Go Fourth! With Mrs. Owens

Author Study Unit!

2012-02-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

I have been very busy the last few days working on an author study unit. Since February is Black History Month, I am doing an author study of African American authors. The authors we are focusing on are Angela Johnson and Faith Ringgold. There were so many to choose from, but I decided on Angela Johnson because of her African American & family themes, plus she is an Ohioan! Faith Ringgold was a given for me because I am just in love with her books and illustrations! I have posted my first Angela Johnson author study in my Teacher's Notebook shop. The first is a week-long unit using the books The Leaving Morning, When I Am Old With You, and Tell Me A Story, Mama. I will be posting another unit soon using some of Angela Johnson's historical fiction books. Lastly, I will post my Faith Ringgold unit. The Ringgold unit will be available in two weeks.

This is the first author study that I will be doing in my classroom. I did a mini-author study on Eve Bunting last year, but not to the extend that I am doing with my African American author study. With the first Johnson author study, we are going to focus on common themes, making connections, point of view, and author's craft. I love how this unit has shaped up and I am excited to begin on Monday. If you are interested in purchasing this unit, please visit my Teacher's Notebook shop!

What author studies have you done in the past? I am excited to create more units in the future!

Celebrating Dr. King

2012-01-16T17:38:00.000-08:00

I'm sure like all of you, I was required to take a speech class in college. On the first day, after reviewing the syllabus, our professor showed us a video of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. I had heard this speech before, and knew what Martin Luther King stood for, and knew a little about his life, but I had no idea the magnitude of this speech. There was just something about watching the clip of that speech that resonated with me. It was so powerful. And so well written. And so eloquently spoken. By the end of the speech, I was fighting back tears. As a white woman living in a suburban town in the midwest, I see so much of Dr. King's dream coming true. I'm sure there are African Americans who disagree with me, as they see racist and prejudice in their daily lives that I do not. But there is no doubt that America is in a better place than it was 50 years ago.

My students, like me in college, do not understand the powerful message Dr. King fought for. They will not understand, I believe, until they are much older. It is unfathomable to them that black boys and girls had to go to different schools, drink from different water fountains, and swim in different pools. I wanted to find a book to at least try to get them to understand.

I found My Dream of Martin Luther King by Faith Ringgold. First of all, the illustrations in this book are amazing. I was not familiar with author/illustrator Faith Ringgold before. After reading this book a few times, I instantly wanted to run out and buy every single book she has written and illustrated. This book walks you through the story of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement through the narrator's dream. It starts off and ends with people trading in bags of racism, prejudice, and ignorance for bags of tolerance and hope. This is a great picture book for middle grades, because not only do you get a great story with great illustrations, but it is also a great book to teach about symbolism.

If this book does not exist in your classroom library, type your way over to Amazon as fast as you can!

Happy Birthday, Dr. King.

A Day in My Shoes-Linky Party!

2012-01-14T17:58:00.000-08:00

I'm linking up with Adventures of a 6th Grade Teacher on her first linky party!

This is a fun one!

Here is what a general day in my shoes is like:

6:00-6:30-Wake up. Depending on how cold it is outside, whether or not I showered the night before or need to do it in the morning, or just the day determines the time!

6:30-7:15-Get dressed, hair, makeup, breakfast, pack lunch, check e-mail and Facebook (which is how I get the news!)

7:15-7:30-Wake up the boy, get him out of his diaper (He's potty trained except when he's sleeping-yay!), maybe get him dressed, maybe not, fix him his milk and pack his bag. I always forget his shoes. Always. Good thing the sitter keeps a pair that fits him in case they go outside.

7:45-Drop the boy off at the sitters. He's been going there since he was 6 weeks old and they're pretty much a second family to him, so drop off time is quite easy. Actually, most days he wakes up yelling "IwannagotoCari'shouse"

7:45-8:00-Drive to school. Listen to The Morning Zoo on the way in. That's how I get my celebrity news.

8:00-8:45-Sharpen pencils (if I have a sharpener that is working, otherwise I wait on my co-teacher to do it with hers!), get the morning message ready, get caught up on grading, copy papers if necessary, fill out discipline referrals and/or quiet room forms if needed, etc. On Thursdays, I plan with my co-teachers and on Fridays I'm in a book study for Teach Like a Champion.

8:50-9:15-Welcome my lovelies into the room. I used to do check-in at my desk, it's worked wonderfully for 4 years, but my group cannot handle it this year. At about 9:10 or so I started walking around to the students to check-in their homework and it has worked out so much better! While I'm doing check-in, the students are working on their Daily Language, getting new books, or reading.

9:20-10:00-Specials for the students. My planning time. I've always had a morning planning and I love it. Twice a month we have Teacher Based Team (TBT) meetings.

10:00-12:00-Reading & Language Arts with my homeroom class. This is an inclusion class and my awesome teaching buddy is my co-teacher. She and I have pushed to do inclusion together for about 4 years and this is the first year that schedules have worked out. We both love it. And all the students are thriving. We went to a PD, which I posted about here in May, which was excellent, but there was definitely a learning curve and it will be even more successful next year!

12:00-12:45-Lunch/Duty. My 30 minute lunch time depends on the week. If I have lunch duty, it is from 12:00-12:15 and I eat after that. If I have recess duty, I eat first, then have duty from 12:30-12:45. If I have no duties (every third week), I get an entire 45 minutes for lunch! We used to have hour lunch every third week, but we gave that up about midway through last year. Yes, it was OUR idea! Our students had a 30 minute lunch and 30 minute recess and we just felt like it was too much! 45 minutes is plenty. They can stay in the cafeteria for 30 minutes if they want to, but they have to have 15 minutes for recess. If they get done eating within the first 15 minutes of lunch, they can have 30 minutes for recess. It's great.

12:45-1:15-My homeroom class comes back to me and we usually do a read aloud, get our things ready for Math & Science or Social Studies, and take a restroom break.

1:15-Switch classes.

1:15-3:20-Reading with my afternoon class. I usually do the same thing in the afternoon as I do in the morning. I also have a co-teacher in the afternoon who we are calling a Reading Intervention teacher, but she works with the "bubble" kids. You all know what I mean. Not special education, but not on grade level either. We are so lucky to be the only building in our district to have this program. She works with the other fourth grade class in the morning.

3:20-3:40-Switch back. Students fill out and I sign agendas. I also give out stickers to students who didn't get any behavior checkmarks for the day. I blogged about our behavior plan here. Bussers begin getting dismissed around 3:30 and walkers are dismissed at 3:40.

3:40-4:15-Clean up. My desk is a crazy mess of papers by the end of the day. Then, I usually waste a lot of time talking with my teacher-friends. I'm outta there by 4:15 most days unless I have journals to grade that I don't want to take home.

4:15-4:30-Drive home.

4:30-Pick up the boy if my hubby's not home. Get ready for dinner. If he's home, he cooks. If he's traveling, I do. Only out of necessity.

5:30-6:00-Dinner.

6:00-7:15-play!!! I instituted a no TV on weeknight rule for myself and the boy and we almost always follow it. We play a lot instead. Superheroes. Dinosaurs. Superheroes & Dinosaurs. If I'm lucky, we get to play play-dough.

7:15-8:00-Bath time, story time, bed time for the boy. What books do we read? Books about Superheroes. Or Dinosaurs. Or books about Superheroes & Dinosaurs. Yes, there is a book called "T-Rex Trouble" where the Superfriends save Metropolis from a T-Rex, Pteranodon, and Triceratops. The boy can read it. (I know, I know, he just memorized the words, but isn't that what "My Baby Can Read Is"? It's much cooler to say my baby can READ this book!)

8:00-9:30-Clean up, get on the computer, maybe break the TV rule, read, etc. Workout if I feel like it. Shower. Crash.

My days seem to go a lot quicker than the length of this post. I'm sure I've completely bored all of you. I guess a day in my shoes is really not all that exciting. But, the linky party is a fun one, so link up!!

Currently I Am...& Linky Party

2012-01-08T23:00:00.000-08:00

Farley's blog has reached over 1000 followers and she's giving away two awesome pencil sharpeners! The only thing you have to do is join her linky party! Isn't that awesome? You don't have to follow this, follow that, jump through hoops, give blood, etc.

Just join her 'Currently' linky party!

Here's mine...

Link up at Oh Boy Fourth Grade to get your shot at the prize!

Word Work Freebie!

2012-01-08T18:03:00.000-08:00

After re-launching the Daily 5 and word work last week, I realized I needed to come up with more word work activities for my students to do. They don't get that many choices in a week, but I want to make sure I keep things fresh for them. Today I came up with a Valentine's Day Prefix-Suffix-Root match game. I'm posting it for sale on my Teacher's Notebook shop, but I wanted to offer part of it up as a freebie to my faithful followers!

click image to download freebie

In the freebie, there are 12 broken hearts, six prefixes & roots and six suffixes & roots and a sheet for students to record their answers. The teacher (or a volunteer if you're one of the lucky ones!) would cut apart the broken hearts and the students are to match the prefix or suffix to the correct root word. If you like the freebie, please consider making my shop one of your "favorites"!

The full version, which is only $2.50, offers 48 broken hearts, 24 prefixes & roots and 24 suffixes & roots.

Enjoy!

New Item at Teacher's Notebook!

2012-01-06T16:38:00.000-08:00

I've been working on making some word ladders for my students to do during Daily 5-word work. I've finally finished enough to make it a package! I have posted my same vowel word families word ladder package on my Teacher's Notebook store. This is designed for spelling and vocabulary growth for my letter name stage spellers. I'm working on some more for my within word spellers.

Here is a little preview:

Hope everyone had a great Friday! I was stuck in a technology meeting all day. Believe it or not, I would've much rather been at school! On the plus side, I got out a little early and was able to go over to Half Price Books. I've been borrowing a friend's Harry Potter books and I just finished The Goblet of Fire. I have become addicted and decided I needed my own copies! I got all seven books in hard back and five other books on my Good Reads list for $60! I felt like I got a steal! Is anyone else obsessed with Good Reads like I am? I've got 34 books on my To-Read shelf!

Have a great weekend!

Daily 5 Choice Boards-Intermediate Style

2012-01-05T16:54:00.000-08:00

In fourth grade, I do not do a choice board for Daily 5. I really don't have the space or the time. In the past, I have always just verbally asked students for their choices and recorded them on my clipboard. It doesn't take too much time if they are quiet and prepared to give me their choice. At this point in the year, if they can't tell me their choice when I call their name, they get skipped. If they don't get the choice they wanted, tough. Yeah, I'm a hard a$$ like that. Just kidding. This year I have decided to introduce something new. I'm calling it a choice board, but it's not really. I guess I just don't have another creative name for it.

At the top, I have written 'Why? To become better readers, writers, and spellers.' If you've read the Daily 5 book, you will know this as our "sense of urgency." This is really a motto in my classroom. My school is an OIP school (Ohio Improvement Process-or something like that) and we have done Marzano training. We have classroom walk-throughs in which data is collected on the Marzano strategies that are being used in the classroom. One of the strategies is Setting Objectives. During the classroom walk-throughs, the data collector is to ask a student if they know the goal of the lesson. If a walk-through takes place during Daily 5, my students almost always answer "To become better readers, writers, and spellers." It's not because I've told them what to say, they just know that is why we do Daily 5.

On average, I usually only get to do two daily 5 choices each day. My mini-lessons are not quite so mini, and my schedule really only allows for two choices. You will see I have columns for two choices and two efforts. Last year, I started recording students' efforts during Daily 5 (Another Marzano strategy!). We created a rubric together (Marzano!) and I've used it ever since. Well, my students this year think we created it together too, but it's really the same one. Shh...don't tell! My students are usually very good about being truthful with their effort. It only takes a few times at the beginning of the year to call a student out on his/her true effort and they learn...yeah, that thing I said I was at the top. I know. On this new "choice board" or whatever fancy name you want to call it, I have also given the effort rubric. So, each day, students are going to record their choices and their efforts. At the bottom, I listed the choices and priorities. I give my students a week to complete their weekly word work packet and some were still not turning it in. It is now listed as a priority. You must show me your completed packet before you can do anything fun. I know...again. My students must also do Read to Self at least once a day. The only exception to this is if they are in guided reading group during one of the choices.

Students will keep this in their literacy binders and turn in every Friday. My hope is that they will be more aware of the choices they are making and the effort they are putting forth. If you want a copy of this, just click the image and you can download it from Google Docs. Oh, and now that it's driving me crazy, who has a fancy schmancy name for this choice board?

Found Poetry

2012-01-03T19:10:00.000-08:00

Have you heard of it?

I hadn't until just a few weeks ago. My teaching buddy/inclusion teacher is taking a master's course right now and had an assignment to create a found poem. Her instructor is doing her entire doctoral thesis on it!

A found poem is where you borrow, or "rent" an author's words from a song, poem, or book, and create your own poem. The awesome thing about found poetry is that there are no rules. It doesn't have to rhyme. It doesn't have to have a certain number of words per line or lines per stanza. Your found poem can be anything you want it to be!

We broke down found poetry into 3 easy steps:
1.) Read the book, song, or poem.
2.) Tune into interesting words or phrases that you find in your text.
3.) Rearrange, add, delete the words that you rented from the author and make your own found poem.

We did our Found Poetry unit before break, but I am just now getting around to posting this. You will notice our unit has a Christmas/Holiday theme, but we are planning on doing it again later in the year using different books without a theme.

