February 15, 2023

Science of Reading: Level A Guided Plans

 

If you've been teaching these last few years you've probably noticed a big shift in literacy instruction. The latest approach is called the Science of Reading. Last year my district here in Texas made the leap and all teachers, veteran to new, was required to take the new SoR training. 

What makes this approach different than all the others, and one I'm personally on board with, is that it is research and evidence supported. Much of the SoR training had us learn about the parts of the brain and how it acquires language. With this knowledge, teachers are better equipped to implement reading instruction in a way that supports student learning. After my own training I had a better idea on what best practices are for teaching reading at the kindergarten level.

Launching SoR in Kindergarten

One of the biggest goals at the end of any kindergarten year is to get students familiar with letter recognition and be able to match those letter sounds. In addition, as a kindergarten teacher it's my job to make sure that students are also exploring books, practicing fundamental reading strategies, and thinking about their reading through discussions. How does all of this happen? In whole group, yes, but a big chunk of it is through guided reading!

At the kindergarten level I see a lot of my students coming into the year with little to no letter knowledge - even with daycare or pre-k experience. Which means we hit the ground running at the start of the year with letter ID and letter sound work. The SoR equips us teachers with a Sound Wall, which is a replacement of the Word Wall (although I blend the two in my classroom) and every day we review the unlocked sounds (i.e. the sounds we've introduced in whole group phonics lessons) and their motions.

** I use Natalie Lynn Kindergarten's Sound Wall resource and it comes with corresponding motions for each letter sound. I've seen it work wonders with helping my kinders remember and retain their letter sounds and couldn't recommend it more.

During our reading block we explore big-picture reading concepts that I model and students practice independently. Then, we're off to reading stations and I can pull small groups. This is where the magic really happens!

Guided Reading with Pre-Readers

A big chunk of my groups are pre-readers - those students who do not have enough letter knowledge to begin the next step of decoding. So, this means we focus a lot on identifying uppercase and lowercase letters, the mouth articulation of the letter sound, and picture sort activities where students practice matching the word with the sound to the letter.

So how do I plan and prep for these activities? Luckily I took the time to lay it all out and I'm so excited to share this resource with all of you!

Scripted Lesson Plans

For each letter I've scripted out each lesson plan! No more sitting at your desk wondering what to do! It's all right there for you. 


Each lesson begins with a phonemic awareness (PA) warm-up where students listen to alliteration sentences. They are to identify the sounds at the beginning of each word and count the number of words in the sentence. This helps them practice readiness skills such as features of print and phonemic awareness.

Then, in the lesson itself you introduce the grapheme (the letter form) as well as the mouth formation and articulation of the letter sound. I've provided these cards in the resource as well so all you have to do is print and go! I keep a binder with my lesson plans printed and any additional visuals, activities, etc. ready to go so that when I pull my groups my lesson is already prepared.


Afterwards, students practice with a sound picture sort where they are to cut and sort picture cards to the right sound. Then, to wrap everything up, students do a little handwriting where they practice the letter formation, name writing, and even guided writing using the letter sound from the lesson.

Once students master the alphabet they're ready to begin reading with sight words and higher leveled books!

Additional Resources


I've also provided other resources that can be helpful during your lessons such as: 3 versions of an alphabet chart (a must-have for any guided lesson), an orthographic mapping work mat, and guided writing template for use when your group is ready to start using letter sounds in words. I pre-print and laminate these (or slip into a plastic sleeve) and include them with my binder. It helps keep me organized and my lessons ready to go.

I hope you find this pre-reader resource to be helpful when planning your reading groups! Be sure to check back for when I release more lesson plans for reading levels B-D!




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September 17, 2022

All About the Money - US Coins

 


In kindergarten this week we've been focusing on U.S. coins! Students spent time exploring the penny, nickel, dime, and quarter. We discussed the characteristics of each as well as matched the value to each coin. We also enjoyed hands on activities, incorporated technology with Seesaw, and practiced working in our math workbooks!


M.A.T.H. Workshop

This year, I wanted to change up the framework to my math block time. I'm trying out the M.A.T.H. workshop approach created by Laura Santos from her blog Core Inspiration. I love that each letter of the word MATH represents a center during rotations (keeps it super simple for my kinders): 


M- meet with teacher (teacher small groups)

A- at your seat (review or independent worksheet)

T- technology (Seesaw or other app)

H- hands on (centers activities)


It's my first time with this new approach to our math block, but so far I'm really enjoying it. We're still in the beginning stages where we're spending a lot of time with whole group practice of each type of center. So, this week we were focusing on the technology piece; utilizing Seesaw and practicing how to use the tools to complete the assignments.


