Say What? Comprehension!

It is amazing to me how much my kindergarten students are capable of learning.  Every time I did a color level check, it seemed they were able to decode more and more words.  But do they really understand what they are reading at such a young level.  I had six students that moved into 1 Red and 2 Red.  Utterly amazing, hard working students!  They are fluent readers and are becoming more expressive as they read!  However, I was unsure if they really understood all the new vocabulary words and could retell what they were reading.  I wanted them to work on the comprehension standard for the color level they were in.  So  I felt for my 1R and 2R readers I had to focus on 2nd Grade standards.  That’s a lot of researching for a kindergarten teacher.  So that is why I collaborated with some teachers and came up with these comprehension packet. I have to admit, they are pretty helpful and I have been loving them during Daily 5!

Day 1-4, start small.  We read one task card per day.  We highlighted major events and responses.  The students then did a verbal retell with a partner!  By day two I was seeing great improvement.  Check out a few of my amazing students.  You will notice that I still have to guide my students into their thought process. 

On day one of week two we began by reading a short passage and answering comprehension questions.

 We then read a picture book that I am in love with.  Back to Front and Upside Down by Claire Alexander.  These fabulous students did an amazing job on their written retell. 

We finished a short retell by answering comprehension questions on the book.  

Once I was confident that they each had a great understanding of major events in a story,  we did a literacy circle using the chapter book Tornado.  Since I'm working with kindergarten students, we talked through the question and answer page rather than write it out.  We had some great discussions!

This resource has been such a time saver for me.  I strive to provide each of my students with differentiated instruction as much as possible and this has helped me truly provide one piece I felt I was missing.

Character and Major Events

Seeing Great Success with Fluency

For the past 4 years we have come to love Action 100!  Using focused power goals that work on specific skills needed in each color level has been successful in our classrooms as well as at home.  We have seen the benefits of having the same power goal page practiced at home and school.  By doing this we have felt that our students have truly mastered the foundational skills in each color level.  However, we noticed that the skills they were practicing weren't always  applied within their reading since they practice their skills in isolation. This is why we set a professional goal this past summer to write original passages that contained the  specific skill that were working on.  Since we started using these passage in addition to the words list, we have seen phenomenal growth and confidence in all of our students. 

 

We truly want to share our successful formal with you.  First, focus on master of all power words.  You will see many of the power words throughout the passages so these are a must. We then created passages for each foundational skill to correlate with their power goal word list.  In our classroom we copy the word list on the front and the phonics passages on the back.  This back to back page is what they read daily with us, independently, at home or with volunteers.

We have heard success stories from every grade level, that when you do  it this way, you will see success.  The average words per minute in my kindergarten classroom are 65 wpm.  I credit this to my hard working students and parents that practice the phonics passages daily. 

 2 Green Phonics Passage

Power Goal-Directional Words

I had just introduced this passage at my Daily 5 time.  During Action 100, I had her come over and reread the passage with me.  She did amazing and read 55 wpm. 

2 Green Phonics Passages

2 Blue Phonics Passage

Power Goal-2 Syllable Silent e

First, we worked on reading his words during our conference.  Then I did a 1 minute fluency check.

2 Blue Phonics Passages

Check out our TPT store for passages from 2G-White!

2 Green-White Phonics Passages

Action 100

Meaningful Power Goals

In this day and age, we have so many of our students that have both parents working.  It's hard to get home, make dinner, and spend quality time with our kids.  Finishing homework can seem like a chore instead of a time to interact with our children.  That's why I really wanted Power Goals that are fun, fast, and easy.  

I have an active little 4 year old who wants so much to be like his big brother and sister.  He sees them reading every night earning their steps for Action 100.  He really enjoys learning his letters but wasn't interested in reading on his own yet.  He had all the skills I just needed something that was able to get him actively involved.

Take a sneak peak at how effective power goals can look in your students' home.

Speed Racer  is his Favorite Game!

Tracking words as he reads. 

There are many fun games to play so they never get bored. 

Besides having great games, you will also find Power Goals that are focused and keep kids moving at a nice easy pace.

