What can we say beyond "Sound it Out" ???

Yesterday started out as such a lovely day.  The weather was gorgeous!  We got to the pool around noon and swam for about 3 hours - I think Gianluca found a new love for swimming!   My sister came to the pool and we decided to sit at one of the picnic tables and enjoy some fresh fruit.  And all of a sudden, out of nowhere it started pouring! I mean torrential downpour with freezing, ice cold rain that was coming in sideways! 

They immediately closed the pool, and the mob of people --- well it seemed like we were all running for our lives --- but in reality, we just wanted to get to our cars.

Although my sister and I were soaked and freezing, we managed to keep Gianluca warm and somewhat dry.  When we returned to my house, the sun was shining! 

I couldn't help but laugh and think "you've got to be kidding me" ~ I often find myself laughing in my head about similar situations when I'm working with students. 

Sometimes, I feel like the same thing is happening with my struggling readers.  We start out smooth sailing, making progress - they see the light!  Then, it pours.  They come to road blocks, get frustrated and sometimes even angry with themselves.  And I always have to remind myself to keep them relaxed.  How do I do that?  Well, by keeping myself relaxed and telling them that it is OKAY to try.  That good readers TRY and when we make mistakes, we TRY AGAIN!  And then, the light starts to shine again. 

I typed up some cues I use to help students stay calm and to understand what to do when they can't decode a word.  These cues/prompts are much more than simply telling them to "sound it out" ~ Because, what if they don't know what sound to make?

You can find the cues HERE!  

Thanks for reading!

~*Gina*~ 

Freebie Friday!

There's a special place in my heart for my little Kindergarten students.  To me, they are still just babies.  And I have to admit that I am always amazed at the Kindergarten teachers in my building - they get the little stinkers so ready for First grade. 

A few years back, I created a "Sailing into First Grade" handout for my little Kindergarteners.  I just didn't want them to lose what we had worked so hard to achieve.  And, well I was a bit nervous about that summer slide. 

Here are 2 links for the handouts.
Click here for the free bookmark.
Click here for the free parent letter.

They are fit for beautiful weather and beautiful weather it is today!  Off to the pool we go!

Thanks for reading!

~*Gina*~

1st Grade Common Core "I Can" Learning Targets for Reading!

After extensively reviewing the Common Core State Standards for First Grade, I decided to make some "I can" statements.  I know they will be useful for me this coming school year.  I hope they are useful for you too!

Here is the link to download them.  There are 36 pages!

Thanks for reading!

~*Gina*~

Teaching to a Child's Strengths

I can't tell you how many times I've sat in meetings about particular students and someone asked me, "What can he do?".  At that question, I would stop and collect my thoughts and scan my notes on the student.  Now, I've learned.  Prior to meeting on a student, I make a T-chart in my notebook that looks like this:
____________________________________________
STRENGTHS     *      AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT 
                            *
                            *
                            *
                            *

On either side of the T-chart, I plug in my notes from my anecdotal records.  That way, during a meeting, I can state a PCP (Pro-Con-Pro) about the student.  I find it very helpful to jot these notes down even if it is just on 2 different sticky-notes because it allows me to see what the student needs and where I need to go with my instruction. 

And, if we want to succeed, we must teach to each student's strengths rather than their weaknesses.  Think for just a moment how much a 5-year-old does not know about reading, or how much a struggling reader at any age does not know about reading.  The list seems endless and doesn't really help in planning our next instructional steps does it?  But... if we look deeply at what our students CAN do, we know where to start our instruction.  Effective teachers build on what children know.  We, as teachers, must know what the child can do. 

Keeping this in the back of my mind has caused me think more clearly about the anecdotal notes I take on each student.  I only write what will help me make an instructional decision. 

What do you write in your anecdotal records?

Thanks for reading!

~*Gina*~

 

CAFE Strategies & Beanie Babies!

If you use the CAFE and have a CAFE board in your classroom then you will love these! They are free since I, initially, did not make them. However, I mirrored the style and made some to fit the strategies that I needed to teach my students.

Please feel free to follow this link to download the free beanies.

I will be posting other/ more links to the beanies that I personally made. 

Thanks for reading!

~*Gina*~

Alternatives to Round Robin Reading

What does your guided reading look like?  Do you call on one student at a time to read while the others wait for their turn to read?  Here are some alternatives...

First, keep in mind that all of the methods listed here are quite do-able when the students are trained in them.  They are most effective when you train students in one method completely before you teach them a new method.  These methods result in higher comprehension than round robin reading.

