Teach123 - tips for teaching elementary school

Memorial Day Freebies & Giveaway

2013-05-17T23:00:00.000-07:00

I have some great news! Some friends of mine have generously donated some Memorial Day lessons for my giveaway. I am going to giveaway all of the paid for lessons to 3 lucky teachers on Monday, May 20th. I also have a couple of freebies for you, too.

April, a.k.a. the Modern Teacher, has donated the picture above. You can use this many different ways. Print it off and use it as a front cover for a class book. Or you can hang it at the top of chart tablet paper and let your students list the reasons why they are proud to be Americans.

Click HERE to visit April's blog and to get your freebie.

I am making this free during the giveaway. This packet has 5 picture writing prompts.

Click HERE to download.

You have a chance to win the following:

This first packet is from Hadar also known as Miss Kindergarten. This is an adorable way that you can honor our men and women in the armed forces. The great thing about this packet is it can be used for Memorial Day or Veterans Day.

Click HERE to visit Hadar's blog.

Click HERE to find out more about Hadar's packet.

From Yvonne and Brian Crawford you can win this Memorial Day packet. It is on the 2nd grade level and is aligned with Common Core. This is a great way to integrate math and literacy with Memorial Day fun!

Click HERE to visit Yvonne and Brian's blog.

Click HERE to read more about this packet.

You can win this subtraction math center from Fern Smith. It is aligned with 2nd grade Common Core Standards. This center is quick and easy to set up and is sure to be a hit with your class!

Click HERE to visit Fern's blog.

Click HERE to read more about this packet.

Teri, also known as "A Cupcake for the Teacher" has donated Heart the Flag craftivity to the giveaway. This packet is not only cute but is also versatile. It can be used for Patriots Day, Veterans Day, and Memorial Day.

Click HERE to visit Teri's blog.

Click HERE to read more about it.

You students can learn about the history and traditions with my friend, Arlene's Memorial Day packet. It is aligned with 2nd and 3rd grade Common Core Standards. This makes a great social studies unit.

Click HERE to visit Arlene's blog.

Click HERE to read more about it.

You can win my Memorial Day packet. You read more about it HERE.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Late Work

2013-05-17T07:45:00.000-07:00

Late work . . . it is on the top 10 list of teacher frustrations, right? After teaching in different districts in different states, I have found there is no universal policy when it comes to late work. My late work policy is one of those things that kept evolving the longer I taught. When I first began teaching I was very legalistic. If a student was absent two days, he or she had two days to make up the missing assignments when he or she returned to school. I then tried extending it to one week to make up the missing work before the assignment became a zero.

Many times I caught myself telling the parent that I was "preparing the child for life" when the parent took issue with my policy. But, then I had an epiphany when I really thought about the "preparing a child for life" statement. What are the due dates that adults have? Paying bills is a big one! I can turn in my taxes and electric bills late. Granted there is a penalty involved, but the IRS and the electric company are still happy to take my money. There is even a grace period with most companies that allows you to pay your bill after the due date without a penalty. But, by the same token, there is a line in the sand when the IRS says you have to pay or go to jail and the electric company says you have to pay or we'll turn off your electricity. So, if I took this same "preparing for life" outlook and applied it to school, what would it look like? I decided that all work must be turned in before the last week of the grading period. That is my line in the sand. Beginning on Monday of the last week of the grading period, all missing assignments are marked as zeros.

The next part is a little tricky. What type of penalties should be given for late work? If a student is absent, he or she should be given a week to make up missing work without a penalty. I decided to dock all other missing assignment 10%. I didn't feel like the student deserved full credit for the work, but if the penalty is too severe the student won't be motivated to do the work. Students who have trouble turning in their work are usually either disengaged with school or they lack organizational skills. Do I really want to make the student hate school even more by being legalistic? I want them to complete the work and hopefully learn something in the process.

Another thing you can do that is like real life is to have an amnesty day. Even the IRS has an Amnesty Day. You can approach this two different ways.

Approach #1: Don't announce it ahead of time. This is kind of like a pop quiz. One day announce that today is "Amnesty Day". Students are given class time to work on missing assignments. Work turned in on that day will not be given the 10% penalty. Here's the best part! Students who don't have any missing assignments are given free choice as their reward. They can work on computers, read a book, centers, etc.

