Back To School Ideas: Very Hungry Caterpillar Freebie!!

Even though we are just really getting into the thick of summer I know you are already thinking of back to school time!  One of the first things I begin thinking through is my classroom theme.  This year I have created a new theme based on The Very Hungry Caterpillar!  What I love about this theme is that you can bring in so many different elements!  The primary colors are easy to find in different items for the classroom and it lends itself to easy coordination!

25 Clever Classroom Tips for Elementary School Teachers from Our Friends at BuzzFeed

This was a great collection of Tips that I found over on BuzzFeed.com I thought that I would share them with some of my favorite educators!  Enjoy!  Make sure and post any links to clever tips you may have in the comment section!!!

You’ll be the talk of the teacher’s lounge with these smart classroom ideas. 

Where Are The Super Readers?

“Plato said, ‘What is honored in a country will be cultivated there.’ Teachers who honor literacy provide special spaces and material in their classrooms to promote literacy development as an integral part of the total school curriculum”Morrow, 1989

When a young student enters a classroom, are they expected to become a successful reader? I have seen and heard of many teachers that do not expect this of all of their students. I have been in classrooms where teachers will ask their “readers” to come to the front of the classroom and pick out a book to read to a classmate who is “not yet reading”. One may wonder whether that teacher would be struck by those words if he or she was able to look in from the outside? The teacher may have made this statement because their opinion of what a “reader” is not developmentally appropriate. In contrast, this teacher should be labeling all of his or her students as readers and be looking at where their students fall on a developmental continuum of reading.

The question again is, how many teachers have you met that question our students abilities to read? Many teachers believe that if a kindergartner does not leave their classroom reading book upon book then they are destined to live life as a struggling reader. This is not only a faulty assumption, but it damages the student’s future for becoming fluent readers. These expectations leave students feeling that they are not normal. Their teacher’s actions scream that they are not “readers” and this causing the student to feel that they will never catch up. Not only do a teacher’s expectations affect the student, but also the parent. Parents generally take on the teacher’s expectations of what their child should be accomplishing at a certain age. This leaves unreasonable expectations on the student at school and at home. Educators need to take into consideration that if a child‘s first exposure to reading is their kindergarten classroom, they will just be entering the emergent reading stage. This is unlike some students that will have already been exposed and are developed emergent readers. Teachers need to be equipped and ready to be able to help guide all of these students at each of their own paces. If a teacher expects all students to develop reading fluency during kindergarten they will be taking students that are not ‘reading ready’ and placing unreasonable expectations on them. The NAEYC and IRA warn against this. 

“The readiness perspective implies that until children reach a certain stage of maturity all exposure to reading and writing, except perhaps being read stories, is a waste of time or even potentially harmful (1998).” 

What types of expectations should teachers and parents have for our young readers that are appropriate, positive, and beneficial?

Is Something On Your Mind?

I think educators ought to be interested in the brain because they teach brains!  If you're a classroom teacher, you've got about 30 of them in your room and I can't imagine who would teach a room full of brains who wouldn't be interested in brains.  New developments are helping us to understand the teaching and learning process in ways we couldn't have imagined before this...If you're involved in the development and maintenance of a brain you need a kind of knowledge that is more than folklore knowledge."

- Robert Sylwester

As educators we have been chosen and called to create environments that allow students to thrive and learn to the best of their abilities.  We go through our daily routines, lesson plan, correct papers, and do our best to stay afloat...but are we stopping to think and reflect?  Do we look at the test scores and since half of the students scored a B or above, move on?

The question is...

How can an educator be effective without looking at ALL aspects of how we learn?  Many educators, including myself, have had times where their theories or practices are not based on research and evidence.  We instead of educating ourselves on current research we mimic the type of educational practices that we experienced.   This has a lot to do with trying to stay afloat and survive the weight that has been put on our shoulders... the bigger concern is 'How is this effecting our students?'

