Word Study and Phonics: The Next Step Forward

A Little Opinion from Em:
Well Jan Richardson did it again (along with Michele Dufresne, this time)!  Jan's guided reading books really helped me  to tighten and strengthen my small group instruction.  And her new book "The Next Step Forward in Word Study and Phonics" is already helping me to plan for my phonics instruction this year!

One section addresses children reading at a pre-A stage.  Yes, please!!  I jumped right to this and got started.  To begin with, students need to be able to recognize their name.  This is where I started with a couple of my readers.  Two different colored sentence strips were used.  One had the child's name printed on it.  The second strip had the child's name printed on it but then I cut out each letter.  My student worked to match the letters in her name by placing the cut up letters on top of the first sentence strip.
Once this task could be completed without prompting, I provided letter tiles and asked her to build the name.  For many of the sessions, the original sentence strip  was used to help with the building process.  But after time, she could build the name independently.

A Little Opinion from Maria:
This book is jam packed with ideas and lessons for readers at all levels.  I liked how this book is set up.  It's easy to read and if I ever (hopefully never, though) had to teach reading again, this book would be right by my side, every step of the way.

Being a Coach or Mentor

"I think it has been 15 years.  Wait, no...16."  Last night, a friend and I were trying to think through how many years we have been teaching and in what positions.  I'm a veteran teacher. The years have slipped by quickly (and slowly, at times).  But in this time, I have been a mentor for quite a few teachers.  And it is one of my favorite parts about the job.

Reflecting back...I didn't have a mentor my first couple years of teaching.  Crying, a desire to quit, and loneliness were daily feelings.  I didn't have a mentor.   So I take the position seriously and work hard to ensure that the new teacher does not feel alone because teaching is hard and we need goo teachers to stick around.

In July, Scholastic published the second edition of "The Coaching Partnership: Collaboration for Systemic Change" by Rosemary Taylor and Carol Chanter.  Although, I have had training (years ago) on being a mentor, it is like any other aspect of teaching.  We should be working to grow stronger at the task.  If I am going to be a supportive mentor, I need to work at it.  Professional development makes a difference.  So I read this book.

This book is broken into three parts: learning partners, learning processes, and learning breakthroughs.  The authors share practical applications, examples from the schools, and questions for self reflection.  But I really want to jump in and share some of my favorite parts with you.

Reading Revealed...A Book Giveaway!

We hope all of you have been having a tremendous summer!  We hope you are feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and ready to start thinking.... SCHOOL!

This summer we were given the opportunity to read Reading Revealed by Diane Stephens, Jerome C. Harste, and Jean Anne Clyde.

 If you're  a new teacher in need of ideas for reading OR if you're looking for a book to refresh your reading instruction, this the one for you.  This book is jam packed with lessons and ideas to get to know your readers intimately.

Game Changer... GIVEAWAY!

 Are you ready to up your game?  Not just in your classroom, but as a school? Are you in need of a change?  Then the book, Game Changer! Book Access for ALL Kids is the book for you!

This book is jam packed with LOTS of ideas to challenge you to think outside the box in order to get books into the hands of children. There are very simple ideas for changes that can be made in the walls of your classroom. But, Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp also include ideas that are big.  These are ideas that show you are willing to make a statement that reading is a priority in your school community.

After attending Nerd Camp in Michigan, which is hosted by Donalyn and Colby, I (Em) implemented some of these ideas into our school.  As they state in this book, "this gap in book access perpetuates inequities between low-income students and their middle-income peers."  To act on this, 15 books are given away each week, students take home about 10 books each for the summer, and have a daily opportunity to borrow books from the "readbox" each day.  But even with these things occurring, this book opened my eyes to ways that I could make these rituals even stronger.

From the beginning of this book you will be challenged to take a look at your reading.  You will be challenged to take a look at your classroom library.  You will be challenged to take a look at your school library.  You will also be challenged to put books in the hands of children. While reading, I (Maria) found myself reflecting on my classroom.  There are things I need to change. There are things I need to add.  I need to be a "Game Changer".

