Showing posts with label readers' workshop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label readers' workshop. Show all posts
I LOVE a good anchor chart.  If you've spent any time in this little space, you know that!  I especially love making anchor charts stand out for kids so they can easily find what they need.

I love adding more visuals, and using unusual shapes, colors, or designs to help my littles find them in the room and actually use them!

Reading anchor charts are different for me because I have some that are whole group charts and some that I make as "mini" anchor charts and store in my guided reading folder for that group and just get out for that group during small group instruction.

Here's a look at some of my favorite reading anchor charts.

Building Great Readers

At the beginning of the year, it's important to set the expectations for read to self time and how readers will "behave" in our classrooms during the year!

I love talking about our reading stamina!  This takes up the first few weeks of our reading time as we are practicing learning to read to ourselves quietly.  We use this chart to not only talk about appropriate reading behavior, but also to set a beginning of the year goal for read to self time.

You can see on this chart that we were only up to 5 minutes of read to self time at this point.  I usually start with 1 or 2 minutes depending on my class and we increase 1-2 minutes each day.  I set my timer and they read.  If I see any "stamina breakers," we stop, come to the carpet, talk about it, and return to our reading spots to try again.  We get two tries to be able to color in our stamina chart and meet our minutes goal for the day!  They love this challenge and it's super easy to refer to throughout the year!

This anchor chart sits in our classroom library and is one we make at the beginning of the year as we learn how to take care of our books!

Fiction Anchor Charts

This chart is an oldie, but goodie.  I make it every year and we use it all. year. long.  I love drawing it with my kids, but you can get it premade here!

Later in the year, we talk about character feelings and how they change.  And we talk about all of the ways characters change throughout a story.  You can read more about how we use this anchor chart in our lesson with the book, When Sophie Gets Angry, here in this post.


Fiction stories are also great places to look for adjectives in the books.  We use this chart when we are beginning to talk about character traits and describing characters in stories!  Of course, this chart is also helpful in writing...as many of these reading charts eventually are, but it's a great one to start with in reading! You can find a template for this chart here.


Non-Fiction Anchor Charts

My favorite non-fiction reading charts are our shared research charts. These are so fun to make and I love them because we use them in reading, in science/social studies, and then in writing!  In reading, we use these charts to record facts about the person or topic we are learning about.  I love making these charts into fun shapes that help the kids remember who or what the chart was about!  You can read more about this lesson here.


During the second half of the year, we start talking about facts and opinions and read non-fiction books to look for how authors write both opinion and fact sentences in their non-fiction books sometimes!

Soon, we talk more about the kinds of facts authors include and chart interesting and important facts.  As we read our texts, we recall facts and decide if they are important (must include) or interesting (fun to include) and list those together.  Read more about this activity in this post.

What are some of your go-to reading anchor charts?
During our animals unit, we have been talking a lot about "inferring" and how good readers infer while they read.  Since we usually do our animals unit in the fall, I use two of my favorite Halloween themed poems to practice our inferring skills together!

We made this anchor chart together...

Then, we practiced inferring with our poems.  We read a new poem each week using these routines {You can find my K-2 Poetry Pack HERE with all of my 40+ poems I use, literacy station materials for each, and focus lesson ideas}.
Poem of the Week for Shared Reading BUNDLE!

The two poems I choose for inferring over two weeks were Halloween and Who Am I?  Each of these are perfect for around Halloween time.  In each poem they had to infer what they author was talking about and then give evidence from the text to support their inference...totally Common Core stuff right there!  And, these firsties were fantastic!  

You can see in this poem below where they highlighted the details from the text to support their inferences.  And then illustrated their inferences in the margins.

I even had a first grader argue that the "vampire" costume was a cat, and site compelling evidence from the text to support her inference.  In fact, she was so compelling, that she had quite a following of agree-ers after she finished her argument! :)

As an extension to this poem, I have kids think about their halloween costume and tell or write a clue about their costume to share with their carpet partner and have their partner try to infer their own costume!

We LOVE inferring games in first grade!
Language Stations are perfect for kindergarten!  In these centers, kinders practice many of the language skills from the Common Core Standards.  What activities work best for this station?  And how do we set them up?

We're talking all things Kindergarten Language Stations today!

Setting Up The Language Station

I keep set up for this station super simple.  This station can easily be stored in a tub for students to grab & go to their desk or an assigned spot in the room.  I love mobile, grab & go stations because they are flexible in location... and let's face it: there's not a lot of room for extra "center tables" and such!

If you have a "stationary" spot for the center, just post the I Can signs there.  They are available in full color or black and white to print on colored paper.  If you are using a Grab & Go Station Tub, post them on the front of the tub.  
   

