Creating Readers from a Very Young Age

Hi lovely readers! It's Melissa from Don't Let the Teacher Stay Up Late. Usually I like to share ideas and lessons for the classroom, but we've been out of school this entire week for snow and nothing seems to be motivating me there that hasn't already been said a million times. Today, I'm writing as a mommy.

I have the sweetest little three year old boy, and it has been such a joy to see his love for reading begin. The process is truly amazing, and it has really made me admire preschool and early elementary teachers all the more for the building blocks that you take our little ones through! I wanted to share a few tips/lessons that I've learned along the way. Many of them are tips you've probably heard, but I want to talk about WHY they are so important also.

1. Start reading to them from an early stage. I'll be honest. I held off a little while on this one. I didn't start when he was a baby because I was too exhausted to want to do anything. Then he got into his grabby phase, and I was too afraid that he would rip my precious books. I finally got smart and invested in some simple board books. Really, they can be anything, and you can find them CHEAP in Target's dollar spot, Dollar Tree...anywhere! You don't need to get a ton. Just have a small collection and start pointing out items. You'll feel foolish, but they're soaking it in.

2. Repetition is key! I know that I share with my students about how being "voracious readers" is a good thing. But sometimes I don't really feel that way. Especially when my son asks for me to read him the same crappy book for a month straight. (And yes, you will get these - those books that you find yourself editing as you read.) Let me explain.

My grandparents gave Keagan this book for Christmas last year, and I honestly have no idea where they stumbled across it. I would've never spent my money on it and actually joked that I was going to take it in to my 5th graders to show as an example of what not to do in writing for sentence variety. BUT after reading it every night for what felt like an eternity, I began to notice that he was repeating after me. Then I could leave out words and let him fill in the blanks for me. Y'all, he was barely two. I was floored and felt like I had a child genius! Of course, I'm sure many of you mothers have seen similar things, maybe even at earlier ages. But for me, it finally clicked. Repetition is one of the first steps of reading!

3. Build a strong library. This was fun for me! I love books and already had a decent collection at home way before Keagan came along. But having the variety also means that there are even more books for Keagan to fall in love with. We have fortunately moved on from The Bedtime Book for Dogs, and, although we still have favorites, I don't have to worry that I will be stuck reading the same two or three books for the rest of my life. Here are some cheap and easy ways to build that library though:

• See if your parents/grandparents saved books from your childhood. If they're anything like mine, they saved EVERYTHING! And being the only teacher kid, I stole them all before my siblings could lay claim on them. I *may* share one day if they ask really nice...
• Visit yard sales and goodwill stores. You may run across a lot of junk, but every once in a while, you'll find a true gem.
• Ask friends to give books instead of toys for birthdays. This works best when they're younger and won't get upset, but I know we have more toys than we know what to do with. Books are easier to store :-)
• Save books from Chick-fil-A and cereal boxes. I have a few multi-lingual books from Cheerios. Not sure if they still do it, but it's a simple way to collect books and they were kind of cute. As far as Chick-fil-A books go, you can request the toddler books (which are tiny board books) for the kid's meal prize. They're short and great especially for those nights when I don't want to read but now "have to" because it's become an expectation at home. Seriously. You won't regret it.
• Scholastic. I try to buy one or two every few orders. Of course, last time I did this, they actually sent me a preschool catalog which was a complete waste for me, but that's okay. Their prices are awesome.

4. Set up a routine and STICK TO IT! Like I said, it took me a while to start reading to Keagan, but we eventually got into the habit of one book a night. Now if I don't read to him when he goes to bed, he will cry and pitch a fit. This time has become important to him and is such a part of his routine that he can't do without it. There are nights when it can be frustrating, but I know that he's learning and will eventually be able to do this all on his own. And, of course, then I'll miss it. It's a great bonding time for the both of us.

I'll leave you with a story from Friday morning. One of the books I read to him is from my own childhood...

I haven't read it in at least a week, but while I was getting ready, Keagan went to the door of the bathroom and said, "I'm too small! I can't reach the doorknob." (which is a line directly from the book). He then went to his bookshelf and found the book to bring back and "read" on the floor. Using the pictures, he was able to read almost word for word what every page said. And we laughed because he used the exact voices that I use when I read (which are the exact voices my dad used when he read it to me years ago).

Be intentional about reading with your child. You won't regret it!

