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!

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!

Commas and Top Ten Things I Want to Do This Summer

Happy Memorial Day!  I hope you've RELAXED today!  If you're done with school, I'm insanely jealous.  If you aren't, hang in there!  We got this!  Not too much longer.  We finish school Tuesday, June 3rd.  Only 4 days this week (including field day on Thursday!) and 2 days next week?  No problem!  I tell you what, this weekend has me ITCHING for summer!  The weather has been completely fabulous.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE summer.  I like hot weather, thunderstorms, shorts and t-shirts, the pool, popsicles and ice cream, grilling out, and just going at my own pace.  I think I need to retire on an island somewhere.

The last couple of weeks we have been focusing on commas in a series and commas in dates.  I modeled and did mini-lessons for a couple days, but then I realized it was going to take much more than that.  So I whipped up 4 little centers to help my students solidify their understanding of commas.  This little pack is in my TPT shop for $2.50.  My students LOVED them.  Seriously, I haven't seen them so excited and determined with something in a while.  I think just changing things up helps with my firsties.  :)

Now I'm linking up with Deanna Jump to talk about SUMMER!!!!

1.  Read Teach Like a Pirate.  I've heard so much about it, so it's in my Amazon cart!

2.  Keep hydrated!  Lots of water and lots of Sparkling Ice Lemonade.  Have you ever tried this stuff?  It's amazing!!!

3.  Grow herbs and cook with them!  This was actually my weekend project.  I found the box and chalkboard sticks at Hobby Lobby!  I don't cook and I'm not great at growing things, so this is a huge task for me.

4.  Learn to grill.  I LOVE grilled chicken and veggies, but I always leave it up to my husband to do all the grilling.  I think it's time I learn.

5.  KEEP MY FLOWERS ALIVE.  I get lazy with the watering.  I went through 2 sets of ferns last year because I let the first set die.  I'm determined not to waste any more money and to have my yard looking great this summer!

6.  I really want to spend more time enjoying the outdoors.  After the long, cold winter we had, it's made me appreciate the warmer temps!  I'm hoping to sit outside and drink my coffee at least one morning a week.

7.  Get in the Word more!  Studying the Bible refreshes me so much and I need major refreshment after this year!  Every summer I host a Bible study for teachers at my school.  This year we are going to do Missing Pieces by Jennifer Rothschild.  I'm soooo excited.  This is always one of the best parts of each summer!

8.  Get ready for VEGAS!  I'm presenting at I Teach 1st in Vegas this summer and I have a lot to prepare!  My husband and I are flying out for a mini-vacation sans kids.  I'm reallllly nervous about leaving them, but I know it will be just fine and lots of fun.  I'm looking forward to learning a lot at I Teach 1st and the TPT conference.

9.  WORKOUT.  I LOVE to workout.  I haven't devoted the time to it that I normally do with having had my son in November and trying to make it through this hectic school year.  This is a HUGE priority for me this summer!

10.  Spend time with these guys.  The loves of my life.  My two boys.  Nothing more precious.  :)  And Rowan will be THREE in a few weeks!  We have a fun farm-themed party for that boy.

There's a lot more I hope to accomplish over the next few months (including lots of additions and updates to my TPT store!), but I think those are the highlights.  Here's to summer!!!!

Bright Ideas Blog Hop - Informational Writing Bracelets

I just love this blog link-up!  It is my absolute favorite.  It makes me want to go in and start completely revamping my classroom from the inside out.

I'm SO excited to share this idea with you.  I love it, my kids love it, and the biggest thing is that it HELPS THEM WRITE!  We've been working on writing informational books lately.  Getting first graders to give lots of details is sometimes a struggle.  They aren't quite sure what all to write about.  Although we read lots of mentor texts, share the pen, and use graphic organizers to plan our writing, some of them still can't quite understand what they need to do.  I came up with a quick little reminder for them when they sit down to write.  This is really going to help them at the end of the year on their end-of-year writing assessment!

I give you...

Informational Writing Bracelets!

Supplies Needed:

-Black pipe cleaners
-Pony beads in the following colors: green, white, orange, brown, blue, yellow, and red
-Scissors

Each color bead represents a different sentence that goes into their paragraph/book.  In the end, the students end up with 7 sentences!  It's just a quick and simple reminder of the information they need to include.

We created an anchor chart to help the students learn to remember what each color bead stands for.  I have it hanging in our room so they can easily refer to it if they need a quick reminder.

It's such an easy thing to put together and use!  I got all of the supplies at Hobby Lobby.  I distribute them at the beginning of each writer's workshop and then collect them when we are done.  The kids want to take them home so badly, but I know I'll never see them again.  ;)  They'll be so excited when I send them home at the end of the year!

