Polka-dotted Vocabulary Words!

We finally have a nice day here after a lot of rain.  My husband requested my help in the yard, but I told him I was doing work inside.  Shh...don't tell him I'm still in my pjs at 2:15!

Today I want to share with you my newest project.  It started back in the fall, when I created some Common Core Math Vocabulary words for 2nd grade.

I was recently asked to design some ELA vocabulary words that coordinated with the Math ones.  Sure!  I put together a set of over 100 cards that match the polka dot theme of the Math Vocabulary cards.  I had such a fun time putting this set together!

Each card has a border that is color-coded to a different Common Core strand.  It has the vocabulary word in large, bold letters.  Additionally, each card has a bright picture to define the vocabulary word.

The words can be hung on the wall to create a word-wall for students to use as a reference in the classroom.  The cards also fit inside a pocket-chart for easy access.

I love the bright colors!

I'm kinda partial to the cute graphics as well...

Can you use these in your classroom??  Click the picture below to grab your copy today!

 Hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Reading Week Scavenger Hunt

Last week was Reading Week in RI!  I always look forward to Reading Week.  I love celebrating books with my students in creative ways.  At the second grade level, they get so into it!

This year was "Dig Deep: Unearth a Good Book."  Of course, the week was so crazy-busy that I didn't take nearly as many photos as I wanted to!

My favorite activity that we did was the Scavenger Hunt at the end of the week.

The students had to choose a path to follow through the maze from the miner above ground to the pile buried gems at the bottom.  Along their path, there were gems and question marks.  At each question mark, they had to answer a reading-related question.  At each gem, the students had to complete an activity.  Here are some close-up pictures of the maze:

 Most of the questions and activities were completed in the classroom.  There were a few, though, that they needed to search for throughout the building.  For example, I sent them down to the office to figure out the answer to the principal's favorite book.

One of the activities was to design a bookmark:

 Another was to read to a partner:

I wish I knew who created this activity so that I could give them credit!  I'm not sure if it was an activity just for our school district or if it was a a state-wide project.  Either way, it was a great way to celebrate reading!

Even More Daily 5

This post has been moved to my new blog, The Colorful Apple.  Check it out here!

That's the Ticket!

I am always looking for new ways to spice up my sight word activities with some of my reading groups.  So I created some games (using the wonderful clipart of Miss Ashley Hughes)!  They are so bright and colorful that I just want to start playing them right away!

There are three different versions of the game, a spinner and a board to hold the sight word cards.  The games can be played with a teacher or can be put into centers for students to use independently.  Each game comes with student-friendly directions as well as a cover page.

I've included all the Dolch Sight Words (over 200!), pre-primer through third grade.

Here are some of the games set up.

 And how to make your own spinner!

Interested?? Go grab your copy today at:

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Want to win your own copy??  Leave me a comment with your favorite board game.  I'll randomly choose a winner by midnight tonight!

It's Elementary My Dear Watson

Our class is going to turn into a group of detectives!   My higher reading group is finishing up a book study on Magic Tree House: Tonight on the Titanic.  We've had a great time reading and discussing it together!  Next up?  A mystery!  I haven't quite decided on one that I think will work form them.  It all depends on whether or not I have access to a set of books.

To go along with it, I created a Detectives Book Club packet {clipart courtesy of Ashley Hughes}!  The best part is that it works with any mystery book!

Check out what's inside!

Bookmarks for their books that allow them to write down what pages they are supposed to read before the next book club meeting.

A briefcase to carry their notebook - shhh...it's top secret!

There are name badges for your detectives to wear.

A poster (with movable clock hands) to announce the meeting time!

A detective's notebook with lots of pages to record their thinking as they read and discuss the book.

I recommend keeping everything in a manila envelope or folder so it doesn't get lost!

Interested??  Check it out in my stores:

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Want to win a copy?  Leave me a comment with your favorite children's mystery book.  I'll randomly choose a winner by midnight tonight!

The Daily 5

As a teacher, you know when something is working and when something isn't.  Right now, Reader's Workshop is just not working right in my classroom.  I love Reader's Workshop.  It is my favorite time of the day.  I love reading aloud and teaching a mini-lesson, I love working with kids in small groups and I love hearing about what they are reading when we re-group.  However, the independent reading portion just isn't working for my students right now, so I knew I needed a change.

That's when The Daily 5 came to my mind.  I read the book by "the sisters" way back when we started Reader's Workshop in our district.  It seemed like a great idea but not something that I was ready to tackle yet.  

I also thought, way back when, that I needed to follow every program step-by-step and to the T.   As a more seasoned teacher, I realize that that is sooo not true.  I need to adopt programs to best help my students.

I think that my students could greatly benefit from a modified version of The Daily 5 this year.  Here are a few of my ideas that I plan to start with this week.

I plan to have three rotations during my Reading block.  I know that letting students choose their station is a large part of The Daily 5, but I created a schedule for my students to follow, at least in the beginning.

During each rotation, I will be meeting with a group of students.  The other students will be at a variety of stations.  Some groups (especially my stronger readers) will stay at the same station for more than one rotation.

