Writing Interventions, Guided Reading, Behavior, & Vocabulary (with Freebies!)

Yesterday I had the privilege of talking to some of the most wonderful teachers in the world...my Texas teachers!!!  Okay, so I'm a little biased ;)   Honestly though...it was such a GREAT day in Austin.  SO much to cover!!  Writing interventions, guided reading, behavior management, and vocabulary!  This is how I typically feel after a day full of talking...

Hahaha!!  I absolutely love it!  The exhaustion is most definitely worth it!  

I promised my Texas teachers I'd pop-in today and leave a few goodies to download :)  If you attended my Writing Intervention session, you might remember me talking about the visual resources my kids keep in their desks.  They're used specifically for writers workshop.  These checklists are great for keeping kids on task and helping them self correct/self monitor when writing independently.  The checklist on the very bottom of the graphic below is great to keep them on track during the writing process.  The first visual on that checklist is a light bulb.  I have the kids place a counter on top of that light bulb when they're thinking about what they're going to write.  Then they move to the little drawing girl when they're sketching, the boy with paper when they're writing, the boy reading when they're editing/rereading their work, and then finally the teacher/students when they're ready to share their writing with me.   I can walk around and quickly assess where everyone is in each stage of their writing and help where needed.

The writing checklist is laminated and kept in their desk as well.  I have them take these out when they think they're finished with their writing.  I want them to check for capitals, spacing, punctuation, etc. and this checklist has really helped them through the editing process.  Some of my kids will even keep this checklist visible as they're writing to self monitor as they go along.  The WWW.WHAT.HOW is just a mnemonic device I like for them to keep handy as a reminder to add all of those elements to their story.  If they can go through the list and check them all off when they reread their story, then it's probably time to share it with me.  If they can only check off a few, they need to write a little longer and add a bit more to their story.

You can download these HERE.

If you're interested in reading more about how I run Writer's Workshop....and some different things I do for writing in my classroom...you can check it out HERE

And how about Guided Reading?!  I feel like I should dedicate an entire post to this, so I'll be back soon with more info on Guided Reading and a few best practices I've picked up the last 14ish years ;)  I'm no expert, but hopefully some of the things I was able to share was helpful for you and maybe gave you a better understanding of how guided reading works!

I chatted about sight words and sight word mastery in this session and promised I'd come back and link to the sight word list I use.  Here's the downloadable version of that list.  Click HERE to grab your copy.

You can grab more FREE downloads and ideas by clicking through THIS POST below.

And don't forget about this INVALUABLE resource I mentioned yesterday!!!  LOVE this book!

The Next Step in Guided Reading: Focused Assessments and Targeted Lessons for Helping Every Student Become a Better Reader

We also chatted about different ideas and activities to target various skills during the "warm-up" block of your guided reading instruction.  Here are a few we use in my classroom.

Read about the activities in this resource HERE.

Guided Reading Phonics Activities Volume One

And you can read about the guided reading activities in this resource HERE.

Guided Reading Phonics Activities Volume 2

In the meantime, happy reading!!!  Check back soon for more guided reading activities, ideas, and freebies!!!!!!

If you were in my session on behavior management, we talked about these fabulous punch cards from Rachelle at What the Teacher Wants.  Head on over to her blog to grab this great freebie!!!

I also mentioned wearable rewards and reward coupons that Amy Lemons at Step into Second Grade has available on her blog for FREE!!!!! Love them!!!

Lastly, if you were in my vocabulary session, don't forget to grab this FREE vocabulary mini booklet.  These are perfect for word work or small group work...even that "peanut butter & jelly" time we talked about :)

We finished with an explanation of this activity and because it was the end of a LONG day, I wanted to leave this here in case you forgot about it or needed a visual to remember the details!

You can read more about that activity HERE.

Whew!!!  Hope this is helpful!!!  Thank you so much for coming out!  It was such a pleasure meeting each and every one of  you!!!  God bless Texas!!!  :)

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February Science!

