Here’s the lowdown on handling [insert problem behavior here]. We’re tying together all the little tidbits we’ve learnt so far on problem behavior. Click through to get insight on behavior intervention plans (BIP).
The NEWLIFE EXPO is America's Longest Running Holistic, Mind-Body-Spirit Expo. Join us in Brooklyn, New York and in Boca/Deerfield, Florida and meet thousands of Like-Minded Souls!
Students can work independently, in pairs, or small groups to roll a dice and read a decodable sentence. All sentences include single syllable, short vowel (closed) words with initial and final blends. This product is compatible with the Wilson Reading Program Step 2 and Fundations. This activity is great to work on both phonics and fluency of blends. Skill: Short, closed single syllable words with digraphs (th, sh, ch, ck) and blends. Science of Reading Approach
We must explicity teach reading strartegies. Reading strategies do not function in isolation; they work synergistically to help students fully access text.
High on my list of gardens to visit while staying in Oxfordshire was one close to my friend’s flat – the Oxford Botanic Garden. Located directly across from a splendid garden at Magdale…
15 fun and easy fluency practice activities to get your K-1 students reading at a just-right pace, with accuracy and expression!
Differentiating your instruction can be overwhelming. I get it. When you hear the word "differentiation" do you automatica...
This page contains free social emotional learning activities that can be used to help students in elementary and middle school.
Learn all about the 9 jobs of the final Silent E and get a free printable sort worksheet to use as practice with your students.
Making inferences worksheets and activities aren't always easy for students, but there are fun ways to teach this challenging reading skill.
A fun self-esteem activity to help children explore all the things they love and appreciate about who they are. In this self-esteem activity, kids get to complete sentence stems to help them identify things they are good at and positive qualities they like about themselves.
Hi y'all! This is Stephanie from The Learning Chambers and I'm here today to talk to you guys about small group instruction. Let me start off by saying that I love love LOVE small group instruction! I try to teach in small groups as much as possible. I'm a strong believer in individualized instruction and I believe that small group instruction is the way to achieve that. Today I wanted to share with you guys about how I keep track of and monitor my small groups. It's no secret that I love sticky notes! During small groups, I take short notes on my observations to help guide my instruction when we meet again. I normally write short notes and use student initials to help save time. I stick the notes on my small group binder and then later I move them to the individual student pages. That saves me time because I don't have to keep flipping back and forth to each individual student page. Here is an example that I made to show you guys. My school has four nine-week semesters, so I print four copies for each student for the year. I circle the nine-week semester that we are currently in and use it until the end of the nine weeks. When the next nine weeks starts, I start on a new documentation form. I keep these document pages in my small group binder and they are perfect for documenting RTI. You could also staple the pages together and make a small group flipbook. I love using these because they are quick and easy and provide me with the information that I need to help support my students. Want to use these in your classroom to document your small group observations? I'm super excited to share this freebie with you guys! You can even type in your own students' names to save even more time! There are forms that include the nine weeks line and some blank ones as well. You can grab these small group student documentation forms HERE.
I wanted to stop by today and share some a few of my “go-to” activities during the first week of school to build our classroom community and set expectations for […]
Being able to de-escalate and defuse situations with kids and young adults is an extremely helpful skill. Kids and young adults who become emotionally overwhelmed or irritated in a situation may begin to express their emotions in challenging ways. Some examples of these behaviors might include aggre
We all know that every child's journey to become a reader is different. What is simple for one may be incredibly difficult for another, some are great with phonics instruction, others seem to sail right through sight words, and others yet can read the words, but have a hard time with understanding what they're reading. How on earth are you supposed to teach a room full of children who are all unique and at different points on their reading journey? You differentiate. You may have 3-4 reading groups, you may have 6-7 reading groups (yes, I did that), you may pull students for 1-1 instruction, or small group instruction with a group that needs to work on a particular concept. Today I thought I'd show you some simple ways to use a single reading resource many ways, that is, to differentiate. I'm going to focus today on emergent readers. UNC defines an emergent reader as: "Child on the path to fluent literacy, before conventional reading and writing skills emerge. Emergent readers demonstrate alphabet knowledge, a concept of what a word is, a sense of story (beginning, middle, end), listening and retelling skills, phonemic awareness, and verbal expression." Here's an example of some text you might use with an emergent reader. It has a limited number of words, uses mostly sight words, and has pictures that clearly match the sentences. You'll notice the text has a repeating pattern, in this case, "I see a red __" The book I took this from has 6 sentences with this pattern, one to a page, plus a final page without