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.
Dive into the world of literacy centers and unleash their full potential with insights from the science of reading!
Finding out what a student knows about phonics is made easy with this quick and simple phonics assessment for K-3 readers! And it's FREE.
FREE response to intervention forms and how to use them
We are headed quickly for Back to School! Summer seems to go by faster every year, don't you think? This year for one of my goals in reading as we start back to school, I
Reading interest and attitude surveys provide teachers with valuable information about their students as readers. Find out 4 reasons why you should be administering reading surveys with your students.
Are you wondering the best strategy for introducing readers' notebooks to your students?
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.
When you have students who are in upper elementary classrooms reading several years below grade level, your phonics instruction needs to b...
Fluency tends to be a commonly overlooked skill, but you can change that by learning about strategies for teaching fluency with your elementary students!
Teaching syllables can be fun and engaging with your upper elementary aged students.
Take your word work reading center to the next level with these low prep and engaging word work centers! Plus, learn how to organize and run the word work center!
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...
Struggling with how to address phonics gaps in your 4th or 5th graders? This blog post shares strategies to reteach and review phonics skills.
As an ESL teacher, I often hear from classroom teachers that they don't always know where to start when it comes to working with beginning English language learners (ELLs), or newcomers, in small group instruction. In this post I'll share a typical "guided reading" lesson that I would give to my beginning ELLs, as well as a glance of at what a typical week would look like. Let me start by saying, the very first thing I do before I start instructing my newcomers is, I assess what they already know. First, I see if they have literacy skills in their native language...can they read and write? Then, I see if they know alphabet letter names and sounds. Next, I assess their reading level. Since they don't have English literacy skills yet, their reading level typically starts at level "A" (emergent). I can say that most students do have some literacy skills in their home language, and often times, many know some letter names and sounds. So now I've got my starting point! When I first begin working with my newcomers, the main components of reading that I typically focus on are building vocabulary, phonological awareness/phonics and sight words. So a typical week would encompass all three of these skills. Down the road I add comprehension skills, but they are not ready for that yet. Step 1 - Choose an appropriate book. I carefully select books that have relevant vocabulary. For the most part, my main focus is to build their vocabulary. The literacy skills in their native language will transfer to their new language, however, they have an extremely limited vocabulary, so... vocabulary, vocabulary, vocabulary! I chose this book because I wanted to teach my students the word "big." It's also about animals, and I know that most kids are interested in reading about animals! I used gestures to SHOW them what "big" means. It's important to be mindful of your students' age when picking out books. You don't want to give 4th-6th graders books about bunnies or teddy bears. Try picking age appropriate books; which I know can be a challenge if the selection is limited, but you don't want your students feeling embarrassed. Step 2 - Preview the book. Point to and say each animal's name and have the students repeat the names back to you, keeping in mind to speak clearly and to enunciate the sounds in each word. It's important for them to hear how to pronounce the names. A side thought...Think about "A" level books... they are not created with English language learners in mind. "A" level books have repeated sentences, which are GREAT, but they also have very specific vocabulary that students are expected to decode using picture cues. In the book my students read last week, the repeated sentence was, "We go to the _____." The pictures show the family in different locations like the pool, park, library, soccer game, etc. In one picture the family is standing in front of a large fish tank. If I asked English only students where the family is, some might say a fish store or they might even guess aquarium, depending on their background knowledge. Then they'd cross check their thinking with the word and see that it begins with the letter "a" and hopefully they'd say, "It's an aquarium!" But our newcomers don't know what a big fish tank place is called in English, so it's important for us to support our students by saying the names of each vocabulary word. Step 3 - Choral reading! Newcomers feel more comfortable in a choral reading setting. They need help pronouncing the words. They need to hear YOU pronounce the words. Choral reading helps to keep anxiety levels low. (In a few weeks, the choral reading decreases and I