50th Day

Brrr....but a beautiful Sunday morning!  Are you refreshed and rejuvenated with that extra hour of sleep?

 On the 15th it will be our 50th day of school-thus it is time to break out the Poodle skirts, rolled up jeans,
ice cream and Root Beer, and of course the hula-hoops!  What are we having- a 50's Party!

We will also be math and literacy activities to honor the number 50 aka making patterns with 50 fruit loops, writing 50 words, a Then and Now venn diagram, looking at 50's cookbooks, learning1950's songs, of course busting out our 1950's dance moves.  HOOP TIME!!!

Here is my letter I am going to share with my students' families:   50th Day Parent Letter

AHHHHHHH....picture time:

The classroom...

The clothing and places to "hang out"...

The vehicles...

The communities... (this is Times Square)

The music...

The drinks....

Smiles,

 

                                             

Retell Forms and Rubrics

Tuesday; it will be a terrific Tuesday for sure!  But, first, my thoughts and prayers go out to any and all who are in harms way or know someone who is in danger due to Sandy!  May they all have comfort and strength from us, their loved ones, and our nation!

How do your students do with retells?  Do you have a scoring page to help you justify how you think they did?  Do you do nonfiction and fiction retells?  What do you score on their retells?  Have you ever recorded their retells?

In the past I have not used an "official form" but yesterday I found two on Reading A-Z that I will be using.
Here are the links to the forms:

Nonfiction Retell Rubric

Fiction retell rubric

If you use either one, please let me know!

SMILES and be safe!

Time For A Few Quotes...Oh How I Missed Reflecting On Them!

HAPPY SUNDAY TO ALL MY BLOGGER FRIENDS!!

Do you need a quote to reflect, ponder, or meditate on?  (never mediated myself, but have heard only positive rewards for those who are able to get to a deep meditative state).

Here are a few for your Sunday, Oct. 28th afternoon:

• You've got to take the good with the bad, smile with the sad, love what you've got, and remember what you had. Always forgive, but never forget. Learn from mistakes, but never regret.- Unknown
• To teach is to learn twice. -Joseph Joubert
• I promise to teach you on one condition that you will also let me learn from you. - Piyush Lodha
•  You can teach better with your example than by your words. - Reed Markham, American Educator
•   What a teacher writes on the blackboard of life can never be erased. -Author Unknown

 SMILES,

 

Similes are as Hilarious as Me Tripping and Falling into a Box

 Wednesday!! We are officially on fall break!   Oh..and it is 65 HEALTHY degrees here! Guess who will spending the day getting caught up vs watching the leaves gently glide to the ground....me!  Busy as the wings on a hummingbird!

Ok..now to the main content of this post!  SIMILES!!!  Have you introduced them to your students yet?
You know these good old guys:  Happy like a bird in flight.  Tight as fuzzy skin on peaches.  Cold as scoops of frozen peas.  Strong as an ox.  Stubborn as a mule.  Fun like writing similes.

Here are three wonderful like sleeping in on Saturday books to share with your students:

This one is also presented on:  pbskids

Here is a BrainPOP Jr. video:  Click Here
Here is a list of activities and ideas as helpful as a cube of Post It notes for you to try too:  Click Here

When we get back from break we are going to write smilies about ourselves and our parents and make them into a class book!  I will be as happy as a Blue Jay who just spotted a slab of suet to share them with you!

Smiles!

Family Pumpkin Presentations

HAPPY TUESDAY!!!!!!!!  So,  I need to say that again, Happy, Terrific Tuesday.  Why, because today was our "Friday."  Tomorrow we have inservice and Thursday and Friday we have Fall break!  Now, that is something to HHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTT about :-)

Today we shared our Family Pumpkin presentations.  This project was adapted from
Mrs. Shedan's Projects.  She is inspiring and creative teacher!! 

Here is  a presentation (my students record)

We are working forehead wrinkling hard on supporting presenters with positive, detailed, and helpful comments and feedback!  My Multi-agers have already have made huge steps!  We have gone from "That's nice" and "I really like it" to "You had wonderful eye contact." 
SUPERB, knock it out of the park, job!!!

SMILES!!
Added thought or looking for suggestions question...anyone have any ideas to pass on for a Halloween costume for a 37 year old Multi-age 1-2 teacher (aka for me)???

Another Shout Out for Color Overlays!

Saturday- I SO NEEDED SATURDAY!!!  TGIS!!!

Have you ever had students who seem like they are staining to read the words, rubbing their eyes during sustained reading time, or frequently blinking when reading black on white text?
Check this out:

A picture I posted in a prior post about colored 

overlays

I have used colored overlays for a few years.  As Dr Warren suggest on her Blog it is best to allow students to choose what color of overlay to use when reading.







Check out her Blog, it is filled with information that you will want to print, add to your Favorites, and share with colleagues!
SMILES and HAPPY READING!!!
 

Mother Nature Fun!

Happy Terrific Taco Thursday-ok I only wish it was Taco Thursday!!!
We recently studies leaves and their parts-the stem, stipule, blade type, and veins.  We looked at the leaves with a magnifying glass!  THEY WERE AMAZED AT THE COMPLEXITY OF THE VEINS!!!  They marveled over the fact that these little guys and gals give are the means for the leaf to get its water supply!
Next we choose our favorite leaf picks and made a picture with the leaves.  We completed the picture by writing a description about it! 
Mother Nature Fun!

Leopard

Circle

Smiles,