A "Thank You" Freebie

I logged in to Blogger to see this today:

Whether you are a follower who reads every post or a visitor who found me via Pinterest, I thank you for stopping by. This statistic may seem small to some of the more popular bloggers, but to me, it means the world.

As a thank you, I'd like to share a freebie. As we all know, a big part of close reading is annotating text. In my class, I call it "leaving tracks."

When first introducing annotation, I ask my students to close their eyes and imagine themselves in a snowy forest. I ask them to imagine a deer passing in front of them. The deer quietly walks off in to the distance. We talk about what the deer leaves behind. The answer is tracks. Just like an animal leaves tracks as proof of where it has been, good readers leave tracks in order to prove they/ve read a text closely and understand (or do not understand) it.

At the beginning of the year, I print and laminate these bookmarks. They look bright and beautiful when printed in color, but they also look nice when printed in black/white on bright paper.

I give my students many different tracks that they can use, and I encourage them to create their own if they'd like. These are just a few of the "tracks" I encourage my students to leave, sort of a jumping off point. Others include LOL for something funny, a heart for something they love, a happy or sad face for something they liked or did not like, etc. (If you can't tell, my symbol for a connection is the infinity symbol.)

Click the image below if you'd like to download the freebie in Google Docs. Please comment if it is something you'll use in your classroom. =)

Thank you again to my followers and visitors!

Second Grade Common Core

Yes, you are in the right place. I am writing about the second grade common core book because yes, I am a third grade teacher, but yes, I have to differentiate a TON to meet the needs of my diverse learners!

In my class, I'm all about assessing and finding out where each student is in terms of meeting a third grade standard. Sometimes, they are at a first grade level. More often than not, they are on a second grade level. I have one or two that are ready to jump right into the third grade stuff. I enjoy collecting second grade resources so that I can scaffold my below level learners with appropriate support.

So with that being said, I was excited that the second grade common core became available, because I think it would be a really helpful resource in my room.

Most states are using the common core at this point. This resource contains worksheets and activities that support both the ELA and Math standards!

So with ALL of that being said, click this link to check out the Second Grade Common Core Workbook. A small sample is available if you'd like to download it & check it out before purchasing!

I'll be back in the next few days with the November Currently. Because if I were to fill it out right now, it would be all about the 10 pounds of assessments that I need to grade, along with the 100 pages I need to read for grad class on Monday. I'll wait until I have more interesting things to fill in the blanks!

They are READY for third grade!

Last year, my school adopted the Common Core Standards. We also began using a new testing system, DCAS, which is WAY more difficult than our previous test [DSTP]. DCAS is also on the computer, which is a whole other issue. But anyway, last year we were in limbo. Our third graders were not ready for third grade "Common Core" style. Tons of back tracking needed to be done with simple skills. Being a first year classroom teacher [after spending time as a writing teacher], I didn't know what to think. Was this the norm? Would I need to review the entire second half of second grade skills [especially math] before moving on to all of the third grade standards? I don't have time!

Well, I'm happy to report that after starting our beginning unit on base 10, my students seem ready to learn third grade standards. Is back tracking still necessary? Of course. But not nearly as much as I remember from last year. I can't wait to get into teaching multiplication and division! I will probably get to multiplication in mid-October. The babies are SO excited to learn these "big kid" skills.

I'm beat. Maybe I'm not cut out for blogging during the school year! :)

Common Core Resource

Who out there uses the new Common Core Standards? Last year, my district began phasing them in. I was chosen to be the school's trainer for the Language Arts section [as a second year teacher, YIKES!] But after this year of phasing them in, I feel completely comfortable in aligning them with my lessons. I feel that they are much more user friendly than our current state standards.

With that being said, they are still new, so limited resources are available that have been proven effective. Ashleigh, at Ashleigh's Education Journey, has made a set of the 3rd grade common core standards that can be posted in your room. They are cute and student friendly! You can download her set for 10 dollars at TpT! The link is on her blog. She found the idea from another teacher who developed sets for K-2. The link for those products is also on her blog. For the record, I've never bought anything from TpT, but I feel like this is SO worth it. I'm excited to show my administrators this great tool that will go above & beyond posting essential questions!