For those familiar with the Secret Stories- Cracking the Reading & Writing Codes with the Brain-in-Mind! my name might sound familiar! I'm Katie Garner, author of the Secret Stories, and have been brainstorming with Deanna the past few weeks about this shared blogging endeavor! These "Secret Sessions" will be posted both here and on the new Secret Stories BLOG. Click for the Secret Stories "Awesome Anchors" Pinterest Page A handful of times each month, ... continue reading...
Search Results for: label/Secret Session
Alphapalooza Session handouts
Hey There! I had a great time presenting my Alphapalooza session today in Orlando, Florida. I promised the participants that I would share the handouts and some of the slides from the session. So here goes.... :) Spot the sounds is a fun small group game for identifying where sounds are heard in words. Three in a Row fun! Use the names of your students to work on identifying letters and their ... continue reading...
How to Start Teaching Writer’s Workshop in Kindergarten & First Grade
Do you struggle with how to get started? Writer's Workshop in kindergarten and first grade classrooms is one of the most powerful components. In Writing Workshop in kindergarten and first grade, students are encoding words that come from their thoughts and feelings, which is a much easier skill than decoding. Successful writers become successful readers! So, how do you get started? The answer is simple. Just jump right in!! I usually start at the beginning of the ... continue reading...
Math Workshop {handouts with FREEBIES}
Math Workshop for Kindergarten and First grade students. Hey friends, I hope that you are enjoying your weekend! This is a recap of the session that I did on Thursday at the SDE Kindergarten Conference here in Florida. In this session I explained how Deedee Wills and I structure the lessons in our math units so that the kids gain a deeper understanding of the math concepts that we are teaching. Our lessons follow a 5 step process as outlined ... continue reading...
Valentine Inference Lesson for Grades K-2
Whenever a holiday approaches, students get extra excited. From Christmas to Valentine’s Day, students love being able to celebrate with classmates. Therefore, teachers put a lot of pressure on themselves to create the perfect celebration. However, there is not enough time in the school year to create day-long celebrations. Due to the number of standards to get through, teachers need to utilize every minute possible. However, there are ways to embed a holiday with a ... continue reading...
Engaging Readers: Getting it ORGANIZED!
Hey There! Happy Hump day! We've had a few questions about how we organize our new Engaging Readers units so I thought I'd do a quick blog post to show you! These are the supplies I used to organize mine. I used a 1" binder sheet protectors Binder pocket (one pocket holds all four books) ziploc baggies Clear packing tape Printables for the spine and fronts of sheet protectors click HERE to get yours. First, I put our cutie patootie cover (thanks to ... continue reading...
FREE Spine Labels for Binders: Getting Organized!
This is a throwback post that I did awhile back about getting our Guiding Readers units organized. Since this post, I've had quite a few requests to make matching spine labels for the Writing and Math units. So HERE YOU GO! Sorry, it took me so long! We also have a Free Year-Long Curriculum Map for Kindergarten and First Grade. (Scroll to the bottom of this post to grab the map and spines) If you want to read the throw back post carry on! If not, Happy Organizing. ... continue reading...
Leonardo the Terrible Monster Reading Lesson Plans for K-1
Leonardo the Terrible Monster reading comprehension lesson plans with student response activities. Print and teach lessons to engage your students in reading! Leonardo the Terrible Monster This story by Mo Willems is one of my favorite stories to read, especially in October around Halloween. If you are not familiar with this book, it is about a monster named Leonardo. Leonardo is not a scary monster, no matter how hard he tries! He does some research and thinks he finds the perfect little ... continue reading...
Common Core Standards Organization and Wishy Washy!
I've had a lot of questions about how I organize my Common Core Standards and Essential Questions. I display them on posters which are hot glued to ribbon. The standards are attached with velcro so that they are easy to change in and out. (Please excuse the bad picture above. The standards shown are from the 1st grade set. Notice that the clipart images match the standard and that the essential question clipart also matches. This helps the little ones who can't read understand the ... continue reading...
The Gruffalo Lesson Plans | Reading Comprehension for K-2
The Gruffalo lesson plans for K-2. Engaging 5-day lesson plans with differentiated reading response, vocabulary, sentence study, and a craft for this fun story! The Gruffalo A clever mouse outsmarts some woodland animals who want to eat him with the story of a Gruffalo. Little does he know, a Gruffalo is real and loves to eat mice. Your students will love this award-winning story! Through our engaging lesson plans students will strengthen their reading comprehension skills and have fun ... continue reading...
Oceans of Fun!
I got up bright and early this morning and drove 2 hrs. in search of the perfect wedding dress for my daughter Taylor. SUCCESS! But, I'm one tired mamma so this is going to be a super quick post! We just started our ocean unit. Nothing gets boys excited more than sharks! (okay...maybe dinosaurs...but they still LOVE sharks too). We used interactive writing to label the parts of a shark. Comparing sharks and whales. Schema Chart Writing ... continue reading...
Inferring with Primary Students: The Case of the Missing Toy Sack
Inferring with Primary Students: Christmas Inference Detectives Activities for Kindergarten and First-Grade Inferring with Primary Students: Kindergarten and First-Grade Inferring is an important comprehension skill for young readers to have and I love giving them lots of practice with this skill. We infer each week with the story we are reading, but I also like to give them opportunities to infer outside of the text. Inferring is just putting clues together and using that voice inside ... continue reading...
Making Inferences
Learning how to make inferences is a really tough skill to learn! Often, students want to look back in the text for answers. However, this is not the only aspect students need to do when making their own inferences. They need to use their prior knowledge, personal experience and incorporate it with the information provided. Additionally, in the primary grades, we know that students' listening comprehension far exceeds their reading comprehension since students in kindergarten and first grade are ... continue reading...
Cookie Detectives Engaging Learning Activities
Student engagement will be through the roof, with the Case of the Missing Cookies! September kindergarten and first week of school activities for first grade. Who Took the Cookies from the Cookie Jar? This is a fun rhyme to practice as a part of your first week of school activities. Students love hearing their name and hearing the names of their friends. This fun rhyme has been used for generations because it gets kids engaged! They love the repetitive chant as they ... continue reading...
Alphapalooza!
I'm getting ready for Vegas and I made some new Phonemic Awareness and Phonics activitities for my ALPHAPALOOZA session. If you're interested you can check out the unit here. *If you purchased the unit last night or this morning you will want to go to TPT and get the revised version. I added a blackline emergent reader to go with the Shared Reading book. Have a GREAT weekend friends! For those of you who aren't able to go to I TEACH K! in Vegas I will be ... continue reading...