Rainbow Writing Paint Chip Idea

As a child of the 80s, Rainbow Brite was part of my daily existence-I had the doll, the horse Starlight, and all the sprites.  (Not to mention the Color Kids, t-shirts and a nightgown.)  As I am using the Daily 5 structure this year, Word Work is a daily part of my existence. 

I'm (nearly) constantly looking for new ways to make the Word Work time effective, meaningful and fun for the students. 

(I need to also add I'm looking for something inexpensive, easy to introduce and something that will withstand five year olds manipulating it for two hours on end each day.)

Enter paint chips.  The cheap teacher friendly ones.

After making letter tiles and beads part of my day, I was a little put off by the noise.  So now I have a new tool in my Word Work treasure chest:

I went to Wal-Mart and found the paint chips that will allow indelible ink on them (I have some that have the windows in 'em from Lowe's, but Sharpie won't work on them.  Big, sad sigh.)

I made the executive decision that all of my vowels would be from the red color scheme.  Alternating upper and lower case letters on all the strips, I fashioned a multi-colored alphabet.

I will use these in my Word Work Center as an alternative to the letter tiles and the beads.  A much quieter, vibrant kaleidoscope to be used for the same activities. 

Rainbow Writing?  Rainbow Brite would be so proud.

A Daily 5 Update

Hi Friends.  Good to see you again.  I hope that you've enjoyed the day off (in Kentucky every district is closed on Election Day due to so many schools being polls).

I thought I'd give you a peek at my classroom with the Daily 5 structure.  And I would love to hear what's happening in your classroom.

I guess because it's my second year implementing it, this year it appears to be more successful than last year.  Last year I strictly adhered to the pacing guide in the back of the CAFE book.  And (as this often happens when I compare myself) I thought I had failed miserably.  For example : if my class still needed practice on Read to Someone procedures, but I was supposed to introduce a new element, I felt really stressed-like I wasn't going to be able to cover all the common core.

Starting the Daily 5/CAFE

This year I decided that my expectations needed to be more realistic.  And because I moved at my own pace, I feel much more comfortable with the routines and I think the kids are receiving instruction based on needs, not on a pre-set guide.

This year I decided instead of incorporating both D5 and CAFE simultaneously, I would get my D5 under control and then move onto CAFE.  (Maybe you already do that and this isn't a big deal to you.  For me, it was a life changer.)

I kept repeating the mantra, "Don't Hurry-Trust is in the Process" or whatever it was.  And now I am reaping the benefits of it.

This is How We Roll

I stick to the structures of the Daily 5 but have made it work for my room. We do the mini-lesson followed by work.  Here's the rundown:

My first mini-lesson either involves phonemic awareness or phonics.  We may spend about 5-15 minutes on that and then they go to their first choice.  Because having too much stuff in a room gives me claustrophobia overstimulates me, I keep a clipboard with the numbers on it (today is day 55 so they all know their number by now) and I ask each kid what they want to do and they tell me.  I simply put a line through that choice instead of marking 1, 2, 3.  The charts where the kids move their name or clip onto their choice is cute, but it's not me.  Plus, my people forget what they've already done so it's nice to be able to look at the blank boxes and say, "You may do Read to Self or Word Work". 

During the indepent time, I keep a large timer counting up on the smartboard.  Because if I'm not careful, it's easy to get wrapped up in my group-even with the timer I'm guilty.  But even if you don't keep a timer going, you will be able to see when your students are ready to stand up, stretch their legs and do something else. 

During the independent time, they do 4 of the 5 centers as described in the books.  I've modified the D5 some by changing Listen to Reading.  My school has purchased Lexia as a supplement to our reading program so instead of doing Listen to Reading they do Lexia instead. 

After about 20 minutes we re-group.  During the 20 minutes of independence is when I meet with small groups or conference-whatever is needed most.  I am incredibly blessed to have an assistant, one who is just plain awesome and she will pull kids or groups as well. 

We continue with the second mini-lesson, usually on a comprehension strategy and then dismiss into our second round of D5.  Same as before-the adults work with kids and the kids work independently. 

We are usually able to work 15-20 minutes for the second round.  Then we regroup again and do a third mini-lesson followed by independent work.  The third mini-lesson usually involves writing-letter formation mostly.  I also have another 30 minutes built in specifically for writing instruction, but that's another entry.

Snacks and Consequences 

After the first mini-lesson and making a D5 choice, the kids do not pass go, do not collect $200, etc.  They walk straight to their mailboxes and get their snack and take it to the center with them.  They are allowed to eat their snack while working and after finishing snack they are allowed to get a quick drink and visit the restroom if they wish.  I'm incredibly lucky because we have two fountains and the bathrooms right outside my  door so we can watch them go in and come out or hear any monkey business that might be occurring. 

