Fluency tends to be a commonly overlooked skill, but you can change that by learning about strategies for teaching fluency with your elementary students!
Whether you call them literacy centers or literacy stations, big kids at the upper elementary level love center time and get so much out of it! How do literacy centers benefit kids? They add variety to learning and to the routine. They allow teachers to easily differentiate learning. They are a great way to help cover and reinforce all of the standards. They give students a place to practice important social skills, like collaboration, problem-solving, and communication. So how do you set up literacy centers and run them successfully? Here are a few things to keep in mind: 1. Plan Centers and Center Spaces Plan Centers: Since I've been teaching for quite a few years, I have a pretty good idea of what I'll be teaching and when. Of course, I make small changes as needed with each class, but generally, my pacing is pretty set. This information helps me make a skeleton plan for the major concepts, games, and activities I'll plan for the year. If you aren't sure of your yearly schedule, maybe you could schedule them a month ahead of time as you go. Another idea is to meet with your grade level team to talk about your reading themes for the year and to plan together. Plan Center Spaces in Your Classroom: Classrooms never seem big enough, so this can be a challenge. I like to have 4 - 5 kids at each center (the smaller number the better) but it depends on the class size. If I have 28 kids, that means about six center areas. Since my classroom is pretty small, when kids do the independent reading center, they stay at their desk/seat. That leaves me with 5 center areas to plan. 2. Types of Centers One of the questions teachers often ask is what kind of centers to include. Here are some suggestions that I've used in my classroom. I don't use all of the centers suggested at the same time but do mix up some of the centers every now and then for a bit of variety. Each center lasts 20 minutes long and the total center time is one hour, which means students should visit 3 centers each day. A. Independent Reading - This is one that ALL students do every day! It's important to me that students self-select books based on motivation and not reading level. One of the rules is that kids need to have a book ready before reading time. I don't want them to waste time searching the classroom library during this time. B. Teacher Time - This could be guided reading in a very structured setting or it could be reader's workshop style, where students meet with me to read a bit and to discuss concepts. C. Word Work - At this center, students work on spelling, grammar, context clues, and vocabulary. They may have a worksheet but more often they play a game. Since I couldn't find any games already made, I created a bundle of 30 Grammar Games, one for third grade and one for fourth grade to cover all language standards. They target grade-level skills and really make grammar fun. A huge time saver for sure! D. Magazine Center/Informational Text - This center is filled with children's news magazines (some from last year) like Scholastic News. I also include kid's magazines, like National Geographic Kids. I have graphic organizers I use for a bit of accountability. Students read an article, fill out the template, and then are free to continue reading whatever they'd like at this center. E. Technology Center - Every school is a bit different but whether you are blessed with tons of technology or are scraping by with a few older computers, there are still lots of great websites students can access with your direction at this center. Here are some you might want to check out: Freckle Education (formerly Front Row) Edcite Newsela MobyMax.com ABCYA.com Edmodo National Geographic Young Explorers Big Universe Spelling City I've also created standards-aligned reading units for 3rd - 5th grades. They give lots of focused, paperless practice. CLICK THE PHOTO BELOW TO LEARN MORE. F. Genius Hour - If you've never done Genius Hour with your students, you'll want to definitely look into it. I used to call these independent projects. Students are able to research and read about topics of interest and then prepare some type of presentation to share what they've learned with the class. Genius Hour projects are ongoing projects which students complete on their own time table, although you can set guidelines for how many they need to complete a semester for example. I tend to let it be more open-ended, as long as I see them engaged and focused. I know that some projects may take a number of weeks, while others may take two center rotation times. G. Reading Skills - At this center, I tie in worksheets that match our current reading strategy. Reading is my very favorite subject so I have lots of reading units already prepared which are no-prep, print and go. Click here if you need some fresh reading units for this center. H. Writing - Students may create poetry, write a letter to the principal, or create a personal narrative in their writer's workshop notebook. This is NOT our main writing time, however. It's more of a chance to let