The Best of 2013

The new year is here!  Traditionally, radio stations and television shows prepare a list of the most important news stories and/or best songs of the past year.   In that same vein, Stephanie @ Principal's Principles, has created a linky party of the best pins of 2013.  Fun! 

Here are my top 5 Pinterest pins:

I love Pinterest and it has shown me some love right back.  Such an awesome site!  What are your 5 best pins of 2013?

Happy New Year!  And, happy pinning!

I'd love it if you followed me on Pinterest!  

Poetry Month Resources

Take time to celebrate National Poetry Month by checking out these resources:

• It's About Time for Poetry (in the classroom)
• Poetry Teaching Resources from TpT
• Poetry for Kids
• Teaching Poetry  
• Texting Poetry
• Poetry Teaching Resources   
• Simile Poetry
• 20 Terrific Ways to Celebrate National Poetry Month 
• 5 New Twists on Poetry Month  
• 10 Poetry Month Resources for Busy Teachers  
• Shel Silverstein 
• Poetry Anthologies
• Jack Prelutsky
• Hello National Poetry Month
• Poet-tree  
• Blackout Poetry  
• Scholastic Poetry  
• April is National Poetry Month
• National Poetry Month: Useful Resources for Teachers  
• The Poetry Party  
• Grades 6-8: Poetry Workshop 
• National Poetry Month Kidlitosphere Events
• Phone Number Poetry  
• Hands-on Poetry Projects  
• Poetically Speaking  
• Reading Rockets National Poetry Month
• Poetry Literacy Centers - Pt. 1  
• Poetry Literacy Centers - Pt. 2  
• National Poetry Month

                                                        

You may also be interested in a blog series I have written about poetry.  It is an 8 part series called "Using Poetry in the Classroom."  It starts here and goes forward.  

Finally, just a quick reminder that I'm having a National Poetry Month sale through April 30. You can save 20% on ALL of my poetry products on TpT.

Where is the Thanksgiving Turkey?

It's almost turkey time, teachers!  In response to requests by some of my wonderful followers, I have created an emergent reader book for the time leading up to Thanksgiving.

The text is simple, predictable, and supported by the pictures.  Each page follows this pattern:

The turkey is [preposition or prepositional phrase] the [object].

The prepositions may not be familiar to your students.  However, they should be decodable, using the finger masking technique described in my last blog post.  That is, use finger masking to help your students find a recognizable chunk.  For example, on the following page, inside may be unfamiliar to your students.

However, in should be a familiar word.  By covering the rest of the word, you help your student focus on something known.  

Remind your student to quickly check the picture for a clue.  Then direct her to start the sentence again, drawing your finger back as she reaches the masked word.  Repeat this procedure, as necessary, with the other prepositions she encounters.

Where is the Thanksgiving Turkey? also provides the opportunity to work on phrasing and fluency.  Through both direct instruction and modeling, teach your students to phrase as follows:

/The turkey is/   /inside the barn./

/The turkey is/   /in the leaves./

The pattern lends itself perfectly to 3 word phrases, with one exception:  

/The turkey is/     /on top of/     /the pumpkin./

I think it is always wise to put something in that is a little unexpected.  After all, we do want our students attending to the text.

Now is the time to hop over to my TpT store to get your copy of Where is the Thanksgiving Turkey?  It is copy ready in black & white.  Your students will enjoy adding color to the pictures.  It is currently selling for just $1.

There are some great linky parties that you should check out:

• Margaret @ iHeartLiteracy is hosting a linky party for FREE Literacy Resources.  Hurry over there!  Who doesn't love FREE Literacy Resources??

• Linda @ Primary Inspirations is hosting a Turkey Time linky.  There are scores of resources there for you to peruse.  I bet you'll gobble them up!

Until next time...

Word Work, the Reading Recovery Way -- Pt. 9

In the course of your word work, teachers, it’s now time to introduce flexibility for spelling patterns that change sounds.  To this end, make 3 words with the same spelling pattern, but differences in sounds, e.g. come, some, home.  

Say the words for your student, pointing out that the spelling pattern is the same.

Now, make 3 more words with a spelling pattern that changes its sounds, e.g. bear, wear, near.  

It’s time to put the task on the child.  Ask her to say the words.  Then ask her if they are words she has heard before.  If she is able to correctly pronounce all of these words, she is demonstrating flexibility.  If, however, she struggles with this, demonstrate for her how readers try different sounds until the word is familiar.  

If the student struggles with flexibility, you can also address the issue in text reading. For example, Marianne Berkes' book, Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef, is a counting book that rhymes.  Such a book is great for flexibility because it give your student inherent clues for using flexibility.  On the following page, two is a tricky word with an unusual spelling pattern.

