FREEdom on TpT

In honor of our FREEdom everything in my Teachers Pay Teachers store is FREE!!! Oh wait... it's always been FREE! Check it out here!

Be sure to FOLLOW my store... more FREE stuff coming on Monday! 

Happy 4th of July y'all! And thanks to our soldiers (and their families) who KEEP this country FREE! 

Fluency Work Station Menu

Fluency is a tough skill to teach- especially when you remember that it is more than JUST SPEED! Phrasing, expression, intonation... all of these are also important to truly help our students learn to be truly fluent. 

I've posted a lot about Fluency (see other posts for Literacy Centers), but today I'm sharing another resource that is ready for you to print and use in your classroom.  I've posted about the use of menus before, and this is a Fluency Menu.  Menus in Work Stations/Literacy Centers helps the teacher NOT have to create "new" things in a Station each week. Rather, a teacher can post this menu, and put the materials at the Station and voila....it takes care of itself!  

Here is a picture from a post on Fluency by Scholastic so you can see what it would look like to teach students how to scoop. #perfectanchorchart

I hope you can use this in your classroom! 

You can get your Fluency Work Station Menu for your classroom HERE!

July Currently

It's July! It's my last month before I start full time work again! I wish I would have known how fast my laid back "summer off" was going to pass by me, because I would have made sure to enjoy it more!

Listening: I'm at my mom and dad's house in Michigan. They are retired and as much as I make fun of them for "watching the birds", it really is a nice sound! They have about 15 feeders, that they spend their retirement money filling up every 3-4 days. And those birds come in from sun up to sun down.  Right now, there's a yellow finch, two cardinals, and three woodpeckers! My parents are also experts at identifying birds these days! It's pretty cute. 

Loving: It starts off a little chilly- I will admit! I was wrapped in a blanket sitting on the back porch with my coffee this morning.  Brrr! But, the sun is out and there are big puffy clouds and for a holiday weekend in Michigan that is a big deal!  Mom and I just went on a bike ride! We got hot enough we had to take off our sweatshirts! 

Thinking: I love it here! Michigan in the summertime is just the best. Car windows down... sleeping with the windows open! It's just heaven.  I appreciate it more of course now that I don't live here. I love seeing my parents house (their dream house they built just before retirement), but I just hate leaving! Bought my mom a sign that says "You are my favorite hello and my hardest goodbye" and it is so true when it comes to my parents.  But now we will head "Down Below" as it's called when you are "Up North" in Michigan and see his side of the family. I get to play with kids and hug sister in laws.  It will be a good time!  My last few days of vacation because then I will be with Killeen ISD teachers the whole month of July! Get excited KISD!

Wanting: Yep! I'm a sucker for a good garage sale- notice I said good! I've been known to drive by the garage sale and decide not to get out of the car. We did that for 2, but we stopped at 3. I bought a box of Barbie furniture for my BFF and her twin baby girls who just got a Barbie Dream House for some summer play at their summer cottage.  Let's face it, my BFF is more excited about the Dream House than they are, and I'm more excited about the new furniture than they will be! #livingvicariously 

Needing: I sigh, and roll my eyes, because he won't do it! Don't get me wrong, I love my husband, but he doesn't do things I ask him to! And they are simple things! I think sometimes he doesn't do it just because I asked him to! Yes, these are the sad, stupid games we play! Shaking my head! 

4th Plans: We are stopping off to buy our fireworks tonight. We put on a pretty big show in the front yard at my in-laws' place.  There will be good garage sales there too! I took out cash from the bank just for that reason.  #dealstobehad  I'm hopeful I'll find some quiet time to read a book and relax in the hammock.  

Just looked at the clock... countdown to when I have to leave my mom has begun. 

I just hate this part of visits home! 

Work Station Debriefing Idea

I had a great day teaching BISD teachers today. For y'all not from BISD- it stands for BY THE BEACH Y'ALL! There is something so amazing about the sound of waves.  I wish the waves were about 3 hours closer to my little town in Central Texas.  Alas, I will teach all day, and put my toes in the sand after.  Not a bad gig! :)

I digress. I was teaching teachers today and it always reminds me of more resources I should put on my blog- and of how long it has been since I've blogged. Sorry about that!

So my work in DC Public Schools for 1.8 years was to help teachers with Guided Reading and Work Stations, called Small Group Literacy Instruction.  We were able to provide a lot of resources during this time for teachers and we were able to share lots of resources that teachers created.

This idea is from a coach in DC Public Schools and I'm hopeful it will find its way into classrooms all around the country (and beyond for my International readers out there).

It is important to get feedback from your students about their work during Work Stations.  You are trapped teaching at the Guided Reading table and it is hard to know what it happening out there with the natives unless you ask them. Right?  I've shared the idea of Debriefing Cards with you before. And today I'm going to share with you another idea that will help students be metacognitive about their work during stations and also provide you feedback that can help your stations get better.

Imagine a poster like this hanging in your room....

or a similar file in student work folders.  Download it here!

