluency, so I won't delve into that too much.Rather, I'll share how we keep track of our poems.

At a garage sale a few years ago, I picked up a class set of My Dog Does My Homework, an anthology of fun kid poems.I can't find a place to buy it, but you could do the same activity with any anthology of poems or a website like www.poetry4kids.com .Each students has a copy of the anthology and the goal is to read through the book-five times.We focus on one or two poems each week, where I model great fluency, then we do some choral reading as a class, then they work on them during their literacy stations.As they read the poems (in any order they want to), they mark down the date that they read it.They can read the same poem five times in one day, or they can read five different poems on one day.

Okay, I know I keep saying things like, "this is my favorite" or "it's amazing," but this one is a favorite and amazing and fun and engaging and etc. etc. etc. These are books that are similar to a Reader's Theatre, but they are shorter, rhymed and rhythmic, giving each student a part to read, and then a common part that they must read together.Again, a favorite when I put them into a reading fluency station, and really not a bad price.There are five of them, and they will last you an entire year.You can get them on HERE on Amazon for $6 each (affiliate link). So worth it!

During my intervention groups in 3 rd and 4 th grade, I discovered a great need for fluency practice that was more than just words or phrases and less than paragraph passages (although both are absolutely important).So, I began creating fluency task cards.They include short (2-3 sentences) statements for students to focus on fluency.The first set I made is a general set-includes reading dialogue, appositives, punctuation, etc.The second set I made focuses on prefixes and suffixes (once kids can unlock the "code" of prefixes and suffixes, they make oral reading fluency growth rapidly).The students beg to do these in small group, and they even love to rate their fluency each time they read them.
Update 7/24/17: Ever since I created these fluency task cards back in 2012, I have continued to create them. My students love them SO much. I have used them in both an intervention setting and a classroom setting, and I can't ever imagine having a classroom without them! I use them in centers, for a quick practice, for homework, for early finishers, for morning work, etc. I now have a seasonal set for every month of the school year as well as sets for different reading skills. You can read more about how I ORGANIZE these task cards HERE.

Six Minute Solution is a program to help students improve their reading fluency in 6 minutes a day.It's expensive, but it works.This program really focuses on reading rate, as opposed to prosody, but I have seen immense benefit.The premise is this: the students read a leveled passage for one minute, three times daily.They have a partner who reads along with them, recording errors and stopping points.The partner also reads three times (they flip flop who is reading each turn), hence the 6 minutes.In reality, it takes about 8-10 minutes to have them read and mark their graphs, so I typically only did it three days a week.

If you can't afford the Six Minute Solution, there are a lot of leveled CBMs on TpT that are more affordable (Think: Jen Jones at Hello Literacy).Whip up some graphs so that students can track their progress, them implement it.Here is what I have adapted implementation to look like... this is NOT exactly what the Solution prescribes, but it is what worked for me in a whole-class setting.

Day 1 of new passage ONLY:

2 Minutes: Silent Read Passage & Confer with partner about unfamiliar words

1 Minute: Cold Read (Students are all reading their passage orally and record their cold read time on a graph)

1 Minute: One partner reads orally while the other partner reads along silently and marks mistakes and stopping point.After the one minute mark, the reader marks the rate on the graph.

1 Minute: Second partner reads orally while the other partner reads along silently and marks mistakes and stopping point.Mark rate on graph.

Repeat three times, for a total of 6 readings between partners

I love the !Free, research-based, easy prep, and easy for differentiation-there are also many resources that are perfect for tier 1 and tier 2 reading intervention groups. At the beginning of the year, I was using second & third grade materials for my fourth graders in intervention and for my third graders in TAG. As an interventionist, I created binders full of all the resources so that teachers could easily grab them and copy them as needed.I was shocked at how many teachers had never heard of the site, and I am so glad these binders (which admittedly took hours to put together) have gotten a great deal of use out of them!

Need I say more? I feel like so much has been said about Reader's Theatre in the teaching world that I would be remiss to not mention it, but I also feel like I don't have anything truly new and revolutionary to add to it. If you haven't used Reader's Theatre, do it! It is THE perfect end of the year activity!

