tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41140838394393885482024-03-12T21:00:23.526-05:00Tales of an Elementary TeacherElisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-5619322068478574972013-02-26T23:27:00.001-06:002013-02-26T23:31:27.244-06:00Dr. Seuss Fun! Tongue Twister Cards Freebie! Snow days are definitely putting a damper on my yearly outline. We're now going on our 4th snow day in the last week. I'm not complaining though, I do love my free time. : )<br />
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Last year, our Dr. Seuss week was by far one of my favorite weeks. One thing that I loved doing was having my students read some of the tongue twisters from various books. Here's a shot of them in action last year. Everyone had a note card and we just passed them around in our circle and gave it our best shot. </div>
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I'm going to do this again but this year my cards will be a bit cuter. : ) I've uploaded them to Google Docs and they're yours for the taking! I hope your kiddos can enjoy in the fun and silliness of Dr. Seuss with these. </div>
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What is your favorite Dr. Seuss book? Mine is definitely Fox in Socks. Such a fun read aloud! : )</div>
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Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-30452328670830565622013-01-18T19:17:00.000-06:002013-01-18T19:17:05.774-06:00Five for Friday<br />
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I've loved reading everyone else's link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching and I'm excited to join in! We had SUCH a good day in 1st grade today. We've been learning all about Martin Luther King Jr. this week using my <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Make-It-A-Day-ON-Not-A-Day-Off-Celebrating-Martin-Luther-King-Jr-Day" target="_blank">MLK unit</a>. Like I said earlier in the week, I thought that we were going to be in school on Monday but it turns out we are actually off. In my unit I planned on Monday being a day full of service projects to honor MLK's memory. But...since that couldn't happen we spent the last half of the day doing a few of the activities I planned.<br />
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1. We wrote nice and encouraging notes and headed to the library to stick them in random books to surprise someone. I modeled some things to write and then we brainstormed some more ideas. Once someone wrote 'You are a Rock Star' I got to thinking about popular songs that they could use. They thought of You're A Firework, Shine Bright Like A Diamond, and then we talked about One Direction. So when I was going around I found a sweet little boy trying to write the entire song. LOVE it!<br />
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2. We also made the cutest little signs that I'll be taking to an animal shelter to have them hang up. Would this pull at your heart strings and make you want to adopt? I hope so! = )<br />
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3. Since moving into our house this summer, most of our decorations have been seasonal. I love decorating for holidays but I want something that can be more consistent. I'm in the process of making these pretties to add above our fireplace and give it some much needed height. A Valentine's mantel is coming soon!<br />
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4. Finally got my flu shot! I'm doing everything possible to avoid sickness. I've been very strict with the kids about not spreading their germs. After a girl stuck her mouth on the edge of her desk to lick up every possible germ I might have made her cry for her lack of judgement....<br />
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5. Last but not least, I'm hoping to spend a lot of my time this weekend crafting. I made this necklace for my mom at Christmas and I'm really wanting one for myself as well. I think they would also be super cute as hair clips for some babies I know!<br />
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Hope you all had a great week as well! Enjoy your weekend! </div>
Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-22453313731750432332013-01-15T21:21:00.000-06:002013-01-15T21:21:26.381-06:00Getting ready for Martin Luther King Jr. Day<br />
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Martin Luther King Jr. is by far my <i>favorite</i> historical figure to teach my students about. Hearing him speak and his wise words have influenced me many times. In fact, when I was applying for certain jobs and was asked why I wanted it, I would always start by quoting Dr. King. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." <br />
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We are spending all of this week learning about MLK Jr.'s life. I had originally been planning on having a Day of Service on Monday since we were still going to be in school, but since we were recently told that we <i>weren't</i> having school, I'm having to move that up to Friday.<br />
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We're learning a new word every day this week and thus far we've learned segregation and equality. Since today Martin's actual birthday, we made him a card and wrote him a note. I loved seeing some of them talk about equality and making our lives better by helping end segregation. Precious little ones...<br />
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When talking about equality today I hit a point where my kids just weren't getting it. I talked about treating them differently based on their skin but it didn't really sink in because of course I try to treat everyone the same. Then I decided to try out the Jane Elliot "Brown Eyes, Blue Eyes Experiment" but instead of using eye color I used the color of their pants. Students can wear either navy or khaki pants so I could easily split them up into 2 groups. I spent probably about 2 hours favoring one group over the others and I feel like that made them understand the concept of equality better. About half way through the exercise I had each group talk about how they felt about how I was treating them. As expected, the group that I was treating as inferior would say, "I want to wear navy pants tomorrow!" and vice versa. When we were done we talked about how we could control what color of pants we could wear but we can't control what color of skin we had and elaborated on how unfair it really was. I think it was very powerful. I'm glad that I did it but I think next time I would shorten the duration of how long I treat each group as inferior or superior because of the reactions I saw when we first started.<br />
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Also, where have I been so far this year? Well, to illustrate, this is what my life had been like.<br />
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Chaotic. Messy. Unorganized. Crazy! </div>
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I spent some time trying to get my school life in order over our Christmas break and this is what I'm hoping the rest of my year will be like...</div>
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Organized. Planned. Ready to go! :) </div>
Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-17825660003055017842012-08-05T11:20:00.000-05:002012-08-05T11:50:26.747-05:00Alphabet in Action: How do you teach the alphabet?When I learned that I was teaching first grade a few years ago my first thought was to panic. What did they know at that this age? Do I really know how to teach them to read? What about my kiddos who didn't even know the alphabet? If you're in the same boat as I was, I have a solution for you!<br />
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Last year I found a video of a teacher singing a great alphabet song that practiced the sounds along with coming up with an action for each letter. I knew I just had to try it out. At the beginning of this past year I had 3 students who knew about 5 letters and sounds. After singing this song A LOT, they were all readers by the end of the year. {Oh my how I hope they've kept it up over the summer!} I really credit their ability to learn the alphabet and thus becoming readers to this song.<br />
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You want to see my students sing it, don't you? I looked back at the few takes I have of them singing it {completely adorable, I'm going to miss them SO much} with full intentions of sharing it with all of you BUT, I don't have permission to share. Imagine 22 of the cutest kids in their uniforms doing a call and response song and hopefully you can imagine what it's like in a class. So, next best thing....my 2 sisters. They're going into 5th and 7th grade this coming year so they're not quite the target audience for this song but I had to show you somehow! They're both very sassy girls. Can you tell that they're dancers? That's what I attribute all of their theatrics to. Here's what the alphabet in action song looks like:<br />
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To help my students this year, I've made alphabet cards and some other materials that correspond to this song. I contacted <a href="http://ccteachfirst.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Carrie from C & C Teach First</a> to create the clip art for this song. She was so nice and did a wonderful job! Last year we just used my curriculum's alphabet cards which did not match up. Remembering that G was girl was a bit confusing when they were seeing a picture of a gate. Thank goodness we won't have any confusion this year! </div>
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Here's a look at what I made:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhytcdOJ-cUpLcOs8zkIedmUk5dmxZ_mK9_uOga9FgARYkYjmXgoaK6ePZUQASiHmOF4AlX4YuL3tSIhQLefld-u9WGu_ESeZ0vZVNB2EXU39wvFWA0kM26bFD5tbuFbjfyaQNgnmgh0kyr/s1600/Slide1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhytcdOJ-cUpLcOs8zkIedmUk5dmxZ_mK9_uOga9FgARYkYjmXgoaK6ePZUQASiHmOF4AlX4YuL3tSIhQLefld-u9WGu_ESeZ0vZVNB2EXU39wvFWA0kM26bFD5tbuFbjfyaQNgnmgh0kyr/s400/Slide1.jpg" width="308" /></a></div>
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I'm super excited to start the year off with this. I've worked really hard to put this together and have decided that this will be my first TPT product for sale {yikes!!}. If you're interested, here is what is included: </div>
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*Full size alphabet cards with a teal chevron background</div>
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*Small alphabet cards with a black chevron background</div>
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*An alphabet book. For each page students will practice tracing lower case and capital letters. They can also trace and practice writing 2 sentences that correspond with the picture. </div>
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*Desk name plate</div>
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*Alphabet Chart </div>
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Click <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Alphabet-in-Action" target="_blank">here</a> if you'd like to download a preview and check it out further.</div>
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The first person to comment will receive this for free! :) </div>
</div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-83840448897211821642012-08-05T01:44:00.002-05:002012-08-05T01:44:51.216-05:00Super Hero theme templatesAre you doing a super hero theme this year? Ever since The Avengers came out I've seen a huge spike in all things super hero. I have to admit that I kind of jumped on the bandwagon as well. I didn't read comic books as a kid, <i>but</i> my husband got me hooked on them. Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth make it even easier to get into them, right? :) This past year I had a super hero theme. I thought it would be a huge hit with the boys but I ended up with a class that had way more girls. Either way, I think everyone enjoyed it. I'm planning on doing it again this year and I hope to make it a little better.<br />
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I wanted to share two of the templates that my husband drew for me last year and hopefully you can use them too. Even if you're not doing a super hero theme, you could use them along with a writing prompt or whatever else your creative minds think of.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs7UdbYa9ZKfZFU-OQC_oKK9fbSrHKr_rOBQ67WdsKzDJg52xoSmhOZBLKi1s1KndGFFAV1pNbdMiEQHQNI8Gf_Kv6G2XAlTnXJq7hvfFMQRCHsSFiXupBXeKKgwDXFuZ5lafR8HXgdfA9/s1600/Super+Hero+template.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs7UdbYa9ZKfZFU-OQC_oKK9fbSrHKr_rOBQ67WdsKzDJg52xoSmhOZBLKi1s1KndGFFAV1pNbdMiEQHQNI8Gf_Kv6G2XAlTnXJq7hvfFMQRCHsSFiXupBXeKKgwDXFuZ5lafR8HXgdfA9/s320/Super+Hero+template.jpeg" width="232" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKNDFdTwx7jIol87Rn9UgfvVR9_7y64Y8KhKhdJpVKNERE9wAAQvrvjRBwNqzmB924lUbV6dawoRMtwff50qiu67lTTTqe77YJ_Y7dbQV8bmMdx7qRt6lXh-lBFO8NyfSzLwnWdOS9jL4/s1600/Super+Hero+shield.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwKNDFdTwx7jIol87Rn9UgfvVR9_7y64Y8KhKhdJpVKNERE9wAAQvrvjRBwNqzmB924lUbV6dawoRMtwff50qiu67lTTTqe77YJ_Y7dbQV8bmMdx7qRt6lXh-lBFO8NyfSzLwnWdOS9jL4/s320/Super+Hero+shield.jpeg" width="232" /></a><br />
