Loved That Lesson

Loved That Lesson!

Today I'm linking up with Meg from The Teacher Studio to share one of my all time favorite lessons. It's a great "Getting To Know You" lesson that works well at Back-To-School time.

To teach this lesson you only need two things, a copy of Kevin Henkes book, Chester's Way and some green construction paper.

If you haven't read this story yet, Chester's Way is about a little mouse named Chester and his very close friend Wilbur.  Both Chester and Wilbur enjoy the same types of games and have the same "play it safe" personalities.  They do everything together and refer to themselves as "two peas in a pod."  However, when a third little mouse, Lilly moves into the neighborhood they are presented with a very different type of character. Lilly is creative and spontaneous.  Chester and Wilson are uncomfortable with her unconventional ways but soon learn to love them and they become "three peas in a pod?"

The students love this story and it sparks a great discussion on friendship.  Students think of a friend that they would consider the "other pea to their pod" and we brainstorm a list of things we do together with our friend.  

The students then create a "pea in a pod" craft to showcase two things they do with their best friend.

(we do gymnastics together, we play four square)  

These make a great bulletin board and the kids have a great time sharing and getting to know one another.  

I absolutely love teaching this lesson!! 

What is your favorite lesson?

  

Weekend Reflections

Today I am linking up with Cyndie from Chalk One Up for The Teacher for her Weekend Reflections linky. The weekend isn't quite over yet but since I'm still on summer break, everyday is like a weekend. Enjoy it while it lasts!  

We aren't back at school yet so my weekend reflections are more personal than school related.  We return on September 2nd so I still have a good part of August left to soak up the summer sun.  That is exactly what I have been doing today.  

I actually got a good "quiet" 20 minutes to read this afternoon while the kids played in the pool.  It would have been longer if my iPad didn't run out of battery (why do I forget to keep it charged for opportunities like this one?)  Oh well. I do like the convenience of reading on my iPad however, the glare was getting to me. It reminded me of the Kindle commercial where the girl is reading from a Kindle at the beach no glare, no problem, and her friends on their iPads are squinting to see. That was me today. 

On another note, I did a little "Classroom Decor" shopping yesterday.  I hit up a great sale at our local teacher store and was so excited to find these polka dot borders which go great with my polka dot theme this year.  

These e-card seemed to fit so well here...

A third thing I am reflecting on is how I need to get my fingers moving and my computer cranking to finish up Units 2-6 of my McGraw-Hill Wonders High Frequency Word Practice.  I set myself a goal to get them done by the end of this week but if we keep having sunny, gorgeous days like this that is going to be an ultimate challenge for me. 

Only 250 more of these to go :)

High Frequency Word Practice

I pulled out a pen and paper yesterday to start writing out a game plan of my Back To School preparations. I thought it would be a good idea to go back into my classroom and retrieve some of my teacher manuals so that I can start mapping out September. I was planning to start set up next week to give myself enough time so that I wouldn't feel rushed. Well...while I was there I was informed that my room will not be ready to access until the last week of August.  At first I felt panic come over me but then I soon realized that it's a blessing in disguise because now it will force me to enjoy what remains of my summer. Besides, do I really need two plus weeks to set up my classroom?? Nah, a couple of solid 8 hour days in there will be just as productive (if not more). I do tend to socialize a little too much when I feel like I have "plenty of time" to get things done.
On another note. I have A LOT of things to prepare outside of my classroom so in the meantime I can do all of that in the comfort of my home.

Our district is using McGraw-Hill Wonders Reading Program and we are now in the second year.  I was on a maternity leave for most of last year so I sort of feel like this is new to me.  One thing I really want to improve this year is the use of my word wall and the students exposure to the words that go on it.  In the past I've been guilty of stapling my words up there in a last minute rush."Hey everyone, quick, look here, I'm adding some words to our wall."

I designed a High Frequency Word Practice sheet to go with each of the words.  Right now I'm thinking that I'm going to use this as an individual assessment. It's quick and easy and will tell me and the students if they have mastered a word or still need to practice it.

My plan is that students will individually complete the top portion of the page. If they are successful at identifying the word they will cut the bottom out and place it into the side of their word wallet labeled "Words I Know."  If they are showing signs of struggle I will have them keep their word on the side of their word wallet labeled, "Keep Practicing."  

I also made word cards for the word wall.  I like these because they have the boxed lettering so students can visualize the formation of the word. I also like that they aren't huge. The word cards that came with our program are too large for my word wall and just don't work for me.  

Here is a link to my TpT Store if you want to use these in your classroom.  The Start Smart Unit is a FREEBIE!!!!!!

