Favorite January Read Alouds!

One of my favorite parts of the day is our read alouds!  I was trying to think back to exactly when I started doing read alouds, but I honestly can't remember how or why I started...  guess that is my old age taking over!

Each week we have a main read aloud that I use to teach the reading skill(s) for the week.  I also do several other read alouds throughout the week, but we might not dig as deep into them as the main one.

For the main read aloud I pretty much follow a pattern each week.  On Monday, we read the whole story cover to cover and focus a lot on prediction skills.  The rest of the days we work on different reading skills and vocabulary.  Somedays we reread the whole story, but other days we might only read a page or two.  It really depends on what we are doing.  Then on Friday we WRITE!  We use a writing prompt that somehow ties to our story to get the kids focused on writing to a prompt for the BIG state test at the end of the year.  (Like it or not...  it is always in the back of my mind.)

Many years ago a parent gave me a beautiful basket.  At the beginning of the month I stock the basket with read aloud books that go with the month, holiday, or season.  I keep all of my read aloud books in a special teacher only place so that the kids haven't read them yet.  If we have a few minutes of down time we pick a book to read to class and discuss.  I've been doing the monthly book basket for about three years and I think it really is excellent idea.  The kids love it and beg to reread a book from the basket on their own that I have already shared with the class.  (Whatever it takes to get them to love books works for ME!)  They are really good about only reading the ones we have shared.

Here are some of my favorite read alouds for January.

Martin's Big Words - By Doreen Rappaport

This is a MUST read!  The illustrations are amazing and the vocabulary is so rich!  We select unknown words as we read and make a list on chart paper.  Then we work in groups to come up with a definition that is kid friendly based on what is happening in the book.  I am lucky that for this book I actually have several copies so the kids can put them in their hands while I read!

Snowmen at Night - By Caralyn Buehner

We love this!  It is a favorite!  This is story is great for sequencing and prediction.  The kids get a big kick out of trying to name all of the different things that the snowmen do at night and then put them in the right order.  We do a writing prompt that is so much fun!  

Here is the prompt we use:

During Snowmen at Night the snowmen come to life and do some amazing things.  What do mailboxes do at night while we sleep?  How about your lunchbox?  Select an object that doesn't move and write a story about their crazy adventure at night while you sleep!  

The Missing Mitten Mystery - By Steven Kellogg

This is a book that we spend a few days working on!  We focus on what a mystery is.  I am always shocked at how many of the kids don't exactly know what a mystery is.  We focus on a bunch of different skills because the kids love this book.   We write about something that we lost and leave off the ending.  Then we pick a few to read to the class and the kids work in groups to make predictions of how they found their item.  It is a great reinforcer for making sure your story provides the reader with enough details.  This book is always a hit with the kids!

We work on identifying the beginning, middle, and end of the story.  We make this flip flap book.  Under the flaps the kids write in detail what happens during each section.  

We work on sequencing using this printable.  I just print them out and give the kids construction paper to cut and glue them into the correct order.  This is a great activity for partners.  Just click on the printable to see the whole packet of printables that go with this cute book.  

These are just a few of my favorites for January!  I hope one of them is something you can add to your collection.  

Happy TEACHING!

Easy Read-Aloud Ideas!

Do you love read-alouds as much as I do?  Each week we dive into a new book.  We read it, discuss it, and write all about it.

Here are some easy ideas to use with any book you are using!

Groundhog Gets a Say (Focusing on New Learning)

We loved this book!  If you haven't ever read it, you MUST!  It's a cute story about the day after Groundhog's Day, but it has LOTS and LOTS of facts you might have never heard about the groundhog.

We started out on Monday in small groups.  Each group wrote a sticky with one fact they all knew about the groundhog.  Then each day after we read the story, the same group got together and agreed on a new facts they learned in the book.  By the end of the week, we had a huge list of new learning that they used to write a paragraph to inform.

Here is a picture from Tuesday.  This was a great way for us to work together and discuss the book. Nothing but chart paper and a few sticky notes.  You could do this with so many different books!

Oddly enough the kids loved this chart so much that when we started a new chapter book on Abe Lincoln and they wanted to do it again.  So I quickly made one and without me saying a word they got into groups and brought me sticky notes!  This proved to be a great resource for the kids to use when we were writing about Lincoln last week.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and Alexander Who Used to be Rich on Sunday (Compare and Contrast)

This is a great pair to compare and contrast with.  Just draw a giant Venn Diagram and let the kids use sticky notes to write their ideas.

