Check for Understanding

Last week we started our CAFE lessons. We read Full Moon by Kevin Henkes. Gosh, I love that guy's books!!

Anyways, we had a blast finishing off the lesson by making our Check for Understanding hats. My kiddos can wear those as a reminder while they read. 

Such fun in first grade!

I made a YouTube video of me introducing Check for Understanding. It's currently private, but I'll share it as soon as I figure out how to hide a few tiny faces. Hey, 17 out of 19 kiddos who follow my "DO NOT turn around to look at the camera" directions isn't all that bad! 

Five for Friday

I know, I know...it's Saturday. I'm linking up anyways. 

I totally missed the last two days of the Back to School linkup...waaah! But I had to focus on my darling little first graders. First things first, right.

We had back to school night on Tuesday and I was a sewing machine. And not even for myself...for my dear friend Kara. 

I'm so nice :)

Ok, this one wasn't from this week, BUT I just had to share and say YUM!!!

Husband took me to Santa Monica for our anniversary and we hopped over to Beverly Hills so I could visit Sprinkles Cupcakes...I really love cupcakes.

They even have a cupcake ATM...I couldn't believe it!

We've been practicing Read to Self this week. We're up to a solid three minutes...woah...that is a for sure change from 3rd grade...slow going, but we'll get there. 

We started class points using Mr. Potato Head. They earned the body when they got a compliment from another teacher and the feet when they were working so nicely on their seatwork. They are SO excited about this and so am I!

Last one is a seriously funny story. No picture. Sorry. 

So during prayer circle a little girl in my class (who is incredibly cute by the way) asks if we'd pray for her family because they're going to the Philippines next week. 

My first thought of course is: Great, why haven't I heard about this yet?? Now I have a ton of absent work to prepare. Ugh.

But I'm still smiling at her when I ask, "Oh, for how long?"

She gets a really confused look on her face and shrugs her shoulders as she replies, "For like 3 feet."

I almost died laughing. 

Things like that make me SO glad to be in first grade.  

PS. I talked to her mom after school and they aren't even going to the Philippines. Ha!

Five for Friday

Happy Friday!! Linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for another...

Been in my class every.stinkin.day this week! Here's a sneak peek at some of the colors I'm using. There's some purple thrown in too!

My honey and I will celebrate our 12th anniversary in a few weeks and so I sent him this screenshot:

A girl can dream!!

Did all the school supply shopping for my little 3rd and 1st graders. I sent this pic to my mom so they could see (they were visiting Grandma this week!) and all I got was "eh, they're okay." I see a return trip in my future.

Leaving in about 20 minutes to go get my two little loveys from my mom's house. Can't wait to smooch their faces! 

Whipped up these word wall headers this morning. I love how they turned out. I'll get them on TpT sometime next week...maybe...

Head over to Doodle Bugs Teaching and check out all the awesome Five for Friday links. 

Five For Friday!

Hey y'all...

{can I say that as a California girl?? Oh, sure, what the heck. If spending 3 years on the Mississippi gulf coast, being baptized in that murky water, and living through the experience of Hurricane Katrina doesn't earn me some southern stripes, then I don't know what will!} 

...I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for a Five for Friday Linky Par-tay!

Here we go...

Okay, this Ipsy Glam Bag was the highlight of my week! You can read more about Ipsy here. Loving the bronzer and the cherry lip and cheek stain is not as scary as I thought. 

I'm so excited to be going to first grade this year. I'm currently a little overwhelmed, but I know it's going to be a blast! I was so excited to order this book to read on the first day of school. 

Moving to first grade led to this lovely project. Going through all my files and separating out stuff that I can't use with lil firsties. I did a TON of purging...a few things are coming to first...and I'm left with one, 1, uno, yes I said ONE bankers box of 3rd grade files. I don't know how I did that people, but I did it. There was lots of squishing and smooshing involved. 

Before, during, and after the file purging and organizing my dining room has been accumulating school projects. One of those being transitioning some things into binders instead of a file cabinet. 