A teacher can choose which number for students to chit-chat about with a partner before sharing with the whole group each day by calling off a number. "Turn and Talk about 2!" Feel free to change up the prompts under each number- but hopefully you can find a way to take this idea to your classroom for the 2014-2015 school year.

Happy summer! Happy planning! Next year is clearly going to be your BEST year!

Send a Card

Want to do something good today? Looking to have something for your kids to do in the last few days of school? :) Send cards to Jason! I just put a stamp on mine. I read about this on a blog yesterday.
If you want to read check it out here or see below to send your cards and well wishes to Jason for his 2nd birthday! Even BELATED birthday cards will do! Send him happy day cards! Imagine being TWO and getting an envelope of cards from kids in school while you are spending your days in the hospital.

Currently June

Hey Y'all!

What an overwhelming and fun time of year! So much to do- only a few more days to have to do it! Right? You can make it! And you'll rest enough this summer you'll be ready to do it all over again!

I'm back to a commitment to Write About it Wednesdays this summer! I am back to being an independent consultant- and I thought that would mean a lot more time on my hands to blog among a long list of other things, but sadly, I'm still so stinking busy! I have NO idea where the month of April and May went! Alas here we are- June. SO it's time for Currently.

Listening: I love bad television... and I mean BAD television! It's Toddlers and Tiaras right now. Later tonight I'll be soaking in every minute of The Bachelorette! I mean it! Bad TV! I can do other things with bad TV playing in the background. So I watch a lot of it, because I am usually on the computer. This is the episode with Honey Boo Boo! Oh my! It is so terrible. Alas, you don't see me turning it off! 

Loving: I had plans at a friend's house to watch Bachelorette tonight- but she is feeling ill. So I have the whole night to myself now. J is at work tonight too- which makes this an even better SURPRISE... the house to myself! Not like I have any big plans. I will probably be in bed early. But as an only child, I do appreciate my "me time" for sure! 

Thinking: I got a lot done today! This is my first week for several weeks to be truly "off" and not traveling to a district.  Every day this week is a day at home to spend getting back in control of my life. The house is clean, the laundry is done, and the to-do list is getting shorter and shorter.  I swear I can get more done in 4 hours than my husband could even imagine doing in a week! Cracks me up! It's hard being me! :) I'm sure many of you out there can understand what I'm talking about! 

Wanting: So as we mentioned above, I have a surprise night alone. My friend and I usually have wine and pizza for our dinner dates.  While wine is still on the menu tonight (shocking I know) I can't decide what I want to eat. Typically it has to be something that J doesn't like to eat. Chinese food perhaps? Thai? Sadly we don't live somewhere with a lot of ethnic options. I'd kill for Indian from my little place back in VA tonight. Bummer. 

Needing: I'm trying to let it cool down out there before I go for a run.  It is steamy still.  I have a nice trail around a park near where I live. It even goes by a horse barn. PS- That is me trying to make myself want to actually go! 

Summer Bucket List:  I'm already on a roll with the first- read, read read. My "summer" kind of started in April. Since my summer months are my crazy time I took advantage of a slower April and May. I have already read 9 books and I have a stack of books still to be read! This may be the summer of the most reading- I can't complain about that!  

Next up is going to be crafting. I just got back from a HUGE flea market in Texas and saw a bunch of cute stuff which gave me a lot of new ideas! Not to mention the many Pinterest ideas I've found.  Made it Mondays- maybe I need to participate in those too! Uh oh- my calendar is getting pretty full.  

Finally, Enjoy is on the list! I want to float the river! I want to go to water parks! I want to be on the boat! It's going to be a summer of enjoyment! 

Woo-Hoo! 

Happy summer to everyone reading this! 

Summer Reading Goals

Today was fun! I had the opportunity to teach with a friend of mine at Rapoport Academy in Waco, Texas! It's been a few months since I've been in the classroom and it was JUST what I needed. Oh boy- it was a humid morning on the third to last day of school! So what on Earth was I going to try and TEACH on one of these last days of school you ask? Why Summer Reading Goals of course!

So if you read this blog, you know I am in love with Donalyn Miller and her new book Reading in the Wild was not a disappointment.  She reminded me that we have to cultivate readers- so they will be readers outside of school! And pretty soon- these 2nd grade readers that I spent the morning with- are going to be "outside" of school for nearly three months!  It is our job as teachers to do our best to ensure READING is happening outside of school and over the summer!

Begin mini-lesson...

I sit down in front of a classroom of 40 2nd graders (two classes were part of the lesson) and I produce a large stack of books from my backpack.  You can hear "Whoa!" from a few of the students as they look at my tall stack.

I ask students to turn and talk about what they are excited for this summer?  Lots of answers- camping, swimming, going to the park, playing video games. We come back together as a group and I tell them that I'm excited for all of things too- but what I'm most excited about.... more than camping... more than swimming... more than playing at the park... is READING!  I wait all school year to have time to read! I show them my stack of books that I will finally have time to read over the summer and I tell them that I am trying to read 75 books before it is time to come back to school!  I talk about how I am going to read in the pool. I talk about how I am going to read in a tent. I talk about how I am going to read in the car on the way to the mall.  What am I going to do this summer? READ!  

