My Go-To Resources for Homework

When Nicole and Sarah from Carson-Dellosa Publishing contacted me about reviewing a few of their products, I was beyond excited to say yes.  With this being my first time in five years teaching ELA, I needed any help I could get.  And, with teaching an entire literacy block, reading, writing, and grammar, I knew I needed something for homework that could incorporate it all.  The Common Core Language Arts 4 Today is just what I needed.

This format provides daily skills practice for Day #1-#4 with an assessment to go along with it on the back.  Each night, my student have to complete the practice for that day.  On Fridays, I incorporate the assessment into my assessment day.  What I love most about this (besides its organization) is how the focus rotates.  Here's what I have noticed.  Week #1 focused on reading and reading strategies.  Week #2 focused on grammar, and week #3 will focus on writing.  It generally rotates in this pattern which I love because I can address all the needs of my students by having practice for all.  I would highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in assigning homework in this format.

Reading informational texts and understanding/reading the features of non-fiction text are HUGE in 5th grade.  Even though Understanding Informational Text Features is intended for grades 6-8, I use it with my higher-order thinking students as well as small group instruction for my struggling students.  

This resource addresses just about every need that a reading teacher has for informational texts.  It does a great job of having the students understand how to go about reading text features that may otherwise seem not important.  

I'm so thankful that I have the opportunity to add these two resources to my classroom.  I am usually very honest about the products I review, and I am being honest when I say that I love these two books!

Week #1 Update & S.T.A.R. Literacy Binder Series: Part 3

Well, You can tell school has started back by my neglectful blog... sad.
I told myself that I was going to try and get better at posting through the school year.  One post a week is sufficient... isn't it?? lol

I made it through my first week of school!  With teaching ELA this year instead of math, I still feel as if I'm not sure what is going on!  We have spent all of our time working on our Daily 5 routines.  So far, we have learned and practiced read to self, and work on writing.

If you read my blog then you recall that I moved up from 4th to 5th with my students.  Last year was a very challenging year for me for many reasons, and I honestly was not THAT excited about being with this group for another year.  But, I am so amazed with how well our first week went. The students have matured so much over the summer and I am so blessed to have each and every student in my classroom.  They are very special to me and I love them all.  I had also forgotten just how much I missed teaching reading.  We started Hatchet last week and I just love snuggling up with them on my rug and reading to them.  I worked very hard over the summer on my classroom and I think it's so worth it!  I think I have built a sense of comfort and community for my students.  On Friday, we were all laying out on the floor in front of me... shoes off, relaxed.  It was so much fun!

I'm hoping that week #2 is going to be just as fun.  I am amazed at how much these students are enjoying reading and writing.  It seems the more you limit their time, the more they want to do it!  On Friday, they were begging to continue writing... I loved it! :)

Now for Part 3... Goals & Progress.

Goals & Progress

This is probably one of the most important sections of the binder, in my opinion.  This is where students create reading goals for themselves.  Why is it so important for students to create their own goals?  First of all, it encourages the students to take responsibility for their own learning which is so important, especially for intermediate students.  Secondly, if students create their own goals, then they are aware of their goals.  If students are aware of their goals, they are more likely to work towards / meet their goals. What will be included in this section is really dependent on the needs of the students.  Each student may have different needs therefore different goals.  Beth Newingham includes several types of goals for all students.  Some of the goals she includes for her students are:

• Word Attack & Fluency
• Genre
• Thinking
• Reading Behavior

I definitely think the last three are musts for all students.  The first is more for your struggling students and aren't necessarily a necessity for all learners.  I am also wanting to use the CAFE printout that is available with the book so students can highlight what strategies they are working on during our Daily 5.

How will students assess if they are meeting their goals?  

Every two weeks, students will assess if they have met their goals.  Some of the goals, like genre, are pretty simple to assess.  Others, like thinking and reading behaviors are a bit more difficult.  For these goals, students will complete their My Goals form and meet with me.  During our meeting, I will ask the students a series of questions to help me assess their progress.  Once our meeting is complete, we will discuss what their next goals will be or if they should continue with the one they are currently working on.  

A.R.

Our school uses AR a lot and we are encouraged to use it with our students.  I'm not sure if the questions are the best they can be, but the students do get excited about it.  They have several goals they work on with our Media Specialist to meet.  If students meet the goals, there are incentives for them.  We have a huge party at the end of the school year as well as a field trip for students who have 100+ points.  There are guidelines that the students must follow like reading on grade level and scoring a 70 or better on the test.  The students will track their progress with AR in the goals tab as well.

The forms the students will use will vary depending on their needs.  I don't have it all figured out yet, and I'm not sure what type of format I will use, but I know the AR form will be a graph-type form similar to the genre graph.

I hope this was helpful as you begin working with your students and their goals.

Have a great week!

B2S Sale!

Yay!  It's finally here!  I've waited so long for the Back to School Sale at TpT!

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For two days only, everything in my store is ON SALE! This is a great opportunity for you to stock up for the year! 

