First Day Lesson Plans for Reading Intervention Groups (Part 2)

Are you curious about how the first days in intervention or pull out groups go?  Make sure you check out post 1, by clicking here.  On the first post I shared what I do on the first day of pull out intervention. Perhaps a quick read through will help you get some ideas of your own....

Day one is all about about building relationships and teaching your new students the routines, procedures and agreements that are in place to maximize your time together. 

Day 2 is a review of the routines, procedures and agreements.  Reviewing and re-teaching expectations is important to keep your year running smoothly.  In fact....beyond the first few days in small group, I still review...especially after a long weekend or a holiday break.

One effective way to review behavior expectations is having students brainstorm what a "ready to learn" student looks and sounds like using a t-chart.   Younger students can draw pictures, or teachers can scribe as students share their answers.  Older students can write bulleted lists with a partner, and then share whole class.  

After the reviewing classroom expectations, I continue to build the culture I want to have in my classroom by reading Our Class is a Family by Shannon Olsen. 

This is a great read to build a sense of community within your small group.  It helps the students learn that our classroom will be a place that is safe to be themselves, make mistakes and be a good friend to others.  

After reading the story, we stop to dialogue about how we are classroom family even though we aren't related.  Students share what makes them special and unique, and we make a commitment to be loving family members. 

Our Class is a Family flows right into making a collaborative class puzzle.  I use the free collaborative class puzzle from TeachEZY on Teachers Pay Teachers.  

I explain that individual puzzle pieces are all beautiful and unique.  Each piece has different shapes, colors, patterns and prints....but it takes ALL of the puzzle pieces to create one stunning, complete image.   The puzzle is just like our classroom family---one complete, amazing picture and the pieces are each of you--wonderfully unique!

Next, each student gets a blank puzzle piece which they decorate to represent themselves.  I love seeing their creativity and passions on paper!

While students are working on their puzzle pieces, I take the opportunity to complete some diagnostic testing.....because small group instruction will be happening the next day! 

What do the first days of your small groups look like? 

First Day Lesson Plans for Reading Intervention Groups (Part 1)

Are you curious what the first few days of reading intervention groups look like?

To be honest, the first few days are not a whole lot different than the first days in the classroom.  

The first moments with your new students (whether in small group or the whole class) are all about building relationships and teaching your new students about the routines, procedures and agreements that are in place to maximize your time together. 

It's important for students to know about who they are spending their days with.  Just like we want to know about all of the sweet faces in our room, those sweet faces want to know about us too! So, I always start the first day with a PowerPoint about me. I share slides of my family and favorite things

During the quick presentation, I always stop and ask students to share what they like.  Students might orally share to the whole group, or with a shoulder partner. 

After the presentation, we go over our classroom agreements.  Yep---agreements--not rules.  Rules, according to Merriam Webster, are the laws or regulations prescribed by a founder for observance of its members.  In other words, rules are imposed.  Rules are put into place by someone with power who is "above the people."  They are made for compliance and punishment.

BUT....an agreement is an arrangement that is accepted by all parties.   Agreements are negotiated and set for a purpose of collaboration.  

After thinking about these two terms, I decided I wanted my classroom to be a place where we ALL work together.  I didn't want my classroom to be run like a dictatorship.  So, I changed from rules to agreements. 

If you want to learn more about how we set classroom agreements, check out this post by clicking here, or the image below. 

Then, we dialogue about what an active listener is. I use this awesome little freebie I found on TPT from Picking Up STEAM with Mrs Owens, where students cut, glue or write all of the characteristics of an active listener.  It is a great visual!

After that, we go over student jobs.  I know small groups have few students in them, but having jobs is crucial for keeping the group running smoothly and sharing responsibility. 

Since my group size runs from two to four students,  I only have four jobs: line leader, door holder, teacher aide and clean up crew. 

Finally, I end the first day of small group by handing out a fun treat! This year I used goldfish crackers, with a tag attached that said this is "oFISHally going to be the best year ever!"

You can get your hands on these treat tags (plus NINE other options) by clicking the image below!  They are great for open houses, back to school nights or the first day of school!

