I'm back! 👋
Blogging is hard. I wish I was consistent, but hey...life.
Something you don't know about me...but should...I am a SUCKER for a good planner. I have been making my own annual lesson planner for myself and my Kindergarten team not since 2015. There is NO WAY I can afford a $60+ fancy teacher planner each year that isn't even exactly what I need. I WANT to be organized and so each year, I make my tweaks and promise myself I will use it.
This year, we were given paraprofessionals in our kindergarten classrooms during intervention time. In our district, we are required to work with our tier 3 babies during this time but fortunately, I have the best para who is amazing at working with my tier 1 and 2 students! Since our schedule changed, I needed a good way to ensure those students were getting what they needed even if it was with someone else, so I created a skills based small reading group lesson planner so I could quickly check off and plan what I needed her to work on with them on. I added a space at the bottom for her observations so I could quickly check back and see what she was noticing. The good, the bad, the ugly.
Let me just tell you....she is killing it! A born teacher. I am loving seeing her notes and input to help guide our ever changing groups. "So-and-so" is still struggling with rhyming. "Little Darling" finally got _____ skill. While I am always utilizing my ESGI subscription, her added input is invaluable.
Today I'm stoked to share my small group planner with you too. It has been a life saver to ensure my students get what they need, especially when juggling multiple groups. I like to bind these at the top for an easy flip book. I am fortunate enough to have a spiral binder in my classroom. I'll share how I make mine with chipboard and custom printed vinyl in another post so you can realize how easy and cost effective (in the long run) it is to make your own planners.
The main component of my planner is the lesson planner. It is structured but open ended so you can plug in whatever your students need and utilize whatever curriculum you have!
In the back, I like to the print the reference pages on card stock and laminate them so they are easy to flip to. I typed out two (half) pages that give her an example of what each phonological awareness skill sounds like. She looks at which box I she has it in case she needs a reminder of what that skill is called. Then, I added word lists because sometimes we all need some ideas. I have included lists of words that rhyme, words that don't, multi-syllable words, CVC words, CVCe words, beginning and ending digraphs, beginning and ending blends, diphthongs, r-controlled vowels and vowel teams.
Another component I added for those who don't use ESGI (if you don't know what that is...another game changer...checkout www.esgisoftware.com...I am not an affiliate, just a true believer) is a data tracking tool for building groups. Simply check off mastered skills to help guide your group building.
If you want to start making your own planners, this is the binder machine I use below!
I plan to add more listings in various colors, because, who doesn't love a good theme?!
Is there anything you would like to see added?
Check it out today!
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