The Way I Teach

This unit has a lot of NO Prep Short I activities but honestly as much as I want to do everything NO Prep I know one of the first steps in independence and self regulating is peer or partner work. I did research for two years on self-regulating students and I know partner work is important. I try to create a balance in my units to give you options to suit your student and teaching needs and style.

I was thrilled when my struggling readers were sounding out and listening to the words. I would hear kids saying d-i--g d -i-g -ig when they completed the activities. I didn't realize how much the activities would force my kiddos to sound out and listen to the sounds. Model how to sound out and hear the sounds. They won't instantly know how to do that. The way the activities are created also force the kids to say the words and think about the sounds.

Medial short vowel i Word families Rhyming

I use the curriculum decodables with short i and reading a-z for the reading component when teaching the short vowel sounds. This unit helps introduce circle maps and tree maps if you use those in your class. You can see, this unit has just about everything you will need for teaching rime, word families, and medial vowel short i. The unit includes short i word searches, word boxes, sorts, graphing and a lot more!

Short i word search cut and paste circle maps tree maps

There are 3 easy games for students to play or for you to use in small groups or RTI. I racked my brain for a way to come up with a solution to pieces EVERY where because I know my weakness is keeping track of pieces to games! I also know some students will spend the entire time setting up a game and then they never get a chance to play. Kinders and Independent Game play were just 2 words that didn't go together at least for me this year (my 1st year in kinder). I have been brave lately and with more skills under their belt I have been teaching them to work with partners and play games. My disinterested students were interested and my lowest off-task learners were engaged so as much as I dislike noise and games I know I need them. The games in these units are simple enough and all the activities except the worksheets, students complete in pairs.

I'm limited on copies this year so printables that are not cut and paste are put into clear plastic sleeves in a binder and kids can choose to work on those in word-work. They tend to like working on them that way. I also pull the binders for kids to work on when I am working with kids in small group so they can work on the activities while each student reads to me.
I use the image below as a divider in the binders. Right now I have the short a and short i vowels ~~and will add the other vowels as we go~~ and the others are now added. Just click on any picture or HERE if you want to see the contents of the unit of close.

If you are looking for more challenging phonics and your kiddos have passed this level you can find the long i units spelled CVCe HERE and Long i spelled i, i_e, ie, igh, y, HERE.

I will be adding pictures of the binders and the games made with binding this week so bookmark me or sign up to receive updates through bloglovin.

Thanks for looking!

What a fun, crazy, hectic week!
Last week I spent 2 days at Dr. Appt.s for my son. He had broke his pinky but he ended up needing surgery with pins and a full cast to boot. All of that for his little pinky (his writing hand too). Needless to say I will be spending most of today helping him complete missed work from school. He is doing much better now - just B-O-R-E-D because of his limitations (still medicated in this picture). My poor little guy.

Yesterday was my husbands birthday. We spent the day at his friends place. I tried to take pictures but you just can't see the view I saw. It was gorgeous. We were sitting on a hillside overlooking the ocean with greenery all around. This place was tucked in the mountainside like a secret hideaway. It sat on 3 1/2 acres of pure greenery, lights strung across the trees, a rustic bar, and a bonfire. I felt like I was in a Pinterest Pin : ) . The White part in the picture on the left is the ocean,

Alright - So back to reality. Last week I put these reading response logs into a usable printable unit.
Here is the ~~reason~~ reasons I like these:

1) Kids are reading a book that is appropriate for their reading level. They can read a book you assign, a book from home or parents can read to them. So the reading is differentiated yet . . .

2)The kids are practicing a comprehension strategy. I pick the reading log that corresponds to what we have been working on in class. So it is their choice of book but practice is based of of what they are being taught.

3). Children are responding to reading through writing.

4). Application of sight words and grammar is integrated in their responses.

5) I send home one sheet for the entire week and I don't have to spend time making "homework packets (very important when you are limited on copies)."
6) Homework was simplified with more meaningful homework where children need the most practice - READING/WRITING/COMPREHENSION

I love these things. The kids LOVE them too! The Response logs are easily differentiated because children can read books at their level and of their interest.

