By mid year, I expect that Kindergartens can identify rhymes and produce rhymes. Its hard for students who English is not their first language and for students with significant language delays. Mother Goose has been around for ages and is something my mom read to me when I was little. Many of my students have no clue who she is or the fun her poetry and rhymes can be. I used This Old Man to create rhyming cards and several emerging math activities for students.



This Old Man

Response to intervention or RTI is one of the most difficult things to get up and running in a building. It's hard to get everyone on the same page with student needs and finding creative ways to help them in the classroom.

I come across this article yesterday, as we were getting ready for Kid Talks. Kid Talks have become our first round in how we set out RTI. It doesn't matter if they have an IEP or not but it gives teachers a change to talk with others and gather ideas about what they can do in the class. Kid Talks are short, sweet and are facilitated (get keep the team on track and on time). The teacher walks away with a plan of attack, a SMART goal, and has planned  help--if needed. Since RTI focuses on what is happening within the classroom, I don't have to make everyone but go when invited by classroom teachers.

RTI is new to everyone and explaining it to parents is even harder. I gave this article to teachers at my building to read and decide if they wanted to share it with parents. I like it because it provides information that a parent can relate to and understand. So much of everything for parents on RTI is written from a researchers or teachers point of view. The National Center for Learning Disabilities has many other great informational pieces be sure to check them out.

A Parent's Guide to Response-to-Intervention   

If your looking for move information about RTI check out CEC's RTI Blog.

I'm always looking for new ideas on how others support or get support in their classrooms to meet students needs--how does your building work through RTI?

I was asked by a group of Kindergarten students that I work with to create a bingo game for them. So, I created one with upper and lower case letters and added inital sound pictures to it as well. You can use any letters that you already have to as game pieces. Enjoy :)
Sounds and Letters Bingo

Being part of the Building Leadership Team means that I'm out of the building at least once a month. To make sure that my students continue to move forward, I created a lesson plan format that someone without any Wilson knowledge could pick up and run with. Each  lesson moves at a quick pace with constant interaction between me and the group. The skills taught for decoding on day one of the lesson are taught for encoding (day two). Reading comprehension is taught on day three. The ensures that students get all 10 parts of a Wilson lesson. Enjoy!!
Wilson 3 Day Lesson Plan