students experience low-pressure writing which is not specifically connected to a writing lesson. I. Reading Games - I love this center because it is rigorous while masquerading as fun! Kids at this center play games which are connected to the topic we are highlighting, like main idea, cause and effect, theme, or character traits. I actually created a whole series of reading games, just because I really needed them for my classroom and thought others might too. There is a game for each standard and they provide so much focused practice. I really love these! There's a set of 20 Reading Centers for 3rd Grade and 20 Reading Centers for 4th/5th. Each bundle of reading games has 10 Fiction Games and 10 Nonfiction Games. I also have digital reading units too. J. Read to a Friend - In this center, I have a variety of materials like poetry books and mini-plays to read together, to practice fluency. I also like to place high-interest picture books in this center! Even for 5th graders, you might be surprised at the complexity level of many picture books! Kids love them and they really are beneficial for them. Sometimes I have students bring their own independent books to share with each other. Other times, I have a book sampling basket at the center filled with book underdogs! These are some lesser-known books that I want kids to try. Their job is to read the book summary on the cover and to take turns reading either a paragraph or a page at a time. 3. Prepare Centers Once you've tentatively planned out your centers, the next step is to make or purchase the centers you'll need. I really do like to get the majority done in the summertime or at the beginning of the year because it's great to just pull out the center I need and it's ready to go. You can store the centers a number of ways. I really like the gallon size plastic baggies because I can put game boards, task cards, and anything else I might need (game markers or spinners...) in that bag. I just label the bag with a sharpie but you could make cute labels on the computer too if you want. You'll also want to have plenty of baskets and trays to organize center materials as you use them each week. The Dollar Store always has a great selection of these! 4. Decide How to Structure the Centers You can either have students do a rotation schedule that you create, or allow them to self-select within your parameters. Either works well, so you just need to decide which one works best for you. If students self-select, kids need to know expectations. For example, how many students can be at a single center at a time? How many centers do students need to complete each day or each week? I actually prefer a rotation schedule. I make some simple cards with center titles on them and create the schedule in a pocket chart with the days on the left side (vertically) and the center titles across the top (horizontally). 5. Set Expectations for Center Time Just like anything in the classroom, rules and procedures have to be explicitly taught and reviewed or chaos is bound to occur. First, I think through all of the possibilities of what could happen, and then I prepare for that by making up my list of rules on an anchor chart for all to see. We do some modeling of good and bad examples of behavior and discuss them together. If centers are going to work, this piece is crucial!!! There is no way for you to have quality teacher time if you are interrupted every few minutes to put out fires, answer questions, and give more directions. Take the time to set up centers well and you'll find it to be worth it. 6. Teach Each Center to the Whole Class Before Kids Use It Getting kids ready for centers is truly a process. To make it successful, you'll want to introduce the center to the whole class before expecting them to participate on their own. This is a great time for thumbs up and down questions to check for understanding, as well as modeling when appropriate. Once you've tried centers and have them operating smoothly, I think you'll really enjoy them. Want more information about why literacy centers are beneficial for kids in grades 3rd - 5th? Click here to read Why You Should be Using Reading Centers in Upper Elementary. If you like this post, I would love for you to pin it or to share it with a teacher friend. For more ideas and strategies focused on upper elementary, be sure to sign up for The Teacher Next Door's free email newsletter! Bonus, you'll also gain access to my FREE Resource Library which contains exclusive upper elementary freebies that you won't find anywhere else! Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to read it! I'd love to connect with you! The Teacher Next Door's Website Facebook Pinterest Instagram TpT Store
Whether you call them reading centers, stations, rotations, or something else, literacy centers are so beneficial for kids in upper elementary classrooms. Here are 7 reasons why you should be using reading centers with 3rd – 5th graders: 1. Gives Students Targeted Practice with Reading Skills and Strategies Whether you do a reader’s workshop model […]
Do you think reading centers are only for the littles? Think again! Learn why you should be using upper elementary reading centers.
