Reading in my classroom~ All About Tuesday
We started off reading today finishing up our vocabulary words. We only had four left to go. Our regular vocabulary routine was in action {1- say the word, 2- clap the word, 3-show me the syllables on your fingers}. Of course, we still hit on some phonics skills during this time.
Out of these words, I stressed the /ee/ in speech which was a skill last week and the -ed on shocked. What three sounds can -ed make and what does it mean to have -ed on the end of a word? I’ll be honest, a handful of my kids have “caught on” to my phonics questions and can pretty much shout out an answer before I even ask the question! Hey, at least they are paying attention and KNOW the skill:)
And then it was time to use these words a little bit!
I try to have students up and moving about every 10-15 minutes, if not more frequently. They need to move, they need to talk, I do NOT expect them to sit and be quiet. Today, we practiced determining if an animal was enormous or not. Students simply stood on their tippy toes if the animal was enormous and sat on the ground if the animal was not. Super quick, easy way to get them moving yet still practicing a word.
On Tuesdays, we begin to hit on our reading skill of the week! This week, it is all about cause and effect. This is a skill we have already hit on. You might be thinking, “A printed anchor chart?” Yes, since it is a review and since I only have 25-30 minutes to hit many items in whole group reading, there isn’t always time for a big anchor chart. It’s normally something super quick using the ELMO. I’m a firm believer in getting the most “bang for my buck.” It is also the reason I am implementing interactive notebooks in reading!
Students wrote what a cause and an effect is on the top flap. We then read the little “story” and highlighted the cause {green} and effect {pink}. This was a super quick way to practice cause and effect. Under the flaps, students wrote the cause and effect.
On Tuesdays, instead of silent reading as I begin LLI, students normally partner read the basal story of the week. Before they did this today, students joined their own little “groups” to practice a ‘lil cause and effect. You may be asking, “groups?” Yes, more than likely you’ll find about 3-5 students in my room working together. As long as they are all working, no copying, and collaborating, I let it go. I’m amazed when they do work in “groups” together, honestly.
We always partner read the basal story at least 2-3 times per week. Why? Many of my students came to second grade reading well below grade level. During this time, I partnered below level kiddos up with a stronger reader.
Students need many exposures to the basal story, not just the one time they hear me read it, regardless of if it is on their level or not. Now that many of my students are close to being on grade level, I no longer “pick” their partners on a regular basis.
Let’s break it down what we learned today.
-4 vocabulary words learned
-1 voc. “quick check” using the voc. word enormous
-Quick phonics lesson {/ee/, -ed}
-Syllables
-Cause and Effect review with guided/modeled instruciton
-Cause and Effect independent work (we will discuss it tomorrow)
-Partner Reading {basal story}
Even though I’m not sharing small groups this week, I wanted to show you how I “throw in” a skill of the week into our groups. Cause and effect is the main skill we discuss for each book, that way students are getting constant exposure all week. We also do some quick high frequency word practice using flash cards. I also through in phonics lessons/practice during the flash cards:) I also add in the phonics and/or grammar skill of the week into groups. If I didn’t, we simply wouldn’t have enough time to get enough exposure to be successful!
Compound words is our phonics skill of the week.
We have already hit it THREE times in two days.
The center in the middle is out of my Merry & Bright Unit. Students were working in pairs to determine if a compound word was real or not. I love using a center during groups for quick assessment/reteaching opportunity. Next week, this will be one of their center options! Yep, I’ve already taught the center so there are no questions and students can be successful! I call that a win:)
All cause & effect interactive sheets can be found in Officer Buckle & Gloria.