Approach #2: Announce ahead of time that ___ day is going to be Amnesty Day so students can work on missing assignments at home. All missing assignments turned in on Amnesty Day won't receive the 10% penalty. Students who have cleared all of their missing assignments will get to participate in free choice. I'm sure you will have some motivated little workers with this approach!

Check out my Late Workitis for more ideas for dealing with late work.

Click HERE to visit my TPT store.

Fluency Fun

2013-05-14T11:33:00.001-07:00

Fluency lessons are often neglected in a reading program. Phonics, phonemic awareness, and comprehension are typically the lessons that get the most instruction time. We often rely on parents to read with their children 20 minutes a night to strengthen students' fluency skills. Poor fluency skills often do not affect students until they go to middle school. These students are expected to large amounts of material in a short period of time. Even though they can read and comprehend the words, they fall behind in their studies due to their limited fluency rate.

The bottom line is a quality program needs balance. Where do you find more time in an already hectic day? My answer was to work smarter. We incorporated some fluency activities during our reading group lessons and I added a fluency center that students could work independently each week. My students' fluency rate improved when I became more balanced in my approach to reading.

Some of you may have already discovered my Fluency Center page on my blog. It has fluency centers that are aligned with Common Core. There are centers on reading levels: K-5.

If you have a small classroom, you can set these centers up as a file folder game. This post has tips.

I just updated my 1st grade Fluency Center bundle today. I added a new writing assignment to each center plus when you purchase the bundle you get 4 Paper Saver mini books. The mini books are only available with the bundle packet. You save $4 when you purchase the bundle.

The bundle includes:

Space themed fluency center
Reading level: 1.0

Fluency center #1

Reading level: 1.0

Pet themed fluency center

Reading level: 1.5

Fishing theme fluency center

Reading level: 1.2

4 Paper Savers mini books. This is the Fishing mini book.

I just added this writing assignment to each center.

If you previously purchased this packet, you may go to "my purchases" to download the new writing assignments and mini books.

Click HERE to visit my TPT store.

Oceans Bundle

2013-05-08T01:00:00.000-07:00

Are you a bargain shopper? I am always on the look out for a way to save money. If you are like me, you are in luck! I just bundled 3 of my ocean-themed packets which is aligned with 1st and 2nd grade Common Core Standards. You can save 20% when you purchase these packets as a bundle. What is even better is right now is the Teacher Appreciation Sale so you can save even more money.

This fluency center is on the 1st grade reading level. You can read more about it HERE.

Students will practice their measurement skills with this center. Read more about it HERE.

This Oceans of Fun packet is full of ocean-themed activities for your students. Read more about it HERE.

Click HERE if you'd like to purchase this bundle packet.

TPT Sale

2013-05-07T01:00:00.000-07:00

Have you heard the news? Teachers Pay Teachers is having a sale on Tuesday and Wednesday! If you use the code, TAD13, you can save 10% on anything that you purchase on the site. Many sellers are also making down their lessons for additional savings. My entire store is marked down 20%.

I also have a new packet that is free until May 8th. I wanted to show my loyal blog followers a little appreciation during the TPT Teacher Appreciation sale. Click HERE to download your freebie.

Free until MAY 8TH.

Click on picture to visit my store.

Fabulous Feedback

2013-05-06T06:47:00.000-07:00

I am joining Christina @ Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge for her Fabulous Feedback linky party.

If you are the person who left the feedback below, email me (teach123.school@gmail.com) and I will let you choose one lesson packet from my store.

I really enjoy getting feedback. I loved hearing how Matthox used this packet for sub plans. Great idea!

You can find this first feedback HERE.

Stedmoo really made me smile with this feedback! Stedmoo is my own personal P.R. department. I love it! Thank you Stedmoo!

You can find this feedback HERE.

If there was an award I could give for the early bird buyer, this award would go to salliehoosier. Sallie is one of my most faithful shoppers who is the first one to purchase my new fluency packets. Thank you Sallie!

You can find the feedback HERE.

Don't forget! The 3 shoppers above need to choose a packet from my store and email me (teach123.school@gmail.com).

