Kindergarten Reading Curriculum 2019

Kindergarten

Reading Curriculum

Oradell Public School District

Oradell, NJ

2019

The Kindergarten Reading Curriculum was developed by the Oradell Language Arts
Curriculum Team and aligned to the New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS).

Oradell Public School District

Kindergarten Reading Curriculum Committee Credits:

Jenna Lipton, Supervisor of Language Arts and Social Studies

Hellen Kapp, Kindergarten Teacher

Victoria Smith, Kindergarten Teacher

Kristin Terzano, Academic Support Teacher

Board Policy

This revision is aligned with the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Language Arts, the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Technology, and the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for 21st Century Life and Careers.

Affirmative Action

During the development of this course of study, particular attention was paid to the elimination or exclusion of any materials which might discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, familial status, genetic information, mental or physical disabilities, or in educational opportunities. Every effort has been made to uphold both the letter and spirit of Affirmative Action mandates as applied to the content, the texts and the instruction inherent in this course.

Dr. John C. Anzul, Superintendent

Megan Bozios, Principal

Our Language Arts Philosophy

We believe in a balanced approach to the teaching of language arts. We develop readers and writers to become thinkers and to develop strategies to become global citizens. We believe that readers need access to books that they find fascinating, time to read, and expert instruction (Richard Allington, 2011). We believe that writers need time, choice, and feedback to be successful. Partnered with explicit instruction in language arts content, a strategy-based curriculum promotes literacy behaviors and skills that contribute to strategic thinking, reading, and writing.

What is Balanced Literacy?

A Balanced Literacy program uses whole language and phonics and aims to include the strongest elements of each. The components of a balanced literacy approach are as follows:

Reading Workshop
Read-Aloud
Shared Reading
Guided Reading
Writing Workshop
Interactive Writing
Shared Writing
Word Study

Reading Workshop

What is Reading Workshop?

Throughout the year, students will go on a literacy journey learning important skills that contribute to their lives as readers and writers in an ever-changing world. Within a workshop model, teachers implement standards-based minilessons to support whole class goals, followed by individualized small group work, conferences, and assessments that allow for a gradual release of responsibility and differentiated support and challenge for each student’s individual learning needs. Ultimately, the workshop will close with a quick culminating group discussion that reviews the teaching point of the lesson while providing an opportunity for students to share their learning and process.

Minilesson

Each reading workshop lesson begins with explicit instruction in a minilesson. During each minilesson, the teacher introduces a specific concept, also known as the teaching point. Most often, the teaching point focuses on a reading skill and strategy. The teacher will explicitly model or demonstrate the skill for the students. Skills are explicitly modeled during minilessons. The minilesson has four parts: the connection, the teach (demonstration), the active engagement and the link. The teacher chooses a skill and strategy that the class needs based on classroom assessments. During the connection portion of the lesson, the teacher connects prior learning to the current skill. The teacher announces the teaching point: the skill and strategy being taught. In this approach, the teacher shows students how to accomplish the skill by modeling the strategy in a book with which the students are familiar. The teacher also uses a think-aloud. This method shows students how to think about the text and then allows them to work this out in their own books or a shared text during the active engagement portion of the minilesson. During the link portion of the minilesson, the teacher reminds students about the strategies they can use while they are reading.

Read Aloud
Time is reserved for teachers to model reading with expression, fluency, intonation, and good pacing. Instructional read-alouds promote strategic reading, where students must draw upon their full toolbox of reading knowledge. Most importantly, read-aloud time should promote the joy of reading, thinking, sharing, and learning.

Interactive Read-Aloud

An interactive read-aloud is comprised of a series of purposeful activities that engage the class in the book and the strategies that surround it. The following list contains the many parts of an interactive read-aloud:

Previewing the book
Scaffolding on prior knowledge
Modeling vocabulary development
Teaching reading fluency
Emphasizing elements of the story
Asking purposeful questions
Using think-alouds to assist comprehension
Summarizing the story to bring closure

Texts used during the interactive read-aloud should be chosen from a wide variety of genres. They should tap into the readers' interests and be full of rich vocabulary.

Shared Reading
Shared Reading is an interactive reading experience that occurs when students join in or share the reading of a book or other text while guided and supported by a teacher. The teacher explicitly models the skills of proficient readers, including reading with fluency and expression

Guided Reading
The purpose of a guided reading group is to support students as they move up to the next reading level. For example, if a group of students demonstrates signs of readiness to reach a new level text, the teacher may gather that group of students to introduce them to the work of reading at that next level. The Scholastic Leveled Book Room 4.0 contains very useful resources adapted from Fountas and Pinnell’s work around guided reading called “Behaviors to Notice and Support.” These charts are designed for each guided reading level. They provide specific behaviors and understandings that are required at each level for students to demonstrate thinking within, beyond, and about the text. These behaviors and understandings describe what students will be expected to do in order to effectively read and understand the text.

Independent Reading
Research suggests that a high volume of reading improves reading comprehension. Furthermore, research suggests that students comprehend better when they have an opportunity to discuss their reading content and process. Based on data from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP) Assessment for Independent Reading Levels, students are guided toward texts that are at an appropriate level to support the individual reader’s growth. Specific class time is reserved for independent reading, partner reading, guided reading and/or book club reading followed by occasions to talk about texts in student partnerships, small groups, and whole group settings. Leveled classroom libraries support student reading practice.

Teachers conduct the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP) Assessment for Independent Reading Levels several times each year. During the assessment, teachers assess the accuracy of the student’s oral reading. In addition, students are asked to retell the story and answer comprehension questions. Teachers also record their noticings about the student’s fluency. Ultimately, teachers use the assessment data to determine the highest level that a student can read independently: “That is, the reader has an accuracy rate of 96% or higher and comprehension represented by a strong retelling or at least three correct comprehension questions” (TCRWP Assessment Instructions, 2014). Students are expected to read independently daily at an appropriately rigorous independent reading level. There are also opportunities for students to read at an instructional level, defined as one to two levels above his/her independent level, with support.

