Helping Parents Find Just Right Books

As teachers, we constantly hear from parents who aren't sure how to find "Just Right Books" for their child.  Scholastic's Bookwizard is a great place to send them! They have improved this site tremendously in the past few years.  Not only is it a great site for finding the levels of books, but now you can search by level and it will give you hundreds of books at that level.  If you like something and want to see more like it, you can compare books!  It's a great free resource and we should share it with our parents.

I've made a quick handout to share with parents when they ask for more information on book levels.  Feel free to share this with anyone you'd like.  Let me know if something looks incorrect or too confusing.  I am happy to make changes.

How to find book levels and books- a handout for parents

Conferring Form

Conferring has always been one of those areas in the workshop that intimidates me.  The logistics of balancing management and instruction can be baffling at the beginning of the process (or even years into for that matter!).  I've tried many different systems over the years...stickers with kids' names and the conferring form printed on them...clipboards with sheets for each kid...notebooks....composition books...the list might just be endless.  However, I can usually get a management system down and stick to it for a while and it works for the time being.  That doesn't seem to be the hardest part for me.  The most difficult part is knowing exactly what to teach the student that is appropriate for their level and their current zone of proximal development.  Coming from a reading background, I usually can find something to work on with each child.  But as I work with higher readers, I often find myself saying, "Wow!  They read that pretty well.  Hmmm...Now what?"  I can use Fountas and Pinnell's continuum to help me, but I feel like I would be better prepared if I had it right in front of me and could use it if needed.

After seeing another Literacy Coach from our district present her google doc for conferring, I thought that this might be the perfect way to put together these two areas of concern for me when it comes to conferring.  I tweaked what she had done in order to make it a little less duplicated in the process and a little less scrolling.  Thus, my conferring form(s) were born!

The form starts out with a drop down menu of student names, a place to enter the book title they are working on, and their current level.  Each of these options will help with being able to sort the information later.

Next, each level has its own section.  It starts with a quick list of behaviors to notice for that level.  I found this document from the Warsaw Public Schools website.  This list does have a lot of repetition as you move from one level to the next, but it also has the appropriate changes as you move along the continuum.   The next section is a box to write in your compliment.  You could use the behaviors to notice list above to come up with an appropriate compliment if needed.  Below that are two sections that look exactly the same.  The teaching point and future teaching point (not shown in the picture below) gives you a list of options of possible teaching points to use.  You may have something in mind specific to your current unit of study that you want to use, in which case, you can select other and write in your teaching point.  You will only select ONE option here because we know that good conferring only addresses one point at a time.  The future teaching point section gives you the chance to select a few (or add your own) teaching points that you know you need to address in the near future.

The best part about this form is the spreadsheet that it gives you once you are done.  In the example below, I was able to sort the spreadsheet by level and see all of my students reading at an M at the same time.  When I looked at the results of my conference, I am able to see that both Duane and David need to work on their fluency and that they will be able to do this better if they have just right books.  I can easily do this as a small group or if I find that many of my students need this, I know that I can do this as a mini-lesson or as a teaching share at the end of the workshop if needed.

If you'd like this, please email me and I will share the document with you.  It will be a view only document.  You will need to open it and then "save a copy" for yourself under the file tab.  Then you can customize it to fit your class and your needs.

Please give me any feedback that you have--positive or negative.  I have tried this in many classrooms and made adjustments as I see fit.  I am hoping to create something similar for writing conferences too based on the TC levels.  I'll let you know when that is ready.

Happy Conferring!!

Classroom Booksource--a free resource

I've found another good freebie!  This one will not only be helpful for the classroom library, but I think we need to start brainstorming on how we can use this in our guided reading library as well.  It's called Classroom Booksource and it's a free, online library cataloging system.

It's very similar to what I have purchased from Intelliscanner.  But this you can use it with your smartphone (it's a free ap--just search for booksource) as well to scan in books, however it isn't necessary.  The smartphone will just save you a little bit of time so that you don't have to hand enter all of the ISBN's.  (Just a side note that I learned from intelliscanner...if you are going to scan in a barcode, you want to find one that starts with a 9.  You may have to look in the front cover as well.  An ISBN can start with any number, but you won't be able to use your smart phone to scan that in.)  I've only just begun to dig into the potential with this site, but from what I can tell, you enter all of your books into the system along with your students, and they can check books out allowing you to keep track of what they have read in your library.  It will export any of its reports to excel so you can look at student reports as well as have a print out of all the books in your library.  One of the great features is that for some of the books, it will also put the guided reading level and you can also enter what location the book should be returned to!  If you want to learn more about all of its features, click here. This is a link to the instructions (which took me a long time to dig up while I was looking around the site.)

