Helping Students Transition Back from Winter Break

You haven't had school in over 2 weeks so you've probably enjoyed binge watching tv, staying in your pajamas all day, and eating whatever/whenever you want (please tell me that's not just me). Getting back in the swing of school is going to be hard for you and your students, but here are a few tips to help make that transition a bit easier. 

1. Review the Rules/Expectations

Just like the 1st day of school, going over the rules after break is essential! Now is a good time to review all of the classroom rules and decide if you need any more in place. One year, I let my class come up with the rules. I know you probably think that's crazy! Well, check out this huge list they came up with. I even had to cut them off! By allowing them to create the rules, they take ownership of them. However you do your rules (student led, classroom, school wide, etc), make sure to go over them and make sure students remember the consequences of breaking the rules. 

 I personally think #10 is the BEST!!

 2. Review Procedures
Along the lines of reviewing the rules, discussing the classroom procedures is also vital. Discussing arrival/dismissal procedures, classroom jobs, bathroom/drink privileges, lunch procedures, fire/tornado drills, center time, etc. are all important things to go over. We can't assume that students will remember EVERYTHING from before break. All the hot chocolate and candy canes fog up their head for a bit. :)

3. Give Students a Break
You know how exhausted you are the first week after a break and you just can't wait for lunch, recess, and your prep so you can just sit and catch your breath, well your students are like that too. So ease them back into the long daily routine. Throw in some brain breaks like these quick cards you can put on a ring for quick access.

These Fluency & Fitness Slideshows are fun because they review skills and get in movement. 

4. Take Time to Review Old Skills

We cannot expect our students to just get back in the swing of things and start learning a new topic. Your first week back is a great time to do a quick review on the main skills you've taught already this school year. Students are going to need time to practice the skills and strategies they haven't used for the past few weeks. Winter break isn't as bad as when students come back from Summer vacation, but a refresher course is a good way to transition back into the first week. It will also save some of your sanity of planning over break, because you can just pull out old lessons and activities for this review week. 

5. Let Students Share About Their Break

Students have so much they want to share about with you and their friends when they get back to school. It's been about 2 weeks without their friends, so you know they're going to want to talk. When they arrive in the morning you can use these FREE Winter writing prompts to have students write about their break. Then you can gather around in a circle and let each student have a few minutes to share about their break. 

Hopefully your first week back after break will go smooth. It's always fun to see your students again, but don't be surprised if you get this look a few times. :)

Using AudioBoom in the Classroom to Promote Fluency

Hi all!  It's Amanda and Aylin from Learning to the Core!  Today, we are discussing fluency...

In first grade we are continuously working on becoming fluent readers. There are so many different ways to help promote fluency in a first grade classroom and one of my newest and most favorite ways is using audioBoom!

AudioBoom is a free platform that allows anyone to record and share podcasts.  In my first grade classroom, we simply use it to record ourselves reading a story and then share it with others by creating a QR Code (all done on AudioBoom) so that students can listen to each other's reading.

Asking students to work on fluency and read a book several times so that they are reading it in a "just right" voice is not something most 6 and 7 years old want to do.  HOWEVER, tell them that they will be recording themselves and then classmates will be listening to their recording...you have a class full of excited readers!

Once QR Codes are put on the books, place them in a special spot in your classroom  so students can listen to each other read throughout the school day.

Getting Stared with audioBoom

1. Sign up for a free account at audioboom.com Then download the free app, "AudioBoom" to your iPad.  Sign in and get started!

Once students "upload" their recording.  I go onto my account on the computer by going to audioboom.com and click on your username and scroll down until you see "my posts."  Click on it and you will see all of the uploads.  From this screen, you can also turn it into a QR Code to put on the book.   Fun stuff!  The kids enjoy hearing themselves and their peers read.

