Reading Groups: The clock is ticking...

Happy February! It's the 2nd day of the month so you're hearing from me, Breanna, at A Pinch of Primary. It's February and reading groups are pedal to the metal. Kids are in the routine, books are being read, strategies are being taught, books are going home, and those little kinders are READING. Different levels? Ohhh yes! But seeing those milestones for each individual reader is #Heartwarming.

We follow the Daily 5 model (we only do 4 rotations each day) so my students have their learning time broken down like this:

• Read to Self/Guided Reading Group
• Mini-lesson
• Word Work/Guided Reading Group
• Mini-lesson
• Listen to Reading/Guided Reading Group
• Mini-Lesson
• Read to Someone/Guided Reading Group

I *try* to meet with 4 groups each day Monday-Thursday. With this pretty jam-packed reading schedule, time is money. My reading groups last about 15ish minutes. 15 minutes sounds like a lot of time until you want to take a picture walk through the new book, preview some new words, give the teacher eye to the student talking and disrupting your group time, read the book, ask questions, etc., etc. You all know the deal. Before you know it BAM time's up and you didn't get to any sight word activities or running records. Now, this might sound very obvious to all of you in this lovely Kinder Tribe, but I had this epiphany that I needed something for my students to work on as they transitioned to guided group time and I could switch over my group materials to the next group's level. It would be so much better than just sitting there waiting on Johnny and June to get to the table so their group could start. 

Each day that my kids come back to my table, they have activities they are to grab and start working on as soon as they sit on their stool. These activities can be anything quick and easy, and I believe they should be LOW PREP. (Can I get an AMEN on low prep?)

Here's some things in my Early Bird Bucket:

• Sight Word Flashcards
• CVC Fluency Strips on whiteboards 
• Sight Word Spinners (differentiated levels)
• Sight Word/Letter Sound/Letter ID puzzles

The beauty of this is that I can get a quick idea of what a student is struggling with and help them right then and there (and sometimes its before June even makes it to the table LOL) and it is something that doesn't require teaching directions each time they sit down. I believe this also reduces the possibility of behaviors arising because of boredom waiting for June to continue picking up all the magnetic letters she dumped on the rug. It has worked wonders!

How do you like to keep your reading groups efficient? 

Happy New Year..Let's get ORGANIZED!

Happy New Year from everyone at Kinder Tribe! We are so excited for 2017! 

I'm Breanna from A Pinch of Primary and this month the Kinder Tribe members are going to be discussing all things ORGANIZATION. 

Organization can mean a number of things for you, your teaching BFF next door/across the hall, or the loud voiced teacher that needs to close her door because she gets so into her read-alouds (maybe that's just me?? LOL). To me organization is something huge and/or something tiny. Whether you're cleaning off a few papers on your reading group table from September (hey, no judgement) or completely revamping your classroom library so it makes sense for you and your kids...IT WORKS and you can make it happen.

Now, I'm still on Christmas Break for another week few days (where did the time go?! #Denial) and I cannot deny that thinking about school has been the last thing on my mind. I haven't touched my school bag and I probably have the start of some dust bunnies on my beautiful Erin Condren planner, but that's what break is for, right? I scroll through Instagram and I see so many teachers working on so many amazing things to get themselves ready to go for the second half of the year, which gets my wheels turning. Yes, they might only be turning between shopping trips and SVU episodes, but they're still turning.

A very simple organization tip that I do at the end of Christmas Break is get the new school supplies out of my tubs and ready for the kids to come back to. They do not get all new supplies, but they will get new crayons, glue sticks, and pencils/erasers. I KNOW I am not the only one whose kids end up with roughly 11 half-broken (possibly half-eaten) crayons by Christmas. I mean, half of my kids haven't seen their black crayon since about Halloween...possibly before then. During Back to School time, I purchased these crayon boxes at Walmart for $1.00 per box (link is not through Walmart).

These have been LIFE SAVING! They fit 24 crayons perfectly and they fit so well in my supply caddies for my table groups. I use the standard supply caddies from Really Good Stuff.

To make my life (and their life) a little easier, I realized the 2"x4" shipping labels fit PERFECTLY on the boxes. 

