The Daily 5- Introduction to Read to Someone

   So I know I said I would post a series of posts about the Daily 5 and what it looks like "over the next week," and that didn't exactly happen.  I was out last Thursday and returned to school today.  I had surgery Thursday for an issue that's been a pain to me for nearly three years- not being able to swallow and enjoy carbs!  Basically anytime I would eat pasta, bread, potatoes and other foods, it would get stuck in my esophagus and cause an immense amount of pain, sometimes keeping me awake all night or causing me to get sick.
   After two years of testing my fabulous doctor at Ohio State Medical Center finally gave me a diagnosis- Achalasia.  It's not very common and basically what it means is that my esophagus does not squeeze at all and never will again.  The surgery was to make a cut in my esophagus essentially stretching which will allow me to eat more than one piece of bread a day.  It was an inpatient procedure and I finally got to the point where I could survive without pain meds yesterday.  If you're a teacher, you know what I mean when it's more difficult to plan for a sub than it is to plan for yourself, which is why I put off blogging more about the Daily 5 last week.  All my free time was spent prepping for my sub (who was fantastic!) and getting ready!  Recovery has been well and I have about 1.5 weeks until I can have solid foods again!

   Enough about me, back to the Daily 5!  I introduce Read to Someone about 4-5 days after introducing Read to Self.  By this time, students have built stamina and are ready to read their books to someone.  The first day of read to someone is always... interesting.  Even though they've practiced reading to self and appear to be confident, there's a lot more that goes along with reading to someone.  This is usually the point where I hear "But I can't read!!"  I continue to scaffold "how to read" but sitting in with small groups reading to someone but I don't call them back to the carpet the first couple days if they're not doing this exactly as they should.  One thing at a time!
   The primary focus for the first day is getting EEKK straight.  EEKK stands for "Elbow to elbow, knee to knee."  This is how they sit so they can share books with each other.  We read a poem daily- that I found on TPT and you can download for FREE here- It's a fantastic resource.  This TPT seller also has several other Daily 5 freebies available.  The poem is short and sweet reminding students to sit next to each other and keeping the book in the middle.  I had a student who took EEKK so literally she looked like her elbow and knee were glued to her partner, too cute!    This is a great mini-lesson for the first day of read to someone because it's something they can be successful with!
   The second day and beyond, our read to someone mini-lessons involve role-playing and me modeling how to ask questions.  In the beginning, we focus on the basics- "who was your favorite character?"  "What was your favorite part?  Show me!"  And of course, sharing connections they've made to themselves are also great ways to encourage conversation about books.
   As students get more practice "reading" aloud to someone (as mentioned in previous posts is mostly reading the pictures and retelling stories), students become more engaged.  My favorite part of observing this activity is hearing students retell stories.  This is where I think they're the strongest in reading at this point- especially with retelling David Shannon's "David" books.  You can hear parent's and teacher's voices in their expressions say "No, David!  You can not do ___!!"     Encouragement and praise at this point go a long way in their success with read to someone.  Reassuring students that their "reading" and conversations about books is the expectation at this point.  Reminding students that reading stories is the same as them telling their own stories, just like when we talk about the pictures we draw during writer's workshop.  As students progress you will begin to hear comments such as "Here's the letter/sight word ___ that we just learned!"  Words will no longer be the scary jumble of letters on the page!
     During this time of introducing read to someone, we are still practicing and building stamina for read to self as well.  I still have the whole class doing the same thing at the same time.  We begin with about 15 minutes of read to someone (mini-lesson and practice) and then a mini-lesson (review of anchor charts, reading strategies, reading behaviors) for read to self and then practice time to continue building stamina for read to self.  We will not split off into groups where students are working on different things at different times until the very end of the introduction of the Daily 5 in its entirety.
     In my next blog post, I will share about how I implement word work!

The Daily 5- Introduction to Read to Self

     If you have not tried the Daily 5 because you think it sounds too hard for kinders, I promise it's not!  My first year teaching K I would have never dreamt of trying this, it seems like too many expectations of independence for little ones who sometimes come to us as young as four.  I know you're probably thinking, how will my students read when they don't even know their letters?!  Most students are not actually reading when we get started.  But if you teach K (or any other grade level) you know that your little ones are storytellers.  They love telling stories!  Read to self in the beginning, is all about doing exactly that- telling stories.

