Gingerbread Literacy Centers

It is hard to believe we are closing in on the month of November. We will soon be turning our calendars to a month of fun filled themes in our classrooms. I am looking forward to completing two weeks of Gingerbread Man themed activities with my kids. To complement this theme, I have just finished up four new literacy centers. They are ready to go at my TpT store. Enjoy the start of the holiday season!

Stay tuned for a NEW batch of gingerbread math centers...

Favorite Resources Part 1: Guided Reading

While guided reading is a staple in every primary classroom, it may be structured in various ways. Guided reading in my classroom is a component of my Reading Workshop. Even though my students complete various math and word study stations, they do not visit them when I run my guided reading groups. During reading workshop, students are busy reading leveled books from their personal book boxes. They self select these books once a week and practice them throughout. As they read, I typically pull one group for 20-25 minutes. I find I am able to accomplish more in my reading groups when I stretch one out for a longer period of time rather than having two groups for a relatively short period of time. I understand that this might not work for every teacher, but I have come to work with this time frame quite well.

While I have used many resources throughout my teaching career to help me effectively implement guided reading, I highly recommend The Next Step in Guided Reading. This is an outstanding resource for all teachers. I use it daily in my classroom to help me design my lessons and guide my instruction.

Like many teachers, it has taken me many years to build my classroom library. Throughout this process, I recognized just how important it is to put high quality books into the hands of my students. I am very particular about what books I purchase and place into my leveled bins. My favorite publisher is Rigby. Their leveled readers are outstanding! My students absolutely love the books in the Sails Series. They are highly engaging and support readers across the reading spectrum.

If you are looking for products that are a bit less expensive I would highly encourage you to check out The King School Series by Townsend Press. They offer a great deal - 60 books for $60.00. I purchased this set a few years ago and was not disappointed. The books are high quality with a core set of characters that reappear throughout the various levels. My kids are always picking these for their weekly book shopping.

If you are not familiar with Reading A-Z, you definitely need to head over there and check it out. There is a yearly subscription, however, I feel it is worth every penny. In fact, I have been busy assembling many new books that I will house in my classroom. I like to have my resources on hand and ready to go.

Welcome

Welcome to All Things 1st Grade! After reading many outstanding teacher blogs for the past year, I thought it would be exciting and rewarding to create my own. My blog will feature many activities that I have created for my classroom. I will also discuss current educational practices as well as recommend resources that I have successfully used in my classroom. Are you ready to get started? Grab your freebie at my Teachers Pay Teachers store now!