Saturday, January 25, 2014

A SUPER SIMPLE INTERVENTION

I was lucky enough to attend the Ohio Kindergarten conference in Columbus, Ohio January 13th and 14th.  I was star struck to get to meet big named bloggers like Deanna Jump and DeeDee Wills.  I came back with a ton of great information that I am excited to try out.

Those of you who have followed me for awhile know that I am not a kindergarten teacher but I am an interventionist that works with kinders.  I firmly believe that early intervention is KEY in preventing academic difficulties in at risk students.

At the conference, I was also fortunate enough to get to hear Shannon Samulski speak who has a background in special education.  She has a blog called Interventions on the Go if you would like to check it out.  For her blog post about "Sandwiching" Information click here

Do you have that student who you could do everything even stand on your head and the information just does not ever seem to go into the student long term memory?  If you have ever had this happen to you then you will understand why I found the following information PROFOUND.  It is so simple.  Why did I not think of it???

Surround the brain with KNOWN information and it will help the UNKNOWN information STICK

As my teenager would say, "I know, right?"  It is so simple and makes total sense.

Are you ready for it?? It gets even simpler.  All you need are ten cards and a metal ring and you are ready to get started with this intervention.

1.  Assess the student to determine known and unknown information
2.  Write/type the known information on 7 of the cards and make sure that these cards have a symbol in the corner to show that this is KNOWN information.
3.  Then on the other three cards write/type three bits of information that you want your student to learn.
4.  Then hole punch and place on the ring using the following sequence: 
known known unknown known known unknown known known unknown known
5.  Once the unknown information becomes known either move the card to a known slot or remove it from the ring.

This intervention can be used for letters, sounds, shapes, colors, sight words, fry phrases, math facts, science concepts, social studies concepts, etc.  This intervention also has no age limit!!  It will work for kinders but it would also work for high school students.  The information being used would just be different.

Don't stress and think that every student in your class needs an intervention ring.  Only about 3-5 students from your class should need this intervention:)

I have a student in kinder that is struggling to retain her shapes, numbers, and sight words.  She does know 24/26 letters and sounds but still does not perform well on AIMS probes when she is timed.

Here are the cards I came up with for her intervention ring.  I am going to have a ring for sight words, one for shapes, and one for numbers. 

I put three stars on the concepts she still needs to learn so that we can color them in as she demonstrates she has retained it. 


I put a smiley face on the concepts she already knows.





I can't wait to get started using this intervention next week!  Just in case you want to try this super simple intervention yourself, I created a little something to get you started! An editable template so you can add your own concepts!!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1sgVSvPB5gXQml6LU1Lbmpkcjg/edit?usp=sharing

Enjoy, friends!

If you would like a hard copy explanation about this researched based click here.
(**this was not created by me.  I located it on the internet.)

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Snowball Fight Blog Hop

Don't miss the BIGGEST Snowball Fight of the Year!!
22 of your favorite bloggers have teamed up to bring you a...

Our forts are built...
the snowballs are packed & stacked...
and we're about to BLAST you with FREEBIES!!

So lace up your boots, pull on your mittens,
and get ready to load up on 'SNOW' much good stuff!!

Hop on over to to the The Phonics Phenomenon facebook page to pick up my freebie!

Look for this tab on every facebook page to find the next FREEBIE.
Note: You will not be able to access the freebies from an iPad.  


Click the image below to download a copy of the clickable map to find your way to all the 'snow forts'!

The Snowball Fight begins at 10 am CST on Saturday, January 18th.  
But don't delay because the snowballs melt at 10 pm CST on Monday, January 20th!!

We hope you have fun on the hop and find lots of fun freebies that you and your kiddos will love!
Make sure to follow our blogs too so you'll never miss a FREEBIE!  
Thanks for joining our Snowball Fight!!

If you love PENGUINS then you will totally want to snag my FREEBIE!
Get your kids writing about penguins with my word bank:)



Have fun hopping! 

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Winter Time Fun!

I haven't left the house for two days.  I just did not feel the effort was worth it plus I really did not want to take my kiddos out into the cold air.  It has given me some time in front of my computer to goof around and create a few things. 

I uploaded my January word bank yesterday to TPT.







I have a penguin pack in the works and I got the penguin word bank completed for the pack!

I am pretty excited about it.  Keep an eye out for it in the future:)  Did you have school off due to the cold or snow too?  If so what did you do?


 If you did not snag my January word bank while it was free leave me 
your email and I will send it your way.  The first five emails only:) 

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Currently.....January 2014

I decided to start the new year off right by linking up with Farley and her monthly currently linky.  One of my goals this year is to keep up with my little old blog that I have been neglecting so much recently.



I am listening to Grimm.  I am a hopeless TV addict especially crime dramas but over the last few months I have been very busy and very addicted to sappy Hallmark Christmas movies that I have not kept up with my shows.  I have spent the last couple of days watching backlogged episodes from my DVR.

I don't know about you but I am totally loving break!  I desperately needed time away from work and I have been love, love, loving time with my hubby and kiddos.

Thinking I definitely feel refreshed and ready to face the rest of the school year with a smile.  A little time to veg out is just what I needed.

(Wanting) I still have some projects that I would like to finish up before returning to work on Monday.  I have gotten a few things done but I have a couple more things I need to get in order before I jump back on the hamster wheel of life:)

I need to start thinking school and get myself organized which is another goal for the new year!

Our Christmas started out in Chicago which was a blast with shopping, buses, the L, great food, Rudolph the Musical, and of course a museum.  We then had a relaxing Christmas at home.

Sending everyone warm new years wishes!  I for one can't wait to see what the new year holds!