will start focusing on decoding.) Step 4 - After reading, review the animal names. Point to an animal and see if they can remember the name. Perhaps make a matching activity with animal pictures and names. Support as needed. Encourage a LOT! Step 5 - I always provide a guided writing activity based off of the book we just read. I use sentence frames to support their thinking and writing. Sometimes I create my own, like the picture below, and other times I'll use a graphic organizer as a follow up activity. On this day I wanted them to understand the meaning of "big," so their writing supported this goal. As they finish their writing activity, I'll ask each student to read some of their writing to me. Then they'll draw a quick picture, which I always ask them to label. I know that my newcomers don't understand every word in the book, and that's OK! They are being exposed to new words and ideas in a repeating format. I want them to get used to the structure of our lessons so that they know what's expected. So, here is what a typical week of small group work entails for my newcomers. Knowing what the focus is each day helps me to zone in on their learning goals. The variety keeps it fun and interesting, yet it's consistent so they know what's expected. As you can see, on Tuesdays I include direct vocabulary instruction, either using the vocabulary from the book, like the animals, monthly themed vocabulary, or content area vocabulary. October Themed Vocabulary (along with sight words and phonics review) One vocabulary activity I have my students do is called the K.I.M. Strategy. In their notebook they write the key word (K), important information (I), sketch a memory clue (M) and write a sentence (S). For my newcomers, I leave out the (I) portion. They are not ready for adding "information." Right now the goal is for them to learn the names of things and simple sentence structure. My higher ELLS definitely include all components of the K.I.M. Strategy in their notebooks. This is what the K.I.M. Strategy looks like. And this is how it looks modified for my newcomers... On Thursdays, I focus on building sight words. When teaching sight words, it's important to teach them in context. Your beginning ELs need context in order to make meaning of the words. I pull a sight word from our books and I include an extension activity with that word. (A link to this resource is provided at the bottom of this post.) I do teach sight words throughout the week, but on Thursdays we always have an extension activity for one of them. As an "exit ticket" I have them orally use the sight word. Today, I asked each student, "What can you do?" And they responded with "I can _____." Then they get a high five, a sticker (big kids like stickers too!), or some encouraging praise. I also include Word Study activities in my small group work. I like using the sorts from Words Their Way. Each Monday they receive a new spelling pattern. Remember, I assessed my students to see what they already knew. Most already knew initial sounds, so I started them with word families. If they did not know initial sounds, I would've started there. I do have one student in this group who does not know many initials sounds, so I spend a little extra focus with him on initial sounds. This resource is from "Words Their Way." My newcomers use this activity to learn spelling patterns AND vocabulary. They are introduced to their new word list on Mondays, then they have independent activities to do with their word list throughout the week in their gen ed classrooms. (It's so important to set newcomers up with meaningful activities that they can work on independently during Reader's Workshop.) Below is their Word Study Activities list. It gets glued into their Reading Notebook. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays they work on their independent activities. Friday is Word Study Quiz day! FREEBIE - Click Here And that's what small group instruction looks like with my newcomers. To recap, assess what students can do to evaluate your starting point. Focus on building vocabulary, sight words in context, word spelling patterns and choral reading to start. My guided reading lessons usually looks like... preview the book, front load main vocabulary, choral read, and end with a guided writing activity with sentence frames. Here's a TIP: Many times I make my own guided writing activity based on what I want the students to learn from the book. I'll write the activity in my notebook, make copies, cut them to size, then have students glue it into their notebook. Keep this notebook! You may get a newcomer next year, and when you do, many of your guided writing activities will already be made. You'll just need to find the book that goes with the activity. My notebook where I write out the guided writing activities. I know that many school districts lack ESL resources and often times the classroom teacher is the only one providing instruction. Knowing where to start with beginning English learners is probably the biggest challenge. I hope that this post gives you some ideas about where to start and what to focus on with your new students. To read more about the K.I.M. Strategy, click here. Affiliate links below for Sight Words and Word Study.
