Ok Friends,  it is time for a super GIVEAWAY! I have been asked time and time again about a resource I use to teach fluency.  I know that many of you are familiar with a post I wrote a while back about how I use Shannon Dipple's (of Primary Education Oasis) Teaching Poetry for Fluency and Comprehension.


I have received so much feedback about this product that Shannon and I have decided to give away one copy. This giveaway includes not just one book, but actually three and they are huge! It is a great resource and comes with all the poems, activities and skill sheets you will need to teach either a small fluency group or even use whole group.  Click here to see a free sample of the book.

Now that my students have been using their roles within their reading groups for a few months, I have noticed several things. One - most of the students are working hard and doing their best, but I still have a few who can't seem to get it together. Two - the students who are on-task spend valuable time redirecting the other students.

Yesterday, I pulled my class to the carpet and we discussed what each role is and I modeled what a guided reading group should look like. I chose five other students to model a guided reading group with me and I gave them each a job. As a group we talked about what the roles were and how to do them to the best of our ability.

Today as my students entered the class, I timed how long it took before every child in the class had sat down and began their morning work. I was shocked that it took 15 minutes. I also wrote down notes about what early finishers did. Then it was time for a group discussion.  I told the class today I observed each students time-on-task, or T.O.T (as my students have named it).  I told them the day before I had video taped the class during their guided reading groups and I saw some students who were not on the same page as the rest of the group. I also saw students wasting time looking for supplies and many other things I was not pleased with. We had a good discussion about how much time we had lost yesterday and how that would never happen again. After going through all the procedures for entering the room and what to do when we finish early, I had the students go to their guided reading groups.

While groups began reading their chapter books, I sat out a flip camera to record each group. I could see the shock on the students faces and I walked around and set them up. After the groups had finished, I told them from now on each guided reading group would be recorded. I decided periodically I would pull these groups and let them watch their group. I have made a rubric for them to use to evaluate their time-on-task. I was so impressed at how much better they work. I was also impressed by how I was able to easily work with my group without having to worry about students who were off-task.

I created a poster today I am going to use to record students who were caught exemplifying what great time-on-task looks like. If you would like a free copy click the picture below or head on over to my professional development page. This page has tons of great free downloads!

Last week I decided to change my guided reading groups a little bit. I wrote in a previous post about how each member in the group was responsible for a job. I also shared the job necklaces that my students wear in their groups. A few days ago while searching the internet for a way to ensure that my students were thinking deeply about the text, I ran across some reading sticks with question stems.

I loved the question stems, but it seemed as if the questions were based on picture books. I needed questions that my students could use during chapter books. Therefore I created the Wiz-Kid Sticks. I printed the questions on mailing labels and then stuck them to tongue depressors. I love how they came out! My students love using the sticks and I feel it helps them with discussing the book.

Today I am linking up with Manic Monday to offer you my Wiz-Kid Sticks for free. You can download a free copy by clicking below or heading over to the side bar and clicking on professional development. If you have not been there before there are many free downloads. Enjoy!

Friends my students are begging me to go to their fluency groups! Why? My school has several flip cameras that teachers can check out so I have checked out three for my fluency groups. Everyday for 20 minutes my fluency kiddos take a flip camera, a bean bag and their fluency book into the hallway to begin their groups. Of course I have modeled, model and modeled what good reading sounds like. We have had multiple mini- lessons on speed, intonation and accuracy so they know how to set goals for themselves.

Once each pair is ready they open one of my fluency books and used the flip camera to record their cold read. Students listen to their cold read and then make a goal for themselves for the day. For example, one student wrote "I need to work on not adding extra words". I gave her a cute finger pointer (see below) and set her on their way.  I always find using fun finger pointers encourage tracking and students love them! I have claws for the boys and wands for the girls.

My fluency books are You Read to Me, I'll Read to You. My students BEG to read these books. These books are written with fluency readings in mind. Each book contains many short familiar stories written in prose format. The poems have two different colors so students know which color they read It is a lot like readers theater scripts. Click below to see an example of how it is set up.

Over the last few weeks I have been teaching my class how "good readers" are constantly interacting with the text. Whenever I read-aloud a story to the class, I display it on the SMART Board and have students sit on the floor with their writing notebook. Then they create a Double Entry Journal in which they record what they are thinking about while reading. I have thinking clouds that I use when I am reading aloud to illustrate the thoughts that I have as a reader. Since young students do not automatically have metacognition, I explicitly teach it.

When my students first used a DEJ, I had students record what the different thinking clouds I used said on the top of their Double Entry Journal. Then I asked students to try and pay attention to which of these thinking clouds they use on their own while reading. I decided to create a sheet that students could use when they are reading that already has some of the thinking clouds on it. This sheet is perfect to send home so parents know what types of things the reader should be paying attention to when reading.

At first students connections did not really add meaning to the text, but after using a DEJ multiple times their connections became more meaningful. Students also begin to pay closer attention to the questions they have while reading. This is important because they are interacting on a deeper level. If you would like a free copy of the DEJ forms I use in my classroom click on the picture below.

I have had so much fun the last few weeks teaching my students about authors purpose. I never anticipated that they would be so fascinated with the lessons. My students especially love persuasion. I have tied this in with advertisements and how tricky they can be sometimes. This week I had my students play a game on the internet about advertisement awareness and since this went alongside of our technology goals, I thought it would be great to tie in with persuasion.

First, I had students look at the website and identify the different ways that cereal companies use gimmicks to persuade buyers. We discussed how most of the time it will have a spokes character, some catchy saying on the box and a toy or game included. Then, I had students work with a partner to create their very own cereal using some of these gimmicks. I was really surprised at how well they understood the advertisement gimmicks. I also have the full author's purpose unit for sale on TPT if you are interested.