Staggered:  Teacher designates one student at a time to begin (on page 1) whisper reading.  The teacher listens in for a short time. Then, the teacher designates the 2nd student to start whisper reading on page 1.  Eventually, all the students in the circle start at different places.  I use this with 1st through 4th graders.  Listening in is VERY important.  This is where I get the best anecdotal notes that help guide my teaching.   

 

Shared:  Teacher reads aloud, modeling good fluency and intonation, while students follow along in their own copy of book. Teacher frequently stops and models comprehension strategies and skills such as inferencing, drawing conclusions, questioning, connecting, cause & effect, picturing, summarizing, evaluating, etc., but not so frequently as to interfere with the flow of the story.

Independent:  Students read independently, are assigned clear stopping and starting points, and a purpose for reading (“While you read, look for…” “While you read, think about how…” “While you read, see if you can figure out why…” etc.)   Try an Anticipation Guide (see attached) so the reader can compare his thoughts and opinions about the topic to the writer’s message as they read or the teacher can choose to have students respond in response journals when finished reading or respond to prepared higher level questions in their journals.  Faster readers then are not held up by the slower readers like they are in round robin reading.

Jigsaw:  Works very well with content area reading (ss, science) and text with subheadings. Assign sections of reading, split kids into different groups, assign a section of text to read, and assign jobs (clear and limited) so they can teach the other groups the content of their assigned section.  Each group becomes the expert on their section of text in order to teach the other groups.  Teacher must decide on which graphic organizer is most appropriate for groups to create and use to synthesize their information and teach other groups.  Other groups should be learning, taking notes, asking questions as teaching group teaches in order to glean the information from them.  Teacher must model first how to both learn from a teaching group and how to teach when you are the teaching group.

Paired (“Buddy”):  This is not just pairing up two students to read aloud to each other, this is training the students to follow the buddy reading strategies (see attached.). Students must be taught how to be the “teacher” and how to be the “student.”  Set expectations and guidelines for reading work, behavior, etc.  This is very effective and enjoyable for the kids.  Teacher sets a purpose for reading, assigns a clear goal, clear starting and stopping points, what to do when finished reading (continue to work on graphic organizer started in pre-reading, answer questions in response journals, respond to text in other form, make a graphic organizer to show knowledge gained to other groups, etc.)

Reciprocal:  Initially teacher directed, gradually teacher drops level of support so that it is student directed.  Purpose is to make reading techniques that good readers use visible to all students.  Students need to internalize that they need to do these things in their heads with everything they read.  Good readers use all of these steps, although they are not always visible.

·         Predict

·         Read (can be shared in beginning, or whole class)

·         Question, clarify points of uncertainty

·         Summarize (to teach students to synthesize information gained in reading and give it back in their own form)

For content area reading, read all subheadings separately using all 4 steps in each subheading.  For fiction, read each section of the text, using all 4 steps in each section.

 

***Please understand that all of these methods are excellent in their own unique way and it is important to know that they are used for specific purposes at specific times throughout the instructional process.  

 ------> This is a great text that tells about many oral reading strategies. 

 

Thanks for reading!

 

~*Gina*~

 

"Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him."

- Maya Angelou

 

 

  

Pre-K and Kindergarten Assessments

I taught pre-school for 1 year and I loved every second of it.  I saw my students as my little babies!  They were little people with their own cute little personalities.  

I assessed their letter identification, letter-sound correspondence, and basic print knowledge with the Marie Clay assessments that can be found in this text:

I also used this book:

I was always able to get a ton of information using these assessments but they were quite time consuming.   I used these assessments for Benchmarking (4 times a year as we were on Quarters). 

Currently, I use portions of the Marie Clay assessments if I have questions about particular students but I use the ISEL (Illinois Snapshots of Early Literacy Assessment) for benchmarking purposes.  Information on the ISEL - K/1st can be found HERE.  My district also uses MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) for benchmarking.

There are so many early literacy skills that Kindergarteners learn throughout the course of the year.  I was in search of some type of progress monitoring assessment that was a whole package deal.  Progress monitoring seems to come to my mind a lot.  Well, I was looking for something that tested letter identification, letter-sound correspondence, phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, developmental spelling/word writing, word reading and text reading.  Did I find it? 
No.  I purchased a bunch of professional texts claiming to have progress monitoring tools and none of them did.  I ended up returning so many I can't even remember what the titles were.  So what did I decide to do?  I did what any other teacher in my position would do.  I made my own :)  
It was a very time consuming task but I finished it.  I only did these assessments once a month because they were quite lengthy.  You can see the free version of these assessments HERE.  Let me know what you think of them.

