Linky Party Part 8- Small Group Instruction

Hi friends! I apologize for my lack of blogging...I've been super busy the last few weeks and just haven't found the time to sit down and relax! (I'm sure all of you know the feeling!) We get our class rolls next week and can I just say how excited I am?!?! I feel like a kid on Christmas :) Okay onto the real reason for this post~small group instruction! Whoop whoop!

This is my favorite part of my day! I love it when I am teaching a group EXACTLY where they are. I could not do this without the Daily 5...I mean all of my other students are completely engaged with their activities that don't even have to worry about them. I do several different things during small group instruction, it all depends on the level of the group. This year I had 5 groups with 2-4 students per group. This is what a typical day looks like for my groups:

Below Grade Level: phonics focus and grammar warm up activity (silly sentences, saying a word with the sound 3 times fast, or a simple Q&A about our phonics for the week). Then we work on a specific skill while we read- fluency, comprehension, accuracy, vocabulary...this group always needed help in all of these areas so we rotated through them each week. I pick a reader on their F&P instructional level and we go through it first and look for words they don't know. Then we whisper read the book page by page and discuss after each one. Then they read whisper read the book the whole way through on their own. After they are all finished I specifically ask each one of them comprehension questions. Then we sometimes play a wrap up game with the 1st grade dolch sight words. I send the reader home with them for homework. I try to meet with them 4 times a week.

Grade Level: (I have two groups on this level)Quick review of our phonics grammar skills. Then we work on a specific skill while we read- fluency, comprehension, accuracy, vocabulary. This group really needed to focus on fluency and accuracy so those are what we hit the most of. We reviewed vocabulary as we read and their comprehension came at the end of a text. I pick a reader on their F&P instructional level. We whisper read the book page by page and discuss after each one. Then they read whisper read the book the whole way through on their own. After they are all finished I specifically ask each one of them comprehension questions. Then we play a skill game of their choice. Sometimes they like to do fluency, accuracy, or even dolch sight words.  I send the reader home with them for homework. I try to meet with them 3 times a week.

Above Grade Level: They tell me the phonics and grammar for the week. We review if they need to but most of the time they are right where they need to be. I pick a reader or simple chapter book on their level. They read the book silently in their heads and then we pause and talk about it every few pages. I send the book home with them for homework. If it is a chapter book I sometimes make them read a chapter in between meetings. I try to meet with them 2-3 times a week.

Beyond Grade Level: I usually do an additional phonics or grammar skill with them . Their reader is a chapter book of their choice on their instructional level. I set this group up like a literature circle. They each take turn reading a page or reading chapters on their own (I let them decide). Then they discuss the book and what they think about the text. I send home non fiction texts on their instructional level that will require them to work with an adult and home and expand their understanding. I try to meet with them 2 times a week.

Whew! Now I don't usually do these groups alone. I have an instructional aide that comes in my room 2 times a week during reading. She and I pull groups at the same time. On these days every group gets met with! I also had an ELL student this year and our awesome ELL teacher came in everyday during reading and she often met with a group as well. These ladies were awesome to work with and I couldn't imagine small groups without them! I feel so blessed, because I know most of you do not get this additional support and my hat is off to you...superstar!

Well that is all I have to say for now...thanks for sticking around for this long post. Happy Friday!

The Daily Five

Spotlight Series Part 5- The Daily 5

Greetings from the (rainy) beach!! I don't care though, I'd rather watch the rain here than out my living room window :) Blogging is so much better at the beach...remind me again why I live in the middle of my state?? Anyway moving onto my favorite part of my classroom routine... DAILY 5!!!

