Readers Workshop Accountability plus some Lit. Centers fun!

Hey friends! I hope you're enjoying your GLORIOUS 3-Day weekend.  We don't get enough of these, do we?  I have to say, I'm loving putting my plans off until tomorrow.  Normally I wake up and try to crank them out before church, but today, I get to be here -- blogging with you! :)

 

I wanted to talk to you about something that I really struggled with at the beginning of the year.  Being a new teacher, I only had my student teaching experience AND my experience as an actual elementary school student to guide me when it came to grades and the such.  In student teaching, my school followed a Basal program very strictly! This made grading incredibly easy.  In my current position, we do readers, writers, and math workshop.  This made grading more challenging for me.  I had no idea where to get reading grades!  So in order to hold students accountable for their reading and comprehending during readers workshop, I decided to have them respond to their reading one specific way, every time they finish a book --  By writing a response letter to me!  And so was born this anchor chart....

 

 

The kids can look up at this every day to remind themselves of what kind of information can go in their letters.  The top part shows what I wanted to know about their books.  The bottom part gives them a reminder about all the different parts of the letter.  *After winter break, I think letter writing fell out of their heads! I have been sending them to this chart a LOT for reminders!*

 

Each kiddo has a binder for reading which includes a Reading Log, Reading Handouts, and their response journals.  My kids write a letter each time they finish a book, but it might also be a good idea to have them write one high quality letter a week (I am considering this change). I take grades on these letters once every few weeks.  We also talk about them during our reading conferences.  It is nice to have the kids bring something tangible with them to conference!

 

 

 

Of course this is not the only way I get grades in Readers Workshop, but it is a consistent one! We also do a lot of graphic organizers and exit slips! :)

 

After Readers Workshop in my classroom, we move to Literacy Centers.  I L.O.V.E Literacy Centers. The  kids have fun while learning and I really enjoy making new centers for them!  In my class, we have five centers and five groups.  Each group does one center per day! They are:

 

1. Fluency

2. Word Work 1 (making words)

3. Word Work 2 (spelling patterns/skills)

4. Pick New Books/Independent Reading

5. Computer

 

I'm getting SO SO SO excited to whip out my Valentine's Day Centers.  I think I might start them the SECOND we hit February! Here's what I have planned for some of my centers!

 

Fluency - Sentence Scramble + Punctuation Practice

 

 

Word Work 1 - Making Words with "Be My Valentine"

 

 

Word Work 2 - Skill Practice - Contractions!

 

 

And if you made it to the end of this long blog, then I have a surprise for you! Until NOON today, I will have this item discounted to $5! By the way, it has MATH CENTERS, too! Grab it now to save! :) Click the picture below to check it out.