Saturday, December 15, 2012

My Prayers

When I was sitting and enjoying my fifteen minute lunch yesterday a news break popped up on our tv in the teacher's lounge. Another school shooting had happened...... Then the words Elementary School popped up and you could hear a collaborative gasp of horror in the room. I got news alerts on my phone and I was just horrified at the possibility that someone could take their rage out on little 5 and 6 year olds whose biggest worries in the world was how much longer til Santa brings me a present?

I sat at my kidney table as my students colored a Christmas craft and thought about all our intruder trainings and how sweet and innocent my 25 first graders are. My husband texted me and wanted to know if I had heard and gave me a few details that I didn't know. He said that teachers had used themselves as shields and that several didn't make it. I would have done the same thing. I am proud of those teachers that protected their students to the best of their abilities.

As a parent of a child in Kindergarten, I hugged my son to me the moment he walked into my classroom with his sweet smile. I sat and hugged both my boys close to me all night last night.

My prayers to those of Sandy Hook Elementary. Hug your kids and students a little tighter this holiday season and remember those who can't.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

November Currently

Hello Strangers! I have clearly been absent since August... I am very overwhelmed this year. Even after 9 years you can get overwhelmed by it all. I have 25 firsties this year... which in Texas is over the 22:1 limit. Help will be on the way in January so I have to survive 6 more weeks with my 15 boys and 10 girls. 15 boys should just be illegal.

I have also been lucky enough to mentor a wonderful intern this Fall. She is fabulous and will be the teacher that we are adding to our team in January. So, even though I am so overwhelmed with 25 kids I keep looking around my room thinking about which 6 are going to be moved to her room. I am very attached and it just breaks my heart to think that they won't be mine anymore, but it is what is best for those kids. They deserve to be in a classroom where they can have more teacher attention than they are currently receiving.

My son also started Kindergarten this year. That is a huge adjustment that I was NOT prepared for. He is having a very long day and is absolutely exhausted by the end of it.... He is way over being at school when I am still there working on lesson plans and paperwork... oh the paperwork this year is INSANE.

But enough complaining.... here is my November Currently....


I am so looking forward to the week before Thanksgiving. I am taking back over from my Intern that week. I haven't taught in 6 weeks and boy do I miss it. I have been doing more behavior management for one particular student that is having an especially hard time adjusting to the demands of first grade. But the biggest part of Thanksgiving week is the Scholastic Book Fair is at our library. We end the week with a fun Book Character Day. I can't wait to share our idea but it is always a BIG secret until that morning so I can't share but will blog about it later.

I hope to not be as absent in the future. I love blogging and have kept up with reading the fantastic things that everyone is doing and I get so inspired by everyone. Hope everyone has a great first weekend of November.

Remember to link up with Farley!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

I was crafty!

I went back to school this week to work in my room and this is what I walked into on day 1.....



Not fun. Yuck. Yuck. Ugly.


By the end of day 1 this is what it looked like...



Better but not perfect.


Today... I got crafty and inspired by my teammates and the art teacher (my really good friend) who happens to be in our hallway. They decided to spray paint their trashcans and their recycling bins. Why you ask? Because it is prettier that way. That's why.

Before...

After....
They are upside down because they were still a little tacky on the bottom but what a difference right?

Then I found these buckets at Target and thought they would be a great addition to my tables to hold their glue, pencils and a few other things. I then found this duck tape at Wal-Mart and since I couldn't find anything frog related I went for floral because frogs and flower go together. Just go with it... It turns out pretty afterwards.
I had butterfingers this week and dropped my clock that I have had forever. So, quick trip to Wal-Mart and voila I got a new clock... which I dropped also. This time it was salvagable but needed pizazz. My new intern suggested hot gluing ribbon around it. So, we did.. (I love her by the way. I can not wait to see what else she comes up with this semester!)
I also decided to do the glitter clothespins that I saw on Pinterest to hang up student work instead of having to ticky-tack it to the wall. But.... I forgot to take a picture of it. Man! I am going to take tomorrow off from school and have one more fun day with my boys before I really have to be at work.

I will be back tomorrow to share my shopping on TPT!

Meridith


Thursday, August 9, 2012

Teacher's Fashion Linky

I know I have been doing a lot of Linky parties lately but I am avoiding school work for as long as possible so I choose to talk about stuff I like instead. I do have to go to start working on my room on Monday. I am going to stick with my frogs theme and most everything was left up so I just need to go get my furniture in order and reorganize everything. I have a whole week to do that then have staff development for a week and then my kiddos come on August 27th.

