Week Two

Let me say up front that week two did not go as planned. I did not get to focus on Read to Self like I wanted, but I did introduce Word Work and it was a hit. Listen to Reading was not as impressive to my students, but I thought they did a great job listening to Boom Town each day. On Thursday I was brave enough (and prepared) to introduce my clickers - big yay and amen to that activity!!! My students begged me to use clickers everyday, all day - oh how I wish I was that prepared! So now my weekend will be used grading and creating clicker activities.
Now onto a few pics:

I wrote loose objectives on boards from Pinterest. They were more focus skills than objectives, but they reminded me to stay on track.

These adorable guys are Quiet Critters. They can be found in the Halloween section of Michaels for $2.99 of sixteen. They sit on my students' desks and remind them to be quiet. They don't like a loud talking or talking when teaching is going on, nor do they enjoy being handled. Quiet Critters leave when these behaviors go on, and no treats are given if they leave. On the other hand, Skittles, Gummi Bears, and tickets were rewarded for keeping Quiet Critters all day! Very popular and successful for most of my students, so yay me!

These are part of my Word Work center/station. I've read about them on several blogs, and downloaded an activity sheet called Shake, Read, Write from a blog (Fourth Grade Frolics I believe). I have four: weekly spelling words, weekly vocabulary words, sight words, and Teacher's Choice (words I think third graders should know - right now I have days of the week). The students sift through the pom-poms (tactile and just fun) to pull out a word, read the word, spell the word as they write. Then they repeat, but highlight vowels when they are finished writing, and finally rainbow write.
Here is my reason for using a center that is perfect for first grade in third grade: writing. In a few years the ARMT+ (or whatever it will be called by then) will be used as writing assessment. Spelling is part of writing. Our students are taught to read sight words, but not always to spell. Or sometimes they just need more practice to be successful at spelling. There are words such as days of the week, months of the year, holiday, etc., that I think kids should learn to spell, so this is the perfect place for this as well. And let us not forget, third graders are kids - they like to do things like this. Give them a pencil, tell them to write their words, and you can forget it; but give them highlights and ink pens of different colors and tell them to write their words - they love it!

Plan for Monday

So we practiced Read to Self again on Friday. The good news is my students know what it is called. The bad news is we're still reading for five minutes at a time. Did I mention I am an impatient person? As a result, I've revamped my plan. Now we will work on being at ten minutes of reading time by this Friday - just in time for the long weekend. I've also decided to introduce rainbow writing to my students to my students and work o n rotation. This is my least favorite part of centers/ stations so please send good thoughts my way!
Will someone please join my blog? I have no members and would love to have some!

We did it!

My goal was to let my students check out Good Fit books from the class library today and we did! After they checked out a book they went to their desk and most voluntarily read the books they chose. Then we practiced Read to Self for about five minutes and they read! I was so proud of them! On to six minutes in the morning! 

Day Two

After working most of the summer on my room, there are finally students there! It's not going exactly as I planned (I bet your days haven't either) but I do think some of my new ideas have  paid off. My students are remembering to use the Where Am I? Board without me reminding them...which is nice because it's very new to me as well. They love my ticket board and will love it more because I actually put their tickets in the pockets this afternoon. 

As for the Daily Five, I am very proud to say that we have talked about Read to Self and practiced three times at their desks. So far I have just had them read from their science book ( always a hit) because we hadn't completed STAR testing. They are reading for about four minutes right now and will hopefully be up to ten minutes by the end of the week. We finished STAR testing today so tomorrow I plan on letting them check out Good Fit books after we discuss that again. Wish me luck and enjoy your week!

Almost There

After working all week my room is finally almost finished. The decorative touches are finished until the students show up and I know for sure who will be in my class. All that's left is to straighten my group area. Tomorrow is our first ever Meet the Teacher day and I am so excited! I hope many parents come with their children so I can meet as many as possible.
Thanks to all who have visited my blog, and I promise more pics and hopefully more meaningful blogs later when I'm not worn out from working in my room. Have a great rest of the week!

Looking Around

I read a blog last week that talked about room decorations. The blogger said that they no longer had commercial cutesy boards in their room anymore, but lots of blank space for student work  and charts. I looked around my own classroom and realized that I had taken down the last space filler in my room to make more room for anchor charts and work. Yes, I still have commercial border and cutouts for a background for student work and I do have a bulletin board tree on my door, but I have finally finished the transition from "but I like that!" to "my students and I need this!" I do have blank space (and it is daunting when I just walk through the door) but it will be filled with student and class made charts soon. I am determined to make the move to letting my students write on my anchor charts this year. This is a big deal for me - I like my charts neat and symmetrical and spelled correctly. I'm not saying it's going to happen week one, maybe not even month one, but I am determined to get my students writing their charts. Hopefully this will encourage them to use them more. Big writing is the key - after all, that is what started me on the road to blank walls. I love commercial products too, but most of them couldn't be read from a desk or across the room. They had to go. I have tried the past few years to ensure that if it was on my walls it was useful and not just cute. I don't put things up that I haven't taught my students. It makes their lives easier, therefore mine is too. So I encourage everyone to look around...do you see cute and "I'll teach that in the spring, so it stays," or do you see room for student work and anchor charts? Which do you place more value on? Do you have to squint to read that commercial made chart? 

this Week

Believe it or not, I have not been in my classroom everyday this week. I went yesterday to paint a bookshelf my daddy made me (lucky girl) and put away a few things. I have my CAFE board up with headers, have read quickly through both books by the Sisters, and have planned Word Work activities. Don't worry, just because I'm in my room doesn't mean I haven't been preparing. Just this morning I edited labels for my AR points board and supply buckets. 

Tech Tip: if you purchase something off TpT or Teacher's Notebook, you can email the seller for an editable file that will allow you to type on the images.

To see my owl themed labels vist:

http://www.teachersnotebook.com/product/FlapJack/owl-themed-classroom-materials-pack

Have a great last weekend!