These are the gh’oul times! Halloween Irregular Words Phonics Worksheet Packet Unit involves two-syllables, long vowels sounds and irregular words. Halloween Phonics can be used as whole group teaching, center stations and interventions. This unit allows for 4 days of ELA lessons. ❤️What teachers are saying! ✔️Milquelia M. comments, "My students loved the Halloween themed work." ✔️Maria M. says, "Fun for phonics during Halloween!" ❤️What's included: ☠️ teaching tips ☠️ words to know list ☠️Long Sounds of O and E ☠️Long Sounds of I and U ☠️Long Sounds of A and E ☠️The Pumpkin Patch Store ☠️Going Trick or Treating ☠️The Spook House ☠️The Hocus Pocus Party ☠️The Masquerade Parade ☠️keys ☠️and more! ❤️ Great phonics skill tasks for Halloween! ❤️These phonics lessons are a perfect way to enhance reading skills. ✔️ Do you use worksheet packet units in your classroom often? Then this worksheet unit product is for YOU! Of course, you must have this lesson when introducing or reviewing reading and phonics skills. ❤️Hurry! Be sure to follow my store because with your purchase you will receive free UPDATES and occasionally secret free surprises. Follow me on Facebook! Follow me on Twitter! Follow me on Pinterest! Follow me on Instagram! ✔️Now don't forget to leave feedback! The feedback that you give allows me to promote an even better-quality resource. On paid items, you will receive TPT credits that can be used for future purchases in TpT stores! AWESOME! ✔️Discover even more new resources and look for CUSTOM CATEGORIES on my store pages and select a subject. The Tools to Teach LLC Teaching Resources | Teachers Pay Teachers educational and inspirational classroom decor and banners The Tools to Teach LLC Teaching Resources | Teachers Pay Teachers who doesn't love free stuff? The Tools to Teach LLC Teaching Resources | Teachers Pay Teachers products for Autumn The Tools to Teach LLC Teaching Resources | Teachers Pay Teachers Halloween Keywords: Halloween, phonics, irregular words, worksheets, long vowel sounds printable, reading, literacy, center, stations, parental involvement, begin, cable, robot, kind, open, demand, begin, mouse, notion, zero, fever, vampire, recess, only, even, work, secret, want, open, water, decay, old, motion, any, silent, where, recess, great, rumor, listen, secret, Earth, spider, pupil, tuna, four, live, evil, answer, English Language Arts, promote, discover, grade 2 , grade 3, grade 4, fall, autumn, work, teaching, unit
Looking for a no prep, age appropriate, science of reading intervention for your Upper Elementary Students (3rd, 4th, and 5th grades)? These phonics worksheets and decoding activities are designed to close READING AND SPELLING gaps quickly. Filled with engaging, interactive activities, this phonics intervention will build your students' enthusiasm for reading in no time at all. Science of Reading aligned and specifically created to support struggling readers and students with dyslexia. Excellent for RTI Tier 2 intervention, small group support, special education settings (IEP Goal setting and tracking), tutoring and homeschooling. Helping students become skilled, fluent readers for LIFE by teaching decoding strategies in 10-15 minutes a day. No prep/printable & digital lessons. Designed to accelerate the learning process by presenting words that range in complexity and match words students will encounter in the upper grades. SYSTEMATIC AND EXPLICIT INSTRUCTION (Systematic Phonics is an evidence-based method for teaching individuals with disabilities and other reading challenges.) ⭐️Includes Step-By-Step, scripted instructions designed for teachers and parents. ⭐️Support for Struggling Readers Grade 3 and up ⭐️Data Sheets Included-Chart your students' growth! HERE'S WHAT THIS BEST SELLING INTERVENTION INCLUDES: -An explicit approach to “re-teaching” phonics -Sound-symbol cards that correspond with each focus vowel lesson (Short Vowels, Vowel Teams, Silent E, R-controlled and Diphthong vowel patterns). -Phonics mats that correspond with one syllable and multisyllabic words. -TWO FONT OPTIONS: TRADITIONAL AND OPENDYSLEXIC -“Sort and Spell” pages for each vowel sound that provide students with the opportunity to sort the words they have just read according to their vowel sounds, thereby enabling them to correctly spell each word. Teacher planning pages included for each vowel sound. -PROGRESS MONITORING TEACHER DATA SHEETS designed to