Question of the Day - Great Way to Promote Writing and Get to Know Your Students Better

Question of the Day is something both my students and I love doing in our class. Each day I post a question on my board. 

This is an "optional" question that students can answer if they want to. Sometimes the questions are silly, sometimes they're serious, sometimes they are about school, sometimes they are about home. I mix it up to keep it engaging and fun. Students are allowed to write their answers on sticky notes and then post their answers up on the board. I ask students to write their answers during any free time, Daily 5, or writing time. It is super fun to read their responses throughout the day. At the end of the day, we take 5 minutes right before we leave to read through all the answers. This gives the kiddos a chance to listen to their peers' responses and get to know each other better. I also learn a LOT about my students from doing this. Because this is an optional activity, I sweeten the pot a little bit by offering a fake penny to each student who writes an answer (we use a coin system to buy non-tangible rewards in my class). Then, I place all the answers in a cup or bucket and have my helper of the day draw 1 name out. That person gets a fake nickel as a "reward." This also gives me a chance to embed good sportsmanship opportunities. :-) 

I've discovered that this is a really great way to build classroom community and climate. I learn a lot about my students, and I will often write my own answers too, and the students love learning about me. I invite visitors coming through to write responses also - the students get a kick out of that (i.e. other teachers, the principal, etc...)! This is one quick and easy way to integrate writing, speaking, and listening easily and quickly into the classroom, and it helps me to build relationships and positive classroom while only taking about 5 minutes of class time. 

The possibilities for how to use these questions are really quite endless. While I do mine on the board, you could make a bulletin board, you could have students write responses in notebooks or on iPads, you could have students share with partners by doing Mix n' Match or another cooperative learning strategy, you could use these as journal prompts, etc... 

Thinking of the questions is always the hardest part about these. For a no-prep option, please see my TPT store to download a whole set of questions (220 questions to choose from) already typed and prepped. All you have to do is print and cut in half! I've also included two different versions of the QOTD (question of the day) pennant banners I created to go with the questions. I will be throwing a sale on this item for 20% off now through Friday! Click HERE or click the picture below:

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Sunday Freebies - Guided Reading Forms for Running Records

I just love Sundays... They are my "lazy" days. I love laying around with the hubby, watching football, napping/dozing off throughout the day, and just enjoying being home. :-)

 

Here are a couple freebies for you. One of my colleagues asked for a copy of one of these documents the other day, so I figured it may make a good freebie.

 

The first document is a running record form. How many of you get tired of counting words ahead of time and writing them out? I certainly did. It was NOT my favorite thing. So, I came up with this super simple, but very handy and effective, form. To use this form, all you have to do is keep recording while the student is reading, until you get to the bottom! There are 100 boxes, so once you reach the bottom, you're good to go. Hope this works for you as well as it has for me! To download, just click HERE or click the picture below.

 

The other freebie I have for you today is a data sheet I use to record running record scores for my students. I print a page for each student, and I keep it in my guided reading binder. Each time I give that student a running record, I record the info (including any observations or comments) on the form. This is then handy to have, because I can see a comparison of their scores on one page. I can also easily see/use this information when discussing students at PLC (professional learning communities) or when trying to figure out if a student needs an MTSS (RTI in other states) intervention. Hope you can use this form also! To download this form, click HERE, or click the picture below.

 

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead. If you haven't already, stop by my new Facebook page and click "like". www.facebook.com/confessionsofaprimaryteacher

 

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Cool Down Strategies Revisited

Remember how I posted that post at the end of last school year with the free anger management cards (I think end of April or beginning of May 2012)? Well, we went ahead and STARTED the year, this year, with having a whole lesson on anger management. If you missed that previous post, you can click HERE to go to the free download of those anger choice cards, or you can click the picture below.

After reading the book When Sophie Gets Angry, Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang, we talked about things that might make us angry. Students then discussed what they could do when they got to the point where they were angry. Next, we talked about how it is completely ok for students to feel frustrated, angry, upset, disappointed, etc... We are, after all, human, and humans have a range of emotions. However, we talked about the fact that even if we feel angry, frustrated, upset, etc..., we can't deal with those emotion in a way that will hurt or bother others or ourselves. The class brainstormed some ideas of how they deal with their anger "appropriately" (after discussing what appropriate would look and sound like), and we talked about how you might use different strategies at school and home. After sorting out which strategies might be good to use at school, we made an anchor chart.

