Newbie Blues

Teaching Kindergarten has been a great challenge for me this year.

I know some of you are like, "piece of cake, yo."

But, I am not one of those people.

Kindergartners are notorious rule breakers. 

They do their own thing all of the time.

Yelling "NO!" and running out of the classroom is part of their routine.

10-15 minutes dedicated to coming down from P.E. twice a week is a necessity.
Giving up your turn for a friend and then deciding 3 minutes later that you want your turn back - which leads to a major melt down.

 Only being able to share, read, or speak in front of your peers using a dinosaur puppet.

As you can tell, this is an adjustment for me.

Kinda crazy how different K and 1 can be?!?

Yes, my Firsties are unique as well, but it isn't the same as the Kindergartners.

So, I have my inclusion K kids for 105 minutes a day and I am in charge of teaching them all ELA standards plus social studies and some science.

105 minutes is not a lot of time to get in as much as I am supposed to get in.

I've been a nervous wreck about that fact.

During this ulcer-inducing time, I've been researching the best ways to reach my littles.

When I say researching, I mean reading blogs, scouring TPT, attending conferences, and picking up some CCSS resources.

Here are a few of my favorite gems I have been using that I LOVE, my kids LOVE, and makes my ulcer a little bit smaller (which my insides LOVE):

Anything, and I mean, ANYTHING and EVERYTHING by Deedee Wills. She is a genius!
I have been using her Literacy Stations cards, Time Me! stations,  Read, Trace, Glue, and Draw work pages, Writing Work Stations Bundle, Stamping Word Fun, and many many more.
Currently, I am totally digging her Poetry Packs. These weekly poem packs are so perfect for my limited schedule. My Gen-Ed kids are practicing their fluency while my ESE students are hitting many of their IEP goals. SCORE!
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Jennifer Jones at Hello Literacy has been the beacon I've been looking for. Her knowledge of the CCSS and her willingness to share with us is a Godsend.
The CCSS are so confusing for this K/1 teacher. I attend workshops where I hear front-loading is bad and close reading is good. Then, I read online that providing some background knowledge is important for our little readers and that doing close reads is for the upper grades not the primary.
I have been given so many mixed messages. Where do I fit in?????
Jennifer has great blog posts that help me figure out the ELA standards better. Don't get me wrong, I'm still confused - but not as much as before!
I simply adore her Phonological Awareness Curriculum that she sells at her "Hello Two Peas in Pod" TPT store.
Bringing P.A. and tying it with real literature. What an idea! The curriculum is awesome and my kids are doing so well. The looks on their faces when they blended the word correctly or made a new word first before their peers is priceless. L-O-V-E!
Whenever I get an email from TPT stating that there are new products posted by my favorite sellers, I am giddy with anticipation. Hoping that I might find my next favorite thing.
For now, these are my favorite Kinder products.
My next post will be about my favorite First grade products, AND let me tell you I have found an AWESOME resource that I am stoked about using and my kids are absolutely soaring.
Happy MLK day! Be kind and play nice.
Here's a quote I just read on Twitter: Silence and smiling are two powerful tools.  Smiling is the way to solve many problems and silence is the way to avoid many problems.

Currently January 2013

Happy New Year my friends!

You know, as much as I love the newness of fall and all of the fabulous holidays that it brings (plus college football), I really puffy heart this time of year. Typically, it is when I get myself the most organized, and I have that "light at the end of the tunnel" feeling.

Which is what I was doing right now, planning my units for the remainder of the year. When it occurred to me to check and see if the WiFi was deciding to play nice and work for me. (WiFi has been on the blink and it is REALLY annoying!)

And low and behold, Farley has her Currently up already. Yippee Skippy!

Here is my entry for the month of January:

1) I just love 9 to 5. I've watched it a million times and still enjoy it. 

Mr. Hart - what a jerk!

2) Since my internet has been down, I have been a cleaning fool. My office desk was a dumping ground for everything. I never used it because it was so messy. I would just leave the room and work somewhere else. There were papers I found from students I had last year. Yikes! Not any more, though. It is beautiful :)

3) I have learned so much from Jen's blog. Her teachers are so lucky to have her. I'm super jealous.

4) I really don't need to explain this one. I have SO MUCH to print and so little ink. It's like Sophie's Choice with TPT purchases at my house!

5) My little princess just loves to nap on our papers, magazines, books, laptops, desktops, and any surface we are working on. If only she would choose our empty laps!

6) Collaborate - This word is applicable to my professional and my personal life. There are so many times in my life where I really must depend on others regardless of how capable I am. This year has really tested me and without successful collaboration, I don't think I would have made it this far!!!

I hope I am not the last person to join this linky party!

Don't forget to follow the rule of 3.

Happy 2013!

Silence for Sandy Hook

My Heart is in a Billion Pieces...

