Stacy's Five for Friday and FREEBIE Fun!

I don't know about you, but I am OVER the polar vortex!  It has been such a crazy winter in the Northeast!  The poor kids are crawling out of their skin because they haven't been outside for recess in weeks due to subzero temperatures.  If I run 2 minutes late in the morning, I can't park in the lot because of the gigantic snow/ice mounds that block all of the parking spaces.  It's crazy!  I am in desperate need of a little sunshine and Vitamin D.  It's pretty sad that we were super excited at lunch today because it's going to reach 40 degrees this weekend.  It's been a LOOONNNGGGG winter!

BUT, I knew I could cheer myself up a little bit by linking up with Doodlebug's weekly linky party!  It's always nice to quickly capture and reflect on what I was up to during the week.  

Right now, the teachers in my building are in the midst of report card season which means assessment, assessment, ASSESSMENT!  Last year we moved to a standards-based report card which was a huge improvement from our outdated report card from 1982.  The positive of this reporting form is that it completely aligns to the CCSS however we struggle as a school to complete the needed assessments without taking away from instruction.  We are very fortunate at the primary level that the district provides one-day substitutes every quarter to help teachers administer these tests however, it is a struggle to complete every child in a day.  I would love to hear how other districts and schools tackle the assessment dilemma when using standards-based report cards.  Have you found a system that works?

FREEBIE ALERT!  

Colleen and I have been incredibly fortunate to be part of the fabulous collaborative blog Adventures in Literacy Land.  If you haven't stumbled across this blog or facebook page, we encourage you to stop by!  We have teamed-up with some dynamic teacher-authors who are sharing best practices in the field of literacy every week.  In January, Colleen and I were able to share one of our favorite strategies to use with informational text called "Reading and Analyzing Nonfiction Text" or RAN for short.  RAN has proven to be an effective strategy to use with informational text as it encompasses both before, during, and after reading activities.  In addition, it requires students to use a variety of comprehension strategies including activating schema, confirming thinking, and asking questions.  This strategy can be done as a whole-class lesson, small group intervention, or independently using a graphic organizer.  To learn more about the RAN strategy, check out our blog post in Adventures in Literacy Land!  Grab a little freebie too!

FREEBIE ALERT! 

If you are looking for additional ways to support informational text comprehension, you may also want to check out our post on the 3-2-1 strategy.  This "after reading" strategy can be used in both primary and intermediate grades in whole-class, small group, or one-on-one settings.  This strategy can be especially successful with struggling readers as it helps them comprehend, summarize, and retain information they've read.  To learn more about the 3-2-1 strategy and grab the supporting FREEBIE, check out last month's blog post!

 FREEBIE ALERT! 

This month Colleen and I had a chance to describe why answering and generating improves memory, integration and identification of main ideas, and overall comprehension.  Generating questions, however, does not always come naturally to students.  Some students can generate simple who, what, where, when types of questions, but have difficulty generating the more complex "how and why" questions that require more critical thinking.  A Question Creation Chart or Q-chart is a perfect tool to help students recognize and self-generate a continuum of questions ranging from simple "remember" questions through "understanding" and "evaluative" questions.  This chart is especially useful as it can be used with both literature and informational text.  To read more about how to use a Question Creation chart with your students and to download our FREEBIE, take a look at our blog post on Adventures in Literacy Land! 

I started back at my coursework this month in pursuit of my CAGS in Literacy degree.  TWO MORE CLASSES TO GO!!! I will be so excited at the end of June when I am finally done!  Although the courses have been great and I feel like my knowledge has grown, juggling work, home, and my coursework has been a balancing act!  This course will focus on new assessment research, the impact of the Common Core Standards on assessment, and how RTI instruction and assessment should work together.  I am looking forward to sharing new ideas and best practices based on what I've learned.
 

Have a wonderful weekend, friends! 

Colleen's November Currently & New Product Announcement!

Well hi, friends!

Here we are... we've made it to another Friday!

And this one just happens to be the first day in November which means we're linking up with Farley from Oh Boy Fourth Grade for her ever popular currently post! 

This week seemed to go so fast and yet drag on forever. Halloween certainly riled my little second graders' brains... and mouths. We were chaaaattttyyy this week! Every time I stopped to listen to the conversations they went something like this... "So what are you being for Halloween?!" "NO WAYY! That's so cool" "I can't wait for Thursday!" "It might snow on Thursday" "It might rain on Thursday" or my favorite question of the week... "Miss McBride, why do we have school on Thursday? It's a holiday!!"

WOOF kiddies... please just take one small chill pill on the Halloween business. 

However, HAPPY NOVEMBER everyone, Halloween is over! HALLELUJAH!

I'm currently listening to this AWESOME playlist from a Worship event I went to last night at a friend's church. I'm just loving that this is online because I wanted to know what some of the songs were! It was such a great night. I was a little weary going out on a Wednesday (it's a big deal when you know you have 24 little ones awaiting you with Halloween expectation on Thursday morning) but I'm so thankful for the opportunity to worship my God with so many others mid week! It was a good perspective changer too. He's in control. You can listen here!

This Boston girl is LOVING the Red Sox win Wednesday night... even if it was nearly impossible to keep my eyes open to watch it! I distinctly remember and hold dear to memories I have of my dad and I going into Boston for the 2004 World Series parade. Today my kids came into school BEYOND excited on Thursday (that is except for my one little oppositional yankees lover) and the principal played Sweet Caroline over the loud speaker after school. The kids were up dancing and shouting and it was joyous. It was also moments before the release for Halloween night so it was l-o-u-d. Oh well, ya win some ya lose some! It was fun.

I'm currently thinking about this weekend because it means the 30 hour famine is FINALLY here! I've been helping to plan this event since the summer and I'm so excited that the time is here! The famine is an event sponsored by an organization called World Vision. From today at noon until Saturday at 6:00 PM, we'll give up food in order to focus on the the impacts of hunger being experienced by millions around the world. While we will surely not solve the problem, this event will help raise awareness among the participants and the sponsors as well as raise critical funds for people in desperate need. It's amazing to me that just $30 can feed a child for a whole month! Or $360 could feed a child for a whole year...

I love the famine and I love the teenagers at my church who are eager to participate in this event as well. Stay tuned for updates on the famine. I'm sure they'll be some good stories from hungry teenagers! :) If you feel led, and want to start November - the month of Thankfulness - by remembering how much we take for granted, our donation page is found here. We've already raised over $7,000 and I am just blown away by all that is going to do for the hungry children around the earth.

I'm currently wanting my Njabini slippers. My roommates from college absolutely hate them because I used to wear them at ALL times that we were at home but I just absolutely adore them. First of all, they're so comfortable and warm. My toes right now are FREEZING! Secondly, they remind me of Kenya and sometimes even smell a little bit like it there. And that just fills my heart. 

 I'm currently feeling as though I need report cards and parent-teacher conferences to be over. [I'm not even close... booo!]. Don't get me wrong, I love meeting with parents and firmly believe in working as a collaborative team to create a strong home-school connection but they are just plain exhausting. Ours span over the course of the whole month of November [each Wednesday afternoon we have them]. They wipe me out, that's for sure. 

I'm curious to know, how does your school do conferences? 

Who doesn't love chocolate fondue?  Look at this adorable idea from Clean and Scentsible!  This will definitely be on my Thanksgiving table this November!  What will be on yours?

Finally, we are super excited to release our newest product for our Pre K/Kindergarten friends, November Literacy Centers!  Your students will have a blast practicing early literacy skills while playing the games and activities included in this bundle! 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. 

 

Have an awesome weekend, friends and a great start to your month!