As I said in the blog several weeks ago, students have been busy learning routines and procedures. Now that these routines and procedures have become somewhat automatic, we have been able to devote more of our attention to the curriculum. Please read the sections below to see what we've been learning in the areas of reading, writing, and math.
Reading
Students have been hard at work learning the routines and procedures for Readers' Workshop. Once this workshop is fully up and running, students will be able to independently perform the following tasks: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, Listen to Reading, and Word Work. Each day, students will have an opportunity to complete 3 of the 5 tasks while I work with small groups on targeted reading skills. Although it will take a few months for students to become independent with all of these tasks, it will pay off in the long run. As I've witnessed these past few years, students learn exponentially more throughout the year with the implementation of Daily 5 compared to a year without this structure. Already, my students have become independent with Read to Self and are ready to learn Work on Writing, Word Work, Listen to Reading, and Read to Someone.
To help students become independent with each of these components, I have created anchor charts with my students on the specific step-by-step instructions they are to do during each task. Pictures have also been added to these charts. They serve as visual reminders on what to do for each component of the Readers' Workshop (see procedures and pictures below for Read to Self). Once a chart has been created, students directly practice each item, and slowly, but surely, they build stamina. Our first day of Read to Self, my students were able to "read" independently for 3 minutes. The second day practicing Read to Self, students were able to read independently for 5 minutes. I am proud to say that we are now able to read independently for 15 minutes! It's really amazing, considering many of my students don't exactly know how to "read" just yet. In addition to Read to Self, my students have successfully added Word Work and Listen to Reading to our Readers' Workshop repertoire. Students are able to login to a computer program called I-Ready Reading, where students work with letters, sounds, and words and work on various skills to help them read.
Even though not all of my students can read words, ALL of my students can successfully read the pictures. Students have learned that there are two ways to read a book: through pictures and through words. This beginning skill of reading pictures will help students quickly develop the skills necessary to read the words. I have also done many lessons on how to read books: how to hold a book, how to point to the words as we read, how to use the pictures to help us read the words, which direction we read words, and how to get our mouths ready to say the first sound when we come to an unknown word. My students have also learned that you can cross-check when you come to a word you're not sure is correct. This simply means they ask themselves: Does it look right, sound right, and make sense? We've worked on phonological awareness skills as well: rhyming, counting syllables in words, and hearing and identifying beginning sounds in words.
"The Book Fairy" has also been extremely motivating in our reading adventure. She leaves books and materials in a book basket each day to help us become better readers. Oh, how my students LOVE The Book Fairy! They truly believe she is a magical creature who wants them to love reading as much as she does. My students have already received individual books from The Book Fairy to add to their reading boxes. These are the books that they know really well and can practice throughout the Readers' Workshop. Students have absolutely LOVED receiving these new books!
Here are the pictures and procedures from Read to Self:
Reading
Students have been hard at work learning the routines and procedures for Readers' Workshop. Once this workshop is fully up and running, students will be able to independently perform the following tasks: Read to Self, Read to Someone, Work on Writing, Listen to Reading, and Word Work. Each day, students will have an opportunity to complete 3 of the 5 tasks while I work with small groups on targeted reading skills. Although it will take a few months for students to become independent with all of these tasks, it will pay off in the long run. As I've witnessed these past few years, students learn exponentially more throughout the year with the implementation of Daily 5 compared to a year without this structure. Already, my students have become independent with Read to Self and are ready to learn Work on Writing, Word Work, Listen to Reading, and Read to Someone.
To help students become independent with each of these components, I have created anchor charts with my students on the specific step-by-step instructions they are to do during each task. Pictures have also been added to these charts. They serve as visual reminders on what to do for each component of the Readers' Workshop (see procedures and pictures below for Read to Self). Once a chart has been created, students directly practice each item, and slowly, but surely, they build stamina. Our first day of Read to Self, my students were able to "read" independently for 3 minutes. The second day practicing Read to Self, students were able to read independently for 5 minutes. I am proud to say that we are now able to read independently for 15 minutes! It's really amazing, considering many of my students don't exactly know how to "read" just yet. In addition to Read to Self, my students have successfully added Word Work and Listen to Reading to our Readers' Workshop repertoire. Students are able to login to a computer program called I-Ready Reading, where students work with letters, sounds, and words and work on various skills to help them read.
