Stacy's Five for Friday FUN!!

 
Happy Friday, friends!  I don't know about you, but I am sooooooo looking forward to the three-day weekend!  It's been a little bit of a crazy week.  I think the full moon is to blame :)
I can't complain too much because our February vacation week is right around the corner!   However, that means we are at the half-way point of the year!  My goodness time flies!  Today we are linking up with Doodle Bug's Five for Friday weekly linky party!

Poor Colleen can't catch a break!  After dragging herself through the week, she finally broke down, went to the doctor and was diagnosed with pneumonia.  UGH!  Not something a beginning teacher needs this time of year!  I know she would appreciate positive thoughts and 'get-wells' so please send some her way!

As for me, I am PSYCHED that we are almost done with the DIBELS January Benchmark!!  I would love feedback from folks about other assessments you use (i.e. AimsWeb, MAP) for benchmark testing because I am struggling with the notion that my struggling readers are missing out on valuable instruction in order for me to assess close to 200 students in my building.  Please don't get me wrong!  I believe periodic assessments are valuable however I am always apprehensive about lost instruction.  So, I'm curious...those of you who use different monitoring tools (other than DIBELS)...how long does it take you to administer a typical sized classroom?

Even though I have been in full-swing DIBELS mode, I was able to squeeze in "Game Day Friday" with my second grade group today.  I pulled out Freezing Syllables from our Winter Literacy Center bundle to practice multisyllabic words.  They absolutely loved it!  It was interesting to watch them struggle a bit working through the syllables but eventually they got it!  Writing the words on their recording sheet also helped!

My second grade groups were also working hard at a new comprehension skills this week.  We focused on asking and answering questions using informational text.  I love using A Year of Many Firsts' What Makes a Good Reader? strategy posters to begin my comprehension lessons.  The posters create almost an anchor chart that I can refer back to as I am teaching or reinforcing strategies.  I also am in LOVE with her Common Core Aligned graphic organizers.  Using the organizer for questioning, my struggling readers did an awesome job working together to create questions about the text.  

Finally, I wanted to share another favorite product that both Colleen and I have been using in our classrooms.  I have been using Text Detectives-Find the Text Evidence from Luckeyfrog's Lilypad with my third grade intervention groups and it has made a WORLD of difference helping them find text evidence to support their answers.  I have one little guy that really struggled with this skill at the beginning of the year, but after presenting this activity to him, he has become much more comfortable proving and supporting his responses.  My kiddos also LOVE the coloring!  Hee Hee!  They don't realize that they're learning too!

Colleen (from her bed) and I wish all of you a wonderful weekend!  Rejuvenate, relax, and do something fun!!

First Day Jitters, Monday Blues, but a Light at the End of the Tunnel!

Wow!  What a Monday!  After spending a restless night tossing and turning, I (Stacy) headed back to school today for my first teacher workday.  I have to admit, I didn't accomplish close to what I set out to do!  Instead, I spent time catching up with my colleagues and sharing summer stories.  I love the way that everyone is energized and refreshed after coming back from summer vacation.  It's contagious!  I'm hopeful that when students start back on Wednesday they will also feel the energy that I did today!  I'm also super excited about some new initiatives that will be starting in my building.  I will definitely share more about them in future posts.

All in all, my day was awesome until I got a text message from Colleen stating that someone just rear-ended her car then took off on her.  Ugh!  I feel so BAD!!  The poor girl has a classroom to work on, beginner teacher training starting tomorrow, and now has to start physical therapy because her back is messed up!  And what kind-of person drives off after hitting someone so badly that the neighbors come out of their house because of the loud crash?  Just terrible!

In Colleen's words, the day "turned the corner" when our Slant Box was waiting on my doorstep when I got home!  Thank you, Terry!  It couldn't have come at a better time!!

Terry from First At Bat was such a good sport about having both of us for the Slant Box Exchange.  We know it was a challenge and we really appreciate the thought you put into our fantastic package!!  Terry started off by writing each of us a beautiful letter.

Knowing about our love of literacy, Terry included a handmade magnet with the most beautiful and inspirational quote.  I definitely am going to post in my classroom!  Thank you, Terry!!

 

Love of reading and writing is not taught, it is created.

Love of reading and writing is not required, it is inspired.

Love of reading and writing is not demanded, it is exemplified.

Love of reading and writing is not exacted, it is quickened.

Love of reading and writing is not solicited, it is activated.

-Russell Stauffer

But Terry didn't stop there!  Wait to you see what was in our box!!

We love, love, LOVE everything that she included!  Gigantic erasers, anti-bacterial soap, writing notebooks, stickers, and student award coupons!  And for some of those crazy teaching days...an Angel of Peace and Morning Devotions book to keep us grounded.  Finally, The Best Place to Read book for me, a cute stuffed pig for Colleen (her favorite) and a colorful alligator to remember our new Florida friend made the box complete!  THANK YOU, TERRY!!

If you want to join in the fun, check out Lesson With Coffee's Slant Box Exchange below!  The September sign-up will be posted until September 3rd.

 

Before we say goodbye, we wanted to share one of our newest products that I can't wait for my students to play.  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz reinforces r-controlled vowel sounds and includes THREE games and WEEK of reinforcing activities.  The bundle addresses the following Grade 1-3 Common Core State Standards:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.1.3, 2.3, and 3.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.



 We hope that everyone has an awesome week!  Please keep Colleen in your thoughts as she mends an awfully sore back and starts her beginner teacher's training this week!!