Want to know what Day 2 of reading intervention groups looks like? Come back next week for a peek of what the second day entails!

Using Poetry to Support Struggling Readers

Did you know the use of poetry in the classroom has been on the decline in recent years? (Gill, 2007)

This statistic makes me sad, because poetry is a fantastic tool to use in the classroom--especially for struggling readers! 

Below are four reasons why poetry is PERFECT to use with students with reading difficulties.

1. Less Text

Struggling readers often get overwhelmed when they see a long text passage or story, which makes the concise format of a poem less stressful.  The text of a poem is often shorter, and the use of stanzas (groups of lines within the poem) chunk text on a frequent basis.    

Chunked text, and less of it, reduce the overwhelm a struggling reader might feel.  In addition, less text means a greater likelihood a struggling reader will be able to master the text more quickly.  Experiencing reading success is a great confidence booster! 

2. Build Phonological Awareness Skills

Did you know problems with phonological awareness have been identified as a major cause of reading difficulties? (Share, 2011)  Phonological awareness skills are ESSENTIAL  in order to become a successful reader, as they are the anchor to written words.  

Awareness of the sounds in spoken language is required to learn letter-sound correspondences; to blend sounds together to decode a word; and to "map" words into long-term sight vocabulary. (Kilpatrick, 2015)   
When teachers use poetry in the classroom, students will be building their PA skills.  Students will be hearing rhymes, alliteration and syllabication. 

Also, many poems lend themselves to the exploration of individual phonemes which helps build phonemic awareness. Make sure to check out Playing with Poetry to Develop Phonemic Awareness by Mary Jo Fresh, a professor of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University.  In this quick read, Fresh provides a variety of teaching ideas that would be easy to try in you classroom!

Phonological Awareness work in action! When students heard a word that ended with a long o sound--they highlighted it.

3. More Opportunities to Read 

The more we can get text in front of a student--the better!  Poetry is often rehearsed and then performed--which is ideal for repeated readings.  Struggling readers need lots and lots and lots of opportunities to interact with text.  Rehearsal of poetry is an authentic way to provide those opportunities.

Repeated Readings don't have to be boring! Students could work with a partner, read the poem in a silly voice or record themselves reading the poem.  Vary the way students re-read to increase engagement. 

4. Increased Engagement 

I can vividly remember the first time I heard a Shel Silverstein poem.  I was in the fourth grade and my teacher, Ms. Child's read from Where the Sidewalk Ends.  I was immediately hooked!  On my next trip to the library, I checked out every Shel Silverstein book available!

 And...that's all it takes to hook a reader......one exposure!

As teachers, we want to foster the love of reading in our students.  Unfortunately, learning to read is REALLY hard work for struggling readers!  And...when something is hard--we don't often enjoy it.  

But, poetry.  Poetry is different.  It has that "something special" that kids crave!  

Do you want more reasons why poetry is perfect for a student who struggles to read?  Check out this article from literacy expert, Timothy Rasinski titled What's the Perfect Text for Struggling Readers?  Try Poetry!

Now.....lets go turn that statistic around and start using more poetry in our classrooms!

Nonsense Word Fluency Part 3: Instructional focus for each stage of word reading

Welcome to the final post in the three part series about nonsense word fluency!  Today we will spend time on the instructional focus for each stage of word reading. But....before we jump to that, lets remember two important things. 

1. We know that giving students a nonsense word fluency assessment is important!  If you don't know, then read part one in this series by clicking here. This will tell you all the reasons why nonsense word fluency assessments are crucial.

2. We know the three stages of word reading are sound by sound, partial blends and whole word reading. Want more information about that?  Then click here to check out part two of this blog series which defines the three stages.

So....what exactly should the instructional focus at each stage of word reading be?   

When students are in stage one: sound by sound reading, teachers should first make sure that students are accurate at the letter sound level.  Teachers can do this by doing a simple letter sound assessment. Download a free assessment from Reading Rockets by clicking here. If students are not accurate at the letter sound level, more instruction should be given to letters and sounds.  

If a student IS accurate with letters and sounds, instructional time should be spent on onset and rime.  For example in the word /cat/, students should first identify and say the rime /at/ and then add the onset /c/ to the rime.  