Here is Unit 1...

Unit 2 through Unit 6 are coming very soon!!! I plan to have them done by the end of the week :)  By writing this I have to get it DONE!!

Let's Have Some Fun

Just because summer is coming to an end and the school year preparation is about to begin, does not mean that the fun has to stop.  I'm linking up with Sally from Elementary Matters to tell a fun school story and remind everyone that LOTS of laughs do happen during the school year.

 Thinking of a single funny school story was a little bit of a challenge because there are so many. The one I'm about to share happened several years ago. I was pregnant with my second daughter, Ellie.  I was about 8 months pregnant and looked somewhat like a "globe."  As I was standing in the doorway a little second grader said to me, "Mrs. Schneider did you have the baby yet?"  "No, no she's still in there," I reply ( a little surprised by this question because I would imagine this was obvious to many). Then, little Jack said, "Yes, I thought she was still in there because I can see the baby's nose!!!"  What little Jack actually was seeing was my belly button. Even with my "loose" fitting maternity clothes, my belly button still made a bump under any and everything I wore.  I still chuckle when I think of this story.

I'm also going to share a fun little Back To School activity that I do with my class each year.  I call it, "Chrysanthemum's Crumpled Heart." It goes along with Kevin Henke's book, Chrysanthemum. For those of you who haven't read Chrysanthemum, she is an adorable mouse with a very large name. The little mice in her class tease her for having such a "strange and long name." It is a clear depiction of bullying that the students can relate to. To accompany the story we do several activities that you can download here from my TpT store.

Just a little reminder that TpT is having a big Back to School Sale on August 4th and 5th.  I know I am filling up my shopping cart with all kinds of goodies to start the school year.  

Let the fun begin!!!!

Get ready for Back To School

Hi Everyone,
My Teachers Pay Teachers Store will be on sale on August 4th-5th. All my products will be marked at 20% off.

Happy Shopping!

Livening up the Classroom Library

Ten years ago when I was just starting my third year of teaching I decided to take on the daunting task of organizing my classroom library. I will never forget the endless hours I spent buried in piles of books.  First, I should mention that my classroom library collection was huge for a fairly new teacher. Second, this had little to do with me and a lot to do with the fact that I "inherited" a classroom full of books when I was first hired in my school. I was very excited about this but with no organization system it was IMPOSSIBLE to even use my library. Needless to say it was 100 percent necessary that I sorted them out.
Fast forward 10 years.. My classroom library is a fully organized and functional system.  I spend a few lessons at the start of the school year teaching the students all about the classroom library, how to borrow books, return books, etc in an effort to keep it together.  This year I am going to assign two or three students to be "Librarians."  Their classroom job will be to help any students with the borrowing/returning process. I'm hoping that if they are watching each other they will be less likely to "stick" a book where ever they please. Fingers crossed...

This year I decided I am going to liven up my classroom library a bit.  First, I stopped in the dollar tree and was excited when I found 30 perfectly sized bins all in the SAME COLOR!! That is so rare especially at this time of the year when teachers are raiding all the local Dollar Spots for storage and organization purposes.  I guess this was my lucky day.  I'm using the white bins for my library and I haven't decided yet on the other colored bins but they seemed like they were the perfect size for something??

This year I am transforming my space into a Polka Dot Themed Classroom. To go along with that I have made Polka Dot themed Classroom Library Labels.  In my room I level the books by Guided Reading Levels A-Z and then into genres and categories as well.  Here is a preview of my Classroom Library Labels. You can download them from my TpT store.  I included 55 category/genre labels. I really racked my brain to think of as many as I could but in case I missed something that you have in your classroom, I included a blank page as well for you to fill in yourself.  

And here are my book bins ready and waiting to be filled with books. I haven't been into my classroom yet to begin setting up. We have a full month left of summer vacation and I don't want to rush it away too quickly.

Organizing Student Information

This year I'm determined to get more organized. Starting the year off in an organized way will hopefully give me the momentum I need to keep it up.  Usually somewhere around October/November I start to lose it a little bit but not this year.  My motto will be, "Everything has a place and a place for everything."
The first thing I thought would be useful is a questionnaire to collect student information.  I put together a form of questions for the parents to fill out with some information I think would be beneficial to know at the start of the school year.
My plan is to keep these triple hole punched in a slim binder near my desk.  Maybe I will take it a step further and scan them into a file to store on my computer?? Not sure yet about that one but I have high hopes for my organization this year.

Here is a free download of the Student Information Sheet I am handing out.  I am happy to share if you can please follow me on TPT and leave me some feedback :)

Have a great weekend!