I hope this is helpful for you.  As you learn more about it, feel free to comment below so that we can all learn about it together.

Get this freebie quickly!

I found this freebie the other day.  You should grab it too before they change their mind and want to sell it!  It's a power point with 50 different thinking maps that you can use in reading {get it here}.  But the best part it that it's free!  You can read more about it on Lisa and Beth's blog {here}.  Thinking maps are great to use to help kids get into a routine of noticing their thinking and being able to comprehend.  They are best to use with kids who are accurate and fluent readers, but all readers will benefit from them if they need help with comprehension strategies.  Enjoy!

Fluency Routine

I hear a lot of people talking about fluency and how many of their readers can read accurately and talk about the book, but it just isn't fluent.  They are anxious to move their students up in levels even if they aren't exactly fluent.  When in reality, it will be easier to teach them fluency at the level where they are having difficulties in stead of trying to teach them new words, new comprehension skills and fluency at a higher level.

Thanks to pinterest, I found this great video from a fifth grade teacher sharing her fluency routine.  I love that the students are engaged in a physical way and the reminders she gives them will stick in their heads for a long time.  Can't you just imagine yourself leaving her classroom and still saying this to yourself in a sing-songy way?

I also liked the sign that she made that I'm sure she had hanging in a prominent place in the classroom.  However, it wasn't really my style and didn't match the bright colors in my classroom.  I created my own that you are more than welcome to have it.  I can send it to you as a PDF or a publisher file if you want to tweak it for yourself.    

Nonfiction Resources

So, I'm a little late on this.  However, I just found this great article by Beth Newingham  about her top ten non-fiction resources and thought I would pass it along.  She always shares great ideas for literacy (and other content areas if you look throughout her website) on Scholastic.  This article is no different.  Because she teaches third grade, I immediately thought about the third grade curriculum and how this would fit in so well with what you do in the first non-fiction unit.  But give it a look and see what you think.  I love the free printables and graphic organizers that she shares.  These would be great for all learners, but especially your lower readers.  And I am certain that the technology component would be a big hit with some of you as well!  I'd love to hear your thoughts and how it might improve the non-fiction units that you have done.

Clutter Free

I'm going clutter free!!  Well, that's my hope at least.  This post isn't going to have anything to do with literacy, but I am convinced that students learn better in a clean and clutter free environment (even in the Lit Lab).  So, with the help of Jodi on Clutter Free Classroom, I'm going to give it a go.  Maybe some of this will even transfer to my home life as well...again, I can hope!


Jodi is doing a series on how to get a clutter free classroom.  She has some wonderful ideas to make the process manageable and also has made available some freebies to help.  Some of her materials and ideas are available in her TpT store.  But I'm going to link up with her and see how this goes.  This first blog is a description of what she hopes to do to help us all get a clutter free and organized classroom.  She has a great weekly plan designed to help us tackle it step-by-step.

Anyone interested in joining me??

Word study resources

As we being to look at which word study program we are going to be using in the future, I've spent a lot of time researching and looking for ideas.  I came across this idea a while back and it's just been sitting on my desktop.  So I'm going to share it with you.

This is something that can be done outside of the word study time, and I actually envisioned it being used during writer's workshop more than anything.  It's called "Have A Go."  From what I've researched, I think it can be traced back to Faye Bolton and Diane Snowball in their book, Teaching Spelling.  The concept behind it is that a child needs to make an attempt at spelling the word correctly before the teacher will jump in and help them.  They sound out the word and then the teacher will help them work through it until they get it correct.  Franki Sibberson talks about all the different components of word study in her article, Word Study is More Than Spelling, on the Choice Literacy website.  I can't seem to find the original source for this Have-A-Go that I've found.  It's a PDF that I've put on the Literacy Lab website.

If you use something like this, or something a little different, I'd love to see what you use or how it works in your classroom!