Whether you call them literacy centers or literacy stations, big kids at the upper elementary level love center time and get so much out of it! How do literacy centers benefit kids? They add variety to learning and to the routine. They allow teachers to easily differentiate learning. They are a great way to help cover and reinforce all of the standards. They give students a place to practice important social skills, like collaboration, problem-solving, and communication. So how do you set up literacy centers and run them successfully? Here are a few things to keep in mind: 1. Plan Centers and Center Spaces Plan Centers: Since I've been teaching for quite a few years, I have a pretty good idea of what I'll be teaching and when. Of course, I make small changes as needed with each class, but generally, my pacing is pretty set. This information helps me make a skeleton plan for the major concepts, games, and activities I'll plan for the year. If you aren't sure of your yearly schedule, maybe you could schedule them a month ahead of time as you go. Another idea is to meet with your grade level team to talk about your reading themes for the year and to plan together. Plan Center Spaces in Your Classroom: Classrooms never seem big enough, so this can be a challenge. I like to have 4 - 5 kids at each center (the smaller number the better) but it depends on the class size. If I have 28 kids, that means about six center areas. Since my classroom is pretty small, when kids do the independent reading center, they stay at their desk/seat. That leaves me with 5 center areas to plan. 2. Types of Centers One of the questions teachers often ask is what kind of centers to include. Here are some suggestions that I've used in my classroom. I don't use all of the centers suggested at the same time but do mix up some of the centers every now and then for a bit of variety. Each center lasts 20 minutes long and the total center time is one hour, which means students should visit 3 centers each day. A. Independent Reading - This is one that ALL students do every day! It's important to me that students self-select books based on motivation and not reading level. One of the rules is that kids need to have a book ready before reading time. I don't want them to waste time searching the classroom library during this time. B. Teacher Time - This could be guided reading in a very structured setting or it could be reader's workshop style, where students meet with me to read a bit and to discuss concepts. C. Word Work - At this center, students work on spelling, grammar, context clues, and vocabulary. They may have a worksheet but more often they play a game. Since I couldn't find any games already made, I created a bundle of 30 Grammar Games, one for third grade and one for fourth grade to cover all language standards. They target grade-level skills and really make grammar fun. A huge time saver for sure! D. Magazine Center/Informational Text - This center is filled with children's news magazines (some from last year) like Scholastic News. I also include kid's magazines, like National Geographic Kids. I have graphic organizers I use for a bit of accountability. Students read an article, fill out the template, and then are free to continue reading whatever they'd like at this center. E. Technology Center - Every school is a bit different but whether you are blessed with tons of technology or are scraping by with a few older computers, there are still lots of great websites students can access with your direction at this center. Here are some you might want to check out: Freckle Education (formerly Front Row) Edcite Newsela MobyMax.com ABCYA.com Edmodo National Geographic Young Explorers Big Universe Spelling City I've also created standards-aligned reading units for 3rd - 5th grades. They give lots of focused, paperless practice. CLICK THE PHOTO BELOW TO LEARN MORE. F. Genius Hour - If you've never done Genius Hour with your students, you'll want to definitely look into it. I used to call these independent projects. Students are able to research and read about topics of interest and then prepare some type of presentation to share what they've learned with the class. Genius Hour projects are ongoing projects which students complete on their own time table, although you can set guidelines for how many they need to complete a semester for example. I tend to let it be more open-ended, as long as I see them engaged and focused. I know that some projects may take a number of weeks, while others may take two center rotation times. G. Reading Skills - At this center, I tie in worksheets that match our current reading strategy. Reading is my very favorite subject so I have lots of reading units already prepared which are no-prep, print and go. Click here if you need some fresh reading units for this center. H. Writing - Students may create poetry, write a letter to the principal, or create a personal narrative in their writer's workshop notebook. This is NOT our main writing time, however. It's more of a chance to let students experience low-pressure writing which is not specifically connected to a writing lesson. I. Reading Games - I love this center because it is rigorous while masquerading as fun! Kids at this center play games which are connected to the topic we are highlighting, like main idea, cause and effect, theme, or character traits. I actually created a whole series of reading games, just because I really needed them for my classroom and thought others might too. There is a game for each standard and they provide so much focused practice. I really love these! There's a set of 20 Reading Centers for 3rd Grade and 20 Reading Centers for 4th/5th. Each bundle of reading games has 10 Fiction Games and 10 Nonfiction Games. I also have digital reading units too. J. Read to a Friend - In this center, I have a variety of materials like poetry books and mini-plays to read together, to practice fluency. I also like to place high-interest picture books in this center! Even for 5th graders, you might be surprised at the complexity level of many picture books! Kids love them and they really are beneficial for them. Sometimes I have students bring their own