If you are ready to see some great result in your classroom, check out this Yellow Action 100 Bundle. 

What's Included?

6 Weeks of Power Goals for on level and below level students

Tracking Activities

Games

Hands-On Learning Centers

Alphabet Cards

Vowel Team Oi/Oy

Oi!  Oy! Have we had a lot of fun this past week learning about our new vowel team! Who new learning could actually be this much fun and by the end of the week our entire class could read oi/oy words and new the spelling rule!  YES...I love success stories!  So you ask how did we do it.  Take a look yourself and get a snapshot of the learning that went on this week in our classroom.  The pictures talk for themselves!

We started by learning the spelling rule of the week. 

English Words do not end in i, u, v, or j.

Our rule is to try and get all our kids involved in their learning, so while one is at the board being my helper, the others are actively participating as well!

I'm going to say a word and raise your hand if you hear oi/oy sound.

This picture just kills me! So funny! If you don't hear the oi/oy sound say, "no no never never."

Once we finished learning as a whole group we did a word sort activity. We focused on highlighting the vowel patterns.  We discussed why the oi was used in the middle of the word and why oy may be used at the end of a word.  The students went right to work. They cut and pasted and worked on reading words with oi/oy.

The students learned a new game and had so much fun playing it.  Number It!  You have to try this game.  So much fun!

During Guided Reading we played Oink, Oink, Oink!

The students played Speed Racer during Daily 5 for word work!

 

As you can see, learning is fun in room 117.  Our kids are engaged while learning essential skills that make them all great readers and writers.  We hope you take a look at our new Vowel Team Packet.  You will find whole group lessons, assessments, word list, fluency passages, small group activities to be used during guided reading, whole group activities, centers, games, and more! 

Vowel Team oi/oy

 

White (like snow) Bundle

I am so impressed.  My students' reading levels keep growing, even though it is the last month of school.  There may be a reason my kiddos don't have spring fever yet.... check this out. You'll never believe it, but today - May 2nd - is a snowday for us.  We got 8+ inches of snow!
Does this look like May 2nd?  It really is!

With less than a month left of school, I have over half my class reading at the White (3rd grade) reading level and so making the White Bundle was high on my "To Do" list.  Now that it is made, we want to share it with you.  It has been so helpful as I meet with my students to focus their learning.  (I hope you agree.)

At the White level, the first thing I do is make sure the students have their phonics mastered.  I play games and make them read words with specific patterns to ensure their decoding ability. 
Then the focus turns to the make-up of the word - such as prefixes and suffixes, root words, vocabulary and figurative language.  Once I know what each student needs to work on, we read books, read word lists and have activities to help practice and become comfortable with the skill.  I move each student to the next skill when they are ready.  Using this bundle allows me to differentiate in such an easy way.

So, check out our White Bundle, focused for readers at the 3rd Grade reading level.   

Click here for our TPT store

It's FREEBIE Friday!!

Long weekend ahead...time to plan for President’s Day coming up—check out our FREEBIE below!!  Happy Friday!!



(Click on link Below)

  President's Day Comprehension Set

 

Don't forget to check out our other activities, centers, and SMART Board Lessons!

 

 SMART Board Biography President's Day

Bossy R Words

Ahoy fellow followers!  Arrrrr you ready to work on “Bossy R” words?  This is a 1B (Action 100) foundational skill we focused on last week to help our students become more familiar with r-controlled words.  Included in the pack you will find 10 word cards for ar, or, er, ir, and ur. 

On Day 1 students were sent on a treasure hunt around the classroom to find six of each bossy r word and write them into a word sort. 

On Day 2 students found two of each sort and wrote them into sentences.

On Day 3 students made words using word cards.

On Day 4 students made words with cups.

On Day 5 we played a game as a class where the teacher said a word sort "or" and students needed to get to a word in the room quickly.

We had a fun week learning about bossy r words!  We wish you Godspeed (Good Luck)!

Fairwinds! (Good Bye)

(click on the image to grab this great activity!)