     When I introduce the Daily 5, I always begin with Read to Self.  It is suggested first in the book to introduce, but year after year, I also feel that it's just a good fit to introduce first.  When I bring out the book baskets and display a sampling of the most popular books (David Shannon, Mo Willems, Dr. Seuss, books about animals, etc) they can not wait to get their tiny hands on them!    
     The first day, we discuss the purpose for reading books.  The most common responses from my students are "to get smart" and "to learn", which are fantastic responses!  I also let them know about why I read books- because it's fun!  I share with them my love for reading, how I imagine myself as the main character and picking new books is like picking my own new adventure!  I also tell them it's like watching a great movie, but with a lot more secrets and detail that movies do not have time to share- they get excited about this!

    Once we have set our purpose, we then discuss how to read books.  When I say this, I always see most of the students beginning to look nervous, as if they're wondering how long it will be before I figure out that they can not yet read.  The first way to read is to "Read the pictures".  When I tell them this, some of their nervous looks turn to confusion, as if wondering why I would say reading pictures when you read words!
 
   I begin modeling this by choosing a book with with very obvious pictures (such as No David! or David Goes to School) and telling the story simply by discussing the pictures.  I also ask for student input when "reading" the pictures.  I find any way possible to find evidence from the pictures to support their "reading", to increase their confidence!
 
  The next way to "read" is to retell the story.  I usually do this with a well known story, such as the Three Little Pigs.  I have a bookshelf specifically for "Books we have read together."  Students may select books from their to go in their bags (more on that in a bit) to retell.  When I model this story, it's much like reading the pictures, except with a little more detail because we have heard the words in the story before.

    The final way to read is the most obvious, which is to read the words.  I should students our baskets labeled A-C, which are early reading levels and suggest they try 1-2 of these a week and look for words they may know while they're reading the pictures.  I also emphasize that it is OKAY if you can not read the words yet, this is not an expectation yet and we will learn how to read this year!  After this presentation (usually spanning two days), students seem much more at ease in "reading".
   
 The Daily 5 authors suggest choosing student's first set of books, but I allow my students to choose their own right from the start.  We talk about how the tags on the baskets indicate what type of books are in the basket and why choosing "Good-Fit" books are important and the most fun to read!

   Students choose five books the first week and store them in their colorful bags (picture at the top of the collage- the brown tags on them are actually "photo stickers" covering names!)  I purchased them from Really Good Stuff about five years ago and they have held up very well for daily, continuous use- I have not had to replace one yet!

   The first couple of days practicing Read to Self are trying.  Students usually make it about 2 minutes before someone is not following directions and everyone is redirected back to the carpet.  This may seem tedious, it certainly feels that way, but after a few days they make it longer.  And then within a week or so they're easily up to 10 minutes of read to self time with no redirections!  We celebrate our success with a stamina graph!  Each day we chart how many minutes we were successfully independent.  Each time we celebrate, I share I few things I saw that I liked and ask students to share things they felt were especially successful for them.

   Below is a picture of a few of the anchor charts I use to introduce and review Read to Self.

     Do you implement the Daily 5 in your class?  If so, what grade do you teach and how do you feel about introducing Read to Self?

Coming soon:  Read to Someone

99.5% done introducing the Daily 5!

    So, it's been a while!  The first couple weeks of school were not only busy during the week but on the weekends as well leaving me with little free time to blog!  We have already covered so much!  We're nearly finished with section 1 of Everyday Mathematics and we will be beginning our new unit in ELA on Wednesday.  We have also spent time working on names, social skills, and apples.  And finally, our 5 class rules, "Hands and Eyes", "Mirror" and "Class? Yes?" have also been introduced
    We're in the home stretch for the introduction of the Daily 5!  So far we have learned all about Read to Self, Read to Someone, Word Work and Work on Writing.  Starting tomorrow, I will be introducing Listen to Reading.  Most of my listening library collection is still on tape so that is always interesting since kids usually think I am talking about the tape used to stick things together (I always ask if they know what tapes are and 9 times out of 10 they say that!)
      I only have one listening station set up (tape/CD player) and the other half of the group listens to stories on the computer.  In the past, I have used Barnes and Noble Online Storytime and our local library has an online collection of books as well.  Our new ELA curriculum, Superkids, also has stories on their website so we use those as well.
     The most challenging part of Listen to Reading is coordinating who listens to the CD/tape player first and whose on the PCs first.  Even though I color code it, the students still get confused.  Any suggestions?  I know they're trying their best to follow instructions, but I still can't find a system that works out good enough to increase their level of independence.
     This year, I have a lot of young students- many who just turned five or those who will be five most of the school year.  They may be a little farther away from reading, but their desire to read might be the strongest and most confident I've observed in a couple of years.  I've also had good luck with students choosing good fit books and putting away books in the correct baskets (I have sticker picture labels on every book).
     For the most part, I introduce everything nearly the same way it is outlined in the back of the book (The Daily 5).  I do shorten each introduction down a day or two (instead of 5-ish days to introduce and practice one topic we do 3-4 before introducing the next one).  This is because the first full week we implement the Daily 5 exactly as it should be (students going to different activities at different times vs. everyone practicing the same thing), I am still observing behaviors, as well as redirecting and modeling when needed.  After that first week, we will begin guided reading groups.
     Over the next week, I plan to write more blog posts about the remaining four parts of the Daily 5 and what it looks like in action in my classroom!
     