independent books to share with each other. Other times, I have a book sampling basket at the center filled with book underdogs! These are some lesser-known books that I want kids to try. Their job is to read the book summary on the cover and to take turns reading either a paragraph or a page at a time. 3. Prepare Centers Once you've tentatively planned out your centers, the next step is to make or purchase the centers you'll need. I really do like to get the majority done in the summertime or at the beginning of the year because it's great to just pull out the center I need and it's ready to go. You can store the centers a number of ways. I really like the gallon size plastic baggies because I can put game boards, task cards, and anything else I might need (game markers or spinners...) in that bag. I just label the bag with a sharpie but you could make cute labels on the computer too if you want. You'll also want to have plenty of baskets and trays to organize center materials as you use them each week. The Dollar Store always has a great selection of these! 4. Decide How to Structure the Centers You can either have students do a rotation schedule that you create, or allow them to self-select within your parameters. Either works well, so you just need to decide which one works best for you. If students self-select, kids need to know expectations. For example, how many students can be at a single center at a time? How many centers do students need to complete each day or each week? I actually prefer a rotation schedule. I make some simple cards with center titles on them and create the schedule in a pocket chart with the days on the left side (vertically) and the center titles across the top (horizontally). 5. Set Expectations for Center Time Just like anything in the classroom, rules and procedures have to be explicitly taught and reviewed or chaos is bound to occur. First, I think through all of the possibilities of what could happen, and then I prepare for that by making up my list of rules on an anchor chart for all to see. We do some modeling of good and bad examples of behavior and discuss them together. If centers are going to work, this piece is crucial!!! There is no way for you to have quality teacher time if you are interrupted every few minutes to put out fires, answer questions, and give more directions. Take the time to set up centers well and you'll find it to be worth it. 6. Teach Each Center to the Whole Class Before Kids Use It Getting kids ready for centers is truly a process. To make it successful, you'll want to introduce the center to the whole class before expecting them to participate on their own. This is a great time for thumbs up and down questions to check for understanding, as well as modeling when appropriate. Once you've tried centers and have them operating smoothly, I think you'll really enjoy them. Want more information about why literacy centers are beneficial for kids in grades 3rd - 5th? Click here to read Why You Should be Using Reading Centers in Upper Elementary. If you like this post, I would love for you to pin it or to share it with a teacher friend. For more ideas and strategies focused on upper elementary, be sure to sign up for The Teacher Next Door's free email newsletter! Bonus, you'll also gain access to my FREE Resource Library which contains exclusive upper elementary freebies that you won't find anywhere else! Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to read it! I'd love to connect with you! The Teacher Next Door's Website Facebook Pinterest Instagram TpT Store
Each classroom brings students of multiple learning styles and backgrounds. It is our job to provide opportunities that reach all of the many different learning styles that come to us. For this reason, it is
Planning to tutor over the summer? Here are tips for quick and easy planning! Hi there! It's Sarah! I've been tutoring kiddos for the last year and have developed a routine that makes my planning easy and my session flow smoothly. All of the kiddos I tutor are grades K-2 and in need of a boost in their reading skills...fluency, comprehension, and phonics. Warm-up I like to start with some reading that is simple or familiar. I'll either have the kiddo re-read a text from the previous session or read fluency sentences. I have my kiddos keep a composition notebook with past passages to go back and re-read. I use lots of guided reader books to find the just right text for my kiddos to read. These are also great books to leave for kiddos to practice between sessions. Fluency sentence strips from The Moffatt Girls are a GREAT help to boost fluency and confidence! They are also super easy to leave for practice between sessions. Fluency Reading Practice My kiddos have all had good sight word recognition and really need fluency work. I switch between leveled readers and text passages. I usually have kiddos read the text themselves first. After reading, we go back through the text and find words that were tricky and read them. Next, I have the kiddo read through the text with me or by themselves if they are confident. Using a leveled reader Using fluency passages and recording words read per minute (the kiddos love to see their growth!) Find these fluency passages HERE! Using text evidence passages. Grab these passages HERE! Comprehension After some fluency practice with the selected text, I move into comprehension work. In our district, kiddos need to do a written response comprehension question as part of their reading assessment. I have my kiddos practice a written response question with every text and in every session. Comprehension with level reader I use these question stems to develop questions based on the text. Grab the question stems HERE! Completed written response, kiddos write in their composition journal Comprehension with text evidence passages. Grab these passages HERE! Here I use a reading passage with several comprehension tasks for a 2nd grade kiddo. Find these reading passage + comprehension packets HERE! Phonics After the reading and comprehension tasks are complete, I work on some phonics task with my kiddos. One of my favorite tasks is doing a word family word splash. I select