Daily 5 - Starting Read to Self again!!!

Last week we tracked back in for part to two of our first nine weeks!!  I loved starting the year having three weeks to feel out the class and then have a few work days to “finish” getting ready!! It was just enough time to reorganize my books by levels!!  I was so excited to have these baskets ready for students to use during Read to Self!!!

 

I also attending a school workshop on starting the Daily 5 and decided to “try again”  We started with this graph from the left side the first 12 minutes stand for how long we were reading before we left.  We created a new set of rules for Read to Self and then started the timer. 

I sat back at the Guided Reading table and watched to see if the students were following the rules.  When the students began sharing and talking I stopped the timer.  We made it for 5 minutes.  We came to the carpet and then gave a thumbs up if we thought we did our best and a thumbs sideways if we thought we could have done better.  This allows the students to self assess.  And it allowed us to take about if we were reading.

Each time I colored our progress on this graph!!

We reviewed the rules and tried again, we made it for 8 minutes that time!  I told them I was so proud of them and we talked about what we did right!!  We again did the thumbs up/ thumbs sideways. 

 

A closer look at our Read to Self graph!! 

 

 

Next we did a Word Work activity as a class.  We did create a list of rules and I had the students work quietly.  I wanted the students to practice working like they would work in the Word Work station.  I also timed them to get an idea of “how long they would need to be able to read”.  The students took 20 minutes to complete the activity.  So I knew they needed to be able to read for at least 15 minutes or more!!

The next day we review the rules for Read to Self and I told them if anyone broke the rules we would have to STOP!  We only made it for 2 minutes.  We did the thumbs up/ thumbs sideways and most students knew they could have done better.  We talked about what we did right and wrong.  We reviewed the rules and tried AGAIN!!  We made it 10 minutes!!!  I told them I was so PROUD.  Again we went over the Word Work rules and did a second activity that will be in Word Work. 

We continued Read to Self each day like that:

 Wednesday we read for 12 and 14 minutes,
Thursday we read for 14 minutes,
and by Friday we read for 17 minutes!! 

 

Each day we practiced activities for Word Work or Work on Writing as a class, following the rules so that we would they would know what to do in that station!!

 

Today we started all of the Daily 5 at once.  We were able to do three rotations.  Tomorrow we will finish the last two and try to start all over.  In between each rotation I do a minilesson, Work Work, Comprehension, or Work on Writing!

Hope this helps!!  I'm excited to keep trying!! 

This week we are starting our farm unit!!  I promise to take some pictures and post them soon!!

 

 

Where I teach . . . What I love about my room!!

I’m sorry I’m behind on Teacher Week but I wanted to share some pictures of my room.  . . . OR what I LOVE the most about my room!!

 Many of you may have read I'm working at a year-round school now so I posted my Where I teach pictures awhile back but if you missed it you can read and check it out HERE!!

 

Here are a few more picture I wanted to share! 

 

I call this my Sound Wall!! 

I LOVED this!  I put it up at the beginning of the year last year and each time a student asked me what says . . . I took them to the Sound Wall and showed them the sound.  (Decorating Tip. . . back them on scrapbook paper.  It makes them look much cuter! Thank Sarah Cooley for that tip.)  I still need to find a place for it in my new room!!  I found these pictures on Deanna Jump's site but she no longer has them there.  However you CAN find something similar on Mrs. Lemon's Step into Second Grade HERE! 


Here is a little room shot.   

I LOVE my chair pockets.  A parent made them for me YEARS AGO!! I love them. GREAT INVESTMENT!! I love the different colors and I also LOVE the carpet in my NEW classroom! It helps you teach at ANY spot!!

 

I LOVE this little plastic shelf for paper storage.

I filled the baskets (really good stuff) with all the different types of writing paper and it is perfect in my Work on Writing area!!

 

Listening to Reading area!

 

I'm loving my crate shelf center!! It's the perfect place to hang up all those headphones!!

My carpet!!

Since my room is carpeted the school won't purchase classroom carpets for us!! SO . . . I went in to the Dollar Tree bought these carpet squares for $1 EACH and duct taped them together!! I don't LOVE the colors but the $24 price I LOVE!! And it really helps each student have their own space.

Think Aloud - Anchor Chart

We have been using this chart each day this week when reading!! My students are REALLY learning from it!! I love when they shout out, "That's a connection!" Or, "You are making a prediction!" They also love the Personal Response and the Reflection. I think they are doing great for week 5 of school!!

My ABC sentence strip to teach ABC Order!!

This is a must!! It really helps my students put the cards in order!!

 

What do you love in your room?

Teacher Week - Must-Have Monday! And Back to School ABC ORDER

Today was my first day back after break!!  My little firsties are getting SO SMART!!  We worked on our first ABC Order activity this year!  We put the words in order together on a pocket chart and then I recorded the words under the Document Camera (see below) with skinny markers (see below) :)  The students worked at the same time at their seats.  After I helped them with the words they tried to use two words in sentences!  Later in the year I like them to try to use two words in ONE sentence but since this was our first try I didn't push that part! 

I love this one: 

. . . and she even spelled my name right!!

How cute is this one! 

I can't quite translate the second sentence but the first one says, "I have birds in a cage" and gotta give her credit because that's what I see in the picture!  Even though that actually has nothing to do with school . . . because WE DON'T have a bird in a cage in our room!! HA!! :)

I did included two seperate lists in this pact so you can practice it a few times before putting it in a center.  You can check it out here!

Its teacher week today is Must-Have Monday!!  There are so MANY!!!    

Here are a few:  

  

Markers – I have them in all colors!  Skinny for checking papers and regular for charts!!

 

Chart Paper – I have to have lined paper when I write!!  I use this paper to create charts or to practice correct letter formation!!

 

Books – I have spent a lot of money on books!!  And I love reading them aloud to my students.

 

Document Camera – I LOVE this --- I love that I can put any sheet under the camera and enlarge it for everyone to see.

 

Scrappin Doodles – Clipart!!  I use it to make all of my units!!  It really helps the students learn vocabulary through pictures!

Link up here!!

Farm Adventures - A Literacy and Writing Unit

I’m so excited to teach this farm unit!  I wanted to start the year with a farm unit because I knew some of my students would already know these animals.  This is a great way for my studnets to be successful at the centers AND a great way for them to SEE the words they may already know!! 

I have included a fiction and nonfiction book list for farm themed books.  I’m sure there are MANY more out there!! This farm unit included 4 Phonics activities, 3 Vocabulary activities, and 9 writing activities!  

Here is a sneak peak at some of the activities!! 

Build-a-Sentence

Students choose a who card, a position card, and a where card and build a sentence.  Then they record the sentence on their paper.

Creative Writing
Students choose a picture and write 3 sentences about the picture.

ABC ORDER

Funny Farm Syllables

Vocabulary Cards


Short i Word Sort

Also included: Short e and a Short i or Short e

Writing Prompt Pages - Several More in the Unit

3 Tree Maps Students can complete these on their own or with a teacher.  Then students can you these tree maps to create sentences.

If you are interested in this unit you can purchase it here!!
It will be on sale until TUESDAY!!

I will give a FREE copy to the first TWO people that can guess my favorite farm animal!
Don't forget to include your email address!!

Congratulations to Heather from The Busy Busy Hive  and to Deb  you girls were FAST!!  My favorite farm animals is a PIG!!!  Leave a comment with your email address so I can send you a copy!!  Thanks for reading!!