It is great practice to have students spot the vowel and then blend to the end.  For more ideas check out this blog series on stopping sound by sound reading.  

When students are in stage two: partial blends, teachers should make sure students are accurate with partial blends.  If students are not accurate, make sure they have a mastery of short vowels and all letter sounds and keep working on spotting the vowel and blending to the end. 

If students ARE accurate, instructional time should be spent on getting students to do rime reading inside their brain.  Ask students to silently blend the onset and rime and then produce the whole word aloud.  You may sound like a broken record, "Tony great job sounding out that rime and onset, but try doing it inside your brain on the next word."   

When students have achieved stage three: unitizing the whole word, it is imperative you make sure students are accurate at this level.  If students are inaccurate instruction should focus on accuracy with partial blends and rime/reading done in the reader's brain. 

If the student is accurate at this level his/her instructional focus should be on automaticity and fluency in connected text.  This means reading, reading, reading!

Nonsense Word Fluency Part 1: Why Nonsense Words?

Many benchmark screeners and curriculums require teachers to administer nonsense word fluency (NWF) tests to their students.  I often hear, "Why do they have to read these silly words---I want them to be reading REAL words!"  Or kids will say, "I would do better if these words were real!"   I must admit...I WAS one of those teachers.  BUT, that was before I understood the purpose behind these assessments and what I could learn from the data. So, what exactly do these tests tell us, and why are they so important?

What do these tests tell us?

NWF tests measure a students ability to decode individual phonemes and then blend the phonemes together to read.  These assessments are a great indicator of a students progression with alphabetic principal, or the understanding that letters and spoken sounds have a systematic and predictable relationship.  Data from these assessments will give a teacher a window into where the student falls on the phonics continuum. 

Lets take the example below.  John is reading sound by sound (the dashes below each letter tell us this) and he is having difficulty with short vowels and letter reversals for b and d.  Specifically he is having trouble with short vowel a and e. 

NWF tests are particularly important because it will TRULY show you if a student has a phonics skill mastered and if they are able to apply it in word reading.  If we were to give students word reading assessments with real words, we may get a lot mastery "false positives" for phonics skills.  In real word assessments students may have already been exposed to the word or have it memorized.  

Additionally these tests tell us what stage of word reading students are at.  Are students reading sound by sound, partial blends or unitizing?  We will explore what each of these stages mean in a later blog post--so stay tuned!

What do I do with the data?

These assessments should pinpoint where a student needs instruction. In the example above, the teacher should work with John on b and d letter reversals and short vowels.

An NWF assessment may also prompt the teacher into giving a further diagnostic.  For example if the student does really poorly he or she will need letter sounds and naming (if using a cvc NWF).  If a student makes zero mistakes, maybe a harder NWF should be given, or a phonics screener to determine an area of focus.  

Once you have determined the starting place for the student (either though an additional diagnostic, or through information collected from the NWF) its time to plan your instruction.

Instruction should be direct, explicit and have many opportunities for the student to practice at the word, sentence and decodable passage level.  For ideas on direct and explicit instruction check out some of these blog posts below:

Mastering Short Vowels

At a Loss For Words

After the students have had sufficient practice administer another NWF test with the instructed upon skill to determine if they have reached mastery. 

There is lots more to explore with nonsense word fluency!  I will be exploring the following topics during this blog series......so come back for more learning!

Part 1: Why Nonsense Words? 

Part 2: The three stages of word reading

Post 3: The instructional focus for each stage of word reading

Stopping Sound by Sound Reading: Part 3

Welcome to part three in a four part series on how to stop sound by sound reading!

Throughout the series I will be explaining the three lesson components you need to stop sound by sound reading: phonemic awareness, orthographic mapping and decoding. Part 1  detailed what happens inside a sound by sound reader's brain.  You can read it by clicking here.  Part 2 discusses the importance of phonemic awareness.  You can read it by clicking here.

For part 3 we are discussing orthographic mapping.