Reading Conferences

In a reading conference, teachers check-in with individual students (or small groups of students with a specific and similar learning needs) on their reading interests and progress. After listening to a student read a portion of a text aloud or asking specific teacher-driven questions, teachers will work to:
        1. Compliment the student(s).
        2. Provide an explicit teaching point.
        3. Coach the student as he/she works to apply the skill/strategy.
Teachers take anecdotal notes on conferences as formative assessment data to drive subsequent conferences and small group work. Each conference or small group lesson focuses on a particular reading strategy to learn more about individual student’s reading needs within the small group setting.

Reading Strategy Groups
Teachers may gather strategy groups when students at various levels need support with a specific skill. In strategy groups, students may be reading at different independent reading levels, however, the students may be gesturing toward a similar next step in reading skill work. For example, teachers may gather a group of students based on similar noticings on formative assessments.

Close Reading
Close reading is a rereading of a short passage looking at specific details to deepen comprehension. It promotes higher order thinking in relation to the text by determining importance and analyzing select passages and excerpts.

Book Clubs
Small groups of students may read the same book together in a book club. When students discuss their books they learn through collaboration with peers. Teachers model and guide effective text discussion before releasing students to work in a student-centered book club: selecting the text, determining the pace of reading, preparing for discussion, and facilitating discussion.

Writing Workshop

What is Writing Workshop?

The writing workshop framework is used for writing instruction. This is the daily block of time devoted to teaching students to become skilled writers. Each Writing Workshop lesson begins with explicit instruction in a curriculum driven minilesson that is grounded in a clear teaching point. After the minilesson, individual writing conferences take place while the majority of the students are writing independently. This structure allows teachers to truly get to know each child as an author, and then to provide ongoing support for each child’s writing.

Minilesson

Writing workshop begins with a minilesson, a short whole class lesson in which the teacher teaches students something about writing (Anderson, 2005). The majority of the class time is spent with students practicing the skill and strategy work that was introduced during minilessons, small group work, and/or shared writing. The teacher gradually releases responsibility to students with strategic levels of support.

Writing Conferences

While students write, teachers move around the classroom conducting writing conferences. In these one-on-one conversations, teachers teach each student about an aspect of writing that meets students' needs as a writer (Anderson, 2005). According to Lucy Calkins, a writing conference should contain the following parts:

1. Research: Observe and note something to praise and something to grow.
2. Decide: Determine the teaching point.
3. Teach: Coach a part of the student’s writing process.
4. Link: Remind the student to use his/her new skills as an author in future writing endeavors.

Anecdotal records of writing conferences are used to compile all of the useful information collected. The conference notes are an effective tool to help identify trends in each child’s writing and assess his/her growth as a writer. Conference notes provide formative assessment data for subsequent individual and

small group instruction. (See below for Carl Anderson’s example of a writing conference form.)

Writing Strategy Groups
Teachers may convene strategy groups when students at various levels need support with a specific writing skill. This is an effective format when a small group of students are struggling with the same writing skill and the teacher can target that particular group.

Independent Writing

This is the time when students practice the skills taught during the minilesson with their own writing. Students are encouraged to write with independence, focus, and stamina in order to produce writing in volume.

Writing Share

Ultimately, the lesson will close with a culminating group discussion that reviews the teaching point of the lesson while providing an opportunity for students to share their learning and process.

Interactive Writing (K-1)
Interactive writing supports foundational skills for young writers. In this lesson structure, teacher and students compose a message together and the pen is shared. This type of work supports concepts of print, sound-symbol relationships, increases spelling knowledge, and provides opportunities to plan and construct text in a shared writing setting (Fountas & Pinnell, 2001). Unlike independent writing, where students spell using a developing understanding of sound-symbol relationships (i.e. inventive spelling), interactive writing models correct writing conventions. In other words, if the students do not know a writing convention rule, the teacher delivers it explicitly in the creation of the shared text.

Shared Writing (K-6)
Teacher and students work together to compose written texts that support the current genre/unit of study. This demonstrates how writing works, provides opportunities to model spelling strategies, revision work, and editing strategies. The students are brought through the writing process together. This also provides an exemplar to post in the classroom for reference.

What is the difference between revising and editing?

Revising and editing are not the same part of the writing process. When revising, the author is changing the meaning or way in which the reader perceives, experiences and interprets a piece of writing. This can be accomplished by adding new thoughts, clarifying existing thoughts, choosing more descriptive words, improving overall understanding of ideas presented, enhancing character development, adding more detail, or eliminating unnecessary elements.

When editing, the overall piece remains exactly the same, but the writer fixes the mistakes they have made, such as typos, grammatical errors, and spelling mistakes. This is an ideal point in the unit to teach grammar lessons, as students can apply what they learn to their own pieces of writing.

Word Study

Oradell Public School District utilizes an integrated approach to word study. Although word study is embedded in the various reading and writing workshop lessons, time is reserved for word study activities and assessments during the literacy block. Word study time begins in Kindergarten with early literacy concepts, phonics/word work, and handwriting activities and evolves toward work in spelling, grammar, and vocabulary.

Phonics Resource for Primary Grades
Beginning in the 2018-2019 school year, Oradell Public School is implementing the Wilson Fundations program for Kindergarten and 1st grade. Teachers will use the Fundations materials during their literacy block to build students’ phonics/vocabulary skills. Through Fundations, emerging readers review letters, their sounds, and how to form them, along with strategies for segmenting and blending words as they try to read and spell them. They also learn about the many aspects of word and sentence structure. Echo, an owl puppet children love, encourages them as they learn through repetition, build sounds and words with magnet letters, and engage in other visual, auditory, oral, and kinesthetic activities that foster literacy.

