$ Money $ 7 Great Titles for Teaching Money 1. Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday By: Judith Viorst 2. "Smart" (poem) from Where The Sidewalk Ends By: Shel Silverstein 3. The Go Around Dollar By: Barbara Adams 4. How the Second Grade Got $8205.50 to Visit the Statue of Liberty By: Nathan Zimelman 5. If You Made a Million By: David Schwartz 6. Money Madness By: David Adler 7. The Case of the Shrunken Allowance By: Joanne Rocklin

This is the first anchor chart that my students saw when they walked in the morning we began mythology! The week prior to the unit, we discussed legends and watched Hercules after testing one afternoon. This was the perfect connection to have going into a unit surrounding myths. We still refer back to this chart throughout our reading/activities - I recommend having something similar to this in your classroom when you teach Greek Mythology or read The Lightning Thief! As Percy's journey continued, my class began to realize that Percy faces a new challenge almost every chapter. In one of the chapters, we came across the word "quest." What an awesome stopping discussion - what is Percy's quest in this chapter? What is his ultimate quest? How does his journey on the quest change him? The students had a great time recalling the challenges that Percy had faced up to the point where we were in the book, and it was a great way to check for understanding on whether they truly knew the meaning of the word. I made this anchor chart AFTER my class developed a definition together so that the knowledge was student-made!

Every great reader has their beginnings in sounding out words!

This week in my exploration class we studied the color wheel and how to make different colors. Most kids have a general knowledge of mixing colors in order to make new ones but there are definitions and terms that some students might be unaware of. Primary, secondary, tertiary, and then warm and cool colors. We took a few days this week to create our own color wheels inside our art notebooks and then we began drawing what would become a watercolor. Today students will be using their watercolors to make the different colors that will fit into their painting. This would make a great beginning to an art class but for my class it was a great start to how to blend colors when your watercolors only give you a few options.

So, I bet you came over here expecting to see a long list of buttons and thank you notes, but... NOPE! I am D-O-N-E ... Done with that assignment. (That doesn't make me less grateful, it just makes me glad that I completed SOMETHING!) Today I am linking up with my sweet friend, Kristen, of Ladybug's Teaching Files, who has a Linky Party going on that invites you to share an anchor chart or two (or several!) If you haven't been by to visit Kristin lately, you have GOT to see how she has revolutionized the teaching of CAFE and Daily 5. That girl is a GENIUS! And she is generous with her sharing too. I could look at those cute little circle cut-outs all day long! At the moment, the anchor charts in my room focus mostly on reviewing for The Test. I will post some of those later this week. Today I am sharing two strategy charts that we have just revisited. My students often distance themselves from their reading. They seem to be more intent on turning pages and proclaiming (to my dismay) "DONE!" I feel like I am constantly asking them to engage with the text (and the characters when we are reading a narrative) and to think more deeply about what they are reading. I urged them to go back to their September strategies: Ask Questions, Visualize, Determine Importance, Make Connections, etc. We had just read a story and were were making connections to the text. Soon the whole discussion seemed to devolve into who had done the same thing as the author. They struggled, however, to make their connections support meaning-making in their reading. We had been talking about a text which included the character's affection for her dog. One person had shared a connection--and then that connection inspired more "connections," and we moved further and further away from the text. Five minutes into the "discussion" and it was hard to remember what the TEXT was about. They weren't making connections that helped them make sense of the text! The last three graphics are from DJ Inkers clipart So we made two charts. First, we talked about the different kinds of connections we can make when we are reading. This sparked the need to add Text-to-Media connections because that comes up a lot when sixth graders participate in a discussion. Then we discussed how the BEST connections bring you back to the text and help you make meaning. I simplified the concept so that all of my kids can understand the idea--even those with limited English skills. I recopied the charts at home (because my on-the-spot printing is atrocious). You can't tell because of the poor lighting in our room, but the connections chart has little plastic "connecting" chain links--and the link back to the text has a glittered pathway. I never added sparkle to an anchor chart before. I think I might like it! This morning things went a little better. As our discussion was about to get sidetracked (again), one student suggested we were "getting off topic." Another added that we were "moving away from the text." Suddenly sunshine flooded the room and I could hear angels singing... Okay, that didn't really happen. But I did point to the chart and ask them, "How does your connection help you understand the text?" It's hard to get 'tweenagers to invest in their reading. Maybe this strategy review will help draw them back into the text.