assist with pre and post assessment data. Perfect for general education RTI and Special Education IEP goal tracking. ⭐️ Other resources you may be interested in: INDEPENDENT/NO PREP PHONICS ACTIVITIES: SHORT VOWEL PHONICS ACTIVITIES LONG VOWEL-R-CONTROLLED AND DIPHTHONG PHONICS ACTIVITIES MULTISYLLABIC PHONICS ACTIVITIES OR DIVE DEEP INTO DECODING COMPLEX WORDS: DECODING MULTISYLLABIC WORD BUNDLE DECODING MULTISYLLABIC WORDS: PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES ********************************************************* As a Resource Specialist, I have been teaching reading intervention groups for many years and these are the interventions that work for me! I use these programs for small group instruction, no more than 10 minutes a day, and often send them home with parents who are looking to support their child at home. My work is also great to offer as an RTI intervention. Good teachers know that not all students learn alike. At Creative Pathways, I provide teachers and parents with interventions that offer alternative, creative approaches to teaching a skill that has not been previously mastered by a child. I hope you enjoy using this resource to support your students' learning. I would love to receive feedback on this product, or any other resource you've downloaded from my Creative Pathways Store. Also, please “Follow Me” so you don’t miss out on additional resources I will be posting in the future and the Freebies I plan on listing. Happy Teaching and Learning to you and your students.
I'm always looking for new vocabulary journal ideas. I like these printable templates because they're simple, and students in both elementary and middle school can use them. #vocabularyactivities #firstgrade #secondgrade #thirdgrade #fourthgrade #fifthgrade
These ideas give active reading a whole new meaning.
Intervention in reading can be the difference that changes a student's path. What teacher doesn’t want to be that difference? But, finding...
Invite students to color-code important keywords and phrases. If the class is reading about recycling, ask them to use green or blue highlighters to find key vocabulary or commonly repeated phrases that will stick in their brain. If the students are reading about Ancient Greece, offer different colors for different nouns—one color for important people, one color for important places, another color for key things.
What are French phonics foldable flaps? This post will show you how one foldable flap can be used in several different ways to practice French sounds.
This free printable Do Re Mi staircase is a brilliant visual aid and teaching tool for introducing small children to Do Re Mi and interval recognition.
It's almost that time of year again...no, not just Christmas (yay for that!), but RTI assessment time! I know many teachers can have a love/hate for RTI and all the assessments. A love (or at
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
Activities that boost fluency all year long…and that you only have to prep once!
Teaching phonics is an important aspect of a literacy program. This is especially true for ELLs. Phonics is the relationship between sounds and the letter or letters used to write them. Phonics connects sounds with letters and combinations of letters. In the English language, there are 26 letters and 44 sounds (called phonemes). A grapheme
Find 6 ways to make vowels fun in the primary classroom including ideas for song, interactive notebooks, games, tech, and more.
Use a sound wall in your kindergarten classroom with these tips, ideas, and suggestions about using a sound wall in kindergarten!
We are doing first grade phonics now. Get ready to learn and do all of the activities I think everyone will enjoy!
Are you looking for some FREE Phonics Activities? Well, you’ve come to the right place!! Today in our Struggling Reader Series, I’m sharing TONS of links to free phonics activities. Don’t get stressed out looking at the entire list. We’ll talk really quick about how to narrow down what phonics skills your learner needs to work ... Read More about The ULTIMATE List of FREE Phonics Activities
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.
A blog about all things literacy from reading specialists and coaches from all parts of the US!
Do you have struggling readers you just can't reach? This mega list of reading intervention activities will help you teach all students how to read!
