In this issue: Tips, tools, best practices, and more!
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ISSUE 42 | SEPTEMBER 2023
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When experienced Superkids teachers are asked for their advice about how to get the most out of the program, they often say, “Don’t skip the Daily Routines!” These routines are important because they help reinforce critical skills and provide you with a quick daily assessment. In this issue of The Superkids Bulletin, we highlight this important Superkids component. You will find tips from Superkids coaches, practical ideas from fellow teachers, and a freebie or two!
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Daily Routines provide a cumulative review and daily practice with previously taught skills. Observing children as they complete the Daily Routines is an effective way to informally assess their individual strengths and weaknesses.
Daily Routines
- allow you to gather student data daily.
- provide opportunities to informally assess individual student progress and document observations.
- offer guidance when forming your small groups.
- guide instructional decisions when planning differentiated activities to target specific skill needs.
Below are some tips to assist you when informally assessing students and gathering daily progress documentation during the Daily Routines.
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Divide and Document
It may seem overwhelming to think about documenting observations for each student during the Daily Routines when you have a large class. Superkids coaches suggest dividing the classroom into four or five sections. Each day, focus on documenting your observations for the students in only one of the sections.
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Observation Documentation
Create a designated clipboard or folder for recording observations about student performance during the Daily Routines. This weekly data catcher provides information at a glance to assist with grouping and determining skill focus for differentiated instruction.
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Video Teaching Assistant
Use the Superkids video lessons as you work through the Daily Routine parts. Projecting a Daily Routine video offers you the freedom to take notes as you informally assess student progress. These videos also allow you the flexibility to move around the classroom and provide students with assistance. The Daily Routine video lessons are linked on each Lesson Page. How convenient is that?
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There is no doubt where the best Superkids classroom tips come from—teachers like you! Here are a few ideas from Superkids classrooms that you could implement right away.
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Watch the Clock
Daily Routines should not take longer than 10–15 minutes. Often times teachers spend too long on the routines and struggle to complete the rest of the lesson steps. Many Superkids teachers suggest setting a timer as you begin the routine. When the timer is done, move on to the Word Work portion of the lesson.
Consider using the interactive Daily Routines in MyZBPortal.com. These time-savers are linked on the Lesson Page for each Superkids lesson.
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Routine Ready
Get your kiddos revved up and ready for the handwriting portion of the Daily Routine with this SUPER fun warm-up that reinforces the ice cream lines!
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Check Your Spacing
This easy-to-create tool, based on our ice cream lined paper, helps students check their word spacing as they work through the written portion of the Daily Routines. SUPER cute!
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Sound Tapping
During the Spelling Daily Routine, many teachers teach their students procedures for identifying the number of sounds in each word before they begin to write. Check out how this teacher helps a student tap out the sounds as he spells.
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Words That Are Heard
When children are asked to encode a dictated sentence, it is a good practice to assist them with identifying how many words are in the sentence before they begin writing. Check out how this teacher counts the words in the dictation sentence with her students.
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Gentle Corrections
As students work through their Spelling Daily Routine, this teacher walks around the room and monitors their work. If she sees a student has made an error, she simply places a glass gem on the letter that needs attention. This is a fabulous idea for gently providing corrective, prompt feedback.
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The Student White Boards With Ice Cream Lines are super for encoding and handwriting practice during the Daily Routines. It is also a good idea to regularly record student work on paper, documenting student progress with these skills over time. Use these printable pdf pages to create your own recording booklets for students to use while completing the written portions of the Daily Routines.
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