The Secret Stories® Classroom Kits vs. the Supplemental "Digital" Resources on TpT

Hi there!

One of the most commonly asked questions I receive is how the Secret Stories® Classroom Kits are different from the digital Secret Stories® products on TpT...

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Dear Katie,

I am totally in L-O-V-E with my recently purchased kit of "The Secret Stories!" My K-5 intervention reading groups are absolutely reaping amazing rewards with this resource! I really wish that I had had it years ago. Okay, enough gushing... Here's my question:

Since I do have the classroom kit, which TpT resources would you recommend to supplement it? I am about to purchase the Guided Reader books available here, as well as "Sneaky Y's Secret!" Are there any others supplements that I might like to consider? 

Ideally, I'd love to see all supplements listed in one place—here or on your website/blog—so that I don't replicate parts of the full kit, but can purchase all of the additions to it. 

Thanks so much for any advice you can offer! :-)

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So just in case you've been wondering the same thing, here's the scoop—

First and foremost, it's important to know that everything needed to successfully implement the Secret Stories® IS included in the classroom kits— the book, all of the posters and the musical practice CD, and that the complete classroom kits are only sold in hard copy format on the Secret Stories® website. And if you're wondering what the difference between the three different kits— Original, Fun & Funky and Space Savers— it's simply the look and size of the posters. There are also some hard copy supplements that teachers who use and love the Secret Stories® often get, which are the Dual-Use Placards (for hands-on manipulative use anywhere in the classroom) and the Porta-Pics (for portable use both at home as well as in the classroom). The only other important point here that I would like to make is that if you are a primary grade teacher (preK-2), go for the larger posters (as opposed to the space-savers) as your kids will be using referencing them constantly, and from everywhere in the classroom! For this reason, easy visual access is a must!

Secret Stories® "Fun & Funky" Classroom Kit

So now let's talk about the Secret Stories® on TpT...
(and I've included thumbnail pics of some of the FREEBIES!)

All of the Secret Stories® digital products on TpT are supplemental resources that serve one or more of three purposes:

1. Flexible size options of the core Secret Stories® graphics for multi-purpose use and reproducibility, via the digital format.  Whether you already have the classroom kit and want the added flexibility of owning these core pieces in a digital format, or if you've never tried the Secrets, but would like to test out some bits and pieces in your classroom— the following TPT products are ideal:

FREE Secret Stories® Poster Sampling Set

—FREE Secret Stories® Sampling
—Beethoven Blends
—Superhero Vowels® Phonics Secrets
—Sneaky Y® Phonics Secret, Babysitter Vowels® Phonics Secret
—Secrets of the Superhero Vowels® & More Bundle (which includes ALL of the above)

(FYI—The "Headband Packs listed in #3 also offer the smaller size options and are ideal for home-sharing, although they are not listed in this section, as their primary purpose is to provide practice both decoding and encoding by turning the kids into manipulatives! Similarly, the Mini-Mats (in #2) and Sneaky Y's® Secret w/ Reading Puppet (#3) are also ideal for reproducible "home-sharing!")

2. A vertical and/or horizontal classroom alphabet with "sound-accurate" picture cues for every possible sound a letter can make when it's by itself! Also included are duplicate poster cards for the Superhero Vowels®, Sneaky Y® and the QU secret! All too often when I visit classrooms, I see alphabet trains (or whatever you want to call the above-board alphabet display) that contain picture sound cues that are either completely inaccurate or that identify the least most-likely sound option (i.e. an orange or an oyster for the letter o, a xylophone for the letter x, etc...) The following products were created to solve this problem, as well as a couple of others!
—Secret Stories® "Vertical & Horizontal" Alphabet Display
—Secret Stories® Alphabet Mini-Mats (for individual student use) 

Each set has the Secrets for the individual letter sound secrets (i.e. Superhero & Short & Lazy Vowel sounds, Sneaky Y® and QU) already embedded, along with accurate picture prompts for each sound a letter can make by itself (i.e. hard and soft G and C, 3 sounds of Y, etc...)  They also make for ideal references when singing the Secret Stories® Better Alphabet Song— which teachers kids ALL of the possible sounds that the letters can make by themselves AND in the most likely order! And the vertical-display option is a life-saver when trying to keep up with the fast-paced Letter Runs while pointing to each letter as you sing its sound/sounds! (And the mini-mats are also ideal for home practice and use!)