I used the shield to decorate my student's lockers. The super hero template was used for our classroom reading tracker. I took their picture on the first day of school and placed their head on the body for them to decorate. As they grew in reading, their super student moved up the building. I'm thinking I could add a little title to this tracker with Reaching New Heights or Soaring to New Heights. You can see a picture of their completed super hero <a href="http://talesofanelementaryteacher.blogspot.com/2012/06/mia.html" target="_blank">here</a>.They loved seeing their super hero go up and I'm excited to use this again!<br />
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Click <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Super-Hero-template" target="_blank">here</a> to go to my TPT store to download the free templates. Hope you can use them!Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-61390019843458575142012-06-18T21:31:00.000-05:002012-06-18T21:31:02.055-05:001 Year AnniversaryNo, not the 1 year anniversary of my blog like a lot of people I'm seeing. It's the 1 year anniversary since I married my wonderful husband! I think I've shared only 1 picture from our wedding on here, but I wanted to take this time to share a few more. My husband is a huge movie buff, so we naturally had a movie themed wedding. I thought it was really unique and wonderful, but maybe I'm just a little bias. ; )<br />
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Anyways, enjoy a glimpse into our special day! :)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7_6FvLOodSc-2xzvnibMR4S8lQjZ-hVa3O9YYKdNxoVW8t4oLVj0CTesJDC8_hBAJUgmqmPiJZnEd4X_VjCZDtxk3vSsxM_vzM5F-C4tJ8DgNhi3FYWiZvy6FVOdtE60_XF4vCsduDm3J/s1600/DHF_4685.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7_6FvLOodSc-2xzvnibMR4S8lQjZ-hVa3O9YYKdNxoVW8t4oLVj0CTesJDC8_hBAJUgmqmPiJZnEd4X_VjCZDtxk3vSsxM_vzM5F-C4tJ8DgNhi3FYWiZvy6FVOdtE60_XF4vCsduDm3J/s320/DHF_4685.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dress. My mom picked this one out. It's true, mothers know best!<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQbDWyycjARCkomS-sv0mv7IPO58keF_N8YLUlHf1aEXcLO-udbqUrrnsEm34KeoBOblLfJrtuJt5awNHO1NOjnbuJxj3JbwxgyAma8-cduISTo4gJAZt4qjJbU2xlq6bzc-W7fM9PZd0I/s1600/IMG_4543.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQbDWyycjARCkomS-sv0mv7IPO58keF_N8YLUlHf1aEXcLO-udbqUrrnsEm34KeoBOblLfJrtuJt5awNHO1NOjnbuJxj3JbwxgyAma8-cduISTo4gJAZt4qjJbU2xlq6bzc-W7fM9PZd0I/s320/IMG_4543.jpg" width="213" /></a><br />Before wedding pictures- there was definitely a portable fan in the background ready to be used right after we were done! </span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifgncxJfg-Uq6knKdgQ9DzrqFgbIQU1lFovsEkGV2IjWtcRwkmr5Yp3kKlkV6k9n3PQN-sAntL1TT_mvE7_HTU3g3kIXP13tPuo5YsmOHryeJKVdDvc6iLBfVcrIWg8VGvJryXmxIG_9a/s1600/IMG_4651.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifgncxJfg-Uq6knKdgQ9DzrqFgbIQU1lFovsEkGV2IjWtcRwkmr5Yp3kKlkV6k9n3PQN-sAntL1TT_mvE7_HTU3g3kIXP13tPuo5YsmOHryeJKVdDvc6iLBfVcrIWg8VGvJryXmxIG_9a/s320/IMG_4651.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Our huge and wonderful bridal party!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_Dh8H9tOXd_a_5ajVhmui3mMqECyBN4Ne1Ho4v21kz51lOwz5LnGlkkoac4F2Cs8KSzPOgp-8sStFn9nOGhkKM0znceIiTXao3oLXUf6ekKrUZJgROZPo6XIlk6ADaDASwwgTS_NPyy0/s1600/DHF_5305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_Dh8H9tOXd_a_5ajVhmui3mMqECyBN4Ne1Ho4v21kz51lOwz5LnGlkkoac4F2Cs8KSzPOgp-8sStFn9nOGhkKM0znceIiTXao3oLXUf6ekKrUZJgROZPo6XIlk6ADaDASwwgTS_NPyy0/s320/DHF_5305.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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I had both my dad and step dad walk me down the aisle. The music was one of my favorite parts of the wedding- all songs that were played were in some movie at some point. All the processional pieces were played on the piano and I got to pick songs like Rose from Titanic, Kissing You from Romeo & Juliet, and then I walked down the aisle to My Girl. :) After they announced us we played You Make My Dreams by Hall & Oates. </div>
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Our reception was on the 2nd floor of an old movie theater. It was pretty cool having our names up on the marquee! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPswoaX6WU5kK9tfG6a-FOuNjhmtswABt3ahdfADUoUzwIofREFu7sSOC0-_AZt_mqxHs5bRbBBtbksxxNisBlxNTfbtzc33NWgSCJHn9rRhyDJvDkQfwQOgrY8531GgmVZbZGALhH0U-b/s1600/IMG_5331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPswoaX6WU5kK9tfG6a-FOuNjhmtswABt3ahdfADUoUzwIofREFu7sSOC0-_AZt_mqxHs5bRbBBtbksxxNisBlxNTfbtzc33NWgSCJHn9rRhyDJvDkQfwQOgrY8531GgmVZbZGALhH0U-b/s320/IMG_5331.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Ha....yes we were announced to the Imperial March while all the groomsmen held light sabers. I let my husband do this as long as I got to choose our 1st dance song which ended up being Come What May from Moulin Rouge. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9l22sZZUE19vtKHVECsNXWS1KJ7anZhbf1uGOhqd-z99wmhcpk24-jqDOgGXARryRTOtrUoEzYr-gVvR2C8WUR1JY7J4pnOi9U7CmCfIdp9BGSrHyPZTx71hALhVKrvwlpr52Qy6nIj8W/s1600/DHF_5459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9l22sZZUE19vtKHVECsNXWS1KJ7anZhbf1uGOhqd-z99wmhcpk24-jqDOgGXARryRTOtrUoEzYr-gVvR2C8WUR1JY7J4pnOi9U7CmCfIdp9BGSrHyPZTx71hALhVKrvwlpr52Qy6nIj8W/s320/DHF_5459.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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On each table we had something like this- some better than others. We both picked some of our favorite movies and/or movie posters and my stepdad inserted our faces into them. If only we could dance and sing like these two! Some of my favorites include Titanic, me as Whoopie Goldberg in Sister Act, and my husband as Yoda. Ha. :) </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPvwlTy9Qrya51E9WTOsKE8HMAOGm3vFyveTNnWVSIemgQORnwc3LDSCJDVHVBg06IbvjUA0zDn1mBcdZrKGBvq0Cv4_g99-s5Pd3N7aN1uGccJlBZtheyu3RyjsdJCAaNMDIy8BYQWU_V/s1600/DHF_5639.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPvwlTy9Qrya51E9WTOsKE8HMAOGm3vFyveTNnWVSIemgQORnwc3LDSCJDVHVBg06IbvjUA0zDn1mBcdZrKGBvq0Cv4_g99-s5Pd3N7aN1uGccJlBZtheyu3RyjsdJCAaNMDIy8BYQWU_V/s320/DHF_5639.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Our beautiful and delicious cake! Most of the layers were strawberry and lemon (mmm....) and we learned today that the top was chocolate. So good. His grooms cake was Captain America's shield. Before the wedding my husband used to say this would be such an awesome summer- 1) Captain America's coming out! 2) We're getting married....Yes, even Captain America came before me! Ha! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg52_6cR3kp2phAwEonB5VKRMFqBBVcBkNcCfk5oOkUthVgpvjw4H28hAZ5J1On5VkoRo4UZdaNKTTIAOmIOrcRLEcJ6A4DCyZQgTqKgNOsgg3BppAKrf5M7v4A9VN7lnYoIAMW7sYF9Wk/s1600/IMG_5597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg52_6cR3kp2phAwEonB5VKRMFqBBVcBkNcCfk5oOkUthVgpvjw4H28hAZ5J1On5VkoRo4UZdaNKTTIAOmIOrcRLEcJ6A4DCyZQgTqKgNOsgg3BppAKrf5M7v4A9VN7lnYoIAMW7sYF9Wk/s320/IMG_5597.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Right before the photographers left, they brought us down to the theater where they were having some awards (we wouldn't have interrupted the movie, of course!) and got some cool shots. They were clapping for an award being announced but let's just pretend it was all for us. :) </div>
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Whew, that was more than I had planned to share. So many wonderful memories! I'll be back with something school related soon. Currently I have 7 days of summer school left and the end can not come fast enough. I'm just not as motivated during summer school. Must have break! Must sleep in! Must lounge around! Until then, I'll be daydreaming of everyone else already on vacation and enjoying your summer! </div>
<br />Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-38729169886919686712012-06-04T21:30:00.001-05:002012-08-05T13:05:12.191-05:00MIAIt's been quite a while. Things have been pretty busy around here. Our last day of school was on the 23rd. I was so sad to see my class go. At the end of last year I truly did not want to teach 1st grade again, I wanted to move up to 2nd grade with my class. I heard that the upcoming class was very low and knew first hand about a lot of behavior issues. I know now that I shouldn't let others opinion form mine. This was an <i>incredible</i> year. My students worked so hard and had a lot of fun while doing it. My goal has always been for my students to grow 1.5 years in both reading and math. Up to this point I had never accomplished that before- my students usually averaged about 1.25 years of growth. Not this year! Based on our test scores my students grew an average of 1.92 years in reading growth and 1.93 years in math growth. Holy canoly!!! After seeing their scores I was a very proud teacher. They're off to great things!<br />
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At the beginning of the year I showed my reading tracker that matched my super hero theme. Students move themselves up as they grow in reading levels. Here's how it looked at the end of the year. I've seen a lot of people that are using super heroes as their theme next year. I'll try to find the template my husband drew for our super students in case anyone would like it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOb_WuQxp8I9a4JUeypZ5FhUaYxmJkyBUIO8P9klB91-4bkwlVj0JMfIIpAW9nWDV6ehGUxakOfCdLYEd0NlDIyjvxJr-4ZE-KyQdcNr4T2-3unnAR3ZSpmClVb0v6wq98xZ1ov8GDdRG/s1600/IMG_2436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYOb_WuQxp8I9a4JUeypZ5FhUaYxmJkyBUIO8P9klB91-4bkwlVj0JMfIIpAW9nWDV6ehGUxakOfCdLYEd0NlDIyjvxJr-4ZE-KyQdcNr4T2-3unnAR3ZSpmClVb0v6wq98xZ1ov8GDdRG/s320/IMG_2436.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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While we got out of school fairly early, I had a five day break before summer school started. I wish we could make enough during the regular year so I didn't have to work summer school. Very jealous of those working on projects and reading and relaxing their days away. At least I'll get all of July off! </div>
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Also, we got a new dog! My husband showed me a shelters website and it just broke my heart. Last Thursday we went out there to look at one dog, and came home with another. He's been a great addition so far. Meet our new cutie, Woody! :) </div>
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I've got quite a few projects I'm planning to start these next couple weeks. Hopefully I can share along the way and you can find something that'll be useful to you. Hope you all are enjoying your summer so far!Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-81639086140495877422012-05-09T22:19:00.003-05:002012-05-09T22:19:24.039-05:00We Dig Dinosaurs!In my long term plan for the year I devoted the last 4 weeks of the year to studying nonfiction. After seeing so many ideas in blogland I decided that dinosaurs would be a great topic to help teach this to my kiddos. <div>