In this book you will also find many, many suggestions to get started, solutions to book deserts, how to build the power of ownership, increasing volume and the power of cultural representation.  There are also little snippets for "Change in Action".  These ideas come from teachers, literacy coaches, etc. My favorite, favorite suggestion in this book, comes in Chapter 8.  Kristen Ziemke shares how and why to teach sneaky reading.  I LOVE this idea!  I have a few readers in my family who were sneaky readers and in the classroom, I didn't think about ever teaching this to children.  You'll have to check out her suggestions!

We want you to ring in your New Year with some New Ideas!!  You can win a copy of this book and begin your journey to "up your game!"


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Putting It All Together: A Winter Giveaway

Can you believe winter is almost here and 2018 is wrapping up.  It amazes me each year how quickly it goes.  I love the end of the year because it is a time to reflect and grow. 
One reflection you may make at this time of year, is the gaps that are closing or growing between some of your students. Where do you need to push forward and where do you need to back up a bit?

Currently, I have students that are well on their way to becoming more fluent readers, while others are continuing to struggle with letters and sounds.  It is time to push forward for some and pause for more explicit teaching for others.

Some students do not quite know the difference between a letter, word, and sentence (this is true for many of our kindergartners).  This Powerpoint visually shows students a letter.  How the letters make up words and the words make up sentences.   I made is a short video to show you a small part of the powerpoint. Click on the slide image to purchase (Free on 12/8/18-12/9/18 only).

My first graders know the difference between letters, words, and sentences, but may still have trouble seeing how they are interconnected. I wanted needed my students to really SEE the connections.  Out of that need...this was created.  It helps students to "put it all together."

This particular version is a review sheet of short vowels.  Students have the opportunity to read words with short vowel sounds, while also engaging in a short winter story.

When looking at this sheet.  You can see that it begins with letter sounds.  Students read each letter sound. 

The second part illustrates that the letters from the first part make up words.  Blend the words with students.

These words can then be found in phrases.  (This is a great time to talk about why we read in phrases and how it can help us to sound like fluent readers).

Finally, these phrases (which include words,  that are made from sounds) form sentences, paragraphs, and stories.

Every letter, word, and phrase connects to the winter story.

There are many different ways to use this sheet.   One way to use this sheet may be to take one colored marker and highlight all the letters for one particular word (for example: "hats").  Then highlight the word "hats" in the second part.  Highlight the phrase that "hats" is found in.  Finally, find the sentence with the word "hats" and highlight it.  This illustrates to the students the connection of the letters all the way down to the story.

This particular student illustrates another way to "put it all together."  She was working on short vowel sounds in words.  She highlighted the short vowels and looked at how the short vowel phrases could be found in the story.

While each student has their own individual needs, this sheet may be used differently in your classroom; however, the ultimate goal is for them to see how sounds, words, phrases, and sentences all build off of each other.

I hope that you can use these with your students.  You can grab a free copy by clicking on the winter edition image below.  If you are looking for more "focused" sheets, you can click on the second image.  This pack has a different phonics skill per sheet.  It is a great way to explicitly teach specific skills.

Not ready to use this?  Just pin it for later!

 Thanks for checking out these products.  Although this is just a stepping stone, our ultimate goal is to always get books into the hands of our students.  I love to support any local bookstores that I can, whether it be in my hometown or a city I'm visiting.  Please enter the giveaway below for your chance to win $25 to Half Price Books (www.hpb.com).


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For a chance at more $25 giftcards and free resources, check out the sites below!

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Striving to Thriving Writers... GIVEAWAY!

Do you have writers?  Do you have writers who are thriving?  Do you have writers who are striving?  Do you have writers everywhere in between?  We do.

Our writers have come to us in all different shapes, sizes, and most importantly abilities.  In a dreamy world, all our writers would come in confident and writing pages upon pages, BUT.... writing is H.A.R.D.!!!  Our firstie writers have to do a LOT of work to get their words down on the page.  We need them to become authors. We strive for them to become authors. The odds for them to become a professional author is .04%.  Not good. But we're not looking for them to do this as a profession, we're looking for them to view themselves as authors for their lives.


