Unit A: Establishing Reading & Writing Workshop; Literacy Routines /
Suggested Time Frame: ≈ 3 weeks
Introduction / The Instructional Timeline is provided for teachers to assist with the organization of the nine weeks of TEKS/SE into shorter periods of time. This timeline includes opportunities for teachers to extend instruction and/or to reteach as necessary.
Description / The first 3 weeks are intended to Initiate Beginning of the Year Testing, Establish Daily Routines, Introduce Research and Introduce Listening, Speaking, Oral and Written Conventions.
Reading / Writing
TEKS/SE taught during this period and eligible for testing on district assessments
Bold and underlined TEKS/SE are high stakes for our district (less than ___% mastery on TAKS)
Bold TEKS/SE are assessed on TAKS / Daily:
Reading
*NOTE: According to the ELAR TEKS Introduction, “students read and understand a wide variety of literary and informational texts.”
Comprehension
Figure 19
(A) discuss the purposes for reading and listening to various texts (e.g., to
become involved in real and imagined events, settings, actions, and to
enjoy language)
(D) make inferences based on the cover, title, illustrations, and plot
(E) retell or act out
important events in stories
Teaching Point - Establish purpose for reading and listening to various texts (e.g., to become involved in real and imagined events, settings, actions, and to enjoy language)
· Anchor chart of types of texts to read on a daily basis (food packages, signs, books, newspapers, etc.)
· Anchor chart with pictures of environmental print to demonstrate the necessity of reading and the fact that children already have the ability to read
· Make personal connections to story read
· Listen to stories read by various voices (e.g., screen actors guild website with famous actors reading books – free www.storylineonline.net school staff, parents, etc.)
Teaching Point – making inferences based on cover, title, and illustrations
· Shared reading with big books large enough for all students to see the detail in the illustrations as well as the
print (large spaces between words and print that can be viewed from the position of the child the greatest distance from the teacher)
· Anchor chart of students’ ideas of book content based on cover, title, and illustrations – space should be allotted to document on how the information from the various places in the books was either confirmed or disproved
· Listen and follow along with books being read
· Identify plot of story (through oral discussion of students)
Teaching Point – act out important events in stories using useful strategies to comprehend a variety of texts
· Teacher dramatizes events from story shared
· Students act out events from fun, interactive read alouds
· Respond to teacher generated questions about text
Oral & Written Conventions
K.16(A) understand and use the following parts of speech in context of reading, writing, and speaking (with adult assistance):
(i) past and future tenses when speaking
(ii) nouns (singular/plural)
(iv) prepositions and simple prepositional phrases appropriately when speaking or writing (e.g., in, on, under, over)
(v) pronouns (e.g., I, me)
Listening & Speaking
K.21
(A) listen attentively by facing speakers and asking questions to clarify information
(B) follow oral directions that involve a short related sequence of actions
K.22 (A) share information and ideas by speaking audibly and clearly using the conventions of language.
K.23 (A) follow agreed – upon rules for discussion, including taking turns and speaking one at a time.
Establish Routines
Setting up Reading Workshop
K.4(A) predict what might happen next in text based on the cover, title, & illustrations (introduce and continue)
K.1(A) recognize that spoken words can be represented by print for communication
Teaching Point – understand how English/Spanish is written/printed for communication
· Engage students through literacy activities involving a variety of texts
· Teacher model directionality – hold book right side up, turn pages correctly, read from left to right, top to bottom
· Model how spoken words are represented by print for communication
Teaching Point – book handling skills
· Teacher introduces books and how to handle/care for a book (e.g., a book is like a baby, book hospital)
· Visual representation of damaged book versus book read numerous times
Teaching Point - identify parts of book (front and back covers, title page)
Teaching Note: Guided reading groups at each child’s instructional level need to begin as soon as students have book handling skills and classroom management routines are firmly in place. Some students will be ready to participate in formal guided reading groups earlier than others, but once students have a small core of known letters (not all letters) and left-to-right directionality, and a few simple sight words, guided reading can begin. Teaching points introduced whole group can be carried over into small group instruction. Teaching points should follow a natural progression for reading (e.g., book handling skills, picture walk, patterned text with word matching/one-to-one correspondence, making inferences, decoding based on picture cues by matching the initial sound in the new word with the picture clue, phonics, word attack skills, etc., summarizing, comprehension and text-to-self connections). Monitor and assess fluency, accuracy and comprehension as students progress through text levels.