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We began our two week study by creating our schema chart. My husband so graciously drew this for me and decided we needed bones instead of using post it notes. After he came up with that idea he decided that he could totally take over and do my job. Ha! Do you ever have things that you start but never finish? This chart fits into that category...We have for sure learned a great deal but I haven't taken the time to finish the chart. I keep saying we'll do it the next day but never get around to it. So, maybe tomorrow!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijXXy3DWhNzaImPOzVOkphXeyzCyWzmg8x3h181xgkrtdwX6HMswgknmtO6eF_-G7I5Jm-ENdrp-QPKPd3HaED5V_g5hyt0-RspnXln0o4fYlqRbFCxwxE8_M0g720xoeC4AHYsGNZ87nU/s1600/IMG_2364.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijXXy3DWhNzaImPOzVOkphXeyzCyWzmg8x3h181xgkrtdwX6HMswgknmtO6eF_-G7I5Jm-ENdrp-QPKPd3HaED5V_g5hyt0-RspnXln0o4fYlqRbFCxwxE8_M0g720xoeC4AHYsGNZ87nU/s320/IMG_2364.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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Before we learned about specific dinosaurs we learned all about paleontologists and what it's like to have that job. I found the idea to excavate chocolate chips out of cookies and we went with it. Everyone got a couple of tooth picks so they could do their picking and each table shared some brushes. I loved how everyone was so into it. Most were very careful and treated the chocolate chips delicately while others just smeared it everywhere. Ha, some people just aren't cut out to be paleontologists I suppose. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWCYgGOq1bJoIkOODo0igDN9DFFRWioDsQ2KvEnszzvCGjPnfgC4Sw86yFZANgirWC7_7_gnGI4rlhv0VwOqS0p5bnlhfEKpnDeEU8Pfu0oO5ZNmm6D3a_ZWVQk6G6V5AVvqsRWhzAbUjt/s1600/IMG_2323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWCYgGOq1bJoIkOODo0igDN9DFFRWioDsQ2KvEnszzvCGjPnfgC4Sw86yFZANgirWC7_7_gnGI4rlhv0VwOqS0p5bnlhfEKpnDeEU8Pfu0oO5ZNmm6D3a_ZWVQk6G6V5AVvqsRWhzAbUjt/s320/IMG_2323.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4SwPIgwnDL8y-qo-e7HCNJC3J7OnSf3WGfFwv4LzGMc2A6tAKMkm4qGtA2E9xu8JwF7AoRuGhQkjICXWq5wqLxouWQNm4wxcB14KzRmhTrzqpamLs2KtWjAboIz-zJZlF_a2S-Da6O0b/s1600/IMG_2327.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm4SwPIgwnDL8y-qo-e7HCNJC3J7OnSf3WGfFwv4LzGMc2A6tAKMkm4qGtA2E9xu8JwF7AoRuGhQkjICXWq5wqLxouWQNm4wxcB14KzRmhTrzqpamLs2KtWjAboIz-zJZlF_a2S-Da6O0b/s320/IMG_2327.jpg" width="238" /> </a></div>
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Throughout the 2 weeks we've been focusing on a nonfiction text feature which I plan on blogging about later on. Let's just say I'm totally digging that as well! </div>
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The second week of our dinosaur study we learned about specific dinosaurs. Lately I've really been enjoying having my students keep and add their learning to their own book on a specific topic. I used KPM Doodles dinosaur clip art and created an <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-Dinosaurs-Writing-Book" target="_blank">All About Dinosaurs book</a> that students wrote in after learning about each dinosaur. You can grab a copy <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-Dinosaurs-Writing-Book" target="_blank">here</a>! </div>
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Here are a couple of examples of my students writing in their dinosaur books. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLGPXqdNFbEudD9wYVHofJ59zGvfWjDLKHUhRTRcZykbUMnortcgVqLkzzu2ARE_zf0tJhRA1gQZ2Vgr1U8QU4u-GqiCCNDQrXS5AJP_lNs7pV6IfvQN2zqqds0Go70HD3Cc7gtH3OCF0/s1600/IMG_2368.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvLGPXqdNFbEudD9wYVHofJ59zGvfWjDLKHUhRTRcZykbUMnortcgVqLkzzu2ARE_zf0tJhRA1gQZ2Vgr1U8QU4u-GqiCCNDQrXS5AJP_lNs7pV6IfvQN2zqqds0Go70HD3Cc7gtH3OCF0/s320/IMG_2368.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I agrere. The velociraptor was not cute at all. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLrcH4cNsXK_JGI8x3y38gpJzo4sAz_2mc47QGNvNuNb6Uixs4qgvje9F-zGt1rizvMrFEcFSHXiyj8Wo0JdYcTyIJ30VJ4vHvizt4aHcAa3W4yCyADi0qdbtf4GEA_cI5zZLV75edch78/s1600/IMG_2369.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLrcH4cNsXK_JGI8x3y38gpJzo4sAz_2mc47QGNvNuNb6Uixs4qgvje9F-zGt1rizvMrFEcFSHXiyj8Wo0JdYcTyIJ30VJ4vHvizt4aHcAa3W4yCyADi0qdbtf4GEA_cI5zZLV75edch78/s320/IMG_2369.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The stegosaurus ate plants. He couldn't put his head high. Stegosaurus ate short plants. We need to work on rereading our sentences but this student has made great growth from the beginning of the year.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyUYd3I04_y1BEMGpSb57J-smsOPgDLLIrncj8C-zSYIgZ7MFalbdnXFCYyTfGAb0ht3jP0b7yYwkUUTJzEVdKzkd-GtaEiCpCifgoPvLBErpa-O-5jXVubEaU7tIgAR7KwBa3llBOH8fH/s1600/IMG_2370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyUYd3I04_y1BEMGpSb57J-smsOPgDLLIrncj8C-zSYIgZ7MFalbdnXFCYyTfGAb0ht3jP0b7yYwkUUTJzEVdKzkd-GtaEiCpCifgoPvLBErpa-O-5jXVubEaU7tIgAR7KwBa3llBOH8fH/s320/IMG_2370.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I love 1st graders illustrations. Just look at the look on the T-Rex's face. Intense! </div>
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To wrap up our dinosaur unit we created the T-Rex bones from Deanna Jump's <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dinosaur-Math-and-Literacy-Fun" target="_blank">Dinosaur unit</a>. They turned out super cute and really spruce up our hallway after having to take everything off the wall for 3 weeks. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif2NN5tVBlnwkTZTcnBqU_YLb8IJX-DZ7usG-VEZ2oTsI7nOHWeoOqqHS3VWd8K3NfDE7ULmnyk7M7GoYZrITnnin7c9azAQc6up4UvTW8DO_mZnxmf6yzk9By2LbQCiYKeX7Kmf1AGFrB/s1600/IMG_2365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif2NN5tVBlnwkTZTcnBqU_YLb8IJX-DZ7usG-VEZ2oTsI7nOHWeoOqqHS3VWd8K3NfDE7ULmnyk7M7GoYZrITnnin7c9azAQc6up4UvTW8DO_mZnxmf6yzk9By2LbQCiYKeX7Kmf1AGFrB/s320/IMG_2365.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I've had such a good time learning about dinosaurs this year. I'm definitely looking forward to adding more ideas and trying this again next year! </div>
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Also--please go check out a new blog by an awesome Kindergarten teacher at my school! Ms. A's new blog is called <a href="http://www.msatoz.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Ms. A to Z</a> and it's very cute! (She made the header and everything on her own...I definitely need to learn from her!) Towards the beginning of the year I noticed something from Cara Carroll on her bulletin board and I knew we were going to be friends. :) She's very dedicated and has great ideas so please go follow her. Have a great week! </div>
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9 1/2 days left! </div>
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AHHHH!</div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-50036674385087202302012-04-30T21:49:00.003-05:002012-04-30T21:49:56.261-05:00Word Wall Linky<br />
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I'm joining Jen from The Teacher's Cauldron (one of my favorites!) for her work wall linky. A couple of months ago I wrote about how I do my word wall and showed pictures from previous years when I taught ESL. You can look at that first post <a href="http://talesofanelementaryteacher.blogspot.com/2012/01/picture-word-wall.html">here</a>. </div>
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Here is a picture of my current word wall. It's high above my very cluttered lockers. </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwsPteoe3qgMq02kuDbyXFcRtR4bVgWN6xAF4a_0_okMrk59migqAAUGFDLh8oO-5XnM7-uqv2OabFv8kH_2ArzfupOjdNKqtv9dKyEuaZELpVTaKVvbpGFetkmgkXEaBsQrRaCcquMNlx/s1600/IMG_2339.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwsPteoe3qgMq02kuDbyXFcRtR4bVgWN6xAF4a_0_okMrk59migqAAUGFDLh8oO-5XnM7-uqv2OabFv8kH_2ArzfupOjdNKqtv9dKyEuaZELpVTaKVvbpGFetkmgkXEaBsQrRaCcquMNlx/s320/IMG_2339.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">At the beginning of the year all I had up was my students name along with their picture so the kids could easily find the name they needed. I also had a great idea to print all of those words that are truly sight words and you can't sound out on hearts because "you gotta know it by heart". As you can see, that didn't happen so we just have some random hearts up there. :)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I use the words from our reading series Treasures to add to our wall. Each week I try my best to illustrate the word. Some weeks are harder than others. Last week the words were just awful and my kids were disappointed because I didn't draw on a single one. I think I redeemed myself this week as I got a few oohhhs and ahhhs. Ha, I love first graders!</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here are our sight words for the week:</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">PS- The kids were impressed with the bird. You are too, right? ; ) Since we just recently learned about synonyms and antonyms I'll be adding them to the bottom of the card as well. I am all for invented spelling as a 1st grader but I hold my students accountable for the words that are up on the word wall. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here's one last picture of a couple letters up close (cute students blurred out included as well). Throughout the week we practice alphabetizing our words, say them in funny voices (opera is my favorite, I make them really get there arm into it as well), and do a sight word scramble to practice writing them. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">A goal of mine this summer is to make our sight word cards ahead of time so I'm not rushing and start the day 5 minutes late. This may have happened this morning...I also want to laminate them so I'm not remaking them every year. I'll just add it on my ever growing to do list this summer. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Can't wait to read everyone else's post to learn more about how your word walls work! </span></div>
<br />Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-38445386628110457042012-04-24T22:01:00.000-05:002012-04-24T22:01:01.733-05:00Teacher Blogger Exchange Gift!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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At the last minute I decided I would sign up for the Pinterest gift exchange through the Teacher Blogger Exchange and I'm so glad I did! Ms. T from <a href="http://journeyofasubstituteteacher.blogspot.com/">Journey of a Substitute Teacher</a> got my name and definitely delivered! I had hinted at wanting some type of decorations for my house and that I was planning on making a button monogram soon. Here's what came in the mail the other day:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm_kPrrbcVwGNBajBQGhvghSxTvEmP9WIauQjYXNESAm5NpGK4kdUcRIlZd0MTnomRyYI5MAVpuAcbqU6Begs91Pyh5fL_rsYEoDjpMOdQfuDqw6TeeYO5h6qMbDUo_QShjmYM-3ef6SMq/s1600/IMG_2319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm_kPrrbcVwGNBajBQGhvghSxTvEmP9WIauQjYXNESAm5NpGK4kdUcRIlZd0MTnomRyYI5MAVpuAcbqU6Begs91Pyh5fL_rsYEoDjpMOdQfuDqw6TeeYO5h6qMbDUo_QShjmYM-3ef6SMq/s400/IMG_2319.jpg" width="298" /></a></div>
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Super cute, right? The button monogram came in a frame that unfortunately got damaged during shipping. My husband found another frame and placed it on our armoire where it proceeded to fall behind it and brake yet another frame. Ha, so we need to get another frame but we're going to give it a few days to chill out first. Thank you so much Ms. T, love it all! : ) </div>
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If you've read my blog before you might know that I love making wreaths. I saw a <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/93952197/rustic-burlap-ivory-and-jute-wreath-love">burlap grapevine wreath</a> on Pinterest and I knew I had to make it. Here's what I made a couple weeks ago over Spring Break: </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BNFGnRstM6DcyLwnsyPdWeqJtDcIiAItkgcwfxdv6Ke6NQk5f_jIYdAQVzE-jJwLLqM1hSc7oKsukg26XJM9coXakieY6RhK39kFy7kL9hUsZTVmJcVDiUC9KMLSQMy__BV1eFzjeIds/s1600/DSC05303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BNFGnRstM6DcyLwnsyPdWeqJtDcIiAItkgcwfxdv6Ke6NQk5f_jIYdAQVzE-jJwLLqM1hSc7oKsukg26XJM9coXakieY6RhK39kFy7kL9hUsZTVmJcVDiUC9KMLSQMy__BV1eFzjeIds/s400/DSC05303.jpg" width="355" /></a></div>