In our never ending crusade to get better at our craft, we were asked to read and blog about From Striving to Thriving Writers by Sara Holbrook and Michael Salinger.

We dug right in.  The authors begin with a quick introduction that dives into the importance of writing purpose, audience, and interest, which can be achieved many times through content area writing.  They go on to explain what their writing frameworks are and the process to implement them.

There are 27 different writing frameworks that are ready to be implemented. These frameworks help every writer in your classroom.  Each framework includes the time, materials (can be found online), focus skills, the grade band (this is an important feature, to us), and the lesson to be used in the classroom.  Even the mentor texts are included and ready for use.  Samples of student writing are also found throughout the frameworks, which really helped us to visualize the student expectations.


As we read through the frameworks, it became clear that we could not just write about this teaching resource, we had to put it into action.  So that is just what we did.
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November means change.  Summer has turned to fall and fall is slowly (or quickly) turning into winter.  We use this time to examine the changes that have taken place between our lives now and the lives of people long ago.  Framework 12 is titled "Then and Now: Charting Change" and it seemed like a perfect fit for us.

Starting with the mentor text from Holbrook and Salinger, the students examine the back and forth nature of then and now.

 

Then we took a look at how people lived long ago: how they looked, what they ate, where they lived, and how they moved.

 

Sara Holbrook and Michael Salinger include (what they call) GO sheets to help the students organize their thinking.  Since we were marrying this framework with our current work, we added to the GO sheet.  This helped our firsties look at the specific parts of the informative piece they were writing.  We even differentiated it for some of our writers that needed to focus on fewer facts about long ago.

From Striving to Thriving Writers helped us to have some good, hard conversations about what we are currently doing, what we could be doing, and how to integrate those.  We will share with you the frameworks that we continue to try out and implement.

This book is a great resource to help you take a closer look at your writing instruction.  Grab your own FREE copy of this book by entering in the giveaway below (U.S. residents only, please).


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Summer Book Giveaway

We have been excited to share some of the professional reading that we have been doing this year.  These two books have been the focus of our last few posts.

If you missed our posts, you can check them out here:

• Responsive Literacy Part 1
• Responsive Literacy Part 2
• Megabook of Fluency

Each of these books have something to offer to a seasoned teacher and a new teacher.  We read a lot that confirmed what I am currently doing, but we also discovered some  ideas that we would like to try out this year.

You can have your own copy of one of these books for FREE!  (If you win the giveaway, of course).  Just pick a book you are interested in (or both) and follow the instructions below.  We will choose a winner on July 16th.

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Resposive Literacy: A Comprehensive Framework Part 2

As the school year was coming to a close, Em and I were offered the opportunity to read Responsive Literacy: A Comprehensive Guide by editor Patricia L. Scharer.  Believe us, it IS just that!   This book hits on everything that is important for your ELA block.

When I started reading the writing portion of this book, I was immediately reminded of why I adore teaching writing because it affirmed things I already do in my writing classroom and helped me realize there are things I need to revisit.  If you are looking to jump start your writer's workshop or if you need a refresher, this section is a great reminder of all things writing.  From how to go about starting writer's workshop all the way to conferencing with students.
A few things I thought were awesome about this book is it offers you great tips, thought out ideas for lessons, and suggestions for professional development.  I can see myself sitting down with other writing teachers to discuss these points.

Being Interactive Writers...

As I began my reading with chapter 15, I was quickly reminded about Interactive Writing. What a gem this can be to your writing classroom and I have used it in the past but over the last year or so I have moved more to modeling versus being interactive. This chapter reminded me of the importance of interactive writing in the development of young writers. It's important for them to see us write, but also to help us write alongside them.

Let's Refresh...

The book goes on to giving you tools you need in your writing classroom, basic plans for mini-lessons, and ideas for rubrics in chapter 16. I really loved the mini-lesson refresher because that's where a lot of great teaching can happen.
The next few chapters take you on a journey into Narrative Writing in the primary and elementary grades. One thing that was helpful for me was going back over the stages of writing development. It was a great refresher and I feel like I need to have examples of these stages available for my families when I sit down with them at conferences.