Now that being said, please don't take me for a pigeon.  We are well aware of who is wasting time or on task and how many times they've gotten up to get a new book.  Which is where the consequences begin.  It's like anything else-they get a warning and we talk about why they need to work.  If they keep it up, they move their clip.  They get a second warning if it continues.  We've talked a lot about how we trust them to learn on their own and generally they respect it-we still have kids who just want to walk around or talk to a friend, but that's just a normal classroom to me.  If a kid tries to interrupt I have a pointer I extend.  If they can be touched by the pointer then they lose their D5 and must work with me.  You only get tapped once-it does the trick.  Freedom is a precious, precious commodity.


RTI and the Daily 5

At our school, the teachers perform the Tier 2 interventions in the classroom.  We actually have a 30 minute block in the room where those who need additional support receive it.  As we were contemplating how to make this work the question was, "How can we support those kids who don't need RTI?  What will they be doing?"  These questions posed no threat to me. With that additional time we simply finish our Daily 5.  When we do this in the afternoons, I don't do a mini-lesson because there simply isn't enough time.  But we do get to work with kids who need help on a daily basis and I'm not planning centers for the other students. 

Overall

I am really happy with how this year's been.  The kindergarteners seem to really like it too.  Last week we put on our Halloween costumes and walked to the nursing home and sang.  We were too, too cute.  Anyway, by the time we changed into, walked, sang, walked back and changed again, it was time for lunch.  And let me tell you, the natives were restless when they heard we would not be doing Daily 5 until after lunch. 

Last Words and Unsolicited Advice

The nice thing about Daily 5 is that you can really tailor it to your classroom's needs.  You can sit down and ask yourself, "What seriously makes me crazy?" and train them not just to not do it, but other activities they can do instead. 

My advice for anyone who is dissatisfied or unhappy with their reading workshop is this: You can do it.  (Anyone else hear Adam Sandler just now?)  Think about what makes you unhappy and brainstorm ways to solve it.  Ask a colleague.  Read-there are some fabulous blogs that will help you.  There are gobs of resources to help you launch Daily 5 (I printed about three different ones and then pieced together what I liked from each one).  Go to Teachers Pay Teachers (don't even get me started on how much wasteful productive time I spend there).  You like monkeys? There are jungle themed posters to use in your room.  You like frilly?  There are some pink and girly D5/CAFE posters.  You don't like cutesy?  Guess what-there is something for you there. 

And last but not least-give yourself time and room to grow.  Don't get discouraged-model, practice, re-model, re-practice.  Follow your teacher sense.  Don't forget to give yourself plenty of time.  There is beauty in the waiting.

But enough about me-how's Daily 5/CAFE in your room?

Daily 5 Book Study: Chapter 6 Word Work

Confession: Now that "The Closer" is down to the last few episodes, I'm not sure if I can focus on much else.  I have my suspicions about the leak and how the show will end and am awaiting to see if they're correct. 


But since the show's on once a week, I need something to occupy my thoughts.  And what's better than ironing out how to use D5 in a classroom?  And reading how your fellow bloggers implement D5?


Of all of the choices, Word Work is the most challenging to me.  Which is why I'm super psyched about seeing how the K crew is implementing it.  But here are my thoughts:

Experimenting with words for learning and looking for a spelling pattern.  Since I'm new to kindergarten, I'm assuming there will probably be the widest range of abilities in this grade than any other.  (I should probably point out I've taught 1st-5th, so I've earned the right to make that assumption.)  I am expecting some to arrive with no letter-sound knowledge, some with only letter identification skills, some who know letters and sounds, and some who are already reading basic sight words.  And their needs will be met accordingly. 

• For the ones who need to practice letter formation, they can use Play-doh, sand in a pie plate, or even plastic mesh to help create their letters.  (I like to take the small plastic mesh-there's a real term for it and it will come to me after this has been poster.  Or if you know what I'm talking about, please tell me.)  With the mesh, kids can trace a letter and then "feel" the letter-so they can understand which direction a b points or that a g has more on the bottom than the top. 

• For those who are reading, I have made paint chip word families.  They can write down as many onsets as they can think of.  (It will be interesting to see if any of them list blends or digraphs.)  Then they can sort their words into real and nonsense words.   Another idea is to have them read poems that include sight words.  Have them record sight words and underline the rimes that create the rhyme. 

• I also made some letter tiles this summer.  (Thanks, Classroom DIY).  So that way if a child needs to practice short vowel or long vowel words I can hand them to rime and let them work.  Also, after they've made a list of words, they can circle (or star or underline-whatever your preference is) the words they already know the meaning of.  For instance, a child might not understand the word "vat" even though they can decode it.  These words can be used for vocab instruction.