Add some clipart and a few cute fonts and VOILA, they're ready to go. There's nothing quite like the smell and look of fresh out of the box Crayola Crayons. 

The lovely ladies at Kinder Tribe are going to have some amazing ideas for you and I can't wait to see what's up their sleeves. (Mostly so I can get it together this month!) #StillRecoveringFromChristmasBreak

Have an amazing New Year!

Beginning of the Year Literacy Centers: Taking it one day at a time...

Hey, friends! 

It's Breanna from A Pinch of Primary and I am sharing how I take it day-by-day during my literacy centers at the beginning of the year! We are 31 days into school and we are rocking it so far!

              

 

My school follows the Daily 5 model, so we do a lot with building stamina, so we literally and figuratively take it day-by-day. I LOVE LOVE building stamina. It is such a great way to show the kids that they are capable of working for longer periods of time the harder they work. We do a lot of charting and graphing of our learning progress with data binders, so this is a GREAT way for them to see their growth and get EXCITED about learning. I am talking CHEERING and CLAPPING when our stamina chart jumps (and not just from me haha)! It's a beautiful thing when we hit 20 minutes on our stamina chart!

Now, at first, literacy stations are very basic. We start with Read to Self and the other parts of our literacy block like phonics and such just become more like mini lessons and guided practice until we really get into the nitty-gritty of Word Work, Listen to Reading, Work on Writing, etc. We do a lot of name activities at the beginning and discussing how we use our materials.

Step 1 of taking it day-by-day:

Introduce EVERY. STEP.

Just like every other procedure we teach, literacy stations should be treated the same way. I am oh so blessed with the only carpeted kindergarten room. Yes, it's nice and cozy for sitting on the floor, but it is not Play-Doh friendly. Play-Doh is my go-to first literacy station and you better believe we practice taking the lids off and how to pick the Play-Doh up like it's a sponge. Play-Doh is a huge hit and works so well for so many activities. I use name mats and then I introduce the placemats for Play-Doh on the floor. The key is in the details. I DO NOT have time for dried up Play-Doh week 1, so we practice it and practice it and practice it again.

Step 2 of taking it day-by-day

Don't give a million options.

Yes, if you're like me, you're remembering your now 1st grade babies and remembering how they could basically find everything and knew exactly how to do each and every station, but these adorable, new faces don't know your classroom like they do. Introduce one station and get them used to it. Then, introduce something else. I am so guilty of trying to introduce multiple things at one time to save time, but I always regret it. Give them a second to feel comfortable with the activity and then introduce something new and exciting. I PROMISE they will be PUMPED when a new activity surfaces in your literacy station area. They WILL spot that new letters game you set out. They might not be able to find their chair in the morning, but they'll usually notice something new (or maybe that's just my kids?!).

Step 3 of taking it day-by-day

Make them confident and independent in their work

Now, I think this is pretty self-explanatory. SHOW them they can be the experts. Let them be the experts. They are brilliant sponges and they can do amazing things. Now, it's not going to happen day 1. We lasted 20 seconds during literacy centers and we had JUST discussed learning to be independent readers of pictures and text. They clearly didn't get it the first time or the first 7 days, but they have now learned how and they are still learning how. Give them the ability to show you they are capable and they can do anything. (And you can get your reading groups in without little ones coming up to you with problems or questions!)

Literacy centers are time consuming, but so rewarding when you can see how how they are working and how engaged they are.

What are your tips for literacy centers at the beginning of the year?

Fine Motor Frenzy

Hey everybody! It's Breanna from A Pinch of Primary. 

This month on the Kinder Tribe blog, we will be talking about the ever-important FINE MOTOR. It's a FINE MOTOR FRENZY in August. For me, it's back to school this coming Tuesday (yes, so jealous of all of you that still have this beautiful summer to enjoy) and the beginning of K is crucial to developing the skills that are so important. This short and sweet post had a much grander plan, but then Back to School Night happened last night and it just hit me that I was watching CRUCIAL things happening right before my eyes.