Word Study in the Upper Grades

Students in grades 2-6 engage in multiple ways into a deeper study of vocabulary. Word study provides students with opportunities to investigate and understand the patterns in words. Knowledge of these patterns means that students do not learn to spell one word at a time. Word study is also designed to build word knowledge that can be applied to both reading and spelling. Students in grades 3-5 utilize Wordly Wise 3000: Direct Academic Vocabulary Instruction as their word study resource while students in grade 2 will use the Sadlier Vocabulary Workshop Book: Purple as their word study resource. Students in grade 6 utilize Sadlier Vocabulary Workshop: Level A as their resource. Both Wordly Wise and Sadlier are resources, as teachers use many other word study strategies and materials to support vocabulary development in their classrooms. The more students understand academic vocabulary, the easier it is for them to understand the information they may read or hear about a topic (Marzano, 2005).

Grammar

Oradell Public School District believes in an embedded and inquiry-based approach to the teaching of grammar. To this end, we have developed a Standards-based Continuum of grammar and mechanics skills that are to be taught at each grade level. The continuum should also be used to differentiate the lessons taught to individual and small groups of students. For example, a student in the 4th grade may work on “using relative pronouns” but, based on assessment, another will be in a small group on “using collective nouns” (a 2nd-grade skill).

All About the Language Arts Curriculum

How was the curriculum developed?

The Oradell Public School District’s curriculum consists of reading and writing units that have been inspired by the Lucy Calkins Units of Study for Teaching Reading (K-6) and the Lucy Calkins Units of Study for Teaching Writing (K-5 and Middle School) further supported by the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project (TCRWP). Please see the “Professional Resources” section at the end of each unit for specific books used. Additionally, grade-level writing rubrics for narrative, informational, and opinion writing are provided. The OPS rubrics have been linked to the document as Google Docs for ease of use; teachers can make a copy and revise for specific units as needed. Teachers are encouraged to collaborate to create additional minilessons and formative assessments for the whole group, small-group, and individual conferences.

Each unit contains bends and corresponding teaching points. The first part of the teaching point can also be read as an essential question. A bend is the section of each unit that groups particular teaching points. A teaching point addresses both the skill and strategy that will be practiced in a given reading or writing block. The teaching points in the curriculum are meant as a menu of options and are chosen based on assessment.

Modifications

The modifications section at the end of each bend is meant to help guide the differentiation of the units for students with IEPs, English Language Learners, Tier 2 At-Risk students (students in Basic Skills) and Gifted and Talented students. Carol Ann Tomlinson defines differentiation as tailoring instruction to meet individual needs. Whether teachers differentiate content, process, products, or the learning environment, the use of ongoing assessment and flexible grouping makes this a successful approach to instruction. At its most basic level, differentiation consists of the efforts of teachers to respond to variance among learners in the classroom. Whenever a teacher reaches out to an individual or small group to vary his or her teaching in order to create the best learning experience possible, that teacher is differentiating instruction (Tomlinson, 2000).

Teachers can differentiate at least four classroom elements based on student readiness, interest,
or learning profile:
1. Content: what the student needs to learn or how the student will get access to the

information
2. Process: activities in which the student engages in order to make sense of or master the

content
3. Products: culminating projects that ask the student to rehearse, apply, and extend what he or she has learned in a unit
4. Learning environment: the way the classroom works and feels

References

Allington, R. (2011). What Really Matters for Struggling Readers: Designing Research-Based Programs, 3rd ed. Boston: Pearson.

Anderson, C. (2005). Assessing Writers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Calkins, L.M. (1994). The Art of Teaching Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Calkins, L. M. (2001). The Art of Teaching Reading. New York: Allyn & Bacon.

Fountas, I. & Pinnell, G.S. (2001). Guiding readers and writers: Teaching comprehension, genre, and content literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Fountas, I. & Pinnell, G.S. (2016). The Fountas & Pinnell Literacy Continuum, Expanded Edition: A Tool for Assessment, Planning, and Teaching, PreK-8. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Marzano, R. & Pickering, D. (2005). Building Academic Vocabulary. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Serravallo, J. (2015). Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Serravallo, J. (2017). Writing Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Writers. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Tomlinson, C. A. (August, 2000). Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education.

Screen Shot 2017-07-03 at 5.37.04 PM.png

Oradell Public School District

Suggested Pacing Guide for Reading & Writing Units

Kindergarten

Unit	Approximate Months	Reading Unit	Writing Unit	Phonics	Grammar Skills
1	September- October	We Are Readers	Launching Writing Workshop: Looking Closely and Narrative	Fundations Level K Unit 1 Weeks 1-4	Printing MANY Letters
2	October	Emergent Reading: Looking Closely at Familiar Texts	INFORMATION: How-To Books	Fundations Level K Unit 1 Weeks 5-8	Writing Letters for Consonants and Short Vowel Sounds
3	November- December	Reading Super Powers	INFORMATION: All About Books	Fundations Level K Unit 1 Weeks 9-12	Understanding and Using Question Words
4	January- February	Bigger Books, Bigger Reading Muscles with Just Right Books	NARRATIVE: Writing for Readers	Fundations Level K Unit 2 Weeks 1-4	Using Capitalization and Punctuation
5	February- March	Growing Expertise in Informational Books	OPINION: Persuasive Writing of All Kinds	Fundations Level K Unit 3 Weeks 1-6	Using Prepositions
6	April-May	Becoming Avid Readers	NARRATIVE: Authors as Mentors/Personal Narrative	Fundations Level K Unit 4 Weeks 1-4	Using Nouns and Verbs Producing and Expanding Complete Sentences
7	May-June	Super Readers Have Sidekicks	Poetry: Powerful Thoughts in Tiny Packages	Fundations Level K Unit 5 Weeks 1-6	Forming Plural Nouns

Kindergarten Reading Curriculum

Unit 1 : We Are Readers

Unit Overview

Children will immerse themselves in reading both independently and with others. They will be expanding their early concepts-about-print knowledge by learning about the world through reading. To read, people think about what makes sense and draw on all the available information to help them figure out what the words on the page say. This unit will teach students what it really means to be a reader.

