Spring Into Reading

Can you even BELIEVE how fast this school year is going? WOW! It has been such a great experience teaching kinder this year, I love that I get to watch the light bulb turn on-- they have grown so much since I met all of my little owls in September! My little ones have worked hard, and have made leaps and bounds in reading! I do guided reading in conjunction with the Daily Five with my kiddo's. In honor of spring, I decided to blog about how my kiddo's SPRUNG into reading!

Fluency and Decoding Strips
Once I introduce new sight words, vowel sounds, blends, and digraphs, I have my guided read new fluency and decoding strips.

• During guided reading, I pass out one strip per student. I give them time to whisper read their sentence with their whisper phones. Once they are read, they read it out loud. When each child has read each strip, they pass it to the next person.
• Once students have read all of the "new" strips, I put them on a binder ring and hang them up at the read to self and read to someone center. They LOVE using the reading strips for read to self and read to someone.
• Fluency strips are split into "sets" and I have running records for each sentence. I have them read each set to me while I do the running record. Once they master the set, they get a star! So much fun and a great way to assess!

Growing Sentences
Growing sentences are another great way to teach decoding skills and get your kids reading fluently! The idea behind them is that a new word in the sentences is introduced each time them move down the growing sentence pyramid. After they read each growing sentence, I have them complete a comprehension question, sight word hunt, and then they illustrate the sentence. The kiddo's are used to the routine, and I have been able to send these home for extra practice as well!

I created growing sentences for all of the short vowel sounds so that they can work on a specific short vowel sound when I introduce it! I also have a set of mixed vowel sounds for after I have introduced them all!



Fluency and Sequencing
Sequencing is such an important skill for my little one's to master. I wanted to find a fun way for them to practice their sequencing, and I found out early on that they ADORE puzzles! So, I created differentiated fluency and sequencing puzzles to use during guided reading.

• We read the passage together 1X, then they read it to themselves and a partner. Afterwards, they put the pieces of the puzzle together.
• I use the b&w version so that they can glue the puzzle and passage into their guided reading notebooks and revisit it throughout the year. 
• The colored version is left at the read to self and read to someone center for them to work on as a choice! 

Building Writers
I learned quickly that as my kiddo's became better readers, their writing drastically (and I mean DRASTICALLY) improved! It is so fun to watch them grow as writers and I am always AMAZED! Although it isn't a part of our D5 routine, my kiddo's complete "building writers" writing strips for morning work. I made four levels for them to meet the need of each little owl!

• Level One: this is for the kids who are having a bit of trouble with letter formation and spacing. Students copy the sentence into the letter boxes then draw a picture of the sentence on the back to show they comprehended what they read.
• Level Two: this is for kids who are emerging writers. They read the simple sentence, copy it, and draw a picture to show their comprehension.
• Level Two: this is for developing writers. They read the simple sentence and rewrite it using detail! Then, they draw a picture of the new sentence they created on the back!
• Level Three: I leave these out for my advanced kids. Each strip has three words on it and they use the words to make a sentence, then draw a picture

In honor of spring, I have put together a freebie just for Y-O-U! It contains the activities that I wrote about above AND more! Click on the picture below to take you to the freebie!

An InLinkz Link-up