Happy Saturday, all! I had a great week and my observation went smashingly. Today, I’m going to break down my 30 minute lesson that I taught this past Monday. I hope it will help y’all with your kinder babies 🙂 As I’ve become more familiar with the purpose of RTI, I feel like I can be more intentional with my instruction and pack the most educational punch into 30 minutes that I can! Seriously, I do A LOT with them in that brief amount of time, so get ready for a crazy, long post! Here we go… Common Core Standards Addressed: CCSS ELA-Literacy RF.K.1d Recognize and name all upper- and lowercase letters of the alphabet. CCSS ELA-Literacy RF.K.3a Demonstrate basic knowledge of letter-sound correspondence by producing the primary or most frequent sound for each consonant. Here’s my kinder-crate, all ready to go… 
Teacher-directed read-aloud for concepts of print and to model fluency (5 minutes) I want my kiddos to LOVE reading, so I begin each session with a read-aloud. {Let’s be honest, I do this as much for myself as I do for the kids! I LOVE CHILDREN’S LIT and have such a void in my life from not getting to share books with a whole class during read-aloud anymore!} Plus, I think the vocabulary exposure for my ELL’s is imperative to their learning and speaking the English language. I usually hand the book to a student upside down and backwards and ask them to then turn it the right way and find the front and back cover. Then, we find the title, author, illustrator, and first page of the story. We also note the difference between letters and words. On Monday, I read Rhyming Dust Bunnies. LOOOOOOOVE Jan Thomas! 
Letter Recognition & Sound Correspondence Activities (15 minutes) First, we use an ABC pocket chart and sing the alphabet chart. I use a pointer and touch the letters as we sing. We move quickly into our kinesthetic alphabet. I show a letter-picture page and the kids say the letter name and touch their head, say the letter sound and touch their shoulders, and say the picture name and touch their knees. Keep in mind, we’re sitting down during our time together, and only do the letters we’ve learned so far. This conserves time. 
Then, I review previously taught letters. Quickly, I flash upper- and lowercase cards and we say them aloud 1-2 times. Then, I mix them up and put them in the hands of the students. I start with asking, “Who has uppercase or capital A?” The student puts the card down, and then I ask, “Who has lowercase a"?” We repeat this until all letters are matched. {PS. I can’t take pictures at school anymore, so Becks was my model!} 
Next up, tactile letters! I have a foam set and a fabric set. Unfortunately, only in uppercase. I pass them out to the students, tell them to trace the letter with their fingers, and say the letter aloud. I call out letters and the students with the matching tactile letters place them next to the letter cards. 
Then, it’s on to sound bottles! I got this idea from Jessica Meacham {who is brilliant}. She’s the first teaching website that I came upon a bazillion years ago. Tons of great FREE activities! {You can purchase the baby soda bottles at Steve Spangler Science HERE.} Each bottle contains an item(s) that begins with a letter sound. 
We say the name of the object in the bottle and identify the letter it matches. “Ant. /a/ /a/ Ant.” 
Then, it’s time to introduce the new letter of the week: Oo. {In a later post, I’ll explain why I’m moving away from the sequential alphabet during RTI.} I show them the new letter. We say the letter, the sound, and each picture. “O /o/ octopus. O /o/ ostrich. O /o/ orange.” Then, I pass around the tactile letters and the kids trace them with their fingers. 
Onto the sound. As I’m sure you know, KIDS LOVE FAKE MICROPHONES. Teaching the /o/ sound is perfect for the microphone since singers often sing /ooooooooo/ anyway ;) We talked about the shape our mouth makes when saying the letter sound, and, of course, I modeled. Becks is demonstrating today, looking super classy in his oversized, camouflage NASCAR tee. 
Leveled Reader (5 minutes) 
Onto our mini-books. This is a great time for students to personally get to experience a book and how it should be handled. We quickly look at the pictures, identify words and letters, and then practice our one-to-one correspondence with – what else – witch fingers! 
