Monday, June 30, 2014

The Next Step in Guided Reading - Chapter 3

Hey friends!  Today we look at Chapter 3!  Our host with a freebie this week is Mrs. P's Specialties!



1.  What part of the reading caught your attention?  Maybe it's something you never thought about.  Maybe it's something that you've been trying to get a grip on.  Maybe it's something that you've never heard quite they way it was put.

I loved this chapter because it felt like the authors were really starting to get into the meat of what a guided reading lesson looks like.  I love the structure of the lesson plans that they suggest.  Even though most students are beyond the Pre-A level in first grade, some years I always get at least a couple that fall into that category.  It's really helpful to have a guide on what to do with those students.  I also love the Interactive Writing segment.  I honestly have never done much writing in guided reading because I always focus so much on the reading.  This is something I definitely want to incorporate this coming year.   

I also noticed that the author mentioned not doing 1:1 matching once you get to Level C.  Oops!  I've definitely done 1:1 matching with almost every group.  I can see why she wants to discourage it because it kind of gets in the way of fluency.  It makes their reading more choppy!

Did anyone else notice that it said NOT to read the book chorally?  That's how I've always done it!  As I think about it, I like the idea of having them read it independently first so that they can practice those strategies and figure things out on their own (since that's how they'll usually read anyways!).

2.  How do you already incorporate this into your guided reading routine?  There's probably at least some part of the chapter that you're already doing!  Tell us about it!

I have already been doing the Introduction of the New Book, Text Reading with Prompting, Teaching Points After Reading, and a short phonics practice.  I've never really liked what I've done with phonics during guided reading, so I'll definitely be changing that up as well.


3.  What is something new you want to try next school year?  How do you want to make your guided reading time better or what new things do you want to try?

Next year I want to be more intentional with the text I select for the students.  In Chapter 3 it talked about choosing books with sight words that the students know.  It also said to have a new sight word in the book to teach.  I normally just pick a book at their level and go with it.  Time to get a little more selective!

I've honestly never done much with cross-checking, either.  Sure, I talk about it here and there when appropriate.  But she really emphasizes being able to cross-check before they get to Level D.

4.  What are some resources that you ALREADY HAVE that you can use to teach what you read about in this chapter/section?

Our school is starting to build a guided reading library, which is fabulous!  I hope they continue to add more books to it in the future.  I also have plenty of whiteboards, pointers, and magnetic letters.

5.  What are some NEW resources that you want to get or try to use to teach what you read about in this chapter/section?

I need to make some little guided writing books for the end of each lesson.  Fortunately, all I need to do is staple some paper together OR grab some little cheap notebooks when the Back to School Sales appear!  ;)

Make sure you check out everyone else's blog posts on Chapter 3!




Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Next Step in Guided Reading - Chapter 2

I'm totally a day late with this, and I truly apologize.  My son's birthday party is Saturday and yesterday I was running around like a mad woman trying to gather everything!  I spent 2 hours mulching the front yard and finished just minutes before a big storm hit.  Then our power was knocked out last night for a little bit due to the crazy storms.  Tis the season, right?  ;)


This week's host is Jennifer Tice at Rowdy in First Grade.  Be sure to stop by her blog to see her thoughts and grab a freebie!  :)


So Chapter 2!  What did you guys think?  This chapter talked about assessment, which is something we all HAVE to do.  A lot of what we do is district mandated, but I add in a few things of my own to give me a better picture of my students.

1.  What part of the reading caught your attention?  Maybe it's something you never thought about.  Maybe it's something that you've been trying to get a grip on.  Maybe it's something that you've never heard quite they way it was put.

The biggest thing that stood out to me was using dictation sentences to assess a child.  I have done every other assessment part that was suggested, but I have honestly not taken the time to use dictation sentences.  Maybe I'm the only one.  If that's the case, I am a little embarrassed, haha.  I definitely plan on doing this next school year.  I really see the importance of it and how it can tell you so much!  I also liked reading how to analyze their reading strategies.  

