Coaching a Reading Partner

I love this time of year, all my students are finally reading! Everything that we have been working on really starts to click and their progress begins to soar. Since they have grown to have some independence it is the perfect time to start my mini lessons on coaching a buddy. Every day for 20 minutes I have my students practice reading with a partner that they are assigned to. The sooner I can teach my students that they can be a teacher to the person they are reading with the faster they climb in reading levels. I explain it to the kids that I am only one person and even though I would love to read with each and every one of them every day there is just not enough time.  However, they are very lucky because they have a friend that sits right next to them when they read and they can be the teacher and help coach them!  We talk a lot about how two brains are better than one.  I made a song to help them remember what a good coach does.

We made stop signs to hold up when something our partner reads doesn't make sense or sound right.  On the back of the stop sign is four things for a good coach to remember.  These are sung about in the link above.  I have my kids make motions to go with the song.  I have also posted posters of the four tips for coaches in my classroom.  In addition, I have created a coaches club.  After I catch a student being a good coach to a buddy on five separate occasions they get to sign the board.  These small changes have really helped a lot to get my students to pay attention while their partner is reading.  I think kids learn the most when they are actually involved and part of the teaching process.  They have really been having a lot of fun being the teacher!

  

All of the materials can be found by clicking on the link below.  I would love to hear your ideas on how you get your kids to coach each other!

        

Partner Reading

Update: I have created a resources and visual display for kids to help them remember what a good reading coach does.  These things go right along with the video found below!  Click on the picture for the resources.  Happy Coaching!

Children learn so much from each other and gain new understandings by talking to partners. Each day in my classroom I have students read with an assigned partner that is on the same level as them. Students work on the three ways to read a book during this time. I start my partner reading time with a mini lesson and then tell them the type of reading they will be practicing for that day. As the year goes on and students progress into reading the words of books I phase out the read to pictures type. There are four ways to read with a partner. In the beginning of the year I tell groups which way to practice and as the year goes on students are able to pick.

1. I read a page, you read a page (students take turns back and forth reading the pages)
2. Echo reading (one student reads a page and the other student repeats)
3. Choral reading (both students read the words at the same time)
4. I read a book, you read a book (one student reads an entire book, and the partner reads a whole book)

Here is a link to posters I have in my classroom for students to remember the types of Buddy Reading

I have them practice sitting criss-cross and both holding on to the book.  This way both partners can see the book and whoever is not reading can follow along and help coach their buddy.

                                                               Coaching Video

Five Little Pumpkins

   

Our poem this week was The Five Little Pumpkins.  On Friday we made our own Five Little Pumpkins project to take home.  Students had to look at the first letters of each speech bubble and try to read the words to get the speech bubbles in the right order.  I precut brown strips and orange circles to save on time.  We glued the title and pumpkins on the front and the rest of the poem on the back.  Click here for a free copy :)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4NZXEPqaqxkYVc1VDVaQnhHTms/edit?usp=sharing

  

                                                                                                                    

                                      

Retelling K.RL1, K.RL.2, K.RL.3

UPDATE: I have added a quick song or chant to visually help kids remember how to use their hand to retell a story.

I have over half of my class reading on a level A now, as soon as the kids can one to one match and use pictures for clues I like to start them on books.  A big part of reading is for a student to be able to comprehend what they have read.  These simple A books do not have much of a story line so students need to look at what is going in the pictures along with the simple text that is read.  We made retelling hands to help us remember how to retell a story.  I have my students use these with their reading buddy to retell a story after they have read a book one of the three ways (read the words, read the pictures, retell a familiar story.)  Having students make their own retelling hand helps them to buy into the task of retelling.  I laminate their hands and have them get it out of their book boxes to use as a visual.  It helps them to remember to stop and talk about the story with their partner when they have finished each book.

I have them trace their hand and then cut it out.  I give them a green dot sticker for their thumb and a red dot sticker for their pinkie finger.  Then they write the numbers 1, 2, and 3 on their three middle fingers.  The green dot means go, they start by telling what the story was mainly about (character/setting).  The one, two, and three are used to tell three things that happened in the book (major events or key details) and the red dot means stop, what happened at the very end of the book.  I have found this very easy for kindergartners to use and use my hand as a visual when we retell a story whole group.  I figure they each have a hand so no matter where they go they can use it to help them retell.

I also make a poster for the classroom that hangs on my reading process board in my room for students to refer to as a constant visual.

