Finally! My {delayed} One Year Celebration

Are you ready for some fun?? Are you back to work and need a pick me up? Or getting close to being back at work? Still have a month off? Whatever category you fall into, get ready... because we are FINALLY celebrating

 

Today's giveaway is geared towards the intermediate grades. And I have rounded up some AMAZING bloggers to donate some of the most STELLAR products ever. In fact, I got so many fabulous people to help out, that this is going to be a week of giveaways! 

Take a look at the list below...

One lucky person is going to win 20 fabulous prizes!! All of the prizes above AND winner's choice from my store!

Here are the amazing teachers who donated with their products. 

Enter for your chance to win on the rafflecopter below. You do not have to do ALL entires.. but the more you do, the better your chances. Good Luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

PS- Be sure to "like" my fan page because I am going to have deal of the day postings AND flash freebies that you can only find out about there!

A little more fluency fun...

If you have been reading for a while, then you know that I worked on fluency the second half of the year last year. And you know that my kids loved it. And just like anything else we do as teachers, I have spent some time thinking about how I can incorporate more fluency or what can be done better. My original post for 10 min fluency fun can be found here.

Then I came across Tessa's powerpoints that I shared about here. Those are most definitely going to be used with my low tier 3 kiddos to get some extra time to work with me on fluency. I am going to turn this into a fun game/challenge with rewards to get them motivated. We all know that the struggling readers are the ones that need the motivation.

And then I got to thinking... ok I test these kids weekly with our AIMSweb tests. But is there anything else I can do with them? Something where they are reading longer passages for fluency instead of just phrases, more than just once a week, and something they could work with all week? Enter Melissa's fluency passages.

There are 15 fiction and 15 nonfiction passages with 3 comprehension questions each. Each passage has a teacher version and a student version. The teacher version has numbers down the side to make counting the number of words easier. It also has a chart on the bottom where you can keep track of the number of correct and incorrect each day. There is also a homework log for teachers that want to send it home to be worked on with parents. If you have the parent support for this, this is a GREAT idea to get parents involved in fluency practice. A lot of parents want to know how they can help their child do better when it comes to fluency and I think this would be great to send home with those parents. Not every family will do it, we know that. But the ones that are asking (and there are always a few) will definitely get this from me, even if they are my highest readers in the class. The passages are also all leveled by lexile level and in order of level. Finally, there is a track your progress chart where students can color in their cold and hot reads and comprehension questions for each story. We have all had a child that can call out 100+ words, but still has no clue what they read. These questions will help to identify that.

So how am I going to use this? Well that is semi up in the air still. But here is what I am thinking...
On Mondays, my intervention kids that I work with during morning work will read this with me instead of doing a phonics lesson. I am going to give each child the tracking sheet and they will color in their cold read number of words correct. In order for me to save paper and not need a teacher copy for each student, I am going to use different colors to record the students cold read scores on my page. Then I am going to send home the passage with these students to read throughout the week. I won't ask the parents to time them or do the log, just practice reading with them and work on fluency.

On Friday, instead of doing a phonics lesson, I will have them read it to me again and they will record their hot read on their tracking sheet. I will keep track of it on my teacher copy in the same colors that I used on Monday and file it in my intervention folder. (Gotta keep records of everything...) I might make it a challenge where the most improved for the week gets some kind of acknowledgement. Smart beads, fluency start sticker, special pencil, starburst...something. I just haven't figured that part out yet. Job choice for next week maybe... that is always a BIG one in my class. They all want to pick their jobs.

Now what about the kids who have parents that ask how they can help at home?  Well, I think what I will do is have a few passages printed, copied, and stapled together. I will send them home with the parents and explain exactly what to do with their child, as if I were the one doing it in the class with them. I will probably send home 4 at a time (so they have a full month). Basically they will be doing the same thing at home that I am doing with my tier 3 kiddos. I will let the parents be the teachers. They will have the comprehension questions, passages, and tracking sheets. 

If you are looking for some fluency practice for your kids, I highly suggest looking at Melissa's product. You can get to the listing by clicking on the picture above.

Revisiting the blog calendar with some freebies! (and a giveaway!)

Attention bloggers!! Are you having trouble keeping track of what you want to post about, or what you want to create for TpT? Can't remember if you scheduled a post, donated to a giveaway, sent a prize to someone? Need to keep track of what linky parties you want to participate in, rules for collaborative pinterest boards, and all the different terms of use for the hoards of clipart and fonts you buy? I have the perfect solution for you!