Even though not all of my students can read words, ALL of my students can successfully read the pictures. Students have learned that there are two ways to read a book: through pictures and through words. This beginning skill of reading pictures will help students quickly develop the skills necessary to read the words. I have also done many lessons on how to read books: how to hold a book, how to point to the words as we read, how to use the pictures to help us read the words, which direction we read words, and how to get our mouths ready to say the first sound when we come to an unknown word. My students have also learned that you can cross-check when you come to a word you're not sure is correct. This simply means they ask themselves: Does it look right, sound right, and make sense? We've worked on phonological awareness skills as well: rhyming, counting syllables in words, and hearing and identifying beginning sounds in words.
"The Book Fairy" has also been extremely motivating in our reading adventure. She leaves books and materials in a book basket each day to help us become better readers. Oh, how my students LOVE The Book Fairy! They truly believe she is a magical creature who wants them to love reading as much as she does. My students have already received individual books from The Book Fairy to add to their reading boxes. These are the books that they know really well and can practice throughout the Readers' Workshop. Students have absolutely LOVED receiving these new books!
Here are the pictures and procedures from Read to Self:
Find Bubble Spot Get Started Right Away
Read the Whole Time Quiet...Shhh!!!
Also, here is a recent videos of a Readers' Workshop session, which includes both Read to Self, Word Work, and Listen to Reading (one third of my class doing each). Watching this again, I seriously can't get over how well this group is doing! One of the things we have really worked on is pointing to the words as we read. So many of my students were doing just that in the video below. They have taken on the role of 'reader' very seriously. I can't wait to see them really take off when we begin reading groups within the next month.
Also, here is a recent videos of a Readers' Workshop session, which includes both Read to Self, Word Work, and Listen to Reading (one third of my class doing each). Watching this again, I seriously can't get over how well this group is doing! One of the things we have really worked on is pointing to the words as we read. So many of my students were doing just that in the video below. They have taken on the role of 'reader' very seriously. I can't wait to see them really take off when we begin reading groups within the next month.
Writing
Similar to our Readers' Workshop, we also have a Writers' Workshop. Essentially, it's the same concept: students learn to write independently so that the teacher can work with students individually or in a small group. We started off slowly, creating an anchor chart to know exactly what to do during this time. We also took pictures to help us remember each of the procedures. We have also been building stamina. Students have gone from being able to write independently for 5 minutes to being able to write independently for 30 minutes.
I have also done many lessons on how to write. Students understand that there are three ways to write: drawing the pictures, writing the words, and adding details. Currently, they are working on a writing unit called Show & Tell. Within their books, they draw and write about things they can see right in front of them. They try to make the picture match the item, exactly. So, for now, students are drawing things around my classroom (i.e. books about friends, books about Halloween decorations, books about books, books about stuffed animals, or books about toys). They have learned that details can be added to both their pictures and their words to tell more of the story. They have also learned that leaving spaces between words makes writing easier to read. And one of the ways many students have added words is through the use of labels. They use labels within these Show & Tell books to show and tell the reader about the parts of these items.
All of my students feel successful at this point because they understand that even if they can't write yet, they can draw pictures to show and tell. I am truly amazed at my students' writing and illustrating thus far. After several lessons on how to stretch out words and write down sounds, nearly all of my students have attempted to incorporate some words into their writing.
Currently, I am keeping their writing pieces in individual files. At the end of each trimester, I will put the pieces into a file for you to keep. Here are a few pictures of some of my students' writing. You can get an idea of the type of writing you will see in your child's writing file when it comes home.
Similar to our Readers' Workshop, we also have a Writers' Workshop. Essentially, it's the same concept: students learn to write independently so that the teacher can work with students individually or in a small group. We started off slowly, creating an anchor chart to know exactly what to do during this time. We also took pictures to help us remember each of the procedures. We have also been building stamina. Students have gone from being able to write independently for 5 minutes to being able to write independently for 30 minutes.
I have also done many lessons on how to write. Students understand that there are three ways to write: drawing the pictures, writing the words, and adding details. Currently, they are working on a writing unit called Show & Tell. Within their books, they draw and write about things they can see right in front of them. They try to make the picture match the item, exactly. So, for now, students are drawing things around my classroom (i.e. books about friends, books about Halloween decorations, books about books, books about stuffed animals, or books about toys). They have learned that details can be added to both their pictures and their words to tell more of the story. They have also learned that leaving spaces between words makes writing easier to read. And one of the ways many students have added words is through the use of labels. They use labels within these Show & Tell books to show and tell the reader about the parts of these items.
All of my students feel successful at this point because they understand that even if they can't write yet, they can draw pictures to show and tell. I am truly amazed at my students' writing and illustrating thus far. After several lessons on how to stretch out words and write down sounds, nearly all of my students have attempted to incorporate some words into their writing.
