Next up on our daily schedule is Reading Workshop.  (You can find our daily schedule HERE.)  Reading workshop will look VERY different this year.  Last year, our county used Common Core with Wonders by McGraw Hill as our primary resource.


This year Florida has opted out of Common Core and has adopted Language Arts Florida Standards (LAFS).   OK, truth be told the Florida Standards are basically Common Core with a few tweaks...  I will post the standard on our focus fall to keep the it front and center. Creativity to the Core has made a set of Florida standards for each grade level (elementary).


Our county has revamped the Scope and Sequence for each grade level.    They have moved to teaching by standards, NOT by the adopted series.

According to our blueprint, as we teach the standards we will be using various stories throughout Wonders on any given week.  This will make it tricky as our firsties won't have the skills to read the stories out of order so many of the stories will be read alouds.  Yes, we have our work cut out for us!

To help my firsties make the transition to  standards based instruction, I am planning on using the following units from Jen Jones for comprehension extensions.

 

Opinion writing 101 is a recap of our opinion writing journey through the past month.  I decided to nix our reading series writing lessons for the month and really focus on opinion writing for the ENTIRE month! 

This is not to say that I, or even my class, has mastered opinion writing.  We are FAR from that!  However, by building daily on our craft, I  have seen more growth than I saw the entire first semester!

This intentional deviation from our reading series started while we were working on the Common Core Standard:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.1.1 Write opinion pieces in which they introduce the topic or name the book they are writing about, state an opinion, supply a reason for the opinion, and provide some sense of closure.

At that point in time, we were engaged in a Jan Brett author study.  Ahhh, this was the perfect time to jump into opinion writing and have the students give their opinion on a Jan Brett book!  WRONG!!!! After a few lessons and lots of modeling, I sent them on their way.  What I saw was LOTS of story RETELLING.

Wait! Stop! Backup! My first graders couldn't tell me a reason for their opinion.  We had worked so hard on narrative stories and retellings, they couldn't quite transition to UNDERSTANDING how to backup their opinion.

So out of necessity, we backed up and worked on giving our opinions about a particular topic.  This seemed a little easier and with lots of modeling and this very ugly not so pretty chart, we were on our way!


I promise a new chart is in the making, but my kids just needed to have a visual with a suggested way to get started! 

My go to unit was Common Core Aligned:  Winter Writing Prompts and Pages.  You can check out Lindsay's blog post about it over at A Year of Many Firsts.  Our favorite prompt at the writing center included "Do you think children should be able to wear pajamas to school?".  Her journal prompt cards are ADORABLE and my kids ate them up!

Another favorite go to is Writing Rubrics Megapack for the primary grades. You can check out more over at Sarah's First grade Snippets.

Jumping into Common Core last year has made me think more about our standards and how to integrate them into our reading curriculum.  As with most Florida educators, a reading series has been adopted and we are expected to use it.

Last year was our final year before the adoption of a new series.  Teachers scrambled to integrate Common Core. Many teachers turned to TpT and other places to help fill the gap.  Then came out new series this year and many teachers believed (and maybe even prayed) that everything would be included.

As we progress through the year, we are finding that this isn't necessarily the case.  The publishers jumped into common core like the rest of us and did what they thought was right...or what "common core" wanted.

There have been hills and valleys along the way.  I believe our new series lacks in several areas.  Many are disheartened by this, but I am excited.  This is where the challenge comes in.  We, as teachers, have the responsibility to teach.  That does not come in a box or a series. I believe it is my job to find the best  possible way to teach the standards with the rigor that was intended.

Our reading series is just one tool in out teaching belt.  I believe there are many valuable components to it.  We also have additional tools that will work well to enhance learning.  Dig into your trade books, stop by your teammates rooms, follow bloggers on Facebook or Pinterest, but most importantly collaborate and share.

All of that takes time (which we are all short on) I do love when I can find something to make my life easier.  The Wonders Supplemental Units that I have been working on help me to prepare for the week. Each unit is prepped and ready to go. Wonders Supplemental Unit {Grade 1-Unit 5} is now available and on sale on TpT.


Do you have a reading series?  I would love to hear how it is working for you:)

Our entire school participates in intervention groups from 8:45-9:15 four days a week.  Our first grade team piloted this practice last year and saw HUGE growth when compared to the growth from the year prior.

So I am linking up with Jodi over at Fun in First with her Fly on My Wall Linky. Head on over and check out what others are doing for Intervention Groups.


After assessments are done in September and then again in January, we group out children by focus skills.  This is a great way to service the children in RTI, the kids who fall through the cracks and even the children who need enrichment.  Its a win-win for all the kids.  Our team is also lucky enough to have our literacy coach and speech therapist take a group to help reduce the size of the groups.  The children love going to intervention groups because it is something just a little different in their day.