When your student pauses at two, quickly cover the text with your hand and ask her what would make sense there.  

If you receive a blank stare, ask her to reread from the beginning of the page.  When she reaches two, insert the /t/ sound for her and wait for two to pop out of her mouth.  Most often it will pop out.  If, however, it doesn't, remind her that this book is a counting story (there is even the numeral 2 on the page) that also rhymes.  Reread with her from the top of the page, thereby pushing her to read more fluently.  When you reach two, again give the initial sound.  Now it should pop out of her mouth.  If, by chance, she still does not produce two, point to the numeral on the page.  Then, have her reread from the top yet again.  

After she reads it correctly, draw her attention to the word two, and ask her if two makes sense there.  Then ask her if the word looks like it could be two.  Assuming she answers affirmatively to both questions, reassure her that, indeed, it does say two, even if it doesn't look like to or too with which she is familiar.  If she still struggles with this text, it may simply be too difficult for her.  Toss it aside and choose another book.

As always, stay with this task until you are confident she understands it.

The time has come to end this series about Word Work. Hopefully, it has been helpful to those of you working with emergent readers.  The complete text, including points not covered in this blog, is available in my TpT store.

Now that we are in the holiday season, everyone tends to feel a time crunch.  In an effort to ease the stress, Melissa at Mrs. Bushnell's 4th grade blogspot is hosting a holiday linky party. Check it out!  It just might save you lots of planning time.

While you are blog hopping, be sure to check out 3 fabulous giveaways.  Stop by Teacher's Toolkit where Wendy is having a huge giveaway to celebrate 200 followers.  (I'm donating a product of the winner's choice.)

Jennifer at Live. Teach. Create. is having a giveaway, too.  (I'm donating Poetry Possibilities - Fall.) Take a minute to enter.

Nicole at One, Two, Three: Math Time is hosting a monthly giveaway.  Her November giveaway has more than 40 teachers donating products.  (I'm also offering Poetry Possibilities - Fall for this giveaway.)

Until next time...

Word Work, the Reading Recovery Way -- Pt. 7

It’s about time, teachers, … to begin working on rimes. 

At the white board, construct 3 known words that have the same onset, e.g. me, my, mom.  

Ask your student what is alike in these words.  Hopefully, she will notice that they all begin with m.  Ask, “Can you say another word that starts like that?”  Whereupon, you accept any word that begins with the same sound.  You need not be concerned about the correct spelling of the word.  That is, a word which is correctly spelled with /kn/ or /gn/ will be perfectly acceptable for the onset sound of /n/. 

On subsequent days, continue working with 1 letter onsets until you are sure the child understands the task and how words work when the onset remains the same.  The goal here is to bring your student's attention to the rime.

Now you are ready to use blends for onsets.  Following the same procedure, construct 3 words with the same initial blend, e.g. she, ship, show.  

Ask her to say another word that starts like that.  However, if she says sit or another word that has the /s/ sound, do NOT accept that word.  If necessary, over emphasize the /sh/ as you repeat the words you constructed.  If she still cannot produce a word with that blend, try again later, but in the same lesson, with a different onset blend.

Just as an aside, if your student struggles with distinguishing between blends and single consonants, you may want to have your speech & language specialist and/or an audiologist, do further assessments on her.

As always, you should proceed to the next task only after your student demonstrates mastery of this task.

It's nearly time for Halloween and in that spirit, my friend, Brian, at 

has boo-ed me. Don't fret that he's being a bully; it's a fun linky party. Brian's blog is well worth a visit. I am especially fond of his Positive Friday posts.  You will also appreciate the fall linky party he's running.

Now, here's the scoop on the I've Been Boo-ed linky party:

1. When you have been boo-ed, copy and paste the above picture and these "rules" into your blog post.
2. Give a shout out to the blogger who boo-ed you and link back to their site.
3. Share 3 - 5 October activities, books, products (yours or others'), and/or freebie(s) that you love.
4. Share the boo love with 5 bloggers.  Make sure you check this link to avoid boo-ing someone who has already been boo-ed.

Now it's time for me to share resources:

1. My emergent reader book, What the Little Ghost Saw on Halloween, has been extremely popular.  Don't miss out on this FREE book.                                                                                                                  
2. I also have a FREE Autumn Scarecrow Glyph.    It's fun and easy.                                                                                      
3. Lest you think I'm only focused on the littlest scholars, let me assure you that I'm always on the lookout for activities for intermediate students.  In my role as an enrichment specialist for the school, I was thrilled to find Lisa's Boo! Ha Ha! Math Centers for Bigger Kids at Fourth and Ten. She uses them to constructively engage the students who have mastered a math skill while she works with those who need more help.  That's a win-win!                                             

The time has come to share some Boo love ...