Formative Assessment {disguised as a “game”} (5 min) I am *obsessed* with Growing Kinders’ AlphaHeroes Pack. Sooooooo many great activities for the two standards mentioned about. On Monday, my kids dabbed their way through a letter maze, identifying the letter Os. If you don’t use dabbers, you should! My kids adore anything that involves them! Afterwards, I asked them what the letter O says and recorded it at the top. This little activity let me see if the kids mastered their objectives: recognizing the letter O and associating the correct sound with it. 
Shooooooo! So, that’s Day 1 of RTI with my K-kiddos. It changes each day and includes some new activities each day to keep my kids engaged, including those featured in my Kindergarten RTI packs found HERE and HERE or just click the pics below. 
And, for those of you who read this far, here’s a FREEBIE of letter cards – 3 sets included! Just click on the pic! 
I always aspire to come back and blog more than once a week, so I’m not making any promises, but here’s what’s on my agenda for upcoming posts… – Alphabet Cards as Teaching Tools – First Grade RTI: Phonemic Awareness {It’s almost done, first grade teachers!} – K RTI: Numeracy {It’s in the works, promise!} – Do the Math {intermediate math intervention} Happy weekend, friends!!!!!
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I can't wait for your RTI Phonemic Awareness. I teach at an at risk first grade class. Your RTI for Kindergarten looks AMAZING! Your little guy is too cute!
ஐRikki
The Hive
Hi Abby!
You are very busy! Thanks for sharing the RTI format. We are in the mist of everything and it can be overwhelming! Anyway, I have used the RTI-letter recignition you have an dam going to purchase the sound one! These are great to use insmall group.
The emergent reader you have pictured for the letter o- what company and are the books for all letters of the alphabet?
Thanks so much for your expertise!
Maryann
brennemm@carlisleschools.org
Can't wait to see your First Grade RTI stuff. I need it!
Ummm, of course you rocked your evaluation!
I *loved* reading your detailed post and can't wait to incorporate some of your awesome ideas in my kdg classroom! Kindergarten kiddos need so much exposure to letters and sounds in a variety of ways and I love the way you accomplish this in a purposeful and fun way!
Keep sharing:)
megandw@yahoo.com
This is an amazing post! Thank you! We use a program called FUNdations during our RTI time, but these strategies will be great when I am working with my lower reading groups during guided reading!
Thanks so much for all of your ideas!! I use your highlight a letter pages with 2 of my struggling 1st graders who didn't go to kinder! I'm so excited to see your 1st grade RTI plans- you're the best!! 🙂
Katie
Thanks for your schedule. As a Title I teacher for Kdg, I am always curious about how others schedule their time. I have 25 min, but with transition times and sometimes teachers aren't ready for their kids to leave class, I only get 20 min with them. I use the Wilson Fundations to review letters and sounds and go in the order that our K teachers use. I also have to do sight words, but I'm behind the classes. Do you keep up with what they are working on in class? Seems like I never have enough time, but I do pack in a lot!
Cant wait for phonemic awareness RTI!!!!!!!
Thanks for the freebie! I bought your Kinder RTI letter recognition and identification pack. My husband laughed because I ran out of ink printing.. I immediately texted him to tell him about this emergency situation.. So, needless to say– he ordered me more ink! haha
wow I am so impressed with your post, you have some really good ideas. I particularly like the witch finger, I think that would really appeal to kids when reading.
Wow, you sure do cram a lot into that 30 minutes! I can see why you rocked you eval!
Our school has never introduced the alphabet sounds in order as some are too close either in sound or visual appearance which can lead to some confusion for the kiddos. I can't wait to read about the order you are starting to introduce them in.
Kylie
Down Under Teacher
Thanks so much for sharing your ideas and for the freebies! I have been using your hi-lighter pages and my kiddos love them. Had to go buy more hi-lighters! Thanks again!
I have so many of your products and LOVE them!!! Thanks so much for sharing! Where did you get your mini-books? I have been looking for something exactly like them and haven't seen anything until now.
