We chat every Tuesday night at 8:30-9:30 pm CST. All are welcome, especially EarlyEd teachers, leaders & experts. Co-founded & moderated by @techwnancy @JessicaCabeen & @VealHeidi
Hi! My name is Greg Smedley-Warren or Mr. Greg! I am a full time kindergarten teacher in Nashville TN and I am the man behind https://t.co/wOB1371FL8 I am also the creator of ABC BOOTCAMP! #ECEchat
Good evening #ECEchat PLN! My name is Nancy. I am the very proud principal of Celina Primary School in North Texas. I am passionate about things #ECE and #EarlyEd#STEAM#STEM
Hi #ECEchat friends! Heidi here, #EarlyEd District Program Administrator in North Texas. I’m so excited for tonight’s chat w/ guest host @kindersmorgie !!!
Yep no more home daycare. My kids went to full dayschool. I work for headstart for childcare careers now it a temp agency so I can be off when my kid are off school. So many days off at public school #ECEchat
A1: ABC BOOTCAMP teaches a letter/sound a day. We learn all 26 letters and sounds in 26 days. This is a research based and classroom proven best practice! #ECEchat
A1 Thanks to @kindersmorgie, we introduce one a day for 26 days. Tried the program last year with 3/4 yrs olds and it was GREAT! We have the data to back it up. #ecechat
A1 Our PreK intros w/ letter per week. K reviews alphabet first few weeks of school then hits it running. Most of our K have attended PreK or other formal program. #ecechat
A1 Our district has 6 week preview then does 1 per week, yet it doesn't match our benchmarks. So, I've done things differently from year to year depending on my Ss and need things I was learning #ECECHAT
If anyone has any questions about #ABCBOOTCAMP please ask!!! I love talking about ABC BOOTCAMP and the amazing results it has with our students! #ecechat
This is our first time trying the letter/sound a day. I am excited to see our assessment results. I know the students are engaged and loving it! #ECEchat
A1: Our current curriculum introduces 3 letters a week & spirals them back in throughout the year. Can’t wait to learn more about ABC Bootcamp. #ecechat
ABC BOOTCAMP was created by ME 6 years ago because my students needed a way to engage with letters and sounds that was meaningful and developmentally appropriate! Thus, ABC BOOTCAMP Was born! #ecechat
A1: Katie from @MVESEagles in Virginia! This is our first year fully implementing @kindersmorgie’s #ABCbootcamp as a team. In the past we taught a letter a week. We are seeing so much growth already and a lot of happy kinders! Looking forward to seeing our end results. #ECEchat
ABC BOOTCAMP is 100% flexible. PreK can focus on only letters. Or do a letter a day and then a letter a week. Or you can do a letter a week. We’ve seen it used in many ways in PreK! #ecechat
I was waiting for your response to know how this works for the whole year 😜. I would love to see how people have used #ABCBOOTCAMP in PreK and the data! #ecechat
for the whole year you could a letter a week and spread the ABC BOOTCAMP activities out over the week. There is plenty of content to fill up a week! #ecechat
A2: With ABC BOOTCAMP we focus on the sound first. Then we introduce the letter as "how you spell the sound." This helps the students make a stronger connection between sounds/letters and writing! #ECEchat
A1 No more Letter of the Week!!! Many kiddos come w/ a good deal of Letter Knowledge! They’re ready to be introduced to a Letter a Day & given the chance to cycle through the alphabet a multitude of times during the school year. Don’t hold them back. #ECEchat
A2: I have always introduced the letter name and the sound along with it. I do an alphabet chant daily with actions to help kiddos remember letter name and sound! #ecechat
A2: After starting ABC Bootcamp last year, we began introducing the sound first. Again...AMAZING results! Students truly catch on, and start singing the sound before stating the letter. You can hear all the classes up and down the halls from our team! #ecechat
#ECEchat A2: after doing ABC boot camp it made sense to introduce the sound and say "how do you spell it?" And they name the letter. Thus helps with pre reading skills.
A2: the letter first, but often together. This is a B. Talk about the shape. B says....then I show some things that start with that sound. This spirals and they hear letters and sounds again and again all year #ECEchat
I always do letter name first. I have them repeat the letter name then we talk about what sound the letter makes. The bubble charts with boot camp really help them think about that sound. I also incorporate hand motions for letter sounds and I use the letter factory song #ECEchat
A2: I believe I always introduced the letter first, starting w/ the first letter in the Ss name. During whole group I introduced the letter, then the sound it made, & words that begin w/ that letter/sound. #ecechat
A2: After watching how @kindersmorgie introduces the sound first, that’s what I’m doing. It makes SO much sense and the kids are truly retaining it better. All day long I’m asking “What sound? How do we spell it?” #ECEchat
Wow...this is really new thinking. I would love to see a control group from the ABC Boot Camp style and the traditional way of letter & sound combination. Interesting! #ecechat
#ECEchat A2: after doing ABC boot camp it made sense to introduce the sound and say "how do you spell it?" And they name the letter. Thus helps with pre reading skills.
