Earth DAY is NOT a holiday!
And so…
What’s a teacher to do?
REDO IT AGAIN!
I’m getting
LAZY!
Now…I work 3 jobs…
I get up at 5:00 AM and go to bed at 9:00 PM.
I think I deserve some DOWN time!
BUT…
Then…I..get…really….complacent…
procrastinate…LAZY!
So every once in a while,
I need someone to give me a little
Time to git ‘er DONE
Wendy
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.3
Write narratives in which they recount two or more appropriately sequenced events, include some details regarding what happened, use temporal words to signal event order, and provide some sense of closure.
WOW!Â
 A lot for firsties who are learning
 to read AND write.
We “JUMP” in! 🙂
Â
I Love Spring!
Black Chicken
Sunshine – white chicken
Grow plants in a PALLET GARDEN!
Recycled Water bottles for planting.
Cut bottles in half. Add soil.
Recycled water bottles with seeds.
We have sprouts!
Happy Dance!
Chicken Dance Word Game from 1stgradefireworks
Let’s talk Word Work. You know. Word Families, spelling, rhyming words, etc.Â
Because 2022 was so BAD….we get DO-OVER!
Rethinking Literacy in 2023
Keep reading to the bottom of this post for a
FUN FREEBIE
Freebie for Followers
*DISCLAIMER…Â I know the Science of Reading is the NEW “go-to” for teaching Reading.
I AM NOT AN EXPERT! I am learning. I have been teaching reading to FIRST GRADERS for 30+ Years. AND I AM ALWAYSÂ LEARNING. SO… I hope YOU are open to new ideas & “reusing” OLD ideas to help our “littles” learn. If this helps YOU – Yeah! ( Jan. 2022).Â
The Why? The What? and The How?
Balanced literacy has been defined as “an approach designed to help individual students learn how to process a variety of increasingly challenging texts with understanding and fluency.” (Fountas & Pinnell, 2001)
It is an approach to teaching. NOT a curriculum. It is HOW we teach our students to be independent readers and writers. It is NOT what books we use to teach them.
Balanced Literacy has been defined in “components” or “pieces” of literacy instruction.
The 8 components we will focus on are:
Each week we will focus on one area of Balanced Literacy and share experiences, teacher tips, and resources to support and expand our Balanced Literacy repertoire.
During Word Work, students experiment with spelling patterns, memorize high-frequency words, and develop a genuine curiosity for and interest in new and unique words. As a result of playing with words, word patterns, word families, prefixes, suffixes, and so on, students hone their knowledge of words and increase their speaking and writing skills.
What is WORD WORK?
Word work is a hands-on time to explore the spellings and/or meanings of words (vocabulary). Making time for word work is vital because it helps patterns and words move into long-term memory. Word work can help our learners become better readers, spellers, and writers. Depending on our learners’ developmental stages, they might use this time to focus on letters and their sounds, read and spell words, or work on word meanings. At the same time, learners have time to explore sight words.
New for 2022…Â Â Science of Reading
I am not an expert! Check out these “experts”:
Christina Winter – Mrs. Winter’s Bliss (TPT)
To begin, here are a few suggestions:
1. Before a Small Group Reading Lesson – Before small group reading lessons, I review a previous word study, based on my learners’ word work needs. Beginning sounds, short vowels, ending sounds, etc. The key to these is that they should be quick and easy.
2. Spelling word practice. During our guided reading lesson, I might focus on our spelling words for the week or the word families we have reviewed in previous lessons. I always start with what the kids know…and then add new information.
3. A Small Group Lesson – Frequently I have strategy lessons just to focus on a particular phonics or spelling strategy, especially if we notice several learners struggling with the same thing.
4. Whole Group Instruction – I recommend a simple phonics lesson for all learners in the classroom each day. This isn’t a long lesson (10-15 at most) and covers phonics material that is on grade level. I have a district required curriculum. I use the curriculum phonics as my MORNING MEETING lesson. I can expand on it during my small group time.
I incorporate word work mini-lessons into my writing lessons, when appropriate. If we are working on multi-syllabic words, we will edit our writing for those words, also. Â
Always be on the lookout for opportunities to support your students! When we are doing interactive writing, we incorporate MANY literacy practices!Â
Free Word Work
1stgradefireworks-Blending Lines
Word Work can be integrated from ANY curriculum and ANY resource.
Use science, social studies, reading, writing, and ANY vocabulary experience to support your WORDÂ WORK studies.Â
Let’s Go Fishing for Sight Words
Freebie for Followers
Because 2022 was so BAD….we get DO-OVER!
Rethinking Literacy in 2023
Keep Reading to the bottom for aÂ
FUN FREEBIE
Freebie for Followers
*DISCLAIMER…Â I know the Science of Reading is the NEW “go-to” for teaching Reading.
