I once had a student cut off HER PONY TAIL while I was leading a small group. If you are a teacher, you might know how this happened. I was leading a reading group and she was “independently” completing a {boring} worksheet at her desk. I learned a serious lesson that day – MAKE A PLAN FOR HOW TO HANDLE THE WHOLE CLASS WHILE LEADING A READING GROUP. Lesson learned. Here are four tips that can
Strategy groups are a highly effective way of grouping your students during Guided Reading. Get tips and resources for simplifying your reading strategy groups.
Need to know how to help students write summaries? These lesson ideas and summarizing ideas and tips for the upper elementary classroom will help you teach summarizing and help your students write summaries as they read.
Imagine yourself on two separate trips to a popular tourist destination, let's say... to Paris. Trip A is planned to the minute, ma...
I once had a student cut off HER PONY TAIL while I was leading a small group. If you are a teacher, you might know how this happened. I was leading a reading group and she was “independently” completing a {boring} worksheet at her desk. I learned a serious lesson that day – MAKE A PLAN FOR HOW TO HANDLE THE WHOLE CLASS WHILE LEADING A READING GROUP. Lesson learned. Here are four tips that can
Have you ever tried student-led reading groups in your classroom? Have you ever felt like your students were not putting forth their best effort? Using
Language stems, thinking stems, sentence starters…there are a lot of different names for this incredible teaching strategy! When I am planning for the needs of my ESL students, I think of them as language stems. When I am planning how to make my students thinking go one step further, I call them thinking stems. To my students, I call them our “Super Sentence Starters”. When I created my fifth
10 fun reading activities for teaching reluctant readers. These ideas are great for all of your students, not just your students who don't want to read.
I once had a student cut off HER PONY TAIL while I was leading a small group. If you are a teacher, you might know how this happened. I was leading a reading group and she was “independently” completing a {boring} worksheet at her desk. I learned a serious lesson that day – MAKE A PLAN FOR HOW TO HANDLE THE WHOLE CLASS WHILE LEADING A READING GROUP. Lesson learned. Here are four tips that can
Reading strategy groups are an excellent way to teach reading in an elementary classroom. This post details how they differ from guided reading groups.
Reading strategy groups are an excellent way to teach reading in an elementary classroom. This post details how they differ from guided reading groups.
In this post, I share different strategies from Jennifer Serravallo's new book, called The Reading Strategies Book.
Originally posted: February 28, 2016 | Updated: February 20, 2020
Guided reading with non-readers can seem pointless, but it is a must-do! See how this teacher structures her guided reading lessons with her non-readers.
Do you teach reading to multiple levels of readers? These free reading strategy cards are a go-to tool for you when you’re teaching small groups of readers or even at home. I personally love the variation of reading strategies included to better help meet the needs of all your readers. *This post contains affiliate links. Reading ... Read More about Reading Strategy Cards ~ Great for Guided Reading
Planning for your guided reading groups can be overwhelming. I want to help you streamline your planning and target your instruction. Click here to read more about the 6 essential components to any reading group from kindergarten all the way to fifth grade!
Happy Friday!!Here in South Jersey, were are eagerly awaiting snowageddon!! Blizzard + coastal flooding + four kids under the age of 7 stuck inside all weekend = CRAZINESS!!Anyway, before we lose power to the snowpocalypse, I wanted
I have always believed the time my students and I spend at the small group table is THE most important time of our day. If you have followed my blog for
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Small group time is one of my favorite times of the day! I love meeting with the kids and listening to them talk about math or reading! It used to be a real grind figuring out what I would do during that time, but once I got a system down, it really became the highlight...Read More »
This is an article with great information on teaching reading strategies to primary students. Goal setting, reading strategy groups, guided reading, and more! FREE reading strategy bookmarks to use during individual conferences.
I have finally found an easy way to manage my conferring schedule! I am now in my fifth year of teaching reading, writing, and math in a “workshop” format (mini lesson, gradual release to independent work, conferring, group share) and there are a lot of kinks I am still working out. The tip I have to share today is one that has made it so much easier for me to
I love finding and implementing new classroom management strategies! Having anywhere from 20-36 students (depending on my grade level) made it necessary to have strong, positive communication tools in place, to help maximize every minute of instructional time. I want to share with you three classroom communication tools that I know will be so […]
I remember the first time I saw the phrase “close reading”. I wondered if it was something new or if it was a misspelling of “cloze reading”, which is an entirely different teaching method where students fill in the blanks to make meaning from the text. I also wondered if it was another passing fad in reading education. Either way, it didn’t sound like something that would later dramatically affect
There are many ways to teach reading, which can be intimidating. I used to think that I needed to plan multiple centers and activities for every reading period. Nope. After many years in the classroom and as a reading specialist, I have figured out that this simple three-step plan is the best way to run a successful and effective reading block. The best part is that you can implement these
Comprehension instruction can be a challenge for many reading teachers. In this post, I am going to share six books with you that have helped shape how I
Awesome ideas for motivation and tracking points from The Busy Busy Hive Pop balloons and see the prize inside when you meet a goal. See the pin here.
In today's post, I'll share some tricks that have helped me balance small group and individual instruction in a reading workshop model.
The question I get asked by teachers more than any other is what to do with "the rest" of the class during your reading block, whi...
HIGH INTEREST TEXT I try my best to choose books that my kiddos will LOVE to read. Scholastic has been my best friend. BONUS POINTS!? DOLLAR BOOKS!? SIX PLEASE! With that said, I’m not a magician or a millionaire. I do my best and use the resources that are available to me. I have found that if I show my kids that I’m excited, they quickly join the club! It is also important to note that it is also equally important that your students have experiences reading boring stuff. Lets face it, that’s life! Choosing a high interest text is especially important for the learner who hasn’t found their love of reading yet. MODELING The most effective way I have found to teach comprehension strategies is to model. I read aloud to students then stop and show my thinking aloud when appropriate. After I am done, we discuss what I did and my thinking as a group. This strategy is especially effective for learners who have a difficult grasping abstract thinking. INTENTIONAL DISCUSSION In a perfect world our students would be leading and actively Click the picture about to get these discussion cards for FREE! engaging in a discussion about their book. Everyone would be excited and critically thinking about the text! That’s the goal…but it is also just that, a GOAL. We have to teach our students HOW to have an intentional discussion about their reading. How can we expect our students to actively engage in intentional discussions if we, the teacher, aren’t contributing?? It is important that you understand what is going on in the text and are able to model during the discussion when appropriate. I have found that most of the modeling I do takes place at the beginning and end of the discussion. INDEPENDENT PRACTICE Click the picture to learn more about my book club packets! At the end of every small group meeting I give an assignment. My students use the writing prompt in their book club packets as their assignment. Each small group meeting is packed full of instruction. This is their opportunity to show me what they have learned. Independent practice is a great way to see who still needs more instruction and practice! This is how I structure my small group reading time! disclaimer: This is how small group instruction looks for me in my classroom. What works for my kiddos may not work for yours. You know your students the best, you are the only one who can decide what is best for them!
Increase reading comprehension with these 5 strategies. These reading strategies will help students better understand a text. Grab the freebie!
So, your district told you it’s time to start implementing a Close Reading Routine in your classroom, but there’s just one *little* problem… You have no idea where to start! For me, close reading all starts with a text. Today, I’m going to share my top five things to consider when selecting a text to […]
All grade and age levels need to concretely learn and practice active reading strategies. Just because reading comprehension strategies are more explicitly taught and focused on in primary grades doesn't mean that middle and high school level teachers shouldn't be teaching and reinforcing, too! Actu
