Listen to Reading

Do you do Daily 5? Do you love it? I do! It has changed the way I teach literacy and made my life so much easier. Today I am writing to you about how I do listen to reading.

Listen to reading is so important. It helps the kids learn about fluency, expression, and pacing. It doesn't do any good if you do not use mini lessons to teach what to listen for, but when done correctly it is a really great tool!

Listen to Reading is a popular choice in my classroom because I let my kids do it on the computer. I have four student computers, and I utilize them during this time. Each computer has a set of headphones so the listening is private.

This is how I do it.

Our district just adopted the Reading Wonders program. It's really nice because the kids have their logins and can access the weekly stories and small group stories online. There are audio features which make it a perfect addition to the Listen to Reading. It's user friendly, and the kids seem to like it. I'm sure that your textbook company has a similar feature!

Another free resource that you can use is National Geographic. They have past issues that are read aloud. The kids like this site because it is also user friendly and it is all nonfiction. That goes great with Common Core and supplements a lot of our science and social studies topics.

There are some great subscription sites out there that offer the chance for students to listen to reading. Some school districts are very generous with their money while others are not. Often the Parent Teacher Organizations will chip in. If you are like me you kind of take matters into your own hands and Google for passwords. Here are some great sites that you may want to try accessing.  Just click the image to be taken to their website. Again - you can find passwords if you do a little bit of digging!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Accelerated Reader and a Data Wall Freebie

 Does your school do Accelerated Reader? We do. I had not done this program until I moved to my current school. I love that there are so many resources out there for Accelerated Reader! It really is a great motivator for the younger kids. 

So the Common Core has the goal that students will become more independent and take ownership of their learning. An easy way to do this is to make their learning accountable for them. I try to find ways to track data in my classroom and this is a super easy way to do so. 

This is my AR board at the beginning of the year. There is one completed boat to give the kids an idea of what we are working for. If you are not familiar with the AR program the computer gives a diagnostic test to each student. Then I use the range to place the students in a level. From there I can assign goals or allow the computer to manually assign goals based on reading level and amount of minutes read. Each student is given their goal and then works in 25% increment in hopes to achieve their goal by a certain deadline. We work from quarter to quarter.

So here we are just past the halfway point, and I am updating their boats. As they move toward their goal they earn a flag that I have laminated. You can see Wyatt here has met 75% of his goal.

My strong readers have just about completed their goal for the nine weeks. I'll do adjusting to their goals as I learn more about them as readers. You'll notice that some of the boats have no flags. Why? Well everyone has taken an AR test or ten. My students must score 85% or higher to actually have the test count. It's a real bummer in first grade because many books only have three or four questions! If the kids miss one then they are not at the correct proficiency level. I hate it - not my rule! It will take some time but they will get it. 

Onto the freebie. If you would like to create a data wall in your own room click the picture below. It's a simple pattern for the boats and flags. I used a die cut machine to create the life preservers. I just punched out an 'o.' 

 I hope you are able to make use of this freebie in your own classroom.

Making 10 Game Freebie

Do you love using playing cards to teach math concepts? I do! I bet I have hit up the Dollar Tree at least 10 times in the last year to restock my stash. So today I bring you a FrEeBie using those lovely resources that cost a buck! This math game works to reinforce combinations to 10. I didn't include the math fact 0 + 10 because there is not a playing card that represents 0. Ace is equal to one and I simply remove the face cards!

I hope you enjoy this math game. The  Common Core standards require a lot of foundational skills be set and this is a great mental math strategy to have. As a mater of fact I still add by making 10!

I will be working a lot on updating and adding things to my blog. It's been a while and it's kind of tricky to blog, create, and care for a six week old baby. But please check back for updates!

My Classroom Library

Do you love books? I love books. I have acquired in my five years enough books to probably stock a school library. Seriously. I mostly shop yard sales, consignment shops, and the book fair. I have become really spoiled to the bargain books.

I taught at this school my first three years that really did a lot of professional development on classroom libraries and literacy. I loved learning about independent reading and how to really make it independent. I know I am not the only teacher that has sent my students off to read only to find they aren't reading!! I do the Daily 5 which has helped a lot with this, but that's another post!!

Anyway at my old school they really stressed that you needed at least 20 books per student in your class. That's not 20 teacher read alouds; that is 20 books that are accessible to children at all times. I'm not sure who decided on this number and I wish I could tell you. At the time I didn't have anywhere near 500 books out for kids. I had shelves and shelves of books for me but not grade level appropriate texts.

Then I realized I had a problem. I was a book hoarder. It was a hard diagnosis to swallow. I mean, I knew I loved books and I also knew I had lots of them. But I wasn't allowing my students to enjoy them. Worst of all I never was able to read all of the books on my shelves. They were going to waste. Tragic.

So now I do not hoard books. I keep only the most sacred titles to myself and try to train the students on the ways they are to use and care for the books. I will post more about that later. For now I wanted to show you some photos of my classroom library and how it is organized.

 

 First of all the library is near the gathering space. I use plastic baskets from the Dollar Tree to store my books. When I can I put the cover facing outward to entice my readers. This is easier in the younger grades like Kindergarten and First because the books are much smaller. Second and Third is a bit of a challenge because the books are larger.

On the outside of the basket there is a basket label that identifies the type of books found in that basket. I organize based on topic, theme, and genre. It really depends on what I have a lot of! For example I had a spider basket ready but realized I only had like one spider book! I have put that one up for now and am looking to add more texts about spiders.

This is the part that has helped so much in the primary grades. I found that when I didn't help them organize the books they never ended up where they were supposed to be. I spent hours and hours sorting and organizing and within minutes it was wrecked. I'm sure you know the damage a first grader can do with just a little bit of free time!

Anyway, I created these labels that are very small that go on the front corner of the book. The labels match exactly what the front basket label is. It has made my life 10x easier. I wish I would have done this sooner. I use to put the stickers on the inside but this really has been fool proof.

The best news is that you can find this product in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. It also includes a labeling system for partner reading books, leveled reader books, and guided reading books. It is a great package if you are looking to spruce up your book organization!

Click below to get this produce.

Welcome Back!

I am welcoming myself back into the blog world. I started blogging in 2011 and really enjoyed it. Then I moved to a new state, grade level, and started coaching softball. It was really just too much to do. I'm hoping to stick with it a little bit better this time because I feel settled!

For now I teach first grade in a Title 1 school. Whew - that's a great story. I was told I was moving from 3rd to K the last week of school. I prepped for all of June and part of July before learning that enrollment had shifted and I would be teaching 1st grade. Best of all - I delivered a baby a week before school so the summer was EVENTFUL to say the least. I really love people asking me what I do. Right now I tell them that I teach 1st grade - yet I truly haven't taught first grade a day in my life! Not yet, anyway. I'm sure I will love it.

For now I will end with this. It really sums up teaching in my opinion. Maybe it's not humorous to nonteachers, but I especially love the 'What I actually do.'  Teaching is hard work!