Guided Reading - First Week

Well, it is always eventful trying to get 5 year olds organized and understanding what you'd like for them to do in order to teach a small group of children.  However, we kinder teachers always seem to do it year after year.  I'm here to share with you a little about what I'm doing last week and this week to get them started. 

Border - Creative Clips    Font - Janda

I try to be very clear with directions and I add picture cues to everything the students are doing to keep them organized.  Here are some pictures and descriptions to show you.

Their folder has the center chart for the week.  

I put the same 4 center pictures on the whiteboard and give directions. 

 The red baskets are labeled with the center picture in order for the students to find the work to do at that center.  
This is what has worked best for me in the past.  While I am teaching my small groups, I have an aide in the classroom helping to keep students on track and checking their work when it is complete.  


My small group time this week is focusing on Nursery Rhymes (since that's our theme for this week and next).  I do follow the model of guided reading from Jan Richardson's book "The Next Step in Guided Reading."  If you haven't heard of it or read it, please take some time to do so.  I find myself to be a much better math teacher than reading teacher (I feel like every teacher knows his/her strengths).  This book has helped me transform my guided reading time to really benefit my students learning.  
You can find the book at Amazon by clicking the picture below: 

Check out Jan Richardson's website {HERE}.  It has some AMAZING resources....including videos, tutorials and lesson plan templates.
During my county's professional development centers this summer, I spent time hearing and seeing these lessons put to the test.   I LOVED IT!  So here they are in my classroom: 

I love that this student was spelling her name from right to left. It always happens with a few. 

  The folder there is how I stay organized with what each group needs. So far it's going great!  (It's only been 2 days!)

These have been a life-saving tip this year. I picked up this set of 5 baskets at the dollar store for $1. They have all the tools students will need at my table. I'm so glad they help us stay organized. 

The book has some great lesson plan templates and you can also find them on Jan Richardson's website {HERE}.  I have also made a set for myself.  I realized that I made them when I was teaching first grade so they only start with guided reading level D.  Get those {HERE} on Google Drive.
So stay posted....I will have an update.    The wonderful teacher who lead my class this summer made templates but I do not have permission to share them yet.  Here is a snapshot of one in use though.

Ok...enough from me!  I'd love to hear from you!  Do you use Guided Reading?  How do you organize your materials and plans?  Have  you read this Jan Richardson book?  Leave me a note in the comments!  

Currently October *2015*

Wow!  It is so hard to believe it is already October!  I'm linking up with Farley for the first time in a very long while.

Listening - Disney Junior is in non-stop in our house. Sophia was the show of choice this morning.

Loving - I cherish every day I can have with my family. The weekends are special for us to spend together. 

Thinking - I am so excited to be creating products again. Last year was just one of those tough years and blogging just couldn't fit in the busy, tiring day. So....keep you eyes open. I'm hoping to have it finished next week!

Wanting - I'm on the east coast so it has rained for the past 5 days nonstop. It is also cold...like in the 60s. I only like cold precipitation when it is snow. So I would be very happy for the nice fall weather to start this week. 

Needing - I have clothes to wash and things to prepare before the school week starts. Since my hubby is a teacher too, I try to do as much as I can on Sunday to get us ready for the week. 

Boo-tiful - I love the fall colors. The mixes of oranges, greens, reds and Browns are wonderful. I wish I could win the lottery and shop!

Thanks for stopping by. Now head on over to see what everyone else is up to and link up too!

Five for Friday 9/25

I'm Hi!  I can't believe it, but I am back for another week of Five for Friday!  

We have actually had a pretty good week.  Our students and staff were off on Wednesday due to the UCI Bike Championships that are happening in Richmond, VA.  But here's what we did the rest of the week: 
We have been very busy with reading centers this week. We are learning how to understand the centers chart and rotate through each job. Here is our stamping center this week. 

This week, we started our following directions activities. These are called TLC Activities - though I'm not sure what their real name is. Here is the bus we did this week.

We started the stamping center today. I only give them the letters they need for the words they are stamping. I learned this from a teacher friend last year. It's brilliant!  Here, I just had them stamp a name to get used to using the center. You can see the little containers there that I put the sets of stamps in. 

 We have to do a beginning of the year writing assessment. We did that on Monday. And now that it is finished, we can start writer'so workshop Monday! Yay!  It's one of my favorite times of the day. I love seeing their writing grow!

Now...brace yourself...this is the math assessment that came with our newly adopted series. After 15 minutes for just 3 students, I put the whole stack in the recycling bin!  I couldn't handle it anymore!  Instead, we did the old school sorting of shapes that were different size and color. Everyone passed and it is a far better age appropriate assessment. 

It's so sad, this is what we get as an assessment now. Do you ever feel like you have to pitch something and go with your gut on what's age appropriate??  I'd love to hear how your centers are going too. 

Now head over and see what everyone else was up to this week. Have a great weekend!  Cheers!

Five for Friday {Sept. 18, 2015}

Hi!  I'm here to link up for the first time in a very long time. Check out our week!

It was our second week of school in kindergarten.  The training is going great!

We have been very busy learning expectations for reading center time but they are doing a great job!

We have also been busy learning the exact way to cut, sort and glue. This week was only a shape sort. Next week, we will start letters and letter sounds in this sort activity. 

Our math work stations are off to a tremendous start. We have added our first academic games this week. Here's a few.

We also started this game with the iPads. 

Our final project today was our Chicka trees. I love seeing how well they can do with tearing using the fine motor skills.  Here they are working. 

Now head on over to see what everyone else has been doing this week.