Comparing and contrasting two books by the same author is so much fun!  One of my groups of kids decided to compare and contrast Alexander as a character in the two books.  I've also done this with Ezra Jack Keats as an author study.  After we read several of his books I let the kids pick two of their favorites to compare and contrast.  We will be doing this next month, so I will be sure to get some good pictures to share.

The Plump and Perky Turkey (Sequencing)

Ok, I know not the right season, but this idea was a keeper!  After we read the book several times, we worked as a class to come up with important events in the story.  I took those events and wrote each one on a large piece of construction paper.  Each pair of kids worked to illustrate their event.  After we finished, the class had to use non-verbal communication to get all of the pieces to the story in the right order.  Not only is using non-verbal communication SUPER hard for second graders, getting all the events in the right order wasn't easy either.

This is another one that works with any book!  All you need is paper!

I hope you can use some of these easy ideas to add more fun to your weekly read-alouds!

Best Back to School Tips, Blog Hop, and Giveaway!

I've teamed up with some great TPT friends to blog about our favorite activities, organizational ideas, and teacher fun!

The best part is that each of us is giving away a $25 TPT Gift Certificate!  You can enter at the bottom of the blog post.  Lots of different ways to enter to win before the next big TPT Sale!

That first day of school is a whirlwind of CRAZINESS!  If everyone gets feed and home the right way it is a SUCCESS!

To get the kids settled for a few minutes and give me a chance to breathe, we make About Me Banners. When I first tried them I let the kids design them by themselves and it never seemed to turn out the way I had thought.  I always seemed to have one crying because they couldn't think of anything to write and another that had cut their banner into 1,000 tiny pieces.

Being the OCD teacher that I am, I created a template for them to use.  It has been a HUGE lifesaver for me.  I project it on my board and fill it out so they can get to know me a little better. Then I give everyone their copy and they go to work.

The banners look adorable in the hallway after the first day and are a favorite memory in our portfolios at the end of the year. The kids are always so amazed at how much better their handwriting is at the end of the year.

You can download this activity for FREE from my TPT store.  Just click on the picture.

My favorite classroom game is SKITTLE MATH!

State testing is just part of life....  like it or not!  So we do test prep all the time and for math we play a very simple game....

SKITTLE MATH!

Just use any test prep you have, dry erase boards, and Skittles!  Just project one question at a time and have the kids write their answers on their board.  Move around the room and check their work.  If they are right, they get a Skittle.  Because test prep has lots of different levels of questions, everyone gets a BUNCH right!

I made these fun jars this summer so that I didn't have to keep the Skittles in a ziplock bag this year. You can download the labels by clicking on the picture.

I hope your kiddos enjoy them!

TIME TO ENTER TO WIN!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can enter for the giveaway starting at 10 a.m. on July 27th.
The blog hop will end on August 1st at 11:59 p.m.
The WINNER will receive their $25 directly from me on August 2nd.

Want to enter to win more?

TIME TO HOP TO MY FRIEND!

Just click on the link and enter to win another $25 TPT Gift Certificate!

Happy Teaching!

Shopping for the new YEAR!

Like or not....  the new year is approaching.

Tomorrow I will get to return back to my room and begin setting up for the new year.

My teaching BBF and I have done some shopping and I don't think anything makes a teacher happier than new plastic book bins.  WE BOUGHT A TON!

Today I hit Cost Co and got a bunch of things to start the year off right.  Who doesn't love a pretty new pen?  I also decided to try a package of furniture pads to put on my student chairs.  I hate how fast the floor gets all messed up.  My son is helping me tomorrow and he will be so thrilled to get to put them on the bottom of the chairs.  All of this for less than $45...  Thank you Cost Co!

This summer my son had the honor to play for Team TN.  He spent time at the University of TN training in their amazing facility and then traveled to Kentucky to play at Western Kentucky University. He was treated to the full college football experience.  One of his favorite parts was staying in a hotel the night before the game.  The best for me was that several family members that haven't ever seen him play made the trip to Kentucky to see the game.

I'm a worried mom...  I admit it.  I wasn't willing to just drop Jackson off at University of TN and come back to Memphis.  We stayed in a hotel and attended as many practices and events as they let us.  So we had a lot of down time and my husband found some of the best teacher stores ever!