In the intermediate grades, morning meeting looks a little bit different than in the primary grades.Our morning messages are different, our greetings are different, our activities are different.One activity I implemented was book talks.Every students signed up one a week (give or take) to do a one minute book talk and to read a one minute passage out of the book.They practiced it at home and then presented in the classroom.If a student was reading an exceptionally long book, they might end up presenting on it two or three times, which was fine.My kids really loved this, and it encouraged them to always have a book they were reading outside of the classroom!

Well, that's it!I hope that you can implement some of these ideas into your classroom tomorrow, and maybe you will implement some at the beginning of next year.Be sure to check out the links below for more blog posts on fluency!

*If you have a blog post that gives a great tip or trick for increasing oral reading fluency (paid product mentions ok, but no direct product links, please), I invite you to link up your blog post here.*

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We have all heard about the shift that happens, usually between second and third grade, when students (should) go from learning to read to reading to learn. Unfortunately, for some students, their ability to read to learn is stifled by their inability to read fluently.

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I am about to start Guided Reading Groups with my Prep students so today I would like to share my reading groups tub with you all!

At the moment I have 5 reading groups that I have sorted based on their sight word knowledge. We have been reading short, repetitive texts together in class and I am satisfied that many of the students are ready to move onto structured reading sessions. My lowest two groups are just beginning to read sight words so they will be focusing on letter/sound knowledge and word work until we can master their first group of 12 sight words. I will meet with each group once a week until we can master working independently. We are also starting the Daily 5 this term to help build our independence.

So now I would like to introduce you to my 'Work with the Teacher' tub, also known as my Guided Reading tub. It is full of goodies that I hope to use during our group sessions each week.

First up are my reading comprehension cards. Each fortnight, I am introducing a new strategy to the whole class during our modelled and shared reading time. We continue to practise the strategy throughout the week and during our guided reading time. I have these posters displayed in my room and a smaller set in my tub to refer to as needed in our group sessions. You can buy a copy of your own over at my store.

Next are my super cute and super awesome pointers. The little ones below will be used during writing time as spacers but we will also use them with our little books during guided reading. I cannot wait to introduce these little cuties to my preppies this week - I just know they are going to LOVE them!

My story wands are going to get used a lot during guided reading and shared reading sessions. Each star features a different question for the kids to answer about the books we are reading. We might use these in whole class readings and the think-pair-share strategy will work great with these!

The last thing in my tub is my beautiful pink lei. I am going to wear this in our guided reading time to symbol to the rest of the class that I cannot be interrupted! At the moment, I run my reading sessions when my teacher aide is in the room so the kids will have no reason to disrupt me! I don't know if it will work but I'll give it a go!

The next part of my post is my guided reading binder. I am a binder addict and have one for just about everything you can think of! I have five different flexible groups which I have named after jungle reasons for no reason at all haha. Each group has their own tab so that I can flip between groups easily. It also means that when the kids are doing 'Read to Self,' I can conference with students individually and find their group quickly.

At the moment, I have a group conferencing page for each group but I may switch to individual conferencing pages or use both depending on how easy it is for me to take notes.

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I am about to start Guided Reading Groups with my Prep students so today I would like to share my reading groups tub with you all! At the moment I have 5 reading groups that I have sorted based on their sight word knowledge.

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This week we did a lot of different interventions trying to get those last few that still haven't mastered AT LEAST the first 100 Fry words. I have been using some AWESOME Fry Sight Word Checkbooks made by Jennifer Pitts (click on the pic to go check out her store) and each student in my class has the book that best fits them.

I still have some in 1-100, but some are already in 301-400! I didn't want to hold those who want to learn more back so I just test them when they are ready and move them on as far as they can go. Anyways, I digress... after using some word searches and fill in the blank with sight word sentences, and flashcards, etc. I decided to make our LASSO (Leading All Students Successfully Onward) time a little more fun with a game. I made these Fry Chutes and Ladder games that have the first 80 fry phrases using the first 100 words. I used them a couple of days this week and the kids LOVED them! I plan to make a LOT more of them with more difficult phrases, but wanted to share with you what I have already in case you are looking for a fun, FREE, way to practice those Fry Phrases as well. It means more to me to hear them read the words in a phrase than just have them memorized but not able to identify when they see them inside a sentence or book. Hope you love them too! I'd love to hear what you think if you download them, and if you'd like to see more!

