First I wanna give a big shout out and THANK YOU to Bridget at Literacy Without Worksheets. Apparently, my good luck has not worn off… I won a $25 TPT gift card in her giveaway! YAHOO!!!

That totally made my day on Monday! 🙂 Now to go through my wishlist and see what I will buy!! Decisions, decisions…

Sorry I’ve been MIA … (at least I feel like I have… I’ve hardly read any blogs, much less posted!) We had parent conferences on Monday and Tuesday. In my district, we have Early Release so that we can meet with the parents both afternoons. The kids leave at 12:15 and we stay for the parents to come in- I stayed until 4:15 Monday which wasn’t bad, but last night I was there til about 6:30. It beats staying that late for several days though!!!

As promised last week, I wanted to give you a peek into my Reader’s Workshop. This is the first year I have not had a really long Language Block. I actually really don’t like that I don’t have a long block, but nothing I can do to change it! So I have 55 minutes before lunch for Reading Workshop, and an hour and 5 minutes after lunch for Writing and Grammar. (Killer right??)

I have to use my time VERY wisely due to the little time I have and the kids that seem to be revolving in and out of my room for various services. Because I have a few kids that leave at 10:30 (the beginning of my Reading Workshop), I do not start off with a whole group mini-lesson. I know, it seems wacky… but it still works. They have their independent reading time for the first 30 minutes, which is also the time I pull groups, which is also the time they are completing a 10 minute reading skill… confused enough? 😛

I pull two groups per day during that 30 minute window. If they aren’t with me, they are either reading independently or completing one of the “stations.” The stations consist of one 10 minute skill. They can choose to either read first, and then do the station, or do the station and then read. I let them decide because it gives them ownership over their work. They must have all 4 stations done by the end of 5 days (so that gives them a little extra time to read one day, too).

Reading Comprehension is either a reading passage with 4-5 questions, or a graphic organizer we’ve learned how to use that they can fill in with their independent reading book. It just really depends on what skill we’re focusing on. Reading Response is where they write about their independent reading book using their thick questions as cues (thanks to Beth Newingham!), or a question that I give them to respond to about our read-aloud book. Again, it depends on what we’re doing. 🙂 Word Work currently is spelling with Boggle. Sometimes though, it’s a quick Greek and Latin Root activity using the current root we’re learning. And then there’s games. I shared with you in a previous post the Florida Center for Reading Research website. I have gotten all my games from there! It has taken some time to make them all of course, but it’s worth it and the kids enjoy them. They also get in some Accelerated Reader tests in that time when they’ve signed up with me.

My kids love their independent reading time because they get to read in their book nooks.

Each week, their clip moves to a new book nook. They sometimes are at their desk, or on the floor, but then they get special “nooks” when they aren’t in those places: different chairs, pillows, a big float (since I have the ocean theme) and my personal favorite, under the umbrella in the green chair (see below on the left). They have “browsing boxes” that they carry with them to their book nooks so they have everything they need right at their fingertips (no roaming the room!).

This is my class library that I’ve been talking up so much… see those two sets of shelves on the left?

Yup, I made them. Awesome, right? 😛 They were originally made to be bookbag cubbies because my first year teaching, I didn’t have hooks in my room. These suckers have lasted for a long time, even after being moved from classroom to classroom and school to school! I have stacked them on top of each other before, but I prefer them like this because they fit perfectly under the bulletin board so it saves my wall space. My book collection *might* be a bit on the hoarding side, but I just love books so much. Some of the books in my library are books from when I was younger, books from my younger brother and sister, books that I’ve purchased, and then gotta love Scholastic Book Points! The books are leveled by F&P (what my school uses) so they can access their instructional level easily.

So finally, after those 30 minutes are up (sometimes 40 because we all know how hard it is to keep groups at 15 minutes on the nose), they add their reading to their reading logs, and then I do my whole group lesson. My kids are all in the room at this time. I like to use extended texts to cover reading skills, but then I still LOVE my picture book weeks! I use one picture book for a few days, or with extended texts we read a chapter a day and do skills each day that go with that chapter. The kids really get invested in the chapter books, too! When we take our Accelerated Reader Tests at the end of the unit, they all pass! It makes me so proud. 🙂

So how does your Reader’s Workshop look? I’d love for you to link up so we can see! 🙂 I think I’d actually like to start a regular Wednesday Linky Party called Workshop Wednesdays, where we share things we do in our various workshop-style teaching. What do you think?

