Columbus Day Project Alert: Make a Set of Informational Text Posters

Research proves that students naturally gravitate towards informational text.  As part of my "Informational Text" area, I have a display board which has the name of the informational text feature and an example.  It's all done in Velcro, so that I can easily take off the labels or the examples for teaching purposes.  I have created a set of posters that uses child friendly language in the first person.  I printed these posters out and searched through free sample texts and cut out neat examples of each feature.  These are the results.

Here are all of the posters.

I use these as I introduce each feature to my students.  We refer to these examples when appropriate.  They stay up as a reference.  They are exactly what's needed to address informational text in an appropriate way to our youg readers.  I also print these posters to make a book.  This serves as an Informational Text Scavenger Hunt.  I have students search though old Weekly Readers and Scholastic News for each feature.  They glue it on to complete their hunt.  For the complete set of directions and to download this item, please click here.

Mr. Giso's Room to Read's Bright Idea #9

Look Who's Talking Elbow Pasta Quotation Marks

When it's time to review quotations marks, my first grade teacher neighbor loves this activity!  We have the students write sentences on sentence strips and use pasta for the quotation marks.  This lesson has not been one of my favorites because it's always a challenge for students to copy over their edited sentences with the punctuation in the correct spot.  Each year I try something new to be more effective.  This year, I think I've got it!

First, I began this minilesson with a pocket chart discussion on the rug.  We read several sentences and put in the paper punctuation.

Next, comes the new part.  I created two templates that include the punctuation in the correct places.  I had the students write a sentence about something they'd like to say.  Here's an example.

After this, I edited the sentences and had the students copy their edited writing onto sentence strips using pencil.  When this was completed, they wrote in permanent marker.  Lastly, they glued elbow macaroni for the quotation marks.  Look at these fantastic sentences!

To celebrate, each student read their quotation in our Author Throne.  I chimed in with the "said___________" part.  Click HERE for a previous post about my famous Author Throne.  If you'd like the templates and the directions, click HERE to be linked to my TpT store.  It's a pleasure to share with you this free item.

Good Reader Strategies Bundle

Look at my Good Reader Strategies Visuals.  I designed them due to my being unhappy with the manner in which our core literacy program introduces these skills that are so important.  I have just finished hanging them up.  They look great as long as the fire department agrees, they will stay up this year!  Just in case, I hung them up with clothes pins that I hot-glued to the wall.  Easy up, easy down.  I also can take them down easily as I teach them.

This new item in my TpT store features not only the 9 reading strategies I teach, but also a reproducible I have designed that you can use to introduce each strategy whole class, and then use it all year round for guided reading, independent reading time, homework, small group work, etc.  They can correlate to any core program or be used as mini-lessons in themselves.  

Here you see writing a summary, making connections, visualizing and asking questions. 

Here you see clarifying, predicting, having feelings, using word power and using fix-up strategies.

These great sheets introduce the strategy and can be used multiple times throughout the year to reinforce it.

Visit this item by clicking here.  Happy reading!

A Number Story Solving Guide Visual

Happy Monday, friends!  Today I introduced solving number stories with my first graders.  It was after lunch. They did pretty well.  I immediately made a note that some of my students relied on their fingers to solve the number stories.  This may be all well and good, but they need to move on to a more practical way, as not all number stories involve numbers ten or less.  I also observed that some students knew very well that when "Frank caught 7 fish and threw 6 back, he was left with 1," but did not have a strategy to explain their thinking or to show their work.  Before I head to bed, I quickly made up this visual.  Click here to see this visual in my Tpt store. Look forward to an update when I use this product tomorrow afternoon.

Happy October!

Just Uploaded-- Part 2 to My Read and Write the Room Bundle Series

This item comes from my Read and Write the Room Series.  Please click here for my original blog post about my Read and Write the Room Bundle.

This item includes over 50 pages of Word Hunts, directions, photographs and an answer key.   It includes a recording template and words to hide around your classroom for each hunt. They cover the following literacy skills all found in the Common Core, of course.

•Basic Sight Words
•Word Families/ Chunks
•Question Words
•Categories
•-ed and -ing Words
•synonyms, homophones and antonyms
•long and short vowels
•Magic E Words
•"Two Vowels Go Walking" Words
•Animals/ Baby Words
•Root and Base Words
•Contractions
•Bossy R Words
•Adverbs

There's much, much more too.  Here are some photographs of the first Scavenger Hunt up in my classroom.  Can you find the hidden sight words placed on apples?  Here is the word, "to."

Here is the word "of" above my "Pick a Prompt" Center.

OK, folks.   This one is easy.  If you look closely, you can see me reading to my dog, Toby!

Here is Fred, our class scarecrow, holding the word "I."

This item includes 19 Scavenger Hunts just like the one you see.  It has the record sheets as well as the words you hide around your classroom.  They can be printed on card stock or on labels and stuck to holiday/seasonal cutouts.  Click here to read more about this item in my TpT Store. 

New Item Posted: Speed It Up Fluency Center

I have just uploaded this over 80 page item which has all you  need to make over 350 fluent phrase/ sentence cards.  The item comes ready to differentiate according to the reading levels of your students.  It includes phrases/ sentences using
•the Pre Primer Dolch Word List (for K and struggling readers at the first-third grade level)
•the first 100 words from the Fry Instant Word List
•the second 100 words from the Fry Instant Word List
•the third 100 words from the Fry Instant Word List

I have these strips printed and laminated on card stock.  Each level of difficulty is a different color so I can keep track.  I use a simple count down/ count up timer.  The children time each other to see how many phrase/ sentence cards they can correctly read in a minute.  They love beating their own times, it's amazing!  Each time they practice, they are improving their reading fluency.  I use this center throughout the year and my students never get bored of it.  In addition, this is a great tool in tutoring, in pullout for students receiving literacy support as well as in after school programs.  This fun literacy center fosters repeated reading which gives students the needed practice of reading high-frequency words and developing fluency and proficiency which will boost comprehension.  

Click here to be linked to my TpT store where you will find this item.