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Free Webinar with Exclusive Freebie! Do NOT Miss this LIVE Event!
Hello wonderful teacher friends!
After receiving SEVERAL requests, I am now offering the Reading Intervention Webinar again, and I've made it EVEN better!!! To register click the image below:
I added a FREE workbook I'll leave a link to in the comments here. You can download and print it for the webinar! Click the image to download the workbook:
I'm also offering EXCLUSIVE FREE bonuses, just for showing up LIVE! You must be live to get the free bonuses! Here are just a few of the webinar exclusives you will receive! Click the image to register for the live webinar and don't forget to show up so you can learn how to fit interventions in your day!
The dates are:
1. Wednesday, May 11 at 7:30pm Central
2. Thursday, May 12 at 7:30pm Central
This webinar will NOT BE REPLAYED, so be sure to catch it LIVE!
I'll see you there!!
Guided Reading: Learn How to Plan, Teach, and Manage it all, for FREE!
Hi Friends,
It's webinar time again!
Do you teach guided reading and struggle with managing a routine, planning lessons, or implementing a guided reading lesson with a systematic approach that's highly effective?
If so, I've got a great webinar packed full of ideas and my BEST practices for running guided reading groups at their highest potential.
I hope you can join me on one of these two days:
Thursday, April 28th at 8:00pm CST
OR
Saturday, April 30th at 9:30am CST
To sign up for either session simply click on the image below and choose which time works best for you.
I will also be sharing some great offers that are only available during the LIVE webinar, so be sure to make it!
I have included some pages for you to follow along and take notes during the webinar. You can download and print all the pages by clicking on the image below.
HURRY and sign up today as space is limited!
I'll ‘see' you then!
Join me in my very first LIVE…FREE…Webinar! Make Interventions Work for Every Reader!
Hi Friends!!
I am so VERY super excited (and completely nervous in a good way!) to be offering my first ever LIVE, FREE webinar!!!
On Saturday, April 9, I will be LIVE at 9:30 am CST (that's 10:30am EST, 7:30am PST)
Learn creative and practical ways to stretch your interventions to meet all the needs of readers in your classroom.
Pick up helpful tips to manage your schedule and fit more into your day, so that you are differentiating for readers on every level!
I am crossing all my fingers and all my toes that my technology works smooth like butter, but this is my first try, so if anything is wonky, please be patient as I may need to do some last minute tweaks!
How to Register:
Webinar intro from Jen Bengel on Vimeo.
Click Here To Register and Hold your Spot!!
You do NOT want to miss the live webinar, as there will be some awesome surprises at the end!!!
Teaching Inferencing with a FREE Resource!
Hello Friends!
Teaching students to make inferences can be TOUGH.
These little birdies are super fun to help them practice!
Use this full page format over and over again with any text!
The bookmark format is a great way to do a quick check with students!

My students have loved sharing their inferences as they read. They especially like talking about their thinking with partners, or as a whole class at the end of reading workshop!
If you would like more resources to help students make inferences, click the image below!
3 Easy Steps to Keep Kids Reading at Home and Over Summer
Hello Friends,
Here are 3 easy steps for keeping kids reading at home, especially over the summer months!
We all have seen that summer slip, where students return in the fall with lower reading levels than they left in the spring.
The purpose of this resource is to encourage students and parents to do the one thing that's most important to becoming a better reader, or simply maintaining reading skills,
and that is…..
Spending Time Reading!
STEP ONE: Convince parents and students of the importance of reading every day, especially during those summer months.
STEP TWO: Make a plan and stick to it! Help students set goals and stick to their reading plans with this contract!
STEP THREE: Stick to your plan and keep yourself accountable with a reading log. Bring it to school the first day back and impress your teacher! Parents, offer rewards and encouragement for each book read! Ice cream seems to always do the trick! 🙂
That's It! Let's help kids retain what they learn in school by encouraging them to read at home!
If you need help getting kids reading at home, and want to track their reading progress, check out the Reading Intervention Program for grades K-12!
It's designed for teachers, parents, and tutors to implement and includes everything you need!
4 Creative Ways to Use Vocabulary Placemats, and a FREE Resource!
Downloaded nearly 11,000 times, these free vocabulary placemats are great for any subject to use over and over again!
4 Creative Ways to Use the Vocabulary Placemats:
1. Print the mats on color cardstock and laminate them to be used over and over again. Put the mats in a literacy center for students to think deeply about their vocabulary. Students can complete the mats for each of their vocabulary words, writing with a dry erase marker.
2. Use the mats during guided reading. Choose a few vocabulary words from the book you are reading together and complete the mats as a group during the word work portion of your guided reading lesson.
3. In Science or Social Studies class, assign a list of words for students to complete vocabulary mats for. Assign each student a different word. After the mats are completed allow students to teach their peers the word they studied.
