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 Stories
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...
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...
Phonological Awareness Rhyming
There are so many crucial components to becoming a strong reader and writer. Therefore, it can be overwhelming for teachers to plan high-quality lessons to meet each student where they are. However, teachers know that strong phonological awareness sets the stage for decoding, blending, and reading. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on when teaching the science of reading. Luckily, phonological awareness rhyming creates fun, exciting ways for students to focus on letters, words, and ... continue reading...
Interactive Reading Comprehension Journals
I love looking around my room and seeing smiling faces while students read. This creates such a special feeling in the classroom. However, learning to read is really like learning a new language. It takes time and can be frustrating for students. So, I love to create fun and exciting ways for students to interact and think about stories and informational texts. For example, the Interactive Reading Comprehension Journals include so many hands-on ways for students to reflect on their reading in ... 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...
Fun on the Farm!
We had so much fun learning about farm animals. We made a chart to compare and contrast sheep and pigs. We learned a lot about cows. As a culmination to our farm animal unit we made our own ice cream in a bag! The kids were able to see firsthand how matter can change from a liquid to a solid. MOOOO-velous! We read some of our favorite stories, Mrs. Wishy Washy by Joy Cowley, and Who's in the Shed? by Brenda Parkes are great stories for Shared Reading. Who's in ... 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...
Read-Aloud Activities for Tops & Bottoms
No matter the career path students select to follow, they will spend a lot of time reading. Whether this is textbooks or manuals, building comprehension at a young age is essential. Since comprehension includes many aspects, it takes time, practice, and patience. However, students also need to enjoy reading to see the true importance of the words on the page. Thus, teachers work hard to select engaging read-alouds and high-quality lessons to show students how excellent books are. Luckily, the ... continue reading...
Kindergarten Lesson Plans | Instant, Yet Powerful Lesson Plans… Just Print and Teach!
Kindergarten lesson plans made easy just print and teach! Free file too! Common Core reading lesson plans and writing plans, plus math lessons too! Here are a few things I know about teachers. They want the absolute BEST for their students. They want to employ "Best Practices" in their classrooms. They. Are. Overwhelmed! Occasionally, they want to go home before 5 pm after school AND they would like to spend their weekends with their families instead of planning. Does ... continue reading...
Where’s My Mummy? Fall Book Party
I'm linking up with Ashley from The Teacher's Treasure Chest to share one of my favorite Fall books. Where's My Mummy? by Carolyn Crimi is always a class favorite. Little Mummy doesn't want to go to bed so he begs his Mummy to play one more game of hide and shriek. The events that happen next will have your Littles shrieking with delight. The simplicity of this fun book makes it the perfect book for making predictions and asking and answering questions about key detail in a text. (Common ... 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...
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...
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...
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...