Retelling Made Simple!

Something I work on every single week with my firsties during guided reading is retelling. We work on it over and over and over again with a splash of other comprehension skills thrown into our book discussions. One time a week during guided reading, I have all of my groups complete some sort of writing activity. The majority of the time, it has been to work on retelling the story. We need constant work on identifying the important parts.

Anyway, I created a little retelling kit to use with my kiddos. We work on the same skill, but it always helps to mix up the 'stuff' we use to keep them (and me) engaged! ;-)

My favorite tool that we use all. of. the. time. is the retelling bookmark. This is perfect when you only have a few minutes left with the group and just need to orally retell the book.

I just keep them in my little guided reading kit and pull them out when we need them!

Sometimes, we use the bookmarks to write about parts in our book.

I just give the students stickies and assign them an element, or tell them to recall the beginning, middle and end.

It really makes planning for guided reading EASY!

As I said up top, we also do some sort of writing activity related to our guided reading story.

The beginning of the year, we focused a lot of just retelling our fiction stories and identifying the different story elements.

I change up our retelling activities week to week. 

Here's some of them!

Some are just simple BME stuff.

Other activities, focus on the story elements!

If I notice a set of students is struggling with certain elements, then I'll pull these quick activities for them to complete. Much of the time, my higher group will complete the larger graphic organizer with their story!

If you're interested in any of these goodies, you can grab them here!!

0

Learning to Talk about the Text - Part 2!

Yesterday, I stopped by the introduce a little 3-2-1 Notes idea that encourages students to *think* and *talk* about non-fiction text. Up to this point in the year, we've dabbled in non-fiction, but haven't dove in full force. When I introduced the 3-2-1 Notes to the students, we read a Scholastic News altogether and filled it out as a class. Basically, I modeled how to do it and discuss the text. 

Today, I passed out a Time for Kids magazine. We discussed it before reading, read it together, talked about new learning, asked questions and talked about pictures we could draw that connected to our topic. After we *talked* together, the students got with their reading buddy. They were given a 3-2-1 Notes recording form, asked to re-read the text and *talk* about it with their partner.

I wrote down their directions (in a very simple way) to remind them of what they were to do with their partner.

1. Read

2. Talk

3. Write

Here, the students are reading the magazine together before they discuss the text.

After the kids read the text, I asked them to talk about their 3-2-1 Notes BEFORE they wrote anything down. My teammate (who came up with this awesome idea), told me about using 3-2-1 fingers as kids talk through each part of the text. We learned how to do that and practiced it.

After the kids discussed each part, they were able to fill out their paper. My teammate gave me a paper she created that I used. I created one to share with you on here as well! Just click below to grab it for free!

I told the kids that they did not have to fill out the same thing as their partner. I wanted THEIR thoughts on their paper. I always like to say, "I want to know what's in your brain!" It helps a lot with the wondering eyes throughout the day! ;-)

After the students filled out their own 3-2-1 Notes paper, they brought it to the rug and we discussed it. What I noticed was, we had trouble finding the important information in the text.

So, for our closing lesson, we talked about staying on topic.

Before we filled out our class chart, we identified the topic of the Time for Kids magazine.

Then, I just started asking students to share things they learned. I got a lot of, "the boy was 11. - he has a sister...)... clearly, that's not important information and it doesn't really support out topic. We talked about how we want to make sure our information matches our topic. We shared some more and found some on topic responses. After each one we identified which part of the topic the new learning connected to - hence the arrows! ;)

Before, I asked for students to share their questions, we talked about how we want our questions to also be on topic. Students shared on topic questions. Then, we asked for some off topic questions, so we could learn from it! I love first grade - they're so open to sharing! Once we wrote our questions, we also noticed that we could answer one of them by looking at the header on one of the pages! So, we wrote the answer.

To end our 3-2-1 Notes - we talked about how we need to also stay on topic when we are drawing a picture of our learning (clearly I am bad at keeping to the 1 picture thing). The students shared their drawing, and I asked two students to add their pictures to our chart. We noticed the detail in the pictures of the kids, and talked about how it supported our topic!

The 3-2-1 Notes chart is something I will continue to use. It's such a simple & genius idea! Ugh, I love it!! We had such meaningful discussions about the text this week and have already deepened our understanding of non-fiction text. I can't wait to see what other discussions arise from this tool! 

