Counting Words in Sentences

Hello, everyone!  It's Andrea from Reading Toward the Stars here with a a fun and easy to do activity to help with

I am so glad that all of our beginning of the year literacy assessments are complete!  That means I can actually enjoy working with students, my favorite part of my job!

One of our reading program's biggest weaknesses is helping students gain concept of word, an essential skill for learning to read.  {Check our Carla's post on COW by clicking here.}  With kindergarten, I start with that during week 1 because these students really need it!

So many times the students I work with have never been read to until they enter school.  Some, surprisingly, have never been exposed to words!  This baffles me as I spend my days and nights immersing my own children in reading.  It seems like a simple concept, but some families find it hard.  As a reading specialist, it is my job to close the gap!

One of the things I start with to help students understand that sentences are made of words is a simple activity ~ Counting Words in Sentences.  To do this the teacher reads aloud a sentence to the students.  The students use cubes or counters and slide them up for each word they hear in the sentence.  It is all done orally by the teacher, and the students listen.

Here it is in action in my classroom!

We start out with our counters on our boards.

We move the tiles up for each word in the sentence.

This sentence has 3 words in it!

I always start off with three word sentences and work my way up to sentences with up to 10 words.  This is a great way to help students understand that what we say is made up of separate words, so what we read is made up of words as well.  It builds a connection between the spoken word and the written word.

To try this out with your students, you can grab a copy of my Counting Words Boards freebie by clicking {here} or on the picture below.

How do you help your students make the connection between the spoken and written word?

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5 Favorite Interactive Bulletin Boards

Hello, Literacy Land readers.  This is Wendy from Read With Me ABC.  I'm here to share a few of my favorite interactive bulletin boards with you.

Guess Who?

Whether you are looking for a great "getting to know" you activity or teaching students to write descriptive paragraphs, this activity is just for you.

Credit: Surfin' Through Second

Credit: Surfin' Through Second

Students write a paragraph describing themselves and draw a corresponding picture.  The hand-drawn picture is used as a flap to cover a photograph of the student hidden underneath.  Students read one another's paragraphs, guess who it describes, and lift the flap to reveal the author. This would also be the perfect display for parent visitation night.

Poetree

Credit: Adventures in Literacy Land

Credit: Adventures in Literacy Land

There are many versions of this bulletin board floating around the internet. However, I am particularly fond of the interactive aspect of the one shown above.  As students learn about poetry, they document their learning on the "Poetree" and add their own poems to the ring-booklets hanging from the tree.  Students returned to this display frequently as a reference and to read the poems.

Vocabulary Piggies

Credit: Teaching After Ten

Students show off new vocabulary words they learn by completing a vocabulary slip with the word, definition, synonyms, antonyms, and an illustration.  Each pig on the bulletin board serves as a pocket to store the vocabulary slips. As students learn a new word, they simply add it to their pig. As their pigs grow, so does their vocabulary.

Visit Teaching After Ten to pick up this great freebie and build your own pig pen.  ;)

Tweet Me!

Credit: Ms. Spucci's Class

Credit: Seaver's Blog

This bulletin board was created as an exit slip activity, but has evolved into so much more. Depending on the teacher's direction, students tweet anything from a math problem to a question they still have about a lesson to something they are excited to learn. Students post their responses to the board and the teacher can gather information at a glance.

Teacher's Read Too!

Credit: Read With Me ABC

This bulletin board features photographs of teachers taken while they were reading.  Students guess which teacher is hidden behind each book.  What a great way for teachers to model that they are readers!  You can read more about this display and pick up a {free} copy of the bulletin board set on my blog today.

What are some of your favorite interactive bulletin board ideas?  Please share in the comments.  Our readers would love to know.  Thanks for stopping by!

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Reflecting and Changing

The end of a school year has come but with it comes reflection, change, and more work.  All three can be hard.  All three can be positive.  And it is a good thing we have some summer time to get it all done!

I love this time of the year.  Not because it is summer and my days are tad bit more carefree.  I love this time of year because it brings about new ideas.  It is rejuvenating.  It allows me to create, change, and get excited for the upcoming year.  In what other profession do you get to start fresh each year?  In what other profession do you get to hit the "restart" button and try out some new techniques.  I love teaching.

As I was saying, the end of a school year has come for me but I have not been laying at the pool or enjoying a good book....yet.  Instead my days have looked like this:

And this:

But after three days (and weeks of research), we have tweaked and added to our writing units for the year, analyzed and planned our mini-lessons, and ordered many needed books!  I love the format we used this year to plan it all out.  If you need a writing planning sheet, you can check it out here.

When it came to our reading curriculum, my team was pretty happy.  We have been tweaking our guided reading format to fit our kids' needs each year.  My teammate and I added a lot of work around fluency this year through nursery rhymes, fractured nursery rhymes, phrases, and leveled passages.  But I did feel like I wanted to start off my year by getting to know my young first graders a little better as readers.  Many times I have found that my little 6 year olds will answer "yes" to almost all my interest questions.  I wanted an interest survey that forced them to pick between two items.  You are welcome to use it!  Just click on the picture below.

 My summer brings a long to-do list for the upcoming year.  It includes books I want to read, activities I want to make, and apps I need to learn to use.

What reflections do you have from your school year?  What changes do you want to make?  What do you need to work on?

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Five Engaging End-of-Year Literacy Activities

Ah, the end of the school year is near.  I have nine more days to be exact, but who's counting? ;)

It can be challenging to keep students motivated, but with a little planning, the last few weeks of school can be meaningful and fun.  Here are some time-honored end-of-year literacy activities you may want to consider.