Sale @ Teachers Notebook

2013-05-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

Have you heard the news? The Teachers Notebook site is having a week long sale to celebrate Teachers Appreciation Week! All week long you can save 10% on everything on the site. Each seller is offering additional savings, too. There will also be a daily giveaway for a $100 Oriental Trading gift certificate.

For two days on May 4th and 5th, you can shop at my TN store and save an additional 40%. With the 10% Steve, the TN owner is giving, you will save 50% during these two days. Who doesn't love a good bargain?!!!

This is the perfect time to stock up on those big bundles that you've had your eye on for a while.

Mother's Day

2013-05-01T21:34:00.003-07:00

I have a special treat for my loyal blog followers! I just added a new Sentence Shuffle fluency center that is about Mother's Day. This fluency is free until May 8th. This is my special treat to all of you moms who are also teachers!

This center is on the 2.8 reading level. There are also 2 writing assignments included with this packet. Click HERE to get your packet.

Cinco de Mayo

2013-04-29T22:07:00.000-07:00

Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner! Have you made plans for it yet? I have a Fiesta freebie that would be fun for your students to do. In this freebie packet, you get:

Put themed words in alphabetical order.

How about a little poetry fun, too?

Students can write about how their family celebrates Fiesta.

Make salsa with your class and then have your students write a "how to" about their experience.

Click HERE to download your free copy.

Don't forget to leave feedback! :)

Tips to use with students with health problems

2013-04-25T06:28:00.000-07:00

Do you have students with health problems? One of the things I have discovered from teaching in a variety of school districts, is that each district handles disseminating this information in different ways. Some schools scheduled time during the inservice days before school began to review our students' files for information like this. Others left it up to the parents to tell the teacher. Some districts had the school nurse compile a list of all of the students in the school with health issues and gave every employee a copy. There is usually a code beside the student's name. I.E. Amy Brown - #4, Patrick Campbell - #1, 4, Jake Diaz - #2, etc. Codes can be for things like: asthma, ADHD, nut allergy, diabetes, or other ailments.

The "look at your students' files" during in-service week disseminates the information but there are a few drawbacks to this method. Teachers have to write down pertinent information. This is a hectic time for teachers so it is easy to overlook important details that are in the files. Usually it is only the classroom teachers looking at his/her files. Yet, teachers often share recess duty and lunch duty with each other. It can create problems if teachers do not remember to tell their co-workers that they are sharing recess/lunch duty about important details like nut allergies or asthma.

Depending on the parent method isn't very efficient either. The school's philosophy (I'm guessing) is that the medical information cards are in the nurse's office, if a teacher has a question about a student, they know where to go to find the information. Parents often think that since they filled out the medical information card, they have done their duty of informing the school. I always tell my friends who have a child with chronic health issues to send a note/email to their child's teacher.

I think the nurse compiling a list with health codes and giving it to every employee is the best method. Think about how many different school employees come in contact with your students on a daily basis! All teachers and assistants who supervise the lunchroom should know on sight every child with a food allergy. Teachers who have recess duty and the P.E. teachers need to know which students have asthma. The list goes on and on, but you get the picture.

It is also helpful to add a note to your weekly parent communication reminding parents that you would appreciate a "heads up" if their child is taking any type of medicine or having health problems that might affect them at school. You have probably had a student or two through the years with asthma. I got adult onset asthma when I turned 35. You may have heard a few tips about asthma when you've sat through inservices for handling medical issues in the classroom. After dealing with the side effects of my asthma medication, I now have a new outlook on my students with asthma. Did you know that if you have asthma . . .

*You can be fine one minute and in full asthma distress the next. It doesn't happen like this every time or for every one. For some people, it is a slow decline for others it hits you quick.

*Not every person will wheeze or cough. For some, they get tightness in their chest. The best way I know how to describe it is, imagine taking your husband's belt and putting it on around your chest at the smallest notch so your chest can barely expand and contract. Then imagine wearing that all day. Try to carry your heavy tote bag or backpack when you have this tight belt on. How about running 2 laps around the gym? Any physical effort makes you sweat and causes shortness of breath. Sometimes students need to be excused from physical activities. Taking a couple of puffs of your rescue inhaler does not always fix this problem.

