Halloween Poem Book

This is a project that my children did in elementary school, so I applaud the teacher I was working with at the time for the great idea. It consists of 26 pages, one page for each alphabet letter. The poem goes through the alphabet talking about Halloween type things. " A is for attic with spooky old things. B is for bats with black flapping wings." It continues like this through the alphabet. Initially I  wrote out the poem on chart paper, one letter a day. The students would copy it and then draw a picture which describes what the poem is saying.

As the years have progressed and I went from first grade to third, I changed it up a bit by creating a cursive version. The premise is the same, however I wrote the day's entry in cursive, for the students to copy. Even as third graders, they love this project. Now we have created a computer version of the poem, with pages for each letter and as well as a power point poem, so if you don't 

have time to re-create it on chart paper, you could show one slide a day for the students to copy. 

We have created two different files, one for primary grades which is titled Halloween Poem Book, and the third grade cursive version is titled, Cursive Halloween Poem Book. The file consists of the alphabet pages, power point poem, a black and while version of the cover page to make a book for each student. We start this project at the end of September, so we can get through all 26 letters of the alphabet by Halloween.

We printed our cover pages on orange copy paper, but the rest of the pages we printed front to back, which used less paper. I hope your students enjoy this project as much as ours do.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                           
                         

Word of the Day

Well the school year has set off like a bang and I'm convinced that there must be some sort of protection mechanism in a teacher's brain where we forget how long the first month of school truly is. For morning work I have been using something called Word of the Day. I got this idea from Made for First Grade a few years ago and then adapted it so that it would co-inside with whatever unit I was teaching. I also use the word of the day as a classroom management tool (something I saw on the teacher channel). I teach my students that when I am giving directions they are expected to stay in one place and listen to the complete direction. I am sure you have noticed that children, especially young ones are already on the move before you even finish the directions. This means that most likely the child has either missed all of the directions or at least a good portion of it. By having the students wait for the word of the day it means that he or she is forced to pay attention until all of the directions have been given. The word is then their cue to move forward and complete the directions. If you are interested in trying this in your classroom and you are planning a Frog and Toad unit (or a Frog Life Cycle unit) then you need to check out my Frog and Toad word of the day worksheets and posters! Check out the picture below for a sneak peak.

30 Book Challenge / Readers Workshop Journal

Well, We have successfully made it through one full week of school! I began among other things my 30 Book Challenge  and Readers Workshop Journals.

In order to become a better reader, you have to read, read and read! I read the book, The Book Whisperer, by Donalyn Miller  a couple of years ago and absolutely loved her philosophies. 

  She instigated a reading program in her classroom of sixth graders, which I liked and modified her program to fit my third graders and challenge them. Like a lot of teachers, I previously had the students reading at home and bringing in a signed reading log, however even with what I was implementing in class I didn’t see much improvement in fluency/comprehension. I decided to completely revamp my Reading program. I created time within my schedule where the students could read daily for 20-30 minutes. 

The first year I required 25 books of different genres to be read within the year. The challenge was easily met so the next year I increased it to 28 books. Again the challenge was met. This year I have increased the number of books to 30 and added an Accelerated Reading test to them as well.

Here is how the program works. I have a recording sheet for each student. Each of the recording sheets have the genres and the number of books the students are required to read within that genre. This is all done in class, not at home.

The second part of this program is a writing component, which is called the Reader’s Workshop Journal, which again is a variation of Donalyn Millers program. Each student has a spiral notebook, and weekly they are required to write me a letter regarding what they are reading. I like the letter writing format, because it not only reinforces those letter writing skills, but allows me to write them back in letter format, which I do weekly.

          The letter consists of what they are reading at the moment. They may be just finishing a book, or in the middle of a book or just a few pages in, I don’t want a book summary, that’s easy, I want their feelings about what they are reading. 

         I want to know about the characters, do they relate to the characters, is there a conflict in the story, how do you feel about what you are reading, are you happy, sad, then tell me why?

This is an entry from one of my students.
click the link to take you to our TPT store to view the product


I have used this system for the past few years and it has been very successful in increasing both comprehension and fluency. Check it out and see what you think!


 

Starting Small Groups with a Freebie!

As every school year begins comes the challenge of not only grouping your new students into the correct group academically but also teaching them the rules and expectations of these groups. I have used the rule "Ask Three Before Me" for a while but wanted a cute sign that matched the rest of my classroom decor. If you think that this rule could help you in managing your small group or just want to update your signage then be sure to snag the super cute freebie from our TPT store. 

Back to School Sale!

The Corners of My New Classroom

Well I have been so busy these last few weeks setting up my new classroom. I am at a new school this year and a new classroom, which just happens to be a portable trailer. We have space limitations at my new school and for now, our first grade team are in the trailers. There seem to be pluses and minuses to teaching in a portable, especially when space is concerned. There are definite limitations when setting up a classroom in a space that is smaller than a normal classroom, and organization is a must! I would consider myself a fairly organized person, but without the office space of my last classroom, everything had to have a home, and be returned to that home. I have posted some pictures below of the end result.

 This first shot is what you see when entering
the classroom.  I like having my students in
table groups, however with the limited space
all I could manage is three groups of six. In the far back corner is my U shaped table and two bookcases filled with organizational supplies. In the far back left corner are my student computers and my Rock, Roll and Read AR goal chart.

This picture is from the same vantage point. One of the nice features of being in a portable is all of the furniture is also portable and so its easier to create the different kinds of teaching spaces. On either side of my Activboard I have my word wall and at the top is my ABC letter cards. I have posted some close ups later on in the blog.

This view is the opposite side of the room.  To the right I have my behavior and job clip charts hanging. On the white board I have posted my workstation rotation chart, and the headings for my essential questions and standards. Above the board are number cards with ten frames.

This is a close up of one side of the word wall and my ABC strip.

 This is the other half of my word wall. Since I am working in a smaller space I felt that the best option was to split up my word wall into two sections. By doing this I was able to maximize my use of any available wall space without making my classroom appear too crowded.

This is a closer view of my behavior system and job chart. If you haven't already noticed I have a jungle theme in my classroom.

This is right next to the door as you enter the room. I have student cubbies each numbered and I have book bins for each student on top of the cubbies, which is something I have taken from the Daily 5.














This is my classroom library, listening station, calendar space. It is probably my favorite part of my classroom because I do a lot of teaching in this area. So much can be accomplished during a morning meeting or short mini-lesson. I am also super excited about my easel (IKEA) it is the perfect size for this space and to hold all of my chart paper and anchor charts! Not to mention my rug, which came out of storage.  Thanks for checking out my classroom. Most of my charts, posters, goal charts, calendar set, ABC cards, number cards, ect.. is available for purchase in our TPT store there are also some awesome freebies so be sure to take a peek!

Rock, Roll and Read: How to promote and track Accelerator Reader in your classroom!

We created a fun and creative way to motivate and track our students, we are calling it Rock, Roll and Read!

The essence of the system is an anchor chart or graph where each student has their own tracking piece. In our case we went with a rock & roll theme and created stars for our tracking pieces. At the beginning of each nine week period the student chooses an AR point goal in which they hope to attain. It is then up to them to read, take AR tests and accumulate points. Each Friday, we'll be monitoring their progress and moving their stars towards the 100% goal CD.

The packet includes four mini goal markers, 15%, 25%, 50% and 75%. We have included recording sheets, certificates for reaching the goal, tracking pieces and bookmarks.

We have included a free poster to use at the top of your anchor chart. Enjoy and happy reading!

Click here to get the free poster