Orthographic mapping is the process of forming links from sounds to letters or letter combinations.  For example lets take a word such as sit.  "Sit" is most likely already in a our phonological lexicon (we have heard it, we've said it and we most likely know the meaning). When we see the word sit our brain will (very quickly) break apart the word into individual phonemes /s/ /i/ /t/ and then know that sit is made up of three sounds /s/ /i/ /t/.  When a word is orthographically mapped in your brain, you are able to instantly recognize the word.  When that word is instantly recognized it now becomes a sight word--we know it by sight.

One quick item to note is that often teachers talk about "sight words," but they are really reffering to high frequency words.  High frequency words (Dolch or Fry) are important as these words appear frequently in text, but they aren't truly sight words unless they have been orthograpchially mapped.  Distinguishing betwen the two terms is important.....but perhaps that is another blog post. :)

Orthographic mapping requires advanced phonemic awareness (changing, manipulating and deleting sounds from words), letter sound knowledge and phonological long term memory.  So how do we help kids orthographically map???

Firstly, students must have letter sound mastery.  Early childhood educators are amazing at this, and there are tons of great resources to help students remember alphabetic principal.  Check out this list of great tips from Reading Rockets. 

Secondly, students must be systematically and explicitly taught phonics.  This means students should be directly taught phonics in a highly structured and carefully sequenced manner.  Educators should start from the simplest concepts and advance to skills that are more complex.  Direct instruction should comprise of the instructor defining the concept, modeling it, guiding students through applicaiton and then provide extended opportunities for students until mastery is achieved.  The graphic below, from 95% group, illustrates a great sequence of phonics skills. 

Thirdly,  students need direct instruction and practice on common letter confusion (b/d, p/q, was/saw, etc.).  Linda Farrell has a great resource on her website Readsters to help with common letter and common word confusion.  Check out this short video of her modeling it below!


I have to admit devoting time each day to fixing common letter confusions was a big aha for me!  I had always helped students when it happened organically in text (i.e a student would read bad for dad and I would reference the bed visual haning on my markerboard)---but I never did it as a daily intervention.  Now--I have it incorporated into my daily routines to help students rewire their brain!!

Fourthly, students need to to be taught irregular high frequency words to mastery.  Irregular words are words that can't be phonetically decoded.  Linda Farrell calls them "heart words," because you just have to know them by heart. Here are a few examples:

The best way to teach irregular words is to make instruction multi-sensory.  Have students air write,  arm tap, table write, or rainbow write the word as they say the letters and then recite the word. This website has a few video examples of how to do that with your students. Check it out by clicking here.

See you next time for part four: decoding!

Stopping Sound by Sound Reading: Part 1

Do you have or have you had a student that is a sound by sound reader?

You know.....the child that sounds out each letter of the word before blending (hopefully correctly) all of the sounds together to form a word?  I certainly do. I certainly have quite a few students who read this way.

You want to know something great??? I am about to help you STOP sound by sound reading and move your students to unitizing and whole word reading!!

I must admit I **used** to think this was a good  okay thing when students read sound by sound.  Sure it didn't sound the greatest....but at least they were able to say the letter sound correctly.  Also, if a student made a mistake,  I would be able to quickly identify which sound (beginning, medial, or final) the student struggled with.  I honestly was A-OK with sound by sound reading.......UNTIL....I heard Linda Farrell speak on how to stop sound by sound reading.

Side note: if you don't know who Linda Farrell is....you should research her and her work.  She is amazing! :) Make sure to check out her videos on Reading Rockets and her website Readsters!



Anyway.....the brain works SO MUCH HARDER when you read sound by sound, than if you unitize.

Let's take a simple CVC word and see exactly what the brain of a sound by sound reader does.

Step 1: see the whole word in print
Step 2: see the initial letter
Step 3: say the sound of the initial letter
Step 4: hear the sound of the initial letter
Step 5: hold the sound of the initial letter
Step 6: see the whole word
Step 7: see the medial letter
Step 8: say the medial letter sound
Step 9: hear the medial letter
Step 10: hold the sound of the medial letter
Step 11: see the whole word
Step 12: see the final letter
Step 13: say the sound of the final letter
Step 14: hear the sound of the final letter
Step 15: hold the sound of the final letter
Step 16: Take all of the held information, blend and say the word

WOW....look at how much work the brain of a sound by sound reader is doing!!  AND....that is a simple CVC word.  What about a word that is 4 sounds or 5??  Check out the graphic below to illustrate the steps.

