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Lollipics – Teachers Are Sweet!

Do you love lollipops? I do! …and I know for a fact that my kindergarteners do!
I am thrilled to be working with Laura from Laura Kelly Designs & Me & My Inklings to share these tasty {personalized} treats with you! Yes, I said PERSONALIZED. If you’re a teacher like me, chances are you love a fancy monogram or freshly labeled bin. So, you can imagine my excitement when I discovered I could personalize a lollipop! 
 
Laura has designed some adorable clipart that is just right for your classroom, school, staff, or community. Her easy to use site even allows you to upload any image that you wish! When ordering my lollipops, I had to things in mind. 1 – Meet the Teacher night and 2 – How can I keep these going all year long?
In the image below, you can see my Meet the Teacher lollipop which says “You color my world!” with a cute crayon doodle. These will be a HUGE hit with students and parents. I mean, what kid doesn’t love a large rainbow candy?! I will definitely be sharing more of these once I get all set up for that night!

On the right, is my “Today a reader. Tomorrow a leader.” lollipop. I chose an image of a book for this one. I love the unique contrast of the green book against the plain white lollipop! These will be perfect for students when they hit a reading milestone during the year!

If you are interested in snagging some of these colorful creations for your classroom this fall, be sure to check them out today! There’s a deal waiting for you!

Here’s how…
1) Visit LollipicsForTeachers.com
2) Choose the image that fits your fancy (birthday, welcome back, etc.) and add your personalized text
3) Use the promo code TEACHER to get your set for $1 each (minimum order of 30)

 

Be sure to also enter the giveaway below! 
You can win an Ellison AllStar Machine, cute Dies, and more custom lollipops. Good luck!
*I was compensated for this giveaway with my own set of custom Lollipics for my classroom.

 

Bulletin Board Ideas

Hello friends! As back to school time approaches, bulletin boards are a constant topic. Today, I am linking up with Ashley from Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd and Angie from Lucky Little Learners to share some tips and tricks to make your bulletin boards beautiful (and not too stressful!). Hope you enjoy!
If you haven’t noticed already, I am (just a tad) OCD in my classroom. There is a place for everything, everything is in its place, and everything is tied together with COLOR. I have used blue, green, and brown with small pops of yellow for the past two years and absolutely love it! Why do I keep my color scheme the same? 1 – It’s expensive to purchase this stuff! Using it from year to year is important to me. 2 – A color scheme can go with almost any theme you wish.
Why blue, green, and brown?
There has been research done that shows the color blue produces a sense of calm. Yellow on the other hand, can be a very strong color for students who struggle with attention disorders or students who have autism. Think about ambulances and stop/yield signs. They are either red or yellow. These colors spike our attention and make us very aware of our surroundings.
When creating a classroom environment, color scheme is KEY! Pick a few colors and go for it. Your bulletin boards are going to be the pops of color that “ground” your classroom and pull everything together for a cohesive look. Layer borders to give your bulletin boards more detail and “curb-appeal” from far across the room. I use brown paper in the back of my room so that I can add more color when the student work is added. In the front of the room, I use the brighter green paper (seen in the first image with the chevron border).
You can see from the images above that I have many different colored bulletin board papers and borders in various arrangements. However, all of the colors are in the same “family”.
Here are the links to the specific borders used in my classroom:
Key border: Dollar Tree
Brown and lime chevron borders: Creative Teaching Press
White wavy border: Creative Teaching Press
Lime polka dot border: Teacher Created Resources on Amazon
Lots of Dots brown border: Creative Teaching Press
Brown Bordette: Pacon on Amazon
All bulletin board paper is the Fadeless brand from my local teacher store.

This year, I knew I wanted to put a quote above my boards to fill the blank space. We are not allowed to paint any walls, so this idea added a large pop of color. Our grade level theme is Fantasy, so I chose a Mary Poppins quote that I just ADORE for kindergarten. This is the focal point of our classroom. Your eye is drawn to it the moment you walk in…and you may just start singing “oohhh a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down”. 
How do I create one for my classroom?
If you are interested in creating a large quote for your classroom, it is VERY simple. Just create a PowerPoint document and insert a text box on each page. Type one letter per page and choose a thick font you love at a large font size. I used KG The Last Time at size 667. Click format and change the font fill to “none” or “transparent” and the outline to “black”. Print it on bright paper. I used the green from this pack and teal from a pack parents donated last year. I layered the two for a textured look. When you print, be sure to click on “Fit to page” or “Shrink to fit” so the edges of the font don’t get cut off! 
Here’s another focal point example from my first grade classroom two years ago.
Kids and staff alike LOVED our tree. Plus, it tracked our AR progress!

