First Two Days of School in Kindergarten

My first week of school is complete! I am always glad to have the first couple of days under my belt because they are by far the most exhausting! I tried to document everything we did the first two days of school. You may have to excuse some of the pictures... I took most of them in a rush! Of course I planned to do way more than I actually did! But, that always seems to happen :)

Day 1:

 I had coloring sheets out on the tables. We let parents walk their children into school the first 2 days so I knew I would be distracted.

 All of the children were busy coloring while I talked to parents and asked them to say their goodbyes :)

As they finished coloring, I walked around and put a sticker on each paper. Then, I asked them to try to find their name on the mailboxes and put their coloring sheet inside. They did wonderfully at this! 

 We gathered at the carpet and read Officer Buckle and Gloria. The kids loved this book!! and it is a perfect introduction to discussing rules.

I wasn't quite planning on introducing the behavior chart just yet, but I had a little one who definitely needed to see this already. So we gathered at the clip chart and went over each 'color'. 

Then, it was time for a school tour! Before we left we went over hallway rules and we practiced lining up in number order. While we were in the hallway we worked on keeping our feet close to side of the hallway.

Then, we read 'The Day A Monster Came To School' and again, talked about the rules of our classroom. When we were finished I introduced the 4 centers that they would be working on.

1. Monster Spin and Graph

2. The first page in their Rules Book

3. Exploring Unifix Cubes

4. Exploring links

After I sat at the 'Spin and Graph' center for a couple of minutes I was able to leave them to complete the center independently while I walked around. I had the bell set for 15 minutes (if I saw the kids getting restless then I would ring the bell a tad early!)

When the bell rang, we played a quick game of Simon Says. For instance, Simon says stand up. Simon says push your chair in. Simon says point to your next center. I always ended with that so I could make sure they all knew where they were going when I said 'switch'. 

We ended up only finishing 2 centers before it was time for the park.

We are lucky enough to go to the playground everyday for 30 minutes. Then we go straight to lunch for 30 minutes.

After lunch we have an awkward 15 minutes in the classroom before specials. Usually during this time I am going to try to squeeze in calendar math (we will see if that's possible), but today we continued our centers.

They were loving the Spin and Graph!!

Then it was time for their first special. They have one special everyday for 30 minutes. Today it was music!

When we returned to class we gathered at the carpet and read Manners at School

Then we worked on the cover of our Rules Book whole group. 

If students finished super fast, I directed them to the back table where they could play with the math manipulatives that they used at their centers earlier.

While they were doing this, I called over students one at a time to take their first day of school photos! 

Then, we gathered on the carpet to play a little 'getting to know you' game! This activity is in Alisha's Kickin' It in Kinder Unit.

Students wold roll the dice and answer the questions that they rolled. It was adorable! I was expecting some of the kids to be too shy to answer...but they all couldn't wait for their turn!! 

Then, believe it or not, it was time to go home! I turned the TV on while I passed out folders and tagged all the kids with their dismissal clips.

Day 2:

The second day was very similar to the first day, but not as hectic! I actually finished everything I planned! haha

Again, we started the day with a coloring sheet. This totally helps get the day started! I had parents handing me school supplies and wanting to know how their child was doing, etc. So I was handling different tasks while the children were busy coloring.

Today as they finished I showed them where the 'hand in box' is. I showed them how to highlight their name with a highlighter before handing in their paper. This helps catch all of the 'no name' papers!  

If you would like to grab the little 'stop' sign, you can grab it for free HERE

Then, we gathered at the carpet and read Splat the Cat. Such a cute book!

Now it was time for morning centers

1. Word Work

2. The second page of our rules books

3. Write the Room (this was my center for the day)

4. Introduced one of their free play activities (we usually have free play the last 30 minutes of the day)

After centers were complete we headed to the park and then to lunch. When we returned we did calendar math.

Then we headed to specials. After specials I will normally do math, writing, then free play. BUT we aren't starting our math or writing until next week. Instead we played 'I Have, Who Has' whole group. 

The first round I really had to help them to remember to say I have ___, Who has ___? They were kind of just shouting out I HAVE IT!! But, the second go round they did beautifully! 

Then we did our first page of our memory book, had snack, packed up, and headed home!!

All of the Monster activities can be found HERE

Some other centers we did throughout the week:

 a monster ABC game

 word work: magnetic letters

 practiced our cutting skills

and played a monster roll and dot game!

I hope everyone had a wonderful first week of school!!

Guided Reading: Wrap Up!!

I have been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to share my thoughts on the last couple of chapters in the Freebielicious summer book study! I did finish reading The Next Step in Guided Reading and really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to using a lot of it in my classroom this year--especially the Pre-A and Emergent reading suggestions.