Tips and Tidbits:  Other things can pop up on this website (like sports broadcasts) so I make sure to hand it to my students already in the "record mode."  Also, I can't quite see how to turn the reading into a QR Code on the iPad so I always do that part on the computer.  It doesn't bother me to switch back and forth between iPad and computer but if it bothers you it might be worth figuring out how to do it all on one device.


Happy Monday,
Amanda and Aylin
Learning to the Core

mClass Math and RTI Math Practice

Do you use mClass math assessments at your school? It's a standardized test given at the beginning, middle, and end of the year. It helps us decide what level students are on, and who may need to be put into math RTI. In Kindergarten, the skills tested are counting, quantity discrimination, missing numbers, and number identification. The students have one minute to complete each activity with includes numbers 1-100. I created a set of worksheets to help my students practice these skills throughout the year, so when assessment time rolls around, they'll be ready to go! 

For each month, I have colored versions and black/white versions of the worksheets. Since my school counts our copies, I put the colored version into sheet protectors and use in my math centers or RTI Math small group. Students LOVE to use dry-erase markers and this makes them easy to clean and re-use. 

I put these worksheets front and back in the sheet protectors. One side includes numbers 1-10 and the other side is 11-20. 

I use this worksheet (below) and a sand timer to work on number recognition to 100. The students work in pairs with this game. One student is in charge of watching the sand timer, while the other student tries to say as many numbers as they can in 1 minute. My competitive students have so much fun with this, and have no idea it's helping them become more fluent in their numbers! :)

You can find all of these activities in my "A Year of mClass Math" bundle. You'll get 10 months worth of worksheets including color & b/w versions!

If you want to try this before you buy it, grab a FREE sample of the product here!

Another fun way to review missing numbers is with my Missing Numbers Fluency & Fitness game!  I've mentioned this game before, but for you new followers, here's how to play. You simply project one of the slideshows onto a big screen and flip through the slides as fast or slow as you think your students can do the skill. When they see an exercise slide, they have to do that exercise until you click to the next screen. I like to tease my students and stay on the exercise screen for a while. ;) I have Fluency & Fitness available for many reading and math skills.

An Easy Way to Improve Fluency

Reading fluency is crucial for young readers because it bridges the gap between word recognition and text comprehension. Fluent readers do not have to spend as much time decoding the words so they are able to focus their efforts more on comprehending what the text means. Reading fluency is a huge struggle for many young readers.  Since reading fluency is the building block to comprehension, less fluent readers often fall behind their peers.   Significant improvement in reading fluency can be achieved with just a few minutes of practice each day.  

I have seen great gains in fluency using Super Speed 1000 from the Whole Brain Teaching Website. This activity and many others are available as a FREE download when you register on their website.  I love that this activity integrates both the Dolch and Fry word lists so the kids get exposure to as many words as possible.

In my classroom, we use a slight variation from the official rules that come with the download.  I have my students paired up by ability and personality.  The students work together as a team to beat their previous record.  The partners take turns reading the words back and forth for 60 seconds.  Each time the pair beats their record, they get to start one line further down at the beginning.  The official directions are a bit different, but I have found this procedure to work well with my class.  

This is a short video showing two of my students doing the Super Speed Reading Fluency activity.  My students are using the paper version of the game which is designed for partner practice.  The partner game promotes social interaction and goal setting in a fun, fast-paced game. There is also an electronic version of the game that is great for whole class practice.  

There is also a Super Speed Game for math facts.  Each of my students have a folder with the papers needed to play both games inside.  

Here is a short video of my students playing the Super Speed math game.  We play each game twice a day.  Since each game is only one minute long, we are able to practice both math facts and the top 1,000 words in five minutes.

If you are looking for an easy to implement way to improve reading and math fluency in your classroom, I encourage to visit the Whole Brain Teaching Website, register with your email address, and download the FREE Ebook(s).  You won't be disappointed!

