Free Books! :)

Okay, now that I have your attention (because what elementary teacher does not have an insane amount of books that could give hoarders a run for their money!).....have you heard of this great site called "We Give Books"? I was introduced to it this year for "Read for the Record," since our school did not have enough Llama books.


It has real books that are online that you can look at (as in flip pages) and read aloud.

A little backstory....Every Wednesday is second grade ice cream day where kids can purchase ice cream in the morning to eat after lunch. My kids know how fanatical I am about food on our carpet, so it used to be the ones with ice cream got to eat at their desks while the rest got to sprawl (usually a no-no) on the carpet. It was okay, but hard to make sure everyone got to see pictures, paying attention, etc. That's where We Give Books came in. After we read our book (and by the way, best part...each time you read a book, the website donates a book to a designated campaign), the kids feel soooo good we get to donate one to someone else, and they are always asking who's it going to (which is where we then pull up a map and find out...great cross-curricular activity!).

Anyhow, they have now started a campaign where your personal school can earn books! It's called "Read for My School." Of course, when we went to go do our story this past Wednesday, we couldn't even get on the site! (the campaign started that day, or the day before, I think). We then went to Storyline Online (the one where the actor's guild members read...very cool as well!) and got our book fix. I just checked the website and as of this post, it was working fine!

But I am getting myself (and most likely you) distracted....sorry, Friday brain drain.....All you need to do is sign up (you can do it thru a Facebook account, although I have mine thru my school email) and choose a campaign to participate! You can even create your own "library" of books...one of my favorites is "Good Night iPad" (a definite read for us bloggers!).

I hope if you haven't heard of this fabulous resource before, you'll check it out! :) I'm curious to know, though.....what are some of your favorite "animated/online storybook" sites? Those are two of my favorites, and I keep meaning to check out Tumblebooks (thru the local library) when I have time!

The AHA Moment!

Do you ever find your best ideas come to you spontaneously? I've always said flexibility is important in a good teacher, but I also think listening to those crazy ideas as you sit with a group that's just not getting it is also important!

I've had a lot of crazy thoughts over the years, and while some work well, others just get me those strange looks that say, "our teacher has LOST it!".

This was one of those great AHA moments! I posted my frustration about some of my reading students just not getting long vowels. I was looking for a different approach, new ideas, etc. This morning when I got to school, I googled long vowel activities. (Yep, "google" is a verb!). I found some great activities and started a new board on Pinterest. You'll have to check out the link. I don't know why, but I always seem to be attracted to ESOL sites...they always have the best activities! I found some great monster cards, went to Florida's reading site and found some centers....but of course, all that requires time, printing, lamination, cutting out....and of course, did I mention TIME time to put it all together?

So, today in group, since my frantic cutting at every possible free moment of the day hadn't been working....that "AHA" moment struck! We took a deep breath and said long "a" as long as we had breath. Then, we tried to do the same thing for short "a" and....it came out ("like a burp" as one of my kids put it) and we couldn't make it last! The kids of course burst into giggles. We talked about how with short vowels, we can't use a lot of breath! OMG! Light bulbs were busting out all over! One child in my second group then theorized..."I guess that's why they call them short vowels, for short breaths, and long vowels, for long breaths!"

WOO HOO!

Not that it totally sunk in, but after they insisted we test out all the vowels, we hit the ground running....and ran into the brick wall with silent e. I do, however, have some other great ideas we're going to work on tomorrow about words with silent e, including sticky notes (I did "rip" and "ripe" today - each letter on a separate note, and we're going to do some word hunts tomorrow and "make" silent e words) as well as those great monster cards I mentioned!

Thanks once again for all the great suggestions! I'll keep posting the ideas that work, whether they're my own or someone else's. Meanwhile, check out Lanternfish, the ESOL site I got the monster cards from. It's AWESOME! :)

A Snowy Day

Okay, so no one is going to get the humor in that title unless they're in central VA, where it was 60 degrees today! :) Not quite sure what Mr. Groundhog was talking about! (we are keeping track for 6 weeks....my kids are divided on whether he is a good meteorologist or not!).

My teammates had duploed some wonderful winter writing prompts, and I just kept waiting for the right time, when we'd have a winterish day to write about them. In our part of the state, that usually occurs around end of January/early February, sometimes into March. Well, so far, the only snow we've seen has fallen from the sky (quite beautifully in big puffy flakes) 3 times...and melted as soon as it hit the ground. (This is actually unusual for our area, but I'm not complaining!).

So, I decided that yes, by gum, I was going to use those prompts and activities....but my students are the kinesthetic, visual type learners (can you tell their teacher is as well?).....SO today we made it snow, right here in Classroom 23!

After Christmas, I was scouring the local Walmart and had found some cute craft kits, marked 74 cents....heck, even that fit MY budget! I snatched up 5 (one for each of my tables) and figured I'd end up doing something with them! I am so happy I did!


So, we made it snow :) which the kids LOVED, then wrote about what we would do if it snowed 25 inches! (I made sure to introduce the prompt BEFORE we made it snow....knew their attention would be better up front!). The kids had a BLAST and were able to divide up the snow and take it home in baggies.


This is one of my "unmotivated" students who, as you can see, had no problem writing about this topic!


So...having never done anything with "fake snow" before, I am more than happy now to scout out sales and pick up more! What a wonderful activity it turned out to be! Don't you just love it when a plan comes together? :)

Help Needed!

