Text Sets By Grade Level from F&P

Visit the Shared Documents tab up top and scroll down to find F&P Text Sets By Grade Level to find some book suggestions. They are broken down by style and genre as well as by some author studies. 

Writing Units- Review before your writing day!

Small Group Lessons

If you are ready to jump right in and plan small group instruction but are unsure of what should be included, feel free to use these resources.

The first, are some pages from the K-8 Continuum about Guided Reading. The second page of this pair is a framework for what can be included in small group instruction.

The second resource is a template that can be used to plan small groups in reading, it looks like this;

but you can find a blank one HERE.
Please note that there are many options built into this plan, you would never be expected to do everything in the sequence column, but they are reminders of appropriate lesson components that you may consider including. Notice it is very short, and since your "I can " statement would be copied from your

Reading Conference Binder....It's time, trust me

So now that you have several assessment forms for each of your students and your are beginning to imagine how you might help make each one make progress this year, I believe its time to introduce you to one of the best things you will do this year.....make yourself a Reading Conference Binder. If you start now, it will actually be very easy to maintain and use.
Here is mine from last year:
           
You can see that it is LARGE, about 3 inches thick, it may not be full right away, but trust me it will fill throughout the year and you want to be certain you have enough room for that growth. The next thing you will notice is that it has many colorful tabs, one for every student in my class. I used really heavy duty dividers and they lasted me over 4 years, so it was worth it. I think these are the ones I ordered.

In the front I stored class charts and a calendar for marking down when I met with each student, obviously I was seeing some more than others. 

Once I started assessing, each student's assessment forms went into their section, then as I met with them to do more running records and confer with them I used various forms to guide and remember my time with them.

HERE ARE SOME FORMS I MIGHT USE AND PUT INTO MY BINDER IF I WERE YOU :)

 There was so much power in being able to open up this binder in conversation with parents and collaborating specialists, it allowed me to be an expert on each student because I had so much data! I would encourage you to find a summary form for each student to use at the beginning of their section. I used it to keep track of changes in level and important growth points.

 Happy Reading Conferences!

F&P Benchmark data into small groups

Here is a demonstration of how you might make your initial groupings for small group instruction after collecting your benchmark assessment data.

The Continuum of Literacy Learning

Regardless of the version you have (PreK-8, K-2, or 3-8) this resource is sure to become endlessly helpful to you, IF you learn how to use it! I am excited to see some of you really digging into the sections as you write your units of study, evaluate Benchmark assessment results and plan for small group instruction. I know it contains a lot of information, and it can be overwhelming, but I personally have not found another resource to be so valuable in my classroom teaching. There are seven Curriculum Components covered in the each version of the Continuum, but the layout of the book is different in the different versions. If you have the large PreK-8 continuum, you will find these 7 as the tabs that divide the book, with each grade level having pages within the tab. If you have the orange (K-2) or purple (3-8) versions, your tabs are organized mostly by grade level with the 7 components covered in each. Here are the 7 components:

* Interactive Read Aloud & Literature Discussions- here you will find a year-by-year list of specific behaviors to support and teach to the whole class

* Shared & Performance Reading- here you will find a year-by-year list of specific behaviors to support in whole group readings and guided small group readings

*Writing About Reading- a description of genres, and evidences of thinking within, beyond and about text for each grade level

*Writing- As we move in the direction of incorporating writing into our literacy blocks strategically, this section can begin to help you imagine which units of study can help you deliver instruction on various writing skills and genres. 

*Oral, Visual & Technological Communication- Year-by-year understandings and behaviors to support

* Phonics, Spelling, and Word Study- This is an overview of phonics skills to be covered at each grade level. Synthesizing this with your standards and (if possible) the Detailed Phonics Continuum in the back of the PreK-8 version, will give you a well rounded idea of how to embed phonics instruction. If your team has the F&P Phonics set, you will be able to get all of the information you need for scope & sequence from that. 

* Guided Reading- If you ask me, this is one of the MOST important parts of the Continuum. As we grow in our knowledge about text complexity and levels of readers in our classrooms, this resource provides everything you need to know about certain kinds of books and the sequencing of skills in order to expedite growth towards and beyond grade level expectations. If you are interested in learning more about how to use this section to inform your instruction, please contact me and I can come join you at a team meeting or prep to talk you through it.

Reader's Notebook

Many of you are starting to teach your students how to write in notebooks in response to your whole group, small group and independent reading times. I found this other blog, that has great examples of what you might have students do with their notebooks. Take a look and start talking with your collaborative team about which ones would best fit in your units of study! Here is her list of what might be in an intermediate notebook.

Writing About Reading

"Writing down what they think about what they've read allows readers to clarify their thinking. It is an opportunity to reflect. Readers better understand their reading when they have written about it. The writing may be a summary or a response. Sometimes just jotting down a few notes will clarify meaning."- Cris Tovani

As your students become more comfortable with your expectations of them as a reader, you should begin to introduce them to what you expect of them as a writer. The best way to do this is to use a reader's response notebook, folder or procedure. Just like with all your other literacy activities, the expectations should be delivered through modeling and scaffolded instruction. Unlike book reports and other "product" tasks, writing about reading should naturally flow through the thinking process of a reader. It should be about creating an authentic way to record a reader's thoughts, feelings, wonderings and analysis of texts they are reading. According to Fountas & Pinnell (2001) there are multiple appropriate and engaging ways for students to write about their reading, including:

                             * Recording comments on sticky notes

                             * A paragraph or page reflection on what has been read 

                             * A letter to a friend or teacher about what has been read

                             * A web, chart or list 

But, students need to be taught how to do these things, they need direction and modeling. There are simple and more involved ways of responding, but F&P provide some great starting places and graphic organizers that can be used as you teach students what their options are. You can find a folder of those PDFs HERE for your classroom use. Be creative, look at your standards, try to allow your students to have as many opportunities as possible to write about the meaning they create when they read!