Keeping Kids Active

Hey friends, it Brittany again from Tickled Pink in Primary. Are you looking for ways to get your kids moving AND keep their brain working? I've created many games called Fluency & Fitness that help your students review needed skills, gives them a brain break, and get in a little exercise. My students have so much fun with this and even ask me if we can do it!

To play Fluency & Fitness you simply project one of the slideshows onto a big screen and flip through the slides as fast or slow as you think your students can do the skill. When they see an exercise slide, they have to do that exercise until you click to the next screen. I like to tease my students and stay on the exercise screen for a while. ;) 

One of my first grade colleagues videoed her class doing the number version. It's funny to see how excited they are for the push-ups.

Here's an example of the Missing Numbers version which would be great practice for mClass math assessments. 

Below is an example of my Dolch Words bundle. I have all the Dolch words in this packet from pre-primer to 3rd grade, or you can visit my store to buy just the sight word sets you need.

Fluency & Fitness doesn't just have to be a slideshow for whole group practice! I printed multiple pages per sheet to make these cards smaller. Put them in a cute container and voila, you have a great literacy center activity!

Click here to see all the different versions of Fluency & Fitness that I have.  I'm getting many requests for games, so keep an eye on my store for new activities!

Fluency

Hello! It's Allison Stuckey from Stuckey in Second! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! I've been trying to relax as much as possible and I've been doing a ton of reading (for pleasure!)


I thought I'd share one of my posts from last summer with you about fluency. I don't know about you, but I have to get my mind back into the beginning of the year and how to start all over on fluency practice.

Fluency....isn't that what we are all working on? Fluency not only helps with test scores (grrrr), but it actually helps students comprehend what they are reading. I always spend a good portion of the beginning of the year working on fluency with every student in my 2nd grade classroom.  Some students move out of needing so much fluency work, but others need it the whole year.

I discovered Fry's Fluency Phrases probably 5 years ago. At first I was excited to just copy them onto different colors of card stock, cut them out into strips, and put them on rings for students to practice. I can actually remember cutting them and assembling them in the car on a road trip we took to Nashville. I actually still use those rings of phrases. They hang up on hooks in my classroom (if I were in my room yet, I'd add a picture, maybe later!)

I have the 100 phrases of each level separated into 5 or 6 rings, so I will pass those out to my small group (whichever level they are on with the phrases.) We usually warm up our small group with those. They will read through one set, then throw them in the middle of the table and when someone else is done, they take theirs, etc. Even though the kids still like doing those phrases on the rings, I felt like I need some more creative ways to practice the same phrases. Of course, the kids don't seem to notice they are practicing the SAME thing, they think it's a new and fun game!

I gave away my Super Reader Fluency Phrases last week for $1 when I was celebrating 1,000 Facebook fans! I've heard a lot of feedback and it seems that people are finding them fun and useful. My Super Reader Fluency Phrase packet is actually a set of 6 games. (One game per level of phrases) My intentions when making the games are to have students start at Level One, and move through the levels as they master each one. In my own classroom, I start teaching students how to play the games (very easy, a variety of Oops!) in my small groups, then when they are good at it, the games can be moved into centers/workstations where they can play with a small group to gain fluency. I have to admit, what I like the most about this set of phrases is the clipart. I just find these "super hero" alligators to be hilarious! :)

 

 

Now, since my students love these so much, I decided to make another set for a few reasons. First reason, they like to have a variety throughout the year and not get bored of course! Second, because I don't want this laminated set to get completely ruined after an entire class is using them for an entire year (and the kids last year have already worn them in pretty well!) So, I've created another set, same exact phrases and everything, just different clipart! They have a Back to School theme! So, I know that I have the option of using the "Super Reader" set or the "Back to School" set at any point in the school year! :) The kids think they are "new" games, but I know that they are all just fun ways to practice fluency without them thinking that they are really being pressured to read phrases over and over again. They truly love it. Here is the Back to School Fluency Phrase set that I completed yesterday. Click on any of the pictures to check them out in my store!!