This is a tiny picture of the chaos going on in that room. I'm pretty sure the weeks prior to school starting is my husbands least favorite time of year. He's super, like really, really super OCD so this mess drives him bonkers. It's safe to say that we haven't had dinner at the dining table in quite some time. 

Just finished this book and it was ah-mazing!! Like total amazeballs! Blew my mind. Loved it so much I read the whole stinkin' thing in a day and a half...that's 297 pages folks!! Okay so I skimmed a few of them, but still, I was completely hooked. I'm still wrapping my mind around the whole instructional aspect of teaching writing with the traits. I'm sure some future posts will emerge from this current love affair.

Well that's all I've got. 

Enjoy the weekend you beautiful people you!

Book Talk Tuesday- Wonder

Oh my gosh, you guys, I am so excited to link up today with Deanna over at Mrs. Jump's Class for a Book Talk Tuesday. 

I read Wonder by R.J. Palacio earlier this summer and it is the best book EVER! An instant classic and all time favorite for me. It was so good that I immediately started reading it again until I realized that I better get crackin' on studying for my CTEL exam...boo for long, boring study sessions. 

Seriously though, I could rave about this book for days. You will meet the most amazing main character Auggie, who was born with a condition that has deformed his face...and he's going to middle school for the 1st time. 

A great story about compassion, bullying, perseverance, overcoming...aaah, you just have to read it!! I want to use a zillion exclamation marks if that would help get across what an amazing book this is. Every adult and middle schooler should read this. It's incredible. Buy it. Borrow it. Steal it*. Whatever. Just get your hands on this book and read it. 

If you don't absolutely fall in love with this book then you need to grab yourself a new heart**. See that linky button up there with the cute pink heart, yah, go get one of those! Deanna's got a big 'ol heart, I'm sure she can spare some for you.

*Disclaimer: I was totally kidding about the stealing. Please do not steal and if you do please don't say that Jessica made me do it. That would really be awful. 

**Disclaimer #2: If you don't like this book I'm sure there is nothing really wrong with your heart. I'm sure you have a very lovely heart.

Newsela...Bringing current events to your classroom!

At the beginning of October we had a professional development day where our technology teacher (who did a fab post for me that you can read here) shared some great resources for teachers. One of my favorites that he shared was Newsela. It's a website that is currently in the beta phase, but it looks like it will be amazing. 

So what is it? It's a website where you can create a class for your students to login to. You can assign newspaper articles that have been rewritten for various Lexiles, some as low as 3rd grade. You have the ability to bring current events to your class at an appropriate reading level. Many articles also have quizzes that students can take to monitor comprehension. It's a great way to easily incorporate differentiation. Your students can all read the same article, but at their own reading level. 

Newsela is excited about bringing articles down to the 2nd grade level in the near future. I'm thrilled about that, because the 4th grade level (which I find is most often the lowest lexile band) is just a tad out of reach for several of my students. I'm excited to use it as a whole group reading activity until the Lexiles are lower. 

When you sign up during the beta phase you're able to place 10 votes on suggestions that you'd want to make to the site. Of course, the one getting the most votes is "Keep it free!" It looks as though this site plans to be fee-based in the future, which might keep this amazing resource out of many classrooms. Go sign up, check it out, and vote to keep it free. 

Wednesday Wisdom- Library Organization

Oh...classroom libraries. My little 'ol classroom library started with some books that I found at garage sales, the Goodwill, or at my local library's "Sale" section. This past school year was the first time I sent out Scholastic book orders and boy, has my book collection grown...and quickly!

I was excited to find out that this week's Wednesday Wisdom was all about organizing classroom libraries!

 

Most of what I do is a combination of things my mentor teachers have done and things that just make sense to me. 

Here's where the fun begins. 

One of my mentor teachers bought me this stamp and colored stamp pad when I finished my placement in her class. All of her books had a rainbow stamp in the front cover and she said that so many of her students point that out as something they remember about being in her class. It was an honor to follow this little tradition of hers in my class! So first things first. Every book gets a rainbow stamp.