Teacher Note: teacher should model for students how to select a just right book. Initially choosing simple books with single lines of text which closely match the pictures on each page will be important. The spaces between the words should be large and the print should be very clear. Initial teaching points will include left-to-right directionality and one-to-one word matching – every time a word is “read,” the finger moves to the next word).
Teaching Note: Literacy centers to begin as appropriate. Teacher modeling of expectations, care and use of materials, accountability and procedures are necessary for each “center” used. Grouping and management systems will be teacher and team specific. Examples of appropriate literacy activities are: reading independently, partner reading, reading with books on tape, familiar big books, word work, listening, ABC/spelling, phonics, writing)
Teaching Note: Reading strategies and skills begin with direct guidance gradually lessening amount of support and guidance until mastery of skill is exhibited
Introduce Research
K.19(A) ask questions about topics of class-wide interest (with adult assistance
K.19(B) Decide what sources or people in the classroom, school, library, or home can answer these questions (with adult assistance)
Spanish
Phonological Awareness
K.2C Orally generate rhymes in response to spoken words (e.g. “¿Que rima con mesa?”)
K.3A decode the five vowel sounds
Teaching Points – orally generate rhymes in response to spoken words and distinguish rhyming pairs of words from non-rhyming pairs
· Teacher/student interactive rhyming word game “I say hat, you say ___”
· Students match up picture cards of rhyming words (can be created using clip art through Microsoft Word) – be certain to make an answer key with pictures for students to check their own responses
· Anchor chart of various rhyming patterns
· Choral read and reread familiar poems/big books
· Use removable highlighting tape or wiki sticks to highlight words that rhyme in big books / Daily:
Writing Process:
K.13(A) plan a first draft by generating ideas for writing through class discussion (with adult assistance)
K.13(B) develop drafts by sequencing the action or details in the story (with adult assistance)
K.13(C) revise drafts by adding details or sentences (with adult assistance)
K.13(E) share writing with others (with adult assistance)
Teaching Points – writing workshop should begin on the first day of school
· Begin by modeling how to tell a story and then how to place the story on the page – be fairly brief because of the attention span of beginning kindergarteners
· Give students an opportunity to tell stories in partners about events that have happened to them - providing oral rehearsal gives students more of a purpose for writing (a time when you were hurt, something silly that happened, your favorite time)
· Provide blank paper to the students so they can write their stories
· Observe how students interact with the page:
o Are students scribbling their
stories?
o Are students writing something that
“looks” like text (the scribbles
approximate the way that print would
look)
o Are students able to write sounds or
write some words?
o Are students able to write some
ideas on the page?
· By using this baseline activity, you will gain an important sense of the range of writers in your classroom and it also helps to know if you have children who might be ready for lined paper or who might need unlined paper to begin with
Teaching Points – scaffold writers at the various levels by teaching not only how to write a story, but the mechanics of how to get ideas on paper in an organized manner
· Each day you will need to model how writers set up their pages
· Model how to find helpful information around the room (letters, high frequency words, students’ names)
· Model how to stretch words slowly to write the sounds that are heard
Teaching Point – suggested page set-up procedures
· The top half of the page is reserved for the picture plan which will be drawn after telling the story orally to students
· At the beginning of the year, planning from a single picture is easier for students, but as the year progresses, students should move to the three part picture plan (beginning, middle, end)
· The second half of the page is reserved for writing words – students need to understand that the words carry as much meaning as the picture and that writing time is really about using letters and words to write the message – not just a time to draw
Teaching Point – spaces between words
· When planning what is written on the page, model saying each word and putting a finger up for each word. Repeat the sentence again, saying it slowing, putting up a finger for each word. As the teacher begins to write the sentence, model how to say the first word and then pause to write it down. Reread the first word and then say the second word and write that one down.
· Show students how to put a space between each spoken word – model, but do not belabor the point because students will need to watch the process over time to absorb the process
Teaching Point – share information by speaking audibly and clearly and listen attentively
· Author chair – select students share something they have illustrated or written.
Note: It is important to remember that when sharing writing, no child (or adult) should sit and listen to 20 students share their writing each day in the author’s chair. Students should share their writing often, so asking students to share in pairs, while teaching what good listeners do with their bodies to show they are listening is important. Asking a few people each day to go to the author’s chair is a more developmentally appropriate way to use author’s chair.
· Be overt in explaining why someone was asked to share – choose people for a wide variety of reasons. Perhaps their story, although written with squiggles, was very exciting when told. Perhaps someone took a risk that they have never taken before and you want to highlight writing effort.
