Mr. Popper's Penguins Read Aloud

After posting on my Facebook page asking for read aloud suggestions for my class, I decided to read Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater.

I only read aloud during morning snack time, roughly 10 minutes per day. This book has 139 pages, so it took me quite awhile to read. However, as always, I strongly believe that reading aloud to students should be a part of any literacy program. I chose to read a chapter book because some of my students are at the point where they are already reading them. Not only that, but I was taught that students should be read books that are at a higher level than what they can read. It helps to build vocabulary and enhances their knowledge of words. Some of the words we talked about included Antarctica, South Pole, North Pole, expedition, and rookery. We also learned many facts about penguins. For example, we learned that penguin usually lay only two eggs, but not in this story! There were 10 eggs! So we then hypothesized why there were so many eggs. In addition to learning all about penguins, hearing me this story aloud provided a good example of fluent reading.

Because reading this book aloud went so well, I am trying to think of what to read next!

Here are some of my choices:

Charlotte's Web

Little House in the Big Woods

More Books from the Magic Tree House Series

What do you think? Do you have any other read aloud suggestions for first grade?

Michelle

Markers and Dice

It comes as no surprise to me that my students love to write with dry-erase markers. Everyone knows this, and this is why I am constantly needing to buy more. What I didn't realize is that allowing them to write with these markers makes any type of learning more fun. One day, I decided to let the kids DRAW ON THE TABLE. And you're thinking WHAT?! How can they do that? Well, it's actually no big deal. The marker wipes right off and then, just to clean it, I use a Clorox wipe at the end of the day and it's ready for the next day. So one day I told my students, "Go ahead, it's ok. Write this problem on the table and solve it." And they LOVED it. And kept asking for more. What were they doing? Double-digit addition problems. That's it. Now, I love adding and if you give me a problem, I want to solve it right away. But they cannot get enough! It's almost to the point where they don't want to do anything else during math time. They try to finish as fast as they can so they can draw on the table or the board. To make this activity even more exciting and independent, I found these dice:

These are great dice because they have the place value right on them. The numbers go up to 9, not just up to 6 like regular dice, which is great when you want students to practice with carrying. So now I just give the students the tens and the ones dice, a marker, and some whiteboard space, and they are satisfied for the rest of math class. And I told them that if they kept getting correct answers, I would even add the Hundreds die! Needless to say, they worked extra hard after that to get that third die. I am so proud of how quickly they learned double and triple-digit addition and it pleases me even more that they enjoy it. Hopefully, by the end of the year we will be using the Thousands die!

Do you have any fun strategies for teaching addition? I would love to hear your ideas!

Michelle

March Currently

Ok...Ok I know I posted my New Year's Resolutions on my blog to try to get me more motivated to post more. However, that didn't happen. I have been so caught up in other things that my last post was the February Currently! Yikes! Hopefully, I can revisit my resolutions and post more frequently. Spring break should help with that too. But I wouldn't miss a Currently so here it is!

Listening: Yes, I am behind on watching The Bachelor. But due to a conflict on Monday nights and because I don't have DVR, I have to watch the episodes a week later.

Loving: Sometimes when I get home from work, I have some time to myself to just watch Netflix (or in today's case, The Bachelor), and I have really started enjoying this time. After a long day teaching the kids, it's just nice to sit quietly and work by myself. I also enjoy jigsaw puzzles and crossword puzzles.

Thinking: Another of my New Year's Resolutions was to start exercising more and, like my blogging resolution, I have gotten nowhere. I think I really need to set concrete goals for myself in order to accomplish this. Any ideas?

Wanting: I really need some ice cream right now to put out the fire in my mouth. I burned the roof of my mouth on the soup I made for dinner, and some ice cream would really help it feel better. Doesn't ice cream make everything feel better?! And peanut butter ice cream is even better.

Needing: There is just never enough time! I need time to create TPT products, time to lesson plan, time to grade, time to blog, time to clean, time, Time, TIME!! Another goal of mine is to be more efficient. We'll see how that goes.

Spring Break Plans: I wish I had exciting spring break travel plans, but alas, that is not the case. But, I will have plenty of time to catch up on all of my to-do lists, including making and updating some TPT products! I had not been in the creating mood for awhile but I just got back into it this past weekend. Hopefully, I can keep the momentum going until the end of the school year!

Don't forget to link up with Farley at http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/

Have a great week!

Michelle

February Currently

Where did January go?!? It was gone in the blink of an eye! While I am sad to see January go, I do love February. It's the shortest month! Plus, it has Valentine's Day, one of my favorite classroom holidays. This morning I am linking up with Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade to share my February Currently!

Listening: One of the few stations I like to listen to while I work on lesson plans: COUNTRY!

Loving: I just tried the MultiGrain Cheerios Dark Chocolate Crunch. This cereal is AMAZING! I recommend trying it for yourself.