As far as what you'll need to keep in the Grab & Go station tub.  For the four activities, you'll need:
  • I Can Poster for each activity (I change it out with one activity each time)
  • Plastic folder with brads with clear page protectors
  • crayons
  • pencils
  • dry erase marker
  • activity printables, laminated
  • recording pages
For the language station tub below, I have the supplies for the handwriting activity and I printed the I can poster 1/4 it's size.  Watch this free video to see how to do it.


Handwriting Language Station

In this station, kinders practice letter formation while learning vocabulary words on a themed topic.

They use the dry erase marker to trace the words.  I just put the printed pages inside the page protectors in the folder with brads.  Don't forget to have the erase the page before turning to the next page! :)

Then, they will trace the words again and color the pictures.  This is a sample from the September station... during the second semester of kinder, the recording page has lines only and the kids copy the vocabulary word with the picture instead of tracing.

Opposites Language Station

In this station, kinders use the picture cards (with the words in small print) to match up opposite pairs.  Their are 10 antonym pairs.

First, they find a match.

Then, they record it on their recording page.

Have early finishers?  Have them turn over the opposite cards and play a memory game with their partner or alone...trying to find opposite pairs that match!

Things That Belong Station

During this activity, kinders match themed cards with things that go together.

First, the kids find a match of things that belong and tell their partner why they belong together.

Then, they record the pictures on the recording page.

During the 2nd semester, this activity becomes a noun and verb sort as the language skills increase for kindergarteners!

Have early finishers?  Have them turn over the puzzle cards and play a memory game with their partner or alone...trying to find pairs that belong together!

Category Puzzles

In this station, students put together puzzle pieces of things in the same category: school supplies, math tools, school lunch, etc...  Then, they record the items in the category boxes on the recording page.  There are 8 category puzzles!

Each month of language centers has one of each of these 4 activities and they progressively get harder throughout the year.  Try out one of the activities for FREE here.  And find the bundle of language centers here!


Do you do use decodable sentences in your primary classroom?  This is one of my favorite ways to reinforce fluency and language skills for all primary kiddos, especially ELLS, in productive group work, literacy stations or centers, and in reading groups.   Plus, it's aligned with the science of reading! 

Here is the routine for how I used these decodable sentence puzzles in my first grade classroom.

How Do We Do Decodable Sentence Puzzles?

The goal of decodable sentence puzzles is simple: Read to put words in order to make a complete sentence.

The first thing I always have kids do is read each of the words to practice fluency.  We do this together if we are using it in a small group or whole group.  Or they read them on their own if they are doing in in literacy stations or group work.

Next, kids simply order the words to make a sentence.


Last, I ask kids to reread the sentence to self-check.  This forces them to read for comprehension and gives ELL kids an opportunity to hear our language structure.


Once they have checked their sentence, they record it on our recording sheet for group work or literacy stations.

In productive groups, I love doing a carousel activity with these.  Where we choose "on grade level puzzles" and put a different puzzle at each station.  Then groups of 2-4 kids rotate through each station for 2 minutes each and order the puzzles and record them on their recording sheet.  Anything where we are up moving around and practicing literacy skills is a win! :)

Why Do We Do Decodable Sentence Puzzles?

With this one activity I can reach all of my kiddos:
-My good readers who need to practice fluency with high frequency and decodable words.
-My readers who struggle comprehending as they read
-My ELL sweethearts who struggle with our language structure and need practice with grammar and syntax.


On top of sentence puzzles challenging all of my kids academically, it's also engaging for kids.

Whether it is a reinforcement or review activity or a language sequencing exercise, my kiddos LOVE these puzzles!  They are engaging, they are fun and they are easy to self-check!

But what about those emerging and non-readers?  Level A and B sentence puzzles are the same patterned sentence for each level.  So that kids can just practice concepts of print (think: What is a word? What is a sentence? Where is the beginning and end?), one-to-one correspondence, and language and oral comprehension skills.


You can do your own sentence puzzles using index cards or Magnetiles, which you can read about in an upcoming blog post...or you can snag this pre-made differentiated packet of decodable sentence puzzles that are leveled, color-coded and ready to go here!

"Close reading for first graders?...Are you crazy?!?!?!"

That was my reaction when the district I was in talked to us about a K-12 initiative to do close readings in the classroom.

"I have kids who can't read a full sentence, and you want them to read quietly to themselves and annotate their thoughts? What planet are you from?"

And after the initial shock finished running through my body, our team settled down {somewhat} and got to work.  NOW...you should know that the way a close read is supposed to go is NOT how we did it in our room.  In fact, our team feels that a close read "by the books" is not developmentally appropriate for our first graders.  But, I have modified and adjusted it over the years...maybe so much that it's really not a close read anymore, but it works for my kids and helped me see success and growth in reading through close reading in first grade.

