Literacy Linky Party

I have decided to host my first Linky Party!  As our school year winds down I find myself reflecting on how things went this year:  What went well, what could be tweeked...  For this Linky Party, please create or link a post in which you share some literacy ideas.  (What activities do you do in your literacy block?  How do you group your students?  Do you have a Freebie or something on TPT? Etc.)   

I have posted many of our Literacy Stations, but have never really explained our Literacy Block, so here is a brief summery of our ninety minutes:

Book time  This ten minute activity follows our snack break.  This isn't really a quite time.  At first I had tried to get the kids to read/look at books quietly, but soon discovered that Kinders get enthusiastic about books!  As long as it's not a zoo, they are allowed to talk about what they discover in books.

Whole Group instruction   (20 minutes)  The lessons during this time usually come straight from our reading series.

Skill Tubs  (15 minutes)  Students work in pairs on a variety of activities that help them to practice important literacy skills.  (Click on the Skill Tubs label for more information.)

Seat work or other activity  (15 minutes)  Once we clean up our Skill Tubs, we do a page from the reading series or some other activity that reinforces the day's skills.  I like to use Skill Totes (click label for info) to distribute materials quickly.

Literacy Stations  (30 minutes)  My two partners and I plan stations together, and usually do the same ones each week (Sometimes we trade off activities, and of course adapt as needed for our specific learners.)  We are lucky - each grade level has its own teaching assistant!  Mrs. S. comes to each of our rooms to help with Stations in turn.  Our stations cover a wide variety of literacy skills, including writing and math.  We are allowed to teach content subjects during our Literacy Block. There are some "listening and speaking" core standards that are covered along with math skills.  I usually run the"Math" station, and Mrs. S. runs the "Reading" station.  The others are designed to be done independently if a parent volunteer is not able to come in to help.

Now for the Linky Party!

1.  Please post the direct link to your literacy post.
2.  Please link back to this post.  Copy and paste the linky picture above.
3.  Please follow my blog if you link up - I promise to follow you back!