Teach the Reader. Not the Book.

I was sitting in a professional development class this spring where we were watching a webinar previously recorded from the Heinemann Group, and one of the instructors made this statement:

Have you ever heard something and you thought, "Wow. Just WOW." That's what happened to me when I heard Dan Feigelson say, "Teach the reader, not the book." I felt like I was smacked in the face by a 20-ton truck. In a good way. If that's possible.

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5 Ways to Make Partner Talk Effective and Productive

Imagine this. You are teaching a mini lesson. You pose a question to your class and say, "Turn and talk to your neighbor!"

What usually happens?

3 kids just sit there. 3 kids ask every other kid in the room to be their partners, but never actually end up with a partner. Some kids pair up and just stare at each other. Maybe a third of the class is actually doing what you asked them to do..?

How can we make this time more effective and productive for our students?

Some call it Pair/Share, some call it Turn 'n Talk, but it's all the same: Partner talk is a proven strategy to promote oral language development, increase student engagement, and deepen their understanding of the content. Instead of students raising their hands and only one or two get the chance to share with the whole class (while everyone else is tuning them out...), now everyone gets a chance to talk. Everyone gets the chance to be heard. And when students are conversing about academic topics, learning is happening!

Here are a few tips to make partner talk successful in your classroom:

1. Assign Partners

I never ever EVER allow my students to choose a partner in the moment. By choosing my students' partners for them, I am assured they are working with someone appropriate for them. I'm also eliminating the struggle of students not participating during partner talk time.

2. Keep Partnerships Long-Term

I keep my partnerships together for at least a semester, and I'm thinking about keeping my current partners together for even longer. Why? By having the same partners, students form relationships and trust between each other. It's comfortable and familiar for them. It makes the discussions less awkward, and they become more deep and meaningful.

3. Partners Sit by Each Other 

I teach almost all of my lessons at the carpet, so when I ask my students to join me up front, they know they are supposed to sit next to their partner. That way, when I ask them to turn and talk, their partner is right there and they can get started right away!

4. Give Each Partner a Name

Peanut Butter & Jelly. Salt & Pepper. Partner A & Partner B (Boring? Yes. But functional). Make sure your students know who's who. That way when you tell your students to turn and talk, you will also say, "Peanut Butter Partner goes first." and there's no arguing about who has to (or gets to) go first.

5. Post Your Partnerships

You always have one or two students who "forget" who their partners are, so by having a list of partnerships posted, you can eliminate time wasted trying to find out who their partner is. It is also incredibly helpful if you have a substitute in your classroom.

I hang this on a bulletin board close to my carpet area so kids can check if they need to.

How Do I Assign Partners?

In general, I partner students up with children of similar abilities. That way, they can have discussions and conversations about topics at their level, rather than one person carrying the conversation. I assign each student a reading partner, a writing partner, and a math partner. In math we also have clock partners with heterogeneous pairings, but we'll save that info for another post. Oh and by the way, don't forget that Common Core is big on peer editing in writing. Those writing partners come in very handy for that standard! I have a peer editing checklist freebie HERE if you're interested :)

What if you have an odd number of students? I make a group of 3. But I am purposeful when making this group. Usually I will put an ELL, speech student, or a special ed student in the group of 3 so they have two other children to look to for, and there is less pressure for them to talk.

What is the Teacher Doing While the Students are Talking?

When students are talking, I'm popping around from group to group, listening in. At the halfway point, I'll call out, "Switch!" to allow the other partner to talk, if needed. After a minute or two of partner talking, I'll stop the partner talking, and I will share out what the students said. "Oh my gosh! Sarah shared something really smart. She said _______."

Sometimes when partners are talking, they miss the answer or point and don't say what I want them to say. In those instances, I just make it up when I share out :) I'll say, "Someone in the back, I don't remember who it was, said ________." and in the blank, I'll say what I was hoping to hear from the conversations.

