Welcome June!

It's SUMMER time EVERYONE!

Time to relax and enjoy some fun!

Time to reflect, get organized for next year, and make some goals!

Goal #1
Do a book study with my teacher friends!

THE WILD CARD!!!!
My book has been ordered and the Amazon man should be bringing it Monday!
I'm so excited to read this book!  Everyone that has read it says it is a GAME CHANGER!

Goal #2
Clean out my closet!  That one is on hold....  I just can't!

Goal #3
Organize all of my task cards and cute things I've bought on TPT into tubs by months.  The giant pile has been moved from the garage to my dining room.More about that later this week!

Goal #4
Get back to blogging!  I'm not sure exactly why I stopped but I'm back at it!

To celebrate the month of June I'm picking some of my favorite things to share with you!  They will be discounted for the week or something might be free for a day or two!  Check back often so you don't miss a DEAL!

Today's favorite thing for this week is my teacher planner!  Here is a picture of last year's version.  It has an editable file so that you can customize it.  Printing new covers is on my TO DO list for tomorrow.  You can snag a new teacher binder for only $4.50 all week long!  Just click on a picture to see more details of the binders.  

What I love about my binder is that I can keep everything from student contact information, parent conference forms, long range plans, to a log of all my passwords in one binder.  It even has a section to keep important dates/sessions to use for your professionalism.  

At the end of the day I only have to take the binder home with me!  

Everything I might need is right in there!

Over the different years I've wanted a new binder theme, so I have lots of different themes!

 A Safari Theme!

Polka Dot Kids!

Planning for next year already?  Looking for something to use in a center?

I'm in love with CLIP IT CARDS and have been making a bunch for next year.  As a thank you for visiting my blog tonight, you can download these adorable Clip It Cards for Free!  It will be a FLASH FREEBIE for the next 24 hours, so download it QUICK!  

I hope everyone is enjoying their SUMMER break or if you haven't made it to summer break yet I hope it comes soon!

Enjoy every minute!

Happy Teaching!

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!

Start 2018 Off Writing Some RESOLUTIONS!

Today I started working on my plans for January!  Each year I try SUPER HARD to get ORGANIZED!    Making lists and planning some fun ways to get back in the swing when we get back.  

I always like to start off with having the kids do some writing about their New Year resolutions.  I am always amazed at the number of kids that have no idea what a resolution is.  We talk about how they are like goals that we set for ourselves.  Once they learn how to use the word, they try so hard to get that "BIG" word in every sentence they can. 

We are going to start out by focusing on some resolutions for school and some for home.   We brainstorm and make some lists of things we might want to consider.  Then we WRITE, EDIT, and SHARE!  After we do that we publish our writing on some fun paper!  (You can get it below for FREE!). Once we finish our writing we hang them in the hall.  When we take them down, we put them in our writing portfolios.  I like to have the kids bring them out at the end of grading period to see how we are doing on meeting those resolutions.  

I keep all of the kids writing and projects in portfolios.  We used manila folders that we decorated.  I put them in a giant plastic tub.  As we complete things to put in them, I just drop the stack of papers in the tub.  About once a month, we get them out and look at them.  I have a few kids pass out the things that haven't been put into the folders yet, while they talk with their table about how much progress they have made.  At the end of the year, we take them home.  It's a really great way to end the year and the kids have something special to take home.  If you haven't start portfolios for your kiddos yet, it is never to late!  You can do one starting in 2018!    

My New Year writing paper just had a revamp and best of all it is a FREEBIE!  Click on the picture to download the file so that you can get a jump start on your plans.  The paper comes in lots of options!  You can pick the size of lines you want and also in color or printer friendly!  I like to print a bunch of the different color options off (thanks to HP Instant Ink of course!) and let the kids pick which one they want.

I hope everyone is getting themselves organized for 2018...  THE BEST YEAR EVER!

Give Task Cards a Try and a Gift Card Drawing!

YES!!!!  It is finally here!  The annual TPT Cyber Sale! 

November 27th and 28th!

Save up to 25%!!!!!!

Want to win some TPT cash?  

Just click on the picture below to visit my Facebook page to enter!  

One winner will be drawn Nov. 27th at 9:00 p.m.!

Tasks cards....  where have you been all my teaching life?  Better yet...  all my life!  I know that I would have loved them as a student.

My kids and I use task cards all of the time.  We use them for both math and ELA.  Sometimes I use them as a pretest to see where the kids are and then we do the set again to see the GROWTH!

Task cards are great to play a game of SCOOT!  Scoot is super easy and keeps the kids engaged!  Just print out a set of task cards and hang them all over the room.  Sometimes I hang them in order and sometimes I don't.  Assign each student a card to start at.  Once we start, they read the card, record their answer on their sheet, and wait for the bell.  I use a bell sound on my phone to signal for them to move to the next card.  You can also say "SCOOT" or use any ringtone that you have.   Everyone moves from card to card around the room.

If two kids are at the card at the same time, no problem.  Some of the kids work a little slower and it is perfectly OK with me for them to take their time and do their BEST WORK!  The task card in this picture is in orange.  I print a lot of the task cards on colored copy paper to save ink. 

For a little variety, sometimes I just project the cards on my board. 

We use dry erase markers and write our answers on white boards.  I really like this way because I can walk around and see really quick who has the correct answers and who needs more help!

If you haven't given task cards a try yet, why not give it a shot!

Once you try them, I PROMISE you will be hooked and so will your kids!  I can't even explain how excited they are when they come in and see the cards hung around the room!  Are we playing this morning?  I must get asked that a million times!  They are so quiet when we play and you can see the engagement in their eyes!  Makes a teacher's heart HAPPY!  

We also use them in centers and for extra practice.  Just put the cards in a baggie or folder and the kids can practice them with a partner.  I even send them home with different kids from time to time.  

Still not sure?  Will you try it for FREE?  Download one of my freebies and see what you think?  I know you and your kiddos will love task cards as much as we do!

Just click on the picture below to go to my TPT store and download them for FREE!

If you love them, please leave me a blog comment below or feedback on TPT.  A Valentine freebie set is in the works, so check back soon!

Happy Teaching!