*Asthma is worse at night. Part of the problem has to do with your lungs being flattened somewhat when you sleep. Some people sleep in a recliner when they are having a flare up to help with this. This doesn't give you the best quality of sleep. It's not unusual to be woken up 2-3 times a night during a flare up. Remember how tired you were when you had a newborn baby with the late night feedings? For your students with asthma and their parents the sleepless nights aren't just a 6-8 week bleary memory. It is ongoing! These students will often come in tardy during a flareup. Can you blame them?

*Each patient with asthma reacts differently to the medicines that they take. Most maintenance medicines have few side effects. What you may have noticed is a behavior change when your student is having a flare up. Suddenly, this normally well behaved child is irritable, can't sit still, fidgets, interrupts your lesson, doesn't finish his/her work, and has a host of other issues. I have many of the same symptoms. It feels like your are a hamster on speed. Yes, I am exhausted from the interrupted sleep, but at the same time I feel this need to do something physical because I have all of this pent up energy. I have woken up my family before at 2 a.m. because I can't sleep. I can't focus on doing something quiet like read a book. I usually go into cleaning frenzy when I experience this. My husband wasn't too happy when I woke him up at 2 a.m. banging dishes as I cleaned out my kitchen cabinets.

Do you have a student who has been a discipline problem lately? Do you have a student with a recent behavior change? If so, review their medical information card to see if this could be root of the problem.

Twitter

2013-04-24T08:29:00.002-07:00

It's official! I have joined Twitter. I plan to share news about the world of education, lessons, and other tips that I thought was interesting. When I first signed up I found 108 people to follow. Is there anyone or an organization that you would recommend?

Here are my first few tweets:

Teacher Lingo Grand Opening

2013-04-21T16:07:00.001-07:00

I just opened a new store on the Teacher Lingo site. I am going to make the packet below for free today from 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. (California time zone) to celebrate my grand opening. Please leave feedback on the site telling me where you heard about this (i.e. blog, pinterest, or FB). Thank you!

Reading level: 1.5

Click HERE to visit my Teacher Lingo store.

Travel Journal

2013-04-17T13:38:00.001-07:00

Do you have students who go on vacation during the school year? Do you wonder what type of work to give them to make up for their absence(s)? Help make their trip more educational with a travel journal! Use this for their makeup assignments. This travel journal includes the following skills: weather comparison chart, compare your town with the vacation destination with a venn diagram, map skills, elapsed time, counting money, and writing. I make several of these at the beginning of the year so when a parent drops by to tell me about an upcoming trip, I have a travel journal ready to hand them. Students share their journal when they return. Parents LOVE this because it is a great keepsake and educational!

Click HERE if you wish to purchase this packet.

Font: Tech Tip

2013-04-16T11:38:00.001-07:00

Today's tech tip is for those of you who have purchased my fonts packet. Some of the fonts included in this packet look like the one below. The font is an outline of the letters. Some teachers use it like this for the titles of their lessons. Students like to color in the letters. You can even use it to make pattern worksheets. Students can color in the letters.

If you want to add color to the inside of the letters like the colored ones below, in powerpoint, you highlight the letters that you want to change.

Highlight the letters that you want to add color to, click on "format", click on "fonts" and click on "text glow". When you see the screen below, you choose the color and size of the text glow.

Click below to see the outline-letter fonts included with my font packet.

#1 CLICK HERE

#2 CLICK HERE

Hop over to Fern's tech tip linky party for more tech tips!

New Fonts

2013-04-15T05:36:00.001-07:00

I just added some new fonts to my "Fonts by Teach123" packet. If you have already purchased this packet, you may go to "my purchases" to download the new fonts for free.

The stars are from one of my favorite graphic artist, Ashley Hughes.

Farm and Zoo centers

2013-04-14T15:13:00.001-07:00

1st Grade

Reading Level: 1.9

This center is aligned with Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade Common Core Standards. I included teacher tips that includes different ways you can set up this center. One of them is perfect for teachers who have small classrooms.

Directions are included so your students won't interrupt your reading group lesson if they weren't paying attention when you explained what they needed to do. Students put the cards in stacks on one of the pages above. There is a colorful version and an ink-friendly black and white version.

There are 24 colorful cards and 24 ink-friendly black and white cards included.

When students finish making and reading real and nonsense sentences, they have the option of two different writing assignments. Or you can have your students use this centers for two weeks and complete a different writing assignment each week.