the last word on it, for the children to add in their own word and picture. Once children are familiar with the text pattern from the book, you can have them match the sentences and pictures. Start with just a couple, and work your way up. You can also separate the words in a sentence and have students pay close attention to each word in order to put the words in the correct order. This is a great time to point out that sentences start with capital letters (so the word "This" must be first) and end with punctuation (so the word yellow must be last). Children will look at the first letter in each word to help them decode the word, and need to think about what makes sense. They may notice that the first word in each sentence is the same, or point out the pattern the sentences are based on. If they struggle with one of these words, you might want to point out other instances of the word - preferably in a sentence they've already read. I find that children are much more likely to engage with the text if they have the opportunity to "play" with it, so I make word and picture cards large enough for students to manipulate easily. I usually use mine in a pocket chart. Just think of the fun children can have putting the words in the wrong order to create crazy "sentences" - and the reading and thinking about the words necessary to do so! If you are working on skills like this with more than one child, challenge them to work together to make the sentences, or to scramble them up for each other. My students LOVED taking turns scrambling and decoding sentences. You can even have them dictate and illustrate additional sentences that fit the pattern, and let them scramble and decode those! As students gain skills and confidence, you can challenge them with more text at once... ... including multiple scrambled sentences. Here I've combined both of these techniques: several sentences need to be unscrambled, and then the matching picture can be found and placed with each one. Notice that these are still predictable sentences that follow a pattern, and that the pictures still correlate closely to the text. By varying the number of sentences children are working with, whether the words are in order or scrambled, and whether the pictures are with the sentence or scrambled separately, you can manage the difficulty level for different children - or the same child, on different days. This is the most challenging level I've come up with for this kind of text. I've scrambled both the pictures and the words for multiple sentences, and have provided the text in book form for students to refer to as they put everything in order. Look how much more challenging this is than the other ways of differentiating listed above! By the time students can work with the text at this level, they've most likely mastered the sight words used in the text, and will be able to identify those words in other places. (In other words, they're really reading!) When working with children like this, it's important to look at what they CAN do, and to build on the skills already in place. A child who already knows the sight words in a text probably doesn't need to match pictures to sentences, just as a child who is working to put a single sentence in order will only be frustrated if you scramble several at once. You want them to enjoy the experience of working with words, as well as to learn new things! These techniques will work with almost any emergent reader text, but if you are interested in the texts I've used in this post, they are all part of this resource, including the word and picture cards for children to manipulate: I'd love to hear how you differentiate for your emergent readers - share your tips in the comment section below!
I created my own version of math Rotations a few years ago when I just couldn’t meet the needs of all of my students doing whole group instruction. I found that my high kids were bored and not listening, my middle of the road kids were mostly listening (I mean, I was teaching to them!!), and my low kids were staring off in space. Not good. That’s when I did some research and decided to do Differentiated Math Rotations. Here is a quick overview of what I do. I am NOT claiming to be an expert at all!! This is just works for me (and my kiddos’ state test scores) I will also add that I DO NOT do rotations EVERY SINGLE DAY! I still find it incredibly valuable to have students participating in Math Talks, completing Performance Events, playing Games, and figuring out difficult problems with students who are not on their level. Their conversations are so important This blog post describes the majority of my time. So.. how does it work you ask? I pre-assess my students at the beginning of each unit. Make it easy on yourself and just give them a five question multiple choice sheet that covers the topics of the unit. That way you can QUICKLY assess their strengths and weaknesses. I have to use our district Common Assessments, but it accomplishes the same thing. Next, I group them according to the results. I use the Cardinal Directions as groups because it is a Compass Rose, shaped like a cross. There is not really a top or bottom because all four sides are important to find your way. All 5 correct: West (advanced) 3-4 correct: East 2 correct: South 0-1 correct: North (low) I usually play around a little bit with the East and South groups to even out the number of kiddos. I also assign each student a partner who is in their group to play at the game station. Now remember, these groups are flexible. I am constantly monitoring my students to see if they need to change groups. I will usually get a few kids who can move up to West (advanced) and some kiddos who move up from North. I have had a student or two who has moved down to North for a few lessons. You are meeting your kids where they are. I also DON’T do stations EVERY Day. I do it MOST days!! Notice that North group begins with the Teacher. This is so your