Back to School!

OhMyGoodness! I've been back to school for 3 days now and it's as if I blinked and it flew past me! This little project was supposed to be my Monday Made-It with 4th Grade Frolics. Haha! Made-it Wednesday!? Does that count!?

I had forgotten how crazy life gets during the first few weeks. Luckily my little sweeties are great and I'm really enjoying 3rd grade. Don't get me wrong, I'm completely overwhelmed, but living in the moment & enjoying the crazy days!
Here's my first day of school gift I made for the littles! I'm really happy with how they turned out & it was so quick! I originally saw this idea HERE but I wanted it in one piece so here's my spin on it!
I made the labels & printed them on card stock. I punched out the labels using a 2.5 inch scalloped punch. I found that starting on the right side of the paper was easiest for me. Move down the right side punching out the circles. Then cut off the side of the paper so you can get to the middle set of circles and repeat the process.

Once you have all the labels punched out you can use a hot glue gun to attach the label to a snack bag of cookies. I used bite size Oreos. Yummy! I may or may not have eaten two bags while I made these...

If you would like to make this for your littles click here for the free labels. I made a generic version so you can either sign your name or use the plain one. I hope you're back to school season is going smoothly!

Close Reading The Final Chapter

1. What Advice Can You Share?
My advice is to talk about how you read as an adult. When I talk about how I visualize ("Make a Movie in Your Mind"), use context clues, and think while I read it helps the kids realize they have to think to read closely. I know it sounds like a simple thing, but it's explicit instruction. I remember being younger and never thinking while I read. I really struggled with comprehension until I was older and a teacher told me to picture what I read. Also, after you model the strategies give the kids a lot of time to try out these skills independently.

2. What New Ideas Do You Have?
I'd like to use movie clips & real life experiences to apply the drawing conclusions skills.

3. How Do I Plan to Implement Close Reading in My Classroom

I plan to use close reading in my guided reading groups. I plan to start by modeling close reading. Then we'll work together until I see they're ready to try it out on their own. During the big back to school sale I scooped up Sassy,Savvy, Simple's Close Reading Packet & I plan to use that at the beginning of the year!

I also plan on giving the kids more time to read. Chapter 7 talks a lot about giving kids the chance to use those close reading strategies independently. I hope to accomplish this by using The Daily 5 this year. Everyone I've talked to just loves the Daily 5 so I'm hopeful I'll have the same success.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you've learned a little something about close reading from our book study!

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Close Reading Chapter 6: Comparing Text-to-Text

1. My Ah-Ha Moment from Chapter 6

In Chapter 6 the authors talk about comparing two texts. I'm sure many of you have done this with your students on a Venn diagram or some other graphic organizer. You work together to compare two versions of the same story or two characters in a book. These are great practices & an outstanding way to model how this is done. Yay! 

 Then the authors encourage us as educators to let the students choose the books they will compare.

At this point I was thinking, "Hmmmmmmm.... Not sure my kiddos are ready for that." But as I thought about it more I realized some of our little ones already do this don't they!? As we're reading out loud a sweet child will say "Oh this book is like_____________". We, as teachers, are always super excited that they've remembered the story and listened close enough to be able to compare it to another text.

So my plan is to try to read stories that can be compared in some way. Maybe by asking "Does this remind anyone of another book we read?" The idea here is there is no wrong answer to that question as long as the student can say "Oh it's like the book we read yesterday because ______________."

 If I model enough the students will eventually begin doing this in their own reading.
We'll use a graphic organizer like this one to compare characters, settings, or passages.

Can you think of two related books that could be used?

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Introducing Teacher Deals & Dollar Steals!!!

I am so excited to announce that I am joining forces with some of my favorite bloggers to bring you a new collaborative blog called Teacher Deals and Dollar Steals! With this blog, there will be approximately forty teachers sharing their excellent work in what we are calling a Dollar Steal!

What is a Dollar Steal, you ask?  Each day, one of my bloggy friends will be sharing a post about one of their products.  In their blog post, they will share a link to their product where you can purchase it for only $1.00.  Now here's the catch, you'll have to act fast because their sale will only last for THREE days.  After the three days, you can still grab their fabulous product, but it will be at it's original price.

