Back to School K-2 Linky!

Hello friends! Welcome back to our monthly I Teach K-2 Linky! Today I am joining my wonderful blogger friends to talk about back to school inspiration and some resources that will definitely SAVE you some time and money!! Make sure to read all the way to the END for an amazing giveaway!!! 

To start off, I'm going to share two of my favorite inspirational quotes for back to school. Feel free to download these, print them, and share them. 

Now on to a FREEBIE just for you! I usually struggle heading back to school trying to find the perfect reading logs for my students. I know there are many free ones, but I wanted one that would meet the needs of my bilingual kiddos. I have two versions for you both in English and Spanish. One is a general reading log with space for date, title, minutes, and signature. Then there's a different version labeled Monday-Thursday where I added the option for students to write a summary of what they read. It helps keep them accountable for their reading and practice their summarizing skills. Click HERE to download these or click the picture below to be redirected to my TpT store for your FREE download.

I also wanted to add a website you will definitely want to visit during back to school season: MPM School Supplies! I am loving their classroom rugs (which are also in English or Spanish if you're looking for bilingual resources) and will be a great addition to any classroom!

Enjoy and hope these help you as we head back to school for an AMAZING 2016-17 school year! 

XOXO Until next time friends! Don't forget to enter below to WIN one of three amazing prizes :)

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Reading Strategies Book Study: Goal 3 Reflection

Welcome back to The Reading Strategies Book Study hosted by the wonderful Kelly at An Apple for the Teacher. Join us each Thursday as we reflect on our takeaways of this text and share strategies that will help you out in your reading block. If you missed my previous posts you can find them here: Goal 1 ~~ Goal 2 ~~

Let's get started with Goal 3: Supporting Print Work

Here's a peek at the strategies, levels, genres, and skills covered in this section. It was very difficult to choose just three strategies to write about knowing my kiddos all come at different levels and I need to definitely remember all of these!!!

This goal is vital to reading success because students have to be able to read correctly to accurately understand the meaning of a text. According to Serravallo, reading "takes coordination, mental effort, and strategic action. That said, children can be taught to be more aware and to use strategies to help them figure out the print as they read." Keeping this goal in mind, I have chosen to focus on three strategies which include:

• Be a Coach to Your Partner
• Think (While You Read the Words)
• Juggle All Three Balls

3.5 Be a Coach to Your Partner

I am loving this strategy because students will be able to support each other in their reading achievement. This strategy teaches students to NOT just tell their partner the word their stuck on or the answer. This strategy teaches the student to be a COACH and suggest tips to their partner so they can be successful. How many times has it happened in your small group: a student gets stuck on a word, another student tells them the word and we move on? I've been guilty of this in some occasions and need to be more purposeful about partners COACHING each other vs. telling the answer. 

Prompts to ask when teaching this skill would be:

• Don't give your partner the word, tell them a tip.
• Looks like your partner is stuck, try to help.
• That was a helpful tip!

 Anchor Chart taken from 3.5 Be a Coach To Your Partner, page 84

3.8 Think (While You Read the Words)

Do your students focus more on reading the word accurately than on the meaning of what they are reading? In student's attempts to master fluency, sometimes kiddos just want to read correctly BUT do not comprehend what they are reading. This strategy is great because the teacher models stopping and monitoring comprehension. Students assume a "reading pose" and a "thinking pose." I think this is a great visual way to make sure students are stopping to monitor their reading. In the thinking pose, students put the book down, look up, and point to their forehead. What a great reminder to stop and think while reading.

Prompts to ask when teaching this skill would be:

• Check yourself - Did you understand what you just read?
• You're reading the words . . . check that you're understanding, too.
• Read the words, then tell me what you're thinking.

Anchor Chart taken from 3.8 Think (While You Read the Words), page 87

3.10 Juggle All Three Balls

This strategy is definitely ongoing! It is one of my favorite strategies because it teaches students to multi-task and "juggle" their thinking as they read and get "stuck" on a tricky word:

1. think about what makes sense
2. think about how a book sounds
3. think about what looks right

Prompts to ask when teaching this skill would be:

• Think about what's happening.
• Look at the letters. What could it be?
• Yes, that made sense, looked right, and sounded right.

Plus, isn't this anchor chart just the cutest reminder! Students can keep these in a journal or center to remind them of juggling all three balls.

Anchor Chart taken from 3.10 Juggling All Three Balls, page 89

That's it for today friends! If you are reading along with us ... I'd love to know which Goal 3 strategy are you looking forward to using with your readers this year? Make sure to come back next week as we discuss Goal 4: Teaching Fluency!

