Fun Film Friday: Halloween

Tis the season...for Halloween :)  Halloween is one of my favorite holidays so I thought I'd share this cute video.  As I was looking at YouTube I realized that there are some really.strange.videos out there for Halloween, but this one is super cute!




Enjoy!

I've been having some computer problems this week but they are finally all worked out!  It was touch and go for a while but now everything is (almost) back to normal.  This week I'd like to give a shout out to O "Fish" ally a First Grader.  She's having a giveaway and I donated my Period Practice: Thanksgiving Theme.

Even though it's a first grade blog, she is giving away items for all different grade levels.

Also, I'd like to give a warm welcome to my new followers!  I get so happy to see new followers and am honored that you enjoy my blog :)

Reading Workshop Character Chart

My class is currently doing a character study in Reading Workshop.  They are working in partnerships and reading about the same character.  Ideally, they should be reading the same book but unfortunately I don't have enough copies of each book to go around.  I have to say, even though I have a lot of struggling students, they are doing a great job with their conversations (even with Biscuit...it's amazing how much they have to say about that dog!)  I thought I'd share one of the charts we are using.  It shows some of the lessons we've done so far.

It's Turkey Time!

Ok, so it's not quite turkey time yet, but the weather has FINALLY gotten cooler in NY and it makes me think of turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Yum! To celebrate this time of year, I've created some ELA editing practice with a Thanksgiving theme.

You can find it HERE on TPT!

Enjoy!

Fun Film Friday! Classroom Management Tricks of the Trade

I know that this is the time of year when the kids are getting comfortable and may be exhibiting a few challenging behaviors. Here's a quick video showing one teacher's technique for getting the students' attention.



For some reason I've never been able to use this technique. For me, giving a clapping signal works best when the kids are doing group work. I use "hands and eyes" when they are working independently. I say "hands and eyes" and the students echo me and look to wherever I am. It works great!

Do you have a way getting the students' attention that other teachers could use?

Making Inferences Freebie!

I'm starting to teach my students how to make inferences and created this freebie to help them keep track of their thinking. Click HERE to download.  Enjoy!

Nuts About School

Hello teachers! I hope that if you have a three day weekend that you are enjoying a relaxing Monday! I just wanted to share some new funding opportunities for teachers:

This week is Donor's Choose Friends and Family Week. Any donation will be matched by the company! Donors just need to type the word PUMPKIN into the "match or gift code" box.

 

There's also a sweepstakes called "Nuts About School".  Teachers can enter once per day and win up to $500 in school supplies.  Sounds pretty good to me!  The last day to enter is October 12th.

Fun Film Friday! Wake Up Their Brains!!!

This is a good way to have kids practice their multiplication facts through song and movement.


I also use songs to teach multiplication facts. I haven't taught them with gestures though and I think I'll try it this year. These are the songs I use with my class:

3 facts: Oh My Darlin' Clementine
4 facts: Gilligan's Island Theme Song
6 facts: Old Mac Donald
7 facts: Barney Theme Song (they don't really like this one...any suggestions?)
8 facts: She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain
9 facts: Adams Family Theme Song

Enjoy your three day weekend! :)

Kids in Need Grant

Just thought I'd share this with my teacher friends!  I applied for this grant two years ago and received over $300 to supplement one of my science units.

Kids In Need Foundation

One more day until our 3 day weekend! :)

Reading Salad

Even though it's not Friday, I have a short little video to share.  My students are currently learning how reading is not just reading the text, but it's also thinking about the book.  A couple of years ago I read a comprehension book which described how to create a reading "salad" from mixing the text (tomatoes) plus thinking (lettuce) to get real reading (a salad)  I can't remember the name or author from the book I got the idea from.  If you know what I'm talking about please let me know so that I can give the person recognition!



I modeled real reading with the book Jamaica Finds.  I read aloud and added the "tomatoes".  I stopped after a few pages and had the students think (the "lettuce").  We did this a few times.  Then, since I'm officially obsessed with Whole Brain Teaching, I had the students teach each other that text + thinking = read reading.  The boy I recorded did a really good job teaching his neighbor, but he froze up a little bit once the camera started rolling :)

Science Giveaway

Cassandra at Adventures in Room 5 is having a Science Giveaway!  I donated my Butterfly and Ladybug Science Observation Journal (it's under the Life Science section).  Head on over and enter to win!

If you don't win you can still get my Observation Journal HERE!