 I then introduced the quiet spot, and went over my expectations for when a student feels they need to go to the quiet spot to calm down. I placed a laminated copy of the above discussed anger choice cards, and students will use a dry-erase marker or vis-a-vis pen to mark which choice they picked in order to calm themselves down. They will be expected to discuss this with me later when they return or when we have a break (which strategy they chose and how it helped them calm down). I also went over the calm down sensory box that our school counselor graciously put together for us (includes a glitter jar, marbles hidden in clay, buttons to sort, and letter beads to string onto string), and we discussed those expectations as well. All in all, this turned out to be a great reminder lesson for these kiddos, and I feel like students will not be intimidated or feel threatened or scared to express their frustrations in a calm and safe manner. Fingers crossed anyway! ;-)



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Prize Catalog

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE not having a prize box anymore. There are so many great reasons for moving to a prize catalog instead, including not having to spend money on prizes  rewards being more matched to Positive Classroom. Seriously though, it is a great feeling to not have to worry about prize boxes anymore. I do, however, still have students "buy" prizes from the catalog, especially in 2nd grade, as this helps with math and social studies skills.

As one of my individual behavior management systems, I randomly give out "fake" pennies to students for exhibiting positive behaviors. Students can then count and trade their pennies in each week or every other week (*bonus math skill time). Students can then trade their money in for certain "prizes" in the prize catalog (or they can save their money - *bonus social studies economics skill time). I place the prize catalog in sheet protectors and store them in a binder. Students can then look through the prize catalog whenever they'd like. Here are the prizes included in this catalog:

$0.10 - Happy Helper (classroom helper)
$0.25 - Super Supplies (students get to use smelly markers or fancy pencil)
$0.30 - Leap Frog Line Jumper (line leader)
$0.40 - Stinky Feet! (shoes off in classroom)
$0.50 - Cool Cat in a Hat (wear a cool hat in the classroom)
$0.60 - Littlest Pet Shop (stuffed animal on desk)
$0.75 - Be Proud, Read Aloud (read a book to class, friend, or adult)
$0.80 - Show n' Share (bring something to share with class)
$1.00 - Teacher Chair (sit in the teacher's chair for the day)
$1.15 - Computer User Time (extra computer time)
$1.25 - Swip Swap (switch desks with a friend)
$1.50 - Lunch Bunch (lunch with a friend and the teacher)

There are also some coupons in the back, so that when a student chooses a prize, he/she can take home a coupon to show his/her parents (this also works so parents know it's ok to bring a hat/object to share/stuffed animal). And that way, too, students have something tangible to show their parents.

I have posted my version of the prize catalog on TpT, but it does cost a small amount. To take a look at what I use, click HERE or click on one of the preview pictures below.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Superstar-Prize-Catalog

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Bucket Filler Slips

We are a Bucket Filling classroom! If you haven't read "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?" by Carol McCloud, you must! You can find the book at most bookstores, including the one below.

There are so many awesome Bucket Filling resources on the web and with fellow educators right now, and it is really neat to see how different people implement it in different ways. The key to bucket filling is that we all have a secret, invisible bucket (I teach that it is in our hearts). When you do kind things, you are filling people's buckets and your own. When you do things that are not kind, you are dipping into other people's buckets. We all want to be bucket fillers, not bucket dippers. I have seen some super cool classrooms that have actual buckets for each child. In our class (keeping things a little more simplified), we have a single bucket - the compliment jar (see my earlier post from last year). Students can write thank you notes to others for filling their bucket, or they can fill someone else's bucket by writing compliments. Then, at our class meeting or during sponge times, I will read a few of the slips aloud and then give it to the corresponding student to keep. We always talk about who maybe needs their bucket filled at our class meetings, and that way no one is left out. My students love filling our compliment jar, and really enjoy giving and receiving their slips. They are allowed to write during writer's workshop or during the writing portion of Daily 5. The bucket filler concept is one that I feel students can really understand and visualize. Here are some free slips for you to use in your classroom if you like! :-) Just click the link HERE or click on the picture below to download.

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Class Agreement

First of all, Happy New School Year! The kids have officially started, and we are already just about in full swing. I'm in 2nd grade this year (love teaching 2nd grade), because I looped with my class. We've been 1st/2nd grade loopers for 6 years now at my school, and I've really enjoyed it. There are so many positives about looping, especially that you already know most (if not all) of your kiddos and parents. The beginning of the second year is so smooth, and it's nice to be able to jump right into things. However, this may be my last year of looping for a while. We may take a temporary leave so that we can focus our attention and energy on Common Core and MTSS (RTI in other states). That way, we can become really knowledgable and comfortable with the new curriculum. :-) I'm very excited about all of the changes and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to become familiar with Common Core in both 1st and 2nd grade, and I'm ready to now delve deeper into it!

