NewsELA: FREE Resource

Hey y'all... I am blogging from 30,000 feet... or something high like that.

When I fly, I read blogs, I search Pinterest, I do things I don't seem to have time to do when I am living my "regular life".

And at 30,000 feet I have a new resource for you! Don't you just LOVE free and easy?

Here it is folks...

Do you know about ?

It's a site for FREE informational texts!  Get it- News ELA?

Not only are there news articles that will be interesting to kids...

But there is this handy dandy differentiator for Lexile Levels too! Imagine the possibilities! 

And look at that cute little printer function... you guessed it! It shines it up and makes it ready for the copy machine too! 

Hot DOG!  

Happy Monday! 

Curently January

It's January (almost)!  We are in Michigan with family and have settled in for a rocking New Year's party- which will consist of watching the ball drop in our PJs!   We've never been big "go out on New Year's" people and this year will be no different.

I'm hooking up with Farley for her monthly Currently! Some months it's the only time I blog!

LISTENING: It is switching between the news and football! I will admit, I don't watch enough news- so the "year in review" show is really helpful! #that'sembarassingtoadmit

LOVING: We've had two weeks off work- two- glorious- fun-long-weeks home in Michigan! When we were leaving town, I made it a point to enjoy the time away! I even deleted work email from my phone! Being with my family has been wonderful! We spent the first half of the vacation with my in-laws and the second half with my parents.  I even got to see my BFF! Life has been good on vacation!

THINKING: Everyone knows that traveling is fun, but going home is always good! We will get a few days at home and still on vacation and I can use that time to unpack, put Christmas away, do the laundry, and just enjoy the remaining hours of this amazing vacation.  Have I told you I got two weeks off?  Sunday is going to be very depressing!

WANTING: So I got a new car for Christmas- and we took that car home with us to Michigan. Granted, it saved gas money, is much more comfortable than my husband's truck and it is better equipped to ride in the elements that Michigan presents... but it was a BRAND NEW CAR! And now it has dog hair in it... and snow in it... and it's just dirty! Thank goodness the husband promised me he would clean it if I allowed us to take it!  So that is what HE will be doing on Sunday!

NEEDING: This is about the time of a vacation where I start to think about the things I need to do when I get home. But I'm going to try not to think about it and will just enjoy some more time to sit in a chair and read a book! I did a lot of reading this vacation! Yay!

YES, MAYBE, I WISH: Pretty sure we have a ski trip planned for Spring break... and we are talking about taking our boat to the Bahamas again... in a dream world... I'd go back to Europe! Anywhere in Europe would be fine with me!

It's going to be a blessed New Year! Full of blogging... full of Leach's Literacy Training... and full of fun!

Wishing you a wonderful New Year! How do you celebrate?

Like Us on Facebook

Hey y'all! I hope you are enjoying some quiet time after the Christmas rush! I sure am! Today is going to be spent in my jammies! I am catching up on email, writing thank you notes, doing a few blog posts, and adding a few FREE files to Teachers Pay Teachers!

I wanted to check in with y'all to make sure you have LIKED Leach's Literacy Training on Facebook! Sometimes I don't have time to make a blog post, but will post things on Facebook instead!

Please take a second...
Click here... and LIKE us! 

New Year's Resolution- more blogging- and more FREE stuff for great teachers like YOU!

What's not to like about that? 

Merry Christmas Y'all!

Math Talk

I am preparing for another training! And can you believe it- it's a MATH training! We will be applying what we know about Reading and Writing Workshop and Guided Reading to create a Math Workshop in classrooms in Lake Dallas ISD!

I made a file for those teachers and thought I would share it here with you too!   Math classrooms, should float the learning on a sea of talk. And we all know, that it is no longer about the "right" answer, but rather the right thinking! Teachers need to ensure this kind of mathematical talk occurs.  And better yet, hearing students prompt one another in this way.

