Guided Reading 101 Linky

Hey Friends!

Today we are linking up with Jivey.  We love her and her blog!  How awesome is Workshop Wednesday?  Sorry we are late to the party.  We are still very new to the blog thing.  Check out Jivey's Tech Tips.  Boy, did we learn a lot!  Thanks, Jivey!!  I only wish we saw those sooner!

We thought we would share a few of our tips for implementing guided reading in third grade.  Disclaimer:  we are *not* experts.  We are still learning!  Most of what we do comes from watching master teachers over the years, reading books, and attending conferences.  We both love Regie Routman, The Sisters, Debbie Diller, and, of course, the ultimate gurus.... Fountas and Pinnell.  If yall haven't read their books, we highly recommend them.

Reading Workshop is my absolute favorite part of the day.  Although I fake it sometimes and say math, writing, or history...I'm telling a little white lie.  Honestly, I love gathering my kiddos around that kidney shaped table.  There is something magical about kids BEGGING to dive into a good book.  We have a few non-negotiables for how we make the most out of our time with the kiddos:

• Guided Reading is about guiding your readers.  Let's face it, no one enjoys the formal assessment part.  I've never seen a teacher skip down the hallway saying, "Yippee, it's DRA day!"  But we do it so we can find that "sweet spot" where your reader is challenged and supported at the same time.  The text can't be too easy or too hard.

• Plan, plan, plan, and then plan again.  Guided reading flops for me without a plan.  I just can't wing it.  Wing a read aloud?  Sure.  Wing a worksheet?  All day long.  But guided reading?  I just can't.   It is the perfect opportunity to teach reading skills explicitly.  

• Stick to a format: review/preview, introduce vocab, set a purpose for the session, students read, circle back and discuss the purpose, and/or teach a new skill.  Done and done!  If we can get that accomplished in 25 minutes, I consider it a win for the day.  

Emily and I have made guided reading packets for all of the novels we have read this year.  If you want to check one out....download The Littles Go Exploring (HERE).  It's free :)  Who doesn't love a freebie?!

Each chapter includes re-tell questions followed by a creative reading response activity.  We like to incorporate comprehension questions using Blooms Taxonomy, but then we all need to have a little fun.  :)  Right?    

We have novel units for the Sophie Series, Ralph S. Mouse, Fudge-A-Mania, Frindle, A to Z Mysteries, Dragons of Blueland, Ramona and her Father, Cricket in Times Square, The Indian in the Cupboard, Flat Stanley, and Shiloh.  We are almost finished with Charlotte's Web, My Father's Dragon, and Bunnicula. 

That's it in a nutshell. We are still working on the right way to keep anecdotal notes on the students, so we will post later when we figure it out!!  Thank you so much for all of the tips from this linky.  Great stuff, yall!  Thanks for reading.

Fun with Fractions

We are dabbling with guided math groups and while our kids are LOVING them.....SHOOEEE they can be a lot of work!  We don't have a lot of centers already made up, so some days it's a bit of a *scramble* to get everything organized.  However, we had to share what we did last week because it was super simple to prep, very hands-on, and the instruction was meaningful.

We divided our kiddos into 3 groups.  One group was working with a teacher, one group was working on task cards, and the last group was using Fraction Towers.  We rotated every 15 minutes (we only have a 45 minute block for math).  It worked out so well!

The point of our small group instruction was to determine whether a fraction card was less than one half, equal to one half, or more than one half.  Each child picked a card, covered the numerator, and then said outloud what half of the denominator was.

Here is Emily covering her numerator.  Try not to be blinded by her gorge rock!  Once the student determined half of the denominator, they could uncover the numerator.  Next they placed the card in one of the 3 categories.  Once we made it through all 18 cards, they were begging to order the fractions from greatest to least and vice versa.  FUN!

Next, the students built fraction towers.  They had to determine equivalent fractions to 1/2 and also practice comparing fractions.  These little gems have been invaluable.  We have 7 sets and they are absolutely worth the investment!

***Sorry for the sideways pictures, we are having major difficulties with Blogger today. 

Lastly, our kids worked on some fun task cards.  Anything with an animal gets this group of kiddos excited!  I think they forget they are doing math when they are distracted by a cute puppy picture.  :)

We hope all of you are doing well!  It's 80 degrees today in Charleston.  We definitely got some sun at recess!

Fractions-Bubblegum, Bubblegum in a Dish....

We are feeling the time crunch and ERBs are just around the corner for our kiddos.  We finished up our measurement unit last week, and have wasted no time whatsoever!  It may or may not feel like the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in third grade right now.  ;)  AHH!  Spring Break will be here on Friday, we can power through!

Anyway, I love teaching fractions. It's one of my favorite math skills to teach.  Emily made this hand-out that we did today.  Our kids loved it!

They will color a gumball according to the directions and then make a fraction to represent the part (that color) of the whole (gumball machine).  We talked about numerators, denominators, word names, and even squeezed in some time for this cute little activity.  If you want to download it, click HERE.

We hope all is well with yall!  We will update later this week about equivalent fraction ideas.  Thanks for reading!

Z is for ZOOMED!

Hi Friends!