a word from our text. I like how this tasks shows kiddos that if they can spell a work like bat, they can also spell cat, mat, sat, etc. Writing short sentences with words from the Word Family Splash Word building and sounding out Extras I like to use phonics poems as an additional fluency tool. The kiddos glue them into their composition notebook so they can go back and re-read between sessions, continuing to build fluency with familiar texts. These phonics poems are from Susan Jones. I use our Literacy Bags in between reading tasks. Literacy Bags break up the rigorous reading and fluency practice we do for much of the session. You can find Literacy Bags HERE! I'm working with a few Kindergartners who need sight word practice. I use the K version of our Differentiated Reading Fluency passages. In K, the passages start as reading letters, then sight words fluently. It perfect support for my K kiddos! You can grab these HERE! Additionally, our Print a Standard packs have been a great support for targeting specific skills students need to work on. Each pack contains tasks for one standard and has several activities for that standard, so there are a lot of opportunities to help the student learn, practice, and master standards based skills. You can grab Print a Standard packs for ELA AND MATH HERE! Connecting with students and parents on a more personal level is the best part of tutoring. I love giving kiddos instant feedback and celebrating their successes! I also love that I can give them more choices to foster a love of reading. In the picture above, I'm showing several text selections. The kiddos I'm working with is able to choose the book he'll read with me for the session. I also love being able to help parents foster learning at home. I've found most all of my parents did not really know about their kiddo's reading level or reading abilities. This makes it difficult for parents to find the best "just right" books for reading at home. After I work with a kiddo, I leave the text piece we worked on for that session (a passage or a book) so the kiddo can re-read it with parents. I leave their composition notebooks with phonics poems for the kiddos to go back a re-read. I also leave the fluency sentence strips for practice between sessions.
Get your students reading and writing this summer with these fun and engaging enrichment activities for elementary grades.
Are you classroom teacher looking for engaging ways to teach your students to comprehend stories? Read this post for primary ideas on how to get children to learn to visualize and build reading comprehension.
Teaching theme is not an easy task! Not only do students need to have a strong comprehension of the story's elements (like plot, setting, and characters), but they also have to be able to make inferences to find the author's message, since most themes are not overtly stated by the author. So, what are some of my favorite activities for helping kids understand theme? I'll list a number of them here. 1. Make an Anchor Chart Anchor charts are a great way to make learning visual and to have a record that kids can refer to when they need a bit of extra support. Theme may be defined in a number of ways. To me, the theme is the author's message or what he/she wants the reader to take away/learn from the story. It is a BIG idea, with a real-world or universal concern and can be applied to anyone. Besides talking about what a theme is, you'll also want to go over what it isn't. For example, some kids confuse the main idea of the story with its theme. To help students understand the difference, it's helpful to use stories that everyone in the class knows, like previous read alouds or classic stories like The Three Little Pigs. You can take each story and discuss the main idea (what the story was mostly about - specific to the story) vs. the theme (the lesson the author wants the reader to know - not specific to the story), to contrast the two ideas. The second area of confusion for some kids is that the theme is not specific to the characters in the story. In the book Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, for example. The theme would not be that...A little mouse named Chrysanthemum learned to accept the uniqueness of her name. The theme would be larger than the book and would be something like...It's important to accept oneself. Also, you'll want to explain to your students that often times, a book has multiple themes and there are several answers which work equally well to describe a book's theme. Since theme is very subjective, I tell students that I will accept any answer, as long as they have the text evidence to prove it. For example, in the book, Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, one might argue that the theme is about friendship, another might say family, or even courage, or kindness. Any one of these themes would be right, and counted as such, since they each fit the story and could be supported by text evidence. 2. Use Pixar Shorts to Practice Theme Besides the sheer enjoyment which comes from watching these mini-films, your students can learn a lot about reading concepts from these. They're great for ELL students or for struggling readers, and for all readers really since the text complexity piece is removed. You can find these clips on YouTube, but you'll want to make sure to preview them first, so you're more familiar with the plot and are able to focus on theme questions. Here are some of my favorite Pixar Shorts for teaching theme: Piper Partly Cloudy Lava Boundin' 3. Use Mentor Texts Mentor texts are one of my go-to teaching tools as picture books are able to portray examples of just about any reading concept you need to teach. One thing I like to do when using mentor texts for theme, is to vary the types of questions I ask. Rather than always saying What is the theme?, I might ask... What is the deeper meaning of this story? After reading this book, what do you think matters to this author? Which idea from the story do you think might stay with you? What did the author want people to learn from this story?... Once kids answer, you might say, Ah...so that's the theme! Some of my current mentor text favorites for theme include the following: Ish by Peter H. Reynolds I Wish I Were a Butterfly by James Howe Journey by Aaron Becker (a wordless book) Beautiful Oops by Barry Saltzberg The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal Pete and Pickles by Berkeley Breathed If you're looking for more titles, I have a FREE Mentor Text List for Literature which includes a page on theme which you can download from my TpT store. 