Many of you have my Prompts to Support Independence at the Guided Reading table. These could be Prompts to Support Mathematical Thinking.  Teachers could use these at the small group table or post on the white board and refer to them as they think through math work as a whole class.

Get yours now- for FREE in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store!

Want to explore Guided Math over the holiday? Here are a few of my favorite websites...

https://guidedmath.wordpress.com/

This is Nikki Newton’s blog- a place to talk about Guided Math

http://tunstalltimes.blogspot.com/2013/11/guided-math-in-first-grade.html

Ideas for Guided Math in Frist Grade (pictures galore)

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=385384

There is much to be found on this Guided Math Live Binder

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=417520

Hold onto your hats- another great Live Binder

And of course the books...

Merry Christmas y'all!

Currently

Hey y'all! Yes... it's DECEMBER! And a cold 1st day of December in Texas too! I'm joining up with teachers all over the country for Farley's currently. You should too.

Listening: What happened to the good old days of raking? Seriously... that sound is SO.ANNOYING.

Loving: I did! I have to admit I wasn't really as excited this year as I usually am. It felt more like a task on the to-do list, but once I got started, I was glad I did it.  I had to get it decorated! 25 24 days until Christmas people! WHAT? That is CRAZY!

Thinking: We had an entire week off for Thanksgiving and I will tell you it was heavenly! I didn't even take my work computer home (OK- so I took it home, but I did not open it/turn it on once). It was amazing and much needed. Now of course I'm right back at it again! Education is so exhausting y'all! 

Wanting: I have to BUY said presents yet, but wrapping presents is my absolute favorite thing to do! I'm sure that will change when I have kids- and there are a ZILLION to wrap!A friend of mine had a brilliant idea- Santa presents are not wrapped! That would save a lot of time/work right? Maybe I'll do that someday. No! This is not the announcement that there are kids on the way! 

Needing: There's like no time between holidays this year. Is it always like that? It just feels rushed this year.  We got home from Thanksgiving- and in two more weekends, we are leaving again! I have to get a tree-and SOON- or it won't be worth all the work to put it up! But husband was hooked to the TV watching football yesterday, and a Christmas Tree is just not on his list of needing right now.

Giving: You know it's always FREE! If you haven't been.... please... the GIVING is GOOD! 

Support at the Guided Reading Table

Hey y'all, I am preparing for a training on Monday and in doing so, I found a file that I think will help a lot of teachers at the Guided Reading table!

Across the county, we have round tables in our classrooms, we have leveled book rooms full of sets of books, and we call kids for a small group lesson we call Guided Reading.  What I've come to figure out however, is that this just LOOKS like Guided Reading, it doesn't mean it IS Guided Reading.

The difference? What is the teacher DOING with kids at the table?  It's true right? Giving teachers a table and a selection of texts does not mean they know what to DO with the kids when they come to the table.  And the teachers I have trained welcome the opportunity to actually find out what is expected in a Guided Reading lesson.

One tool that helps teachers at the Guided Reading table has been developed by Fountas and Pinnell (actually almost all tools we use at the Guided Reading table were originally designed by Fountas and Pinnell) is a document that outlines possible teaching points (lessons) at the table for readers depending on the text level.

Sometimes teachers don't know what to teach- and they don't have a method of tracking and determining the next step/needs of the readers in their Guided Reading lessons.
So... thank you to F&P for your books...

 

Working in DC, we compiled from books above and created this document that will allow teachers to know what students should be learning/doing with text at different levels.  A teacher could reference it as they plan instruction with a text.  A teacher could also use it for a group to check off behaviors they see students demonstrate- almost like anecdotal notes.

There is one for each level with behaviors to teach and observe from A-Z.

Sadly it's not as easy as check off all the boxes and move to another reading level- but it does help a teacher know how to increase the rigor of instruction according to text level!

What I appreciate most about this document is that it focuses more on the reading behaviors students need to learn and internalize- and less on other elements of text that many programs, textbooks, etc. see to focus on.

