Thanks for stopping by! This is one of my all-time favorite lessons... My reading teammate (Karen) and I decided to start 2014 off right with some concrete metacognition lessons. And they were so so so successful!! I wasn't expecting them to go so well. It was a huge WOW! Actually...it is my *first* post on the Literacy Land blog. You can check it out tomorrow HERE! This week we wanted to really illustrate how we group our words naturally when speaking and that doing this when reading allows us to read fluently. We wanted to also explain that fluency allows your brain to think about what you are reading (metacognition). Karen and I had it all planned out! Then Sunday night hit and so did an idea! The metacognition lesson was so concrete and visual, which is why it was so successful. I wanted the fluency lesson to be just as powerful. Here is what I came up with: 1. Read Wolf! (one of my favorite books to illustrate fluency): 2. Then we took a sentence from the book and had the students hold up each word. I read it aloud with space between each word (very robotic). Then our firsties read it the same way. 3. We decided that this was not fluency. So I pushed all the students close together, leaving no space between the words. This time I read it super fast! Our firsties decided this was not fluency. 4. This time we spaced the words out just a small amount. I explained that when we speak and read we actually group our words. This helps us so we speak and read at a correct pace. I showed these groups with swoops (or ribbon). We used the ribbon to help us slide our finger along the phrase, instead of pointing at each word. 5. After this demonstration, we looked at this new learning on paper. Students came up and used the swoops to help them slide along the phrases. We even stood up and acted out some of the phrases and swoops by moving along with the sentence. I look forward to doing some practice with this skill in our small groups now! And a few more fluency tricks that I have up my sleeve ;) Can't wait to read about your WOWs!!
It's been a while since I've posted a project - it always seems to be that I'll have a couple of weeks where we are "in process", then sudd...
The summer of 2014, I read this book and fell in love. I immediately knew I wanted this to be my first read aloud of the year. Not only are the messages and themes in this book fabulous for children t
I mean...why WOULDN'T you use cootie catchers in your reading block? It makes perfect sense. Ok - remember last week how I was talk...
Awhile back I posted about a Story Map poster that I made that uses post-its: {Click the pic to view original post} Well, I’ve been at it again. Today I started teaching students about Making Connections, so last night I created another Post-It Poster to help teach this concept: If you did not read my…
We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post. Please see policies for more information.I love a good paper craft. All you need is paper and maybe some crayons or markers. This origami eye from Krokotak is fun to make, plus once you have the steps down you can make it
Crafters of all ages will love getting creative with these fun and easy projects. From handmade jewelry to science projects, paper crafts and pom-poms, these crafts for kids will delight little ones and adults alike.
FREE morning work for second grade. These second-grade worksheets include a math spiral review and ELA spiral review for 2nd grade.
These junk sculptures were created by my grade 4 and 5 classes a couple of years ago using recycled materials. Once constructed the robots...
Help students understand the difference between text connections that are vague surface connections and deep connections. This connections anchor chart illustrates the difference in a way that students can understand. A free interactive notebook entry is also included!
I'm beyond excited to share my 5th grade classroom with you! I've minimized the zebra print (yes gasp!) this year and I've added other black and white patterns as well as lime green to accent. The results make me truly happy. I can spend 8 hours a day in this space for sure now, probably even more. We all know, a teacher's work is never done! #1 Front of Room - This is our daily meeting space. It also contains our white board and easel for recording lesson notes and our Smart Board. The Learning Carpets CPR467 - Solid Green Rectangle carpet I purchased for a great deal from Amazon and shipping was FREE since I'm a Prime member. Woo hoo! The black pillows and green ottoman bean bags are from Big Lots. Great deals on all. This is the other side of the Smart Board. We are required to post our daily learning targets. This area also holds part of our library and our read around the room, mystery walker, and classroom job charts. All of these sets will be available in my TPT store soon! The learning targets area is pretty self-explanatory. This is where each morning I write (in "I can kid friendly language") what the students will learn in each of three subjects I teach. We talk about the day's learning targets during our morning meeting and we discuss how they'll know if they achieve each target. Mystery Walker motivates students to move quietly in the hallway. I have Natural Jumbo Wood Craft Sticks in the first drawer of the green 3 drawer unit you can see above. One drawer has the Mystery Walker sticks. They are marked with student names and an MW so they don't get mixed up with the other sticks. I pull two sticks each time we leave the room and those are the Mystery Walkers. I secretly watch those two students as we walk to and from a location and if they were following our hallway expectations, they earn a prize when we return to the classroom. I change the small prizes up - in the past I've used jolly ranchers, starbursts, pencil top erasers, grippers, pencils, bookmarks, classroom money, etc. If the Mystery Walkers do not follow hallway expectations, when we return to the classroom I simply put that stick back into the drawer. I do not announce who it was, that way any student who may have talked will wonder if it was them. The Read Around the Room chart shows which students