I AM NOT AN EXPERT! I am learning. I have been teaching reading to FIRST GRADERS for 30+ Years. AND I AM ALWAYSÂ LEARNING. SO… I hope YOU are open to new ideas & “reusing” OLD ideas to help our “littles” learn. If this helps YOU – Yeah! ( Jan. 2022).Â
Why? What? and How?
The elementary classroom Balanced literacy model has been defined as “an approach designed to help individual students learn how to process a variety of increasingly challenging texts with understanding and fluency.” (Fountas & Pinnell, 2001)
As a result, It is HOW we teach our students to be independent readers and writers. It is NOT what books we use to teach them.
The 8 components we will focus on are:
Each week we will focus on one area of Balanced Literacy and share experiences, teacher tips, and resources to support and expand our Balanced Literacy repertoire.
Week 1:Â We discussed Read Alouds.
Week 2: We discussed  Shared Reading.
Week 3:Â We discussed Guided Reading.
Week 4: We discussed Independent Reading.
Week 5: We discussed Interactive Writing.
Effective literacy teachers present the demonstration, explanation, and models needed by naïve writers in order for them to understand how and why to incorporate genre and text structures (and such transcription skills as punctuation and spelling) into their own writing behavior. ReadWriteThink.org
How to Take Care of a Goldfish. The Daily Cupcake
Shared Writing – MAth Anchor Chart – Kindergals
Mr. Sketch smelly markers
Freebie for Followers
Signature
Because 2022 was so BAD….we get DO-OVER!
Rethinking Literacy in 2023
Read to the bottom
for a FUN FREEBIE
Freebie for Followers
*DISCLAIMER…Â I know the Science of Reading is the NEW “go-to” for teaching Reading.
I AM NOT AN EXPERT! I am learning. I have been teaching reading to FIRST GRADERS for 30+ Years. AND I AM ALWAYSÂ LEARNING. SO… I hope YOU are open to new ideas & “reusing” OLD ideas to help our “littles” learn. If this helps YOU – Yeah! ( Jan. 2022).Â
The Why? The What? and The How?
Balanced literacy has been defined as “an approach designed to help individual students learn how to process a variety of increasingly challenging texts with understanding and fluency.” (Fountas & Pinnell, 2001)
It is an approach to teaching. NOT a curriculum. It is HOW we teach our students to be independent readers and writers. It is NOT what books we use to teach them.
Balanced Literacy has been defined in “components” or “pieces” of literacy instruction.
The 8 components we will focus on are:
Each week we will focus on one area of Balanced Literacy and share experiences, teacher tips, and resources to support and expand our Balanced Literacy repertoire.
During the writing workshop, students are invited to live, work and learn as writers. They observe their lives and the world around them while collecting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing well-crafted narrative and expository texts. Students receive direct instruction in a minilesson, during which the teacher explicitly names a skill proficient writers use that is within reach for most of the class, then demonstrates the skill and provides students with a brief interval of guided practice using it. Students then have time to write, applying the repertoire of skills and strategies they’ve learned, while receiving feedback through one-to-one conferences and small group instruction designed to move them along trajectories of development.
Let’s discuss each part.
 The mini-lessons are short, focused, direct. They typically fall into the categories of classroom procedures, the writer’s process, the qualities of good writing, and editing skills. The lesson is 5-10 minutes of directed instruction. Start off your writing lessons by brainstorming ideas. This lesson will help set the stage for a year of writing by giving students a place to find ideas to put in their future writing pieces. If you use interactive notebooks or writing folders, each student needs a place to put ideas, writing pieces in process, and finished works.
Tips & Tricks for Writer’s Workshop
Launching Writer’s Workshop
Teaching with Crayons and Curls
In my first grade classroom, my students have a folder, a journal, and a Pictionary ( pictures and words ). At the beginning of the school year, we practice writing.
Our routines include:
Right now our writing stamina is at about 10-15 minutes. As we become better writer’s, our stamina will increase to about 30-40 minutes.
 CCSD102
We call it the AUTHOR’S CHAIR.
My students are placed into 4 groups. 10-15 minutes before we dismiss, we ask the 6 team members if they would like to READ or PASS. If they choose to READ, they get their journal and come to the big “TEACHER CHAIR”. They choose 1 story to share with us. Our emergent readers can tell us the story and then they show us their picture.
Later in the year, we will give one compliment and ask one question to the “AUTHOR”. They LOVE this! It is important to discuss “beginning writer’s” and “advanced writers”, ahead of time.
No hurt feelings and EVERYONE’S work is appreciated!Â
During this time, guided writing small groups may be meeting with the teacher or individual conferences may be happening. Whatever your choice, embrace the attempts. The successes and the failures will make them better readers and writers. We learn from our mistakes. Hold them accountable. Quality work is always our goal.
Writing Strategies
Launching Writer’s Workshop the Book
Launching the Writing Workshop
Also…Â check out these WONDERFUL teacherpreneurs to connect with!
Check out these amazing teacher blogs on TEACHER TALK
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