Happy Friday friends!
Quick Reference Proficiency Chart {Guided Reading}
Hey guys! I wanted to share really quickly a freebie I just made to help you when you are assessing your students with benchmarks or running records. I realized today when I was doing some running records that I needed this so I made one really quick! Just click the image below to download!
The South Carolina Colony {Unit 4}
I posted the South Carolina Colony unit last night! I have been working feverishly to get this one done and posted for you by the end of the month.
Next up, I will begin working on The American Revolution in South Carolina. This is one of my favorite Social Studies units!
I also plan on adding the growing bundle by the end of the week!
Once I have finished up all of the Social Studies units, I will work on Science!
Head on over to my TPT shop to grab a copy of the unit! Just click the blog button below.
South Carolina Explorers {Unit 3}
I just uploaded my South Carolina Explorers Unit!It has everything you need to cover the 3rd grade standards and teach the South Carolina explorers.
The unit also covers the interactions between Native Americans and Europeans and how Native Americans were affected.
The next unit will be coming soon on the The South Carolina Colony. Stay tuned!
Click on my blog button below to head to my TPT and snag yourself a copy!
Native Americans Unit
I know I should have been working on this already because some of you may already be past this point, but I have the Native Americans unit completed!
I was going to do one large unit, but I started thinking since we alternate between science and social studies every couple of weeks, it would be better for me to break the units up into smaller chunks so I can get major grades easier.
I was going to do one large unit, but I started thinking since we alternate between science and social studies every couple of weeks, it would be better for me to break the units up into smaller chunks so I can get major grades easier.
I already have part of the next unit on Explorers completed and hope to have that done by the end of the month!
Head over to my TPT shop to grab yourself this unit!
Leveled Questions
I have been working today on questions at each guided reading level. I know I struggle sometimes with thinking of the right questions to ask at certain levels, so I thought I would make myself a little cheat sheet printable to share with you guys!
Here is an example of questions at Level D.
I have created this printable cheat sheet for all levels A-Z.
You can get it from my store today. Just click my blog button below!
Leveled Library Labels
Hi friends! I have spent the last two weeks getting my classroom together and meeting with colleagues to plan for the upcoming year! I will be sharing more on my classroom later, but I wanted to hop on really quick to share something that I spent literally an entire day working on in my classroom.
Our school uses Literacy By Design and the containers for the books are these huge plastic bins that pretty much don't fit anywhere nicely. So, I decided that I would find bins for each book level and make tags for each bin.
I found these 97 cent baskets from Walmart and made my own labels to glue on the front.
I posted the picture on my Instagram and someone asked if the labels were in my store and they were not at the time. Well, the labels are now available for levels A-Z!
Well, I just uploaded them to TPT and you can grab them for $1.00!
Our school uses Literacy By Design and the containers for the books are these huge plastic bins that pretty much don't fit anywhere nicely. So, I decided that I would find bins for each book level and make tags for each bin.
I found these 97 cent baskets from Walmart and made my own labels to glue on the front.
Well, I just uploaded them to TPT and you can grab them for $1.00!
I kind of love them. I'm also kind of obsessed with Educlips. Just saying.
Click on my button below to head over to my shop and grab your set!
You can also download the book dividers for FREE by clicking HERE.
Back to School 101
It's almost that time for most of us. I have been enjoying my summer.....working a little bit, watching LOTS of Netflix, spending some time at the pool. We are about to spend a week at the beach and then I am heading back to set up my classroom.
I thought I would hop on here and write a little post today about some things that you might find helpful for heading back to school this year.
I am going to share my top 5 things that help get me organized or on track for back to school.
1) Meet the Teacher
2) Set up Tips
3) Parent Communication
4) Icebreakers
5) Read Alouds
Meet the teacher is crucial. I often feel so stressed out that day. I'm running around making sure the finishing touches are done to my classroom. I'm a TAD OCD about that frankly.
But more importantly, I make sure that my Meet the Teacher packet is assembled. I have several forms that I have created and I send those home in the packet. The school also requires us to send home certain things. I created an all in one file with all of my back to school forms to include in your meet the teacher packet!
I print all the forms on brightly colored paper and then place them all inside a large manila envelope with the checklist taped to the outside with students names on the front. See more about the checklist later...