It seriously was a light bulb moment for me when I saw that graphic. I had never realized how much extra the brain works when you say the sound of each letter before blending them all together.  As a comparison....check out the graphic below of a proficient reader.

A proficient reader is able to see the word in text, think of the word and say the word.  A proficient reader's phonological processor and orthographic processor are working efficiently and simultaneously....which is what we want all kids to achieve.

So the next logical question is how do we stop sound by sound reading?!?  According to Linda Farrell to stop sound by sound reading every intervention lesson must include three things: phonemic awareness, orthographic mapping and decoding.

I will explore each of these three components in upcoming posts....so stay tuned!

Part 1: what is a sound by sound reader
Part 2: Phonemic awareness
Part 3: orthographic mapping
Part 4: decoding

The power of LETTER TILES

Happy Monday everyone!

I am sure many of you are enjoying your day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but not me.....we have a teacher in-service today. Joy!

I honestly am surprised we are having it, because before the weekend even hit meteorologists were predicting the "Great Icepocalypse of 2017."  Supposedly we were supposed to have multiple waves of debilitating ice which would down power-lines, prevent driving and cancel EVERYTHING.

Did we get this ice.....Nope!  All we got was rain.....so there goes the day off I was hoping for.

Anyway...I can't really complain.  At least I have power at my house.....

Thanks to the rainy weather, I was able to stay home all weekend and put the finishing touches on my newest TPT products.....letter tiles! :) I am pretty excited about them! :)

Click the picture above....which will take you to my TPT store where you can download the letter tiles freebie! :) 

Most K-2 reading programs contain letter tile kits, which is amazing!  Letter tiles are A MUST when students are just learning how to read and spell.

These precious tiles allow students to manipulate the letters and sounds in words. AND building words takes on a multi-sensory approach.  We all know these little babes need to be able to do hands on exploration.

The kits at my school look like this:

Consonants are in yellow, and vowels are in pink for easy identification.    The dots at the bottom are "sound dots."  When students are spelling the word "dog", the teacher asks  "whats the first sound," and the student responds "/d/" and places the matching letter tile on sound dot one.  When the word is completely built, students point and say each sound and then say the whole word.  It is a pretty fantastic routine.

Not only do letter tiles provide many opportunities for students, it also affords endless opportunities for teachers to get students interacting with letters, sounds, word building, etc.  The ideas for letter tiles are endless!

Now...not everyone has access to letter tiles, or letters....especially teachers of older grades....so my newest product makes letter tiles accessible to everyone!  Whoop!  Just print, cut and your kiddos are ready to go!

My motivation for these product came from my  DESPERATE need for tiles that included advanced vowels, consonant+le, r control vowels, etc.  I wanted the older kiddos I have to be able to manipulate sounds in words, without running out of tiles and I also wanted them to see the words in chunks.  Many of the kits that are sold do not include these advanced word building concepts....thus I had to create my own.  My kids have loved it!

Click the pictures below to take you to TPT to download whichever tile set you need....and don't forget to download the freebie above!

Monday Made It: Connect 4!

I am always on the lookout.......or racking my brain to try and think of fun and engaging games to play with my fifth and sixth graders to review phonics skills.

Now.....If I can find (or create) a game that requires little prep.....even better!

So......today I am linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for a Monday Made It, because I want to share an easy, no-prep, fun and engaging game that I just made :)

Connect 4 is a REALLY easy game to prepare, play and adapt to various needs--but better yet the kids love it!  In fact.......my kiddos request it!

Prep and setup is super easy!  Basically all you need is one game board per pair of students, markers or chips to cover the squares and a six-sided die.  I laminate or put my game board in plastic sleeves so my kids can use dry erase markers--but either way works!

As far as how to play....well....Connect 4 is just like the old fashioned game......except on paper!