Enduring Understandings

Readers will (independently and with others):

Learn how to properly handle a book.
Learn the routines and procedures of Readers Workshop.
Read from cover to cover.
Read from left to right.
Think about what they have read.

Assessments

Possible Ongoing Assessments

TCRWP Assessment for Independent Reading Levels
Conferring Notes: daily observation of students' participation and conversation with partners
Teacher-student conferences (e.g. individual, small group, strategy group and guided reading)
Writing about reading evidence (e.g. Post-its, reading response)

Possible Reading Response Entries

Mrs. Wishy Washy by Jill Cowley

What did each animal do in the mud?

Catch My Family Reading Assignment

Standards (NJSLS) Addressed in this Unit

Reading Literature

RL.K.2. With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

RL.K.5. Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems).

RL.K.7. With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

Reading Informational Text

RI.K.1. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

RI.K.2. With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

RI.K.3. With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

RI.K.4. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

RI.K.5. Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.

RI.K.6. Name the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information in a text.

RI.K.7. With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).

Reading Foundational Skills

RF.K.1. Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.

Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.
Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.
Understand that words are separated by spaces in print.
Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Writing

W.K.2. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.

W.K.3. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to narrate a single event or several loosely linked events, tell about the events in the order in which they occurred, and provide a reaction to what happened.

W.K.8. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Speaking & Listening

SL.K.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

Follow agreed-upon norms for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion).
Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.

SL.K.2. Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.

SL.K.3. Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood.

SL.K.4. Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.

SL.K.6. Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

Language

L.K.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

D. Understand and use question words (interrogatives) (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

E. Use the most frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., to, from, in, out, on, off, for, of, by, with).

F. Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities.

Technology

8.1.2.A.4 Demonstrate developmentally appropriate navigation skills in virtual environments (i.e. games, museums).

8.1.2.B.1 Illustrate and communicate original ideas and stories using multiple digital tools and resources.

8.1.2.D.1 Develop an understanding of ownership of print and nonprint information.

21st Century Skills

9.1.4.A.1 Recognize a problem and brainstorm ways to solve the problem

individually or collaboratively.

9.1.4.A.5 Apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills in classroom

and family settings.

Unit 1: We Are Readers

Suggested Teaching Points

Unit 1/Bend 1: Launching with Learn-About-the-World-Books Independently

Readers independently read the world by…

Suggested...

Looking, thinking and reading.

Introduce We Are Readers chart: We can look. We can think. We can learn.
Readers read names, signs, directions and songs
Look at words and think “What might that say?”
Go on walking tour looking for environmental print

“Reading” books to learn about the world (use nonfiction book).

Introduce We Are Readers chart: We can learn.
Suggested book topic: Apples for Everyone or Hoot, Owl!

Read book and point out what you are learning.

Reading by themselves (independent reading)

Student jobs

Read the whole time
Stay in one spot
Read quietly
Get started right away
Work on stamina (suggested as its own lesson)

Teacher jobs

Listen to children read
Help children with reading

Thinking of what reading workshop looks like, sounds like and feels like

LOOKS LIKE everyone is reading
SOUNDS LIKE every is quiet
FEELS LIKE everyone is relaxed and happy

Reading from cover to cover

Model looking through entire book, then getting another book

Unit 1/Bend 2: Launching with Learn-About-the-World-Books with our Partners

Readers read the world with a partner by…

Reading with a partner (partner reading)

Readers Read with Partner chart: sit side by side, put one book in the middle

Rereading to think about what is happening (independently and with a partner)

Readers Read with Partner chart: Reread to learn more

Putting their thoughts on a post-it

Readers Read with Partner chart: Share wow pages, adding a pinch of you
Wow (!)
I’m confused (?)
I love this part (♥)

Reading the pictures and the words

Students look at the pictures and try to figure out what the labels say
Readers Read with Partner chart: Read the pictures and the words

Taking turns to see-saw read.

Unit 1/Bend 3: Shared Reading

Mrs. Wishy-Washy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLTa1PPM9Ds

Day 1: Falling in Love with the Book

Book Introduction
Picture walk
Read cover to cover
Reread to sound like Mrs. Wishy-Washy
Vocabulary: paddled

Act out

Day 2: Looking Closely at the Pictures

Page 5

Feelings: How is the pig feeling?
Students show feeling as teacher rereads and matches expression with reading voice

Page 14

Mrs.Wishy-Washy walking back to farmhouse
Animals watching her walk away
Animals cleaner and still dripping wet

How did the pictures help us understand the story better? How did the pictures help us read the words?

Day 3: Fluency

Page 9

Look is bold and larger

Feelings

Playing in the mud
Animals change throughout the story
Mrs. Wishy-Washy feelings changed throughout the story

Day 4: Act out parts

Pay attention to punctuation cues
Sound like character

Day 5: Retell and share opinion

Should the animals have jumped in the mud

Unit Specific Vocabulary

independent reading, partner reading, workshop, confused, reread, paddled, jumped, rolled

Suggested Modifications

These strategies can be adapted to scaffold for students needing more support or extend the learning for higher level students. Differentiation is accomplished through content, process, product, and learning environment.

Special Education Students

Use various methods to understand a student’s learning style: observation, conferring, TCRWP Assessments for Independent Reading Levels.
Ask students to recall what they already know in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Model just right book selection process.
Model productive and engaging partner talk.
Build anchor charts with students and continually refer to them as you teach.
Provide students with individual text that they can read independently.
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Provide direct, explicit instruction using Wilson Fundations lessons.
Provide audio books when available.
Use modeling, role playing and cuing.
Train students’ brains and bodies for sustained silent reading by increasing the time allotment gradually.
Decode tricky words by using the reading strategies posters.
Incorporate differentiated reading techniques based on the Kindergarten Reading Learning Progressions (see TCRWP Units of Study for Reading).