I never allow my students to repeat what they said to their partner to the whole class. I always do the final share after the partner talk is over. Why not? Because then we're back to one student talking and the rest of the students being disengaged. Plus, we all know what happens when you let a student share with the whole class when you're trying to wrap up your lesson....

Do you use partner talk in your classroom? Tell me all about it in the comments below!

For more classroom ideas, check out my Pinterest Board:

Follow Hippo Hooray for Second Grade's board Classroom Ideas on Pinterest.

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6 Reasons to Use Reader's Theatre in Your Classroom

Reader's Theatre: not just for beginning readers! 

I just love using reader's theatre in my classroom! Reader's theatre is defined as a group of readers who "perform" a grade-level text for an audience, usually without scenery, props, costumes, and most importantly, without the stress and pressure of students memorizing their lines.

Here are 6 reasons why you should be using reader's theatre in your classroom too!

1. Increases Reading Fluency

Research shows that students who read with fluency have better comprehension of the texts they read. Reader's theatre scripts help increase oral reading fluency as students need to practice their parts numerous times before they perform them to their audience.

2. Encourages Reluctant Readers

You will find that reader's theatre is a great motivation for your lowest readers. Mine tend to choose to take on major roles (narrator, main characters) and have truly risen to the occasion. Seeing their faces when they perform in front of their peers and their grown ups makes my teacher heart soar! I've even had a few parents come up to me after the performance, thanking me for helping to build their child's confidence.

3. Encourages Fluent Readers

Fluent readers benefit too, as they can focus on the expression in their dialogue and are able to dig deeper when exploring the genre and their characters.

4. Allows Students to Perform and Practice Public Speaking Skills

Do you have any actors and actresses in your class? Or maybe you do, but they just haven't been discovered yet! Reader's theatre allows students to be dramatic and "ham it up" in front of their classmates and grown ups. We also used our performances as an opportunity for students to practice projecting their voices and not holding their scripts in front of their faces!

5. Increases Student Focus and Engagement

In order for reader's theatre to be successful, all readers in the group need to be paying attention, ready to read when it's their turn. Nobody wants to be put on the spot when they aren't ready to say their lines.

6. It's Easy and Fun!

OK, so I know that sounds like a weak reason, but really it's not. Who has time to create scenery, costumes and props for a play? I sure don't! Reader's theatre is super easy to implement. You'll also find your students are so excited to perform their script in front of their audience. It's so fun to watch your class take ownership and lead their groups through the performances.


Now that we know why, let's talk about how.

I typically take about a week and a half for our reader's theatre unit. I like to use reader's theatre at the end of the school year (when teaching seems more like crowd control) due to reason number 5 above :) Here's a brief breakdown on how I implement it:

DAY 1

I first start by introducing the drama genre and the characteristics of the genre. I consulted a friend of mine, who is a theatre director at my local high school for a list of characteristics. I was also fortunate to have a student this year who performs in the plays at the local chidren's playhouse, so I let her do most of the talking :)

DAY 2

Then we talk about the difference between a play and reader's theatre. I introduced the four scripts we were going to use and gave a brief synopsis of each. Then I picked names at random for students to choose their parts.

DAY 3

We discuss the importance of fluency and expression and using a loud, sharing voice (level 4 voice in my room). We also talk about making sure you're following along when it's not your turn to speak, so that you are ready when it IS your turn.

DAYS 4-8ish

Then it's time to practice! I assigned each group a corner of the room. We practiced two times a day for 5 days. I also let them read their parts in the script during Read to Self. Gauge your class to see if you need more or fewer days to practice.


A few days before the performance, we sent out invitations. We invited our families to come in to see us perform.

Click HERE if you want a freebie copy of the invite

PERFORMANCE DAY!

On the day of the performance, we decided on the order in which the plays would be performed. I just picked student names at random, and if I picked a group member's name, then that whole group would go. I set up the chairs at the front of my classroom. Students picked a chair ahead of time, so that there wouldn't be any confusion or two kids going for the same chair. Before our families came, I pushed all the desks to the back of my classroom and pulled as many chairs as I could for the grown ups. Then my students sat on the floor in front of them.