I did not use these the first half of the year in kindergarten. I started using them in January. I always showed the children how to do these before they went home.
I love reading what they write. I really am not sure about homework in kindergarten but my district has homework in kindergarten this year. However, I would have used these in 1st grade and definitely 2nd. Most of all my kids complete these and turn these in on the following Monday. I always have them turn homework in on Monday to give them the weekend to make up work in case they had a day they couldn't complete it.

The unit has editable templates so you can type your newsletter to parents explaining the reading long and includes the Reading Response questions for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I have included several options including the one I send home now. Of course you can use your own too.

I suppose if you wanted, you could post sentence frames on the board and use these for write about reading in your Daily 5 rotations too. If you purchase this unit and you want something added or changed please email me. I will be happy add and adjust the unit.
You can check out the Unit HERE or click on any of the pictures and it will take you to it. Happy SUNDAY!

Here are some pictures from our Valentines Day Activities. I know it won't help you right now but bookmark it for next year. The kids always have so much fun and in kinder it is especially sweet since it is their first experience with Valentines and giving out cards. We always talk about being kind to each other in class and building friendships because YES - children can be MEAN! I can't stand it when they are mean to each other! So I love the sweetness this holiday brings out in them.

Click Here or on the picture below to get this FREEBIE.

I made the number line activity to give children more practice with counting and seeing how many actually made the number.

I had plenty of 1st grade Valentine activities but had to go looking for graphing that was more suited for kindergarten. I downloaded the graphing activities from "Pocketful of Centers" HERE. The kids loved it. It was easy for them to do and it is FREE too.

BE Kind Be Kind Be Kind Be Kind

So, I could have swore I had posted the "Be Kind" Social Stories that I use in my class but I scrolled through this blog and NOPE - I DID NOT. OOPS. I had made these social stories to go with the most common behaviors we all have and I actually made them to use with my kiddos. I haven't used all of them but we but I did use the excluding, teasing, and poking, and pushing story. I also just project the cause and effect charts on the board and I add the causes and effects as the children come up with the times it has happened to them. So HERE are the social stories if you need help with specific issues in your class. I love the images in this unit. There are writing activities for each social story and a few extra. If you use these I would love to hear how your class responds to them! I am a true believer in teaching kids how to respond and behave in situations.

Tonight ends our 4 day weekend - BOO HOO :( but I am sure glad we had it. I have been forcefully making myself finish several on-line self paced professional development courses which are all due by March 3rd. I am the worlds worse procrastinator. I MEAN the WORSE! I will do everything but the thing that I am suppose to be doing but it does get done. That is - as long as I am given a deadline. So between modules I took a break and finished this unit.

These started as mini-units but as I make more they are not so mini but at least the unit gives you options for word-work. This unit has the variant vowels oo as in book and roof. You can take a look in the preview if you click on the picture or HERE.

It's that time of year again. I want the rest of the year to go well and I want my students to learn as much as they can. I will be changing what I do and adding a reflection corner. I know we are all gearing up and getting ready to teach all those wonderful units on winter but don't forget the BEHAVIOR PIECE.

As some of you may know, I switched to a new school in a new district and a new grade. Everyone in the grade has to have the same rules posted and follow the same format sort of speak so - I DID. I am all for consistency and uniformity but it is just not working for the kids. We had to have the whole clip chart going with Good Day, Warning, Time-Out, etc. It was so disheartening for me. I was the newbie so I could not break the RULES and step on toes plus I need to keep my JOB! Anyhow, I am bringing this out after break. Yep - I am. Why? Because I believe in it and the clip chart does not work for those kids who are always moving their clip - and guess what? The other teachers in my grade level are talking about poor behaviors, not listening, students don't care. etc. and plan on revisiting routine and procedures when they get back. I will tell you right now that my hardest 3 4 kids - the behavior chart does nothing to help or change their behaviors. Here is my rundown.

Kid 1: My 1 (cute as a button) but oh so difficult child when it comes to following rules constantly was disheartened when he did not get a happy face at the end of the day. He said to me one day,"I just can't be good." So - there, I was done. Good-buy Chart! Again.