Students at Risk

Use various methods to understand a student’s learning style: observation, conferring, TCRWP Assessments for Independent Reading Levels.
Ask students to recall what they already know in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Model just right book selection process.
Model productive and engaging partner talk.
Provide direct instruction for completing a reading log.
Provide students with individual text that they can read independently.
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Provide direct, explicit instruction using Wilson Fundations lessons.
Provide audio books when available.
Use modeling, role playing and cuing.
Train students’ brains and bodies for sustained silent reading by increasing the time allotment gradually.
Decode tricky words by using the reading strategies posters.
Incorporate differentiated reading techniques based on the Kindergarten Reading Learning Progressions (see TCRWP Units of Study for Reading).

English Language Learners

Use various methods to understand a student’s learning style: observation, conferring, TCRWP Assessments for Independent Reading Levels.
Ask students to recall what they already know in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Model just right book selection process.
Model productive and engaging partner talk.
Provide direct instruction for completing a reading log.
Build anchor charts with students and continually refer to them as you teach.
Provide students with individual text that they can read independently.
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Provide direct, explicit instruction using Wilson Fundations lessons.

Provide audio books when available.

Use modeling, role playing and cuing.
Train students’ brains and bodies for sustained silent reading by increasing the time allotment gradually.
Decode tricky words by using the reading strategies posters.
Incorporate differentiated reading techniques based on the Kindergarten Reading Learning Progressions (see TCRWP Units of Study for Reading).

Gifted and Talented

Use various methods to understand a student’s learning style: observation, conferring, TCRWP Assessments for Independent Reading Levels.
Ask students to recall together what they already learned in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Provide students with their own copies of the text that they can read independently.
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Provide student opportunities to set their own agenda.
Allow students to demonstrate mastery through a culminating project.
Incorporate differentiated reading techniques based on the Kindergarten Reading Learning Progressions (see TCRWP Units of Study for Reading).

Suggested Mentor Texts

Star Books

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Cookies Week by Cindy Ward
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

Class project with counting letters in name

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin

Class book: I see ________

Three Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Galdone (strongly suggested to read before Unit 2)
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins
Mary Wore Her Red Dress by Merle Peek
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
The Little Red Hen by Lucinda McQueen

Mentor Texts

Mrs. Wishy-Washy by Joy Cowley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLTa1PPM9Ds

Apples for Everyone by Jill Esbaum

Wilson Fundations

National Geographic Kids: Hoot, Owl! By Shelby Alinsky (Scholastic Leveled Bookroom 4.0)

Professional Resources

Units of Study for Teaching Reading by Lucy Calkins and Natalie Louis, We Are Readers, Grade K, Unit 1

Wilson Fundations Level K Kit

The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo

Scholastic Leveled Bookroom 4.0

Wilson Fundations Scope and Sequence

Unit 2: Emergent Reading: Looking Closely at Familiar Texts

Unit Overview

During this unit, students will distinguish between fiction and nonfiction books by being exposed to classic storybooks such as The Carrot Seed and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. They will use the pictures to make meaning of the story, match their words to the picture on each page and sound like characters in their story. Students will begin connecting the pages to learn about sequence and practice reading more fluently.

Enduring Understandings

Readers will:

Sound like the characters in their books.
Use a storyteller voice to tell a story.
Identify the characters and setting in a story
Use emergent reading strategies to look through books.

Assessments

Possible Ongoing Assessments

TCRWP Assessment for Independent Reading Levels
Conferring Notes: daily observation of students' participation and conversation with partners
Teacher-student conferences (e.g. individual, small group, strategy group and guided reading)
Writing about reading evidence (e.g. Post-its, reading response)

Suggested Reading Notebook Entries

Record students acting out their “Star Books” using their storyteller voice, character voice and sequencing strategies (suggested texts might include: Caps for Sale or The Little Red Hen)

Standards (NJSLS) Addressed in this Unit

Reading Literature

RL.K.2. With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

RL.K.5. Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems).

RL.K.7. With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

Reading Informational Text

RI.K.1. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

RI.K.2. With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

RI.K.3. With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

RI.K.4. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

RI.K.5. Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.

RI.K.6. Name the author and illustrator of a text and define the role of each in presenting the ideas or information in a text.

RI.K.7. With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).

Reading Foundational Skills

RF.K.1. Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.

Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.
Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.
Understand that words are separated by spaces in print.
Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

Writing

W.K.2. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.

W.K.8. With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.

Speaking & Listening

SL.K.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

Follow agreed-upon norms for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion).
Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.

SL.K.3. Ask and answer questions in order to seek help, get information, or clarify something that is not understood.

SL.K.4. Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.

SL.K.6. Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

Language

L.K.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

D. Understand and use question words (interrogatives) (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

E. Use the most frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., to, from, in, out, on, off, for, of, by, with).

F. Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities.

Technology

8.1.2.A.4 Demonstrate developmentally appropriate navigation skills in virtual environments (i.e. games, museums).

8.1.2.B.1 Illustrate and communicate original ideas and stories using multiple digital tools and resources.

8.1.2.D.1 Develop an understanding of ownership of print and nonprint information.

21st Century Skills

9.1.4.A.1 Recognize a problem and brainstorm ways to solve the problem

individually or collaboratively.

9.1.4.A.5 Apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills in classroom

and family settings.

Unit 2: Emergent Reading: Looking Closely at Familiar Texts

Suggested Teaching Points

Unit 2/Bend 1: Readers Read Old Favorite Storybooks

Storybook readers can read familiar books by…

Looking at the front and back cover to get our minds ready to read.

Take a picture walk to see what is happening inside the book
Read the book

Looking closely at the pictures to help remember the words before reading a page.

Who is on the page?
What are they doing?
What is in their hand? (The Carrot Seed)
What’s happening here?

Using storyteller voice and gestures to act out as you read.
Performing story using setting, character, and voice.