Word Work...

Section Five of this book revolves around Language starting off with phonics and spelling.  For me this chapter got my thoughts a rolling because for the last few years I've done spelling in my classroom and a pinch of phonics, but next year I'm responsible for most of the phonics instruction. This chapter walked you through the stages of spelling development and word study.  You will also find a helpful explanation on how to implement an explicit words study block in your classroom. What I also like is how Carla Steele, Patricia L. Scharer, and Denise Rowe give you ideas on how to embed word study opportunities throughout your ELA block as well as give you lists of resources that are needed in your classroom for word study.

 Don't Forget Vocab...

Next, I read about accelerating vocabulary development. When reading, I was reminded of how it's easier to pick out and be intentional with the words you want prior to sharing the text with your students. Again, not that "on a whim" isn't okay, but if you are planning ahead of time, you're looking for those words that are "tier-two", high utility words. After reading up on vocabulary, handwriting was on the list next. In this chapter you will find a valuable resource about the verbal paths you can use to help students with lower and uppercase letter formation. I am already starting to think about how I can incorporate these into my everyday instruction of letter formation in the beginning of the year.

A Learning Commmunity

The final section in this resource, section six, focuses on "A Learning Community".  We get started with a rundown of inquiry in the classroom. There are ideas for designing inquiry units using backward design.  This is where you identify your results desired, determine evidence, and plan the experiences and instruction your students will receive. The chapter goes on to give you ideas and several mentor texts you can use for different inquiry lessons. Finally, Sherry Kinzel, Wendy Sheets, and Carla Steele take you all they way through their 10 step recipe for an "Inquiry Approach to Studying Genre". Fantastic!!!
Finishing out this amazing resource is a section on the home-to-school bridge using KEEP Books, coaching, professional learning, and how to lead your school to a comprehensive literacy framework.

As a teacher for almost 20 years, this resource was one that would have been a great asset 20 years ago, if only it was written then. :)  This book was easy to read and is one that is a must have on your teacher shelf.

Responsive Literacy: A Comprehensive Framework Part 1

 This summer Maria and I were offered the opportunity to read Responsive Literacy: A Comprehensive Framework edited by Patricia L. Scharer.  The book is written by professionals that work within the Literacy Collaborative at The Ohio State University.  A few years back, I attended a training in this framework.  It is built around strong literacy practices and this book digs deep into that instruction.  While reading, I was reminded of the learnings that I took away from the training but also literacy practices that I could improve upon this upcoming year.

 Let Them Talk...

Chapter 1 starts this book off strong because it is all about Oral Language!  Yes!!  This has been a HUGE game changer for us over the past several years.  We have included more and more intentional oral language into our literacy instruction. Because, as the author reinforces, although students come to school with language experience, they are rapidly continuing to develop this skill.  And so, we need to be intentional about the opportunities we provide during interactive read aloud, shared reading, guided reading, writer's workshop, and word study.  Gay Su Pinnell offers a buffet of ideas for each of these.  This chapter reminded me that children need to be given time to interact.  They need to talk.  We need to listen.

Literacy is Emotional

After some great descriptions on a literacy framework, Carol A. Lyons takes a deeper look at the role emotion plays on memory and comprehension.  She explains that there is an inseparable connection between emotion and cognition.  This is important to note because we are supporting the learning of little humans.  And humans are emotional!  One thing that I found fascinating is that memories are stronger when emotions are connected to them.  What does this mean for our literacy instruction?  What emotions are we bringing out in our students?  And what emotions are they connecting to their learning of language, writing, and reading skills?
Wendy Sheets continues this discussion by examining how we foster literate identities.  The actions we take within our classroom tells stories to our students.  One point that she is makes during this chapter is that students are not a reading level. What stories and emotions are we bringing to the table when we limit them to a book level?   I don't believe positive ones (but that could be another post).  Wendy says, "The literate identities that our students take on affect their progress over time."