My school uses Scholastic's Reading Counts program so I am able to create book labels that include The title and author, lexiles, reading levels, guided reading levels, and point totals. I print 2 copies of each label and one goes on the front cover somewhere towards the bottom. The other label gets stuck onto and index card and inserted in a peel and stick library pocket. The pocket goes in the front of the book. 

Every student has their own peel and stick pocket that has been affixed to a piece poster board. Students' classroom numbers are on the front so I can use the poster again next year. I don't have a picture of the poster....darn...

... but these are the darling little polka dot pockets that I used. 

When a student is ready to "check out" a book, they remove the index card from the cover of the book and put it into their numbered pocket on the poster. This way I always know who is responsible for which books. When students are ready to return their books they put the index card back in the book and return the book to its spot on the shelf. 

As far as organizing books on the shelf....ugh, I don't have a pic of either...the one spot in my classroom that I don't have a picture of...how in the heck does that happen.

As I was saying...organizing books on the shelf...oh, yes...

Most books are organized by Lexile. I have some series' like Little House on the Prairie, Magic School Bus, etc...so those get special bins. This year I think I'll also have a bin for biographies too!

And I organize them in clear, plastic shoes boxes...GASP! 

 

I know, clear! What am I thinking?? Let me tell you what I'm thinking...

I'm thinking that one day I'll walk into Target or Michael's or some place like that and I'll fall in love with the cutest bins ever. I'll think, "ooooh, those would be perfect book bins for my class library!" I'll buy the 5-6 that they have and that'll be enough because I'm a new teacher and I don't have that many books anyways. {Sigh}

But then my book collection will grow...I'll be stamping and labeling away...and when I go back to the store those bins will be discontinued or something of that sort. I'll be heartbroken and I'll have to try and find other bins that will match, and even if some bins come close, they won't be the same...

and that will drive me CUH-RAY-ZEE! No, like seriously crazy.

It must also drive my other mentor teacher and bestie, Mrs. Carvalho, crazy because she's the one who advised me to get clear bins in the first place. And besides, the bins get all cutesie when you put colorful labels and such so it's no biggie to me.

So let's hear it...how do you bin? Color? Clear? Some crazy combo? We don't judge here...just don't tell me you go bin-less...ha!

Check out Primary Possibilities for links to more ideas for organizing your classroom library.

Teacher Toolbox Trio Linky

Alison from Eberopolis is hosting a linky dedicated to all things Teachers Pay Teachers.

 

Here are Alison's rules for the linky:
1. Share a product that you've made that you couldn't live without.
2. Share a product that you've purchased that you love.
3. Share something from your wish list that you're hoping to get for next year.
She says: "If you're not a seller on TpT, no worries -- just share two products you've purchased that you love!"

1. Something I've Made

I'm a baby TpT seller, but one thing that I LOVE to use is my Buddies for Reciprocal Teaching set. 

It's a simple product, but I love using this reading strategy with my students. You can read about the buddies here or purchase them here. I'm hoping to add a buddy or two this summer!

2. Something I've Purchased
I'm a TpT freebie lover, but one thing I've purchased recently is the  Multiplication and Division Boot Camp from Teacher Chick. I haven't used it yet, but it's all printed and ready for next year. It looks fabulous. You can read about it on her blog 3 Teacher Chicks. Buy it here.

 
3. Something on my Wish List
This is a huge pack from Fancy Free in Fourth that helps you cover root words all year long. It's the newest item in my wish list and also the thing I'll probably purchase first when it's time to buy!
Check it out on her blog here or buy it here.

 

Now go link up with Alison and if you haven't started following her blog, you should!

She's celebrating the 100 (almost 150!) follower milestone by giving away this...

 

 

Thanks Alison, for the chance to link up and win!  

*I too am nearing the 150 follower milestone. Please email me if you'd be willing to help with a fun giveaway: teachonalimb@me.com