This is a bonus bundle packet. The bonus is the Paper-Saver Mini-books. These are the sentences students could make with the fluency center cards. This can be set up as an extra center, seat work, or homework.

Click HERE if you want to purchase this packet individually.

1st Grade

Reading level: 1.0

There are 24 colorful cards and 24 ink-friendly black and white cards included.

Click HERE if you want to purchase this packet individually.

Click HERE if you would like to purchase the bundle.

Free Fluency Center

2013-04-12T07:35:00.001-07:00

Looking for fluency activities? I just updated my fluency freebie. I added some short passages. If you need longer passages, I recommend visiting Reading A to Z. This is a great site with leveled passages. There are even some free books that you can download.

Click HERE to get your freebie.

Shark and Octopus - 3rd grade

2013-04-11T17:59:00.000-07:00

Are your students' attention beginning to stray? Have they caught Spring fever yet? One thing that helps is to plan high interest activities. What student doesn't love sharks and octopuses? When I saw the clipart packet with these little guys I knew I had to make a lesson with them.

This can be set up as a center or a folder game. Click HERE for ideas for setting it up as a center. Click HERE for ideas for setting it up as a folder game. This post also has a free printable for you.This center is on the 3rd grade reading level and is aligned with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade Common Core Standards. Included in this packet is a center sign with a white background which is ink friendly. Hang the directions sign in your center in case your students don't listen when you explain the directions the first time. They now have a handy reference tool instead of interrupting your lesson. I include pictures from the 2 posts above.

Students shuffle the cards and sort them into piles. They will sort by color in the colored version of the game and sort by pattern of the frame around the phrases in the black and white version. If you want to make this center colorful but don't want to spend extra money on ink, copy it on colored paper or card stock. Students will put the cards on the sorting sheet. There is a colorful sorting sheet and black & white sorting sheet. After students finish making and reading sentences, they will choose 3 of their sentences to write on the page above.After students choose one card from each stack of cards that is on the sorting page, they will put the cards in the correct order to make a sentence. Then they will read their sentence to their partner. Then it is their partner's turn. Students continue making real and/or nonsense sentences until they run out of cards. They can either shuffle the cards and make more sentences or complete the writing assignment.

Reading level: 3.4

Click HERE to visit my TPT store.

Click HERE to visit my TN store.

This center is on the 3rd grade reading level and is aligned with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade Common Core Standards. Included in this packet is a center sign with a white background which is ink friendly. Hang the directions sign in your center in case your students don't listen when you explain the directions the first time. They now have a handy reference tool instead of interrupting your lesson. Students shuffle the cards and sort them into piles. They will sort by color in the colored version of the game and sort by pattern of the frame around the phrases in the black and white version. If you want to make this center colorful but don't want to spend extra money on ink, copy it on colored paper or card stock. Students will put the cards on the sorting sheet. There is a colorful sorting sheet and black & white sorting sheet. After students finish making and reading sentences, they will choose 3 of their sentences to write on the page above or there is a writing prompt page that they can complete. I included two writing assignments so you can differentiate.

After students choose one card from each stack of cards that is on the sorting page, they will put the cards in the correct order to make a sentence. Then they will read their sentence to their partner. Then it is their partner's turn. Students continue making real and/or nonsense sentences until they run out of cards. They can either shuffle the cards and make more sentences or complete the writing assignment.

Reading level: 3.0

Click HERE to visit my TPT store.

Click HERE to visit my TN store.

You can purchase these packet individually or you can save money and buy them as a bundle. If you purchase the bonus bundle, you get Paper-Saver Mini-books, too! You can read more about these books in this post.

Click HERE if you want to purchase the bundle packet from TPT.

Click HERE if you want to purchase the bundle packet from TN.

Paper-saver Mini-Books

2013-04-10T06:47:00.000-07:00

Does this little girl remind you of Vanna White on the Wheel of Fortune? I thought she was cute and the perfect graphic to introduce my new Paper-Saver Mini-Books. These books are included in my "Butterfly and Bee Bonus Bundle" packet. The "bonus" is the mini-books. I plan to make more of these and include them in my other bundle packets. When I do, I will add a note about the "bonus" books.