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It's really cute, I just wish our front door weren't so plain or else it'd really pop. I was considering making one of these for my partner but ended up going with a different color scheme to match the colors of her house. Here's what I sent: </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IVNwQQbzp81Lq4n6WtKmR-dmdWOMY0sGbUydbtgKZVoQLyTKArcAomPuuav0jwgV0wUctkciGvcfyn5prCKkyoorNiN2fADlGmV-BKHNB2R3b1qi7bdbpKwYUkpnjmye0ENRhcfzxoTR/s1600/DSC05395.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"></span></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3zy2XaTDuAlkpQrrS2eVjVXYYJTkFJtaZAQzltvYtq9VGEIH9PAKuWLr_sLCBpDNuIwsqCD1gnoA8Dg4qyoG3vXsyrsaxNFEudj6DU12LWZtljMUrt9pVnqfc5J-BZus0LO_gYHDoN2wa/s1600/DSC05398.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3zy2XaTDuAlkpQrrS2eVjVXYYJTkFJtaZAQzltvYtq9VGEIH9PAKuWLr_sLCBpDNuIwsqCD1gnoA8Dg4qyoG3vXsyrsaxNFEudj6DU12LWZtljMUrt9pVnqfc5J-BZus0LO_gYHDoN2wa/s400/DSC05398.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IVNwQQbzp81Lq4n6WtKmR-dmdWOMY0sGbUydbtgKZVoQLyTKArcAomPuuav0jwgV0wUctkciGvcfyn5prCKkyoorNiN2fADlGmV-BKHNB2R3b1qi7bdbpKwYUkpnjmye0ENRhcfzxoTR/s1600/DSC05395.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8IVNwQQbzp81Lq4n6WtKmR-dmdWOMY0sGbUydbtgKZVoQLyTKArcAomPuuav0jwgV0wUctkciGvcfyn5prCKkyoorNiN2fADlGmV-BKHNB2R3b1qi7bdbpKwYUkpnjmye0ENRhcfzxoTR/s320/DSC05395.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Is it bad that I want to completely redo the color scheme in our place because of this wreath? I'm definitely digging the warm colors. Hope my partner likes it! Thanks to the girls over at <a href="http://teacherbloggerexchange.blogspot.com/">Teacher Blogger Exchange</a> for putting all of this together! : )</div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-10647124976578606052012-04-19T20:14:00.008-05:002012-04-19T22:43:12.697-05:00Work Station Management<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJT2WZG-u2AzDCJD57KewEWqFOBx88Pf5Ou__mROQFLC_L8J52LB1EcEoM-re41a7GLGak3exhBp7RxWF1tyYrqYhBJhTBcUmvqVWw6FKZC6edknff5oSjCeEMkatdt0q-qyAfteUm8gj/s1600/IMG_2299.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6JlA5yQ8xVtwWtn0B1nvLOsAGOjIV5ue5XGrhRWWjkgnd807mp_KrsrGyeIEM9wjMRTiGDwSoMd3tgMHzFFUw8Q7ndLb2b0R1UIndoLMEJQoIt_D2fy7dUeqBigxZdJmCVcsAn3T_Y4gR/s1600/IMG_2306.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><div style="text-align: center;">A while back I was really struggling with managing my work station groups and rotations. I would end the day with post it notes on my desk marking which students had been to which work station. Basically, it was madness. I borrowed some ideas and came up with a situation that works for me right now.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggOQA0n2Q48jqwZVaUZ85_LjxABh4fbHcH0-XnHyc5S06IATpqZksxwAGMyj3foqM8niJkMm4oh1_edrAv52GozJjQquH5m1Fa5D9miytgpcakfMZdIce9i3nWw_P8LwJYpWscrew59Qnb/s320/IMG_2302.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5733309958425821506" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's what I use to rotate students. When people first see it they think it's really confusing but after explaining it to my students a few times they all got the hang of it. The names (which I blurred) do not move unless they move to a new group. All groups are based on ability level. We do both reading and math work stations so the reading work stations are identified by letter and math work stations have the numbers. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So if you look to the 1st two students, you can see to the left that their row says B, D, 5. If we're doing our reading work stations they know that their first stop would be station B and then station D. If we're just doing math they know to look for their number and they'd be going to station 5. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">In my perfect world we'd be doing 2 reading work stations and 1 math work station a day but of course that rarely happens. I have velcro on each of these pieces so I can easily change them or just move them over if we don't get to everything I planned. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6JlA5yQ8xVtwWtn0B1nvLOsAGOjIV5ue5XGrhRWWjkgnd807mp_KrsrGyeIEM9wjMRTiGDwSoMd3tgMHzFFUw8Q7ndLb2b0R1UIndoLMEJQoIt_D2fy7dUeqBigxZdJmCVcsAn3T_Y4gR/s320/IMG_2306.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5733315560338525842" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">My biggest issue has been figuring out how to get each group to each station and so I come up with things like this. I can't tell you how many times I have to erase and change things. It drives me crazy! Eventually I just had to be okay with it so we could start our rotations. It's definitely more difficult for me to figure out our reading rotations because I meet with my lowest group almost every day. I was actually too embarrassed to post my reading rotation like this one. Ha! Is this normal?? How do you figure out the rotation without going crazy?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I just read a <a href="http://kindergals.blogspot.com/2012/04/managing-math-centers.html">post from KinderGals</a> yesterday about their math station management and I'm totally digging it. Since I'm getting a lot more practice running & maintaining stations this year I'm hoping that next year I'll feel more comfortable with students working in bigger groups. If you're already thinking about plans for next year (only 24 days left- ahh!) then I'd definitely recommend this post. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I'm also participating in the Pinterest Craft Exchange through the <a href="http://teacherbloggerexchange.blogspot.com/">Teacher Blogger Exchange</a> and I was so excited when I won a giveaway for $25 to Amazon. I knew right away that I wanted Math Work Stations by Debbie Diller and it should be here soon! Thanks to Leea from <a href="http://gonnasetthiscircusdown.blogspot.com/">Set This Circus Down</a>! My goals for the summer are to figure out a simpler way to do things and create more of my own materials. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">My question to you: If you put your students in heterogeneous groups, how do you manage pulling your small groups? While the ones are with you, do they still do the same work that the other students are doing but just at a different time? I need a lot of time to wrap my brain around all of this but hopefully I'll get the hang of it soon.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And to leave you with a little cuteness: we've been working on cause & effect these past two weeks and my students completed this page with a sub. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxJT2WZG-u2AzDCJD57KewEWqFOBx88Pf5Ou__mROQFLC_L8J52LB1EcEoM-re41a7GLGak3exhBp7RxWF1tyYrqYhBJhTBcUmvqVWw6FKZC6edknff5oSjCeEMkatdt0q-qyAfteUm8gj/s320/IMG_2299.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5733322765476903826" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">Haha! Choose the good mouse side, friends! : )</span></div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-63246387540334952362012-03-31T21:01:00.003-05:002012-04-01T17:51:27.825-05:00Do you use Cookie.com?<div style="text-align: center;">Do you ever use cookie.com? At my computer work station I have had my kids using Starfall all year. They haven't complained about getting bored with it but I wanted to switch it up a bit so I looked into cookie.com. The first couple of games I played were good, too easy for my kids but overall I knew they'd like them. I then looked into something that we were working on and found an adjective game. Here's what I found when I played the game:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-aRnBBjo8BE4/T3e3EYyTfdI/AAAAAAAAASY/Ddabua9n_us/s640/blogger-image--1473839285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-aRnBBjo8BE4/T3e3EYyTfdI/AAAAAAAAASY/Ddabua9n_us/s640/blogger-image--1473839285.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I really couldn't believe that it had this...Do you notice how the 'fat' boy isn't smiling at all and has less footballs than the other boy? I don't see why they couldn't have used an animal or object to show the meaning of fat. Ridiculous! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">With that being said, I'm wondering what websites/programs you use in your computer work station that are 100% reliable and free. If you have any great ones, please share! </div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-90245102671386119492012-03-25T17:10:00.005-05:002012-03-25T17:40:14.226-05:00Free Spring Literacy Centers!<div style="text-align: center;">I created 4 literacy centers using the adorable Rainy Day graphics from KPM Doodles. I was planning on creating both math & literacy stations but thanks to the flash sale that Rachelle from What the Teacher Wants had, I bought her <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Springtime-Math-Centers-Aligned-with-the-Common-Core">Spring Time Math Centers</a> for half off. I love flash sales! : )</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is only the 2nd time that I've made my own work station items- it was one of my goals to do it more this year. I thought about what we're doing these next two weeks as it takes 2 weeks for everyone to make it to every station (I have 8 total for both math and reading). Anyways, I downloaded it onto TPT and it's your for free!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Rainy-Day-Literacy-Centers"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUO0GXAJgzM2zgegaoQD-brq35v0w-y6wxUHqqQ8NHR_jt5sgNJ1Umy1oOwlTHHTb4kZPGf58qdceXj04IKC26pX615m7l5DzHAknhNxtZ8cHJ8M297M-lh0FYNiW4hhMHY_30os_pZOEl/s320/Rainy+Days+Literacy+Centers.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723963068542973762" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 238px; " /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is the first time I've ever created a cover and I think it's pretty stinkin' cute. One thing that scares me is giving credit to those who deserve it...For the life of me I can not find where I downloaded this cute frame from. If anyone knows who it came from, please let me know so I can give them credit!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here are the 4 different literacy centers: </div><div style="text-align: center;">1) Spring Time Story Order- Students put 4 different sentences in the correct order to make a paragraph. </div><div style="text-align: center;">2) Compare and Contrast- Students pick a card containing 2 pictures and use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the 2 times. </div><div style="text-align: center;">3) Noun and Adjective Match- Students separate the nouns and adjective cards and pick an appropriate adjective to describe each noun. </div><div style="text-align: center;">4) Word sort with or and ar words</div><div style="text-align: center;">5) Writing paper for Rainy Day story</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I would love it if anyone could use these to help them plan. Lord knows I've used others ideas enough times! I'd love to know what you think if you download it. Hope you all have a great start to your week! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">One last thing- can anyone tell me how to insert lines into documents? Not just a regular line but the lines that help students form their letters (I can't think of what to call it!) I'm not sure if there's a font that has it or if it's something else? As you can tell, I'm clueless. Thanks in advance for any help with this. :) </div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-24948741995941160982012-03-22T22:46:00.011-05:002012-03-22T23:36:53.768-05:00Random Goodness<div style="text-align: center;">We all came back from Spring Break rejuvenated and ready to tackle our last 9 weeks together. *Tear*...I seriously love my class this year. I'll be so sad when this school year is over.</div><div><br /></div><div>We've done a ton of amazing activities that I've found from various blogs this past week. Here are some of the highlights: </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcJB1u4IWqr_T-gbj-yt4DdganiWvkc2HZCnwzcIxhvv1OQXD43cNM_ElpSSllKmTwcNOgwTmjjjEPu7vpofehYqy-Anv9IV7VSWLW0RDjw0RrVgzY493wo6GjX3IjbdM1zXBi6pH6wxkJ/s320/IMG_2226.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722935443881869666" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px; " /></span></div><div>We're learning all about adjectives this week and <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pop-Rockin-Descriptive-Writing-Activities">Abby's Pop Rock writing unit</a> has been a great way to add some excitement to it. Tomorrow we're going to put together the craft with this. I'm super excited to see how cute they turn out! In their final writing today one little girl added in her story how I couldn't eat any with them because it was all sugar. Ha, little ones can be so perceptive sometimes!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Or7ABFo7Gil48WBURAfdXLp6miXv9yb3s5iV00bv7lTewy4bgmVx6x2IfH_H_9nSACejtLSKHWmA6Q7Zp-E_A-OxgLDXGTAIzR7PcVmX1zhRR_Y_HtLB2BvfGD3NByWQmESRfSRKhsS8/s320/IMG_2241.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722938096633985954" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px; " /></span></span></div><div>We started learning about the sun and the moon this week in Science. To help understand why the moon has so many craters we used flour and these bouncy balls to show how a meteor would impact the surface of the moon. We mostly just pressed them down...but a couple of times I let them fall from higher up. They loved it! I originally found this idea <a href="http://jouneytojosie.blogspot.com/2012/01/spaced-out-wrap-up.html">here</a>. </div><div><br /></div><div>When we first started talking about the moon I asked my kiddos what all they already knew about it. One of my sweet ones said, "I know that when the moon is full, the weirdos come out." And I was being observed at the same time. Ha...I laughed and she insisted that it was true. Tomorrow we'll be learning about the moon phases with some delicious cookies! </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEb4xDT-K7HZICoZYHf6F06PHpycNUi4t4txrwa4v1KeQKJ-tVoL7zsnnNFnsJSGRF2WxJHqmtqx8_vQ2vORf92IVLsYS2tMPm-T0LkmAsQO9MLEO0VtL9wABnCMMs-nZkB-eshPxy5gkc/s320/IMG_2228.