Step 1: Silent Sight Word Search

The first thing I do is pass out the passage and give my first graders 2 minutes to look for and circle sight words they know or that are on our word wall.  I'm going to use a non-fiction passage from our animals unit we did a while back for our example, but I've done this with fiction too!

I differentiate this step through the year.  At the beginning of the year (or if I have a lower group of kids), I may read the passage aloud to them first before passing out the passage, just to give them some context and comprehension for the passage.  Many times when I do this first, I will put the passage up on our Promethean Board and read it aloud once.  Then, we will read it aloud together twice.  And then I send them back to their desk to circle sight words.


Step 2: Highlight Key Details

Once students have sight words circled, we read the passage together again.  Later in the year, this may be the first time we've read it together as a class because we don't read it before they circle sight words at that point...they just read it independently and/or scan for sight words.

Before we read it together this time, I ask them to listen for the important details--the key details--in the passage {for non-fiction...they could listen for important events for fiction}.

After we choral read together, I ask, "What are some of the important details we learned about muscles from this passage?"  Then, we do a think-pair-share at their table and then they share out key details.  After each detail, I have my firsties point to the place in the text where their friend found that key detail.  This is to reinforce the idea that our research come from the text. Then, we highlight the details in green.  Not a whole sentence, just the key detail phrase.  As they highlight, I highlight on my model passage on the ELMO and then add the key detail to our anchor chart on muscles for our shared research/writing.

Step 3: Sight Words and Questions

This last step depends on the time of year.  At the beginning of the year (or with lower readers), I ask them to go back and reread with their shoulder buddy at their desk or independently and finish circling any sight words they missed and illustrate the details from the text.
Later in the year (or with higher groups in guided reading), I will have them think of a question they still have about the topic we read about and write it on a sticky note or at the bottom of the passage.

I have several non-fiction passages in each of my Science and Social Studies units that go along with those topics that I use for close reads in first grade.  And also, my Rock That Read Passages are great to start off with close reading and then end with comprehension questions to extend the passages even more!

So, no, I don't follow the ideal model of a close read....don't call the literacy police on me!  But, it actually has worked beautifully for my first graders.  I think I've finally found a way to make this work in first grade!

I hope you are enjoying this study as much as I am!  I am learning SO MUCH.  If you've missed this book study, you can catch up with these links!
Getting Started
Goals 1 & 2: Emergent Reading and Engagment
Goals 3 & 4: Decoding and Fluency
Goals 5 & 6: Plot and Characters

Today, let's talk about THEME and MAIN IDEA.
Which are basically the same thing.

Except they're not.

While both are about the reader determining big ideas, the reader has to do them in different ways for fiction (theme) and non-fiction (main idea).

Goal 7: Finding Theme in Fiction

I'm embarrassed to admit I was not great at teaching theme in first grade until the Common Core standards were released.  Our district used the suggested Common Core Units and one of them was on fables and life lessons.

Once I jumped in a learned how to teach life lessons, I fell in love with theme!  I love the quote from Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis (2000) from the book...

"We are likely to feel theme in our gut!"

I loved using literature to teach important life lessons to my firsties through theme.  Here are my favorite strategies from the book.

Strategy 7.2: The Difference Between Plot and Theme

I've had so many moments just like this one when reading this book....WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT???

I loved the T-chart example she had in the book and the idea of jotting down the main plot points and what the big idea is about it!

This would be a great scaffold for struggling kiddos.  When it's hard to think about the whole story, we can break it down into the important plot points and just think about the theme for that part!

Strategy 7.7: Mistakes Can Lead to Lessons

This is what we used for our Life Lessons fables units.  But, I didn't use this exact language and I LOVE using the word mistake.  I feel like that is the perfect word for helping kiddos hone in on what went wrong and how that character might fix that behavior next time.  In fables, this is the perfect lead in to their theme or moral.

I prompted my kiddos with, "What lesson can we learn from this story?"  And that worked well for many kids.

But I think her prompt of, "What mistake did the character make? What lesson can we learn from his/her mistake?" gives easier access for ALL kids!  Love this idea!

Goal 8: Finding Main Idea in Non-Fiction

I don't know about you, but I find that teaching main idea in non-fiction is easier than theme in fiction in first grade.  I just think the first grade non-fiction books make the main ideas more obvious that others.  So, I love diving into non-fiction early to help my firsties understand main idea during our animals unit and then transferring that understanding to fiction later when we study fables.

Strategy 8.11: Add Up Facts To Determine Main Idea

This describes a strategy for readers on levels M-Z, which is clearly NOT the majority of our first grade readers! :)  BUT, I chose this strategy because it is very similar to one of the most popular main idea games we do in first grade.