I think these books will be a great extension to the Sentence Shuffle centers or could also be set up as an additional center. Students make and read real and nonsense sentences with the Shuffle Sentence center. These books are the real sentences from the Sentence Shuffle centers. Students will also illustrate their sentences. You can also add your own touch to this assignment:

Circle the blends
Highlight word wall words
Circle with green the first letter of the sentence.
Circle with red the ending punctuation mark.

The books are small which helps save paper. They are 2 X 8 1/2.

Here is a page from the book. Students will read and illustrate the books.

The books are included with the Bee and Butterfly bonus bundle packet. The sentences are facts about the insects. This is an easy way to integrate science and informational text (Common Core) standards.

This packet is on the 2nd grade reading level.

Click HERE to visit my TPT store.

Click HERE to visit my TN store.

***Email me if you've already purchased the Bee and Butterfly centers separately and I will send you the Paper-Saver Mini Books. In the email, include your TPT/TN screen name.

My email is: teach123.school@gmail.com

This is an easy center to set up. All you need are some school supplies. Add crayons or colored pencils so your students can make colorful illustrations. Highlighters are great for highlighting word wall words.

Information text and fluency ideas

2013-04-09T00:30:00.000-07:00

Of the five components of reading, I think fluency is the one that is neglected the most. It is easy to find lessons for the others, but most activities for fluency are teacher directed. With all of the expectations put on teachers today, we are trying to utilize every minute that we have with our students. In a perfect world, we would send home readers with our students and parents would listen to their children read. This doesn't always happen, so what is a teacher to do? The answer is a child directed fluency activity. It took me years before I worked out all the bugs of my Sentence Shuffle lessons. The benefits to this type of activity are:

It can be set up as a folder game. This is great if you are wall-to-wall students this year and don't have space to set up centers. Students can easily do this at their desk or table.
You can set it up as a center. The directions for the center are included so student won't interrupt your small group lesson if they didn't pay attention the first time. All of these lessons (levels: K-5) have the same format so once you teach your students the format, you can switch the topic of the sentence shuffles and not have to give directions again. Save your valuable for time for something else!
There are lesson for reading levels K-5 and I am adding more every day. This works great for differentiation.
You can use this with your small groups, too. Students read real and nonsense sentence. It is a great way to check for comprehension.
Speech pathologists and special education teachers have also left feedback that they love them, too!

Use different colored folders for the different reading levels. Your students will love it when they graduate to a new color!

Inside the folder is a report card size envelope to hold the cards. On the right is the shuffle sheet where students stack the cards.

On the back of the envelopes is a brown envelope to store the writing assignments. On the envelope is a recording sheet. When students complete the folder, they write their name beside their number. I do not include the recording sheet in the packets because I want to give you an editable version so you can type your students' names on it. Click HERE to find a PDF and editable version.

I just added a new packet today about Bees which is perfect for this time of year. It is on the 2nd grade reading level and is aligned with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade Common Core Standards.

Click HERE to visit my TPT store.

Click HERE to find more Sentence Shuffle centers organized by reading levels.

Facebook News Feed Tech Tip

2013-04-08T07:03:00.002-07:00

Have you noticed a difference in your Facebook News Feed lately? Are you not getting all the posts from fan pages that you have liked? Or do you see posts without links? There is a reason for these changes.

Facebook changed how things work for the owners of the fan pages. In the past, most of our posts showed up in the news feeds of our fans. This was great because our fans didn't miss out on any freebies, ideas, and other information that we wanted to share. Now there is a formula that Facebook uses to decide what you see. Of course the owners can pay to have more of our fans see our posts. Prices range from $5 to $75+ / post or more. I usually share at least 15 links per week. Even if I chose the cheapest ($5) rate, this would cost me $300 a month.

There are a few things you can do to ensure you see the fan pages that you liked. First go to the fan page, click on like, and then click on "show in news feed".

One thing I have been trying to do is put the link in the first comment. This seems to help with the amount of people who saw the post.

You need to interact frequently with the fan page if you want to continue to receive posts. How you interact also has weight with the Facebook formula. Likes have the least amount of weight. Shares and comments are the best ways to interact.

Information text, fluency, and writing center: Butterfly Facts

2013-04-07T04:24:00.000-07:00

Are you looking for informational text activities that are also Spring themed? How about a center that incorporates science (butterfly facts) with informational text, fluency, and writing Common Core Standards? I just added a 2nd grade and a 5th grade version to my store today.