My first station at BTS night was the kindergarten signature. This is beautiful for many reasons, you see who can write their name, who needs help from big sis, what their favorite color of marker is, and most importantly...who can HOLD the marker correctly and adjust when needed. Just like we all see, I had everything from holding it at the top to the whole-hand grip and then I had the veteran walking in with their fancy big kid grip. (You go, kiddos) I was taking mental notes of each and every "pencil" grip I could. Granted, these were markers so the utensil was a little bit different than normal, but it gave me a lot of insight on who will immediately need a lot of support in that area.

Another station I implement during BTS night is emptying their supplies. I set an example school box out and the parents were FABULOUS about letting their child put away their own supplies (without teacher prompting--insert PRAISE HANDS) Almost every single one of their supplies needed opened. The glue stick 80 packs we require on our lists always need opened and every other supply that comes in a tricky package needs opened. These packages were ALL opened by the kids. Some took 10 minutes to open all of their supplies and some were done in two minutes. I could SEE the concentration in their faces. It was a true struggle for some.

There are SO MANY amazing fine motor activities to practice the first week of school--tracing lines, cutting lines, using tweezers, Play-Doh, etc. What are your favorite activities to do to promote fine motor skills?

Counting Down to Kindergarten Countdown

Hello friends! It's Breanna from A Pinch of Primary and this post is all about Kindergarten Countdown.

No, this is not me counting down the days to another year of kindergarten. I love my job and my kinder babies, but summer is my JAM right now! :) If you're anything like anyone I talk to, you probably have this confused look on your face and you're saying what is that? I know I did the first time I heard about it.

Kindergarten Countdown is a program my county and surrounding counties do (not sure how widespread this program is) where 20 students are invited by each school in the different districts to get a little head start or a preview of what kindergarten looks, feels, sounds, smells, and tastes like. The United Way funds this program in our schools and it is AMAZING. It is like a little summer camp for our 4-5-6 year olds. We complete round-up and screening and determine many different factors for inviting students to this program. These factors range from letter ID to number ID to social-emotional adjustment.

Here are some of the amazing highlights and information of this program:

• The program goes through the entire month of July.
• It is only a half day, which is great for the little ones (and teachers haha).
• Transportation is provided to and from school.
• Students receive a healthy snack each day.
• The program requires 2 teachers, which is FABULOUS considering we do not have that luxury during the school year. 
• Teachers get to go shopping for our classroom supplies to fit the current needs of our students! :) Obviously just another reason to go to Target, right?! ;)
• The kids get to see the building and get to know the areas before other kids (Hello, first week of school helpers and good examples!) 
• We invite around 25 anticipating that families will take vacations or are just not interested in sending their child, so we always end up with 20 students. 
• ...And my favorite perk of the program...Each child receives one book each day. YES, EACH DAY!!! By the end of the program they will have 20 books to take home with them. 

HALF of the Kindergarten Countdown books! My themes are ABC's, colors, and numbers!

I just get excited typing about the program!! The beauty of this is that we are not under the gun for testing and standards. It is simply planning based upon what those kids need at that moment. We know we will need to hit letter ID and number ID hard and also how to sit on the carpet, but it's much different than our typical planning. Some of our students have never been to school before and we need to prepare them for what that will feel like--College and Career Ready Standards can't do that. We plan themes for the four weeks. Our themes are ABC's/colors, numbers, social, and getting ready for kindergarten. During this time, we also send out newsletters to the parents so they have an idea what their child is working on. I have seen this program work before my very eyes. The kids who have been involved benefit greatly and I am so thankful for such a giving program for these kids! :) 

Do you have anything similar to this program at your school or in your community? 

What Worked Well Wednesday Linky: A-Z Countdown to Summer

Hey, y'all! It's Breanna from A Pinch of Primary!

I am so excited to be popping in to the #KinderTribe blog again for the #WWWW linky.

I don't know about you guys, but we are full-swing into end-of-year madness. We have 13 days. THIRTEEN. DAYS.

If you have never heard of the A-Z Countdown to Summer, you need to check it out somewhere. Keep reading this post, check out my Instagram (Molly from Miss K's Little Rays is doing Z-A countdown, which is so cool!), check Pinterest...ANYTHING you can to try this awesome and engaging ABC activity to end the year.