But anyway... on to what I am really wanting to share... From Blood to Books! is having a linky party to talk about a teacher's wardrobe. Since my husband does not enjoy the clothes talking I am jumping on this bandwagon quickly!
Here are the guidelines...
1. Tell me your favorite store(s) that you like to get your "teacher's fashion".
2. What are some of your favorite accessories?
3. What type of shoes do you teach in? (i.e. heels, flats, wedges, etc.)
4. Do you have a "go-to" item in your closet? (i.e. sweater you wear weekly, shoes you wear daily, etc.)
5. Have you ever had a fashion "uh-oh" at school? (i.e. heel broke, button popped off of blouse)


1. My Favorite Stores

I went on a mini-shopping spree with my teaching buddies last week as part of my birthday celebration (which honestly ended up lasting almost all week long! I have the best friends and family ever!) We went to J.C. Penney, Target, and Lane Bryant. I love the pants at Lane Bryant and have lost 35 pounds this year. (GO ME!) So, my goal next year is to not fit in Lane Bryant anymore... even though I do love their pants. I even got some CUTE tops at Kohls.

2. My Favorite Accessories
Big Buddha Hibiscus Tote - Dalmation
I found this on Pinterest and fell in love with this purse! My sister, the kind and observant Pinterest stalker that she is, found it for me and gave it to me for my  birthday. I. LOVE. IT. I am NOT a fashionista by far and the last purse I found was at Payless. I love this thing. It is HUGE! 
 
My friend had a 31 Party a few weekends ago and I bought a new organizer bag for all that stuff I haul back and forth from school and fully intend to work on. (Some of it will get accomplished!) It hasn't come in yet but I am waiting patiently. 

3. My Shoes

FLATS. BLACK. Nuff said.

4. My Go-To Item

My go-to items are my jewelry. I keep it simple. Watch. Wedding rings. James Avery charm bracelet. I wear these items every day. If I forget my bracelet, my students notice and feel like they are being deprived of normalcy. 

5. My Fashion Uh-Oh

I do have one. It is funny now but not so much when it happened. It was my second year teaching and I was about 4 months pregnant with my oldest son. The counselor happened to be in my room teaching a character ed lesson and I was walking around the room supporting her or passing something out. I bent down to tie someone's shoes when I hear a RRRRIiiipppppppppp..... Yup. My pants leg ripped down the seams from the nether regions to the knee. Yes, underwear was visible. The counselor doesn't see me run out of the room because she is really caught up in her lesson. I go to my neighbor panicking about what to do. I go to the nurse to see if she has A LOT of safety pins so I can make it through the rest of the day. Luckily, she did. So my neighbor and I stood in the hallway with her in between my legs trying to pin my pants together when my Assistant Principal walks down the hallway. I want to die! I bet they were watching this all go down on the surveillance cameras. She almost falls over laughing. Luckily, we had an hour left and I sat with my jacket over my legs the rest of the day and the pins held in place til I could run to my car very carefully and save a little bit of pride. THANK GOODNESS none of my kids paid any attention to me that day. 

So there you have it... my Fashion Linky.... Hope you had a good laugh at my Fashion Uh-Oh. Have a great evening everyone! 

Meridith

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Happy Birthday to Me and a Sale!

Well, I woke up 30 years old today and the sky did not fall in. Don't feel any different... just wiser. :)

In honor of my birthday, I am throwing a 20% off sale in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. It will run from today until Monday, August 6th. Go see if there may be something you may like. :)

I am off to take my boys to the library and then go see my other boys Tim and Kenny!

Have a great weekend.

Meridith

Friday, August 3, 2012

August Currently....

Farley over at Oh' Boy 4th Grade holds a monthly currently.... Link up with Farley and tell us about your Currently... Make sure to follow the rules!

 
 I am off to begin my birthday weekend celebration! I turn the big 3-0 tomorrow and my sister is doing my hair this afternoon as well as taking me for a little spa time. Then having dinner tonight at one of my favorite restaurants! Tomorrow I will be rocking out the 30s with a little Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney! Happy Weekend everyone!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Tell Me More, Tell Me More!

I am SUPER late to the party but I want to be in on the fun. Amy Lemons over at Step Into 2nd Grade is having a linky party where you can share facts about yourself that your followers may not know about you.


