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Saturday, March 15, 2014

Using Interactive Readers During Guided Reading

Get ready ladies and Gents, this is going to be a long one, but I promise there is a surprise at the end.
The other day I wrote, and shared pictures of my workstations. This post will be about what my small groups are doing with me during that time. 

I've mentioned before that because I only see my students for an hour a day, I only get to see my reading groups 3 days a week. The other two day I concentrate on writing, but that is a post for another day.

Each week I see my small literacy groups I try to teach or review a reading skill and teach a new HFW or sight word, but I try to keep a routine to my lessons. This allows my ELL students to anticipate what we will do, and gives them comfort and confidence to tackle new skills.

On Monday...
I usually either introduce or teach a new skill. Sometimes this is a reading skill other times it is a comprehension strategies, and other times we have some comprehension practice. I mainly use the districts reading series or Scholastic's leveled readers for this lesson. 
By using these books, it gives me two days for my copies to arrive from the print center and for a wonderful helper to cut apart for us.

On Wednesday...
I switch it up a bit. Instead of going to a traditional book, I have my students create and complete Maria's, from Kinder Craze, Interactive Readers! 
These little books have transformed my small group time. 
I print the books back and front and have them stapled by the copy machine. This way all I have to do is have them cut apart. You get two copies for sheet and so I only have to print half the number of pages.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Bundle-of-Books-Interactive-Sight-Word-Reader-BUNDLED-Set-479568
One of the things I love about these books is that I get to develop my ELL/ESL kids vocabulary, not just with their HFW or sigh words but with content vocabulary too! The HFW or sight words are taught the whole week long. We talk about the word and how to spell it, then discuss the theme of the book.
Once we start, I talk about the content vocab on each page.
I print the page with the cut apart letters in a different color so they are easy to identify and stand out while the kids are reading.
I store these letters in a snack size Ziplock bag, and then just dump them on my table when it is time to glue them down. I get to do 2 things at this point, I am able to see how my students are doing with letter id and check how well they are doing learning their new HFW/sigh word of the week. *Side note: I do all the glueing at this point. I just put a dab of glue in each box. This allows me to save time AND glue.*
After glueing the words down we go back and read the whole sentence.
 
Finally, once we have created the whole book, we go back and read it in it's entirety. Here is a video of two of my boys doing just that.
It isn't perfect, but that is the whole point. This is a learning process. :)
Once the kids are done reading, they get to go put their name on their book at their seat. This allows me to move on to the next group and not have to keep writing utensils at my table.

On Friday...
We used to read our books one more time, and really delve down into our comprehension skills of the week. Sadly we are now learning TWO words a week in Kinder, so the good news is that we get to do it all over again!
I do still work on Reading Comp, I just tend to work on it more during and whole group reading and just revisit it during guided reading.
On the plus side my students are now taking double the books home to read and practice.

I was lucky enough to find Maria's Interactive Readers when she first started creating them and got the bundle early. One of the perks is that if you buy the bundle now, you get the future books for free. Maria will update the bundles until they reach 100 books. We are currently on bundle number 2! So if you are looking to get it at a lower price, NOW is the time.

So here is the good news for you, Maria has graciously offered to give a copy of bundle number one, that is 100 books, to one of my readers!
That is right folks a give away!!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

That is a $50.00 dollar value ladies and gents!

If you aren't sure the interactive readers are for you, Maria also has smaller seasonal bundles, for a fraction of the cost, OR individual books for just $1.00 each, in her shop. Just click on the image below to go there.
Kinder-Craze

74 comments:

  1. Thank you! This is exactly what I'm looking for right now for my internationally-adopted son and homeschooled Kindergartener. I have so many questions about ELL and your site has been a big help. Thank you.

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  2. I plan to use these as independent reading books for my kinders!
    kcahcrim@comcast.net

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  3. I love these books, have several. Keeping my fingers crossed to win this awesome resource.

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  4. I would use this with my struggling students during guided reading and as part of their word work during literacy work stations.

    Brandi
    Swinging for Success
    Follow me on Facebook!

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  5. Great post! I have about 20 of Maria's books. I have students make them in Literacy Stations. They are great!

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  6. I have a few of Maria's books and they really help my students learn how to sequence letters and spell our sight words! They are perfect for an independent activity after a read aloud or in one of my literacy work stations! Love, love, love!!
    -Elyse @ A is for Apples

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  7. Thanks for sharing! I plan on using these for small group!

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  8. I teach a K-1 loop at a title 1 school. Most of my students come in with no knowledge of letters, print concepts, etc. Some have never held a book! They need as much practice with words and print as I can possibly give them. These would also be great in first grade when I have new students or students who need more support. These books would be a great addition to my resources! Thank you for the chance to win some!

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  9. These would be perfect to add to our book boxes!

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  10. I wold use these during guided reading, we don't have a ton of "real" books

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  11. Super detailed - I like the idea of the letters in a pile for the kids to choose from. I have not used Maria's books this way before. I am going to try it. Thanks for detailing your week! Alicia

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  12. Thank you for sharing your guided reading. It helps to see how other teachers are doing things.

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  13. I would love to win a set of these. My kinders will love them.

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  14. Would love to win! I've had my eye on these for a while! kclardy82@gmail.com

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  15. I teach mostly elem esl and would love to have these! : )

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  16. Would love to win! Would be awesome for my dyslexic daughter!

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  17. OH MY GOSH!!
    I have only a couple of these, and LOVE them!! I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to win the whole bundle!!

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    1. This would compliment my sight word centers! My special ed kiddos would love the hands on activities

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  18. These books are awesome!! Thanks for the giveaway!