You may have read my post about this before here. When I first made it, it was just so that I would have something to keep myself organized. I had no idea that so many people would love it as much as I did.

A couple amazing people have blogged about this and I just wanted to share their thoughts with you. Because really... thoughts coming from other people are much better than anything I could say about my own product.
Reviews from:
Lindsay from My Life as a Third Grade Teacher
Jamie from 2nd Grade Stuff
Katie from Teacher to the Core

These 3 girls are some of the sweetest girls ever and I did not ask them to write about my calendar. How would you like to win one? Head on over to Katie's blog post because she is giving a couple away!

And the freebies.. that word is what got you into the post anyways right? Or was it the word giveaway? Either way, you are getting both! (Clicking the image will take you to the freebies in google docs. They were made to match the blogging calendar.) If for some reason the docs don't work (it could happen because I am not good with google docs) please let me know so I can attempt to fix it!

Enjoy the freebies and make sure to go enter Katie's giveaway!

Blogger Slacker- BIG Apologies and Giveaway announcement

Friends- things have gotten C-R-A-Z-Y over here. I missed a few TLAP posts and was planning on making up for it by doing double posts this week. And then yesterday I got a text saying we could get back into our classrooms. I had to drop everything and go because I have 5 years worth of teaching stuff in my garage. You KNOW that is a lot of stuff. And I was starting to have minor anxiety about it not all getting in my room and organized in just a week. So when I was told we could go a week early, I had to. Which means this little blog of mine has to take a back seat until I can get all of that done. I promise I will share my notes on the chapters I missed at some point because the book is AMAZING and I have things to share. But I don't want any of our amazing hosts for each chapter to not get recognized. So, here they all are.

Chapter 14- (July 9)

Chapter 15- (July 11)

Chapter 16- (July 14)

 

Chapter 17- (July 16)

Chapter 18&19-(July 18)

and

I am so sorry this happened! I also have to postpone (AGAIN) my bloggy birthday celebration. I hope you all understand (I am sure you know how panicky you can feel when you have to start over for the most part). Because I have to postpone, I will add some extra fun to the flash freebies when they happen. I am HOPING to be done with my room by next Tuesday at the latest and if I am, I promise to get my act together.

BIG NEWS

Have you been linking up your Teach Like a Pirate posts? Well... do we have news for you. Dave Burgess himself contacted us and has offered some prizes! He is going to let us randomly pick FIVE (yes you read that right- FIVE) winning posts to chose between a signed copy of the book OR a Teach Like a Pirate tshirt. All you have to do is link up your posts (which clearly everyone is doing!) and we will use a random number generator to choose the post number. If that post is yours, you win. Simple as that! (You can only win once though.)

Here's me rockin' my shirt in Disney. (I PLANNED to wear it and take a pic at the Pirates of the Caribbean ride... but Miss Forgetful forgot the shirt in the hotel room the day we went there.) Thanks Dave!!!

Monday Made It- LOTS of it

I have fallen off the blogging boat this past week. Things have just been out of hand. I have been beyond busy, I go back officially in 2 weeks, and I have a mile long to do list. So forgive me for being completely out of it. I am a few posts behind on Teach Like a Pirate too, but I have the notes all written, so I will try to get them all typed. I also have to get my huge giveaway set up. It is coming sometime this week I promise. But I am taking a break from stressing to share some Monday Made Its.

I have quite a few because it has been a couple weeks since I linked up.

1. Chart Paper Holder- idea from Mrs. Jones Teaches.

I have never had a chart paper holder and just put my charts on binder rings and hung the from big clips. Classy... but then I saw her post and knew this just HAD to be done. And she was even nice enough to tell me the exact dimensions (if you want to make one, scroll down to the comments and you will find exactly what you need. I am SO excited about this. I painted mine teal to match my colors. I went to the teacher store here and got some of the big chart paper rings to hold the paper. And ta-da. Less than $20 and it is cute!

2. Letter organization box- idea from A Teeny Tiny Teacher

There is absolutely nothing fabulously cute about this one. But it is such a smart idea. I have struggled with my bulletin board letters for years. I would get so fed up they would just be scattered all over the place. Then last year I got this bright idea to give each letter a Ziploc bag and store all the bags in a plastic shoe box. It was working ok except it was a pain to have to take out 12 bags until I got to the letter M. And then put them back in order. And then I saw this post. Well DUH Gina. Off to Hobby Lobby I went, got myself a cute box, and am so excited. Mine didn't come with a lot of index cards so I just used some large plain index cards to make dividers. I did capital and lowercase of each letter. Nothing fancy and I didn't have time to make it cute, but it is functional, and that is what matters.