4. Use Posters with Themes to Chart Book Themes I like to choose 8 - 10 common themes and place posters of them in the classroom. These are included in my Theme unit but you could easily make them yourself if you'd like. After we finish a class novel, a read aloud, or a mentor text as part of a mini-lesson, I like to have the kids discuss the theme of the book. Once we decide on the theme, I place a miniaturized copy of the book's cover (about 3 x 3 inches or so) under the correct theme poster. You can also make the posters more interactive by allowing kids to write titles of books they have recently read on sticky notes, under the posters as well. 5. Use Songs to Practice Finding the Theme I love to add music to the classroom whenever possible. Not only does it add instant motivation for some kids, but it is also just good for them in so many ways. There are lots of songs you can use to teach theme, from current pop songs to oldies, rap songs, and country songs. While all of these work well, I especially enjoy using Disney songs. Disney songs are easily recognized for some kids, have catchy, fun tunes, and have lyrics that need no censoring (yay!). You can easily find the lyrics online to project on a smartboard or document projector, and the song clips may be found on YouTube, Here are some of my favorite Disney songs which work well for theme: Hakuna Matata from Lion King Just Keep Swimming from Finding Dory Reflection from Mulan Let it Go from Frozen Something There from Beauty and the Beast A Whole New World from Aladdin 6. Introduce Short Texts Using Task Cards Using task cards for theme gives your students a great deal of practice in a short period of time, which makes them a perfect way to begin to practice finding the theme using text. I love the fact that students can read multiple task card stories and practice finding the theme 20 - 30 times, in the time it might take to read a story and find the theme once. You can do task cards as a center activity, to play Scoot, or as a whole class scavenger hunt. One thing I like to do for the scavenger hunt is to make sure everyone has a partner and to pair stronger readers with struggling readers. 7. Add Some Writing After students have worked on theme for a week or two, I like to have students create their own short stories which show a strong theme, without directly stating it. This changes each student's role from a theme finder, to a theme creator and gives students insight into how authors create a situation that allows a theme to unfold. When I introduce this project, we refer back to the task cards we just completed, as an example of story length and rich content. In a matter of 2 - 3 paragraphs, students learn that they can include enough information to let our readers know our message. After students are finished creating these short stories, it's fun to share them in some way, to give more theme practice. Sometimes I have students meet in small groups to share out, with group members guessing the theme. Other years, I leave a stack on my desk and grab several if we have a few minutes. Either the students or I read the short story out loud, and the class discusses the theme. 8. Move to Passages, Short Stories, and Novels. Once we have scaffolded a great foundation for the understanding of theme, there comes a point where kids have to move on to text which is more challenging. I like to use page-long passages which I have created, before using short stories, and ultimately novels. If you're looking for some ready made materials to help you teach theme, here's a packet I love to use which works well for 4th and 5th Graders. Click here to read more about the Theme unit. Want some more teaching ideas and activities to teach theme? Click here to read Teaching Themes in Literature. If you like this post, make sure to share it with a teacher friend! Thanks so much for stopping by! For more ideas and strategies focused on upper elementary, be sure to sign up for The Teacher Next Door's free email newsletter! Bonus, you'll also gain access to my FREE Resource Library which contains exclusive upper elementary freebies that you won't find anywhere else! I'd love to connect with you! The Teacher Next Door's Website Pinterest Facebook Instagram TpT Store
I mean...why WOULDN'T you use cootie catchers in your reading block? It makes perfect sense. Ok - remember last week how I was talking about doing a little spring cleaning with some of my TpT resources? Well, I did a little spring cleaning in my file folders on my computer as well. Yikes. Now THAT'S a bit of a rabbit hole. I got in a little deeper than I wanted to, but I figured I might as well finish the job. I got rid of a lot (a LOT) of cringe worthy products that just didn't make the cut anymore, and I got some major organizing done as well. BUT - you know what I found? THIS >>> It's a reading comprehension cootie catcher that I TOTALLY forgot I made! And since it resurfaced for me - I thought I'd resurface it for you! I'm sure I made it for you guys in the first place, but I can't for the life of me find it anywhere on the blog. There's actually 3 different versions. They have different comprehension questions that can be used with any fictional book. They work great as a quick partner review game. You can download them here! Find any long-lost things in your spring cleaning, lately? Pin and Share this freebie:
Supercharge your morning work with I Heart Literacy! Each page features a fun theme so your students will not only be practicing reading and ELA skills, but will also be learning about a curriculum-based topic. A wide variety of Common Core skills are addressed. Try these five free pages for free! Happy Teaching! Rachel Lynette ... Read More about Morning Work ELA and Reading Freebie!
