Comprehension Centers Throwback & a New Year's Freebie

   It was around this time last year that I decided to revamp my word work centers in my second grade classroom. I worked with the "intensive" kiddos of our grade level each day, many of whom were ELL, to improve phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension skills. I needed a system that was independent enough for my kiddos to complete, but included rigor and engagement. That is when my Interactive Comprehension Centers were born. You can read all about the set-up, materials, and purpose here.

   

The Ultimate Comprehension Centers Pack

  To accompany comprehension in the classroom I wanted my kiddos to continue the learning at home with a take home reading folder. I used a yellow shipping folder, placed on a cover, and laminated for durability. Inside each reading folder I included a reading log, before, during, and after comprehension questions, a reader finger or pointer (for my emergent readers), a book from our guided reading group and a leveled book (A to Z Reading), and a comprehension activity. This system was simple for even my kinder kiddos to learn and manage.

   To get your New Year off to the right start you can make Take Home Reading Folders for all your kiddos using my starter pack FREEBIE. Also included are sample interactive comprehension sheets from my Ultimate Comprehension Centers Pack. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

My Take Home Reading Folder

Say it isn't so...

   Say it isn't so! Do I really need to go back to school tomorrow? As I relish in only a couple more hours left of winter break, and shed a few tears, I have finished prepping for the journey back into the classroom. Thankfully we have two days of professional development and no kiddos until Wednesday so I can take down all my leftover Christmas décor and print, laminate, and assemble all of my new goodies for the kiddos.
   I racked my brain over the last week as to how to lead my Walk to Read group as successfully as possible. As I have mentioned before I have all of the second grade intensive kiddos in my literacy block and have a lot of growth to help them make by the end of the year. I do incorporate Daily 5 into this 90 minute intervention block, but my kiddos do not get to choose what they would like to complete (except on Friday's when I progress monitor). I decided to add additional fluency and comprehension practice into Daily 5 that my kiddos will be introduced to this week when they return. When my kiddos Read to Self they will be using my new comprehension centers. Here is a glimpse of what these will look like.

    I have taken six accordion files, from the dollar spot at Target, to hold and organize everything together. Each center holds a book (all six of my centers are winter themed right now), a comprehension activity or interactive journaling page, and comprehension mini-posters. My goal is for my intensive kiddos to take the comprehension strategies we have been working on in guided reading and small group independently. I have placed a mixture of fiction and nonfiction books in each center. I also plan to make multiple copies of the activities and place in a plastic page protector that way I do not need to replenish these centers everyday. We will spend this week modeling and practicing the expectations of the centers.

   Here is a look at the inside of the accordion file. I have tabs labeled for the "book", "activity" , "notebook" (for the interactive journaling page), and "cards" (comprehension mini-posters). Once I have everything labeled, copied, and placed in its spot I will upload more pictures. You can get a copy of everything that I am using in these comprehension centers, except the books, by clicking on the image below.

    My kiddos will also be using their Read to Someone rotation to practice their fluency. They do spend two days a week doing fluency drills in one of their small groups, but this is led by a teacher. I want my kiddos to begin to take responsibility for their learning and complete these drills on their own. So I have created an interactive way for my kiddos to do this with my Cookie Fluency Phrases. I have used the first 100 Fry words and created small phrases and sentences for my kiddos to read. My kiddos can play games like Memory, Spin-a-Cookie, Cookie Racing and track their progress in a fluency phrase notebook. I plan on having each of these games in a manila folder and the practice pages in three binders. Once I take pictures of the complete set-up I will upload them. You can read a little more and take a look at the preview by clicking on the images below.

   Anyone else getting excited for the Olympics? I am counting down the days for the Opening Ceremony. My excitement could stem from my childhood when I thought I was going to be the next great ice skater, but have only been on the ice once in my lifetime! I have some exciting activities I am working on for my classroom kiddos. I did finish the Math & Literacy centers we will be using during the two weeks of the games. You can get a copy for yourself by clicking on the images below.

The Ultimate Comprehension Guide & a FREEBIE

   I am sooooooo excited to have put the final touches on something I have been wanting to create and implement for weeks now. And it so happens to come on the eve of the New Year. How appropriate right?  Drumroll please.....

   The Ultimate Comprehension Centers Pack has been a vision in my mind for so long and now I can finally touch it! I have been wanting something that my kiddos could use in guided reading group and then transfer into independent comprehension centers to solidify their comprehension knowledge. Many of my kiddos need the extra boost of comprehension saturation and now I feel like I can help them achieve it. I have included sample lesson ideas, pictures, and read aloud suggestions for the following strategies; visualizing & mental image, making connections, predicting, inferring, retell, sequence, questioning, determine importance, problem & solution, cause & effect, author's purpose, and a bonus context clues & vocabulary game. Each comprehension strategy contains a poster, mini-poster, multiple activities, games, and interactive journaling pages which adds an extra dimension to my kiddos learning! 

   I am also so excited to introduce my kiddos to the independent comprehension center bins when they come back in January too! This pack gives you a detailed "how to" set-up your own centers with all of the organization and labeling tools you will need to get your kiddos down the path of comprehension success! All you need to do is add the leveled books! You can grab this pack in my TpT store by clicking on the images below. It will even be on sale the next two days to celebrate the New Year! I have also included one of the many cause & effect activities below as a sample of the activities you will get in this huge 100+ pack. Let me know what you think!

 

POP! A Cause & Effect Freebie