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722940196990953234" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px; " /></span></div><div>Near the back of my room we have a book wall where we can see the books we've read throughout the year (ahem...I did a much better job copying the covers last year. We have definitely read more than this throughout the year!) I got this from a friend who got the idea from Beth Newingham. I wanted to bring this up because I often have my students referring to it to make connections as we read. This week our main story in Treasures was Olivia. After reading that her brother was a copycat a student raised his hand and said he had a text-to-text connection and that it reminded him of Ruby the Copycat. I'm blown away by my students memory of the books we've read. Since it's near our carpet they're always looking up at it and it keeps everything fresh in their mind. </div><div><br /></div><div>We also referred to it a lot when practicing summarizing. Students picked a previous read aloud and gave the summary while students scanned the wall to find the book they were summarizing. It was great practice and everyone was successful when using it! </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfeojDNAWEzFWhJXAKskBG7IrBug8pduAUl4swzWE05yuZcrNAQlh8hX9vkwlov_66c-A623B97fyHckrsuEuFUdF9NRAFrFCY2SW2gB-mhjWjXtNKEDYSbCAvIloQP1Me-tbSXAs0nx9Q/s320/IMG_2227.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722942567751003746" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div>I've shown this before, but every day I am just blown away by the number sentences that my students can create. Because my students are obsessed with it, I've taught them very informally how to multiply. I've only told them about the numbers that we regularly count by (1, 2, 5, & 10) so they can be more successful. Do you think that it's okay to teach them this even though it's not developmentally appropriate for some of them? I have mixed feelings about it but as you can see some of them can really do it! I welcome input! :) </div><div> </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div>One last thing I wanted to share was what kept me busy over the last couple of days of spring break. It was time to retire my Valentine's wreath and I made a cute new spring wreath. It turned out much better than I was expecting! </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM-m9xjtgj-INzK2VSQUYALZki-Kg514JL5IH5Hrv9eentTu1FbIeosP6fB0KI1NDlAOMNFwdqf9XUSn2gi526-KmjbFLtJuCXp_-NRmESPkDZikMYn0sPekH4mzSLOYuvSywFQEIxOYsa/s320/DSC05284.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722944958885418194" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div>This weekend my goal is to create some new spring work stations. Hopefully they turn out well and I will have some to share. Have a great Friday! </div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-75561161017113082902012-03-13T18:23:00.006-05:002012-03-13T19:39:14.533-05:00Spring Break + Home Visits<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSf8RIAA4op8Uoc90QCmjU7IRRkbGs29wS4W1mo-l0xL_LO2ATpRKnL9dB8fkazGO3C066ldOJg9uwi5qy8WX22hDMnuMb3rFZ6OGEMn7YONvPEXYfvbvR6b3w5IwJ6DMgE2ntLD8rQsn/s1600/One+Lovely+Blog+Award.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><div style="text-align: center;">Thank goodness for spring break! The weather is absolutely gorgeous (the high was 80 today- perfect!) and I feel relaxed. It's not often that I feel relaxed or rushed to do something so I'm soaking it up.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAkJOtywrSwRrh3aqR2lKaVmpfY-ZcHf2lkUADMkTKjPx65TwdHfNSXLXKPlduHytk883-7D4poA1GDIakRuLn2SEZCyJf6AENYNlAvaOhjnz9oKmrOQPUKwPnj39sk6uyooErTQbgwO58/s320/IMG_2212.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5719542257489723986" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">One thing that I am doing over break is making a few home visits. Our school encourages them but up to this point I've been too nervous to do them. I went to my first 2 today...alone. It's definitely not ideal that I'm going alone but when there's no one else to go with me, I just have to suck it up. Today was actually the first time I had been around where my students live and it was pretty eye opening. It's easy to see the poverty around the area but I know that it's <i><b>not</b></i> going to hold my students back.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Today I learned that one of my student's parent is a published author. His family comes from Cuba and he was in prison for four years because he was preaching Christianity. He wrote all about his experiences from this time. Holy cow! I would have never known this if I hadn't gone over there (and it helps that I'm skilled at Spanglish). Right now it's only available in Spanish but it's going to be translated into English soon. I can't wait to read it and learn more about his life and how it's influenced his family. </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">To make the home visits as awkward as possible (I'm socially awkward so it doesn't help- ha!) I've been taking a couple of goodies to give to each student. First off- do you have a Savers around you? It's my new favorite place for books! All of their children's books are 69 cents and hardback books are $1.99. Love it! I got all of these books, plus one more (How to Get Your Child to Love Reading by Esme Raji Codell. I adore her and everything she does!) for less than $30. </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMzH_FFzUotU1gRAUAqEyWvAZN5Uaww13I5zAs-sYwH_g6JzuJ4pC70npMF01JKFK8BVXr0ElGAXrKl2nY9IgIajZva8D1-C1OqBViMR0XcNx9Oscp5F6blbL29pjj3oH9_XeaD-0EE5cz/s320/IMG_2205.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5719534331109757122" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">So each student I'm visiting is getting a book near their level, a sticker book I picked up from Dollar Tree this morning (I'll talk more about this later, I think it'll be really great for vocabulary growth!) and some finger puppets they can make to put on some performances. A lot of my kiddos are ESL students or only speak Spanish at home so I want to encourage as much talking as possible! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I also want to thank Emily from <a href="http://secondgradesilliness.blogspot.com/">Second Grade Silliness</a> for the Lovely Blog Award. Go follow her if you don't already. I just love reading her stories and I'm glad I found her blog! :) </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSf8RIAA4op8Uoc90QCmjU7IRRkbGs29wS4W1mo-l0xL_LO2ATpRKnL9dB8fkazGO3C066ldOJg9uwi5qy8WX22hDMnuMb3rFZ6OGEMn7YONvPEXYfvbvR6b3w5IwJ6DMgE2ntLD8rQsn/s200/One+Lovely+Blog+Award.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5719544836309205074" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Do you make home visits? Have any advice? Let me know! </div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-18438552820533162022012-03-03T21:53:00.005-06:002012-03-03T22:09:55.806-06:00St Patrick's Day Money Match<div style="text-align: left;">We've been knee deep in counting money these past few weeks and I feel as if we're finally starting to get the hang of counting mixed coins. I created a little St Patrick's Day matching game to help my students get some practice with this tricky skill.</div><div><br /></div><div>It's been so long since I uploaded something on here and I don't like the way it looked messed up on Google Docs so I started a TPT store where you can download it and hopefully I won't have to worry about it looking funky. I don't know if I'll ever actually sell anything on there, but at least I can put my freebies on there easier. Click <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Over-the-Rainbow-Money-Match">here</a> or on the picture to get it. Hopefully you can use it! </div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Over-the-Rainbow-Money-Match"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCO3ssLQsWrGnATcDhry30Ck-fTxM79qmHqLmOYR80XUcZLmb_SicREAKMpMJtVUL2uDA5AO6qClT2US3WHBJRRNlQd-QcOE26Cu12xagcTy7_G-WiL_ZYJKr1GWwEfIUsp1yuAB5L8c5J/s320/Over+the+Rainbow+Money+Match.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715888582246823714" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 244px; " /></a></span></div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-47959200622702424132012-03-01T20:01:00.006-06:002012-03-01T20:56:36.475-06:00What's Been Going On<div style="text-align: center;">First off- I'm LOVING Dr. Suess week! Last year when I didn't really do themes I only devoted 1 day to Dr. Suess. Now I'm thinking 2 weeks is just not enough. So much to do!!! I've loved everything I've found in blogland and I'm truly grateful for others being so willing to share. My problem is that I find all of these ideas and I don't even try to do anything different or create my own ideas. Does anyone else ever feel this way?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I stopped by the library last night and much to my surprise they had 1 Dr. Suess book still available- score! It was The Butter Battle Book, one I'd never heard of. After reading it I knew I had to add it into my plans today. We read it and talked about the meaning behind the book and how we shouldn't fight over such meaningless things. When we talked about the story elements students found that there was a problem but no solution...which lead to our writing prompt. How would you solve the problem between the Zooks and the Yooks? </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">I used the template from Amy Lemon's <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Black-History-Month">Black History Month pack</a> for the bread (used for George Washington Carver How to Make a PB & J) and added in our prompt. Sure they don't look the best since I thought of this approximately 7 minutes before students walked in, but I'm proud of how they turned out! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEPA2sPFJCobegKkAf4qWa_Z5Ht27Lb9XNOh5B1pc2lATAGnXmxD91BXmOaOL8zCjuQ8yux5McGSQEW2mFUZx14MMsJRmVAnqMPQhq5Qj8HzhabS4ZS_SQqw31DZ19EwWmP-0TmqVthkor/s320/IMG_2182.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715120754790322546" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcGbd3lJHgg5R4wh6L_3L16flOBjs02Db7Y2RfjSwqHIozUqtkGuiBxiNkHUY4pWe-mW_2pVFu4tcGSfqjAFpUd6s4oHnM5FRf_M50f5OAnHiYlXugGnopuGR3ZILNlhXjQmhwTQjAwR7/s320/IMG_2181.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715120745271475074" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Here's the beginning of our Dr. Seuss bulletin board. Super excited to keep it growing! The writing prompt came from <a href="http://fun-in-first.blogspot.com/2011/02/horton-hears-who.html">Fun-in-First</a> and the Horton peek over came from <a href="http://finallyinfirst.blogspot.com/2011/02/horton-peek-over.html">Finally in First</a>. Love it all! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDyFlwdiUFLDiJ4_p8HyHj5NdVLTa7JIZP55iEHCW_ofjb_i4KCJyA9ziH26cIgmPdqlbCpV5UpGNOU7Wr-fTs4SzYc7ZlkuVJBtg4auDsZ7-XZq-5gQIzCmFbJZT2bf3ywG78CKJgD8qH/s320/IMG_2180.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715120759421689026" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">I'm way behind in Science compared to the other 1st grade classes but I'm loving learning about weather and going deeper than what's just in the textbook. We learned about the different types of clouds and I found these adorable cloud people from <a href="http://theinspiredapple.blogspot.com/2011/02/wizard-of-oz-unit-day-2-cloud-people.html">The Inspired Apple</a> that I had to recreate. After reading Little Cloud by Eric Carle we all used our imagination to create a cotton ball cloud. I really wanted to bust out the shaving cream to help do this too but I've decided I'm just not brave enough...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOUJO00y62SEp9NeCmFBH8JpKb0mC4N0o7r6Rqaw01m5rp876dozlYGlDDjXM6glNKgjBFCeQWXICWqccLG0oqC7En3UDZ8apthPHd-oEr1Bc4bjb-YlMciLwNtr8Ttk49oTb-JuK4mQIT/s320/IMG_2157.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715123446567609106" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzgcpeHaX7f4tt8ELbZya58oXVobJqD6muQ6G1J2OWXglFIwfJkpA8aK9Ky1xgfupIoeLmcQXDOPr_l3QYpJfRzLqauaV6nXJoG_TUYLBFNZJnSudQrm-k0ixvTdHE5nJJi-MYG54B150B/s320/IMG_2160.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715123456205587154" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghOcMzRf41ENCS4IMbyQa9yQltinHLU8Z9uURrBIgJQUXHtkL7S8zhj_iI-jrWQ1AWaRn3hAPtymVS3i0AVAkoNuavNGBMTU-cK4BfoCLU1n4pI3j_qUvbHHSzsQdxUcHXTz6ccLL1lWV8/s320/IMG_2161.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715123456852125346" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">On a completely different note- I started the year with 22 students. I'm down to 19 now. 2 moved away. Not happy about it, but I understand. Another student just left this past week to transfer to a not so good school and go into 2nd grade (they were retained in K). Umm...last I remember you were in 1st grade and the school year is close to being done. So now you'll be a 2nd ALMOST 3rd grader? I couldn't believe it. Yesterday I was livid about it. I wish I could understand parents thought process sometimes. It would be great if she ever inquired about her students progress...