1. I have been married for 7 wonderful years to my husband, Mike.


2. We have 2 boys that are 5 and 3. My oldest will be going to kindergarten this year. I am so nervous for him. I am taking him with me to my school so that I can hand pick his teachers and be all up in his business! My friend, who in fact will be his teacher this year, has told me that she is going to have a special wall built that blocks me and only me from her classroom. I promised to not be a helicopter parent..... every day.



3. I am an internet stalker. It is a problem. I should go to meetings.



4. I was on the drill team in high school and grew up taking ballet lessons. I secretly love getting on stage and showing my old skill talents. My parents paid a lot of money for those lessons... I might as well use them once year at our school talent show. This is  in my Party Rock costume ready to show my moves with my teammates at the annual talent show.



5. I am a major book worm. I just finished Emily Giffin's Where We Belong that I picked up on the release date last Tuesday. Go read it. NOW! Why are you still here? I told you to go read it. Click the pic to buy it on Amazon.
Where We Belong

6. For those of you still with me... my husband and I decided to watch True Blood on HBOGo from the beginning a few weeks ago... and we have stayed up til 2 or 3 in the morning every night watching each episode. Now that I am all caught up I don't know what to do with myself. Maybe I will actually start working on school projects that I have put off for two glorious months.

7. We have 2 dogs, a cat and a very ugly fish. My dogs are both mutts and we rescued our precious Bailey from HBARC. Poor thing was covered in fleas and sick, sick, sick when we got her. My husband adopted her for me in hopes to put off baby fever but it didn't work. 9 months later we had a puppy AND a baby.

8. My first son was thought to be a girl. We were told at our 20 weeks ultrasound that we had a Kiersten on the way. I was extremely excited. There may or may not have been SEVERAL purchases of pink ballet shoes in a variety of sizes. I had a purple nursery with a pretty pink fan to top it all off.... and then baby day came and there was not a Kiersten. That is my son though... always pulling off tricks. For the entire day all I could say was, "I have a BOY." Best surprise of my life! (Yes, he slept in the purple nursery for the first year of his life. He has no memory of this so he is not scarred. My husband might be though.)

9. I live a mile from my mom. Separation anxiety? YUP. When picking out our house I had 2 questions... How close is my mom and can I have a whirlpool bathtub?



10. I love DONORSCHOOSE! I have had 5 projects funded in the last 2 years for materials for my classroom. I have recieved a class set of science goggles, complete set of science and math centers, listening center station with ear phones, recess equipment and a set of Tag readers and books. I am now asking for books to go with my listening center. If you would feel so inclined to donate to my project my students would be estatic and what a way that would start off the school year. Go write a project for your classroom! I would love to help if you have any questions!

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Newbie Blog Hop (Linky Party)

Hello!! Hope everyone had a great weekend! I spent the weekend in Galveston at a friend's beach house. It was a little piece of paradise! I am so relaxed..... and  A LOT sunburnt! 

Today I am going to link up with Grade Three is the Place for Me! to tell you a few things about myself! Here is what you need tell us when you link up also!


1.  what state you are in
    2.  your current teaching position
    3.  your teaching experience
    4.  when you started blogging
    5.  share a blogging tip / blogging resource
 
So here is a little bit about me!
 
1. Texas
2. First grade (which is my fav!)
3. I have been teaching for 8 years at the same school. I looped up one year to second grade but quickly asked to be moved back to first where my heart was and where I was much happier.
4. I started blogging early this year but haven't been able to do as much as I wanted.
5. The biggest blogging tip I can give you is to ask questions and Google if you don't know how to do something. I have Googled everything under the sun. I also check blogs pretty much every day. I am afraid I will miss something! 
 
SO there is a little bit about me! Link up with us and have a great week! 


Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Back to School Shopping Begins! (With a little giveaway news)

Wal-Mart has glue sticks for 10 CENTS a piece! So I packed up my boys and we went shopping. While we were there I decided that we would start putting a dent in my son's school supply list. He will be going to Kinder this year and I am a little excited. I am excited that he will be going with me and that all the fun things we do at school, he will finally be apart of! We picked out a new backpack that included a lunchbox all for $12.99!





Then we turned the corner and found the teacher area with all kinds of goodies! I had to literally stop myself from overloading my cart with all the fun stuff. I found awards, birthday stickers and cards,stamp pads, sharpies, expos,  index card holders and of course I bought 35 glue sticks!