Fantastic stuff Abby!!! You are an awesome teacher! And I share your sentiments about Jessica Meacham~she has been such a wonderful asset to my teaching too.
Thanks for sharing!
❤Tanya
Ms. Solano's Kindergarten
Thank you so much for this post!! My colleagues and I have been doing a lot of research on RTI lately and focussing on what to do to help our Tier 2 and Tier 3 students. I recently posted about RTI on my blog and wanted a list of resources for others, can I put a link to your blog so others can see these great ideas? This information was very helpful!
Glad you and your kiddos like the Alpha Heroes!!! I have the baby soda bottles too! Love them!!! You structure your intervention very similar to the way I do it! Great minds 🙂
I love your RTI units! Love the baby soda bottle idea! Super cute! Thank you so much for sharing all this wonderful information!!! 🙂
Cheryl
Crayons and Curls
We are officially starting RTI in our building in 1 week. EVERYTHING you share about RTI is so helpful. THANK YOU!!!
I'm a special ed teacher, but I think my district wants me to move toward an intervention model more like what most Title teachers are doing. So it was interesting to see your lesson plan.
How do you get students to your room quickly to allow a whole 30 minutes with them?
Can't wait to see more of your lessons!
We are ALL Special!
Everything you do is always amazing!!!!
❀Jodi
Fun In First
Abby, I am a long time reader and I comment every once in a while but not often. However, I just had to comment today.
I am an ELL teacher and have both your RTI packs. I LOVE them and so do my kids! I am so glad you broke down your lessons for us all to see. It is so helpful to see how others structure their lessons.
Anyway, I just wanted to share how grateful I am. and know that I share all your RTI posts with the teachers I work with. 🙂
BTW, if you ever want to collaborate and work on a lesson plan template that would be name after you, just drop me a line. 😉
M
Ms.M's Blog
A Teacher's Plan
Thank you Abby for your insight! I have one 30 minute RTI group of about 20 first graders (first year at doing this job, so I'm just "winging" it right now)…I am looking forward to your first grade RTI packet!! 🙂
Lori
lorikimball1@aim.com
Oh, and I'm curious…even if students aren't in the pic you can't take pictures?
This is awesome. I am excited about the first grade version!
Why aren't you able to take pictures at school anymore? That is sad. 🙁 Good thing Becks is such a good model!
Abby I loveee your lesson and going to buy both packets! Quick Question though where did you get those fabric tactile letters? I would loveee to buy some. Is that a mini binder also?
Just had to reread this post, I love your ideas! I must know where you got the letter books. Our reading series does not have anything like that, just sight word books. And, I need some of those tactile letters! Too cute! Would love to see what you do the rest of the week with the kinders and also what you do for math.
Hooray! I can't wait for the first grade set! I love, love, love the stuff you do! Thank you so much!
Did you purchase your objects for the sound bottles or did you just use little toys and things that you had? If you did purchase items, please let us know where you can find these skinny items. 🙂
Just started my own blog and put a link into your site. Would love you to check it out and let me know what you think and maybe follow me!
Thanks,
Abbey Bannon
I'm a special education teacher, I mostly cover 5th grade, but I travel to a smaller school once a week and cover K-4. Love all of your RTI packs. As my district is in the middle of MTSS (Kansas always has to have different acronyms for the same things) and having so many kiddos on different levels, it's great to find so many useable, kid-friendly products. Keep up the great work, I can't wait to read about all of the tremendous progress your kiddos make by the end of the year!
Abby, I have recently purchased all three of your RTI packets and love what I see. I am wondering do you just put them into page protectors and then into a three ring binder? I wanted to do 5 binders of each of your 3 packets but it is getting expensive buying all the page protectors and its a lot of copies. Any suggestions?.. or should I just bite the bullet?
Do you happen to have a list of the items you put in your sound bottles for each letter? I just purchased them and want to start shopping so I am set to fill them when they arrive. I love this idea and have also purchased your work on TPT. Thank you!!