Are you looking for some fun and engaging apostrophe activities? This blog is filled to the brim with fantastic ideas and resources.

And the winner is.... but, because I want everyone to have something... here are a couple of freebies for you! But first some back story (remember good things come to those who read on! ha ha) So, we are working on contractions this week in HM, and this is always such a tough one for the kiddos... so we started with this chart and my "rules for contractions" we do this great finger play to go along with the rules that the kids LOVE! Then we did this interactive poster (courtesy of Abby at The Inspired Apple - love her!). Way easy to understand and the kids jumped right on! I choose the contraction ahead of time, the kids highlighted the letters to leave out, helped me write the remaining letters and added the apostrophe! And... tomorrow we will be doing this sort in small groups and the worksheet during workshop! So, you should have them too! Click the pics to download and I hope you enjoy them :) Have a wonderful Monday! See you soon :)

So many random things to share about this evening. one . Our Grammar Boot Camp has been going great. I really did not teach as much gr...

Would you like to decorate your classroom with fun, hand-drawn anchor charts/posters? Do you simply not have the time to get them done? Well, you have come to the perfect place! I love making these engaging and appealing anchor charts. I also can draw/create any other topic you would like, just contact me directly and ask! My students absolutely love these posters and references them every day. Many of them are visual learners, so the colorful images really help them connect and remember what they have learned. This particular anchor chart is for readers/writers practicing the "bonus letter" or "floss rule". My students absolutely loved using the floss rule to help them build words and read these in passages. They loved using the anchor chart as a visual reference and had fun with the pictures/colors. **These will be copies unless asked otherwise for a custom poster. They are not laminated, and are printed on normal, anchor chart paper. I ship these out ASAP after being ordered, but please keep in mind once shipped, it is outside of my control. Therefore, if shipping does not meet your expectations, I highly encourage you to please reach out to me first, and we have always been able to work something out to make up for anything that may have occurred after I have sent your package, thanks so much!! Hope you love it :)

A few years ago (maybe five or six) our state standards changed for reading, pretty dramatically. I know all of you who have been through...

a blog for speech language pathologists by a speech language pathologist!

Use these adorable posters to help your students remember the different types of punctuation, what they look like, and when to use them. Just print, laminate, and hang up on a bulletin board or wall. Here is what's included... -Two different headers -Student coloring sheet -Colored posters for the following punctuation marks: period question mark exclamation point exclamation mark comma quotation marks semi-colon colon *Please note that there are several ways to use some of the punctuation marks. I chose the definitions I thought were appropriate for young learners. Please check out the posters before purchasing, to make sure they meet your needs. Download the preview to see the wording on each poster. Also, I included exclamation point and exclamation mark. Just choose the one you prefer. These posters can also be purchased in one of two money-saving bundle packs! Click here to see the K-2 pack! Click here to see the 1st-3rd grade pack! I hope you enjoy this resource. Lori ❤️Email: [email protected] ❤️Teaching With Love and Laughter Blog ❤️Facebook ❤️Pinterest ❤️Instagram Copyright ©️ 2012-2022 Lori Rosenberg, LLC Purchasing this resource grants permission for use by one teacher in his/her classroom. Please purchase additional licenses if you intend to share this resource with others.

For the past five years, I’ve been using the same “menu” format for Literacy Centers and have modified it as I’ve taught first, second, and third grade. Prior to that, I’d tried every system in the book…stations in the classroom, mobile tubs, wheels, rotated charts, assigned centers…all of which “worked” for the most part, BUT...