Search This Blog

Monday, June 10, 2013

What the Teacher Said

Having been a teacher for more than 30 years, I've said a lot.  But that's not what this post is about.  This post is about what teachers have said about my products.

My teaching passions are many, but chief among them are materials that promote critical thinking and problem solving.  My appetite for this was first whetted wwwaaaaayyyyy back in my second year of teaching when I attended a state conference on gifted education.  It was there that I was first introduced to the  critical thinking activity, Hink Pinks, and their cousins, Hinky Pinkies and Hinkity Pinkities.  


 My enthusiasm for Hink Pinks et al. has never waned.  Indeed, I have used them with every class from 1st grade to 5th. It takes a little more prompting to get 1st graders to combine syllable constraints with synonyms, but there is nothing more rewarding than seeing that "lightbulb moment" when a little one gets it.


You can see examples of my Hink Pinks et al. by going here.  Several of them are free! If you try them, I think you will like them. But, you don't have to take my word for it.  Here's what the teachers said:



If you would like to check out my Hink Pink et al. products, click here.  By the way, they are CCSS aligned.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

FREEBIES!

(To the tune of A Bicycle Built for Two)

Freebies, freebies  ♪ ♫ 
Everyone loves freebies.  
They are sublime!        ♪ 
They save you oh so much time!
So go to my TpT store   
Where you'll find freebies galore!      
'Cause if you do    ♫ ♪ 
I promise you    ♪ ♫ 
Will find freebies that you adore.  ♫  


Click here.


Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Common Core Alignment

I've been busy aligning my products to the CCSS.  Although it is taking quite a bit of my time, I hope that it will save YOU time!  Still have lots of products to go, but summer is here...


Click here to check out the products I have finished aligning.  Come back often as I continue to add more aligned products.  Then, take some time to enjoy your summer!




Monday, May 20, 2013

Do You Speak Reading Recovery?

While going through my files, organizing for the end of the year, ...


... I came upon the following poem.  At the end of my training year in Reading Recovery, I wrote it for our "graduation" program.  Hopefully, it will give you a grin. 



Do You Speak Reading Recovery®?
by Barb Evans



Many fields, as it’s well known,
Have alphabets all their own.
A lawyer earns a J.D.
Doctors review a C.T.,
While in football the QB
Will try to score a TD.
Now in this, my training year,
I’ve developed a new ear
For the RR alphabet.
How many of these can you get?

We teach RR (letters tall).
We take rr-s (letters small).
Each day we must M-S-V,
Decide what made them SC,
Then conduct some M & B,
And pray we’re not O-O-T.
And much to our grief and woe
It’s B. T. G. we must go.                        
We started with the O.S.S. 
Which consists of all of these tests:  
L.I.D., O.W.T.,
C.A.P., and W.V. 
Then of our students we ask
To complete the Dictation task.
They must wonder, “What could be next?”
Why, then they must read leveled text!
After that it’s R.A.T.K.
Then F.A.R.T. for one day.
Our job is to closely observe,
Then record so we can preserve
The things that the child does well.
That’s the programme – Oops!  S.O.L.
The prompts that were written by Clay
Are the things we must learn to say.
One prompt is N.R. T.T.A.
Another:  Can we say it that way?
My favorite prompt is, I confess—
G.Y.M.R.F.T.F.S. –
It really is in the Guide Book –
In italics!  It’s there, just look!
“Take your G.B. with you to bed,”
So our T.L. has often said.
And so with our spouses we plead,
“Just go to sleep, dear.  I must read!”