low group is the first group of the day and they go directly to their desk to practice after meeting with you. West group on the other hand, meets with you last. The first thing that they do is practice. These kiddos can usually start an inquiry based activity alone and then meet with you later to discuss it. Or you can have them practice something from yesterday’s lesson. Since the groups are flexible, I use a sticky note to record the group members’ names. I also use pencil so that I can erase. Your groups will not always be even. You may have to have two low groups for example. I hot glue the other labels to a white board. I write the materials needed and assignments students will complete at each station. Once I have all my little honey buns in groups, I teach them about the rotations they will be making each day. Each rotation is "supposed" to last for 10 mins. I have been "flexible" with my timing for each group, depending on their understanding of the lesson. There are four rotations: Teacher, Desk, Game, Fast Facts. While I don’t do a whole group lesson at the beginning, we do come back for share time to talk about our new learning. This is when the kiddos come to me at the carpet or small group table for the actual lesson that is presented on their level. Your middle groups are easy to plan. You just use your Math Program. North and West are more tricky. You have to plan specifically for them. I do A LOT of hands-on activities with my North group. While I am teaching a modified version of the curriculum, I am still expecting to get them to be successful on the grade level assessment. This takes flexible planning on your part. I KNOW my end goal and how I need to get them there, but I have no idea if this group will “get” the lesson or if I will need to reteach in a different way. I am prepared either way. West group needs a challenge. These are most likely your gifted learners. They do NOT need MORE work. They have already proven to you that they have met the grade level expectation. These kiddos can work on performance events and projects. You will still be teaching them, but something more advanced. Where do I get my resources? My TPT Store www.commoncoresheets.com www.superteacherworksheets.com http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/me5l/html/math5.html www.frontrowed.com At practice kiddos work on the practice assignment at their desks after the lesson. This is usually a worksheet that students work on to continue the learning they just had. (West group starts here first since they are the advanced group. They get an assignment before the lesson.) I have a game for each skill. I usually keep the same game for one week so that I only have to explain it once. Some games are differentiated and some games are not. We may play a game from the current unit or we may play a game from a previous unit to review skills. I play around with a couple of different activities for Fast Facts and what you do will depend on the availability of technology in your building. If you have tech, keep reading, if not, scroll down. For those with tech I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend Prodigy! It is AMAZING! My kids beg me to play it and they even go home, call each other, and play online! This is a computer program that allows you to choose the standards, assign quizzes, and it grades it for you. The kids love it because it lets them create a wizard avatar and they go around a magical world battling and earning coins and pets! It’s free unless parents want to pay for their kiddos to be able to “win” more things. Some have purchased it but most have not. I have also had students use www.xtramath.org for math facts. I highly recommend this site. We use it for homework now instead. Before Prodigy I would have recommended www.frontrowed.com This site is AMAZING! It gives pretests for all CCSS standards and builds a program for each student! If you do not have technology, We create these Fact Folders. We create them at the beginning of the year and use them for Fast Finishers. Watch this ten second video. You can pause if you need to! I really hope this helps give you some ideas for Math Rotations! If you want the already created board, check it out by clicking the pic below! Have a great year!
Artist Camille Walala has transformed a historic building with one of her vibrant designs.
Learn how to teach phonics with our 5 steps to building a reader. Useful for kindergarteners or beginning readers.
15 fun and easy fluency practice activities to get your K-1 students reading at a just-right pace, with accuracy and expression!
This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Toddlers are positively delightful and then also sometimes very challenging. Toddlers often push limits and can be very emotional as they navigate relationships and boundaries. Right now I am
When trying to differentiate instruction for our students, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Here are 6 Easy Ways to Differentiate Instruction
Differentiation is the buzzword that just keeps on buzzing! Teachers, administrators, and evaluation systems are placing more and more emphasis on differentiation in the classroom. Sometimes, the thought of organizing lessons to meet the individual needs of all of your students can feel like an overwhelming challenge. One of the best and simplest ways I have found to do this is with colored pocket folders.
Fraction Games to be Used in the Classrooms Click Here to download the PDF version FREE. (and file it away for later) Materials: Deck of Cards Pencil Paper Pencils Fraction War Students take turns …
Hello There! I'm here to talk about IEP Tubs today and how I use them in my classroom! I've used them for two years now and I really love the simplicity of them and the effectiveness!! Each student
Finding out what a student knows about phonics is made easy with this quick and simple phonics assessment for K-3 readers! And it's FREE.