I posted before Christmas about finding similes and metaphors in the Grinch song. In keeping with the same theme, on day one, we started our found poetry lesson by using this song as well. We passed out the words and played the song for the students once again. We instructed them to really tune into any interesting words or phrases they heard or saw. (A CAFE strategy, too!) Next, we listed the words on the Smart Board. The final step is to rearrange the words or phrases into your own found poem. The Smart Board is an awesome tool for this, because you can easily manipulate the words and move them around as you like.

On day two, we used the book The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg. Who doesn't LOVE this book?

First, my awesome co-teacher read the book aloud to the students. We also provided the students with printed copies of the text so they could underline words and phrases they found interesting.

Next, we divided the class into groups of four to five. The students then worked together to create their own found poem from the book.

We also talked about giving the poems a direction. We debated back and forth about whether or not we wanted to do this. We told them there was no right or wrong way and that we wanted them to be creative, so we kind of wanted to see where the poems were going before having this mini-lesson. I think it worked out in the end, though some groups were certainly on their way without the lesson.

I thought I took more pictures of the students' group poems, but I can only find this one. If you would like to see more examples of the student work, let me know and I will post some tomorrow. This group named their poem "Pink Lion Express". My class has four "teams" and this particular group's team name is the Pink Lions.

One thing we found while students were working on their group poems was that they were wanting to create whole sentences instead of short phrases. The next day, we decided to create our own found poems to not only demonstrate the format of the poems, but to also show how different our poems can be even when using the same book.

On day three/four of the found poetry unit, the students created found poems from randomly selected Christmas/holiday books that we checked out from the library. Most students did this in partners, though some chose to work on their own. They did such a great job!

Remember that phrase we learned in college, gradual release of responsibility? Yeah, that was extremely necessary in this process, but totally worth it. The students even asked if they could add that to their "Things to Write" poster that we created at the beginning of the year for Work on Writing.

If I haven't bored you and you're still reading (because I know this was a super long post...), I hope that I've been able to tell you about something new that your students will love!

A New Year-Re-Launching Daily 5!

2012-01-01T09:46:00.000-08:00

I hope 2011 has left everyone with great memories and 2012 will provide us with many more. On this New Year's Day, I have sat down to do lesson plans. Yes, reality has hit me that I do go back to school on Tuesday. I have avoided anything that resembles school work like the plague since I left on the 20th. Well, that's not true. I have been reading. A lot. I read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Unwanteds, started reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and am listening to a book called Ghetto Cowboy. Reviews & recommendations on The Unwanteds and Ghetto Cowboy coming soon!

Anyone who started Daily 5 at the beginning of the school year may have seen some of those awesome behaviors start to slack off right before winter break. I certainly did. Returning from a long break, it is extremely important to do a re-launch of Daily 5. I am dedicating the entire week to it. Just as it's important to take your time during the initial launch, it is soooo worth it in the long run to take your time when relaunching after a break.

Here is what my re-launch will look like:

Each day is dedicated to a different Daily 5 choice. We don't do Listen to Reading.

Day One-Review good fit books. Do a mini-lesson using weights. Give time to make book choices and checking that books are a good fit. Review the Read to Self I-Chart, practice check for understanding and 3 ways to read a book. Correct & incorrect model and practice building stamina for read to self.

Day Two-Work on Writing. The first mini-lesson will be a review of the weekly journals students are expected to turn in. This is their first priority when working on writing. Review Work on Writing I-Chart, Correct & Incorrect model, and practice building stamina. The second mini-lesson we will review, modify, add to our ideas of things to write about. Students will record the list and keep in their notebooks.

Day Three-Read to Someone. We will review the I-Chart, EEKK, Checking for Understanding, and How to Choose a Partner. We will then correct & incorrect model, then practice building stamina.

Day Four-Word Work. Review the I-Chart and their word work packets, which is their first priority when they choose word work. We will then review & discuss other word work activities and materials.

How are other classrooms doing with Daily 5 this year? I would love for you to comment!

Linking Up- 11 in '11

2011-12-28T18:02:00.000-08:00

Hadar @ Miss Kindergarten and Kristin @ A Teeny Tiny Teacher are having a linky party! Since I don't get to partyin' much these days, I thought I'd join in the fun!

11. Favorite Movie You WatchedWe don't get out to the movies much anymore, but a last minute tagalong with my friend and her teenage daughter to see Footloose turned out to be the best movie I saw in 2011! I will say The Help was a VERY close second. Even the hubby liked that one.

10. Favorite TV Series

First, let me say that I have a serious TV addiction. I love reality shows-Real Housewives, Big Brother, and yes, I still watch The Real World-don't judge. I love the dramas-Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Harry's Law, Parenthood. But, I love to laugh. There are just not enough comedies on TV anymore! I love The Office. And yes, it is just as good without Michael Scott. Actually, James Spader is freakin' hilarious on the show. I have also just discovered How I Met Your Mother. I know, I'm about 6 years too late, but I had this thing about CBS shows for a while. I hated them all, and my prejudice kept me from enjoying one of the funniest shows on TV since Friends and everyone who knows me has heard me say, "There is a Friends reference for every situation in life."

9. Favorite RestaurantI live in Columbus, Ohio-the world of Wendy's and White Castles. Not many options for eating out on a teacher's salary. For the special occasions, the hubby and I love going to The Melting Pot. Cheese & Chocolate Fondue? Yes, please!

Since I tend to spend a lot of time in Florida, too, I have to give a shout out to Raglan Road in Orlando at Downtown Disney. My sis & her husband both work there, and it is such a fun, authentic, Irish restaurant. Everything in the restaurant is imported from Ireland, including the band and the dancers! And the Bread Pudding is to die for.

8. Favorite New Thing You TriedTraveling alone with my son. My sis called me a few weeks before her wedding and asked if I would come help her with the plans. I happened to have a four day weekend and traveled to Orlando with my two year old. It was very empowering to know that I could do it by myself!

My son on the plane!

7. Favorite Gift You ReceivedIn the year 2011-my iPad! Love, love, love it. Everyone should own one. For Christmas-my Cricut. I've always kinda wanted one, but never wanted to buy one for myself. My mom and sister bought me one for Christmas. I didn't even ask for it!
6. Favorite Thing You PinnedBesides all the yummy recipes? Probably this post-it note holder. It's probably the only thing I've pinned that I've actually done. I made these for some of my co-workers for Christmas. I wish I had my Cricut at the time!
5. Favorite Blog PostI don't really have a favorite, so I'll go with the one with the most # of page views, which was part of my Daily 5 series, regarding Anchor Charts & Focus Lessons. I'm not sure why it was so popular, but I'm glad I was able to offer my experience and advice to so many people. I love the Daily 5!
4. Favorite AccomplishmentProbably finally achieving the balance of school & home. I still take papers home to grade on the weekends, but not nearly the amount that I used to. I still go into work about 45 minutes early, but I leave only about 15 minutes later than I can. I learned to say NO and remove myself from committees. Do I still feel guilty about it? Yes. But, I know I would feel much guiltier looking back at these years with my son and feeling like I should've done more with him.
3. Favorite PictureMy hubby & I on Siesta Key Beach in November. I chose this picture because he loved it so much. He said he was glad to have a recent picture of just the two of us. Aww..he still loves me :)

2. Favorite MemoryMy sister's wedding in Siesta Key, Florida. The perfect week, the perfect day (11/11/11), the perfect setting, the perfect couple. Did I mention it was perfect?

1. Goal for 2012Professionally-Continue to encourage my students to become readers. I truly believe that test scores will follow if my students read and love to read. Personally-Declutter and keep my house neat and organized! I've already cleaned out 3 closets and working on the bedroom. I just have WAY too much stuff!
This was a lot of fun reflecting on 2011. Everyone link up!

Similes & Metaphors with The Grinch

2011-12-11T17:51:00.000-08:00

My favorite activity before Christmas is to introduce similes and metaphors using the song, "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." I'm sure this is not an original idea, but the idea for this lesson did come to me as I was driving home from school three years ago and heard the song on the radio. What I'm sayin' is, I didn't intentionally borrow this lesson plan from anyone! First, I usually have a quick intro lesson on similes and metaphors. You know, the basics. Similes compare two things using like or as, metaphors don't. We look at some examples and students have some practice creating their own. The next day, or mini-lesson, whichever I see fit for the group I have, I pass out the words to the Grinch song and we listen to it on You Tube.

Next, I split students into random groups. Sometimes I do this by passing out Christmas icon cards and students have to find the matches. Other times I just use the random sorter in Smart Notebook. I give the students about 10-15 minutes to find as many similes and metaphors in the song. They then write their similes and metaphors here to display in the hallway and classroom.

Need Book Recommendations!

2011-12-01T15:56:00.001-08:00

I have made it my goal this year to read aloud a different book from each genre category. We read James and the Giant Peach for fantasy-my favorite book for fourth graders, by far. We just finished reading Shiloh for realistic fiction, and now I would like to read a science fiction book. Let me preface this by saying I am NOT a science fiction fan. I recently learned to enjoy Sci-Fi after reading The Hunger Games trilogy and the book Divergent by Veronica Roth. If you haven't read the latter, it is a must read! It is the first book in a trilogy, but the other two books have not been released yet. It is very much along the lines of The Hunger Games-set in future Chicago, where the city is divided into factions based upon their virtues-the honest, the selfless, the brave, the peaceful, and the intelligent. Of course, there is an unexpected love story involved, which is probably why it drew me in! Obviously, neither of these books are appropriate for my fourth graders as a read aloud. This is where I need your help! I need a good science fiction read aloud. Preferably, something both genders will enjoy. A Wrinkle in Time is out because I think it is above my students' heads, and I honestly do not enjoy the book.

So...what good science fiction books do y'all got for me?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

I know people have been posting their thankful lists with a linky party this week, but I have been so far behind reading blogs that I don't even know who is hosting. So here is my independent thankful list on this Thanksgiving holiday.

I am thankful for...

1. My awesome 2 year old son. He is the cutest, sweetest little boy I have ever met. And I'm not just sayin' that cause I'm his mama! Every single day he amazes me at how smart and funny he really is.

2. My hubby of 6 1/2 years. Even though he travels a lot and I give him a hard time about it, he is able to provide our family with so many wonderful things. (Like our FREE flight to Sarasota last week for my sister's wedding!) In addition, he and I have been together for so long (10 years!) that we are truly a team and he is my best friend.

3. My family, who is in Florida this year for Thanksgiving. My mom & dad help me so much with my son and I am so thankful to them for that. This is my first Thanksgiving away from my family-EVER!

4. My truly awesome coworkers. I seriously work with the best people in the world. We all have our students in the forefront and will do whatever it takes to help them learn. I have contemplated moving grade levels/schools many times, but the one thing that keeps me from doing so is knowing that I will never work with a staff like mine again.

5. My super smart students. I have a group like none other this year. They work hard and excel. You should see how many books my students are reading this year! I have a group of the sweetest girls this year that seriously make me every single day.

My list could go on and on, but that's my top 5. I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving with their friends and family.

On a side note, my Teacher's Notebook shop is running a Thanksgiving Weekend sale. All shop items are 20% off!

Thanksgiving Bingo!

2011-11-23T14:26:00.001-08:00

I spent a lot of the day today working on a Thanksgiving Bingo game to use with my extended family tomorrow. My husband's family goes all out for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The family is so large in fact that the three car garage is actually transformed into a living room for the months of November & December because nobody's house is big enough to hold so many people! There are 12 kids in the family (and one more on the way in less than a month!), 9 of which are under the age of 8. Having so many kids in one place, you all know how important it is to have activities for them to do! The teacher in me has taken over this year. Prior to having kids, I didn't really care if the little ones were running all over the place-they weren't my kids after all. Now that I have a two year old that needs to be entertained, I am taking over the activities! Because of the time consuming task that it was, I have posted the bingo game on my Teacher's Notebook store, but I'm going to post my blank template as a freebie for all of you! You can use the blank template by putting Thanksgiving words in random order on the card. The file that can be purchased through Teacher's Notebook uses picture icons. I know it's too late for all of you to use in your classrooms this year, but there's always next year! Or, if you have a large family with lots of kids like me, click over to Teacher's Notebook fast!

http://bit.ly/thanksbingo

Click link for freebie

P.S. Did you know you can customize your bit.ly links? How cool is that?!

Yes, I'm Still Alive!

2011-11-20T13:39:00.001-08:00

What a crazy couple of months I have had! It seems my last several posts have been me apologizing for not keeping up with the blogging, and yet here it is again. I'm soooo sorry, and I hope many of my followers will pick right back up with me. I haven't even had time to read blogs lately. My google readers shows 685 unread posts! The month of November has been crazy in and of itself. I took some personal days a week ago because I was the maid of honor in my sister's wedding in Siesta Key, Florida. I came back Tuesday, was out for Reading Committee Wednesday, at school Thursday, and again at Reading Committee Friday. I have seen my students a total of 3 days in 2 weeks. Even though December brings the hectic holiday season, I have to say I just can't wait for it because that means I will be with my students in my classroom for three full weeks!

My followers might recall that the district reading committee that I am on is taking part in the process of adopting a new reading curriculum. When we signed up last Spring, I don't think any of us knew the undertaking it would be. We have heard from nine companies. After each company makes it's presentation, we have a four page rubric to score in grade level, grade band (3-5), then finally in K-5. While I am very grateful that they are taking our input before just pushing a reading series or basal on us, it has been extremely time consuming and worrisome. Our final selection day is next Tuesday. It seems most of us at the elementary level are on the same page, so I'm hopeful it will not be a difficult process.