Here’s a quick tip to leave you with…
Imagine you just created a “fake” bulletin board on the ugly back of some cubbies, but you weren’t sure if you want to use white or green lettering. 🙂 Yup…that was me!
I’m not sure why I didn’t think of this before, BUT all you have to do is take a picture of the blank board. Then, insert it into a PowerPoint and type right on top of it! (See mine above!) Mess around with the colors and fonts until you get something you love. Then, simply enlarge the letters, print them, cut them out, and tape them up. Ta-da! I wish I had thought of this sooner. I would have done every bulletin board this way!
Be sure to check out the links below to get more brilliant bulletin board ideas for back to school!

Quality Teacher Shirts

Do you wear enjoy wearing fun teacher t-shirts in the classroom on Fridays? I do! I cannot wait to grab a few new ones this year as I move to kindergarten! If you are on the lookout for adorable teacher shirts, look no further. Aplusimages.com, teachershirts.com, and classroomfaces.com have everything your teacher heart could desire!
Last month, as I was prepping to travel to Las Vegas for the SDE and Teachers Pay Teachers conference, I heard about a company offering bloggers a FREE t-shirt with their logo. Of course I jumped on that opportunity! The online editing tool on aplusimages.com was very simple to use. I picked a t-shirt style and color, and poof! I had a beautiful new teacher shirt!
Within a few days, my t-shirt was on my front steps. Just in time for Vegas! Let me tell you…this shirt is perfect! The color is bright, and my logo is not one bit blurry. A+ Images was so thoughtful to include blogger instructions as well as directions on how to get the best results when you first wash the t-shirt. While in Vegas, I loved seeing all the other bloggers showing off their blog with a shirt. 🙂 It’s such a fun idea and helped to easily identify people that I did not know personally. 
A+ Images has many different t-shirt options. You can create your own with their custom shirt category, you can browse their teacher apparel, and you can even get a class t-shirt that includes all of your sweet students’ faces! How stinkin’ adorable is that?!?! Go to classroomfaces.com to customize the color and faces before you order yours for the new school year. I just know my students and parents will love them!

Interrupting Chicken: Lesson Plan Ideas

Interrupting Chicken Activities
Because August marks the beginning of the school year and we are just starting to focus on classroom rules, I love reading Interrupting Chicken! This book is all about…how did you guess??…an interrupting chicken. The little chicken wants a bedtime story, but he constantly interrupts his father throughout the book. David Ezra Stein uses powerful illustrations and speech bubbles to show how and when the little chicken interrupts.
I use Interrupting Chicken during the first week of school to teach students the importance of being respectful and not interrupting others.  There is some repetition throughout the book which helps students to participate actively the entire time. One of my favorite aspects of this book is the fact that the chicken appears inside a book inside of the book! This is an excellent opportunity to show students the difference between the actual book and the story within the book. My students are always thrilled to read this story again and again!
After we have read the book one time, I show my class this video as a review. Then, we use this freebie from Mrs. Wheeler (see the pictures above) to apply the book to our real lives. We sort the cards in a pocket chart and discuss how we can all be “Respectful Students” instead of “Interrupting Chickens”. Throughout the year, I may teach a few mini lessons on this same topic to remind students of respectful behaviors. This book is the perfect addition to your year, because students will never forget the interrupting chicken!
Do you love books? We do! Each month, I will be joining 12 teacher bloggers for a link-up called Books Bloggers Love. We will each share one of our favorite books to use for the following month and show you how we use it. Keep in touch and you will have a chance to win 4 of the 12 books that we blogged about each month! Enter below to win 4 books this month!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Classroom Improvements