 

Thinking: As usual, I am always thinking ahead about what needs to be done. And with the Super Bowl this evening, there is a lot to do before that.

Wanting: I would love to take a small vacation. The weather has been so nice down here in Texas and it makes me just want to be outside and do some hiking.

Needing: I am currently reading two books and would like to purchase another one soon. But in order to read them, I need the time! Here is what I am currently reading:

Pageant Name: I think the name says it all: Miss Read-a-lot. I LOVE to read and would do it all day if I could!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Michelle

Yes Ma'am

Well, there goes the New Year's Resolution of blogging more frequently. This has been my first post in a few weeks and my goal was to blog once per week. Oops.

Anyways, moving on.

I have noticed on many other blogs that teachers have been visiting the Ron Clark Academy. So I decided to get Ron Clark's book The Essential 55 from my library. I had heard about Ron Clark and his book when I was in college, but I never found the time to read it. I still don't have the time to read it, but I decided to make reading this book a priority.

I started reading it and so far, I love it! In the book, Ron Clark gives 55 rules that should be included in every classroom. Not only that, but they are great life lessons, basic things that everyone should be doing anyways.

Rule number one is to respond to adults with "Yes ma'am" or "No ma'am." This may seem like a really simple rule, but I love it.

I am from Illinois and where I come from, the majority of students do not use "ma'am" or "sir" when addressing adults. However, when I moved to Texas, these words were ingrained in my students' vocabulary. I was so shocked on the first day of school when I asked the students a question and they responded with "Yes ma'am." I have also heard young parents using these words with their children. If their child is grabbing for something that they are not supposed, the parent will catch them and say "No ma'am." I think this is something worth instilling in children at a young age. I have also taken to addressing my students in the same way. When I call on my students to answer a question, I will say "Yes ma'am" or "Yes, sir."

Since reading this rule in the book, I have addressed with my class the need to speak these words whenever addressing an adult, or even another student. I believe that it will foster a culture of respect in the classroom.

I can't wait to see what other great tips I gain from reading this book! Check it out for yourself!

Michelle

Exit Slips

Exit slips, or exit tickets, are very common means of assessment, especially in the older grades. However, I believe that they can be used in all grades, even as young as kindergarten.

But first, what is an exit ticket?! An exit slip or ticket can be a small notecard or Post-It note that is used to take a quick assessment. Generally, it is an informal assessment, but I have started to take grades on a few of my exit slips in some subjects. Basically, it is meant to "take the temperature" of the class, if you will. You can quickly see who has "got it" and who does not.

I recently started using exit slips in my classroom and the students love them. I used library pockets and adhered them to the door frame. They each have their name on them. Then, when it is time to use an exit ticket, I will pass out a notecard. I try to keep the exit slip short, maybe 5 questions. For example, a recent one that I did was to assess common and proper nouns. I was pretty sure most of my students were getting it, but I wanted to check. So I had them number the notecard from 1-5. I told them that I would give them 5 words and they had to write C for common or P for proper on their notecard. That's it! So quick and easy, yet so informative. Once the students are done, they can place the notecard in their pocket and it's very easy for me to just grab them and take a look.

I have also seen various boards and displays where students have a Post-It note and they stick it on the square that has their name. Then, the teacher can also quickly see who has not finished yet. Either way, it is a great tool to use in the classroom.

Depending on the method of exit tickets that you choose to use in your classroom, I decided to create some exit slips. You can download them simply by clicking on the picture. They're FREE!

Thanks!

Michelle

January Currently

In my last post, I wrote my 2015 goals for my blog and TPT store. And now, here is my January Currently! I can't believe it's already January!

Listening - I get to be at home until tomorrow and I love being able to listen to everyone talking. I love my family!

Loving - Again, I love being at home. My husband and I are visiting Illinois from Texas and we are enjoying all of the holiday activities and down time.

Thinking - As I wrote in my previous blog post, I have a lot of goals for my store and blog for this upcoming year! I just need to get started...

Wanting - One of the best things about being home is having people to play board games with. My husband got two new games for Christmas - Ticket to Ride and Pandemic. We have had so much fun playing together!

Needing - In order to accomplish the goals that I have set for myself both in my store and at home (working out more, reading) I need some more free time. There never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done. I think I need to start making lists and crossing things off. It will keep me more accountable.

Yes to working out more! I want to join my husband's gym and take some spinning and body pump classes. I have never done either, but I'm excited to try to make exercising more fun!

Maybe to getting a new blog design - I have been wanting to get a new blog design for a long time. However, I want to establish myself a little bit more before I take that step. Perhaps a birthday present?!?!

I wish to go on a short vacation - Now, I know that I am currently on *vacation* - vacation from school, spending time at home, etc. But I want to go somewhere like Disney World or the Carolinas just to get away and think about nothing.

What are you currently doing? Head on over to Farley's blog and link up! 

Happy New Year!

Michelle