Remember to enter the promo code: BTS13 for an additional discount.

I promise that I will be back later to share a little more about my S.T.A.R. binder and about my first day of school!

Teacher Week '13: Classroom Digs

I'm a little late linking up with Blog Hoppin for their Classroom Digs, but I have a good excuse :)  Tomorrow is Open House and I've been getting things ready like crazy.  I'm going to be a day late on all of these... but that's okay :)  I've waited so long to show off my classroom.  As you probably already know, I moved grades and subjects this year.  So, I started off with a clean slate.... literally.  It has taken hours upon hours to get my room the way I want it.  I still have a few things to finish, but I'm in first day of school mode right now.

Classroom Digs

This is the view of my classroom right when you walk into the door.  I made a sort of 'foyer' by placing a long short bookshelf in front of the door.  I like this :)  You can see it a little better from the picture below.

This is the shelf where I will store my Word Work bins.  So far, I have two that have something in them and two that are empty ;).  I also have my dictionaries and supply bins here.

This is right beside my door.  It's a place to house kleenex, sanitizer, and student supplies.  I got this shelving unit from Ikea and I LOVE IT!  Such a space saver.  The reminders board is where I have the students write if their transportation changes or if a teacher has a note to me about a behavior check.

Love my genre posters from Molly {Lessons with Laughter}.  They are so cute and my letters made with my Silhouette are awesome!

This is my homework board made with vinyl letters from my Silhouette and washi tape.  I just love it!

This is where my 'I Can' statements will go.  I usually have all my standards posted and highlight the ones we are working on, but there are soo many with ELA.  I will be using my 'I Can' statements found here.  They are gray/white chevron with a cute frame.  I also love how my alphabet from Kristen turned out.

This is my reading area.. please ignore the paper with the spray painted frame on it.. hehe.  I {LOVE} my lantern light and curtains.

These are my book baskets that I purchased from Really Good Stuff.  I simply created some really cute {& simple} frames, placed two hole punches in the top, and tied a white ribbon.  I love how simple they look and the size of the baskets.  These are the large rectangular ones.

More reading baskets {notice I ran out of the white ribbon with these.}  But, that's okay!  At least it's not on the same shelf.  The top of this shelf is where I will have my spotlight books.  RIght now, it's two of my favorites and a back to school.

This is my CAFE board that is right beside my small group area.  I have decided that I WILL allow the students to write the cards.  This is a biggie for my since I like things nice and neat.  We shall see how this goes!

Figurative Language posters from Molly... love

This is my small group area.  I have everything I will need here.  Including great new stools from Ikea.  They are awesome!

I love my little caddy I made to house our small group supplies so every student can have access.  I'll throw in some pencils & dry-erase markers.

I love this storage cart from Michaels.  It is where I store my Word Work supplies, extra post-its, and my CAFE board strategy cards.  I still have a few drawers to fill up.

I'm not too crazy about this {nor am I done with it} but I think I can make it work.  I really hate the green since it doesn't go with any of my decor but it was all I had.  This is where our spelling words and vocabulary words will be.  Like I said, I'm still not done and I'm hoping it will look a little more pulled together once I am finished with it.

These are my book boxes for both of my classes {I teach 2!}  Both classes will share the same book box.  That's an entirely different post that I will have to do later.  I use a number system and I love it.  It also helps with students sharing.

This is my writing area with my VOICES board.  I will put strategy cards here on the board as we discuss them.  On this board, I made the ruffle border with white fabric.  It was a pain in my arm, but I love how it turned out.

Love this freebie.

This is my dry-erase board that I made.  It was a Monday Made It that never made it to Monday Made It...  lol  I actually just went back to link up to my post about it when I realized I never did it... Oops!  Anyways, I will post a weekly quote on this board each week.  I'm so excited about this.

This is my mess of a teacher are with the trash can over flowing!

The front view of my teacher area.  You can view the wreath tutorial above my bookshelf here.  I really like the way it turned out.  I also love my Thirty-One Wall organizer beside my filing cabinet.  If you need one of those, I can hook you up and get it directly shipped to your house.  I'm a consultant so let me know if you are interested.  Heck, you can even host a party and get it for free.  We don't have to be neighbors... you can do a catalog order :)  For real though, if you are interested let me know {terri.renee09@gmail.com}

I also love my picture frame with no picture :)

This is the view looking towards the front door.

This is my whole group / Smartboard / Document Camera area.  I'm soooo excited about having a document camera this year.  Hopefully I can play around with it tomorrow :)

This is my Word Wall.  The letter headers are free in my TpT shop.

This is the view of my classroom from my desk.

Open House... ready to go!

Love my informative flip book... ignore the blue paper.  That is not part of it.

I hope you have enjoyed looking around my room as much as I love being in it.  I think it's important that you and the students both want to be in the classroom together and I think I accomplished that this year.