can read in our special classroom spaces for the day. This year we have the four green bean bag ottomans, a large black pillow, a stool, a table area, the carpet, and a rocking chair. Again I have Natural Jumbo Wood Craft Sticks marked with student names and an RR so they don't get mixed up with the Mystery Walker sticks. These sticks are kept in the second drawer. I pull sticks each morning for these special spaces. The next morning I take out the sticks and put them into a rubber banded group until all students have made it onto the chart once. Then all the sticks return to the drawer and the process repeats! Lastly, in the third drawer of the green drawer unit are Natural Jumbo Wood Craft Sticks marked with student names and a J. These sticks are placed into the jobs pockets to show which students have which classroom jobs. Students apply for jobs in our classroom. I have an application (remind me to post that in a later post) that students must complete and I chose the best applicants for each job. Jobs change monthly. I've found students do much better with their classroom jobs when they have ownership over the jobs they choose. All students who want a job are able to secure a few jobs each year. Also, switching them monthly allows students time to get really good at the job and then to be able to train the new employee. #2 - Classroom Library - If you follow me on Instagram you've seen a few sneak peeks of our classroom library. It's my favorite space in the room. I've combined it this year with our meeting space and my small group space. Last year these were three separate spaces, but when you have a small classroom, you do what you can to maximize room to move. Here's a few close ups of how I organize our books (by genre on the first three shelves, by author on the fourth shelf and buddy books are in the last shelf. On top in the green baskets are "Mrs. O'Bryan's Favorites" these are the books I read for my 40 Book Challenge and recommend to the class. The second green basket is "Books We Recommend." These are the books students recommend to the class on their blogs and during status of the class. The classroom library labels can be found in my TPT store. Here's also a sneak peek of the first books we will read aloud. Our chapter book for September is the The Fabled Fifth Graders of Aesop Elementary School. In October we will join in the Global Read Aloud with One for the Murphys. During the first week, these are the picture books I will read aloud to set the tone for our classroom community - Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners The Juice Box Bully: Empowering Kids to Stand Up For Others The Energy Bus for Kids: A Story about Staying Positive and Overcoming Challenges #3 Student Desks - I have 32 fifth graders this year and currently I have the desks arranged into three groups. One group of 12, one group of 10 and one group of 8. I arrange the desks this way to conserve space. Also, I place students into partnerships and seat them directly across from their reading partner and next to their math partner. This way students can turn and talk easily when instructed. You can also see our Critical Verbs of the Common Core word wall in this shot. I've posted these already to help me remember to use this language of instruction constantly and so I can point out and refer to the words when they are used and found in our daily work and discussions. Each card contains a verb from the Common Core and the example/definition. Here's a close up. They are so stinkin' cute I'm beside myself! :) #4 Back and Sides of Room - In the back of the room I've created a space that shares many things - our nonfiction library, listening center, student computer, math manipulatives and student supplies. You can get the black & white chevron supply labels in my TPT store also. The classroom meme rules on the cupboard door are from the fabulous Tracee Orman. And the self-assessment posters on the file cabinet are from the amazing Kristine Nannini. On these bulletin boards we will add the Common Core ELA & Math vocabulary cards we master during each unit. I love seeing these boards grow throughout the year! This is just a quick view of the one window in the room (I get so jealous of all of you who have walls of classroom windows - but hey you can't have it all, right!?!). The zebra drawers are where I keep copies for the four classes I teach - two sections of math, one section of reading and writing. I also store task cards and centers in these drawers too. Don't mind the boxes in the corner that still needing unpacking. I'm just realizing that I never got to those. LOL #5 My Desk Area - Lastly, here is a photo of my desk area. Posted on the bulletin board is our monthly calendar, September birthday reminders that I found on Fifth Grade Freebies, and our daily schedule. Don't you just love the black and white curtains covering my shelf where I store text books and around my desk?? Hopefully I'll post a Monday Made It soon to describe how I used only a hot glue gun, yes I said only a hot glue gun, to make all of the curtains in my classroom. Here's a closer shot of our calendar. I got the idea to display a desk calendar from my team mate Stephanie Rye of Forever in Fifth Grade. I stayed up way too late Thursday night making the month header, all because Nikki from Melonheadz Illustrating posted these adorable monthly kidlettes and I just had to find a way to use them. Darn her! LOL. Anyway, you can find these monthly headers in my bright chevron calendar set on TPT. Well that's it! I hope you enjoyed the tour! I know I learn so much from touring all of my colleagues rooms throughout the year and I love looking at all of your classroom reveals too. Back to school is truly my favorite and the most inspiring time of the year!! Enjoy! h the view from our hallway. This is our classroom window display. It's not my favorite display I've ever created, but I was tired and running out of ideas. So I plugged all of my students names into Wordle to create the poster in the middle and found these FREE black and white inspirational quotes on TPT and voila. The hanging puffs were $1.50 at the Dollar Store!