At Your Seat

As a part of practicing center procedures we spent quite some time practicing how to work at the "at your seat" center. For this, students are to complete a quick review page where they either turn their work into me or it's a page to glue into their math notebooks. This page will act as the independent practice component of my math mini-lesson and the exit ticket to their centers. 

This week, I modeled how to complete each page for each coin and how to glue their work in. I use the phrase: "x marks the spot" when it comes to using glue sticks to glue their work in. Oftentimes my kinders will waste time/glue gluing their work in. So, by giving them the prompt "x marks the spot" they know to make one big "x" and to place their paper on top. Done!



Here, students are working to identify each coin then sort the coins depending on if it is that specific coin or not. These photos are when we worked on the penny. 

You can find this unit about coins (as well as the year-long math curriculum for kindergarten!) in my resource here.


Technology: Seesaw

Like I mentioned, this week I really wanted to focus our attention to how to complete assignments via Seesaw. I love using Seesaw as a means for students to demonstrate their learning because of the technology component, but also because the iPad is highly engaging for this generation of kids. Seesaw is a great platform for students to use because there are a variety of tools they can use to demonstrate their understanding of a concept!

For our study of U.S. coins, I gave students a virtual sorting mat and they had to sort 2 types of coins at a time. There were six pages total for them to complete where the types of coins to sort changed. They had a lot of success with this activity and it required them to use the hand tool to drag and drop as well as know that some activities have multiple slides, or pages, to complete. 

Here are a few of my kinders engaging with their sorting activity on Seesaw...




Hands On

This week I took the opportunity to practice sorting with actual play coins using my set of coins and this free printable sorting mat created by Sweet Firsties. We first practiced whole group where I gave each student a coin and they had to come up to the document camera and sort it in the correct spot. We discussed how sorting helps us group objects (in this case our coins) by something they have in common and tied it to our study of coins.

Then, once students began to finish their Seesaw assignment I pulled them to the back table with me so I could work with them on sorting actual coins. I plan to place this activity as an independent "hands on" center, but wanted the time to work with various students first. 




Supplemental Resources

There are a variety of resources my team and I used this week for our mini-lessons about coins. 

Here are a few!

Anchor Chart: I created a similar anchor chart with the basics of what we taught for the week. I made the 4 quadrants and filled them as we learned about each coin. By the end of the week our chart looked similar to this:


Videos: To supplement our lessons here are a few videos the kids watched.

For each coin study we used these videos (although kind of slow, but has good info): penny, nickel, dime, quarter. By Friday we reviewed the coins we learned by watching these videos:






And that's about it for this week in math! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and here's to another week of fun learning!

See what our class is up to as we learn about the U.S. coins!


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September 11, 2022

Preparing for a Substitute

 


It was the first week of school and those back-to-school-germs were no joke. Typically I feel pretty good, maybe a sniffle here and there, but I was so surprised to feel feverish within the first couple of days! Definitely a career first! By the third day of school I was in need of a sub because I couldn't get my fever to go away. Thank goodness a sub picked up my posting (our district is low on subs as I'm sure all districts are), but it was a mad dash at 5am to make sure I had everything she may need for the day.


One thing I made sure to add to my classroom was an Emergency Sub Tub - as many teachers do. Previously I spent a lot of time having to write out plans and prep all the things, but many times I need a sub it's because of an unexpected illness or circumstance. This means little time to actually prep anything and therefore a lot of the effort gets put on my team. I don't like how unfair this can be, so I've made the switch to a Sub Tub.


The Emergency Sub Tub

Making the official switch to the tub has been a game changer for me!
I love that it just sits, with copies and class info ready to go, near my desk and ready for whenever I have a guest teacher in my room. 

Here's a peek at what I've put in mine...





I created this resource as a foundation for my sub tub. Each page is a template where I simply add in my info year after year and print. From there, I have hanging file folders for each subject where I place ahead of time a class set of copies for various activities. I also stick in some read aloud books and for-fun activities. My goal is to make everything easy for my sub and feel as though I'm prepared to be out...

Sub Activities

This is where each teacher at different grade levels can differentiate their tubs. 

For me in kinder I have a lot of review pages that are cut/glue, drawing pictures to respond, and activities that they've already done. I also include coloring pages and other fun things that can act as fillers or simply just 'for fun.' I take a peek at my filing cabinet and grab worksheets we've worked on before and are great review. Some of these activities include: handwriting/tracing letters/name work, alphabet/letter sounds, simple math activities like number work/counting, and science/social studies I typically include a behavior sort (i.e. kind/unkind sort).