The trickiest part of implementing reader's theatre... finding reader's theatre scripts that are appropriate for your readers. I've found that most reader's theatre scripts are meant for beginning readers (K-1) who are working on fluency and expression. And the ones that are written at the 2nd-3rd grade reading levels are ridiculously long! I bought a 2-3 grade reader's theatre kit and each script was about 10-15 minutes to perform. Multiply that by the 4-5 groups I have.... #aintnobodygottimeforthat And not only that, but the scripts were super boring.

So last year I decided to write my own!

I love that these scripts take approximately 4-5 minutes to perform, are funny and engaging, and the storylines are relevant to what our students are experiencing and are interested in. You can see all my reader's theatre scripts in my TpT store HERE!

Do you use reader's theatre in your classroom? Tell me about your experiences in the comments below!

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Independent Reading Routines: The Reading Spot

I'm struggling to stay above water at my new school and in my new grade level (YES! Many changes around here, but we'll have to save that story for another day!), but I just HAD to put my school work on hold for a few minutes to share this nugget of AWESOMENESS with you!

My new school is a Teacher's College Reading and Writing Workshop lab school. I am amazed by the amount of trainings and resources we have at our fingertips, and I am beyond excited to jump into the deep end of that pool! But coming from a Daily 5 mindset, there are a few new routines I need to wrap my head around.

I've been meeting with my instructional coach, and we've been discussing establishing routines for independent reading time. Yesterday she suggested that my students choose a "reading spot" and sit that spot for the whole month.

My first thought was, WHAT?! When I did Daily 5, my students chose a new spot for Read to Self every day. Wouldn't I be taking away student choice and ownership?? Besides, everyone needs a change of scenery every now and then. What if they didn't want to sit in that spot the next day? Also I don't have enough reading pillows and carpet squares for everyone to have one. So how will I make the use of those fun reading materials fair?

But, I went along with her suggestion despite my reservations. She's an expert after all, right?

Well, it didn't take me more that 3 minutes of my instructional coach teaching my mini lesson to realize that this idea is GENIUS!

Think about where you read/work at home. I'm usually parked in the same spot on the couch in my living room when I'm reading. Do I find a new spot every time I sit down to read? Usually not... unless one of my kids is being distracting!

We picked students' names at random, they grabbed a reading pillow or carpet square if desired and available, and then chose their spots. I wrote down everyone's spot, even down to what color pillow they will be using. This will be especially helpful if there is a sub in my room and someone tries to pull a fast one :) We practiced several times setting up and cleaning up. My students were able to get ready for reading and clean up in less than 45 seconds for each transition!

There was no arguing over the pillows. There was no racing to sit by certain people. There wasn't any wandering around the room, wondering where to sit. No more wasting time "getting started right away."

They got their book boxes and pillow/carpet square, went to their spots, and got down to business.

In less than 45 seconds.

FORTY-FIVE SECONDS!

We were focused on reading during independent reading time. Not trying to hide behind a bookshelf for the 37th time and then me having to talk to the student like it's the first time I've had to tell them that.

I did tell my students that if there was a day that they wanted to sit in their desks instead of their spots, that's fine. So their options are their reading spot or their desks. That's it.

I wrote down the names of the last three students that chose spots. They will go first next month. Each month we will choose a new reading spot.

Semi-permanent reading spots are here to STAY in my classroom! What do you think? Will you give it a try?

For more Reader's Workshop ideas, check out my Pinterest board!

Follow Hippo Hooray for Second Grade's board Reader's Workshop on Pinterest.

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Teaching Main Idea in Nonfiction Texts

Every year, I let out a big sigh when it comes time to teach main idea in nonfiction texts. Why is it that I am able to do this as an adult, but struggle to find the words to teach it in an easy way for my students? I think I have finally found the solution, scaffolding my teaching to gradually release this difficult, but extremely necessary skill to my students.