Last week I got to travel to Columbus for a quick day of fun and learning.  Of course, it was FREEZING in Ohio and this Texas girl forgot her jacket at home.  Praise God for heaters.  I'd say it was a nice change of pace compared to what we're experiencing in these parts, but NO.  It was not.  I'm convinced it shouldn't be that cold anywhere!!  Ha!!!  My husband has decided that we need to take the boys skiing over Spring Break (I've never been!) and so I fully plan on sitting by the fire sipping a hot chocolate cocktail while the boys tough it out in the cold.  That's something I  can handle.  And I won't forget my jacket (fingers crossed).

This week I'm planning for the Texas 1st conference set for next week and I'm really excited about traveling to Austin!  My favorite Texas city :)  I'm even more excited about meeting lots of new faces and sharing what I love best!!  We're gearing up to talk about writing interventions, guided reading, behavior management, and vocabulary.  EXCITED!!!!  

Speaking of vocabulary, I wanted to share with y'all the latest project that my dear friend, Abby, and I just finished up.  The Science of February!!  After lots of great feedback from our Science of January activities, we decided we'd keep the project ongoing until we have a year's worth of detailed science plans with cross curricular connections to math and ela.  They're a labor of love and we're so excited y'all have been able to use these lessons and activities in your classrooms!

We're all ready for February and next month's themes include light, the human heart, candy,and dental health.  Eeek!!!  Here's an idea of what's included...

Lots of vocabulary.  Lots.  Four weeks worth of vocabulary words, cards, games, activities, and comprehension checks.  It's been so much fun to put an emphasis on words and we have the best time coming up with hands-on ideas to make the most of learning.   

The organization of these resources is one of my favorite things about it.  At the start of each week we provided a recommended book list corresponding with the activities planned.  By NO means are the books necessary for the activities because the activities can definitely stand on their own!!!  We just like to include books based on our experience and texts that we feel would be perfect paired with the lessons.  We also included two non-fiction texts that we wrote to correspond with two of the themes that were lacking in the non-fiction department.  

Of course, the main theme of this resource is science and we LOVE this month's science experiments and activities!!!!  Fizzing hearts, shadows, dissolving candy, and tooth enamel testing...it's all included!!  We worked really hard to provide observation logs that follow the scientific process as well.  These are perfect to pop into your science notebooks.  My boys were THRILLED to test out all of the experiments here at home!!!  

In addition to the science and vocabulary, we also included math and ela activities that compliment each day's science lesson pretty well, if I do say so myself ;)  These activities are more than just a paper/pencil kind of thing...they're hands-on, engaging, and meaningful!!  And they'll definitely leave your kids with a lasting impression.  Our main goal in creating these resources is to help you integrate science skills and objectives throughout the day and not limited solely to your science block.

We made sure to include activities and games that would span grades K-2 and can be differentiated or modified as needed.  Again, more than paper/pencil...hands-on and FUN!!!!  And of course, learning a lot in the process :)

If your'e familiar with the Science of January, it can seem a little overwhelming.  I mean, we really get carried away and tend to OVERplan and include more than necessary.  But that's really just a bonus for you because it allows you to pick and choose what will work best for the needs of your classroom.  

I'm not biased or anything, but these monthly science resources might be my favorite thing!!!  Maybe because they were such a labor of love.  I mean, we really try to pour everything we can into creating the most comprehensive and meaningful activities we can...and then plan it all out so that you don't have to!!!!  

Here's what the month looks like at a glance (also included in the resource)....

If you're interested, check out what people are saying about our Science of January resource....

and if you're wanting science planned for you for the month of February, just click on the pic to grab a copy for yourself!  

And hurry!!  Because today and tomorrow it's on sale!!!  20% off  with an additional 10% when using the code START16.

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Posted by Ben Birt

Software Engineer