Anchor Charts and Anchoring our Learning

Let’s talk about anchor charts for a minute! I feel like I use them CONSTANTLY! I'm always prepping an anchor chart and thinking of how I can make it look pretty (at least to me, I'm no Picasso). I use anchor charts from day one and continue throughout the year. 

I thought I would take a few pictures from my first 2 weeks of school to let you know what exactly it is I do with anchor charts to start out the year :) 

You're Finally HERE!!! This is the cutest book I have ever read! I loved it for the first day of school because I could totally use theatrics and the kiddos were BUYING IT! 

This is a wonderful book about a bunny who has been waiting for You, yes You, forever! He is so excited you're here, but then remembers he had to wait so long and gets mad...but then is happy again...but then gets mad again. I think you get the point. This is a Canadian text, so I couldn't find it local (maybe you'll be luckier)...but we did watch it on youtube. 

Then we wrote on post-it notes what took them so long to get here (to my room for this year). I told them I had been there for weeks getting things ready and preparing for them and I had gotten so tired of waiting. 

It did help that we have a classroom bunny, who is white, and that added to the excitement of this bunny being excited to see them! 

Here is our classroom bunny! This is Mr. Fredrickson :) 

 Text Features

Fiction versus Non Fiction  

Good Fit books    

Then we started talking about reading and writing workshop and expectations. This was a LOT of talking about what we do during reading workshop, what we do during writing workshop, how we choose books, how we take care of books, etc. These posters were a lot of brainstorming and talking between the kiddos and I. Then we topped it off with everyone's favorite, Chrysanthemum. This brought us to the conversation about 'how we talk to people', 'how we treat people', and 'how we can all be unique.'     

  On to summarizing! This was big for the kiddos in order to help them understand how to summarize and how to write their summaries. We went with the 'somebody, wanted, but, so, then' We talked about each part and how we explain it in our words. Thennnnn we read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. Doesn't everyone love that book?! We then created a post-it not for each part of our summary. We then read an AMAZING book called Going Places.

This book is about being unique, being brave, and being awesome! We read it and the kiddos went crazy! Then, we did a summary again on a different colored post-it note. They had it at that point!     

onnnnn to math!        

we started place value

addition and subtraction strategies

and rounding

Lastly, we worked on stamina...most of my kiddos acted like they had never heard this work :/ so we talked and we practiced and I was a little strict with our first go and we made it to four and a half minutes. It can only go up from here!     

Classroom Schedules (with free downloadable/editable schedule)

I made a new schedule this year...mainly because I need to remind myself the first week of school. I chose to go with my neon theme, but wanted it to be simple.   I printed them both on card stock and laminated them so I could easily move them around as necessary.    

I printed them on cardstock and just taped them by the door. For our Specials rotation I put a lime green paperclip on the day we start on and will move it as we change days. Simple yet pretty (at least to me). I'm adding a link to download the template for free.  Just add your own text!     

This is a completely new schedule for me because we adopted a new reading program this year! I'm super excited about it, but there is definitely a lot to learn as the year begins and I can't wait to delve into it's new-ness and learn all about it! 

Are your schedule's similar to mine...what is your biggest chunk of time?

2016/2017 Classroom Tour

The summer has just disappeared and we are now facing embracing a new school year! I didn't change much in regards to my room...I still have the same theme, but I moved A LOT around! The last thing I did before the school year was over was GET RID OF MY DESK! Yes, you hear that correctly! I gave up my teacher desk. I NEVER sat at it and it was just taking up space. The only problem was where would I put the odds and ends that were inside of it. The answer was a box an organized container with labels and glitter (not). 

I changed up my reading group table since I got rid of my desk! I had two mismatched filing cabinets that were beginning to decay..yes, decay! I painted them black and then angled them right behind my desk. Our new reading series has lots of posters, so I plan to hang them up once the year starts. 

 I took all of my supplies and put them in a little organizer and I'm loving the space I have now that I don't have a desk! I've placed all of my leveled readers and reading series extras in the filing cabinet and am in love with the organization and space! 

I still have caddies for each set of desks and they each have important materials in them that will be used daily as well as highlighters, glue, dry erase markers and pens, etc. I put one person in charge of the 'caddy' and they pass out supplies. 

You can get the READ signs from here.

I am SOOOOOOOO lucky to have an aid daily for my small group reading time, so she will be in this corner (which has been replaced with a small kidney table) and she has a wall of colorful, wonderful, very useful stuff! 

I have my Erin Condren wall calendars/motivational posters on one side. I also got the newest planner from her and I LOVE it. Here is a link to get $10 off! 

