Set This Circus Down is having a linky party for all the new blogs out there to get "out there". I am a new one and have less than 10 followers myself! Join the party and help us "unknown" blogs get out there and share our wealth of knowledge.
Monday, July 4, 2011
New blog linky party!
Set This Circus Down is having a linky party for all the new blogs out there to get "out there". I am a new one and have less than 10 followers myself! Join the party and help us "unknown" blogs get out there and share our wealth of knowledge.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Another giveaway!! :)
Sunny Days in second grade has a giveaway!
Go on over to her blog and check it out !
Go on over to her blog and check it out !
Target items!
Today I checked out the dollar section at Target! Here is what I found:
There is a pointer (they had other types of pointers as well). They had many cards, but the only ones I grabbed were the President's of the U.S. and the Landmarks cards. Those buckets are tie dye (!) and the plastic bins were in the dollar section as well. The Dr. Seuss hats were not in the dollar section but were only about $2.50 I think- for 24. And the best thing I spotted there----- The dry erase boards. They had standard size, which I did not get. I purchased mini dry erase boards- they are half the size and have lines on them for writing. Each board has 2 sentence strips- and each package has 4 (!) for $1. They are dry erase on both sides!! Here is a close up of some of the items.
I love Target!!
Read Aloud Linky Party
Learning with Mrs. Parker is hosting a Linky party for Read Alouds for the Fall!
I plan to start the year out by reading:
I can't wait to implement this and see how it goes!
I will read this and each day we will discuss a different color to start the year!
I always start with this one!
I can't wait to see what others are reading in the fall! :) I am already seeing books I want to buy! Yikes! Gotta make that money stretch!
Saturday, July 2, 2011
"Take Home Binders"
Every year I have used B.E.E. books inspired by Jessica Meacham. I usually get Bee cut outs and put a label with the child's name on it and stick it on the front of the binder. In the binder I usually put our curriculum so the parents know what we will be doing at each quarter. I put a class schedule and a7 habits "kid friendly" page. Our school started implementing the 7 habits and it is a school wide thing we do now. The student's also keep their planners in the binder and their homework folder. This summer, for some reason, I have been really proactive. My classroom has always been ocean themed which inspired me to switch over to a F.I.S.H. book. Here are the binder covers I have made.
Bee
Fish
Moose
Bee
Fish
Moose
Friday, July 1, 2011
The Book Whisperer- Chapter 2
I am really getting into this book! I am answering some of the discussion questions I got off of "Thinking of Teaching":
Discussion Questions:
1) Would you start the year off with a book frenzy similar to Miller's or would you adapt it?
I like the idea of children self selecting books. My students do this for the most part anyways as I teach first grade. We are not reading chapter books as a whole class. I really feel like I need to let them READ for PLEASURE more often though. My students are always reading when they should be doing something else, and with the way the schedule is, it is always hard to fit in DEAR time. But I think I need to reassess and try and MAKE the time. I also allow my students to pick their book for their nightly reading log. Books are in a bucket by their levels and they pick from the bucket with their name on it.
2) What were your impressions of Miller's more positive descriptions of the three types of readers?
I liked the more positive descriptions. I don't think a child needs to associate anything about reading in a negative light. Although, you hope a child doesn't know they are called a struggling reader, it might boost their esteem to purposefully give them a positive "name" for their reading stage.
3) 40 books!!! What do you think of that??
40 seems like a ton!!!! I wonder how many meet that goal? I think it sounds overwhelming! Of course I am assuming she is talking about chapter books. Teaching first grade, I hope my students hear and read more than 40 picture books during a single school year. This has opened my eyes to doing more read alouds as I feel like each year I am doing less and less- why? I have no idea! They love read alouds and are soooo good during them! I think it comes back down to schedules!!
I found this quote very true to how things are anymore:
"While teachers focus their instructional efforts of the students who are at risk of failing state assessments or classes, there is a whole group of readers who are taken for granted" How true is that?! I always think how badly I feel for my "average" or "higher" readers. I feel like they just stay stagnant while teachers struggle with the "struggling" readers. Every year I try and find ways to help "the rest."
I also thought I would try out this whole "link" thing :) I know I like jumping from blog to blog, and this is a good way for those reading the same book to be "connected".
Discussion Questions:
1) Would you start the year off with a book frenzy similar to Miller's or would you adapt it?
I like the idea of children self selecting books. My students do this for the most part anyways as I teach first grade. We are not reading chapter books as a whole class. I really feel like I need to let them READ for PLEASURE more often though. My students are always reading when they should be doing something else, and with the way the schedule is, it is always hard to fit in DEAR time. But I think I need to reassess and try and MAKE the time. I also allow my students to pick their book for their nightly reading log. Books are in a bucket by their levels and they pick from the bucket with their name on it.
2) What were your impressions of Miller's more positive descriptions of the three types of readers?
I liked the more positive descriptions. I don't think a child needs to associate anything about reading in a negative light. Although, you hope a child doesn't know they are called a struggling reader, it might boost their esteem to purposefully give them a positive "name" for their reading stage.
3) 40 books!!! What do you think of that??
40 seems like a ton!!!! I wonder how many meet that goal? I think it sounds overwhelming! Of course I am assuming she is talking about chapter books. Teaching first grade, I hope my students hear and read more than 40 picture books during a single school year. This has opened my eyes to doing more read alouds as I feel like each year I am doing less and less- why? I have no idea! They love read alouds and are soooo good during them! I think it comes back down to schedules!!
I found this quote very true to how things are anymore:
"While teachers focus their instructional efforts of the students who are at risk of failing state assessments or classes, there is a whole group of readers who are taken for granted" How true is that?! I always think how badly I feel for my "average" or "higher" readers. I feel like they just stay stagnant while teachers struggle with the "struggling" readers. Every year I try and find ways to help "the rest."
I also thought I would try out this whole "link" thing :) I know I like jumping from blog to blog, and this is a good way for those reading the same book to be "connected".
I look forward to the rest of this book!
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