This weekend I've been putting together a unit on persuasive letter writing. Our writing project for December will be to write a letter to persuade someone to buy you what you want for Christmas. I will be happy to share my Smart Notebook file when I have it finished to anyone who wants it. I don't know of any way to share Smart files, so you will have to e-mail me.

I also have a Donor's Choose project out right now asking for 75 nonfiction books to add to my classroom library. My students love reading nonfiction, and it is something that my classroom library and our school library really lacks. I have not had any interest in it at all, so I'm starting to get discouraged. I would really appreciate it if you would share my project on Twitter or Facebook to try to get some interest in my project. Here is the link: http://bit.ly/uhrSEM

Making Connections (& A Freebie!)

2011-10-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

Next week we are going to do a lesson on making connections. We briefly talked about it at the beginning of the year when we started our Reader Response Journals, but I think we need a more in-depth lesson because I'm still not seeing the connections to text that I would like to see in their journals. I found a great printable at Scholastic called "Read, Relate, Respond." I thought to myself how great would that be if these were on sticky notes and I remembered one of my favorite bloggers, Kristen, at Ladybug's Teacher Files posted some time ago about printing on sticky notes. I used her awesome template to create my own making connection sticky notes.

(click image to download)

It will definitely not be fun to arrange and print 60 copies for each one of my students, but I think they turned out so well that I will! Once they use the pre-printed sticky notes, hopefully that will get them in the habit of using them for making connections and they will create their own from now on. Of course, they don't have to write on the sticky notes and just use them to mark the page where they made the specific connection. (I'm thinking out loud right now....)

I also created a Making Connections thinking stems notes page for students to keep in their literacy binders. I hope these stems will improve their journal writing.

(click image to download)

Enjoy the freebies! How do you teach students to make connections?

Word Work Activities

2011-09-27T18:11:00.000-07:00

When I launched Word Work a few weeks ago, my wonderful coteacher encouraged me to only launch a few word work activities, so the students wouldn't feel so overwhelmed with the possibilities. This was a great idea, especially since I have some inclusion students. Right now all of my word work activities revolve around the students' spelling patterns. As the year goes on, I will introduce some vocabulary activities as well. Here is a word work poster that I created. This hangs above my word work materials.

(Click to download)

One of the favorite activities is "Value Words." I like this activity because it encourages some math work as well. Students are to spell a word that fits their spelling pattern, then add up the value of the word. To make it a game, it is directed to find the highest value word that fits their spelling pattern. You can download your own Value Words copy here.

Words in the Read World is an activity where students find words or pictures that fit their spelling pattern in magazines. The stamps include letter stamps and bingo daubers. Each week, students must also complete a given word sort that will fit their spelling pattern.

I hope you can find some use for these activities! Sorry again for the long absence. I'm going to make it a priority to post at least once a week from now on!

Teaching Context Clues

2011-09-13T16:17:00.001-07:00

Context clues are always so tough for me to teach! Anyone else? I have always been a reader and I think learning vocabulary has always been automatic for me, that sometimes I have a hard time slowing it down and teaching how to learn new vocabulary through context. I also think using context clues are very tough for students to learn, which oftentimes make it difficult to teach as well. Context clues are a HUGE part on the OAA. I can't remember the exact number, but it is the second most frequently tested indicator in the fourth grade. For all of these reasons, I'm getting a jump start on context clues this year!

This year, I have decided to slow-it-down. I'm going to break it down into at least four mini-lessons. Each mini-lesson will focus on the different context clues strategies. As each strategy is introduced, students will record notes on this sheet.

Students will keep these notes in the "Notes" section of their Literacy Binders. Each lesson will be taught on the Smart Board. About three example sentences will be given, and students will first be shown, then guided on how to use each type of context clue. Each mini-lesson is followed up with a quick assessment. My co-teacher and I will use the assessments to determine who needs additional instruction and form strategy groups if needed. My absolutely wonderful literacy coach (who I talk about often on here!) has also volunteered to help plan additional instruction/enrichment if needed. I'm really hopeful that teaching context clues in this manner will help my students understand it better.

What strategies or fool-proof lesson plans do you use to teach context clues?

My Apologies and an Update!

2011-09-12T07:00:00.000-07:00

My apologies to all my faithful readers and followers. I know I have let you all down with my lack of posting. I've really have missed blogging (and reading...I'm behind 200 posts on my google reader) and a little bit of me hopes you've missed me too! I never imagined how busy I would be now that school is back in session. My faithful followers know that I am my building's new technology coordinator. When I applied for this position back in May, I honestly had no idea what I was in for. If I was just dealing with computer, printer, and Smart Board problems I would be ok. No, I had to take the position right before a major district-wide launch of ProgressBook. So on top of the computer, printer, and Smart Board problems, I'm working with teachers on ProgressBook and the ridiculous roster issues we're having! All of this on my free time. Um...what is that anyways?! And, did I mention I'm on the district Reading committee? This committee is making the selection for our district wide reading curriculum, and I feel VERY strongly about this so I'm not going to complain about the 8 days I will be out of the classroom over the next two months while this committee meets. Did I mention 8 days? And two days in a row next week? Nope, you hear no complaining here.

By the way, did I mention I'm also a teacher? Wait. No, my first priority is being a teacher. I'm so happy that I have such a wonderful class this year! We are going into our fourth week of school already. I cannot believe it! Our Daily 5 & CAFE is well under way and we are launching our new Word Study program and Word Work this week. The fifth grade teachers are joining us in the Word Study program and we decided to take some time to really get everything together before launching. Plus, it takes quite a bit of time to get the students assessed. Our FAB-U-LOUS Literacy Coach is also helping, and we are all so excited to see the progress the students will make this year in spelling.

I hope you accept my long-winded apology and will stick with me throughout this madness I call the 2011-2012 school year! I promise there will be many more classroom ideas and freebies to come!

A Letter From A Student

2011-08-26T04:07:00.000-07:00

Because we had some scheduling issues during this first week of school, I ended up with a lot more time in my afternoon class than my morning. Not wanting to get one class ahead of the other, I decided to have my afternoon class write me letters about the first three days of school. I wanted them to tell me what they liked and didn't like, and what they would change, if anything. I got the usual letters: "I love everything!" and "I would ask for more recess!" and "I would have no homework." (Which, by the way, they haven't had any!) But I also got this letter. I thought all you Daily 5/CAFE and Book Whisperer believers would appreciate it.

Dear Mrs. Owens,

You really have changed my mind a lot about reading. I used to not like to read but now I love to read and I hope that does not change ever. Thank you for being my reading teacher. I love when we get to read to self and I do thank you. You are a good 4th grade teacher!!

How absolutely sweet is that? The first three days of school! This student, by the way, has already read two chapter books this week. I am just so thrilled with how this school year has started. I am LOVING teaching reading this year. Without the interruptions of AR and Study Island, I have never had so much time before! And my students are reading-A LOT! If you didn't do The Book Whisperer read along this summer, I highly suggest you check it out! It really will revitalize the way you think about teaching reading!

Book Talk Thursday!

2011-08-25T15:58:00.000-07:00

This is another new-to-me book, but I'm sure not new to some of you. My friend/co-worker brought And to Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss into me this morning when she saw that I was going to be launching Work on Writing today for Daily 5. Always looking for a new read aloud, I peeked at it and used it immediately! This is a book about a boy whose father always asks him what he saw on his way to and from school. The boy is quite the storyteller, who comes up with some outlandish tales. The boy was determined to find something true to tell his father about, but just couldn't help letting his imagination run away from him. What he really saw on Mulberry Street was a horse pulling a wagon, which he thought was too boring. He changed it to a zebra pulling a wagon. Then the wagon becomes a chariot. Throughout the story, the boy changes the story of what he saw in order to make his story more interesting. This is a great book for introducing Work on Writing, or when discussing the ideas trait. It can also be used when you're teaching how to add more descriptive details to stories. I hope that some of you are able to use this book in your classrooms as well!

First Day Success!

2011-08-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

As I walked down the hall after lunch duty today, I overheard a first grade teacher saying, "I hate the first day of school!" No doubt, first grade is definitely harder than fourth. By the time I get them, they already know the rules and how to walk in the hall (they just forget after the second week...) But, I honestly had the best first day of school that I can recall! I have one of the brightest (if not THE brightest) class I've ever had. If you're a frequent reader, then you know that I am teaching reading & writing all day this year to two classes. By the end of the day, I had seen both classes, gone over procedures, did our getting-to-know-you activities, and -I kid you not- my students were asking, "Can we read now?"

O-M-G!

Some facts about this group of kids, and you can make a judgment about whether or not things are correlated:
1. This class was our district's first group of all-day kindergarteners.
2. Last year, our entire building taught Daily 5/CAFE.
3. All but one of my students attended our school last year.

I am just so excited about where things are going to head this year! My hubby reminded me tonight when we were talking that I say this every year, but I am not only saying it, I am feeling it this year!

And in case you are wondering, I did allow my students to pick out books and read, even though we ran out of time to talk about good-fit books and the 5-finger rule. That will come tomorrow, along with the official launch of Daily 5.

Getting Ready...

2011-08-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

I have been very busy this weekend preparing for my brand new fourth graders to arrive on Monday. My co-teacher and I went to lunch Friday to start planning. She is an intervention specialist and we have been waiting for at least three years to be able to have a true co-teaching classroom. We are so excited to be able to work together this year in a full inclusion classroom.

This weekend I'm working on some preparations for our Daily 5 launch, deciding on some picture book read-alouds, and working on literacy notebook contents. I have "borrowed" many of my ideas from Beth Newingham, at least for reading section. My students will have the 40 book requirement, as discussed in The Book Whisperer. They will also have a genre requirement. My students will log the books they have read, keep a tally of the genres, and keep a log of books they would like to read.

The literacy notebooks will also have a response section, notes section, writing section, and word study section. These are all still in progress, but I will definitely be posting more as it is developed. For those of you who don't know, I had a Donor's Choose project funded to create these literacy binders. Since it was funded so close to the end of the school year last year, Donor's Choose did not ship the materials. I have learned they will not ship the materials until next week. This was disappointing to me, because I would've like to have started the year off developing these binders from day one. Please do not mistake that disappointment for ungratefulness. I am so grateful that so many complete strangers donated money to my classroom!

What last minute plans do you have to prepare for your students to start the school year?

Classroom Pictures Before & After!

2011-08-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

O-M-G! Let me just tell you that this week has been long and tiring!!! I apologize to all my loyal followers who haven't forgotten about me! I actually wrote my BTT post from yesterday a couple of weeks ago, knowing that I was going to be super busy this week. This was my first week back, and my students start on Monday. Yes, we work four full days before our students start. One of those days is considered a work-day in our classrooms. That means three remaining days for meetings. Long, sitting-all-day meetings.

Here is what my classroom looked like before:

Since I was able to stay in my room, I was able to leave my bulletin board fabric up. That did save some time getting set up.

I decided to work on my library first.

Now for the after photos:

The view of my classroom from the door

The view of my classroom from the front corner

My desk & my co-teacher's desk (against the board)

Here are some close-ups of my bulletin boards:

My Jobs Board. Paper is recycled newspaper. I created the bulletin board set, and it can be purchased in my Teacher's Notebook shop! (Everything 20% off until Monday!)

One of my reading recommendation boards. Student's names are on the different sports balls. The other recommendation board for my other class is titled "Reading is a Hit With Us" and each student has a baseball cap they will place their recommendations under.

My CAFE Board. I just realized I didn't get a picture of the whole thing. You can see the sports-theme CAFE posters and the Daily 5 posters above the board. Both available in my Teacher's Notebook shop!

And to celebrate the first day of school (and to thank you for sticking around to the end of this extremely long blog post), I am giving away a freebie! I am going to give my students gifts on the first day of school. They will get an eraser, pencil, a penny, and a pack of smarties. I will put them in a lunch sack and attach this to it.

Click to Download

All I ask is that you please rate my shop! I have had a lot of sales and not one is leaving feedback!

Book Talk Thursday-The Witches

2011-08-18T05:17:00.000-07:00

For this week's Book Talk Thursday, I have decided to spotlight a book that is new to me. The Witches by Roald Dahl is another entertaining fantasy in true Roald Dahl-fashion. A young boy is sent to live with his grandmother, who tells him the story of witches. They are not ordinary witches-they look human and they hate children. Away on holiday, the boy finds himself stuck in a room full of witches at their annual meeting. While the witches, led by the Grand High Witch, plot to rid England of all the children, the boy and his grandmother have decided to turn the tables on them and plot to rid England of all the witches.

While the characters are likeable, and the story is entertaining, the fact remains that the story revolves around witches. You would definitely want to know your students before reading or recommending this book. It was #22 on ALA's Most Challenged list of the '90s. I enjoyed this book very much, and it will remain in my classroom library.

Happy Reading!

PD & ProgressBook

2011-08-14T13:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been MIA lately. Like most of us, I've been very busy preparing to go back to school. The teacher's official first day back is Tuesday. We have four days of PD before school starts on Monday. As the new Technology Coordinator in our building, I am in charge of the PD for our staff regarding our new ProgressBook program. Yes, prior to this school year, we have all been handwriting our interims and report cards! A few of my colleagues and I have been using digital grade books on our own, but we have done nothing school-wide. Our entire district has moved to ProgressBook starting this year. I've been very busy creating an agenda and watching tutorial videos. Since I am new to the Tech position, I never actually received ProgressBook training. I am learning just a few days ahead of everyone else! I am pretty tech-saavy, and I feel comfortable using and teaching about the system, but if anyone uses ProgressBook and would like to offer me any tips, tricks, or hints, I would gladly welcome them!

