Tech Signs for Managing BYOT

I am SUPER excited that myself, along with one other 5th grade colleague, are about to embark on the BYOT journey! Our HS and MS just began this year, and we are using a county-wide user agreement (so all of that tough paperwork is mostly taken care of - phew)! In the past few years, I have slowly integrated tech more and more... Now that we are the 'pilots' at our school, I am hoping that others will jump on board. A little team (5 folks) from our school visited a wonderful school system that has been implementing BYOT for a little while. If you have not looked through the resources at Forsyth County's website, you are missing out - take a look:

In preparation for the upcoming adventure, I have been thinking a lot about how to manage SO many devices. I will of course model, model, model procedures, as I do at the beginning of the year. One way I will manage the devices are by using signs/posters. The posters I created below immediately show students whether or not they will need their devices for instruction/etc. on any given day. They simply look for the sign and comply. The turtle sign is something that I tweaked a little from a response on the Cornerstone site. When I taught Kindergarten, I had students come in and have "Turtle Time" (invented by Bobbie Starcher - my wonderful mentor teacher), which they put their heads down for a bit while everyone had a turn for water. Well, it made me think of turning the devices over where I can only see their 'shells.' When the turtle time sign is presented with a "Turtle Time" from the teacher, students must turn devices over and give attention to the teacher (kind of like an attention getter saying - 1, 2, 3, eyes on me... ). Hope these work out for YOU!! 

You can get these here!

Christmas Carol Puzzle (neat bit of history)

A few years back during a faculty meeting, our principal pulled out an old Christmas Carol Puzzle for us to try and figure out. Of course, there was a little prize for the first group to correctly solve each puzzle. Now that Christmas is quickly approaching (and because I want to do something fun with the kiddos these last 2 days before the holiday break), I revisited this little puzzle. I thought it would be interesting to see which carols the students know! I did adjust the puzzle slightly and do not take credit for the idea. If you want to know about the history of this puzzle and the many variations throughout the years, please visit this website: http://ssqq.com/archive/christmaspuzzlemore.htm

(Also have a word scramble below - no answer sheet - good luck!)

Since I have just begun selling my items, I am in the process of creating Paypal buttons for all items. Until then, please email me if you would like to purchase something, and I will send a Paypal invoice.

Christmas Carol Puzzles $0.50

 

Christmas Scramble $0.50

Quality, not Quantity

It has been some time since I have posted. 5th grade is going GREAT! In the past, I have posted more often, but I am one who wants to try things out first, see how they work, and then give you all the best I have... quality, not quantity is important to me... you? Over the past couple of months, I have reflected on my lessons, tweaking things here and there, and having fun while learning! Of course, there is ALWAYS room for improvement, so I always consider that each day.

I wanted to give you a few things I have used lately.

During our first quarter of school, we worked relentlessly on Opinion Writing. Many of my students had difficulty with generating ideas and keeping those ideas organized. For this reason, I created this organizer to assist them. In addition, MODELING for students is HUGE, and I do this constantly. I am a visual learner, so I feel it is very important that they SEE what it is they will be responsible for doing on their own. I have included a sample with this organizer.

You can get these here!

In addition to this organizer, some had a tough time getting this information into detailed paragraphs, using transitions. For this reason, I created another organizer. It was really an eye opener for many (even my gifted students), as they THOUGHT they had enough detail until they began placing their rough draft into this organizer.

One last thing I want to share is my revising/editing sheet that students used during the writing process:

Hope to share some more quality items with you during Thanksgiving Holidays (when I have a little time...haha)!

Formative Assessment - Before you go, "tweet" what you know...

I am loving 5th grade, the curriculum and the conversations I have with the students about learning! Although I have been extremely busy teaching and learning the new curriculum, I wanted to share what my professional development goal is this year: use more of Marazano's Nine in my classroom. I have found a ton of resources online (mostly digital tools) that can enhance and engage student learning. Of course one way to assesses the knowledge of my students it to conduct frequent, on-going formative assessments, which drives my instruction. Differentiating for our students is critical, so I must know what they know and do not know and adjust accordingly.


Although I always formatively assess, I would like something tangible from time to time to show parents. There are a ton of formative assessment techniques out there, but this week I want to focus on Exit Tickets. I have asked higher-order questions at the end of lessons to check for understanding or have given a sample skill for students to perform, but I want to know what they are thinking as well - to see if they know whether or not they get it! Here is a little exit ticket I will be using this week: I tried to incorporate hash tags and twitter.

You can get these here!

Conjunction Junction...

I am getting my feet wet in 5th grade now... phew!