Memorizing high frequency words.  My school has an assessment binder which lists the various high frequency words.  I need to check and see what lists need to be read so I can have the greatest understanding of which child is below, on, or above level.  I have sight words in a ring of various colors.  This helps the kids know which words to use.  As far as helping the kids learn them, I'm going back to ideas that I've used before:

• Whiteboards and dry erase markers.  I've already got the various word lists on rings, so they can practice writing them.  For a nice variation of strategies (instead of "Write your words five times" like I heard growing up) here are some ideas for writing words.
• Shaving cream.  Those who chose word work in my 1-2 split had the option of writing their words in shaving cream.  I have five or six cookie pans I bought from Dollar Tree that were used for this alone.  We went over how much cream to put in the pan and how to clean up.  There was also a strict "use only one hand" rule-if they get both hands they tend to play among other things. 
• Reading rods.  Have them make words on the reading rods.  Although this summer I saw something where sight words were written on the side of Legos and I thought that would be fun to try.
• Desks.  While this sounds like being a glutten for punishment, this was actually one of the quietest groups.  They were to get their ring (I told them which color) and then take a washable maker and one paper towel.  They dampened only half of the towel, returned to their desk and practiced writing words in the marker on their desks. 

Generalizing spelling patterns.  Please see my answers from the first question.

Vocab:  This is the one that stumped me.  With kids reading different levels of books, how do you make unknown words interesting to kids?  I've pinned Marzano's 6 Steps of Vocabulary Instruction, but I also think kids need to be taught the various ways you can determine the meaning of a new word: context clues, diagrams, looking it up.  I think this part of the Daily 5 lends itself well to helping children find prefixes, suffixes and root words in the words they encounter.  Depending on the child and what skill needs to be developed, they may draw a pic (and/or explain) of how the prefix changes a word's meaning.

Materials I already have: pencils, crayons, paper, shaving cream, whiteboards, dry erase markers and cookie tins.  I also have the homemade letter tiles.  And the marvelous Marsha McGuire posted some resources that are too darling for words.

Materials I need:  Veteran K teachers, I will gladly take suggestions!

Storage: I would like to put the corresponding resources in one of the mondo resealable bags.  (They're my second fav school supply right after Sharpies.)  This way it's contained in a central location and when it's time to put everything away, I will have a cabinet or bookcase where they will fit. 

Workspace:  Since I know that children will be all over the room, this is the only one where I'm kinda strict.  I have told them if they use shaving cream or markers they need to use them at their seat.  This way, if they make a big mess they won't be infringing on another child's space. 


I am so excited to see what you have to say.  You've got great ideas!  Keep up the good work!  In the words of Brenda Leigh Johnson (main character on :"The Closer"):  Thank yew.  Thank yew so much!

Daily 5 Chapter 3

Hi friends!

I can hardly believe July is just around the corner...where is this summer going? 

Reflections on Chapter 3:

