Kinder Tribe: Kinder Tribe Book Study: The Next Step Forward in Guided Reading Chapter 2

Hello, Kinder Tribe Friends! This is Kelly from My Fabulous Class. I am so excited about this book study. I own the previous version of this book, but decided to purchase the updated version and I have here to tell you, it is worth it!!! I think the layout is easier to follow, there is new information, and I LOVE the spiral bound pages. If you haven't gotten the book, I highly recommend it.You can find it on Amazon HERE.

Today, I am talking about Chapter 2, The Pre A Reader. How many of your kids are in this category in the fall? When are they expected to be out of this stage? I would say, 50-75% of our Kinders fall into this category in August. It seems to vary year to year. The expectation at our school is to be out of this phase by October.

I know from talking to many of you, Pre-Guided Reading lessons can be a challenge, Jan Richardson does a great job of laying out exactly what you should be teaching and for how many minutes.

I think we all start are year off with having students work with their names. Jan says to spend 1-2 minutes working with their names. She suggest using name puzzles, magnetic letters or rainbow writing. I like to make these simple name puzzles and have all of students work with building their names. I have created this FREE Editable Name Puzzle. You can download it here.You can get the Editable Caterpillar HERE. It comes in color and black and white. I recommend printing it in color without any letters. Then, you can reuse them year after year. You can cut the circles with a 1.5 inch circle.

In the book, Jan provides several examples for working with letters. She suggest picking one activity and working on it for 2-3 minutes to help build automaticity.

I have always been a fan of matching letters to an alphabet chart. I have been known to do this everyday with my lowest kids. You can find this alphabet chart HERE. Jan provides several activities specific to the alphabet chart. I like asking students to find the letter that you here at the beginning of ______ (insert word from alphabet chart).

I really like the idea of asking students to lay out the letters in their bag and simply naming them. Fast and easy, yet so beneficial.

Jan recommends doing 1 sound activity a day to teach phonological awareness.

Clapping syllables is great for building phonological awareness. At first, you will clap with students, but the goal is for them to do it on their own. You can find this syllable activity here.

Hearing rhymes is also important. In the beginning, you will say two words, such as pig and wig. Students will repeat the words then give you a thumbs up if they rhyme.

Segmenting words into onset and rime will help students to distinguish the ending sounds. You can find these activities here.

Sorting pictures is another way to work on sounds. I start with picture cards and put the letter cards away. In the beginning, I will just layout 3 picture cards, two with the same sound and one that is different. I slowly name the pictures, then ask student which two start the same.

Once you are ready to introduce letters, Jan suggests starting with two consonants. Pick ones that are meaningful to the students in your group, such as the letter in their first name. You can find both of these activities here.

Jan talks about doing a picture walk with a book. I know some teachers skip this, but it is CRUCIAL (in my opinion). First, your supporting students vocabulary. Second,you are helping build confidence by previewing the story. After you preview the book, Jan says to do shared reading of the book. Essentially, you corral read with your students. Finally, you work on concepts about print. I like to have students find a letter in their name and find a sight word we have worked on. Other concepts include first and last word, one and two letters, punctuation, and upper/lower case letters

For your Pre-A students, you will focus on share the pen. I like to dictate a sentence related to the book we are reading. Students draw a line for each word (was this in the old book? I have not been doing this!) Use the alphabet chart to help write letters that they here or know. Select one or two letters for letter formation. Cut up the sentence and have students rebuild it.

I created this Pre-A Guided Reading unit. It includes the activities I featured in this post, plus many, many more. I will be adding black and white pages by the end of the week to meet your printing needs. You can buy now, and get the updated version FREE. This unit will remain on sale for 50% off for the remainder of the book study. Enjoy!