HOLEY MOLEY! Revise and Edit Freebie!

Oh MY WORD!! I have been gone too long! It has been over two months since my last post! I am so sorry! {if any of you noticed}

I have good reason though! I promise! 

I have taken on a lot more responsibility on my campus this year. The beginning of the year was very VERY hectic and I had many breakdowns. My anxiety got bad.  I had to choose what was the most important to me. So, blogging and TPT took a backseat to the rest of my life. BUT that is okay. 

Luckily, things have settled down and I am hoping to get back into my regular postings! I really have been taking pictures of things going on in my classroom but just didn't have the desire/energy to post it.

On the brighter side, I can say that this year I have an AMAZING, FABULOUS, AWESOME group of kiddos {and parents}. God KNEW exactly what I needed after a horrible last year. So far, all we've been hearing is negativity from the third grade teachers about the kiddos that we had. That was just a bad grade level all together! 

This year, BOTH of my classes are awesome. My first class is full of angels! Such smart students with only one who is usually on another planet....but that's doable. :) My afternoon class is super sweet. I have a minor behavior issue but that child comes with some serious family baggage for which I don't blame him. {though it isn't an excuse}Needless to say, I am happy this year. I don't dread coming to work like last year. I was seriously thinking of what other profession to which I could move. It was that bad! {sigh} 

Anyways...{Nacho Libre voice...if anyone gets that}

This first 9 weeks we have been focusing on the writing process.  Recently, I introduced my kiddos to peer revising and editing. We created anchor charts for ARMS and CUPS to help them remember for what to look.  I also created the checklists for them to follow when checking each other's papers. Those have been posted on my Facebook page! :) If you haven't liked it, click on over and grab it under my fan freebies!

These kiddos love to check through each other's papers for a place to help them become better writers. Now, honestly, it has gone over better with my morning class {which is the GT cluster}, go figure. I am still helping my afternoon class with actually searching for things in their peers writing rather than just reading it through and saying they're done. 

Overall, I'm happy with the progress. 

Here are some snapshots of my kiddos at work! 

I know it wasn't the MOST exciting post, but I had to start somewhere! I promise to be back with more interesting and useful material. I think I'm going to do a post on our reading journals and reading folders this coming week! So, check back for that! :)

Thanks for those who have stayed with me. I'm sure you know how it is when you get overwhelmed!

Have a FABULOUS weekend!!!!!

Much LOVE!

See y'all soon!

Five for Friday and Freebie Friday!

AND

Today I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday Linky! 

AND 

with Teaching Blog Addict for Freebie Friday!

Here are my random 5 and Freebie!

1.  Stay Positive Reminder

Last year was a hard year for me and there was a decent amount of negativity around. THIS year WILL be different. I want to have a daily reminder in front of me to keep me in check. I want to STAY POSITIVE this year. SO, I created a little picture to be framed and put on my desk to remind me. I bought and used a 4X6 frame from the dollar store.

Do You Need/Want a Reminder??

 This is a FREEBIE on my Facebook Page. Go like my page to get this PLUS many more freebies! 

2. My Writing Process Status of the Class

Last year I used a clip chart. It was ugly and I didn't like it. About a week ago I saw this idea on another blog {I can't for the life of me remember where} and decided to try it out!

I am going to use tins and popsicle sticks with their numbers to keep track of their progress and status. I have 2 classes, SO I will have to make two different styles of numbers. That is fine with me... I just haven't gotten around to creating those yet..maybe today...

3. Binder Covers!

Yesterday I updated my conferencing binder covers! They were in serious need! I am creating an editable binder cover pack that will be posted soon! 

4. Parent Communications Binder

My Parent Communications Binder has been my TOP seller this summer on TPT. I finally printed and made copies to put mine together!

I just love the feeling of being organized!

Click here to get my Parent Communications Binder!

Examples of the divider pages

This is the student information sheet and questionnaire. This will go home with parents on Meet the Teacher night to be returned the First Day of School.

This is the individual parent communication sheets for each student. I will have to get dividers to separate the sections for each student.

This is one option of the master parent information list. This makes it so much easier to find parent numbers or emails quickly!

 These are the volunteer sheets. They currently are not in the pack in my TPT store because I know that they differ from class to class. So I just made these for my classroom. Here is what my volunteer set up will be... I'm planning on going back and adding some bright colors to the sign. It's SO blah! 

5.  JJ Watt. 

His name should speak for itself! I am a HUGE Houston Texans fan and LOVE JJ Watt. He is cute, BUT it's more that he is a very talented player and a terrific guy! This was in a magazine I was glancing at in the grocery store...LOVE <3! He actually lives in the neighborhood behind me! I think we have plans to trick or treat over there this year.. haha.. I promise I'm not a stalker!

Today is the Houston Texans first preseason game! I know the starters aren't playing, but that doesn't matter! I am SOO excited for the start of football season! I can't WAIT!

So 4 out of 5 are school related! That's pretty good!

I'm off to hopefully finish creating for my classroom.. I'm ready to be done and start planning my lessons! :)

Have a Fabulous Weekend Y'all!

GO TEXANS!

Monday Made it and Another Freebie!!