3. Where are we sign-idea from Teaching with a Touch of Twang

Now the concept of the where are we sign was not new to me. But being in the trailer the past three years, I could never have one because if I hung it outside my window...it would be OUTSIDE. But I am finally moving back into a class and knew I needed to make one of these. But this one did not come easy. I went outside to spray paint it quickly. Should have been a no brainer. What I didn't realize was that it was windy and starting to rain. So all of a sudden I had grass and water drops on my pan. I was so mad I almost threw it out. I gained my composure and got some regular black paint, and painted it like a normal person. I printed the labels from my Pirate Pop Decor set and used cute stickers for the title. I am going to use a glitter clothespin to mark where we are (they are packed away somewhere) and hang it outside my class door. I just have to add my ribbon.

4. Student book marks- found in my Pirate Pop Decor Set

I always give my kids bookmarks but I wanted something to match my theme this year. So I made these with a Walt Disney quote on them (of course) and will be giving them out on the first day of school.

5. Daily 5 signs- found in my TpT Store

I like to label where the different areas are and of course had to match my theme. I made separate ones for my own class that say Teacher (where I will meet with kids) and Computers (because my kids will go to computers during D5).

6. Library checkout sticks

For the past 4 years I have used laminated construction paper for my kids to check out library books. They would put the card where their book came from. This way they would know exactly where their book came from. Last year we lost a couple numbers (probably inside books somewhere) and I decided I needed something cuter. So I made these sticks. I just painted some craft sticks and glued on the number cards (again, in my decor set).

7. Behavior Clip Chart- from The Printable Princess

Ok all I did was print and laminate and put together this one. But I LOVE it! I am so glad that someone already had a super cute pirate themed one so that I didn't have to actually make one myself. And I love the recording sheet that comes with it.

8. Group baskets

I always have an issue with supplies. But I think this year I might have the solution. We use class supplies. Everyone's glue sticks, pencils, dry erase markers all come from the same pile. (They keep their own crayons, colored pencils, markers, and scissors.) So this year, I have decided to be the supply police. ALL of my supplies that are CLASS supplies are going to be labeled with patterned duct tape. Each group has a bucket. And what you see in the pictures above is how they will be organized. I found the baskets on clearance for $1.50 at Hobby Lobby, cups at the Dollar Tree, and the small containers were a pack of 4 or 5 at Hobby Lobby.

9. Personal Word Walls

I make my kids personal word walls every year. Except usually they aren't so cute. Just some boxes on a file folder. I finally decided to cutesy the idea up and made personal word walls for each grade. Clicking the image above will take you to all of the word walls.

10. Daily 5 Detectives

While reading the Daily 5 book I decided to make some activities that I can use while teaching each different part of the D5 to my students. These are in my TpT store for free and you can find them all by clicking on the image above.

11. My Teacher's Secret Life activity

I heard of this book at some point last year but could NEVER find it. I finally trekked to the public library and found it. Loved it. And ordered my own copy. And then I made a small little pack to go with it for Back to School time. (You can find it by clicking on the image above.)

And because you made it to the end... a picture of my cute daughter helping me do work...

If you have something that you made, make sure to join in Tara's fun linky. Or just look at all the links. You are sure to add tons to your to do list!

To Do Linky

I am back from 10 days of amazing family vacation. We started in Atlanta and headed to Disney for a week. Maybe someday I will get a chance to share those pictures, but right now, I have to get things together for school, because sadly we officially go back July 29. Which means I go back the week of July 22. If you forgot, I am no longer in the trailer, so my entire life of teaching stuff is in my garage. I have to move it all in and completely set up a new room. And probably clean it. So right now, the panic is setting in on just how MUCH I have to do. Thank goodness Lorraine started her To Do list linky early. Last year this was one of the best things I did on my blog because it kept me accountable (even if every time I crossed something off, I added 3 more). I love to do lists and this is perfect. So here we go..

 

Since I have SO MUCH to do, I am splitting it into categories...