I have finally found a solution to the continuous conflict over pencils from my tables group. My class was always arguing about the pencils and which table took their pencils. Each table now has their own color. This tape has solved all my pencil problems. A variety of colorful Duct tape (which can be found at Target) would work too.
Made from 100% recycled rubber, Envirotile has saved approximately 3 million tires from being sent to the landfill. Due to the nature of recycled materials, the tire rubber will vary from tile to tile. This variance results in each tile's naturally unique color as well as size, equaling up to 1/4 in. size difference from tile to tile. Envirotile is a floating floor system that provides the ease of a do-it-yourself application. These tiles can be installed on top of any existing hard surface such as wood, concrete, and patio tiles. The floating floor system is an investment, it is simple to pick up your tiles and move them to another location. For use on balconies, patios, decks, child play areas and more to create a beautiful floor Reversible from a traditional cobblestone pattern to a sleek, flat profile surface Each tile weighs approximately 5.6 lbs. making it light enough to carry by hand but heavy enough to stay put in place Ideal solution to cover old, worn, or cracked surfaces Recycled rubber tiles are noise absorbing and anti-fatigue Tiles are weather and frost resistant and do not have to be removed during the winter Non-skid and impact absorbing Size variance, rotating the tiles side by side to find the best fit will help to alleviate variance issues $2.80/sq. ft. equivalent
Why do we use reinforcement? The idea behind reinforcement is that if you reinforce a behavior it is more likely to occur again. I know I use reinforcement with all of my students every single day and I bet you do too! I wanted to talk a little bit about some important things to remember ... Read More about Using Reinforcement Effectively
11 Practical Classroom Management Ideas 2 comments Back to School, Classroom Ideas, Classroom Management, Popular Posts, Tips and Tricks One of my favorite things to do is peek inside other teacher's classrooms. I love seeing what kinds of things they are up to, checking out their favorite tricks of the trade, and to sniff out new tips that I can bring back to my own classroom. If you're like me, then keep reading. This post is full of all my favorite classroom management ideas and tips. Warning: This post is long, so grab a cup of coffee and cozy up while you enjoy peeking inside my classroom. :) This post contains affiliate links for your shopping convenience. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase through one of my links. For more information about my Disclosure Policy, please visit this link. MOVEMENT CODE WORD I started using a movement code word just this year. My class just couldn't seem to wait for me to finish giving directions before they started to "follow" them. To save my sanity, I started using a code word system which turned our transitions into a game of sorts. The students had to wait for me to give directions and could not move until I said the code word. I will say, I wasn't sure if this would work, but it did! So, I stuck with it all year. And, I'm going to continue to use it in the future. As you can see, I don't do anything special as far as displaying the code word. I just write it on the board. Pretty printouts aren't necessary for everything. ;) I change my code word at the beginning of each week, and I like to use fun/funny words. Some people like to use vocabulary words, but I prefer keeping it light and fun where I can. :) Some code words I used this year include: -Cactus Pants -Llama llama -Rainbow Dash -Sugar Cube -And too many others I can't remember WIRELESS DOORBELL If you ever feel like your go to "attention getter" isn't getting the attention it needs, then I highly suggest you invest in a wireless doorbell. For $13, it's a fun and effective way to mix up your attention getters. Click here to see this item on Amazon. I don't use the doorbell exclusively, I use it when the kids are working in pairs or groups and the voice levels in the room are above a whisper level. It's easily heard and immediately gets their attention. When I ring the doorbell, I tell the class to fold their arms and face me. Then, I say what needs to be said, and everyone returns to what they were doing. It's great! CHANTS Sometimes transitioning from desks to the carpet area can be slow. One way to help pick up the pace, and eliminate talking along the way is to lead students in a chant. We used a few chants this year, and once the kids learned them, I would let them be the chant leaders. I would signal for table groups to head to the carpet one at a time as the chant was going on. I'd like to say that I'm so incredibly talented that I can write my own chants, but that would be a HUGE lie. I'm the least musically/rhythmically inclined person I know. Buuuut, click here for a (free) fun transition chant I found at Classroom Freebies. Pinterest is also a great source of chant ideas for those of us who need it. ;) GUIDED READING GLASSES Guided reading is that sacred time of day where we all tell our students not to bother us unless something extreme is happening. It is also the time of day where our students seem to forget that we are not to be interrupted for minor things. Or, was that just my class this year? Seriously, my class this year was just.not.getting.it. Every time guided reading rolled around they seemed to forget that we had a hand signal system in place. To them, I abandoned the role of teacher and swapped it for role of IT professional. I've never had problems with students solving their own problems or using hand signals during groups before, but this year was different. So, I invested in a pair of special glasses. These glasses became my "Don't talk to me during reading groups" glasses. I hoped that something visual like the glasses, that I only wore during group time, might remind them to follow procedures. Guess what? It did (of course there were a few hiccups here and there, these are kids we're working with, after all)! Click here to see these glasses on Amazon. If glasses aren't your thing (or you already wear them), then a headband or hat would work too. HAND SIGNALS The last thing I want to hear is "Can I get a new pencil/tissue/drink of water/go to the bathroom?" 