Guided Reading!!!!

One of the most difficult times in my teacher life, was when I started implementing guided reading groups....I knew I was in a little over my head.  I needed help.......and back in my time, there weren't any literacy coaches or mentor teachers.....I was on my own.....I asked around and of course everyone did/does it differently.....and truthfully, you really do have to find your own grove.  I researched a lot and find some good things here and there and combined what I liked with what was researched based....It wasn't until I went back to get my master's degree in reading education, that I truly understood the reading process and how to teach it.  I have been working, for some time, on a pack that I hope will help novice teachers or seasoned teachers that need some new life into their teaching/implementing of guided reading materials.  None of the information in the pack is something I make up myself, but researched based and often a part of a balanced literacy model.  What this pack is: an organizational tool, a toolbox, a type of support system for the teacher during implementation.  Please note there are NO lesson plans included in this pack.  I really feel like lesson plans can't be pre-planned too far in advance, especially without knowing your learners and their needs and response to prior lessons.  So, included in our Guided Reading + Pack you will find the following items: prompt cards (1 each for supporting early literacy learning, self-monitoring, using all 3 cueing systems, self-correction, fluent reading, meaning cues, structure cues, and visual cues, and one blank card for your use), suggested skills and strategies for text levels (1-38), 2 guided reading lesson plan templates (with a sample), template for keeping up with guided reading groups, forms for reading conferences (both color and black and white), reading fluency scale, 2 guided reading take-home logs (one for a boy and one for a girl), strategy cards (large and individual), and poster size strategy cards for student reading logs.  As always, you can get this wonderful pack Guided Reading Prompt Cards + by The 2 Teaching Divas Right HERE!!!!  My suggestion is to print off the prompt cards and hole punch them and put onto a ring, just so you can have them handy!!  I hope that you can use these cards as you implement the common core and teach your babies how to read!!!  Here are a few pics for you:

Happy Halloween! by The 2 Teaching Divas

Whew!  Where does the time go???  I have been working diligently on a new Halloween pack.  It is finally ready (yea....too bad Halloween is almost over!!!!)!!  Anyway, this is my favorite time of year and I couldn't help myself!!  This pack just kept getting bigger and bigger!  I wanted to include some additional items, but I simply ran out of time. I hope to do so later.  This pack will be a wonderful addition to your learning centers for the week before and week of Halloween.  it includes the following activities:Creative Writing (including all 3 Common Core Genres: Informative/Explanatory, Opinion, and Narrative), CGI Word Problems, Fact Family mats, syllable sorting, rhyming sort, true/false math equation sort, Halloween Word building, capital/lowercase letter matching, and a few other things.  As always, you can get this great pack by clicking right HERE!!!  And, here are a few pics for you!! FUN!!!! 

Response to Intervention

Wow!!! I don't know about you, but the past few weeks have been CRAZY!!!!!  I know we havn't blogged much, but you know how it is.....classroom set up, open house, PD, kids....WHEW!  I hope things are finally calming down a little.  :)

As we all start to embrace a new year, we have new students with differing abilities and needs.  Response to Intervention is something that all educators encounter at some point in their teaching careers.  To me, it was very scary!  How do I know which kids need intervention, what do I do, who do I ask, how do I document, etc.....sooooooooo Susan and I have created a pack that is designed to help you busy teachers with the RtI process.  In this pack you will find everything you need to help you get started with RTI. There are several forms including: RtI Description and Information on each Tier, Additional Resources Page (including more information on RtI and resources that have practical application for the classroom), Status of the Class Form, Possible Student in Need Form, Data Form for Assessments, Individual Student Action Plan, 2 different forms for documentation, list of sample options for changes in intervention, and a lesson plan template designed for the Tiered Model of RtI. You can get your Response to Intervention Pack right HERE!  And, as always, we have some pics of this GREAT, NEW product!!!

Weekly Reading Records!

In this pack you will find 18 weeks (a semester) worth of reading records. The first 9 weeks are designed for fiction texts and the second 9 weeks are designed for nonfiction texts.   No 2 records are the same.  This pack can easily get you through the entire year by sending home each weekly packet 2 times.  It covers the common core anchor standards: RL.1, RL.2, RL.3, RL.4, RL.5, RL.6, RL.7, RL.10, RI.1, RI.2, RI.4, RI.5, RI.6, RI.7, RI.8, and RI.10.  This pack can be used for homework or guided reading take home bags.  Follow THIS LINK to visit our teacher store and get these for yourself!   

Nicole

Authors' Supporting Reasons

Here is a graphic organizer to help your little ones with the Common Core Standard RI.8: Identify the reasons an author gives to support points in a text.  Hope you can use!  Click RIGHT HERE to get it for FREE! Please leave us a comment!

Back to School!

Well, it's almost that time of year!  I know we are all thinking about our rooms and schedules and EVERYTHING that comes with Back to School.  :) It can be a very stressful time of year.  Susan and I have a great special for you, just to make your life a little easier.  We call it the Back to School Bash by The 2 Teaching Divas.  It has a variety of things you can use in your K-3 classroom those first few days of school, and right now, we are running it for ONLY $3.00!!!  You can't beat that!  You can download it Right Here!  Here are a few pics for you! 

Writing Paper with Self-Assessing Check List

Wow!  Susan and I have created a resource for both the primary and intermediate classroom.  I don't know about all of you, but here in Arkansas, we have a new teacher evaluation system (YIKES) that really focuses on student engagement and leadership. For me, writing has always been hard to teach, and kids seem to struggle with even the most simplest of tasks....even going back to check for punctuation and capitalization (which they have been doing since kinder).  So, in order to make our students more independent and accountable, we created a writing paper that has some simple reminders for students.  We hope you can use it!  I thought it would be great for students to use to self-assess during the rough draft process or revising/editing....keeps the kids focused and accountable.  I thought about telling my intervention kids, if you haven't checked for these things first, I cannot conference with you. :) Is that mean?  :)

Anyway, hope you can use! Click HERE to get your own copy!  Please leave us a note!

Nicole