If you don't love the Daily 5 then you're doing it wrong!! Oh how much I LOVE my literacy block because of Daily 5! Now, I will say it is a pain process to set up and drill into those babies but boy is it completely worth it around October. I set up and modeled my Daily 5 just like the book says. I said what they said and did exactly what those two sisters told me to and IT WORKED!! My first graders were completely independent and happy during Daily 5. (even when I was progress monitoring and the session went longer than usual :)) Seriously, it is their favorite part of the day. They are devastated when we have an assembly or field trip and their precious daily 5 is shortened or skipped completely. (as a self proclaimed reading guru this makes my heart oh so happy). Because they are completely independent and occupied I can get so much accomplished without any behavior problems. And pair that with the fact they get to pick what they want to do this makes one happy first grader! Now finally onto what it looks like in our class :)

I have a confession: I didn't  teach mini lessons in between the different sessions this year...*insert shock or shame face here* The way our schedule worked out, it was best just to cram everything in from 8-9:25, have a quick snack break, and then do uninterrupted Daily 5 from 9:30-10:30. It also worked better for when I had a sub (which was rare, but did happen!)

We start the Daily 5 after our writing mini-lesson (more about that next week).  I call the students down to the carpet and put up our daily 5 filpchart so they know exactly what's about to happen. We start each session with an oral check-in. I mark their choices on an excel spreadsheet so there is no trickery going on! I mean I have some boys that would pick read to someone and listen to reading until the cows come home, so just to be safe I do all the record keeping :)

Here is how our daily 5 time frame breaks down:

Session 1 9:30-9:50

Session 2 9:50-10:10

Session 3 10:10-10:30

Now I know there are supposed to be five sessions total for each student to complete each component everyday, but lets face it...I just don't have the time. This schedule works best for me and my kiddos.  I pull my small groups during these session times and two days a week I have extra hands to pull groups as well... there are days when I get each group pulled and then have a whole session to organize or progress monitor!! (I will give you all those details when we get to the small group spotlight on July 29)

In addition to the normal five choices I also have an iPad choice which counts as Word Work (because the apps they use are phonics or grammar based) and BookFlix which counts as Listen to Reading. I love incorporating technology into every aspect of my classroom and this is any easy way to do that. If you need some app suggestions I will be giving those in a later post so check back! At 10:30 we clean up and head for the playground! That is my version of Daily 5. Link up with Kelli to share what you do! 

Phonics

Spotlight Series Part 4- Phonics

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer! This week was crazy and I am just now sitting down at the computer...whew! I can't believe that the 4th has come and gone...sigh. Anyway moving on...

We do phonics right after calendar and morning meeting from 8:20-8:50. I start with their new sight words for the week and we go over them together and use each one in a sentence. Then I introduce (if it's Monday) their new phonics sound. We call it our "Phonics Focus" and I always start by saying "Our phonics focus this week is ...." So that they know what follows is important information :). On Monday I say the phonics focus and then on Tuesday-Friday I make them say it. We talk about the type of sound it is (long vowel, digraph, blend, diphthong, etc) because I think it is important that they know! We then brain storm a list of words with the sound. Depending on the sound we watch a BrainPopJr. video (I just love them and so do my kids!) After we talk about the sound then I dismiss the students back to their seats for a phonics activity. Sometimes it is just using the words in sentences, rainbow writing the words, or an activity that I found on TPT :) 

All of my word work centers for Daily 5 are focused on their phonics sound. So they practice them during Daily 5 at least 3 times a week. 

I touch on phonics again when I pull my groups to the back table for guided reading. We usually play a game with the words or say silly sentences like, "She sells seashells by the seashore". While we read we look for words that have the phonics sound we are working on. Most of my students are good and phonics so I usually only have a handful that need remedial and extra help with the phonics sounds. With those students I use the decodable readers that came with our reading series. Those texts focus solely on a particular phonics sound and are great for the struggling kiddos. 

That's phonics is our classroom! What does it look like in yours? Link up with Kelli over at Castles and Crayons to share!

Math

Spotlight Series Part 3: Math

I hope everyone is staying cool now that is officially summer! (even though in Bama its been "summer" since about March) I think we have *maybe* two weeks of Spring. My dad always says we have 4 seasons: almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas. Haha :) Anyway onto math...

We actually have math in the afternoon. We have whole group from 11:30-12:00 and then centers from 1:15-1:45 (we have PE and specials in between). I like how our math is broken into two parts. The kiddos are focused during the 30 minute whole group and then they go do something different and come back ready for workstations. 