Hey everyone! I am thrilled to be sharing some improvements with you today as part of the #2getherwearebetter monthly link up hosted by Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd & Lucky Little Learners. Today, we are talking about classroom improvements. We are thinking about this past year, learning from it, and making improvements throughout our teaching and our classrooms!
REFLECT
After co-teaching in two third grade classrooms this year, I have learned a lot about myself and other classroom management techniques. I have seen my co-teachers do things that I would NEVER have done or even thought to do in my own classroom (positive things, I promise!). I watched as they allowed a child to read and come to centers on his own time in order to not “throw him off” or provoke a meltdown. I have worked daily in classrooms that were so completely different than mine, but have grown to love their differences.
This year was also an important one in my professional career. I completed my master’s degree in Reading and began assisting in and teaching professional development opportunities at my school. As I look back on my first major presentation to staff, I laugh. It seems like I have come leaps and bounds since then. I am so grateful for these opportunities and for administration who believes in my passion and supports me. I was also blessed to be able to attend a week-long training in the Orton Gillingham method of multi-sensory education. This experience forever changed me as a primary teacher. It rekindled my love for emergent literacy and beginning reading instruction. Although it is a bit pricey, I highly recommend this training over all others I’ve ever been to!
a literacy centers professional development workshop I gave to new teachers at our school
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LEARN
Tip #1: Go with the flow.
So often we say this, yet we don’t follow through. Every single year is different in our classrooms. Every single child is different. I’m probably {a bit} OCD. Everything has a time and a place. This year, with these specific students, I learned that my “Type A” ways are not always going to work. I learned to be flexible and to give students specialized attention if and when necessary.
Tip #2: Collaborate about classroom management ideas!
YOU may have never had a child on the spectrum in your class, but maybe your colleague has! This may be the first year that administration “stacked” your class, but maybe Mrs. Jones has had stacked classes every year! The moment you bring these topics up in meetings or informal settings, ideas will find their way toward you.
Tip #3: Work hard and become a leader. 
This is part of an old proverb, but it is 100% true! The only way I was ever able to present to my fellow teachers was by working extremely hard to fine tune my learning before hand. Teachers should be constantly learning and improving their craft. I cannot wait to flood my brain with information this summer during the SDE I Teach First and TPT Vegas conferences! Learning in order to help my students in the future, is something that truly excites me to the core!
……………………………..
IMPROVE
Soon, I will be teaching kindergarten. I am SO excited that I sometimes wish there was no summer break. {Did I really just say that?} Teacher. Nerd. Truly, third grade was fun, but my heart is in the primary grades. I’m planning to improve a few things about my approach and classroom this year. Check them out below!
***Disclaimer: We are locked out of our classrooms ALL summer, so there are no fun classroom pictures yet. Plus, all of my supplies are tucked away inside the cabinets. Major teacher problems over here.
 
Communication: I have always had a classroom website and have emailed/called parents frequently. However, one of my co-teachers this year had a wonderful communication system in place in her classroom. The parents were the sweetest, and they had amazing relationships with my colleague. This year, I am focusing on strengthening my communication with this new & improved {FREE!} classroom website (Weebly.com), a weekly newsletter, positive phone calls home, and frequent emails/notes. I really hope to create a sense of community for the parents and their students.
Decor: Teaching kindergarten means labeling everything. every. thing. ev. er. y. thing.
Lately, I’ve been focusing on making posters and labels for objects in my classroom. I decided to keep my blue and green color scheme this year, but to add read pictures in order to engage students throughout the day with environmental images. I cannot get into my classroom until early August, so for now, my kitchen counter will have to do…
labels with REAL images for all parts of the classroom
185 Classroom Labels
Classroom Library Arrangement:  Before co-teaching third grade, I taught first grade. My classroom library was the focus of the entire room. I had purposefully done this to see how students progressed during reading. I absolutely LOVED this setup, however, it may not work as well for kindergarten. I’m thinking of creating my library in a more closed-in space this year. I’m not sure exactly how I will arrange the furniture quite yet because I’m hoping to use alternative seating and very few tables. I’ll be sure to keep posting more pictures as the new room decoration beings!
Place your library in the CENTER of the room to change things up and create an automatic focal point for students.
So far, I have printed new kindergarten-friendly book bin labels and have them ready for the first day that I am able to make my way into the new room. Until then, I will keep plugging away at posters, object labels, and mini projects!
 
