Aiming for Balanced Reading

Don't you hate short weeks?  They actually seem twice as long as a regular week!

We've had a lot to do this week.  On Monday, we had the most AWESOME math workshop.  The lady that conducted is in her 45th year of teaching.  Can you even imagine??  She was FABULOUS!!!!  Unfortunately, our grade only had 1 1/2 hours with her.  I hope she comes back soon!!!

I had everything ready to go this week, but now I'm contemplating how I can use some of the new math ideas in my classroom.  I've also been figuring out how to get more needs-based time in with my reading group. 

WHEW!!!  Just can't turn the brain off!!!  I think I've about got it all worked out now!

One thing I've really been studying more about is the Common Core Reading Literature and Informational Standards and how to have a Balanced Reading Program.  I've been reading as many articles as I can find on the subject.

I think I've accomplished this with my newest unit.

 The first two weeks we are learning about penguins. 

 The first week is devoted to fiction books about penguins as we cover several literature standards including asking and answering questions (RL.2.1), learning more about adverbs (RL.2.1e), using beginning dictionaries to clarify the meaning of words (RL.2.4.e), character's response to challenges (RL.2.3) and speaking in different voices for characters (RL.2.6).  These are the books I have been using.  You can use this unit with ANY penguin books you have on hand.

 

The second week we will be using non-fiction books as we cover informational standards which include...key details in a text (RI.2.1), using dictionaries to determine meaning of words (RI.2.4), using text features (RI.2.5) and diagrams (RI.2.7).  Once again, these standards can be met with any informational book.

 As our current reading series does not support a balance between literature and information, we have been encouraged to use what meets the standards.  I am really enjoying making my own units for these!

How are you accomplishing a balanced reading program between literature and informational?

Change...Good or Bad?

Life is forever changing.

Sometimes for the good and sometimes for bad.

The one thing that is certain about life, it doesn't stand still.

As we begin 2013 we will all be facing changes. 

At this time last year, I had just started blogging and beginning my TPT store.  

WOW!!!  I was so dumb, ignorant, dense  naive'!  Yes, THAT'S the word I'm looking for!

I had NO idea how much was actually involved and the amount of TIME I would be spending doing both...but I love EVERY minute of it!!

I made SO many "newbie" mistakes!!!  (CRINGE!)

If you have just started blogging and/or TPT or just thinking about it, you should read what Erica Bohrer has to say on the subject.  I sooooo needed this about this time LAST year!  hahaha

And Christina over at

has some blogging and TPT etiquette.  Just click on the above pics to read both of them.

I assure you, you will NOT be sorry... doing so can make your change a GOOD one and not a bad one!

Speaking of change, my very good friend Teresa Williams (whom you've read so much about on my blog) is doing SO MUCH BETTER!!!  She is finally feeling well enough to blog and create again.

In fact, it's her blogiversary and she's having a HUGE celebration...

Now that's a GREAT change....
 Stop by to enter and share some loving comments to welcome her back.

Personally, 2013 is bringing LOTS of change in my life...

My youngest daughter, Camille, is getting married in just 2 1/2 weeks!!!  We had her wedding shower Sunday.

 Here's a picture as it was being set up.  Can you believe this was a race track pinata one of the little boys in my classroom brought for a birthday party several years ago?  My crafty sister-in-law changed it up into a wedding cake decoration!

 

And a picture of what will be a centerpiece as well as a wedding gift...sterling silver serving utensils!

And here's a picture of my beautiful daughters.  Megan (the NATURAL blonde), is a 4th grade teacher and expecting her first baby...MY  GRANDSON!!!  (yep, it's a BOY!).

Camille, is my NATURAL brunette...yes, they are night and day!  This was taken in our family room on the day of her wedding shower.  

 

Now, you know I can't just leave you without showing what's been going on in my room and leave you a little freebie!

 

 

 

We started learning about penguins this week.  We started off with a special delivery from our new friend Tacky who sent us a letter and this book to begin our New Year!

I had the letter written on large chart paper.  It was so funny listening to my homeroom this morning trying to figure out who Tacky was.  One student was trying to figure out what kind of animal he is, and another girl was trying to convince her that tacky means "like tacky clothes and I don't know any animals that wear clothes!"  hahaha

After reading, we filled out this graphic organizer.  You can actually use this with any penguin book or even just a book that involves cold weather.  Just click on it to get your own!

 

Whatever changes are headed your way, I hope they all turn out to be GOOD changes!

What changes are you thinking about making?

 

New Year, New Ideas, New Possibilities Linky Party

I am leaving you today to hop over to
 
where I am guest blogging.  After your read Amy's guest post, come on over and see what I have to say.  It's a BLOG HOP! 

