If you teach kindergarten through 2nd grade, you know that guided reading is an essential component of literacy instruction. The way I’ve conducted guided reading has changed over the years and some people aren’t fond of the term guided reading, but small-group reading instruction is essential in order to differentiate and meet your students’ needs in reading. Planning for guided reading used to be very time-consuming. I found myself trying to find resources from different places in order to fill the gaps my students had. And sometimes I'd plan a lesson, then notice something else my kids needed while reading, so I'd want to teach that skill but didn't have a resource on hand to help. So I created guided reading warm-ups to help get my kids’ brains ready for reading, remind them of important phonics skills and reading strategies, and have everything I needed for any necessary skills that popped up during small-group ... read more
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Stretching Words Out: Emergent Writing Strategy
It can be daunting for emergent writers to stretch out words, especially long words. Many of my kindergarten students are very artistic and can add details to their pictures, but when I ask them to add words, they sometimes hesitate or tell me they don't know how to, even if they do have some letter-sound knowledge. Writing Warm-Ups To get kids to see that they are able to write some words, I started doing writing "warm-ups" at the beginning of our independent writing sessions, and it has already helped many of my students become more risk-takers with spelling. First, kids need to understand what saying a word slowly is. If you tell a student to stretch out a word, they may not understand what you mean. However, if you remind them of Dory in Finding Nemo and show them a clip of her "speaking whale," they'll be sure to quickly learn how to say a word slowly (and they'll likely not want to stop)! Here's an adorable clip: Dory ... read more
ELEVATE Conference for Kindergarten to Second-grade teachers
Hey, teachers! It's almost the end of the year for most of you and I know you can almost taste the saltiness of the beach air and the sweetness of a piña colada! The summer is a time when you hopefully get to relax, let loose, and have fun! But, it's also a time when you can recharge your teaching passion and fill your teacher cup with new strategies to make next year a bit easier. So I wanted to let you know about an opportunity to do just that! Greg and Jason from The Kindergarten Smorgasboard are hosting an amazing virtual teaching conference this summer, ELEVATE 2022. Read for information on this must-attend event and enter at the bottom of this post for your chance to win a free ticket! What's included with the ELEVATE conference ticket? With your ticket (which you can grab here), you'll have 90-day access to all of the awesome content below, beginning on June 1st! Start with these 3 amazing keynote ... read more
How To Plan a Writing Celebration in Writing Workshop
You finished your writing unit and kids worked hard to plan, write, revise, and edit their stories. You worked hard conducting mini-lessons, conferencing, and guiding kids to become better writers. The writing unit is over and you're about to start a new genre. But, wait! Celebrate all of that hard work with a writing celebration! A writing celebration is not just a way to acknowledge the hard work that went into writing the current pieces, but it's also a way to remind kids of everything they learned, as well as motivate kids for the next genre (unless it's your EOY writing celebration)! Kids love to share and celebrate and knowing they'll partake in a culminating event helps to motivate them throughout the unit. What to include in your Writing celebration At the end of your writing unit, have an author's celebration, or publishing party. Each celebration can be different and they don't have to be complex. The basic ... read more
Discover New Mentor Texts for Your How-to Writing Unit
Procedural writing or "How-to" is one of my favorite units to teach during Writers' Workshop! There are so many fun ways to introduce the unit that will engage students. One of the best ways to help students during any writing unit, however, is the use of mentor texts. Mentor texts provide concrete examples of great writing and are motivating! Like I've said before, kids love to emulate authors they admire. In this post, I’ll share some great picture books to use as mentor texts for how-to writing in your classroom, along with a few mini-lesson ideas. This post includes affiliate links, which means I get a small percentage if you purchase through the links, at no cost to you. View my entire Amazon list of Mentor Texts for How-to Writing here. How to be a Cat by nikki mcclure The book is quite simplistic, only featuring one word per page. The story is about a young kitten who is learning how to be a cat. This is a ... read more
The best books for Teaching sequencing and retelling
Recently on my blog, I discussed the importance of teaching sequencing with teaching tips and activity ideas. One of my tips for teaching sequencing was to practice with simple texts. Texts that have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Today, I wanted to share 16 of my favorite books for teaching sequencing. When making this list, I tried to have a balance between relatively newer books and some classics that will most likely be in your school library. Missing from this list are Jan Brett (The Mitten) and Laura Numeroff (If You Give…) as their books are among the first that come to mind when thinking about sequencing books. You are most likely using these books for your sequencing lessons already as they are fantastic. I have a Sequencing and Story Retell Pack for Laura Numeroff Books in my shop. Some of Jan Brett's books, as well as many listed below, are included in my Sequencing and Story Retell Pop-ups and Pocket ... read more