11:30-12:00 Whole Group

We get back from lunch at 11:30 and the students immediately put up lunch boxes and go straight to their spot on the carpet. We have enVision math at our school (the jury's still out for me). We watch the instructional video on the Promethean board and I stop and teach along the way. We do a lot of turn and talks and mirror (from the whole-brain method). Then I put up their practice sheet under the document camera to go over together. We choral read the directions and we talk about the problems and what we think they are asking us to do. This gives them time to clarify any questions or concerns and prepares them to work independently! Then I dismiss them back to their seats to complete the sheet on their own. If they do not finish before we go to PE, then they have to finish before they can go to workstations. Having them work independently allows me to pull a few strugglers to the back table or walk around and monitor each student. I loved this part of math and plan to continue this into next year.

1:15-1:45 Math Workstations

This year I used the Debbie Diller method for math workstations. You can learn more about that here. I partnered my students off using different methods (ability level, boy/girl, high/low) I changed their partners every two weeks or so. I had nine "tubs" total because I had 18 kids with two at each tub each rotation. I use a pocket chart to show the students which tub they are going to. I always had a BUMP game in my one of my tubs, I love it (addition practice...never gets old) and so do my kiddos!  There are many different varieties of this game but I always used a SunnyDays BUMP game. I usually had a place value tub and towards the end of the year a money tub. Two of the tubs ALWAYS had our concept skill for the topic we were focusing on during whole group. My other tub activities were usually holiday or seasonal themed that I grabbed on TPT so the skills varied. I wanted my students to be doing different skills at every station to keep them fresh in their brains. I am blessed with amazing and wonderful technology in my classroom. We have 3 iMac computers and 2 iPads. Those are my other 3 "tubs". The kiddos do our topic skill on IXL using the computers. Then I have 2 groups on the iPads playing any game in the "Math" folder.  If any group finishes their tub early they have a few choices. They can do tangram picture cards, whiteboard addition practice, or play with a deck of cards. Most of the time only 1 group finished early and they knew to quietly select their choice from our manipulatives shelf. During this time I was either pulling kids to the back table for intervention or going around to each group and sitting with them and watching them play the game or complete the activity. I loved watching their brains work during this time! Sometimes it was more beneficial than pulling kids to the back. Not to mention I got to hear hilarious conversations :) We did two rotations a day lasting about 12 minutes each (transitions usually took about three minutes to clean up and get out the new tubs).

I liked this part of math okay, but I was never in love with it. I REALLY want "the sisters" to finish that Daily 5 math book that I keep hearing rumors about!!! I have seen some ideas on Pinterest and TPT but I am just not sure. I am thinking about making something up and doing my own thing but that would take some serious time and planning. I ADORE how my reading block looks (Daily5) and would really like for my math block to be the same. I can't wait to read how some of you are doing math centers. I need some ideas :)

Calendar

Spotlight Series Part 2: Calendar! 

In my class we do calendar as part of morning meeting. When the students come to the carpet we do the calendar first. We flip over the new date card, say what today is, yesterday was, and what tomorrow will be. Then we count the days of school using the straw place value method. Then we go over our special for the day and who the helper is for that day. Then we talk about what the "dash date" (6-17-13) looks like and how to read and say it. We also do the Starfall calendar until Christmas. I LOVE this calendar because it completely interactive. The students love going up to the Promethean board to control the calendar. It allows you to add birthdays, special occasions, and every 1st grader's favorite~~a lost tooth! After Christmas my kiddos pretty much know the calendar and they decided on their own that they are "too old for the computer calendar."