Using Learning Grids to Engage

Hello! It's Pixie Anne from Growing Little Learners here today to share some ideas with you about using Learning Grids in Literacy!

Learning Grids are not a new idea by any stretch of the imagination and I'm sure we all use them or have used them in our classrooms before in some way. I certainly have in the past, especially for math lessons but only once for literacy. When I think about that, it seems strange because that literacy lesson was always a success and I don't think I have ever stopped to think about all the reasons why! It was a lesson on arguments (balanced and persuasive) and the children had a 6x6 grid in pairs full of statements such as: space exploration is a waste of money, Our parents are our best teachers, Children should be allowed mobile phones in schools, Dogs make better pets than cats etc. Children rolled the dice to land on a statement and had to argue for or against it with their partner. I used in in different ways and it always resulted in some great writing!

The course I was on (OTI) challenged me to think of other ways I could use learning grids in my classroom to engage learners and I thought I would share with you five of the literacy ideas I have had so far...

1. Describe the Nouns

Graphics are from My Cute Graphics 

It so happened that we were doing a unit of work on poetry and we were thinking of more interesting ways to describe boring objects. Of course, I did have a whole range of real objects in the class for children to refer to as well but made a quick learning grid using lovely images from My Cute Graphics and gave the children a choice. They loved rolling the dice twice to find the picture on the grid they had to describe and ended up with some super sentences!

2. Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

I then thought I would try out a grid in my phonics lesson the next week. We have been working on comparative and superlative adjectives and the spelling rules for adding these suffixes. 

This would work as a scoot activity too but my class enjoyed working in pairs and talking through the spelling rule using it this way.

I've uploaded these so you can grab them as a freebie from my store!

3. Chocolate Facts

After half term (I have a lovely week off at the moment!) we are starting a non-fiction unit on explanation texts and will be focusing on chocolate! Our first lesson will be activating prior knowledge and thinking about what we already know. Instead of paired work during the main part of the lesson, I thought I would use this at the start or end of the lesson to share some new facts with the class. I plan to put it into a smart notebook and put boxes over each fact which can be revealed when children choose a square.

4. Roll a Story

I think I will have this out as a start of the day activity for pairs to work on. Hopefully, when they each roll a picture then can come up with a little story or link between the two images. I'm always after new ways to get more speaking, listening and collaboration into the day and I hope they will find this fun!

Graphics are from My Cute Graphics 

5. Book Talk

The lovely Em over at Curious Firsties posted an update about her book Face Off idea recently (go and check it out!). I loved this and plan to set up a display outside my classroom just like it! Seeing the display she made gave me an idea for a guided reading activity I might set up along the exact same lines. I have made a grid with some of the books we have shared this year and know quite well. I plan for children to roll the dice to find 2 books then talk about their favourite. This could be a written response if they are working on their own or another speaking and listening activity if working in pairs - justifying their choices and explaining clearly their favourite book. I'm really excited to try this activity - thanks for the inspiration Em!

I acknowledge I have gotten carried away with the Learning Grids but please don't worry that all my lessons are based around this one idea! I am using them fairly sparingly so the children are still excited and not bored by this one engagement strategy and am using plenty of others too!

I do think they are a fun way of adding a game element into learning, promoting collaboration and offering the children some choice. I've just shared 5 ideas I've had for literacy (the possibilities are endless and I've been using them in math too!). 

I would love to hear how you already use them in your classroom or how you might incorporate them into a lesson in the future! 

These dice I ordered do make all the difference though - lovely soft, silent dice! One of the best inventions ever?!

Thank for stopping by today - please do leave a comment to share your learning grid ideas!

Cross Checking: What it is and why your kids need it

Learning to read can be such a difficult task.  There are so many skills that are necessary, for a child to go from a non-reader to a reader.  Many children are fortunate enough to be read to at a young age.  These children are given the opportunity to experience books and enjoy them as a story.  Through this simple act, children learn that books tell a story and there are beautiful pictures to match.  Eventually, those same children will begin to pick up books on their own.  They will tell their own story according to the pictures that they see.  They are doing exactly what we, as adults, have modeled for them.  But they are still non-readers….

So how does a child go from reading the pictures of a story, to reading the words?  There are so many skills involved in this process that we could discuss it all day long.  Children need letter recognition, letter sounds, decoding, rhyming, phonemic awareness, concept of word, and the list goes on and on.   