95 times a day. Thank goodness for hand signals. I introduce these on day one and they are a sanity saver. My only rule is, don't use a hand signal during teaching time unless it is a dire emergency. These hand signal posters are from Rachel Lamb- The Tattooed Teacher. You can edit them to meet your needs! YOU TUBE FOR RELAXATION I used to play relaxing music via my CD player, but this past year I've relied on You Tube for all our relaxing sound needs. I could use Spotify, or other music apps, but I like to project the image from the You Tube video for extra ambiance. "Meditation Relax Music" is one of my favorite channels. Toward the end of the year, the "A Day of a Unicorn" song/video quickly became a class favorite. TABLE POINTS/STICKER BOOKS I have an entire post about this. Check it out HERE! All I will say here is that my students loooooooove their sticker books. And thank goodness, because I loooooooove to buy new stickers. POINT OF ORDER Whenever we enter the classroom (from our morning patriotic ceremony, from Specials, after lunch, etc.) I use point of order. The students enter at a zero voice level, and stand behind their desk with their arms folded. This just helps them remember that it's time to focus on learning. They sit down when I give the code word (see above). MYSTERY WALKER Anytime my class walks together from point A to point B, I choose two mystery walkers. I do this by pulling two name sticks from the container on my desk (sorry, no pic). I keep a careful eye on these two students as we walk to wherever we are going. If they follow hallway expectations, they earn the status of Mystery Walker and earn a ticket (in my classroom, tickets are used to earn special privileges). If a student earns the status of Mystery Walker twice in once day, he/she earns a special reward tag! I made these using my Editable Reward Tags. Read all about reward tags HERE. If you have a classroom economy, you could pay your walkers a small amount of classroom money. Or, give them a sticker. Or, they just get bragging rights to being named Mystery Walker. Basically, you can reward your walkers however you'd like. :) JOB CHART FOR TWO My friend Deirdre (A Burst of First) shared this genius classroom job idea a few years ago. I took her idea and made it work for me. Because, isn't that what teaching is all about? Hehe. Seriously though, this system is a life saver (for me)! Every week, I assign two students the role of classroom helpers. These students basically do anything from running errands to collecting papers to passing out papers to carrying the lunch bin outside. This system works for me because I cannot keep up with assigning 23+ jobs a week. It's just too much. If you prefer assigning specific jobs to all your students, that's awesome, but this is a great alternative for those of us who can't keep up with that. After school on Friday, I take down the two names from that week and replace them with two new names for the following week. I keep the name cards in a small basket and just rotate through the pile of names two at a time. I keep it as simple as possible. You can download the chart here for FREE! What you'll need to do: Print out the chart. Use an exacto knife to cut small slits toward the top and lower middle portions of the white section of the chart. Place paperclips through the slits. Slide your name strips under the paperclips. (You'll need to make your own slips of paper with student names printed on them....or, just cut up index cards and write the names on that). STUDENT NUMBERS For some reason, the idea of using student numbers seems to really irritate some people. If that's you, please don't read the rest of this section. Student numbers, however, can make things easier when it comes to labeling. My students are not called by number, nor are they just a number to me. It's simply a way to streamline classroom organization for the students, and me. I use student numbers because I don't have to spend time relabeling everything in my classroom at the beginning of the year. This is especially helpful as class sizes continue to increase. I label our mailboxes with numbers. These numbers have been in place for a few years now. Such a time saver when I'm trying to unpack and set up my classroom at the end of summer. Students write their name on their paper, followed by their number. This way, papers can be quickly and easily placed in the correct mailbox. Our brag tag display is also labeled with numbers. These numbers have been up for about 3 years because I haven't had to customize the labels with names. That's all, folks! I hope you found an idea or two that you can use in your own classroom. Do you have another tip or idea to share? If so, comment below! DON'T FORGET IT, PIN IT! Share It:
