Inspirational Posters

The mix of emotions in switching grade levels can be overwhelming. Excitement at the prospect of something new, and in this case getting to work with a great group of kids for the second year in a row, yet apprehension about a brand new curriculum.  In my case, it's the second year in a row for this range of emotions and without being able to get into my new room to start organizing things physically, all I can do is sit and plan things out in my head or on paper.  And boy do I have notes and new projects started everywhere! I'm happy to finally be finishing a thing or two on my to-do list!

The one thing I do know is that my new classroom is getting a fresh coat of paint, and it's a bright yellow (quite a change from the calming blue I had last year).  I wanted to keep the same clean, organized look that I had last year, but I needed to switch up the color scheme a bit from the bright lime and turquoise I had.  Perhaps a set of posters with little inspirational sayings would be nice if they were in white frames?  But wouldn't that get expensive?  Lucky for me, I was able to find 4-packs of black document frames at the Christmas Tree Shop for $4.99... who can pass up 8 frames for $10? A few coats of white paint and, voila!  That left finding just the right posters to match and fit into my frames, and they seemed to be non-existent, so I decided to create them myself.

These are 6 out of the 8 posters, ready to be hung.  If you are interested in your own copy of the posters, you can find them on my TpT store, or my Teacher's Notebook store.  Enjoy!

Reader's Response

I designed this packet to use as reader's response homework for my students, which I assign once or twice a week. Included are a rubric, an example heading, directions for 15 different types of responses, and a recording sheet so that students can keep track of which responses they've completed and the number of points they earned for each. I have included the same set of materials both in cursive and print.

Here is a list of the responses:
Book Recommendation
Character Comparison
Crossword Puzzle
Diary Entry
I Figured It Out
I Wonder
Interview
Letter to the Author
Make Me Laugh
Nose for News
Predicting the Future
That Reminds Me
Trading Places
Write Me a Letter
You Should Try That

It is for sale on both my TpT store, and my Teachers Notebook store.

Graphic Organizers

Moving to third grade this year, I needed some different graphic organizers, and it was one of those projects I kept wanting to do, but never got around to... creating a new set of graphic organizers!  Now that school is out, it was an easy summer project to get started with! I'm sure I will add more as time goes on, but it's a good start! Click to view the file in my TpT store or in my Teachers Notebook store.

So here it is, a compilation of 22 graphic organizers, covering story writing, research, comparisons, timelines, the 5 W's and much more. Nothing fancy, but sometimes that is just what our students need to keep them from being distracted! Here are the pages included:
- 2 Story Webs
- Clock (sequencing time events)
- Story Star (5 W's)
- Character Traits (planning sheet)
- Character Planning
- Planning Sheet (audience)
- Conflict Planner
- Problem & Solution Chart
- Tic Tac Toe
- 2 Cluster Webs
- Fact & Opinion
- Timeline
- The 5 W's
- KWL
- Observation Chart
- Time and Order Chart
- Persuasion Map
- Step by Step
- Venn Diagram
- E-chart

Anchor Charts - Take 2

Well, it's been a busy few months, and I've added a few anchor charts to the list as the months have gone on, and finally got around to putting an updated version on TpT and on Teachers Notebook.  The new charts include:

Reading:
Homophones

Writing:
Their, There and They're
y to i (adding endings)
Crazy for Commas
When Do I Need a New Paragraph?
Fiction Writing

Math:
Math Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Anchor Charts

Am I the only one who dislikes making those big anchor charts? Inevitably, I run out of space somewhere, or smudge marker when the poster is all but finished. Well, no more for me. I've started moving all of my anchor charts into small, digital format. With the Apple TV (which I LOVE by the way), I can put the digital copy up on the TV for my mini-lesson and then print a copy to put in our class anchor chart binder. Some of the charts I can print for individual students to keep in their own writing binders, too. Yes, I know. They aren't all hanging on the walls, but maybe I'll still put up a few of the more commonly used charts. Anyway, I'm sharing what I have done so far on TpT. Below is the description and a link to the download page. Enjoy!

Anchor Charts
This is a collection of printable anchor charts that can mainly be used in Second through Fourth Grade. I got tired of making the large anchor charts for the walls and finding places to store them, so I began moving my anchor charts into digital format. I can introduce them by showing them with a projector/apple TV connection and then just add them to our class anchor chart binder.

I am working on moving all of my old anchor charts into printable format, so this file will continue to be updated as I add more. It currently includes:

Reading:
I PICK (available as a separate download)
Figurative Language

Writing:
Writing Process (available as a separate download)
Nouns and Proper Nouns
Other Ways to Say Said
Story Starters
Proofreading Marks

Math:
Subtraction Poem
Mean, Median, Mode and Range
Math Key Words
Equal Fractions Hopscotch

Apples, iPads and TV's, Oh My!

Our school purchased a handful of iPad's to see how we can start incorporating them into the classrooms.  There are only 3 so far,  and as of right now we are limited to using free apps, once they have been approved for download, so it's harder to come up with creative ideas for the students. 

Even better than iPads for the school, is the news that I have gotten approval to try a pilot program in my room using the Apple TV and a permanently mounted flat screen television.  No more checking to see if the projector is available during the lesson I want to use it for... no more dragging out the projector and hooking it up to the laptop... no more wires strewn across the room... no more panic attacks as a child skips over the power cords.  Can it really be THIS easy?  I certainly hope so.  I have all of the gadgets, now I just need to wait for the TV to be mounted so that I can start using it! 

Anyone else using an Apple TV or iPads in their classroom?  I'd love to hear any suggestions on using them with the class!

Digging in the Dictionary

Many of my students have been playing Boggle as part of their Word Work and with the incentive of a homework pass for anyone who can beat my Boggle score on a board, they have been working hard to find as many words as possible.  I've also been getting a lot of "Is this word spelled right?" at the end of every Daily 5 round.  Enter, the dictionary!  Some of the kids have been using it fairly well, although when they look up toward and try to start with 'tw', the frustration sets in quickly.  So, we are taking the week as a class to work on some dictionary skills.  I figure this worksheet will be a great filler activity for those students who are waiting for a teacher conference on their Personal Narratives!  I put it up on my TpT site in case it may be helpful to anyone else!  It is two pages and covers 4 a few different skills students use when looking up words.