Fourteen in '14 Linky

What a fun link this will be to reflect back on 2014's highlights!  I am linking with Hadar, Kristin and Traci for this fun celebration of 2014!  It has been a fun year, and every year I try to focus on all the blessings that God has granted me.  So, with that, let's get started...

My favorite quote is actually a scripture verse that I have reflected on many times this year.

I love this and this has encouraged me to stay grounded, stay strong, and stay on my life's path.

Scarves.  Please tell me I'm not the only one obsessed with scarves, tunics, leggings & riding boots.  That's pretty much my go-to outfit.  It's so comfy though and from someone who is almost always cold, it keeps me nice and warm!  

Tough ONE!  I love all kinds of movies, and watch a lot of different genres.  If I Stay was a tear jerker and a very good one!  I'll go with that.

This one is so easy for me.  Without a doubt, Scandal!!!!!  TGIT, right?!?

Hmmm, I think PF CHANGS ranks among one of my all time faves.  

Well, it's not new, but it is new to me.  This summer I got myself a FitBit and LOVE it!  I love tracking my steps, calories, all of it.  It's a one stop place to keep dibs on your healthy (sometimes my not-so-healthy) habits.  

My husband got me this 2 days ago for my birthday.  This is special because it is so not typical.  We have 3 small kids and you all know how it goes.  Their needs and wants come first.  We never buy something that "big" without researching, saving, and saving some more etc.  What I thought was so sweet though is that he got it b/c our other laptop was a dinosaur and he acknowledged all I create on TPT, I deserved to have a better laptop.  AW!  That appreciated and support meant the world to me!!  I think I'll keep him!

Here is the link to this original pin.  I think this would be so fun to do in our basement for our young kids.  I think I would have spent every living second playing school and color coordinating those crayons as a child!!  :)  ha ha.  

I am guessing this means my own blog post?  There are too many other good ones to remember or list.  I think my favorite of mine then would be my Interactive Alphabet Notebook post.  I created this product this Summer and use it in my class this year.  The kids LOVE it!!  

Click here to see the post.  

My blog.  I started up my blog in February, 2014.  I enjoy blogging and getting so many ideas from so many talented teachers!!!  You all are great!  I have not been blogging as much as I have wanted but with a laptop now that works, it is a 2015 goal to blog more!  Thanks to all who stop in and check things out!  

I'm limited on my photos right now b/c I haven't converted all the photos over yet, but knew I would want one of my 3 kiddos.  This was November at the Zoo.  

class"nopin"

When I think back on 2014, our family vacation sticks out in my mind as one of the most memorable.  We went with some good friends of ours to Navarre Beach, FL.  It was so nice.  Blue, blue waters and  white sand, it was just gorgeous!!  We also had an exciting adventure while in the ocean one day, we got evacuated b/c of a shark swimming near by.  Later that evening, we found on you tube a video someone took of a hammerhead shark swimming RIGHT by this lady.  The person taking the video was up on a pier and caught it all on camera.  We were literally on the other side of the pier.  

A sea turtle we spotted while up on the pier.  Look at that beautiful water!!

Sunrise with my 7 yr old daughter

Reeeelaxin'!

The littles playing in the ocean

I have 3 goals for 2015.  First and foremost:

After reading 1000 gifts this summer, it has changed the way I think and live!  Truly a great book that inspires us to look at everyday life with gratitude and thanks.  I will continue to work on my own 1000 gifts and try to live daily with a joyful, thankful heart.  

Second, I want to continue to make efforts for a healthier lifestyle.  I have my own personal goals with this, but basically want to continue to move more, eat less/better.  

Lastly, I want to update my blog more.  I like to blog and just need to schedule it into my week's activities.  I love hearing from people and sharing ideas with each other.  

And with that I will end with wishing each and every one of you a 2015 full of PEACE!  Merry Christmas to all of you!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!  Yes, it's a miracle...I'm blogging!!  And yes, no less on Thanksgiving day.  :)  But it's early in the morning and the kids are still asleep, so blog I shall.  Let me start by showing some of our Thanksgiving crafts.  

These crafts were from Kinder By Kim.  Her faces were on paper plates, but I find it easier to have them glue on a circle.  She has such cute ideas!!  

As a big fan of Asian cuisine, this child speaks to me.  :)  This same child on their "Save a Turkey, eat more_________" craft also put "crab rangoon" in the blank.  YUM!

In one of our lit centers, we also did some Native American symbol writing.  

