Comprehension Skills for our Younger Learners

Some might call me the Queen of Picture Books.

Ok-I think only I call myself that. But, I have a point here. My point is that I love, I live for, I thrive off of children's books. I'm just as happy in the children's section of a book store as I am at a nice dinner or the beach.

And I share my love for children's books with my students and my children. There is no doubt that all the kids in my life know of my affinity for children's books.

At home we eat them up like candy. At school, we make time for them every single day. We use them to teach and reinforce concepts like character traits, plot, summarizing, fact and opinion, grammar skills, and inter-disciplinary skills. I love using them to model reading comprehension skills with my youngest learners.

But I like to follow up with something more concrete too. I like to see evidence of their mastery of comprehension skills. That's why, along with picture books, I use reading passages with my students to reinforce comprehension skills.

I started writing my own passages for first graders when I couldn't find what I was looking for on Teachers Pay Teachers. A lot of what I was finding featured passages broken down by phonetic skills only. And while I think that's great and can serve a purpose, it wasn't serving mine.

Little Learners was born when I started writing seasonal, high-interest passages for my own intervention students. The passages were written for first graders, but I find them effective for my struggling second graders as well.

The passages start simple and build in complexity and difficulty as the year goes on. Above is an example of an August passage. The text is simple and repetitive.

Here is a passage from the April Edition of Little Learners Comprehension. Notice how the text got more complex?

Because time is always an issue for teachers, I wanted something that would incorporate grammar and phonetic skills, but I didn't want those types of skills to dictate the whole passage. So, I added a "Find It"section that incorporates phonics, grammar, and extra story elements.

Kids love any chance to use crayons or markers, so I added a drawing component. Psssst...it's actually a comprehension question in disguise.

And our younger learners need opportunities to respond to questions in writing. There's no circling their answers in different color crayons here. I think it's an awesome strategy for locating information in text and I use it. I even have them do it from time to time with my passages. But they are ALWAYS WRITING in addition to locating information.

And lastly, I want them to connect to the story or look at it deeper. Most of my passages feature a "Write About It" section. Sometimes the heading is called "Infer It" or "Connect It", but it always has students looking deeper into the text.

I love that I get to tackle all of these concepts with a SHORT passage written just for my youngest learners. We get to do all of the above skills on ONE PAGE! And my students are almost always fans of the stories on the passages (there's always one, right? hehehe)

Want to try a free sample of my Little Learners Comprehension Passages? Sign up below to have them emailed to you.

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Happy Teaching,

Halle

Bundled Comprehension: Win It!!

PSA: I've been hesitant to write a post plugging my bundled comprehension passages for a few weeks. I hate writing anything that seems to braggy or salesman-like but I really want to show what a versatile product the passages are, as well as give you a chance to win them and/or grab them at a great price...so without further ado..

***

If you've been a follower of my blog or my TpT shop for awhile, you know that my comprehension passages are my babies. I started with the Winter Edition two years ago, and I've since added 6 more editions to the collection. My passages are some of my best sellers in my store and have received some pretty awesome feedback...

The opportunity to buy my passages BUNDLED has been around for awhile...in fact if you bought in early on you got a total of 4 editions for FREE! That's a pretty amazing deal if you ask me!

With the recent edition of my non-fiction passages, my bundled comprehension passages are now complete. Since everyone loves a good deal, the bundle is discounted on TpT. The value of the bundle is $48.50 but you can grab it for $40 even on Teachers Pay Teachers. That's getting a whole regular edition for free, plus another dollar off!

The Bundled Edition of my comprehension passages includes 78 passages, so by purchasing the bundle at $40, you're getting each individual passage for under 52 cents with passages to use all school-year long!

not all passages are pictured

Editions in the Bundle Include:
*Back to School {Mini-Edition}
*Fall
*Christmas {and other winter holidays} {Mini-Edition}
*Winter
*Spring
*Late Spring/Summer
*Non-Fiction

All Editions, except the Non-Fiction Edition {which features non-fiction passages exclusively}, feature both fiction and non-fiction passages that require students to use text-based evidence to answer OPEN-ENDED comprehension questions.