My teammate went last week to Wal-Mart and found the cutest Cat in the Hat shirt for our annual Dr. Seuss week so I of course had to check it out! I found this gem in the pajamas section and had to stop myself from buying every single one! They had One Fish Two Fish, Cat in the Hat, Yertle the Turtle, and Green Eggs and Ham. I had to buy Horton because I just love Horton!



*On a special note, I am so excited to have doubled my followers from the Picture Book Linky party!  I have been slowly getting my feet wet in bloggy-land and I found Ms. Fultz's Corner where she is having a give-away for a new blog design. (Which I would LOVE to have! This blog is a hot mess but I am still trying to figure it all out...quite frankly html code stumps me.) If I had my wish of my ultimate dream makeover... I would love to have some blue and green chevron stripes with a frog or two thrown in. (Yes, I have a frog problem.) I would love to have this makeover because quite frankly this one is not representing me and my message very well. I just need help! Go check out Ms. Fultz's Corner to see her beautiful designs and her brilliant ideas!!

Monday, July 16, 2012

Must Have Picture Books (Linky)

Happy Summer to you all! Lindsey over at The Teacher Wife is having a linky party about 5 favorite read aloud picture books for the classroom. Oh there are so many choices! I am having trouble narrowing them down!

Photobucket

Here are five of my favorite read alouds for my classroom....(Click on the pictures to purchase these books from Amazon!)

Splat the Cat


1. Splat the Cat by: Rob Scotton. My students and my own children love Splat the Cat. He gets into a lot of trouble and worries about a lot, but everything always works out for him in the end!


2. Louanne Pig in The Mysterious Valentine by: Nancy Carlson. Louanne recieves a valentine and she isn't sure who it is from. My students love predicting and making inferences as we follow Louanne on her quest to find her secret admirer. Seriously! Pick this book up!

Jingle Bells, Homework Smells 
3.  Jingle Bells, Homework Smells by: Diane DeGroat. My students enjoy the character Gilbert and all of his stories. This one happens to be my ultimate favorite because it teaches students the all important lesson of getting your work done before you play!

Aliens Love Underpants

4. Aliens Love Underpants by: Claire Freedman. I just love this book! It is fun! It is bright! It is silly! Who doesn't love a fun, bright, silly book???

I'm Still Here in the Bathtub: Brand New Silly Dilly Songs

5. I'm Still Here in the Bathtub by: Alan Katz. This book is a fun way to end your day. We sit back and sing the songs to familiar tunes and generally just have a great time. I picked this book up my first year of teaching 8 years ago and still have my first group of kids come back and ask about this book.

Hope you enjoyed my list! I can't wait to see what you pick! Remember to link back up with The Teacher Wife!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Olivia!

Happy Sunday and of course happy summer! It sure is hot here in Texas and I am cautiously watching Tropical Storm Debby. I would love the rain but that is about it. My house barely survived Ike 4 years ago... don't want to experience that ever again!

On to the important stuff... I actually touched the computer for work purposes today. Shocker! I have literally not done anything work related for almost 3 weeks. I was burnt out to say the least but I am slowly getting inspired to create.

Olivia

Towards the end of the year I started working on this Olivia packet to go with my Texas Treasures Unit 6 week 1 activities. I have said it before that I love Treasures but still like to add a little flare of my own to their activities. Go on over to my store to pick up these Olivia supplemental activities.

First two to comment will get my packet for FREE!!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

My boxes are packed...

The end has finally come! I was so ready for a break. I had a few boys that were really trying my patience and I think they needed a break just as much as I did. At the end of the year we are busy with awards, field day, and packing up our rooms.My favorite end of year event is the talent show. My teammates and I have been performing for years. We have done Thriller where we dressed up as zombies... even my principal did it with us! Last year we did our own version of the hit Youtube video Evolution of Dance. And this year we decided to Party Rock to Kidzbop's Party Rock Anthem. It's a little bittersweet as this will be our last year all together. One of our teammates is moving to teach Junior High (bless her heart)! Rumor has it that a few of us might be moved around to another grade also but final decisions haven't been made. I am crossing my heart that I am not moved. I love my first graders.


 We have to pack everything up and put it away because all the furniture is taken out of our rooms and the carpet is supposedly steam cleaned.  This year I had some extra stress while packing because it is my school's turn to host the summer school for the entire district. Yup. A stranger will be in my classroom for a whole month and will have access to all of my things. Nothing strikes fear in your heart like the thought of a stranger being in and around your stuff. I feel like my personal space is being invaded. I went and bought padlocks for most of my cabinets and then put chart paper around areas that I couldn't lock up. It is U-G-L-Y!



