Educational resources for elementary students. Helping teachers, parents, and students become active thinkers and future leaders. We encourage giggles, grins, hugs, & high fives!
This is the entry into a world where ALL students are flowers in the classroom garden. Each is unique, colorful, and needs it’s own nurturing to THRIVE! How to create a classroom environment where each student with different needs and abilities will blossom. When we create our classroom bouquet, we have grown a RAINBOW from the seeds we have planted.
Beautiful Garden of Mixed Flowers
One time per week, I will post a TIP, a TRICK, and/or a HACK to help YOU, the teacher, nurture our students into thriving blossoms of learning! My hope is that through support, trials & tribulations, and time-saving tips, YOU may grow YOUR RAINBOW!
RAINBOW of flowers. From: How to grow a rainbow in your classroom. 1stgradefireworks
For some this may the first time they have ever been given the WHOLE responsibility of a JOB!
(Think HELICOPTER PARENTS).
For some, it is a responsibility they take on JOYFULLY!
For others, they embrace the position, but NOT the RESPONSIBILITY!
Practice..practice…practice.
And so, to help nurture the independence of each of my little “seedlings”,
I CHOOSE DAILY Helpers. I know, some classrooms have weekly helpers, some permanent helpers, but for ME? I choose them daily. In my class of 24, each student SHOULD be each of our helpers by the end of the month. I say SHOULD. I make no promises. We are in a continuous state of growing!
WHAT HELPERS DO I NEED?
If you go to pinterest there are thousands of samples of
Helper ( JOB ) Cards are a way for students to take RESPONSIBILITY
AND
HELP THE TEACHER! 🙂
Here is HOW I USE THEM!
Each morning our bell rings at 8:20 AM.
We are working at 8:21.
My students put HW folders in the basket,
backpacks & jackets on the shelves,
and get ready for chromebooks.
(Don’t be tardy…you will miss computer time)
While they are “waiting patiently”..Ie: staring through my back, grinning quietly, hoping I call their name…
I take name cards ( nothing FANCY…3 X 5 cards with THEIR NAME ON IT 🙂 )
and
change the helpers in a small pocket chart at the front of my room.
I know..BAD PICTURE…I swear the POCKET CHART is right there! 🙂
My pocket chart came from the $1 section at Target. Nothing FANCY!
MY JOBS are:
Line Leader
Door Holder
Messenger
Clean Up Crew (2 students)
Ball Handlers ( 2 for recess)
Tech Teachers ( 4 students )
They change daily.
They biggest change I have made is..
YOU MUST BE
“ON TIME AND IN YOUR SEAT” – To be a HELPER!
WOW…no more tardies!
EVERYONE WANTS TO BE A HELPER!
AND after JANUARY… They can choose their job!
(I wait until January because I want to make sure they ALL know EXACTLY what the job is, and may have had a chance to be that “special” helper once before. I want them to see it in action, before they have CHOICE!)
Allow the little ones to be a PART of the classroom!
They LOVE IT!
I hope YOU check out the blogs and pins online to find the HELPERS that fit YOUR classroom and YOUR style! If you need a SPECIAL order HELPERS CARDS SET, email me. I do special orders, too!
1stgradefireworks@gmail.com
Whatever JOBS you choose…let them take RESPONSIBILITY! Don’t do it for them!
NO HELICOPTER TEACHERS! Even when YOUR OCD kicks in!
( I know..I cringe at that word.)
Kids want to SPELL perfectly…every time!
My fear is…students who STOP writing a wonderful story,
because they can’t remember HOW to spell a word.
Just one word.
And then..they stop writing! UGH!
They ask themselves,
“What does it start with?”
Oh..I dunno…so where do they look?
What do they do?
Ask a friend…look on your word list…check the word wall…ASK THE TEACHER!
NO!!! I want INDEPENDENT readers & writers!
Those DREADED words…
“HOW DO YOU SPELL…????”
Ugh! What to do FIRST?
We have gone over letter sounds, word families, vocabulary, picture prompts, word walls, word lists, dictionaries, pictionaries, and so on..and so on.