So then I ask how many books they think they can read this summer? We agree that one is not a good number.... it should be a goal of more than one... but we also know that we are all different and that maybe we will only read two books because we know they are going to be really big/long books.
Then we talk about how hard it might be to read to 100!  We agree that any goal is a good goal.  

I am armed and ready with copies of Hundreds Charts.  Because it seemed to be an easy way for kids to keep track of their number of books read- just color off a box for every book.  I ask every student to come up to me and whisper their reading goal to me and I circle their number on the Hundreds Chart. Then each student takes their paper back to their seats to make their reading goal banner- decorating and coloring their number on the black back side!

There were some incredible goals made! Some kids said they would read 100. One student said he would read 2. Another student who first said he would read 2 changed that to 17 after a small conference with me about his number.

Here's the deal... will all students meet their reading goal? Nope. They won't.  But will some of them read more this summer because of this goal?  Yes. I think so. Some of these students hadn't even thought about reading over the summer! It had never crossed their mind. Maybe they didn't even know they could.  I owed it to them to make sure they think about summer reading, right?   I sure hope these kiddos read more this summer than they did last summer because they made a reading goal!

Do your students have summer reading goals? If you don't know- you owe them this mini-lesson. AND- decorating the reading posters/banners easily could fill up a half hour of your morning.... just sayin! :)

Be sure to attach a note to the Hundred's Chart and Reading Banner so families know the scoop.  Share the website We Give Books which I have blogged about here so students won't run out of FREE reading options!

Happy Reading! And may I ask- what is YOUR summer reading goal? :)

Teacher Appreciation

I spent the week in schools for Teacher Appreciation Week!

It inspired me to write this for y'all! I hope it makes you smile! I appreciate you- all of you!

If you want to get your own copy... click here! 

Currently May

I am currently on a plane (I really do love being able to blog from 30,000 feet and it seems to be the only time I have TIME to blog these days!). I am flying home to Texas from my final days in DC.  We had another successful district wide Professional Development day with over 700 DC teachers, coaches, and principals.  So many familiar and kind faces! Thanks DC! Now get out there and get your Running Records teaching on! They are interviewing for someone else to step into the role of Small Group Literacy Professional Learning Designer- and he/she will be fantastic! I have no fear that Small Group Literacy instruction will be alive and well in DC Public Schools for years to come and it was an honor and an immense privilege (that still amazes me) to have been a part of y'alls learning and journey with Guided Reading this school year. One thing I do know for sure. MORE Guided Reading is happening in DC now than it was two years ago and that means MORE students are getting what they need to be successful in years to come!

It is also Currently time to LINK UP! Thanks as always to Farley for keeping us blogging- sometimes its the only blog post we make each month, but we still do it!

Listening: I just love Zac Brown Band. Their music represents summer for me. Knee Deep was my favorite song our last summer in Texas. Island Song (another awesome one) was my favorite song the summer we went to the Bahamas.  Free... Settle Me Down... so many good ones! 

Loving: Spring is finally here in Texas! Jeff made me a new patio to sit on (took out the old deck and put down pavers). It's so pretty and I treated myself to a new patio set. I am pretty sure he will have it all set up for me so I can drink my coffee and do some work (writing Guided Reading lesson plans) on the patio in the morning before our day out on the boat.

Thinking: Usually April/May is NOT a busy time in my line of work (Educational Consulting). However, this year, it is non-stop! I had a couple of weeks off in April, and then the fury started. I keep reminding myself that I only have two more trips and then I can have a two week break.  

Wanting: I love teaching Guided Reading- but I don't always enjoy preparing to teach Guided Reading.  I have to do it- I know I have to do it. The only way to ensure a good Guided Reading lesson is to preview the text, and make good instructional decisions for each book/text/reader.  I am however, dragging my feet getting started. I have a feeling it will be happening on the patio tomorrow morning.  

Needing: I am in desperate need of a day on the boat (not so much looking forward to my bathing suit) but I desperately want a day floating on our anchor line at the sandbar! I want to be out there just after lunchtime and make dinner and come back in my the glow of the moon! I need a day/night on the boat.  

Surprise: My friend Kathy is part of the Educational Consulting world with me. We don't see each other as often as we should, but we have some of the best conversations via text messages and of course we read each other's blogs.  Check out her blog here! 

Friday Freebie: Word Study Ideas

Yep! You heard me! Friday- FREEBIE!

I will be leaving DC on a jet plane tomorrow (headed back to my home in Texas). And I wanted to share a resource that was made by a DC colleague with you all.  There are still 30(or so) days of instruction in DC Public Schools- that's probably longer than what you have left in your school year depending on where you are reading this from. Like it or not- that's still a lot of time.

Maybe you want to give students something "new and novel" at a Work Station in your last month of school.Maybe you want to send home some summer work.  Maybe you want to start saving things for NEXT school year.

Whatever floats your boat. Check out this file for your Word Work Station/Working with Words Center.

Thanks to Cara Hoppe in the Office of Teaching and Learning for this great resource.

Happy last 30 (or so) days of teaching out there folks!