A2: With ABC BOOTCAMP we focus on the sound first. Then we introduce the letter as "how you spell the sound." This helps the students make a stronger connection between sounds/letters and writing! #ECEchat
#ecechat A2 I introduce the letter and sound together but I name the letter and use the song from letter factory the _ says _ every letter makes a sounds the _ says _ I just sing it in Spanish :)
We focus on just the hard sound because the idea is to move to Word Family Bootcamp and blending CVC words so the hard sounds are the focus of ABC BOOTCAMP. #ecechat
Yes, we also use letter factory songs in the hall to reinforce and ABCMouse....free to teachers! It is a total day of exposure to the sound/letter in many different ways. #ecechat
A3: A big chellenge is the varying levels of expiereince/knowledge that are students come to us with. ABC BOOTCAMP really allows us to scaffold and meet the needs of all students at all levels. #ECEchat
No. This is whole group, systematic, explicit instruction with a class that is 95% ELL. That data is consistent for letters and sounds! That is the power of ABC BOOTCAMP! #ecechat
A3: I am always looking to find that connection that will make Ss feel emotionally invested in the letters we review as well as finding hands on ways to introduce and practice letter ID #ecechat
Definitely b/d reversal. Teaching students that don’t know any English also is such a challenge. Plus the multiple forms of font (ugh fancy a) makes it more difficult as we move towards more digital learning. #ECEchat
A3 the letter A has a short sound (and a long sound of course) but then says something different when read as a word by itself or in words like 'about' #ECECHAT
the circle charts in ABC BOOTCAMP are generated by the students so they are really invested in the learning because we’re drawing THEIR ideas! #ecechat
A3 I think some EC teachers struggle w/ differentiating instruction based upon student needs. Teaching in small groups while managing everyone else requires planning, management and skill. #ecechat
A3 Some Ss know it all and some Ss know none. For the ones that know the sound/letter, we begin connecting the sound to writing a word and many more phonemic awareness pieces. There's alot of differentiating for 3, 4 & 5 in the same class #ecechat
No. This is whole group, systematic, explicit instruction with a class that is 95% ELL. That data is consistent for letters and sounds! That is the power of ABC BOOTCAMP! #ecechat
A3. As a teacher the biggest challenge was the different levels of student knowledge.
The biggest challenge I hear as an admin visiting is adding a short vowel to a consonant- b becomes “buh”. #ecechat
A3: Differentiating instruction to meet the needs of all learners can be challenging. Whole group time during #ABCbootcamp allows for rich discussion and practice for all. Small group instruction takes places and allows teachers to scaffold instruction for all learners. #ECEchat
A3: Exposure-some know the alphabet and sounds and others don't. Also, ss being able to figure out the 1st sound they hear in a word! Thank goodness for bootcamp! #ecechat
A3 the letter A has a short sound (and a long sound of course) but then says something different when read as a word by itself or in words like 'about' #ECECHAT
ABC BOOTCAMP was created by a full time classroom teacher so it contains easy to differentiate content to meet the needs of all students in a variety of settings! #ecechat
Managing small groups seemed easier for me when I was teaching K. Now that I am in PreK I am trying to make my hour of small groups outside of center time impactful and meaningful! #ecechat
ABC BOOTCAMP contains whole group circle charts…student alphabet books…centers…differentiated decodable readers…letter art ideas…beginning sound hunts…and the FAMOUS silly hats! #ecechat
#ecechat A3 I think the greatest challenge is making sure learning letters has meaning importance and is fun for children. If they do not care they do not learn. Helping them find their "why" for learning letters.