First "Real" Day of Kindergarten

     I say the first "real" day because today was reality!  After last week's staggered start I had gotten used to only having a small group of kiddos.  Today I had all 24 with me and oh my, was it different!  Overall, they did VERY well.  Considering it was only their third day (my fifth), I was super impressed.
     Today I introduced the five, whole brain teaching (WBT) classroom rules.  After the initial introduction, we focused primarily on the first rule, "Follow directions quickly."  I've modified my WBT rules slightly from the traditional five.  The ones I use are; #1 Follow directions quickly; #2 Raise your hand to speak or stand; #3 Listen when your teacher is talking; #4 Make smart choices; and #5 Respect others, Respect yourself and respect your school.
     The original 5 WBT teaching rules have raising your hand to speak and stand as separate rules but I felt that it was kind of the same thing and should be together- plus they rhyme which is something that helps my kinders remember.  Another original WBT rule was "Keep your dear teacher happy".  I've never been super crazy about this rule just because kindergarteners know following the rules "keeps me happy" therefore to include this rule is kind of redundant.  Also, I do not want my students to be so focused on doing what they think will "keep me happy" that they're not putting themselves out there and trying their 100% best.  I think WBT is fantastic just the way it is, but for my classroom I think these five rules reflect my classroom and style the best.  Thanks to Mrs. Tyner over at The Curious Apple for making a custom set of these rules for me- in a camping theme!  You can find the WBT rule set that I use on TPT.
     Besides getting some WBT in, I also introduced a vocabulary lesson using the book Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watts.  In this book we focused on the words routine, emergency and prepared.  For kindergarten, these are three VERY important words!  We always follow routine, I would like them to be prepared and they think everything is an emergency :)  This was a fantastic introduction to what is and is not ok to interrupt Mrs. Jarvis for.  For routine and prepared I simply gave examples (during reading) of what they are and for emergency I had them say "Emergency" for things that were emergencies, if it was not, they said nothing.  It was interesting to see/hear their responses.  It opened their eyes to things such as "students running in the hall" is really not an emergency.  It's an opportunity to be a good friend and remind them of the rules.  Many were also surprised to learn "not knowing how/being able to do their work" is actually an emergency, which means they need to tell me right away!
     Overall, fantastic day!  I only got through about half my plans, but good news is that means I can just do them tomorrow instead of planning tonight!  I usually plan a week in advance but that usually is not possible until a month into school.

First week= completed

     The first week is finally over!  I do not want it to sound as if it was not a good week- it was wonderful!  I am just so exhausted!!!  Last night and tonight will be the only nights I stay awake later than 8pm!
     As mentioned previously, my district decided to do a staggered start for kindergarten this year.  I am extremely grateful for this.  The intention was to have one half of the class come Tuesday/Thursday and the other half come Wednesday/Friday.  However, I have a handful of withdrawals, additions and changes to the schedule that two days I had 15 and then other two I had 9 students.  It really did work out ok though!  I was grateful to just have less than 25 (my originally scheduled class) for the first week.
     The first day I had not intended on introducing my clip chart, but quickly re-evaluated when I saw the potential to increase positive behaviors.  The first day first week or more, kinders often resemble preschoolers.  They do not know how to line up, raise their hand (AND wait to be called on to speak) or how to wait their turn.  I understand this and remember this each year, but it's always hard to get used to after remembering where my kinders last year finished.
     Most students were completely motivated by "moving their clips up"!  I was excited by this.  Simply mentioning "Jane, move your clip to blue- I love how you are sitting criss-cross with your hands in your lap!" (Jane is a pseudonym), encouraged and excited other students to do the same!  Moving clips down the first day did not happen.  Even if it took 10 reminders, they did not move their clips down- they're still little babes, learning the ropes.  My goal of introducing the clip chart on the first day- although last minute- was to encourage positive behavior.
     Overall, I was super impressed with their ability to sustain attention to tasks and interest in following directions!  I did observe some difficulty with a few to follow 2+ verbal directions at one time, so I stayed late tonight laminating visual cue directions for those who had difficulty.  Personally, I am a visual learner so I completely understand being confused and forgetful concerning verbal directions!   
     Looking forward to next week- it's going to be a GREAT year!