Please grab this button and link back here! 🙂

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Today’s topic: Graphic Organizers in Reader’s Workshop! What do you use to help your kiddos get their thoughts out on paper? Feel free to share a freebie for us to download, or a link to your store through your post! (Please, do not directly link to your store in the linky party!) Be sure to share in your post about how the graphic organizer is used!

Don’t you just love the graphic organizers that are out there? There are some super cute and creative ones, for sure! I’ve come across some great organizers thanks to TPT. I’ve been using some great response organizers from Krista Wallden that are super adorable and just what I need for my kiddos when they are independently reading. 

I made this organizer last year for my kiddos to use during Guided Reading or Partner Reading- it’s a freebie you can download from TPT if you’d like! They write down words that amuse, amaze, or puzzle them to share with the group. We take time to discuss the words that puzzle them. I love allowing students to draw something that will help them remember what happened (a symbol or a quick illustration) because for some kiddos (especially my ESOL)- this is a better memory clue for them. Finally they summarize the chapter in one or two sentences. Click the picture below to download this free organizer, or click here!

But then, I decided it was about time I created some more to use during my Guided Reading groups- some that are short and to the point like this one (because Lord knows, we don’t have all day in groups!!), but that are aligned more with Common Core. There are so many things we are trying to do in groups- assess fluency, comprehension, word accuracy… I do NOT have time for the kiddos to fill out a giant organizer, too. These organizers help give me a snapshot of their comprehension, or provide a TRUE mini-lesson guided page. And even better, these will save paper, too! 🙂 They will be on sale through Saturday, 20% off, so grab them up while they are super cheap!

Click the preview picture above to download, or click here!

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Forgive me in this post, as I was a bad planner-aheader. (Yeah, I just made that a word.) 😛

Honestly, when I walked out of my classroom on Friday, today was not on my mind in any way other than, “SPRING BREEEEEEEEEAK!” So I did not know my topic yet that day… which means I did not take any pictures. So for today’s topic… Reading Workshop: how do you stay organized with your guided reading groups? (you might discuss how you organize anecdotal notes, who is in the group, or even lesson plans) I will be telling you the kinds of things I do and trying to find some pictures out on the internet that give you an idea of what it looks like. 🙂

First up, my anecdotal notes. Sometimes, these occur during group, sometimes I take a day (or two) and spend time going around while they are independently reading and have a conference with them. I use these labels so whether I’m at my table or on the floor with them, I’m not having to carry my binder, flipping around through pages trying to find their page. I can take my notes and then just stick the label on their page later.

This was a Beth Newingham idea that I stole liked and borrowed. Don’t you just love her?? Click here to download (and edit) her labels.

Keeping up with who is in my group is easy-peezy! Unfortunately, I can’t find a picture online to show you… but I think you’ll still get it! I use a file folder and mini sticky notes. Each child gets a sticky note with their name and current reading level. I line them up in columns based on how I want to pull them. Sometimes, they are grouped by reading level, but sometimes they are pulled based on strategies they need. Using this method, I can move the sticky notes around easily. If a child gets a new level, I can just change their sticky note without having to re-write or re-print a whole chart with everyone!

When I taught in the lower grades, I did a really good job keeping lesson plans for each group. Now that I’m in the older grades, I try to just use teachable moments as we read our chapter books because there are SO many things that can be covered and I feel comfortable doing it that way. I also like to use books I’m familiar with, that I’ve read with groups before, so I know what those teachable moments are! 🙂

Now it’s your turn! Make sure to grab the button and link back to this post!! :o)

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Yay for Wednesday!!! And oh my goodness… hooray for MAY! I can’t believe it’s ALREADY May! Linking up with Farley!!

If you missed yesterday’s post, make sure to go check it out- there’s a “pin it to win it” giveaway on the new frames I made! :o) Now onto my favorite part of Wednesday!!

Today, we are sharing our favorite books to read with our reading groups! Although it was difficult to choose just one, I managed!

The book I chose to share today is There’s A Boy In The Girl’s Bathroom.

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