A4: ABC BOOTCAMP allows the students to support and scaffold for each other. We also provide lots of hints and supports and visuals if needed. My class is 95% ELL and we have 80-95% master of all letters and sounds in 26 days. #ECEchat
A4: Lots and LOTS of visuals!! I also try to find a catchy song or find books that lend themselves to highlighting a certain letter/sound, like Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen #ecechat
A4: Visuals while coinciding with the sound before the letter really helped our students last year! Not just visuals, but true real life objects! #ecechat
ABC BOOTCAMP involves a great deal of repetition of the letters and sounds so students get a great deal of exposure to the sound and letter during the lesson! #ecechat
A4: I love the Lakeshore letter tubs. They are great for showing familiar items to Ss and also help vocabulary. Also SQUARE PANDA is amazing. Repeat exposure and a print rich environment. #ECEchat
A4. Hands on learning, connections to real life and incorporation of home languages are just some of the ways I have seen Ts work successful with students. #ECEChat
A4 All I can say is thank goodness for Google Translate- a real lifesaver! Team that w/ hands on activities and learning is more likely to last. #ecechat
The circle charts in ABC BOOTCAMP provide visuals that the kids brainstorm so they have a strong personal connection to the image and sound! It also generates lots of laughs which only increases engagement! #ecechat
I use letter boot camp. With both English learners and students native English speaking it provides that tiered instruction that benefits low to high #ECEchat
ABC BOOTCAMP also includes a family letter with ideas for objects for students to bring in for each letter! This brings in the home connection as well as realia and visuals to help with learning! #ecechat
I would challenge families to have Ss find an object at home that started with a particular letter and bring it in the share (had to fit inside a pencil box though). Helps build vocab and S&L skills too #ECECHAT
I see lots of Qs about vowels/hard and soft sounds. We do short vowels and hard consonant sounds because the next step is to build CVC words. Then we add in long vowels, soft sounds later. #ecechat
A5: At the end of the school year 95% of my students are reading at grade level or higher. A major piece of this success is ABC BOOTCAMP because the students have access to letters and sounds in 26 days so we can begin focusing on word building and decoding strategies!#ECEchat
Alphardy by Dr. Jean is our go to alphabet song! We have a movement for each sound and you see the kids using those movements in centers, with their writing and when reading! #ecechat
@jennifer_salay Perfect connection...You must use visual and objects that relate to their personal schema. Having those connections will amp up the growth. #ecechat
#ecechat A4 I love a simple bag with items that start with that object they get to choose an object and we draw it on our letter web. I have worn a cape and been the super letter with objects velcroed on for the letter I am introducing. We review all week.
A5: ABC Bootcamp affects reading instruction for our 3, 4, and 5 year olds in the best way possible! It put most of our students at mastery in letter knowledge, and had them reading on a DRA level BEFORE Kinder! #ecechat
A5. Watching a school of over 400 Ss-utilizing PLC's, common formative assessments and aligned vocabulary were critical ways to sustainable success for learners preK-3rd grade. #ECEChat
A5 Part 1 For Pre-K it allows us to into/move into phonemic awareness in building a strong base for reading. There is a lot they need to know between mastery of sound/letter and sitting down to read a book. #ecechat
Goodnight friends! I have to leave a little early tonight. I’ve really enjoyed the topic and look forward to reading the rest in the am. What a treat to have @kindersmorgie moderate! 🌜#ecechat
The amount of learning and fun these hats provide is amazing! Fine motor skills…cutting skills…and the day long conversations about sounds is powerful! #ecechat
The alphabet hats in ABC BOOTCAMP provide powerful learning. Sounds, fine motor skills, cutting skills and the day long conversation about sounds is powerful and FUN! #ecechat
A6: We move to Word Family Bootcamp which is part of our TKS BOOTCAMP CURRICULUM! This is a year long math and literacy curriculum that builds on the routines, process and success of ABC BOOTCAMP! #ECEchat
A6 We connect all the pieces between sound/letter, writing & reading. We use a phonemic awareness plan along with HWT. I would like to do @kindersmorgie Number Boot Camp too this year! #ECEchat
A6: After ABC Bootcamp in ECE we moved onto our phonemic awareness piece. We continued throughout the year to reiterate the sound then letter on a daily basis! #ecechat
My mentor teacher always said you just never know what or when things will connect/click with a Ss - providing them with experiences while keeping their learning goals at the helm of learning will definitely be beneficial!!
In reply to
@tinacruickshank, @MrJustin2016, @katyphinney
A6. In our district we have a common curriculum K-4 and working together to aligned our instructional outcomes district wide. Powerful process for students and staff. #ECEChat
A6: we will be starting a program called power 1/2 hour where after our first data meetings we will compile info and make core groups to differentiate to create the most impactful learning for our Ss. #ECEchat
My mentor teacher always said you just never know what or when things will connect/click with a Ss - providing them with experiences while keeping their learning goals at the helm of learning will definitely be beneficial!!
In reply to
@tinacruickshank, @MrJustin2016, @katyphinney
#ECEchat A6 we apply letter names and sounds to our writing process starting with shared writing, morning message and I get the Ss to help me write the words starting with the beginning sounds
Thank ya'll for having me as a guest moderator and allowing me to share about ABC BOOTCAMP! Every day we hear amazing stories about ABC BOOTCAMP from classrooms all over. #ECEchat