What areas of your teaching or your classroom are YOU improving this summer? Comment below and be sure to check out these other fantastic bloggers!
 
 

 

My 3rd Grade Schedule

I am so {beyond} excited to be sharing my schedule with you today as part of the #2getherwearebetter monthly link up hosted by Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd & Lucky Little Learners. (Let’s just stop right here and talk about two of the most genuine, friendly, encouraging ladies on the face of the planet! …I may be biased; Ashley & Angie are amazing!)



Scheduling is my thing. I love it. Could be my type A personality. Could be my colorful flair pens…but I love it. 


Wait! 🙂 My schedule is a bit confusing and very broken down into groups and rotations. I co-teach during reading only, so this is helpful to note:
8:00-10:10 – Classroom A with Ms. H, Reading
10:40-2:00 – Classroom B with Ms. N, Reading
(No, I do not have my own classroom this year, however, I do have students registered under my name, if that makes sense…)

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Here’s a little peek into my day of co-teaching third grade!



8:00-8:15 (Classroom A)
Welcome students, attendance, check homework, announcements, begin morning review.

Homework usually consists of a reading comprehension passage and a math review page. We check homework for completion (Except if there are BIG noticeable mistakes…then we conference with that student for a few minutes). We use a simple checklist with their names so that we can keep track of who is frequently not completing homework. This helps us when report card time comes around.

8:15-8:30
Because our 3rd graders in Florida have to pass to state assessment to be promoted to 4th grade, our school creates reading and math review packets. Students complete a page or two of the reading review packet before our mini lesson each morning. Ehhh you know…nothing really fun, but they are helpful, so we do them as test prep.

8:30-8:40
Mini-lesson – This changes often, but may include Picture of the Day or a YouTube video or maybe a short read-aloud to introduce a topic.

We loved this SUPER engaging {and hilarious!} mini lesson about comparing and contrasting using Apples and Oranges: Going Banana’s with Pairs (Thanks to Teaching with a Mountain View!)

Students love watching YouTube videos before practicing or reviewing a skill! Read more about this activity here!

8:40-10:10
Integrated Reading Block

Because there are two of us teaching at all times, we try to maximize our time and meet with all of our students. 

(Our school uses Journeys for the reading curriculum, however, we are urged to use other resources. Journeys is only one tool. We do not use it often at all. It is usually only used for intervention students.)

We teach completely in small group during reading. There are two groups of six students who are below grade level and three groups of four to five students who are on-level or above-level. Both teachers hold small groups at the same time. We are on opposite sides of the room, so it’s not distracting. We basically split the entire room in half when we are teaching — it’s like two separate groups of small group and centers in the same room. 

Monday and Tuesday – The main classroom teacher always begins the week with the below grade level students to lay a foundation. She has 2 small groups for about 30 minutes each. I always start the week with the on- or above-grade level students. I have 3 small groups for about 20 minutes each.

My Mon./Tues. schedule:
9:00-9:20 – Rotation 1
9:20-9:40 – Rotation 2
9:40-10:00 – Rotation 3

Wednesday and Thursday – SWAP! This gives students the ability to hear the same concept in two different ways, from two different teachers. I reinforce the lesson with the below-level students. The main classroom teacher reviews and enriches the lesson with the on- and above-level students.

My Wed./Thurs. schedule:
9:00-9:30 – Rotation 1
9:30-10:00 – Rotation 2

Friday’s schedule:
Assessments and finish any incomplete centers.
This was taken from my small group area. You will see the other teacher’s “side” directly across the room. One of her groups is in small group and the other is working on computers in the far corner of the room. When she is ready to switch, she will simply have those two groups trade spots.