Other skills addressed:
*plot
*characters
*predicting
*inferring
*main idea & details
*sequencing
*author's purpose
*genres
*connections {text to self, text to world}

The passages are PERFECT for:
*homework
*classwork
*centers
*early finishers
*guided reading
*close reading
*small groups
*tutoring
*extra practice

Here are some photos of the passages at work in my classroom:

I introduce my expectations for how to complete the comprehension passages on my projector. We complete a few of these as a class or small group before I assign the passages to guided reading groups or for homework.

A buyer actually introduced me to highlighting the questions and corresponding text in different colors. This is how we complete the passages in small groups. It makes it very easy for the students {and me} to see where in the text they found their answers. We've also used erasable colored pencils in case they make mistakes, but the markers are easier to use.

I also have students circle the words they would use when restating the question for their answer. Restating is a requirement in my classroom.

This is a sheet from the non-fiction passages, which are slightly different than the other editions. They feature a "define it" box where students have to define a specified word from the passage. The passages include definition cards, which are great to keep at a center or use in small groups. You can also have students use their own words or draw a picture of what the word means.

I plan on featuring a post in the near future explaining all of the different ways these passages have been used by myself and other teachers. Be on the lookout!

Now, here's the GOOD STUFF!

You can grab these passages for 20% off today and tomorrow ONLY!{{ Grabbing them during the sale means you get the passages for 41 cents per individual passage!}}

Grab the passages HERE!

You can also enter to win the BUNDLE below!!! Already own the bundle or want to buy it on sale instead? If you win and already own the bundle, I will give you $32 worth of resources from my store instead! I call that Win/Win!

The Giveaway ends tonight at midnight! Good luck!

Halle

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas {{GIVEAWAY}}

It’s officially December and I am officially in the Christmas mindset.

Christmas candles are lit, Christmas lights are up, and our tree is completely ornamented.

{{Ornamented might be a made up word}}

I’m also in a pretty darn good mood because the TpT Cyber Monday (and Tuesday) SALE starts tomorrow!!!!

My cart is stocked. 

See, I like to shop on Monday, earn credits, then go back for more on Tuesday.

It’s my version of “extreme couponing”.

My lil’ store is so stockpiled with Christmas goodies you might think I don’t sell anything else.

But I do!

It’s just, I love Christmas so…

Here are my NEWEST Christmas items. Hot off the presses and posted today! Today, you guys!!!

My Winter-Holidays Comprehension sheets are up.  They’ve also been added to the BUNDLED version, so if you own that, make sure you redownload before the holidays!



There are 8 passages, and they cover such topics as…
*German Christmas Markets
*Santa’s Many Names
*Traditions
*Christmas in Australia
*Hanukkah
*Santa Claus
and, of course,
*Christmas!

I can’t wait to use them with my kiddos starting this week.  We have just really been getting into going back into the text to support our answers. These passages are beyond perfect for enforcing such an important skill.



I’m a million kids of excited about my newest Christmas addition…”Santa’s Little Helpers”



It’s an “Elf-Themed” Hallway Hunt/Read the Room Activity with 3 R/LA and 3 Math activities.  Common Core Aligned and Perfect for 1st and 2nd Grade!

To get your kiddos excited about the Hallway Hunt, I’ve provided some fun printables that they’ll need before they board Santa’s sleigh…

An “Official Letter”…


Boarding Passes…


ID Badges…

PS: They're not really gray. I don't know why Blogger is doing that.  

and then, of course, there are the “missions”

Not all “missions” are shown. There are 6 in all, plus recording sheets to keep your students accountable!

And a few days ago I added my Christmas Clues Inferring and Context Clues Center. If you’ve seen my “Costume Clues” or “A Feast of Clues” it’s set-up a lot like that!






Those are the new items, but my hands-down favorite item in my store is my “Christmas Around the World” unit.



