[kyteacher]

If you are a Treasures user, how do you organize your week for each story? Do you use the leveled readers. If so, how do you incorporate those? Grammar? Spelling? Centers? Grrrrrrrr.... there's just so much "stuff".

[morahsharon]

We began using Treasures last year. I'd love to chat about it! There is so much. You have to prioritize! I actually just did groups yesterday with the leveled readers and although the books are different - the components are the same. I did a mini lesson with the whole class and then put up a chart for the kids to respond to the question: Look at the cover - what do you think the book will be about? Explain.
I also had them chart the characters, setting, and plot in their "reader response journal". I am off to school - but will be happy to talk more!

[tia]

we adopted Treasures last year--got very little training--many of us were overwhelmed! and then they kept delivering those freakin' blue workbooks--for days on end! i never wanted to see blue again! yeah! there is a lot of STUFF! (i teach 6th, so it may be a bit different than 3rd...)


this is what i do: i'm sure some of it doesn't jibe with the whole research-based thing.....

a. i don't use their grammar--i can do a much better job! also, if i went with their pacing, i'd never get to several important concepts!

b. i can't get their spelling to match up with the units (as some units we extend) so i don't try--even though it matches with the phonics hooked in with reading--oh well. i HATE the spelling--i don't care that it is phonics based; my sixth graders don't need to be spelling easy words like acute and tote! AND there are INSANE words in their lists just because it matches the phonics lesson....hello, "tote"? who the heck uses that word? i have a hard time picking out words for my ELL kids because the words are so goobery. sorry, little rant.

c. last year, the reading portion went like this: on friday, we got through as much intro for the unit as possible (theme picture, read aloud, vocabulary with short story, vocabulary strategy, comprehension skill practice with short story, and read the story in the book). it was friday because we had no help that day so we didnt' waste anyone by doing whole group. on monday-thursday we had 1/2 hour of whole group time where we finished the above and reviewed the vocab, the vocab strategy, and the comprehension skill--also we have a lesson after each book story on how to read textbooks--focusing on captions, graphs, etc. *we also spent 5-15 minutes of that time with direction instruction of our "reading skill" of the week--something we created years ago--a calendar of all required reading skills--we knew we wouldn't get to all of Treasures and hit all those skills, so we kept doing what we had been.*

then we had 45 minutes for small group reading time. i had the Approaching group, one teacher had the On group, we had a para with the Beyond group. our resource teacher took them for something. and another group was getting reading instruction called Read Right. the groups were all pretty small--it worked great! (we also swapped groups occasionally so someone didn't always have the "good" readers.)

well, apparently some of that was "illegal" or unethical, or whatever...
this year: on mondaywe're doing all our whole group intro stuff. then tuesday-friday we have 1/2 hour whole group and then 1/2 hour small group. (we lost some time in our schedule due to some other stuff....and that it going to affect us big time.) what i usually do in my small group is: not necessarily in this order--read the little book, and then do all the workbook pages--fluency, comprehension, vocab, vocab strat, phonics--i only do the ones that look GOOD, though. sometimes we extend the unit to do something else. (next week we have only 3 days due to state inservice, so instead of starting next unit, we're having the kids make a pop-up page of a scene from this week's book with a summary of what's going on.) we have a unit on endangered animals coming up, and we read for a week and the next week we have them do a research project (they get to pick a letter from animal, a poster, booklet, diorama....) on an endangered animal.

our groups this year are kinda funky: my teaching partner has 20 On kids; we have a para that is working with 7 kids with Treasure Chest--ELL version--although, they're not ELL, but they scored lower than 70% and needed an easier book--it's the same book as the Approaching, but easier/fewer words. i have the Approaching group with 8, and i also have the Beyond group with 15! i would much rather have the B and O or the O and A, but the numbers didn't work out that way! argh! today was actually the first day we did small groups this year---it's going to be tough working with 2 different groups. this is my plan: (ha!) today the B group read first chapter independently, predicted, did vocab work, and worked on comp skill while i read 2 chapters with A group. *BTW: i am calling one group the diamond group and the other the star group---because i've got to have a way to differentiate them! and those are the little shapes on the backs of the books--my way of remembering--black diamonds are the hardest ski trails, and kids who need more help need more encouragement and stars! ***They do not know one book is easier than the other--maybe they do, but i haven't told them!

now tomorrow, the A group has to finish the last chapter on their own and complete their vocabulary work and story map. the O group will read their last 2 chapters with me and then do a story map for the book. thursday we will both do fluency--i have kids partner up to listen and check for mistakes and find each others WPM--they do a cold read and hot read each. (and i only have to man the timer!) and we will do our phonics work (they both have different passages and worksheets, obviously--but directions are similar--whew!)

then friday we'll do the vocabulary strategy wksheet and the "reading text" assignment. 3 days next week to work on pop up scene that must have depicted (and written about): characters, setting, conflict or resolution. include 2 vocabulary words.

sometimes i do very few worksheets and make something else up. the next unit is about historical fiction. our little book is on visiting Pompei--and the story is told in diary form. last year i had them create a diary telling about...something, can't remember, have to look it up! but they had to use the skills we'd been practicing.


my 4th grade son's reading teacher (they were grouped--there were 4 different teachers at that grade) never did have them touch the little books--WTF??!!! why did you bother to group them if you weren't going to give them the harder material!? i still don't know what the #### he read all year?! (his homeroom teacher did tell me he was in the Beyond group.) grrrrrr...

i do like those CD's of the text selections. it's nice to hear someone else read for a change--they get tired of hearing me--and it's a bit faster than having them read--so we listen to those occasionally---sometimes for a 2nd reading.

the fluency CD's are just plain dumb. yes, there is a person reading the passage and with nice fluency, but there is also minutes worth of silence (while they are supposed to read). duh, did our district really buy blank CD's that timed them for minute readings--duh, again!

i think that there are about a million transparencies--but i use the vocabulary and vocabulary strategies--pretty good quick reviews. i had a mom last year break them up so that i had both put together by unit--so all were in same spot.

i don't do those centers--those little booklets that give social studies and science, etc connections? 1. kids can't do much on their own. 2. they are way too complicated and open-ended. 3. some of them are just plain dumb! i have looked them over to give me ideas for projects.

so--hope that answers some questions!

