Spelling Intervention plus freebie...

One of my darlings was having major problems with spelling and failing the weekly spelling tests horribly so I was in search of some type of intensive intervention that would help him.  He was struggling with writing very simple words that I know were on the 1st and 2nd grade Word Walls.  I started doing some research and kept stumbling upon what was called the "Cover, Copy, Compare" method.  It is so simple to implement.  We started right away.  I made packets to keep at my small group table.  I also made some packets to send home for practice.  Basically, all you need is a copy of your spelling list, paper, an index card, and a pencil.  The student copies the first word directly from the spelling list, then covers the newly copied word (and the list), writes the word from memory, and then checks it for accuracy. If it is not correct the student just repeats the process until it is correct and moves on.  We did this every morning during our in-school tutoring block and replaced his current spelling homework with this activity to be done nightly.  Thursday he took a practice test and by Friday he had the words down.  He not only passed his first spelling test in the 3rd grade, but he made a 92.  I was so proud of him, but most importantly he felt successful and motivated to keep up this level of practice.  He was PROUD of himself.  That was my main goal.  
I think this would probably work beautifully in practicing math facts as well.  I can't wait to see what he scores this Friday!  I just love these moments when I am reminded in a big way why I became a teacher in the first place.  Makes it all worthwhile! 
PS- You can grab the cover to the packet here!   Toodles!   

sleepy post

I am "Friday Tired" (that's what I call the state of teacher exhaustion after a long week) but I wanted to go ahead and post a peek at my newest posters.  I just added them to my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  Now I am off to bed.  First Grade Glitter and Giggles and I have acquired some awesome new graphics, so there are lots of ideas spinning in my head for new creations.  Can't wait to work on that tomorrow!  Toodles blog world!

The Hunger Games take a back seat to blogging...for a minute

OK, so who else is reading The Hunger Games series?  I started it today and can hardly stand to put it down.  Thanks to my assistant principal for bringing me his copy of the first book that is missing the front and back cover, (his 18 month old son was a fan too I guess) I am already an addict.  I did have time to make these multiplication and division signs for those of you lovelies that have been requesting them.   You can get them HERE in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.  I really appreciate all of the positive feedback and comments I have received and am so excited about all of the wonderfully talented and creative teachers I have "met" via blogging.  I am loving every minute of it!   Anyway,  here is a preview of the signs.  I'm off to read a little more before bed.  Toodles!

Owl Moon plus a Freebie

It is no mystery that I love OWLS.  In first grade I always did a Stellaluna/Bat theme unit.  This year I had the opportunity to use the Owl Moon Unit from Amanda over at One Extra Degree with my thirdsters.  It aligned perfectly with my TEKS (standards) and I just ran with it. My kiddos especially loved digging in to the owl pellets and sorting the bones they found.  They were so engaged and didn't want to stop to go to PE.  We even had the cutest little Owl Smores made for us by a very brave mom willing to take on a Pinterest project for me. 
My students loved the story so much that they begged me to read it to them once more on Friday because we had a little extra time while packing up to go home. I am sad that Owl Week has ended, but now it is on to some very fun and exciting holiday theme units!
PS- The poetry and prose in Owl Moon is among my favorites and I created this little print to share my favorite quote in the book.  Grab it here!

 

Just a Quick Note...

I know it is Management Monday, but I was in desperate need of some help for my thirdsters that seem to be struggling with unlocking the code in math story problems.  We have gone over and over key words but I realize that they need them posted so they can see them everyday and really internalize them.  Of course if I am going to post them in my room they have to match my decor so I made these and am planning on taking them to STAPLES and having them enlarged to poster size.  They will be posted in my TPT store in a jiffy.  Multiplication and Division coming soon! Toodles!

Surprised and Honored...

A couple of days ago I was contacted by Becky  from UCreate .    Becky does a weekly Teacher Feature on her blog and this week she chose to feature 3rd Grade's a Hoot. Are you kidding me?   I was very surprised and honored that she found me and decided to include me on her blog.  She let me know last night that my "Teacher Feature" would post this morning at 5am and to be honest I was so busy I didn't even get a chance to look at it until after school today.  I had a chance to look around her blog for a little while. Um...more like an hour to be exact.  She had me at the cute little owl on her header. Anyway it is an amazing blog.  I will definitely be pinning a ton of ideas for new crafts and must haves.  I especially loved these cute Jack o' Lantern Jars.   

Oh my cuteness! and guess who just got her first Cricut!  Yep, this girl right here.  So now, making these faces should be a snap. They will definitely be posted up on my "Mystery Reader" table in October.  I can't wait! This is just one of the many adorable ideas I spotted on UCreate.  You guys simply have to head over and show her some teacher love!  Toodles!

Manic Mondays

It was just another Manic Monday (whoa, whoa)!  Sorry I had to.  Anyway I always feel like Mondays are crazy.  New word wall words, new spelling words, new vocabulary words, a new story to picture walk and make predictions about, a new skill for grammar, and racing to finish so I can start a new math topic at 10:00 sharp.  I am exhausted and I'm sure my little thirdsters are all off in dreamland by now, but I wanted to share my Boggle bulletin board with you lovelies.  I saw Mrs. Rojas' board and just had to have one in my little room.  She is so sweet to share such amazing ideas and has them posted on her blog, "Create Teach Share".  I really thought the Boggle idea was fab and would be a great Work on Words activity.  I can't wait for my kiddoes to see it tomorrow!

I have really limited wall space left so I used the bottom of my classroom door.  You can get the letters and a recording sheet to go with the activity right HERE and check out her board.  It is super cute! 

Toodles ya'll!