2.  How do you already incorporate this into your guided reading routine?  There's probably at least some part of the chapter that you're already doing!  Tell us about it!

The first couple weeks of school, all I do is assess!  It's annoying and frustrating at times, but I truly love it.  I love getting that picture of each child and learning about how they read.  I use SEVERAL assessments to help me determine how to group my students.  I use:

          -Reading Street Baseline Test



          -Fountas and Pinnell Guided Reading Leveling System



          -AIMSWeb


          -Fluency check

From this information, I compile a color-coded list to see how each student ranks and where they fall in their overall reading capabilities. 

3.  What is something new you want to try next school year?  How do you want to make your guided reading time better or what new things do you want to try?

I think this year I'm going to come up with some dictation sentences to add to the mix!  I might have to work on a new product.  ;)

4.  What are some resources that you ALREADY HAVE that you can use to teach what you read about in this chapter/section?

Fortunately, we already kind of have all of the items I listed above.  


5.  What are some NEW resources that you want to get or try to use to teach what you read about in this chapter/section?

I really need to find some fluency passages to use at the beginning of the year.  Our reading program doesn't have them, which I understand because they're still pretty young and don't have a lot of skills to be able to read a passage.  But I like seeing their progress and monitoring how they do.  I don't give a grade for them or anything, it's more just for my knowledge.  I've been pulling random passages from AIMSWeb and some other sources, but I just don't like them.  :)

What did you think about Chapter 2?  Were you able to reflect a little more on what you should be looking for from each assessment?  I know I did!  :)

Monday, June 16, 2014

Next Steps in Guided Reading - Chapter 1

Today is Day #1 for our book study on The Next Step In Guided Reading...!




There are a few of us who are teaming up with Teaching with Grace to bring you some food for thought and some GOODIES in your journey with guided reading!

Did you get a chance to read chapter one?  I read it yesterday and it was a quick read!  It made me realize that I seriously don't take enough time to get my kids used to centers.  Guilty, right here!  I usually try to introduce everything and make them jump right in within two weeks so that I can get my guided reading groups going.  It's seriously going to take much more time to get my kids established so that I don't have to worry about them in the long run.  

Last time I posted I came up with 5 questions for each chapter.  Here are my thoughts and I invite you to answer the same questions by posting either in the comments or on your own blog. 

I came up with 5 basic questions for each week's reading:

1.  What part of the reading caught your attention?  Maybe it's something you never thought about.  Maybe it's something that you've been trying to get a grip on.  Maybe it's something that you've never heard quite they way it was put.

What caught my attention in this chapter was the different ways to group students.  I am also guilty of keeping my kids in their groups based on their guided reading level.  It was just always easier to keep them in the same groups so they could rotate through everything.  I think this year I'm going to give each student their own individual schedule to follow for the week.  It might take a LOT of time up front to create them, but I think it will be worth it!  I'll share a view of what I do in the fall once I create it.  I'm actually kind of excited about them!

2.  How do you already incorporate this into your guided reading routine?  There's probably at least some part of the chapter that you're already doing!  Tell us about it!

I have been using The Daily 5 as my centers during guided reading.  It has worked well for the past 3 years!  It has definitely made for easy planning where centers are concerned!

3.  What is something new you want to try next school year?  How do you want to make your guided reading time better or what new things do you want to try?

Next year I'm going to add computers (I'm going to purchase a subscription to RAZ Kids) and a fluency center.  I'm also going to spend the suggested 5-6 weeks to introduce centers to make sure that they are completely independent before starting my reading groups.

4.  What are some resources that you ALREADY HAVE that you can use to teach what you read about in this chapter/section?

I already have my Word Work centers created, printed, and in baggies ready to go for the year!  If you need Word Work suggestions, check out my TPT shop for what I use.  It's 10 centers that stay the same for the entire year...the phonics skills are the only things that change!  It is WONDERFUL because I don't have to waste time explaining them every week!  I have a free Short A set if you'd like to try it!

