Guided Reading Fountas & Pinnell: Thoughts/Ideas

I made it! It's summertime and I'm alive! I miss my kids, BUT I DO NOT miss driving an hour one way to get to school! Overall reflecting on the year, I've grown a lot as a teacher and learned a lot thanks to Spring ISD putting Professional Development as a priority!
 I have a lot of books to read this summer and I've chosen to read Fountas & Pinnell's Guided Reading: Good First Teaching for All Students. I went to a training last summer that was based on this book so check out my old posts to read my reaction/thoughts about the training.

After Reading Ch.1 (What is Guided Reading?), I was reminded about some ideas from the training I went to. I also took note of some important concepts as well (I might even make an anchor chart for myself!).

• Write notes about students on notecards, then store them in a plastic recipe box for easy browsing.
• Since the goal in GR is to expose students to as many texts as possible in meaningful ways, have a basket of books that have been previously read in small groups so students can reread them independently (not in small group) and practice for fluency.
• It is alright to SOMETIMES do word work or an extension activity (drama, art, etc). However, it should not take up the time meant for kids to read. A large portion of time during a GR Small Group lesson should be the students reading, not the teacher talking or doing activities.
• GR Small Group lessons are meant to be based on problem-solving to increase comprehension and encourage deeper questioning and thinking.
• Objectives of lessons in a Small Group should be kept to a minimum (1 to 2).
• dynamic grouping, Dynamic Grouping, DYNAMIC GROUPING!!!!!
• Use big books and poems ALL week long! Now that STAAR is including poetry on the reading test, it is IMPERATIVE that lower level teacher introduce and expose the kids to poetry VERY OFTEN.

Summer Professional Literature Reading Homework!

During the summer to keep busy, I enjoy reading professional literature that will benefit my classroom management, planning, and methods of teaching. So this summer my plan it to conquer 5 books! We'll see how much I get through, considering that I'm planning my wedding that is 6 weeks away (GASP!). Next year, I will be teaching FIRST GRADE AGAIN!!!!!! Woohoo! Can you tell I'm super excited?! So I'm turning my gaze back on Guided Reading and all that comes along with First Grade Fun! Here are the books I'm PLANNING on reading:

Hmmm now which to choose first? I'm thinking I'll put the PEAK book on hold until I'm ready to plan later this summer. I guess to get my brain back on track with the littles, I'll start with Guided Reading, then Word Matters (Oh Fountas and Pinnell, you guys are gifts from heaven!).

Spelling Activity!

Since I am a health nut, I'm always looking for ways to get the kids moving during my lessons and for activities. When I taught first grade, we did a lot of "air writing." So piggy-backing off that idea(and desperately trying to find something new to keep the kids engaged), I had them lay on their backs and air write with their feet! The kids were so excited to lay down and lift their feet high in the sky! Little did they know (hehehe), I was secretly helping them strengthen their core by engaging their transverse abdominus(the supportive muscles that help you cough). Poor things, by the time some of them finished they were red in the face, saying, "Man that made me tired Ms. Riddle!" Muahahaha. Mission accomplished!

Cloudy with a Chance of....Prefixes! PEAK

It's cloudy with a chance of affixes, cursive, and types of writing! On my language arts clouding board, I put up some new posters! Remember clouding is the use of posters/pictures to foreshadow the unit to come. During the unit, sprinkle and shower bye referring to the posters as the students learn more about the topic. Check it out!

A PEAK Way to do Vocabulary!

When I was introduced to PEAK, I was introduced to a cool new way to do vocabulary! It reminds me of Marzano, but it's a little bit different. On one side of the card, the student copies the definition or paraphrases the one given and draws a significant picture that reminds that student of what the word means. Every student might have a different picture since each student has a different life experience or thought that reminds them. First the student will write the word, then the paraphrased definition, and then draw the significant picture after learning more about the subject. Here are some examples of the front, note the vocabulary word in the hill!

On the back, the kids draw a T leaving a bit of space at the top. In the T on the Left, students will write examples, comparisons or synonyms, and on the right non-examples, contrasts, or antonyms. This would be the next step in the process of completing a vocabulary card. Lastly, the student will write a sentence using the word correctly in context in the space above the T. And THIS, my friends, is a vocabulary word studied the PEAK way! Here are some pics of the back of vocabulary cards.

Ecosystems: Rainforest

Here is the picture of our finished rainforest! The kids were so excited and most kids worked cooperatively in their groups!

Ecosystems

We've been studying ecosystems in science (Woohoo!!!!) and we're learning about different ecosystems. We recently finished rainforests, which I have a passion for. I've been to the Amazon in Ecuador and Peru, to the Dain Tree in Australia, Yucatan, and will be going to the rain forests in Thailand and Cambodia for my honeymoon! My students have been LOVING the unit! So, I decided we should create an ecosystem in each corner of my classroom. In rain forests, different plants and animals live at the different levels, so while we watched Planet Earth, the students wrote facts about them in circle maps, and correctly depicted them on trees made in groups! They turned out great! I will post a picture of it tomorrow. Next we are learning about Freshwater Habitats (mostly ponds) and focusing on Food Chains. I'll post a picture of the finished ecosystem in my room once we're finished!