1. A place for body and brain breaks:  My rooms have always featured an open area large enough to seat kids.  I just need to make sure I leave enough room for a chair for myself and a place for the anchor charts.  I really try and situate this place in the room so the kids aren't playing with books or near any other distractions.
2. Developing the concept of good fit books: because I knew this mini would arise, I've been keeping track of the books I've read over the summer-I've got some really easy reads (ads I receive in the mail), just right (books I've been reading), and then difficult (a computer website I ventured onto when I thought my computer had a virus).  Being as I'm not a big shoe person (I'd rather spend the money on a cute purse), I plan on doing this lesson using clothes-finding my regular clothes for just right, doll clothes for too easy, and a man's shirt for too hard.  I think you can still discuss the purpose (bring in dress up clothes, yard clothes, etc) and the kids will get the idea.  I did this last year using shoes and realized I needed something more tailored to my personality. 
3. Anchor charts: I like the idea of creating those with kids-they will created be whole group.  However, there are some super cute anchor charts you can print out.  I think I will leave the large ones up and then after we have familiarity with the routines, introduce the smaller, cute ones so they can refer to them.  I'm pretty big on having a room that has only the necessary info-I've been in classrooms that are beautiful, but I walk in them and I can't concentrate for all the "stuff" around me.  I want the anchor charts to serve their purpose but not overwhelm the room or the kids.
4. Stamina, Book Boxes, and Book Appetizers:  To keep track of stamina, I will keep a class graph.  As we add to it, we will color in the tick marks.  I adore the ones Nicole made.  I know teachers who use the book boxes-and use them well-but I get bogged down in the amount of room needed to store them.  Hence, my students will have these pouches from Really Good Stuff.  I ordered the extra large ones, so the large picture books can fit inside.  I also prefer these to book boxes because a) they have a handle so they can be moved easily b) they have velcro on them so you turn them every which way c) size wise they can fit into a desk instead of taking up valuable desk and/or floor space and d)  they're washable-I just put mine in the machine and put them on the delicate cycle.  They come out looking as good as new.  The first day I plan to put books that will be easy to read.  I don't have a ton of pre-K and A level books, so I will have to print some.  If you're like me and you need books to print, I found some good ones at Making Learning Fun, Free Kids Books, DLTK, Reading A-Z, Professor Garfield, Scholastic and Very Emergent Readers.  I think I'll also ask parents to send in a favorite book to keep in their bags (hopefully this will help us increase our stamina).
5. Signals & Check Ins: Here's where I need some help.  I have a regular bell (like the "Order UP!" kind) but am cognizant it is not fit to use during this time.  I have some chimes I will use specifically for D5 time.  However, the Check Ins are where I need to adapt my strategy.  It took forever last year!  I think this year before I allow them to go to their spot, I will ask them to partner talk about what book they will read once they are seated.  If they can tell me, "The one about school", I'll be fine.  But I know there are some who will take forever...so I need some help with this one, girls!  Any ideas would be gratefully received.
6. Behavior:  I would like to think I will keep anecdotal records on behavior.  If a child is crying out for attention, they will be our next model...they can act out infront of everyone, then show them how to act correctly (and if they need to do it twice to get it out of their system, we can do that).  As far as showing them attention at appropriate times, there are lots of things you can do-leave them a welcome note on their desk, pat them on the back and say, "I'm so glad you're here!"  when they arrive, when they are acting appropriately at other times call attention to that, and allow them to model incorrect/correct procedures for other routines (going to the bathroom, walking down the hall, arriving in the room).  I also have postcards and when they do something good (make a good choice, line up, whatever the child needs) I let them choose to whom it will be sent.  I've sent them to cousins, grandparents, parents.  Once a parent learns the purpose of the card, they will happily supply the address.  And once that first card goes out, everyone wants one. 

I can't wait to see what everyone else has in mind...y'all are some creative people with super ideas.  Happy Wednesday!

Daily 5 Chapter 2

So I'm a day late, but we'll call it "fashionably late".  :)

1. Do you trust your students? How do you build this trust? Are you able to trust them and allow them to be independent throughout all aspects of your day? Are you going to be able to stay out of their way?

I trust my students to an extent.  Whenever I leave my sub plans, I always include a "Reliable Students" bullet.  But kids are kids-some can handle independence and some just need those gentle reminders. 

I think it will be difficult to stay out of their way initially-I would want to go and remind the kids who not looking at their books to help us stay on task.  But I need to remember our goal that first few weeks will be progress, not perfection.


2. How much choice do you give your students throughout the day? Do you go over your daily schedule with your students or is it just 'posted' in the room?


I did Daily 5 last year with a 1-2 split so they had choices during our literacy block.  I'm nervous interested in seeing what will happen with this year's class.  Every class has differences and so I will have to design what's best for the kids.  But we always go over the schedule-and they're good about reminding me if we're running short on time--especially to lunch or recess!

3. How are you going to create that sense of community where students will hold each other accountable?


I am looking forward to seeing what everyone else wrote, because this one is kinda hard for me.  I think first and foremost it begins with the modeling-while you're having one child model incorrect behaviors, have another one nearby modeling correct behaviors.  Have the class talk about how distracting it was when the kid couldn't read for someone being up, flipping through books without even trying, and being noisy.  Talk about how our behavior affects others...if I don't teach them all their letters and sounds, when they go to first grade that affects the first grade teacher.  Let them know that in the room we all have jobs-just like a real community. 



4. Student ownership in learning? How do you instill this in every child?

I think this piggybacks onto #3.  If children are able to see, hear, and articulate how they must be diligent, it helps them understand why they are at school.  I would also like for them to bring in a favorite book from home (or maybe two).  I think if they have items in their book boxes that are theirs, they (might) be more inclined to care for it properly.  I also think if they can read a favorite book from home during Read to Someone, it will help keep them focused.  (Hopefully.)


5. Stamina! How are you going to build stamina with reading? independent work? Will you use a timer? Will you set goals?

I like the idea of introducing the term stamina to the kids.  If most of them have never heard it before, and they learn it together, I think this will help build community (a common experience together).  I would like to set the initial goal of three minutes, and use a timer-but I plan to keep the timer to myself.  I want them engrossed in books, not looking at a timer. 

I can't wait to hear what everyone else says...there is so much creativity in this group!