I've had many questions about guided reading! Let me start by saying, I'm NO expert. I am still working on it myself! But, I do have some things I've learned that I'd love to share with you...and I'm not taking credit for these ideas. :) I just blog about em'! 1. Levels/Planning Once you establish the level of each of your students, you'll want to check out {this} printable. It has helped me SO much! This printable tells me what I need to work on with each level {I did not create this handout, I just re-typed it!}. Click {here} for the download Once you know what your kiddos need, you'll put them in groups. I know you've seen this before on our blog, but this is for our new friends that need ideas. I used velcro so that I can easily move them from level to level and so that I'd have a visual of where my students are. Here is a guideline from my district on where your students should be throughout the year. Keep in mind that we are in a trimester schedule so it might be different for you. Click {here} to download 2. Running Records We are asked to do one running record in each group, each day. It's a little overwhelming and I try my best to get it done, but I'm the.worst.at.it. I know it's helpful because it let's me know when a students is ready to move a level without doing a formal assessment, but I just like listening to all of my students in the group, not just one. Uggghhh.... I'm working on it people! I keep my running records in a guided reading records binder {check that out here}. Click {here} for the running record form If you've never done a running record, it's really best to see one in action. I did find a good site for a general overview of running records {here}. 2. Anecdotal notes Sometimes you notice things that your students are doing, but you're not doing a running record on them...but you need to remember to address it. I just keep a sheet of address labels on my desk and jot down the problem. Then, I stick it on their tab in the binder on this little printable: Click {here} to download 3. Planning In my guided reading packet on TpT, I explain the planning steps of guided reading, but here's a tip that's not in my packet. When teaching a guided reading group, I always have a word work activity planned. To organize all of my games and ideas, I've put them all in a binder. The games are all copied on cardstock and put in a page protector {then they can be stuck in the binder AND they can be used with a dry-erase marker}. Then, I separate them with tabs so I can easily access them. The tabs are comprehension, word work, vocabulary, fluency, and I think that's it. 4. Mini-lessons I use my whiteboards or my games from my binder in my lessons just about every day. They are perfect for word work mini-lessons. I just take into account the skill my kiddos need to work and/or what I see in their book for that day. If the book is called "Star Fish", I might work on the sound of 'ar', or I might work on the digraph 'sh'. OR, I might just see what they need to work on and it might not have anything to do with the book. Teach Kinder or 1st Grade? {Get your mini-lessons pack here} Teach 2nd Grade? {Get your mini-lessons pack here} Teach 3rd Grade? {Get your mini-lessons pack here} 5. Management I use the Daily 5. I modify it to make it work for me and my students. It's the best system that is a balance between keeping the kiddos engaged AND having them do meaningful things while I'm working with groups. Check out their site for more info. Another bonus...after you've set up all of the expectations with your kiddos the first month or so of school...there's really nothing else you have to do with it {I do revisit the expectations every month}. Schedule Cards: Stephanie Stewart Daily 5: Chalkboard Freebie from me Alphabet: Up Front Decor 6. Time This one I can't really help you on. It's up to you to make time to do guided reading. I know that sometimes it's out of your hands, but it's VERY important you meet with your kiddos everyday {it's required in our district}. Even when it's during assessment time, I try to at least get in one group that day {my lowest group for sure}. My district is really big on the "2-a-day" plan. Basically, during assessment time, only test 2 students a day. This is in place of "test all the kids in 3 days and that's it" method I like. I'm not a fan of the "2-a-day", but some of you might be. I use this printable to help me decide when I'm meeting with each group. If you have a lot of groups, you won't be able to meet with every group, every day. BUT, it's important that you meet with your below level kiddos EVERY day {even Friday...gaspppp....}. So, this helps me remember what day I meet with what group {here's an example of what it would look like}: Click {here} for the download 7. Books I am so fortunate that I teach in a district that is HUGE on guided reading. We have a giant room full of guided reading books for ALL the levels. It's basically a library just of guided reading books. It's heavenly. If you are short on books, there are numerous grants out there that can help! Click {here} to find out more. You can also use the books on reading A-Z. I hope I answered all of your questions. :) For more ideas and to see our previous posts, go {here}. Any other ideas? Tips? Frame: Fancy Dog Studio Clipart: Scrappin Doodles Fonts: DJ Inkers and Kevin & Amanda
Is it just me or is time just flying by?!?! We had our Spring Break early this year and it felt like we had some time to prep for this stinkin' test we've got coming up......but now, it's like "What??? Only 10 more school days until we test?!?!?". It's crazy..... Before I begin to tell you about the adventures in room 14, let me tell you why I am able to blog at 11:00 {AM} on a school day. This morning, at 5:00, we were up and getting ready to take Jaci to get some tubes put in her ears. My poor baby has had an ear infection every month since she started daycare! The procedure was quick and mostly painless......the anesthesia makes those babies CRANKY!! Here's my baby in her hospital gown. How cute is that?!?!? We were back home very soon and then baby girl crashed out! It must have been all the adorable screaming she did in the car on the way home :) While she is napping......I am blogging!!! Needless to say, we have been busy in 3rd grade these past few weeks. Who am I kidding? When are we ever NOT busy?? It was business as usual :) We are practicing a little bit of everything every day. I have some "action shots" to show you just what we've been up to! We have been practicing reviewing our vocabulary. We are almost done with our ABC's of Math from Teaching with Moxie. This has been a great refresher. