Fall Language Arts Stations

The last of the Language Arts Stations are finally finished! Working on these during my Spring Break has given me such a feeling of normalcy and I'm so glad I was able to spend time creating this past week. 

I created 7 low prep stations that are aligned to the Virginia 2nd grade standards but most certainly can be used in Common Core classrooms as well.

Simply print and laminate station directions and task cards, cut task cards apart, run copies of the recording sheet and store together in a drawer cart or even large zipper bag.

Click here to download!

Back to School Language Arts Stations

I have been on a roll this week,  my Back to School Language Arts stations are complete! 

I created 8 low prep stations that are aligned to the Virginia 2nd grade standards but most certainly can be used in Common Core classrooms as well. These are perfect for end of the year (or summer) review for 1st grade or beginning of the school year review for 2nd graders.

Simply print and laminate station directions and task cards, cut task cards apart, run copies of the recording sheet and store together in a drawer cart or even large zipper bag. 

Click Here to download. I'm finishing up some Fall Stations now and hope to have those posted on Monday!

Summer Language Arts Stations

I finished up some summer themed Language Arts Stations. In the event that we are able to have summer school in July and August, I wanted to have some low-prep stations for students. 

I created 10 low prep stations that are aligned to the Virginia 2nd grade standards but most certainly can be used in Common Core classrooms as well. These are perfect for end of the year review for 2nd grade or beginning of the school year review for 3rd graders. 

Simply print and laminate station directions and task cards, cut task cards apart, run copies of the recording sheet and store together in a drawer cart or even large zipper bag. 

Click Here to download. I'm finishing up some Back to School Stations now and hope to have those posted this weekend!

Spring Language Arts Stations

I've spent the early part of my Spring Break creating language stations/centers for my 2nd grade classroom. Even though school has been cancelled for the remainder of the academic year, I'm going to prep these now so I'll have them ready for next spring. 

I created 6 low prep stations that are aligned to the Virginia 2nd grade standards but most certainly can be used in Common Core classrooms as well. 

Simply print and laminate station directions and task cards,  cut task cards apart, run copies of the recording sheet and store together in a drawer cart or even large zipper bag. 

Click Here to download. Wishing you happy and healthy Spring Break!

Winter Language Arts Stations

I've spent the early part of my Winter Vacation creating language stations/centers for my 2nd grade classroom. I've been itching to create and/or blog but school has been so crazy! We found out in November that we were getting a 6th teacher and they needed to be hired by Christmas and ready to start in January. That meant we had to split our classes, so I'm going from 25 students to 21. While I'm sad to see them go, I'm ecstatic about the smaller class size.

I created 6 low prep stations that are aligned to the Virginia 2nd grade standards but most certainly can be used in Common Core classrooms as well. 

 

Simply print and laminate station directions and task cards,  cut task cards apart, run copies of the recording sheet and store together in a drawer cart or even large zipper bag. 

Click Here to download. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season and a restful vacation!

4 for Friday: Preassesssments

I've made great progress in my classroom, I've managed to get all of my boxes unpacked and put away. I won't be back until teachers report on the 27th. I'll spend the next 2 weeks vacationing with my husband and binge watching Netflix.
This week I want to focus on preassessing your students. It's important to gather data on your students at the beginning of the year so you can pinpoint exactly what they need before formal instruction and assessment takes place. 
Beginning of the Year Preassessments
Newmark Learning has created some wonderful assessments for every grade level in every subject. http://newmarklearning.com/free-resources.html 
1. Reading- I've been using the Comprehension Assessment for years now. I give the Pretest in September and the Posttest in January. I use the data from this comprehension assessment to form my flexible reading skill groups. My students will complete one passage a day for 7 days, I do not give it to them in one sitting.  Groups run from September to January and then January to May. I do guided reading from Monday-Thursday and on Friday I pull strategy and skill groups. Any student that scores 0-2 in a particular skill is placed in that group to be met with on a Fridays. I have 8-12 reading skill groups so I don't meet with all of them every Friday, it rotates. 

2. Math- They have a math assessment but I have never used it. When I taught 3rd grade I used the 2nd grade end of year benchmark assessment to assess what they had retained over the summer. Now that I'm moving down I will use a 1st grade cumulative assessment that targets our state standards (we are not a common core state). I use this data to form my guided math groups. 
3. Writing- It's important to get baseline writing data on your students so they can begin setting writing goals for themselves and so you can begin your list of writing mini lessons they'll need. I'll be using one Fiction and one Nonfiction prompt from Newmark Learning. 

