First week back! Five For Friday link up :)

Well friends, the first week back after winter break is OVER! 

Honestly, I was a little worried going back to work this week... I thought it would all drag on and be hard to jump back into routine, but if I'm being honest this week flew by. AND... I think my kids grew up or something over vacation because they all seem a little bit more like 2nd graders. :)

Today, we're linking up a little late with Doodle Bugs for their oh so popular Five For Friday posts. We just love these!

Awhile back, I wrote about making some changes to my literacy block because my students just aren't a group that are able to be put in groups based on ability and have a timer set to move around in rotations. I was inspired by Teaching With Love and Laughter and completely re-worked my literacy time and it has worked really well so far for my class! With any new routines/procedures, it took my class and I a bit of transitional time to get used to the way it would all work but now that we've gotten used to it, the kids are working through meaningful literacy activities and are given the opportunity to make choices about their learning.

I set my materials up as you see in the picture above. In the word work drawers I keep activities that are working with the skill aligned with our Fundations unit for that week. In the spelling drawers I keep task cards (Thanks, Amy Lemons), poems containing our spelling words and extra menu choices. The work on writing bin contains the students' writing folders and an assignment for the week. What I love most about this system is that the students have the time to work through their activities and don't have to leave a center if they haven't finished by the time a 15:00 timer goes off. It also gives me the ability to work with more of my guided reading groups each day because I am spending less time managing different groups of students who are at the same ability level but behaviorally shouldn't be working together. Win, win situation if you ask me! :)

Apparently, most of the 1st grade teachers in my school have class pets. Imagine my students' disappointment when they walked into the classroom and saw no pet! How devastating! (ha) I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when we voted on marble jar prizes and ended up at "class pet"... I told them it would take a couple of times filling the jar and then tried to use just about every other positive reinforcement strategy I had up my sleeve rather than fill that marble jar... because honestly being a first year teacher is no easy job and I just wasn't sure I was up for the responsibility of a class pet yet.

Fast forward to December vacation when I received many generous holiday gifts from students and parents in my classroom. One of my little munchkins even purchased me a FISH TANK! .... Okay, okay kiddies... I'll take the hint. I gave in and purchased us a cute little goldfish and so, this week after quite the vote on what to name the fish, among options such as Lady Gaga, Old Man Jenkles, Geometry, and Goldy, we landed on Mr. Bubbles.

Now the man at the fish store told me the #1 reason fish die in classrooms is because they are overfed. I told my students the #1 reason Mr. Bubbles would get very sick is because it's too loud. Well that was a magical on-the-spot statement because now when I ring the bell, someone will say "guys it's too loud for Mr. Bubbles" and suddenly there is silence. Whatever works right?

"Dear Mom and Dad, This week in school we got a class pet goldfish named Bubbles. He blows bubbles when he's happy. I love him because of his tail and he also kisses me."

My favorite thing was watching all the students write about Mr. Bubbles in their Friday letters. This one just brought the worlds' biggest smile to my face... and then I actually laughed out loud when I took Mr. Bubbles' portraits before leaving work on Friday and he gave me some kisses, too!! :)

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/The-Rungs-Of-Reading

Last year I had the amazing opportunity to do missions work in the Dominican Republic not only once but twice! One of my very favorite things about the missions trips is the ability to make connections and relationships with people from different countries and places in the world. I met Daniela during the first of my trips, was so excited to be reunited during the second and we maintained a friendship via facebook/messenger since I have left the Dominican. Recently, Daniela came to America and during her time here spent a weekend with my family.

This was her first time seeing SNOW!!! How stinkin cool is that!? I mean I think I would prefer the beach, but seeing someone experience snow for the first time was amazing! I've also had this song from Frozen stuck in my head since I saw the movie the first time 3 weeks ago. (You should click and listen while reading the rest of this post). I was continually singing it around the house, in the car etc and really wanted to build a snowman. No Americans would build snowmen and play in the snow with me.....

