When I plan a mini unit, I try to get all of the balanced literacy components to connect with a theme– while still supporting the work of independent readers and writers. I also include some things that I do for my thematic study time. In this unit you will find:

Read Aloud Ideas: Usually, this is a list of stories I read in order for the students to employ their comprehension strategies while I take care of all the printwork, phrasing, etc…Students are free to predict, infer, connect, and ask questions– which will support their comprehension skills as they read independently. Word Work Ideas/Printables: For the most part, I follow our reading series

(Scott Foresman Reading Street) for WORD WORK. I like the scope and sequence. In this unit, you’ll find themed practice activities that speak to the phonics skill of the week. I’ve learned that in order for this component to support their independent reading, they MUST see this skill in multiple contexts. I try to point the skills out in books, poems, words around the school– anywhere I can. This will help them TRANSFER this work to independent reading. Before long, I notice my students pointing digraphs, diphthongs, and other skills in many different settings!

Interactive/Shared Writing Ideas: I will include photos of what I’ve done with these components for the week. However, these are mostly derived from the ideas of my students– but I do usually have a plan for what I’d like to write with them. This is such a great time to support your writers by modeling skills they need to constantly employ and expose them to different genres. This transfers easily to independent writing as I model things like stretching out the sounds of big words, using the word wall to spell high frequency words, or simple things like putting space in between each word I write. Shared Reading/Interactive Read Alouds with Accountable Talk Prompts

I will share a list of read alouds that I use– and I’ll include some accountable talk prompts that I used. The point here, is to get them thinking and talking as they are comprehending. It’s a great time to talk about how readers talk, listen, and respond to texts with a reading partner. Other things included... *Vocabulary Printables *Thinking Maps * Original Poetry * Small/Flexible Group Activities *Miscellaneous Themed Printables/project ideas that I happened to feel like including (maybe a math sheet or two). I hope you enjoy this unit. Feel free to use, adjust, print and file away, and fit it in your teaching life.

Questions, comments, concerns, and feedback are welcomed and can be posted at www.anotherdayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com

©Lanesha Tabb. www.anotherdayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com ClipArt: Scrappin’ Doodles

I read aloud TONS of non-fiction in order to keep those strategies for non-fiction text features fresh! :)

©Lanesha Tabb.

My Out-Of-This-WORLD

Syllable Practice Book! This book was made so my students

could get a little extra syllable practice. I noticed that some of them were still struggling with this skill. It was, oddly enough, the one syllable words that were confusing them. Instead of clapping out /star/ as one beat, they were trying to say something like “st-ar-r”...3 beats. Practice time! Directions: 1. Students will clap (or chin bump, tap, whatever you

use!) the word and listen for the number of beats. 2. Then, cut out that many rockets and paste them in the boxes below the word. 3. When all the rockets have been used, cut the book pages out and staple. Practice the book with a friend.

Lanesha Tabb. www.anotherdayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com ClipArt: Scrappin’ Doodles

My My

OutOut--OfOf--ThisThis--WORLDWORLD

Syllable Practice Book!Syllable Practice Book! NameName____________________________________________________

Clap Out the Word. Paste one rocket for each beat you hear. Cut and staple your syllable book.

©Lanesha Tabb. www.anotherdayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com ClipArt: Scrappin’ Doodles

astronaut

constellation

©Lanesha Tabb.

alien

planets

©Lanesha Tabb.

galaxy

spacesuit

©Lanesha Tabb.

telescope

stars

©Lanesha Tabb.

rocket

moon

©Lanesha Tabb.

Outer Space KWL: Activating Schema!

On day 1, we always activate our prior knowledge. On my first day, I focused on Spaceships and Astronauts. I record their K’s and W’s with their names next to them, it kind of makes them responsible for researching the answer (with help, of course) by the end of the week. Below, this is the thinking map for recording their schema.

©Lanesha Tabb. www.anotherdayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com ClipArt: Scrappin’ Doodles

Our

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____

____

____

____

____

©Lanesha Tabb.

Word Work These images were used as model words to make a list of /au/ and /aw/ words. Then, we played a game from the book Phonics They Use by Patricia M. Cunningham called “What Looks Right?” This is a game where you write the correct and incorrect spelling of a word and the students decide which word “looks right.” This easily can be done on regular paper, but I included a recording sheet.

©Lanesha Tabb. www.anotherdayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com ClipArt: Scrappin’ Doodles

saucer flying

awesome

astronauts

©Lanesha Tabb. www.anotherdayinfirstgrade.blogspot.com ClipArt: Scrappin’ Doodles

The Awesome Astron ts Edition of… What Looks Right?

Name_____________________ Watch as I write the words on the board and write it BOTH ways just like I do.

Then, cross off the one that doesn’t “LOOK RIGHT!”

Model Word : draw Model Word : cause

©Lanesha Tabb.

The Awesome Astron ts Edition of…

Sentence Practice!

Name_______________

Choose two words from the back. Use it in a sentence and then illustrate it!

Word: _______________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

____________________________________

Word: _______________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

__________________________________________

©Lanesha Tabb.

Adorable Little Astronauts! Adorable Little Astronauts!