I created it because I wanted my students to have resources to read about each country’s celebrations.  I didn’t want to have to buy a bunch of books from Amazon, or rent them from the library, and I wanted my students to do the reading…



All mini-books are interactive, which means students read about different customs and traditions for each country and then complete an activity on each page…







It’s a HUGE hit and the best part is that my kiddos RETAIN what they’ve learned because they’ve done the reading themselves and interacted with the pages.

Read more about Christmas Around the World in my classroom here.



And here are some other items you might want to add to your cart..

Click the image to check it out on TpT!

Now, for the GIVEAWAY…I’m making it SUPER SIMPLE!  Just comment below with your email…I won’t even make you answer a question this time!  I will pick one winner to pick $20 worth of product from my store. You can have anything you want! It doesn’t have to be listed here!

I will pick a winner before I go to bed tonight. The winner will be announced on my FB Fan Page, so make sure you like me :)

Last time I did a giveaway a few people had trouble commenting. If that happens to you, email me (acrossthehallin2nd@gmail.com) and I'll add you to the "Husband Random Numer Generator List". Please only email me if you cannot leave a comment.

Whatever you’re buying, I hope you have shopping the sale tomorrow and Tuesday :)

Oh, Hey Halloween! Plus, a Spooky Sale!

Well, it’s upon us.  Halloween Week. I’m not sure I’m well rested enough to handle the craziness that this week is sure to bring. I mean, I’m dog-tired from regular October activities.

In other words, October is so totally kicking my butt.

Not to be confused with September. I think I blocked it from my memory.

My kiddos are sure to be wired (it also happens to be red-ribbon week at our school as well)…

but I’m ready for them.  My electronic filing cabinet is stock-piled with tons of awesome Halloween units and activities.  So, bring.it.on!

All week long, we’ll be taking part in spooky reading.  I’ll turn the lights off and play some spooky sounds and students can read by flashlight.  It’s read to self in disguise and it’s a big hit in my room year after year!

We’ll also be fully immersed in centers from some of my favorite bloggers and creators:

(Katie King)

(Swimming Into Second)

(me!)

We’ll be doing lots of literacy and writing-themed activities as well!

We’re gonna get our buddy reading on with these fun and spooky poems from Tanja. My kiddos already love reading from their poetry folders so this is gonna put them over the edge!

(Journey of a Substitute Teacher)

We’ll be reading some of my favorite Halloween-themed books and completing activities to go along with them.  I’m so luck to have Rachel’s pack, which makes it really easy on me…I don’t have to come up with anything! Halloweiner is definitely the favorite year after year.

(Rachel Lamb)

I love all this learning disguised as pure fun! I’m continuing that theme with my Fall Comprehension Sheets.  We’re just now getting into using text-based evidence to support our answers and restating the question in our answer.  It’s tough for them, I can’t lie. I will say, my reading passages definitely make it a little more fun for them and easy for me!

I’m really looking forward to Thursday and Friday when we’ll turn into little witches and wizards and create our own spells and hexes with my spell-writing unit! (It just got a makeover yesterday!!!)

We’ll be creating word families and rhyming words and dreaming up disgusting, slimy, and wretched ingredients for our spells.








As a culmination, we’ll do a spooky author’s share and make a class brew with yucky-sounding ingredients that actually taste delicious.  We’ll even cast a spell for no homework together!



I’m hoping this will be the perfect activity for the day after Halloween. Click here to grab it from TpT.

Speaking of witches, we’ll be doing this amazing reader activity from the ever-talented, Tracy!

(Read all about it here!)

And I’m loving these fun FREEBIES from Jamie (2nd Grade Stuff)

and Once Upon a Classroom

Click the pictures to check them out!

As you can see, we’ll be busy, busy, busy.  I have to keep them in line somehow, right?

If you’re still looking for a few spooktacular activities yourself, I’ve put all my Halloween units on sale through Halloween!  Click the image below to get your shop on!



Because the Fall Passages aren’t classified as a Halloween item you’ll have to search my store separately for them, or click here!

Wishing you a fun (and hopefully not too insane) Halloween Week!

Halle