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, we are working on our Countdown to STAAR curriculum. It's a great spiral type of practice, but we also needed some vocabulary, so......on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we do some ABC's of Math. The kids love it. I also used another vocabulary resource from Amanda at One Extra Degree. They are called formative flaps and they are great {and free!!!}. I had my kids write their own definitions on the top flap, and then go check their definition with the one in our textbook glossary. Then, they wrote the official definition on the bottom. I had so many kids coming up to me saying, "Mrs. Palmer, my definition is just what the book says!". They were so proud of themselves. They really know their vocabulary :) We also do fact practice. Every day. It's one of my four math stations. T-teacher time, I-independent work, M-math facts, and E-enrichment. This week we used a multiplication wheel from Jersey Teacher. They roll 2 number cubes and add them together and that gives them their first factor. Then, they move around the wheel, using that same factor and multiplying with the factors on their wheel. It's great practice and the kids enjoy it. We also do problem solving every day. We work a few problems together, as a class. Our state test is mostly word problems, so we need all the practice we can get. And on top of that, we need to be growing critical thinkers. 2 birds......one stone. You know how that goes! Normally, I use the document camera, they work them with me. It's good, but we were getting a little bored with it. Then, I remembered how much my kiddos like dry erase boards and the boredom problem was solved! Instead of pencil and paper and document cameras, we put our work on whiteboards. My kiddos use "Look, Know, Solve" boxes to help them dissect the information in a word problem. I've blogged about this before, but not in much detail. With these "boxes", the kids take out the important things they need to solve the problem. In the "L" box, we put the questions, what are we looking for? I have them write that question in that box. In the "K" box, we write down the information we are given, or what we know. In this box, I have them write down the information we need to solve the problem. We used to have to write down everything, but now we are getting to where we can differentiate between what we need and what is extra information......and I wasn't even pushing for that :) Then, in the "S" box, we solve. This is my favorite box. Every "S" box looks different. I love seeing how kids think! So, using the white boards instead of pencil and paper, I had them work in groups. I would read a problem out loud (they had their own copies as well) and then let them loose! The rules were that they had to talk to each other and each member of the group had to make a set of boxes on their white board and each member had to have them completely filled out. The group with all their work shown with the correct answer won the point. They LOVED this! The conversations were great and the learning was so much fun!! Dr. Marcia Tate said that the person doing the most talking in your classroom is the person doing the most learning. Yesterday was such a great example of that. My kids were talking about the content and so much learning was taking place.....and the kids didn't even know it! Well, my baby is back up and is needing some mommy love! Oh, and be sure to check out Teaching Maddeness tomorrow night! She is showcasing my blog in her weekly "Budding Bloggers Showcase". I'm so excited :))) Hope to see you there!! Keep livin' the dream,
This is a highly effective resource for blends and digraphs phonics practice or reading intervention that will improve your students' overall reading skills. It contains four student booklets that will help your students practice blending and reading words with blends or digraphs. They are intended for daily review. Inside you'll find four booklets for students to read: * My Book of Blends * My Book of Sentences with Blends * My Book of Digraphs * My Book of Sentences with Digraphs CONSONANT BLENDS = two or more consonants, when combined make a certain sound and TWO SOUNDS ARE HEARD DIGRAPHS = two consonants, when combined make a certain sound and ONE SOUND IS HEARD MY BOOK OF BLENDS/ DIGRAPHS: Each sound is represented by a dot. Each blend is represented by 2 dots while each digraph or r-controlled vowel is represented by one dot. The students will touch each dot, make the sounds and blend them to read the word. Example: f - l - a - g flag f - i - sh fish MY BOOK OF SENTENCES WITH BLENDS/ DIGRAPHS: The students will read words with blends and digraphs in the context of a sentence These booklets will give your students lots of practice with reading words that contain consonant blends or digraphs in order to improve their word recognition and reading fluency. You can use these booklets with small groups for several days before Guided Reading. The students can also take the booklets home and study them with a parent until they can read all the words fluently. Just print the pages and give them to the kids to create their own booklet. They only have to cut each page in two and staple the pages in order. THANK YOU! I really appreciate you purchasing my teaching resources and I hope you'll enjoy using them with your students. I value your feedback, so please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns. Please follow me if you'd like to receive notifications every time I upload a new resource or freebie. Happy teaching! Dana’s Wonderland
Hi TRT/OG friends! I'm doing a Five For Friday wrap-up to talk about some of the things happening on my page, and beyond this week. 1. First of all, thank you so much for following this
As teachers, we always focus on how to best get to know our students and never really focus on our students getting to know each other. This product was created with the intention of the students focusing on getting to know one another at the beginning of the school year.Included in TPT purchase:12 ...