I see so many people posting about leaving their rooms as they are and not having to worry about summer school in their rooms. I am double jealous! 

I need to go to sleep now though because the bright person I am signed up for a 3 day math training for our new math TEKS. It sounded so great in April but now I am rethinking it!

Monday, May 7, 2012

Teacher Appreciation Week 2012





I just purchased several fun activities and am so glad to share them with you! I am really having fun with this post and seeing what other people are buying to finish out their school year. 19 days left for me by the way!! I have DRA testing going on this week so I am looking for stuff to keep my kiddos engaged. 

First up... Dinosaurs by Kacie at Doodle Bugs Teaching ( I tried to enter the pic here for the centers but I am having trouble. Argh! Sorry still learning!) I am in love with the dinosaur craftivitity. I can't wait to make them! 

Next up... Once Upon a Time by Teaching in High Heels. I love a good fairy tale and this is going to be so much fun!






And last but not least Candy Awards by Reagan Tunstall at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits. These are so fun and will make our last day of school very memorable. I am going to miss several of my kiddos this year! 
So those are what I chose to use my teacher appreciation code :TAD12 and earned points while getting useful items for my classroom. Don't forget to go check out my store also where I am throwing a sale through Tuesday, May 8th.


Also, I have linked up with Erica Bohrer to see what other great products that teachers bought.


Sunday, April 15, 2012

Earth Day Poem Freebie!

I am having an Earth Day theme this week to teach my first graders about the importance of taking care of our Earth. I am also trying expose my first graders to more poetry this month in order to celebrate April's National Poetry Month.

In my pocket chart center, students will be using this activity. I found a poem online at this website. Students will use the poem and put the words in order to build a poem match. Once the poem has been put in order, students have a fill-in-the-blank recording sheet to find the missing words of the poem. I have done this activity several times over this school year and my students are becoming very good at it.

Hope you enjoy this freebie! I will take pics of my students using this activity this week and upload them to give you a better idea of how this center works.

Have a great week!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

My TPT Store!

I am excited to say that I have officially sold my first item on TPT! I am soooo thrilled and excited! I have all these thoughts of things that I can create and hopefully people can use these items in their classrooms. That has been my goal since I started teaching. I have dreamed of either becoming a librarian or to go work for an education publishing company where I could write lesson plans and make activities all day. I love writing lesson plans. I am crazy. I love it even more this year since I have discovered Pinterest and teacher blogs. Who knew there was all this great stuff out there?!

I am currently working on synonyms and antonyms in my classroom. Last week to introduce these two concepts I used Cara Carroll's ideas over at the First Grade Parade.( I have to tell you... this woman inspires me so much.) We made Synonym Cinnamon rolls and really just had a blast. I so regret not taking pictures. I really have to remember to do that more. So now that we have worked on it together as a group I am going to put reinforcement activities in my literacy centers this week and maybe for the next couple of weeks depending on how well we do with this concept.

I will be doing a quick butterfly theme this week, mostly done in centers, (since there are only 4 days this week.... who had a 4 day weekend this weekend? This girl sure did!). I created a pocket chart matching activity (told you previously... complete pocket chart junkie) that will be requiring students to look at word pairs and decide if they are an antonym or a synonym pair. Then students will be recording their answers on a recording sheet. It really melts my heart when students refer to their work as a recording sheet. (They do listen to me. Score!) So... if you would like to take a look at my little activity please click HERE to check it out on Teachers Pay Teachers.

I also uploaded a sequencing activity that I used with my students during my Laura Numeroff author study. First off I used Erica Borher's If You Give Author Study packet (which was fabulous! Loved the cupcake word problem craftivity!) for most of my center activities for the week along with my group activities. I also created a pocket chart sequencing activity where students read the big book If You Take a Mouse to School. This book actually came with our reading adoption and was meant to be read a few weeks ago according to my Treasures curriculum but I like to save it for my author study week. This activity was loved by my students. They had fun pretending to be the teacher and read the big book to the other students (or group members) then sort the story together and finally independently. I always try to have an independent practice with all my centers to make sure they know what they are doing... and to hold them accountable for that time. Please take a look HERE for this activity.

As always.... please share my information and Pin anything you like. I would love to have my followers on my blog and at my TPT store.  Happy Easter!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Good Luck Smarties!