So thanks be to Fountas and Pinnell! Get your copy from my dropbox here! Please download before the New Year!

Rewordify

Have you heard of it?

If you have students that need accommodations or linguistically accommodated texts... then you need to check out REWORDIFY! You can copy/paste text into the site and voila! Look what is spits out for you to print!

Copy and paste grade level text with which your kiddos are struggling, click “rewordify” and BAM!!!!!  (well --- there’s one more step.)

Select the tab “Text/Print Activities” then click the button for “Text with Vocabulary” and hit PRINT --- and THEN, BAM!!!!!  Click around at the other options too while you're at it- but this one is my favorite! Be sure to give it a read to verify- cause it's just a computer- so mistakes are possible! 

But it's still pretty amazing if you ask me! Get to it! Rewordify!

Literature Circles

So a teacher in my district reached out today with a question:

"I'm trying to do literacy circles with my high reading groups. I'm not feeling it though...

 Do you have any suggestions on books or blog posts I could read over the break to make my groups more meaningful and beneficial? Right now they're just reading a chapter and answering some comprehension questions together. How can I make it better? Thanks!"

I'm sure she's not the only one out there, "not feeling it", so I thought I'd answer it on my blog! 

The whole goal of Lit Circles (made popular by Harvey Daniels) is to foster voice and choice for kids in reading and to allow them to engage in student driven conversation and deep thinking about texts. As always, it is easier said than done!  Getting kids to a level of independence with ANYTHING requires a lot of teaching first!  

One way to foster this independence is to give students specific jobs, Harvey called these roles and provide students with role sheets- these are tasks to complete and prepare for their group meeting. Each role asks students to look or do specific things in order to create deep conversation and often times unique perspectives to shine.  The more kids work with their roles and in Lit Circles, the better they get and as a teacher, you can sit back and let them SHINE!  

So how would I introduce this to my students? Slowly... but surely! 

The number of kids in the group determines the number of roles I am going to have my students tackle- one role per student.  BUT, I need to teach them.  So, I would introduce them in a small group (AKA Guided Reading) or to the whole class if my whole class was going to be participating. I would teach one role to the whole class or to the small group- and the entire class, or group would practice that role for a day or so.  Then I would introduce the 2nd.  The goal is that students are so familiar with these roles that each student will have their own role each week (and a different one the next) so as to foster lots of rich and varied conversation in the group.


I went home and realized I was still holding onto a file from back in the day when I used to do lit circles with my students!  So I shined it up a bit (still not as CUTE as others for sale on TpT, but it's the best I've got!) 

My role sheets are for use with elementary kiddos- I've used them in 1st-3rd, but are good 1st-5th. Some for older kids (middle school perhaps) can be found here. I also appreciate the resources/explanation on this site! 

What are you waiting for? Head over to my Teachers Pay Teachers site and get yours for FREE! This may be JUST what you need to spice up your text talk for kiddos in your class after the Thanksgiving holiday! We get the WHOLE WEEK off next week in Elgin Texas!!!! 

Gobble! Gobble! Have I told you lately that I am thankful for hard working teachers like you?

FREE Procedural Text Resources

If you are a 3-5 teacher who follows the TEKS Resource System Scope and Sequence, then you are like my Elgin teachers and are gearing up for some PROCEDURAL WRITING in your unit on Informational Text.

I spent some time (OK- maybe I spent two hours or so because I was procrastinating another task) collecting resources.  Textbooks have "How-To" pages, but kids can't write on them or highlight them!  And everyone knows the best procedural writing also has VOICE!

So if you need some easy to print/copy HOW TO/PROCEDURAL examples to read, study, examine, dissect and perhaps imitate in writing with your students- look no further than my DROPBOX!

Please download to your own computer.... this folder will no longer exist once we move into the 4th six-weeks!

Happy Monday from Texas!