Classroom Printables for the New Year Linky

Happy 2014 everyone! I hope that this new year brings all of you good health, good times and everything that you wish for!

The new year is the perfect time to reflect and make changes both personally and professionally! I am so excited to start some new activities and routines with my second graders! 

It's great when students can be up and moving about, working independently and engaged in fun and motivating activities. It is a lot to manage correctly, so that is my goal! My focus is to include more of these types of learning activities for the rest of the year.

I made this new Scoot activity to go along with our upcoming penguin theme! The kids will be scooting around from desk to desk working without seeing it as work!

Many teachers have trouble accessing a colored printer, so this one is made in black and white and color! 

 I think they are going to love it! I can just imagine them parading around the room like little penguins!

There are also many printables in this Tacky the Penguin pack you might like to go along with a winter penguin unit! Kids just love wacky Tacky!

See this post for more on Tacky and a freebie too! 

Click on the images for each if you'd like to read more in the store! 

You can pick them up on sale right now! 

Graphics from the Pond, Glitter Meets Glue Designs, Kimberly Geswein Fonts

As much as I am not a big fan of dittos, often there just needs to be that piece of paper to hold the students accountable for their learning, to assess strengths and weaknesses, and monitor that the learning goal has been achieved for documentation purposes.

I think it is crucial to spend time teaching my students how to work accurately and efficiently on pencil and paper tasks, because the majority of their learning activities in the upper grades still take that form.

Sending home that piece of paper also helps me to communicate regularly with parents about the learning activities that the students are participating in during the school day! I cannot always trust that parents are asking or that 7 year old students are explaining it well! :)

As so....I LOVE printables that are meaningful pieces of paper not busy work dittos!

Link Up!

I found a great linky for some fantastic COLLECTABLE PRINTABLES, I call them, at Positively Learning!

 Head on over and check it out when you have a chance! 

I linked up a pack that I use for student accountabilty for independent reading and small group instruction. This pack, geared toward younger learners, and my best-selling Reading Comprehension Companion, are my go-to printables for Daily 5 CAFE Menu and Guided Reading.

 All of these printable pages come in a printer friendly black and white version too! You can view more of the description here.

I can't wait to get down to business in the classroom, work on my goal and watch my kiddos blossom in the new year! 

Daily 5~Keeping It Simple! Daily 5 Freebies!

 Wow!It's Wednesday already and time to do a little reflecting as we get ready to make improvements and start planning for our new year with new kiddos!

Why didn't I think of that sooner? We've all said it! 

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones! Over the years I have had a  literacy center-based classroom, a hands-on science classroom, a  Debbie Diller workstation classroom and a Daily 5 classroom. In order to successfully manage kids up and moving about and all trying to get to their favorite of the choices without squabbling, it takes some creative planning. 

What Didn't Work? 

Too much to do! When the responsibility falls on the teacher to assign, track and manage rotations of any kind, it takes away from time better spent on something else like finding or making engaging materials for my word work and writing rotations. Sometimes the organization required was mind-boggling especially with nine daily workstation rotations.  I have happily passed that job off to my students!

What Works?

Meet Turn-Taking Teddy!

source

This is how Teddy helps. Before beginning Daily 5 rotations, my students have to have all the things they need on top of their desk, so there is no rattling of pencil boxes, or digging in desks to get supplies out when the groups are called back. 

I call out "READY TEDDY?" and hand him off to one student all organized, still and quiet. (I try to choose a different student every day). With Teddy in hand, that student looks for someone near them who is also 'ready' and passes him off. We talk about being fair, so they don't always pass him on to a friend.

After handing off Teddy, the student gets to go to the rotation of their choice. My students know that on most days, we will get through all of them. If we don't, we work on dealing with disappointments in an appropriate way. 

Once Teddy is up and moving, I am free to go to the reading table and get ready for the students that I will be working with.

The Rule of FIVE during Daily 5

Because Teddy takes his time (usually about 3 minutes) making his way through the room, this eliminates the rush of children trying to be first to get to a rotation. The class knows the rule of five. When there are five at a rotation, the station is full so they need to make another choice. It works. They do it without complaint. This is how the real world works too. If I can't get close to see a display, I wait or go somewhere else for a while. If a line at the store is too long, we do the same, right?

