The Next Step: Chapter 5 Transitional Guided Reading & Freebie!

Okay finally time to sit down and think about chapter 5.  This chapter was huge for me!  I didn't read it last year until it was too late.  I didn't realize so many of my students would get to this point and by the time I sat down and read it a couple times I feel I didn't have time to do it justice.  I'm excited to to a better job with my transitional readers this year!  I'm going to go ahead do the share 2 approach again.  

2 Things I learned- once again more than 2

1. Strategy focus for transitional readers fall under 5 areas, self-monitoring, decoding, fluency, vocabulary or retell.  
2. Kindergartners and first graders who are reading at or above a level I are transitional readers.  
3. To improve fluency the text should be fiction and contain interesting dialogue.  
4. Retelling strategies should be taught through fiction first.  

2 Questions I have:

1. Jan says not all transitional readers require word study, how come?  
2. I understand why Jan suggests not using novels during GR but can they be used if you are only reading a chapter per session? 
3. Why does she focus so much on retelling in this stage?

Books I found at this level:

1. Okay this was very surprising but... many Clifford books come up as J level in Scholastic's Bookwizard?
2. Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman (J)
3. Poppleton by Cynthia Rylant (J)
4. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak (J)

In this chapter Jan suggests using a Word Study Inventory which I have found to be very helpful!  I do Words Their Way Primary Spelling Inventory at the beginning of the school year (as well as every quarter after) and find it to extremely helpful in planning my lessons.  I also wanted to share that I do a lot of readers theaters with my transitional readers.  I think it helps them build fluency and work on their intonation.  I use and really like the ones from Pioneer Valley Books and Reading A-Z.  

I don't know about you but Jan Richardson's book is my bible during my guided reading lessons!  The book sits at my table during school and comes home with me several times a week.  As you can see though its seen better days it is very loved. 

In an effort to use it a bit less and also to give myself more room to write I created my own lesson templates.  I plan to use these this year and wanted to share them with you in case you also needed more room to write or more guidance during your lessons.  You can find them for free in my TPT shop.  

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Grace-Lovelace  I just ask that if you download them you please give them a rating.  

Don't forget to check out Jodi from Fun in First (love her spelling and fluency packets) and Reagan from Tunstall's Teaching Tid Bits (I use almost all of Reagan's reading units in my class, can't recommend her enough!!) to learn tons more about transitional readers.  They also have some great freebies for you!
I plan to read chapter 6 again in the next few days but I am not sure I will post about it.  Since I seldom work with fluent readers I'm not sure I will have much to offer.  So we'll see.  I do plan to be back this week with some updated classroom pics and more on my spelling lists.

Let's Talk Running Records

     What do you think when you hear running record?  A few years ago I would have said panic!  These days though I think "Yes!  Bring it!"  I love taking running records while my kids read.  They supply me with such wonderful information and allow me to really get to know them as readers.  I learn what cuing systems they're using and what they need the most help with.  They help me group my students into guided reading groups and also plan my lessons. I take running records of each student about every two to three weeks.  Since our program has a limited number of benchmark books I often use a leveled reader they haven't read before.  In my grad program at Marymount my amazing professor Dr. Daly highly recommended we get use to taking running records on text we did not have already typed up so we could practice doing them on the fly and not need the text written out.  At first it was very hard for me but I eventually learned and use the blank running record from she gave us, it has come in very handy when doing running records on leveled readers, really any book I chose.

     Since I began blogging and using TPT I've remade a lot of old forms to include cuter fonts and graphics, her original blank running record form being one of them.  I would like to share these with you as a freebie today.  The file has one front page, and two options for the back page. One version includes a running record coding system and a reading accuracy chart, the second has more lines and general comprehension questions but does not have the cheat charts.  The second sheet is probably for someone who has more practice taking running records or is doing a running record on a larger text.  I use these all the time in during my reading groups, I copy them front to back and I keep a blank stack in my guided binder.  The file also includes a "Running Record Cheat Sheet" I  made for some of my team makes.  I keep a copy of this in a sheet protector in the front part of my running record section.  

Running Record Forms

I hope its helpful to someone.