I Just HEART him!

Saturday Specials (Formerly Known as Freebie Friday)

Hello out there! I am going to try SO SO HARD this summer to bring back FRIDAY FREEBIES... but I know I work most every Friday. So, we'll try our first SATURDAY SPECIAL!

I worked with teachers in North Dakota this week and it reminded me of things I have been meaning to share... probably promising to share all up and down the coast in numerous presentations. OOPS!

So here it is.  Nothing fancy really, but that's how I roll.  Speaking of roll, it's called ROLL and RESPOND.  It would find a nice home in a Write about Reading or Work on Reading Work Station.

You'll need to buy (or find in your classroom) at least two of these:

Or, go to Dollar Tree and find the cheaper and just as good version: 

Then use this SATURDAY SPECIAL to put in each of the sections.

 

Label the center FICTION or INFORMATIONAL text and put a die in the center!

VOILA!  Get your FREE copy here. Cheers!

Can We Get a Level Please?

As many of you know there are so MANY ways to level text.  For years we have tried to determine what is a frustrational, independent and instructional level for the students we teach. I recognize that the notion of instructional levels (and even Guided Reading) is being challenged currently (see Shanahan) but some teachers are still trying to wrap their heads around the idea. I know- 'cause I work with them all over the country.  So before we challenge the idea of levels in our teaching practices... let's get a common understanding of what exactly is being challenged.

So... frustrational level... kids are going to see it! They should see it! They should be struggling with it and doing close readings of it.  But that would be the text we use in our whole class settings and spend time repeatedly reading for a different purpose to better understand what the text says, how it says it, and what it means.  So... to do this... teachers are looking more closely at LEXILE levels.  You can use Scholastic Book Wizard to do this. You can check out the Lexile suggestions for grade levels.  It is a step in the analysis of complex text which would also be FRUSTRATIONAL for most of our students.

So what about independent? Teachers need to know this... students need to know this... but it is NOT THE ONLY DETERMINING FACTOR for text selection!  Did you hear that? Don't believe it? Spend some time with Donalyn Miller... Kylene Beers... Richard Allington... Kelly Galagher... do I need to continue? It's typically the STAR assessment teachers use to help them understand a student's "independent" level.  Keep in mind though... motivation matters more than level.
Kids who want to- will!

I guarantee you some of you reading this post have a higher reading level than me... if we both walked into a book store together and through a scanner that reported our "level" and I had to go one way to the 24.5 books and you got to go another to the 26.7 books... I'd be pretty darn sad.

So this brings me to INSTRUCTIONAL LEVELS... still very much alive and well... as they should be in classrooms.  There are a variety of ways to level out there... but I encourage us all to convert.

Convert your numbers (DRA perhaps) to Fountas and Pinnell.  Why? Because their work gives us the most information to guide our work at the teacher table!  If you haven't seen it yet... the Continuum of Literacy Learning may be one of the best resources and one-stop-shops for what we teach in each component of the Balanced Literacy Framework by grade level.

If instructional levels are confusing to teachers... imagine what they are like for parents???!!! Oy vey! So... we've got to be clear about what a "level" is at the Guided Reading table as educators and be able to communicate that information to families.

Does that sound like a good idea? If you've read this far, I'm assuming it's because you want to know what FREE tool Leach Teach is going to offer?

Well... here is it!  (gosh I use a lot of ...)

This is just the first page, but this document outlines the characteristics of each level A-Z as well as the behaviors to notice/support/teach a reader at each level.  I created this when I was part of the team at DC Public Schools and encouraged teachers to send the page at their child's level home for parents with report cards or progress reports.  Just a good and simple way to explain "levels" for everyone.  You can get your copy HERE!

*NOTE: When reporting reading levels to parents... remember to report their independent level... if parents don't know how to do Guided Reading/Strategy Lessons then they can't be told their child's instructional level.

See how complicated this all is???!!!

Happy Teaching, y'all!

Were You at the ASCD Conference?

What a great conference! Over 1,800 PK and Kindergarten teachers from across the state of IL and all over the country! I was honored to be a part of it and to help these great educators think more deeply about Guided Reading and Writer's Workshop on Day 1.
Day 2 we were in the land of Social and Emotional Development and some Tech Tools for Educators!