Back to School Sale--- 10% off all Products at my TPT Store!

Today through Friday, I am running a sale on all of my TPT products at 10% off!  See pictures below for a preview of what I have!  Click HERE to visit my store!

Substitute Folder Forms

Chevron Substitute Folder Forms

Camping Themed Substitute Folder Forms

Camping Themed Checklists

Camping Themed Kindergarten CCSS Checklist

Chevron Kindergarten CCSS Checklists

Classroom Management

     For the previous six years, I've used the basic "card system."  I've always had four cards- start on green, two below for misbehavior and one above to earn for "above and beyond" behavior.  Students could also earn their cards back for improving their behavior throughout the day.  Each year, students were familiar with this system because many had seen it in pre-K and others new about "the cards" from siblings.  Until this year, I had no thoughts about changing it.
      I've decided to use the clip chart system.  I've read several blog posts as well as the e-book linked in the previous sentence.  I felt like it was a small transition from the cards, but encompassed more of how I believe classroom management should work.  Everyone starts the day on "Ready to Learn" (or green) and has the opportunity to earn up to three spaces above.  Students could also move their clips down for misbehavior.  I also believe using clip charts will give me more opportunity to reward positive behavior, which my experience usually increases all classroom behavior!
      There are different types of clip charts out there, most in rainbow colors.  The traditional clip chart (as outlined in the e-book linked above) will start with red at the top as the highest honor and then gray at the bottom for contacting home.  I chose to start with pink at the top followed by purple, blue, green, yellow, orange and then red at the bottom.  I made my clip chart in Keynote (Mac's version of Powerpoint), so the pictures are not in the color order I listed above.

    What type of classroom management system do you use?  What do you like most about it?

Two Short Weeks!

     Two short weeks until I go back to school!  August always brings mixed emotions because I love my summer break but I'm *usually* ready to go back by the time it comes around.  Teachers come on August 19th and students begin the next day.
      In the past, the first full five days of school (for students 1-12), kindergarten used as their time for screening.  We would give our district and state assessments (about 15m each child), do a read aloud, observe them with play, etc.  We would then split the classes at the end of screening, which did not leave much time for labeling and such.  But there were some pros:

• Students were able to spend a short time meeting all the K teachers 
• We would remember students better when they came in for open house the night before their first day since we'd just met them
• Students who were registered later in the summer didn't miss out on screening

There were also some cons:

• Not much time for labeling, prepping for the first day
• K had open house by themselves- forcing some families to attend two open houses
• We lost five days of instruction with our kinders!

      This past spring, the decision was made that we would conduct screening and registration together, which many districts in my area already do it this way.  It really does make sense- I had to spend one day assessing little ones with two colleagues and the second day my other three team mates finished assessing the other half.  We also had about four other adults (administrators, small group instructors) assisting so it went quickly.  Families had appointments and they were in and out in 20-30 minutes.

       We just got "official word" last week that we will begin kindergarten with a staggered start, which I am super excited about!  About half my class will come Tuesday and Thursday and the other half will come Wednesday and Friday- they will all come and start all day, every day the following Monday.  Some huge pros to my district changing their screening process is that I will get to know my students in smaller groups and be able to establish routines a little easier (fingers crossed)!  We will also be "gaining" three days with our students that we previously did not have using the old method!

        How does your school start off the year?  Do any grade levels have different start days, or a staggered start schedule?  How do you like it?

Paper planning is in the past!

Ever since I started teaching- even student teaching- I have always created my own lesson plan templates in Microsoft Word.  I would use cutesy font, my Sharpies and could change it up if I needed to.  I've never been able to conform to a pre-made plan book.  I always wanted one because what a fantastic organizational planning tool it must be, right?

This past spring, I finally got an iPad.  I use it a lot for personal use, but primary use was to be a tool in the classroom- for me though since our school is fortunate enough to have iPads for student use.  I downloaded a few apps for me to use such as Dropbox, Scootpad (to manage student accounts), CCSS app and then also created buttons for my home screen for things such as Progress Book, Everyday Math (excellent for their new online assessment management system), Superkids (our language arts program) and our districts homepage.

When my student teacher became more independent, I decided it was time to spend some of my free time, prepping lessons for when she was gone and I began to peruse lesson planning apps.  I researched, googled and read app reviews about each program I was interested in and one continued to standout; Planbook.