Great resources for great resources

There are two sites that I keep coming across as I wade my way through my day blogs.  Just like many of you, there are wonderful teachers out there doing wonderful things.  Many of them share their ideas and resources on their blogs and they are free (my favorite!!).  But many of them have put countless hours into creating their materials and they decide to sell them.  They are always a reasonable fee and an instant download to your computer.


One site that I find a lot of teachers have posted to is Teachers Pay Teachers.


The other is Teachers Notebook.

Both sites offer lots of free resources as well as resources available for a fee.  Fee range in price from a few cents to a few dollars.  I rarely see anything over $5, unless it is a really big file with lots of pages and information.

Take a few moments and check them out!  Maybe you have something you'd like to share/sell as well ;)

Happy New Year and Welcome Back!

I'm a little late on the New Year's greeting and I'm a little late on the welcome back.  That's what happens when my kids decide to get sick.

But I wanted to share a link to a website that I thought had a great back to school idea.  If you can't use it this year, then pin it to pinterest and keep it for next year :)

Christan at 4th Grade Frolics always posts some great ideas.  I loved her back to school idea (she also talks about some great math packs which might be of interest to you as well).  I think it's a great idea to re-visit Lucy's resolution lesson at this time of the year and get kids going on the right track for the rest of the year.  She has a great book mark that she shared for free.  This would go great with a mini-lesson around revising resolutions and may help to get students thinking about their reading habits again.

Follow up to Thinking Clouds

Last week, I posted a link to Thinking Clouds that can be used during guided reading groups to help kids stay on task as well as to foster conversation about their metacognition once they are done reading.  One of the clouds is "Author's Purpose" and it says on it, "It's all about PIE."  I found another great free resource to go along with that and help teach what PIE stands for.  This website has a set of short posters that explain each of the letters in PIE (persuade, inform, entertain).  I printed them off and laminated them to have on hand when the conversation comes up.

Guided Reading- Think Clouds

**I haven't blogged all year...oops!!  But I have recently come across a lot of really great tools to help with literacy and I thought I would try to keep stuff here.  That way friends and colleagues can look here for what I've been finding.

I get a lot of questions about guided reading and how to manage all that is involved with it.  One thing that gets difficult with guided reading is the fact that the kids at the table are all reading at the same time (which we know is best practice) but the teacher can only work with one at a time.  I found a little tool to monitor reading even when you aren't listening in. Hope King , who writes the blog 2nd Grade Shenanigans,  posted some great Guided Reading Think Clouds.  I have been using them during my LLI lessons for the students at the highest levels and they love them!!  In fact, sometimes they fight over who gets to take them.  

The thought behind them is that when the student notices their thinking, they take the Think Cloud.  This way, when you are done reading with everyone, you can use the think cloud as a discussion spring board.  They are great for all levels, but I have found a lot of success with my higher readers (which are at levels L-N).  I've even been able to get a few kids talking about their thinking when they wouldn't do that before!

Getting organized

I'd like to think that I'm an organized person, espeically in my classroom.  But I find myself creating new ways to be organized every year.  I get new folders.  I get new crates and baskets to put papers into.  I get new calendars to write on.  I've tried lots of things and still haven't found exactly what I like.  I thought I would quickly share a website that has lots of idea for getting a classroom organized.  It may have too many ideas (if that's at all possible).   The one thing I have learned is that everyone is different and different things may or may not work for everyone.  But it may be worth checking this out to get some ideas.  I know that I have!

Getting Organized

Back to School Freebies and Ideas

Back to School Success Kit

I came across this in my blog hunts for the evening.  I am going to modify some of it to use in my classroom, but thought I would post it to share with anyone else who would be interested.  A lot of what she has made reminds me of Harry Wong's list that can be found in his book, The First Days of School.  This was made for an early elementary classroom, so some may need to change it to fit their own needs, but it might be worth taking a look.

I am keeping an eye out for other back to school ideas and freebies.  A lot of what I find has been on pinterest.com.  Unfortunately, I think their sight is having issues right now, so I will post more of my finds tomorrow.

Back to school shopping!

You can ask my mom, I've always been a huge fan of back to school shopping.  It was like a holiday in itself in my eyes.  I always loved getting a few new outfits to replace the ones that I'd outgrown, but I mostly loved getting new school supplies.  I might even call myself a school supply junkie.  I can't seem to get enough pads of paper, a new binder and folders, new markers and crayons (I love the look of a fresh box of Crayolas!) and don't even get me started on how much I love a new bag!!  As a teacher, I still love the excitement of back to school shopping, but now I get that excited all year long when I get a teaching catalog in the mail.  

