Laptop and Library Carts


Classroom Setup, Fourth Grade, Reading, Technology, Third Grade

This laptop cart has been quite a project! Getting all of the parts that fit the way I wanted to hold the computers was no easy feat! I needed the cart from IKEA specifically so the middle shelf could be adjusted… and that took about a month to get here. Luckily, I found some cheap file folder holders at Ocean State and zip ties at the Dollar Store. Amazon had the colored washi tape and power strips that could hold a bunch of wide plugs. Then a few laptops had plugs on the top, others were too big for the […]

Classroom Setup


Classroom Setup, Reading

Like all teachers at this time of the year, I’ve been busy getting the classroom ready. I’ve moved back into a room I had a few years ago with blue walls, so the blue fabric bulletin boards from the last few years had to be retired and the lime green came back out. I think I may have gone a little overboard, and I’m eagerly anticipating getting some student work up on the walls! The classroom library had a small overhaul to even out the genre baskets. Over the years, I’ve gotten new books and some have gone mysteriously missing,

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NaNoWriMo


ELA, Fourth Grade, Reading, Writing

NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. During the month of November, people from all over get together and set their own personal word count goals, with the big idea being that you get a novel drafted in a month (or at least a good start to a novel). Last year, I happened to find the NaNoWriMo website just a tad late, on November 1st. But as it was a weekend, I figured I had a whole day and a half to revamp my writing plans for the month and bring out a new challenge! My students had mixed reactions,

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Biography Partner Projects


Cooperative Learning, ELA, Fifth Grade, Fourth Grade, Printables, Reading, Third Grade, TpT Store

My students recently finished a biography partner project, which was designed not only as a reading and research project, but also to help students work on their organization, time management and cooperative skills. I wanted to stress the process and quality of work with this project. I used the ‘Who Is/Who Was’ series of biographies, since they are all about the same length, and they include a starting place for the timeline requirement. The entire project took 4 weeks, with children working on this both in class and for homework. I started by grouping students into pairs, keeping in mind

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Student-Led Portfolio Conferences


Assessment, ELA, Fifth Grade, Fourth Grade, Math, Printables, Reading, Science, Social Studies, TpT Store, Writing

November is a time for Parent-Teacher conferences, which I must admit are not my favorite. I spend so much time trying to think of everything I need to say to a parent, organizing my ideas, gathering work samples and finding just the right way to phrase some of those difficult messages. And inevitably, the minute a parent leaves or an hour later it hits me… the one thing I forgot to tell them! Spring is another conference, but this time around students are leading the way. Over the next few weeks I will spend time reflecting with my students, sharing

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Classroom Library Reorganization


Classroom Setup, Fourth Grade, Reading

Moving to a new grade level, yet again, and inheriting books from the outgoing 4th grade teacher gave me another chance at getting my classroom library organized in a more meaningful way.  I got it about half way there last year, but even with the system I was using, I found that kids kept reading the same series of books over, and over, and over… So, I wanted to organize more by genre this year. I once again had high hopes for some of the book cataloging apps, and pulled up the Classroom Organizer app that I tried using last

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Phonics Cards – Vowels and Digraphs


Daily 5, Kindergarten, Reading, Second Grade, TpT Store, Writing

A second grade teacher at my school found a set of phonics cards that she thought would be great to hang on the wall behind the table where she pulls small groups, but the cards were only sold in the UK.  She scoured TpT for something similar and found nothing, so she told me about it, knowing that I’m always looking for new stuff to create. So, after days of searching for graphics that would fit each vowel and digraph, it’s finally complete! And, now that TpT is allowing you to correlate your items to the Common Core standards, it’s

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Reader’s Response


Fourth Grade, Homework, Reading, Third Grade, TpT Store, Writing

I designed this packet to use as reader’s response homework for my students, which I assign once or twice a week. Included are a rubric, an example heading, directions for 15 different types of responses, and a recording sheet so that students can keep track of which responses they’ve completed and the number of points they earned for each. I have included the same set of materials both in cursive and print. Here is a list of the responses:Book RecommendationCharacter ComparisonCrossword PuzzleDiary EntryI Figured It OutI WonderInterviewLetter to the AuthorMake Me LaughNose for NewsPredicting the FutureThat Reminds MeTrading PlacesWrite Me

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Anchor Charts – Take 2


Classroom Setup, Daily 5, Math, Printables, Reading, Third Grade, TpT Store, Writing

Well, it’s been a busy few months, and I’ve added a few anchor charts to the list as the months have gone on, and finally got around to putting an updated version on TpT and on Teachers Notebook.  The new charts include: Reading:Homophones Writing:Their, There and They’rey to i (adding endings)Crazy for CommasWhen Do I Need a New Paragraph?Fiction Writing Math:Math Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)

Anchor Charts


Daily 5, Math, Printables, Reading, Third Grade, TpT Store, Writing

Am I the only one who dislikes making those big anchor charts? Inevitably, I run out of space somewhere, or smudge marker when the poster is all but finished. Well, no more for me. I’ve started moving all of my anchor charts into small, digital format. With the Apple TV (which I LOVE by the way), I can put the digital copy up on the TV for my mini-lesson and then print a copy to put in our class anchor chart binder. Some of the charts I can print for individual students to keep in their own writing binders, too.

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