We are in the middle of ANOTHER blizzard up north. This is was the worst yet this winter, and on top of that, we are asked to turn our thermostats down to 60 because of the pipline burst about 100 miles from us. It’s a bit chilly in my house! It’s another week of subzero temps this week, so hopefully they are able to repair the pipeline soon!
We’ve been busy in our house in January…
with birthdays….
and dance….
But, in the classroom, our Daily 5 rotations are going fantastic! I think that it has really helped that the children had a very solid foundation of what they are supposed to do during our literacy rotations. The only difference is that they are now working independently rather than in a group.
Here is a reminder of what my rotation chart looks like:
Here’s the details…
It looks a little tricky, but it’s really simple, and the kiddos caught on super quick!
There are 6 activities for each daily choice (we are not doing partner reading yet). The number next to the child’s name corresponds to the activity that they will do. I rotate the names across the top after each round (we are doing 3 rounds).
The children take the cards from the chart and find their corresponding activity. They either velcro the card to a clipboard or leave it right next to them. So far, they are doing a fantastic job remembering to put the card back when they are done!
At the end of each day, I rotate the name cards. I know that this was day 2 of rotations because the cards are orange. The next day the cards were yellow, and then green, and blue, and so on. On the 7th day, I let the children choose which activity they want to do (either for the 2nd time or if they missed it because they were in reading groups).
(The cards are from A Year of Many Firsts, by the way – they are free on TpT!)
All of the activities are kept here:
Each drawer has the corresponding number and picture card.
Choice 6 for word work and work on writing are kept in these baskets:
I keep clipboards with a velcro dot right by the activity so they can put their choice card there.
Listen to reading is kept in these bags:
There are 2 bags with portable CD players, 2 bags with ipads, the 5th bag has the book in it and they will go to a classroom CD player, and listen to reading #6 is located in our class library.
One of my most favorite finds this round were these:
I have a set of ipads, so these were PERFECT.
I just add the QR code for the book to the bag, and the kiddos scan with the ipad and listen to the book. They do a super quick response activity afterwards. They LOVE this new twist on Listen to Reading!
Okay, onto the goodies inside the drawers. Here are a few things that I have in the drawers:
These 2 are both from my January word work pack – I REALLY hope to get a February pack done too….it will be very similar to this one – super easy to prep, and very predictable activities for the kids. The goal is independence, so I want them to know how to do it without asking for help!
This is from my Short E intervention pack. The children are really enjoying the activities from these intervention packs – they are great for small group work as well as independent centers and whole group. We use our word sliders every day to review blending!
This activity is part of the January Word Work pack.
Here is another super amazing activity from Sue Lynch. We LOVE this!!
If you want this recording page, you can download it {here}.
These next 2 are “in the works” on my computer. I am working on a couple of super easy, predictable activities for word work and work on writing. These will be part of my Frugal Teacher Series of activities. (I have a lot of these started, but finding the time to finish has been tricky this year!)
This app is called Jumbled Sentences, and it is a free one! The kids put the words in order to make a sentence. When they finish level 1, I have them write 2-3 more sentences on their own.
Stay warm friends! I’ll be back with an update of what we are working on during our math centers!