Three Billy Goats Gruff characters
The Carrot Seed characters

Unit 2/Bend 2: Readers Reread Old Favorite Storybooks

Storybook readers can read familiar books by…

Looking at the pictures, remember, read:

Introduce We Are Storybook Readers chart
Suggested to use Three Billy Goats Gruff

Making the words and pictures match.
Talking like the characters.
Noticing how many words are on the page and say a lot more:

Introducing 1 to 1 correspondence
Elaborate more on what is happening

Using words to join the pages together:

Introduce Story Language Words chart (see left column):
Every day, One sunny day, One day
Then, Next, After that...
At last, Later, Finally...

Reading more and more exact words:

Trip, trap, trip, trap
“Who’s tripping over my bridge?”
“It won’t come up.”

Finding, pointing to and reading some of the words:

Suggested text: The Carrot Seed
Looking for beginning letters
Look for title words in text

Unit Specific Vocabulary

character, setting, storyteller voice, author, illustrator, first, then, next, finally

Suggested Modifications

Special Education Students

Use preferential seating.
Ask students to recall what they already learned in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Build anchor charts on how to read independently.
Provide shared reading strategy to model reading just right books.
Model text to word connections.
Model the five finger retell to support sequence recall.
Provide direct, explicit instruction using Wilson Fundations lessons.
Provide opportunity to practice just right book selection process.
Model productive and engaging partner talk.
Provide direct instruction for completing a reading log.
Provide students with individual text that they can read independently.
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Provide anchor chart on reading
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Provide audio books when available.
Use modeling, role playing and cuing.
Train students’ brains and bodies for sustained silent reading by increasing the time allotment gradually.
Decode tricky words by using the reading strategies posters.
Include hands-on activities.
Provide individual copies of books that will allow students to match pictures to words.
Incorporate differentiated reading techniques based on the Kindergarten Reading Learning Progressions (see TCRWP Units of Study for Reading).

Students at Risk

Use preferential seating.
Ask students to recall what they already learned in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Build anchor charts on how to read independently.
Provide shared reading strategy to model reading just right books.
Model text to word connections.
Model the five finger retell to support sequence recall.
Provide direct, explicit instruction using Wilson Fundations lessons.
Provide opportunity to practice just right book selection process.
Model productive and engaging partner talk.
Provide direct instruction for completing a reading log.
Provide students with individual text that they can read independently.
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Provide audio books when available.
Use modeling, role playing and cuing.
Train students’ brains and bodies for sustained silent reading by increasing the time allotment gradually.
Decode tricky words by using the reading strategies posters.
Include hands-on activities.
Provide individual copies of books that will allow students to match pictures to words.
Incorporate differentiated reading techniques based on the Kindergarten Reading Learning Progressions (see TCRWP Units of Study for Reading).

English Language Learners

Use preferential seating.
Ask students to recall what they already learned in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Build anchor charts on how to read independently.
Provide shared reading strategy to model reading just right books.
Model text to word connections.
Model the five finger retell to support sequence recall.
Provide direct, explicit instruction using Wilson Fundations lessons.
Provide anchor chart on reading
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Provide audio books when available.
Include hands-on activities.
Provide individual copies of books that will allow students to match pictures to words.
Incorporate differentiated reading techniques based on the Kindergarten Reading Learning Progressions (see TCRWP Units of Study for Reading).

Gifted and Talented

Use various methods to understand a student’s learning style: observation, conferring, TCRWP Assessments for Independent Reading Levels.
Ask students to recall what they already learned in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Provide additional resources to develop and deepen levels of understanding.
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Use more advanced texts.
Use higher-level questioning providing opportunities for critical and creative reading.
Provide students with their own copies of the text that they can read independently.
Allow students to demonstrate mastery through a culminating project.
Incorporate differentiated reading techniques based on the Kindergarten Reading Learning Progressions (see TCRWP Units of Study for Reading).

Suggested Mentor Texts

Star Books

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Cookies Week by Cindy Ward
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

Class project with counting letters in name

Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? by Bill Martin

Class book: I See ________

Three Billy Goats Gruff by Paul Galdone
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins
Mary Wore Her Red Dress by Merle Peek
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
The Little Red Hen by Lucinda McQueen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3mfxNWfEAQ

Wilson Fundations

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed… (use any version you like)
Is Your Mama a Llama by Deborah Guarino

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zc6Sznu1Yrc

Professional Resources

Units of Study for Teaching Reading by Lucy Calkins and Natalie Louis, We Are Readers, Grade K, Unit 1

Wilson Fundations Level K Kit

The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo

Scholastic Leveled Bookroom 4.0

Wilson Fundations Scope and Sequence

Unit 3: Reading Super Powers

Unit Overview

This unit reinforces the reading practices that should now be “habits” within the kindergarten class: sitting quietly with books, choosing lots of books at a time, and discussing books with partners. Students should also be “warming up” before reading by looking at the front and back of the books they select and doing picture walks. As readers move forward, they'll want to start paying closer attention to the words they are reading (often by using their finger pointer to point to words as they read), as well as looking at the pictures for help making meaning. Using cues as readers will be worked on as strategies during this unit. The unit will capitalize on students’ reading knowledge including knowledge of letter-sound correspondence, comprehension, and fluency.

Enduring Understandings

Readers will:

Use super powers to read the words in their books.
Talk to partners about their books.
Read smoothly.
Create classroom pattern books.
Determine characters feeling.
Retell books.

Assessments

Possible Ongoing Assessments
TCRWP Assessment for Independent Reading Levels Conferring Notes: daily observation of students' participation and conversation with partners Teacher-student conferences (e.g. individual, small group, strategy group and guided reading) Reading logs, reader's notebooks, writing about reading evidence (e.g. Post-its, journal entries, writing long about reading)
Suggested Reading Notebook Entries
Class pattern book Suggested: ______ likes to eat _____.

Standards (NJSLS) Addressed in this Unit

Reading Literature

RL.K.1. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

RL.K.2. With prompting and support, retell familiar stories, including key details (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).

RL.K.3. With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story.