Today, though, I am going to discuss one skill that many people often forget about.  It is one of those skills that seems to come naturally for some children and is very difficult for others.  It is one that we, as teachers, often forget to explicitly teach.  It is cross checking.

In my classroom, I use the Beanie Baby Decoding strategies to help many of my students remember these strategies they need for reading.  The first two strategies that I always teach to my non-readers are Lips the Fish and Eagle Eye.  These are the very basic beginnings of reading.  Lips the Fish reminds my students to get our lips ready to say the first sound in the word.  It gives them a starting point when reading the word.  Eagle Eye reminds students to look at the pictures to help them with unknown words.  I teach each of these skills explicitly and separate in my classroom.  Then, I go back and teach them together.  THAT is cross checking.

Cross checking is the ability of a student to use BOTH the picture on the page (or the meaning in the story for higher level readers) and the letters that create the word to determine the unknown word.  This means that child has to use both meaning AND visual cues while reading.  Most students have no problem doing one or the other, but combining them is a difficult task.

To teach this skill, I give my students several prompt cards that I designed specifically for teaching this strategy.  Each set has identical pictures, but with two different words that could describe that picture.  Often times, students will look at the picture and choose an obvious word for it without realizing that it could be something entirely different.

For example, this card has a fairly obvious word in it.  Students will look at this card and know that it is a picture of a horse and they will read “This is a horse.”

However, some stories may not use the word “horse.”  Some may use the word “pony.”  Students without the ability to cross check will look at this second card and read “This is a horse.”  They may not even notice that the word begins with the letter P rather than an H.

You will notice that I added our symbol for Lips the Fish and Eagle Eye to remind students that they need to use both strategies to determine what the sentence says!  

Here is another example:

 There are so many instances in stories in which this is such a necessary skill.  After I have taught this skill using these cards, it is time to try it in a book.  I then purposely choose a story or two in which they will have to use this skill to read the book accurately.  In a book, the picture cues are no longer there, so they may need to be reminded when they come across it the first couple of times.

As students become stronger readers, the pictures in the stories become fewer and fewer.  They also become more vague.  Students will no longer be able to use picture cues as often.  Instead, they will have to cross check by using meaning.  They will have to decide what word would not only match those letters, but would also make sense in the story.

If you would like a copy of the example cards that I have made, click here and check them out!

Adding Multisensory Techniques

I think what makes someone a good teacher is the constant desire to learn and grow.  That is why we read, follow, and comment on blogs.  We are always looking for more ways to improve our craft, help our students, and grow as professionals.
Over the past few years, I have worked hard on my guided reading routine.  It has changed as I moved from classroom teacher to pull out Title I teacher to push in Title I teacher.  It has changed as my time allotment has increased or decreased.  It has changed as my kids have changed.

This year my guided reading routine changed again.  (You can read a full break down of my routine over at Curious Firsties.)  I saw some gaps in what I was doing; therefore, I attended some PD and completed some observations of the OG teacher in my building.  And what it came down to is that I wanted more multisensory teaching to be occurring.  But...it had to be efficient and effective because (as we all know) time is precious.

Here are a few multisensory techniques that I have included in my daily routine.  (I still have room to grow, but this is a start.)

When it came to sight words, I have always used flashcards and then we found those words in context.

Now I do a few different things:
First I introduce the word orally and visually with these sight word cards from Child1st.

Once the word has been introduced, we do a "mix and fix" with letter tiles.

As a student is "fixing" the word, the other students are finger spelling the word on the table.  Then they all write the word using a pen and a textured placemat.

These additions only take an extra 2 minutes to my group because of the way that I have them structured.  But they have made a BIG impact on my students.

I am testing out some other multisensory techniques (such as the power of scent for some vowel sounds) but I am not quite perfected these yet :)

What multisensory techniques do you include?

Wondering Aloud With Wordless Picture Books

Hello Royal Readers!

It is a quiet and reflective Jennifer from Stories and Songs in Second  here tonight to share a few ideas I've gleaned from the wise and innovative Tanny McGregor.  This post is shorter and more succinct than my usual, but writing it has helped remind me of the importance of talking less and listening more during my teaching.

About two months ago, my fellow Lit Land friends, Carla from Comprehension Connections and Em from Curious Firsties, recommended McGregor's creative, artifact-rich, anchor chart-driven, sensory-based thinking strategy lessons to me, and I have been reading her books with reverence ever since.