Getting Started

I always start my main idea unit with teaching the difference between interesting facts and important information. We start with reading short articles from Time for Kids or National Geographic as a whole class, and then move to students doing this work independently with their Just Right books in their book boxes. I give students a two column T-chart graphic organizer to organize the information they read.

Introducing Main Idea

Once students know how to differentiate between interesting and important, we move on to singling out the most important fact from the text: the main idea.

I was having a hard time finding text that were not only quick and short, but also at my students' reading levels for our first experiences with finding main idea. So I wrote some one, two, and three paragraph passages. We begin with multiple choice passages, so that we can have conversations about each option and why the right answer is correct and the wrong answers are not. It's a great way to tie in previous work with interesting vs. important.

We usually do this for a day, two tops, and then we amp it up a bit more. We are going to use these shorter passages again, but this time, students are on their own to write down the main ideas.

Supporting Details

The next step after finding the main idea is to be able to find facts that support the main idea. The supporting details are the proof or the evidence that points to the main idea. We use the same passages, with both a given main idea and a blank main idea, to practice.

Fly Free Little Children!

It usually takes me about a week to teach and practice main idea and supporting details, but once my students have a strong grasp of it, I want them to apply this work independently with texts at their levels. I give them these graphic organizers to keep in their book boxes and eventually glue into their reader's notebook. I also use them during guided reading groups. 

I have put together a little freebie HERE of some of the resources mentioned in this post.

Or if you want to check out the entire, 160 page resource, click the image below or HERE.

Want to save this post to come back later? Pin this image:

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My Latest Creations!

I realized the other day I haven't shared my latest TPT creations on this blog! You've probably seen them on Facebook or Instagram, but haven't really heard much about what's in them. I've been a busy, busy girl, especially this last week during Spring Break. I had these few small-ish projects to finish up because, due to so many requests, I am going to start working on Mighty Math for third grade and first grade. Can I get a WOO HOO?! Read on to see what's new in my store, and make sure you read all the way to the end for a little surprise :)

First up is a Summer Reading Craftivity and Program:

We work so hard with our babies all year long and watch them grow like weeds... and then they go home for the summer. We keep our fingers crossed that they read, read, READ (among other academic activities) over the summer, but are they actually reading? I started doing this summer reading program with my kiddos two years ago, and in conjunction with our local public library programs, I have had lots of success with students reading over the summer.  

 The product has 4 main parts: a beachy writing craft, summer reading calendars, various versions of parent letters explaining the product, and summer reading activities.

How I Use This: I ask my students to read 15 minutes a day for 5 days a week, equaling 75 minutes per week (I've also included a version of the calendar where students can set their own monthly reading goals). My students to bring the reading calendar packet back to me at Open House, which happens a few days before the new school year starts. I always love it when kids from the previous year come to visit me :) As a reward, I give them $5 to spend in the Scholastic book orders and a coupon to a local ice cream shop. Then I use my bonus points to pay for the books. Click here to check it out!

Up Next... Analyzing Themes with Traditional Literature.

Wait, did she say "theme?" I think I may have heard a collective groan from all of you! Please tell me I'm not the only one who Googles "theme" every single time I have to teach it... I created this product because I needed to teach theme and traditional literature together, but many of the texts I was finding were inappropriate for my second grade readers, too long, too high, too hard, too boring, or a combination of any of these. So I made my own!  

This product contains five traditional literature stories: The Tortoise and the Hare, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Little Red Hen, The Three Little Pigs, and The Snow Queen. The Snow Queen? What's that, you say? I was surprised to learn that the movie Frozen is actually loosely (very loosely!) based off of this Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale! And let me tell you, my kiddos were SO pumped to read this one!!! 

I wanted my students to be able to "prove" the theme, so in each text, students have to identify the theme, highlight the evidence that points to the theme, and write a sentence or two telling using words from the text to defend their answers. 

Click here to learn more about this themes product!

Lastly, we've been learning about prefixes and suffixes this last month. I had nothing to teach these important skills, and I couldn't think of a good theme... until I found these Lego guys! Words are like Legos, aren't they, the way the word parts snap together? And what kid doesn't love Legos?!