I always make a Class Agreement with my students (consistent with Positive Classroom). We usually talk about and brainstorm the agreement together, and then I write it on chart paper to make our own little Anchor Chart and have the students sign it. However, thanks to Pinterest, one of my coworkers found this SUPER cute idea, to have the kids brainstorm things we will do as a class this year and then mount it and hang it from ribbon. So while it was the same concept of having the students come up with the agreement, we typed it up instead, and we are displaying our class agreements on all of our doors (all 2nd grades at my school). Here is the finished product for our class:

I think it turned out pretty cute, and the kids love it. We can now refer to it throughout the day, and other people entering our room (we keep our door open a lot) can also see what we're "all about." :-)



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Freebie: Class Information Sheet and Parent Communication Log

We all know that teaching is not just about the time spent in the classroom. :-) There are a lot of other components to teaching, and one of those is components includes making frequent contact with parents (including those "good" phone calls and notes). Here are two documents to help you with keeping the information together and recording it.

The first document is the Class Information Sheet. This is a very simple document that keeps your students' information all together in one place. While this seems like a super minimal document, it has proven quite handy for me throughout the year! I always fill it out at the beginning of the school year and post a copy by my classroom phone and put another copy in my plan binder behind the student information section. Once you've compiled it, it also makes a great resource for fieldtrips! To download it for free, go to this link HERE, or click on the picture below.

The next document is the Parent Communication Log. This document is so handy for tracking all those times that you make contact with a student's parent(s). Just keep a copy in the front of each of your student's file folders in your drawer, and fill it out each time you make contact. This information can come in extremely handy for various situations, including filling out referral paperwork. If you need more copies, just make extra copies of the 2nd page, and staple or paperclip them to the back of the 1st page. Included is an area for student and parent contact information. That way, you are only having to reference 1 document when you call, e-mail, write a note, or have a conference with a child's parent(s). Hopefully you can use this! :-) To download the Parent Communication Log, go HERE, or click on either of the pictures below to download.



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Pick-a-Partner Cards for Random Student Pairing

I created some cards as a resource for letting student pick partners in class. These cards can be used much the same way as you would use cards in the Kagan cooperative learning structure, Mix-n-Match. There are 50 cards. Just laminate and cut apart. You can store them on a ring or keep them rubber banded in a safe spot for easy access. I am having a sale on these cards on TpT - you can get them for $1 until Wednesday 7/25/12 at 11:59pm. See the last paragraph of this post for some other ideas on how you could use this same idea with general classroom objects you might already have in your classroom! If you'd like to see these cards, click HERE to go to my TpT store and purchase them. You can also click the preview picture(s) below.

You could just pass these cards out to the students and have them find their match. However, I have students use these like they would in the Kagan cooperative learning structure “Mix-and-Match”. This allows students to not only choose a partner randomly, but it also allows them to get up and move around (very important in the primary classroom)! To use, pass one card to each student (if there is an uneven number, place the extra card in the “unmatched area”). Have the students spread out in the room. Then, play some music or say a chant or something as a class. While the music is playing, have students walk around and trade cards (I always go over my expectations when it comes to this – students are to be constantly moving and constantly trading). When the music stops, students freeze. When you say, “Go!”, the students will try to find their match. When students find their match, you can either have them sit knee-to-knee, hand up/pair up, or stand back to back. They can then go do whatever it is you want them to do as a pair! If you have an odd number of students, and a player’s match is in the “unmatched area”, you can then just have him/her join a group or be your helper/checker.

I created these cards just to have something fun for the kiddos, but you certainly do not have to have set cards. In the past, I've used a regular deck of playing cards (partners have to find a number or symbol matching their number or symbol), colored puff ball (partners find their same color), pattern blocks, regular number cards (like we use in math), unifix cubes, or even sight word cards (you just need a double set and students match the sight word). You could also use rhyming word cards, vowel cards, addition/subtraction flash cards (same sums or differences), etc... This activity can be fun, educational, or both, and it allows students to interact in a positive manner that makes finding a partner an easy thing.  I hope your kiddos have as much fun with this as mine do! :-)

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Back to School Checklist Pack

Here is a helpful document I created for TpT. This Back to School Checklist Pack has everything you will need to help you get the year started off with a bang. The beginning of the school year can be such a fun, but busy, time, and these 3 checklists will keep you on track. Checklists included are:

- Back to School Checklist: Planning for the Beginning of the Year
- Beginning of Year Procedures Checklist: Ideas for Procedures to Plan for
- First Days of School Checklist: Things to Remember for the First Few Days

It's normally priced at $1.99, but I'm running a 1 day sale on it that will go until 11:59pm Saturday, 7/14/12. Come get it now for $1.00!!!