Here are a few other ideas you could add to your tub:





For older students (and back when I taught 2nd grade) I created this resource based on the famous story Miss Nelson is Missing. It's a popular download over at my shop and I'm glad that so many teachers have found it helpful. This could be something you simply print and have on-hand in your own sub tub. You can read all about this resource over on this blog post.


Freebie Sub Plan Resources


Paid Sub Plan Resources

Although you'd have to invest in these resources, they are among my favorite to have on hand!


Be ready with a split-list

One aspect to calling out is the event that a sub does not pick up your posting. In that event, be sure that you have communicated a split-list with your team. For my campus and grade level team, we have pre-made lists where we split our students evenly among the other kinder classes. Whenever this has happened, we each get 3-4 additional students. Having a split-list ready to go (with medical/behavioral/dismissal info included) will help your team ensure your class is ready to go!


I wish you all a healthy school year! I know with these ever present germs it'll be a good idea to prep a sub tub in the event you're having to call out unexpectedly. I know that ever since I made the switch it's been less pressure to get plans ready - with a sub tub it's all sitting and ready to go! 






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September 3, 2022

The First 2 Weeks - A Round Up


We're here! The kindergarten year has begun and looking back over the course of these two weeks I'm so proud of the work we've begun doing! I have to admit, those first few days were among the most exhausting - from the back to school germs (even knocking me out and needing a sub on day 3!) to training my little kinders to attend to a lesson for longer than 3 minutes...it was a doozy for sure.

However, we kept at it with community building lessons, lots of discussions about being kind kindergartners, and establishing those ever important routines and procedures. Now, as we're heading into week 3 after the Labor Day weekend I'm confident we can achieve even more in our days together. My class are such rockstars!

So, what were we up to these last couple of weeks? Let's take a peek!

Handwriting & Fine Motor

At the beginning of every year I love introducing handwriting activities just to get a feel for where my new students' fine motor control lies. Last year I was very surprised to see that many of them could not hold a pencil correctly or manage with scissors. So, this year I went into it with a similar mindset and prepared for my kiddos to be about the same...and they were. By preparing for this I was able to anticipate the needs of my class and really target those skills early on.


I love Natalie Lynn's resource for names which autofills the names for you! I printed a class set for each type of activity ahead of time and every day I just pull from the stack. I love introducing these handouts as a whole group first because the kids will already know how to complete them when I place them in centers later on.

Oral Language Storytelling

During our writing block we've launched our writers workshop with oral language storytelling. Another great resource my team and I are using from Natalie Lynn is her writing curriculum. I love the pacing and the bundle comes with lessons and resources all done for you! I love that she begins with oral language and walks students into the writing process first by being inspired about stories and how we can best share them (i.e. using details, BME, etc.). It's especially perfect for my kinders at the beginning of the year because they're not yet ready to put pencil to paper.


These are my kinders learning to share stories by turning and talking. We've been practicing all week on what the behaviors look and sound like. So proud of the conversations I overhear when it's their share time.

Basic Math Concepts & Review



These last two weeks in math have been review of concepts such as patterns and a lot of exploration with math manipulatives. We make sure to discuss the ground rules for using the manipulatives and how they'll be used in their learning throughout the year. So far we've introduced snap cubes (seen above), counting bears, links, and pattern blocks. Giving students the opportunity to explore and play with these items up front acts as a way to "get it out of their system" in terms of playing with them. After these first moments, we then discuss how they become "tools" for learning.

Here you'll see my students practicing their cutting and gluing to sort everyday objects and their matching shape. I love finding ways to sneak more fine motor practice in with the other subjects we're learning.

Pencil box name plates can be found here.


I can't wait to introduce their math interactive journals next week! I want to do more with their notebooks and I have always found success with interactive style notebooks for their learning. They will begin to complete activities that will be glued into their journals vs handing them in. 

Dramatic Play/Purposeful Play

I love that my district really values the importance of play as a part of the kindergarten curriculum. We have a designated time (almost 40-50 mins a day!) dedicated to play and this is where you see a lot of really great things happening. From the oral language development to learning to problem solve on their own, students really have an opportunity to utilize all that they're learning in this play time.


This year I brought in my own collection of cars from when I was a kid into the classroom. I purchased the rug from Ikea and every single day both girls and boys enjoying playing here. I'm so glad I put my old cars to good use (instead of donating them...)!


Another popular play area is, of course, the play kitchen. I plan to change up the kitchen periodically and transform it into various things such as a farmers market, ice cream shop, and even a Starbucks. But, for now it's just a kitchen. But I'm already seeing that students are making it a restaurant...so it gives me the perfect idea for the first dramatic play theme!