In our school, we have this great Reading Rotation where students are rotated through a Reading Lab, Title 1, and a classroom teacher. There are times (when the planets align just right) that you don't have ANY students in your room unless they are the 5-7 students in your group! How amazing is that!!!

At first, I was reluctant to give up my assistant during that time (they are the ones teaching Reading Lab), but I have seen SUCH results in the past two years we've done this! Last year, I taught mostly above students who had no need for Title 1 or Reading Lab, so I pulled out my reading centers and we were a noisy, but happy group! This rotation, I am teaching more below level students and this is the first time I've had no one in my room except my group. Let me tell you, not to have to constantly glance over and make sure the other kiddos are behaving...amazing!!!

So, whew, now that I have explained all that (and would be more than happy to explain in more detail in another post or email!).......here is my dilemma.

Students are grouped according to level and sometimes we do end up with those who are not our homeroom students. This being said, with this latest rotation of students, I am having some difficulty with Word Study and in particular.....(drum roll) LONG VOWELS!

Now, the students who were with me before, we did a lot of games and centers around this subject, so they are getting it. It's my 5-7 students scattered throughout my three groups that simply have no clue. When they are sorting their words, they are even putting words like "smile" under the header "whale"! Obviously a lack of focus is part of the problem! :) Normally, we focus on one vowel a week, but this is the week where we are reviewing a/i.

So, did a search for free items through TpT (in a serious budget crunch right now!), but just curious...what has worked for your students? While I can go back and revisit the games I did before, I'm afraid my ones who ARE getting it will be bored with a "we did this before" attitude. Just looking for a fresh, new approach!

Looking for any and all suggestions! A HEARTFELT THANKS in advance!!!!!!!!!

Valentine's Day Mania!

So, I have to confess...I sent the kids home sugared up, but at least with our schedule, we had recess at the end of the day, so I told them to run it all off! (One student actually took me a little too literally and came up to me huffing and puffing and said he wasn't sure if the sugar was gone, but he couldn't run anymore!).

I had to share our cute activities we did...some original, some Pinterest/blog-inspired! I will try to give credit where it's due, but please forgive me if I can't! :) Here is a link to my "Valentine's Day" Pinterest board, in case you're interested in downloading or seeing the activities in more detail!

Our day started with Math, and the students were grouped into 2s or 3s and they had 7 stations to rotate through. We covered the topics of: estimation, data/graphing, patterns, addition with numbers to 50, and counting money.

Students counted the letters on their conversation hearts and graphed the results (I can't remember where I got this from, but thanks!)

Thanks to "F is for First Grade" for the great idea for the heart boxes! (I LOVE these from Dollar Tree!)


My own idea :) Estimation Station (Valentine's Edition)....items are from the Target Dollar Spot and Dollar Tree, as well as my own various collections (this is a free download on my TpT store).

Candy Heart graphing (by color)...an old AIMS activity I've done for years....

Candy Heart Math (students use ten frames to help them add up to 50)...another original idea available FREE from my TpT store:

Probability Station....thanks to First Grade Parade for the cute sheet!

Pattern Palooza....students used foam pieces to create patterns that were designated on the sheet (another freebie from my TpT store).

After giving a little love to Abraham Lincoln for our Famous Americans unit, we continued by creating our own Valentine creatures for our bags, then passed out Valentines/candy, and tried to see how many words we could make out of "Happy Valentine's Day."

I know this is a long post, but I just have to share some of their cute creatures! These were inspired by Second Grade Sugar and Spice :)





Hah hah...can you tell which ones are girls and which ones are boys? :)

All in all, a great day! I even included a little Fact/Opinion activity and ABC order during our reading groups (both from a 2008 edition of Mailbox for Feb/March).

Hope your day was just as fun! :)

What Frustrates Me Linky Party.....

Okay, so my friend over at Enriching Kinders has a dilemma she needs help with! How would you feel if your principal told you that your kids were to miss Science/History every day until they were reading at grade level???? I know as a second grade teacher, I would be really upset if that was my school! Those students are often struggling across several subject areas, and to have them miss "the basics" in Kindergarten....well, head on over and help her out! She's looking for solutions, maybe something you do at your school for below level readers, or just suggestions on how to approach the principal about it!

Meanwhile, she's turned it into a bit of a party by folks being able to say what makes them frustrated, and maybe having readers comment solutions on their own blog?

Here goes....
Whew! That felt good. Anyone else have that problem? Other than trying to explain to the parent during conference about it (and they blamed it on the grandmother who wants to pick up her grandchild early as a "treat")....nothing else has worked.

Valentine's Day Freebies

Okay, so I didn't want this whole weekend to focus on me trying to make my math centers for Valentine's Day. This year, whether it's being inspired by Pinterest to be more creative, or just the type of class I have, I have been more "holidayish" than ever! At least, I have been when it's come to Math centers and Writing! :)

Anyway :) I posted the three I created on my TpT store for free! I created an Estimation Station (inspired by I Do It For the Kiddos) Valentine's Edition (most objects are from Dollar Tree or Target)


A Heart-y Dose of Math (addition facts up to 50; students use candy hearts and ten frames to help find the answers).


and Pattern Palooza (Valentine's Style), which I left open-ended so you could add your own patterns to it!


I know the thumbnails are small, but head over to my TpT store to check them out! :)