4. Spelling- Now Newmark Learning does have a Phonics Assessment but I have not used it. My county administers the DSA: Developmental Spelling Assessment to each child. I use that data to form my word study groups.
I'd love to hear about how you preassess your students at the beginning of the year, leave a comment here or hop on over to our Facebook page and leave a comment.

Content Vocabulary Talks

Whew... the first nine weeks is over, 27 parent conferences have been had and report cards are finished! This was by far the most overwhelming busiest first quarter of school I've ever experienced! If this is any indication of the rest of the school year, my goal is to squeeze out a blog post monthly because who know's if I'll have time to do more than that!

I wanted to share an idea I've been doing with my third graders in math. I saw the idea while in a teammate's room. She had a Science Anchor with (animal) vocabulary words on it. At the top of the chart it said "If the answer is _____, what is the question?" So if the answer is "instinct," what is the question? Students had brainstormed possible questions and she had listed the final question next to the vocabulary word on the chart. 

I immediately thought about the math vocabulary bulletin board in my classroom. I had been wanting to do something with the words after I remove them. I've decided to only keep them up for the quarter and then take them down for the next quarter's words. So, everyday I've chosen a "review" word from last quarter and posed this question...

• The answer is angle, what is the question?
• The answer is difference, what is the question?

I then give them a couple minutes to talk with their face partner or shoulder partner about possible questions. Then students share out their questions and I record them on the chart paper. I reread all the questions and students again talk with their face or shoulder partner about what they feel the "best" question is for the vocabulary word. We then decide the best one and I put a bubble around it. 

 This is a strategy that can be used in any subject. It really taps into the higher level thinking as they can't use the answer in their question. Some questions are more on the mark than others but with discussion those students are realizing how their thinking may have been too specific or not specific enough.

Can you see yourself using this strategy in your classroom?

The Math Vocabulary Cards were purchased from Amy Lemons and created any word cards that she didn't have that I needed. 

Photo Friday 1*27*17

I ran across an idea on Pinterest about writing strategy rings. This summer I decided that I'd implement them this school year. Every time my students take a writing prompt through the entire writing process, I conference with them. We do this at least twice a quarter. 
I have students bring me their completed writing and they read it aloud to me. As they're reading I'm grading it using my district's holistic writing rubric (it focuses on the 6 Traits). When they finish I decide what trait I want the students to focus on and I write a note card with that strategy (see photo above with white card including Voice and Sentence Fluency Strategies). I add that strategy to a metal ring. 
Students frequently refer to their Writing Strategy rings during writing workshop. The next time we conference they bring their ring and after they finish reading their writing we talk about their specific strategies. I might ask "Can you show me where you used voice in your writing?" If they've used the strategy, I write the date on the back of the card, if not, we discuss it and hopefully they'll use it next time. 

In addition to the writing strategies I add to the ring, I found a set of Mini Writing Charts for FREE from Teaching to Inspire! These can be added to their rings as well.
I use No More I'm Done by Jennifer Jacobson to get my 6 Trait Lessons and ideas for writing strategies.

Day 3: Teacher Appreciation Week

 

  Today I gave my friends a tin with a Milky Way Candy Bar, Starbursts and Orbit Gum with a tag that said "You're out of this world!"   

Punctuation Posters [Click Picture to Download] 


Today's resource is a set of Punctuation Posters for you to display in your classroom.   Today I'm giving away a $10 eGift Certificate to Teachers Pay Teachers. You have until midnight to enter into the Rafflecopter below.   a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teapot and the Dragon

Teapot and the Dragon by Nick Jordan

I had an opportunity to read Teapot and the Dragon by Nick Jordan this week. It all the elements that a fairy tale should have a [bored] princess, princes who want to marry her and a fire breathing dragon!   Right away the writing trait "voice" popped into my mind. Jennifer Jacobson, the author of No More I'm Done, gives teachers specific voice strategies to teach students. They are: 1-using interjections 2-fabulous word choice 3-drawing out sentences 4-using dashes.   I found these examples from the book... 1- Whack! Boofoom! Kaablumphh! 2- cheerfully, boomed, massive, swish, swash 3- Kerplonk! Whoosh...kerplonk!; Bonk! Whoosh...kerplonk! 4- flick-flack    You could use this story to compare how Princess Rosehip felt at the beginning of the book to how she felt at the end of the book. Of course there's always the story [fairy tale] elements to identify, sequencing and summarizing skills you can review as well.