All of these books cost me less than $40!  I have a huge other stack that didn't make it into this picture.   McKays Used Book Store is a gem!  If you live anywhere near Nashville, Chattanooga, or Knoxville, you have to check it out.  Lots of books that are less than a $1!  The other amazing find was the Habitat for Humanity Thrift Store.  The books were 10 cents!  Yes, you read that one right!

TOTAL SCORE!

I have made myself a promise.  I am going to level my HUGE classroom library before the kids come back.  I've made book bin labels and laminated them.  I create stickers with the level number on them and have even done all the stickers for the books I bought over the summer.  Tomorrow I will begin to make this promise come to life!  Check back to see the pictures and a link to download all of the organization pieces.

Happy Teaching!

Reflection of 2015-16!

With only a few days left I began that ever so UNPOPULAR task of packing up my room.

As I was taking things down and packing boxes I started to think about what went right this year and what went WRONG!

First the RIGHTS....

I did much better organizing things this year!  Everything had a place and I threw anything away that I didn't use in the last year!  HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT!

We did MUCH more writing.  We wrote every single day about the books we read and what we were doing in math.  I could see huge progress in their writing skills as we put the finishing touches on our writing portfolios.

Some of my favorite writing prompts....

Pick a character in the story.  What did you like about him/her?  Is there anything you would change?

What was the BEST thing we did today?  (or if it was Friday - this week?)

How can you solve this math problem?

What is something that you are wondering about?

What is something that you are noticing about your learning?

I created a Focus Wall.  Each week I hung 2 anchor charts that highlighted our BIG skills for the week.
It really helped the kids focus on learning the skill and they referred to the chart during our lessons.  I used a big bulletin board - covered it with fabric and border.  Above it I made the words - Focus Skills...  And that was it.  I didn't get a good picture before I took the room down, but I will be sure to get one for my class reveal.

We focused on understanding numbers in depth!  This was a goal for me.  We worked every morning on ripping a number apart.  It was a random number each day, but we worked it over with fact families, place value, number lines, arrays, and writing story problems with it.  I can tell that it made a difference when I listened to our last math task of the year.  The way the discussed their ideas and the use of so many different strategies let me know it was time well spent.  We used my Number of Day packets and the only thing I am going to change is that I'm going to make them over the summer this year so that I don't have to make them each grading period.  Anything to save time during the year.

My school is HUGE into AR.  I did terrible with it in the past, so it was a goal this year.  We kept track of our progress on our board and moved our pieces every Friday.  We did AMAZING!  So much improvement over my past years kiddos.  We had a BUNCH that made it to 100 POINT CLUB!  I haven't had any in years....  HAPPY TEACHER!

Point values to 300!  

 A sweet buyer asked to points from 1 to 10 to help her lower kiddos.  I'm going to add these to my board next year so they can move a little faster.  

We built a better sense of community.  These kids really do care about each other.  One of my kiddos has been with me for two years.  It was hard to say goodbye to all of them, but especially hard to say goodbye to him.  He has made so much progress over these two years and I will truly miss his sweet little face each morning.  Something tells me that he will sneak down our hall every now and again!

Now for the WRONGS!

I didn't use the Remind program this year.  I wanted to try good old email....  EPIC FAIL!  If you haven't used Remind yet, sign yourself up now!  Texting parents reminders is so much easier than running to the computer and sending an email that you hope they read.

Remind

Log in Sign up

Reach students and parents where they are.

Send quick, simple messages to any device—for free.

Sign upSEE HOW IT WORKS >

My class library was a DISASTER!  I've already begun researching some new ideas and when we go back it will be organized leveled and BEAUTIFUL!  I'm going to divide it into leveled bins.  On each book I am going to put the AR quiz number, level, and a colored sticker to keep them organized.  I can't wait to post the pictures.

My biggest wrong....  enjoy the kids even more!  It is so easy to get caught up in paperwork, curriculum maps, and all the crazy stuff that you forget why we do what we do.  We love kids!  We care about our kids!  We want the best for them.  So my number #1 goal.....  enjoy my kiddos even more!

I hope everyone is enjoying SUMMER VACATION!  Time to recharge and get ready for the best year ever!

Happy Teaching!

St. Patrick's Day!

I can't believe that it is already the middle of March.  Only one week until spring break!