4. Create a class bulletin board with completed vocabulary mats. Make the board interactive by placing blank copies nearby and changing out the words that are displayed each week! As a class, try to use your new words in conversations all week!
I hope you can find lots of uses for these vocabulary placemats!!
If you are looking for additional word work for your class click on the image below!
3 Ideas for Using FREE Reading Comprehension Plot Cards from Jen Bengel
Hello Everyone!
Do you use Reading Comprehension Cards in your classroom?
They are a great way to get students to share some of their thinking before, during, and after reading!
This FREE resource has been downloaded over 56,000 times!
3 Ideas for Using Plot Reading Response Cards:
1. Leave several laminated sets of plot cards in baggies near the classroom library or in a reading center. Have students copy a few of the questions and write their answers on looseleaf or in a notebook. This is a great way to save paper!
2. Laminate sets of plot question cards. Have students answer the questions, referencing the book they are currently reading. Students can write their answers with a dry erase marker on the back of each card. They can then share their answers with a partner, the class, or in a small group.
3. Send each student home with a set of cards, or a few questions each week. For homework, tell the students they must answer the questions by talking about the books they are reading with their parents, grandparents, siblings, babysitter, or anyone at home. Instruct them to write some notes from their conversations on the back of the cards and return them to school.
I hope you and your students enjoy using these reading comprehension cards in your classroom!
If you are looking for more Reading Comprehension Question Cards, you can click the image to see all the different comprehension skills covered in this bundle!
5 Ways to Use Exit Slips PLUS Free Exit Slip Forms!
Hello again friends!
Exit slips are a great way to do a quick check on students' learning, and hold them accountable for sharing their new learning. They are also a great way to make a home-school connection.
5 Ways to Use Exit Slips:
1. Give students 5 minutes at the end of class to turn and talk, sharing what they wrote on their exit slips. Then, have each student initial their partner's slip at the top. Collect them in a basket by the door.
2. Send exit slips home with students a few times a week. Tell students to share their new learning from the exit slips with someone at home (parent, grandparent, babysitter, neighbor, etc.). Ask them to write a few sentences on the back, explaining who they talked to and details from the conversation. Return them to school the next day for a participation/homework grade.
3. Have students make a collage of their exit slips from the week by gluing them on large poster or construction paper. Ask them to circle the most surprising thing they learned all week, and put a square around the favorite thing they learned. They can share their posters with the class, partners, in small groups, or take them home to share.
4. Use the half sheets as bookmarks for the week. Have students ‘stop and share' their new learning from the bookmarks throughout the week.
5. Play a class game, where you pass each exit slip around the room. Students read each classmates' new learning, and write little notes about it on the back of the page. Everyone will get their own exit slip back and be excited to read comments from friends on the back!
I hope you have found these ideas helpful and enjoy the free download.
If your are looking for other great assessments and class work, check out this No Prep Common Core line of literacy resources perfect for grades 2-6.
Reading Comprehension FREE Spring Activities!
Hello Friends!!!
Spring is in the air and I thought I would share some of my very favorite and free spring activities and reading comprehension ideas with y'all!
Ideas to use the “What's the Buzz Cards”
1. Have kids use these cute little cards as bookmarks. They can jot down a few ideas as they read and never lose their page!
2. Use them as an exit slip, as a quick comprehension check that each student is understanding what he/she has read that day.
3. Give students 5 minutes are the end of reading class to grab a partner and share what they wrote on their cards. You can even have them write notes on their discussion on the back of the cards.
4. Have students ask themselves a question on the front of the card. Tell them to try and answer their question on the back. This makes a great quick assessment and helps kids remember they should always be asking and answering questions while reading.
Ideas to Use the”Tweet About It” Cards
1. Have kids hashtag their thinking from reading. Let them get creative and have fun!!
2. Write a note about their reading to a friend!
3. Leave a note about the book in the classroom library as a book recommendation to friends.
4. Take the note home as a conversation starter with parents about what students read at school.
I hope you and your students have fun with these cards and ideas to use them. Leave a comment if you are using them another way too!
If you would like more Reading Comprehension Work for your kids, check out these Resources!
If you would like more Reading Comprehension Work for your kids, check out these Resources!
What’s New with the Reading Intervention Program?
Hello Friends!!
I have been writing the Reading Intervention Program for 11 months now, and am getting very close to finishing!!!! Hooray!!!!
Click the image to see the entire program from Level Ranges A-Z!!!
Just Posted:
Coming Soon:
This level will be posted no later than Friday, February 12, 2016!
I am working hard to get guided reading level E out in about 4 weeks. It will include fiction, nonfiction, and word work objectives perfect for level E readers, along with printable graphic organizers for every skill, table top “I Can” statements, standards, and prompting questions for each standard that can be used with any text.