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  19. This whole bundle would be so great for my group of preschoolers!

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  20. I would use this in my kindergarten classroom! This product looks very easy to use and great for my ELL students!

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  21. I have 15 ELLs in my classroom, I would love to be able to use these to help them with sight word development! Thanks for the opportunity to win them! :)

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  22. Thos looks perfect for my struggling kiddos! They really need sight words!
    Liz
    teachinginthevalley@gmail.com

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  23. I would definitely use these readers in my small reading groups especially my lower reading groups and my RTI groups. These books would be awesome!!!!!! teachreason@gmail.com

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  24. I would use these in my classroom to help those who are having trouble with their sight words

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  25. I would love to win these! My kinders love making their own books. amandairving85@yahoo.com

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  26. I would love to have these! These are awesome.

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  27. I would use them in small group with my RTI students and in my reading center for my other s.students that way they could each create their own set of readers to take home and read with their parents.

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  28. LOVE these interactive high frequency word books. I don't own the bundle I only have a few parts and pieces. I use them with my kindergarten class that also has some ELL students. They are great!

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  29. I would use them in groups and as independent reading practice for that week! These are great!!!
    pml_leonard@yahoo.com

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  30. These would be a great addition to my classroom to use with Daily 5 and guided reading. I have a couple of her books that she has given away in the past, but would love the whole set. :)

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  31. I would love theses books.
    Eileen2002@msn.com

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  32. These look so great and fun! I have a few students who don't do any sight word practice at home and need something extra to work on at school. I think they would love these!

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    1. And it's my birthday so this would be an awesome present (haha, forgot to mention that!).

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  33. LOVE THESE!! When KinderCraze has posted a few as freebies I quickly printed them out - they are awesome! Students and parents love them as much as I do.
    ellenjjohnson@comcast.net

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  34. I could really use this for my pre-kindergarten classroom and my son who is in kinder.

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    1. I also should mention how I would use these readers. In my classroom my students are learning high frequency words and are participating in guided reading 2-3 days a week. I would incorporate these in our small group instruction and book boxes. awinarski@gmail.com

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  35. This is a great giveaway! This is my first year as a teacher and I started to feel so overwhelmed trying to be great at everything this year. I decided to focus just on improving one aspect at a time and my guided reading is my first goal! Thanks for the amazing giveaway!! kristinbrehm@gmail.com

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  36. I will definitely use these during Guided Reading :) gillian.huneycutt@gmail.com

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  37. I would love to use these readers during my guided reading time. My students can benefit from the practice with high frequency words and the vocabulary.

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  39. I love these books. I teach Pre-K and they would be great for the lower groups with letter identification, the middle groups would better understand building a complete word, and the highest group is really ready to learn sight words. I've been thinking about getting this pack for a while now!

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  40. This is great for both whole group and small group working on word of the week and reading. Great way to bring in some motor skills too with the cutting. ktlgoan@qwest.net

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  41. I used one of Maria's books for the first time on Friday. My kids loved it! I would use the books in small groups to reinforce sight words taught.

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  42. I have used a few of Maria's books here and there in the class. My students love find and gluing the sight words. I use the books when I have introduced the sight word to the class as a whole group and use the story as a way to have students continue practice at home. Many of students do not have the books and resources at home so these are a great tool to help my parents read and work with their child at home!

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  43. What an awesome set of readers! Would love to win. These would be a perfect addition to my class.

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  44. I would use this set for RTI in my classroom! What an amazing addition it would be!

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  45. Thank you! These are perfect and your glimpse into what it looks like into your classroom is perfect!

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  46. Thank you! I love these interactive books! Would use them just the same way you do.

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  47. I would love to win these interactive readers.

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  49. These books are amazing. I love them!

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  50. I love using these books for guided reading, morning work, centers, really anything!! :)

    Breanne
    breannesimons@gmail.com

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  51. I would definitely use this with my kinders and ELL kids

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  52. I've been looking at these books but haven't convinced myself to buy yet...would love to win a set! Thanks for the opportunity ladies!

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  53. I will use these during testing time to keep my students busy, but also to get in the sight word practice. I like Ms. M's suggestions too!

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  54. Love these, thanks for the opportunity!

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  55. This would be awesome. I would really love to use these with my pre-k kiddos.

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  56. This would be awesome. I would really love to use these with my pre-k kiddos.

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  57. Love Maria's books and would love to have this bundle!

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  58. My students seem to do well with memorizing different sight word. However they have no idea how to use them in context! These little readers could really help me show HFW in context and how they can use them to build their own sentences!

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  59. Most of my students are about a year or more behind in reading (these are special education students) and they need extra practice with sight words and they truly need to interact with the text (the more they do, more they reread, etc.) the more they improve. These readers would be so great for them! Thanks for the opportunity! :o)

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  60. Oh, I dream about these books ~ they are so perfect for small group and sight words and vocabulary. Thank you for doing this, I hope my dream comes true.

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  61. I just started using Maria's books and absolutely LOVE them! I need to get my hands on those little Scholastic readers as well! :)

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  62. Would love to have theses for my students!

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  63. I've been looking for something new to add to my reading groups

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  64. I love seeing how you use these materials. You have caused me to spend on many materials. If I won this set, I would be using them with my Kinder and 1st grade ESOL students.

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  65. This would be perfect for intervention time with my kiddos.
    mjaquillard@oregoncs.org

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  66. I would love to use these with my kids during our sight word times and our guided reading groups!

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  67. I have Set 1 and LOVE it. My students enjoy making and reading the books. They are very effective. Hope I win!! autismabc123@gmail.com

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