If you came to see me- comment and share something you learned! I will send you a FREEBIE! 

If you attended my Guided Reading session, we talked about prompts that support readers at the Guided Reading table and I promised I'd share the prompts (adapted from the work of Fountas and Pinnell) on my blog... so here you go... click here to download your copy!

If you're reading this, you know about Leach Teach (the blog), but have you found Leach's Literacy Training on Facebook? Give us a LIKE to know the latest links, freebies etc. in your news feed.

And find my Teachers Pay Teachers page- so much FREE stuff to explore!

Finally, I have Pinterest Boards... pin away!

It was so nice to meet you! See you again soon- ONLINE! 

Currently December

Have I really not blogged anything since November? Yep! There's this BABY in my house these days! I don't know where the day goes, but it's GONE! I have PLANS to blog for y'all! I have some more freebies that are my gift to you for Christmas- but I have a BABY with PLANS of his own! Plans to eat, and not sleep. Plans to poop and plans to cry! This is the hardest job in the world and I absolutely love that I get to be his mommy!

So.... Currently he is sleeping!

But that could all change at any moment!

Going to try and finish this blog post before he changes my PLANS!  

Listening: My husband got home from work (I'm on maternity leave still) and praise GOD he swoops in and takes my little one from me!  I welcome break.  They are both currently taking a nap on the couch! 

Loving: I would love time to just be still! Sip some tea (lactation tea of course)- but still- it sounds heavenly! 

Thinking: As I said above... any time I have to do something else... I wonder how long I'll actually have to do it! What a different 10 seconds can make these days.  They say to sleep when your baby is sleeping and that is certainly good advice- but I don't sleep on command! I'm not tired when he's sleeping. I'm tired when he's up and fussy and crying!!!! Of course!

Wanting: When I say make dinner- I mean heat up dinner that friends made for us! :) 

Needing: My husband's sisters are coming into town tomorrow. I had wanted to have my tree up... that's not going to happen.  Alas... 

Real or Fake: I grew up with a fake tree. Married my husband and he is a real tree kind of guy.  But some years, my husband is gone, so I don't have a tree at all. This year- it's gonna be real- if I can ever get him to go get it with me!

There you have it folks! If you don't hear from me again this month- Merry Christmas!!!! It may be NEW YEAR gifts/freebies I give you! :)

Currently November

November... I've been waiting 9 months for November and it is finally here! Also finally here is Baby Leach! Or should I say, Wyatt Douglas Leach! Douglas is my maiden name, and Wyatt is a perfect QB name or bull rider eh? He's perfect y'all! And like the Carrie Underwood song says, he's "everything I never knew I always wanted!" 

 

I am getting the hang of this motherhood thing and I am in HEAVEN!

So it's November... and I haven't done a currently in months!  So... here goes!

Listening: I have a BABY y'all! He is 13 days old! He's sleeping and I am constantly hearing him cry when he is not. So I am listening very intently to the baby monitor to make sure he's really crying before I go in there. I've gone in there a few times just to make sure he's breathing! #firsttimemom

Loving:  So I didn't just bring a baby home from the hospital- I brought home a DADDY! And such a good Daddy at that!  He is so hands-on. I've even called him a baby hog!  He is the swaddling expert, the sleeping expert, the diapering expert...if I wasn't breastfeeding- I fear I'd never get to hold him! Kidding! Well... kind of not!

Thinking: I've heard it, sleep when he sleeps, but you can't just SLEEP on demand. I am NOT doing laundry, or sweeping the floor or other stuff like that, but I might be eating, or showering, or doing a blog post. OK maybe that is not a good use of my waking time with a newborn- but it does makes me feel human.  He's fixing to go down in a few minutes and I'll be sleeping!  I know that I should... and I do... but not every time!

Wanting: I've never been someone who takes a lot of naps- I SLEEP for 8-10 hours! Well....that's not happening. The most I've been able to get is 3 hours! (Make that 3.5- thanks to last night)

Needing: My big outing today is to run to Target and get some "stuff" that we need.  Add to the list- every day there is something else that we add to the list not knowing that we would! :)  So.... he just went down for a nap... and I'm going to nap so I have energy for Target!