Centers
While we are teaching our small groups, these centers are happening throughout the classroom. Students spend two days at each center. Our centers have broad labels, so that we can change them to include activities that are meaningful for students throughout the year. See the pictures below for some real-life examples:

  • Computer – We have a program called iReady that is used throughout the school. Students take individualized reading and math lessons on the program.
  • Vocabulary/Novel Study – My novel study groups read their novel, make annotations, and respond to their “flippy prompts” (blue flaps seen below). When we are not reading a novel, students complete vocabulary activities at this center.
  • Skill Practice – This center changes depending on our skill. It is differentiated for the different groups of students. There are often two separate activities for certain students. This center almost always includes writing. Sometimes it has task cards. Overall, it is based on the standard that we are teaching that week.
  • Text Evidence – Students are given books or passages and questions. We make sure that they are focusing on finding text evidence and responding in complete sentences with evidence based sentence starters. Paired text passages are a hit with students in this center.

 

Grab these Fiction and Nonfiction prompts that can be used to extend reading comprehension or during novel studies from The Teacher Talk.
Here is a student making predictions and reading Stuart Little in our Novel Study center. Many of our on-level students still struggle with forming complete sentences to explain their thoughts. We infuse TONS of writing throughout the day to help students to improve throughout the year.
This is a student practicing research and point of view in our Skill Practice Center.

10:00-10:05
Wrap up small groups, clean up centers, go to Specials.

10:10-10:40
Specials – Computer, Art, PE, Music, Media, or Chess

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When I switch classrooms, the students in Classroom B do pretty much the exact same activities as in Classroom A. I will just list times for you here. The activities are almost identical to the ones explained above.
10:45-11:20 (Switch to Classroom B)
Wrap up math from before Specials.
Snack and reading review packet warm up (same one mentioned above).
11:20-11:30
Mini lesson
11:30-12:40
Integrated Reading Block
My Mon./Tues. schedule:
11:30-11:50 – Rotation 1
11:50-12:10 – Rotation 2
12:10-12:30 – Rotation 3
My Wed./Thurs. schedule:
11:30-12:00 – Rotation 1
12:00-12:30 – Rotation 2
Friday’s schedule:
Assessments and finish any incomplete centers.
12:30-12:40
Wrap up small group and centers, clean up, go to lunch.
12:45-1:20
Lunch
1:20-1:40
Recess
(Truth – It’s Florida. It’s hot. Sometimes it’s miserably hot at this time. It’s optional to go outside. Many times we just do a series of GoNoodle dances in the classroom instead of sweating profusely.)
1:45
Assign homework, pack up
2:00
Dismissal
Thank you for stopping by to read about our day in third grade! Be sure to check out other teacher schedules below!
 
 

 

 

Fun Test Prep!

 

Are you ready for testing?!?! We are!
We have one more school day before the FSA (Florida Standards Assessment) reading test. Over the past few weeks, we have been working oh so hard to get ready. We have reviewed in groups, in small group, in pairs, and independently. But, truth is, we are all sick of reading comprehension pages and practice assessments. (Can I get an AMEN?!) Sometimes they are just not fun to do. As teachers, we can change this attitude!
This year, my co-teacher incorporated many fun activities in order to keep our students engaged while continuing to practice using our strategies in the text and on test questions. I am sharing three of our favorites with you today! These “games” are extremely simple to make and will not break the bank. Many thanks to the Dollar Store! Plus, all of these activities can be saved for next year!
Students should read the passage(s) and answer all questions first, showing their evidence in the passage. All of these activities are to be done while REVIEWING the answers with students. The review can happen in small groups or whole group.
Ping Pong Balls & Cups
Place cups in front of a group of 4-6 students (clear cups work even better than these styrofoam ones!). Label the cups with the letters included in the answer choices. Give each student a ping pong ball (cotton balls will also work). As you go over each question, thinking aloud, have students bounce/place their ball in the corresponding cup. Announce the correct answer (Cue student cheering). Students hand all the ping pong balls back to each other and you start over on the next question.
***Yes, students may look around and follow their peers, but we make sure to let them know that we are looking for their own answers only! “Cheating does not help you in life.”….and that whole teacher spiel.
Our Rule:
We allow students to bounce their ping pong ball on the table, ONE TIME ONLY, trying to aim for their chosen answer cup. If the ball doesn’t make it in, they are to just place it in the cup. They follow this rule religiously. If they don’t follow this rule, we would have ping pong balls ALL over the place. Follow it, or don’t play. 🙂
Jenga

