Anchor Chart Parts & Independent Reading Mats

-Anchor Charts- It's a love hate relationship for me...I love the value they add to my lessons and I hate making them!

Sometimes I use these anchor charts, which I love.

They are great because they are already prepared and they are bright and colorful with illustrations for the students. However, sometimes I need my anchor charts to be just a bit larger, and unfortunately I don't have a poster maker available to me.

For a while I tried to write out my anchor charts, but I can't lie- that just became a hassle and a major waste! Maybe this sounds familiar...there you are at the end of your reading mini lesson, the lesson was fantastic and you are creating an amazing anchor chart. It's the home stretch, all you have to do is write the word "independently". That's when it happens. You spell "indepdently". You attempt to squeeze in the missing "en" but of all times that is just not an option. Ahhhhhhh! You finish the lesson and know that during your planning period you will use another piece of your precious chart paper and create the chart ONE.MORE.TIME! :( If that has never happened to you, then you are just amazing...and I'm jealous.

On the days that I wasn't spelling words incorrectly on my anchor charts, my carpet looked like a circus by the end of my lesson. Ineffective.

After wasting too much of my precious time and chart paper, I started creating “Chart Parts” for my anchor charts. Here’s what I do…I print out the chart parts and laminate them. This way I can reuse the chart pieces each year. Next, I lay out the anchor chart and assemble (with tape) the “skeleton” of the anchor chart. I leave a space for the few important parts  of the anchor chart off, so that those pieces can be added in front of the students. To create my anchor charts, I like to use large (24x18 inch) construction paper or chart paper. *You can use and assemble however works best for you!* With everything laid out, I am able to finish the anchor chart with the students present in a snap! Sometimes I build the anchor charts piece by piece for multiple days.

If you are interested you can check out the first set of anchor chart parts {everything you need to create 8 anchor charts} and independent reading mats HERE!

Goal Setting in Kindergarten {FREEBIE too!}

One of my favorite parts of teaching kindergarten is how excited my students are about learning. Learning new things is exciting for my little friends and they love a challenge. One way that I try to empower my students is by holding them accountable for their own learning. We do this by setting goals and monitoring their learning throughout the year.

Once your kiddos start setting goals and reaching for them, they are hooked. My kids get so excited when they move to a new reading level…cause they are one step closer to reaching their goals. I use this chart in my classroom to help my students visually see how they are progressing through the reading levels. My kids learn to celebrate one another, because they come to understand the hard work it takes to reach their goals and are proud when a classmate has done just that!

I find that one of the most important things when setting goals with kindergarten students, is that they need to revisit their goals frequently to self-monitor and keep track of their accomplishments. And yes, when there are accomplishments it is very important to CELEBRATE their success. All students make learning gains, maybe not at the same rate, but they all do…and they deserve to be recognized for their hard work!

Another way that my students track and monitor their learning is through their Kindergarten goal book. At the beginning of the school year each student records what they know, then throughout the year they get to update their progress. This book helps them have a very clear understanding of what they will learn in kindergarten and how they are progressing towards those expectations. Taking out the goal book is always one of my students’ favorite activities, especially at the end of the year when they get to see how far they have come since the beginning of the school year. {Read more about how I use these GOAL BOOKS here!} These are a great tool to use during parent conferences, too!

My students are also accountable for their learning during writing time. During writers’ workshop, my students conference with me. During these conferences, the students decide what they would like to work on to become a better writer. The students use the chart below to help them be responsible for their own learning and deliberate in their writing improvement. The next time I conference with the students, they are very excited to tell me what actions they are taking to reach their goal. {Read more about how I use the WRITING GOALS here!} If you want to try out this approach in your writing conferences, try out this writing conference checklist to help you out! (I use these conference checklist in parent conferences as well!)

To keep the students motivated, I try to throw in some fun ways to set goals. I use these craftivities after we finish up units of studies in reading to help reflect on what we have learned and to look forward to new goals that we have as readers.

Teaching kids how to set goals at a young age will help them stay focused and determined. I know that I am so grateful that both my parents and my teachers instilled this mindset in me from such a young age. I feel like I was more prepared as I got older to be responsible and independent. May we give our students that same confidence as they leave our classrooms!

     

               

I hope this year you and your kindergarten friends set goals and strive to reach them!