Let me know if you end up trying this and how it works out for your students!  :)

If you enjoyed this bright idea, consider following me on Facebook and Instagram!

For more bright ideas, click on any of the links below.  Thanks for visiting!  :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Informational Writing and the Debut of My Guided Reading Binder!

Tomorrow is FRIDAY!  Hallelujah!

This week we've been working on our informational writing.  I am LOVING this unit, and so are my kiddos!  We've spent all week exploring features of informational text and diving into the world of nonfiction.  They are so excited to start writing their books!  Getting my firsties to understand that an informational book is more than just a couple sentences is pretty tough.  So we made a web/bubble map.  It is the start of a 5-sentence paragraph!  They put their topic in the middle and then 5 facts about it in the different extending bubbles.

My girls are writing all about puppies, flowers, swimming, and all things girly.  My boys however...all things boy, that's for sure!

For this sweet little fella, I had to majorly scaffold for him.  He is one that really has a hard time picking things up.  He had his idea, but couldn't quite comprehend anything beyond his topic.  I wrote down some questions/phrases in his bubbles to help guide his thinking.

I will continue to share things as we progress through this unit!  I'm so excited I can hardly take it!

I want to take a minute to introduce you to my good friend, Stephanie.  She has just opened a store on TPT and she is working her tail off!  I know a LOT of you use my Reading Street products.  I would LOVE to do the kindergarten units, but I don't have the time or energy.  Grades 1-3 are keeping me plenty busy!  Stephanie asked if she would be stepping on my toes if she created kindergarten packets for RS.  I said, "Heck no!  PLEASE go right ahead!  Then I won't have to worry about it!"  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE creating stuff for Reading Street, but it's soooo time-consuming.  Stephanie is SO talented and funny!  She has a creative mind and enthusiasm for her kinders.  If you love my RS products, I HIGHLY encourage you to check out her store.  You will not be disappointed!  I mean, if I taught kindergarten, I would totally be using her stuff in 2 seconds flat.  It is adorable, it's practical, and it's meaningful.  It will make your planning so much easier!  She is creating as she goes and will eventually have packs to correlate with all of the Reading Street stories.  So check it out and follow her so that you can be informed as she keeps adding!!!!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO STEPHANIE'S STORE!

One last note, I know many of you have been DYING to get your hands on my guided reading plans.  I had e-mail after e-mail, comment after comment, Q&A after Q&A asking if I would please share my template.  The wait is over, friends!  I finally got it done!  You can snag it in my TPT shop!!!!!

Have a great weekend!!!!  Don't work too hard!  ;)

Wordless Wednesday

I'm linking up with my very good friend, Christina, over at Sugar and Spice for WORDLESS WEDNESDAY!

Today I prepped all of my end-of-year writing diagnostic assessments for my firsties.  Have you started prepping for end-of-year assessments?

April Currently and an April Fool's Day Prank!

What do you think of the new blog design!?!?!  I'm OBSESSED!  Kassie, from Designs By Kassie, just finished everything and I am beyond amazed!  She was absolutely wonderful to work with and so timely!  I HIGHLY recommend her if you are looking for a blog makeover!!!!

It's April!  I feel like this is the time of year when things start to speed up and before you know it, it's the end of the year.  I'm ready!!!

I'm linking up with Farley from Oh Boy 4th Grade for this month's currently!

*Disclaimer: Between sitting in silence and wanting to huddle in my living room with no disturbances, I do NOT hate my children.  But any mamma knows...silence and a moment to yourself is GOLDEN!  You forget what being a human feels like...

Ok, on with the week!  I haven't been up to much.  Last week was spring break and it was ah-mazing.  MUCH needed rest, doctors appointments, and playtime with the boys.  It made me crave summer break, though!  But it definitely recharged me to come back this week.

Since today was April Fool's Day, my student teacher and I decided to trick our kids.  She put Jell-O into clear, plastic cups last night with straws in them.  She poured a little bit of juice on top of them this morning to make it look like it was sloshing around.  This morning we told them we wanted to give them a little pick-me-up and treat them to a little juice!  Oh man...when they tried to take a drink and it wouldn't come up the straw, they were sooooo confused!  They thought it was hilarious!  But I think my student teacher and I thought it was TOO funny.  We have a good time.  ;)

While on break, I picked up a few things.  One thing I absolutely MUST do is organize.  Everything.  That includes all of my stamps at school.  I mean, there are only so many ways you can organize stamps, but this works perfectly for what I need.  I found the caddy at Hobby Lobby.

Now I have all my stamps and stamp pads somewhat organized!

Have a good week, friends!  Be back soon!