iPaddling through Guided Reading

It's hard to contain my excitement and enthusiasm when it comes to Guided Reading and having a 1:1 classroom. Mastery of district curriculum and essential objectives is what it is all about. I now have unlimited opportunities for students in my classroom.  Our guided reading block is every afternoon for an hour.  Differentiation of instruction, individualized and small group instruction, and student engagement happens at its best on a daily basis! I feel I am meeting all students' instructional needs each day.

Daily Five and a 1:1 Classroom

I have created a 1:1 iPad Menu for Guided Reading.  Being new to a 1:1 classroom I continue to tweak it according to student and curriculum needs.  Below is an example of a menu my students receive at the beginning of each week.

Click below for a copy of the 1:1 Menu that will allow you to edit as you wish.

1:1 iPad Menu for Guided Reading

There are several apps that I use that tie in with essential learning and our district curriculum.

RAZ Kids

Raz Kids is a leveled reading program.  Each of my students have their own book room at their specific independent reading level.  After each selection they read, students complete a comprehension quiz.  In addition to using our district curriculum and Fountas and Pinnell, the information gathered from Raz Kids helps plan future instruction and RTI groups.   Raz Kids not only ties in with common core, but gives teachers access to each student's activity report, assignment progress, assessments, and a skills report.

RAZ Kids and Common Core

My students use this recording sheet when they read a new book from their book room.  They write the level of the book which correlates with the reading levels of Fountas and Pinnell,  the title of the selection, and the score they earn on their quiz.  The skills column lists what particular questions they missed and the skill they need more guidance and instruction on.  It is easy to see patterns on missed questions.  Recently one student, on three consecutive books missed Main Idea and Details.  So I was able to pull a small group and focus on this particular skill.

Storia

I have just started building my Storia library through Scholastic.  It is eBooks created for students. Books are leveled for students' independent reading levels.  A teacher can have a personalized bookshelf for each student and assign specific books.  There are read to me audio books, enriched eBooks that provide learning activities which help foster reading retention and comprehension,  and a Storia dictionary that helps  enrich student vocabulary. Storia also provides reference tools, reading reports for teachers, and students also have access to Storia at home.  Forty students have access to the same book at any given time on my specific shelf.  One of my main goals is to continue to add and purchase eBooks for my students.  I would love to eventually have all the books my students read available on their iPads.
 

audioBoo 

My students and I love audioBoo.  Students record themselves reading a selected passage.  After they save the passage on audioBoo, students label what they read and include the date.  After students record their reading, it is saved to their  "My Boos".  Students then listen to the audio recording and complete a self-evaluation on their reading.  My third graders then set goals for fluency, expression, and automaticity.

 
 

Fluency Station that I use Free from Teachers Pay Teachers

Record of Reading App

Our district uses Fountas and Pinnell.  The Record of Reading app  can be used for students' running records.  It can be saved as a file or emailed.

Stick Around

 

 Like I stated in my previous post, my students love the Stick Around app created by +Tony Vincent!  It is a wonderful app for students and teachers.  My third graders have been creating puzzles that tie in with our language arts curriculum.  They have created puzzles for main verb and helping verbs, as well as nouns, verbs, and adjectives. My advanced students have worked on puzzles for Greek and Latin roots. We have also used it for a science essential objective where students had to label the parts of an ear.

We will have endless opportunities for learning next year with Stick Around when our district implements Words their Way.

Tips for using Stick Around

The amazing aspect of Stick Around is that puzzles can be shared.  Currently, one of our district tech coaches, +Brent Catlett created shared folders for our teachers. We are now putting the puzzles we create in shared folders so that all teachers have access to them.  Stick around can be used in any curricular area.

Notability is the go to app for Guided Reading!  Thanks to +Matt Villasana for his wonderful post on using Notability in Guided Reading.

Using Notability for Guided Reading
Pads in CPS

One of our reading/language arts essential objectives in third grade is to present speeches throughout the year.  For the E.O.,  I paired up students so they could videotape each other presenting their speech focusing on their favorite dessert.  After all the speeches were presented, each student watched his/her speech on their iPad and completed a self-evaluation using the district reading rubric.

                                                                    

     

Some of my favorite apps to use during guided reading are Tellagami,  Spelling City,  Story Me,  Explain Everything,  Puppet Pals HD,  Sock Puppets, Dream-X, and 30hands  I also love PBS Kids.

Example of how we used Tellagami with our Reading Vocabulary

Examples of how we used Explain Everything with our Reading Focus Skill of the Week

Focus Skill-Fact and Opinion

Focus Skill-Author's Purpose

Example of how we used 30hands with our Reading Focus Skill - Summarizing

Examples of using Story Me with our Reading Vocabulary

 








Examples how we used Dream-X for Language - Contractions

 













Tips for using PuppetPals
Tips for using Story Me
Using Tellagmi with Common Core - Scholastic
30hands Resource Guide
Spelling City

My students are looking forward to using the Mad Libs app to review parts of speech.  

The International Reading Association has some great free apps for Nonfiction and Fiction Text on readwritethink.

One of my favorites is the Venn Diagram used for comparing and contrasting.

Comparing and Contrasting Santo Domingo and Maine
from our story Cocoa Ice.

Let's not forget Kidblog!  Students not only practice their writing skills, but they can reflect on their learning, connect with other classrooms from all over the world, and create a portfolio of their writing.

Our classroom Kidblog site is Mrs. Evon's Fourth Grade Team.  Our third grade team is currently participating in a Global Blog Challenge thanks to +Janine Crain who set it up!  Thousands of students would love comments!  To follow along on Twitter go to #2014gbc!

21st Century Guided Reading at its Best!