Thanks!

Also, attaching a freebie for anyone else who might have use for a "Tech" binder.

(Click here for the freebie!)

Book Talk Thursday-Noah Barleywater Runs Away

2011-08-11T05:53:00.000-07:00

Noah Barleywater Runs Away by John Boyne is the story of an eight year old boy who has decided to run away from home. On his journey, he meets some interesting people, including the owner of an extraordinary toy shop. He becomes friends with this man, who tells Noah the story of his life. Noah has learned from this old man's experiences and ultimately returns home. A surprising twist at the end makes this story even more enjoyable.
Boyne has channeled Roald Dahl through his writing. This story is both light-hearted and dark. The lessons learned by Noah Barleywater are lessons many children can take with them as well.

Happy Reading!

A Busy Close to the Summer

2011-08-09T15:28:00.000-07:00

This is my last week of ~~freedom~~ summer vacation. I know I should really be at school working on my classroom, but I have the cutest toddler that just doesn't want his momma to leave. I went in last week and worked on my ~~mess~~ room. This is what it looked like:

You can't even see the other pile of junk from this view.

I started working on my classroom library. I organized my books by genre at the end of the year and placed them in plastic bags. The big problem was that I did not have enough bins. See that pile of fantasy books on the shelf? Double that and that's how many books I had without bins. And Dollar Tree doesn't sell my beloved black dish pan bins anymore. *tear* I did find some bins at Ollies over the weekend. Smaller, not black, but I'll deal.

On top of everything else, the laminator was out of laminating film, so I couldn't even get my bulletin boards done. SCREAM! Discouraged, and loving my cutie pie, I haven't been back in. This is what I've been up to:

Sidewalk chalk paint!

I originally saw this on pinterest, but it was first posted on pinkandgreenmama.blogspot.com. If you haven't visited this blog yet, you really should! The author is a former art teacher, now stay-at-home-mom, and she has some really great art ideas and activities for kids!

We also visited a local park today that has a spray ground. It's fairly new, and never crowded! It's always a nice change from the pool.

It hasn't been all fun and games around here, though. During naptime today, I created my classroom jobs bulletin board. It's posted in my Teacher's Notebook store. Here is a preview:

I plan to laminate each card and write the names of the job holder with dry erase marker. There are 21 job cards, but it is designed for 30 students to have a job.

I will be posting my job descriptions and applications as a freebie as soon as I get them finished.

Back to reality tomorrow. My Principal called and wants me to attend a technology meeting. Our district is finally changing over to Progress Book this year. This has been in the works for a long time, and I couldn't be happier. Since I have to go in for the meeting, I'm going to work in my classroom. I'm hoping I'll get enough done that I can enjoy the rest of the week before starting back on Monday.

What else are you doing besides working in your classrooms?

Internet Permission Form-Freebie!

2011-08-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

I am always concerned with the Internet permission forms my district sends out because I worry that the parents don't look at them and just sign them. It is very important to me that my students' privacy is protected and that parents understand that their child will be pictured on my class website with their permission. Visit my brand new Teacher's Notebook store to download this freebie!

Teacher's Notebook-Now Open!

2011-08-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

I decided to try out Teacher's Notebook. I will definitely still share a lot of my creations for free, but there are some things I put a lot of time and effort into and I'm sure you all understand! The CAFE signs that I had as a freebie last week are now posted for a bargain at 25 cents each. I also just posted a sports themed bulletin board/book recommendation set that I created today. Click the link above or the link on my sidebar to visit my shop!

Launching Daily 5: Model & Incorrect Model

2011-08-07T15:13:00.000-07:00

Something that probably gets overlooked (and really shouldn't) when launching Daily 5 is the model and incorrect model. Not only is this the most entertaining part of the day, it is also very important to the success of your Daily 5 classroom.

After creating your Anchor Charts with your students, you will want to choose a student or two to model what the daily would look like. For instance, if you are launching Read to Self, you would want to choose a student to model how to pick a spot, open their book and get started right away, staying in one spot, reading quietly, and working on their stamina. Signal for the student to finish, then chat with your class about all the things they saw the student doing right. Next, comes the fun part. Tell the class you need a volunteer to show the class the wrong way to Read to Self (or whatever daily you are practicing). The hands will shoot up. I recommend choosing a student that you think might have some trouble during Daily 5. Not only will it give this student a little bit of much-needed attention, they will also do a pretty good job of incorrect modeling. I will say it is usually pretty funny when these students act out. The class will get a good laugh in. But, when you signal for the student to return to the meeting area, recognize that while the incorrect model was funny, it was incorrect. Talk about all the things they saw the student doing wrong and talk about what should have been done instead. I recommend doing another correct model before sending the students out to practice. You want them to leave with the correct way to do things in their heads, rather than the incorrect way. I also recommend you doing the correct & incorrect models during the first few days of the launch, and anytime throughout the year that you notice students are getting off track (particularly after long holiday breaks).

Thank you all for your kind words regarding my Daily 5 & CAFE series. Please continue to comment and e-mail me your questions!

I won!

2011-08-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

Nicole at Colorful Teaching is a new blogger and hosted a great giveaway for this badge holder that she made. I made one that I used for five years and it broke last year when we went to a minor league baseball game with school. I was so bummed! Needless to say, I'm super excited to have won this giveaway! Thanks Nicole. Make sure you go check out her blog!

Daily 5 Q&A

2011-08-05T05:51:00.000-07:00

Some of my great followers and fellow bloggers have been asking me some questions about Daily 5 & CAFE and I wanted to dedicate today's post to answering them. I am so happy to see that so many people are trying out Daily 5 & CAFE in their classrooms this year. I truly believe literacy education should be heading in this direction and away from pre-packaged, one-size-fits-all basal series. As a member of my district's reading committee, I know I will fight tooth and nail to keep this workshop approach to reading.

Ok. I'm off my soapbox now. On to the questions...

1. Do you follow a set implementation schedule with your kids or do you follow the one laid out by the sisters?

After two years of doing Daily 5 and one full year of CAFE, I have modified the implementation schedule given by the Sisters to fit my students and my needs. I anticipate this changing this year as well, because all students in my building did Daily 5 last year. I would like to think their stamina is higher than 5 minutes. I always start Daily 5 on the first day of school. I always teach the anchor lessons, such as I-PICK good fit books, three ways to read a book, coaching or time, ways to read to someone, etc. These are all very important lessons that will increase your students' success in Daily 5.

2. How do you teach your 4th graders to read the pictures, and how is this differerent from teaching the younger kids?
I don't think actually teaching the fourth graders to read the pictures is different from teaching the younger kids, but the outcome is different. Typically for younger students (Kindergarten & 1st grade especially) reading the pictures is reading the book. I'm even teaching my two year old to read the pictures in his books. To the older students, reading the pictures should aide in accuracy and comprehension. Students should use the pictures to make sure the words they are reading and what they are understanding make sense.

3. I am wondering what kind of writing activities do you have your 4th graders do?
At the beginning of the year, when launching Work on Writing my students brainstorm topics they can write about during their writing choice. This anchor chart is kept up in my classroom all year for them to refer back to if they are ever stuck. I am also going to try to implement some Six Traits writing this year. Our building bought each grade level one of the Six Traits kits from Scholastic and I have been looking over it this summer. We also have building wide writing activities for each month. I may also have students write their readers responses during this time as well. Work on Writing is the only writing workshop time my students have built into the day. I will admit that with writing not being a tested subject, it has fallen to the wayside quite a bit.

4. How many rotations of Daily 5 do you do?
First, I don't think I have mentioned that I do not launch Listen to Reading. We do not have enough time, and I feel my students get what they need from listening to me read aloud and Read to Someone. During the last two years, I was only able to have two daily rotations. This worked out fine, the only rules I had were you could not do the same choice twice in a row, and you could only read to someone twice in a week. With my new schedule, it looks like we will have time to do three rotations a day (YAY!!)

5. I had a question about the beginning assessment that you give the students before starting CAFE. Is there a certain assessment that you use to help you encompass comprehension, accuracy, fluency and vocabulary?
In the past, we have used the STAR test for our reading assessments. This did not offer me any information other than the students' reading levels (which, in my opinion, were not very accurate). This year, we are using the Gates McGinitie assessment. From what I have been told, this assessment does offer insightful information about comprehension and vocabulary. We are receiving training on this at our PD in two weeks. What I have done in the past, and what I will continue to do, is gauge this during my individual conferences with students. I usually have them read a page or two, check for comprehension and their ability to use context clues on unknown words and take it from there. While I do have students that have goals in all four areas, I will say most of my students end up with comprehension and vocabulary goals.

I hope that this helped answer some of your questions! Please feel free to comment or e-mail me if you have more!

Another great blogger's giveaway!

2011-08-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

Is having a super cute giveaway. Hurry! It ends tonight. Rush over there and find out how you can enter!

Daily 5: Anchor Charts & Focus Lessons

2011-08-04T06:04:00.000-07:00

I'm going to put off my Book Talk Thursday this week to continue my Daily 5 & CAFE series. I was having a really hard time with the motivation to write about the Daily 5 & CAFE not being in school, but try and stop me now that I've started! Yesterday, I blogged about Launching Daily 5 & CAFE. Today I want to talk a little about anchor charts (or as the Sisters call them "I-Charts") and focus lessons for the first few weeks of school.

Anchor Charts/I-Charts-I feel very strongly that these charts need to be made with your students. I have seen a lot of really cute posters floating around on Pinterest and the blogs, but these charts must be meaningful to your students. Just as the Sisters suggest in their books, your students need to be the ones coming up with the ideas for these charts. Students are very easily guided in the right direction. Are my charts a little messy? Yes. Do I write things down, then cross them out? Yes. This is especially true when we write down what the teacher is doing during Daily 5. I love it when the students say the teacher is grading papers and I always write it down. After talking about the purpose of Daily 5, we cross it out, then write 'working with students'. After the second anchor chart, students catch on that everything is pretty much the same, no matter what Daily choice it is. Please, try to avoid the cutesy Daily 5 posters and make these charts with your students!

Focus Lessons-I posted yesterday about waiting to start your CAFE lessons until students have the Daily 5 under their belts for a few weeks. This is to not overwhelm your students. I reiterate, this is not to say you're not demonstrating these strategies, you are just not giving the students one more thing to remember while they are learning how to be independent during the Daily 5. I start Daily 5 on the first day of school. Why not? This will set the tone for the whole year and teach your students that reading and becoming independent readers is important. The first focus lesson I teach is "Three Ways to Read a Book." Yes, I even teach my fourth graders how to read the pictures. Reading the pictures to fourth graders is a little bit different than first graders, but it is still very important because it aides in comprehension. In addition to the lessons involved with launching each daily round, you will want to teach focus lessons on where to sit in the room, choosing good fit books, what to write about, word work materials and how to use them, modeling & practice choosing partners for Read to Someone, the different ways to Read to Someone, coaching, etc. Do you see why I don't start launching the CAFE menu right away? You will know when the time is right to launch the CAFE menu in your classroom.

Please, let me know if there are any specific Daily 5/CAFE topics you would like me to discuss in this series!

Launching Daily 5 & CAFE

2011-08-03T12:54:00.000-07:00

If you've been reading my blog for a while, then you know that I am a HUGE advocate for the Daily 5 & CAFE. I have done Daily 5 in my classroom for two years and CAFE for 1 1/2. I had planned on posting a lot about both throughout the summer, but I have to admit, I was having some difficulty finding the inspiration without being in school. As summer is winding down and I am beginning to get things in order for the new school year, I am starting to revisit my lesson plans for launching Daily 5.

To me, it only makes sense to launch Daily 5 and CAFE at the same time. At our school retreat last week it was discussed whether we should start on day one or wait a couple of weeks. For me and most of my co-workers, it is better to wait a couple of weeks before we actually start launching the CAFE menu. Actually, the only people that were in somewhat of a disagreement (that's really not even the word for it-more of a questioning) were non-classroom teachers (reading specialists familiar with Daily 5 & CAFE, but not practicing it in a classroom full of 30 students). The reason why I wait is because it takes A LOT of work to get the Daily 5 up and running. There is a lot of background that needs to go into Daily 5, more than just modeling and practicing the different dailies. Does this mean you are not reading aloud and demonstrating the CAFE strategies? Of course not. I'm sure all of us subconsciously model CAFE strategies every single time we read, because that is what good readers and good teachers do. I just don't introduce the CAFE menu until students have Daily 5 under their belts. We don't want to overwhelm the students. Can you imagine everything students need to remember? We don't want them to be so nervous trying to remember to stay in one spot, get started right away, read quietly & the whole time AND on top of that checking for understanding. In my opinion, it's just too much at once. Let them get started practicing the different dailies, then work in the CAFE strategies in a few weeks.

Your focus lessons the first week or two should involve how to complete the dailies successfully. You will spend A LOT of time practicing and building stamina. DO NOT overlook this part! Your students' success & your success the rest of the year depends on this step. You cannot ignore one student's misgivings. As annoying as it may be, you must signal for all students to stop the minute you see a student off task. Call them back to your meeting area and talk about the types of behaviors you were seeing. Some students may have been off task and didn't even realize it. Do you need to single students out? Absolutely not, generalize the behaviors. But, if you notice it is continually the same student, you might want to call them off to the side and talk to them privately. You may need to set Daily 5 behavior goals with this student right away.

I think I've talked long enough for today. Tomorrow-Anchor Charts & Focus Lessons!

Let's Try This Again...CAFE Posters!