 

Happy New Year!
I’m so excited to be guest blogging today!

Here’s a little about me:

My name is Amy Rider. I teach All Day Kindergarten and L-O-V-E every moment of it!

I really enjoy blogging as a way to connect with my students and their families… and to share and exchange ideas with other teachers. 

Please consider checking out my blog:

or connecting with me on Pinterest:

I love Primary Possibilities’ idea for this Linky Party.

As we all make resolutions, goals, and promises for the New Year I thought that I would share some of my favorite word art.

Words that remind me of what’s important and that help me stay positive!

Click on any of the pictures to take you to the source so that you can print them.

Hope you can use one of these in your classroom! 

Ready, Get Set...Let's Go Back!

I sure have enjoyed my time off and I'm sure you all have also.

 

Two weeks is almost up for me, but I've got everything all lined up and prepared for next week.

 

In case you've enjoyed those pajama days just a little too much, here are some ideas to help you get motivated.  You might even find something you can use in your own classroom...

 

In math next week, we are going to be doing some review with a little new learning mixed in...

 

This FREEBIE involves VERY little prep work.  Simply make 5 copies of the numbers page, cut apart, and place in ziploc bags to use at each of the 5 centers.  The other 5 worksheets can be copied and placed in centers.  The same numbers are used with each worksheet.

If your school is like ours, you might need to be careful making copies.  I shrank the pages and put two to a page so I was able to cut my amount of copies in half!

 

We will continue with our daily spiral math reviews for January....which uses NO copies. These are aligned to the Common Core.  For more information on using these spirals, you can see this post here.  In my store, you can find the entire year of spirals or just the month of January.

 

 

 

Fluency in addition and math is another Common Core standard for 2nd grade.  In our classroom, we practice Brain Math every Monday to help the students accomplish the fluency needed.  (No more adding/subtracting on fingers!)  My kiddos LOVE it.  Once again, NO COPIES needed! Click here to read more about it and grab this freebie.  You can find the entire set here. 

 

 

For games in our literacy stations and math stations, we will be using these games found here.

Just print and laminate.  No extra copies needed.

 

 

 

 

In ELA, we will be learning how to conduct research as we learn about polar bears and penguins.  As we work on the FOUR WEEK unit we will use fiction and non-fiction books as we cover many, many standards....31 total!  I have all the essential questions and standards included so posting them will be a breeze.  I wanted to make this month as fun and exciting as possible, and I think this unit will do it!

 

Here is a sample of a couple of day's lesson plans from the included frameworks.  As you can see, copies are pretty much only needed during the research portion of the unit.  Once again, copies are at a minimum for this unit.

 

 

 

I teach in the state of Georgia, so OF COURSE, we're going to be learning about Martin Luther King, Jr.  I'll be pulling out the pages from my good friend Teresa Williams' unit to use in SS.

 

So, now you know what my class will be doing for this month.

 

I would love to read what your class will be doing when you return.

 

Add your post to the linky below, grab this picture and link back so we can all share.  Hopefully, it will help someone else out!

 

 

Also, be sure to check out my good friend Christine over at Sugar and Spice who is celebrating the one-year birthday of her blog.  You might be the lucky winner of her entire store!  You also have the opportunity to receive other prizes including one from me.

 

 

Now, link up and let's hear what great lessons you have planned for the month of January.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a NEW YEAR, Currently, and the winner of my Blogiversary!

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!

 

I have been so excited getting all of the notifications of all of your wonderful comments on my blogiversary post!  I started to respond to each of you, but it was just too overwhelming!  :-)

 

(In a good...no GREAT way!!!)

 

Are you bleary-eyed reading this because you stayed up too late last night?

 

Me, too!  I was so excited to see who was going to win my giveaway, that I just HAD to stop up 'til midnight for that!

 

However, for YOUR sake (wink, wink), I will keep it short and sweet...

 

Just a few things...

 

 

Like many of you, I was LISTENING to Dick Clark's Rocking New Year's Eve.  It was so nice seeing how they really spotlighted him!

 

I am LOVING all these pj days.  I am going to be sooooo spoiled when I have to go back to work.

 

I am THINKING about all I still need to do before my daughter's (Camille) wedding on Jan. 26th....

(I hope I don't go looney before then...I'm really starting to feel stressed!!!!)

 

I can't think of anything I am WANTING...  (See my OLW)

 

I am NEEDING to clean my house instead of working on all these new units!!!

 

My One Little Word (OLW)...content...