Some of my favorites already shared their thoughts on Chapters 5 and 6 and you can read those below:

Chapter 5 HERE at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits and HERE at Fun in First Grade. 

Chapter 6 HERE at First Grade Blue Skies

In Chapter 5, Jan Richardson suggests having students use a personal word wall. Keep in mind, this chapter discusses students that are 'transitional readers'. So this is for kids that are already reading and they are now concentrating on vocabulary and fluency. This is not something that I have done in class before, but would be interested in trying it out. My class word wall is placed on my biggest bulletin board in the back of the room for all to see and use. My students have had problems in the past locating specific words on the wall (but these are typically my 'lower' students). But, I wouldn't mind trying this out!! It couldn't hurt, right?! ;)

You can grab the word wall by clicking on the image above. I think they would work great glued inside a manilla folder.

During a transitional reading group, you will want to spend the first 3-4 minutes discussing the book. Point out important images or new concepts. Then you will want to move on to discussing new vocabulary words. If the word is defined in the text, then don't tell them the definition. If it is not defined in the text, then give them a simple definition, connect it to the text and to their background knowledge. Lastly, which is my favorite thing to do, have the students turn and talk to each other about the definition. I always clap my hands two times and say 'teach'. Then, the kids clap their hands two times and say 'okay!' I love it!!! For the next 10-15 minutes students will read the book independently. During this time, you will conference individually with students. You can work on fluency, comprehension, characters, etc. Keep track of who you met with since you may not work one-on-one with everyone. For the last 1-2 minutes of the reading group, you can choose a strategy that you want to work on with all of your students. They may beed to do a word study where you focus on digraphs or even the silent e rule! 

On the second day (or when the book is finished being read) of a transitional reading group you will spend 15-20 minutes doing a guided writing portion. Their writing should be a response to the book they read. It is great to use the 'Five Finger Retell'. You can grab your copy below.

Alright, if you are still with me, let's move on to Chapter 6: Fluent Guided Reading Lessons :) 

Spend the first 3 to 4 minutes of this group doing the same as you would with your transitional readers: preview the book and discuss new vocabulary. Keep in mind that you will not tell students the definition if the text provides it. (I use this same exact idea when I do whole group vocabulary).

For the next minute, introduce and demonstrate the focus strategy. This way the students will know exactly what their goal will be. They will spend the next 10 minutes reading silently to themselves. No round robin reading <----totally guilty of this! While the students are reading, you will meet with individuals to discuss vocabulary or comprehension.

When students are done reading, you will come together again for a 5 minute discussion/teaching point. You can ask students about challenging words and you can even add new words onto their 'new word list'. This list can be kept in their guided writing journals for access during guided reading groups. Click below for your 'New Word List' copy.

If you still have time, you can start your guided writing portion. If not, you can save your guided writing portion for the following day. During this time, students will write a response to the text with a comprehensive focus. 

Some options for guided writing with a fictional text:

-Character Analysis: Students will choose one character and write about their traits using examples from the text.

-I Poem: Students select a character from the story and write a poem from the character's point of view (I am ____, I wonder ____, I see ____, etc)

-Alternate Ending: Students will write a paragraph describing a different way the text could have ended.

Some options for guided writing with an informational text:

-Chapter Summaries: Each student selects one chapter from the

table of contents and writes a paragraph that describes the most

important information she/he learned in that chapter

-Compare/Contrast: If the text structure is description, students

could select two topics and write a paragraph that compares

the ideas and one that contrasts them. They could compare and

contrast two animals, two landforms, etc. (whatever matches the information in the text).

-Main Idea/Details: Students will write a paragraph that uses details and examples from the text to describe the main idea. 

Believe it or not, I am working on my Guided Reading Pack: Part 2. This pack will be useful for Emergent Readers :)

Guided Reading: Chapter 4

Welcome to week 4 of the Freebielicious Summer book study!  When discussing Chapter 3 last week in The Next Step in Guided Reading, I posted a couple pictures of my Guided Reading Starter Kit. Well...it is ready! This pack discusses how to start teaching rotations/centers to get your students ready for guided reading. It has initial assessments, rhyming cards, syllable cards, etc. You can see a preview below or click HERE to take a closer look on TPT.  

This week I am lucky enough to host the study with 2 of my wonderful friends, Maria from Kinder-Craze and Krissy from Mrs. Miner's Monkey Business.

This chapter discusses students that are in the early reading stage. These students know their letters and sounds, but may still be learning how to apply their knowledge in reading. They also know how to read about 20 sight words.