You will need a couple Jenga towers, unless you plan to do this whole group (then you only need one tower). We use about five in our classroom. You can borrow them from other teachers or grab them from Amazon.com. While students are completing a reading comprehension packet/review page place a Jenga tower in the middle of each group. As you go over each question, think aloud. Announce the correct answer. (Cue student cheering) Walk around with a pen and give students stars or checks beside the correct answer. When they get a star/check, they may take a Jenga block from the tower. If they do not answer correctly, they work through the question again. Continue through the rest of the questions, walking around to assess as you go. The goal is to see how many blocks you can successfully pull without knocking the tower down. If the tower falls, simply gather all the pieces and rebuild it.

I have also played this in small group with struggling students. We read the passage together and then went one by one through the questions. After they answered one question, I would check it. This provided immediate feedback to them. Plus, they were always excited to pull the blocks!
Fly Swatters
Each child will need a fly swatter. (We bought them at the dollar store, but here is another good deal from Walmart. These are reusable from year to year.) Students break their desk into fourths with dry erase markers and label with the answer choices. (Just use a clorox wipe to clean up!) As you go over the test questions, think aloud.
Say something like, “One, two, three — SWAT!” When you say that, students “swat” their answer. They must hold their fly swatter on the letter until you tell them to remove it. Walk around and assess student answers. Announce the correct answer (Cue student cheering), and then move on to the next question.
Our Rule:
If you mess around with the fly swatter (including but not limited to: hitting another person, lifting it up and changing your answer, swinging it like crazy in the air), you will loose the privilege of the fly swatter, and have to continue reviewing the questions the “normal” way.
 
Those are a few of our classroom favorites! These little games give students a reason to try their very best during our review. It also keeps review a little interesting on the teacher end, too! 

Happy Testing Season!

 

The Early Reading Process

I’ve recently been spending a lot of time studying and reviewing for my state’s K-12 Reading assessment which I have to pass to obtain my Master’s degree in Reading. This test also certifies you to be a Reading Specialist, if you so choose. As I was talking to my friend from class who already took the test, she said, “I thought it focused a lot on emergent literacy, but you’re more…you know…you’re dealing with that every day.”
As I read through the emergent literacy section of the review book, I realized that there were SO many technical terms that primary teachers use quite often. On the other hand, intermediate elementary teachers may not. 
My friend has been in all of the same courses as me in the last two years, but she didn’t feel as confident with these terms. All of a sudden it made SO much sense to me! I mean, we’re human. If we don’t use complex (Tier 3, if you will) vocabulary often, we forget the true meaning.
I get confused and think too far into all of these Ph words often, so these are the details that have helped me! Let’s take a look at a few of those technical teacher-y terms that we throw around with colleagues. Hopefully, this breakdown will help you all to gain a firm understanding of each concept or just review some that get a bit confusing (phonological, phonemic, phonics….ahhh!). 
Phonological Awareness
Phonological awareness is recognizing the sound structures of spoken language, or speech sounds. Phonological awareness focuses on large parts of spoken language. It includes syllable awareness, sentence awareness, word awareness (rhyming and alliteration), onset-rime awareness and phoneme awareness. 

Syllable awareness (deletion) example: What is bookshelf without book? Shelf
Sentence awareness example: How many words are in the sentence, “Did you have a fun trip?” 6
Word awareness example: Do these words rhyme: bark and bike? No
Onset-rime example: What word is this: m-ath? math
Phoneme awareness example: What is the beginning sound in path? /p/

Phonological awareness focuses only on sound. It does not address the symbols (letters) for the sounds. Students are not looking at words or any print, they only listen and produce sounds. It is a broad term. Phonological awareness is the umbrella. Phonemic awareness falls below. Many researchers believe that phonological awareness is a key indicator of a child’s future success in reading and spelling.

Be sure to check out Hello Two Peas in a Pod for amazing phonological awareness activities created by Jen Jones from Hello Literacy and Katherine Zotovich from Pure Literacy. They are PERFECT!

Phonemic Awareness
Phonemic awareness is a subcategory of phonological awareness. Phonemic awareness includes identifying and manipulating individual sounds within spoken words. The smallest units of sounds are called phonemes. Phonemes combine to form words. So, phonemic awareness only deals with the phoneme level of language.

