Five for Friday... on Saturday

I requested that Nikki and Melonheadz make this awesome bundle! I'm so excited that she made it! I love it!

This week we've been doing a lot of Kagan strategies! We've been preparing for our Albert Einstien novel test. The first day, I had students play Fan-N-Pick using vocabulary cards that they created.

The next day we played Quiz-Quiz-Trade with question cards to prepare for our test. It took a few tries, and we still have a lot of work to do. Overall it went pretty well. We are working on social skills and voice-level! :)

Another review game we played was Numbered Heads Together! The kids really loved this one! First students answer a question independently on their white boards. Then they compare answers with their group and have to come to a consensus. Once they all agree they sit down. I then call on one number to give the final answer. I really enjoyed this game!

My first Scholastic order came in! I was so excited! I was able to add the Hunger Series, Percy Jackson Series, and the Haddix Series to my classroom library! I also added a bunch more! With my points, I ordered some other teacher tools! I now have an I Have, Who Has game for grammar, grammar question cards I can use with Kagan strategies, and Informative Text Cards with HOTS questions! So excited to use these throughout the year!

Prayers for Brister

A really sweet coworker and kindergarden teacher is in need of prayer. Her 17 month old son, Brister, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He has undergone surgery today. I am new to this school, but am overwhelmed with emotion! We have an amazing family that prays for each other in times of need. I am so thankful to be a part of such a sweet community.

Five for Friday- Week of September 8

Hey lovelies! Sorry I haven't been posting as much lately. I've been so busy! I'm that crazy teacher that is at the school before 7 and typically leaves after 5.... haha.  :-p Here are some things that have been going in my classroom!

My fabulous cohort, Cheri, and me! We're rockin' our matching reading shirts! 4th and 5th grade Reading teachers :) She is such a great mentor, friend, and partner!

We've been working on Cause & Effect this week. We did this Rally Coach (Kagan) activity on Wednesday! The students really enjoyed it! Students work with a partner to solve the missing piece. Student A solves the first problem, and student B coaches and praises. Then, they switch roles. I made the mistake with my homeroom class of giving each child a worksheet. Rally Coach works a lot better if the pairs only have one sheet! (p.s. handwriting was not part of this grade/activity.... lol it was strictly working on cause & effect and coaching skills) :-p

We also played an "I have, Who has" review game for Cause & Effect. I found it for FREE on TpT by Sarah Tighe! You can get it {HERE}. I didn't get to the game with all my classes, so we'll be reviewing next week!

My blue light filters came in! The students seem to really like them. My student with Dyslexia was so excited that I bought them! I think it really helps him! So neat!

Made this little anchor chart to match my 3rd and 4th grade Reading Teachers. I work with such amazing women and educators! They have fabulous ideas to share. Every day we collaborate and come up with new ideas! It makes coming to work so much fun! We will be working on textual evidence in more depth after our novel test. 

We have started something new in our parish called RTI. RTI stands for Response to Intervention (or Really Terrific Instruction... lol). Interventions are used to differentiate instruction and fill in the gaps for the lower/middle students as well as challenge the higher-level students. I've gotten  lot of great ideas from friends, educators, and mentors. I'll be sharing more ideas in the future. These are just two ideas I received in the last couple of weeks. Monica, a Gateway teacher, recommended this textbook. I'll be delving into it this weekend! The book discusses the use of "menus" to allow students to choose different activities. 

Kylie, my coordinator, suggested that students can "progress monitor" each other with fluency. Students can time each other reading a passage or story. I thought it was a wonderful idea, but I didn't want bunch of timers going off. So I ordered 20 one minute timers. That way, students can practice reading for 1 minute. One student flips the timer and listens while the other student reads. I will be trying this next week while I progress monitor my group.

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! There is so much more I want to share, but it's time for me to relax my brain! :)

September Currently

I'm linking up with Farley for her monthly Currently linky!

Listening:
I am still loving Glee! I'm officially on Season 5, and I'm still obsessed. I am definitely a TV show addict! I will find a show on Netflix and watch the whole show through. I just watch one at a time. haha

Loving:
I have been studying ADHD and reading Dr. Amen's book. I've also started to research Dyslexia and Autism. If anyone knows of some good books, I would love to hear about them! I love learning new things, especially things that pertain to my career and personal life!

Thinking:
This year our parish has given us a lot of new requirements... RTI (interventions), mandated small group instruction every day, and much more. I am trying very hard to get everything in, but it is almost impossible. We'll see how it goes!

Wanting:
After doing a lot of research on the disorders mentioned above, I really want blue light filters for my classroom. I have quite a few children with ADHD and one student with Dyslexia this year. I think the light filters would be so beneficial for them and for me! I am going to double check my ceiling tomorrow at work to make sure the light filters I want to buy will work!

Needing:
I really need... okay need is a strong word. I really want a professional message!

3 Trips:
I've never been to Rome, Spain, or Egypt. These are all places I'd love to visit one day with my hubby. I've been to a lot of countries and states, but these are my top 3 on my wish list! :)

I hope you are all having a fantastic Labor Day!