We are already moving into Chapter of 5 of our Daily 5 Kindergarten Book Study. Man, the summer is flying by isn’t it. This chapter actually deals with ‘Read To Someone’ and ‘Listen To Reading’ so it’s been divided into two parts for this weeks study. My blogging buddy Mary, from Sharing Kindergarten, will be taking on the ‘Read to Someone’ portion, and I will be covering ‘Listen to Reading.’
While I doubt that this will be the most challenging part of Daily 5 for you to implement, the ‘sisters do a really good job of pointing out WHY listening to reading is so important. Likewise, there are definitely some logistic/organizational issues you’re going to want to think about. These are the things that I think sometimes weigh us down and keep us from moving forward. We often can understand the WHY but the HOW, WHERE and WHAT can be daunting and so we do nothing. I want to make sure we think about how this is really going to look and work in our classrooms, not just the theory behind it.
1. How will you instill the importance (or urgency as the sisters call it) of ‘listening to reading’ in your students and especially those students who have had little ‘lap time’ or reading done for them in their own homes?
When there are students who haven’t had much exposure to ‘listening to reading’ it is difficult to ‘teach’ them that it’s important. I think the main thing that these little kinders need is lots of anticipation building, lots of excitement and lots of experience hearing reading. It may take bringing in some volunteer Grandma and Grandpa readers those first few weeks just to give them the experience. Or perhaps, I could create a ‘listening book in the spot light’ type of anticipatory display to create interest. Anyone else have any ideas?
2. What devices or strategies are you going to use to conduct listen to reading?’ Will you use a community recording device with one cd and several earphones, individual cd players, tape recorders, ipod-type devices or computers?
Of course, this is going to vary for everyone. Some of you may enjoy the benefit of iPads, iPods and even reliable computers. Lucky You!!! There are lots of great sites on the internet that you can take advantage of in your classrooms. Here’s just a few you might like.
Different actors take turns reading children stories. An entertaining site for sure.
Storynory, like Storyline Online, has actors reading a variety of fables, fairy tales and stories.
This site has authors reading their own stories online.
If you’d like to see other sites for online reading, just click here to see the complete list. Of course, if you’re willing to pay for it, there are tons of other great sites with leveled listening books such as Raz-Kids.com. I have actually used this program with my own kids when we are able to venture to the computer lab.
Unfortunately, the two computers that I have in my classroom are unreliable and, because I can’t really count on them, I won’t be using them for Daily 5. So instead, I’ll be using individual cd players. I may incorporate the Leap Pads I have in my class and perhaps borrow my sons’ Leap Tag readers as well throughout the year just to provide a bit of variety. My own boys LOVE their Leap Tags. I would really like to have a couple of sets for my classroom, but perhaps ‘someday.’
3. What expectations will you have for your students during ‘listen to reading’ and how will you keep them on task and independent instead of needing your assistance when they can’t manage ‘devices?’
Especially with Listen To Reading, I believe there will be a need for LOTS of practice and talk about “HOW” to use the devices. I want to make sure everyone understands how to run the CD players, how to handle the cds, where they can use the equipment and how to take of the items when they are done.
Of course, we will complete an anchor chart together intially, but I will also provide one for them to have as a visual reminder.
I actually have three different versions because I couldn’t decide on the color, so there are three different versions to choose from when you download.
I also included an ‘I Can . . .’ sheet for using the cd players with it.
Because my room is so small and because I like to have everything where students are not having to ‘look’ for materials, my ‘Listen To Reading’ materials will be house in 6 individual listening bags like this one here.
These are actually my teaching neighbor, Kerri’s bags, that go with her room colors. (My own are ‘on order.) I love these bags because they are just big enough but not too big. They will easily hold a clipboard, cd player and head phones and several books as needed.
It even has a sweet little pocket in the front to hold pencils and crayons.
Each student will choose a numbered bag
and can find their spot to get started.
Even though I plan on training, modeling and practicing until I’m blue in the face, sometimes, my kinders for get how to use equipment and the expectations. So I included the expectations and the cd player ‘I Can . . .’ sheets as cards attached to the bag. Students can reference these rather than interrupting me for help.
If you’d like a copy, just click the picture below. There are three sets of colors to choose from.
4. Do you have enough ‘listening to reading’ type materials? If not, what ideas do you have for securing these materials? Where will you store them? How will your students retrieve these items? Where will they be used (will there be a designated spot in your class for listen or reading or will it be their choice)?
I actually have been very fortunate to have collected many great books on cds over the past couple of years. Let’s face it, the best place to get these materials and probably the cheapest is through Scholastic. I have always used my points and free book coupons to buy cds. Honestly, I currently store them in three messy bins in ziplocs and I HATE that. Here’s a good picture of what NOT to do.
I have discovered the simple pleasure of taping the cd sleeve to the inside of my book (why didn’t I think of that-Gotta love pinterest), and that is how they will be stored from now on.
6. The sisters do not really talk about this in their book, but how do you feel about listening response sheets? Will listening to reading be just for ‘listening’ or will there be follow-up work required of your students? If there is reading response sheets, what will they look like?
I personally like to have students do a response sheet even at the beginning of their year if it’s only a picture of their favorite part of the book. I’m not big on worksheet-type stuff but I often have parents who tell me their children never have anything to say about school. If I have them refer to these listening response sheets it can be a simple way to start a conversation about what they did at school.
I kind of took some ideas from my followers and ideas of what I like to have my kiddos do and tiered them a bit and made a set that you may use if you’re interested. Just click on the picture here to download.
Also, because there are various levels of ‘writing’ abilities. I made this package editable so that you can add the title of the book if you choose to or have students write it. This is the first time I made an editable product so you guys are my guinea pigs. Let me know how you like them.
7. I would be remiss to not add this so . . . how can this station be differentiated to meet the various learning profiles, interests and/or readiness of your students?
One very easy way to differentiate is to just provide some simple choices. Students can choose which story to listen to, they can choose where in the room to listen to a story or perhaps they can choose which device (if there are more than one) to use. Of course, you can also tier this activity by providing tiered books at their reading readiness level and provide tiered response sheets.
I’ll be tiering my response sheets by placing different options in clear bins like I use in my writing learning center in this picture next to where the bags will hang. Students will find their name on the bin, pick out a response sheet, grab their listening bag and go. So those are my ideas for ‘Listening to Reading’ for this weeks Chapter 5 of Daily 5. Remember to link up below and then follow my blogging buddy Mary’s blog button below to see the other half of this chapter, ‘Read to Someone.’
I’m anxious to hear what you came up with so make sure you link up.
With nearly 20 years of experience as a full-time kindergarten teacher, I’m committed to creating a classroom where learning is joyful, engaging, challenging, and fun. Each day, I work to ensure that my students feel successful through instruction that considers their unique interests, learning profiles, and readiness levels. I believe that students should be excited to come to class and enjoy a myriad of hands-on activities that encourage exploration and discovery.
While I continue to teach full-time, I find so much joy in connecting and building friendships with teachers worldwide. It’s why I started this blog back in 2012. My hope has become a reality as I have been able to forge relationships with teachers, sharing ideas and building friendships beyond my little neck of the woods through professional development sessions and this blog.
So by all means, take some time to look around and explore A Differentiated Kindergarten. Gather some new ideas, fun tips, and most importantly, don’t forget to reach out and say, ‘Hi!’
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