In the strategy in the book, readers list similar facts and then look over them again more closely so that they can determine a main idea.

In first grade, I differentiated this strategy for Main Topics.  I made 6 bags of details that connected to our animals unit we were learning about or just the time of year.  Each bag represented a Main Topic with the details inside.

You can read more of the details of how this worked in this blog post and find the FREEBIE in that post.  But essentially, my firsties worked in groups to add up the details from a bag and determine a main topic.  It's engaging, it's group work, it's hands on, and was always a first grade favorite in my room!


This summer, I've been doing a book study on Jennifer Serravallo's book, The Reading Strategies Book, lead by Crystal from Teaching Little Miracles.

If you've missed this book study, you can catch up with these links!
Getting Started
Goals 1 & 2: Emergent Reading and Engagment
Goals 3 & 4: Decoding and Fluency

Today, we are talking about Reading Comprehension....the end goal for our sweet readers!  Let's dive in!!  And read all the way through to catch a FREEBIE!
{affiliate links are included in this post}

Goal 5: Supporting Comprehension in Fiction: Plot and Setting


At the end of the day, we read as adults because we understand and enjoy what we are reading.  So, we want that for our kiddos too!  For me, comprehension has always been a struggle.  I am that reader who reads and rereads the same paragraph 3-4 times so I can understand it.  And I naturally pick easy fiction reads as an adult that I don't have to "think" too much about.  I know all the skills, but it's just something I didn't completely learn well until I started taking education classes as an adult.

So, that influenced me as a teacher.  I want my own kiddo and my firsties to understand what they are reading!  Here's a look at some of my favorite strategies from the plot and setting section of fiction comprehension.

Strategy 5.3: What's Most Essential

This is one of my go-to comprehension strategies in first grade!  In this strategy, kids tell the characters and setting and then summarize the beginning the middle and the end.  I usually use these graphic organizers from my guided reading packet, but I also love Serravallo's foldable she used too!

What I love most about BME graphic organizers is they are the perfect scaffold for both sides of the spectrum.  I love the ease of differentiation with just one tool!

When I have kids that do not comprehend well, this organizer helps give them focus and order to retelling the story.

And when I have kids that comprehend so well that they want to give me every little detail in the story, this organizer helps them lock down on 3 major events from the story.  It gives them a way to think about the most important parts and filter out the supporting details.

Strategy 5.9: Who's Speaking

In this strategy, readers "try to have a mental picture of the people in the scene to keep track of who is speaking."  After all, if you can't figure out who saying what, you can't understand the story!  I have used this strategy in whole group reading before during our Wizard of Oz reading unit.  You can read about the "Who Said That?" whole group game we play in this blog post.

But I have not used this strategy much in guided reading--I have no idea why!!  In our Wizard of Oz game, we connected it to character traits and inferring.  But in guided reading, Serravallo suggests connecting this to comprehension of the plot--which I LOVE!

I loved the way she color coded the dialogue for the characters!

Goal 6: Supporting Comprehension in Fiction: Characters


Serravallo says,

"Underneath the umbrella of 'fiction comprehension,' I consider plot and setting to be first...and character to be a very close second."

In general, I think first grade teachers do a great job of identifying characters and a not-so-great job of understanding characters. #raisingmyhandtoo  In my mind, it's very easy for me to brush that aside for older grades to take care of.

But we have to work hard to teach both of these aspects of characters along side each other....just like we teach visual and meaning cues together in decoding.  Here are my favorite strategies from this section.

Strategy 6.3: Put On The Character's Face

In this strategy, kids look at the pictures and think about the words to infer the character's feeling as they read.  I loved the real picture chart of kid faces for each emotions!

As I was reading this strategy, I was trying to visualize what this could look like in guided reading.  For my firsties, I think it would be super engaging to have some mirrors (this is the one shown in the picture) at the reading table.  I could have 2-3 pre-determined spots to stop and check on character feeling.  We would have sticky notes in those spots.  Then, at each spot, the readers would stop, think about the text and pictures, infer the character feeling and then put on the character's face with the mirror!  How fun is that??

Strategy 6.1: How's the Character Feeling?

This strategy goes hand in hand with the other strategy, but I love that it extends the concept into text evidence.  In this strategy, students  make sure they "care about how the characters feel, talk, act and think."  They imagine themselves to be "in the same situation and think about how we felt or would feel."

What I love most about this strategy besides the extension is the scaffolds she gives.  She gives our little readers categories and questions to answer about the character and his/her traits during reading time so that they can make a better inference on how the character feels.

I made a character feelings organizer FREEBIE for this strategy to add to the other organizers in my guided reading packet.






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