To start this, I mapped out a calendar of what I wanted to do and created a paper chain with the letters in reverse order. My calendar is according to dates and just so happens to correlate with a lot of holidays, field trips, and activities at our school this year. The chain serves as a great visual for how many letters/days we have left. Some of the days are what some would call 'standards-based'...others are simply letting them have fun and play. They're 5 and 6 and it is just what they need at this time of year. :)

Click HERE to find a 'generic' version of the calendar without the dates and my school-related events!

Click HERE to find my poster that I used next to my paper chain!

Here's a glimpse at some of the fun so far:

I do not send home the calendar with my kids because I like to have them predict what they day will be. It brings up a fabulous discussion/review of letter sounds!! For example, Monday was 'L'. One of my kiddos said elephant, so we had a discussion about the beginning sound/letter for elephant. Another teacher on my team sent the calendar home so parents were able to send items in, plan ahead, etc. I planned for a few days of treats and small gifts, but nothing major and definitely nothing that is breaking the bank. Hello, Dollar Tree and Target Dollar Spot. To make this as easy as possible, I like to prep my entire week on the weekend or on Thursday/Friday when I do all of my lesson planning.

It is a fun way to keep the kids engaged and ready to go each morning. In my experience, it's a quick behavior fix as soon as I say it is time to do the countdown activity.

Do you do an A-Z (Z-A) countdown in your classroom? How's it going? I'm sure you all have amazing end-of-year tips and tricks and I'd love for you to link-up and let me know! :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Guided Reading in April--Reading & Vocabulary Strategies

Hello, Kinder Tribe! I am Breanna from A Pinch of Primary. I am so excited to be posting all about one of the biggest parts of our day--the literacy block. My school uses the Fountas & Pinnell literacy foundation and I just L-O-V-E it. Guided reading fits perfectly with our F&P resources and The Daily 5 model we use! If you're looking for a fabulous guided reading resource, Jan Richardson's book is like the HOLY GRAIL for guided reading lessons and ideas. Seriously, we swear by it in my corporation. I love that I can look at the time of year in the book and see exactly where they need to be, what we need to be working on, and how to give the extra boost to those low, average, and higher kiddos.

At this point in the school year, and with the way our kindergarten assessing schedule works, we finished up 'official' guided reading groups last week. I know, I know...This is sounds HORRIBLE and every other possible synonym for horrible, but we have a lot going on in the next 28 days before school is out. Yes, 28 days! YIKES! Where does the time go with our little kinder babies?! We have end-of-year benchmarking to do, our mile-long list of quarterly assessments to give, and we give the Observation Survey a second time to see how much they have grown (this is our K-screening method and is a time consuming task, but contains extremely useful data). We still do unofficial reading groups to push those little ones that need the extra little boost and we continue to work with the kids that need that enrichment to continue growing as a reader. In those 'unofficial', in-between-testing reading groups, I work a lot on fluency strips, comprehension passages, and, my favorite, reading/vocabulary strategies.

To start the year and my reading groups, I use the animals to introduce reading and vocabulary strategies. Here is a glimpse at the reading strategies in my classroom:

You can grab these posters in my TpT store here.

These posters have been so beneficial to my students. Even my little ones who are constantly needing those reminders to get their lips ready or use your eagle eyes, they always remember the picture. I have even heard them telling their elbow buddy to use the strategies to sound out a word they are unsure of. (#HappyTeacherMoment) Not only are these strategies fabulous to use during reading, they are also extremely helpful when sounding out more difficult words during vocabulary time. In our F&P series, we use sound boxes to segment sounds, chunks, blends, etc. This is one of my students' favorite parts of the group time. We have our challenge words or words found in our books during our group time that they are to sound out, but the sound boxes work from the beginning of the year in K all the way through first grade! These resources are so connected because I hear myself saying get your mouth ready to know which sound to write, use stretchy the snake to stretch those words out, find chunks you know, etc. There are so many options! Here is a picture of the sound boxes I created to use with my kinders:

They are nothing fancy in my room. They are laminated to use for dry erase markers, but putting them in pocket pals would be just as easy!  Click here for a FREEBIE of my BOOMIN' sound boxes! I just love how these work from August to end of kindergarten and beyond! Consistency in a reading routine is just as important as the physical procedures we practice each and every day--even when the craziness of April and May ensues! :) 

What guided reading resources or tools can you use from start to finish in your classroom?

~Breanna