Hello Mrs Sykes

When you have students who are in upper elementary classrooms reading several years below grade level, your phonics instruction needs to be systematic and focused. Today we will look at several students* reading far below grade level, and we will walk through how to address their needs. * All student names have been changed, in case you were curious.

It's a Bright Idea round-up. Enjoy this post from earlier this year! I work with struggling readers in grades 2-5, so I know it can be a challenge to keep these learners engaged and enthusiastic while practicing Fluency and Accuracy. Today, I'm sharing my secret weapon: The Partner Game!

If you work with struggling readers in grades 2-5, you know it can be a challenge to keep these learners engaged and enthusiastic while practicing Fluency and Accuracy. Today, I'm sharing my secret weapon: The Partner Game!

Happy 2015! I have enjoyed the last 2 weeks, as I took the time to slow down, reflect, and spend time with my family. As 2015 begins, I wanted to take a moment to share some easy and fast materials I'll be using with my Literacy Intervention groups. Please note: all of my intervention groups are upper elementary, but these can be customized as needed for your class. Each of these activities includes fun materials to practice essential literacy skills. Enjoy! Fun Word Searches for January My kiddos enjoy word searches, and the words in these help to "front-load" my kiddos with the appropriate vocabulary to be able to participate in rich discussions. Click to download for free from my TPT store Click to download for free from my TPT store Speaking and Listening About 2014 I love Flocabulary, and the Year in Rap 2014 does not disappoint! From the Winter Olympics to Ferguson, Missouri, the Year in Rap is sure to generate opportunities for speaking and liste...

The Reality of Oral Reading Fluency Often, teachers are asked to give too much importance to a bit of data. The current trend is a focus on Fluency in struggling readers, particularly in grades 2-5. The Oral Reading Fluency score (ORF) is simply a look at how many words the student read correctly in a minute.  If it is below the magic number, the teacher needs to take a closer look.  The magic number varies, depending on the grade of the student, the time of year, and if you are using DIBELS , mClass , EasyCBM.com , etc. Here comes the tricky part - looking past the oral reading fluency to why the student is struggling. Too many teachers are being asked to provide an intervention in fluency, when that might not be the issue at all. Teachers and parents spend tons of time reading (and timing their students!) with the goal of reading faster. That's right. The goal is to read faster. They chart it, celebrate when the numbers rise, and fret when the numbers stay the same. ...

In chatting with teachers, I often get questions about how to support struggling readers in my upper elementary grades. Here are the top 6 ways I support struggling readers in grades 2-6. Thought I would pass them along.  If you find them helpful, I appreciate your sharing this post with your colleagues.  Thanks, y'all!! Find out their interests, then help them find tons of cool books on that topic.  If the books are way too difficult a text, but have rich, engaging pictures, let them keep them in their reading box.  If the majority of their books are at their reading level, let them keep a few that are interest-based, even if they are far too easy or difficult. Find out their needs, then help them find materials they can keep in their reading box.  If they can't tie their shoes, find a preschool book with the big, chunky laces , and let them quietly practice during reading time.  Yes, sometimes 4th graders don't know how to tie their shoes.  It ...

I just started a new job, since I was able to secure a perfect position at a school near my house that lets me: 1) do what I love - geek out about Literacy all. day. long.  :) 2) work around my children's schedule 3) work four days per week Love it!  :)  Here's the "before" pictures: A front view of the classroom - note all the clutter! Ick!! View from the other corner - still terribly cluttered!   After only 2 days (which was mostly spent doing paperwork!)  Here it is: Front work station, with Discussion Rules from Jennifer Jones !  Mystery Word of the Week Freebie   and Graduation Year Posters {free} Prompts for our Book Conferences Many of my Working on Words activities, including the games I've blogged about here . Now I'm going to hang out with the people who live in my house, and have an early night!  :)