Five for Friday: Busy, Productive Week

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!

Here are some highlights from a very busy, productive week from our classroom!

One: Reading Workshop

Last week in my Five for Friday post I talked about the new Lucy Calkins Reading Workshop units.  I'm so in love with the units and this week before moving on to the second bend in the unit we're currently working on, we took some time to reflect on what we've learned as well as areas we would like to work on during our independent reading.  

To help my kiddos remember what we've been working on I took the large anchor chart post its that came with the program, scaled them down, and gave the kids their own "suitcases" to take with them on their reading adventures.  Credit goes to the unit of study... the idea of the suitcases and reading adventure was all theirs.  I laminated each suitcase so they'll last in their book boxes from week to week.

After reviewing what we've been working on I asked the kids to select one area they'd like to work on in the coming weeks.  I feel like I don't do enough reflecting in my classroom and I thought this was a great addition to our workshop time.

  Two: Problem Solving

We begin and end each math workshop session with problem solving.  To begin each session we work on an application word problem with a buddy.  I like to see my kiddos talking math with one another and I like that buddies can help one another.  But I also want to see where each of my students is in terms of problem solving ability.  

That being said I've created a bunch of problem solving printables that I use each day in my classroom.  This week we worked on some winter themed word problems.  I always include result unknown, change unknown, and start unknown word problems and my kiddos are getting good at solving each kind. I've seen what practice can do and I'm so proud of my kiddos!

Three: Groundhogs

We read these two great books about groundhogs this week to celebrate Groundhogs Day on Tuesday.  My kiddos loved the Groundhogs Get a Say book... actually I really loved it too!  Tons of facts in it but done in a really fun way.  

After reading these books I had my kiddos write about something they learned from these books.  Many of my kiddos couldn't get over the fact that groundhogs breathe once every 5 or 6 minutes when they hibernate... they thought this was THE coolest thing ever!!

Four: Valentine's Day Math Journals

I wish Valentin's Day fell at the end of the month... I feel so rushed to fit everything Valentine's Day into just two weeks!  Here's a sampling of our Valentine's Day math journals we completed this week!

Five: Horrible Harry

I randomly selected a Horrible Harry book for a read aloud a few weeks ago and my kids are HOOKED!  They cannot get enough.  Last week we finished a book about Harry's teacher getting engaged and the story continued into a book our school library or the public library did not have!  The kids begged me to get the book somehow... Amazon Prime to the rescue.  The book arrived this afternoon and the kids are so excited to start it Monday!

He is not wielding a knife... I promise!

Have a great weekend... Happy Super Bowl!!

Let's Go Broncos... I prefer the other Manning Brother (Eli) since I'm a Giants fan but no such luck this year so I'll take the next best thing, his older brother!!

  

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Five for Friday: Where did January Go?

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for 

Friday. 
  

I can't believe Monday is February 1st... where did January go.  I feel like we just returned from our Christmas break and now I need to prep Valentine's Day materials.  Our work is never done.  Here are a few highlights from our week.  

One: New Calendar Pages
As part of our morning routine each day I have my kiddos complete a calendar page to practice some math and ELA skills.  We have begun to use a more challenging version of the calendar page as my kiddos have mastered the skills on the previous page.  I love how many math and ELA skills we can quickly cover each morning with these pages. 

Two: Math Tub Games
My kiddos loved the math games we used during the months of November and December and the January games were no exception.  These tubs have been working nicely because each game is very similar to the previous month's games so the kiddos know how to use them.  This saves time each week as I get out the new tubs.  These tubs have also worked nicely because they are easily differentiated for each of my math groups.  The spinners are also great because we can use the games over and over without the kids answering the same number sentences.   

Three: Reading Workshop
Literally want to shout out loud about this... I am so excited about the new Lucy Calking Reading Workshop units.  My principal agreed to purchase the units for me and I've been waiting what seems like weeks for these units to arrive.  They finally arrived two weeks ago and we have been loving the work we've been doing with them!  I'm a bit bummed that I won't get to use all the units but we've already covered most of what's in the first few two units... so we're forging about to unit the unit on characters.

Four: Go Noodle Hall of Fame
We love us some Go Noodle... but I got tired of looking at our certificates taped to the bottom of our board so I created this Go Noodle Hall of Fame to proudly display our certificates.  The kids love it!  Sorry no color printers at our school... black and white will have to do. :(

Five: Picture Says It All

I've been fighting a nasty cold ALL WEEK!  Honestly I've felt fine but the coughing and sneezing is just getting old!  Here's to getting a bit of rest this weekend... this cold better be gone by Monday!