5.  What are some NEW resources that you want to get or try to use to teach what you read about in this chapter/section?

I need to find some easy centers for the students to use as I'm teaching the literacy centers throughout the first 6 weeks.  Anyone have any suggestions?  I'm going to set out a tub of blocks, a box of books, and some clay.  I wonder if there's anything else out there that might have a little more substance to it that they could handle?  Hmmm.  

So what about you?  What are your thoughts after reading Chapter 1?  I'm excited to keep digging into this book with you!


Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Let's Talk About Books! Linky PLUS a Book Study!

Hey friends!

Let me catch my breath. *BREATHE*

Ahhhhh...sweet summer, how I have longed for you and missed you!!!!!

We finished a week ago today and I couldn't be more excited!  I've gotten the chance to celebrate some family birthdays, clean house, read, sleep, work out, and just BE.  Summer is so revitalizing and rejuvenating!

I'm joining up with Deanna Jump today for her "Let's Talk About Books!" linky!  As a teacher who LOVES reading, books are just my absolute favorite.  I love going to the library or a bookstore and just perusing for hours upon hours.  I sure hope my children inherit my love of reading!


I have 2 books I want to share with you today.  Maybe you've heard of them, maybe you haven't.

The first book is called, Exclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  It's about an exclamation mark who learns that being different from others can be exciting!  It's a great way to tie in punctuation with a deeper meaning.  It's such a fabulous little book!


The next 2 books are books that I got from a little bookshop in Oxford, MS.  I just did a search for them on the Internet and there aren't a whole lot of options.  But it looks like they are available from different sellers on Amazon.  I'm telling you, if you are up to trying to order from them, DO IT!  They actually look pretty cheap, even for new ones!  These are the funniest books I've ever read!  I think I laugh more than my students.  They're both from the "Bang on the Door" series.  The two I have are called, The Story of Pea Brain and The Story of Slug.  Both are written by Jackie Robb.  There are also other titles including, The Story of Armadillo, The Story of Cat, and The Story of Plankton.  There are so many of these books!  I wish I would've bought all of them when I lived down there.  I'm going to make it my mission to order all of them!  These are great little read-alouds for a day when you just need to laugh and take a break.  They would also be great mentor texts for writing humorous stories!



Now, if you're wanting a recommendation on a professional read, I recommend The Next Step in Guided Reading by Jan Richardson.  This book is for teachers K-8.  I just ordered it off Amazon and it arrived today!  



Guided reading is always one of those things that I feel I could get better at.  Maybe it's because of the number of groups that you have to plan for.  Maybe it's because of the wide range of skills that you need to cover within your classroom small groups.  Whatever it is, I'm always looking for ways to improve my guided reading groups.  I asked around on my Facebook page and my Instagram to see if there would be any interest in having a book study for this book.  I had a few responses from people who were all about it, so I decided to jump in and go for it.  I'm always a fan of Amazon, so that's where I would suggest to get the book.  If you have Prime (it's soooo worth it!), it will arrive on your doorstep in 2 days.  

So here's how this little book study will work.  I'm actually teaming up with Teaching with Grace to do this.  We're still ironing out the details, but our study will start on Monday! 

I came up with 5 basic questions for each week's reading:

1.  What part of the reading caught your attention?  Maybe it's something you never thought about.  Maybe it's something that you've been trying to get a grip on.  Maybe it's something that you've never heard quite they way it was put.

2.  How do you already incorporate this into your guided reading routine?  There's probably at least some part of the chapter that you're already doing!  Tell us about it!

3.  What is something new you want to try next school year?  How do you want to make your guided reading time better or what new things do you want to try?

4.  What are some resources that you ALREADY HAVE that you can use to teach what you read about in this chapter/section?

5.  What are some NEW resources that you want to get or try to use to teach what you read about in this chapter/section?

I think this will be fun!  I always love learning from other people, so I think it will be great to have discussions to see how we are each doing guided reading!  It might spark some ideas!  It will be great to have some different perspectives from teachers across grade levels.  :)  Are you ready???  I know I am!  See you next Thursday for our first discussion over the Intro and Chapter 1!

COMMENT BELOW TO LET ME KNOW IF YOU'RE IN!