Tricks or Treats???! Staying safe this Halloween!

Happy Tuesday, Friends!

How is everyone doing out there?

I'm enjoying the change in weather (a little bit)... but also getting a little anxious about how dark it is becoming so early now...but I'm feeling like Fall is coming if I'm ready or not!?? Am I right?

I wanted to take some time to reflect on the first quarter of the school year as it's coming to a close. One thing I've been talking with my students a lot about is internet safety. This is the first year for them that they have their own devices 1:1 and they are exposed to the internet a whole lot. They are doing fantastic... however I always feel like I can do more... Like we can do more. 

Sometimes I Feel like I get so wrapped up in internet safety that I also forget that I {we} need to reinforce safety of all sorts with kids of all ages. So whether you're a teacher, a parent, or just looking for ways to reinforce safety with kids in your life..... this Halloween is the perfect example of a time to do that.  Need ideas???

I've got just the thing for you to get started with. Now, I know some of you won't need all of these tips if you have littles who won't be going off on their own Trick-or-Treating, but it's never too early to discuss with them what is expected of them, or what can keep them safe when they do go off on their own! 

Thanks to my friend Erik from Russ Darrow for sharing this graphic with me!

I'd love to know what other safety issues you discuss with your students or children at home?!  Please share!!!  Don't forget, as my 2 year old always says "Safety First!"

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

News from New York!!! Five for Friday! 9*25*14

Happy Friday!

I must confess... this week is going to be 2.5 for Friday x two.

I had a post almost ready for last week and never posted.

So I'm doing some from last week and some from this week!

Totally in the rules, right?? 

The first is from last week. 

It was a major #fail. 

Seriously!

I tried to do something hands on in math

with my kiddos. 

The goal was for my students to try to see patterns of the different count bys.

I used hundreds charts and watercolors.  I've done this in the past,

but never have I had to have so many students redo because of not following directions. 

I'm happy to say that they are all done after several attempts.

The plan is to compare the different charts to talk about multiples of numbers

and also discuss patterns in the skip counting. 

It only took me a month (well not quite, but it's close) 

and I finally got some things organized in my room.

Here are two different things that are finally D.O.N.E.

Source
Thanks to 4th Grade Frolics for these FREE log-in loops for my kids!
I've finally put them all together and they are being used to store all of their
usernames and passwords!

I'm just loving my dots for the guided reading table.
 

We are using Jivey's Mentor Sentences for the beginning 

of our writing block warm-up. 

I am thrilled with how it's looking after just 3 weeks. 

The kids love it, and their favorite part is finding different parts of speech. 

Who knew??? 

Here is our 'notice it' and 'label it' section for this week.
I keep it on the back whiteboard all week, and when
we can get a few minutes we are always working with it!

Here are some student imitation sentences based off of
the book 'Enemy Pie' from last week. 

Daily 5 is in full swing. 

My kids are doing great with practicing right now,

so great that we can officially start rotations 

and guided groups next week. Cross your fingers!

Here are some of our stations!

Here we are doing some partner reading!
They are rocking at it!
I must say, they are one of the chattiest groups I've had....
but partner reading is going the best it's ever gone!

Practicing using our chromebooks to listen to stories online.

Here is a word work practice station.  She is writing with sharpies
on pieces of lamination that is left over from the machine at school.
We call it 'stained glass.'

Here is my writing prompt book being used in the work on writing center.


You can find check it out here at my TpT store!  My kids are loving the
different prompts, and not once have I heard 'I don't know what to write about!!!"
You can do a new one everyday. It comes with 180 various prompts!

We officially got our first postcard this week

from the postcard exchange I signed up for. 

I'm so excited for the journey this is going to take

us on as a class! 

I've linked up with Doodle Bugs Teaching today for Five for Friday! 

It's a great linky to share things that are going on during the week 

and to steal gather some awesome ideas! Be sure to stop by! 

A Peek At My Week {9-7-14}

Wait, What??!!  

It's already Sunday???  

Oh. No!

These weekends just go by so fast. 

Last week was my first week of school,

and we spent so much time getting to know each other, 

practicing routines and procedures and revisiting rules and expectations. 

Boy, am I exhausted!

This week we will really hit the ground running

and get down to business. 

I am ready. I am excited!

I'm linking up with Jennifer 

from Mrs. Laffin's Laughings

to share my plans for the week. 

Be sure to stop by her blog to see what everyone has planned

and for some great ideas!

Reading- This week we will continue to work with the book that we read the first week called First Day Jitters. I shared last week that we are using Jivey's Better than Basal pack to get things started. We didn't have enough time to finish the pack for this story, so that will be the plan this next week. So far it's been great to all be working on the same story and talking together about different story elements. It has really given me an idea where students are coming in at, even before I do all of my assessments. Eventually I will just be using this in my reading groups for students who need more of what we are learning about. It's set up nicely with mentor texts that I usually use in my classroom to teach our reading skills and concepts to my on-level or below level students. I think it will be great for students in my room who need some extra help.  We also are learning about making inferences, and students are using the word "inference" like it's been in their vocabulary for years. I'm so proud!  We will also be doing our Daily 5/ Cafe training this week. We'll be making T charts for each part and also practicing so we know what is expected.  

