The Classroom Collaborative Podcast

How Much Time Should a Phonics Lesson Take? Deedee and Adam discuss an article by Tim Shanahan where he answers the question about the length of a phonics lesson and best practices.  Deedee and Adam talk about phonics instruction AND application in kindergarten and first-grade classrooms through the lens of the Science of Reading.

High leverage routines will have students actively apply phonics skills while practicing blending and segmenting. By making your lessons more concise and explicit, you can shorten the time spent doing low-yielding activities.  A few tweaks to your routines will result in amazing results.

Learn more about the daily routines of a Science of Reading Lesson Plan by clicking:

You can find the show notes and transcript by clicking:

Deedee and Adam continue to talk about the Science of Reading and specifically get into the differences between sound walls and word walls in kindergarten and first-grade classrooms.

Read more about sound walls vs word walls:

You can find the show notes and transcript by clicking:

Deedee and Adam discuss the Science of Reading and how it affects leveled texts in kindergarten and first grade.  Many teachers continue to use guided reading as part of their small group instruction or intervention instruction.

Deedee and Adam chat about the texts we select to use in our classrooms.  They offer tweaks to instruction that will help teachers align their practices closer to the ideals outlined with structured literacy.

Read more about the difference between Leveled Texts and Guided Reading:

You can find the show notes and transcript by clicking:

Deedee and Adam discuss social-emotional learning with Elizabeth Coller.  Elizabeth is a kindergarten teacher in California and teaches in a Montessori-inspired charter school that emphasizes the importance of social-emotional learning from elementary school to high school.

Elizabeth shares some classroom environment strategies that will change the way you approach classroom management and building classroom community.  Through teaching, practice, lessons, and modeling the classroom becomes student-led with peer-to-peer accountability.  This frees up instructional time so the teacher can then focus on instruction and the curriculum.  Come and get inspired by what you hear!

You can find Elizabeth Coller on:

You can find the show notes and transcript by clicking:

Teaching writing to PreK, kindergarten, and first-grade students can be challenging. Deedee is joined by the author of Patterns of Wonder, Whitney La Rocca as she simplifies the process and offers advice to primary teachers!  This is a must-listen episode!  You can find Whitney's book on Stenhouse Publishers or on Amazon.

About Whitney:

Whitney La Rocca, with more than 20 years in education, has been a teacher, a literacy coach, and a consultant, working with children and teachers across grade levels, schools, and districts. With a deep knowledge of content, standards, and best practices, Whitney enjoys delivering professional development and coaching teachers to support children as they develop their identities in the world of literacy. She continues to learn from children each day.

You can find the show notes and transcript by clicking:

Is homework appropriate for kindergarten? In this episode, Deedee and Adam share ideas that allow students to practice essential skills as homework, but it feels like play... because it is!  They will discuss some ideas that primary teachers can use in their own classroom with kindergarten and first-grade students that are fun.  Games are a great way to activate learning and they encourage more time on task.

Instead of homework, try these instead:

You can find the show notes and transcript by clicking:

Deedee and Adam chat with Edna from Boddle Learning.  What is Boddle Learning?  It is a free 3D math game that makes learning fun and personalized.  This is not just for kindergarten!   Boddle Learning has curriculum-based learning for K-6 students!  Best of all... it is free for teachers.

Teachers have control of the math games and activities that students experience.  

In this episode, you will hear the history behind this start-up that has gotten the attention of AT&T and Google!  You can learn more about Boddle by clicking:

You can find the show notes and transcript by clicking:

Deedee and Adam chat about what mastery is and how it should be assessed.

This conversation was inspired by an email that Deedee received about assessing letter sounds.  The question circled around what are we assessing and how much support should be given while assessing?

Are we really helping students in the long run if alter assessments?  Take a listen!

Deedee chats with Jan Burkins and Kari Yates about their blockbuster book, Shifting the Balance.  6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom.

Deedee is joined by Marsha McGuire to discuss fine motor skills in kindergarten.   Marsha shares some ideas that every teacher can incorporate into their daily instruction that will strengthen students' fine motor skills.

Grab your exclusive Podcast Free file:

Where can you find Marsha?:

Follow her on: