Plan. Prep. Teach. GUIDED GROUPS {Summer B2S Tips}

We are oh so lucky to be teachers because we get the whole summer off, free of any kind of work at all! In fact, be real...that's the real reason any of us became teachers in the first place...

You have no idea (actually, you probably do) how tempting it is to punch someone in the face when they say things like this to me. First of all, I do more work in the 10 months school is in session than you do all year. Honestly, I probably do the same amount of work AT HOME during the school year that you do AT WORK in a full year. Second, I do not have summers "off" from work. Sure, there are meetings, PD, and various other things I will have to attend, but the bottom line is if I don't plan, prep, and research over the summer I will drown in August. Fast.

I don't know about you, but I can't turn my brain off. Even when I'm relaxing, scrolling through Pinterest, the vast majority of my feed is school stuff. The first thing I do every morning (before I get out of bed because I'm super lazy and like to procrastinate in the morning) is check my email and scroll through my update email from Bloglovin' to see what all of you are up to. Lately, I have been really into posts about how to use my summer purposefully. What can I do over the summer to ease the inevitable back to school chaos? Sure, I have my own plan. I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything. I did find some great posts about this here, here, and here. Then I thought, "Why not share my own plans?" I mean the more information out there the better, right?

So, I decided to start a new summer series called, "PLAN.PREP.TEACH.", about all the ways we could prepare for back to school during the summer, if we so choose. Today's post is all about preparing for guided groups.

(UPDATE: Also in this series: Homework & HW Binder Organization)

What groups will you have?
At my old school (read about my decision to switch schools here), we had groups for guided reading, guided math, word study, core extension (LA), and core extension (Math). Oh, and we also had groups for a once-weekly encore switch up among the grade-level. There is no question as to why all of my groups had to be planned out or students would get lost.

At my new school, it seems like I will need groups for guided reading and guided math ONLY (big sigh of relief). My new school is Title 1, so we have a lot of additional support. During my guided reading block, I will only have 1 group, for 30 minutes. I will have a reading specialist, reading assistant, and ESOL teacher that will push in for those 30 minutes and pull their groups. So, for 30 minutes, every student in my class is engaged in a small guided reading group and when the team leaves, I have my whole class back. I am so excited to teach in this model, it is actually the reason that compelled me to interview in the first place. But as you can imagine, I have a lot of reworking to do. For example, I have used Daily 5 for the past 4 1/2 years but I'm not sure I will need that anymore...hmmmm, lot's of things to think about.

Also, I will have a Title 1 math teacher push in 3 times a week during my math block. I can't wait for this because reading is my thing, not math, so I will take any help I can get! I just need to plan on what groups she will pull.

When will you see your groups?
I used to make a schedule that looked like this:

I know, I know, it is not truly Daily 5 if you tell them what centers to go to and take away their choice. Honestly, the choice of centers just did not work for me. They have choice when they get there of what to read, or what to write, or what word work activity to do, they just can't choose their center. I have had way too many student behavior issues and mean-girl drama over the years to deal with that. So I don't, and my centers run smoothly.

For reading this year, I will only need to see my one group during the alotted 30 minutes that I have "the team" in my room. Simple.

For math, my lowest group will need to be seen every day. I figure I can pull them on the days when I don't have the Title 1 math teacher, and she can pull them when she is in the classroom. My second lowest will need to be pulled 3-4 times a week and my highest two only 2-3 times. I plan on doing math workshop for only 2 centers a day this year, so I can really go in depth with the groups I am pulling.

I have been doing math workshop for the past 5 years, but in many different forms. This year, I think I am going back to the M.A.T.H. set-up since I will have fewer students and can have only 4 centers. The acronym (in my classroom) stands for: Meet the Teacher (guided groups), At Your Seat (independent work/task cards), Technology (computers, iPads, or Smart Board), and Hands-On (fact fluency games).

I like the super cute set-up below from The Teaching Sweet Shoppe.

What will you call your groups?
Ok, this may seem like a silly thing to plan ahead, but you quickly run out of group names when you are trying to juggle 6 different groupings like I was at my old school. I had colors, fruit, animals, you name it!

This year, I really want to do a teamwork/sports theme, so I decided to name my guided groups after NFL, NBA, and MLB teams. To help cut down on August prep, I already made posters for the groups that I can print on cardstock, laminate, and hang on the wall so I can quickly switch up groupings using a dry-erase marker. I uploaded these posters here for FREE if you are interested.

How will you track progress?
I like to create my own anecdotal notes forms so I can include only the information that I think is important. I create different forms every year. Sometimes I bundle them into prong folders by group and sometimes I throw them into a binder alphabetically by student. Either way, if you are like me, this is the perfect time to get creating. These forms will be the last on your list once school starts.

If you can answer all of the questions above, then you are in good shape. Please comment with your thoughts and advice, I know you guys have more amazing ideas that I haven't yet stumbled upon. See you next time!