hold students accountable while they independently read with these easy to implement reading tips and tricks and strategies
Teach author's purpose with PIE (persuade, inform, entertain). No prep printables, task cards, a sorting activity and more! Great for Accelerated Instruction Groups! TEKS 3.10C TEKS 4.10A...
Ready to build your STEM library with the best picture books? Start Here! Check out my Top 10 all time favorite read alouds for elementary STEM
I receive a lot of questions about how I run my literacy block. At my school, our schedule is blocked out, but I have freedom to arrange my own blocks (if that makes sense). So my literacy block is 9:40 – 11:15, and this is what I’ve decided to do with it: We start right ... Read More about My Literacy Block
These ideas give active reading a whole new meaning.
hold students accountable while they independently read with these easy to implement reading tips and tricks and strategies
Hands-on pre-reading activities that encourage your elementary students to access their prior knowledge and make predictions.
I receive a lot of questions about how I run my literacy block. At my school, our schedule is blocked out, but I have freedom to arrange my own blocks (if that makes sense). So my literacy block is 9:40 – 11:15, and this is what I’ve decided to do with it: We start right ... Read More about My Literacy Block
Fluency tends to be a commonly overlooked skill, but you can change that by learning about strategies for teaching fluency with your elementary students!
Use station activities to improve reading comprehension! Get your students moving, working collaboratively, and interested in learning.
Do you have elementary students in your homeschool? If so, you will find this FREE Elementary Reading & Writing Bundle so helpful! It’s full of useful homeschool printables for writing and reading assessment as well as reading comprehension. This limited time freebie will end on 4/26 so you will want to be sure to grab the...
Paragraph writing is a big challenge for many students. This post includes a step-by-step method to help your students write great paragraphs in no time.
Jenga game cards are easily my favorite way to teach and reinforce basic math fact, phonics, or grammar practice.
Each classroom brings students of multiple learning styles and backgrounds. It is our job to provide opportunities that reach all of the many different learning styles that come to us. For this reason, it is
Dive into the world of literacy centers and unleash their full potential with insights from the science of reading!
We had another class Monday night with our new dual/ELL staff members, and this time we focused on differentiation and what that may look like across the subject areas. As we have done in the past, we had the teachers participate in a gallery walk and thus rotate around with their groups to add to a series of posters focused on this topic of differentiation. Yet again, our wonderful staff did not disappoint and came up with a wide assortment of ideas as to how instruction can be differentiated for our students! I typed up their ideas on a nice one page spread for them, and thought you all may find it useful as well! Click on it to grab a copy for yourself or a friend. Graphics/Fonts: Scrappin' Doodles, Rowdy Fonts, My Cute Graphics Also, (as if you haven't already heard ;)), I wanted to let you all in on the big secret. TpT will be hosting a "3 Million Teachers Strong" sale February 27-28th. In using promo code TPT3, you can get up to 28% off at my store along with so many more! How exciting is it to see this community of teachers growing and working together :)!
"It was like herding cats!" That was my answer to my husband the other day when he asked how my day had gone. Seriously, the days I have first and second graders are just hard - fun, but exhausting. That is until I found the SECRET to STEM and the littles! Are you ready for
Find fantastic resources for teaching inferences (with free mini lesson). The resources are ideal for 4th graders but also features ideas for grades 1-3.
Science of reading activities can be so helpful for students of all ages. Reading is an essential skill to have in order to succeed in school and life. It’s not just about being able to read the words, it’s about understanding what you are reading and connecting those ideas with what you already know.
This post features literacy center ideas and printables for 4th-grade classrooms. It includes reading centers for fourth grade.
Use a sound wall in your kindergarten classroom with these tips, ideas, and suggestions about using a sound wall in kindergarten!