Get Organized

The second section of this book dives into how to organize for independent readers.  Our ultimate goal as teachers, right!  We work so hard to help students to think, read, and write independently.  I love the way that it is broken down into sections about independent work, the second grade transition, and independent readers in grades 2-6 because we know that reading and writing look different throughout our lower grade levels.  One part that I really loved discussed how to make independent work more powerful.  As the year went on, I know that it could be easy for me to get into an independent work slump.  The authors suggest analyzing the following when organizing work that challenges each student:

• create just right challenges
• provide authentic problem solving activities
• provide open activities for choice and inquiry

My brain immediately clung to the word "inquiry."  Fostering curiosity and the wonderment of children is something I do not believe I am tapping into enough.  It is definitely  a goal for this upcoming year.

Let's Read

Section three dissects all things reading!  Interactive read alouds, shared reading, guided reading, fluency, comp, and the use of data are all explored in great detail.  Whether a new teacher, an experienced teacher, or a teacher looking for a refresher...this book hits it all.
Over the years I have found that there are certain ways that I do things.  But when reading and growing throughout the summer, I am reminded that I am not stuck to these routines.  Lisa Pinkerton reminded me, in this section, that interactive read alouds do  not need a lengthy introduction.  It can even be as quick as, "I found a new book for you this weekend!  I am so excited to share it with you!" Yes!  What a great reminder.
But Mary D Fried goes on to examine how we are scaffolding the introductions of guided reading books.  When I first looked at this chapter, I was ready to skip it because this is what I do all...day...long.  But then I saw this:

Uh.Oh.  I may have some new things to learn!  The chapter really looks carefully at the differences between an emergent, early, and transitional reader.  The introduction is not going to be a "one size fits all" because these readers need different scaffolds based on where they are in their learning.  As facilitators of this learning we have to be very deliberate in the teaching decisions that we make.  The author does provide a guide for scaffolding a book introduction for emergent, early, and transitional readers.

Another point that I really took to heart was concerning data and the analysis of a reading record.  Since we began using LLI (Leveled Literacy Instruction) two years ago, my reading record analysis has been much stronger.  But Sherry Kinzel shared a chart that really opened my eyes to how I could strengthen what I am learning about the reader.  The chart is separated into three columns:

• reading behaviors the reader uses successfully
• reading behaviors the read can "almost do" or can use with support
• reading behaviors the readers shows no evidence of using

This is just a different way for me to note what the student is doing and I think it would really help me to better plan for future instruction.

Check back as Maria dives deeper into sections about writing, language and a learning community!  Plus...we have some books to giveaway!

Back to School Giveaway

Yep...It is almost August and time for my brain to start thinking about back to school and what I need to get done.  The TPT sale is upon us tomorrow and I know I have some purchases to make.  Here are some amazing teacher-bloggers pulling together to get you started with a $40 giveaway!

What is on my wish list?  My girls have really enjoyed playing "Spot It."  Have you tried that game?  I've heard some good things about the phonics and sight word versions from OCD in First.  I'm also interested in the "I Read, You Read" series from Aylin Claahsen.

What is it that you are looking to bring into your classroom this upcoming year?  Here are just a couple of ideas?  Perhaps more Scoot Games?  Or ways to look at number differently?

You could even need family event ideas?  What if you needed more differentiated phonics practice?

Whatever it is that you need for your classroom this year, I hope that all the Back to School sales are helpful! Just click on the link below to enter the giveaway to help you gather some of your TPT materials!

Happy Back to School Giveaway!

Have you read "Of Primary Importance" yet?  A friend of mine a few years ago suggested I read this one since I solely teach writing. And friends... it's a great read!  But as all great reads go for teachers, this one is no different.  It got my wheels a turnin'.  At first I started to reflect on how much independence and freedom I give my kiddos in writers workshop.  My feelings were that I give them pretty much, but.... I could do better.  This for me is starting with what I put in my bins that live on student desks.  My thoughts are..... pens, pencils (blah), markers (the Papermate kind), stapler, erasers, dry erase markers, Post-Its and correction tape to name a few.

A few weeks ago Em was surprised with an email from The Pencil Grip asking us to check out some of their products.  Last week a box arrived filled with lots of goodies that we think will help our writers! 

