Project Completion

Yes, it has been over 5 months since I posted. Yes, I have horrible blog etiquette. Sorry!


Over the last couple of days we haven't had school-one planned and two SNOW days! (Not to count the days I have been off to have my house repaired)- I have been spending a good amount of my time working on finishing up several projects that I started.

If you know me, I am constantly starting new projects. Finishing them is a different story. But much to my surprise, I finished 3 in the last 3 days.

The first project I completed were my Phonics Skills Poster. I use them on my Reading Focus wall (more information on that here). There are 25 different posters that range from compound words to vowel rules. When I printed them, I printed 2 pages at a time to make them just a little smaller. I am also  planning on printing 4 on a page and putting them on a loose leaf ring. These will be small enough to place in my guided reading bin.  To purchase these click the image below:

The second project I completed were my Guided Reading Cards. I will explain the multiple ways that I use these in a later post. There are 19 cards that can be used to reinforce comprehension.  Click the picture to visit them at my store: 

Finally, I completed my Word Attack Strategy Books. These Word Attack Strategy Books provide students with different strategies they can use to solve words they may not know. I have made these black and white so that students can personalize them. Click the picture below to purchase:

Now that my 2 snow days and my 2 hour delay are almost over, my free time to complete projects will diminish. However, perhaps I will be able to find some time to complete the rest of the projects that I have started. 

Reading to Learn: Adding a Focus Wall

I love teaching Reading. I knew that this year I would have to change the way I was teaching Reading. After all don't they always say, "In 3rd grade students go from learning to read to reading to learn"? 

I kept thinking of different ways that I could help the students review the necessary phonics skills but also build their comprehension skills. How did I do all of that and then also allow the students to respond to the text and think critically?

I have spent a couple  lot of hours surfing through Pinterest in order to find ways to assist my third graders and teach effectively. I decided to create a Reading Focus Wall (Like this and this). I took the features of these that I liked and created my own.  

I ended up with a this! I love it! Below are the closeups of each section on my Reading Focus Wall. 

Comprehension Strategy

Essential Question

Phonics Skill

Currently Reading and Genre

I found the small pocket chart that includes our weekly vocabulary words in the dollar section at Target! I love the color and bought a matching one for my Math wall an extra just simply because it was a dollar. I also found the dry erase pocket at in the same section (circa 2012). The Essential Question is posted on a Wipe-Off chart.  The genre posters are from Our Sweet Succes. The comprehension posters are my own creation and can be found at my TPT store,

I am still working on the Phonics Skill Posters.  

Overall I am loving my focus wall. Not only have I added the focus wall to support reading, but I have also started incorporating Interactive Reading Notebooks. So far this year, we are off to a slow start. But, hey, it's only the third week of third grade! I can't wait to share more later. 

  

Weekend Wrap-Up

This past week was inservice. I spend a lot of time in meetings, learning the procedures of the school, and finalizing my classroom in preparation for the first day of school.

On Monday I added my Word Wall (pinspired by http://tales-of-a-first-grade-teacher.blogspot.com/2012/08/classroom-design-and-linky-party.html).

(Sorry for the Blurry Picture) 

I am exciting about how interactive this Word Wall will be. Just think, all you have to do is put velcro on the word and ribbon and voila! I also like that if each of the letters gets full I will be able to remove words. 

I also added this banner above my library center. 

Here is a closer look: 

This week I also added the items to my reading focus board and created a worksheet for my interactive reading notebooks. The picture was way to blurry to post and I will be back with more details about how I plan on instruction reading to two classes with less time then I have ever had before next week. 

For now I am going to finish up my plans for Monday and spend time avoiding my nerves about the new year! 

Is anyone else nervous about the first day?

Classroom Set-Up Days 1 and 2

Inservice starts Monday... I am NOT prepared for summer to end. My room however is coming together nicely. 

Yesterday was the first time that I saw my classroom...and after about 6 hours this is what I was working with: 

Way (way) back in the corner you can see my library. Yesterday I was only able to haul in my chapter books. I spent the day cleaning and moving furniture, falling from a rolling chair, and cleaning so more. 

This morning I got to work and decided to tackle the task of making bulletin boards. It was the first time I had ever worked with blank walls. It was quite the process. 

 I started to add details and I was finally feeling a little better.  I have three different boards going on this year... The goal is to make them more interactive. On the Science board (white border) I have placed the Scientific process and my first 3 chapter posters. On the Math board (purple-ish border) I have added an alphabet with common Math terms. My reading board will be the one of the opposite wall (jumbo border). I am still figuring out what to put on there. Perhaps my small genre posters, a small pocket chart with vocab? (Thoughts would be appreciated!)