This year I am thinking about adding another component to my calendar. At at first grade math workshop in our district we had a chance to talk about out math routines. One teacher said that her class counts the days of school using a ten frame. At first I thought "well thats great for the first ten days, but then what?" She said she adds a ten frame every ten days until the last day of school is reached. So, she uses a lot of wall space for her 18 ten frames BUT how great for a constant review and skip counting! We hit on ten frames for maybe a week but what a good way to talk about them all year. You could skip count by 5s and 10s all year. I am going to add that into my calendar routine next year...bet start clearing off some space ;)

Our calendar time before Christmas takes about 10 minutes and about 5 after Christmas. I love this time because I think it is so beneficial to them. It works the math part of their brain that doesn't require any difficult skills. Does this look like your calendar time? I would love to hear some new ideas!

Word Work Pack

Greetings from this sunburned lady! I was at the pool a little too long today....anyone else had this same fate yet?!? Ouch! I hope everyone is having a great week! Hopefully most of you are out of school and enjoying the spoils of summer :) I am already thinking about next year *GASP*. I just finished up a back to school short vowel word work pack. It includes 3 activities. You can grab it from my TPT store here! I am trying to get my brain back in the mindset that I am going to have a room full of kindergarteners, not big 2nd graders! They are such babies when I get them...too sweet! I will give this to the first 2 people to leave a comment below. Remember to check back next week for the second part of the "Summer Spotlight Series"! Happy Thursday!

Morning Work

This is the first post in the 10 week series from Kelli's Linky Party! If you haven't visited her blog before you need to stop by...she's ahhh-mazing! Okay, now onto my morning routine.

The first bell rings at 7:30 and the kiddos can come down the hall and sit outside our classrooms. We have 10 classrooms on our hall so 2 teachers monitor the hall each morning. (we all take turns). The students read books from baskets that we each put outside our doors. They can whisper but they have to stay seated. The second bell rings at 7:45 and the kids can come into our classrooms. Umm can I take a time out to say most working adults I know are barely up at 7:45 and I have 18 bright eyed and bushy tailed babies bouncing into my room!!! I mean when that bell rings I have to be "on"...hallelujah for venti starbucks or my beloved Kurig ;) and usually I'm shoveling my last bite of a Special K bar into my mouth....

I am blessed with an awesome closet that has backpack and coat hooks for each child!  When they go into the closet they hang up their backpacks and bring me their binders. *Small tangent to explain* I use 1inch binders instead of folders for each student. I have B.EAC.H binders to go with my theme. (Bring Everyday; Assignments, Communication, and Homework) I got the idea from this website. Inside the binders I have a zippered pouch for lunch, field trip, or fundraiser money. The front pocket is labeled Important Papers (anything that I or a parent needs to see goes here). I have a section labeled communication for parents and me to write notes back and forth if needed. Their behavior chart is in another section and the last part is our monthly calendar. The back pocket is labeled Keep At Home (graded papers or flyers from the office that I do not want back). The students are responsible for keeping this clean and organized.

Moving on... After the students unpack and bring me their binder they go to their seats and start on one of a few things depending on the time of year. While they are working broadcast comes on at 7:55 after the tardy bell rings. Broadcast usually lasts 5-7 minutes depending on the "news". At the beginning of the year they complete a literacy journal. "Over the weekend I..." "If I had $100 dollars I would..." Simple things they can do independently. Around the 4th week of school I introduce Mountain Math. (You can learn more about that here.) I ADORE mountain math!! There are 24 problems and the students complete 5 a day (except on Friday they do 4). When I first introduce it, we do everything together whole group and then it slowly moves into independent work.

Once we have been in school for 9 weeks, they start doing 2 things in the morning. First they complete their daily mountain math problems  and then they complete a literacy or math journal. If it is a math journal they have a small strip of paper with the problem at their seats and they glue it into their math journal and complete the problem. If it is a literacy journal the prompt is written on the board. If they finish both of those things before I call them to the carpet they read their "bag of books" (their read to self book pouches we use during Daily 5). We are finished with morning work around 8:15. Then I call the students to the carpet to start calendar and morning meeting.


WHEW!! That is our morning every.single.day. Stayed tuned next week for how we do calendar!