I'm not sure about any of y'all, but teaching elapsed time to third graders used to rank up there with getting a root canal or cleaning the whole house.  IE-not fun.  At all.  :)  I'd fumble and cross my fingers and kinda hope for the best.  This year was totally different for us.

Emily made this cute little poster for us to introduce the concept.  We did several example problems before we let the class try on their own.  However, they were begging to do it "alone" WAAAAAY faster than in years past!  It was also very helpful when we played Elapsed Time Scoot earlier this week.  

Z is for Zoomed!  How much time has ZOOMED by?

We played Scoot with some pretty tricky task cards and our kids did so much better once we introduced this new strategy.  They simply round to the next whole hour until they reach their final time.  Then add up your zoom lines.  Lots of fun!  If you want to check out our new pack, click here.

Finally, rejoice!  Tomorrow is Friday!  No need for this little ecard, we can do our Friday happy dance! It's also a jeans day for us :)  Enjoy your weekend!

Rough Week at Third & Goal

Hey Yall,

We have been a bit MIA from Blogland.  Emily and I have had a really rough week.  Emily ruptured her ear drum and has been in so much pain the past few days. Hopefully the 4th doctor appointment will be a successful one and she will be on the mend here soon.   I (Kerry) had to say good-bye to my sweet girl Maggie on Tuesday.  She was 11 and had a stroke.  It happened so suddenly, I just wasn't ready.

Here she is being her cutesy little self.  We affectionately called her "Nugget" or "Tater Tot."   I know she is in doggy heaven with an endless supply of socks and tennis balls!

We did have some fun today for our Dr. Suess Book Character Parade.  Here we are dressed as Boone and Little Bear from Indian in the Cupboard.  Our kiddos looked precious in their costumes!

We had to busy ourselves so we made a few new games for the class.  We are working on getting a bundle together.  In the meantime, if you want to play TIME BINGO click here for a freebie.  The kids will simply write the times on the blank bingo board in any space they choose.  We called out the times from the call sheet; once for them to complete their board and then again when we played Bingo.  We hope y'all find it useful. :)

Have a great weekend!

Five for Friday (on a Saturday)

This week flew by!  We are linking up again with Doodlebugs.  Check out her awesome blog (here).

Here are 5 things that made us happy this week:

1.  We finished our Black History Month guided reading units. This is a picture of a new reading response activity that Emily made for non-fiction.  The students have to design a plaque and write an accomplishment for their special person.  This cutie said, "Duke Ellington brought America to life with the beauty of his music."

Be still my teacher heart!!!

2.  We played a little Measurement Bingo today.  Our kids had to cover the most sensible unit of measurement for the clue we read aloud.  For example, if we said...Christmas Tree...they would cover the square marked by 8ft.

3.  We read our South Carolina Studies Weekly about the CSS Hunley (submarine), and then designed our own newspaper headlines.  They turned out really great!

4.  We have an easy way to teach comparing different units of measure.  It is fool-proof!  Since we started teaching it this way, our kids catch-on much faster.  Check out the anchor chart that Emily made:

5.  I have a habit of ending these with something non-teacher related. I am just too darn excited about this new purchase. I am obsessed with shoulder bags!  How could one not be?!  A hands-free bag?  Love 'em!

Anyway, it's perfect for the Charleston ArtWalk tonight.  ArtWalks take place in the French Quarter; it is a public event and tons of fun.  Just stroll through the galleries...check out the art, and enjoy refreshments. It is also the BB&T Charleston Food & Wine Festival this weekend.  There is a lot of fun stuff going on in Charleston this weekend.

I hope yall have a great weekend!  Put your feet up...we made it through February!  Bring on the Lions and Lambs of March...hurry Spring!

Throwback Thursday-Never Take a Shark to the Dentist-Visualization

Today in Throwback Thursday, linking up with The First Grade Parade,  I am  reintroducing a wonderful book I found that would be great for Visualization.  The kids loved it and it worked perfectly.  So take a look and see what you think.  There is a freebie involved as well!!

Whaaaattt, wait a minute, I used to want to be a dental hygienist, but not if they are letting sharks in the chair.  Have you ever read this book?

It is super duper cute and hilarious.  I happened upon it as I was reading to Super G one night and my teacher brain took over.  We laughed as we looked through the pictures and imagined "watching a movie with a giraffe" and "sitting next to a porcupine on the subway."  I couldn't stop thinking about using this for visualization.  Since we are in between writing projects and guided reading novels... I thought this would be a perfect, little activity.  Boy, did they have a blast with it!

First, we went over visualization and the importance of using mental images as we read.  We made this fun anchor chart as I introduced the book.

Then, I read the story to them, without showing the pictures. I made them VISUALIZE what it would actually look like "if you invited ants to your picnic."  We laughed and laughed.  Then I reread them the story and showed them the pictures.  Every page, I got an OHHHH, OHHHH, WOW!

Each student chose an animal and completed a web about the animal's characteristics.  Next, I had them list what they would NOT do with their animal.

Finally they came up with a "never."  It was super cute and they loved it.  Everyone got a good chuckle as we shared aloud.  Click here to get a copy of the worksheets I used.  Enjoy!