Story Sequencing and Retelling With Pop-up Scenes
If you teach pre-K, kindergarten, or first grade, you know how important retelling a story is. Language, comprehension, story vocabulary....there are so many skills covered when students practice retelling! One of our favorite ways to retell stories was acting it out, whether using pieces on a pocket or with popsicle stick puppets. Both of these are always a lot of fun, BUT they take time to plan, make, and organize. Sooooo, I revolutionized the "worksheet" into . . . Story Sequence Pop-ups! These are All-in-One sequencing pages where kids can: Cut out the story piecesAct out the story with the backgroundRetell the storyGlue to sequence the events ALL ON ONE PAGE! Having everything on one page helps by: Saving spaceSaving paperLess confusing- sometimes kids have difficulty managing more than one pageMaking it more fun! Kids can pop-up the background for a built-in "puppet theater. Here's how the Story ... read more
6 Ways to Boost Students’ Confidence for Guided Reading
Some kids LOVE when they get called for guided reading. They may cheer, get their book baggie, and skip over to you with a smile. But, some kids dread it and drag their feet across the room to your table. If lack of confidence is the culprit for their lack of motivation, then you'll want to read this post. I'll share 6 ways to boost your students' confidence to get them ready for a great guided reading session! FOLLOW THE SAME ROUTINES AND EXPECTATIONS If students know what to expect during your guided reading session, they'll feel more confident about participating. Read this post for my warm-up routine and this one for the components of a guided reading lesson. START WITH A REREAD, OR EASY TEXT Sometimes students may give up easily when approaching a challenging text. Start by having them reread familiar text. They'll feel successful at reading and be more willing to take risks with difficult texts. They can ... read more
21 Ways to Motivate Kindergarten and First-Grade Students to Read
Do you have students who don't love to read? Most students in kindergarten and first grade love being read to and looking through pictures in books, but it may be a different story when they're asked to read. Reading is an important part of school and life, but not all kids love it. Luckily, there are some simple ways to get your kids excited about reading. Here are 21 of them! Make sure to comment with your own ideas as well. Create a Motivating Environment Library Grand Opening (or Re-opening)- Place crepe paper around your library and set a date for a grand opening. They will be bursting at the seams to get their little hands on those colorful, enticing books!Make library cards- In anticipation of your grand opening, give kids a template to create their own library cards. By the way, this is a great place to add rules for using the library, mmhmmm.Create a cozy, inviting reading corner in your classroom to make ... read more
Why and How to Teach Sequencing
I had so many questions after reading one of my student's stories: "I asked my mom if I could have cake and my sister got mad at me. Mom said it was ok so we had the cake. My dad got the cake for my mom." After questioning, I learned that Dad had bought a birthday cake for Mom and had planned to surprise her after dinner. When the girl asked for cake early, her sister was upset she'd ruined the surprise! Most kids can sequence things they do on a daily basis, but they have a harder time sequencing events in a story, and an even harder time organizing their thoughts with transition words. Similarly, when asked to retell stories, kids often leave out key events or tell them out of order. Sometimes, they'll get so confused they just shut down and say they can't remember. If kids don't learn how to sequence in a meaningful way, it will hinder their reading comprehension. So we need to teach sequencing in an explicit ... read more
Easy Assessments with ESGI
Teachers know assessment is key in planning instruction. BUT, it's not easy finding time to assess in your already-busy schedule. I used to sit with each of my students for such a long time, then have to manually input data, look at charts across screens or notes…all times the number of students I had. And if I wanted to group students to work on a particular skill, it took forever to go through all my notes. Sound familiar? When I came across ESGI, I wished I had known about it sooner. It was so easy to assess any skill I needed and saved me a whole lotta time. All of the data also came in super handy when planning interventions, writing report cards, and during RTI meetings. So I wanted to share this digital tool with you and give you a link to try it for free. WHAT IS ESGI? ESGI stands for Educational Software that Guides Instruction. It's an EASY digital assessment tool that gives you easy-to-read data and ... read more
Best Fiction & Non-fiction Books For Teaching About Winter Animals
In January, when the temperature drops and snow starts to fall, I begin teaching one of my favorite units: Animals in Winter. I designed my own non-fiction unit that covers hibernation, adaptation, migration, camouflage, and more! You can read all about it here. Many teachers also begin this unit in January so I wanted to share some fiction and nonfiction winter animal books that are perfect for this study. I love to start a unit with a non-fiction book first so students gain some background knowledge, including important vocabulary. After reading these once through, I often go back to reference certain pages as we learn about each adaptation. Pairing a fiction book with a non-fiction book is great because you can teach students that we can find true facts in fiction books. We point out elements that are true and those that are fantasy. It really encourages questioning when reading, which is such an important skill. When we ... read more