And still they ask. “How do you SPELL???”
So what is a teacher to do?? Then what?
PINTEREST!
( The place where ALL questions CAN be answered!)
And so I search…
Spelling Practice
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/5911043239308984/
Spelling Practice from Samantha Almaguer FREE!
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/515802963551850222/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/42784265188753752/
SO MANY SPELLING CHOICES!
So many Spelling WORD LISTS!
( And don’t EVEN get me started on WORD WORK!)
Balanced Literacy Word Work
And so…what’s a teacher to do?
Head to YOUTUBE! Here is a great video from Angie @ Center Station
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZhkKImvI4g
Still, no answers! AND SO? What to do? What to do?
Create MY OWN!
My district has adopted a curriculum.
I have 18 boxes waiting for me to unpack!
My PD for this new curriculum is 5 days before I have students!
I probably won’t have time to REALLY dig into the program.
Surface teaching for a few weeks!
BUT…
My kiddos are ready… BEFORE I AM!
And so..
I create!
Bookmarks for Sight Word PRACTICE
Here are a few of my newest
SPELLING creations!
The spelling word lists in this program can be used anywhere, anytime, with ANY program!
Homeschools, interventions, homework, practice pages!
Here is KINDERGARTEN
Here is FIRST GRADE
And Grade 2
All of the lists are printed in black and white.
SAVES ON COLORED INK!
( I print mine on colored paper!)
I print one copy of SPELLING word list for the student’s desk.
A little tape on top..and voila!
Instant word wall for writing!
(NO MORE …HOW DO YOU SPELL…)
The other word list I send home for homework each MONDAY!
They have to read & practice each night.
Spelling tests on FRIDAY!
I give “rewards” for 80% correct or higher!
I don’t expect perfection…just effort in their work.
I add these word lists to SPELLING CITY on our computers.
(If you don’t have SPELLING CITY….GET IT!) 🙂
They practice EVERY DAY!
They also must use the week’s spelling words in their journals.
They read their journals to a partner.
WOW!
Spelling, reading, writing, word lists, & homework!
I think we’ve got this!
I have also added BLENDING LINES for READING FLUENCY PRACTICE!
Blending Lines for Reading FluencyBLENDING LINES….View Preview VIDEO Here
I hope you can use my new SPELLING Packets!
This may help, too!
For more thoughts and talk for November, please visit these great posts. Like what you see, and want to join us? Before posting your link, please email RETTA at retta.london@gmail.com.
Leave me a comment !!!
Good Luck!
Balanced Literacy Resource Binder. ALL of YOUR Guided Reading resources in ONE BINDER
The components of Balanced Literacy.
I use it
to assess kids reading levels,
to group them with like skills,
and to teach them AT THEIR LEVEL.
Guided Reading 101
Now a couple of things I have learned “on the way”…
Teaching reading strategies is vital to a Balanced Literacy reading program.
1. Guided Reading is NOT independent reading time!
They read to themselves (READ TO SELF) at a different time of the day.. we do it after lunch.
2. Guided Reading is NOT a time for a LONG teacher LESSON!
I only have them for 15-20 min.
Always give them a skill or strategy they can use NOW!
Your goal is to create INDEPENDENT READERS… do not enable them to wait for YOU to do the reading.
3. You DO NOT have to read a BOOK every day!
This is not the time for HOW MANY BOOKS have you read?
My lowest reading group needs PHONEMIC AWARENESS. If you don’t know your letter sounds…it’s really HARD to read.
My “bubble” kids ( those that have some skills, but need support and practice to move over the “BUBBLE” into INDEPENDENT READERS) need phonics support to be able to solve reading problems, independently!
So Guided reading should be called
GUIDED LITERACY
Meet them at their level.
Give them a “take away” that they can use TODAY.
Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
I also use FRIDAYS for assessments ONLY.
NO GROUPS!
Assessment drives the guided reading groups.
Teacher “HOW TO” pages for guided reading assessment.