It's my last week!!! Wahoo!!! Sorry this post is late. (Thanks to Ana at Mrs. Bentin's Blackboard for the text message and reminder that...
Teach students about Greek and Latin roots by using flowers and roots! This blog post contains a Greek and Latin root anchor chart and several matching activities.
Last week, my students put their brains to work and created math riddles! They wrote their own (with a little bit of guidance, or course) and I am very pleased with how well they came out. Enjoy! Sample:
5th grade reading list suggestions from an actual 5th grader who is picky about books.
Anchor Charts for defining/discussing Diction and Syntax. Use with mini lesson on annotation/Reader/Writer notebook for students to recognize and respond/comment on Diction and Syntax using the dou…
Hey bloggy buddies!! I've been sooo MIA!! Life in the fast lane is starting to catch up with me! The days fly by and it feels like I just ...
Feeling crafty? Here are three easy and fun crafts to use in your children's ministry whenever you have some spare time and materials.
Hello! It's Allison from Stuckey in Second ! I wanted to share a popular post that I recently had on my own blog. It was a big hit and I hea...
I'm beyond excited to share my 5th grade classroom with you! I've minimized the zebra print (yes gasp!) this year and I've added other black and white patterns as well as lime green to accent. The results make me truly happy. I can spend 8 hours a day in this space for sure now, probably even more. We all know, a teacher's work is never done! #1 Front of Room - This is our daily meeting space. It also contains our white board and easel for recording lesson notes and our Smart Board. The Learning Carpets CPR467 - Solid Green Rectangle carpet I purchased for a great deal from Amazon and shipping was FREE since I'm a Prime member. Woo hoo! The black pillows and green ottoman bean bags are from Big Lots. Great deals on all. This is the other side of the Smart Board. We are required to post our daily learning targets. This area also holds part of our library and our read around the room, mystery walker, and classroom job charts. All of these sets will be available in my TPT store soon! The learning targets area is pretty self-explanatory. This is where each morning I write (in "I can kid friendly language") what the students will learn in each of three subjects I teach. We talk about the day's learning targets during our morning meeting and we discuss how they'll know if they achieve each target. Mystery Walker motivates students to move quietly in the hallway. I have Natural Jumbo Wood Craft Sticks in the first drawer of the green 3 drawer unit you can see above. One drawer has the Mystery Walker sticks. They are marked with student names and an MW so they don't get mixed up with the other sticks. I pull two sticks each time we leave the room and those are the Mystery Walkers. I secretly watch those two students as we walk to and from a location and if they were following our hallway expectations, they earn a prize when we return to the classroom. I change the small prizes up - in the past I've used jolly ranchers, starbursts, pencil top erasers, grippers, pencils, bookmarks, classroom money, etc. If the Mystery Walkers do not follow hallway expectations, when we return to the classroom I simply put that stick back into the drawer. I do not announce who it was, that way any student who may have talked will wonder if it was them. The Read Around the Room chart shows which students can read in our special classroom spaces for the day. This year we have the four green bean bag ottomans, a large black pillow, a stool, a table area, the carpet, and a rocking chair. Again I have Natural Jumbo Wood Craft Sticks marked with student names and an RR so they don't get mixed up with the Mystery Walker sticks. These sticks are kept in the second drawer. I pull sticks each morning for these special spaces. The next morning I take out the sticks and put them into a rubber banded group until all students have made it onto the chart once. Then all the sticks return to the drawer and the process repeats! Lastly, in the third drawer of the green drawer unit are Natural Jumbo Wood Craft Sticks marked with student names and a J. These sticks are placed into the jobs pockets to show which students have which classroom jobs. Students apply for jobs in our classroom. I have an application (remind me to post that in a later post) that students must complete and I chose the best applicants for each job. Jobs change monthly. I've found students do much better with their classroom jobs when they have ownership over the jobs they choose. All students who want a job are able to secure a few jobs each year. Also, switching them monthly allows students time to get really good at the job and then to be able to train the new employee. #2 - Classroom Library - If you follow me on Instagram you've seen a few sneak peeks of our classroom library. It's my favorite space in the room. I've combined it this year with our meeting space and my small group space. Last year these were three separate spaces, but when you have a small classroom, you do what you can to maximize room to move. Here's a few close ups of how I organize our books (by