Yummy: I make a KILLER pecan pie!  Just writing about it makes me hungry. I think I need a snack before I take a nap.... bye y'all!

Guided Reading: Prompts for Comprehension

When teaching for strategy use, Fountas and Pinnell remind us that we should have a repertoire of strategies.  That is of course easier said than done.

Some of our strategies are at the word level when kids get stuck while reading.  Some however are at a larger text comprehension level.

If you don't have this repertoire- have no fear- you can print THIS and tape it to your table!

These prompts will help students go to a deeper level of text understanding as you coach for comprehension.

To get your FREE DOWNLOAD click here.

Cheers!

Get Your Work Stations ON

As promised... here are some new files to help you get your Work Stations on! Head over to my TpT store!

Need some Work Station signs?

Want to use a Work Board?

What about a Check Sheet? 

Want to read more about what I'm talking about... see other posts about Literacy Work Stations/Centers on Leach Teach!

Melissa

Friday Freebie: Question Collector

A comprehension strategy used by readers is asking questions- before, during, and after reading. Prior to being able to pull this off with ease in text, students need an opportunity to just practice asking questions and getting in an "inquiry" state of mind.

One idea that I'm sharing FREE with you here is a Work Station for practicing questioning- called Question Collector.  Students can get in the habit of asking questions with photographs before transferring this idea to text!

Simple. Easy. Effective.

Free you ask? Yep!
How do I get my copy? Click HERE! If you download it, please be sure to comment and FOLLOW my store too!

Happy FRIDAY FREEBIE!

Reading is Thinking

In Texas, teachers are required to teach explicit comprehension lessons.  The standards and expectations for these lessons can be found in our FIGURE 19 standards. Sounds like a top secret military instillation doesn't it? It's not! Instead- it is our goal to take what used to be TOP SECRET thinking and share it with students.  We used to keep all of our thinking secret- hidden- we wouldn't share it with students. Now, we have to!

One of the first lessons I use with students to assist in this kind of TOP SECRET comprehension instruction is Reading is Thinking: Creating a Reading Salad. This great idea came to me from Tanny McGregor's book Comprehension Connections.

When we read, we think! We think all kinds of things! Well... if we are proficient readers we do. Less proficient readers don't actually know that this is a "thing". They don't necessarily know that it is a good thing that readers do.  So it's time to TEACH!

You'll need:
A red bowl with the word THINKING written on it and red squares of paper inside
A green bowl with the word TEXT written on it and green squares of paper inside
Another large bowl (clear is preferred) where these papers will MIX
A text that you have read and prepared your thinking

Start Lesson:
Boys and girls, I want to talk with you today about something that happens when readers read. Readers think! While you are reading- there is another voice in your head- it's your voice- thinking! So I want to show you how this works today.  I'm going to show you how the words in the text make me think when I'm reading.

I'm going to show you that by making a reading salad.  So the words in the text (hold up green bowl) are like the lettuce. There's a lot of text just like there's a lot of lettuce in a salad.  Now look, the red (hold up the red bowl) that's when I'm thinking. Like tomatoes in a salad. Words in the text, will make me think different things. Let me show you what I mean. Watch- while the text and my thinking mix together like a salad.

Now you model! You have already prepared your text- every time you found yourself saying something in your head you'll tell kids about it.  "So... right here when the text said _______ (put in a green square) I thought _______ (put in a red square)." This continues until there's a lot of green and red in the salad bowl.

You can of course ask kids to participate after you model or you can save that for a later day. Perhaps the next day, you ask students to jot the words from the text and their thinking on red and green squares. Sharing in the conversation about the thinking that the text created for individual readers as a group.

Create an anchor chart- consider GLUEING students' read and green squares to onto the bowl.

This of course then leads to student independent work.  I've attached a FREEBIE for this! You can get your Reading Salad Recording Sheet HERE!  If you download it- I'd love your rating or your comment!

Happy Reading!