Whooooooo knew? Cool iPad Books

Need some new student books for your iPad? Add this little app and start downloading! It is easy peasy - Go to this link http://www.whocanread.com/ and click on it to take you to itunes. The books are leveled A - M - here is the chart for the leveled readers http://www.whocanread.com/about-our-leveling-system/.  The cool part is you can use this for differentiated instruction as there are options for the stories to be read to students, or they can read them independently.  The REALLY COOL PART? There are some F-R-E-E books!  Oh, one more coolio thing - there are both fiction and non-fiction books! The books for purchase are pretty affordable, most of the books are only 99 cents!  This can be a great way to motivate young readers by letting them read on the iPad. The stories can be used by students independently, whole group by showing it on the projector, at your teacher table, in centers, with a parent volunteer -- lots of possibilities!

Happy Reading!

I am back

Sorry to have been missing in action for so long. I am no longer teaching second grade, but instead I am a reading coach this year.  I am excited about my new position and will post more soon, but for now, I am asking you to head over to the Bubbly Blonde at http://thebubblyblondeteacher.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-mothers-cure-fundraisershow-some.html to help her friend Tiffany.  Tiffany was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  If you show some LOVE and donate $20 to help with her expenses, you will receive over $200 worth of units from Teachers Pay Teachers. Most importantly, you will be joining others to help this very special person.

Teachers Taking Care of Teachers

Crystal over at Kreative in Kinder is organizing assistance for the teachers in need due to the devastating tornadoes that caused widespread destruction across 5 different states.  Head on over to her site http://kreativeinkinder.blogspot.com/ to see how you can pitch in and help. I cannot even imagine what they are going through, but I know we all have treasures in our closets and other ways we can help our fellow teachers. Thanks, Crystal for organizing this.

Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade is having a Linky Party to celebrate over 1,000 followers. She is giving away not one, but two of the most amazing pencil sharpeners ever! The best part, this pencil sharpener is amazingly q-u-i-e-t! Head on over and link up!

Rock Star Writing....

While shopping for a few organizational items at Wal Mart today, I got sidetracked discovered these....

The picture quality takes away from these sparkly items! They are pencil pouches in the form of a guitar and a pink microphone with sequins galore! I am going to put special pens/pencils in them to help motivate my students during writer's workshop.  I will choose two students per day who did their personal best while writing in their journals. We will celebrate the two students by cheering for our Rock Star Writers and presenting them with the guitar and microphone pencil pouches. They will have the use of the pens/pencils and the pouches for the following day, and then we will celebrate two more writers rock stars.

Hopefully this will motivate them to do their best and to get back in the swing of things after the break.

Tomorrow is a planning day for us and the kiddies come back Thursday.

Table Talk

To encourage participation from all learners, I have instituted what I refer to as "Table Talk" in my classroom. I simply cover a rectangular table with bulletin board paper and let the graffiti begin! Topics for the week for math, science, phonics, etc., are labeled in sections and the students are free to show what they know on the paper. This really helps those reluctant students who may be shy, or lack self-confidence as they do not have to get up in front of the class.

Here are some pics of Table Talk in action:

This was for our Dr. Seuss theme before we went to see Seussical the Musical for our field trip:

This Table Talk was when we decided to compare and contrast various pumpkins:

I have also used it for phonics - example divide the paper into sections to go along with our Imagine It Unit for the week. One week we wrote long i words. The sections were i spelled i, i spelled i_e, and _igh words. One week it was science based and they had to write about what they learned when we were working on food chains and food webs.

The table is by the door so when we line up to go to lunch, special area, or home, we can take a moment and review what the students have written.

What are you waiting for? Grab some paper and throw some markers on the table and let the learning begin! Students feel like they are experts and who does not like a little graffiti?

Happy New Year everyone!

I am back!

Sorry I have been missing in action! I am back and will post more later on today.

Happy 2012!