Balloon Pop Countdown

Mrs. Pehanich's Classroom, Shepherdstown Elementary School.

Build excitement and enthusiasm for the last few days of school. Surprise students with a Balloon Pop Countdown.  Each day a balloon is popped and a special privilege is revealed.  Here are a few of my favorite treats...

• Mystery Reader:  A Guest Will Visit and Read Today
• Read (or Learn) Outside Today
• Write with Markers (Instead of Pencils) All Day
• Lights, Camera, Action:  Readers Theater on the Stage
• Tech Day:  Play Your Favorite Online Literacy Games
• Book Buddies:  Read to Younger Students Today
• Foamy Fun:  Practice Spelling (or Cursive) in Shaving Cream

Memory Books

Activities by Jeanine Enns and The Reading Mama

Looking back can be so much fun, but it’s also a great instructional tool for reviewing the year's learning.  Create your own memory book or download these free templates... 

• Class Memory Book:  Students each prepare a page for a {memory book} that can be added to your classroom library.
• Individual Memory Book:  Students can reflect on their favorite memory, class field trips, and the friendships they've made in their very own keepsake {memory book}.

Craftivities

Craft-activities by Kelly Dolling, Jessica Travis, and Janet Rainey

Who doesn't love a good craft and writing activity?  Use the links below to download a craftivity that will have students reflecting on - and writing about - their school year.  A great keepsake!

• {Memory Makers}:  Students will capture their favorite memory with a cute camera craft.
• {This Year Was Sweet}:  Students will record their sweetest memories with this cupcake booklet.
• {That's a Wrap}:  Students will wrap up their thoughts about the school year on a movie clapper board.

Letter Writing

Activities by Amy Labrasciano, Hope King, Khyrs Bosland

Letter writing provides a valuable opportunity for students to think about themselves as learners, reflect on their school year, and consider their future goals. Click on the links to download free templates.

• Dear Teacher: Students write a {letter} of introduction to their upcoming teacher. 
• This Year Rocked: Students write a {letter} to incoming students. Help make their first day a little less scary. Share helpful information and highlights from the school year. 
• Hello Future Self: Students write {letters} to their future selves. Invite them to write about the things that matter to them - friends, family, school life, and other interests. Ask them to make predictions about their future.

Get Students Ready for Summer

Bookmark by Erin Holleran

Activities by Whitney Parlin and Jen Bradshaw

Get students excited about reading and writing over the summer and help them prevent the "Summer Slide".

• {Summer Reading Bucket List}:  Students visit the school library and complete a list of 10 books they would like to read over the summer.  
• Decorate a Journal:  Students create a summer journal by decorating a composition book with pictures and patterned paper.  
• {ABCs of Summer}:  Students keep track of their summer adventures by completing this alphabet booklet.
• {Summer Fun Jar}:  Students decorate a jar and fill it with fun activities that will build background knowledge and maintain literacy skills.  Each day over the summer, they can pick a slip out of the jar to complete. 

Time to Share!

What are your favorite end-of-year literacy activities?  Please share your ideas with our readers...leave a comment.  :)

*Special thanks to Melonheadz and I'm Lovin' Lit for the graphics used in this post.

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Predictions Made Easy

Hello, everyone!  It's Andrea from Reading Toward the Stars to share an easy and fun way to help with comprehension at all grade levels!

Before I was a reading specialist, I spent 14 years teaching third and fourth graders.  I love teaching that age because they are really ready to learn and seem to soak it all in!  But, I know that many students struggle with reading comprehension.  Many times it is not an easy fix, but I spend all year with this one strategy to help my students.  And I still use it with my intervention groups.

Since I have worked with students in grades K-4 this year, I thought this would be great for my second and third grade students who really struggle with comprehension.  I used it with them with great success.  What is it?  Prediction!  I just teach the students to Stop, Think, Predict, which is a type of Directed Listening Thinking Activity (DLTA) or a Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA)!  Here is how it works.

I chose a fun book to read that I hoped no one had read before.  The first book I read was a super easy and silly book Bark, George.  (Amazon affiliate link will take you to the books in this post.)

In the book, George does everything but bark for his mother until she takes them to the vet.  The book is perfect for predicting because the students have to think about what might happen next.  It is quick and easy, but the kids loved it!  This will even be perfect for kindergarten students!

After talking about the book and how we used predicting, I showed them another book Soccer Mom from Outer Space. In the book, Lena's father tells her about how his mother dressed like a pickle to cheer on his team, the Atomic Pickles.  He told her that he was embarrassed, so she went to a game without her costume.  What happened next, I will let you find out!

We spent some time just looking at the cover and predicting together, all along talking about how the kids feel when playing sports.  Then I handed out a chart with four boxes for the students to stop at certain points to make predictions while I read the book.  I asked them to stop and make a prediction about what might happen next, not at the end of the book.  Here is an example.  {Ignore the misspellings from my wonderful struggling reader and speller.}

I loved hearing some of the predictions they made.  Some of them were really close too!  So fun!

I thought this would also be great for a literacy center.  I made some bookmarks that can be placed throughout a book for students to read and then write their predictions on the predictions chart.  I actually handed the bookmarks out to my students to use while they read to help them remember to Stop, Think, Predict! Click {here} or on the picture below to grab it for free!

I love using various read-alouds and then releasing it to the students through guided reading and then into independent reading, especially with struggling readers.  This helps to scaffold their learning, leading to independence in reading and predicting.  With that independence, they will become lifelong readers!

So, what do you do to help students with predicting while they read?

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