I also added my picture books to my library. It was a productive second day (despite the to-do list I am constantly creating in my mind...)

I will be back later with the finishing touches such as my interactive word wall and my READ banner. 

School Prep!

I must apologize for my lack of blog-iquitte! I haven't posted since December (please, please--don't count the number of months). However, I have some big news... 

As you will see Second Grade Success has changed it's name to..... (insert annoying, long, loud drumroll).... 

The name change came after a switch in both grade levels and schools! (Hopefully, with the change I will keep up with the blog even more). During the 2013-2014 school year I will be teaching third graders. Fortunately, I will only be teaching these older, more inquisitive children Math, Reading, and Science! That's right--they will no longer have to bear with me for seven to eight subjects. 

I am getting excited for the new year to begin and the preparations are underway. I have been working away at my yearly plans and have even attacked the first week lesson plans. All of which are CCSS aligned. This is new to me and I am a bit overwhelmed. I have also been working on getting my focus wall objects prepared. 

Thanks to the fabulous freebies I have found from The Teacher Wife, Meagen Begg, Our Sweet Success, and Little Lovely Leaders, I have been cutting and gluing all night in order to get ready to laminate and cut some more! Can I just say that I am thankful for a paper slicer and only 3 (that's right THREE) subjects. 

I am not able to get in to work on my classroom yet but I have a lot of things I can't wait to tell you about. The list keeps growing, and growING, and GROWING! 

For tonight I am signing off after a day of working on prep and a disappoint SYTYCD episode. 

(Pardon my button and TPT store name--they will be changed when I have more energy). 

Busy, Busy, Busy

Over the last three weeks I have been BUSY! I have started a lot of different things in my classroom. My second grade kiddos are keeping up and I am so proud!

Here is just a list of some of the activities going on in our room:
1. Math Journals- I love reading the students explanation of why or how to do a problem
2. Writing- At my current school we teach a very specific English curriculum. The students are finally getting a chance to write. They are loving every minute!
3. Cursive- My kiddos are learning the basic cursive strokes. I see them doodling EVERYWHERE!
4. Math- 4 and 5 digit addition and subtraction! They are doing a wonderful job at learning this hard task.

This just SOME of the stuff keeping us busy. I can tell that they are excited for the holiday and I cannot wait either. Who doesn't want time off school to eat cookies and give presents?

As I am preparing for the holidays in my classroom I have decided to read The Mitten by Jan Brett. I know that this book is challenging for some of the students but I believe that they will be engaged. I have created several worksheets to accompany this lesson and you can purchase them by clicking under the picture below! I can't wait to see how my students react to this amazing story. (I may just have to print the worksheets in red and green as well!) How are you celebrating and teaching Christmas in your room?

Click HERE to purchase your copy for $1.50 today!

Mayor Hubble is in Trouble!

I have found that the current reading curriculum wasn't quite challenging or engaging enough for some of my students... students who at the end of October were reading at the end of the 2nd grade level! 

Even though it is extremely important that they read the same stories as their classmates in order to retain the same phonics skills, I wanted to make sure that they continued to stay engaged. So, today I started Literature Circles. The kids were so excited (don't tell them, so was I!)

With just four students I choose a novel that I thought would keep them engaged. When browsing through Scholastic Book Clubs I found some perfect books... INCLUDING: 

I have a couple Weirder School books in my library but this one looks like a blast. I can't wait to see how the story unfolds. 

 Today I passed out the student's Literature Circle Journals (click the title to buy them for $1.00). We talked about the jobs and started reading. I created the schedule below but did not complete it... I'll keep you posted on my success. If you have any ideas or have done lit. circles, I would LOVE to hear from you! 

Literature Circle Schedule

20 minute rotations/ 2 days a week = 40 minutes a week

Day One:

1. Assign Jobs- allow the students to review the instructions for their job during the week 

            *There are four jobs and each students will receive a new job for each chapter.

TIME:  2 minutes

2. Read Story- Round Robin Reading, Sticks-each student reads a page until

            *The goal is to read one chapter in 15 minutes. However, this may take longer at first

            *The teacher can start by reading a page to demonstrate fluency and expression for the students

TIME: 15 minutes

3. Student Practice-work on assigned jobs

            *Students will have to complete the rest of the job during their free time

TIME: 3 minutes

Day Two:

1. Story Map

            *Pass out stick notes. Each student will be assigned the task of writing down the story elements:

            Every Time

            -beginning

            -middle

            -end

            Alternating:

            -main idea

            -setting

            -predictions

TIME: 10 Minutes

2. Student Presentations

            *Each student will have 2 minutes to present their job

            *Then the teacher will discuss anything important that may have been missed.

TIME: 10 Minutes