Click on the link below to grab your copy of these two versions of the game.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! Keeping it short and sweet cause it's been COLD here and it makes me just want to snuggle in bed and watch some t.v. and snooze. Be back soon!

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This week we did a lot of different interventions trying to get those last few that still haven't mastered AT LEAST the first 100 Fry words. I have been using some AWESOME Fry Sight Word Checkbooks made by Jennifer Pitts (click on the pic to go check out her store) and each student in my class has the book that best fits them.

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Have you ever given your students the opportunity to record and listen to themselves read? As teachers, we frequently observe and conference with our students about their oral reading fluency. However, it can be much more meaningful for students to actually hear and evaluate themselves. Last year I started doing fluency self-evaluations as a center and was very pleased with the ownership my students began to take toward achieving their reading goals.

My second graders used the free workflow app Showbie to complete their fluency self-evaluations.After practicing their passage several times, they recorded themselves reading it aloud.Once they played back their recording they filled out the rubric, along with their goals for next time, and sent it to me via Showbie.

If you don't have a class set of iPads, you may want to try one of the many free voice recording apps by doing a search in the app store.One of the best and most user-friendly apps I've found is Voice Recorder by Tap Media (free).Students simply press the "Record" button and then "Stop" when they are finished.Then they press the "Play" button to hear their recording.There's even the option to save recordings in folders if you want to keep a record of your students' progress.

You can grab my rubric for free by clicking HERE or on the image below.

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Fluency Self-evaluations Using iPads (With Free Rubric)

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Have you ever given your students the opportunity to record and listen to themselves read? As teachers, we frequently observe and conference with our students about their oral reading fluency. However, it can be much more meaningful for students to actually hear and evaluate themselves.

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Mandy's Tips for Teachers: What to Do When They Don't Understand

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Guided Reading Beach Balls Manipulative Grade 1-5 | Carson-Dellosa Publishing

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These Guided Reading Beach Balls support the Four-Blocks® Literacy Model and are perfect for reinforcing comprehension skills. Two 10" diameter, multicolored beach balls and a resource guide are included. One ball has 6 open-ended phrases and the other has 6 questions to reinforce comprehension of the material.

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Fluency is the ability to read a text accurately, quickly, and with expression.

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Graphic Organizers

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Freebie!

One of the keys to teaching reading comprehension is showing kids how proficient readers think about text. Teachers have to find a way to make their thinking visible. One way is with graphic organizers. Here is a free set:

The first one is filled in with the steps for growing seeds. This one gives kids a familiar example of sequence. It also shows common signal words that they might find in text to indicate that a sequence is happening. I like to keep this one in a plastic sleeve in my reading group binder so we can refer back to it when we're talking about text structure or if we have a text that features a sequence.

The second graphic organizer has the same format but it's blank. You can fill this in while you think aloud to demonstrate how proficient readers take note of sequence. You can also have kids fill the boxes in about books that they read. I use it both as a guided whole group activity and then in reading centers as kids grasp the concept.

Grab your set for FREE here:

Strategies to Cover

So what reading comprehension strategies do kids need to know, anyway? I'm sure there are more but here is a pretty solid list to tackle:

UPDATE (10/10/15) - This chart has been revamped and is better than ever. Find it for free HERE.

We teach kids to find the main idea, and to summarize, and to look for story elements in fiction, and then do the same things with nonfiction text which is a related but different process, not to mention just determining the difference between fiction and nonfiction...holy cow! All of these strategies and skills can start to become a big abstract mess in the brain of an adult or a kid. Here is an anchor chart to help put many of the smaller strategies into one bigger picture (click for a printable version):

This chart organizes some of the skills and strategies we teach by how much information they contain. The lowest block on the pyramid represents the whole text. wouldn't it be cool if we could remember every word? That would be the maximum amount of information about the text. But since we can't, we learn to look for and remember the important parts of the text.