2011-08-03T06:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the confusion with the posters! I'm not sure what the problem is, so I'm going to try it again. My PrintMaster program will only export files in jpeg, and individually. I can't group them together, which is a big pain in the you know what! Since you all couldn't download my posters, I transferred them all to PDF. Of course, they are still all individual files, which drives me crazy! I wish I could package them together. I welcome any suggestions on how to do this. So..since I'm a bit more computer illiterate than I thought, here are the links to the posters through google docs. You have to click on each individual link for each poster. I'm so sorry!

Comprehension http://bit.ly/q7jrtI
Accuracy http://bit.ly/pupNvY
Fluency http://bit.ly/nWxveB
Expand Vocabulary http://bit.ly/qNKcns

Don't Miss Out On This Awesome Giveaway!

2011-08-02T16:51:00.001-07:00

Click above to find out how you can win this awesome 400 follower giveaway! There's not much time left, so get over there quick!

Sports Theme CAFE posters-FREEBIE!!!

2011-08-02T15:30:00.000-07:00

Some of you may know that I am doing a sports theme in my classroom this year. Of course, I need sports theme CAFE posters to go along with my theme! Because I love all of you so much, I'm going to share them with you today for FREE!

Here is a sample:

DOWNLOAD THEM ALL HERE!

Thanks for continuing to read my itty bitty blog!

My New Word Study Program

2011-08-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

When I found out I was teaching Reading, Language Arts, and Spelling next year, I knew I wanted to revamp my word study program. Last year I taught spelling for two periods, then my co-teacher taught it the rest of the year (to even out our course load). The whole fourth grade used the Word Journeys program, which we all really loved. This year, we really want to take it a step forward, and make it more word study, rather than spelling. Below is what I have typed up to distribute to parents explaining our word study program.

4th Grade Spelling/Word Study program

Students will be divided into spelling groups based on their needs. They will be given an assessment during the first week of school to determine these groups.

Each spelling group will meet with Mrs. Owens once a week. If individual students need more instruction, they may meet more than once a week.

Each spelling group will be given a feature or spelling rule to study throughout the week. Words that fit this feature will be brainstormed during the group meeting. Students will record the feature and words onto their Word Study recording sheet.

Throughout the week, students are to practice their feature/spelling rule at school and at home. Students are to record new words that fit this feature whenever they come across them in print and language.

Seven days after their group meeting, students will take a written test on 10 feature words. Students will be given one point for getting the feature correct and one point for spelling the entire word correctly.

For instance: Are dogs permited on airplanes?

The underlined word is the feature word, spelled incorrectly. The feature is to double the consonant when adding -ed. The student would get one point for doubling the consonant “t” and one point for correctly spelling the word “permitted.”

**Note: Some words on the test are already spelled correctly. If a student recognizes that the word is correctly spelled, they would automatically get the two points.

In addition to the feature list, all students will also have five high frequency words to study each week. All students will be given the entire high frequency word list to study at home. The high frequency test will be given verbally to students. Students are expected to spell these words correctly each week. If a student does not spell their high frequency words correctly, they will be retested until they do.

I would love to hear all my bloggy friends' input and comments regarding this! Thanks!

Giveaway

2011-07-30T07:05:00.001-07:00

Kristin at A Teeny Tiny Teacher is having a fabulous Barnes & Noble gift card giveaway! Hop on over to her blog to find out how you can enter!

Teaching Literacy All Day Long!

2011-07-30T06:48:00.000-07:00

I returned last night from our school retreat in Michigan. We have done a retreat for the past three years, and it is a great time to get together, discuss the school year, and have fun. It has been noted by many teachers and administration in our district that their staff would never participate in a retreat that they have to put their own time and money into, so I'm very proud to belong to a staff that enjoys each others company, whether or not we get paid to be with each other!

In addition to discussing our school calendar for the year, catching up with each other on the Daily 5 & CAFE, and starting to jump into the 6 Traits program, we got a little time to meet with our grade levels to discuss schedules and such. Last year, my teamie and I split the subjects and shared classes. I taught Reading, Language Arts, & Social Studies, and she taught Math, Science, and Spelling. I threw out the idea maybe I could teach Spelling instead of Social Studies, and she loved it. It really only makes sense, since Spelling is part of literacy, but I wasn't sure how she would feel about teaching Science and Social Studies. She said she loves teaching Ohio history, and would alternate teaching Science and Social Studies every other day. Which leaves me tickled pink! I get to teach two 2 hour 20 minute literacy blocks every single day! I can only imagine the possibilities of how much literacy work we'll get done! I will actually be able to have a reading workshop & a writing workshop under the Daily 5 umbrella!

I'm also going to change our spelling/word study program a little bit. I will post about that tomorrow and ask for suggestions. We started using Word Journeys last year, and it was really great. I'm going to look at Beth Newingham's word study program and research some others to make it work for my students and I. I'm even thinking of (gasp!) getting rid of spelling homework. But...more about that tomorrow when I've had some time to research and think!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Classroom Jobs-Help!

2011-07-28T09:39:00.000-07:00

I decided that I am going to have classroom jobs for everyone in the class. Students will apply for their job, then keep it for 6 weeks. Hopefully this will encourage all students to complete their jobs each day, and I don't have to remember every week to change jobs! I need help from my bloggy friends, though. I can only think of 26 jobs. On the off-chance that I have a full class right from the beginning, I need 30! You can access (& print!) my classroom job descriptions here. If you all help me come up with four more jobs, I would greatly appreciate it, then update the classroom job description and job application and post as a freebie! Thanks so much!

The Book Whisperer-40 Books Poster

2011-07-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know I'm super late on my response to Chapter 6 of The Book Whisperer, but I have an excuse. And a freebie! Hubby and I took the toddler to King's Island yesterday. Actually, we went down Sunday and spent the night (one of the wonderful benefits offered to us by hubby working for a hotel corporation!) King's Island has a Dinosaurs Alive exhibit, and the toddler is in love with dinos right now. We read dino books and this brand new 2 year old knows T-Rex, Apatosaurus, and Triceratops. It's pretty amazing what he picks up.

My Chapter 6 response will be on its way very soon, but in the meantime, I created this poster to remind students of the genre requirement for their 40 books.

I will also give each student a copy to keep in their literacy binders.

To thank my 300+ followers, I will make a custom 40 books (or 30-or whatever you want!) poster for you! My first three commenters will get a custom poster. Make sure you leave me your e-mail address so that I can get in contact with you about your specific requirements to put on the poster.

Thank you!

First Target trip of the season!

2011-07-25T05:53:00.000-07:00

Is "Back-to-School" a season? I think so. I went to AAA yesterday to get our tickets to King's Island and it just so happens that there is a Target right down the street. I was sans hubby and toddler and I could hear the store calling my name. I went to another Target last week and they didn't have any "teacher stuff" out yet, so I really had my fingers crossed this time.

Oh yeah. I hit the motherload.

I got these books. Various levels for different readers. I love that I don't have to worry about whether or not a book is AR. I hope that at least some of my students will be interested in reading some classic stories.

Lesson Plan Book. I used one of these last year and I didn't mind it at all. I hole-punched it and put it right in my planning binder. I actually got two-one for a coteacher (hint, hint, wink, wink).

Who doesn't love these notepads? They are so handy. I keep some for secret pal gifts as well.

I thought this might be a nice reward when students read their 40 books!

Love these stamps! They had these a few years ago (single stamps for $1), but I haven't seen them since. These 6 stamps were in the dollar spot for $2.50.

I will give these sports erasers as a little gift on the first day of school. I am doing a sports theme in my classroom this year.

And..the coveted letter stamps. I bought these last year and honestly didn't care for them to well. I stored each set in plastic bags with an ink pad and they got really messy. I ended up throwing them away before the first semester ended. I decided to give it another go this year. I would welcome any storage suggestions so they get better taken care of this time!

Other things pictured above that I got was a desk lamp ($5), stickers, stress balls (perfect for playing silent ball or to help a little rascal calm down), dice, and happy birthday certificates. I was very pleased with my Target trip!

Check out my new Vista Print designs!

2011-07-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

I just couldn't help myself. I had to do another Vista Print order. I usually only try to do one order a year, but I really wanted to make my "Catching Compliments" poster since it would go so nicely with my sports theme. I will use this as a reward system with my classes. Each time they do well behaviorally or receive a compliment from another teacher, they will earn a baseball. When the class receives 25 baseballs, they earn a reward. I designed this poster on PrintMaster, then uploaded it to Vista Print. The poster was 50% off (not free), but that also meant it didn't cost anything to upload my own design. I got two of these posters, a car door magnet, a personalized notebook, and a banner for $20 total. It would have cost me over $30 to have just the poster printed from Kinkos/FedEx. You can see all of my designs by clicking on the Vista Print tab at the top of my page. I also designed rack cards, which I really really want but they are not free yet. So..another order may be in my future!

Genre Book Bin Labels

2011-07-22T05:47:00.000-07:00

Until this year, my classroom library was organized by AR level. I decided at the end of last school year that I was going to organize my library by genre next year. It only makes sense. Students should be able to make book choices based on what they want to read-not their AR level. I actually just found out my building will not be doing AR next year (woohoo!) because the powers that be finally realized that reading instruction is being accomplished through Daily 5 and CAFE rather than AR. (Don't even get me started...)

To organize my classroom library, I use the dishpans from the Dollar Tree for bins. I used to use the clear plastic shoeboxes, but they got very used and abused. These dishpans are very large and sturdy.

I have created genre labels for my book bins. You can download them for here for **FREE!** These labels are already formatted to print on Avery 8163/5263 mailing labels. They are 2"x4". There's no cutting or laminating involved! I do plan to put clear packing tape over the labels on the bins just to make sure they stick.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Book Talk Thursday-The Hunger Games

2011-07-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

Ok. If you're like me and have been living under a rock the last few years and you haven't read The Hunger Games yet, you need to get the book NOW. I'll wait while you reserve it at your library (good luck!), buy it from Amazon, or download it on your Kindle.

Ready?

The Hunger Games is actually the first book in a trilogy by Suzanne Collins. So you're actually getting a three-fer this week with my Book Talk Thursday. I have read all three books in less than a week. The second book is Catching Fire and the third Mockingjay. I am not kidding you when I say these are the best books I have read in a LONG time-maybe ever. I loved me some Twilight-but Bella and Edward have nothing on Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. This review should mean even more to you when I say I am not a Science Fiction fan-at all. I lost that desire long ago when I was forced to read A Wrinkle in Time in seventh grade. Don't shoot me-I probably would enjoy it now, I think it was more being forced to suffer through a book I wasn't interested in.

Anyways...

The Hunger Games takes place at some point in the future. The United States has been destroyed and a country called Panem has risen in it's wake. The Capitol controls each of the country's 12 districts. An uprising in the former District 13 caused the Capitol to start the Hunger Games as punishment to the other districts and to distract the citizens from another rebellion. One boy and one girl from each district, called tributes, are chosen to fight to the death in an arena with many man-made obstacles. The last person standing is the victor.

There are so many twists and turns, ups and downs, in this book that you will not want to put it down. I have not been this excited about a book in a very long time. I want everyone I know to read these books so that I can talk about it with them. I have even convinced my husband (who is not a reader) to read this book and he has been reading it non-stop ever since. This book will turn nonreaders into readers. Catching Fire and Mockingjay are just as good as the first book. I don't want to say more, so I don't give anything away.

And, as a nice little sidenote, The Hunger Games movie is coming out March 2012. Liam Hemsworth plays the role of Katniss' best friend Gale. Although not a major role in the first book, he will be very nice to look at!

Happy Reading!

Gaining Inspiration

2011-07-19T07:03:00.000-07:00

I am nowhere near as creative as some of the fabulous bloggers I follow. They have the cutest ideas, lessons, and classrooms. This is one of the reasons I don't have a Teachers Pay Teachers store. Another reason is because I steal most of my ideas. I have no problem admitting it.

Do these look familiar to you?

I thought so. If you're like me, you get about two dozen a week. These three I got today. What I do with them is a secret, though. My bloggy friends can keep a secret, right? Before throwing them in the trash, I pull out the pages of the things I like and then do my best to recreate them.

Let's face it, we're teachers. We're not racking in the big bucks here. And I don't get any money from the school for use in my classroom, so I have to be resourceful. I don't take the ideas then try to sell them as my own, so there's nothing wrong with it, right? Also, how many times do we buy something because it looks like something we want or need, but then it turns out we can only use parts of it? When you recreate things, you fit them to your needs.

Those chair pockets you see on the front of that Really Good Stuff catalog? I've seen those in countless classroom pictures-all homemade. If I could channel myself back into my very successful 7th grade home-ec days, those would be on all the chairs in my classroom, too. There are other really cute ideas for posters and bulletin boards in these magazines.

So, before you throw away your next round of catalogs, look and see if there's anything in there you can *ahem* adjust to fit your needs!

Digital Books

2011-07-18T14:44:00.000-07:00

Before I got my iPad, I had no use for digital books. I always thought there was something to be said about reading an actual book with pages to turn. My, what a difference a week makes! I am obsessed with digital books! Because many of us have, or are getting iPads and E-Readers, and very soon many of us will have iPads in our classroom, here are a few things that I have found useful in regards to digital books.

If you Kindle, or want to Kindle, a Kindle app is free to download in the iTunes app store. If your local grocery store offers fuel rewards, I suggest buying an Amazon gift card before purchasing your digital book. My local Kroger & Giant Eagle offers double fuel perks on gift cards ($25 gift card = 50 fuel points!). I suppose the same would be true for the Barnes & Noble Nook.

