Summary and READING JOURNALS!!

Hi Y'all!!!!

I am so glad to finally be getting a chance to blog again! Life has been super busy and I basically just needed a blog break...again.... BUT today I have a few things to share! So, I'm just going to jump right in! 

Summary

This week we studied summary. I find that this is the first step in writing about their reading. The kiddos need to know and be able to share what happened in the story before they can go and share deeper thinking and feeling about it. SO.... This week we read Something Beautiful and used a SWBST {Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then} flipbook to write their summary. This seriously makes is SOOOO much easier for the students to grasp the idea of and write a summary. 

First, we completed a summary together on our read aloud. Then they took their flipbook to their seats to use it with one of their independent reading books. 

Here are a few pics of our summary activity!

I created my own SWBST flipbook so that I could add the questions on the inside of the flaps. This helped guide the students as they went along. It went GREAT! They liked it so much, some students asked if I had extra copies so that they could write another summary for another one of their books. :) 

Want a free copy of my SWBST flipbook? Go on over to my Facebook page! You can find it under my freebies tab! :) Enjoy! 

Now, my favorite!

Reading Journals

As a 2nd grade ELA teacher, I love....LOVE our reading journals! It is one of my favorite parts of teaching ELA. I love the flexibility, choice, and sharing of deep thinking that can be accomplished with reading journals. 

I have been using them since day 1 in my classroom. After slowly progressing, the students are just now building up to creating and sharing fabulous and creative thinking! 

Currently my students have moved away from workstations/centers. We are now independently reading and responding for an hour, total, while I am pulling small groups and conferring. My students are expected to read and respond to a book in their reading journals at least once a week. They then turn in their journal to me on their assigned day and I respond back to them. 

As a class, we created a list of ways that they could write about a story. Here is the list my class came up with. I keep it posted in plain sight so that they have easy access to it. 

I also have a menu that I put in the front of their journals to help get them started if they aren't sure how to respond. Once they are finished with the menu, they come get the next one. I created 7 half-sheet menus with different response starters. You can find it here at my TPT store. :)

The reading journal is broken up into two sections. Notes and Responses.

This is an example of activities we did as a class in their Notes section.

Here are some examples of my students' independent responses in their Response section! 

I love the sticky note at the top... so cute.

I ADORE it when they start to get creative! This girl used sticky notes and folded them to make flips!

My students also love to do their response on the computer! They love to print it out and glue it in!  Here you can also see my response back to her. 

{don't mind my messy handwriting....I have to respond to 10 of these a day, so that tends to encourage messiness!}

As you can see, I basically let them choose how they want to respond. That choice lets them be more creative and keeps them more engaged and excited about the work. 

Phew... I feel like that was a lot! It feels so good to be back to posting... I'm excited to share my MLK activities with you tomorrow! 

Have a FABULOUS night! :)

-Carly-

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!

Interactive Reading Journal Responses!

Happy Sale Day!!!

If you didn't know... today starts the Back to School TPT Sale!

You can get up to 28% off!

It only lasts until tomorrow! 

Before you go spending some money... I want to share and highlight my newly updated Reading Journal Interactive Responses Packet.

This was originally one of my very first products that I ever created! Needless to say, it was definitely time for an update! 

This packet has a total of 20 activities that are great for using whole class or small group! These activities focus on some of the main comprehension strategies.

I LOVE using these with my kiddos...They are easy to use and makes the activity/lesson more engaging! 

These are examples of how some are provided as whole and half sheets.

Front side

Inside

Hop on over to my TPT store if you like what you see! It is on sale now!!

Have a FABULOUS time shopping for the school year!

Reading Journals and Back To School Sale!!

Hi Y'all!

I have been a way for a few days! Needed some R&R time... 

BUT

I'm back today to link up with Brainbridge Class for her Best and Most linky!

This linky is to put our products on show for y'all for the TPT BACK TO SCHOOL SALE! YUP! It is finally here! 

It begins this Sunday the 18th and ends on Monday 19th! You can get up to 28% off if you use the promo code below!

So here is my TPT Back to School Best and Most!

OF course I've included my Parent Communications Binder! A MUST need to keep organized!

Also, my newly and much needed updated Reading Journal Interactive Responses!

My students LOVE using these in their reading journals! I use them both whole group and small group!

Next is my Reading Journal Response Menus

I also used these with my students reading journals. I would tape it in the front cover and the students got to choose which response they wanted to use! Great opportunity for freedom and differentiation!

AND 

My New Writer's Notebook!

Hopefully you will find something that YOU can use in your classroom!

Happy Purchasing!

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!