The Nuts- Book Talk Tuesday

I am linking up again this week with Deanna Jump for Book Talk Tuesday! The book I am sharing is written by Eric Litwin! We all know this author...... what else did he write???? Pete the Cat!!!! he was the author of the original Pete the Cat, the first four of the Pete the Cat series!

Well, this is his new book and it is called the Nuts  Bedtime at the Nut House!

Can I just say that I love this book! I first heard about it from Eric Litwin himself! I had the honor of being in his session at the Read Aloud Delaware Conference. He read the book to us!

The students can relate to this book because it is about two little nuts who do not want to go to bed. they play and sing and ignore Mama Nut. They procrastinate until Mama Nut gets loud. They then go to bed! But they ask Mama if they are still here little Nuts and of course, she says yes! There is a cute song that goes with the book!

I love the pictures. Here are a few:

I can not wait to read this book with my kiddos! 

Click on the picture below to see what other teachers are sharing!

Monday Made It on a Tuesday!

I am linking up again this week with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It. But as you can see, I am a day late.

I was busy this past week, trying to get my classroom put together! So here are my Monday Made Its and guess what???  I have 4 this week!!!

For my Guided Math groups, I made containers to put their activities in. I spray painted large tomato cans (that I got for free from Macaroni Grill, I asked and I received!!) with blue, pink, yellow and orange paint. I then made the labels and added cupcake duct tape around the middle and along the top!

I know this one has a lot of pictures but they all go together! I created a product for TPT! I made editable labels for your classroom. I brought home my sterilite plastic drawers from school and spray painted them. I then added the labels from my set to them. This set also includes Monday through Friday for the tall 5 drawer container!

I made a set of posters for my classroom! They are mustache themed! I also put them on TPT! 

And for my last share, I made my dry erase center. I got the container from the Dollar Store and made a label. I then made a mini poster and put it in the frame I got from Michaels for $1.00. 

So there you have it, a few of the things I made this week!

Click the button below to see what other awesome educators made this week!

The Literacy Teachers Playbook- part two of Chapter 4

I am linking up again this week for The Literacy Teacher's Playbook book study. We are discussing the second part of chapter 4. This is such an informative chapter!!!

Serravallo discusses goals and conferring with the students in this chapter. It is discussed that in order for the students to reach the goals they set, they must have authentic practice with the skills and strategies that will increase their success. But we must remember that the amount of support provided is decreased over time so the student will eventually be completely independent.

Conferences provides the teacher with the opportunity to see what the student is and is not successful with in a nonthreatening environment. Both are able to ask questions. This is a time to build the relationship!

This section also discussed:

Small group Strategy Lessons- These allow the students opportunities to practice old and new skills. The students are given immediate feedback. The structure of this is:

Connect and compliment

Teach

Actively Engage

Link

Reading partnerships or Reading clubs- have students pair up and read or have groups of students read the same book. The teacher will confer with the club and/or the partnerships about what they are reading. This is a great way to build book talks! 

Writing Partnerships- students are paired up with other students to discuss their writing. Conferences occur as these are going on. It is important for writers to to have those who understand their struggles to support them. This assists in their evolving into a better writer!

Shared Reading- This is when the class is reading either in unison and chorally. The teacher is pointing to the words as they read. The text chosen should be slightly above their level. 

Shared Writing- The teacher leads the writing process and then the students interact. A topic is chosen, the teacher leads and then the students assist with the writing. They may write a few sentences or tell the teacher what to write.

The structure is:

Plan

Write

Link

Interactive Writing- This is when the students actually write as well as the teacher. The students are more involved in the writing process. It is mostly their writing.

Guided Reading- Small group that assists the students with their reading.  It supports them instructionally. The group is of students that are on the same level and are working on the same skills. 

The Structure of a Guided Reading Lesson is:

Book/text information

Reading with coaching

Discussion and Teaching

Link

Phew!! I told you this chapter has a lot of information! See you next week!

An InLinkz Link-up

Guided Math- Chapter 9, the end!

I can not believe that we have finished this book! I absolutely loved it and have learned so much! I can not wait until I can implement this in my classroom because I think my littles will become strong mathematicians through this process!

When we put this into practice in our classrooms, we have to remember that no matter how harried we get, we must remember the students and their abilities. The purpose of guided math is to take the students beyond the traditional instruction of math. We must give them opportunities to explore and solve problems.

The author provides a list of things of what students who are learning mathematics should be doing! This is on page 246.

                  

* enjoy problem solving in a risk free environment

* have chances to try out strategies on a variety of challenging problems

* learn to identify appropriate strategies to use when problem solving

* receive feedback from teachers 

* make mathematical connections

* participate in conversations (mathematical) using vocabulary and justifying their work

* learn to recognize patterns and relationships

Teachers using Guided Math should use the same strategies as they do for Guided reading! Hyde (2006) has created mathematical questions adapted from reading strategies for teachers to consider!

Please remember that the success of this process is dependent on you, the educator! We must have a positive relationship with our students! They must trust us and the environment! But it is also a learning and building process for teachers as well as their students!

If you decide to use Guided Math in your classroom, please keep me posted. I am and would love to hear from you and hear about your successes, strategies, ideas and even the things that did not go as we had planned!

Here are two questions I will leave you with!

Thank you Primary Gal for this awesome book study!

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An InLinkz Link-up

Persuasive Books!!

Oh, how much do I love to read books to my students to help them learn to write persuasively? More then anything! I love to teach persuasive writing! The book I am sharing today with my link up to Deanna Jump's book linky is Earrings!

This book is about a little girl who wants to have her ears pierced and her mom and dad say no! She does everything she can to persuade them to let her get these most beautiful earrings! 

This is a great book to teach persuasive writing! My kids love it and they love to write letters to their parents to persuade them to do or get something they have been told no about. We then address the letters and mail them to their family! This activity is one of my kiddos' favorite!

Judith Viorst is one of my favorite authors! She has written some awesome books! The Alexander books are others that she has written!

 I have embedded an interview video and a video reading of this book! 

Please click the picture below to link up to see what other books are being shared this week!

Monday Made It!

Hello! I am linking up again with Tara of 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It! I just love this linky! You can get so many awesome ideas from incredibly talented educators!!!! Thank you, Tara!

So here are my Monday Made Its! Yes, I actually have more then 1 this week!

I have finished and put a product on TPT! I am somewhat of a novice with the selling aspect of TPT! I was really proud of myself for getting these done!

My product is Number Representation Sticks!

You can use paint sticks or just create sets! This set is 1 - 20.

Here is my sign I made for my classroom! I got the black letters from Michaels for 99 cents each plus a 20% off coupon. I also got the frame and red heart there as well. I decorated the letters using my Sharpie Paint Pens and spray painted my frame. I then hot glued the letters on!

My third and final project for today is my adding machine. I have seen this on Pinterest and also on Kindergarten Smorgasboard' blog!!! I bought the containers at Big Lots, the foam board at AC Moore and I used border from Creative Teaching Press!

Well, there you have it my 3 Monday Made Its! I actually would have more if I finished what I had started! Please click below to be able to visit some other blogs and see what these inspiring educators made!!

Helping a fellow blogger

My dear friend, Lindsey, over at Thriving in 3rd, is celebrating her 1 year Blogiversary!

She has some awesome prizes to give away! 

Here are the blogs that are helping her make this happen!

Please click below to go to her blog and enter her raffles for some awesome prizes! please go visit her blog!!!