Also, check out your local library to see if they offer a way to borrow digital downloads. My local library participates in a program called Overdrive. You can browse this link, but unfortunately cannot check anything out unless you have a library card with my local library system. Digital & audio books can be downloaded from this site to borrow for 14 days. Overdrive has an iPad app and the books go directly to your device. There is something with the copyright that they can only have a limited number of digital titles out at a time, so you sometimes have to reserve it before you can check it out. I recently downloaded and read a juvenile fiction book and a picture book for my son. I strongly suggest asking your local library if they use a similar system. It definitely saves money if you prefer e-reading!

Blog Commenting-A PSA

2011-07-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

After hosting a very successful linky party last week (107 entries!) and attempting to comment on every entry to thank everyone for taking part, it occurred to me that maybe some bloggers haven't seen Kristen's (from Ladybug's Teacher Files) video tutorial on how to remove the spam code that pops up when people try to comment on your blog. Kristen points out that this is purely preference, but it does make it quite a bit easier to comment when you don't have to decipher the silly code. If you're interested in how to remove the spam code from your comments, please visit Ladybug's Teacher Files and watch her awesome video tutorial!

It's a Party...A Post-it Party!

2011-07-17T18:00:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Rojas is having a Post-it Party and giveaway to celebrate 300 followers!
Link up with her, share your post-it stories, and enter her giveaway!

Who doesn't love Post-its? Or, as I like to call them, 'stickies'? I love them. My students love them even more. It's on our supply list to bring in a 3-pack of Post-it's, which I collect, and they are gone by December! As long as they're being put to good use and not being wasted, I don't mind restocking.

We use stickies for everything! They probably get put to the most use when "Checking for Understanding," one of the Sisters first items on the CAFE menu. If a student has a comprehension goal, students typically start out practicing checking for understanding by writing a short summary about what they read after every few pages of their book. It's very easy for me to tell if a student is comprehending by taking a quick peek at their stickies.

I have also used stickies as an interactive bulletin board. When I taught fifth grade (I didn't do this in 4th-not sure why, maybe I'll do it this year) I had a genre bulletin board. Of course, this was before I started blogging and I had no use for pictures-sorry! I think the title was "Reading Across Genres"-creative, I know. I digress, I'll never be as creative as all the other awesome bloggers out there. Anyways, I had my genre posters hanging up and as my students read a book in a certain genre, they wrote it on a stickie and posted it next to the correct genre poster. It was a great way for students to be thinking about genre all year long, served as a book recommendation board, and it became something the students interacted with, rather than blending in with the rest of the classroom walls.

We use stickies for millions of other things, but these are my two favorite stickie uses!

More Giveaways....

2011-07-16T16:48:00.000-07:00

I hate posting back-to-back like this, but there are more giveaways going on that you just have to know about!

is giving away a Scentsy warmer! It is super cute and will go great in your classroom!

And, I'm sure you've already heard about Kristen's 1,000 follower giveaway

She is giving away one of her ULTRA-AWESOME custom blog designs!
You must visit these blogs for a chance to win these fabulous giveaways!

Another VistaPrint Linky Party

2011-07-16T16:26:00.000-07:00

The Apple Basket Teacher is having a Linky Party about Vista Print! See my Vista Print page above. I also got the idea to create a Pinterest folder for all these awesome ideas!

Head over to

to join in the linky party fun!

The Book Whisperer-Reader's Notebook

2011-07-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

Link up with Beth @ Thinking of Teaching to see what others are blogging about!

1) Have you used Reader's Notebooks in the past? If so what did you like about it?
Last year was the first year that I used Reader's Notebooks. I started it after Christmas break when I realized I needed something more to see how students were reading and comprehending. We "journaled" as I called it at the beginning of every class, to a prompt that I assigned. This was the only part I didn't like. Some of the prompts that I used were not appropriate for the genre that some students were reading.

2) If you have not used Reader's Notebooks how do you plan to incorporate them this year into your reading program?
I do plan on changing my Reader's Notebooks a little this year. I'm still not completely sure how I want to do it, so I'm excited to read other's thoughts! Each student will have a spiral notebook that will be placed inside their Literacy Binders. I know others use composition books, but lets face it, spirals are 10 cents (or less!) a piece and I've never seen comps for less than 50 cents. Plus, when cleaning my basement for a yard sale this summer, I found an entire tote full of spirals that I forgot about. So, spirals it is! Inside the literacy binders, I will give a list of prompts for students to write about. I know I will have to do a lot of modeling with the prompt writing. I don't know that I will set aside journal time, or just expect my students to do them at some point during a Daily 5 choice. I would love it if I could get students to do this, as not to waste precious lesson time, but I do worry about those procrastinators!

3) How will you schedule the Reader's Notebook due dates in order to be able to effectively read and respond authentically to all your students?
I teach 60 students reading, so last year I graded one class every other Friday. It wasn't the best system, so I think I will assign days to 6 students per class to read their notebooks. That would be 12 students a day, but still better than 30! I think the hardest part will be responding to each one. I think if I know my students appreciate my responses, it will be a lot easier! I also know some students will need that response from me in order to keep reading and writing, so that will also be some incentive for me!

I'm so excited to read what everyone else's thoughts are on Reader's Notebooks! Make sure to link up with Beth!

Vista Print Creations-Linky Party!

2011-07-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

Spotlight on Kindergarten is having a linky party to share our Vista Print creations! Since I just had a Vista Print post the other day (which has since turned into a Vista Print page-see above), I decided to join in! Check out Spotlight on Kindergarten to link up and see what other bloggers have created on Vista Print!

Back in School-Mode

2011-07-14T18:15:00.000-07:00

Whew....

I just got done reworking my back to school packet. Another fourth grade teacher and I share students. She teaches Math, Spelling, and Science, and I teach Reading, Language Arts, and Social Studies. We decided that we need to have one packet to hand out to all of our parents. Our teaching philosophies are very similar, so it was just a matter of condensing what she had written, and copying and pasting what I had into one nice, neat packet. This has been weighing heavily on my mind since school ended, but I just didn't want to get into yet. Our building retreat is in two weeks, though, and I wanted to have it done by then so she could look over it and we could make changes if needed. I must say, I feel better having it done, and I can move onto other school-related things now. Other things on my to-do list include: 1.) Finishing reading the books I checked out from the library about the "ideas" trait. Since this will be the trait I will start with, I wanted to get a jump on things and get familiar with some of the books. 2.) Labeling my "new" books I got from Half-Priced books. (Post still forthcoming about that!) 3.) Decide how I want to do my reader's notebooks. Some of you may recall that I got a Donor's Choose project funded for literacy binders, and my intention is to combine my reader's response into the literacy binder. I want to have five sections in the binder: CAFE section with goals, Notes, Reading Response, Writing, and Work Work. What do you all think about putting a spiral notebook in the reading response section? I'm concerned it will take up too much space, but at the same time, I think loose-leaf paper would just fall out as time goes on. I guess if this is all I'm worried about right now, life is pretty good! :)

Just a reminder to Tina from Quench Your First, you were my giveaway winner and you haven't contacted me yet with your info! Please e-mail me soon so I can order your bag!!!

Book Talk Thursday-Weslandia

2011-07-14T08:18:00.000-07:00

I've decided to start a new theme-Book Talk Thursdays. Inspired by The Book Whisperer, when Donalyn Miller suggests reading more books for children, I've decided to do just that. Every Thursday, I will review a children or young adult book that I am currently enjoying.

I just discovered the book Weslandia by Paul Fleischman and I am in love! Wesley is an odd boy. He has no friends, and he just doesn't fit in. Sparked by what he learned in school about civilizations, he decides to create a summer project-his own civilization complete with it's own staple food crop, clothing, counting system, games, and alphabet. This is such a great book about creativity, differences, and even civilizations and the possibilities of using this book in the classroom are endless! I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have!

And The Winner Is....

2011-07-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

It is the moment you've all been waiting for! The winner of my 31 All-in-One Organizer bag giveaway is....

Congrats Tina!!! You have 24 hours to contact me via e-mail (see the link above) with your bag design of choice, personalization, and mailing info. You will LOVE this bag!!!

My Target Deals!

2011-07-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

I headed out to Target tonight on a mission. If you haven't heard yet, Target has their 2-pack of Sharpie markers for $1.00 this week. They also have a coupon on their website for $1.00 off Sharpie products. What does this mean? 2-pack of Sharpie markers are FREE! Who doesn't love free stuff?! I printed two coupons and split them into separate transactions, so I got four Sharpie markers for FREE! I have a couple of extra coupons in my purse just in case I'm in another Target area later this week. Target also has a 10-pack of ball point Papermate pens for $1.02. They also have a store coupon (again, can be printed from their website) for $1.00 off Papermate products. That's right, I paid 2 cents for a 10-pack of pens. I didn't know about this deal, so I didn't come prepared with another coupon.

My Target store didn't have their Dollar Spot stocked yet with any "teacher stuff." It's probably better that way-for my wallet at least. They had a few pocket charts (which I already have a TON of.) I won't lie, I almost picked one up before thinking twice! They also had the "classic" books, which I picked up last year. They aren't AR, so none of my kids read them. This is probably the first time I walked out of Target without buying a single thing from the dollar spot, but I'm still super happy about the deals!

Giveaway Ends Tonight!!

2011-07-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

My 31 Gifts giveaway ends tonight at midnight! If you haven't entered yet, make sure you do so here!

The Book Whisperer-Chapter 4

2011-07-13T04:52:00.000-07:00

Because we do The Daily 5 & CAFE in my classroom, we spend a lot of time at the beginning of the year talking about how to choose good-fit books. The Sisters use the acronym I PICK. Here is the poster I made that hangs near my bookshelf.

The reason for the shoes is because I do a demonstration about how some shoes are not a good fit for me. I bring in my husband's work boots, my son's shoes, dress shoes, flip flops, etc. I talk about how some are too big (too hard), too small (too easy), and some are just not right for the situation (i.e., flip flops to go running = a book you just don't like at the moment).

My students have total control over what books they are choosing to read in my classroom. The only requirement is that the book be in their AR range, because (much to my dismay) we still have AR in my district.

Donalyn Miller writes about her requirement that students read 40 books a year. At first I thought that sounded like a lot of books for fourth graders, but after looking at my class' AR results from last school year, I see many of my students read over 40 books. Granted, many of those books were picture books because our school librarian had them read picture books to get started on AR and they couldn't get out of that habit. I am not allowing that to happen this year. There is a definite time and place for picture books, but I don't want my fourth graders reading them all the time. I also like Miller's solution that books over 350 pages count as two books. I might lower that for my fourth graders. Maybe books over 250 pages?

Miller has a genre requirement for her 40 books, and I think I would alter mine a little bit. Just off the top of my head, my genre requirement might look like this:

Realistic Fiction - 5
Historical Fiction - 2
Fantasy - 5
Science Fiction - 2
Mystery - 4
Informational - 5
Biography, Autobiography, Memoir - 5
Poetry Anthologies - 2
Chapter Book Choice - 10

The students that I work with crave structure. Many times, it is necessary for their success. If I were to take this genre requirement a step further and split them into 9 weeks (i.e., 1st 9 weeks-R.F. 2, Fantasy., 2, etc.) is that taking away student choice? Maybe I'll just be able to monitor my students' progress toward their genre goals through conferences and not have to worry about it. I can definitely see this being a learning process for both myself and my students.

I am so very much enjoying reading this book! I actually feel very validated knowing that what I've been doing is the best for my students. I'm very excited to discuss reader's notebooks in the coming week!

Lots and Lots of Giveaways!

2011-07-12T17:46:00.000-07:00

Lifelong learning: 50 Followers must mean a GIVEAWAY!:

Check out Lifelong Learning to find out how you can win an Amazon gift card!

Check out Target Treasures to find out how you can win a Target gift card!

The Book Whisperer-Chapter 3

2011-07-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

Somehow I missed the book discussion on chapter 3, so I'm going to post today about chapter 3 and tomorrow about chapter 4!

Chapter 3-There's a Time and a Place
Donalyn Miller writes about reading being the cornerstone to her class. "Reading time is for reading," she writes on page 50. When I started practicing The Daily 5 in my classroom two years ago, I was so impressed with how much time was spent reading. Fortunately, my first year of teaching was the only year that the majority of my reading class was not spent reading. This is when I thought we had to teach the basal series, and didn't have much guidance from administration. The following year is when we were given a literacy coach and we quickly realized reading class should be for reading. Miller writes, "What are the effects of intensive reading? Better writing, richer vocabularies, and increased background knowledge in science and social studies." I have personally witnessed this in my classroom as well. On page 52, Miller writes, "Because reading has more impact on students' achievement than any other activity in school, setting aside time for reading must be the first activity we teachers write in our lesson plans, not the last." This is such a powerful statement. Sometimes, we are overly focused on writing the lesson plans and scheduling fun learning activities that time for reading has been left out.