"Amazing Work Coming Soon" signs are found here.

It's been a real hustle these last couple of weeks but I'm excited about what's to come! Check back for more adventures with me and my class!

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August 2, 2022

The Year-Long Math Journal - TEKS Aligned!

 

It's finally here!

At the end of last year my district did a little revamp to our math curriculum and moved around our scope and sequence a little bit. So, I knew that I wanted to dig into it and see how I could make my life a little easier this upcoming school year when planning for math. Needless to say, I've spent the last month or so really getting into it all and here it is!! The Year-Long Math Journal for kindergarten!



Interactive Notebooks

Why am I loving the idea of interactive notebooks for my kinders? Because it's the perfect way for my littlest learners to manage their work and keep it in a safe place. It also lends itself to bite-sized content so they are much more likely to engage and retain it in the long-run.

With that being said, this resource is meant to work as an interactive notebook (although the individual pages can be printed as worksheets) that pairs with your lessons and leads students into their work stations or centers. Let's take a peek...

Step 1: Designate a composition notebook as math journals
An Avery label template is provided so that all you have to do is print them out and slap them on to each notebook. Students write their names and they're ready!

Step 2: Scale down your student copies so they're small enough to fit inside their notebooks. On the copier I typically select to scale my pages down by 80-85%. Then, pre-slice them so you don't lose time with necessary cutting. ;)

Step 3: Teach!

It really is that simple!

Scope & Sequence

The units included in this resource follow my district's S&S for math and are TEKs aligned. However, the concepts covered are pretty typical for any kindergarten teacher no matter where you teach! Here's how it'll appear in my resource:

  • Unit 1: I Am a Mathematician (first 20 days)
    • AB/AABB Patterns
    • Identifying Basic Shapes
    • Rote Counting to 10
    • Number Sense to 5
    • Ordinal Numbers to 5
    • Identify & Name Coins
  • Unit 2: 2D Plane Shapes (10 Days)
  • Unit 3: Number Sense to 5 (15 Days)
    • Read, write, and represent numbers
    • Comparing sets using >,<, and =
    • 1 more/ 1 less
    • Compose/decomose to 5
    • Word problems to 5
  • Unit 4: Number Sense to 10 (27 Days)
  • Unit 5: Data Analysis to 10 (7 Days)
  • Unit 6: Number Sense to 20 (29 Days)
  • Unit 7: Join & Separate to 10 (32 Days)
  • Unit 8: Data Analysis to 20 (7 Days)
  • Unit 9: 3D Solids
  • Unit 10: Measurement
    • Length, Height, Weight, Capacity
  • Unit 11: Personal Financial Literacy
    • Income vs Gifts
    • How to Earn Income
    • Wants vs Needs
    • Spend, Save, Give

Math Workshop:

My math workshop routine will look a little like this:
  • Warm-Up (to review previously taught content - warm-ups included in download!)
  • Mini-Lesson (whole group time that introduces new concept)
    • This is when you can choose to have students with their journals and they complete their "we do" portion together OR you can have them complete it after you've modeled it.
  • Independent Practice (the "you do" work pages where students work independently on a concept)
  • Work Stations/Centers & Guided Math
  • Reflection (review the "you do" work page and clear up any misconceptions)

Warm-Ups



These pages are optional, but I love the idea of before a lesson students have a small slip that asks them to demonstrate their understanding from previously taught material. It's just to get their brains thinking and working about math concepts. Each unit has a few prompts to choose from!



We Do/ You Do

This resource has both WE DO/YOU DO work pages as a part of every unit. It is designed to have students easily follow along and the independent work is limited to just a few problems...that's intentional! Plus the independent work acts almost like an exit ticket into their work stations, so they don't need to sit and complete 20 problems to show proficiency.




Practice Activities


There are 11 units total as a part of this resource and each one has a comprehensive set of practice pages, or the "you do" portion. They are designed to be kinder friendly with easy-to-complete prompts. Each one also aligns with the mini-lesson and is meant to be a way for students to independently practice the taught skill prior to jumping into a work station or center.

Word Problems



Through the SOLVE Method, kinders are able to better analyze word problems and utilize different tools to solving for them. That's why I've included many units with optional word problems. These can be used as independent practice or even its own unit! Completely up to you!

Low Prep = Happy Teaching

And that's about it! I can't wait to prep for my journals this year and my hope is you'll find this resource to help cut down on your math planning time, too. If you have any questions on how I use my math journals be sure to comment or email me at: littlefoxteaching@gmail.com!









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