Common Core Story Map

Not only are the standards new, but our strategies need to be revamped too.  Gone is the old story map that had kids track each event all the way to the climax and back down to the resolution.  Now, there is a new and improved story map, that encourages our students to think critically.

The Common Core Story Map is a one-paged document; however, it is one you will use again and again with any fictional story, poem, or drama.  Students are asked to recall details from the text, synthesize them, and then prove their analysis of the information by citing directly from the text.

If you would like a copy, please leave a comment with your email address.  As always, you may also get a copy from my TPT store:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Common-Core-Story-Map-838134

Common Core Close Read 101

I just posted a new resource on Teachers Pay Teachers:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Common-Core-Close-Read-101-836594

I read TONS of articles and blogs about having our kids conduct a close read of the texts they read.  Most of what I've read is geared towards the middle school and beyond student.  The teachers I work with are in elementary schools.  So, I wanted to put together an easy way for us to get started using the close read.  So, I came up with this handy guide.

When I presented it to teachers 2 weeks ago, I heard lots of great comments.  The main comment was how easy it is to understand and use.  I explained how to plan for the close read, what types of text to select, and how to determine the "think marks" for each of the "reads."  This tool is not by any means the only way to conduct a close read; however, for those of us who didn't learn how to teach this way (me included), it is a wonderful kick start to the process.

Included in the resource is a handy guide to unwrap the standards.  Once you unwrap the standard, you will easily know what skills your students need to know before they are able to fully understand and address the entire standard.  I've even added an example of the whole "unwrapping" process.

This is one resource you will use again and again.  The best part is, it's only $3.50! Let me know how it works in your classroom.  

Primary Fluency Intervention

As teachers, we make sure our Kindergartners know all of their letters and all of their sounds, but we usually don't make sure our students are able to recall them quickly enough so that blending comes easily.  Last year, I analyzed our K-2 data very closely.  Our kids made great strides in being able to name all of their letters and recall all of the sounds.  But, I noticed their fluency rate was way below what the norm should be.  I needed to look into how to help our kids.  

According to research, children must be able to recite up to 50 letter sounds in one minute, in order to begin blending effectively. Although I found plenty of resources to help students with blending, there really wasn't much out there besides flashcards to help with letter name and letter sound recognition.  So, I put together a resource and a protocol for our teachers to follow. 

 This resource is designed to take 5 minutes each day during differentiated instruction.  It turned out to be very effective and extremely simple to incorporate.  The teacher reads each letter at the top.  The small group repeats.  Then, the students buddy read the letters to each other.  After, the teacher models the procedure, she sets the timer for one minute and the students buddy read through the chart for that one minute.  

At the end of the minute, the letter/sound count tracker on the side makes it very easy to determine how many sounds the child read.  Because of the age of the children, the teacher quickly writes down the LSCPM (Letter Sounds Correct Per Minute) on the Daily Tracker.  At the end of 2 weeks, the teacher provides an Ongoing Progress Monitoring Assessment based on the same letters the child focused on all week.  The results of this one-minute check are added to the child's OPM tracker, which is also provided.  

This resource ensures students are able to become great decoders, in just 5 minutes a day. 

Included in this 22-page resource:
* Detailed instructional routine
* Fluency table that chart monthly intervention goals
* 16 weeks of letter name/sound fluency activities
* Ongoing Progress Monitoring Tracker
* Letter Name Correct Per Minute Daily Tracker
* Letter Sound Correct Per Minute Daily Tracker

You can find the Primary Fluency Intervention in my TPT store here:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Primary-Fluency-Intervention-833609