Miller points out times that we as teachers can carve out time for reading. She suggests tossing out the bell ringers and warm-ups, and just allow the students to read during the first part of the day. I'm personally not ready to give up on my Language Dailies as a warm up yet. I do feel they serve a good purpose-students review parts of speech, punctuation, etc. and it serves as a weekly mini-lesson on these topics. I've also found in previous years that my students need some sort of structured activity while I'm doing check-in. I'm afraid asking them to read is just not enough. My students do read after they've completed their dailies, though, which is another time for reading that Miller suggests. She writes of the fancy early finisher folders that teachers have for students to do when they are finished, and suggests they are time wasters. I agree with her on this one. My students know that if they are finished with work early, they are to read. I think my absolute favorite part of chapter three was when Miller suggested students bring their books with them on picture day. Picture day in and of itself stresses me out. We never know when we're going to be called down, and when we are it's a mad rush to get students lined up according to height. Then, once we get down there, of course they're not waiting on us, there's another class (or two!) in front of us. So, there I am left to manage the behaviors of not only my class but usually half of the other two classes. Miller suggests students take their books with them to read during the picture day wait-time. She said this idea was born out of her always carrying a book with her no matter where she goes. I take books with me everywhere I go, too, and I must say, my iPad has completely changed my life when it comes to that No more do I have to worry about lugging around a 700 page book!

The end of chapter three is dedicated to having a place for students to read. I am so much like Donalyn Miller in her thinking, that it's eery! She writes about how many leaders in reading education suggest we need to create a "reading sanctuary" in our classrooms, and how she would get frustrated when she could not come up with a reading oasis for her students. I don't have the space or money to create this sanctuary in my room, and I really don't think it's necessary. My students love to read in unusual places-under their desks, in a tight corner, laying on the floor, etc. There are no fancy seats or corners in my room. I bought carpet squares at a local remnant sale last year, and you would've thought we had hit the lottery!

I am still continuing to love this book so much! It really gets me energized to start the school year! I made the decision that I'm not going to spend a bunch of money on school supplies this year, but use the money on books instead! A post about my trip to Half-Priced Books is forthcoming!

Little Literacy Learners: GIVEAWAY you won't want to miss!!

2011-07-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

Little Literacy Learners is giving away a one year membership to the Graphics Factory! What an awesome giveaway! Head over to find out how you can win!

My Vista Print Creations

2011-07-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

I discovered Vista Print three years ago, and I usually create items and place one big order before the start of the school year. For my readers who don't know what Vista Print is, you can order tons of items for FREE! All you pay is shipping! I placed an order today, which included business cards, postcards, a key chain, a pen, a door magnet, and a rubber stamp for $12! I thought I would share with you some of my creations.

Address Labels:

My name & e-mail address that I put in each child's agenda book.

Stickers I put on my property that I keep at school.

Door Magnets:

I have magnetic chalkboards I use for bulletin boards. This will go nicely with a bulletin board I am creating for next year.

To remind students about morning procedures.

Business Card-Sized Magnets:

Large Postcard:

Key Chain: For a reward

Note Pads:

Post Cards:

Rubber Stamps:

Yard Sign:

Giveaways!

2011-07-11T05:32:00.000-07:00

Spotlight on Kindergarten is having a giveaway! Head on over to her blog to check it out!

Great Deal at 4th Grade Frolics!

2011-07-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy weekend here, but I wanted to quickly tell you about this fabulous offer! My bloggy friend, Tara, at 4th Grade Frolics posted about her "Magical Music Wand" that she uses for classroom management. The owner of the company is now offering her blog followers $5 off an order! Head on over to Tara's blog to check out this great deal!

31 Gifts-Ordering Information

2011-07-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

I know a lot of people have expressed interest in ordering from the 31 Catalog. It's like Pampered Chef or Tupperware, so you have to know a consultant to order. I'm having a catalog party throughout the month of July, so if you want to order something, you can do so through my party. All you have to do is go to this website: http://www.mythirtyone.com/9881

The website is a little weird to navigate at first, but you should be ok if you follow these instructions: You have to click place an order, then place an order again, then click shop now next to my name (Rachel Owens). Click shop now again, and then it will take you to the catalog. All the prices are listed right there with the product. When you make your selection, you can see all the prints the bags come in as well. It will ask you if you want personalization and if you do, it's a flat $6 additional charge. Some bags only allow you to have a certain # of characters per line, so make sure you pay attention to that when personalizing. You can also select your font color and style. There are charts so you can see what is what. Once you're done ordering, you can check out as you normally would on any shopping site. Make sure that you put in your address and not "ship to host" or else it will come to me! The shipping is not bad. It's 8% plus $4. As always, there is a special this month too! For every $10 you spend retail, you get 31% off of some Fall preview items. They have a really cute lunch tote for $9.66, some pencil pouches for about $5 I believe, and backpacks. Let me know if you decide to order something, and what you order! I'm so completely obsessed with these bags! I'm even thinking of becoming a consultant!

**Disclaimer: Placing (or not placing) an order will in no way affect the outcome of my giveaway. The giveaway winner will be chosen at random through random.org. Because of so much interest, I wanted to give everyone a chance to browse the catalog and place an order if they would like.**

As Promised-100 Follower Giveaway!

2011-07-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

When I started my linky party yesterday, I said I was looking for 100 followers by the end of the month! I never imagined I would have them by the end of the day! Thank you so much! So...as promised, I am having a fabulous giveaway!

Have you heard of 31 Gifts? I'm not sure if it's regional or nationwide. It's like a Tupperware party for bags! How fun is that? It just so happens that I am hosting a catalog party this month for 31 Gifts and I wanted to give away a personalized bag! (Hence, the reason why I wanted to hit 100 followers before the end of the month!)

Here is the bag I'm giving away:

It is called the "All in One Organizer." Sorry the pictures are so fuzzy, I took a screen shot from the catalog. As you can see, there are many uses for this adorable bag! The best thing about 31 Gifts is that you can personalize your bag as well.

Here is mine:

Isn't it just the cutest thing you've ever seen?!

The bag comes in these patterns:

The Details:
The winner of this giveaway will receive an All-in-One Organizer bag with your choice of pattern and personalization! The giveaway ends on Wednesday, July 13 at midnight. I will choose a winner randomly through random.org on Thursday, July 14 and the winner will be notified via my blog on that day. The winner will have 24 hours to respond to me via e-mail with their choice of pattern, personalization, and address.

How to Enter:
(3 Awesome Chances! Leave a comment for each entry)

Be a current follower or become a follower of my blog (1 entry)
Post about my giveaway on your blog (1 entry)
Grab my *new* button and post it on your blog (1 entry)

Not Teaching Related, But Fun Anyways!

2011-07-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

My sister is coming into town this weekend for her favorite nephew's birthday party, so I decided to host her a bridal shower for her local friends since she's getting married in November in Florida. I know I'm probably not the norm, but I hate bridal shower games. Well, any shower games for that matter. And having been the recipient of several showers, I think they are even more uncomfortable for the guest of honor: you are a grown woman opening up presents in front of 50 people and are expected to have a specific reaction for every single one. Again, it's probably just me, not trying to offend all those shower-lovers out there! But, because it's my sister and my matron-(I hate that word, too!)-of-honor duty, I had to come up with something for the 25 or so shower guests to do. The tamed-down shower games are as follows: Famous Couples & "Love" Songs.

Sorry, no toilet paper wedding dresses here. In the Famous Couples game, guests are asked to write down the other half of a named famous person. I'm posting a copy here.

For the other game, "Love" Songs, I downloaded songs with the word "love" in the title. Some examples include "Love Me Tender" by Elvis, "Love Story" by Taylor Swift, and "I Think I Love You" by The Partridge Family. Not all songs are your typical love songs, though, I also have "You Give Love a Bad Name" (Bon Jovi, of course!), "Your Love is My Drug" (Ke$ha), and from my favorite movie of all time, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" by the Righteous Brothers. Game players must write down the title and artist of each song. The person with the most correct, wins. You can also play this game at a baby shower and use the word "baby" in the title.

This post is obviously not at all teaching related, but this is what I've been up to today, and thought I'd share!

I also want to thank everyone for participating in my linky party! I tried to look at and comment on everyone's top ten lists. If I missed yours, please don't be offended, it was an honest mistake! Also, don't forget to enter my super-fabulous giveaway!

Top 10 Things To Know About Me-Linky Party!

2011-07-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

Here is my top ten list!
10. I've lived in the same town my whole life (besides the time I spent in college).
9. I have been friends with my best friend for 26 years! (I'm only 28-you do the math!)
8. I have a sister who lives in Florida.
7. I love Disney World more as an adult than I did as a kid. I went twice as a child, and I've lost count how many times I've been in my adult-life.
6. I am a reality-TV show junkie. (Especially the Real Housewives. My hubby says I kill brain cells whenever I watch them.)
5. My favorite author is Nicholas Sparks. I'm a sucker for his sappy romantic books!
4. My favorite drink is unsweetened iced tea.
3. My favorite sports team is the Ohio State Buckeyes!
2. I truly love my job. I can't imagine doing anything else with my life.
1. I have the coolest two-year-old on the planet for a son!
Your Turn-Click the link above to join the party!

Linky Party & Freebie Alert!

2011-07-05T18:29:00.000-07:00

I got inspired this week and decided to actually do something for school besides read books! In honor of my inspiration, I'm offering this freebie. A back-to-school activity-Top 10 Things to Know About Me!

Download it here!

Because I'm trying to get to 100 followers by the end of the month for a super-cool giveaway, I thought it also might be fun to host a linky party! I'm sure this has been done before, but I haven't seen it in a while--so how about a Top 10 Things To Know About You?

If you download the freebie, please join the fun of the linky party and make sure you link back to my blog and grab my button! (Trust me-you'll really like this 100 follower giveaway I have planned!)

Library Book Display

2011-07-05T06:17:00.000-07:00

I don't know about all of you, but I find that I spend a lot of time browsing books at the library and choosing ones that I really think my students will like, only to have them take a look at one or two and never read them. I have found, however, if I display the books, my students are more likely to check them out.

This is one of my favorite ways to organize & display library books.

This is a wire dish rack that I bought at Walmart. Two-three books fit nicely between each rung on the rack. If you have a check out system, you can use the sponge holder to hold the student check out cards or sticks.

Here is a side view of the display:

This display is also nice because it keeps the library books separate from your classroom books. Many times I find an overdue book in one of my classroom library book bins. I love organization, but I'm not an organizer, so this really me helped with that!

Oriental Trading-Hall Passes

2011-07-03T18:24:00.000-07:00

I bought these hall passes last year from Oriental Trading and I loved them and wanted to share them with all of you! They hold up so well, and they are lanyards, so you don't have to worry about where they are being set down (or dropped into) in the bathroom! I hang the restroom passes on a command hook by my door and the others stay behind my desk to use at my discretion. They are only $8 for all six passes! Oriental Trading also has a customer appreciation event that lasts through tomorrow, with free shipping and a $10 gift card on orders over $49. I also got myself some letter stamps (the ones I bought at Target last year did not hold up well), a personalized sign for my door that coordinates with my sports theme, and a soccer ball and basketball easter baskets-don't have a use for them yet, but I will definitely find something (only $4.25 each!).

Check out my new design & Grab my new button!

2011-07-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

It's nothing super fancy, but I was getting tired of the same blog design, so I decided to change things up a little bit. Since I was getting a new design, I also decided to change my button. Please feel free to grab it and post on your blog!

The Book Whisperer-Chapter 2

2011-07-01T07:58:00.000-07:00

Everybody is a reader.

The title sums it all up, doesn’t it? Everybody is a reader. Even people who do not distinguish themselves as readers, read. In college, we had an assignment once to record everything we read in a 24 hour period. We were reading lots of things and didn’t even think of it as reading. I think this would be a fun exercise for older students, just to get them to realize how much of our lives revolve around reading.

I realize that I’m probably not in the norm here, but I loved the book frenzy! My class had a book frenzy last year on the first day of school, but it wasn’t on purpose. I just didn’t set clear expectations and it got out of control! I will call it a happy accident because my students were excited to explore the books in the room. This year, I will make sure I get a little bit more involved with recommendations and have my students offer up recommendations as well. I think choosing books on the first day of school is so important because it sets the tone for the entire year. Students will know that reading is the priority in this classroom.

I definitely prefer the more positive terms Miller applies to our young readers than those used in the past. Though we would never tell a student they are a struggling reader, it’s kind of like a self-fulfilling prophecy thing. On page 25, Miller says of developing readers, “these students have the ability to become strong readers.” As teachers, we must believe this, or else what are we doing? Miller then tells the story of Kelsey, a developing reader whose name was on “the list.” We all know this list, don’t we? I related so much to Kelsey’s story because I have a similar story with a similar student.

Dormant readers are those who can read, have success in reading, but don’t enjoy reading. Miller points out that many times these students move through our classrooms unmotivated and uninterested in reading, and that in many cases it’s not a concern so long as they pass the state tests each year. Although this is true, it saddens me very much. I hope to change that this year in my classroom.

I found the story of Randy, an underground reader, very interesting. Randy is the student who ended up failing Miller’s class because he didn’t complete assignments. He just wanted to read. I question if Randy’s story happens more with boys, because in my experience my underground readers are also very good students, always wanting to please the teacher. Miller says she let Randy down by failing him. Haven’t we all felt this way about a student before?

At the end of the chapter, Miller describes conditions for learning. While reading this, I recalled that in college I always said I wanted my classroom to have wall-to-wall books. This was before I knew the harsh realities of school funding. If I had unlimited money to spend (or any money, for that matter!), I would buy books: lots and lots of books!

I am very much enjoying reading and responding to this book, and I hope you are too! I’m even going to ask our literacy consultant if she would like to do a book study with the staff this year using this book!

First Grade Frenzy: Today's the GIVEAWAY!!!!

2011-06-30T18:30:00.000-07:00

First Grade Frenzy: Today's the GIVEAWAY!!!!:

Check out this blog for a very unique giveaway!

Erica's Elementary Excitement!!: Beginning Blog Giveaway!!

2011-06-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

Erica is a new blogger and is having a really fantastic giveaway!