***Rhyming is considered phonological awareness, NOT phonemic awareness, because it does not relate to the individual sounds in words.

When students have phonemic awareness they have knowledge of the smallest units of sounds, or phonemes, in a word. Students should be actively identifying, segmenting, blending, and manipulating the separate sounds in words. Only sounds. This is key! No visual symbols — no letters! If students have phonemic awareness, they can connect sounds together to form words!
Phonics
Phonics is often confused with both phonological awareness and phonemic awareness (above). The main difference is easy to remember. Phonics deals with letters! A professor at a reading conference once said to our group, “The second you give a kid a letter or word to look at, BOOM!, it’s phonics!” And it’s very true. While phonological awareness deals with only sounds, phonics deals with actually seeing and working with the letters that make the sounds.
PSA: When you are googling or Pinterest-ing phonemic awareness activities, PLEASE be careful. I know someone who was doing a doctoral project on this topic. Many times, honestly most of the time, phonics activities (activities including letters) are listed under the label “phonemic awareness”. Just be on the lookout…
Alphabetic Principle
Letters represent speech sounds. Arrangements of letters represent spoken words. Students learn letter names by singing the alphabet song. Then students learn the shape of letters by looking in books, playing with blocks, or playing with plastic/wooden letters. Finally, students relate to the letters they see to the speech sounds they hear and produce. The alphabetic principal is the understanding that there is a relationship between speech sounds and written letters. 
Decoding
Directly teaching phonics patterns will make decoding easier for students. If students recognize relationships within words, they can figure out words they have not seen before. When students can decode quickly, they are able to spend more of their working memory on comprehending the text.
Decoding incorporates the ability to:
-use what one knows about patterns in letters
-understand the correspondence between letters and the sounds they represent
-pronounce printed words correctly
Morphology

The smallest units of meaning are called morphemes. For example, the “s” that is added to the end of the word “dog” to make is plural is a morpheme. A single morpheme can change the meaning of a word. Morphology is the study of the structures of words that are formed with the smallest units of meaning.

Whew, okay. That’s all the teacher jargon I have for today!
Happy Reading!

Every Child.

“Every child in your class is someone’s whole world.” -Unknown
My brother is diagnosed PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified) with a processing disorder. That means that he is on the spectrum, but they aren’t quite sure what he has. 
This past weekend, we toured a fully accredited college that is specifically designed for students with learning disabilities and/or ADHD. (If you haven’t heard of Beacon College, check it out! It is amazing!) It is there that we realized that he is not ready. There are too many reasons to list to describe why Michael is not ready. I have been in a funk since last weekend because my mind has been filled with the doubts and the uncertainties of his future. However, that is not my focus today. I want to look past that. Far too often we focus on the negative. Let’s change our perspective, and think of what students succeed at, what students find joy in.

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Visualize your students. Write down the names of your “low”, “struggling”, “behavior” students. Think about how many of them are formally diagnosed (with anything). Picture the ones that you can sense have “just a little something else going on”.
These are the students we need to focus on.
Each student needs your love and understanding.
That student is someone’s baby.

