Thursday, February 26, 2015

A Little Grammar Practice

We are in desperate need of some grammar practice in 2-9. Some of my kiddos still aren't using capital letters where they need to be. Not to mention, reading some of their sentences requires two minutes with no chance of coming up for air (no punctuation if you don't get what I was saying). 

So... In comes Daily Grammar Practice. Oh, yes. I pulled a sample of what we will be doing to share with you. You can click the strangely gray images (which are not gray in the actual document) below to grab your FREEBIE copy!




Well... This very tired and stressed out pregnant mama is off to toddler bath time! 

Sunday, February 22, 2015

So Ready for Spring!

Don't get me wrong... I love having a snow day here and there, but this cold is crazy! I would rather it be freezing and snow than just freezing and sunny. I am ready for Spring Summer! I am trying to get in the spirit by working on a new Spring pack for my kiddos. 

I'm really excited about it and it's almost done! :) 

Now... Onto the freebie!! Last week, I posted about my Guided Reading Teacher Toolkit that you can get in my Teachers Pay Teachers store now. I wanted to share a little freebie from the packet for you! Click the image below to grab a copy of one of Guided Reading Lesson Plan templates. 



Have a great week!! 

Sunday, February 15, 2015

President's Day Sale!

Go ahead and fill your cart up! Tomorrow I am having a 15% off sale in my TPT Store. I know a lot of teachers are off and will be shopping and getting their plans ready. (I will be having a teacher workday. At least until the snow starts!!) Click the image below to start shopping!


Saturday, February 14, 2015

Guided Reading Teacher Toolkit

Lookout! I am finally blogging about my most prized possession!! My Guided Reading Teacher Toolkit. I swear by this notebook.

Let's take a LOOK!

It obviously has an adorable cover! (Which also happens to be the cover I used for my TPT store when I listed this)

When you open the notebook, you will find my district equating charts for all of the different leveling systems (Guided Reading, Rigby, Grade Level Equivalent, Dominie, etc). This probably looks different for each school, which is why mine isn't pictured. 


Now you have a list of Reading Strategies and Comprehension Skills that we are looking for in our students. This is really helpful to me when I am planning my guided reading groups. I can look here and see what we have worked on and what kids are struggling with and where we need to go next. 

I also use these pages when I am talking with parents. It helps them see exactly what their kiddos need to be able to do when it comes to reading. 



Then, I have my schedule. This looks different for every classroom and every grade level. My groups can change each quarter so I just have to print a new copy and update my time slots depending on what my groups need-- For instance: My high group meets only once a week with me, but they meet two additional times with their "book club." Again, this all depends on your kids. I always use Friday for conferring. 


This is the page where I write who is in each group and what the level is of that group. Like I said before, this can change each quarter and sometimes more frequently than that if a child is moving around a lot with their reading levels. I didn't post one that I had already filled in so I am not posting all my kiddos names here. 

My notebook is then divided into 4 groups with dividers. At the front of each group, you will find my guided reading lesson plans. (This is one I filled out for my group for next week...)


Each group has running record copies for each student in that group and conferring notes for each student in that group. Below is a sample of my running record for my mid-high group. Then a copy of my conferring sheet (which is a blank copy).




I also keep a few copies of my anecdotal note sheet in my each section of my binder. I don't do anecdotal notes on every student all the time. I just keep a few on hand when I need to make some extra notes for myself or if I am running interventions.

Then.... I keep copies of My Reading Bookmarks. I use these in place of sticky notes sometimes when I am conferring with a student. It provides the students one one thing they are doing really well while reading and one thing that they need to remember to do when they are reading. I give it to them when I fill it in after conferring and they keep it as a bookmark to remind them what we talked about. They can keep these in their book baggies as they get new ones. (Sometimes, I give a sticky note with a picture reminder of what they need to work on)



I give these ^ to my kiddos at the beginning of the year to remind them about some tricks for figuring out words they are stuck on. I laminate them so they last all year-- unless they lose them :)

You can now get all the pages from my Guided Reading Teacher Toolkit from my packet on Teachers Pay Teachers! And guess what... It's only $2.50! You can click HERE to get it now.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

St. Patrick's Day! And a Giveaway!

Just finished my St. Patrick's Day ELA Centers this morning. Phew! 5 quick and easy centers perfect for some fun review of skills. I know my kiddos could use some refreshers (especially on long and short vowels)!

You can also get a copy for free by heading over to my Facebook page and liking/commenting on the post about my new centers I just made. Click HERE to enter! Don't miss out! Winners will be randomly selected at 8 PM!