TPT Store

I just opened up my TPT store! I have made several things wanting to post them online but I had to get all my licenses in order first. I am starting small...I only have 5 things so far :) 4 of them are FREE so go grab your copies! I made my version of a sight word game called "SHARK ATTACK"! This game includes all of the Dolch sight words for 1st grade. I have posted the preview below but be sure to grab your copy from my store! I will give this game to the first 2 people to leave a comment below! I hope everyone has a great week, I am attending a math workstation workshop on Tuesday so be sure to check back for ideas after that! Other than that I see a few lake days in my near future :)

Grab your copy here! 

First Linky Party!

I am so excited to do my first linky party!!! I am joining Kelli over at Castles and Crayons for her summer linky party! This is a 10 week series that will allow us to go hour by hour and minute by minute in each other's classroom!! I am so excited to share how I have done things AND learn how you do them too!! Go over to Kelli's blog, link up and join the fun!!

Here is how the 10 weeks will go:

Center Storage

Okay I need some help from all of you wonderful teachers out there! How do you store centers AFTER or BEFORE you use them??? I like my storage system while the centers are in rotation but then when it's time to put them away at the end of the week I was always scrambling for a place for them to go! I've tried binders with each month labeled but the cards and pieces to the centers became bulky and too heavy for the binder to hold. So then they just became piled in the closet...which made me go bonkers every time I saw them in their ziplock baggies piling up in a stack. So how do you store your centers?? Files? Plastic Bins? Thanks for you help!! :)

Classroom Tour

*Warning...lengthy post ahead ;)*

When I walked into my classroom for the very first time I felt so many different things. Extreme happiness, excitement beyond compare, nervous, anxious, and overwhelmed! I couldn't believe after years of planning and praying someone trusted me with this room. Someone knew I could handle every little detail that came with it. I was over the moon! Then my sweet AP said, "I'll leave you alone to soak it all in." And that's when I started looking and seeing what would consume my days for the next 6 weeks. SO. MUCH. STUFF. Now, don't get me wrong I was feeling so incredibly blessed that I did not walk into an empty room...but oh my gosh at the stuff. The teacher before me had taught kindergarten and decided she wanted to be a full-time mommy so she left every stinking thing! That would all have been perfect if I too was teaching K.... So for a moment I just stood there and looked. This is what I saw....

Right inside the door

The amazing awesome, yet packed closet...

Standing in the door looking under the board (holy moly at the storage containers!)

The view from the back of the room towards the front

Like I said, I was so very grateful not to be shown into an empty room but let's get real I had to go through all of this! Let me be honest...clutter and disorganization makes my blood pressure go up! So I said a little prayer and then got on the phone with my momma! We started three piles: keep, trash, donate. Then sure enough I started to see what a BLESSING my room was going to be! I started seeing how big and roomy and PERFECT it was!!!

AHHHH! My favorite part :)

Then I started bringing in all of my things I had collected throughout the year. I decided to do a beach theme after I found the cutest adirondack chairs and matching umbrellas. I also decided that I wanted to do bright colors that would make the room feel even more open and colorful. After I had all the furniture in place it was time to start decorating!! Most of the things I used in my classroom I got at Garden Ridge, Old Time Pottery, Target, and Dollar Tree! I l-o-v-e a bargain! I did not pay full price for ANYTHING in my classroom! I ask for a teacher discount everywhere I go! ;) Anyway this is how it looked when I was finished!

Standing in the front door 

My kidney table and "desk" (the storage cubes are from Target)

(Empty) Classroom Library and Word Wall

Front Board

Beach Reading Center! The screen is from TJ Maxx!

Standing in the closet

This is what it looked like pretty much all year. I plan to keep everything basically the same but there are a few things I want to add and modify. Thanks for sticking around for this super long post :) As soon as all the floor waxing and cleaning is finished I'll be back in there. Happy summer, friends! 

First Post!

I am so exited about starting my own teacher blog! I follow and read so many and I wanted to start contributing as well! I am a twenty-something 1st grade teacher in Birmingham, AL. I absolutely adore first grade! I am so excited to share ideas, funnies, and information happening in my corner of the world! Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for my classroom tour coming up tomorrow!