Let me know if you have any questions. To view and download, click HERE to go to my TpT store. You can also click the pictures below.

Cover Page

Preview of Procedures Checklist Page 1

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The Yellow Pages - Activity for the Beginning of the School Year to Identify Student Experts in the Primary Classroom

Have you ever heard the phrase, "Ask 3 Before Me"? Well, I for one teach little kids... Even though I loop with my students, it's always a shocker to go from end of the year 2nd graders down to beginning of the year 1st graders. I always think to myself, "They're such babies!!!" The 1 thing that really gets me, EVERY YEAR, is the shoe tying.... Boy howdy, that just really wears me down. So, I finally came up with a system for identifying students who are GREAT at shoe tying to relieve me of my duties. :-)

Here is a great way to organize and implement that philosophy. This document is called, "The Yellow Pages", and it is a free printable to help you organize the various student experts in your classroom (including Shoe Tying, Super Spellers, Roaring Readers, Math Minds, Good Listeners, Artists and Craftsmen, and Caring Friends).


After having a short class meeting or minilesson on how (and when) to ask other students for help, you would display these pages (first print the pages on yellow card stock and laminate) up front for the students to see. Start by discussing what a phone book is and how to use it. Show students pictures of phone books on the screen, or bring real phone books for students to see.


Talk about how each student in the class is an "expert" helper, and discuss what that word "expert" means. Talk about how every child is different, and that not all students will be an expert in the same area. Also discuss that even though you may think you are an expert in lots of areas, you could choose 1 or 2 areas to really excel.


Then, come up with a system for having students sign up on 1 or 2 expert pages. Read through the different expert areas first, and then discuss what each expert does. Have students decide where they would excel. You could even have them think-pair-share before deciding. You could also use your professional judgement as far as guiding students on what they might be experts in..... ;-) I have my students take an overhead or dry-erase marker and just come up a few at a time to sign their names. When they're done, they sit right back down. When everyone has signed up on the sheets, go over them together as a class so students can see who they can go to in each event.


This is not only a great activity to do for having students ask each other for help, but this activity lends itself so well to teambuilding at the beginning of the year. Students will get to know each other in a positive way, and it's really cute to see them encouraging each other, cheering for each other, and eventually, throughout the year, going to each other for help after "looking each other up" in the "phonebook." You could easily incorporate and introduce fun cheers after going over each expert area. In addition, this is a great activity for students to practice recognizing and reading each others' names.


After students have signed up, bind the pages together (you can put them together however you like, but if you are older, you could put them in abc order like the phonebook), and then post The Yellow Pages book somewhere in the room that is accessible to the students (hanging on a hook, posted on the white board, or perhaps bound and placed in the class library in the student-made book section). Have the students then refer to it whenever they need help with something in the classroom! Enjoy, and please let me know if you have any questions! Sorry I don't have any pictures of the students signing up, but here are some pictures below of the document (I don't know what happened to the Super Speller page, but when you download the document it looks fine). To download free from my TPT store, click HERE, or click on any of the pictures below.

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Beginning of Year - Classroom Procedures Tic-Tac-Toe

As promised, I'm back to blogging (or at least starting up again)! I made a free printable for all my loyal fans who were checking on my page during my absence. :-) Here is an activity for the beginning of the school year, after you've taught some of your basic classroom procedures. After downloading this game, copy on cardstock or paper and have students play in partners. To play, students will use red/yellow chips (or something comparable). Students will take turns reading a box, answering the question, and placing a chip on the box. The partner should then agree or disagree with the student, and the pair can discuss the procedure in question together. The first person to get 3 in a row first is the winner! Please let me know if you have any questions at all. To download, please go to my TPT store HERE and download for free (just click the highlighted link or click the picture below)!

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Anger Choice Cards for the Classroom

Wow, so apparently April and May are difficult months for bloggers. Being still fairly new to blogging, I guess I just had no idea how hectic it would be to try to stay up on blogging!! :-) I suppose after 7 years of teaching, I probably could have figured that out as the end of the year is always crazy, but I guess I just figured I'd be just fine, ha!