Here is a little taste of what we are doing this week!

Today we read There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover!  This is part of series of books that we have read throughout the year.  The kids are familiar with the format and were so excited when they saw it in the book basket.

After we read the book we worked in groups to see if we could recall all the things she ate and put them in the right order.  We have done this type of activity with all the books, except this was the first time they didn't have retelling cards.  They had to make them up themselves.

Each group had a stack of large index cards and went to work.

Once the group had all of their cards done, they sorted them into the right order.

Then, we came back and reread the book again to see if they had them in the correct order.  I am happy to report that 5 out of 6 groups had them right!  We were all so excited!

We glued the cards onto sentence strips so we could hang them up!  The kids were so proud of their work.  When we do projects like these I like to have them do some reflecting.  Not only on their work, but comparing it to what others came up with.  It really helps them improve their ideas and creativity.  Some groups numbered their cards, while some added backgrounds, and one drew a picture of the Old Lady.  

Being good during the week before spring break is hard....  even for me!  So to help use remember to do our best we have a daily contest.  Each morning a new friend at the table gets to be keeper of the group's bucket.  We earn coins all day long for staying on task, being kind, answering tough questions with correct or thoughtful answers, and everything else that makes a happy classroom.  At the end of the day each table counts up their money.  The table with the most money gets a treat from the candy jar!  The only thing is they better be sure they have counted correctly.  If they tell me an incorrect amount their group is disqualified.  It is great for reviewing coins and makes them work so hard to earn them. If your kiddos are having a tough time this week, you might want to give it a try.

This is the BIG WINNER for today!

We usually have time for a game of SCOOT on Tuesdays.  This week we will be reviewing time with this little packet called What Time is it Mr. Leprechaun?

   

It focuses on telling time to the 5 minutes and is something we can always use more practice with.  It has 20 game cards and answer sheet.

SCOOT might be my most FAVORITE game of all time!  It is super easy.  Just post the task cards around the room and the kids move from card to card and write their answers on their answer sheet. SO MUCH FUN!  It gets them up and moving.

We are also doing a little work care of the Easter Bunny!

Like it or not, state testing is right around the corner.  So I try to hit at least 5 tested skills during the week for review.  We will become "Editing EGGSberts" by editing some Easter themed sentences to practice capitals, dates, and commas.

I'm also still "a work in progress" with organizing my classroom.  Every time I think I'm finished something else catches my eye and start moving things again.  Here is the best way I found to keep all my anchor charts organized.

I attach them to hangers with binder clips.  I can usually put 2 or 3 on each hanger.

One $12 clothes rack from Walmart holds all my hangers.  The best part is when someone needs a refresher or we are reviewing, I can quickly pull the chart off the hanger.  Easy as PIE!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Teaching!

Inference and Arrays!

Hi Everyone!

Our big skills this week are arrays and making inferences.

We started out this morning looking at the title page for A Quilt Story.  We made a list of all of the things we thought about this picture.  Of course the first thing to tackle was the number of kids that didn't know what a quilt was.  It was all blankets to them!  So we had some fun talking about background knowledge.

We read over this anchor chart.  We talked about lots of examples and they really impressed me.

We worked on looking at real pictures and making a list of the
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?

Then we compared ideas and together wrote a sentence to infer what was happening in the picture.  We only got two pictures done today, but it is a step in the right direction.  RIGHT? That is what I'm telling myself.

We are also working on arrays this week.  It might be one of my favorite skills to teach.  Last week we partitioned rectangles and I introduced repeated addition, so this skill is a BREEZE!

They feel so grown up now that they can multiply.  We worked strictly on white boards today. Tomorrow we are going to break out some stickers and make some fun projects to practice our arrays.

This is the anchor chart we made together after we practiced some problems.  With a little bit of help from me, the kids were able to come up with most of this themselves. I let each of them put one of the colored stickers on.  It's the little things that make them happy!

I have an open bulletin board right now.  That in itself is SHOCKING!  So I decided for the next few weeks to put the anchor charts for our weekly skills up on it.  This way I can showcase some of the amazing work that the kids do.  A little recognition for a job well done!

If you haven't heard TPT is having another SALE!  I'm having a sale, as are most TPT sellers, so get all those items off your WISH LIST!  I can't wait!  I have so many things on my wish list and I love to get them on sale.  Here is the code!  Happy Shopping!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Teaching!