In first grade, our groups consist of phonemic awareness, phonics, high frequency words, fluency  and comprehension.  I have an enrichment group for comprehension.  We are working with complex texts and using a few different resources.

After regrouping in February, I began with non-fiction reading.  This was the perfect month to jump into presidents and other historical figures. I used 13 American Heroes by Teacher to the Core.  We read informational texts and the children followed up by reading the fluency passages and answering comprehension questions. 

I am linking up again with Kasey at Doodle Bugs Teaching with Five for Friday.  It is always such fun to see what everyone is up to.  I am sad to say, that I lack pictures of Saint Patrick's Day Activities, but will share some of our busy week.


1.  Our first grade team participated in a Lesson Study on the book Fishing in the Air.  We met a few times to find our Common Core Standard to focus on, find a matching book, activities and lesson plans for 3 days.  We were then able to observe each other to focus on student engagement and evidence of higher order questions.  It was a great experience.

2. On day 2 of our lesson study, we chose an excerpt from the story to chart and let the children identify key words that appealed to our senses and created a feeling (RL1.4).  We worked on coding the text with sensory icons whole group and then with individual samples that were typed up from the story.  It was a challenging activity for some, but the discussion came together on day 3 and it was great to get input from others.

 

Have you seen it?  Have you heard?  A comprehensive resource of English and Math standards at our fingertips.  There are hands on activities, passages and worksheets available for instruction and testing.  It is one of my favorite resources out there...along with a few TpT products I have purchased:)


As we work to align our current curriculum to the common core, The First Grade Common Core Standards Workbook is just the resource we need to make this happen.  Over 550 pages of Common Core activities are at our fingertips!  You can check out the link and look at  activity samples. I have the kindergarten edition and am able to pull many of the activities for first grade as well.

If you blog about it and follow the directions, you can even enter the Free First Grade Common Core Workbook Giveaway!  Its all a win-win:)

As I was blog stalking last night, I came across a post by Janine at Faithful in First. She posted about the Common Core Workbook for kindergarten that has lessons and worksheets.  I followed the link to Common Core Standards and look what I found!


This is an amazing workbook that can be used in conjunction with what you already have.  There are worksheets and assessments and did I say ADORABLE graphics?  The worksheet and lessons have clear directions, child friendly activities and teach each specific English and Math standard.  It is a comprehensive resource for Kindergarten Common Core.

I have purchased the First Grade Common Core workbook.  Just click on the link above and then click on the first grade option.  I purchased and downloaded the book and am so glad I have instant access to it.  I have already printed pages to use this week. 

So head on over and let me know what you think!

Page protectors!  Yes, you heard me right:)  Page protectors are not just for keeping pages in a binder anymore.  (Although sometimes they are!)


Recently I purchased Let's Label Beginning of School by First Grade Blue Skies.  I love the labeling pages, but always try to conserve a tree (when possible) and my precious color ink (my dear hubby worries about!).  I printed them in color on card stock and inserted them into page protectors.  The kids love using dry erase markers (in their favorite colors of course!) to write the words to label each picture.  Since then, Jen has added black and white copies to the unit for your copying ease! 


We also have timed math fact tests at our school.  I think at times we need to get back to the basics and sometimes kids just need to memorize things!  Please don't throw things at me!! Don't get me wrong, we do lots of modeling and practicing with concrete objects, we learn new strategies, and then they must memorize their facts.  I LOVE the One Minute Math Program because after the weeks with  +0 and +1 facts, they only get one new fact a week.  That's all and part of the test is review.  So, I insert a page with 30 problems into a page protector and the kids practice with their dry erase markers!  I set the timer for a minute and practice daily.  I also send home another page in a page protector in their homework folder for nightly practice.  They test on Friday and are able to retest the following week if needed.  One new fact goes home every other week and we cover addition up to 10.

 Sometimes, I see a need  in the middle of the day and make a quick activity and don't have time to laminate it.  I slide it in a page protector and it keeps until I laminate it or it makes its way out the following year because I stuck it in its folder with every intention of making a new one... Don't judge!


And last but not least, I use them to organize papers!  Imagine that:)  My latest binder is for my common core. We have to post our strandard, the objective, the essential question and a ticket out (a one-two minute  activity to assess if the students comprehend what has been taught).  So, I purchased Deanna Jump's Common Core Standards and Anna Brantly's Common Core First Grade Essential Questions to help me out with this.


 


So now, I just need to type the standards and the ticket outs.  Does anyone else have a common board that includes all of this plus the date and homework?