Planbook has an iPad app that is currently priced at $9.99 and/or a Mac or Windows program that is priced at $30.  I started by just purchasing the iPad app thinking if I like this maybe the Mac version would be a great addition some day!  I absolutely loved it!  You're able to create any type of schedule to fit your needs.  For example, last year, my building had a six-day rotation schedule and we labeled them A-F.  A traditional lesson planner could reflect this, but it was nice that I was able to easily label each day.  Snow day or weather delay?  No problem- you can push full days or individual lessons forward!  You can also create "Custom Days" for those special days when you may have a half day field trip or an afternoon assembly.

I decided to purchase the Mac version at the beginning of summer (they do offer a free trial so you can test it out- which I did and absolutely loved!) so I would have time to play around with it.  A big bonus of the Mac (and Windows) version is that you can store complete lesson plans in a "Library" and then reuse and plug-in next year!  For lessons that do not change (math and language arts) I just sent the basic lesson to the "Lesson Library" for reuse next year, then I will add differentiation in weekly to meet the needs of my current students.  The Mac/Windows version you can also document standards used.  It does not come preloaded with CCSS but you can visit this LINK and download your grade levels standards and import it into PB.

Possibly one of the neatest things I found about this software is the sharing!  You can share your Planbook plans on the website Planbook Connect (available with purchase of Mac/Windows version only), click HERE to see my Planbook Connect page.  I find this will be helpful to share with interested parents, team members and administration.  In addition to this neat feature, you can also e-mail your lesson plans and print them off.  I thought I would miss the paper lessons, but I don't.  I just grab my iPad and I'm good for the day.  If I ever forget my iPad or it breaks, I can access my full plans through Planbook Connect online.

If you buy the iPad and the Windows/Mac version, you can sync all lessons back and forth via Dropbox.  What I also liked is that with my user license I was able to put it on my home computer (Mac) and it also allowed me to put it on one other computer- I chose my school computer with is Windows based- no problem!  I did not have to buy any additional licenses!

The owner of the software, Jeff Hellman, is also the best tech support you will ever need!  Every time I've had a concern, issue or just have been confused- I've e-mailed him and always gets back to you ASAP- usually within a couple of hours.  I've also found this site very helpful answering questions I have.

If you like technology and have been looking to ditch paper planning, this is the way to go!  Through my account, I can "Invite" people to purchase it and when you're invited, you also get $5 off your purchase!  This invite is for the Windows/Mac versions only- which brings total cost down to $25.  If you would like to buy it, leave your email in the comments and I will send you an invite!

Update: August 2, 2013- I just found out that Planbook Connect (not the actual software, the online version that you can share with families, colleagues, administrators) is actually only a feature currently available for the Mac version of the software.  However, the developer is working on a version compatible with Windows. 

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Allow me to introduce... myself!

     Hi!  My name is Jen and I'm from Ohio.  I will begin to start my seventh year teaching, sixth in kindergarten, in just four short weeks!  Like many of you, I will actually be back in the classroom well before that though, getting my classroom ready for my kinders.
     Before we get into that, I want to share a little bit about myself.  A week before I go back to school, my husband and I will be celebrating our third year of marriage!  He is truly my best friend in the world and we enjoy doing just about everything together!  Some of our favorite things to do together include golfing, watching sports (especially football), spending time with family and our dogs.
     We have three dogs and their names will surely give away our favorite college football team!  We have Cooper the Puggle (former coach of my favorite team), Woody the German Shepherd look-a-like (after another former coach) and last but not least our Jack Russell Terrier, Brutus the Buckeye!  If you're not into sports or maybe just not college football, we're huge Ohio State Buckeyes fans.
      When not planning lessons or spending time doing things with my family, husband or friends, I love to read and run.  I've recently gotten into running again and have run in two 5k's this summer.  I'm not the best runner, but I do enjoy it.
       I have been teaching for the same school district since I began teaching.  My first year I was hired as a first grade teacher and I loved it, but when a kindergarten position opened up I never looked back!  In addition to my regular education PK-3rd degree, I also majored in Early Intervention Specialist (PK-3).  My passion in teaching is to give every child the best access to the regular curriculum as possible.  Kindergarten seems to have such a large span of abilities which requires quite a bit of differentiation.  Given my interest in special education in the regular classroom setting, I felt kindergarten was a perfect fit!  While differentiation and special education are not the same, they do go hand in hand.
      I look forward to "meeting" you all and sharing my classroom with you!  I hope to hear from you!

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