Preparation

Just like I discussed in the previous post on Pre-A and Emergent Readers, you will assess your Early Reading students to see their exact level. You will want to pay close attention to their comprehension and self-monitoring skills. You will also want to keep a sight word list available.

This way you can track the sight words you teach and easily write them down.  Jan Richardson suggests to not only keep track of the sight words that students know how to read, but also whether or not they know how to write the sight word. You will maintain this record and use it to help select guided reading books, plan your word studies, and create your dictated sentences for guided writing.

I keep all of my materials for my 4 different groups in these bins

They stay right on the counter behind me and definitely help me keep my materials easily accessible and organized!

Description of Lesson (a 2 day plan)

Sight Word Review(1 minute): Quickly pass out white boards and have the students write a couple of sight words that were taught during previous guided reading lessons. If they can spell the word correctly, check it off on their sight word checklist. Students should have about 6 checkmarks next to the same sight word before they actually 'know' the word. This way, they have spelled the word 6 separate times and spelled it correctly 6 times.  I LOVE these white boards and so do my kids. I actually bought an entire class set. They love to flip them around like they are 'revealing their sight word to me...somehow they turn everything into a game 

Introduction (3-4 minutes): Introduce the book you are going to read. Tell them the characters names and the problem in the story. Have students conduct a picture walk. While they are looking through the book, point out any new sight words or any new vocabulary that they may come across.

First Reading (8-10 minutes on the first day and 5-8 on the second day): Allow students to quietly read to themselves. As they are reading, you can work with individual students on a target strategy (self-monitoring, decoding, fluency, comprehension). This will be the best time to differentiate your instruction! If other students finish early, they can reread the book.

Teaching Points (1-2 minutes): Decide what your students really need to work on. If they need to work on monitoring, then you can read a sentence incorrectly and have students pick out the error. If students need to work on rereading, then you can choose a difficult page and have them read it again. You can also teach a specific decoding strategy at this time or have students reread an easier page to practice fluency. I know a major teaching point in my class always seems to be comprehension! 

Discussion Prompt (1-2 minutes): Prepare an open ended question about the book for students to answer. I think this is a biggie with Common Core too :)

Teach One Sight Word (1 minute): If students already know between 50-60 sight words you can eliminate this activity. Otherwise, try to choose one new sight word to teach per book. Jan Richardson mentions some of my students' favorite activities to help teach sight words! What's Missing, Mix & Fix, table writing, and whiteboards are all fun and help kids learn new words.

Word Study (day 1 only-5 minutes): Pick one word study activity that matches your students decoding/phonics needs. One of the activities that I do a lot (because my students usually need it), is a digraph picture sort. I love that Jan Richardson said to only concentrate on sh, th, and ch and leave out wh. I find that wh confuses children! I also do A LOT of making words. I don't use magnetic letters, mainly because I don't have that many, but instead I use small letter cards that came with my Treasures reading series. When I get the letters our for the making words activity, my children are usually like 'YES!!' They love this!

Guided Writing (day 2 only-5 minutes): Make simple journals for your students by folding a piece of construction paper in half and adding lined paper. I add paper without handwriting lines at the beginning of the year and then change over to handwriting lines when they are ready. Some options that I like for the guided writing portion are dictated sentences and writing about the beginning/middle/end of the story you read. During this time you can make sure children are spelling their sight words correctly, using the correct letter formation, and sounding out unknown words correctly.


It's A Blog Hop!!

Make sure to check out my other wonderful hostesses thoughts on this chapter by clicking on their blog below!  We would also love for you to link up too!!

Guided Reading: Chapter 3

I can't believe we are already in week 3 of the Freebielicious Summer book study! This summer is just going by way too fast! In Chapter 3 of The Next Step in Guided Reading, Jan Richardson does a great job of explaining exactly how to start guided reading! This week a few of the Freebielicious girls are hosting. We have Marsha from Differentiated Kindergarten, Jeannie from Kindergarten Lifestyle, Mandy from A Special Kind of Class, and Lidia from Kinder Alphabet.

This chapter was a biggie for me. Not just because I teach kindergarten and have a lot of emergent readers, but because I teach at a school that is heavily populated with ELL students. We get a lot of new students from South America, in all grades, and some need to start from the beginning as well! I honestly learned so much from this chapter and will be adjusting my reading groups this year for sure!

Letter Tracing
After reading this chapter I realized I don't have my emergent readers do this enough. So, I have a new plan! Jan Richardson suggests that students should use letter tracing books that include  the same pictures that are used elsewhere in the classroom. Right now I have the same images on my ABC posters and on my word wall.  

