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?

Back To School Blog Hop at The Teacher's Treasure Chest

Hello Friends!!!
I am linking up with Mrs. Bainbridge's Class for a Back To School Blog Hop!!

This is a busy time of the year! Don't re-invent the wheel! TpT has so many GREAT products out there! One of mine that I think is a MUST have for BTS is ABC-Order-Sight-Word-Literacy-Centers. These centers can be used all year and with ANY theme. I switch out my centers often, but I like to have a few basic skill centers that I can pull no matter what theme or skill I am doing. ABC Order is a skill that students should work on ALL year :) With the BTS Sale, you can get this product at almost 30% off!!!

Be sure to visit for the BIG Back to School Sale at My TpT Store !!

Back To School Sales!!

Well it's that time of year again, the time of year we start trying to get our classrooms just perfect for the new year! Now it's time to get prepared as well!! TpT and TN are both running GREAT promotions this weekend!!

Be sure to visit both of my stores! At TN, I'm giving away one of my  center packs! 

My TpT Shop

My TN Shop

Great Blogs to Visit!

Check out this list of amazing blogs!!!!

Flipping for Place Value

As I was packing up my classroom to prepare to move across the country, I found such a great teaching tool that I wanted to share with you. I made this a few years ago.  My kids were struggling with understanding place value and the order that numbers go in. I've never had an issue with students mixing up the hundreds and the tens place like I did this year. I made enough of these charts so that the students could work with a partner to make our numbers. We discussed how each numeral has a place and the value of that numeral.

                                                                                                                       

These were so simple to make! I just used cardstock, binder rings, index cards and a hole punch. I used card stock for the back to make it sturdy. Then, I laminated it using a hard laminating film. This made a difference in how the charts held up. The ones I laminated with the soft film, didn't make it through the year! We used these charts a lot this year! I hole punched three holes at the top. Next, I wrote numbers out 0-9 on three sets of index cards. Then, I attached the cards to the backing using binder rings. During small group instruction, I would write a number using words only. The students had to make and stretch out the word. (I also have a set of flip charts that the numbers are in expanded form. I couldn't find them for a picture though! Everything is a bit hectic :) We also played games using the flip charts. I would use post it notes to write numbers on them and then place them around the classroom. The students would go on hunts and make the numbers they found. This really helped with the switching of the tens and hundreds place!


Once we developed a strong sense of place value, we work with work station mats and  task cards.



                                          

Just an inexpensive and different way to put learning in the hands of students that I thought I would share!

Christmas in July

Head on over to check out all of the CHRISTMAS IN JULY SALES!!

Hurry over to  TpT and check out all of the sales!!!

100 Follower Giveaway!

Whew! I just got home from vacation and realized I hit 100 followers while I was away!!! Time for a giveaway!!!

I am giving away one of my Long-Vowel-Packet-10-Centers

A few of my sweet blogger friends are going in on this giveaway!!

Michelle from No Monkey Business will be donating one item from her TpT Store

Arlene from LMN Learning is donating

 
 




Sally from  Elementary Matters is donating her Academic-Olympic-Team-Building-Unit
 Tammy from Teaching FSL  will donate one item from her TpT Store!! AndNicole from Teaching With Blonde Ambition is donating Reading-Response-Sheets-for-Common-Core-StandardsMandy's Tips 4 Teachers is donating Geometry-Fun-A-Supplemental-Unit

Now to all of the fun unpacking I need to get done from vacay!!! Thanks for stopping by!