The other side has a lot of information about reading! I got the middle comprehension posters from here, and there are MANY more to change out! The Color Code Your Thinking came from here and my students used it CONSTANTLY last year! They would learn a new skill, find the correct post it note and make their own notes for the books they were reading. Books would be covered with post-its by the end and the students LOVED sharing what they had put on them.  

I had stations at back to school night. 

1. Supplies

2. Sign in

3. Getting Home Sheet

4. Seesaw information

5. Supply List

6. Hopes/Dreams (write your hopes and dreams for the year and we will make a chandelier)

I loved their desks! They were so colorful. I got the flip books from here and have used them two years in a row now! I get tons of compliments on them and there is so much information inside of them! I was lucky enough at this years open house that I could go through the information with parents individually and actually help them see how important it all was. 

Let's talk about this bookshelf!!!!! If you look closely you will see Mr Fredrickson, my classroom pet! I knew I needed a new cage to disguise him and give him more room this year. I found a bookshelf online for $20 and had my brother build two doors and hinge them on...then he cut a hole and made a ramp so Mr. Fred can hop up and down! He is in love! Not to mention I still have my personal, extremely favoritest (yep, I made that a word) books away from the students. 

My library and manipulative area. Neon bins came from Dollar Tree last year, along with the magazine files that I use as individual student book bins so they don't ruin the books shoving them in their desks. 

My Power Pix wall that will be filled up quickly once school starts! Power Pix is a Whole Brain Teaching technique...I strongly urge you to look it up and learn all about it. 

Hope you enjoyed my simply neon room! I sure do love it! 

Any questions about anything in my room?....just ask!

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Teacher Planner!?!

I just ordered my Erin Condren teacher planner! The new designs are awesome and I can't wait to see all the new added pieces.  

HOW CUTE?!?!?!?!

I went back and forth last year over which planner to use and was worried about spending too much on my first planner. 

        I wasn't sure if I would use my planner as much as I have. 

        I wasn't sure what the best planner format was. 

        I wasn't sure what all I needed. 

After one year of using a planner I know that it's something worth spending money on!!!!! 

I have ordered the design below (in a turquoise color) and cannot wait to get it and share with you guys! 

I also ordered the colorful pens, wall calendars/motivational posters, stickers, the springy dividers, and a grocery/menu clip in. 

Sign up for emails to see the video I post when I finally get it! 

Save $10 on your first Erin Condren planner by following this link!

My Classroom Library Setup

How to set up my classroom library was definitely something I researched and researched and researched.  

I wanted to know what worked for people, what didn't work for people...what looked the best, what was most convenient. All of those things played a role in what I have now. 

I do not think it's by any means perfect....I think it might change some more over the next few years. 

Here are my books all set up before being organized.  I had acquired boxes and boxes and boxes of books over the past few years and decided reading level was the best way to organize them to start with.  

I ended up putting the books I had 'sets' of together, Science books together, Famous Americans together, folktales together, and sports books together.  

To the left are all the 'set's and to the right starts the levels. I have from a low 2nd grade reading level to a high 6th grade reading level....and as fate would have you, that is exactly the range I needed this year!                                                                        

The little cups on the top of the shelf with number sticks in them are labeled with numbers that correspond to my students (alphabetically). I use these numbers for the Super Improver Wall (my behavioral management system) so I'm not singling out a student for behavior problems in front of the entire class as well as to keep track of their books.  

When a student gets a book out of a bin they place their number stick in that bin.  When they return the book they return it to the bin with their number, get their number, and place their number in a new bin.  

This way all that time I spent organizing the books doesn't go to waste! 

Here is what the numbers look like before I printed them. I used a circle cutter and then just hot glued them to a large popsicle stick.  I explained to the students HOW to use them at the beginning of the year and they have done wonderful with them! 

Want a PDF file of the number? Just leave a comment with your email address :) 

Famous Americans Anyone?

As I began my famous Americans unit I decided I wanted to introduce close reading to my students. 

Close reading tends to be a more difficult passage that is reread in order to gain more information and get a better understanding of things.  We had not done close reading yet so I chose to make these fairly simple yet very informative.  

Our State's standards require Cesar Chavez, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thomas Jefferson, and Thurgood Marshall. That's a lot to throw at a third grader all at once! 

I threw together some information, added a picture and finished up with some questions and requirements while doing their reread. 

Students would do one a day (they would start in the morning for morning work and finish up right before Content) and we would check them during content block.  

I feel like it was a great introduction to close reading and also a great way to integrate literacy into my content! I threw these together so fast (haven't even checked them for grammar errors), but I'll share them in a PDF document if you comment with your email address.