While talking to colleagues and parents I have found that there are some common myths to teaching and learning.  I think it is time we set the record straight and go mythbusters on some of these common misconceptions about the brain.

All the facts that contradict the typical classroom setting are based on current brain research.  Researchers have learned more about the brain in the past few years than we had in the previous 100.

We have an old [educational] system that doesn't work for kids. It works for some, but doesn't work for enough students and we haven't clearly formulated a new one.  So it would seem natural to turn to the brain to give us some guidance in how do we develop this new place to go to.

-Eric Jensen

So where do we start?  I think it begins with collaboration.  Scientists, educators, and parents need to work together towards a common goal.  What are you doing in your classroom today to move towards brain based education?

Vocabulary Instruction At The Home Depot!

"Comprehension is the reason for reading, and vocabulary plays a significant role in comprehension" (National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000). 

The question is, what kind of instruction do you think best promotes the development of comprehension and vocabulary?

I came across this video on Tch or otherwise known as The Teaching Channel while looking at some Common Core videos.  This is a great idea that could really be applied to any grade level K-12.  I really do believe that this could go cross grade level and be used in some really neat ways!  Not to mention we can get the materials for free at your local Home Depot, Menards, or paint store!

How would you use paint chips in your classroom?  Are there any other ideas or methods you use in your room for vocabulary enrichment?

Universal Design for Learning

I just got done teaching my final class of the semester at our local community college.  I teach in the Early Childhood Education Department.  I loved the group of girls that I had this semester.  There were lots of great moments and of course lots of laughter.  As they reflected on what impacted them this semester, I found a common theme.  They all walked away knowing that they needed to be a teacher that looked at every students as an individual. 

I talked a lot about Universal Design for Learning (UDL) verses Traditional Teaching.  Do you know what UDL is?  There are pockets of educators that don't know what UDL is but apply the practices that  are encompassed in UDL.  Then there are other pockets that are strictly traditional and do not have any idea what or why we should be looking through the UDL lens.  

One of the best crash courses in UDL can be found on the Iris Center website that is put together by Vanderbilt University.  It takes you through a module with videos, interviews, and real life examples.  It is a module that I would recommend for any educator to do on their own but it could also be used for new teacher orientation, PD, PLC, or a classroom for education students.  Hopefully this short post leaves you wanting to find out what exactly UDL is or gives you some extra resources (found below) that you can use in your own classroom or to send to another educator that may need a resource.  Below you will also find the outline that was one of the options that I created for my ECE students to use when going through the module.


If you have any tips or tricks on how you use UDL in your classroom or school please share!!

More UDL Resources

• Outline I created for my students using the Iris Module Click Here to view on Google Drive
• CAST is a nonprofit research and development organization that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals through Universal Design for Learning. This site has information for you on assessing your current status of implementing UDL and also provides examples of how to use UDL in your classroom.  

• National Center on Universal Design for Learning 

• Teaching Every Student provides information on Universal Design for Learning, as well as links for downloading a free book on UDL.

• Scoop it! is a curated site that offers a treasure trove of UDL resources, including narrative, video and more.

• WestEd's Using Technology to Support Diverse Learners contains links to a slide show, handouts, and related materials for professional developers (technology coordinators and inclusion teachers) that are helping teachers integrate technology into the curriculum to support diverse learners.

• Montgomery Public Schools in Maryland has put together a great site to help you set up a PLC or go school wide using UDL.

• Packet that can be used when going through the IRIS Module.

My First Year of Being a Teacher Bloggess!

It has been an exciting year!  I have just began to explore blogging and selling the products that I create for my classroom in the last year.  During this time I have been blown away with the amount of support and community that is in our online world!

I would highly recommend to ANY teacher that they become a part of at least one online community or at least follow some fabulous blogs!

So her is what has inspired and supported me in my first year of being a bloggess!

+Rachelle Smith at What the Teacher Wants.  This was the very first blog that I started following and inspired me to begin to create materials and introduced me to Teachers Pay Teachers (I will tell you more about that later)! Rachelle and Natalie have done such a great job support their followers with great ideas, tons of freebies, and a great platform for educators!

