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Re: Just starting out
Posted by Steph/4/TX on 7/16/08

It looks like you've got the basic jist (sp?) of it, except your WWW
block really should be a little longer. In 1st-3rd, that block
should consist of 10 min doing the word wall and 20 min doing a
phonics/decoding lesson/activity, for a total of 30 min. They
suggest 30-40 min for each of the other 3 blocks, so you could cut
down your GR and writing blocks a little and have 30 min for WWW.

As far as the sight words go, there is a list for 1st grade in the
Teacher's Guide to Four Blocks. From that, you can do them in any
order. When I taught 1st I would find words on the list that were in
our GR texts to reinforce those more at that time. You can also
choose the spelling patterns you are going to focus on in the
phonics/decoding lessons. When I taught 1st, I followed the sequence
of the spelling lists in our reading series, but taught them the 4
blocks way!

For GR, the hardest part about what texts to use is finding
materials you have class sets of. You can very easily use your
reading series for this (or science books or SS books) and do your
instruction with those stories using 4 blocks before, during, and
after activities. Another great resource for inexpensive books is
reading atoz.com. They have tons of leveled books that you can
download and print as many of as you need. Their individual
membership is like $80, but WELL worth it in my opinion! (Yes, I am
a member!!)

The main focus of GR is teaching comprehension. You pretty much run
the show during this time. You start with a before reading activity
to get them ready for reading. You have some type of during reading
format or activity for them. Then you do an after reading activity
to tie it all together and help them process what they just did. The
big thing with 4 blocks GR is that you DON'T do leveled small groups
(like Fountas & Pinnell). There is small group work, but the groups
are flexible and not based on ability.

If I were you, I would get The Teacher's Guide to the Four Blocks.
It is easy to read, but VERY helpful when you are starting out with
this model. There are also many other great books out there (I think
I have them all!!) that you might check out after you've read the
Teacher's Guide that go into a lot more detail about each block.

You might also check out the 4 blocks center here on teachers.net.
There all kinds of things you can download and print. It is
wonderful! There used to be a link to it on the home page, but I
can't find it anymore. But, if you type "four blocks center" into
the box to search teachers.net, you'll get a link to it. That's how
I always get to it!

HTH!
Steph :)

On 7/16/08, Kimberly wrote:
> Ah, that would help...1st Grade!
>
> On 7/16/08, What grade do you teach? nfm wrote:
>> On 7/16/08, Kimberly wrote:
>>> We are starting the model this year. It looks very
>>> thorough and I am excited to get it going. Our adopted
>>> text is Scott Foresman, but understand this is not to
>>> dictate our curriculum. So, my question is where to you
>>> get the spelling, sight words, etc. for the Working with
>>> Words portion? Here's how I see implementing it...
>>>
>>> 8:15-8:30 Working with words (alternate sight words and
>>> spelling words daily)...should those come from the SF or
>>> is there a recommended list?
>>> 8:30-9:15 Guided Reading (again, is there a recommendation
>>> for these titles or can it be the readers that come with
>>> Scott Foresman?) Do I understand this to be about 15
>>> minutes of large group instruction and then a rotation of
>>> various reading opportunities?
>>> Break
>>> 9:30-10-Self Selected Reading
>>> 10-10:45 - Writing (We were planning on using the Six
>>> Traits writing model).
>>>
>>> After lunch is math (50 min.), recess, pull-outs (we will
>>> do centers during this time for more small group reading
>>> opportunities), followed by science/social studies for 50
>>> min.


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Posts on this thread, including this one


• Just starting out, 7/16/08, by Kimberly.
• Re: Just starting out, 7/16/08, by What grade do you teach? nfm.
• Re: Just starting out, 7/16/08, by Kimberly.
• Re: Just starting out, 7/16/08, by Steph/4/TX.
• Re: Just starting out, 7/18/08, by deb.