Fun in PreK-1 & Kinder

I'm FINALLY getting around to linking up for the new Daily 5 book study!  I was lucky enough to attend a training by the two sisters last fall, so I got a sneak peak of some of the content and was able to use some of the info to manage my D5 Literacy Block last year.  I've been dying to read the new edition ever since.  On to Chapter 1! I LOVE this quote from Regie Routman at the opening of the chapter: This chapter details both the two sisters' journeys from their first years of teaching (aka seatwork), through centers and workshops to the newest version of Daily 5.  The current Daily 5 is a great management system for your literacy block and is structured so that children can independently engage in authentic reading and writing tasks.  It's flexible , easily differentiated , and incorporates student choice . The teacher, on the other hand, has more time to give individualized instruction and spends less time managing behavior. ...

Hello again!  Back for Chapter 5!  You may be wondering, why does it take me so dang long to post for the book study?  Well my friends, it's because I am a slow professional book reader.  Back in college I read like a maniac and never absorbed my textbooks.  Now I read for meaning and always "code the text" so that I can find what I need in a flash later. And being the organizational freak that I am, I also have to use a highlighter and sticky notes that are color-coded to the book's cover.  :) Anyways, this chapter is my FAVORITE so far.  One thing I struggled with last year was getting my pre-kinders to write words in their stories.  Now I know how!  Here's what I took from this chapter: Do Lots of Interactive Writing!   I was pretty good at this.  We shared the pen on a regular basis all year long, right from the get-go!  Here's an example of a shared writing we recently completed:   For the fi...

I know I'm late again- I swear I have a good excuse!  (More about that later this week... my new header might give you a clue! )  But this morning I got a chance to catch up on my reading and am excited to share what stuck with me! Explicit Connections:  The connection between drawing lessons and illustrations in children's work must be made explicit!  "Remember how we learned how to [insert drawing mini-lesson]?  I'm going to do that today in my Drawing and Writing Book..." Notice the Craft of Drawing in Mentor Texts:  I LOVE the list of different things you can notice about illustrations in children's books!  I totally missed the boat on this one last year.  The only teaching point I ever really made (but which I believe is the most important one) was that writers use illustrations and words to tell the story .  Check out the full list in the freebie below- I'm going to stick mine in my writer's workshop/conferencing binder for ref...

I'm back for Chapter 3!  Sorry it's a day late, I had an interview yesterday and couldn't concentrate on anything else!  I'm getting observed this Friday for an hour before they make their final decision so PLEASE keep me in your prayers this week friends! Here's what stuck with me from Chapter 3: For young children, drawing is writing.   Drawing is how young children represent and understand meaning.  (For example, my students almost always first start making connections to text through illustrations.  Even now they tend to base predictions of books based more on the cover than the actual title). Drawing is an essential step in language development (particularly in connecting thought and speech). Drawing allows children to go deeper in their stories! I definitely need to teach about drawing next year.  It's the primary way in which my four year-olds communicate!  Frankly, I'm amazed they developed as much as they did considering I never...

I FINALLY got my book today and couldn't wait to start reading!  I just devoured Chapter 1 and am already inspired.  Here's what stuck with me... Start the year with Storytelling.   Um, big "Duh" moment for me!  Next year we are definitely going to set aside time for oral storytelling.  It makes perfect sense!  Don't we start teaching syllables, segmenting, blending and the like orally?  Why wouldn't you do the same with stories?  I can see how this will lead to great improvement next year in my students' writing.  All year long I couldn't understand how they could tell such detailed stories, but not translate those details to their writing- well duh , I need to teach and role-model the connection between the two! Writers tell stories about what they know.   This year I noticed my kiddos tended to write stories similar to books we had recently read, and I now know it's because I didn't spend enough time at the beginning of the ye...