While on the topic of Kindergarten assessments, I just got a new text in the mail! 
I bought it HERE.  

There is a section titled:  10 minutes that may change a life.  Wow, now that is deep.  I can't wait to read it. 

Thanks for reading!

~*Gina*~

  

Analyzing Running Records

I often research how notable educators and other reading specialists analyze running records.  Each running record is a piece of qualitative information.  It is taking a deeper look at the reading behavior or essentially, a reader's decisions in applying their word knowledge skills and reading strategies. 

As a reading specialist, it is my job to look for "behavior evidence" of cue use and evidence of the use of strategies such as cross-checking information.  It is my job to examine each incorrect attempt and self-correction.  It is my job to create hypothesizes about the cues or information sources the child might have been using.  In Marie Clay's analysis, cues refer to the sources of information.  There are 3 major categories:


Meaning- The teacher thinks about whether the child's attempt makes sense up to the point of error. The teacher might think about the story background, information, from the picture, and meaning in the sentence in deciding whether the child was probably using meaning as a source.

Structure-Structure refers to the way language works. Some refer to this information source as syntax because unconscious knowledge of the rules of the grammar of the language the reader speaks allows him to eliminate alternatives. Using this implicates knowledge, the reader checks whether the sentence "sounds right."

Visual information- Visual information includes the way the letters and words look. Readers use their knowledge of visual features of words and letters and connect these features to their knowledge of the way words and letters sound when spoken. If the letters in the child's attempt are visually similar to the letters in the word in the text (for example, if it begins with the same letter or has a similar cluster of letters), it is likely that the reader has used visual information.

(F&P, 1996)

Readers use all of these information sources in an integrated way while reading for meaning.

My running record form can be found HERE.  

If you look at the form, for each error (E) and self-correction (SC), the letters M, S, V are indicated in the "error" column and the "SC" column.

 How I learned to do a RR is to look for what the student is doing. So, I just look for what the student is probably using.  If the student is probably using meaning, I would circle the "M".  If structure (syntax) is probably being used, I would circle the S.  If visual information is probably being used, I would circle the V.

In my opinion, in order to consider it a complete RR, there needs to be an analysis of each error and each self-correction.  But, this takes time.  A TON of time.  Well, at first.  Once you become familiar with how to "read" a student so to speak, it goes a lot faster.  This is why I love doing the reading assessments on ALL of my studnets.  It is very time consuming but I take valuable anecdotal notes that help me figure out where to go next with each individual.  I feel that doing a RR is extemely valuable because it gives me (the teacher) a chance to look for patterns in the child's reading behaviors.  It gives me a chance to reflect on the child's behavior, make my best hypothesis, and then look at data through the whole reading and over time.   What I really look for is some type of indication that gives me a clue as to what kinds of strategies the child is using.

If a child isn't making many errors, I move to a higher level of text because I WANT to see them make some errors.  If they are making too many errors, I move to a lower level of text because I don't want them to become frustrated (when students are frustrated, all strategies go right out the window).

The errors a student makes help me to indicate their strategic action.  I observe whether a child is actively relating one source of information to another, a behavior that Clay (1991) calls cross-checking, because the child is checking one clue against another.

Once all miscues, or errors, are analyzed, I think about questions such as these:

• Does the reader use cues in relation to each other?
• Does the reader check information sources against one another?
• Does the reader use several sources of cues in an integrated way or rely on only one kind of information?
• Does the reader repeat what has been read as if to confirm his reading thus far?
• Does the reader reread to search for more information from the sentence or text?
• Does the reader make meaningful attempts before appealing to the teacher for help?
• Does the reader request help after making an attempt or several attempts?
• Does the reader notice when cues do not match?
• Does the reader stop at unknown words without actively searching?
• Does the reader appeal to the teacher in a dependent way or appeal when appropriate (that is, when the reader has done what he can)?
• Does the reader read with phrasing and fluency? (use my fluency rubric if needed)
•  Does the reader make comments or responses in ways that indicate comprehension of the story?

These are not the only questions I think about, just some of them.  I usually think about them as I am conducting a running record.  I usually type out the words of the text I plan on using and then have a few more seconds while the student is reading to jot down any notes. 

Thinking about these questions will help reveal whether the child is using internal strategies, which may include:


Self-monitoring. These strategies allow the reader to confirm whether he is reading the story accurately. Readers who are reading accurately are consistently using meaning, structure, and visual information for confirm their reading. This is not a conscious process, but the internal system tells them whether the reading makes sense, sounds right, and looks right.

