Five for Friday

Hey all! I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching again for my Five for Friday!

I just finished creating my Early Finisher Posters. They are $1.00 or you can purchase the Customizable Early Finisher Posters for $5.00. You can type on and change the fond on the customizable posters, as well as add your own activities and borders to suit your classroom! Both are available on my TpT website!

Along with these awesome posters, I designed a fabulous way to hold students accountable for their early finisher work. I also made it so that it's a team building concept so everyone succeeds! I highly suggest you read about it in my post below.  It's such a great idea!

My awesome door hanger came in the mail this week! You can see where to purchase one under My Classroom tab! I am so excited about this. I think it's just adorable!

I'm currently working on Daily 5 and Comprehension Strategy Posters! I just learned about the Daily 5 Literacy Strategy. I'm planning to use it next year, but haven't quite figured out how. I will have to tweak it a lot. I am in a small room and do not have an actual reading center or teacher table. I will of course designate areas for this to make this work, but it'll be a little difficult. I can't wait to share my posters with you all! I'm sure most of you have heard of this, but just incase you haven't you can find out more at The Daily Cafe!

I've been re-reading Strategies That Work. I'm trying to decide how to incorporate these strategies and mini-lessons into my classroom. My first idea is to have a Friday Five (instead of the Daily 5) where I focus on teaching these strategies or re-teaching anything my students are having trouble with. Then they would break off into their "Daily 5" stations. My other idea was to just teach these strategies to my small group when they rotate to me. I haven't quite figured out how it's going to look. It's so hard to figure out since I'm at a new school with a whole new schedule. 

If you haven't read this book, it is amazing! My professor, Dr. H, in college had us read this and complete some of the mini-lessons. I haven't done a very good job of incorporating it in the past, but I   am planning on doing better this year. :)

I met with an amazing principal yesterday to go over a presentation we will be doing. I'm on a Common Core Task Force Committee. We are in charge of creating Guide Books (which outline our curriculum) for the district. I'm presenting twice next week and am super nervous! It is definitely out of my comfort zone. I am very reserved and have high anxiety about things like this. So, I am so blessed to have her there with me. Although, I have to be prepared to present on my own just in case she can't be there. She just became principal this year, so she is being pulled in a million directions. I will be sure to update you all on how it goes! Wish me luck! 

Early Finishers and a Bright Idea!!

Hey all!

I wanted to share this awesome team building concept my hubby and I came up with! I'm linking up with Teaching with Love and Laughter to shaw this bright idea!

I just finished creating Early Finisher Posters that are for sale on my TpT website.

What I've designed is a way for the class to earn bonus points. Most of my early finisher activities require a written assignment. I have a separate Turn In Tray in the back of my classroom designated for Early Finisher Work. Every time a student turns in an early finisher activity, he/she earns 1/2 a bonus point for the class. By the end of the semester, those bonus points will be divvied out to the entire class. For example, if John completes 10 early finisher activities, he has earned 5 bonus points for the class. I have approximately 30 students in each class. So, hopefully by the end of the semester we will have at least 30 bonus points towards the class. This means each student receives 1 bonus point. I may have to play with the numbers some, but I really think this will work! They have 9 weeks to earn points! If the 1/2 point doesn't work, I'll increase it to 1 point. I think this is a fabulous way to hold students accountable for the activities they do when they finish early as well as build the class up. 

Everyone succeeds when one succeeds! 

I know that most of the students who finish early will really want to earn those points, but I also have to remind students that they each have their own goals in AR. So taking AR tests and silently reading are just as important as earning points for the class. 

You can sort of see here where I have some of my Early Finisher Activities below my calendar. The blue and yellow containers hold file folder activities, and next to that are writing task cards. The black tray is where they turn in their early finisher work. :) 

I've also been doing some research on the Daily 5. I haven't quite figured out how to integrate it into my room yet, but there will be time for silent reading. I'm thinking about doing the Daily 5 once or twice a week. :)

I just wanted to share this idea, because I think it's fabulous!

Here is a preview of my Early Finisher Posters. 

They are $1.00 or you can purchase the Customizable Early Finisher Posters for $5.00. You can type on and change the font on the customizable posters as well as add your own early finisher activities and borders to suit your classroom! Both are available on my TpT website!

Have a great night!