At the beginning of each school day my students hit the ground running. They start working the minute they walk into the classroom. I have a very specific and INTENTIONAL morning routine that includes many elements which I will introduce in a series of Blog posts.
TODAY'S BLOG TOPIC IS DAILY SKILL REVIEW/SPIRAL REVIEW with links to my favorite TPT resources 👇
IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT
When I started teaching 25 years ago (3rd grade), DAILY ORAL LANGUAGE was part of the daily classroom routine. DAILY ORAL LANGUAGE (DOL) is a daily review of grammar and punctuation skills that included editing sentences. Sometime during the early 2000's research was presented that students correcting errors in sentences was NOT an EFFECTIVE way to TEACH grammar skills. DOL disappeared. DOL died. Cue the violins 🎻
Teachers were told that if they exposed their students to examples of quality writing they would learn how to use grammar/punctuation properly. Sounds GREAT right? Not so much. Reminds me of the WHOLE LANGUAGE revolution of the late 80's/early 90's. Expose kids to great literature and they will magically learn to read. Hahaha 😂But that's for another Blog post.
Other programs surfaced like MOUNTAIN LANGUAGE AND MOUNTAIN MATH to replace DOL without calling it DOL. Teachers in the classroom who knew that DOL WAS an effective way to REINFORCE grammar skills kept it around in some way. But this is the teaching profession!
**Teachers incorporate teaching strategy A as a part of their daily routine, research is published to show that teaching strategy A is not effective and new teaching strategy B is better. Teachers completely abandon teaching strategy A (sometimes by directive from their school districts sometimes by personal choice) only to find teaching strategy B isn't 100% effective either so teaching strategy A makes a comeback. Ultimately, teachers do what they should have done in the first place incorporate the BEST of BOTH strategies A and B. Just like fashion, everything comes back into style eventually. Those high waisted jeans I wore in high school have made a comeback. WHY??**
In recent years DOL has made a come back as DAILY SKILL REVIEW, SPIRAL REVIEW, ERROR ANALYSIS. I eventually incorporated DAILY SKILL REVIEW back into my classroom routine and wondered why I ever let it go in the first place. My opinion as a veteran teacher is that daily review of skills learned, introducing new skills but continually practicing previously taught skills, is the MOST EFFECTIVE way to ensure that kids master grade level standards in language and math. USE IT OR LOSE IT.
The first element of my morning routine is Daily Skill Review for LANGUAGE ARTS and MATH
There are dozens of quality resources on TPT. I have THREE different programs I have used. I do not use just ONE program for an entire school year because, well, while routine is good, the kids get BORED of the same thing over and over and over. It's good to MIX IT UP. In addition, each program covers essential skills in a different way AND some programs are easier and others are more rigorous. The easier program, for example, would not meet my students' needs for an entire school year. The more rigorous program would be very challenging to use at the beginning of a school year before many skills are taught. A quality Skill Review/Spiral Review program begins a school year with skills from the previous grade as a review, then gets increasingly more difficult to include skills learned during the process of a school year.
GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE! 🌞
My FAVORITE Daily Skill Review, hands down 🖐, is Good Morning Sunshine by Literacy Loft. I have used this program for grades 3-5 and the skill level is PERFECT for the beginning of the school year. Grade levels can be purchased separately. Language Arts and Math can also be purchased separately. Available in PRINT and DIGITAL.
The Language Arts resource presents skills as...
Meaningful Monday - synonyms, antonyms, vocabulary, context clues, and making meaning.
Text Structure Tuesday - text structure, signal words, main idea, author perspective.
Wordy Wednesday - shades of meaning, homophones, short writing.
Throwback Thursday - grammar usage and conventions
Figurative Friday - figurative language
The Math resources presents skills as...
Mathematician Monday
Base Ten Tuesday
Wordless Wednesday
Throwback Thursday
Fraction Fun Friday
5-A-DAY EVERYDAY 🖐
The next program that I have consistently used in my classrooms is the 5-A-Day Daily Skill Review program by Teacher Thrive for Language Arts and Math. ALL essential language and math standards are covered. This program is RIGOROUS. I consider it to be rigorous because it includes all grade level standards from Week1. The kids haven't learned enough grade level concepts to be able to complete the review independently for many weeks. If you are looking for a Language and Math Review kids can do from Week 1 independently, I would recommend you start with the 5-A-Day from the previous grade, use the final few weeks, then transition the kids to their current 5-A-Day grade level. This is a MONDAY - THURSDAY resource. Friday is set aside for assessment. Weekly assessments are available to purchase separately or as part of a bundle. Available for grades 3-8 in PRINT and DIGITAL.
SPIRAL REVIEW TRIFECTA
Another great skill review program includes Language, Math, and READING. I have the Language and Math programs and I incorporate them as needed for variety, but it is the READING program that I use consistently and I love it! 💛One Stop Teacher Shop Spiral Review. Skills are separated into weeks and quarters. A streamlined version and a "more space" version are available. The Reading resource covers all essential skills. I often assign this as HOMEWORK that we review together in class, but we do not take class time to complete it. My school does assign homework as a review/reinforcement of skills learned in class so this resource fits the bill perfectly! Available in PRINT and DIGITAL.
Click the links above and check out these AWESOME resources!
Next Blog Post MONDAY - FRIDAY MORNING WORK ROUTINE
