Sight Word Dictionaries {dolch & fry}

My latest labor of love...  :)  I got so much great feedback on my Facebook page by asking about the sight word lists you all use in your classrooms.  And I hope I have accommodated everyone with my new sight word dictionaries!!

All of the packets include dictionary pages for each word with a place to read, trace and write or finish a phrase or sentence using the word in context.  There is also a large picture space for the students to draw meaningful pictures.  It is important that these dictionaries are personal to each student so it is more than okay if each child's picture or sentence is varied!  In fact, they should have differences.  Whatever will help that child understand what the sight word means - as long as it shows the right meaning - is ok!  :)  There are also a few different covers to choose from and flashcards of the words that you can put in a word work center or send home with your students.  They are color coded in case you end up getting more than one list and want to keep them separated...my OCD tendencies helping your organization!!

My ESL {English as Second Language} students have benefited from these SO much.  The phrases and sentences are very simple and often include other sight words.  Even if the phrases or sentences seem too simple for your students' reading levels, remember that the focus is on learning the sight words, so you don't want them to struggle with recalling the sentence.  Use your guided reading time to push them.  ;)

These can be kept at school, in your students' individual book bins or book baggies for independent reading time or they can be kept in homework folders.  Your students can add words at school with you then take them home to practice and study.  As of now, the dictionaries are available for....

{Dolch Pre-Primer}

{Dolch Primer}

{Fry Lists 1 & 2}

{Color Words & Numbers 0-10}

This totally came about as a fluke when I pulled out copy paper during Guided Reading one day because my ESL students were mixing up every sight word we'd introduced so far.  Once they had the words in an example sentence and a picture that made sense to them...bingo!  We're reading!!  :)  Please let me know how you like them and if you see your students' Sight Word fluency increase like mine did!!  This is by FAR one of my favorite creations...ev-er.  Check out more K faves at the Kindergarten Works Show & Tell party!!

Reading Strategies {freebie}

In case you feel like you've been spending, spending, spending trying to get new items for your classroom, I hope a useful freebie will give you some relief.  :)

This is a short little packet I made up to send home with my families.  I am introducing Book Bags this week and these 3 sheets will go home with my students.  The 1st page is a parent letter that you're welcome to use or tweak.  {It's free so it's doesn't matter so much, right?}  The 2nd & 3rd pages have the good stuff.

There's a bookmark with questions parents can ask their students while reading to help your students really think about their reading.  There's also a Reading Strategies star.  I know there are many, many, MANY more reading strategies than the ones I've listed here, but this is geared more toward your earliest readers.  I wanted to give my kids a tool that would empower them to realize they already know a lot of good tips & tricks instead of listing a jillion strategies they might find confusing.

That's it for today friends!  If you download, please consider following.  You know I love to host a nice giveaway every time I hit one of those milestone marks!  ;)

how to organize guided reading?!

My guided reading {readers workshop} rotation is down pat.  It is the most reliable thing in my classroom.

I write the kids' names on the board so their name is in the same place every day, which eliminates a lot of "Where am I going?" when it's their center time.  The shapes next to their names are my 4 groups.  {I call them by shape but use the colors to match baskets or folders that differentiate the work at each center.}  The picture cards are the open centers which I rotate each afternoon.  {Some years I have used more than 5 centers so students don't necessarily get to them all in a given week but it also means I don't have to switch out activities as often!}  Easy.  Cheesy.

However {dun dun dun}, it is now the 6th week of school and my guided reading routine has changed 4 times.  No joke.  It is no wonder we're still trying to learn procedures...they change as soon as we get them down pat.  {these are out of my control changes, FYI, not just changes in groups due to data.  enter big smile here.}

I think hope have decided that we finally have the schedule set.  Unfortunately, it leaves me with the question...how in the world am I ever going to remember who goes where on a which day?!  Thank you, Google.  Here are some ideas I've come across in case you're also looking for a way to display your reading groups.  Even if they don't work perfectly for my wacko rotation, they're still great ideas and they may work for you!

{Lesson Plan SOS} uses student pictures on a "Now Starring" board to remember who's in each group.

{What the Teacher Wants} uses a weekly calendar to help her remember when to meet with each group.

{Mrs. VanDyke} gives each group a number and rotates them each day for the students to remember where they go when.

{Leaping Into Third} uses the SmartBoard.  Easy to change and a big display for everyone to see!

{Down Under Teacher} uses a separate poster for each group to remember where to go.

So many options!  I'd like to keep something similar where the students names don't move {unless their ability group changes} but that also includes centers, my group, the TA group and the ESL on group, on days that she is with us.  Also, my OCD won't allow for a big grid hanging at the front of the room. In the meantime, I'm using this chart in my binder and just calling them out.  {not so efficient}

Any other ideas??  How do you organize and display your groups?!

guided reading notebook.