Look for it soon!
5 Learning Activities for Valentine’s Day
Hello Friends!
I'm getting excited for Valentine's Day! But all the candy and hype can make the kids a bit edgy and disrupt learning!
Check out these five fun Valentine's Day themed learning activities to keep kids engaged, learning, and having some fun of course!
1. Start a Writing Project
Kids always have so much to say, especially when it comes to candy and friends! Why not turn their talk into writing?
Here are some fun topic ideas for writing during Valentine's Day:
* The Perfect Valentine Box (informational/how-to)
* The Candy that Got Away (fantasy)
* My Favorite Valentine Memory (personal narrative)
* Why Valentine's Day Should Never End! (opinion/persuasive)
These are just a few topic ideas. If you want to see a complete two-week writing project, with lessons, prewriting organizers, revising and editing sheets, grading rubrics and more, click on the image below!
2. Study Grammar With Valentine Sentences
Teach students how to notice what works well in sentences by having them list all the things that are working well in Valentine themed sentences!
You can make up your own format and sentences, or grab this set of 20 that are ready to go! Click on the image.
3. Practice Word Work Skills with a Valentine's Day Theme
Kids love it when their learning has a taste of what they love too, so why not let them enjoy some fun word work in literacy centers that has a Valentine's Day theme?
Here are a few ideas:
* Buy sticky foam hearts at the Dollar Store and have students write their spelling words on them and stick them to a piece piece of construction paper.
* have students write one letter on each foam heart, mix them up, and see how many words they can make with the letters. Have them write the list of words on a piece of paper. They could even have columns for two letter words, three letter words, and so on. Make a rule that they must use all the letters to make a word if you want it to be really challenging!
If you would like some fun word work pages for Valentine's Day that are ready to go, click the image below!
4. Have fun with Valentine's Day Learning Games
All kids love games! Why not make learning fun, with games during Valentine's Day!?
Here are a few ideas:
* Write words on foam hearts that match each other in pairs. For example the singular and plural form of one word. Then play a memory game, matching singular and plural words.
* Cut hearts the size of playing cards out of pink, purple, and red construction paper. Write a variety of words from different parts of speech, one on each card. Then play parts of speech go find a heart (same rules as go fish). “Do you have a noun?” “Nope! go find a heart!”
For a fun contraction matching game that's ready to go, click on the image!
5. Review Reading Terms with a Valentine's Day Theme
This is a super fun and FREE resource for reviewing key reading comprehension vocabulary. There is even a test at the end for assessing!
If you like all these ideas, you can grab them in a money-saving bundle here!
I hope you all have a fabulous Valentine's season full of fun and learning!!
COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THE READING INTERVENTION PROGRAM
Hi Friends!
I put together a FREE informational resource for the Reading Intervention Program.
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OR…. you can check out all the pages here!
Easily find which levels you will need for your students with this chart.
*** Keep in mind, not every passage is individually leveled, BUT they do fall within these instructional ranges. I believe kids can read on more than one level, and that we limit their potential by labeling them as just one level.
Here are some common questions about the program answered!
*** If you have any other questions about the program, like district or school-wide license prices, please feel free to email me at jenbengel@gmail.com
Here is a list of 12 Ways to Use the Program. These are Only a Few Ideas!
Check out What Teachers and Parents are Saying About the Program!
See When the Program Will Be Complete!
*** I am working hard every week to stay on this schedule and have all sets A-Z ready by May!
If you would like to see a free sample of the program, you can click this image and download your free sample!
If you are using the program and having success I would LOVE to hear about it! Leave your comments below!!
Best Wishes to All!!
Sign Up for the Newsletter for Exclusive Freebies!
Hello Friends!
I am so excited to announce that I finally have a newsletter! Wahooo!!!
It took me many weeks of learning how to actually set this up and I am so excited to say I finally did it!
I had a ton of help from webinars and some good buddies too.
You can click on the image below to sign up for the newsletter.
You'll get your first exclusive freebie right after you sign up!
I can't wait to share more with you in my newsletter!!
Best wishes to all!
Guided Reading Curriculum
Hi Friends!
I know many of you are finished assessing students and are starting up guided reading and strategy groups this month.
I wanted to take a minute and show you a glimpse into how I teach guided reading and strategy groups.
If you would like to read about the steps in a guided reading lesson that I follow, you can check out this blog post I wrote:
It's an ‘oldie, but goodie' post! It even has my old blog design on the cover… haha. But, I promise you it's worth the read if you need more direction on where to begin.