LadyBug's Teacher Files  This site has great ideas for classroom decor, organization, lessons, tech tips and lots of free things!  I have always found their organizational ideas to inspire me!

School Girl Style- I love this blog!  She has great ideas and awesome links to other bloggers that inspire!!

Here are a few other honorable mentions that I have followed over the year!

I love using these websites to learn more about blogging and getting fonts!

As a celebration of becoming an official bloggess (only in my mind) I am giving away a product that is typically sold in my stores for $8.99

For the next week A Reading Teachers Essential Set Up Packet will be free in my Teachers Notebook Shop!

Happy Blogging!

Reader's Workshop Tips and Tricks Round 2

In the last Reader's Workshop Tips and Tricks #1 I talked about how to get to know your students before you begin your Reader's Workshop.

This weeks Tips and Tricks Round 2 are based around getting the first few weeks off the ground!!

Before a child can have an interest in reading, he must first have an awareness of it.  The child who is unaware of the riches of literature certainly can have no desires for them.

          ~ Jim Trelease 

I have to admit that I am a Reader's and Writer's Workshop junkie...I love scouring the web looking for new ideas to integrate into my classroom.  I have learned a few things over the past years while teaching Reader's Workshop in my fourth grade classroom.  I thought it was about time I put them down and shared some of the tips and tricks that I have been taught.

The most important piece of advice I have ever received about implementing and learning Reader's Workshop is you need to give yourself time and grace!  There is no one that is able to implement it all at once without taking the time to get to know each of the parts in-depth.  Experts say that it takes at least three years for an educator to have all parts of the workshop fully implemented and thriving.

 The best advice that was given to me was to make the first year you do
workshop the "year of the mini".  

Start off really concentrating on getting to know your minilessons.  I find that the best format to organize these lessons and really keep track of all of the parts is using the same format that Lucy Calkins uses.  The only thing I did for my own lessons for the first year...and for those of you that may have some of my lesson is I eliminated the "mid-workshop teaching point".  Then about half way through that first year I was able to grasp how and when to insert that "mid-workshop teaching point". Now a few years in, I have become artful at doing and I know the lessons well enough to really know what the students need and where they are missing pieces.

I have developed a series of Reading Workshop Units for grades 3-5.  They are all on sale starting today on Teachers Pay Teachers and Teachers Notebook!!!!!!  

Example Unit
Reader's Workshop
Launching Unit:  Building A Reading Life

The Reader's Workshop: Launching -Building a Reading Life is easily adaptable for 3-5. 16 Lessons with connection, teaching point, active engagement, link, and sharing. It addresses Common Core Standards and includes anchor charts, minilessons, booklist, conferring notes, partner expectations, parent letter and much more. This product has been adapted from Units of Study for Teaching Reading Grades 3-5 by Lucy Calkins.

In the Launching Unit some of the very first lessons include...

• Setting expectations for behaviors during the mini lessons, independent reading time, and partner work.

• Setting goals for reading as a class.  I keep these posted all year.
• Typical starter mini lessons like "Signs to Watch for When Choosing a Book" and "Reading Fast, Long, and Strong".  During this unit you will be continually trying to build their reading stamina.  Over the past few years I have used Stamina Graphs as recommended by the "The 2 Sisters" who have written Cafe and The Daily Five.

I highly recommend if you are a lower elementary teacher that you check out the linked websites above.  The Sisters really have done a fabulous job giving resources that you can use tomorrow!

• Setting up partnerships.  These partnerships start off minimal and using them only a few times a week with very specific conversations.  Then during the next unit which is our Character Study, they are ramped up.  By this time they have had a lot of experience with accountable talk and are ready for action!

Later this week I am very excited to blog on the Tips and Tricks of Conferring.  We just had an amazing PD day with a woman who had the coolest ideas and set up to her conferring...so get excited for that to come your way!!!