Incorporating Reading Into The Content Areas

Hey friends! I hope that you are finding yourself well rested :) Probably not likely, considering it's the beginning of the school year!! I hope that you all are finding some down time and are not too stressed!!

One way to help you de-stress, is to go download this Free-Parent-Communication-Binder-Forms-Slate-Gray-!!

One of the hardest things as teacher is to teach ALL the subjects in a short time frame. With all of the things that can sometimes be thrown at us, sometimes it's hard to fit in Science and Social Studies. Now, don't get me wrong Science should be taught using hands on and engaging activities! However, we can also incorporate our science lessons to into our reading and have a successful day! It's a balance, students still need the ever so important vocabulary, why not use Science or Social Studies vocabulary during our reading instruction??

One way to do this is by using Vocabulary Cards during your reading stations or center work. The pictures show different Science Vocabulary Cards that I created and use during my station or center time. 

You can use these cards in so many ways! You can print multiple sets and have students play "Memory". My students love to play a version of "around the world" with them! What we do is have one student read the definition, then they go around in the circle until someone can correctly identify the vocabulary card.

Or you can secure them on a binder ring and use as a reference, or  use them during read to a buddy time. 

I also created this science reader and placed it in my library. Along with Reading A-Z Books, I place these in a basket during "Read to Self" time. Two to Three days a week, during "Read To Self", we are reading in the content area. The other days I let the students chose a book that fits their personality and reading style. This helps with our content area vocabulary and knowledge base. It ties the subjects together and the students are not only practicing their reading skills, but they are also gaining valuable information from other content areas. Again, this is NOT the ONLY way I teach the content areas, just extra steps I take to ensure my students are receiving a balanced instructional plan.

I also use printable read aloud to introduce each standard of learning. Once I've exposed them to the topic, the book goes into our library so they can explore it on their own! 

All of these activities came from my Science-Center-and-Vocabulary-Resource-Packet- Which contains topics & centers from Seasons, Earth Resources, Recycling, Sound, Parts of a Plant, Magnets and tons of Vocabulary Cards!!

Reading Resources and Literacy Center Resources

I wanted to put together a few of my favorite resources for teaching reading! Especially the little ones, isolation of sounds is such an important step in building a strong reading foundation. 

One resource I LOVE for my reluctant readers are these puzzles from Lakeshore Learning!! I have students say the letter sound while putting it together so they can actually see how the letter stands alone. My struggling readers LOVE this activity and it also helps them build up their confidence. You can check out these puzzles right HERE

Another great resource is my printable I-Can-Make-Words-

This is hands on activity includes 10 printables for making words. Students cut letters out and arrange them together to make words. Several different levels included to meet the needs of all your students.

I just posted my CVC-Interactive-Flip-Charts!! 

I use these in my small groups. I give the students a word, and ask them to make it. You can also start with the picture, have them sound out the  word and build it. Once students are familiar with CVC words, you could also use these at a center as writing prompts. I included blank picture cards for “nonsense” words. You do not have to attach all the picture cards at once. I sometimes just use certain vowel sounds.

The pictures do not have to be in any order, as the activity should require them to make each word. They should have to move most of the parts to make a new word. 

You still have time to enter my giveaway for a $50.00 TpT Gift Certificate!! You can enter right HERE!!!!

New Fountas and Pinnell Guided Reading Levels for Kindergarten

It's wonderful to be able to guest blog for Ashley as she makes her journey across the U.S.. My name is Arlene Sandberg and you can find it at LMN Tree  My husband was in the military for 30 years so I understand what it's like to back up and move so often. Although I'm retired now, I have taught for more than 33 years all over the U.S. including Alaska and Hawaii and overseas in Seoul, South Korea. My last 9 years I was an ESL teacher/specialist with the Anchorage School District working in Title I schools.                                          

I love writing Guided Reading books for my thematic units and include Word Work Activities for Literacy Centers as well as Picture/Word Word Walls and Writing Activities.Pictures are a great help to ESL students and those who don't have a rich and robust vocabulary.  I love Reading A-Z and have downloaded lots of books for my students and my grandson to read. When I write my own books I have used the reading level chart which for Kindergarten is aa-C.

So I was surprised to see this new chart on Scholastic that has the Kindergarten range from A-D.

This is definitely a result of the new Common Core Standards that have been adopted by 45 states.

The first thing I noticed was how the number of words increased from Level C to Level D. There were also more difficult words. For many Kindergarten teachers who teach in Title I schools this will be very challenging.  

I would love to know what level your Kindergartens are suppose to be reading at by the end of year. I also am including a free Guided Reading and Writing Unit I have written for you to download. After looking at the Make and Take Book please tell me if the Kindergartners at your school could read this at the end of the school year? Just click on the picture below to get your free copy. Hopefully your first grade students will have fun reading it too.

I hope that if you like my products you will check out my TpT store and follow me in order to get updates on new products that I will be adding. There are some great new BTS items for you to check out. Thank you for all you do to make a difference for your students.

What do you think about the new Reading levels or Kindergarten?

End of School

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted! Ohh my goodness!! We've been  showing our house to sell it and everything has just been insane! My preacher talked about everyone taking a "Time Out" and we soooo need to do that!

The last week of school  was very hectic! We just finished up Friday. We had our school awards, classroom awards and end of the year party. I purchased a few end of the year memory books on TpT before the end of the year came..but the lovely Cara Carroll posted a FREE End of the Year Book and it was wonderful!! Go get your copy here~School-Memories-An-End-of-Year-Keepsake

We made foldable year books. The folded their papers into fourths, then wrote each child's name in a box. Then they drew a picture of each kid and had each kids sign it. They loved this! I'll add pics later, my camera card is still at school!!!!

Since I finally got to 50 followers, I am doing a giveaway! Rules: Comment with your e-mail address, follow my blog, follow my  TpT Store! I will give away my Guided-Reading-Resource-Kit- Commenting ENDS at 6 PM CST on 06/08

I'm also doing a giveway to TWO lucky people...all you have to do is visit Teacher's Notebook to Enter! Click Here!! You can enter to win my inflectional endings literacy packet

Thanks for visiting! Please visit me on FACEBOOK!!~The-Teachers-Treasure-Chest