Parents sign in, find their packet, and fill them out if they choose to. I don't require them to because the school will require them to fill out tons of paperwork already. Once they have picked up their packet, filled out or not, chatted with me, they visit my whiteboard where there is a wishlist of supplies for me beyond what is on the class supply list. I place the stars on magnets and parents just snag one on their way out! This is included in the Back to School forms packet.
This is what the checklist looks like on the front of the envelope. I don't remember who I got this idea from years ago, but I LOVE it. It helps parents know what things in the envelope NEED to come back filled out and then what things in the envelope are just for reading and can be kept at home. The checklist is fully editable and is included in the Back to School Forms packet as well.
Whichever packets are left also help me know which students didn't attend Meet the Teacher.
You can purchase my Back to School forms mini packet HERE!
I am all about keeping things simple. There are a few things I want to discuss here. The first, is classroom helpers. I have probably tried ALL THE THINGS. Years ago, I used to do the whole thing where every kid got a classroom job each week and then you would move all the clips and I was like WHY!? Half the time I would forget to move the stupid clips. Then...I was like, I'll have the kids do it! But, they would do it wrong, or muck it on purpose...you know what I'm talking about. THAT kid who wanted to be the line leader again, even though he just did it two weeks ago. Clips would get dropped. It was just NOT working for me, if you catch my drift.
Then one day, I was reading Mrs. Cooley's blog, First Grader At Last, and I hit a gold mine. She literally has the simplest, most genius idea ever! You pick two kids a week - one boy and one girl. Slap all their names on rings and viola! Done. All I do is flip them each Monday! You can see Sarah's post HERE! I have NEVER looked back. EVER!
Last year I just typed all my student's names in a cute font on colored circles, cut them out and laminated them. Then, I hole punched them, put them on rings and hung them on my whiteboard. You can see below where they will hang. I didn't have them laminated yet for this picture.
The next thing I recommend doing each year is having a way to display what you are learning. You can see in the above photograph how I displayed my objectives for each subject. I have done this many different ways over the years. I used my Cameo to cut out vinyl letters and stuck them to my board. Then I printed a copy of each subject and slid them in a sheet protector and put them inside each rectangle.
If you wish to download and use my objective signs, you can click HERE and download them for yourself!
This coming year, I would love to do something like this from maneuveringthemiddle on Instagram!
Finally, I suggest putting together a sub binder or sub tub BEFORE the year begins. You NEVER know what life has in store for you. I recommend putting together at least five days worth of plans. There are tons of great resources on TPT out there for plans. I try to put together no fuss things. For example, for Math, I like to have students do dice or card games so I don't have to print a bunch of stuff and the kids aren't bored to death while you're out.
I have tons of sub pages for emergency procedures and lists available in my Ultimate Teacher Binder and Tool Kit.
I have also used Amy Groesbeck's Editable Sub kit which is great! You can get hers by clicking the picture below!
Anywho...don't make the mistake of putting this off until the last minute...TRUST.
Next up is something I have done for many years and has been huge in my classroom! My parents love it and it has been such a huge help in keeping kids organized. My parent communication binder goes to and from school each day! Many of you may already use these, but if you don't...you should be!
I don't have a picture of the fully assembled inside and outside binder that we used last year, but here is what the inside sort of looks like.
Each binder has a themed cover. We had a PIRATE theme last year, so that was the theme of the cover. I have several other options available in my TPT shop.
The inside front pocket of the binder is labeled with Sign and Return. The back pocket of the binder is labeled with Keep at Home. The zipper pouch is labeled with Notes and Lunch Money or whatever you wish. The colored folders are labeled as Homework and Graded Work. The clear plastic sleeves I do not label. I put students weekly newsletters in one. I also print out our grade level expectations and policies and they stay in there year round. I print out a class list to keep in the clear plastic sleeves as well. This may sometimes change depending on the transience of your class. I keep notebook paper in the back for students to complete their homework.
If you are interested in checking out my themed binder sets, just click on each image below!
It is important to start the school year on a positive note. Getting to know your students is one of the most important things you can do to make sure that you have a successful school year with your students.
