As many new teachers are venturing into the halfway point of the year I want to give you a vote of confidence and say YOU CAN DO IT! It may seem tough, but teaching gets easier with each year you do it! The more you learn and research and listen, the better teacher you become. I know this from experience! I had a VERY rocky start to my teaching career. I refer to my first year of teaching as 'The Year of Hell". Something that would have helped me improve or feel more comfortable would have been having a knowledgeable mentor who could have shown me the ropes of reading and math instruction. I have a series of posts which will explain how I run my reading block in first grade.
I did not understand the purpose or flow that a reading lesson should have or what a guided reading lesson entailed. This post is going to be one of three parts explaining what I have learned any how I implement reading instruction in my classroom. I am not claiming to be an expert, far from one actually, but if what I know can help a first or second year teacher from feeling completely overwhelmed during their first year of teaching then I will be satisfied.
A lot of what I learned came from collaborating with the teachers around me. My co-first grade teacher at the school I am teaching at now shared with me many things and many things I learned from Debbie Diller books or reading blogs about it. So here it goes. I am going to start with my classroom set up, because all good lessons need a good environment to happen within.
Tip #1- Have a variety of Centers
When I conduct guided reading groups all of the students have jobs. They are either completing seat work, going to an assigned center or coming to the teacher table where guided reading, aka, the magic, happens. I have 5-7 centers going on everyday and the skills change weekly (for the most part). Here are some photos of the centers in my classroom. Its important that the students have a variety of things they are doing during the week and its not the same thing everyday. I have found that rotations around the centers each day works that best. The students will do ONE center each day. Here is how I show the students where they will be each day.
The students find their name under the picture and go to that center. The photos are magnetic and I rotate them each day, so the students have a new center to go to. The students are grouped so that there are two students at each center at a time. Having fewer students at each center helps to iliminate distractions and playing during center time.
The first center in my classroom is the writing center. I have my firsties begin with working on handwriting and short vowel word writing the first couple of weeks. Some of my first graders are much more advanced then this but it helps them understand the routines and I have them complete more advanced work after the routines have been set. I do not take credit for the wonderful decorations. They came from A Cupcake for Teacher. I have used this for four years! (Although I have had a bulletin board to attach the posters to before, but a trifold science board works just as well:)). Definitely worth the buy!
My second and most popular center is the computer or technology center. I have three temperamental computers in my classroom. Sometimes the internet is working and at other times it is not. I also purchased two Kindle Fire 7" tablets on Black Friday for $30 each on Amazon.com. I downloaded StarFall Learn to Read and it is a perfect center, especially for my struggling readers!
The third center we use is the Library. I need to get an updated photo of my library since this is when it was a mess. The students get to do a Daily 5 sort of rotation here. They can read a book, write about a book, or listen to a book (on tape or with a partner reading).
This is a word family and word sort center. The students can either complete this word sort and answer sheet or they can do a read the room. If you need read the room resources check out my TPT store. I really like read the room because the students are moving and writing and engaged in what they are doing.
Finally there are the mix-n-match centers. The students can choose any basket activity to do. It will have been a previously taught skill and activity that they know how to do. They also can use the letter magnets to spell and write. There are written components to ALL of the centers so I can hold the students accountable for what they are doing during these times.
This concludes part 1 of my reading block time. I will get back to you with part two, Guided Reading Groups, next time!
Educationally Yours,
Deb Avrick
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