 

 

3 Ways to Read a Book K.RFS.1abc , K.RFS.4, K.RL.2

Reading can be very intimating for kindergarteners. I want my students to know right from the start of school that they are readers! We have been practicing the three ways to read books. Students practice basic concepts of print by starting from the beginning of a book and turning each page creating a story as they go.

How to read the pictures

I provide short level A, B, and C books where students can have success telling a story just by looking at the pictures. We think about the characters and how they are feeling. Students are encouraged to come up with voices for characters. We use words like next and then to make the story flow across the pages. This is done independently and also with a partner.

How to read the words

Teacher made simple pattern books are used. Students practice pointing to each word, following the pattern, looking at the picture for help, and getting your mouth ready to say the first sound. Students have opportunities with a partner and independently to highlight the first letter of each word and circle sight words.

How to Retell a Story

A book is chosen each week and read to the class each day that week. Then after the book has been read to students five times they are given copies of the book and retell the familiar story with a partner and independently.

                           
You can find the posters I use in my classroom by clicking on the picture

       

Poems (K.RFS.3b, K.RFS.3c, K.RL.5)

Reading: Foundational Skills 3 b c

Each week my students get a new poem to add to their poetry notebook.  We sing the poem/song throughout the week as they are transitioning to the carpet.  We circle all the sight words in the poem and highlight any chunks or vowel patterns that we find.  They each have a folder with prongs in the middle, I put 5 page protector sleeves in each folder at the beginning of the year.  Every Friday the kids insert their poem into their sheet protector and it is stored in their book box.  They love reading/singing old poems during partner reading and even during read to self time.  After the kids get ten poems in their folder I have them take them out and I make them into a book by stapling them inside a large piece of construction paper folded in half.  Then they have some poems they can take home and continue to practice reading and some at school to enjoy.  Here is an example of one of our poems.  I try to pick songs or poems that go with topics/things we are celebrating in class or songs they sing in Music class.

                                                   

                                     

                                         

Using pointers to track print (K.RFS.1a)

Common Core Reading: Foundation Skills
K.RFS.1

I like to provide my students with pointers to use when reading the books in their book boxes.  This provides them a fun way to practice tracking print from top/bottom, left/right.  I have them just use a plain stick for the first month of school.  I tell them if they are responsible and take care of their stick they will get "cooler" pointers as the year goes on.

August/September: popsicle stick with a smile drawn on

October: witchy fingers Oriental Trading

November: feathers

December/January: snowmen (cut the fingers off of white gloves, add a little cotton stuffing, a pipe cleaner scarf, and decorate with a sharpie.

February: Southwest Airlines stir sticks

March: Shamrock sticker, some years I make gold glitter sticks

April/May: foam flower

My kindergarteners are all reading independently!

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.K.4 Read emergent-reader texts with purpose and understanding

I am so happy to say that it is only October and all of my kids are reading independently.  I have a wide range of kids in my classroom and some didn't even know any letters or sounds just two months ago when school started.  In my district we use the Fountas and Pinnell book leveling system.  I currently have five kids reading on a level A, nine kids reading on a level B, and six kids transitioning to a level C. We have been building up our stamina and practice buddy reading for 15-20 minutes each day and read to self for 10 minutes a day.  I have posters displayed in the classroom of the reading strategies we have learned so far.

I try to always add motions, songs, or chants to concepts to make it easier for my students to remember.  Every day I have my class do a reading chant before kids go off to read their books.

 A Good Reader  (beat: Going on a Bear Hunt.) 

We slap our legs to the beat, they repeat the words: "If you're a good reader" (kids pretend to read a book.)  Then go through each strategy, having your students repeat after you. 

"you point to each word" (kids move their pointer finger in the air)

"you look at the picture" (kids make binoculars over their eyes)

"you get your mouth ready" (kids point to their mouth)

Refrain: We slap our legs to the beat,

they repeat the words: "If you're a good reader" (kids pretend to read a book) 

"you look for chunks" (kids pretend to take an imaginary piece of pie out of their hand)

"you reread the sentence" (kids point backwards)

"you flip the vowel" (kids move both pointer fingers in a flipping motion)

Then they repeat, "you have to ask yourself" (kids put hands out to their sides)

Does it sound right? (kids cup hand over their ear)

Does it look right? (kids point to their eyes)

Does it make sense? (kids point to their brain)

Happy Reading!

I recently created a video to go with this chant