I'll admit, usually the catalogs have the same stuff month after month, company after company.  But I still look through them, page by page.  I've gotten better about looking through it once and then tossing it into the recycling bin.  If I didn't, we wouldn't be able to see the floor of my house because it would be covered with them!  But I certainly have my favorites that I shop from every year.  I even follow most of the companies on Facebook and read all of their emails.  I thought I'd share just a few that I find to have the highest quality products at the best prices.

The first, that I use all the time, is Really Good Stuff.  I have never gotten a bad product from them and usually manage to spend my entire yearly budget on one order.  I love their organizational tools (I'm a sucker for bins and baskets as well!)  I try to check out their clearance section often because I can usually find one or two things that are a great deal.

I also like the products from Creative Teacher Press.  A lot of what I get from them are for bulletin boards.  I don't change my boards very often, especially in my new role, but I like to get things with themes and they have a wide selection.  Debbie Diller suggests that classrooms should use no more than three colors throughout the room in order to avoid being too distracting.   Covering bulletin boards with 2-3 colors and leaving them empty at the start of the year can give the illusion of a bigger space as well.  But items can be bought to fill the boards and highlight student work.  

I just came across another company today that I think I'm going to like as well.  They're called Steps to Literacy.  They have a lot of books and book sets (which seemed rather expensive), teaching resources (which would be great for guided reading or intervention groups) as well as book storage.  Their baskets are reasonably priced and their options are quite varied.  I am going to take a closer look into this company and I'll be sure to blog if I get anything.  

Most of all, throughout the years, I have learned that it is best to shop around as well as ask around.  It may take some time and organization  but it will be worth it in the end.   

Let's give this a try...

I've spent quite a bit of my time lately trying to blog for my kids.  It sounds funny, but I figured that I spend enough time on the computer once they are in bed for the night or taking their naps that I would make it a little more productive than just window shopping.  It mostly stemmed from the fact that I have a baby book for my oldest two children, but I hardly ever wrote in them.  I don't even have one for my newest little guy.  So I figured I would use what technology has given me and blog for them instead.  This way, I am able to write about what happened and post the pictures.  I'll call it my online scrapbook.

As I've spent time doing this, and learning more about all that blogs have to offer, I've come across quite a few blogs by teachers and creative moms who are posting a lot of really great ideas and suggestions.  With that in mind, I've decided to try to do the same.  It's my hope that someone out there (be it a colleague, parent, friend, total stranger) can take what I've come across and use it to educate children in a better way.  I don't plan to blog every day, because I'll be honest, I will forget.  But when I find something of interest, I will put it on here.

So, here's what I've got for today.  As my school begins to transition to a completely workshop approach to teaching reading as well as writing, I've been on the look out bargins when it comes to all the supplies that we'll need.  We are in need of books (and lots of them!) as well as book bins, notebooks, book shelves...the list could go on for a while.  My first find has been the Target dollar spot.  I got book bins for my intervention students for $2.50/each.  They aren't exactly what I was looking for, but a friend did get them at a different Target store in town.




These are the best ones to get.  They come from Really Good Stuff.  I got a free sample of this because they are promoting their new bins that don't tip.  It's really great.  But they are really expensive.  Get the cheaper kind from the dollar store  or the dollar spot and let them tip.  It will be okay.  I promise.

I've also bought these in the past.  I let the kids decorate their own.  They love it!  However, they will be duct taped and falling apart by the winter holiday if you use them all the time like we did.  Again, they are expensive considering you can't use them again because the kids will take them home at the end of the year.  

This is also another idea that works great.  A teacher in my building used something similar to it last year.  I've seen them at the dollar stores all ready.  I love the colors they come in as well.

http://mchaffiek.blogspot.com/search/label/classroom%20library

Doing a quick google search of classroom libraries will get you lots of ideas.  You can also visit other blogs, like the one linked under the picture above, and it will take you on a wild goose chase through the web from blog to blog and overfill your head with great ideas as well.

Most of all, think about what will work in your classroom with the group of students you are working with.  What works in the classroom next door, may not work for you.  Do what works best and it will make the teaching and learning process in the workshop so much fun!