Thursday, March 28, 2013

A Bunny Blog Hop

A Tisket, A Tasket, Freebies for your Basket!
Several phenomenal teachers and bloggers are joining forces for an amazing bunny blog hop!  As you follow us along the bunny trail, you will visit some of your favorite blogs and discover a few new blogs too!  Each with a fabulous freebie just for you!

Thank you for hopping on over to my blog!
 
I am so happy to be participating in this hoppin' good time! Spring is a wonderful time in the classroom and what better to celebrate then with a good book.  I am sharing with you a few of my favorite
Springtime reads and activities here.

Rosie Sprout's Time to Shine by Allison Wortche

The Listening Walk By Paul Showers

The Alphabet Tree By Leo Lionni

 
Included in this download are several thinking and writing activities that meet ELA learning requirements. So, go ahead and use these activities in your guided reading groups, center activities, writing workshops or independent work time. They are also perfect to leave for substitute plans.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Thanks for stopping by and visiting!  If you are new to my blog and liked what you see, don't forget to follow me.  A Tisket, A Tasket, next up with a Freebie for your Basket is Lola from Preschool Wonders.  Hop on over!
Preschool Wonders

Just in case you didn't join us from the beginning, here is an ordered list of all the participating blogs.

Stephany from Primary Possibilities
Sally from Elementary Matters
Lory from Fun for First
Linda from Primary Inspiration
Nicole from Mrs. Rios Teaches Second Grade
Brian from Hopkins' Hoppin' Happenings
Liz from The Happy Teacher
Jennie from JD's Rockin' Readers
Sarah from Learning is for Superstars
Teresa from Fun in K/1
Nikki from Teaching in Progress
Faith from Kindergarten Faith
Renee from Fantastic First Grade Froggies
Amy from Happy Teacher Heaven
Leah from Learn with Leah
Nicole from Teaching's a Hoot
Kristy from The Phonic's Phenomenon
Rich from Mr. Giso's Room to Read
Susanna from Whimsy Workshop
Amy from Motivate to Learn
Lola from Preschool Wonders
Kimberli from Mixing the Next Batch


Saturday, March 16, 2013

Creating and Achieving Goals

I am super excited about this post because I love when things start to click! I just returned to the classroom several weeks ago and some routines I've continued to implement from the previous teacher. The 4th grade team decided to have the students write weekly academic and personal goals. Piece of cake... not exactly! The students were writing goals that are very typical of 9/10 year olds such as, I will do better, I will study more, I will be nicer to my sister, I will behave.  They did not realize what the true purpose to goal setting is. To keep this post focused, I'll outline what we have been doing the past few weeks.

  • Defined setting goals as: Identifying something you want to improve on, deciding on steps you can take to work towards it, and making sure the goal can be measured (NOT VAGUE!).
  • Charted what we learned about goal setting.
  • Posed possible goals and then talked about if it would be measurable. Example: I will do better on my timed test- To vague and not measurable because how will you be able to tell if you did "better" or not. I will get a 80% on my timed multiplication test- Good goal because it is specific and at the end of the week you can yes, I met my goal or no, I did not - its measurable!
  • Discussed how to choose a reasonable goal.  If you are getting 60% on your timed tests you shouldn't choose your goal to be to get 100%. Choosing 70 or 75% would be more reasonable.
  • Students wrote their goals, we conferenced and then they made any changes necessary.
  • The students had difficulty looking at their work, work habits, behavior etc... to create a goal. We brainstormed what possible goals we can create for our self such as, completing homework before dinner, writing neater by staying on the line, remembering to put books back in my backpack when I am done with homework...
  • I modeled Choosing 2 goals for myself and I also model the reflection at the end of the week.  They really like seeing that I am trying to improve too.
  • On Fridays, we sit on the rug with our goal sheets and we discuss if we reached our goals or not.
  • This takes a a lot of time, but it is time well spent.  Next year, I will focus on this more in September when there is a little more time in the day to develop this procedure. I feel this will help them in future grades.
  • Weekly Goals Graphic Organizer
I would to hear if your practice this in your classroom or something similar. Post and share any anchor charts you made1
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