It's a rainy Monday..but that can't keep me from smiling! 

Today was my first day of teaching summer school. It went well.. had 8 students in my first class then 2 in my second class..It's much nicer when there's only a few kids! 

I got home this afternoon and got straight to work! 

I had to get my craft done for Monday Made It!

I literally JUST finished my craft for this week! AND I have yet ANOTHER freebie! I am all full of freebies lately!

My First Monday Made it...

I saw this on Pinterest but can't for the life of me find the original pin. So here is mine.

{Pardon the dark photos...}

It is a doorway ribbon curtain?? haha I have no idea what to call it! That sounds good enough though.

This was very cheap to make. I'm pretty sure I got the adjustable rod from Target. Not expensive at all... AND the ribbon (most of it) is from the dollar store! They seriously had my turquoise and gray! I was so happy! So, I loaded up on that! 

So simple. No need for directions.. Can't wait to take it in tomorrow to see how it looks on my classroom door!!

My Second Monday Made It!

Since I teach reading, I wanted to start off this summer session with asking the kids what they liked about reading and/or what they thought they were good at in reading. So, I created a little writing sheet. I used this today with my kiddos and it went well! :) Just got their mind back into thinking about reading. 

The directions on the two are slightly different. just depends if you want them to write about what they are good at or what they like about reading... Today I had them write about what they liked. 

If you'd like this freebie..Hop on over to my Facebook page and click on my Fab Fan Freebie tab at the top of my page. Remember! You have to like my page to get the freebie! :) There is more than one freebie on the link! ;)

Happy Monday Made it! :) :)

Reading Goals Bookmark Freebie!

Happy Saturday Y'all!! 

I just created a reading goals bookmark for my students to use this year. I really want them to stay focused and aware of what they should be working towards. I think that this bookmark can help with that. 

I added a place for the students to write their current goal, strategies that will help them reach that goal, and a place to check when they practiced those strategies. 

I will most likely have a bunch of these copied on card stock...maybe even some color card stock. I want them easily accessible because we know that students' goals are always changing. This will make it easy for them to go grab a new one when it does change.

I also will most likely help the student fill it out. I will do this during small guided reading time OR during one on one conferences. 

Go get the link for this freebie from my Facebook Page! :)

Enjoy!

ALSO, I want to know how do you keep your readers accountable and/or focused on their goals??

Freebie Friday & Update!

Hey Y'all! 

I'm linking up for Freebie Friday from Teaching Blog Addict!

Explanation first....then Freebie at the bottom!

 ALMOST-Finished Product 

(Still have to add ribbon- sorry for the glare)

This freebie goes along with a craft that I have been working on lately. If you've been reading the past couple days, I've been working on a Where Are You Board for my classroom. For the little number magnets, I chose to use the clear mini gems from the dollar store.

I first had to measure the gems and make a circle the correct size on PPT. 

Then I filled in the numbers and printed it off on chevron designed paper. 

Then cut them out and modge podge (how my husband says it- He hates the stuff) them to the back of the gems. 

 

Tip: I cupped them in my hand for a couple seconds as it was drying so that any little edges would fold up and be flush with the gem. 

 

Then I super glued a little magnet to the back of that! 

The gems are from the dollar store. You only need one baggie. The magnets are a roll of magnetic tape from Hobby Lobby for $2.99. I just cut small pieces off to fit the back of the gem.

And VOILA! I am almost done with my board!

Now,  I decided to add my passes to the side of the cookie sheet.

Side Note!

 I use clothespins as my bathroom and hallway passes. That way students clip them on BEFORE they go to the bathroom and don't touch it again until they have WASHED their hands!  I see some teachers who use the hand sanitizer bottles as the passes... cute, but it just grosses me out to think of all the germs that get all over those bottles in the bathroom! So, I've stuck with the clothes pins! SO simple to clip onto their sleeve or collar. AND they are cheap and easily replaced if one is lost or no longer usable. :) 

 There is one boys pass, one girls pass, and one hall pass!

OK Finally, onto my FREEBIE. So, for the numbers on the back of the gems, I had to measure the size to know how big to make the circles on PPT. So, here is my print out! Feel FREE to download if you feel like getting crafty! :) :)

 Click on either of the images to get the document!

**NOW UPDATED TO INCLUDE #'s THROUGH 30!!**

Sorry for the long post! But I wanted to share my hard work with yall! Hope you like it!

Now off to make myself useful!

 Laundry Time! 

HAPPY FRIDAY!! :)

Freebie! Edit and Revise Checklist!

Hey y'all! I have a wonderful freebie for you!

It's been a while since I've posted, so I thought I'd share something FREE!

I created edit and revise checklists for when my students peer edit and revise each others work...This helps keep the students accountable when they are working together and also keeps them on track!

They go through and check off the sections when they have gone through and done so on their partner's paper.

I don't have a picture of the revise checklist because I just created it. 

Here are examples of when my students have used the edit checklist recently in my class. The pics were taken before I did a little facelift with the fonts on the checklist. :)

Here is the free download at my TPT store! :) Hope You Enjoy!!

I'm working on some stuff for reading and writing notebooks! Hopefully I get to finish those soon!