It's Wednesday...What Are You Reading?

Next week I have a presentation to do in my district on RtI....what is it, what is Tier 2, and how can we make the most out of our intervention time that is scheduled into everyone's day? As I was prepping, I came across this fabulous professional resource. 

Not only does the author do a wonderful job of describing the differences in tiers, the book is also filled with ready to use intervention plans. My absolute favorite part of the book was the table of contents in the back, which is organized by what kids are struggling with. 

For example, one section says "When Students Zone Out During Reading," and listed below are two intervention lessons to try from the book (full week long lessons included!!):

Intervention #34 teaching students how to monitor their silent reading comprehension 

Intervention #35 coding text to improve comprehension 

Here's a link to amazon to check out it!!

http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Intervention-Strategies-Students-ebook/dp/B005ISU1WG/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1375276662&sr=8-5&keywords=Rti

Pinterest Love...Family Menu

So, I started 2013 off really ambitious...a Pinterest project a week...I think I even made a board called,"52 Weeks = 52 Organization Projects." Right about the time of parent teacher conferences, I started slacking! But, I still love myself a great project now and then! Here's a project I recently completed for my kitchen...

Materials: 

Magnetic metal slab from Hobby Lobby (used my 40% off coupon) 

Chalkboard paint

Wine corks (I've been saving these for a little bit!) 

What I Did 

Spray paint the metal slab with chalkboard paint...it needed a couple coats. Let dry. 

Glue wine corks around edge to match wine theme in kitchen. 

Used 3M strips for wall mounting. 

Hang and add what you wish...ours is used for a weekly menu, but it'd be great for grocery lists, reminders, cute quotes...

Easy, cheap, cute! 

Farmer's Market Saturday!

Summer Saturdays are Farmer's Market days for our family! I love picking up ingredients for fresh salsa! Here's my Chopped Farmers Market Salsa recipe :)

3 large ripe tomatoes, seeded and finely chopped (I squeeze my tomatoes like I'm juicing a lemon...works great! A few seeds won't hurt)

1 onion, finely chopped (need about 3 tbsp) *

1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 poblano pepper, seeded and finely chopped (optional)

2-3 cloves minced garlic *

1 tbsp chopped cilantro (or more, if you prefer stronger cilantro taste)

2-3 tbsp line juice

Salt and pepper to taste 

Chop it up, mix it up, let chill for 2-3 hours to soak up flavored. Makes 3 small jars. 

*a friend suggested running garlic/onions under hot water and draining before mixing in. 

And this is what you'll get...

 Yum!!! Enjoy :)

This week I stopped by a stand I had not visited before called One by One...check out this adorable headband I picked up! 

Her stuff is too cute for words...check out her website and head over to her Facebook page!!!

 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lstaubin

 

https://www.facebook.com/OneByOneKaukauna?fref=pb&hc_location=profile_browser

 

Children's Book of the Week

My son loves, loves, loves to be read to...it doesn't take us more than a day to plow through the pile of books we get at the library each week!! I'd like to share a favorite of his each week. This week...Tickle Monster by Josie Bissett. I bought this book a long time ago, and it wasn't until recently he really got into it. We have so much fun acting out the book as we read!

Bookworm.com shares this review:
" Share the treasured gift of laughter with your child and you ll create memories that will last a lifetime. This book is well on its way to becoming a celebrated children s classic. It makes a wonderful gift for parents, grandparents and children for almost any occasion baby showers, birthdays, Mother s Day or Father s Day. The best sound in the world is the glorious sound of your children laughing, says author Josie Bissett. Children love playfulness. They love silliness and they LOVE being tickled. Laughing together creates a bond between you and your children like no other. There is no greater gift than the gift of shared laughter and memories. A loveable monster with big puffy mitts has just flown in from Planet Tickle. His mission is to bring joy and laughter to Planet Earth. How? By tickling any child who happens to follow along in this book. Parents read aloud and do the tickling, while their children squirm and giggle with delight."

What Are You Reading?

This summer I promised myself I'd dive into the pile of books I had waiting for me...personal and professional. With required reading for grad classes, I didn't get as far as I had hoped, but I did get through a couple that are totally worth sharing! Today I want to start with one I am just finishing (and was SUCH an easy read) - Notebook Connections: Strategies for the Reader's Notebook by Aimee Buckner. Fabulous!


As an intermediate teacher, I am constantly struggling with getting my students to write authentic entries in their reader's notebooks. Like most, my ultimate goal...that shining moment...would be for my students to be enjoying their books and- now here's the kicker- want to write about their thinking! Buckner's book focuses on making the notebook a meaningful, useful tool for students, teachers, and even parents!

Aimee Buckner does an incredible job of sharing how she uses notebooks in her classroom to bridge student thinking and understanding with their conversations and to share student thinking with parents. She provides useful, easy to implement strategies for the reader's notebook that I cannot wait to try out when I launch my workshop this year. I especially love how she incorporates mini strategy lessons into her conferences that all involve the use of the notebook.

