Our Reading is getting HOT, HOT, HOT!

Students are now being asked to do so much more in school. One of those tasks is being responsible for their own growth in terms of data. What I mean by this is understanding if they are making the right amount of gains and showing the growth needed to pass the grade/gain those lifelong skills.

Being a former Title I teacher, I worked with struggling readers. I needed these little, sweet kindergarteners to see their growth so I could continue to motivate them that they were making gains. I started by using a paper thermometer and having them "graph" their growth. I tested their beginning of the year reading level and set a goal (1.5 years growth). Every month I would test them and they would be able to color up the thermometer to show that there reading was getting better. They were so excited when they were able to color. I know some of you are thinking "What happened to the ones who didn't show the growth? Well, it only happened a few times and it was students who did not put their full effort into our time together. It brought great discussion on what we could change to make sure our thermometer grew. Great life lessons.

I used these thermometers with my 2nd and 3rd grade students. I tested them at the beginning of the year, explained what level they needed to be at the end of the year to move to the next grade and they set their own goal. Some went a few levels above the grade level expectation and some even went a level or 2 below expectation. As long as they picked a hard enough goal, I was okay with either. I wanted them to feel like they were pushing themselves and feel the responsibility of selecting their own goal.

Every year, I place them on a back wall so they can see their growth as a reminder that they are making their reading HOT, HOT, HOT! This brought motivation to many students and would push themselves extra hard during testing time to make sure they reached the next level. One year, my entire class met their personal goal by the end of the year. How exciting!

I "looped" up with the same group from 2nd to 3rd grade, and they knew exactly what this was on the first day of school. They were so excited to make a new goal for that school year!

In the middle of the year, you can see how students would color up the thermometer after I tested their new reading level. 

I know many classroom sizes are small or are limited in the amount of wall space they have. I have created a few different sizes for multiple uses. You can make a data folder or binder for each student with other subjects they might track.  This product would also be great for other subject areas as well! Click the picture below to purchase the product.

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Reviewing for ELA Tests

Although I love teaching new curriculum, having review days are something fun and fresh for everyone. I used to have students write topics on index cards or use white boards to hold up for activities (quick formative assessments). But I have found that I:

1. Couldn't read their handwriting (too small, messy, etc.)
2. The cards lasted through one activity or the boards were stained forever.
3. It wasn't as quick to read the responses given because they were written in many different "fonts".

I decided to spend some time creating little cards that I could print on heavier paper and have the option to laminate (ahh, the lamination machine!). I knew I could either collect them after the activity or have students keep them in plastic bags for a follow-up lesson. My students love getting their special little cards to use during review activities as well. Something new and exciting!

One of the topics I used them for was "Types of Sentences". Students were given a card with a type of sentence on each one. I would post a sentence on the board/overhead. They were not allowed to show a neighbor or me the card they selected until I said the magic word/sound. I would either countdown verbally, yell "Review", or blow the train whistle in my classroom. Students loved the excitement of it, and it really showed me who needed extra help. I would then go over the answer with the entire class.

 Click the picture or here to purchase the product!

And just for my favorite followers on Facebook, 3L + 1T, and TPT here is a
{FREEBIE}

for literary genre review cards. Enjoy!

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Sneak Peek

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This 28 page resource is great for review English Language Arts topics as a whole group. If you're reviewing types of sentences, you can pass out 4 cards to every student, each with a type of sentence on it.  When you write a sentence on the board, students hold up the card with the type of sentence on it. There are more than 18 different topic areas (Grammar, Punctuation, Text Features, Genres, Phonics, etc). The product also includes blank cards to create your own!

{FREEBIE} Alert!

Along with being winter, I know my students tend to miss more school. It is overwhelming when 4 kids are absent in one day and you're trying to figure out what they have missed and all organization seems to go out the window! You're always thinking, "Why can't they just all come to school!"

I have created a {FREEBIE} for your viewing on my Teachers Pay Teachers store. The product includes a back/front sheet to send home with students. The front includes all subject areas for an elementary teacher. The back side serves as a check-off list for student/parent organization to make sure nothing was forgotten. There is also a section for teacher notes and parent notes. This makes for great communication between parent/teacher.

The last few documents are just for the teacher. They look very similar to student sheets, except it is used as a check-off sheet and notes to keep organized in case it is "one of those days".

Check out the product by clicking the image or here.

Is it Spring Yet?

A big shout out to a fellow blogger, Mrs. Herring's First Grade News, for her wonderful fonts! Check out her super, cute fonts in my newest product.

I have been overly excited to start thinking about spring...flowers, sunshine, light weight clothing, and flip flops! Ah, I am getting a little stir crazy just thinking about it already. So what better way to start thinking about spring than to create some spring related products.

My students always love to have activities that deal with plants and flowers. When teaching plant related items, it is important that students know the parts of a plant. This activity allows students to be "hands on" to reconstruct a plant, label, and even tell the responsibilities of the parts identified.

 Check out this product and many more at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Another follow up activity I do with my students is grow our own plants! Sometimes I'll do this around Earth Day so I can use reusable baby food jars to show recycling as well! My students love growing their own plants. I incorporate math (graphing) and reading elements into the lessons as well. I have asked students to compare and contrast plants using Venn Diagrams. I have also asked them to write a compare/contrast paragraph to end the unit.

 

 We also like doing a constant seed collection during the entire unit. Students will bring in all kinds, and I mean...all kinds of seeds to share with the class. We post them to a giant piece of paper to keep up so students can look and explore at the differences between them all. 

Multiplication is LOADS of Fun!

I needed some sort of motivation for my students to not only master their addition/subtraction facts (which should have been mastered last year), but to master most of their multiplication facts before they leave me this year! I decided to make a giant bulletin board outside of my classroom in which students will put their name on a sticker once they master that number (i.e. passed all x1's, x2's...). The sticker then goes on the coordinating shirt of the fact family they mastered. It was really exciting and I started to see some REAL growth in the first few weeks I did the tests. Students were excited to get their name on the t-shirt in the hallway. By the time winter break rolled around (so a month into the motivational board), I had students who had passed: 0,1,2,5,10,11. That's great for my group of third graders.

Update as of Nov. 26: To have students keep track of their own math data as well, you can have students create data tracking folders where they graph how many correct math facts depending on which number they are on, i.e. multiplication 6's. Read more about how I use these in my own classroom by clicking the "Data Tracking Folders" link.

To purchase all of the T-Shirts, please visit my TPT Store.

Interesting Inventors

My third graders did an amazing multi-week unit on researching famous inventors. We worked through the long process of researching. Students had to find many different items about the inventor they selected. They did a wonderful job. They moved onto the writing process where I modeled a paragraph a day and they worked through to get 4-5 paragraphs about their inventor. Students edited independently, with a partner, and with me before typing and completing the project.

As a second part to the project, each student had to create a timeline of their inventor's life (including the main invention). They did a great job, and it was definitely student-driven. I love projects that you can tell the students did it all by themselves! They learned not only what a timeline is, but learned how to print pictures and go back to find specific dates in reliable sources. Wow!