There are SO many Guided Reading notebooks out there but I can still never find one that I love!  Creating my own was a major thing on my summer to-do list.  Since I start back next week with a 4 day math training {blech} I figured I better go ahead and get it started while I still have a chance.

The first page is for Guided Reading notes.  I have to create a separate weekly plan so this is more for my own sake.  Book titles, skill sets, activities, etc all go in my lesson plan notebook...which I never even look at.  This will stay in a binder on my table so I can make notes as my kids read and use it to plan future lessons.  {anyone else with me on that?!}

Then there are skill mastery checklists for blends, digraphs & dipthongs, vowel patterns, word endings and beginning reading skills like tracking or being able to isolate just the beginning sound of a word.

What's missing?  What's confusing?  What else should I add?  This is a work in progress and will probably be updated as I move through the school year but at least it's a start!  :)  Hope it helps!

Sight Wordgories. {win your copy!}

{Product still available but the giveaway has ended.}

Whoa!  I got so into finishing this game that I worked right through Live with Kelly!  Let me tell you, girls, that does not happen.  So obviously, I am excited about this one.  :)  I love my Candyland Sight Word game so much that it got my wheels a-turnin as to how I could use my other favorite board games in the classroom.

Ta-da!  I introduce to you....Sight Wordgories!

It's just like Scattergories in that your students will create lists based on a category.  I've included 20 categories so you can use it across the curriculum....science words, social studies words, math words, you name it.  For literacy practice you can choose initial, medial or ending sounds.  There are rhyming cards to practice word families and rhyming words or you can use the word wall for sight word practice.  And then some.  :)

It's up on my TPT Store but I am going to give some away next week before I go on vacation.  That's right.  {some}  Here's the deal...you have to officially follow my blog by clicking that "Join this site" banner on the left.  Then {leave me a comment saying that you do} and that's it! For every new 100 that I hit I'll add 5 more winners!!  ;)  I know you're out there reading this anyway so just clickity click and you're in!  I'll post the winner on Friday July 6th before I leave for the Caribbean!

UPDATE: Post about this giveaway on YOUR blog then come back & leave a 2nd comment with the link for another chance to win!!!  :)

No more Guided Reading headaches!

Thanks to Funky First Grade Fun I have learned about Scholastic Book Wizard.  And it is BLOWING my mind.

*Have you ever selected a book because it has the right skill set you're teaching and wonder why your kids can't read it?

*Have you ever put out "leveled" books and wonder why your kids aren't even correctly reading the sight words?

*Have you ever pulled out a challenging book for your high flyers just to listen to them fly right through?

{If you haven't, just pretend for my sake because I am guilty of all 3!!}

Scholastic Book Wizard is here to save the day!

Start by choosing the Reading System you want to use: 

I chose DRA because those are the levels we use in vertical planning with 1st grade.  They know if we send our kinders to them at a 4 that they will be prepared when they move up in the fall.

If you type the title in Quick Search:

You will be given this information about the book:

No wonder my lower kids struggled.  I felt Biscuit was a lower read but it was way too much for my level 2 group!

OR...even better...type the title instead into BookAlike:

And you will get all of this information:

An easy way to plan guided reading lessons without standing in the book closet for hours!!

I know we're all at wrapping-it-up time, but hopefully this will make life easier for you in the fall.  I'm already breathing a sigh of relief for next year thanks to this handy little gadget!

Can you tell me how to get...

...good reading strategies??

We've been talking about reading strategies all year and my kids have gotten pretty good at using them.  In fact, we keep tallies on the board when the kids say "I predict...", "I can make a connection with..." or "When I use my picture clues, I see..."  When they get 10 tallies in any of the categories, we stop what we're doing and have a dance break.  {Usually a HSM song since they're pretty much just super fun.}  I started the tally count to encourage them to use their reading strategies but I figured a visual cue might be just as helpful.  I didn't want to use Cars or Toy Story 3 or anything else that would be out of style in a few years so I wanted to choose something more timeless.  And what's more timeless and classic than Sesame Street?!  So...I created these posters and hope to have them around for a good number of years.  :)

Elmo is visualizing Dorothy swimming around while Bert & Ernie make predictions about Rubber Duckie.

The Count is summarizing a story {as he loves to count, even ordinally} and Big Bird is using his picture clues to tell what is happening in the story.

Zoe and Elmo are making connections to her family while Grover uses his imagination to become Super Grover!

Telly always asks questions {even if it's because he's worrying} to find out more about a story.