Here in Texas it is STAAR  testing season. We just had our first round this week of 4th grade writing tests and 5th grade math and reading tests. Let me just say that even though I teach first grade... testing days are stressful for us too. The air is just stressful. We have to keep the students absolutely silent in the hallway. Lunch has to be quiet in the cafeteria (yeah right!). No recess and no specials and did I mention absolutely no break from the kids at all? Long. Days. The first day flies by and you get so much done since you have no break... but the second day drags and you think it will never end. I was not pulled to test a small group this time... Praise the Lord. I would much rather be in my own room teaching then staring down a 4th grader taking a test and counting ceiling tiles while I actively monitor.

At my school, the younger grades adopt one of the older grades classrooms and we made them encouraging posters and incentives. In years past I have had my first graders make the older kids a fun little postcard that says you are going to do a great job or something to that effect. I will be doing that the next round of testing.  But this year I was inspired by Pinterest yet again to create something a little more fun.

First I made these (My first edition to TPT!! Go download it is free!) little cards by using Kevin and Amanda fonts and Graphics From the Pond. (Both were free!). Then I took 3 smarties candies and put them in a cellophane bag, tied it with some twine, and Voila! I had a little bag of encouragement for my 4th grade smarties.


 We also make little posters to hang outside in the hallways and I went with my smarties theme.... Here is my little creation...


 In the past I have made posters with an elephant "stomping" the TAKS. (We no longer have the TAKS test in Texas. It is now the STAAR test. WHATEVER) I have also seen football fields where students were "scoring on the test!" 

I hope you enjoyed my first ever freebie on TPT. Please pass on the word and follow my store here.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Yee-Haw!

Sorry for being MIA lately... I got hit with the flu and then was put in charge of the school dance... my son started playing soccer... and life just got busy. But I am back and eager to share that I am on Spring Break and it is raining outside. I love yucky, rainy days. They are the best... but back on to our topic...

It is Rodeo time here in Houston. During this time of year, my district's scope and sequence states that we are to be learning all things about Texas. I personally love this time. I like pulling out the southern Texan twang with a few fun read alouds.

The reading skill of the week was Plot. I pulled out 2 of my favorite Western Cinderella stories.

 

I always have so much fun with these stories. The kids enjoy them too! The boys especially love Bubba's version. We started out the week by reading Cindy Ellen first. We charted the plot of the story by using the "Somebody Wanted But So" method inside of a boot pattern that I found in my files and traced. (I am not the best at drawing on my own but I am an excellent tracer!) 

 
 The next day, we read about Bubba and charted his plot also on a cowboy hat (but I forgot to take a pic of it). After charting the plot of both stories, my students on their own (so proud) began making connections on how the stories were the same and how they are different. I then pulled out my Venn Diagram pocket chart and we wrote ideas on boots from Carson Dellosa.

 
 Then the students used a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the two stories. I highly recommend purchasing this book from Scholastic .


In my writing center, students traced a cowboy and created their own cowboy. They then had to fill in the answers to sentence stems that were available in a pocket chart by the writing area. (I am a pocket chart junkie.) 


Thanks again for reading my blog! Please pin and share to your heart's desire. Also, please tell people about my blog. I would love to have more followers. :) I hope to post more ideas this week and hopefully a few freebies! 

Happy Spring Break!
 

Monday, January 16, 2012

Predicting with a Mystery

Last week our Treasures reading skill was to practice predicting what was going to happen in the story. I love Treasures and the way it is laid out but sometimes I give it a little more of a flare to go with our theme of the week. Thank goodness my district allows this because I read blogs where teachers don't have as much freedom. I believe the curriculum should be your guideline but it doesn't have to be the "be all end all."

All that being said....I started off my lesson by showing my students the cover of....


We then talked about the little girl Annie and how she has lost her mitten. She then has to retrace her steps of the day to find where she may have dropped it. We brainstormed ideas together based on just looking at the cover where Annie will find her mitten. Several of my students picked up on the huge hint on the cover of the story but a few didn't.


After we brainstormed ideas as a group, I gave each student a mitten to write their prediction for where Annie was going to find her mitten. Then we enjoyed the story together and were very happy to see that Annie finds her mitten..... (Nope! Not going to tell  you where she finds it. You need to read the book to find out!)

I gave the students another mitten afterwards for the students to write about whether their prediction was correct or not. We talked about how sometimes we think we know what is going to happen and that it doesn't always work out that way. Then we also went back to look at the clues in the story to see how maybe we can make a more correct prediction in the story next time.