I hope you find it helpful too!

0

Getting Kids to Talk About the Text!

Getting students to have meaningful discussions about text is hard, especially in first grade. My teammate shared an awesome idea with me that she calls 3-2-1 Notes. It's used with non-fiction. I love it, because it's the perfect way to slowly integrate non-fiction into the classroom and encourage discussion about the text. We started with a scholastic news article. It's short and sweet which is perfect for this age because... we all know we can't keep their attention for long!

The 3-2-1 Notes are something I want to continue all year long, so I laminated my anchor chart after I made it. To first use the chart, we watched a video and read our article about Squanto.

As we read the article, we also touched on the text features that we saw inside.

After reading, we identified the topic.

Then, we shared things we learned with our buddy on the rug. I had three students share.

This was actually tough - we had to talk about how what we learned had to be from what we just read or watched. Some kiddos wanted to add in a few 'extras.' ;-)

We talked about questions we had. We noticed that we actually asked a lot of questions WHILE we were reading. We jotted two of those down.

Then, we discussed how drawing pictures can show that we understood what we read. The students told me a few things I should draw. I asked them to tell me WHY they drew these things. We worked on responding correctly here.

Tomorrow, student's will be reading a Time for Kids with a buddy. They'll get their own 3-2-1 Notes paper to fill out as/after they read. I'm excited to see how it goes! 

I'll be back to share how it went with a link to the post and printable! :-)

Have a happy Monday!

0

Keep it Fresh: Calendar Time!

I have an honest confession to make... I do not like calendar time! :-O I know this is a favorite of many, but boy oh boy I just didn't like it, until this year! I got so bored doing the exact same thing every. single. morning. I could tell the kids did too. I always felt like we were wasting precious learning time. As time went on, the kids got super squirmy too. Maybe it was just me, but I just couldn't get it down and calendar time fell to the wayside, as in-it didn't exist.

This year, I started with cute calendar cards that had the number of the day and all that fun stuff. It worked great at the beginning of the year. Loved it! Then, I noticed we were just doing repetitive stuff, we mastered the skills and were ready to move on. So, I ripped down those cute cards and changed our calendar 'stuff' to not so cute 'stuff.' 

Our calendar time consists more of things that we are currently learning, or things that I see we need more practice with. So, here is my 'not so cute' calendar. ;-)

Next, year I have all intentions of having header cards ready to hang up for when we add a new skill to calendar, but for now. I just write it on the board.

We still count our days in school. Before we did add/subtract 10. We did skills like before/after/1 more/1 less. The skills are just progressing as we learn. I love it, and I get to assess these skills every. single. day!

Now, we are at the point where we can fill out the 10 more/less, 1 more/less table. It's great, continuous practice. After we fill out the table, we identify if the number of the day is odd or even. The kids write it on a whiteboard, show me and then, one student explains WHY it is odd or even. We are always talking about our tens and ones, and odd and even is where it starts!

Sometimes, a students comes up to the board and draws an example of why the number is odd or even.

Afterwards, we organize our base 10 blocks under the 10's and 1's. We redo this every. single. day. I think it's so important to practice counting these! It's easy when they're already up there. I ask students 'trivia questions,' such as: who can tell me how many ones I need to make 58? Then, we put 8 cubes where they belong. Then, I ask how many tens do I need for 58? Then, we place the longs where they belong. We talk more about the longs/cubes too and remind ourselves of how many ones make a ten, etc. I don't like to teach something and then leave it. So, we keep skills going with my 'always changing calendar."

After, we work with base 10 blocks. We break apart the number 58. Then, the students write the number in expanded form. They can write it in expanded form, but they're still working on the why. So, we hit this every. single. day too!

Two weeks ago, we learned how to add 10 to any  number. It's a tough skill and there are so many patterns. Each day I give a start and an end number. The students count by 10's on their board. We share and then we discuss the patterns we see. So, far the kids have come up with a bazillion patterns that they've seen. There is no way we would've come up with these patterns if I taught this for one week and then just said, 'bye, bye!!' lol I love working with it each day and working to notice the patterns.

Before, I write the 'answers' on the board, the kids complete the task on their own. They've gotten to the point where they get ready for calendar, come to the rug, look at the number of the day and start the 10 & 1 more/less table.