Erica's Elementary Excitement!!: Beginning Blog Giveaway!!:

Chapter 1-The Book Whisperer

2011-06-28T07:29:00.000-07:00

Can I just say, I L-O-V-E this book! Of course, I couldn't just read chapter 1. I kept reading and reading, until I realized I wasn't reading this book like I would for a book club. I was so lost in the book and couldn't get over how much I could relate to it! I got all the way to chapter 6 before I forced myself to stop, get out the pen, and start writing down my reactions.

In the first sentence of chapter 1, Donalyn Miller describes her first memory of learning to read. She describes her mother teaching her to read the highway signs as they traveled on road trips. I connected with Ms. Miller immediately. When I was young, we took a lot of road trips with my parents and grandparents. This was how I first learned to read too. My grandmother would let me sit up front and be the "navigator" on the trip for my grandfather. What great memories...

I like on page 10 how Miller describes herself as a reader. Although I've always had a love of reading, I don't know that I've ever used it as an adjective to describe myself.

On page 11, the quote "No matter what else I had to offer them [her students], I could offer my enthusiasm for books." I have always felt this way...but have I done it?

Miller's wake-up call was when she had spent an entire summer creating a unit for the book The View from Saturday and it turned out to be a disaster. I too have spent countless hours, weekends, and summers creating novel units. Most have also turned out to be disasters. Though, at the time, I didn't recognize it. Only looking back now did I realize my students were also robots--just doing the work that was assigned, and not truly loving the book. I will say, though, that my novel units were for literature circles, and not the whole class. I knew that there was no way I could teach using one novel with the varying ability levels of my class. Still, I was removing student choice.

Another quote that stuck out to me was "teachers teach how they were taught." Interestingly, I have very little recollection of being taught reading. My reading memories are at home, reading with my mom. I do recall reading a whole-class novel about the Australian Aborigines in high school, and I remember thinking at the time, why are we learning this? It did not connect to our lives at all.

The rest of the chapter focuses on how Miller got on the right path for teaching reading. She noticed how students' interests sparked when they were given the choice in their book selections. We practice Daily 5 and CAFE in my class, and both are centered around student choice in books. Miller says, "As long as my teaching was about my activities and my goals, students would be dependent on me to make decisions and define their learning for them." (p. 16). This reminds me of one of the CAFE premises, where students set their goals.

Miller also talks about spending time with her principal and a veteran teacher, Susie Kelley. Does everyone have a "Susie Kelley"? I know I do. She is our fabulous literacy consultant, and her office is right next door to me, so I constantly pop in to pick her brain!

In the last section of the chapter, where Miller discusses setting up a reader's notebook and taking on a workshop approach. She knew she was on the right path, but that it still wasn't working for her, and she was frustrated. I definitely know this feeling. All teachers must find out what works for them and their students. One person's tried-and-true may not work for you. Although I absolutely love the Daily 5, I certainly don't do it just as "the sisters" do it. Or, as my teacher-friend across the hall. We all have to modify to meet our needs and our students' needs.

The last quote I want to discuss is on page 18, "reading shows you how to be a better human being." This is my ultimate goal for my students.

Getting to Know...Mrs. Owens

2011-06-26T19:17:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Lyons at Thinking of Teaching has posted questions that she asked Donalyn Miller, author of The Book Whisperer. Which, by the way, I must add is my new favorite book. I haven't been able to put it down since Friday. Mrs. Lyons has asked us bloggers to join in the fun and is having a linky party! Here is a little bit more about me...

1) What is your favourite book (or series) from childhood?
I always remember reading the Little House series in bed every night with my Mom. Most of my reading experiences from childhood involve my Mom. I also loved the American Girl series, especially the Molly books-WWII era. It helped me relate to my grandmother and grandfather. I even had (actually still have) a Molly doll! (Do you notice a historical fiction-theme here? Maybe why I teach Reading & Social Studies!)

2) What is your favourite book (or series) now?
I read all the Nicholas Sparks books. They are sappy love stories that I lose myself in and read so fast I usually finish them within a weekend.
The books even inspired a trip to the Outer Banks a few years ago!
My hubby buys each new Nicholas Sparks book for me whenever it comes out.

Right now, I am currently reading The Spellman Files series. I've read the first two books and the third is on hold at the library for me as we speak! These are hilarious mystery books and perfect summer reads!

3) What is your opinion of e-readers?
I did not like them when they first came out...there is just something to be said about actually holding a book and turning the pages. I think I will feel very differently when my iPad is delivered in the next two weeks! Although there will still be books I will buy in print (i.e., Nicholas Sparks!), I have a feeling I will be reading on the iPad quite often!

4) Finish this sentence: "On Sundays I like to..."
Well, I don't know if I like to, but on Sundays I grade papers and plan for the week. I give myself Saturday to spend with my family, but everyone knows Sundays are planning days.

5) Describe yourself in 5 words!
Loving mommy, wife, teacher, friend.

6) Hardcover or paperback? Why?
Depends. Of course, I prefer hardcover because they last longer, but paperback usually because it's cheaper.

7) Coffee or Tea?
Tea-Iced, unsweetened. I have a large, pink "Bubba Keg" mug that I carry to school every day with my iced tea-it keeps it cold all day long! It's hilarious at the beginning of the year when the kids think I'm drinking coffee from it-I don't think I could see straight if it was full of coffee!

A Random Thought...

2011-06-26T05:21:00.000-07:00

I've learned recently about myself that if there is a book in the house that I am interested in, I would much rather read that book than watch TV. You would have to know me personally to know how big of a deal that is: watching TV is my biggest vice.
The question arises then, how do we get our students to that point? I'm hoping The Book Whisperer has some answers!

Barnes and Noble Awesomeness!

2011-06-25T05:12:00.001-07:00

I visited my local Barnes & Noble last night to pick up a copy of The Book Whisperer. I had it on reserve at the library forever and someone must really be enjoying the book because it has not come available yet.

Did you know B&N has a "Pick up In Store" option? If you check their website, you can see if your local store has the book that you want, and if they have it in stock, they will have the book waiting for you at the register within 60 minutes. Hello, timesaver!

Of course, I chose this option, thinking I would run in and run out, but I had to take the toddler exploring. No problems here, though, I love the children's section! I loved seeing him looking at the books and recognizing the ones we read at night "Choo Choo" (The Little Engine that Could) and "Night Night Dino" (How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?) He then picked out a dinosaur pop up book that we had to take home with us...how could I resist his little "Iwantit" Yes, that's how he says it. All one word. So cute.

With the Dino pop-up book in hand, we headed to the registers. Sure enough, they had my book up there waiting for me. The cashier then asks me if my son is part of the Kid's Club. Um...what Kid's Club? Why didn't I know about a Kid's Club?! Her first words: "It's free." Always nice. You also get a $5 reward for every $100 you spend. That's not difficult. A free cupcake on the kid's birthday. Maybe he will share with Mama. And, more coupons in the monthly newsletter. Who doesn't love coupons? Especially those for books?! Of course, we signed up. The Kid's Club goes up to age 12, so you can encourage your students to join as well!

An Update...

2011-06-22T10:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been a little MIA lately. I have been waist-deep in yard sale items since Sunday. They are so. much. work.! My sanity is at stake right now, having a yard sale this weekend, our annual July 4th party next weekend, and my son's birthday party the weekend after. Luckily, the weather in these parts have been kinda sucky lately, or else I would be trying to fit in pool time as well! Actually, I did that yesterday. Our first non-stormy, sunny, 90 degree day in a long time. I had to hit the pool. I really could hear it calling my name!

So...
Please excuse my lack of posting, as my brain is just not in school-mode right now. But don't count me out yet! I've got books on reserve at the library and I will be creating some units using the 6 Traits. I'm also super excited to read The Book Whisperer, as part of the TBA Book Club! Thanks for being patient with this super busy blogger!!

Are you joining?

2011-06-22T05:08:00.000-07:00

Are you joining in the Book Club fun? The Book Whisperer will begin on Monday, June 27!

I can teach my child!: Giveaway: Personalized Melamine Plate

2011-06-22T04:42:00.000-07:00

I can teach my child!: Giveaway: Personalized Melamine Plate

Hop on over to this blog and check out the super cute giveaway!

Giveaway!

2011-06-22T04:35:00.000-07:00

Is having a giveaway! Check out her blog and you have a chance to win a $25 gift card to Target!

Mrs. Rojas' Teaching Resources: A Giveaway With A Twist...

2011-06-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

Check out this blog for another fabulous giveaway!

Mrs. Rojas' Teaching Resources: A Giveaway With A Twist...:

Exploring Our National Parks

2011-06-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

This past week my family and I went to Philadelphia for a mini-vacation. Much to the dismay of my toddler, we did take some time out to explore the historical sites. My hubby and I are total history nerds, so we couldn't visit Philadelphia without seeing Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

While at the Liberty Bell, I couldn't help but notice a family with children about the age of my students that were carrying around a packet and taking notes. I was intrigued. The National Parks Service has a Junior Ranger program on their website. I had to check it out! Here is a list of National Parks that offer the Junior Ranger Program: http://www.nps.gov/learn/juniorranger.cfm.

The Independence National Historical Park's Junior Ranger packet has activities for ages 5-7 and 8 and above. They even have activities marked as "easy" and "hard." (Nice job at differentiating, NPS!). Some of the activities include drawing the Liberty Bell, answering questions about the tour of Independence Hall, labeling important documents such as the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, exploring timelines, etc. I was thoroughly impressed! If the Junior Ranger completes a certain number of activities, they take their packet to the ranger station for a prize.

My husband and I want to pass along our love for history to our son. This is the reason we take him to historical sites at such a young age. These Junior Ranger packets are an awesome way to focus learning and keep your kids from being bored while exploring our National Parks. They would also be great to take on field trips as well! Happy Exploring!

Giveaway Winner!!!

2011-06-19T04:54:00.000-07:00

And the winner is....

Congratulations, Tracy, on winning the Target gift card!

E-mail me with your information so I can get it sent to you!

Thanks, everyone, for participating in my first giveaway!

Giveaway ends TONIGHT!!!

2011-06-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

If you haven't checked out my 50 followers giveaway yet, make sure you do by midnight tonight!

I will announce the winner of the Target gift card tomorrow!

My Summer Reading List (Edited)

2011-06-17T14:26:00.000-07:00

I've added my summer reading list. The books I've added are books I've already read this summer, or those I am currently reading. As I read more books, I will add them as well. I'm making a point to read both children and young adult books and books for my pleasure as well. I will also be reading The Book Whisperer, but my library must only have a few copies because I've been on the waiting list FOR-EVER! I'm always looking for new books to read, so feel free to leave me comments about books I should add to my list!

Since writing this post, I've played around a little with the design of my blog, and decided to add my summer reading list as a separate page on my blog.

I made a button!!!

2011-06-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

I am so stinkin' excited, it's ridiculous. The bloggy nerd in me has been wanting a button for a long time now, but I wanted to make it myself. I finally decided to sit down and figure it out tonight, and I finally got it!

Since I have a giveaway going on right now...

You can get a BONUS ENTRY if you grab my button and put it on your blog! Just leave me a comment HERE telling me you did so!

And the results are in...

2011-06-15T13:09:00.000-07:00

June 15 is the magical day for OAA results.

My principal e-mailed the results this afternoon, and though we didn't meet as many indicators as we had hoped, I am still pleased with the results. My building struggles with meeting the OAA indicators. We have increased our performance greatly over the past few years. It's no secret that my students face a lot of challenges in their lives, and school is not always high on their priority list. We have a supportive building principal and a highly motivated staff and we are all working together to get our students where they should be.

Though overall as a grade level we did not meet the indicator, I had so many students increase in their scores that I can't be upset. I had so many students who worked so hard throughout the year that seeing their passing score literally just made me want to cry! It took all I had to not run up the street to the grocery store where one of my students' grandmother works to tell her the good news! Our OAA incentive this year is a summer pool party for all the students who either passed the OAA or increased their score by 15 points from last year. I am so excited to see all my students and tell them great job!

In other good news, our third grade met both indicators in Reading & Math! I'm so thrilled for those teachers, and it gives me a lot of hope for next year!

50 Followers Giveaway!

2011-06-15T05:52:00.000-07:00

We returned last night from our trip to Philadelphia, and it took all I had not to jump on the computer immediately and start posting away! I tried to keep up with all the blogs on my iPhone, but it's just not the same. Hopefully, the iPad will be my birthday present this year! I'm going to have another post about our Philly vacation, because there we had so much fun and there were so many learning opportunities!

While on vacation, my blog reached 50 followers! Everyone knows what that means....

A Giveaway!

Since my absolute favorite store is Target (whose isn't?, I'd like to know!), I will be giving away a Target gift card!

Here's how you enter: (3 chances!)
1.) Follow my blog and leave a comment.
2.) Post about my giveaway on your blog & leave a comment.
3.) Add my blog to your blogroll. Leave a comment telling me you did so.

The winner will be chosen by random.org. The giveaway will end Saturday at midnight, and the winner will be announced Sunday.

Thanks for following & good luck!

50 Followers!

2011-06-09T19:09:00.000-07:00

Trying out mobile blogging today so forgive me if this doesn't work! This blog post is coming to you from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We drove 9 hours today to spend a long weekend in the City of Brotherly Love. We are taking the crazy toddler to Sesame Place for two days. We are also going to check out the Please Touch Museum and hopefully some historical sites for this history buff!

I am so excited that I hit 50 followers today! Be on the lookout for a giveaway very soon- when I return from our mini-vacay!!!