In Chapter 5 of Comprehension Connections: Bridges to Strategic Reading, McGregor reminds us that we must make our classrooms a safe place for children to be naturally curious.  That we must take the time to let them just wonder about stories and poems and songs.

That we must encourage them to turn and talk to each other, and carry on conversations that are full of questions about what they are going to read and experience, or what they have already read and experienced.  That we as teachers must stop doing all the asking, and encourage our students to formulate inquiries that begin with these words.....

• How?
• Where?
• When?
• Can?
• Is?
• Does?
• Could?
• Would?
• Who?
• Whose?
• Did?
• What?
• If?

Tomorrow, as suggested by McGregor,  I will dig out rolls of adding machine tape from my supply cupboard, and use them as never-ending "question scrolls" for my students to write on before, during, and after I share two of Molly Idle's wonderful, whimsical, and wordless picture books, Flora and the Flamingo and Flora and the Penguin.

We will "talk back" to the pages as I turn them, not raising our hands to be called on, but just wondering and observing out loud about these two stories, where unlikely friendships are revealed through delightful illustrations hidden behind pull-down and peek-a-boo paper flaps .

We will use our own voices to describe, explain, add words,  and wonder out loud.  We will link what we already know to what we've learned with thinking stems like......

• I wonder...
• What if...
• How could....
• But why....

We will cover a giant "Q" drawn on chart paper with Post-it notes that we've filled with questions we have about the characters and events in each story.   We will honor the fact that questions help us do three important things as readers....

• Before reading, they make us open our minds about the text and want to dig deeper.
• During reading, they help us understand the text.
• After reading, they keep us thinking about what we've read and help us connect it to our lives, other books we've read, or the world.

We might even set some of the questions we generate to music, in the form of a piggyback song! Maybe we will write lyrics about Flora and her friends, and set them to the familiar tunes of
This Old Man.  Maybe we will snap or clap or dance or twirl or skate (in sock feet on sheets of wax paper across the carpet) while we sing.  Maybe our original composition will look and sound something like this (as set to the tune of  I've Been Working On The Railroad.  It will most certainly make a joyful noise!

I wonder what Flora's thinking,

as she skates across the ice!

Do you think that Flora's thinking

that the penguin will be nice?

Will he be a better skater?

Do you think he will be her friend?

Can she even really help him?

How will the story end?

If any part of this post has resonated with you, plan to invest some time and energy into incorporating McGregor's ideas into your own reading lessons!  You will find more helpful ideas and photos {HERE}.

You will also find a wonderful collection of other wordless picture books that can be used as mentor texts for questioning lessons {HERE}.  An article that features interviews with Molly Idle, author of the Flora series, and stresses how wordless picture books empower young children, can be found {HERE}.

Enjoy!

Non-Fiction All About Books

Hi everyone!  It's Jennie from JD's Rockin' Readers!  I thought I would share with you today a little about what my class is working on during Writing Workshop!

This is my favorite time of year for writing with my first graders because we get into writing non-fiction (All About Books and How To Books).  The kids go CRAZY over writing non-fiction!  They honestly can't get enough!  

Before Christmas, we wrote an All About Reindeer book together as a class.  We did research together and learned about how to add different features to our books including a Table of Contents, Diagram, Glossary, and About the Author page.

Now, they are working at their own pace, writing All About Books.  They first started with topics that they knew a lot about without having to do research.  

I knew I wanted them to be able to write about a topic by doing some research too.  This is how it ended up working out best…

We have "computer" as one of our "specials" during the week.  We have a computer lab teacher that is working to teach them the basics with computers.  This is the first year we have had this and I think it is WONDERFUL!  When the kids went there this past week, they each got to do a little research of their own.

First, we decided to use the website Wild Kratts from PBS Kids.  The kids all went to this website- 

From here they could search for an animal that they wanted to learn more about.  I gave each student a recording sheet to write down different things that they have learned about their animal. Click on the picture if you would like a copy...

Once the student finds an animal, they can click different buttons that tell about the animal.  What I like about this website is that they can listen to facts as well as read them.

My students recorded the different things that they have learned and now they can write an All About Book about an animal that they just learned about!

I would love to hear about how you do Non-Fiction (informational writing) in classroom!