*** I use tabletop cards for all my lessons. Here, you can see a level U example. On the teacher side is a list of questions that are specific to the guided reading objective I am teaching that day. The questions can be asked of any text that is a level U! You can also see the CCSS at the bottom…
*** On the student side of the tabletop is an ‘I CAN' statement of the daily objective. These are available in both color and B&W…
*** Every level has fiction, nonfiction, and word work objectives specific to what a reader at that level needs instructional support with. Here is an example of a few objectives, discussion questions, and CCSS for a level U reader…
*** I also use graphic organizers for students to practice the skills we are learning in our guided reading and strategy groups. Some students may be able to work independently, while others may need more instructional help. These organizers are great to continue helping struggling readers and for assessment! There is a graphic organizer for every single objective!!
*** I hope you find these images helpful!
*** You can click on any one of them and download some free previews to see more.
*** Levels are currently available from I-V. I will be adding lower levels in the future!!
One Day Fall Sale!
Back to School Sale!
A Video of The Reading Intervention Program
Hi Friends!
With the help of my brilliant 14 year-old, Malaya…
…I was able to create a video showing the Reading Intervention Program in Action!
Check it out!
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Check out this video I made that shows the Reading Intervention Program in Action! See more here —> http://bit.ly/1LoBMnU
Posted by Out of This World Literacy on Thursday, July 30, 2015
To see the program in my store….click here —> The Reading Intervention Program
The Teacher With Many Hats: A Back to School Video Tip
Hi Friends!
I am so excited to announce a new video series I will be doing with
The Teacher With Many Hats!
My goals for this video series:
1. To have fun
2. To give teachers practical tips for the classroom
3. To make a fool of myself
4. To have fun
5. To make teaching fun
With all that said, check out my very first video of The Teacher With Many Hats! It's quick, fun, and even includes some useful back to school tips!
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Hi Friends! Ok… INTRODUCING… A new video series entitled, “The Teacher With Many Hats!” Check out the first one, where I give some helpful back to school tips!I have 5 goals with these videos:1. to have fun2. to give teachers practical tips for the classroom3. to make a fool of myself4. to have fun5. to make teaching funEnjoy!
Posted by Out of This World Literacy on Monday, July 27, 2015
4 Ideas to Spread Kindness at Your School with Freebies Plus a Personal Story
Hi Friends!
So, I've been thinking…
** What if we started off our new school years with an intentional effort to spread kindness in our classrooms?
** What if we found a way to create a classroom where simply being kind to everyone comes first?
** What if that spills out over into the hallways?
** What if it even makes its way into the bathrooms? (I know, sounds gross…but hold tight!)
I think that simply being kind to everyone, even when we are tired, hungry, or just plain fussy, is a great way to keep positive energy in our classrooms!
We are the leaders in our classrooms. And we all know that a group is only as good as its leader. So why not go out of our way to model kindness every day, especially to the kids who we feel don't deserve it? Or even the ones who aren't so kind to us in return?
I came up with 4 practical ways we can all help spread kindness throughout our classrooms and our schools.
These are not crazy elaborate ideas. They are actually quite simple, making even less of an excuse for us to not be intentional about being KIND every day!
NUMBER 1: Introduce Kindness Cards
Click the image to get your FREE set of kindness cards!!
NUMBER 2: Make Smile! mini posters for the bathroom mirrors!
But, then I saw the message…
Click on the image to grab the FREE Smile pages!
NUMBER 3: Plaster the halls with Smiles!
Have your kids create their own posters, or click on the link below for these FREE templates!
NUMBER 4: Build Each Other Up With Kindness (the long, personal story part)
You can grab these free pages to use or create your own
Before I end this post, let me tell a personal story that speaks to the power of KINDNESS
I'm going to be totally honest here.
He broke me down.
He mocked me for my questions. Everyone heard.
He stole my confidence.
He made me cry.
And that's when I decided to become a teacher. I wanted to be sure there was one less cruel teacher in the world impacting kids like I was impacted.
My Grade 4-8 Friends…This Post is For You!
Hello Friends!
I am writing today to tell you about a new and exciting collaborative group I have just joined.
I am teaming up with 8 other fabulous upper elementary and middle school teachers to bring you our very best tips and tricks specific to upper grades.
We are NOT doing another collaborative blog. It's much more fun than that!
There will be no reading involved on your part!
We will be collaborating through Periscope!
You may be asking yourself, Peri-whaaa??
Periscope is the really awesome and super easy-to-use new app. It allows you to share videos in LIVE time!!
That's right, we are going to be sharing LIVE videos of all our best teaching ideas specific to grades 4-8. You can even send us comments and questions we can read and answer LIVE. How cool is that!?!?!?!
The videos will only be 5 minutes long.
All you need to do in order to join in on the fun is download the Periscope app to your phone. It is SUPER easy.
Then, you can follow all our pages on Periscope. Right as we go live your phone will let you know! Of course, we will give you an advanced notice of when to hop on Periscope. But, if you miss the live version, you can watch it any time for 24 hours. After 24 hours, the video goes away.
Here is who you can watch!