Right now, they're using a whiteboard. It works perfectly fine!

I ask students to only do one part of the calendar at a time. I don't want them doing the whole thing on their board and then we go over all of the parts. I think breaking it up, helps to keep their brains active and learning! It's easy to zone out if we talk about it all at once.

When, they come to the rug. They split their board into fourths. They are able to start their more/less table right away. Then, they're asked to wait, so we can go over it.

Then, the students need to write the word odd/even in the second box. They hold it against their chest and show me. We then, share our thinking.

Third box, students are currently making the number of the day with base 10 blocks.

Fourth box, expanded form.

After we do each part on the board, we talk about it.

Then, when we've went over all parts, students erase their board and do count by 10.

Before we did counts by 10, we worked on these skills: 

1. Counting on from any given number

2. Number formation

3. Counting by 2

4. Counting from 1-20 - circle odd/even numbers

5. Counting by 5

The number reversals in my classroom have improved IMMENSELY and I really believe it's because we literally count and write numbers every day!

As we go through the answers/skills. I ask students to self-assess. If they got it right. They give themselves a smiley.

Later in the year, I would like to introduce levels of understanding to students and begin to incorporate it here.

Once, calendar is over. We move right into math. The kids erase their boards, sit on it, place their cap on their marker and set it by their foot. Yes, there were lots of giggles when we started this because Mrs. Hursh made them sit on their boards. But, now-it's just our norm. They do it fast and they're ready for our quick math mini-lesson before our math workshop rotations!

At this point, the kids have already been sitting for about 10 minutes. Which means, I maybe got a good 5-8 minutes left of focus... if I'm lucky!!

Our mini-lessons for math come RIGHT AFTER calendar time. Sometimes, I introduce a game, station sort, we sing a song or I simply introduce a math workshop activity that they may find confusing. All of my direct teaching for math happens at the teacher table, so I don't need to use much of my time direct teaching here.

If i teach the kids a sort for a mini-lesson, which I do about 2 times a week- we do the sort over 2 days. Then, they are free to do it during their math game station.

I'll be back to give another run down of math workshop.

 It's changed since my last post.

I hope you gathered a few ideas for your calendar time with your littles!! :-)

0

Using Checklists During Reading Stations!

Hey all! A small part of my day is when students get to work through their reading checklists, also known as reading station time AKA daily 5, what have it. I'm going to give you a little run down of how I make this time work with my firsties! I absolutely love it! The idea came from Fabulous in First. I took it and just tweaked it to make it work in my own room.

Each week, my students work through a checklist of 6 different stations. Their goal is to finish all stations by Friday. The students have 30-40 minutes each day to work through the stations. They can get them all done, IF they stay on task! ;-)

Here is the checklist that I pass out to my kids each Monday.

I don't make the stations too complicated. I try to keep the type of activities consistent week to week so I don't have to spend a bazillion hours explaining the activity.

The great thing about the checklist is that students get to choose when they do an activity. They love the choice! I was afraid to let go here, but it's been so worth it. The kids are more engaged and on task because they do what they want to do.

One of their favorite stations is the Book Station.

These are little interactive readers that I write to go with our weekly skill or theme.

Last week we were all about Otis and Scarecrows. Our spelling skill was Y sounds like I - so, Mr. Sly Scarecrow it was. When I introduce this station, we do a shared reading of the book and discuss the story elements. Students then work on the book independently to identify sight words and complete a little comprehension activity at the end of the book.

Here is an example of one of the comprehension activities from one of the books called, "The Library Mouse."

The next station activity on the checklist that you see above is what we call Skill Work.

I basically use this station as one where I can really put whatever I feel we need to work on.

One week students reviewed their short vowels, last week students searched for sight words in books and this week students are working on a noun and verb activity. It's super versatile and the name of the station really covers anything!

Another station that the students love to complete is the writing station.

Each week I provide students with prompts and other options to complete at the writing station. The only requirement is that they turn in one piece of writing with their checklist work. They can write a story, pick a prompt or do a writing activity sheet that is at the writing center.

Here is an example of what many students completed last week.

Other students had a story on their mind that they wanted to write instead, so they grabbed a piece of blank paper and got to work! I really don't mind what writing activity they do. As long as they do their best and turn in work that they're proud of!