Guided Reading Organization

I absolutely love reading about how other teachers organize for productivity. I learned many tips and tricks since I started blog-hopping that I don't even know which of my ideas are original. But, that's okay! I thought I would share how I have my area set up, just incase organization makes any other teacher as happy as it makes me!

 My Guided Reading Table

 1. My Semi-circle table :)- This table makes me happy. Some teachers in my school have rectangle or circle tables, so every year before summer I make sure to plaster my name all over it so there is no chance of it walking off.
2. Water! The students love my plastic, mason jar water cup (Wal-mart). I have reusable star-shaped ice cubes inside that they can't get enough of (also Wal-mart). I also love my blue, damask, tile coaster that I got from Michaels for 2 for $1. I keep one on my reading table and one on my desk.
3. Supplies, Supplies, Supplies: This caddy is a letter tray that I sat pencil baskets inside of. I use it house everything I need for my reading groups.
4. Numbered chairs...not such a big deal. Last year, the group I had would fight over anything...including chairs. So, this year I numbered all my chairs: computer chairs, reading table chairs, students chairs for desks. It turns out this group actually gets along (Hallelujah!), and I am left with a room full of numbered chairs.
5. Our Re-reading Line-Up: The ledge behind my reading table is full with read alouds that we have already read as a class. The students love to reread these books during Daily Five.
6. Anchor Charts, Aweigh! I keep my most current anchor chart on my easel, the latest after that are behind my reading table for reference, and when I need space I retire them to my back wall.

My Make-Shift Supply Caddy

1. My time-to-stop-what-you're-doing-and-clean-up-now bell: It's actually a very polite sounding bell for something that basically means "move now".
2. Markers for coding text
3. Extra pencils and erasers
4. Red Pens
5. Calculator: This is more for me and not for the kids, if I find myself grading at the front of the room or trying to figure out my class' percent pass during our team meetings.
6. Squooshy Ball: One of my students frequently uses this ball as a fidget while working.
7. Highlighters: Notice the pink tape? Last year I had a lot of things walk away from me so I took the extra precaution this year (like the chairs, this was also unnecessary for this group).
8. Post-its, rubber bands, paper clips
9. Dry Erase marker, eraser, colored pens

Our Whole-Group Meeting Place

 1. My Spot: I used to sit in a rocking chair, but I couldn't fit the rocking chair in so close to the reading table and it was just a mess, so I simplified.
2. My laptop cart with a 200 chart poster to hide my goodies.
3. Behavior Management Clock: I got the idea of using an elapsed time clock for behavior management from Blair Turner and my kids love it! They need to earn 12 hours for the reward and the poster underneath says "Time Elasped, "Time Remaining", and "Reward".
4. Magic 5 reminders for carpet behavior
5. My beloved Promethean Board
6. Student Unfinished Work Slots
7. Emergency Bag and forgotten umbrellas crate
8. Bookbag hooks

Laptop Cart: My mini-office on wheels

1. Laptop
2. Promethean Remote: It's actually embarrassing how many times I have lost this baby, now it must stay right in it's spot.
3. Markers for anchor charts and glue for interactive notebooks (I do a lot of modeling for interactive notebooks using my document camera before giving my students the activity, so I have to have all supplies on deck.)
4. Bookbox
5. Crayons kept in a snack case from the Dollar Tree (for interactive notebook work)
6. Interactive Notebooks for all subjects (science and social studies share a notebook)
7. Class Read-Aloud Chapter Book: Right now we are in the middle of The Mouse and The Motorcycle
8. Document Camera
9. Way over in the corner of the picture, you can see my timer. I use this for fluency, cleaning up, partner activities, turn and talk, everything!

Under The Laptop Cart: My Secret Space

1 & 2. I keep student number cards in this $1 tin from Target (they are actually calendar date cards). I pick a number every time I ask a question or want someone to come up to the Promethean, I like to keep the kids on their toes! After I pick the card, I place it in the white tin. When all of the cards have moved over, I put them back and start again.
3. More supplies for my document camera work and teaching at the front of the room: teacher scissors, pencils, pens, dry-erase markers, highlighters
4. I bought this 1/2 crate from Wal-mart 2 years ago and I could not find one during school season this year. I love this crate because it is the perfect size! At the beginning of the year I used it for homework folders, but now I use it to house my materials.
5. Benchmark Literacy Teacher Manual
6. Anecdotal notes for reading groups: Each group has a prong folder with their notes and book.
7. My reading group notebook: The students have notebook they use during reading groups and I always get confused as to what group has done what writing or activity. I stole the idea from my wonderful ESOL teacher to keep a notebook along with the kids. I labeled a 5 subject notebook with a section for each group and I complete the notebook work along with the students.

That's it! Leave me a comment to let me know what you think or how you do things. I am always interested in organization ideas!