Here's a sample of one of my favorite strategies...We all struggle with our book abandoners. Buckner suggests a lesson called "What Keeps Me Reading" at the beginning of the year that get students thinking about staying involved with a book, and then revisiting this idea throughout the year in their notebooks.

Here's a link to the book on Amazon...it's worth a visit!
Notebook Connections by Aimee Buckner

Classroom Theme

I know it's not even August yet...but...I am so excited to set up my classroom with my new theme this year! Every year I tell myself...I am reusing my theme next year...and every year, I find a new one...I've done sports, stars, jungle, puzzle...but this year, I'm stepping out of the box a bit and trying a technology theme! So, here are my ideas so far...

Door: 4th grade is "Twitterific" (with strips for students to tweet their learning)
Information Bulletin Board: Class "Facebook" page...include LOL section (joke of the day!)
Student Work Board: Pinterest board (each student will have a "repined by _________" under their work)
Math Word Wall: www.ilovemath.com (title)
Book Shelf: Class "Readbox" instead of Redbox
Book Recommendations: What's On Your Kindle?
Cubbie labels: iPods
Daily Schedule: Today's "Playlist"
Reading Center: ctrl, alt, del pillows (How I Met Your Mother inspired!!) 
Job Board: iHelp
Classroom Contract "Wii" Promise To...(have students create "mi's")
Reading Board: iRead....Do You?!
Science Board: ScienceTube?


Still trying to figure out how I'm going to integrate Instagram somewhere...

I'll post pics as things get accomplished!!!

Any other great ideas? Share them with me!

Our Top Ten (Almost) Free Summer Activities

1. Build a Fort 
What kid doesn't love a secret hiding place? Whether it's to hold a club meeting or hide from the monsters, a fort is a great way to spend a rainy day indoors...or get extra creative and build it outside!! Here is a photo of my little guy enjoying our fort this morning!

2. Go on a bug safari! 
I'm as skittish as they come when it comes to insects of any sort...but there's something about doing it with my two year old that helps me forget my fears. Our friend "hopper" has been living with us for over a week now...I'm just waiting for the morning I wake up and he's not there because he's hopping around my kitchen!!

3. Popcorn and a movie...at home! 
Pop some popcorn, turn down the lights, and enjoy and at home theatre experience!! Our little guys loves to buy "concessions" from our kitchen concession stand before snuggling in for a good flick!! Remember, no cell phones allowed during the show!!

4. Ice Cream in a Bag
We wowed Daddy last week with our homemade ice cream, and we didn't even have to go to the store!! Here's what we did:

Fill a gallon ziplock bag half halfway with ice and a half cup of salt (rock salt is best, but we used table salt).

Fill a pint or quart sized bag with a cup of half and half, two tablespoons salt, one teaspoon of vanilla.  Seal it up tight.

Pull the small bag inside the big bag and..SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE!! Shake for about 5-7 minutes. If its not firm enough, put it in the freezer for a couple minutes.

We topped with caramel, chocolate, and frinkles (sprinkles!!)

5. Park of the Week 

Our city and the surrounding areas are filled with parks, big and small. We like to pick a park of the week and go on a nice sunny morning :) On those extra ambitious days, we pair it up with a pre-nap picnic!! 

6. Visit the library!
The first time we went to the library, I spent most of the time saying, "shhh!!" After a couple more trips, I realized that the children's section is filled with noisy, excited kids...and that it was not necessary to "shhhh!" after all :) Since that realization, we love weekly visits to the library to play, read, and bring home new books for the week!

7. Visit a local beach!
Splash in the water, build a sand castle, soak up the sun...but don't forget your sunscreen!!! Check out this handsome dude strutting his stuff at our local beach!!

8. Make homemade bubbles!
Bend a wire hanger into a circle to make a homemade bubble wand. Then mix soap and water to make a bubbly mixture. We like to tint it with food coloring to make colored bubbles.

This weekend we plan to mix in a little gel from a glow stick to see if we can make glow in the dark bubbles...more to follow if that works out!

9. Go to the Farmer's Market.
Every town around has a local Farmer's Market. We love to go browse all of the goodies. My summer obsession this year is picking up all the ingredients for fresh salsa...tomatoes, jalapeño, onion, peppers, garlic, and cilantro. Chop it up, mix it up...YUM! Message me for my Farmer's Market salsa recipe :)

10. Have a dance party!
Close the shades (or don't!), crank up the tunes, and dance away! My two year old has some amazing moves to share...I'm sure yours do too!!!

What are your favorite summer activities that are free family fun? Share with us!

Welcome!!

Hi! Thanks for stopping by to check out my blog. I'm new to this whole blogging thing, so bare with me! I'm anxious to share and learn with the rest of the blogging world out there. I'm a mommy of an incredible two year old boy, a wife to my amazing husband Jason, and a fourth grade teacher. I have a lot going on, and so much to say, and need an outlet for it all...so thanks for being here to listen and share with me!!