This week, I will teach a mini-lesson about conjunctions and using commas in a series and with conjunctions. I have NEVER had a Smartboard until this year (yes, I know... you can breathe now...)!

I made my first attempt to create 2 Smartboard lessons: One about Conjunctions & one about Comma Usage. You are more than welcome to use them if you wish (see below)

(Freebie)

First, I will introduce conjunctions with the School House rock video: Schoolhouse Rock 

Then, my Smartboard lesson/practice & ticket out the door. (above)

Later in the week, I will introduce the use of a comma with this video: Comma Story

Then, use my Smartboard lesson/practice & ticket out the door. (above)

I just hope it goes well:) We are also finding a lot of textual evidence with our novel, Steal Away Home.

SMART Goals for Data Folders

I want to post a lot more about this during the school year, but I wanted students to have something to place in their Data Folder (click here for the Data Folder sheets) about how to set SMART Goals.

 S
You can get these here!

Figurative Language Posters

I have so many things, but I have yet to get or make some items for figurative language. I didn't want to do chevron on these, as I don't want EVERYTHING chevron...LOL. I pulled in some of the colors from my other items in hopes it will all blend nicely.

You can get these here!

Oh... and I forgot to post a pic of my new curtains...

I got these (this is a stock photo) at Walmart about a month ago discounted. They are microfiber. They are regularly online for $16.00 -- I got them on clearance for $7.00 :) Yay!

6 + 1 Traits of Writing Posters

I am trying to get my themed items ready so I can begin designing once my room is ready!! Here are some 6 Traits posters I made to match my theme. Click the image for a free copy:

You can get these here!

Writing Process & Management Cards

I have been brainstorming about how to best manage my writing time... to show where students are at in the writing process & to know when they are ready to meet with me. In addition, I wanted a way for students to self-assess and show me how confident they are feeling about a skill we are working on AND a way for me to see if they need help, if I need to slow down and reteach, or if students are good to go... Thus, came these cards. I plan on printing a set for each child, laminating them, and placing them on a key ring. This way, it is easily accessible for each child. Maybe someone out there can use them. The Star Wars idea came from the following site: http://chartchums.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/whats-play-got-to-do-got-to-do-with-it-answer-everything/

You can get these here!

Writing Process Sheets

Okay, I promised these after my vacation, but I had a little time before packing...


You might want to use some of these in a writer's notebook and some as needed. There are 10 sheets:

• 2 Brainstorming sheets (one for boys, one for girls)
• 1 Graphic Organizer for writing ideas for a topic
• 1 Planning sheet for ideas
• 1 Revising Checklist
• 1 Self-Editing Checklist
• 1 Peer-Editing Checklist
• 1 Teacher Conference sheet (can use Post-Its with it)
• 1 Writing Reflections sheet
• 1 Publishing Plan sheet

You can get these here!

Writing Process Posters Colorful Chevron

My new rug inspired the design of these Writing Process Sheets. Will be making some checklists and graphic organizers to accompany this after my vacation... For now, enjoy these colorful chevron-inspired writing process posters.

You can get these here!

Reading/ELA Detailed Vocabulary Mini-Posters 5th Grade

I have been working on these for quite a while and have FINALLY finished! I would work on them here and there, but they are a great resource, so I wanted to finished them before school begins!!


With being new to the 5th grade standards, I wanted to dig deeper into the Georgia Teacher's guide for 5th grade Reading/ELA to get acquainted with the standards and learn the new vocabulary. These are a tool for me, as well as for the students. I will have these somewhere (not sure just yet) to where the students can reference them during lessons (and so I can refer to them). I wanted to provide some type of visual or example, to help trigger my memory of the word's meaning (and it will hopefully help the students to picture what the words mean).

These are words from the 5th grade standards for Reading/ELA from the Georgia Teacher Guidance document.

You can get these here!

On another note: Please join my Teacher Tour Tuesday Linky #teachertourtuesday if you are able. Will have it going on each Tuesday... :)

Reading Responses: Summary and Reflection

In order to meet the 5th grade standards: ELA5R1 & ELA5R5, students need to read a variety of texts and response to those texts. Students need to begin to reflect and summarize, pinpointing specifics within the text. In addition, they should be able to use questioning strategies to help them better understand what they read. Here is a bookmark (Five Fingers Rule) to assist students in finding just right texts, as well as a Reading Response Log for students to record their summaries and reflections to the texts they read.


The students must record the title, author, # of minutes read, genre, and whether the text was E=Easy, JR=Just Right, or C=Challenging for each entry. Our students will be required to read and respond 3 times each week (which is why there are three spaces), which will be due on Fridays.

You can get these here!