</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">And lastly, I have a cute little writing to share back from Valentine's Day. This is the back side of a writing where students talked all about things they love. Poster child for racial harmony? I think so! : ) </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmuJ5u0MzpUKdxP01Oy15_ISfkdRmYOFS4aXMaotX5KUGL8skj8E2ufb_rzqsTk3yJ54lvpB_y0ye39mXu8hZLvAGoNKsTSKlIepMHzBTuuPyp92mA0cYDZV3jB1cA9rYunpObKx0Xilzq/s320/IMG_2139.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5715127253582554530" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 202px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Hope y'all have a great Read Across America day tomorrow!</div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-88857315404050692642012-01-29T22:52:00.001-06:002012-04-01T10:18:09.669-05:00Picture Word Wall<div style="text-align: left;">When I started my teaching career as an ESL teacher, I knew that my students needed to have visuals to go along with the words they were learning. Our department had purchased some sight word cards that had pictures to go along with each word which is where I got my inspiration. They were wonderful...I just wish I could remember what company they were from!</div><div><br /></div><div>I taught 2nd & 4th then, so each had their own word wall. I used the vocabulary and/or sight words from their story of the week to guide me. For each word I would try to think of a story to go along with it so my students could look at the picture and remember the word. Just this past week one of my 1st graders didn't know how to read 'saw' until I had her look at the picture card and she knew it. It has really worked wonders!</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">*I'm very far from a good drawer...students laugh at my artistic abilities frequently but I've taught them that as long as I give it my best shot then that's all that matters. : ) *</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioQz5di4DczlI-HIQo11B3XtvkYnxk4a1G8BGBxZz_42ALQpKJms4t_tjpnI_7hLNlcZIusFmVCBYElPu61OxlXFa6P1ftNVOwgQfnRyuvNr6y4zHuQEhxO0LRjlJUXFIt1wT48Jiyfbah/s320/word+walls+009.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703287849397573538" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnR2shgWjKcUc9xYt-B9OuZUQGNPAW9BiGsQEw5zCqTNGWNCIpjvKu62xeQSLxGG7XXxfg1juV4tkLjzQA-o51TBGstHEkSaX0owftAE2j4wrfP6JwxKvsTTXM4P5vKw0u92rV2IThjj_x/s320/word+walls+010.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703287867264583474" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCjyowBUR28L1DhR7TQHCcD-qrcO5NjNRLIpY8D7pxDKu8GhJM0NRrX7CKBzt_mi264m66NYSvNHqFVfsPAu59dzs-zhJyNWRluYQkavN4B_IXQOIUXyEDHuB7KBRIJ0nkh1uqtBkyHJUO/s320/word+walls+012.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703287853680180210" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGn4WMHBeViuIu6MKfnatSLi8fQDB1bZmQ8nsCTQ1Pn1IhTcvK_RxR8vdcjuD-IrLACJpvCLwmmftkAmroE3ih5dMMHxqSUCX6akdng5Y7Uf1RgL67kySME5vbk8oFlvDtsdecfO6cGNGF/s320/word+walls+013.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703287860732105938" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">At the end of the year I asked my students what they liked best about ESL. One of my 4th graders said that he liked how we learned our vocabulary words because he didn't have to read a definition in the dictionary that was too confusing to help him. I also had my classes compete against each other for actually using these vocabulary words in every day conversation. It was cute hearing students say that they were parched and needed a drink instead of just saying thirsty or that they were longing for the weekend to get here. : ) </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div>I love this system and have done it for 4 years now. Here's a look at this weeks word wall words. My goal next year is to incorporate more academic vocabulary into my word wall. Is there anything that's working really well for you? I'd love to hear all about it! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-PITx7r_eCx4/TycqBUBZBJI/AAAAAAAAANw/sVSUZkWVBV0/s640/blogger-image-1353049077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-PITx7r_eCx4/TycqBUBZBJI/AAAAAAAAANw/sVSUZkWVBV0/s640/blogger-image-1353049077.jpg" /></a></div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-72517478625761146552012-01-25T20:37:00.001-06:002012-01-25T22:12:33.692-06:00First Graders are Smart!<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I think I may be rare in the fact that I LOVE calendar time. Ever since purchasing the <a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Calendar-Companion-K-2-Printables-to-Supplement-Your-Daily-Calendar">Calendar Companion</a> from Cara Carroll my calendar time has been so purposeful and beneficial for my kiddos. Last year I did something similar to this, but way scaled down. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My absolute favorite thing to do is find different number sentences to equal our number of the day. We started off very slowly with manipulatives and worked our way up to using the hundreds chart to guide us. We've been doing this happily now for most of the year. Students were comfortable finding addition & subtraction problems on then own and then BAM, one of my students gave me a number sentence with 3 parts! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">All the students looked at her in aw and decided to cheer "ohh, ahh, looking good!" Ever since then my kiddos have been obsessed with making number sentences with 3, 4, and sometimes 5 parts. It's easy to become frustrated with a struggling student or a concept they're not getting but this really made me stop and admire how smart they really are. Take a look at some of their rockin' number sentences! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-mEPwUgYUy-0/TyC8Uo9rvCI/AAAAAAAAALw/6jtajd3kyvI/s640/blogger-image-867911821.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-mEPwUgYUy-0/TyC8Uo9rvCI/AAAAAAAAALw/6jtajd3kyvI/s640/blogger-image-867911821.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And because I have not blogged in a while, I'll add in some cute portraits we made of MLK Jr. along with their dream written below it. I'm not very fancy or organized so there was no template, I just showed them his picture and an example and let them have at it. : ) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3FHT_5KUZor99rFNJ7D6OCdocm_gdU4vTTZVWuOHZKncO9JBhScXNkSHs0GUp1_3PTXBsiNdlQUtFKlqw5TMVx_VZimb_c6DH_sxNxdybqByEs9e6UkWsvWgVGE99nipNtjqtgKC5jNnW/s320/IMG_1993.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701788069480129362" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZDfZKIkBu_RAp13QuAuYi8RY8lDCe3ysX6l9gZSNLVsfhrhXLMtc9IWgcg6FNimRZc6itEVijVpET4azYmklU1eCA4ZmrjzjgUeR_l2C913tpPkZZ_c75ZVy-_OF1_pniDXT5JoV1_Nyi/s320/IMG_1990.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701788065547646546" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK6GNYwl_jKWgL8pmJtCJxo9e0irjOYcv8Vf13lkxCwCJtclQsu1OkbEhiYMucXaVwVJGAi1WLCiAB8agVssw-vv4bCbpb0TpvZW7PqJR8V8DwE7Nomgn3nWYwRNoJjftZatOfCKUJthwj/s320/IMG_1991.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701788057951191106" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGRXg2w60ni6nXuKVptplCa5n865Aw96CZYlnMS7oUUsSn-I0x922RZkDoLset_-fIJXQOh6ZVrXiwbkqpk5nwe0PcHI0Uow5zai2ac_d_FjQt8ot22S2b8eNRCEVXdciuXz1AD0GpYaev/s320/IMG_1989.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5701788043800375058" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px; " /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></span></div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-45243947679273871762012-01-05T19:31:00.000-06:002012-01-05T22:33:32.999-06:00Dogzilla & a blogger award<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Ib1dnlxJihVFu9ofxSDkCa1zMZaaTqghcdkXIplAPtFkdoKKdqzl4DWkIAqiDTPmnSNHY4eY5AXe87fjFAWVT_WSv2YRuvMcGI5ljWWdaHg4RVircSXW5O-64qDd3LzrVyzvfT6PgpNF/s1600/the+versatile+blogger+award.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSlml2PsWGn6ozFSGtIkCp3yz7vxlkF36LY_rHM7ePg_NpDU_JbfnSWVV2Nu16w6sQdEggE8D74_thGr_MXre9o94JIdzFADrFy_ZB-RBPir0mE7HWbkbX8TDeE8mfIOJoz2fYQwN2os1Y/s1600/Never+Cry+Woof.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2r9930zxMmDu_tYQtOpbneGlMr2eeCRKgTN8jCipyoDJeOHTodfZdSm5-ghSnAzD_v0KibNA2uxyCjkff1pNnymFSkYBxaG6NLwbyIfY1RsyOA5D13gtZ8gdMYNwO2RrKu5NRwEskFszL/s1600/IMG_1971.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px; " src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2r9930zxMmDu_tYQtOpbneGlMr2eeCRKgTN8jCipyoDJeOHTodfZdSm5-ghSnAzD_v0KibNA2uxyCjkff1pNnymFSkYBxaG6NLwbyIfY1RsyOA5D13gtZ8gdMYNwO2RrKu5NRwEskFszL/s320/IMG_1971.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694357214478914562" /></a>Have you ever read this gem? I kept chuckling while I was reading it to my students today. They of course didn't get the names (Scarlet O'Hairy, hehe) but the illustrations were just so funny they didn't care. We read this to focus on the beginning, middle, and end of a story. It was also great for making predictions. It's rated EG- Extremely Goofy and it was great to bring in for some laughter on our first day back. I have another book by Dav Pilkey called Kat Kong. Based on the reactions to this book, it might be making an appearance soon. : )<div><br /></div><div>This book also reminded me of a book I found during college when I was working at a library.</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSlml2PsWGn6ozFSGtIkCp3yz7vxlkF36LY_rHM7ePg_NpDU_JbfnSWVV2Nu16w6sQdEggE8D74_thGr_MXre9o94JIdzFADrFy_ZB-RBPir0mE7HWbkbX8TDeE8mfIOJoz2fYQwN2os1Y/s200/Never+Cry+Woof.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694359956896948978" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 173px; height: 200px; " /></span><div>There's something about placing real dogs in fake situations that cracks me up. I liked it so much that I even read it to any of my friends that came by. Maybe that's why they stopped coming by my last year at college? Hmm... ; ) Just joking! </div><div><br /></div><div>I don't even own this book but as I'm writing about it I'm thinking this needs to change soon. Please tell me that you've read similar books before?! If you have any suggestions for more humorous stories I'm all ears! : ) </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I was excited to check my email and see that 2 bloggers, Michelle from <a href="http://inspiredbykindergarten.blogspot.com/">Inspired by Kindergarten</a> and Elisabeth (same spelling as me- I knew we could be blogging friends!) from <a href="http://emhaywood.blogspot.com/">Twins, Teaching and Tacos </a> gave me The Versatile Blogger award. I don't really think my blog is anything too special but I appreciate you two for seeing some potential in it. </div><div><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Ib1dnlxJihVFu9ofxSDkCa1zMZaaTqghcdkXIplAPtFkdoKKdqzl4DWkIAqiDTPmnSNHY4eY5AXe87fjFAWVT_WSv2YRuvMcGI5ljWWdaHg4RVircSXW5O-64qDd3LzrVyzvfT6PgpNF/s200/the+versatile+blogger+award.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5694363453992133266" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px; " /></span><div>Rule 1: Thank the person who nominated you and link back up. Thank you, ladies! Go to their link and be sure to follow them, you won't be disappointed! : ) </div><div><br /></div><div>Rule 2: Tell 7 things about yourself</div><div>I feel like since I started blogging again with the 11 in '11 Linky Party I told a lot about myself so some may be repeating. </div><div><br /></div><div>1- I was diagnosed with diabetes a couple days before I started 3rd grade through a routine physical. When I was in 5th grade my mom was contacted by the Dream Factory (similar to Make a Wish Foundation) that grants wishes for children with terminal and chronic diseases. I was so excited at the possibilities. My first wish was to go play basketball with Shaq. Too bad I got turned down, too many requests. So I had to go back to the drawing board. Second wish- go to NYC and stay at The Plaza Hotel (thanks Home Alone 2 for inspiring me). We got to stay in NYC for 3 days and had such a great time sight seeing. I'm dying to go back so I can actually remember everything, kinda hard for a 9 year old. </div><div><br /></div><div>2- I taught for 2 years with Teach for America in Memphis. It was one of the best experiences ever. I worked at such an amazing school, despite the cockroaches that ran rampant *eww*. Often times I wish I was back there...and TN in general. I never realized how good they had it down there with taxes. I keep telling my family to move down there so we can all enjoy life with fewer taxes...