.... but Daniela would! I would just like to point out that Daniela and I built this snowman, went sledding, made snow angels and had a snowball fight dressed in the outfits we wore to church (pictured above). My sister and my mentor from church joined in the fun after some begging, too.

It was magical.

Speaking of magical... Stacy and I are loving being a part of twenty royal bloggers with a specific interest in literacy (reading specialists, reading coaches, classroom teachers, etc.) that have come together for a collaborative effort to share information on best practices in literacy, keep you abreast of current trends, and provide you with excellent teaching resources at Adventures in Literacy Land!

Check it out at http://adventuresinliteracyland.blogspot.com/

Last but not least, we can't wait to participate in the Loving Literacy Blog Hop hosted by Carla at The Comprehension Connection. The hop will take place the weekend of January 31-February 2nd and you'll be able to connect with tons of literacy loving bloggers and read all about why we love literacy, about our favorite books, and some teaching instructions while gathering with TONS of freebies! We're so excited to be a part of such a fun blogging community! 

How was your first week back at school?

Gratitude and special announcement

When I was in Kenya, it was family tradition to sit down each night for family meeting. We would gather up, snuggle up and spend time together each night discussing and celebrating the day. We would also share gratitude.

Gratitude was a time where the kids, volunteers, and matrons could go around and say what they were thankful for.... kinda like going around the Thanksgiving table here in the states, but we would do this everyday.

So, while Thanksgiving is over, we wanted to remain in an attitude of gratefulness and share our gratitude today. We're linking up with Reading and Writing Redhead for her Time To Be Thankful Linky party! Here are the top 10 things I'm thankful for today. 

 

“Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant—a seed—this plants the giant miracle.” Ann Voskamp

We also are excited to share with you that we are having a Black Friday SUPER SALE on everything in our TpT store today! 20% off everything! Come grab some Melonheadz filled bundles that contain student-led games are perfect for an ELA student center, small group RTI intervention, or whole-class activities. There are also reinforcing activities that can be used to assess your student’s ability!.

Check out some of our favorites below: 

We hope your Thanksgiving was filled with love and gratitude. 

We're SO thankful for YOU, friends.

Oh Five For Friday how we've missed you!

Hi friends! It's been way too long since I've written on this little 'ol blog of ours.

Here's why... Stacy and I lead CRAZY lives. Being a first year teacher is insane. It's absolutely the most joyful job I've ever had the opportunity to do but I honestly feel like I could work all day every day and STILL not be done with everything. Stacy just started another course towards her CAGS degree (because she's amazing) and so she's super busy with that, too.

We're sorry friends! We've missed you! But be sad no longer, because we're back with a late Five For Friday. We love linking up with Doodle Bugs!

1. Let me let you in on a little secret of mine... I'm obsessed with the sky. For those who know me, it's no secret. I'm constantly telling my friends to look up and I'm always in awe of the way that it is continuously changing. These pictures are from a night that I stopped my car on my commute home from work to watch my God finish painting. Man it was stunning. I tend to make stopping my car to watch the sunset a habit... and it's an incentive I use for myself to get out of the building at a reasonable time!! 

2. For awhile now, I've been venting (almost daily) to Stacy about how my literacy block is just NOT working for my students. I'm learning that with this particular group of friends, putting them in groups and setting a timer for them to move in rotations sounded ideal but is not realistic. There are way too many students that are reading at the same level but behaviorally can not be in groups with one another... it becomes quite the management craze and I'm just not able to fully work with my reading groups the way I've desired to. SO... I was searching the internet, processing with Stacy and inspired by Teaching With Love and Laughter and I woke up at 5am on a SATURDAY to put together a work/choice chart for my class. I'm currently creating must do and may do options and I plan to begin implementing this choice Daily 5 (ish) literacy time on Monday. I feel really good about it but I'll keep y'all updated. Any advice on a choice based literacy block vs. a structured group time or reading groups in general? I'd love to hear what you all do!