Currently, I am keeping their writing pieces in individual files. At the end of each trimester, I will put the pieces into a file for you to keep. Here are a few pictures of some of my students' writing. You can get an idea of the type of writing you will see in your child's writing file when it comes home.
Math
In math, we have been learning several routines and procedures as well. Very similar to the Readers' Workshop and the Writers' Workshop I just described, Math Workshop involves students working on tasks independently while the teacher works with small groups of students. These small groups of students will consist of students who are working on similar math skills. I truly believe this approach will allow me to meet the individual needs of my students. I can challenge them exactly where they are at. Currently, we are learning the procedures for Math By Myself. This time involves counting various collections of random objects and explaining their efficient counting strategy. It also involves math centers, which change from week to week. Within these centers, students have worked with shapes, numbers, and have also played math games. Here are some procedure pictures from Math By Myself.
In math, we have been learning several routines and procedures as well. Very similar to the Readers' Workshop and the Writers' Workshop I just described, Math Workshop involves students working on tasks independently while the teacher works with small groups of students. These small groups of students will consist of students who are working on similar math skills. I truly believe this approach will allow me to meet the individual needs of my students. I can challenge them exactly where they are at. Currently, we are learning the procedures for Math By Myself. This time involves counting various collections of random objects and explaining their efficient counting strategy. It also involves math centers, which change from week to week. Within these centers, students have worked with shapes, numbers, and have also played math games. Here are some procedure pictures from Math By Myself.
Find Bubble Spot Get Started Right Away
Work the Whole Time Quiet...Shhh!!!
Students have also learned how to do Math With Someone, which is essentially playing a math game with a partner. We will learn a lot of math games this year. These games will help students become fluent and will also help reinforce math concepts we are learning. Like the previous tasks, students have learned routines and procedures for Math With Someone.
We are also learning about different ways to count. So far, we've learned about counting accurately and efficiently and have begun to create a list of different ways to count. Students have offered ideas such as counting by tens, lining things up while counting, and moving things while counting. Students have learned that making groups of fives or tens using five frames and ten frames helps students count efficiently and accurately.
Another concept students are currently learning is comparing. Students have learned that you can compare how many objects are in two groups by using the words more than, fewer than, and equal to or the same as. Students have practiced making comparison statements and have also practiced making groups of objects that are more than, fewer than, and the same as or equal to a certain number. Here are a few pictures and videos of my students practicing Math By Myself working on the concepts of counting and making comparison groups using the words more than, less than, and the same as.
Another concept students are currently learning is comparing. Students have learned that you can compare how many objects are in two groups by using the words more than, fewer than, and equal to or the same as. Students have practiced making comparison statements and have also practiced making groups of objects that are more than, fewer than, and the same as or equal to a certain number. Here are a few pictures and videos of my students practicing Math By Myself working on the concepts of counting and making comparison groups using the words more than, less than, and the same as.
Aren't my students amazing? I am thoroughly impressed each and every day at all they have learned in just a month. If this is any indication of what they are going to accomplish, I think it's safe to say they will find a lot of success this year. I look forward to having a front row seat to these successes.
I would like to end this post by sharing a funny story. One of my students earned a Titan Ticket. After receiving it, he said, "This is my third Titan Ticket of the day!" I gave him praise and said, "Good job!" He then proceeded to say, "Man, I'm really starting to figure this school thing out!" Well, that makes one of us! I am STILL trying to figure this "school thing" out as every day of teaching brings new surprises and challenges. Even though I still laugh about that story, it reminds me that these kids really do have so much to learn when they enter kindergarten. It's probably very overwhelming, but my students have handled it with such grace and excitement. It's been a pleasure to witness their accomplishments thus far, and I look forward to see what they are able to do by the end of the year.
I would like to end this post by sharing a funny story. One of my students earned a Titan Ticket. After receiving it, he said, "This is my third Titan Ticket of the day!" I gave him praise and said, "Good job!" He then proceeded to say, "Man, I'm really starting to figure this school thing out!" Well, that makes one of us! I am STILL trying to figure this "school thing" out as every day of teaching brings new surprises and challenges. Even though I still laugh about that story, it reminds me that these kids really do have so much to learn when they enter kindergarten. It's probably very overwhelming, but my students have handled it with such grace and excitement. It's been a pleasure to witness their accomplishments thus far, and I look forward to see what they are able to do by the end of the year.