3. Provide for authentic, targeted practice of the Secret Stories® phonics patterns and sounds. In addition to enhancing learners' visual acuity to more quickly recognize the Secret Stores® patterns in text, the following products help learners to both see and understand how the Secrets can be applied to text to help them read and/or write words. These TpT products include:
—Spotting Secrets
—Calendar Secrets
—Secrets Number Secrets!
—FREE Math Shape Anchors

FREE Math Anchor Poster Secrets

FREE "Write Like They Read" Zoo Keeper  and M&M Quizzes Pack

Free Fairytale Writing Pack!

—Superhero Vowels® Headband Pack

—Sneaky Y® Headband Pack                                                                                                —Babysitter Vowels® Headband Pack

—Sneaky Y® Secret Reader with Guided Reading Pointer Puppet 

—Mommy E® Headband Pack 

And the Secret Stories® Guided Readers— 

• My Classmates
• My Class
• A Barn Owl's Tale
• In the Fall
• Farmer Gobbler's Birthday
• Like a Snowball
• Troy's Quest
• Dean's Treehouse.

Additionally, all of the Common Core Poster Sets (including the FREE Literacy Posters for PreK-3rd!) also contain Secret Stories® graphic references, where applicable, and the Science Sets are FREE, so be sure to check those out, as well! 

FREE Literacy Posters for PK-3rd! 

(Click here and select grade-level set desired.) 

FREE Science Posters for PK-3rd! (Click here and select grade-level set desired.)

Social Studies Poster Sets are also available, as well as made-to-match "Literacy & Math Combo Sets" and "Essential Questions" sets, all of which may be accessed, by grade level, here. 

More Freebie "Odds & Ends"

Free Gumball Grouping

Free Secret Stories® Reward Bucks for Guided Reading

FREE Class Birthday Book Writing

FREE "Odds & Ends" Writing Journal
(*More to be added to this one, so follow on TpT for notification of all additions!)

The Bag Ladies "Projects in the Round" FREEBIE!
(plus lots more awesome Bag Ladies mini-units by Cindy Guinn and Karen Simmons!)

......Plus lots, LOTS more not listed here! Just click the "follow" button on TpT while you're there, and be sure to subscribe here to ensure that you are first to be notified of all upcoming Secret freebies! 

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I hope this helps to clarify the differences between the actual Secret Stories® Classroom Kits and the digital supplements that are offered on TpT!

Until Next Time,

Katie 

Never Miss a Secret! Subscribe to the Newsletter! 

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Secret Stories® Makes Phonics Make SENSE!

Try a "taste" of the Secrets with YOUR class 
and see the difference they make!
Click to Download the FREE Secret Stories® Mini-Sample Poster Pack!

For a list of upcoming conferences, or for information on scheduling a school or district professional development workshop, click here. 

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www.TheSecretStories.com

The "Head-Bop" Trick for Fickle Vowels!

"The Secret Stories are the life-blood of our classroom. They are always in view, always in our whole and small group conversations. We couldn't read words without them. They are our best friends. They are the tools the students are taking with them to the next grade!"            

—Tara Settle/1st Grade Teacher                                   

                                     

Kids who know the Secret Stories® are able to understand WHY the letters make the sounds that they do. For example, they know that the Superhero Vowels® have a power that no other letter in the alphabet has—they can "SAY THEIR NAMES!" (like "i" in hike or "a" in hate) But when they don't want to be recognized, they will hide in their "short and lazy" sound disguises (like "i" in hit or "a" in hat).  

They also know the secret "triggers" that determine whether a vowel will most likely be long or short in a word, which is Mommy E® or the Babysitter Vowels® one letter away!  (To see how, click here or on the clip below from the Secret Stories® YouTube Channel.)

But what about words where vowels just aren't making the sounds that they should? 
Well thanks to Tara Settle and her brilliant "head-bop" trick, we can become even better Word Doctors AND clear out some of the most frequent "sight word" offenders that clog up your Word Jail! 

So here is a brand new word doctor strategy to share with your kiddos....
The "Thinking" Vowels— 
Sometimes a vowel just can't make up his mind.... 
"Should I be long? Should I be short? I just can't make up my mind— Uhhhhhhhhhhh?" 