Writing Commentary

Providing students with specific and timely feedback is extremely important in any subject. Why is feedback so important?

In order to grow, students need to know along the way what they are doing that they should continue doing and what next steps they need in order to get on the right track. They need this throughout their learning - not just at the beginning, and the end is TOO late! Ongoing feedback is what keeps their motors running and keeps them going on the correct path.

When do you have time to give feedback? This is something that I have had to play with along the way. I give feedback at different times of the day and not always at a scheduled time or day. As students enter the classroom and begin morning work is a great time. During class time when students are working on particular pieces of work. When students finish early. Any down time that you can find!!! I use rainy days to catch up, when needed.

In the past, I have given feedback orally and written - primarily oral, as I taught non-readers. Now that I will be in the upper grades, I want to have something tangible that students can refer back to, to help me know what I met with them about in the past, and to help us both see growth over time. I made this quick writing commentary sheet that I hope someone else will be able to use. I plan to have students place this in their Writer's Notebook (see sheet below).

The sheet focuses on the 6 Traits of writing, which will be one of the goals students will track. In addition, I have a place to mark which genre you comment on and an area for 2 stars (things they did well) and one next step (things to work on).

What type of comments do you give? I like to show them what they know and what they need to work on. What is MOST important is that you are SPECIFIC!

DO NOT: Great Job! Nice work! Keep it up! A+ 100%, etc... What does this tell them? Nothing.

Instead DO this:
You remembered to use a conjunction when combining your two sentences.
Thank you for using correct punctuation.
I see that you used commas in a series, but do you remember other times we need a comma?
Is there a tool you can use to help you choose chunkier words?

When giving feedback ALWAYS tell them something positive and something to work on.

Click image for FREE resource:

Questions for Reading Instruction

Here I have compiled many questions that you can use for your Reading/ELA instruction. I have divided them by type. This can be a quick reference during instruction or prior to instruction to insert into your lessons/units.

You can get these here!

Interactive Notebook Vocabulary Packet

This will be my first time using interactive notebooks, as I never incorporated them into a kindergarten class. As I have been creating my vocabulary cards (almost finished!!!) for Reading/ELA for 5th grade, I began to think that I needed a vocabulary section in the notebooks. I wanted to create some templates that can be easily copied and pasted into the notebooks, rather than spending time drawing it out. There are 4 pages in this packet: Other Way to Say..., Focus on a Word Foldable, and How do Affixes change words Foldable: Prefixes & Suffixes.

You can get these here!

ALSO - do not forget about my BLOG MAKEOVER GIVEAWAY!!! Click banner below:

Here is my latest blog design:

Tracking Student Data

Here are a few sheets that I plan on having my 5th graders use to set goals and track their progress in reading and writing. In this set, they can track which genres they are reading (so they can read a variety), their comprehension (based on AR tests), their Lexile reading level (which was one of our school goals last year), and their scores on the 6 traits of writing. Hope this is helpful to someone else!

You can get these here!

Reading Genre Posters (Chevron Pattern)

Made some "up-to-date" reading genre posters. I tried to include well-known titles, as well as those we will be reading in class this coming year. I also incorporated my new color scheme.

You can get these here!

Back to making teacher goodies...

I have spent the past few days working on my new adventure, but time to take a break with that and get back to my real love... creating teaching items!! Next year, I want my students to keep track of the types of texts they are reading. Why? It is important that students read a wide-variety of material, especially some material that is sometimes a little more challenging, like informational/non-fiction texts. With this goal/tally sheet, they can set their goal each quarter and work toward meeting that goal. Setting goals and self-assessing is also one of the Assessment for Learning strategies that I have and continue working on with my students.

You can get these here!

Questioning Cards & upcoming event!!!

As I move to 5th grade, I have a lot of things to make... so keep checking back this summer for more goodies!!


I have neglected posting for a bit due to closing out the end of the school year. Phew! This is my 2nd day of  summer vacation, and I cannot stop thinking about all I need to accomplish this summer. I am super excited about my new move and the new team I will be working with. :)
My first summer creation are Questioning Cards - Depth of Knowledge, Bloom's & Marzano's Questioning Stems. This Word document was created to print these on 3x5 index cards. How do you print on index cards? Simply print all the pages, then tape an index card on each spot & feed back through OR print this template (made by me) several times & then attach the index cards with tape. Place them in the printer the appropriate way & click PRINT.

You can get these here!

Upcoming event...

I have 1,199 followers... I will debut my new blog: Digital Doodle Designs, once we reach 1,200 followers!!! This is a way to earn just a little $, and still be able to keep my teacher printables FREE to you. Hope you will check it out. I will have very reasonable prices:)