1. Player A rolls a die and chooses any open word underneath the number they rolled.  Player A must read the word chosen correctly.
2. Player B then rolls the die and repeats the same process.
3. If a player rolls a "6," he or she gets to erase (or take a chip off) one of his or her opponents words.
4. If there are no open spots in the numbered column, they player loses a turn.
5. Play continues until a player gets four in a row (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal)

Basically once you have one connect four template.....you can create endless games.  I plan on making lots more....but so far I have created a  Connect 4 game one for digraphs, the advanced vowel team oy/oi, the R controlled vowel team or, ar, and advanced vowel teams ee, ou, oa.

Check them out if you have a chance....or create some of your own!  Like I said---they are easy to make and super fun for kids!!

Comprehension Website--Read Theory!

I don't know about you all......but I feel as though the world wide web is lacking in quality reading websites. Not that there isn't any great sites....but it seems as though all of the quality websites available only cater to K-2 aged students as opposed to the upper elementary-middle school grades. These K-2 sites are awesome for kids learning how to read, but I want a website to reinforce and supplement reading comprehension!

Well I may have found it...... (thanks TPT forums!)

A while back, I briefly blogged about the website called Read Theory.  Yo can read the quick post by clicking here.

I love this FREE comprehension website, and I pinky swore I would write a more in-depth blog post about it.  Well...fast forward 2 months....and I am finally ready to blog about it! Sheesh.....time flies, right?!?

Anyway.... Read Theory is a wonderful free educational tool.  Once teachers set up a class, their students instantly gain access to thousands of leveled reading passages.

Teachers have the ability to set each students initial reading level, which ensures each student starts with text that is appropriate for them!

As the student progresses through the program, Read Theory adapts the student's reading level. Meaning....if a student scores 90% or higher on a quiz, their reading level goes up and passages get harder.  If a student scores 70-89% on a quiz, their level remains the same, thus passages remain the same.  The level will decrease if the student scores 69% or less, consequently passages will decrease in difficulty.

A student's reading level progression graph. This student started out at a third grade reading level and has progressed to the sixth grade! :)  Yay!

The program basically runs itself!  YES!!!!

Oh..... and teachers receive TONS of valuable data!!!  DOUBLE YES!!!!

Read Theory  gives you two types of data: whole class and individual.  All results are based on mastery of common core skills.

 

This is a whole class snapshot of reading level progressions.  Each blue bar represents a student.  Three data points are reported: initial reading level, current reading level and average reading level. 

Picture is another whole class snapshot on common core standards.  If the class average rises above 80% the bars turn green, if an average falls below 70% the bars turn red. 

For individual student data, Read Theory provides the teacher with a detailed record on each passage and quiz a student has taken.

If you click on the the blue quiz number on the right side of the screen (see picture below), you are able to read the exact passage and questions the student was given.  It also provides the teacher with the how the student answered each question, (i.e. whether they got a question right or wrong.)

Talk about awesome data---and great information for student-teacher conferences!!

Another helpful piece of data is the individual report on how students are progressing in terms of common core skill mastery.
 

So obviously the teacher gets lots of feedback.....BUT....what about the students?!?!

Don't worry---they get tons of feed back too.  AND--it is instant!

While taking a quiz, if a student answers a question incorrectly.... Read Theory helps them discover why....

See this website is pretty great, isn't' it! AND...its for older kids!  WAAAHOOO!

Now....I must admit that not all of my students are motivated (insert big gasp).....so I try to sweeten the pot a little by having a simple little contest.  And it is simple. Very simple!  

I have a little spot on my marker board that says "Leaders." 

Fancy, huh?!?

Every two weeks, the top three leaders get a prize.  Sometimes they get a mini-pop, a bag of popcorn or even 10 minutes of free-time.   

This simple little contest really motivates my kiddos.....not only does it motivate them to read more passages in order to take more quizzes, but it also motivates them to do well.  If a student does well, Read Theory awards bonus points. 

Keeping track of the leaders is super easy, because Read Theory does that for me.  All I have to do is look up how may points each of my students has scored in the last two weeks.....and update my board! 

I hope you get a chance to check out the website......let me know if you have any questions!

Katie