As for my long absence in the blogging world, I got nothing.  Other than, I just been busy getting our guided reading up and going, and the other tasks that pull at you daily.  I'm going to try to be better about this though.  Although I haven't blogged, I have taken some pictures of what we have been up to the past month.  We have dove into Guided Reading, which I am really loving!  I love the one on one you get to spend with the kids and the specific skills you can target that are geared to where they are at in their reading journey.  

Here is an emergent reading book that I put together (and is in my TPT store) for one of my groups.  

Here is my goodie supply carrier for Guided Reading.  Pointers, wands, wiki sticks, strategy bookmarks, letter tiles, you name it--it's in here.  I believe I got the idea to keep all of this in this scrapbooking carrier from Mel D at  A Seusstastic Classroom.  

Last, but not least, we are working hard on our word families.  We love to have visuals as we chunk those sounds together, so this is one way we do that...

The beginning sound starts off farther away and as we blend the sounds together he connects with the  word family who always stay hooked together.  :)  

This class loves to build these words on mats.  It is fun to watch them get excited about spelling the different words.  

Well, there you have it.  There is a brief summary of what we have been up to lately.  I hope you all have a terrific Thanksgiving with your families!!  Count your blessings today and everyday!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday Made It

I am finally doing another Monday Made It!  Yay!  I missed it.  To join this link up go to 4th grade Frolics for

I love October!  LOVE October.  Fall is my favorite season, I love the cooler temps, and the cute Fall clothing ( I officially got the boots out last week!!!).  One of my favorite parts of October are the cute, cute, CUTE Halloween clip art and crafts.  We are doing Spider week in my classroom, and I had some cute clip art I wanted to use, so I decided to make a literacy center with that and a skill we will be working on this week--the _at word family.  

One of my favorite things for the class to do (and it's my favorite b/c it's one of their favorite) is QR codes.  They love them!  So I made my _at center very versatile.  You can either use the picture cards, the QR codes, the word cards, or make any combination of them depending on where your class is at.  

How cute is the web bowl, btw?  That was in the Target $1 aisle and I knew I could find a use for it!  #teacherproblems!

You can find this on my TPT store if you like it!  

On to the next.  Now the next 2 aren't really school related.  Well, one is related, ..anyway,  here is my

My daughter is really good about doing her homework, and I am so grateful for that.  She has been complaining lately that she needs a more private space.  I completely understand her point.  She has been doing it at the kitchen table but that is right in the middle of traffic in our house.  That's also where her 2 younger and very active brothers will run through the house and make lots and lots of noise, so I had a craft table I decided to double as a little homework station for her.  It is off in a separate area of the house, where it is a bit more quiet for her.  I needed an area to hang some of their important art work or homework, because with my middle child in preschool now, the art work is filling up my fridge.  This is what I came up with.  

Here is a closer look at the supplies.  

I gotta say,  I'm very happy with how it turned out and it was a very inexpensive conversion.  

Ok, next.  It's RED OCTOBER here is St. Louis!!  The Cardinals are in the play offs and we could not be more excited.  Our little family all sat down to watch the game last night and I decided to make a little snack that I saw on Pinterest.  Caramel Marshmallow Popcorn!  Click here for the Pinterest link.   YUM!  

It was a hit!  AND the Cards won, so WIN-WIN!  

Back to school stuff.  I made these this past week as my class is going to start the Accelerated Reader Program.  I had a blog post about the whole thing.  Accelerated Reader is used school wide in our school, and I needed some better organization with it, so this is one of the things I came up with.  Having a testing day so that I didn't have 16 kids ready to test on the same day.  

Well, that's all I have, I can't wait to see what you all have as well!  

Five for Friday

Hello and Happy Friday everyone!  I am linking up with Doodlebugs for

I'll get right to it then:

1.

My class started their Accelerated Reading this week.  I create folders and assign each child a quiz day so I am not testing 1/2 the class on the same day!  :-O

2.

My class worked really hard this week on recognizing the differences between letters, words, and sentences.  I wish I could make my anchor charts as spectacular as some of you, but I lack in the artsy department.  :(

3.  

We started our spider unit this week!  I love this week!  The kids enjoy learning all about them!  I love doing these spiders to display with all of our "Spider Facts".  

4.

It was fire safety week and we went to visit the local fire station, meet Sparky, and use the fire hose to spray out this fire!  Fun!

5.  