1. Read to Self
Students will be able to choose a spot in the room to read independently from their own book bags.

2. Read to Self (Fun Spots)
In my classroom, I have a few "fun" chairs for the students to sit in.  I know that I, personally, love to read all curled up with a pillow.  I have bean bag chairs, pillow chairs, and a beach chair.  At this station, the students will also be reading independently from their own book bags.

3. Read to Someone
My students love to read with a partner so they will be able to read and discuss books with someone from their group.

4. Listen to Reading
A big part of becoming a better reader is to listen to others read.  I have many, many books on CD from my Scholastic book order.  I am in the process of acquiring portable CD players so that students can choose a spot in the room to listen to reading.  I also have an iPod with a few books on it.  We also have a few books on tape, but the tape players are about 50 years old, so I may get rid of that part.  We have two larger CD players, but I moved the listening center table to use somewhere else in the room, so I haven't figured out where I am going to set those up!

5. Technology
We use Study Island at our school to track student's progress and to help them with concepts in reading and math.  I have 6 computers in my classroom now (woohoo!), but it can still be a challenge to get the students on their to practice when there is so much else going on during the day!  I plan to have each group go on Study Island once a week.

6. Read with a Teacher
The last station is to meet with the teacher.  This will also hold me more accountable to meet with each group.  I created the schedule to revolve around my students who are struggling the most, but with the flexibility to meet with each group throughout the week.

This is definitely going to be a work in progress for me.  I have been doing a lot of research of other blogs to help me.  Here is my Pinterest board of Daily 5 ideas that I have slowly began gathering items on:

Lightbulb Moment!

Clipart: Wizard of Boz

Ever have one of those lightbulb moments?  Or maybe it's called, duh-why-didn't-I-think-of-that-before moments.  You decide.  Either way, I had one of those moments this week.

The Common Core stresses (reallly stresses) Non-Fiction reading.  Unfortunately, children's book publishers don't as much.  I really struggle to find non-fiction books that aren't too simple for my students but aren't too challenging either.

I realized that Scholastic News (as well as Weekly Reader) puts out a Non-Fiction "newspaper" for students every week!  Some weeks we read them as a class, some weeks we read it in partners and some weeks we don't get to the Scholastic News at all.  I thought, why not laminate them so that the students can keep them in their book bags?  Lightbulb Moment!  I laminated two of each volume so that the students can read them in partners, as well.

Scholastic News distributes different ones each year, so I can continue to build my non-fiction collection.

The Scholastic News bucket in my library (it needs a label!):

These are the small ones that are cut apart and made into books:

And these are the normal size Scholastic News:

The students will each have on in their book bag along with their fiction books! 

Happy Friday!

Best Books for Boys

Boys, boys, boys.  My husband and I have 10 nephews and 2 nieces.  I joke that we are going to have all girls when the time comes.  He really wants boys though!  Guess I should be prepared.  

Makes me think of the boys in my classroom.  Sometimes getting them to read can be a great challenge!  I work hard to find books that they enjoy in order to motivate them to read.

Their absolute favorite is Fly Guy.   It is easy enough for some of my lower readers and they get such a kick out of it!  A huge shout-out to Tedd Arnold for continuing to make so many Fly Guy books!  I think I have almost all of them and the boys keep asking for more.

And, David, is quite the popular character as well.  Maybe because he reminds my boys of themselves??  They love to shout, "No, David!"

My boys seem to love anything to do with facts.  And then they love to share them with me - so cute!  They also try to quiz me and, well, I don't always get all the answers right!

A popular chapter book among the boys is the Magic Tree House series.  I use them as read alouds during snacktime.  They love it when I finish a chapter and "leave them hanging."  I get a chorus of "nooo" and "read more!"

Need more ideas for books for boys?  Check out the linky party going on over at Swimming Into Second!

It's Turkey Time!

This post has been moved to my new blog, The Colorful Apple.  Check it out here!

Reader's Notebooks

This post has been moved to my new blog, The Colorful Apple.  Check it out here!

Poetry in Our Classroom

I love using poetry in the classroom, but sometimes it feels like there isn't enough time!  I started by giving each student a poetry journal for their book bag:

Each week we cut out our poem, color it in and then glue it in our notebooks.

We would practice the poem when I handed it out and that would be it.  The students could read the poems during Independent Reading.

This year, I decided that wasn't enough.  I am going to create a poster for each poem and we now recite the poem together during Morning Meeting. 

 On a random note,  I decided to clean out underneath my kids cubbies.  They haven't been cleaned since I moved into the classroom 4 1/2 years ago.  Talk about wasted space!  And talk about your dusty materials - eww!

Here's the before picture:

And the after:

I was prompted to do this when my students were trying to put away their Fun Friday materials above the cubbies (and wayy above their heads).  I was so impressed and proud of them for taking care of their materials!  But I was a little nervous that the game boxes were going to pop open and rain down on their heads.  Right then, I decided I wanted to dedicate the bottom of these cubbies to materials that they can use during this free time:

So much better!  Way cleaner and much easier for my students to reach.