One of my favorite ways to break the ice at the beginning of the year is to have a "Snowball Fight." Students get up and get moving, they have fun, and they get to know each other a little bit better. I give each students a piece of paper. I instruct them to write two things about themselves on the paper. Then they must ball it up and take position somewhere in the room. They are allowed only 30 seconds of throwing their paper balls and they must cease as soon as I call time. If they do not, they must sit out for the next round. They do NOT want to be THAT student. After time is up, each student picks up the nearest piece of paper and read it. I call on a few students to try to guess whose paper they picked up and then we go at it again. We do this a few more times and then we all share who is who. Everyone has a good time and we laugh and learn a little bit more about each other.
Another fun Icebreaker that I learned years ago at a Professional Development is a Musical Icebreaker. You play a short clip from a popular song. Students listen and think about a memory or connection they have to the song and write it on their paper. After the clip is over, call on students to share their connections. Do this with at least 5 songs. This is also a good way to gauge students writing abilities.
And finally, I think I have done this EVERY year I have taught. I allow students to do a gallery walk learning survey. I am big believer in having students move around instead of sitting all day. This is super simple and very effective. I like this because I don't have to sift through 20 papers to see what students like to do. I can just glance around the room! All you need to do is prepare the anchor chart questions ahead of time. I also like to have the sticky dots cut out out and sorted ahead of time as well. It can get time consuming to count out 6 sticky dots per kid if you wait until the last moment.
And last but not least, you have to start the year with off with great books! These are a few of my first week books!
Goldiscoks and the Three Libearians is the perfect books for teaching students all about selecting a just right book.
I hope you have been able to find something useful in this post!
Monday Motivation {Daily Schedules}
When I was setting up my room a couple of years ago, I found these ADORABLE daily schedule cards from Amy Groesbeck! You can grab yourself a set HERE!
This schedule ended up changing as the year went on. Here is the schedule that I ended up sticking with for the year.
When students come in, they have a this message on the board.
We are a Title I school and offer free breakfast every day. We didn't always use morning work, but when we did, we used this, from Kiki's Classroom. You can purchase the yearlong set HERE!
Sometimes, students would just get on the computers and do Reflex Math or work on Cursive Workbooks. Eating breakfast in the classroom made it difficult to complete the morning math fully. We would try to finish it later on in the day.
After reading, we go straight into writing. Because of our tight schedule this year, I felt like writing was always where we had the least amount of time. Guided Reading would always run over. I really am hoping our schedule allows for more writing time this year.
After writing, we had a 45 minute activity block. These are our specials, related arts, whatever you call them at your school!
We are required to have PE twice a week in order to abide by state law, so library isn't an official activity block. We have to carve out 20 minutes once a week to go. I would prefer that it be a full activity time, but hey....I'm not the one running things!
When we return from activity, we have one of our favorite times of the day - Read Aloud!
These are just a few of the novels we read this past school year. We also read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and The Swamp Fox. I would love some more 3rd grade novel suggestions for next year!
After read aloud, we have math.
About a month into the school year, I discovered Hope King and Amy Lemon's Magic of Math for third grade and it totally transformed our math time! Students have never been more engaged in math in my classroom. I will say that it required lots of copies and preparation, but now I have a ton of it ready for reuse for next year.
If you are interested in purchasing the third grade Magic of Math, just click on the image below!
You will certainly not regret it! These movable fraction number lines took me some time to assemble, but now I have them for years to come!
After math, we had recess, lunch, and a quick restroom break.
When we returned, we had about a 45 minute content block. We had to alternate between Science and Social Studies because we didn't have time in our schedule to do both in one day. For the sake of grading, we usually alternated after completing a concept, instead of a whole unit.
We tried our best to make this time as hands on as possible. We did have a couple of Science Kits to use and we pretty much planned our own curriculum for Social Studies as the text books don't make for much excitement.
The last 30 minutes of the day was reserved for our intervention time. While I was meeting with these four students, the rest of the students would be on computers or devices working on Reflex Math or Imagine Learning.
This coming year, I plan on using these progress monitoring cards from Mrs. D's corner! You can snag her freebie HERE!
After RTI, we pack up and dismiss for the day!
I hope you have enjoyed this insight into my daily schedule!
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