The next block up (the purple one) represents summarizing. It's a little bit less information than the whole text.

The red block is for story elements (fiction) and text features (nonfiction). Noticing these things helps lead you to finding the main idea.

The orange block is for main idea, once again, a little bit different process depending on if you are reading fiction or nonfiction. It's helpful for students to see that the main idea block is smaller than the summary block. Soooo, stating the main idea should be fairly short and sweet while giving a summary is a little longer.

At the top of the pyramid is the topic which should only be one or two words. Here's what usually happens when I ask kids to tell me the topic of a text:

"Well, it's about birds and the different places they live and the things they like to eat...."

And this is when it's helpful to have this anchor chart around so I can point to the teeny tiny top of the pyramid as a reminder that it should only be 1 or 2 words.

"Oh yeah, the topic is birds."

Peek at a Week

Teaching reading comprehension skills and strategies really requires a "gradual release" approach. The techniques on this chart can be flexed to work with a basal reading program or instruction with trade books. If you are working with short texts your students may use a different book each day. If you are using a long text you could stick with the same text all week, just tackling a different part each day of the week. You can also do a combination of a basal reader and trade books.

Teacher Demonstration

Start with all of the heavy lifting being done by the teacher with a reading demonstration. This is where the teacher reads aloud and makes his/her thinking visible to students. This can be done with a combination of thinking aloud and recording thoughts on a graphic organizer. Obviously there are tons of things you could point out during a reading demonstration, but for clarity, stick with observations and thoughts that support the one strategy you are teaching.

Shared Practice

With shared reading, the teacher retains control but students begin to give some input. Depending on the age of your students, teacher read aloud, choral reading, or silent reading may be appropriate. Student input comes in when it's time to discuss the comprehension strategy and add ideas to a graphic organizer.

Guided Practice

At this point, students start to take more control of the process but with teacher guidance. Once again, choose an appropriate way for your students to read the text for the day. Then give each student a graphic organizer to work on. Help them get started as a group and the monitor their progress as they work on their own.

Independent Practice

Now all the responsibility is turned over to the students. They may read and complete a graphic organizer with a partner or on their own.

Independent practice can continue by having students complete the same graphic organizer for homework or in a reading center the next week.

A Resource to Get You Going

If you need graphic organizers to support your reading comprehension instruction, check out my collection:

Author: Hannah Braun

http://www.theclassroomkey.com

Hannah Braun is a former teacher with 8 years of experience in the classroom and a master's degree in early childhood education. She designs engaging, organized classroom resources for 1st-3rd grade teachers.

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Making Your Thinking Visible With Graphic Organizers

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Sharing is caring!Facebook21TwitterGoogle+5Pinterest95.7kFreebie! One of the keys to teaching reading comprehension is showing kids how proficient readers think about text. Teachers have to find a way to make their thinking visible. One way is with graphic organizers. Here is a free set: The first one is filled in with the steps...

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Some Strategies for teaching

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Adapted from Adler, C.R. (Ed). 2001. Put Reading First: The Research Building Blocks for Teaching Children to Read, pp. 49-54. National Institute for Literacy. Retrieved Nov. 1, 2007, from http://www.nifl.gov/partnershipforreading/publications/reading_first1text.html.

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Seven Strategies to Teach Students Text Comprehension

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Comprehension strategies are conscious plans - sets of steps that good readers use to make sense of text. Comprehension strategy instruction helps students become purposeful, active readers who are in control of their own reading comprehension. These seven strategies have research-based evidence for improving text comprehension.

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Examples of comprehension skills that can be taught and applied to all reading situations include:

Summarizing

Sequencing

Inferencing

Comparing and contrasting

Drawing conclusions

Self-questioning

Problem-solving

Relating background knowledge

Distinguishing between fact and opinion

Finding the main idea, important facts, and supporting details

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English language learners (ELLs) often have problems mastering science, math, or social studies concepts because they cannot comprehend the textbooks for these subjects. ELLs at all levels of English proficiency, and literacy, will benefit from explicit instruction of comprehension skills along with other skills.