We did get a great start this last week: 

Writing- Well, I planned way too much last week, so we never got to the mentor sentences that I was telling you about. But that's totally fine, because we're still working on our book First Day Jitters, so it was an easy element to push off for this week.  Not only are we going to be starting each writing block with mentor sentence work, this week we are starting to establish our writing workshop.  I work with Jennifer, and as she has shared this week, she found a really great CCSS aligned writing resource.  As a 3-5 vertical team we are going to implement it this year with our students. I'm really excited about it. Be sure to check it out if you're looking for something to use! This week to launch the workshop we will be discussing the following:

*Why do Writer's Write?

*How do we come up with topics?

*How can we use books to help us come up with topics?

*How do we narrow down our topics when we write?

Some of the mentor texts that I'll be using to talk about these are

I'm really looking forward to seeing how the whole week goes! 

I hope everyone has a great one!

Tips to Tame Em'

Hi There, and happy Tuesday! I'm here for a quick post today in-between cleaning and the napping of a crabby two month old.  We got our shots yesterday so we've been a bit fussy since last night.  Just when a good routine get established...something changes.  It's a lot like school too, isn't it? Just when you think they have something down you have to go back and establish a routine or procedure all over again.  With that being said I'm linking up this evening with Kelli from 'Tales of a Teacher' for her summer weekly linky called 'Tips to Tame Em'  I was really excited to start thinking about the first several weeks of school and reflect back on how to get students into the routine and procedure of the classroom.  

Here's the weekly schedule for the next several weeks if you are interested in linking up! I'm looking forward to seeing what advice everyone has. I know each new year brings a whole new group of students and challenges when it comes to routine and procedure.  Some groups are just more conscious about certain things than others and what was a big 'issue' this year may not be next year.  

This week's question is: 

This big thing here is modeling and consistency for me.  Often times I feel like I'm so used to how things are at the end of the year in third grade..... they certainly are different than the beginning of the year.  They grow so much, but it's so easy to forget the little things that they need to be reminded of or taught.  For me remembering that I need to model for them and show them what is expected sometimes is my biggest challenge.  I get so excited about something and am two steps in when I really should be at the beginning stages of something before expecting them to just know.  I show them what I need them to know just by doing it over and over and over again.  It's so important to model everything for them!!!  Even how to check in for their lunch choice in the morning.  It may seem simple, but after summer vacation, and not having the same teacher as the year before, it's different for them.  It may be the same you've always done, but for them it's new!  I also think that being consistent with the things that you're expecting is important. You can't establish a routine one day and then change it everyday the following week.  I do understand that sometimes things need to be changed up, but giving them time to be established as a routine in important.  

Just a few of the big things that I have to model at the beginning of the year are:

1. Daily Check- In Procedure
2. Lining Up
3. Morning Work
4. Transitions to and from centers and/or carpet
5. Hallway expectations
6. Names on Papers
7. Turning in Work
8. What do do when you need teacher assistance
9. I'm done...Now what Can I do???  (We all have those students!)

For me the most important things the first week are procedural..... I could literally name a million of them but I thought that I would just share the most important ones today. 

1- Student Numbers: I have to admit that at first I was totally against assigning numbers to students.  I was more worried about parents thinking that I was referring to their child as a number and not a person...however I got over that quickly when I realized how much of a time saver it is and also a great way to keep things organized.  I assign a number to each student.  They can use it for a number of things (no pun intended....)  First they put it next to their name when they write their name on their papers.  I teach them to always put their name and number on everything.  We practice that a lot during the first weeks of school. This helps me to put their papers in number order to see who I'm missing or then figure out a no name paper too. It's also a good list to have in case of an emergency.  They have to get in number order for a line when we get outside after a fire-drill, or I call off the numbers in order for them to say that they are in fact there. Then I know who is missing.  

2- Chants- I think it's important to have some classroom chants so we all know when we need to be focused on the same thing. I run a lot of my day in small groups and centers, so there is usually always a hum of noise going on.  When I need their attention I expect it to be full.  So there are a few chants that I use.  We practice them so much the first few weeks of school.  

This first chant is my go to when I have students working in small groups or centers and I need their full attention. It also works if we're in another classroom working or in a larger group setting. They all know when then hear it that it's 'Our Class Chant' and know that they need to stop what they're doing to listen. 

Teacher: 123    Students: Eyes on Me

Teacher: 456    Students: Lips are Zipped

The second chant I use when students line up to go in the hallways or to come in or out from recess. I use this chant. When they hear it they know that I'm expecting them to be hallway ready.  They are in a line that is short, silent and ready to move. 

Teacher:  Third Graders Line Up            Students: Line UP

Those are just a few that I do at the way beginning that travel with us on our whole year journey!  I hope you have some ideas to share as well, or these can help you in some way! Have a great night!!!!