We had a mini lecture on astronauts, and then we made these little guys. The poem was copied over for handwriting practice. Then they partnered up to read the poem for fluency practice.

©Lanesha Tabb.

©Lanesha Tabb.

Alien Invasion! This was a fun activity. After reading some books on

aliens and flying saucers…

We created our own symmetrical aliens that we had to take care of. We even adopted them as our very own!

Directions: Fold a sheet of construction paper in half. Draw half of a head, arm, and leg. Open the paper to see your space creature! Decorate and describe its features on your adoption certificate!

©Lanesha Tabb.

Ali

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©Lanesha Tabb.

Supe

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©L

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Shared Writing: Students and teachers negotiate the text. Students process sills and strategies and the teacher acts as the scribe. Below is a list of Shared Writing prompts/ides that would work towards improving the work of your writers during your Writer’s Workshop.

Outer Space KWL On Day 1, we fill out what we Know and Want to Know about Space!

I model: Punctuation (periods/question marks) Spacing Word wall Strategies (modeling how I would locate, take a”snap shot” of the word instead of copy down letter by letter) and writing it down.

A Post Card From Pluto After reading this story, create your own post card as a class.

I model: Friendly Letter Format Complete sentences Punctuation Modeling that good writers go back and reread what they write in order to make sure it makes sense.

Extra Prompt: Alien Encounters! Pretend that we’ve just met and E.T. being. Negotiate what we would tell him in order to help him be successful on planet Earth!

I’d model: Creative Writing The process of getting your thoughts on paper and monitoring along the way in hopes that they will do the same when they write independently!

©Lanesha Tabb.

Interactive Writing: Provides an opportunity for your students to practice a specific skill. This can be done whole group or in the small group setting. The difference between Shared and Interactive writing is the students get to share the pen with the teacher. It is critical that you have an idea of a specific skill that you want to work on with certain students. While I will have certain skills I know I’ll want to address with the whole group, I know my students’ writing needs well enough to call on cer-tain students to come up and write certain things. Example: I may know that one student struggles with long vowels when writing. I might ask him to write a word in this text that has a “magical e” or vowel combo in the word. While he does that, I might ask the students to write (with their finger) the same word on the carpet, on their pant leg, or later in the year, on a whiteboard so that it remains interactive. *One interactive piece can take a few days to complete! (This one took three days because I only do this for 10-15 minutes! Prompts/Ideas

As a follow up to the project where we created our own planet, we decided to create a “how to” essay to share with another class.

Skills addressed: Non-Fiction/How-To genre specifics Adding details to writing Non-fiction text features that help readers understand (diagrams, labels, etc…)

Create a list of things we would need to pack in order to go on a trip through the solar system.

Skills addressed: Exposing students to different genres: lists. They can be numbered, bullet pointed, etc...

©Lanesha Tabb.

Read Alouds With Accountable Talk

We know how important reading aloud is. My literacy coach gave us an article once about getting as many as eight read alouds in in one day! We read aloud books, poems, articles, etc...but what I’m finding through the more professional texts that I read is that talking about these things we read are critical. During a read aloud with accountable talk, I purposefully pick books and read them ahead of time. I will usually sticky note some places where I’d like them to “turn and talk” to a reading buddy. When they are talking, I’m listening for evidence of comprehension. This is a great time to review mini lessons that teach students that: *Readers have thoughts as they read *Readers share those thoughts by talking or sticky noting *Readers respond to others’ thoughts (bounce ideas off one another) I typically go into a read aloud with 2-3 places to stop and talk, but the conversations they have will usually lead us into deeper book talks!

©Lanesha Tabb.

Read Alouds with Accountable Talk! Eric Carle’s

Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me During my read alouds with accountable talk, I have place where I’ve noted ahead of time that I would like for them to discuss with a partner. I’ll normally pause the story, and ask them to turn and talk. I’ll listen in (even if it means crawling around on the floor) to listen for evidence of thinking/comprehension. I’d ask them to turn and talk with these prompts: * Eric wrote this book for his daughter. Do you think he really thought he’d get the moon for her? (no) Then are you thinking that Eric wanted to show his daughter by writing this book? (He would do anything for her because she’s his daughter whom he loves) * Monica danced with the moon. If you had the moon, what would you do with it? (see response and recording sheet. * Some talk prompts will usually grow out of the ones I planned for. Those are my favorites!

©Lanesha Tabb.

©Lanesha Tabb.

Our shared text: We negotiated a text and wrote a post card to our principal during shared writing.

©Lanesha Tabb.

Create Your Own Post Card from Outer Space!

©Lanesha Tabb.

©Lanesha Tabb.

* Why do you think the constellations had those types of names? * How would you feel if you saw a shooting star?

Directions: Create a constellation using qtips. Don’t forget to give your constellation a name!

Create Your Own Planet! Directions: Use old magazines to create your planet. Pick a color that you want your planet to be and search for those colors in the magazine. Decide if it is a gaseous or rocky planet. Then, write an article on your new planet!

©Lanesha Tabb.

©Lanesha Tabb.

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©Lanesha Tabb.

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©Lanesha Tabb.

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