· Everyone has a story to share – individual students share something unique about them or something they have done
· Focus on appropriate speaking and listening skills
Oral and Written Conventions
K.18(A) use phonological knowledge to match sounds to letters (introduce and continue)
K.18(C) write one’s own name (first name and last name) (introduce and continue)
Teaching Point – student dictates or writes according to knowledge of letter sounds
· Interactive daily message
· Introduce letters of alphabet and their sounds listing as many words as you can that begin with that letter
· Alphabet folders showcasing individual letters of alphabet and associated pictures
Teacher Point – student legibly writes own name
· Write name using various mediums (chalk, dry erase boards, beans, glitter/glue, paint, crayon, pencil)
· Trace over laminated print outs of first and last name
· Daily attendance/sign in sheet
· Name homework assignment – student discusses with parents where they got their name, the meaning of their name and why they were given that name. Students then share with classmates
· Set up reference point in room with student names and pictures
Teaching Note: Writing activities to be included in reading/literacy stations and established early on gradually introducing activities as needed. Teacher modeling of expectations, care and use of materials, accountability and procedures are necessary for each “station” used. Grouping and management system is teacher specific. Examples of writing activities are read the room, word work, writing table, written response to stories on tape, ABC/spelling, etc.)
Teaching Note: Writing skills begin with direct guidance gradually lessening amount of support and guidance until mastery of the skills and strategies are exhibited.
Generalizations / Broad statements of conceptual/enduring understanding
Essential Questions/
Think Aloud Questions / Questions that elicit student knowledge and skills identified in the TEKS/SE and that serve to focus instruction
What are parts of a book?
How do these parts of the book help us read?
What does good reading looks like?
What is good listening?
What things do you already know?
What would want to know more about? / Questions that elicit student knowledge and skills identified in the TEKS/SE and that serve to focus instruction
What does a good writer look like?
Why do we write?
Why do writer’s need spaces between words?
Why is knowing to write our name important?
Core Components / Language of Instruction- Bilingual and Dual language campuses will instruct Reading in Spanish.
Setting up Reading Workshop (specified by
the TEKS Introduction K.1) Reading, where
students read and understand a wide variety
of literary and informational texts. Interact with
books in developmentally appropriate ways:
draw pictures, write informal responses, share
with partners in reaction to books read/heard.
Note: The following expectations are meant to
be scaffolded heavily by the teacher. Some
students will be ready to begin these tasks
after instruction; however, most children will
make approximations of these tasks, following
the teacher’s lead.
*CCRS (not embedded in the TEKS/SEs can be included here) Secondary ELA/R / Language of Instruction- Bilingual and Dual language campuses will instruct Writing in Spanish.
Setting up Writing Workshop (specified by
the TEKS Introduction K.1) Writing, where
students compose a variety of written texts
with a clear controlling idea, coherent
organization, and sufficient detail. Use writing
process with adult assistance (planning
drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) to
compose text.
*TEKS clarifications – Social Studies
Curricular Connections (within, between, and among disciplines) / Spiraling connections vertically and throughout the year within the discipline and interdisciplinary connections with other core subjects.
Required Lessons / Common experiences for all students
Recommend-ed Lessons / Additional lessons aligned to the TEKS/SE for the unit
Differentia-tion: / Suggestions for scaffolding learning by employing strategies for diverse learners within the classroom setting (i.e.: Special Education, TAG, 504, ESL).
English Language Proficiency Standards Student Expectations with Sentence Stems and Activities to support implementation of the Standards (Note: when you open the link, it may ask you for a certificate or if it is OK to open the file, click OK each time you see the screens.)
Instructional Resources / · Websites (hot links)
· Books The Art of Teaching Writing by Lucy Calkins, About the Authors: Writing Workshop with our Youngest Writers by Lisa Cleaveland and Katie Wood Ray, Already Ready: Nurturing Writers in Preschool and Kindergarten by Katie Wood Ray and Matt Glover. Rhyming books by: Dr. Seuss and Eric Carle. Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller (80 copies in district), The Comprehension Toolkit K-2 by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis (6 copies in district. Other possible sources: The Daily Five, Good Fit Books, The Café Book all by Gail Boushey and Joan Mosier, DVD’s by Gail Boushey and Joan Mosier available.
· Kits
· Media center
· Library resources
· Textbook
Assessment Resources
© Round Rock I.S.D. 6