Classroom

1. Sharpen pencils- I want to have enough sharpened that I am not rushing around the first week worrying about that too,
2. Clean
3. Decorate
4. Move in
5. Get group buckets set up
6. Make birthday balloons
7. Make first day treat bags
8. Decide on morning meeting/closing circle and if using them, order closing circle book
9. Make Folder Labels- homework folder, classwork folder, writing folder,
10. Make behavior clip chart and conduct sheet
11. Prepare new student bags
12. Get large paper bags for students to put supplies in when they arrive
13. Copy supply list for each student to track who needs what
14. Make where we are sign
15. Print, cut, laminate new word wall letters (I like the second set I made better)
16. Make library check out cards
17. Make homework club display
18. Make no name paper display
19. Print and laminate daily 5 signs
20. Make daily 5 rotation cards
21. Make student book marks
22. Print/copy/prep student planners (waiting to see if our school supplies them like last year)
23. Print genre posters
24. Fluency rotations-  make/find board labels
25. Figure out math TIME
26. Make writing display board
27. Decide how to set up binders and make a sample

School/Lessons

1. Finish reading Daily 5 and plan for introducing it
2. Find/Create activities for each area of D5
3. Plan first week activities
4. Make/find small group planing pages. I don't want anything too detailed, just a place to keep track of what lessons I am doing with my groups during D5
5. Plan life science lessons
6. Plan Who We Are unit
7. Figure out how to track D5 rotations
8. Redo intro letter, behavior plan, and homework letter
9. Do weekly homework packets again- plan out the first few weeks and prepare
10. Get morning work notebooks for daily fix its cut in half.
11. Copy morning work word problems, number of the day, and word work
12. Make individual word walls
13. Plan how we will use IB Think it Through
14. Plan writing lessons using Ashleigh's narrative writing unit

Copies to Make/ Things to Buy

1. Conduct sheet (C)

2. Monday morning work (C)
3. Clothespins (B)
4. Silly starws (B)
5. 3rd grader bracelents (C)
6. Intro/Behavior Plan (C)
7. ALL first week activities (C)

Blog/TpT

1. Update lesson plan templates
2. Update class journal covers
3. Make Math minis
4. Finish D5 activities
5. Make CCSS editable file
6. Plan bloggy birthday celebration and giveaway
7. Make ccss checklist to match theme

Personal

1. Make a workout schedule
2. Make a house cleaning schedule (I can't do the entire house in one day, so a little each day is better for me)
3. Go to board and get loan forgiveness paperwork done
4. Finish reading Dirty Red
5. Read a couple more books for fun

(Things are already crossed off because I had this post ready 4 days ago and just now realized I never published it. You can bet I will be adding plenty more to it while crossing things off.)

More Fluency Fun!

You may remember my excitement about our ten minute fluency time that I incorporated last year for a couple months. And how much my kids loved it. If you don't, or are new here, you can find the post here.

I have been thinking about HOW I can get my low tier 3 kids even more time practicing this, with my support. Every morning during morning work time I am going to pull those kids and work with them on phonics skills and practice. But I still wanted to get a little more fluency in their time.

Enter Tessa's powerpoints.

 

Here is how I plan to implement them.

Every morning after my group is done with their phonics instruction, I am going to pull the powerpoints up on my ipad. I am using the app slideshark (it is free. I don't have keynote but if you have that it works just as well I am told.) to view the presentations. On Monday-Thursday, I will show the same powerpoint. We will go around the table reading the phrases that are on the slides. So student 1 will read phrase 1, student 2 phrase 2, etc until we have gone through all of the phrases. Any time a student gets a phrase right (and quickly- I haven't set a time but they can't be reading like robots) I am going to give them a sticker to add to their chart. (I made a quick chart that you can download by clicking on the image below.) Once students get to 100 stickers they will be able to trade it in for a prize (either from my bucket, lunch in the class, computer time, those kinds of things) and they will get a new chart to start. On Friday I will test each child individually. If they get all of the phrases correct, they will add a sticker to the chart included in Tessa's file. (Here is my sticker chart.)

Tessa includes some certificates in her file as well as the recording sheet to keep track of progress.

 
On top of them getting this certificate, I will probably bring in a special treat for them (popsicle, ice cream, something they don't usually get and that other kids don't get).

I am really excited to be able to implement this with my tier 3 kids because they will need more than just my 10 minutes a week. And doing this with them will help them be more successful on their independent fluency time practice.

While this is how I am using it, there are plenty of ways this can be used. You could use this in a fluency center- pull it up on the computer and partners can work together, time each other, etc. You could also show this as a whole class presentation when you have a few minutes and have the kids read them out loud together or go around the room.

If you want to see how Tessa used them, click here.