Here's a nifty tool you can make for teaching place value in upper elementary.
Decodable texts are a necessary tool to help beginning and struggling readers unlock the alphabetic principle and meet with reading success.
Student Accommodations Flip Chart for TeachersThis flip chart is perfect to help with implementing accommodations for students in all subject areas. Inside this flip book your will find over 50 accommodations to use with students in math, reading, writing, all subject areas, and behavior.***EDITABLE...
Special Education teachers are the masters of data collection! At times, collecting data can be overwhelming, especially when you sometimes have to outsource the collecting to other teachers, specialists, or teaching assistants. Tracking accommodations is necessary to make sure an IEP is being followed and can be helpful in determining which accommodations should be added to or removed from the IEP. Believe it or not, collecting data on accommodations and modifications does not have to consume your life! Share Information Be sure to share vital information with all teachers and assistants that work with your students. I have an accommodations organizer that I organize all of the information of my class. The information is in one place which is helpful for sharing information with assistants, special area teachers, and substitutes. When I first began teaching, I did not bother sharing such information with special area teachers until it was brought to my attention that a student of mine did not complete a test in physical education class. That student had trouble reading and was supposed to have his tests read. The PE teacher was unaware of his accommodations and therefore did not deliver them. I use a special form that reminds me of who needs to be informed of accommodations and modifications at the beginning of the school year and after an IEP annual review. Train Your Team If you have paraprofessionals in your classroom working with students, it is important to train them in how to deliver and how to track accommodations and modifications. Some interventions are more detailed than others. Observe your team while they are working with students and provide feedback as needed. The time you put in to properly train your team to record data the same way you would is so well spent! Use Checklists When I first started teaching, I used to write notes on a post-it that included which accommodations and modifications were used on assignments along with their effectiveness. It was very time consuming and often times, I forgot to add some things. Finally, I came up with a few checklists and forms to help the process. Level of Support One of the forms I use tracks the level of support a student needs from an adult. I use this one to determine the need for a 1:1 teaching assistant. It is useful before adding a TA and to collect data to see if continuing the intervention is a necessity. The adult that works with the student at that time fills it out while working with the student. Accommodations and Modifications Tracker I use this form two ways, depending on what I am collecting data for. As an IEP meeting approaches, I like to review the need for the interventions on the IEP. I can track the types of interventions are needed for different types of assignments and activities. More importantly, I can track the effectiveness of such interventions. I can also cut this tracker apart to staple it onto work samples. The work samples can be to show the Committee on Special Education the student's growth or regression. I also like to send work home with students with the form filled out from time to time so parents can see what kind of help the student needs in order to complete assignments at school. Frequency Tracker Another way I like to track the use of accommodations and modifications needed in school is with a frequency tracker I created. This gives me a quick visual of which interventions are being used and which are not. I focus on this during the weeks before a meeting so I can determine which accommodations and modifications need to remain, be added, or be removed from an IEP. Data collection is so important but it doesn't have to take over your entire life. Once you create a few checklists that fit your classroom or purchase one of the many checklists and charts from my TpT store, you will save yourself a ton of time and will have more data than you've ever had before!