Here's the Prefix Edition...

And the Suffix Edition...

These products have three main components: anchor posters of the prefixes and suffixes, teaching tools (whole page booklet, half page booklet, and interactive notebook activities) and practice/skill printable pages. I really love how this all came together, and my kiddos were excited about it too!

Of course I had to Bundle the two together! 

If you buy the bundle, you'll get both the prefix and suffix editions, as well as two additional practice activities. Here's one of them: 30 affix task cards that can be used in any way!

So, what do you think? Want to win one of these?? Just leave a comment below with your email address telling me which one of these products you would like. Entries must be received by Wednesday April 30th at 11:59PM. I will randomly choose a winner on May 1st! GOOD LUCK!!

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Guided Reading Lesson Planning and Note Taking

I got a ton of LOVE from my Bright Idea post from a few weeks ago.

If you missed it, the post was all about how I organize my guided reading scoring/notes sheets. Click here to check it out!

I had a lot of requests to share my recording sheets, so I will... but on one condition: you don't judge :) I made all of these on my computer at work, so that means I probably whipped them up in 5-10 minutes. I also used standard fonts and no clip art (no fun stuff on my school laptop), and I didn't cute them up either for this blog post so that you can edit them to fit your needs. So no judgy giraffes, OK? Feel free to download them and cute them up for yourself :)

This is my 10th year teaching, and I swear I change my guided reading note taking sheets every. single. year. But I think I found the perfect format (for me) this year, and in conjunction with my folder system, I am rockin' and rollin'!

Let's take a peek at what's inside my guided reading folder...

In the first pocket I keep my running record info, group info, group schedule, and log sheet. It looks like this:

The top page you're seeing is my log. Here's a close up:

Their names are on the left and then their instructional reading level. At the top I write the dates, skipping a column between weeks. It helps my visual brain stay organized. I can fit about one month on each page. I write the level of the book we read in the group under the day. This helps me keep track of how many days/weeks we've spent on a certain level. Click here for the blank one. You'll notice that I took students' names out, but left their levels on the page, so you can see where those go. Also, I use the bolded lines to visually separate each group. You can easily move the bolded lines if you have more/less students in a group. Just change the border style to the thickest solid line, or you can use the draw tool to draw in the borders. To get rid of the bold lines, highlight the cells with the bold line and then click on the standard border. Hope that makes sense!

The rest of the pockets are for each group:

Each group has a lesson plan sheet. I started out with this page:

But after a few months I switched to this one:

The reason I switched is because in second grade, the guided reading books are longer, so it sometimes takes me 2-3 sessions to get through a book. The second version only requires me to write the title of the book once, whereas the first one, I had to write the title each session. It might sound a bit lazy that I didn't want to write the title each session, but I'm all about maximizing my time :) If you are a kinder or first grade teacher, you can usually get through your books in one session, so you might like the first version. For lesson planning, all I have to do is write the goal/strategy we're working on for the day. The application and summary/goal review at the end are already filled in to make my life easier. Here's the first version and the second version :) For some reason, they saved as a landscape document to Google drive so it's going to look a little goofy. If you click on the arrow in the upper left corner to download to your computer, the Excel file will open up and it will print in portrait A-OK!

Then each student gets one of these:

I am IN LOVE with this page. Notice at the top of the page it says D/C/F. These letters stand for decoding, comprehension, and fluency: the top box I give a decoding score, the middle box gets a comprehension score, and the bottom box gets a fluency score. I give my students a score of 3, 2, or 1, with 3 being the best. This is the scoring system I use on my report cards, but I know some people use letters or a 4, 3, 2, 1 scale. Do what you gotta do! Then in the large box I take notes. I write my notes about decoding towards the top, comprehension in the middle, and fluency at the bottom--trying to keep them in line with the D/C/F boxes. I used to have a larger space for notes, but I noticed that my notes were all usually focused on one aspect of reading (usually fluency). This set-up forces me to take notes on the whole reading picture. I also don't stress about filling in every score every day. Sometimes I don't get a chance to listen to individuals read or do an in-depth comprehension activity. Sometimes I write notes; other times I don't. Click here if you want this form :) Again, it will look a little strange in Google Drive, but just click on the arrow to download and print directly from Excel.