"Many people are wanting to know where they can send care packages and letters.  Here are a few addresses where you can send things to comfort the people affected by this senseless crime." @ http://geekalabama.com/2012/12/15/my-thoughts-on-the-sandy-hook-shootings/

Sandy Hook Vol. Fire and Rescue
18-20 Riverside Rd/Po Box 783
Sandy Hook, CT 06482

Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps.
77 Main Street
P.O. Box 344
Newtown, Ct. 06470

Newtown Police Department
3 Main Street
Newtown, CT 06470

Newtown Public Schools/Superintendent’s office:
3 Primrose Street
Newtown, CT 06470

Danbury Hospital Emergency Room Staff
24 Hospital Avenue
Danbury, CT 06810

You can also follow the R.I.P. Sandy Hook Elementary School Children Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/SandyHookChildren.

12~12~12

The big day has come and gone.

 And, yes, I do have documentation of this momentous event:

1. Breakfast with Mortie, the Tortoise. 

Mortie does not like that it gets dark at 5:30pm.

I can't say that I blame him. 

Mornings are the only times I get to hang out with him. 

Once it is dark, he goes to bed!

2. The date:

Proof that I took pictures on the correct day!

Not that you wouldn't believe me....

3. Opie the Elf is just hanging out doing his job.

Being cute and spying on little children.

Not creepy at all.

4. Morning Duty

Every Wednesday, I'm stuck watching this group.

Actually, they are pretty good. I've got it easy.

The 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders are on the hardcourt.

We need an invisible fence and shock collars to keep them contained.

5. Fundations, Unit 4 Test

Here's one of my firsties working hard on his test.

He has ASD and has been in self-contained classrooms since he was 3.

This is his first year in a gen-ed classroom and he has made SO much progress.

13/16 kids passed the test!

That is totally rad for this group (8 out of 16 have special needs!)

6. Kindergarten Reading Group

They L-O-V-E this Pete the Cat reader from Heidi Butkus!

7. Kindergarten Reading Group

She wanted me to take her picture so badly!

She was really proud of her work.

8. Terror in the classroom

Unfortunately, I have a new student who isn't quite ready for the classroom.

You can just guess what happened...

9. First Grade Reading Groups

Thank God, I've got my first graders back!

Love reading groups with these guys.

I could do it ALL day!

10. Rain, Rain Go Away!

We had to make do with inside recess.

My first graders LOVE to dance.

They beg to dance to Gangham Style and the Dougie.

We need a Talent Show with this group!

11. Hair Appointment

Oh man, did I need this appointment (and that glass of wine.)

My hair is so happy now!

12. Dessert First!

Scott and decided to be crazy and have dessert before our dinner.

We love Fro-Yo!

That's all folks.

It wasn't the best day, but it was a day.

Things happened.

Please check out Stacy's Linky Party.

12~12~12 is done!

Gingerbread Man ELA 5 Day Lesson Plan

Hi-Ho, everybody!

Well, I had to look a few times, but I kept getting the same results...

Today is only Tuesday. 

I was SO wishing it may have been Thursday. It feels like a Thursday.

Oh, Calgon. Take me away! 

Luckily, there are many, many, many activities to teach during this time of year.

This week is our Gingerbread week and the kids are loving it.

There are so many gingerbread books to read and compare. With each read, the level of excitement rises. It has been fun, but "WOAH" these kiddos are fired up!

As my students are becoming "close" readers this year, I have decided to dig deep into one of our gingerbread stories, The Gingerbread Man. (had to go with the original)

As I mentioned in the last post, this is a 5 day lesson plan format using the same text. Each day, we spend about 20-30 minutes digging deep into the story.

The routine goes a little something like this:

 Monday - Read for Enjoyment

Tuesday - Analyze the text for Vocabulary Words

Wednesday - Text Coding

Thursday - Use the text for Writing Response

Friday - Use the text for Fluency Drill

*Remember - Questions, responses, and activities are all planned around using the text. Everything goes back to the text. Basically, forcing the kids to go back into the text.

Feel free to use this and let me know how it works out for you.

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Tomorrow is kind of a big day, it's 12/12/12!

In honor of such a cool event, Stacy over at Simpson's Superstars is hosting a 12 on 12th Linky Party. Those interested in joining the party will be posting 12 random pictures from the 12th day of the month. Pretty easy and fun!

Click on the link to join Stacy's party tomorrow.

Have a THRILLING 12/12/12!

ELA CCSS 5 Day Lessons

Hey, Hey, Hey! What, What, What!

I'm posting during the middle of a school week! I didn't think this was humanly possible.

And yet, here I am blogging and sharing with you some things I've whipped together lately.

I'll start from the beginning. This year my district has gotten on board the Common Core train. Full Speed Ahead! At my level, we have been strongly advised to dump our reading series (somewhat) and plan for more nonfiction texts. Like, A LOT more nonfiction texts.

We haven't had much training, so I was really at a loss with what direction I should teach these texts. I had heard that providing prior knowledge and building background knowledge before reading was now a HUGE no-no. I had heard that I needed to dig DEEP into the text. However, I really wasn't sure what to do with my littles.

Then, a few weeks ago, we had a good training session where they showed us what a week's worth of lessons should look like. Yippee! This is what I needed. Some direction. Just a little training, helps so much I tell ya!

I've made two week's plans based on the themes my partner and I have been teaching: the moon and reindeer. These lessons are about 20-30 minutes in length and I teach during my Shared Reading time before reading groups.

Feel free to download and use them in your class and let me know what you think.

I hope they aren't total crap!!!! Ha!