[kyteacher]

Thanks so much, Tia! You put a lot of time into explaining your system and I really, really appreciate your time! It was also interesting to read about your son's 4th grade teacher!

[ees2007]

We have just completed the first unit and started the second so therefore, I am no expert. First of all, we are still waiting on part of our leveled readers. We started out not doing any of the group work because we don't have all of the material. This has helped us however to learn the basic components of the book and its parts. On Monday, we introduce vocabulary and read the story that includes them and discuss the skill that goes along with it. We do the practice page with the skill on that day. On Tuesday, we listen to and discuss the story and complete the graphic organizer. On Wednesday, we finish discussing the story, fluency with partners, phonics, and skills. Thursdays we finish up skills, review vocabulary, etc. On Friday, we take the assessment using the assessment book (we were told these were really hard, but our kids have been doing okay). We also take accelarated reading tests over the story. We are doing the spelling, grammar, and writing that goes along with each story.

Once we get all of the leveled readers in we will probably start introducing the story on Friday, review it on Monday and do skills, etc. Tuesday. We hope to go differentiated instruction on Wednesday and Thursday with the reading. This will consist of three groups - one reading leveled readers with the teacher or partners, one- doing skill seat work, and one- doing word work or fluency with the flip charts. We tried this a day or two last week with our old leveled readers and it seemed like it was going to work.

Does anyone else have some better suggestions???????

[liketeaching1]

This is our first year using Treasures so I'm definitely NOT an expert.

I teach first and so I would guess that the schedules are different for levels. I introduce the vocabulary with the first (mini) story on Monday. I also work on the spelling and grammar skill. Usually try to incorporate the grammar skills in the morning message, shared reading, etc. I usually do the onlevel worksheets--one each on Monday thru Thursday. (I really don't like using the worksheets but we have to do the TCAP assessments on Friday and the kids need some practice in "seeing" the formats.) On Monday I use the decodable reader in guided reading groups.

On Tuesday I introduce the main selection and we work on spelling word pattern during word work. During guided reading I use the leveled reader for particular group--two below levels and two on levels.

On Wednesday we continue working on the grammar and spelling skills. We re-read the main selection and read the third selection. During guided reading I use another reader (maybe the below level or old basal--good practice reading). We reinforce the grammar skills. We do more word work.

On Thursday I usually use reading from our old basal (S-Foresman) because the literature is so good! Right now there is very little in the Treasures basal for first grade. We do the weekly assessment that is on the main selection

On Friday I test using the TCAP assessment(guess each state has their own that was produced by McGraw Hill). These assessments are very difficult (maybe later it will be easier). I use this as a teaching tool--we take the test and then go to our group area and discuss.

Like you guys have mentioned--our materials have been very slow in arriving. I think there are too many worksheets. I am using morning message, teacher made charts/poems, teacher made hands on activities to teach the skills in grammar and spelling. I try to incorporate at least two poems per week that we analyze for spelling pattern or grammar. They add these poems to their poetry book.

I try to spend about an hour a day on the shared read using the basal, word work, and grammar skills. The other hour I spend with reading workshop: mini-lesson, independent reading (pulling guided reading during this time for title kids), partner reading.

I don't do the workstation flip charts. I think they are redundant and mostly--draw a picture and write a sentence. (At least so far this is what I"ve seen for first grade). I make my own workstations that I use in the afternoon--word study, writing/reading, math, social studies/science. The kids rotate by groups and do one each day (Mon-Thurs).

[stlcardinals]

I see that you teach 3rd grade. This is my first year using Treasures in my 3rd grade class. Here is what I am doing so far.

It is taking me about 7-8 instructional days to get through one story.

Day 1: intro vocab, intro spelling
Day 2: Read the before story story, intro comp skill, review vocab
Day 3: Read the main selection
Day 4: Re-read the main selection with partners
Day 5: Small groups with leveled readers - we read 1/2 the book together - they finish the rest at home
Day 6: Small groups - we discuss how the story ended and do a comp activity
Day 7: Read the after story story and take the story quiz

I hope you get TONS of replies to this. I would love to see how others are using this program.

[tia]

oh, yeah...forgot about those assessments...

the weekly assessments are not too bad (took me almost the entire year to find that i had "modified" tests for lower kids---they weren't much better, though--i still had to read them to those kids---well, that was the LOW class i had last year!)

but the unit assessments--for the 5 week period--those are complete crap! don't even bother with those.

[liketeaching1]

The problem is that the district requires the unit tests! As a whole, my coteachers in first grade are all sharing the same sentiments--the testing is driving us crazy and frustrating to the kids and parents. For first grade, I find that the tests are requiring that too many skills are introduced and tested each week. I think the district went with Treasures simply because of state mandated tests and the hope that Treasures would be the magic to improving test scores.

I'm almost to the point that I will teach the skills and let the test scores fall where they may!