I know the days can be SO challenging. I know behaviors are sometimes completely unpredictable. I understand how frustrating it can be to want to finish a lesson with so many other activities or discussions happening around the room. I have been there when people say, “Really!?! How do you teach while that is happening?” 
So, I started watching the expert teachers around me. They are not necessarily veteran teachers and they are not necessarily trained to work with students with special needs. They just have a gift. This year I am blessed to co-teach with two wonderful ladies in two separate classrooms. Each one has a student who was a “problem student” in the past. I saw something different in the kids. There’s just a certain spark about them compared to last year. I started realizing that there was a type of trust, love, and friendship that developed between the child and the teacher. The following two things hit home the most:
Learning about the child is so important to his/her success. We have a student who is autistic in one of my classes. Let’s call him B. B is infatuated with dinosaurs. He absolutely loves everything about dinosaurs. I noticed that his main classroom teacher has embraced this from the beginning. She has taught me to relax throughout the day and just be whatever B needs us to be. We talk dinosaurs, we act out dinosaurs, we get him books about dinosaurs, we listen to “Dino Stomp” on GoNoodle. B thrives with his teacher. He is so sweet and innocent (and can tell you 100000 facts about a Velociraptor!). 
Investing in their interests helps students to understand that you truly care about them. B begs to go down the hall to another classroom so that he can look up dinosaurs on the computer and hang out with that teacher. This teacher knew B loved dinos, so she took the time to show him a dinosaur research website. A second grade teacher from downstairs even decorated our door and room today with dinosaur footprints because she knows B. He often waves in her window when we pass by, because he knows she always loves his dinosaur sounds and hand movements. This teacher made T-Rex footprints “appear” in our classroom this morning. There was even a note on B’s desk from the T-Rex. I cannot tell you how excited he was. He literally talked about it all day!
These days, we are so hyper focused on standardized tests and achievement scores. Other times, we teachers read the child’s “label” before learning about the true child. However, kids like my brother or B are not defined by those numerical scores or the series of letters in a label. They may not be able to read a passage and comprehend the text perfectly. They may not be able to process quickly enough to solve all of the math questions during a timed test. They may not be a top performing student in your classroom. But they are someone’s WHOLE WORLD. 
Each and every single child in your classroom is someone’s whole entire world.
After facing some difficult times with my brother, I look at my students in a new light. I am doing everything in my power to understand where they are coming from and what brings them joy. As teachers, we have to find that joy in children. That joy deep inside that their mothers and fathers see. That joy gives such insight beyond the label. It gives you insight on the child. 

Digital Game Shows

Hey! I am so excited to share my brand new game show idea with you! 
I have some third graders who are quite low. They struggle with vocabulary and basic sentence structure. I decided that I needed to think of a way to engage them, but still teach hard-core vocabulary before our state assessment.

So, I began working on this game show product a few weeks ago. Since then, it has been played by my kiddos and edited by many other teachers to make sure that there are no kinks. I am happy to announce that my first digital game show is posted and ready to be enjoyed by many students! Keep reading to hear more about it, and scroll down for a link to the product.
What is a digital game show?
Basically, it is like playing Jeopardy! The game is created in PowerPoint and has clickable links throughout. You MUST have PowerPoint to play it. As you click, new pages appear. The kids were amazed that the answers were instantly given to them!
Why do I need a digital game show?
First of all, who doesn’t love a game show?!?! 🙂 
Digital game shows are engaging to all learners in my classroom. Students really get involved and excited about these games. We have been using this game show as a review of multiple meaning words. It is perfect timing, because our state assessment is in about 17 days.
How do I keep students engaged whole group?
I hardly ever teach whole group. If I do, it’s a mini lesson or review that lasts about 10-15 minutes. However, the game show I created is 20 questions and takes longer than 15 minutes if you are talking and teaching as you go. In my two third grade classes, we use white boards ALL THE TIME. So, we asked students to take them out and record their answers as we read. I also included a recording sheet in the PowerPoint in case you would like to print that out. We all have those few kids who stare off into space! 🙂 Having some form of writing keeps students accountable for their learning. Plus, they actually enjoy recording and checking their answers.
How can I integrate skills?
If I am playing a game with my students, I am trying my very best to get their best effort. I read with funny voices, jump around, and act silly when they get the correct answers. I am also embedding skills in our fun. In the picture above you will see that my kids wrote “verb” on their boards. For each question, I asked them to record their answer, and then explain if it was a noun, verb, or adjective. This was tricky for many of my struggling students. These little additional activities can give you LOTS of data on your students. (Let me be honest. This part sincerely scared me! I had some kids writing noun when it was an action and adjective when it was a place. AHHHH!)
 How can I use game shows?
I have created this game show to be very versatile. I have personally used it as a mini lesson and in whole group to review for our upcoming test. I even had a couple girls who wanted to play the game on my computer during our break on Friday. Whether it be with the entire class or one person, the game show is engaging and effective. I am excited to add this file to our classroom computers so that students can play the games during centers as well!
I can’t wait to make more of these games in the future, because my kids are certainly hooked! I welcome you to take a closer look at the preview file in my store to see if it is something that you would enjoy. Have fun!