Another favorite is the Poetry Station! 

I get my poems from Proud to be Primary! 

They make prepping for this station SO easy!!

Each week, I write the poem on a large anchor chart. We work with the poem as a class on a variety of skills. Then, students do the independent poetry work at their poetry station. They fill in the blanks for the poem and glue strips in order. It's great practice for fluency because they really get to read this poem A LOT throughout the week! <3 p="">

An easy peasy one is the listening station.

We use something called, BookFlix. Students get on, choose a book and listen. After they listen, they complete a simple graphic organizer. I don't change the organizers too often. Right now we are on week three of this beginning, middle and end flip flap. I like the keep it the same, just because it encourages independence and limits interruptions when I am trying to do guided reading groups. You can never have too much practice with BME anyway.!

The last station you see on the checklist is word work.

We all basically know how this ones goes. Each week, I slip an activity in the bucket that follows our spelling rule for the week. Sometimes the kids have an activity sheet, sometimes a sort and sometimes a search. Just depends on which idea Mrs. Hursh comes up with for the week! :-)

That's how we do stations in my room. During station time, I call one group over for a 20-25 minute guided reading lesson. I swear by a-z reading. I just love it!

I meet with each group 2-3 days a week.

We get our read to self time in, in the afternoon after our read aloud. Sometimes I incorporate an activity here too. For example, this week we are looking for s blends while we read to self. It really helps with their stamina. We read to self for 15-20 minutes. Just depends when I am done with the guided reading group.

This week after read to self, we are sharing some of the s blend words that we find.

All week long, students keep all of their station work in a blue folder. On Friday, they get it out, I staple it, grade it and return it!

I hope you found this little run down helpful! 

Have a great Monday night!!

0

Books Teachers Love: December Edition

Welcome to another monthly edition of Books Teachers Love!!

Make sure to visit all of the blogs! I can't tell you how much these posts help me plan out my month!

This month I am sharing activities to do with the book, "The Gingerbread Man: Loose in School." I absolutely LOVE to read this book to kids! You can get all silly with it!

This book has such fun pictures and it's so humorous!

If you haven't read it, then definitely check it out.

It's about a little gingerbread man that is left behind when a class leaves for recess.

He doesn't stay behind, but instead heads out to find the class. He runs into all sorts of problems on his adventure!

When I read this book to students, we work on retelling and inference skills.

In the book, "Gingerbread Man: Loose in School," the Gingerbread Man has to use his inferencing skills in order to find his class. I thought, "What a better way to teach inferencing then to give kids a bag of clues to help them find our very own Gingerbread Man?"

So, after I read this book the first time, so we know what's going on, we work on retelling skills!

 I just do this in a whole class setting with my all time favorite tool! 

The Beach Ball!! The kids are always SUPER engaged!

After we work on retelling skills, I pull out a friendly little letter from a girl named Cinnamon.

She needs our help!! Her class made a gingerbread man just like the class in the book, and the same thing happened to her class! The gingerbread man ran away! She gives us clues that the gingerbread man left behind to help her find him. The kids EAT this activity up!

When I do this activity, I put students in pairs. Each pair gets a baggie full of clues that could help them figure out where the gingerbread man went. The students write down their clue and what they think it means. Students then connect the clues together and come up with a destination for the gingerbread man. 

Here are some examples of things I would put in a bag:

Book

Library Card

Book Mark

Library Book Receipt

-Final Destination that can be inferred: The library!

After students look at their clues and determine a final destination, they write a letter to Cinnamon to let her know where the Gingerbread Man went.

This year, I will have students (or my long term sub) attach a craft to their letter to Cinnamon!

Then, to top off this fun activity, we eat some yummy Gingerbread Man cookies!

But... not until we talk and write about about our 5 senses!! ;)

We do a TON of other gingerbread activities too in December. We compare/contrast books, retell, write stories and complete all sorts of Gingerbread Man stations!!

You can find the activities above and more by clicking here.

You can also win my book that I've shared with you today, plus other books by reading more below:

Enter to win these books below:

These are some REALLY good ones!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now, onto more ideas! Check out these blogs below for more great December Read Alouds!

An InLinkz Link-up

6