Examples of comprehension skills that can be taught and applied to all reading situations include:

Summarizing

Sequencing

Inferencing

Comparing and contrasting

Drawing conclusions

Self-questioning

Problem-solving

Relating background knowledge

Distinguishing between fact and opinion

Finding the main idea, important facts, and supporting details

These skills are particularly important for comprehending what is generally known as information reading or expository reading.

For more information, see our related articles and classroom videos:

Why reading comprehension skills are particularly important for ELLs

ELL students will still need a lot of vocabulary development and teaching of comprehension strategies even if they:

have been mainstreamed after some bilingual instruction;

are being pulled out for English as a Second Language or Sheltered English instruction; and/or

have been assessed as English proficient but you know that they still need additional help with language, reading, and writing.

Here is a way of thinking about the support your ELLs will need:

Classroom strategies: Steps for explicitly teaching comprehension skills

The following steps are useful for all students. However, these need to be complemented with the additional steps below to ensure comprehension for ELLs.

Introduce the comprehension strategy or skill (see above list) through examples. Discuss how, when, where, and why the strategy or skills are used. For example: contrast main idea with details, fact with opinion, good summaries with poor summaries.

Have students volunteer additional examples to contrast and discuss.

Label, define, model, and explain the strategy or skill. For example, after listing four facts about a healthy diet and four opinions about what is good to eat, label one list as facts and the other list as opinions.

Give students opportunities to practice using the strategy with a peer as they apply it to a short, simple paragraph from a science text or any expository text.

Debrief with the whole class to ask students to share how they applied the strategy or skill.

Additional steps for ELLs

Identify vocabulary words that you think might be difficult for students to understand when they read the text. Write ELL-friendly definitions for each - that is, simple, brief definitions ELLs can easily understand.

Model think-alouds. For example: verbalize a confusing point or show how you use a strategy to comprehend something. "This sounds very confusing to me. I better read this sentence again."

Demonstrate fix-up strategies. For example: I need to think about this. Let me rethink what was happening. Maybe I'll reread this. I'll read ahead for a moment.

Partner ELLs with more dominant English speakers and ask each student to take a turn reading and thinking aloud with short passages.

After working with partners successfully, ask ELLs to practice independently by using a checklist such as the following. Be sure to explain all the terms and model each.
While I was reading, how did I do?

Celebrate each ELLs' progress with recognition notes, praise, and/or class applause.

For advanced ELLs

When students' English proficiency and basic reading skills have increased, you can teach the following steps not just to ELLs, but to all students - because everyone will benefit.

In pairs, have students survey the text and use an idea map to record the main idea and details.

Ask partners to read the text.

Have partners restate the main idea and supporting details. At this point, they can add to their idea map or make necessary corrections.

Then ask students to reread the text and either develop their own questions (pretending to prepare a test for their partner) or write a short summary of what they just read.

After that, have partners check each other's work.

Finally, partners can share their questions or summaries with other teams.

Other ideas

For building ELL comprehension

Teach students how to use these tools for informational or expository reading:

Ask students to use the following strategies to summarize (orally or in writing):

Retell what you read, but keep it short.

Include only important information.

Leave out less important details.

Use key words from the text.

Questioning ELLs after reading

After the ELLs and/or whole class have completed the reading comprehension activities above, you can anchor or test their comprehension with carefully crafted questions, taking care to use simple sentences and key vocabulary from the text they just read.

These questions can be at the:

Literal level (Why do the leaves turn red and yellow in the fall?)

Interpretive level (Why do you think it needs water?)

Applied level (How much water are you going to give it? Why?)

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Reading Comprehension Skills for English Language Learners

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English language learners (ELLs) often have problems mastering science, math, or social studies concepts because they cannot comprehend the textbooks for these subjects. ELLs at all levels of English proficiency, and literacy, will benefit from explicit instruction of comprehension skills along with other skills.