My Top 10 Blogs

OMGoodness!  I am sooooo thrilled that someone gave me an award.  I can't even tell you how surprised I was when Janis over at Caffeinated Conclusions included me in her Top 10 list.  Now it's my turn and it is going to be a daunting task to narrow it down to 10 but here I go...

1.  First Grade Glitter and Giggles-


Marisa is my bestie.  We were first grade teammates for 5 years before I moved up to 3rd and now we are on opposite sides of the building (boo).  We are making it though and having fun chatting about blogging and pinning constantly.  So much fun having a BFF at work!

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There you have it.  My Top 10 and thanks again to Janis for nominating me.  You made me smile!  Toodles!

Decorating Frenzy

We are 5 days away from "Meet the Teacher" and my room is, dare I say it, almost ready.  I am sooooo stinkin happy with my room this year and the way everything came together.  I have been working 12 hour days to get everything in place.  I am revamping my discipline system and going with the Clip Chart this year.  Of course it had to go with our Superhero theme so I tweeked it a bit.  My Bucket Filler board is almost ready.  We are getting our class list on Monday.  So excited I can hardly stand it! Why is that like waiting on Christmas morning to me?  Anyway, I can add names to the buckets then. 
My "to do list" grows every waking moment, but slowly I am getting it done. 
I put together a Focus Wall to go along with our Journeys textbook for ELA and I think it turned out so cute thanks to my bestie (First Grade Glitter and Giggles) for making my adorable headers.  To quote Rachel Zoe, " I die" for owls.  The owl headers are available in her TPT store btw.  Also, a shout out to Clutter Free Classroom  for the Math Workshop board inspiration.  I changed mine up a bit, but the signs are super cute and will work perfectly for implementing Math Workstations.  I wanted to post a few pics just to show some of my faves in my room after my decorating frenzy.   More to come but here are the pics I have so far!



Scrap Happy Place Value Banner

So since I am going to be teaching thirdsters this year I'm getting a little higher in the place value realm.  I am seriously obsessed with banners right now so I decided to create a place value banner for my babies.  Easy peasy!   I just used scrapbook paper cut into triangles.  I printed out the wording in a cute font and drew a border around it. Cut them out and glued them to the triangles.   Then I stapled (I was out of double sided tape) the cute ribbon to the top.  You can't even see the staples so it worked out great.  Plus it folds up very easily.  My next goal is to create a "Gallon Man" out of scrapbook paper.  Here is a look at my newest banner!  Love it!  Oh the things that make this teacher happy!

Random Ramblings...

We are finally able to get into our classrooms this week.  I have been looking forward to this all summer!  Oh boy!   I must have forgotten that I left it looking like this...

Before having a mini panic attack I quickly hung up my new fabulous fabric banner (very simple to make) and displayed my new fancy framed print on my desk . 

I am obsessed with this print so I decided to add my own personal touch (polka dots of course) and make it my teaching mantra!  Love it!  I think this is going to be a great year. 

Ps- My Bestie and I are doing our first giveaway (100 followers Yay!) so head over to First Grade Glitter and Giggles for the details. 

Toodles!

Whoooo's your favorite author?

Obviously I have a small obsession with owls and it seems like many others do too.  A lovely fellow blogger asked me to create her a special sign and I think it turned out so cute so I wanted to share it with all my other owl lovers. 

I plan on highlighting an "Author of the Month" in my classroom and this will work perfectly. Just print a photo of the author and display it in the "frame".  Post a bio and display books by the featured author or even print out covers from their books to place around the bulletin board.   I included "author of the week" in case that works better for you.  I am so excited for this to find it's way into your classrooms!  Let me know what you think. 

Whoooo's your favorite author?

Gotta Love Etsy

In between Pinterest, blogging, creating for TpT, Facebook, and  Twitter ( boy I spend a lot of time on the internet) I can't forget about Etsy.  Look what I found ...

Perfect for me!  I love this Etsy store !  She also has fabric covered baskets in different prints that are reversible and would be perfect for the classroom! 

Reversible Seuss basket

Check out Baffin Bags to see all of her fabulous creations. 

Pirate Theme Signs... AARGH!

I had a request for some pirate signs so I created these today.   This set includes signs for  the 5, EEKK, I Pick, and 3 Ways to Read a Book.  So much fun to make! Here is a sneak peek! Next up...Pirate Cafe Signs. 

Click here to go to TpT page:

Pirate Themed Daily 5 Signs

Bucket Fillers Freebie

I am so excited to start the Bucket Filler program with my third graders this year.  I created some signs that will go perfectly with my motif (polka dots galore) and thought I would share.  Grab them here!  Also, hop on over to First Grade Brain and join in the Bucket Filler linky party.  I am still undecided on how I will display the buckets.  Maybe stick on hooks, or the shoe organizer method.  I would love to see some pics if there are any other ideas. 

I just got these buckets in the mail today from Oriental Trading Company.  I will post pics of my Bucket Bulletin Board as soon as I can get in my classroom. 

If you are using library pockets you can download these paper buckets to use with your freebie set!

Paper Buckets



Blog Days of Summer

Summer in Texas means triple digit temperatures everyday.  This makes spending hours posted up on the computer (with ice cold lemonade tea in hand) completely acceptable.  Right?  Absolutely! I love my summer schedule.  Wake up late, go to lunch (sushi today), work on computer, nap, go to the movies, blog and create (until my eyes can't stand it anymore), and eventually go to sleep. 
I did get a request for some Owl Daily 5 Signs so here is a preview.  I am working on some Leveled Book Bin labels (owl theme and superhero) as well as a Bucket Filler set so stay tuned...
Toodles!