Book Nook Chart



www.bethnewingham.com

Students choose the special place they want to read . Helps students get to their places quickly without roaming and helps to make sure students don't hog popular spots.

Chapter 4-Daily 5 Book Study

1) How far into the school year do you think kinders need to be to be able to begin the process of Read to Self? What is realistic? When do you plan to begin implementation?
I want to implement it towards the end of September , early October. Usually I don't have all of Daily 5 fully implemented until early November. I think its going to depend on the group of kids I have.

2) How will you make sure that each child views him/herself as a reader (whether they are reading words or not)?
I'm going to start by giving my students the big ideas about reading first. Jessica Meachem has a scope and sequence for her reader's workshop called front loading. These lessons are perfect for making students feel as though they are a part of the reading community. She even has suggested books for each minilessons. The lessons that I plan to use from her site to help my students view themselves as readers are listed below. Check out her site. It is amazing! www.jmeachem.com

• Who Reads-students observe adults and others in their lives that read
• What do Readers Read-students brainstorm what they have seen people reading
• When do Readers Read-
• Where do readers Read -picking great places to read
• Why do Readers Read-Stresses the importance of reading in and outside of school
• How do Readers Read- This is my favorite part. Each mini-lesson is broken down into basic things kids can read by sight, like colors, numbers, letters ,names, and shapes. There is a mini-lesson for each category along with an anchor text.

3) What are some ideas you have about "Launching Read to Self" in kindergarten? How will you go about it and what are some ways to make sure it is "kinder friendly"? 
Ways I will make this Kinder-Friendly:

• Make sure anchor Charts have pictures
• Model correct behaviors as many time as it takes
• Book Nooks so kids won't argue over special seating areas
• Kinder friendly book boxes-name charts, familiar song and poem charts, sightword rings,wordless picture books, class created books, ABC books, alphabet charts

Also, I'm reading a book called The Complete Year in Reading and Writing -Kindergarten  by Karen Mcnally and Pam Allyn (Also has great mini-lessons for Kinder) The way they teach kids to read books is to:

1. Take a picture walk-The emphasis is on observations without naming specifics about story elements.
2. Read the pictures-Students would then make reference to story elements.
3. Read the words- Look for a single letter (letter Hunt), Look for a familiar word high frequency words as well as other familiar words

I think I may start my 3 ways to read a book this way and as we progress get into retelling and figuring out words independently. ( I will still model retelling and figuring out words during shared reading etc. )

4) How will you/do you build the children's belief that this IS important? What can we do to encourage the ones who do not value it and create disruptions for others?

I'm going to invite familiar faces in our building to come in and read to kids to stress the importance of reading. (Our gym teacher is popular with students in our building it will sound "different" coming from her.)I will stress that Daily 5 is our time to learn to read. There are other specials teachers that will be good at stressing importance. I will also try to make some connections to the real world. For students who cause disruptions I thought about making them their own stamina chart so that they can feel proud of their own personal progress. Also making a big deal when that student exhibits correct behaviors and meets personal stamina goals.

5) How valuable is Checking In and Reviewing with kindergartners? How often will you do it? When will you do it? What are some different ways to "check in"?
I will check in after each practice session. I think its important to check-in so that students get feedback. I like the thumbs up and sideways idea. Maybe having students turn and talk about one thing that went well and one thing that they could improve on.

6)What are some problems that can occur during this problem (either that you anticipate with your kinders OR that you have experienced)? How can we be proactive about these issues?

 

I anticipate the bathroom being an issue. I haven't figured out a system that works yet. I'm still thinking.

Summer Reading



Books I'm reading this summer

I just finished re-reading The Daily 5. I implemented it last year in second grade and will use it again in Kindergarten. I love how this book explicitly teaches student expectations during independent reading time. Once its up and running it allows you to meet with small groups with no problem. Love it. I will tweek it a little to make it work for Kindergrten.



The CAFE book is a companion to the Daily 5. It is what the teacher does while the kids are completing their Daily 5 tasks. I absolutely love this book too. There are 4 main areas that we focus on in reading instruction: Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding Vocabulary. Most of the strategies and skills we teach can fit into one of those categories. This book gives you the specifics on mini-lessons, strategy groups, and confering .One of the most valuable things in this book is called a pensive. It is a binder that allows you to keep up with conferences and strategy group notes. It really helps you focus your instruction and not try to teach too much at one time. There is a lot of valuable information in this book. I will post later about making it work for Kindergarten.







Classroom Pictures 2011-2012

Cafe/Daily 5 Boards

Tree in Classroom Library

Word wall/Word Work Area

Writing Workshop Wall /Book Nook

Meet the Teacher

Greetings
Hello everyone! My name is Lakeisha Leonard. I am new to the blogging world and excited about all it has to offer. I have learned so much just from looking at other teacher's blogs. There are just so many ideas. What a wonderful way to share and learn with other educators.

A Little About Me
In previous years I have taught Pre-K and second grade.This year will be my first year teaching kindergarten. I'm looking forward to this new adventure. I'm excited and nervous at the same time.Feel free to leave tips and pointers. In my spare time I love to shop,bake,read, and spend time with my nieces and nephews.