Looking for easy, classroom-proven, science of reading-aligned comprehension resources? This article has all you need to teach comprehension.
Do you want to keep your students engaged and reading during reading time? Read this post to learn about 10 reading centers for upper elementary.
Need to help your students get more hands on practice for their vocabulary words? I've got 5 fun vocabulary games you can use right away!
93 best Reading resource images on Pinterest from free 2nd grade reading comprehension worksheets multiple choice , image source: pinterest.com
Are you looking for engaging vocabulary activities? These 10 Fun Vocabulary Activities are sure to be a hit in your classroom.
With so many of my BIG KIDS struggling with fluency, I worked to make it a part of my daily work with students, a Tier 1 intervention that the majority of the class could benefit from. Reading fluency incorporates three main components: speed, accuracy, and prosody, which directly impact comprehension. While I have shared a great deal about incorporating 6-Minute Solutions, here are a few other ways I worked to make fluency fun for my 6th graders.
Teachers often have questions about what a literacy block should actually look like. How do you structure your time? When do you pull reading groups? How and when do you teach grammar? The list of questions is lengthy, and with good reason. No one really ever told us what to do! Probably because there is […]
One of the things I do every year that really makes a difference in my students' learning is having them use notebooks to store notes, examples, work, and
Looking for ways to use comprehension passages in your classroom? Come check out how use mine plus check out my new comprehension one pagers!
Engaging vocabulary review Ideas & activities that can be used with K-5 students! Five fun & collaborative vocabulary instruction ideas.
The ultimate goal of any reading teacher is for students to have strong reading comprehension! Although reading comprehension encompasses lots of different reading skills, basically we want students to understand what they’ve read. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? In a typical class though, you’ll have a variety of types of readers. There’ll usually be a handful […]
Download a FREE Science of Reading aligned sound wall with real mouth photos and real pictures.
Resources for building phonological awareness.
Reading comprehension skills like making inferences, finding the main idea, and recognizing cause and effect are critical curriculum elements in any ELA classroom. As our students build their reading skills, they need to develop their understanding of 12 different reading comprehension skills. One of my favorite ways to teach students about the reading skills is with doodle notes. Don't worry...I've put together a 20+ page set of doodle notes that you can download for FREE! (Sign up at the bottom of this post!) Have you tried doodle notes in your classroom? If so, you know that... ⭐ Doodle notes are a great way to introduce students to important information. These doodle notes include definitions for 12 different reading skills. In addition, there are tips provided for each reading skill to help students use each in their reading. The definitions are simple enough for students to understand, but specific enough to help students recognize the differences in each. ⭐ Doodle notes tap into multiple learning styles. Doodle notes are obviously great for visual learners. They also create a connection between the right and left hemispheres of the brain. This leads to an increase in learning, focus, and retention. The doodles on the note pages also help a variety of learners connect images with information. The free set of reading doodle notes also includes 4 versions for easy differentiation. There are doodle pages for lower grades, upper grades, as well as notes that are filled-in or in a guided notes format. ⭐ Doodle notes expose students to skills they can use in the classroom. Doodle notes are a fun and engaging spin on traditional notes. The free set of doodle notes focus on reading comprehension skills. Therefore, they work perfectly as a review of skills before students show off their learning while reading passages. Of course, I think reading passages should be engaging, too. So, some of my favorites to combine with the doodle notes are these... --- Reading Passages and Text-Based Evidence - R.E.A.D. Strategy --- Social Emotional Learning Passages - Read, Doodle and Do --- Nonfiction Reading Passages - Doodle and Do ⭐ Doodle notes are extremely motivating and therefore work as awesome introductions to units. The free set of reading comprehension skills doodle notes are such an awesome way to introduce students to more in-depth reading units. You could easily have students complete the packet of doodle notes before diving deeper into each reading skill. Or, you could have students complete one section of the doodle notes as they learn about different skills. The good news is that I've already created 12 reading mini-units for each reading skill. Find them here. ⭐ Doodle notes help students review and reinforce information naturally. When students complete doodle notes, first, they do the work of adding the notes to their pages. However, their learning doesn't end there. Students are super motivated to doodle, color, and embellish their note pages. As they get creative, they naturally read over and review their learning. It's the perfect way to mix creativity and learning! If you'd like to add this FREE set of reading comprehension doodle notes to your classroom, just add your email and name below. Then, check you inbox for your exclusive freebie!
Reading Response Activities for Wonder