Busy Week & Planning Calendar

What a busy time of the year! My to-do list is getting longer by the minute! :)

I have now met all my little friends. I am amazed how every year the kids are so different...and so wonderful! It is impossible not to love your job when you hear things like "I love this school!" and "This is the best day of my life!". How awesome is that! I love how in kindergarten we have the priveledge of shaping each child's learning adventure and helping to develop their love of learning! It is so great to see how excited and eager they are to learn, and it is my goal to keep them this dedicated the whole year!

So on that note I sat down to start planning. I started thinking when I want to teach what theme and what concepts in science, etc. I think that planning can be the most overwhelming part of teaching. How do you plan? Do you have a method to make it an easy process? Do you plan with your team? I am trying something a little different this year. I made a detailed calendar(scope and sequence) with what I am planning to teach when, for all subjects with standards. I hope that this tool will be useful and make planning a little less time consuming! I wanted to share this with you! Go get your copy for FREE! Please leave me some feedback or a comment!  While you are at my TPT store, make sure to follow me! If you utilize my planning calendar throughout the year I will be posting units to correlate with the calendar and you will have everything lots of resources for the year!

While at my TPT Store check out my new All About Numbers 0-10 Unit!

My Best Teacher :)

I am writing a quick post before my best and most favorite teacher of all arrives at my house...my mommy! :) Yay! She is coming from Pennsylvania for a visit, but what she doesn't know is that there is a surprise waiting for her! I would tell...but just in case, I don't want to ruin the surprise! I'm so excited for her!

I am also excited about a new product I posted on TPT...go check it out! Happy weekend!

"Must Have Picture Books" Linky Party

I am trying something for the first time... I am trying to link up with The Teacher Wife to share some of my favorite picture books for school. First timer...here I go! :)

I love books and read alouds! Here are some of my "Back to School" favorites...





This is a fun rhyming book that gives the students a preview of what Kindergarten will be like. The kids always think it is funny too when they see that the students in the book are having fun and excited about school and the mommies and daddies are the ones boo hooing because they miss their children!





This book helps to address any fears a student might have about Kindergarten in a fun way! Many students can make text to self connections when listening to this story!





This is a fun rhyme and rhythm book that is entertaining for students to see dinosaurs at school!

I love Gilbert! :)

This is a really cute book. Boris the Bear is new at school and all the other animals are scared of him because of the way he looks. It shows Boris' struggles and has a solution at the end...all the animals love Boris because he is like a big Teddy Bear!




What are your "Must Have Picture Books"? I hope you will link up with The Teacher Wife and share your favorites! Click the pic below to link up.

Two Stars and a Wish

My team is getting together next week to finish our year long scope and sequence for reader's and writer's workshop. I feel like this is a huge task, and it will be great when we complete it! We will have a clear vision for the year and our instruction will be deliberate!

As I started thinking about writing and writer's workshop I thought about my biggest challenge...that being CONFERENCING! I could make lots of excuses for myself, but I'm not going to. I am just going to say I need to do better.

I have been searching for resources that I could use during my conferences to keep it short, simple but meaningful. (Meaningful being the most important part.) I want to really work on having good conversations with my students and giving specific feedback for what I expect in the future.

While searching I came across lots of good resources to use specifically with writing conferences, but I also read a little bit about the concept of "Two Stars and a Wish", and I really liked it! It is something I could use in any subject, and even teach my students to use with one another. The Two Stars are two compliments that you can give, and a Wish is a suggestion for the future. I look forward to trying this out in my classroom! What do you do to give your students specific feedback?

Check out my TPT store to find 2 new Back to School Emergent Readers!

Happy Monday!

Library Visit!

Yesterday I invited my students from this past school year to meet me at the public library for a fun "date" and to make sure that they were visiting the library over the summer! I was so impressed with how many students came out in the middle of the summer, and even more surprised with how interested the parents were in planning more visits as a class for the remainder of the summer! Awesome! As I was helping students pick out books and listening to them read, my heart smiled!! :) It was astonishing how the children remembered how to pick out "Just Right Books", and as they were reading they were having book conversations and making connections! I won't lie, it made me miss their precious faces and got me EXCITED to teach a whole new batch of kiddos in just a few weeks! 

A tool I use in my classroom to help drive my reading instruction and monitor my students literacy behaviors  is a checklist that I adapted from the Fountas and Pinnell's Continuum of Learning. First I give each student a running record to assess what reading level he/she is reading at instructionally. Then I use the corresponding checklist at the appropriate level. Using the checklist helps me to develop all of the behaviors at each reading level and gives specific skills to address. Click on the picture to get your free copy!

Check out my TPT Store to find my new I'm a GOOD READER because... Posters!