genre on the first three shelves, by author on the fourth shelf and buddy books are in the last shelf. On top in the green baskets are "Mrs. O'Bryan's Favorites" these are the books I read for my 40 Book Challenge and recommend to the class. The second green basket is "Books We Recommend." These are the books students recommend to the class on their blogs and during status of the class. The classroom library labels can be found in my TPT store. Here's also a sneak peek of the first books we will read aloud. Our chapter book for September is the The Fabled Fifth Graders of Aesop Elementary School. In October we will join in the Global Read Aloud with One for the Murphys. During the first week, these are the picture books I will read aloud to set the tone for our classroom community - Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners The Juice Box Bully: Empowering Kids to Stand Up For Others The Energy Bus for Kids: A Story about Staying Positive and Overcoming Challenges #3 Student Desks - I have 32 fifth graders this year and currently I have the desks arranged into three groups. One group of 12, one group of 10 and one group of 8. I arrange the desks this way to conserve space. Also, I place students into partnerships and seat them directly across from their reading partner and next to their math partner. This way students can turn and talk easily when instructed. You can also see our Critical Verbs of the Common Core word wall in this shot. I've posted these already to help me remember to use this language of instruction constantly and so I can point out and refer to the words when they are used and found in our daily work and discussions. Each card contains a verb from the Common Core and the example/definition. Here's a close up. They are so stinkin' cute I'm beside myself! :) #4 Back and Sides of Room - In the back of the room I've created a space that shares many things - our nonfiction library, listening center, student computer, math manipulatives and student supplies. You can get the black & white chevron supply labels in my TPT store also. The classroom meme rules on the cupboard door are from the fabulous Tracee Orman. And the self-assessment posters on the file cabinet are from the amazing Kristine Nannini. On these bulletin boards we will add the Common Core ELA & Math vocabulary cards we master during each unit. I love seeing these boards grow throughout the year! This is just a quick view of the one window in the room (I get so jealous of all of you who have walls of classroom windows - but hey you can't have it all, right!?!). The zebra drawers are where I keep copies for the four classes I teach - two sections of math, one section of reading and writing. I also store task cards and centers in these drawers too. Don't mind the boxes in the corner that still needing unpacking. I'm just realizing that I never got to those. LOL #5 My Desk Area - Lastly, here is a photo of my desk area. Posted on the bulletin board is our monthly calendar, September birthday reminders that I found on Fifth Grade Freebies, and our daily schedule. Don't you just love the black and white curtains covering my shelf where I store text books and around my desk?? Hopefully I'll post a Monday Made It soon to describe how I used only a hot glue gun, yes I said only a hot glue gun, to make all of the curtains in my classroom. Here's a closer shot of our calendar. I got the idea to display a desk calendar from my team mate Stephanie Rye of Forever in Fifth Grade. I stayed up way too late Thursday night making the month header, all because Nikki from Melonheadz Illustrating posted these adorable monthly kidlettes and I just had to find a way to use them. Darn her! LOL. Anyway, you can find these monthly headers in my bright chevron calendar set on TPT. Well that's it! I hope you enjoyed the tour! I know I learn so much from touring all of my colleagues rooms throughout the year and I love looking at all of your classroom reveals too. Back to school is truly my favorite and the most inspiring time of the year!! Enjoy! h the view from our hallway. This is our classroom window display. It's not my favorite display I've ever created, but I was tired and running out of ideas. So I plugged all of my students names into Wordle to create the poster in the middle and found these FREE black and white inspirational quotes on TPT and voila. The hanging puffs were $1.50 at the Dollar Store!
Happy Tuesday, friends! I hope you all are well and enjoying summer. So, I must admit that my Mom is my best friend. Although I am not able to spend a ton of time with her during the school year, I am so blessed to spend oodles of time together in the summer. Mom is...
Happy Friday! Whew, what a week!! You with me?? Here’s what I was up to this week… I’ve been working on getting all of our workshops set up and rolling! I got this goodie during the TPT B2S sale – I have been using Math Workshop for several years, but I loved that this had […]
Have you ever read a book that redefined how you taught? A few years ago I read “The Book Whisperer” by Donalyn Miller and have wanted to put some of her ideas into practice with my group of students. Keep in mind that I teach 4th and 5th grade students with special needs, so it …