You've seen this pic before, but this is what my space looks like when I'm conducting a group:

I can easily move from one student to the next, and when I'm done with a group, all of their papers go back in their folder pocket.

My favorite part about the way I take notes is that I feel incredibly well-informed when I am talking about specific students to parents, administration, interventionists, etc. And my life is SO EASY when I need to complete progress reports or report cards. I hope I've answered all your questions about how I keep track of my growing readers. If you have any other questions, please leave a comment below :)

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Bright Idea: Organizing Guided Reading Notes

Hi friends! I'm super excited to link up with so many amazing bloggers for the Bright Ideas Link Up!

Today I want to share how I organize my guided reading notes and paperwork. I used a pretty binder for eight years, but I like to have a scoring/anecdotal note sheet for each student, and flipping back and forth between +/-20 papers was not working for me. AT ALL. So last year, my school's reading teacher gave me this:

Can you tell my folder is loved? <3

This folder system is AMAZING! Basically, it's four 2-pocket student folders that have been folded backwards. The front cover/back cover is one folder that has been cut in half. Then she used the binding machine in the copy room to assemble it.
Let's take a peek inside, shall we?

In the first pocket is where I keep my log of dates when I meet with my groups and running record progress form. On the outside of the pocket, I made a schedule of which group I'm taking each day and when. I put the schedule on a sticky note, so it can be changed easily when needed. I like to map out when I'm taking my groups so that I don't waste precious minutes trying to figure out who I haven't met with in a while. It also works great for my students because I tell them what days I'm taking their groups (and they get mad if I miss their group! Haha!) In my district, I'm required to meet with below-level students every day, on level students 3 times a week, and above level 1-2 times a week. All of my kids are currently reading at or above grade level (L/21 or higher), so that helps with my scheduling. I am still taking my on-level group every day, because some of them were below grade level when the year started. I meet with my M's 3 times a week, and everyone else 2 times. I was even able to make time in my schedule to do my weekly fluency progress monitoring. It works out well that I only have 5 groups this trimester :)

A close up of my first pocket. The sticky note on the left tells me which group I'm taking and when. The one on the right tells me who is in each group (although I pretty much have in memorized!)

The next 5 pockets are for the groups, one pocket per group. I put them in order based on their level. There is a sticky note on each pocket with the names of the kids in the group. Then inside the pocket, I have each student's scoring/notes sheet, as well as my group lesson plan sheet. Sometimes if we don't finish the book during one session, I'll also put my copy in the pocket to remind me that we need to finish it.

Close Up

Each student has their own scoring/notes sheet because it makes my life easier at progress report and report card time. I can also easily move students from one group to another... just move their sheet to the new pocket! When I'm meeting with a group, I will pull their sheets out of the pocket and lay them out in front of me. It makes it easier to move from one student to another.

This is what my space looks like when I'm working with a group. Super easy to switch from student to student!

In the last pocket,  I have guided reading teaching "cheat sheets,"district guided reading and running record expectations, and extra copies of my note taking sheets and lesson plan sheets.

I love this folder system so much, I begged asked my reading teacher politely for another one to store all my progress monitoring and reading intervention materials.

I am going to change out the binding coil to a bigger one :)

I actually just found out you can purchase these kinds of folders, although I don't know what they're technically called, where to get them, or how much. But if you buy a bunch of folders during the Back to School sales, you could easily put something like this together for less than $1. And if you need more folders, just use a bigger coil.

Thanks for stopping by! I would love for you to stop by my Instagram and Facebook to keep up with more of my bright ideas! And don't forget to check out more awesome ideas... links below!

An InLinkz Link-up

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