2nd Grade

Reading Level: 2.8

This center is aligned with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade Common Core Standards. I included teacher tips that includes different ways you can set up this center. One of them is perfect for teachers who have small classrooms.

There are 24 colorful cards and 24 ink-friendly black and white cards included.

Click HERE to visit my TPT store.

5th Grade

Reading level: 5.6

This center is aligned with 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade Common Core Standards. I included teacher tips that includes different ways you can set up this center. One of them is perfect for teachers who have small classrooms.

There are 24 colorful cards and 24 ink-friendly black and white cards included.

Click HERE to visit my TPT store.

Feedburner and Bloglovin Tech Tip

2013-04-06T07:50:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that I have more teachers who follow my blog by email than through google connect. I wasn't sure why this was so I asked my Facebook followers if they were one of my email followers and if so why they followed it this way. Turns out quite a few of Facebook fans are also my email followers. They said that they often read my blog posts when they are out and about. You know those 5-10 minutes when you are waiting for your daughter at dance class or your son at ball practice. Once they said it, it made sense. Most teachers are multi-taskers. How many of us have been guilty of eating our lunch while standing at the copier? So, of course, this carries over into our personal life, too.

I have some good news and some bad news for those of you who currently read blog posts using google connect. The google reader will no longer be available July 1st. There are different ways you can still stay connected. You can follow by email if the blogger has this option available to you. If that is not an option, you can sign up for Bloglovin. Each day Bloglovin sends me an email with blurbs and links to the posts written by bloggers I follow.

BLOGGERS:

Have you ever wondered who it is that follows your blog by email? You can check by following the steps below.

Step #1: Click on the name of your blog

Step #2: Click on "see more about your subscribers"

Step #3: Click on "feedburner email subscriptions"

Step #4: Click on "manage your email subscriber list"

I covered up the email addresses of my followers. You can see that this page gives you quite a bit of information.

I hope these tips helped you!

Hop over to Fern's tech tip linky party for more great ideas!

Plants - Pin it to Win it Giveaway

2013-04-05T00:30:00.000-07:00

I love sales, consignment stores, thrift stores, and all of those loyalty cards when you get a freebie once in a while. I always feel like I scored when I get the $10 off coupon at Safeway. Do you like bargains as much as I do? If you do, you are in luck. I bundled my plant packets today. You can save $3.90! That's almost enough for a trip to Starbucks!

Integrate math and science with this Blooming Fractions center. It comes with 27 fraction cards, answer key, and two extension assignments.

With this center, students practice putting plant themed words in alphabetical order and grouping them according to the number of syllables. Included are two recording sheets, and 20 plant themed word cards.

Students will practice making compound words with the 40 word cards included with this center. There are four recording sheets included that are differentiated.

In the Flower Garden center, student trace plant themed word, write the words in the letter boxes, and write sentences with the words. There are nine signs included that can be used to differentiate the assignment. There are 6 assignments, 21 word card signs, and 8 group signs included.

Also included are five picture writing prompts that can be used with your journals or set up as a writing center.

Here are some books about plants that you might want to add to your library:

Rearrange Your Pinterest Boards

2013-04-04T09:30:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I wanted to do a little spring cleaning with my Pinterest Boards. After cleaning up some of my boards I wanted to rearrange some of them, but I couldn't find the icon that I clicked on with the old Pinterest system to do this. Have you experienced this yet? I looked in the Pinterest help section and googled "how to move Pinterest boards" but there wasn't much in cyberspace to help me. Through trial and error this is what I found.

Click on your name one time. After this you are in editing mode. You can drag and drop your boards where you would like them to go. When you finish you have to click on your name again to save your changes and to exit the editing mode.

I added 2 new boards yesterday that you might want to check out. One is for Kindergarten and 1st grade teachers. The other board is for 2nd and 3rd grade teachers. These boards will have teaching tips, blog posts, lessons (free and $). Only 20% of these boards will be paid for lessons.

To make it easier for my followers to find seasonal ideas, I will move my monthly board to the first row each month. My April board has ideas and lessons for Spring, Easter, and Earth Day.

I am joining my friend Fern's weekly tech tip linky party. Head over there to find more tech tips.