Reading Strategies Book Study: Goal 2 Reflection

Welcome back everyone! I am happy to be hosting this week's book study as we dive into Goal 2 of the Reading Strategies Book. I have joined my amazing blogger friends to reflect on Goal 2: Teaching Reading Engagement. This week, I'll be focusing on three strategies to support reading engagement which Serravallo assures us, "Without engagement, we've got nothing."

So, let's get started with Goal 2: Teaching Reading Engagement

Here's a peek at the strategies, levels, genres, and skills covered in this section.

This goal is vital to reading success because ultimately we want our students to become independent readers and thinkers. If they cannot read for a sustained period of time, they will not achieve the goals you work so hard in guided reading groups to attain. I have chosen to focus on three strategies from this goal which include:

• Most Desirable/Least Desirable
• "Party" Ladder
• Track Progress on a Stamina Chart

2.9 Most Desirable/Least Desirable

This strategy focuses on showing what it looks like to be disengaged, distracted, or unfocused while reading. Then, students can show what it looks like to be focused and engaged. By asking the students to show you, they are internalizing the behaviors they need to become successful readers. 

Prompts to ask when teaching this skill would be:

• Can you act like you're pretending to read? Now tell me what's different about real reading.
• Act disengaged, distracted, and unfocused.
• How do the two ways feel different?
• How can you be more focused in your reading?

Furthermore, I've created these anchor charts for my students to put in their reader's notebook and also to display in the room. Together we'll brainstorm and discuss what it looks like to be an engaged reader, and what it looks like to be a disengaged reader. If you'd like to do this activity with your students just click on the pictures to download a copy. Available in English/Spanish!

2.10 "Party" Ladder

I really like this strategy because it celebrates success in reading engagement. Students make small, short-term goals for themselves such as reading a few pages, jotting a thought, reading a few more pages, retelling, then ultimately reach a place in the ladder that allows them to "party!" In this sense party is just a tiny reward where they read a short poem. Students move their sticky note each time they make progress toward their goal. This is a great visual representation for students that need that motivation to stay focused. 

Prompts to ask when teaching this skill would be:

• How long do you think you can read before we switch the task?
• What sorts of things will you do to help you stay focused - stretch breaks, jot about your reading, retell in you mind?
• Let's make a ladder together.

Anchor Chart taken from 2.10 "Party" Ladder, page 57

2.14 Track Progress on a Stamina Chart

This reading strategy offers another visual representation to help students see their growth as engaged, focused, and independent readers. Teaching students about stamina is very important. I've never used stamina charts, but plan on incorporating them with my second graders this year. We've always tracked growth in reading levels, phonics levels, even weekly assessments, but have never tracked stamina which is what they need to master all those other reading assessments. When readers know how long they've been focused, they can set longer time goals for themselves and try to reach their personal best. 

Prompts to ask when teaching this skill would be:

• What's your gaol for today's stamina, based on what you've done so far?
• Let's take a look at your stamina for the last few days.
• What do you notice from your stamina chart.

Anchor chart taken from 2.14 Track Progress on a Stamina Chart, page 61

That's it for today my lovely readers! Hope you found these strategies as useful as I have and that you're thinking about ways to incorporate them in the upcoming year. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know below and I'll get back to you. Thanks for reading!

We would LOVE to read your posts about this book as well!  If you have written a blog post about this book, feel free to link up below!

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Reading Strategies Book Study: Goal 1 Reflection

Welcome to The Reading Strategies Book Study hosted by the wonderful Kelly at An Apple for the Teacher. This summer we'll be reading and sharing our reflections on a few of our favorite strategies from the 300 that Jennifer Serravallo writes about in her book. Each week we'll be studying a new goal and three focus strategies that you can use in your reading classroom. I hope you find these strategies useful as you sit, read, and relax this summer.

Let's get started with Goal 1: Supporting Pre-emergent and Emergent Readers

Take a look at the strategies, levels, genres, and skills covered in this section.

This goal focuses on strategies to help any young children who are just beginning to read texts independently, though not yet conventionally. I have chosen to focus on three strategies from this goal which include:

• The WHOLE and Teeny-Tiny Details
• Characters Do, Characters Say
• Connect the Pages

1.2 The WHOLE and Teeny-Tiny Details

I chose to focus on this strategy because I find that my second graders struggle with main idea and details. This strategy would definitely help make this skill more concrete and help them when summarizing what they are reading. I like that students read a page, circle the page with their finger to say what the WHOLE page talked about, then point to certain sections to discuss the details. It is important to use the academic language during this kinesthetic pointing and discussion to internalize the skill. 

