You have small groups. Now what?

Hi, friends!  Happy Tuesday!  I'm sure that most of you are teaching right now, or maybe on your way to school still, but I'm sitting in the living room with our Christmas tree on and the twinnies are napping sweetly nearby.  I'm going to hit this hard and fast so we can be done before the boys wake up and I need another cup of coffee.  =)

If you've been following along at all, you know that I've been blogging lately about making small groups.  (I'd like to call it a series, but these posts have been so random and intermittent that I think series is too generous.)  In my last post here, I talked about how I made small groups.  So now I want to talk about what the heck you do with these small groups once you have them.  I think the obvious answer is that we all make small groups for SGI (small group instruction), so that you can give kids more targeted instruction, whether it's for reading or math.  What's less obvious is the best way to plan for SGI and actually run those small groups.

There are about a thousand ways to organize for SGI; most of them involve some type of work station, whether you're using Daily 5, Cafe, project based learning, or something else.  (To be honest, my previous literacy coach always pushed upper grades to do SGI during independent reading because she felt that was more authentic than work stations, but I think that's a little impractical in early grades, mostly because their stamina for independent reading doesn't match the amount of time you really want to spend with small groups.)  So, assuming you're balancing SGI with work stations the first thing you should decide is how often will you do SGI?  (For the record, I'm using SGI to refer to both guided reading and math,although I realize the process might not be the same for both.  We'll separate them out in a later post.  Fear not!)  Here are the three SGI schedules that I encounter most often.  I've used two of them myself.

SGI Plan 1 (this is what I used teaching first grade):  SGI occurs daily in reading, and almost daily in math.  Teacher sees all groups at least once a week, strategically choosing groups who might need extra sessions to see teacher multiple times.  Student rotation groups go to each work station once/week.  Pros to this style are that teachers see every single student at least once weekly, so you have a good feel for student progress, challenges, etc.  Cons:  If students are out the day you see them  you miss them for that week.

SGI Plan 2 (I used this teaching kindergarten):  SGI occurs daily, and 3 times/week in math.  Teachers see all groups daily (in reading), and each student within a week (math).  Pros:  Students gets lots of instruction targeted specifically for them and generally make pretty significant growth as a result.  Cons:  high work station churn; very difficult to run without 2 teachers in the classroom.    

SGI Plan 3 (I have never used this myself):  SGI only occurs several times per week (2-3), and teacher prioritizes students with highest needs.  Pro:  frees up classroom time for other aspects of instructional day.  Con:  students with high needs don't get as much targeted instruction.

I'd love to hear about which SGI lay out you use in your classroom.  I'm hoping to be back before the end of the week to talk about how I actually plan for SGI.  Have a great Tuesday, and don't forget to check out the TpT Cyber Monday & Tuesday sale!  Everything is 28% off until midnight tonight!  Start your shopping here!

Stay dry!
xoxo

Sale Time, Y'all!

Hello, friends!

Unless you don't follow any other blogs, I'm sure you already know that there's a HUGE Teachers Pay Teachers sale going on right now.  In most stores you can get almost 30% off.  (To be honest, the math confuses me a little.  Tpt gives 10% off with the code, and most teachers put their store at 20% off, but for some reason it only shakes out to 28% off.)  But still.  A discount is a discount, yes?

So if you're in the shopping mood, and heading back to school shortly allow me to make a few suggestions.

I use these data folders weekly, usually starting after the first six weeks of school.  I send them home on the same day each week (one year I did Tuesdays, and one year I did Wednesdays).  Students create a graph to show their scores on a quick weekly check-in.  I used assessments that monitor fact fluency, because that was a first grade power standard in my school, and a quick Fundations check-in for whatever unit we were currently studying.  I also had students write a note to their families about their work that week, and I had parents sign a sheet saying that they had looked over the folder with their students.  They also had to make a comment, which ultimately showed whether or not they had actually looked over the folder.  

I also have several bundles of math tasks in my store.  Math tasks are basically really open-ended word problems, but they usually have multiple correct solutions.  I've blogged about math tasks in the classroom here, here, and here.  But even if you're running a more traditional math block these tasks still definitely can be used to push your kids' thinking.  I have some tasks that focus on place value, as well as addition and subtraction.

This is the last product I'll highlight today.  This is a quick, informal check-in that I created for students struggling with rote-counting and number sequence.  I used it with first graders who were below grade level, and I definitely think it would also be helpful for kinderbabes as well.  It assess rote counting, number id (to 30), and 1-to-1 correspondence.  I would give my strugglers this assessment every time we finished a targeted unit to see if they were picking up the skills I was hoping for/making progress towards those fundamental skills they needed to shore up.  It was also helpful data when I took them to student support team meetings.  With the sale it's under $1.00.  It's a win-win.  =)  

One last reminder--during the TpT sale you can also use your credits that you get for reviewing products.  So if you've recently purchased items make sure you go back and give feedback to those sellers today so that you can use some credits towards your purchases during the sale.  

Have fun filling your cart!

xoxo

August Currently

Y'all.  How can it be August?!  I literally feel like June 24th (my first day of summer break) was just a few days ago.  This summer was so busy, with a week long visit from our nephew and a 10 day trip back to the Midwest that I refuse to believe that it's almost over.  For the first time in I don't even know how long I have not been to a pool or a beach all summer long.  That's a shame.  A damn shame.  As I generally take up residence at the pool over the summer.  But, it just didn't work out that way this year.  C'est la vie.  Well, I don't want to spoiler alert anything, but I'm linking up with Farley for the August Currently.  The design this month is super cute.

We got a new puppy almost 2 weeks ago, and she's so dang adorable.  I just want to play with her all the time.  Except that puppies are like babies, so after like 2 minutes of activity she wants to sleep for like 20.  It's so nice that she's gotten along with basically every other creature she's met, and she loves kids.  She's just been such a love bug.  Tonight, I took her to a grill-out (the reason this is a evening post, and not an afternoon post) with a bunch of friends, and a few dogs.  It was great!  Everyone had a great time.  I definitely am putting off a few things until tomorrow that I had planned to do today, but I figure that I'm allowed to have a fun evening with friends, yes?  

One last thing, friends.  Tomorrow (well, technically I think in an hour and a half) starts the TpT Back to School sale!  I'll be back with a more detailed blog post tomorrow, but I just wanted to let you know that I am participating and everything in my store will be 20% off, plus you can get an extra 10% off with the code BTS14.  I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a Fundations bundle?  I don't have my units bundled now, and I know that not all of them are out, but I was thinking maybe bundling by 5s for now, and then I could also offer a 10 as well, once I complete more.  Is that interesting, or a waste of time?  

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy the waning hours of summer.  =)

xoxo

So late to the party

Hello, sweet friends!

This is a super late entry to say that a) I can't believe TpT has THREE MILLION TEACHERS!!! That's so crazy; I don't even really understand that number. Three million!? Really?! Even though I have a hard time comprehending the enormity of that number, I can tell you that I feel proud to be part of a community of such motivated teachers who are working hard to help their own students as well as other teachers on a daily basis.  And b) I am participating in the sale. Because my life has been so crazy outside of school lately I do not have any new products for the sale. :(  However, you can get most of my products under $4 during the sale, so that's a mini-win, right??  And if you're waiting for more products, stay tuned--I have several ideas rolling around in my head and as soon as we get the interwebs installed in our new domicile I'll be able to get cracking. :)

Thanks so much for sticking with me!

Xoxox