And then give yourself a big BOP ON THE HEAD while saying "uhhhhh" sound to prompt kids to do the same! This is a very handy cue to prompt the schwa ("uhhhh") sound, which happens to be the most likely sound alternative for vowels that stray from their sounds in the most common, high-frequency sight words: of, was, some, come, done, want, from, love, again, nothing, brother, another, etc...  (For more on similiar tips and tricks for working with trickier words, click here.)

With this little "word doctor" trick, we give kids even more power over text, as they won't have to memorize words that they can now just read!  Plus, look how many words we can now "parole" from our  Secret Stories® Word Jail....

We now have a lot less sight words to memorize, thanks to Tara Settle and her brilliant word doctors, for diagnosing and curing this tricky "vowel-shifting" pattern!

Good word doctors are prone to  "out-of-the-box" thinking, but in order to think outside the box, you have to first know what's IN it! And that's what Secret Stories® do— they equip learners with everything that's IN the box when it comes to the letters and all of the crazy sounds they can make so that they can easily think outside it when working their way through text. (For more on how to get kids to think outside the box when working with unfamiliar text, click here or on the YouTube clip, below.) 

Tara Settle's first graders were easily able to think "outside the box" because they knew what was IN it! And in the process of doing so,  they invented the "HEAD-BOP" trick that can now be used by word doctors in classrooms around the country!  

Tara Settle with not one, but TWO sets of Secret Stories® Flashcards!

Summer Conference Info 

Did you know that the summer is jam-packed with some of the most awesome teacher conferences? It's true! And one of the best one of all is the International Literacy Association Conference in Orlando on July 15-17! 

For those who have never been, it's an incredible experience.  And for those who have, well you know how hard it can sometimes be to squeeze into the sessions that you reeeeeeallllly want to see— even just to sit on the floor, which teachers are usually more than happy to do! 

Unfortunately, those pesky fire marshals don't like floor-sitters too much, and will often ask them to leave, which is why I personally prefer to take cover underneath a nearby tablecloth (and out of fire marshal view) if it's a session that I really want to hear and it's full.  Otherwise, I'll just hang outside of the session room door and strain to listen, which is a lot less fun! 

But for those planning to attend my session at ILA, I have great news! It's going to be in a BIG session room!!!  So, unlike last year, it's highly unlikely that you'll have to resort to hiding under a tablecloth to get in!  If you would like session details or information on registering, click here.

Another great one is the National Charter School Conference on June 11-14 in  Washington, D.C., but don't let the name fool you, as this conference is great for ALL educators, not just those who work with charter schools. It's a big as ILA, but includes all subject areas, not just reading. And the best part (for me, anyway) is that my sessions are two and a half hours long instead of one...and there is a repeat for those unable to get into the first one, which means that once again, the chances of having your view obstructed by a tablecloth is minimal! For more information on this conference, you can click here.

And while this one isn't a national conference, I want to mention it for all of my PK-2 teaching friends out there in South Dakota, as I'll be in Beresford for the South Dakota Kindergarten Academy June 19-22 for two 2-day workshops! (The first 2-day session is already full and the other is almost capped, so register now if you want to go!) You can obtain more information here, including how to get college credit through the University of South Dakota for attending.

And for those who just can't get away this summer, no worries! The National Title I Association brings the speakers to you with their Video On Demand series! There are so many amazing sessions, and now you can watch them all from home!

You can watch highlights from my featured  Title I presented here, or by clicking directly on the video below. The full-length presentation is also available as part of Title I's subscription series, but you can view it free in its entirety here, along with lots of other video clips from conferences, school and district PD Workshops, video blogs and more on the Secret Stories® YouTube Channel.

That's all for now! 

So until next time... HAPPY "ALMOST" SUMMER!

Katie :-)

Never Miss a Secret! Subscribe to the Newsletter!

PS View the original "Head-Bop" post on the Secret Stories® Facebook and join the conversation!

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Secret Stories® Makes Phonics Make SENSE!

Try a "taste" of the Secrets with YOUR class 
and see the difference they make!
Click to Download the FREE Secret Stories® Mini-Sample Poster Pack!

For a list of upcoming conferences, or for information on scheduling a school or district professional development workshop, click here. 

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www.TheSecretStories.com

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