Anyway, a few posts ago I talked about how I had some students who struggled with expressing their anger and emotions appropriately. I finally made some anger choice cards, and I hope you can use them as well in your classroom. This is something I've needed all year, and I'm just so happy to finally have them. Hopefully they help over the next 3 and a half weeks of school!

These cards were created for use in the classroom for students to use when they are angry, frustrated, irritated, or upset. We teach students that it is ok to feel these emotions, but that they need to express them "appropriately." A lot of students don't have the social backgrounds or cultural understanding of what "expressing emotions appropriately" might look like. Hopefully these cards can provide your students an idea of some options that will help them calm down in a manner that will not disturb or affect others. I tried to include choices that would be easy to accommodate in a classroom and that would take light prep work. :-) Use these in conjunction with a mini-lesson on anger management. You can either cut apart these cards to put on a ring, or you can just laminate the whole sheet to make a choice board. Please let me know if you have any questions! As far as the quiet spot and cool down box options, I have a little rug that students can take to a quiet spot in order to calm down. I make sure they know that they are not in trouble (this is separate from a "safe seat"). My school counselor put together a little cool down box for my teaching partner and me, and it includes a squishy ball, a glitter jar, beads to string, buttons to sort, and a container of clay type stuff with marbles hidden inside that the kiddos have to find. Some other ideas for a cool down box might be: a puzzle to make, a braided string set to pull/untangle, a rubbing stone to rub, a stretchy toy to pull. Anyway, I think all of the other cards or pretty self-explanatory, but as I said, do let me know if you have any questions! Just click the picture below to download, or you can go to my TPT Store HERE to get it free!



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Busy Busy Teacher's Life :-)

Not that I'm assuming anyone out there in the blogging world is waiting with bated breath for my next post haha, but I did realize today that I haven't blogged since last Thursday, and I just wanted to assure everyone that I haven't forgotten about you all, but this week is just flying by somehow!! :-) Anyway, here is a confession. I have a couple of students with some serious behavioral and emotional issues, and some of the fits that they throw (never at the same time - it's like they tag team them) are very "trying." As in I "try" to stay calm and zen-like, and while I do succeed (98% of the time), I have been searching like a madlady for ideas to use to help them. One of the things I try to emphasize is that it is ok to be frustrated/mad/upset/etc..., but how you deal with that and express it is important. One of the kids gets upset over anything and everything, and it's like trying to play Minesweeper as far as guessing what will set him off. Anyway, while my school and district have provided support, I am still needing something more. Pinterest has been an awesome source of calm down ideas like the glitter jar and other sensory activities, but I need some just plain old strategies. That is where you all come in. I am going to try to make some "choice cards" for what to do/strategies for when he gets mad. For instance, "When I am mad, I can count to 10." So what do you all think? What are some good/appropriate strategies/choices for kiddos to choose when they are upset or angry? I will be happy to share the choice cards when I'm completed, but I'm just trying to get some ideas right now!!! :-)

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Treasure Trash

Do you ever have that feeling at the end of the day where you look around the classroom and you feel your blood pressure rising at the amount of trash on the floor? Treasure Trash is a game I play with my class every now and then. Sometimes, especially when my classroom is especially messy, we play this game, and the kiddos are always super excited. To play, I tell the students I have a secret piece of trash on the floor. I don't tell the students which piece it is, but I choose it and keep it secret. The students then go around and pick up as many pieces of trash as they can. 1 rule I use is that have to do this super silently, or they will be disqualified. After a few minutes, after someone has picked up the secret trash, I gather the kids around and reveal what the secret trash was and who found it. That person then gets to get some kind of treasure for picking up the secret trash! We, of course, then cheer for that student and practice our good sportsmanship! This is such an awesome game to use on occasion, because my floors look spotless afterwards, and the kids are so quiet playing, that it's a nice, quiet, calm way to end the day. :-)

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Voice Cards as Promised

Here are the voice cards I said I would be making at some point. I finally sat down and made them! I use voices when I'm having the students read, chorally answer, or share with a partner. It's such an easy way for them to be entertained while learning/practicing skills, and they love it! It is another strategy to keep the kiddos engaged, and honestly, a teacher can never have too many of those tucked away. Again, cut these out, laminate them, and keep them on a ring for easy reference! Enjoy, and I hope you find these useful!

What a nice Friday it's been, and yet I'm still glad it's over! I'm not sure if I will be blogging this weekend or not. Parent-teacher conferences are upon us next week in my district, and I'm going to need to store up my strength this weekend! ;-)

Click the link below the pictures to download the voice cards.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Voice-Cards

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