This one has nothing to do with school, but look at this beast of a dessert I made for a get together the  other night.  Caramel Apple Cake!  YUM!  

That is all I have for today!  Enjoy your weekend everyone!  

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Accelerated Reader

Well, it is that time of year when the students are falling into their school routines and the teachers are finding their footing with their new group of kiddos.  In my classroom, I feel like we are mastering most of our letter sounds and at the point where we kick our reading journey into gear.  One component of our reading, is Accelerated Reader.  This program is used in every grade in my school.  For those of you not familiar with Accelerated Reader, let me tell you a little about it.
What is Accelerated Reader?
Accelerated Reader is in short a computerized reading management system.  Its unique system is used to motivate students to read, and track their achievements.  Students select a book of their choice and then take a computerized quiz on that story.  The quiz tests their comprehension on both literal and inferring questions about the story.  They are then given points on the outcome performance of that quiz.  Each student has a point goal, to which they aspire to reach by the end of each quarter.

That is a super short explanation of the program, but feel free to google it for more precise, detailed information.

Now, I gotta say, when I was told that this program was going school wide, as a Kindergarten teacher I was like...."say WHAT?"  I was apprehensive, but I gotta tell you, after a couple yrs under my belt and also making a few accommodations, I really, REALLY enjoy the program.  So, I'm going to tell you how I use it in my Kindergarten classroom.  My way certainly is not THEE way to do it for everyone.  Some may like it, some may hate it, some may just tweak it a bit to fit your classroom.  What works for one does not work for all, I realize that.

First, I had to tackle the issue of many of my kinder kids not being able to read independently yet, so HOW was I going expect them to do so and then take a comprehension quiz on it.  Then I thought, wait a minute the goal in Kindergarten has got to be different than the goal for AR in say 4th grade.  Kindergartners should be introduced to the AR program so they are familiar with it in the other grades.  As emerging readers, though, we can't put the pressure of point goals, at least not to start off with.  AR in itself tests on the reading comprehension of a story.  So to start with, my Kinders can have their books read TO them.  They can contribute with any sight words they may know and further into the year, may be able to read a book themselves, but to start with, they can have their book read to them by their parents.  We send a note home with our parents asking them to read it to the kids 3 different times, asking both literal and inferring questions about the story.  After that 3rd time, I feel like the kids would have a pretty good grasp on what the story is about, main idea, details, etc.  After the 3rd read, they send their books back in their AR folders to quiz on that book.

{In my classroom set up, this one folder couples as my storage for their guided reading books as well.}  

 I should mention that most lower level books on the AR program have the option of a voice recording reading the quiz questions to the students.  However, I still like to sit down with each Kinder and read them the questions myself.

And here comes the next issue I had...how then am I going to sit down and read a quiz to each individual student?  There were times when 3/4 of the class was ready to quiz on the same day.  You can't make some wait til the next day b/c they might not retain the information or the story as well.  Lesson learned there.  I started assigning days of the week to help organize this a bit. The child's test day is put on the cover of their folder this year.

Side note:  I don't know about the rest of you, but I get sooooo tired of all the colored printed copies out there!  Don't get me wrong, they are ADORABLE and sometimes it is needed, but I don't have a colored printer at my school to access, so I have to improvise.  I made these black and white copies, glued them to the front of the folder and then laminated the entire folder.  I then took an exacto knife to cut the folder tabs apart.  Hopefully this makes these folders a little more durable as well.

I put together my class schedule who is testing on what days, so I have that reference readily available to me.  The parents now know to read the story 3X and send it back in to be quizzed on on their child's designated quiz day.  This system works really, really well for me.  I have decided to give new AR books once every 2 weeks, and then the class is divided into those 2 weeks following to test on the book.  This year, this means that I quiz 2 students per day and have the time to really sit down and evaluate that child's progress, strengths, needs, etc.  I love it.

I have put together some helpful organizational tools that help me keep parent's informed as well.  They are shown below.

I will send these sheets to home to parents after each AR quiz.  I keep these right on my computer station so after I read the quiz to the students, it is right there.

Also, inside their folders, I have a recording sheet that I will fill out when the child chooses their appropriate book geared at their level.

All these AR organization tools are available on my TPT store.  Click here to see the product.

In conclusion I will just say I think the AR program works very well when given appropriate, independent, and attainable goals set in place to help the child reach their best reading potential.

I hope this has helped some of you who may be looking for a way to incorporate this program into your classroom.