Prompts to ask when teaching this skill would be:

• Use your finger. Sweep it across the whole page
• Say, "This WHOLE page is about..."
• Now zoom in on a small part. Say what you're learning.
• Turn the page and try again.

Anchor Chart taken from 1.2 The WHOLE and Teeny-Tiny Details, page 25

1.6 Characters Do, Characters Say

This next strategy focuses on storytelling. As an elementary teacher, this is one of my favorite strategies since students LOVE to come up with stories. This strategy teaches students to try to sound like a storyteller on every page! They can accomplish this by looking carefully at the illustrations and describing what the character is doing and what the character is saying. I think this is excellent practice since students will be analyzing character traits later on! This can be a first step in accomplishing their understanding of characters.

Prompts to ask when teaching this skill would be:

• What do you think he might be saying?
• Look closely at the picture. What's he doing?
• What's the action on this page?

Anchor chart taken from 1.6 Characters Do, Characters Say, page 29

1.19 Connect the Pages

This strategy focuses on reminding the students that ultimately the whole book is about ONE thing. All pages should connect to that ONE thing. I like this particular strategy because I can stop and redirect them back to the main topic and focus of the book. For this strategy you can use transition words to help make the story more memorable and to help in understanding the topic. 

Prompts to ask when teaching this skill would be:

• Think about how these pages connect. 
• Say, "And then..."
• Say, "Another thing..."
• How does what you learn on this page fit with what you learn on that page? *(my favorite)*

Anchor Chart taken from 1.19 Connect the Pages, page 42

That's it for today my lovely readers! Hope you found these strategies as useful as I have and that you're thinking about how to incorporate them in your classroom. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know below and I'll get back to you. Thanks for reading.

Join me as I host Goal 2 (June 30th)

Summer Activities K-2

Hello friends! Welcome back to this month's K-2 I Teach Linky. I am very excited to be joining my fellow blogger friends to share spectacular ideas with our readers. Be sure to read all the way to the end to grab a FREEBIE and enter our giveaway!!!

This month I am sharing a few ideas about my favorite time of the year.....SUMMER!!! Summer is the perfect time to recharge and prepare for an exciting new school year! During summer the days can drag on by with nothing to do. Do not fret, I have a quick and easy solution for those days with nothing to do. Simply print these "Summer Activities" wheels and use them at home with your own kids.

Since I don't have kids YET (due in August with my first), I print these out and hand out to my wonderful students. They LOVE assembling them and then reading through activities they can look forward to in the summer. What's best is that I have them in English and Spanish for those who need the bilingual version to send home!

Need more summer freebies??? Find my FREE Summer Bingo HERE.
Want to send home meaningful work students can work on independently? Check out my Bilingual Summer BUNDLE HERE

Now head on over to read more ideas perfect for this time of the year! Hope you enjoy them and don't forget to enter into our giveaway for a chance to win a TpT giftcard. Until next time friends! XOXO

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Birthday Pool Party Celebration

Welcome back, friends! I am here today to help my wonderful bloggy friend, The Education Highway, celebrate her birthday! There is a lot in store for you so keep on reading for summer ideas, recipes, FREEBIES, and giveaways!!!!

Summer is my favorite time of the year because I actually have time to try all those recipes and ideas I've pinned throughout the year!!! Check out this refreshing cucumber & dill salad perfect for this 100 degree Texas weather!!!! Yep, you heard it 100 degrees sometimes 100+!!!! I definitely need to keep cool in this heat :)

Summer is a great time to try new activities as well! I will definitely be resting, catching up on sleep, and Netflix binge watching. However,  a few ideas I'd like to try this summer are:

- Backyard Movie Picnic

- Playing Twister with *paint* eeekk!!

- Squirt gun painting :)

- Taking a nature walk in a new place

Do you have any summer ideas to do around the house? Here's a bucket list I found on Pinterest perfect for those days with nothing to do, but to enjoy.

Now here's a special freebie just for you! Keep the kiddos engaged with a summer bingo in ENGLISH and SPANISH!!! Send it home with your students or use it at home with your own kiddos, enjoy! Just click the pictures to download your copy :)

               

       

This blog hop wouldn't be possible without the contributions and support of our lovely sponsors. Check out the FREE Ebook with all our links to follow us and always be up to date with the latest resources available!  

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