 

My mom says the secret to happiness is to be content with what you have.

 

I am feeling VERY content.  Life is GOOD!  2012 has been an absolutely FABULOUS year (especially because of the many blessing I have received from blogging and TPT).

 

Next year is going to be one of the best yet.

1)  I am going to be a Grammy for the very first time...Super, SUPER excited about the new grandbaby!!!!!

2)  Camille is getting married, so I am going to gain another wonderful son-in-law.  (He already feels like one.)

3)  Both Megan (my oldest daughter) and Camille are building houses next to us (one on each side), so all of my little family will be right here together.

 

Yep, I think CONTENT sums my life up nicely.  I am VERY content AND happy!!!!

 

Here's what I'm working on....

 

It's an ENTIRE framework for the month of January.  I'm super excited about it. 

 

It's EXACTLY what my kiddos are going to be doing and I'm getting it all ready to put in my TPT store. 

 

If you need complete lesson plans for ELA with EVERYTHING included, just hold on for another little bit.

 

I'm almost finished!  :-)

 

Now, onto what you've ALL been waiting for...the WINNERS from my Huge Blogiversary Giveaway....

 

Are you ready???

 

 

 Congratulations ladies and THANK you to everyone for making this such a WONDERFUL giveaway!

 

Happy New Year!

 

 

Getting Organized for the New Year!

 

Organization...Now there's a problematic situation for probably 99% of teachers.

 

When our day is going 90 to nothing, it is SOOOOOOO hard to keep things organized.  That's one reason I am so excited about my first day back to school.  We get to work in our rooms!  YEAH!!!  I have such a PILE on my bookshelf.  (I did manage to get my desk cleaned off before leaving.)

 

I am known around school for my super organizational skills.  However, those are just in PLANNING organization.  I don't do too well with "stuff." (As my husband can attest to looking at our bedroom right now. Somehow, all the Christmas "stuff" has ended up there! ha!)

 

However, here are some of the organizational ideas I use in my classroom.

 

This is a picture off of Pinterest.  I have a green bucket for sharpened pencils and a red one for broken.  Pencil sharpening is one of my pet PEEVES!!!  Just absolutely drives me bonkers with all of that pencil sharpening!!  Well, not this year!  :-)

I have all of my construction paper separated into hanging files on a bookshelf.  EASY access!  AND, an added benefit is that all of the colors aren't mixed up, so it helps with my OCD!  (hehe)

Another organizational tool I implemented this year was using a pocketchart to show students where to read during their  Silent Sustained Reading (SSR) time.  (Referred to in our room as FROG time - Fun Reading is Our Goal.)  I rotate the students name each Friday afternoon, so on Monday morning, they have a new frog to read with as well as a new place to read for the week.  This has worked FANTASTIC in my room!

At the beginning of the year, I hot glued laminated construction paper to the hallway outside my room.  By adding clothespins, it keeps the students work organized and on display.  (We don't have bulletin boards and nothing, I mean NOTHING will stick to the walls except hot glue!)

On my math focus wall, I have headings in this cutie-patootie font from Mel over at Graphics from the Pond.  Having headings helps to keep my focus wall organized.

 

Which, BTW, is a FREEBIE I have for you.  This unit, contains headings for you to use on your own focus wall.  Grab it here.

I think one of the best ways I keep myself organized in the classroom is using my Curriculum Mapping guide, "At a Glance."  In fact, my co-workers tell me they can't function if they don't have this posted next to their desk and in their lesson plans to help them with their planning.  It's another FREEIBE you can grab in my store.  Is is in Microsoft Word so that you can edit it to meet your needs.  I have mine included as a sample guide.

 

Here are my New Year's Organizational Resolutions:

 

 

 

I purchased 2 of these cute lime green plastic toy chests at Walmart.  I plan on using one for Common Core materials for MATH and the other for LANGUAGE ARTS.  The plan is bouncing around in my head of exactly what I want to do.  I just know that's the idea!  LOL

 I have 3 of these rolling carts.  I plan on completely revamping by making them into a game center with all of my games I've made and purchased.  I use a LOT of games in the classroom for review and I need some new organization of them!



Lastly, to get some of the stacks cleared off that just seem to pile up on my desk, I'm going to put them in one of these drawers. At least it will look a lot neater!

My BLOGGING Goal is to continue posting info you will enjoy reading about with LOTS of pictures!!

What do you do to organize and what do you PLAN to do?

Don't forget to enter to WIN MY STORE (a $350.00 value) and also my BUY 1 GET 2 FREE Sale!!!

Both will continue until the 31st for my BLOGIVERSARY!!! :-)