3. I purchased Amy Lemons' Let's Be Thankful! {Literacy and Thanksgiving Book Activities} for my second graders next week but tried some of it out while I was babysitting this weekend. I read “The Best Thanksgiving Ever” by Teddy Slater and Ethan Long to the kiddies and then we created turkeys with our hand prints and wrote on each turkey what we were thankful for. Some of my favorites from these guys... "chicken nuggets" and "the color blue". Nothing beats the cuteness of these munchkins. I created the model for my students too! Perfection. Ps. Amy Lemons is amazing and so is this bundle of activities.  

 4. In both 2nd Grade and The Reading Room, we've had the opportunity to use one of our favorite products, The Old Wild West. This bundle makes learning the concept of closed syllable exceptions /glued SO much fun! This 20 page bundle contains a Board Game, Card Game, The SCOOT Stampede, 48 word cards, 16 task cards and WEEK of reinforcing student printables! These games and activies are perfect for an ELA student center, partner work, small group RTI intervention, or whole class activity. I was actually playing the SCOOT game with my class when the principal and superintendent walked in [cue minor heart attack]. Everyone loved it! You may be able to tell that we are slightly completely obsessed with Melonheadz graphics and her Wild West bundle was PERFECTION for this awesome pack.  

I promise you it is child, principal, superintendent AND teacher approved!! 

Click the image above to grab your copy too!

5. Last but certainly not least, Stacy and some of the Kindergarten teachers at her school had the opportunity to use another of our favorite products, our November Literacy Centers. We, once again were just head over heels with the cuteness of Melonheadz and inspired to created that your pre-k/ kindergarten students will love! Students will have a blast practicing early literacy skills while playing the games and activities! This 30 page bundle includes THREE early literacy games, printables, and guided reading book. These activities are perfect for an ELA student center, small group RTI intervention, or whole-class activity.

Click the picture above to grab your own set at 50% OFF THROUGH THANKSGIVING!!

So there you have it! A random selection of 5 things from two overly busy teachers! Thanks for sticking with us through all that! We really do love reading all about your lives and teaching though so leave some comments in the comment section for us to stop by your blog too! 

Ps: When's Thanksgiving Break start for y'all? We get out Wednesday at 11:40 and I actually can't wait!  

Five For Friday Fun, FREEBIE contest, & Mystery Marathon Blog Hop!

FRIDAY FRIDAY FRIDAY YAAAA!!!

Man I just love Friday!

Today, Stacy and I are joining forces for our Five for Friday post! We're so excited to be linking up with Doodle Bugs again! We just love to 'meet' new blogging friends through this awesome linky! 

Numbers 1 and 2 are from me (Colleen) and 3 and 4 are from Stacy. AND thennnnn, number 5 is a big announcement from us both! 

 So get excited and get reading :) 

I don't know about you, but for me, the beginning of this week seemed to drag on forever. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday seemed to be just tough days for my class as a whole. By Thursday, I was exhausted and feeling overwhelmed. When I went to grab my mail on Thursday morning there was a card in my mailbox. When I opened it, it was from my principal! Hand written and thanking me for being a community builder... it turned my attitude right around and really made me smile! There's definitely something powerful and amazing about simple encouragement! 

And then yesterday and today were such awesome days. Today we started the day out with an enrichment program and then my class got compliments ALL DAY! We got awesome compliments from our specials teachers AND in the hallway, a second grade teacher came out from her room and said that she saw bodies moving outside but didn't hear any voices at all and she couldn't even believe how awesome my class was in the hall. YESSSS!!!! Proudest moment of the day! I gave out a class bucket gram to my 24 friends and we packed up and walked down to the office where, every day at 2:30, children who've received bucket grams can come down and sign 'The Book of Names'. Then, one of my students wrote "Miss McBride's class" on a cut out leaf and we all walked out to a wall in the entryway of the school painted with a giant mural of a tree where we placed our leaf. I SO wish I had pictures of this... it was special. The kids really loved it. And I was so proud of them! 