Let's Talk About Me & Update

Well, as you are reading this, I am either getting ready for work or already at work.  I can't believe my summer is over!  To say that I am ready is a complete understatement.  First of all, it went by waaaa-ay too fast.  AND....  It's impossible to get ready for the new year when you change grade levels.  It's even more impossible when you change grade levels and subjects!  I still have so many things I need to get done {including finishing my binder posts here.. sorry ya'll... life happens.  I will get it done.. eventually} that I'm not sure how it's all going to work out.  To make the week a little better, I will be capturing my week with pics.  You can view photos throughout my week by following along on my Instagram.  I just love Instagram... it's so much fun!  I might even throw in some #sharewhatchawear because I just love clothes!... and I may have lost a few pounds ;)

On a happier note, I am going to try my best to post each day and link up with the authors of Blog Hoppin for Teacher Week '13 because.... well.... because it's just fun!  

This brings us to today... Monday!

Let's Talk About Me

I usually don't like to talk about myself that much.  I guess that kind of explains my personality.  I'm a very shy person and didn't talk that much while I was in school except to my friends.  I was not good at meeting new people and I'm still not.  I guess that explains my lack of friends outside of my family.  With two kids, a husband, a job, housework, and every thing in between... who has time?  I'm a home body who would much rather hang out at the house.  First and foremost, I love my Jesus and all the blessings he has given me.  He has stood beside me during some difficult times in my life.  Secondly, I love my husband.  I am so thankful that God sent him to me :)  Third, I love my family!  I am beyond blessed with two sweet boys and a wonderful extended family.

When I tell people that I grew up with or went to school with that I'm a teacher, the look on their face is priceless.  I was NOT the best student in school.  I hated school {when I was there} so it's quite funny that I spend a lot of my time there now!  Many teachers say they knew they wanted to be a teacher when they were little.  Although I did play 'school' with my three sister a lot, I wouldn't say I wanted to be a teacher, but I always had a love for school supplies... now that makes sense :)

It wasn't until I took a job as a secretary at an alternative school that I realized I wanted to go into elementary education.  5th grade is my heart and I'm so glad I'm moving back there this year.  With 5th grade, you either love it or hate it... I SO love it :)

Lastly, I wanted to share some things that I must-have because I think it explains a lot about who I am.  

#1- COFFEE... enough said.

#2- my iPhone

#3- My MacBook Pro.. couldn't imagine life without it!

#4- My Erin Condren Life Planner... these are so addicting :)

#5- Paper Mate Flair pens: both types

{these are for grading}

{these are for my planner} 

#6 {we'll stop here because I could go on & on}: Mr. Sketch Markers.. love these for my anchor charts!

So, if I had to describe in a nutshell I would say...

Loving

Giving

Fair

Colorful

Happy

Blessed

Compassionate

Girly

Have a Good Monday, Ya'll!  

Don't forget to follow me on Insta!

Freebies & Updates

Hey ya'll!  Do you have a to-do list that is a bazillion miles long?  I usually like to put mine in my to-do section of my EC planner...BUT... my list is so long that I decided to just write it over a few days that have already passed.

I've spent the last few days trying to cross some things off that list.  I have a million +1 things that I am currently working on... can any of you relate??  AND... I also have a million +2 things that I have been meaning to get done.  There are a FEW things that I did manage to finish up.  The great news is that they are free.

The first one is a new version of the gray chevron CAFE headers.  After I printed out my other ones, I didn't really like how they were looking with the rest of my decor.  I also added some VOICES headers to the file.  They look like this...

You can download them for free HERE.  Since they are cute and free, it would be super nice if you would show some love and leave some feedback... thanks :)

The next freebie are chevron print word wall headers.  These are medium-sized with two fitting on a regular sized paper (8.5x11).  Here's a preview of them...

You can download them by clicking HERE.  Again, it would be great if you would leave feedback.

I did manage to go to my room {again} today.  My sweet principal was so awesome and printed off some of my TpT purchases so I can work on them before my 'official' day back which is August 12.  I've been busy laminating tonight and I've managed to use an almost an entire pack of 50 laminating sheets.... {side note: ummm please ignore me.. down there... it somehow got attached to the picture and I can't move it... sorry!}

If you love these, you can download them from Molly Maloy.

On another sweet note, my adorable husband came to room today to put together my new teacher chair.  I got to sit in it and I'm so excited to sit in for planning... okay... I'm officially crazy!!  I My husband also managed to put together my awesome cart that I managed to get from Michaels for only $27.39!!  It was 60% off and I had an additional coupon that gave me 20% off.  I really didn't need to spend the money, but I just couldn't pass up that deal!

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I am going to use it to store my daily 5 things but mostly my word work.  Here are my plans so far... post-its, magnetic letters, and rubber letter stamps & pads.  That's all I have so far.  I'm sure it will get filled up quick!


I am so close to having my room complete but right now I am finishing up small things.  I feel like it's never going to happen.  I'm so excited to share my pictures with you when I'm done :)  Now I'm off to work on that list!