First up.... a STAPLELESS STAPLER!  You read that right, friends.  No staples.  This means no refilling, staple jams, pinched fingers (I've done that too may times), nada.  I can not wait to teach our firsties how to use this amazing tool. On.the.first.day.

Have you ever had students with cuh-razy grips on their pencils and every writing utensil they come in contact with?  We had a *few* of these firsties last year.  One who had a quad pencil grip!  I don't know how she did it with such beautiful handwriting, but we're hoping this three step pencil grips will help those firsties that are struggling holding their pens/pencils/markers/etc. which in turn leads to them not wanting to write as much because they are working so hard to just maneuver their writing utensil.  These guys will definitely make it into our writing bins!

With that being said, The Pencil Grip also sent us two different types of stylus' that I would definitely add to our bins.  One we absolutely LOVED!  It was so different from the other stylus they sent because it was thicker and weightier.  We LOVED how we could feel that weight on our hands and thought it would be great for our firsties.  It also slid across the iPad so nicely.  We could see both being used on the iPad for firsties to "try" their words before writing them.  We're thinking it'll take a little more of the pressure off them to feel like they have to write it perfectly.

Last up..... pencil sharpeners.  Having these guys in our bins this year will a lifesaver!  I don't know about you, but I don't let my firsties use my electrical one because quite frankly.... they always break it and I need that guy to work....overtime.  These pencil sharpeners will save time for me, I'm just hoping I can teach my firsties to not be using for all of writers workshop or sharpening their pencils into little nubs.  I'm loving the one with the lid because it'll keep the mess inside and it's cute! 

We were so excited about these new additions to the Writer's Workshop bins that The Pencil Grip company is allowing us to give these products away to 8 reading...yes...EIGHT!!! Each winner will get the following bag of goodies:

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Multi-Sensory Videos with Rock N Learn

 In March, a fellow blogger friend came to visit.  Jennifer from Stories and Songs in Second won over the hearts of my two little girls with her kindness, gift of books, but most of all, music.  Using my guitar (the one that she had to clean and tune because I have no idea how to use it), Jennifer sang the songs that she shares daily with the students in her classroom.  It got me thinking...

There is so much research behind the power of a multi-sensory approach in the classroom.  I remember learning in college how motivating and engaging music is to children.  They promote rhyme and rhythm.  I immediately went out and bought a keyboard because it was going to be used everyday in my classroom.

It has never been used.

I don't know what happened.  Somehow the music got lost.

But Jennifer reminded me of the importance that music plays in our little ones' lives.  I witnessed it again this year when my partner Jess introduced a shape song and a doubles fact song.  I would catch them singing these songs ALL the time and pretty soon they were also stuck in my head.

 A few weeks after this realization, Rock N Learn contacted me about trying out their Musical DVDs that are skill based.  How odd that this opportunity arose when it did!!  I jumped at the chance to add more music into our lessons.

After viewing these different DVDs, Jess and I decided that the time songs would be most beneficial to our firsties at this time in the year.  In first grade, we study time to the hour and half hour.  Immediately, I examined the table of contents for the DVD.  I really liked the way that they have time skills broken up.  It allowed us to show only what was needed and not the entire video.

The DVD teaches the skills with animated characters, songs, a rhythm, but also a lot of practice.  The video visually shows what it means to be half past the hour.  Modeling and explaining the different positions of the hands on the clock provided an excellent support to the lesson that we were teaching.

As we moved on with our classroom lessons and activities, what struck me as being most beneficial was the repetitive nature of the video and song.  It asked the students to tell time over and over and over again.   My firsties got to practice telling time to the half hour multiple times during this short segment.  Here is a short sample of the telling time DVD:

The DVD provided us with a quick, efficient, and engaging review but also a multi-sensory support to our lessons.

After we tried these video clips out, we have decided to begin the year off with the addition and subtraction Rock N Learn DVD.  It will provide another support to our little learners.

Rock N Learn has offered a 25% discount to all my readers (contiguous U.S. residents only).  The coupon code is KR8822.

You can also enter below for a chance to win the Early Math 3 DVD Collection.

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I can't wait to hear about how this tool works for your students!