<br /><div><br /></div><div>3- I went to high school with my husband and never talked to him. I was waaay too shy back then but we both fully believe that everything happens for a reason and our timing was perfect. We reunited when I came home for the summer from Tennessee and spent a year long distance.</div><div><br /></div><div>4- My all time favorite TV show is Roseanne. I can't get enough of that lady. All my friends thought she was trashy but I thought she was fantastic. After my first official date with my husband we watched the Roseanne Halloween DVD (which he owned)- match made in heaven. At one point we both had the entire season and thought it was a *little* excessive so he ended up selling his. Haha, I love that woman!</div><div><br /></div><div>5- I'm an obsessive weather checker. If I hadn't been a teacher I would have loved to be a meteorologist. </div><div><br /></div><div>6- I come from an Elvis loving family. My parents dogs are named Elvis and Priscilla and they also renewed their vows in Vegas <i>WITH</i> Elvis. In the car my mom only listens to the Elvis channel. I like him but my goodness, it drives me crazy after a while!</div><div><br /></div><div>7- I'm definitely running out of things to say. Umm...I love chips? Honestly, it's a problem. I don't eat too many carbs but I can't help myself around chips. Cool Ranch Doritos? If we ever buy them I hide them from my husband because I'm ashamed how much I've eaten. Is this normal??</div><div><br /></div><div>Rule 3 is to pass this award on to 15 bloggers. I would love to do that BUT, it's bed time. I'll try to do it soon. Thank you to anyone who has actually read this far. Happy Friday to you! : ) </div><div><div><br /></div></div></div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-68886910454663470492011-12-30T16:26:00.000-06:002011-12-30T17:07:56.579-06:00Fraction Task Cards & Work Station Questions<div style="text-align: center;">I'm back and I'm ready to try something new! Thank you all for commenting and helping me out with trying to link a document to a picture. Hopefully it works! : ) Right before break we started working with fractions. Throughout January we plan to spend quite a bit of time on it as well. I made some task cards where students have to draw the shape and create however many equal parts listed and finish the fraction. We haven't done anything like this before so I'll be doing a lot of modeling so they will all be able to do it during work stations independently. Click <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dyvmvK8jK1vf7adHnhRG1_BE0_winEunWL7KMP2JmnI/edit">here</a> or on the picture to get the task cards.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dyvmvK8jK1vf7adHnhRG1_BE0_winEunWL7KMP2JmnI/edit"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiidaaIP6KeGxQqNWnm-o-LuHqfb8p1hlMxgn3eEQY7-p5z3sQbsEXpV2JGF8s3iNDFG5p4og2xaHhQRVgQp8_KiQ6uRcEppdiEacIOLFHY1E5Q0zxOXReasEfRSLrlxJfHIHTiaRMd19Yf/s320/Fraction+Task+Cards.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5692055275072513986" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 238px; " /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">I don't know how I got so lucky, but I don't have to go back to school until Wednesday AND it's a teacher workday (our 1st!!) so I'll only have kids 2 days next week. Maybe it was because we didn't have any type of Fall Break or days off that we got so lucky to have a full <i>17</i> days off. Now if only I can get as much work done as I had planned! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Something I'm really trying to focus on this year is workstations...for some reason I just can't figure out the rotation schedule no matter how hard I try. Does anyone else have this problem?? I end the day with post its marking which students were in which station and refer back to them throughout the week to make sure they don't repeat. It's <i>crazy</i>, I know there's got to be a better way! I have 22 students and they're in groups of 2 with a same ability partner. My questions to you are: </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">*how many students are in each group?</div><div style="text-align: center;">*how many total work stations or centers do you have?</div><div style="text-align: center;">*do all of your students visit every work station? I have some that are too complicated for my lowest students, so instead I have some more appropriate stations that only they go to. </div><div style="text-align: center;">*are your students grouped by ability level or do you have your students mixed up?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Whew, too many at once? : ) Any input you have would be appreciated. I've got a couple more days before I go back to hopefully figure this out once and for all!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-67499823511395968212011-12-28T22:45:00.000-06:002011-12-28T23:03:35.709-06:00First freebie!<div>I'm attempting to upload my first document onto Blogger. I was about to plead for help in learning how to do it but I'm crossing my fingers that maybe this might work??? I'm planning on doing a general winter theme during January and made an odd & even sort for a work station. Click on the link to get it (hopefully?!) <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yEaxJCHIod7niZDUeeHk7QtXiPVYbWZMaraFuXBIlck/edit">Odd & Even Mitten sort</a>. It looks all sorts of weird when I open it in Google Docs but maybe it will look better once it's actually downloaded? Please let me know if it works for you or not if you decide to download it! </div><div><br /></div><div>If anyone would be willing to explain to me how to upload a picture of the document and access it by clicking on the picture I'd be forever grateful. : ) </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-53026151847202096072011-12-27T18:17:00.000-06:002011-12-27T19:35:54.764-06:0011 in '11- My First Linky Party!<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-KFY3e03GjJSntFXYhm7yCsNXWWYFVbIJ05KS-WH_VQ-7AO_Yb7IQNPqIabA8lGoRG6aCJBZO6hwS3e1EaRDNusk-vm8CetZx-XrGEbrbkvL1oQqb33cI1FVGL6Zz88X42vY2u60DrwrP/s1600/DSC04873.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB7JFYXS2H0bdv3i5LvrPca0Vo-IWLon1qernbbH9h5vrlAsKG0ieOdkDf8xZHgU4RvHX2VWPfh4cYGhz-w8ZiXZ9rrwuhXQwfg0PziyKAx_XapJ8fEgYBj0ZFUEnBA211wGl8bJ-1i2fJ/s1600/IMG_1669.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"></a><div style="text-align: center;">I've been a blog stalker since this summer and created this blog during the same time. I haven't updated it since the beginning of school...hmm, I think that might be on my goal list! I love all of the linky parties that I see so I thought this one might get me back in the swing of things and maybe encourage me to blog more. I don't know if I'll do this right, but I'll give it a shot! : )</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><center><a href="http://http//ateenytinyteacher.blogspot.com/2011/12/11-in-11.html/"><img border="0" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v447/darlingstar/Publication1.png" /></a></center><center style="text-align: left;">11. Favorite movie you watched</center><center style="text-align: left;">This is a tough one but I think my favorite was The Rise of The Planet of the Apes. I love some James Franco. In fact, we named our dog Franco after seeing him in 127 hours. My husband has definitely impacted my movie selection lately- the other contenders were Captain America, Thor, and Bridesmaids. </center><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNM9O6bupCUfhkFmzAsMpb1gpVUf-j4as0byiDM4v2KTvotwsld9DjIMtwsvwF9d9ow4rSr8nrgHbVCM_lFPKM0ujhdreetOC4EXvSwcGWPKuU77YldpziOafi7WDcjhMAV6gObZtNxSRL/s200/Rise+of+the+Planet+of+the+Apes.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690970034707664274" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 133px; " /><div style="text-align: left;">10. Favorite TV Series</div><div style="text-align: left;">It's a definite tie- Parenthood (I look forward to Tuesday nights more than any other because of this show!) and The Walking Dead. It's embarrassing how quickly we've gotten through this show but it's so addictive.<br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi3F-mdiGyVsaTJtJWalq3Te9QlB9DyQCm73-3SRU7HSNL8N9BgMRG6tU3PJqmum0di8BVKGexhMjnNqbI00PXbarmE0VaSTikPdxSdyEXoiuq2mY_8HCu2GlbOJQK6qwHy-HBj79tSOVB/s200/parenthood.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690971298438607410" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 148px; " /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8pBLroETDyu63vqkhPM0ltWKQkVzbKvEE0DU_TQNFIq_Kr97GOAAhghgdPs9nyaP8LI6VLGOyBt3duBWzhkK451xRnBf-HpPsdrwt8Dd-it5mnWv8UbXF4duAToJUCWbsQRahPt2m-GsT/s200/the+walking+dead.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690971303401860530" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 100px; " /></span></span></div><div>9. Favorite Restaurant</div><div>Hmm...we're not real big on going out to eat at fancy restaurants but a favorite is Chipotle. The burrito bowl is my food of choice, as long as they don't cover the entire bowl with 1/2 sour cream! </div><div><br /></div><div>8. Favorite new thing you tried</div><div>Once I got on Pinterest I developed an obsession...with yarn wreaths! I never cared about having wreaths before but I just couldn't stand how cute they were, I had to start making my own! I've made quite a few since then and even sold some as Christmas gifts this year. Thinking about starting up my own Etsy store. Teachers could always use some extra income, right?</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5KgNaM7LOwaQw4JTYBybsbfdbRaI3Fs_d5e7KO81gXn4l5zTKDrQK_OQTuh0p36S0GRqzwjx6wrDl2NI2vLm_gAdEdiOVbO1V4uPIFIdW0SbKIzBTmd9cUvX8mT3xe20C-zyBUEoZfEbB/s200/DSC05236.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690974507842431506" style="text-align: right;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 200px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB7JFYXS2H0bdv3i5LvrPca0Vo-IWLon1qernbbH9h5vrlAsKG0ieOdkDf8xZHgU4RvHX2VWPfh4cYGhz-w8ZiXZ9rrwuhXQwfg0PziyKAx_XapJ8fEgYBj0ZFUEnBA211wGl8bJ-1i2fJ/s200/IMG_1669.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690974511228422370" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px; " /></span></span></div><div>7. Favorite gift you received</div><div>I just got married this summer and my parents took care of our honeymoon for us and sent us to Cancun. They wouldn't tell us where (even after a lot of pleading) until the reception. It was a lot of fun, but we both decided we're never going back to Mexico. We both ended up very sick and I even had an ER visit. Advice- don't drink the water OR have any drinks with ice in it. </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-KFY3e03GjJSntFXYhm7yCsNXWWYFVbIJ05KS-WH_VQ-7AO_Yb7IQNPqIabA8lGoRG6aCJBZO6hwS3e1EaRDNusk-vm8CetZx-XrGEbrbkvL1oQqb33cI1FVGL6Zz88X42vY2u60DrwrP/s200/DSC04873.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690976463389967650" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">6. Favorite thing you pinned</div><div style="text-align: left;">I think it'd have to go with the first yarn wreath I saw. Here's the link to my boards- http://pinterest.com/elisabethu/ </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">5. Favorite blog post</div><div style="text-align: left;">Well since this is only my 4th post in 6 months, I'd have to go with my visual trackers post. I looked at everyones Top 3 posts and looked at my <i>only </i>3 posts and this one had the most with 77 views. Gotta start somewhere! : ) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">4. Favorite accomplishment</div><div style="text-align: left;">We adopted a miniature pinscher earlier on this year. He was abandoned at an animal hospital that my brother's fiancee worked at. He was clearly abused and was very afraid of people. When people would bend down to pet him he'd go cower under the table. Just recently we had some friends over and Franco was going up to people and letting them pet him. It may not seem like a lot but he's showed SO much progress. Definitely proud of our little guy. Here's a picture I took of Franco on Christmas morning with his new shirt. He's such a tough guy. ; ) </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEFOiSrDyeXNbdpPAqiT8rp4NXSyrrwRQLFbRqH0hTuaO4nYSlzGfJ8VpPfP3WnIZZbMmOv9xyz76a-gjIgNvSTJQU8SZZ4m7OlIo4g0Snll4WwNsJdCJ9XoPOLVwa66bqXxCE5ZMjEIBV/s200/IMG_1938.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690981773619298626" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px; " /></span></div><div>3. Favorite picture</div><div>So many to choose from. This is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding. After we lit the unity candle we had a minute or two together while my maid of honor was singing a beautiful song. I remember being up there and just talking about how excited we were that this was finally happening and not even worrying about the hundreds of people watching us. It was a good moment. : ) </div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhyphenhyphenTseGHmmloUJu3RvlNR50J5yB0AAlDvefJLl4fkmTjvAlvJ5UKYdBlCAK3luLrVk0HKdLj3GZY7NRJHp5RHidth223fpR2hNucuYQYWYPX5tJ-UenE-IRWU_LSkim85xoIoHdaFOL3Ze/s200/IMG_5159.