RL.K.4. Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

RL.K.5. Recognize common types of texts (e.g., storybooks, poems).

RL.K.6. With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.

RL.K.7. With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear (e.g., what moment in a story an illustration depicts).

RL.K.9. With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories.

RL.K.10. Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

Reading Informational Text

RI.K.1. With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

RI.K.2. With prompting and support, identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.

RI.K.3. With prompting and support, describe the connection between two individuals, events, ideas, or pieces of information in a text.

RI.K.7. With prompting and support, describe the relationship between illustrations and the text in which they appear (e.g., what person, place, thing, or idea in the text an illustration depicts).

RI.K.10. Actively engage in group reading activities with purpose and understanding.

Reading Foundational Skills

RF.K.1. Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print.

Follow words from left to right, top to bottom, and page by page.
Recognize that spoken words are represented in written language by specific sequences of letters.
Understand that words are separated by spaces in print.
Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

RF.K.2. Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes).

Recognize and produce rhyming words.
Count, pronounce, blend, and segment syllables in spoken words.

RF.K.3. Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding and encoding words.

Demonstrate basic knowledge of one-to-one letter-sound correspondences by producing many of the most frequently used sounds of each consonant.
Read high-frequency and sight words with automaticity.

RF.K.4. Read emergent text with one-to-one correspondence to develop fluency and comprehension skills.

Read emergent-readers with purpose and understanding.
Read grade level text for purpose and understanding.

Writing

W.K.1. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose opinion pieces in which they tell a reader the topic or the name of the book they are writing about and state an opinion or preference about the topic or book (e.g., My favorite book is...).

W.K.2. Use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to compose informative/explanatory texts in which they name what they are writing about and supply some information about the topic.

Speaking & Listening

SL.K.1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

Follow agreed-upon norms for discussions (e.g., listening to others with care and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion).
Continue a conversation through multiple exchanges.

SL.K.4. Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.

SL.K.6. Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.

Language

L.K.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Print many upper- and lowercase letters.
Use frequently occurring nouns and verbs.
Form regular plural nouns orally by adding /s/ or /es/ (e.g., dog, dogs; wish, wishes).
Understand and use question words (interrogatives) (e.g., who, what, where, when, why, how).
Use the most frequently occurring prepositions (e.g., to, from, in, out, on, off, for, of, by, with).
Produce and expand complete sentences in shared language activities.

L.K.2. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Capitalize the first word in a sentence and the pronoun.
Recognize and name end punctuation.
Write a letter or letters for most consonant and short-vowel sounds (phonemes).
Spell simple words phonetically, drawing on knowledge of sound-letter relationships.

L.K.4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on kindergarten reading and content.

Identify new meanings for familiar words and apply them accurately (e.g., knowing duck is a bird and learning the verb to duck).

L.K.6. Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts.

Technology

8.1.2.A.4 Demonstrate developmentally appropriate navigation skills in virtual environments (i.e. games, museums).

8.1.2.B.1 Illustrate and communicate original ideas and stories using multiple digital tools and resources.

8.1.2.D.1 Develop an understanding of ownership of print and nonprint information.

21st Century Skills

9.1.4.A.1 Recognize a problem and brainstorm ways to solve the problem

individually or collaboratively.

9.1.4.A.5 Apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills in classroom

and family settings.

Unit 3 Fiction: Reading Super Powers

Suggested Teaching Points

Unit 3/Bend 1: Using Super Powers to Look, Point, and Then Read Everything

Super readers can read by…

Using pointer power with a familiar text.

Suggested: We Are Gathering song
Introduce We Are Super Readers! chart

Using a special pointer to make pointer power even stronger.

Given to them by Reader-Man
Suggested text: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?:

Skip a word
Read and point to a word twice
Did the words match with how many times I was pointing?

Shared thank you note to Reader- Man for pointers.

Using picture power to think about what words they might read.
Using snap word power to identify words they know and point to one word at a time:

Readers Read with a Partner
Look, read, cheer, cover, write, check

Using pattern power to repeat the words on every page.
Using sound power to make the beginning letter sound and read the word.

Revisit picture power to support sound power.

Using reread power to read all the words smoothly.
Using persistent power when one power doesn’t work, use another one.
CELEBRATING and showing off their powers by making class book:

Suggested: ____ likes to eat _____.

Super readers can read with a partner by…

Echoing each other.

Echo, Echo, Echo read

Partnering up to double their pointing power by having one partner read while one partner points, checking that one word gets one tap.
Going on a sight/snap/trick word hunt.

Unit 3/Bend 2: Bringing Books to Life

Super readers bring books to life by…

Using a smooth voice when reading.
Using the pattern to sing out their books.

Example: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Looking at the punctuation to determine how to read.

Example: Where is Thumbkin?

Using feelings to determine how to read.

Introduce: How is the character feeling?
Suggested: Super Mouse, Mrs. Wishy Washy books

Using book talk power to talk about what’s happening in their books.

Introduce: Readers Talk about Books

I notice..
I think…
What do you think?
Why do you think that?

Suggested text: Carla’s Big Splash
Give book introduction

Retelling books after they read them.

Unit 3/Bend 3: Read Aloud

So Much by Trish Cooke

Day 1: Introduce the book and picture walk:

While reading…

Page 1: Describe picture — who and what?

Make a prediction

Page 2 to 7: New characters — what they are saying and doing?

Make a prediction.

Page 13: Check prediction by retelling book so far
Page 14: Act it out
Page 15 to 16: Turn and talk to share ideas

Refer to: Readers Talk About Books

Page 20 to 22: Stop to clarify meaning.
Page 24: Stop to consider what characters are saying and thinking.

Who’s at the door?

After reading…

Quick retell

Day 2: Reread to learn more

Before reading

Remind students what book was about.
Activate reread power.
Notice even more about the pictures to learn more about the characters and the story.