Every morning we sing the ABCs, 'A for apple, /a/, /a/.'
What I did today was create another version of my ABC posters on half size pages.

 I am going to print these and bind them into a book. I will have enough copies made for a reading group. These books will sit at a center. The first couple of minutes of that center, students will trace their letters and sing the same song we sing in the morning. I also made a black and white version to print and have students keep in their book bins.

Preparing/Teaching Pre-A lessons
Jan Richardson suggests keeping groups no larger than 4 students. Sometimes this is just not possible. I usually have 5-6 students per group; however, I do try my best to keep my struggling readers in a smaller group. Groups should last between 15-20 minutes and  should include 4 different items:
Working With Letters and Names- (3 to 4 minutes) It is important to know exactly what letters students need to work on within each reading group. Jan Richardson suggests creating a letter names and sounds checklist for each group-with all students names/scores on the same page. I have created one here that you are more than welcome to use. Just click on the image below.

Run the page, seen above, front and back so you have enough space for each child in your group. Having this checklist in front of you will be a huge help. If you notice that one student needs to work on a particular letter than you can specifically ask them to locate it in a book you are reading, etc.

Now, in a sheet protector, put an alphabet chart (with the same pictures that are used throughout your room) and a sheet on the opposite side for Rainbow Writing. On the Rainbow Writing sheet you will write the child's name to be used during the group. It is important to start letter knowledge by teaching the letters in a child's name. Children will trace over their name with dry erase markers.

Working With Sounds- (2 to 3 minutes) During this portion of your group, students should clap syllables, work with rhymes, and conduct picture sorts. Most of these activities I always include in my thematic packs on TPT. It is great to use those lesson activities during this time. However, when you clap syllables, you can just use the students alphabet chart or words that are in their guided reading book. I have syllable pictures included in my Guided Reading Starter kit that you can use as well. 

When working with rhymes, students should be able to hear 2 words that rhyme. The teacher should say 2 words and students should be able to give a 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down' depending on whether the 2 words rhyme or not. You can glue these thumbs onto popsicle sticks for students to use:

I am also including rhyming cards in my guided reading pack. 

When students are ready, they should be able to match 2 rhyming pictures together. 

Lastly, during this 2 to 3 minute time period, you should do a quick picture sort. Give each student 4 picture cards (2 for each sound you are sorting) and tell them what the picture is. Write the 2 letters you are sorting onto a white board or piece of paper. Have students take turns saying their picture, the letter sound, and the letter. Then, let them sort their picture. Don't rush them...you don't want them guessing. In my guided reading pack I am including pictures for a consonant sort as well.  

Working With Books- (5 minutes) Choose a simple guided reading book for this part. The book should be small enough for each student to hold in their hands. Start off by doing a picture walk, encouraging students to use complete sentences. Then, read the book with the students before having them read independently.  During these 5 minutes make sure to work on concepts of print as well: concept of a word, first/last word, concept of a letter, first/last letter, punctuation, etc.
Interactive Writing- (5 minutes) Dictate a simple sentence to the students with four to six words. This sentence can relate to the book you just read to keep students engaged. Have the students repeat the sentence to you. As they are repeating the sentence, pass out their alphabet charts and a dry erase marker. Make a line for each word in the sentence on a sentence strip. Have one student help you write. As you sound out the sentence with the group, one student will write the sounds they hear while the other students will find those sounds on their alphabet chart. During this time, don't use inventive spelling. For all of the sounds the students cannot hear, the teacher will write on the sentence strip for them. After you are done writing the sentence, cut the sentence apart and have students work together as a group to put the sentence back together. 
You can find all of the above information and activities in my Guided Reading Kit:

Preparing/Teaching Emergent lessons
Now students are ready to learn sight words! Similarly to how you keep track of students letters/sounds, you will keep track of the sight words that they know. You can write the sight word in the first column and make a check in the students' column as they learn that sight word. You will have one form per group (click below for your copy).

When choosing the 'just right' book for this group, consider the following: 
-Story makes sense
-Strong picture support
-Mostly familiar concepts
-some familiar sight words
-some repetitive phrases
-one new sight word
I am using Journeys reading series this year and haven't had a chance to look at their guided readers yet; however, all of the series that I have used in the past have great emergent readers. I also have Maria's, from Kinder-Craze, Bundle of Books. They are fantastic! They introduce a new sight word, they are repetitive, they have familiar vocabulary, etc. Here is a student working with Maria's books.

I also love how students can add these books into their book bins to practice independently. 

Looking Ahead
Next week I will be one of the ones hosting Chapter 4. I am looking forward to it!! As always, let me know if you have any questions!!