I've been waiting for a good time to post about this... but a couple of weeks ago, when school started, my 24 munchkins and I learned about this special group of people called the 2nd grade expert club! If it's not obvious by now, or you don't know yet, I'll tell you again... I'm basically obsessed with everything that Lyndsey from A Year of Many Firsts makes. This phenomenal idea was from her We're Back For Seconds pack and I would highly recommend it!

First, I introduced the members of the expert club: Responsible Ryan, Ready To Learn Robert, Respectful Rachel and Really Safe Rita. We spent time talking about what it meant to be like them and how to be responsible, ready to learn, respectful and really safe. I then explained to the kids that the 2nd grade expert club contacted ME and told me they needed more members and they wanted my 24 kiddies to apply because they heard that my class was the best second grade class in the world! I told my kids that if they could model for me that week that they knew what it looked like to be members, we could apply.

So... we applied. And I took the applications to the post office, and I had them mailed back to the school sent them to the 2nd grade expert club! When we got them back, the excitement in the room was amazing! I told my kids that we needed to see if we were approved all together! So I had them cover their eyes with their hands so they couldn't touch and I handed out each of the applications face down on their desks. When everyone got one, we did a little drum roll and then opened our eyes, flipped over our papers and saw that we were approved! There were cheers, high fives, fist pumps and smiles and it filled my heart big time! Just observe the pictures above... amazing!

We still talk about the expert club all the time and I often remind my friends to model for me 2nd grade expert behavior! They also have tons of questions about the club. Their biggest question this week... "Miss McBride, at the end of the year can we take a field trip to meet them if we're really good and behave like they told us to allllll year?".... Welp kids, we'll just have to see about that one won't we.. :)

 And now for some news from Stacy in the Reading Room!

I was really excited to start my second grade groups this week.  The Reading Tutor and I will be targeting ten students that were identified with weaknesses on the fall DIBELS and Fountas & Pinnell assessments.  I always like to start off the year by having the students complete a Reading Inventory to get a sense of their feelings towards reading, interests, and dislikes.  This year I used a FREE Reading Interest Snapshot from A Rocky Top Teacher.  It was quick and easy for my students to complete. 

I was relieved when the majority of their responses looked like these.......

And concerned when I had responses like these.....

Yikes!  I'm definitely going to spend more time with the last little guy building his confidence while trying to bring back that love of reading!  I was actually VERY surprised that this particular child wrote this response.  He is one of my quiet students that always seems to go with the flow.  It confirms the importance of surveying students at the beginning of the year because you may not have a true sense of how their feeling.  My assumptions were WAY off on this one!

I had a second "ah-hah" moment when I completed my "Good Fit" book lesson using A Year of Many Firsts' FREE Daily 5 Classroom Resources.  First, I used the shoe images to emphasize the connection between choosing the correct shoes and the correct book when reading.  Boy!  They were rolling on the floor when I asked them to visualize me shoveling a foot of snow in my high heels!  Second, we brainstormed what we thought makes a book a good fit while I modeled different scenarios (easy read, difficult read).  I concluded the lesson by giving each student a basket of books to see if they could independently choose a "Good Fit" book.  I purposely chose titles that were significantly above and significantly below their actual reading level while mixing in a few appropriate titles.  Can you guess what the majority of my struggling readers chose as their "Good Fit" book?  THE FIRST 2 PEOPLE TO COMMENT BELOW WITH THE CORRECT ANSWER WIN A PRODUCT OF CHOICE IN OUR TPT STORE!  DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL!

And finally!! Our big finale! 

Grab your calendars, friends!  From Friday, October 25 through Sunday, October 27th, we will be co-hosting a Mystery Marathon Blog Hop with Carla from Comprehension Connection!  Approximately 25 Reading Specialists and Literacy Coaches will be featuring a spectacular adventure where participants will collect clues to crack a mysterious reading code which unlocks some FABULOUS FREEBIES AND PRIZES!!  Jump on over to Carla's blog and read this post to take a sneak peek at the bloggers who will be participating!  I bet you will recognize a few faces!   

TGIF, friends!  We hope you have an awesome weekend!!