While reading…

Page 11: Think about the characters feelings
Page 13: Recite repetitive phrases across the page
Page 24: Clarify meaning “craziness all around”
Page 26: What are the characters thinking or saying keeping in mind what they know
Page 34 to 35: Change in feelings

Unit Specific Vocabulary
pointer power, picture power, snap word power, pattern power, sound power, persistence power, reread bower, book talk power

Suggested Modifications

Special Education Students

Use preferential seating.
Ask students to recall what they already learned in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Provide direct instruction and reinforce reading powers (pointer, picture, snap word, pattern, sound, reread, persistent)
Provide choices of leveled books.
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Include hands-on activities.
Model fluency, intonation, and inflection while reading aloud.
Model productive and engaging partner talk.
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Provide direct, explicit instruction using Wilson Fundations lessons.
Provide audio books when available.
Ask students to recall what they already learned in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Build anchor charts on how to read independently.
Provide shared reading strategy to model reading just right books.
Model text to word connections.
Model the five finger retell to support sequence recall.
Provide opportunity to practice just right book selection process.
Model productive and engaging partner talk.
Provide opportunity to practice completing a reading log.
Provide students with individual text that they can read independently.
Use modeling, role playing and cuing.
Train students’ brains and bodies for sustained silent reading by increasing the time allotment gradually.
Decode tricky words by using the reading strategies posters.
Include hands-on activities.
Provide individual copies of books that will allow students to match pictures to words.
Incorporate differentiated reading techniques based on the Kindergarten Reading Learning Progressions (see TCRWP Units of Study for Reading).

Students at Risk

Use preferential seating.
Ask students to recall what they already learned in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Provide direct instruction and reinforce reading powers (pointer, picture, snap word, pattern, sound, reread, persistent)
Provide choices of leveled books.
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Include hands-on activities.
Model fluency, intonation, and inflection while reading aloud.
Model productive and engaging partner talk.
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Provide direct, explicit instruction using Wilson Fundations lessons.
Provide audio books when available.
Ask students to recall what they already learned in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Build anchor charts on how to read independently.
Provide shared reading strategy to model reading just right books.
Model text to word connections.
Model the five finger retell to support sequence recall.
Provide opportunity to practice just right book selection process.
Model productive and engaging partner talk.
Provide opportunity to practice completing a reading log.
Provide students with individual text that they can read independently.
Use modeling, role playing and cuing.
Train students’ brains and bodies for sustained silent reading by increasing the time allotment gradually.
Decode tricky words by using the reading strategies posters.
Include hands-on activities.
Provide individual copies of books that will allow students to match pictures to words.
Incorporate differentiated reading techniques based on the Kindergarten Reading Learning Progressions (see TCRWP Units of Study for Reading).

English Language Learners

Use preferential seating.
Ask students to recall what they already learned in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Provide direct instruction and reinforce reading powers (pointer, picture, snap word, pattern, sound, reread, persistent)
Provide choices of leveled books.
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Include hands-on activities.
Model fluency, intonation, and inflection while reading aloud.
Model productive and engaging partner talk.
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Provide direct, explicit instruction using Wilson Fundations lessons.
Provide audio books when available.
Ask students to recall what they already learned in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Provide shared reading strategy to model reading just right books.
Model text to word connections.
Model the five finger retell to support sequence recall.
Provide opportunity to practice just right book selection process.
Model productive and engaging partner talk.
Provide opportunity to practice completing a reading log.
Provide students with individual text that they can read independently.
Use modeling, role playing and cuing.
Train students’ brains and bodies for sustained silent reading by increasing the time allotment gradually.
Decode tricky words by using the reading strategies posters.
Include hands-on activities.
Provide individual copies of books that will allow students to match pictures to words.
Incorporate differentiated reading techniques based on the Kindergarten Reading Learning Progressions (see TCRWP Units of Study for Reading).

Gifted and Talented

Use various methods to understand a student’s learning style: observation, conferring, TCRWP Assessments for Independent Reading Levels.
Provide opportunities for students to work with striving readers.
Use more advanced texts.
Use higher-level questioning providing opportunities for critical and creative reading.
Allow students to demonstrate mastery through a culminating project.
Ask students to recall what they already learned in ways that activate their prior knowledge and allow them to build on that knowledge.
Provide additional resources to develop and deepen levels of understanding.
Provide opportunities for students to turn and talk.
Provide students with their own copies of the text that they can read independently.
Incorporate differentiated reading techniques based on the Kindergarten Reading Learning Progressions (see TCRWP Units of Study for Reading).

Suggested Mentor Texts

Super Mouse by Phyllis Root

Carla’s Big Splash by Kimberly Beckley

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle

Where is Thumbkin?

Mrs. Wishy Washy series by Joy Cowley

Professional Resources

Units of Study for Teaching Reading by Lucy Calkins and Natalie Louis, Super Powers, Grade K, Unit 2

Wilson Fundations Level K Kit

The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo

Scholastic Leveled Bookroom 4.0

Wilson Fundations Scope and Sequence

Unit 4: Bigger Books, Bigger Reading Muscles with Just Right Books

Unit Overview

Children begin to dig deeper into pattern power, sound power and picture power to tackle more challenging books. They will use letter-sound relationships at the beginning and ending of words to strengthen their reading. There is greater emphasis on meaning and syntax to help students comprehend and retell their stories. They will also look at the print and develop the concept of one-to-one matching to understand that print has meaning. Students will use their book baggies to continue to read familiar texts as well as teacher selected “just-right” books.

Enduring Understandings

Readers will:

Strengthen pattern power, sound power and picture power.
Ask questions like: Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?
Identify story elements such as character, setting and sequence of events.

Assessments

Possible Ongoing Assessments
TCRWP Assessment for Independent Reading Levels Conferring Notes: daily observation of students' participation and conversation with partners Teacher-student conferences (e.g. individual, small group, strategy group and guided reading) Reading logs, reader's notebooks, writing about reading evidence (e.g. Post-its, journal entries, writing long about reading)
Suggested Reading Notebook Entries
Story Map