Try it and you may never go back to any other way! Thanks Teddy for helping us learn to take turns!

Will you Join us?

This kind of reflection and sharing of ideas can help another teacher to find the solution they have been searching for. It can also help to make our demanding work a little easier too!I'd love to know what works and what didn't for you. Link up with me on Wednesdays! Just save the image and use it in your post! Leave a comment below if you like letting us know where to find you and we will visit you too! :)

 In case you missed them in my last post, here is a link to some freebie Daily 5 items:

Cafe Poster Set

Daily Five Poster Set

Choice Chart

Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

Daily 5 Posters and CAFE Set~ Freebie Friday

At my school, we watch a live broadcast for the morning announcements. My favorite part is what we call the "Friday Song". The whole school joins in singing and waving their hands to celebrate the end of a great week!

You may want to adopt this in your classroom. There is no particular tune so you can make up your own. This is how it goes:

Its...Friday, it's Friday, it's Friday, Friday, Friday!

It's Friday, it's Friday!

It's Friday all day long! Woo!

It's...Friday, it's Friday, it's Friday, Friday, Friday!

It's Friday, it's Friday!

The week is almost done! Woo!

I have no idea who made this up, but it's just our silly way to get pumped up for the weekend!

Freebie Fridays at TBA is really something to celebrate! I have found so many fantastic downloads by searching through previous Friday posts. Someday, when you have a little free time, you might want to do the same. There are seriously hundreds or even thousands of freebies to browse! It's a great way to find new blogs you may want to follow too!

I'm linking up again to share some Daily 5 poster sets. I have gotten many requests to make a set that matches the black and bright CAFE poster set. Both are freebies at my TPT store and Teachers Notebook shop.

This one has been downloaded over 4000 times!

 It's CRAZY to imagine that many classrooms may have this on their bulletin board! :)

If you're implementing Daily 5 in your room and love bright colors, this is the poster set for you! :)

Enjoy it friends!

I love receiving feedback on freebies! It just makes you feel good to know that you have helped someone out and that they appreciate it. 

Here is what one sweet teacher (Kelly) said:

I LOVE this poster set. I was looking for a CAFE set that is thorough, kid friendly, and bright and cheery, and you completely nailed it! Thanks for making it a freebie!!

Remember to get your posts ready for the linky on Wednesday! I would LOVE to have you join me for What Worked? What Didn't?
You can save this image for your post! :)

My post will be related to managing 
Daily 5 rotations!

See what other great freebie finds are out there! Click on the picture to visit TBA!

Have a super weekend! Woo!

Christmas in July Fun~ Day 1!

 I really could use a good hair day if you know what I mean! I joke around with my students when we talk about water vapor and tell them you can measure the water vapor in the air by watching to see if teacher wears her hair straight or curly that day! It has been so hot and humid, but you won't hear me complain! It's a great reason to hang out by the pool!  

It's also a great time of year to have some fun with a Christmas in July sale! 

I'm linking up with  a few of my fun friends and fabulously talented teachers to offer some really great deals! If you have some things on your wish list for the upcoming school year, now is a great time to beat the heat, stay inside and shop!

 Let's get the party started!

Two of my best-selling items are 50% off today! 

This comprehension packet was originally created to be a companion to the Daily 5 CAFE menu. It was updated to be aligned with the Common Core Standards and many more pages were added. These activities are great to use with guided reading groups as well as during whole group instruction. They can be used with any book! Another nice thing is that there are activities for a variety of reading abilities. I use some of them during RTI and some for my students who need a challenge and are reading above grade level.

To see more of what is inside, click on the picture to see it at my store!

While I am working with reading groups, the rest of my students are working independently on leveled books and running their own book clubs. I've created a card set with comprehension questions to use during book clubs. Each group captain picks up a card set and places them faced down in the center of the group.  After reading the story, the students take turns drawing a card and reading and answering the questions. This really helps to keep everyone on task! 

To see more and to get your set at a discount, click on the picture!

Thanks for stopping by today for Day 1 of Christmas in July Fun! Hope to see you back tomorrow for more deals!

Be sure to stop by and check out the awesome deals from the rest of my friends at their blogs! I know that they have best-sellers and lots of new items on sale as well!  I'm right behind you!