Kid 2: My other little guy (cute as a button too), shut down every time he moved his clip and stopped working. At the end of the day, he would say, "I superstar?" He honestly had no clue why he was not a superstar. He proceeded to say, "My dad is so happy when I Superstar." Okay, so my job is to help him get there and moving a clip doesn't address his issues.

Kid 3: My 3rd little guy struggles with doing the right thing and wants to but "walks the line" most of the time. Moving a clip doesn't help him either. He really needs to identify what his strengths and weaknesses are so he can put himself in good situations. He does fairly well in the classroom now because he knows I care, Outside the classroom - he struggles.

Kid 4: I almost left this little guy off. I just love this kid and he wants to do well all the time. He is so smart and caring and he is diagnosed ADHD and not on any medication. He is getting some help through a counselor to help him manage his impulsiveness. He just can't help it. Sometimes he talks so much his voice is almost gone by the end of the day and exhausts himself (bless his little heart). He cannot possibly be on the same expectations and consequences as everyone else. NO WAY. It would break his spirit and his love for school.

Okay - so you probably get my point here. If your chart works for you and your kids that's great but if you are still struggling with the same classroom issues - what's working, what's not? Try something different. As a matter of fact I am going to my work today to work on just the behavior piece for when the kiddos come back. I will not be putting up the clip chart. That is a component in case you just cannot keep up with tracking during the day. At the end of the day you can look at the chart for specific behaviors and mark them on your tracking sheet.

I added 30 reflection sheets like the pictures above. One to go with each symbol and at 3 different levels. Those will be completed in class or at home when I send the slip home (I will be adding editable slips for you to edit if needed). I also need to have a plan for students who continue to disrupt after non-verbal cues and removal from the group as a "silent participant." A silent participant is removed from the group (not to far) but still has to listen. They may not talk. I have a hand signal for this so that way I don't have to verbally tell the student and lose the pace and flow of instruction. Children don't lose valuable instruction this way either. Part of my plan is the reflection area (see below).

Here is a reflection piece too that has 30 pages for different levels if needed. Each one matches the symbol (sort of a re-thinking letter). Can be done at school or at home.

There are also ones that are blank with just the symbols for students who are not writing yet.

I won't be adding the nameplates at this time of year. Instead I will be putting up the symbols and we will use them as part of our "responsive classroom" in our morning meeting and part of the journal prompt. Here is how.

1. Post all symbols - Tell what each symbol is for.

2. Pick 1 for the focus. Introduce it.

3. Morning Meeting. We sit in a circle and in this case I would give a sentence stem for children to answer orally. Example. Kind. Why is it important to be kind? When someone is kind to you how does it make you feel? When someone is mean to you how does it make you feel? How can we show kindness to our friends? When someone cares, they are showing kindness - how can you show you care when you are working at your table? How do you show you care about yourself?

4. Children respond in complete sentences.

5. Since children just spent the time orally saying and expressing their thoughts, I have them use what they say to write it and draw a picture of it. Children can expand on this by adding an example. One time . . .

6. We then complete a social story that goes along with the sentence stem and prompt. I have a book with every social story possible and it is very effective. They were given to me by a high functioning autistic kid who was in my class and just happened to be the superintendents kid. I will check the name of the book that has these after I go to school in case you want to get them.

7. Repeat each day for each symbol and rotate weekly.

Talk about soft skills and meeting the Common Core - Young children need this so they know what responsibility, respect, and safe is and it helps build good character.

If I absolutely have to have a child take a time-out they will be going to a reflection area.

I will be using a unit by another teacher- Nikki Sabiston over at Teaching in Progress (posted below). I will be putting this together today too when I go in. I took a masters level professional development class in managing difficult behaviors and this is exactly what it talked about. PERFECT! SCORE! It's already made and I don't have to make it. YEA! She has great pictures of her set-up on her blog and as soon as I get mine set up I will take pictures and post them.

I think the biggest thing with any behavior system is to be organized, have a plan, and be consistent so children know what to expect.

Click on the Picture to take you to the Unit on TPT. Preview the download to see clearer images of those posted above.

You may want to follow my Behavior Management Pinterest Board too. It's a collection of things from various teachers - not just mine. Click the picture below and click follow.