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690983056560879538" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 134px; " /></span></div><div>2. Favorite memory</div><div>The highlight of the year was definitely the wedding. It was perfect and I loved every minute of it. On Christmas Eve my brother got engaged so I'm super excited for another upcoming wedding!! </div><div><br /></div><div>1. Goal for 2012</div><div>Personal life: Manage my diabetes better. I'm trying to take steps towards this but sometimes insurance companies have to help out as well! Cutting down on how many times I check my blood sugar (my poor little fingers!). </div><div><br /></div><div>Teaching: I've been so inspired by all these teaching blogs that I want to create more of my own materials for work stations. I want to make them meaningful and create a better rotation to make sure all students are getting to them! </div><div><br /></div><div>Hopefully this will encourage me to start posting more often. Lord knows I'm on here enough as it is, might as well try to contribute in whatever way I can! Hope you all enjoy the rest of your break! : ) </div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-73357988260341539172011-08-16T21:22:00.000-05:002011-08-16T22:22:36.563-05:00Back to School!<div style="text-align: left;">I'm not a very good blogger since it's been about a month since I last posted. We went back to school August 1st for 2 weeks of PD and our first day was on Monday. Last night, I was exhausted. I came home and probably slept for 2 hours. Thankfully my husband was super nice and cleaned the whole house and had dinner ready to go. I may or may not have told him that he better do something nice for me. :) When I came home tonight I was tired but nothing compared to last night. Thank goodness!</div><div>
<br /></div><div>I was supposed to have 23 kiddos in my class and it was bumped up to 24 the first day. Between 4-5 students have not showed up each day so it's been nice hanging around 18-19 students. I've seen some other people in blog land who have around 30 students and I can't complain when I see that number. That's with an aid, right?? I've always thought that 2nd grade would be my ideal placement and towards the beginning of the year I can't help but think this again. I do LOVE first grade but with how much patience they take in the beginning, whooo, 2nd grade always looks a little better. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>I thought I'd share some classroom pictures. You're sure to see a lot of ideas from other teaching blogs and Pinterest. : ) </div><div style="text-align: center;">My classroom door- take 1. Thanks hubby!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_pq3ixh6NjfDAc0oe5NbOGMknmH-bOfwDnAbqvFXhBd-cDQam4HWNtHD0r7XkGEenO2ddab7KheZDVnrcstEzjgMHTRxA6XWI4b4JuhyphenhyphenDYZUR6SD82bzUyLPk7MNx1Ycwiaa_qbR2HQsm/s200/IMG_1475.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641652036748230402" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Classroom door- take 2. I was filled with horror when there was a blue piece of tape on the door and I learned they were putting windows in our doors...without giving us any notice for someone who might have decorated it already!! Thankfully it still works and looks good! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">
<br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiQ0qsNJCQFZtYJR8oWiWpOtuJRMBXZkbh1qMafJnvhbSzqGsjYz_QlwT4JcE-5D6PCHg4RWacIbOemjHcWFfqorhYLqcHz0tO3EeXhxcLNEO6lbAHLZD8pRhER3K5kGET4rI9hYKthsjJ/s200/IMG_1489.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641652041453388354" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px; " /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">This will be our visual tracker for the year. As students grow in reading they will progress up the building until hopefully meeting their end goal of growing 1.5 years in reading. (I have an awesome view. Last year all of my lockers were in front of the windows so they weren't utilized much. One problem though- we can't seem to stop watching others out on the playground!) </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">
<br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivy3_W0fSDf8ofr3JT8eWPhmNg9lCdGAOaMTHC9Hr4PkV1nBA_WlkUJ_Z8BLb9L-mnn2UFoR75NcinE4wOP7P2i5z5568wNZDtlmqeiXaKEvbvHmjHe3EDYWmDfg56MtKTJ23bZJ_IB8eX/s200/IMG_1482.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641652049049428402" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px; " /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Classroom library. Last year I only sorted books by AR level but since I had to put away a good deal of my high books, I decided to add some different categories for students to browse. All of my read alouds and books I don't want torn up are in the 2 crates.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">
<br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW0Oef_tIGsqsxRjWyeOPNRKnfdBW7dUkhRC4GiJuUsg49ltxuMem8jRoDm8-vEb2gMxmTMU4QVeJCJheC2KPM5dBzv5fTaemYh97RHv6tA7wS3lVIg-g4pYO4RtJW5bU85-BYZs3XDdnO/s200/IMG_1501.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641652050915357458" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px; " /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Calendar/ Math focus wall. I'm so excited about this! I covered up the dingy wall with a plastic table cloth from Dollar Tree, although next time I'll use fabric. I bought the <a href="http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/2011/07/math-calendar-companion-edited-k.html">Calendar Companion</a> from The First Grade Parade and am loving this part of the day. There are so many concepts that we'll reinforce every day using this. It's still got some work but it's off to a good start. Do you also see my story map? I found the idea on Pinterest and loved <a href="http://mrsrojasteaches.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-pinterest-inspired-project-freebie.html">this</a> take on it. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIkyJne7w-L8HXoa0mWqi88KszEmhv709xC-a3iRiUUvgo8zxq0_U2U5l2XDE406HRW6svrhwk6XwfYnFtFDiANV5L8ElKF9xLS6OvuBh2zi7PEqOKS0GxP6BVN9HX0Sk6vsca4kJClCTb/s200/IMG_1502.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641652062486392786" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Behavior chart and vowels from <a href="http://theteacherwife.blogspot.com/search/label/vowels">The Teacher Wife</a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">
<br /></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-xGTr7X1bfeIgQ5_zpAnN2qKkKHVb7wgAMswstypYft6_d2JJ2LpjjXMzUSucqNngTMifPMs4uvB634zbsgYE1JLkI65vH0tx9OLsfVTKfXfTe0tIndXEfGmdviWPXBWGYWCvGELwIHF/s200/IMG_1505.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641656952296531906" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Alphabet/ Word Wall (coming soon!)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">
<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdsZrltuutEuVWJv8SSe3Dy9vGnWLsDMMMjjz1u782bLRTIwMWlCokFlAhmfp6HVdEYt1MILYRhqnwGeg9FPQ1FKK1ngrRQpJ4lVmrU4QyWoiJJe_H0FRnv8wBfTkBqFT8J-t9B2n9F21Y/s200/IMG_1506.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641656959454718098" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">View from the door. Where's my picture of my guided reading table? Oh yeah, no room for one of those!!! (So envious of those with big rooms!)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; ">
<br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsPHTKJdOnDbtMCvD58WFxNstGfFmuMMpJTMVgnB2C9u9KtWxEN5HqMMnttLBXzbCVkvZ7gd5mr5a0iBgv2HCHiMB7abOWRLyHu5t5QQSPLBlplcQIZLlfvqaD-o-a2SMuLFnpwzBwmQh8/s200/IMG_1508.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641656965524215618" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">A portion of my desk. I bought a dish rack to hold files in, hoping that it'll keep me more organized. I have separate places for my Mr. Sketch markers, Sharpies, and Flair pens. Ahh, love the organization so far! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT23kdxbe3GJEdqUTUmtfRzDp71go0MVcywmXSP7rnR-aafCwngV_RcT_6UYlg7QGGdsGb1biGvxxpn3IRzH0EcLgqf8UrE1Bczl-mQgUJsoA_41QUSrQg67D_3WYvzXRXWpFcnjg5FbaV/s200/IMG_1509.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641656970356739154" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px; " /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Happy teaching! :) </div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4114083839439388548.post-18090777324052148362011-07-24T01:34:00.000-05:002012-08-05T13:02:29.635-05:00Visual Trackers<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRWZ_X41tkU6VlJg5n-UtNysx1XBNkL_cwGA9eAmVGTxapOe_fAvlQ6k9etb_xZwaYrpVv_KKNcCd5wMPdPNk-QOqr948b9x3pyLxXbRGAYuHSyCxkZ_ex8St_e1QYcMLsT84q6NqblELp/s1600/DSC03911.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632808598118520930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRWZ_X41tkU6VlJg5n-UtNysx1XBNkL_cwGA9eAmVGTxapOe_fAvlQ6k9etb_xZwaYrpVv_KKNcCd5wMPdPNk-QOqr948b9x3pyLxXbRGAYuHSyCxkZ_ex8St_e1QYcMLsT84q6NqblELp/s200/DSC03911.JPG" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 150px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>One of the most meaningful things that I do in my classroom is create a visual tracker for students to see their growth. I set a big goal for my kids and tell them that we're going to strive to grow 1.5 years in reading growth. We talk about how we can make this happen and what they need to do to help themselves become better readers and scholars. These past two years I've had visual trackers to show reading growth. This tends to take up a large amount of room and with my super itty bitty room (seriously- so small. I get jealous looking at everyone else's pictures of their rooms!) I haven't had them track their math growth. I know it can easily be done individually, just haven't come up with a system to do it yet.<br />
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The first picture shows my ESL kiddo's tracker and the progress they made at the end of the year. There were road signs along the road that indicated how much they'd grown, the last one being 1.5 years of growth. As you can see, not everyone met the big goal but everyone grew at least a year and our average was 1.25 years of growth. I'll take it. <br />
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The reason why I love this system so much is because of motivation. When students are off task, I redirect them to our tracker and talk about how making poor choices will make them not grow as much. When everyone else is moving up, they want to as well. It can be a little tricky explaining this to first graders, but for the most part I think they understood. </div>
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This past year teaching first grade I had an around the world theme and their hot air balloons went up as they grew. This is what our tracker looked like at the end of the year. I love first grade because of the tremendous amount of growth you see! With my super hero theme this year they'll all have a cape and will take off as they grow. : ) </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; color: #0000ee;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5632811576020465890" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr0Co4GP1poJWYxzAzOnRqsq4Mw_9snVJcUozMYbOpWOZ_hPsy2L7jwCkXw3_WWCfnS9cCeklI9M59_6YWVD-lb9hwtxDQyMOwx095KxF_bf4XJgjkIE1m7-YHmSjyKldCFe8eg5alig49/s200/IMG_1317.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 150px;" /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">What are some ways that you track your students growth?</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0000ee;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">*Update* Here is a picture of our tracker with the super hero theme. This was the end of the year. My students rocked it this year!</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4foGrP7qkmG7JLvUg4Xtnxh2nAAdyMHPd4Kr9g2o9Fa9xHqfIand9WXEp7Rz_OtBf8TIWMwjF7yKXIqIVpp38zIu19-U5l3zXVa0wYwfKr63XbGez-Ik8C_nzGf1tm68HvmoVxVctt-S/s1600/IMG_2436.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk4foGrP7qkmG7JLvUg4Xtnxh2nAAdyMHPd4Kr9g2o9Fa9xHqfIand9WXEp7Rz_OtBf8TIWMwjF7yKXIqIVpp38zIu19-U5l3zXVa0wYwfKr63XbGez-Ik8C_nzGf1tm68HvmoVxVctt-S/s320/IMG_2436.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
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</div>Elisabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04958348304248553241noreply@blogger.com2