I would love for you to hop over by clicking the button above and follow our new blog through email or Bloglovin in order to ensure that you catch all of our deals in a timely manner.  We are also giving away a $25 TeachersPayTeachers Gift Certificate.  You can enter by following us!!!

Thank you for joining me on this new and exciting experience.

Behavior Management Using Money & Reward Coupons

I bought this super cute mirror at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago & have been trying t decide what to put on it. I wanted something meaningful, but easy for my third graders to understand.
I have been asking my all my sweet teacher friends and I finally settled on this...

"When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind"
Have you read the book Wonder? I read it for Ramona Recommends July book. It was very emotional.  It made me think about my everyday actions. Am I being kind? It's such as important question.
So the mirror will be in our classroom as a reminder to be kind to one another & ourselves.
It was super easy!!! I cleaned the mirror and used these super cute 3D foamy glitter stickers from Hobby Lobby. I also like these stickers because I could change the letters easily at some point in the school year &

keep the kids guessing.

Well the beginning of the year is quickly approaching & I don't know about you but my reaction was 

 "Uhhh, Where did you come from August!?!?!?"

That was a major wake-up call for me! So I worked worked worked... 

Envision smoke coming up from the keyboard as I type and manipulate fabulous clips. Ha!

Not really, but I was working very hard to create Behavior Bucks......

The kids will have the opportunity to earn $5.00 each day. If he or she is off task or not following a class rule he/she will receive the warning table tent. I wanted something they would see & I didn't want it up on the wall. After that I have other table tents yellow (I Owe $1.00), orange (I Owe $2.00), red (I didn't earn my money today) if the negative behaviors continue. They will keep track of the money they earn all week and add up their totals on Friday afternoon. Then they can use the money they have in their wallet (we'll make one in class) to purchase reward coupons...

The reward coupons cost me NO MONEY! Say what!? Yeppers! I didn't want the hassle of stocking a store in my classroom so I have created coupons that are free rewards with the exception of treasure box. I gotta have a treasure box! If you don't want a treasure box just don't print that coupon sheet. Some other examples are, Choose Our Brain Break (Whoop Whoop Go Noodle!), Choose our Math Game, Line Leader, Show & Tell, Use Smelly Markers, and more! I also have Be a Superhero for a Day, Be King or Queen for a Day, and  Be a Pirate for a Day. 

I found these little gems at the Target (#addictedtoTarget) in the party section for $2.00 each! They inspired me to create those coupons! I mean who doesn't want to wear a pirate hat and say "Ahoy Matey" all day!? If they use the superhero coupon they can wear the mask and make up a cool superhero name! I'm looking forward to seeing which coupons the like best & I'm sure those creative kiddos will have even more ideas for me!

I hope you're getting excited for Back to School!!! Ready or not.... 

Thanks for stopping by!

Oh and don't forget about the BIG sale August 4 & 5! My store is 20% off & use BTS14 to get additional savings!! 

I'm off to look at my wishlist...

Close Reading: Point Of View

I'm back this week with Sassy, Savvy, Simple Teaching for Chapter 5 of Falling in Love with Close Reading!

This chapter was about point of view and how that affects the tone of the text. You could model identifying the point of view by using a persuasive article or narrative.

 In my grade level I'll begin by using it with narrative. I want the students to see me making notes and finding evidence to support what I think the character is feeling. Then they'll begin doing this in their own reading. 

I was trying to think of book I could use as an example and I thought of Frindle By: Andrew Clement. I imagine reading with my class or small group. Then we would go back through the chapter jotting down the events and dialogue stated by Nick & Mrs. Granger that form their point of view in the story. There is a lot of subtle messages in this novel that would create discussion between the students and myself. I created a graphic organizer FREEBIE for notes on a narrative. I imagine the kids adding details to the kid image on the paper to make it look like the character they are looking at closely. In my classroom I plan to have half the class look at Nick closely while the other looks at Mrs. Granger. Then the students could use their evidence to show why their character might be acting a certain way in the story. 

Thanks so much for stopping by! Check out what the other fabulous bloggers have to say about Chapter 5!

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