• Lisa from Fourth and Ten
• Tammy from Forever in First
• Storie from Stories by Storie
• Tammy at Groovy in 3rd
• Amy, Gretchen, & Shelley from 3 Teacher Chicks 

Linky Parties, Giveaways, & a Flash Sale - Oh My!

It's fall and that means it's time for some teaching fun.  Linky parties are a great way to find products and people/blogs that peak your interest.  Here are a few you may find interesting:

Valerie's Fall Linky Party

Teacher2Teacher Fall Fun!

Kristin's Differentiation Linky Party

Heather's Blog Hop

What could be more fun than a giveaway?  Check these out:

Fall is Here Giveaway

Blessings Giveaway

It's about time for a sale, a flash sale.  I'm offering 15% off everything in my TpT Store on Sunday, 9/30/12, only.  Hurry or you'll miss it!

Enjoy the last weekend of September!

$1 Words FREEBIE

Do you ever shop at the Dollar Store?  I have to say that I rarely do so, but my sister shops there a lot and gets some of the most amazing bargains.  Recently she picked up some lovely gift bags, greeting cards, and even some baby socks for my soon-to-arrive grandson.  Hmmm, I may have to schedule a trip soon.  

In the meantime, her shopping foray made me think about $1 Words.  If you teach intermediate students and/or G/T students, you HAVE to do these with your students!  What??? You don't know what $1 Words are!!!!!

Settle in while I educate you, because it's about time you teach it.  

A $1 Word is any word that has a value of exactly $1 when its letters are added together using the following chart of values:

There is a book by Marilyn Burns about $1 words available on Amazon for $11.92.  It has gone out of print from time to time, so if you are interested, there are currently 8 available.

As the title indicates, it is a riddle book that leads children to $1 words through pictures and riddles.  I love that because too often teachers assign their students to find $1 words without any hints.  Please don't do that to your students.  It completely overwhelms them and makes them frustrated.  How exactly would YOU approach an assignment like that?

Ahh, but I have a solution to offer.  I have composed over 400 clues that can be copied and distributed to your students.  

Try to solve these:

Undoubtedly, you reached for a calculator.  Did you use a thesaurus or dictionary?  Perhaps not; it is the 21st century, after all.  But, those are options you will want to offer your students.  It's a great way to get them to learn about a thesaurus!

In the spirit of the 21st century, however, you can introduce them to thesauri on the computer.  My personal favorite resource is a Reverse Dictionary.  It allows the students to type their clue and then receive a list of words that satisfy that clue.   [Please be aware that the Reverse Dictionary is a dynamic site.  You will get different lists each time you try it with the same clue.  My warning is that, as a dynamic site, it will, rarely, give an inappropriate word.  I have not yet found a way to prevent this.  So, you may wish to preview the list before you set your student free to peruse it.]  

Try the Reverse Dictionary yourself here.  Now, arm your students with a calculator (excellent practice) and their list of possible words.  Then sit back and watch.  It is soooo very rewarding when the 1st $1 word is found!  The successful detective is bound to spring up shouting, "I found one!  I found one!"  Now all the other students will be doubly determined to find one for themselves.

These clues would make a great math center.  They could also be given out as a sponge activity.  In my school, however, I use them as a grade level challenge.  (I'm the enrichment teacher who runs a pull-out program.)  My 3rd graders can hardly wait for the annual challenge to begin!  I think it may be the highlight of their year.  :o)

Pitting each class of 3rd grade enrichment students against the others brings out a flurry of activity that makes the entire rest of the school stand back in awe.  Enrichment students  beg their classroom teacher to allow them to come to me to get another clue as soon as they solve one.  This is spurred on, of course, by my public display of each team's score on a daily basis.  

You are probably curious about the Bonus Buck above.  Quite simply, that clue has 2 possible answers.  I reward the students with 2 points if s/he can find both answers.  Check back tomorrow for the answers to the clues.

In the meantime, if you are intrigued by $1 words, you may wish to check out my $1 Word products.  Begin with the freebie:

You can find it at my TpT Store or in my TN Shop.  It will give you a much more complete understanding of the competition I run and 45 FREE clues!

Before I close, I found the following linky parties that you may be interested in checking out:

Donna at Math Coach's Corner is having a math linky party.  She has it divided into grade levels for your convenience.










Jeannie at Kindergarten Lifestyle is having a K - 2 linky party.  Check it out, too!