Distance Learning and Google Classroom Since teachers aren’t currently able to sit right in front of their students to conduct Guided Reading groups, some adjustments need to be made. If you own my Digital Guided Reading Passages packs, you may want to break up the passages into each individual passage to assign one at a time to
Working with Early Readers A few weeks ago I received a question about how to work with early readers who weren’t quite ready for the workshop model yet. I figured you’d likely want to know my response to this as well. Here are a few ideas you can use with your readers who are moving
The Importance of Running Records Guided Reading is such an awesome way to help readers make progress. However, you need to be sure to assess your readers on a regular basis. This can be best done via running records, during your small groups. The main reason for this is to adjust your teaching based on
Preparing for Benchmark Testing By the spring, typically you’re feeling pretty good about your Guided Reading groups. They are usually running smoothly, following a good flow. Even with that being the case, you still want to ensure that your readers are progressing at a good pace. Using Running Records Most likely you have benchmark testing
A Focus on Rhymes In my previous blog post, I focused on phonemic awareness and its importance. With that, I mentioned the implications of problems with rhyming. When students have a tough time identifying the matching sounds of rhyming pairs, this can be an early indication of trouble with learning to read. When students don’t hear
What is Phonemic Awareness? Phonemic Awareness is a very important part of early reading lessons. The reason it is so important is because it shows that students are able hear individual sounds in spoken words. In addition, readers need to be able to identify those sounds and manipulate them. Why it’s important: Once students are
Reading is Thinking I remember when I became a reading specialist I originally focused heavily on kids learning to read/improving reading. However, pretty quickly I realized that my little readers also needed to heavily focus on improving their comprehension. One phrase that I kept in the back of my mind was “Reading is Thinking”. I
A Short, but Sweet Month February may be a short month, but it still can be difficult to keep readers engaged. They begin thinking of warmer weather…even if it isn’t actually near. Students are also antsy from being inside so much for the last few months. As a teacher, it’s important to keep the excitement
Why I Love Guided Reading Passages Guided Reading can take a long time to plan for, especially when you have multiple groups with students working at various levels. While the time spent in groups is incredibly meaningful, it can be stressful to try and figure it all out. This is why I love my Guided
Winter Themed Activities In the winter months, students can have a lot of energy because they’re not able to play outside as much. Between indoor recess and it getting dark so early, there leaves little time to be outside. As teachers, it helps to try and make the entire day a little more engaging for
Elementary educators who love to create engaging resources and provide ideas for other teachers!