Thanks for stopping by... Have a wonderful weekend!  Don't forget to visit Doodle Bugs Teaching.

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Five for Friday: October 2nd

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for 
Friday. 
  

Here are some highlights from our week! 

ONE: Reading Workshop Assessments
After reading the Literacy Teacher's Playbook by Jennifer Serravallo I was inspired to use a reading interest inventory with my kiddos this year.  I finally finished the inventory this week and I'm so glad I did it.  I learned some great information from my kids that I wouldn't have otherwise known.  This will help me as we move forward during our reading workshop time and as I begin planning my small group lessons.  

Please excuse the terrible handwriting... just wanted to jot notes as quickly as possible to get these done!  This kiddo LOVES scary books and movies... a kid after my own heart.  I never would have guessed she was into scary "stuff"!

TWO: Word Work Station

During our word work station this week my kiddos built short e and short u words using magnets.  After they built the words I had them record the words using crayons (red and blue) to match the magnets.  Such a great way to show the kids the difference between the consonants and vowels in each of these CVC words.  

    THREE: Word Families

We've been working with word families since the beginning of the year.  Each week we have used a different format to build and write these words.  I wanted my kids to have different kinds of practice with word families so they would be ready to use these materials at the word work station. 

This week we've been studying apples so we wrote words on apples on our Promethean Board.  The kids got a kick out of this scene.  

FOUR: Interactive ELA Notebooks 

This week we really got into our interactive ELA notebooks. On the right hand side of the notebook I introduce a new skill or new words.  On the left side the kids use what they learned to apply the skill or use the words in sentences.  We've been taking this really slow so that in the coming weeks the kids will be able to do this on their own.  

Five: Assessments

I'm almost done with my September assessments... I know it's October but it's only October 2nd so I just missed my self-imposed deadline!  This week I got almost all my running records completed.  I also finished up some math assessments as well as a spelling inventory.  I love looking at the results of the spelling inventory and beginning sounds assessment.  All these assessments give me a sense of where my kids are and helps me to plan word work, reading and math activities for the whole class as well as individual students.

My goal for this weekend is to really take a close look at all the assessments to help me "get to know" my learners to best meet their needs in the coming weeks.  I also want to begin planning some intervention activities for some of the Kindergarten skills my kiddos need some additional practice with.  

Have a great weekend.  Don't forget to visit Doodle Bugs Teaching!

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Five for Friday

Today I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for 
Friday!
  

Here's a bit of what I've been up to!

ONE: New Planner

Like many teachers I love planners and write everything I need to do in them!  That being said I didn't want to spend a ton of money on a new planner for the upcoming school year so I decided to create my own planner.  It took some time and it took some tweaking, but I love the way it turned out!  I bought this mini-binder at Staples with some plastic folders to place inside and I'm all set to use this for the upcoming school year!

TWO: Teacher Planner
I've been working on the pages for my teacher planner for a few weeks and I think I have it the way I want it... for now.  I always change things up a bit after I've used the pages for a few weeks.  

  THREE: Planning Meeting

I've spent a good part of this week planning for the first few weeks of school.  This weekend I have a planning meeting with the first grade teams and I'm so excited to get back into the swing of things.  I've been busy trying to put together an outline for September and these books have been a lifesaver!! 

FOUR: Reading Workshop

After reading several wonderful books by Jennifer Serravallo this summer, I'm ready to tackle reading workshop and strategy groups during small group reading time.  I've worked on some assessments to go with the reading workshop format and I've begun putting a binder together to hold all the assessments and notes from reading workshop and small group times.  

Five: Pellets = Fall is Coming 

A non-school related picture but it has me excited none the less.  Our pellets were delivered this week for our Pellet Stove!!  This means my husband and I lugged 200 forty pound bags of pellets into our basement this week... great workout!  It also means fall is coming and I couldn't be more excited!!

Have a great weekend.  Don't forget to visit Doodle Bugs Teaching!

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Wordless Wednesday: Summer Reading

Today I'm linking up with Miss DeCarbo for Wordless Wednesday.  

Here's my picture for the week!

I just started reading this book last Friday and I've finished it already.  I couldn't put it down!  It's an excellent read.  The book helps you analyze reading assessments and then take these assessments to create goals and action plans for each of your students.  This is an area that I've wanted to improve and this book is a step by step how to that's easy to read and use in the classroom! 

I'm so excited to use this book this year!  Jennifer Serravallo has also written two other books I've been reading this summer and I feel so ready to go back to school to deliver some awesome reading instruction.   

What teaching books have you been reading this summer?

Be sure to check out Miss DeCarbo's site to see more Wordless Wednesday posts.

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