Thanksgiving FUN!

We only have 2 days of school this week!  Monday and Tuesday!

We are going to have some Thanksgiving fun these two days!

We have been reading a bunch of read alouds for Thanksgiving this month.  

We laughed and laughed over the Plump and Perky Turkey.  If you don't have this one, please add it to your collection!

Not only did they not have a clue what shredded wheat was, but they got the biggest kick out of the modeling posters in the book.  We each grabbed a partner and they picked out their favorite part of the story.  They used manila paper and wrote about it and of course included a picture.  After they were finished, I read the book again and we sequenced all of their masterpieces!  What a great activity for them.  We had a few people out of place, but worked together to get everyone in the right one.

We are almost finished reading Thanksgiving on Thursday by Mary Pope Osborne.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE this chapter book.  I am lucky and have a class set and we have been reading it over the last few days.  The kids are totally engaged in it.  They have been writing down little Thanksgiving facts on paper just like Jack does in the book.  I have just loved watching them get into this book so much.

We only have one more chapter left and then we will be doing some writing activities. This packet has 4 different options for writing.  I'm going to let the kids pick which one they want to do.  It is amazing how much harder they work if it is student choice!

Here are 2 of the writing choices.  It has 4 for the kids to pick from.

Here is a sample of the pages in the packet.

For math we have been working on 2 and 3 digit addition and subtraction.  This week we are going to work in groups to write Thanksgiving word problems.  We are going to divide into groups of 4 and brainstorm some ideas and write up some problems on Monday.  On Tuesday, the groups are to pick their favorite one to put on chart paper and present to class to solve.

We are also going to make this adorable booklet about turkeys.  It focuses on reading and text evidence.  It also includes having them write a paragraph to inform.  We are still very much in the early stages of paragraph writing, so we might have to do that part as a class.  Can't wait to make these with the kids!

I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL and SAFE Thanksgiving!

Enjoy every moment!

No Copies! No Copies! Yes, it can be done!

Copies....  that machine is a pain!  One day last year I needed to run off comprehension questions for a  novel we were reading and we had no paper.

PANIC!

I didn't want to put the lesson off, so I just projected the questions on my board and No Copies Reading Instruction was born!

I was in LOVE!  And best of all so are the kids!

Let's face it, every time the kids turn around we are handing them a worksheet.  NO MORE!

Over the last few months, I have turned my favorite novels into projectable pdf files and I wish I would have done it sooner.

We read chapter books in the morning for early bird, along with Number of the Day.

I project this page, so the kids remember which chapter we are one.  I like to give them something to think about while they read.  We use this question to start our discussion about the chapter.  First, they use their Turn and Talk partner to discuss it.  Then, we talk as a big group.

Here is what those slides looks like.  This is one from a Flat Stanley chapter book.

I try to tie some text-to-self into these as much as I can.  This is one from a Magic Tree House book.

Then we move into the chapter questions.  We work through these as a class.  If I need to take a reading grade, I might ask the kids to pick one or two of the questions and write their answers out. This is a great way to incorporate student choice into your instruction.

Here are some of the question slides.

This is from Muggie Maggie.  It is a must read for any kid starting to write in cursive!

This is from a chapter in one of my favorite Stink chapter books.  

When we finish the book, we WRITE, WRITE, and WRITE some more!  No need to run off writing prompts, they are just part of the pdf.  The kids write on regular notebook paper.  We might do one as a think aloud or as a group.  I always have two or 3 choices, so I lots of pick from.

I've seen HUGE growth in reading.  I truly attribute it to this practice.  The kids are so much more engaged now that reading isn't about a bunch of paper.

Since this was so successful, I've kind of adopted this practice for math as well.  We do a lot of practice on white boards and notebook paper.

I just finished making a lesson to teach word problems with adding to 100.

I think what I really love about this approach is that I am not tied to my board writing.  I can use my clicker and walk around the room and have a conversation with the kids.  It is great because I included talking points, so I don't forget any important things I want the kids to know.  I am able to gage their learning because I'm watching them work the problems and can give them more 1-on-1 help as I walk around.

I hope everyone is having a great week!

My challenge for you....
Find something to use next week that doesn't require copies.  Make a powerpoint (or buy one - Ha Ha!) and see if it makes your instruction stronger and your kids more engaged.  I bet it will!

Happy teaching!