A Week in Reading ~ Monday

Hi, everyone! I thought I'd start off this new blog by sharing what a week in Whole Group Reading looks like in my second grade class. Let's jump right in! Here's what we do on Mondays.

First, we prep our Reader's Notebooks. I did the workbook thing for two years with our Journeys curriculum, and I just wasn't a fan. So this year I decided to create our own reader's notebooks. I must say, I love them! It helps keep me super focused on the essentials and the kids are writing a ton! I also love that everything they need is on one page. I copy them on a different color each week just so they're easier to find in their notebooks.

The page includes: 1) the Essential Question, 2) Response to Reading question, 3) Reading skill of the week, 4) QR code with link to the story audio, 5) Vocabulary skill, and 6) Grammar skill. 

When kids come in each Monday, there's a new sheet on their desks. They're pretty well trained by now, so they are able to cut and glue everything in about 10 minutes. That takes care of our morning work time on Mondays.

Here's what they look like when they're finished. Well, most of them look like this. Some aren't so pretty, but I'm getting better at letting go of that :)

Next we Kahoot! our vocabulary. I love, love, love using Kahoot! for this. If you only have a few devices, Kahoot! now has team mode so kids can consult together before choosing their answers. I love that I get immediate feedback on their responses, so if everyone answers correctly, we move on. If kids miss a question, we stop and discuss the vocabulary word. Plus, there's 100% engagement! We do a lot of our vocabulary study during workshop, so this is a quick way to check that everyone understands the words. I almost never create my own Kahoot! Instead I search for ones other fabulous teachers have made. Time saver!

Lastly, we read the story of the week. I love gathering the kids up on the carpet and treating their first read as a read aloud. Whenever possible I go get the trade book so we can have a true read aloud experience. Our teacher's guide has all kinds of questions and things for a first read, but I don't use those then. I like to stop at natural points along with the to talk about the story or information, but I really feel like a first read should be done without tons of interruptions. After we're done, we discuss the essential question and make some class notes so we're reading to write the next day.

What are some of your favorite Day 1 activities?