Searching. Searching is an active process in which the reader looks for information that will assist problem solving in some way. Readers search for and use all kinds of information sources, including meaning, visual information, and their knowledge of syntax of language.

Self-correcting. This is the reader's ability to notice mismatches, search for further accomplishes a precise fit with the information already known.
(F&P, 1996)


Reading A-Z has an excellent example of running records. Click here to view the example.

 I hope this helps you to deeper alalyze the reading behaviors of your students.

Thanks for reading!

~*Gina*~

"The more that you read, the more things you will know.  The more that you learn, the more places you'll go."

- Dr. Seuss a.k.a.....  
   

Fluency Freebie!

Here is the link to my Free Fluency Rubric on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Hope you find it useful!

Get the rubrics here!    Get the Paisley Rubrics Here!

Thanks for reading!

~*Gina*~

"The fluent reader sounds good, is easy to listen to, and reads with enough expression to help the listener understand and enjoy the material."
     - Charles Clark, "Building Fluency: Do It Right and Do It Well! (1999)

RTI Book Reviews

     So since I have been off and enjoying so much fun in the sun with my little man, I thought I'd try to keep myself from getting "summer brain" as I call it... ya know, the kind of lackadaisical feeling you get right when school's out for the summer.  You don't want to think about school, and all of your projects get put on the back burner.  That's me.  Well, for about 2 weeks.  And then after that, I want to spend some time doing research, reading, blogging, etc. just to keep my mind sharp and up to date.  (Luckily, my almost 4 year old still likes taking 1.5 hour naps each day and he enjoys being at the farm with his father so it gives me some free time). 

If you're not like me, then you probably haven't read two very important texts for any teacher of reading.  They are:   and     I purchased them both from here.

   Okay, Okay, so what if I have a HUGE library of professional texts. I use them. I review them. I NEED them... and, I am always looking for the newest references by notable educators. Gretchen Owocki is a favorite of mine so I'll start with hers. She co-authored one of my favorite texts that I used as a pre-school teacher: Kidwatching.  

The RTI Daily Planning book includes many assessments that can be used for specific areas of reading need. It also includes some great graphic organizers with rubrics directly on them (for plot, characters, etc.). I think I'm going to mirror those graphic organizers and create one for each organizational text type (cause and effect, compare/contrast, etc.).  This text has given me some great ideas. 

This book has a great fluency rubric! It is very similar to one that I created but I felt it was great to see that I must be on the right track! This text also contains some great sound and picture boxes (elkonin boxes with pictures), a lesson plan guide to focus on text processing and a lesson plan guide to focus on text comprehending. Can you say STRATEGY GROUPS?!?! There are even long text lists to use with all of these possible assessments and I'm sure many of the texts on these lists can be found in your school's library or even at your local library.

Okay, let's back up for a minute.   
If you are a teacher of any grade above 2nd, you probably just glanced at the first text listed. 

Back up, and look at that cover again. RTI Assessments and Remediation

YES, it says it is for K-2 but many students in all grade levels, even in high school need to go back to the basics at times.  Trust me, I have taught those high school students that have learned so many bad habits and that are reading "below the 4th grade level" that you don't even know where to start.  If you are looking for a text for progress monitoring for these types of students, then this is your savior. 

I have been searching for a text such as this one for quite some time now and I have finally found it.  I reviewed tons of other texts for similar assessments but what is so unique about this text is that it includes all of the assessments so they are ready to use. 

One downside is that the leveled texts you need to copy are loosely leveled.  They are given ranges of F&P (Fountas and Pinnell) Guided reading levels.  This doesn't bother me because I know that there are many different leveling systems and every teacher levels his/her books differently.  But for some, it might be an issue.  However, what does bother me is the lack of texts it has.  I would have liked to have more of these books to copy, at all of the levels because I try to progress monitor my students bi-weekly or even weekly for some  (I have close to 100 students on my roster).  Some of you are probably thinking, why doesn't she just use Reading A-Z.com.  Great minds think alike.  I do use them - the benchmark passages - because they are short and sweet and get me the info that I need.  But... again, there are only 4 for each level.     

Anyway, if you have students that need to be progress monitored for phonemic awareness or other early literacy skills, you will be happy with this book.  Worst case scenario, order it online, review it and bring it back if you don't think it is worth the $20.

If you decide to purchase either of these texts, please be sure to drop me a note and let me know what you think of them.

Thanks for reading!
~*Gina*~

"Reading is a basic tool in the living of a good life"
- Mortimer J. Adler