Five for Friday: Sunday Version

Hi there! I'll be linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday today. I know, it's the second week in a row that it's taking me until Sunday to get this up!

Science Test Review

As a fourth grade teacher with a NYS Science assessment every year, we would always use pictures and words to review definitions of key vocabulary prior to testing.

Epic has added educational videos! My kids love it during Daily Five. It's $4.99 a month UNLESS you're an educator. Then, it's FREE!!!

Finished benchmarking my class with the help of my handy dandy running records app! Phew! Now on to more end of the year testing! :(

End of the year testing is no fun! 

I'll be happy when this week is over.

Lucy Picture Prompt Writing Center

She is VERY photogenic and my second graders love writing letters to Lucy or even writing fictional stories about Lucy's adventures! :)

Five for Friday (Sunday Version!!!)

Hi there! I'll be linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday today. 

I bought a bunch of Zafu meditation pillows for my classroom recently. They are sturdy, and have a zipper so I can add beans to plump them up when my kiddos squish them down!

These are perfect for lowered tables. I found them online for $20 a piece!

I also ordered a handful of wiggle cushions. My kiddos are full of wiggles this year! We have a few Hokki chairs, but I thought the wiggle cushions would keep their bottoms on the chairs and their feet on the floor!

I also ordered Therabands. I plan on tying Therabands to the bottoms of some student chairs. They can put their feet on the bouncy band, bounce bounce bounce, and VOILA! No more feet on the chairs! As you can see, this is a major pet peeve for me. :)

BLURT ALERTS!

We have been using Blurt Alerts to stop the calling out. Every time a kid calls out, I quietly X out one box. If they get 4 x's they lose five minute from recess. If they have no x's by the end of the day, they are entered into a drawing for a little prize.

Lucy got all dressed up this week!

Five for Friday

Hi there! I'll be linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday today. 

I received my very first Bark Box today! Well, Lucy received it! There were lots of treats and two durable toys! Lucy especially liked the squeaking record!

I liked how it had a hippie theme! Each month there is a new theme. If you click on the link above you can get a buy one get one free box situation!

I also ordered 2 HOKKI chairs for the classroom! They are great wiggle seats and fit into our flexible seating designed classroom. I am rotating them around the room to kiddos because everyone wants to try them out!

At Joann Fabrics they had these awesome marquee letters! I bought these for my classroom library and they look amazing! (Better in person!)

I still love my Osmo! We're using the Tangrams app right now because it goes along with our current math unit and the kids are experts! Plus, Osmo has a cool deal where you can buy one and then give one to a teacher of your choice!

Lucy and Arthur are becoming friends...well, it's a forced friendship.

Currently May

Linking up with Oh Boy It's Farley for the last Currently!

Another truth: I've been adding and adding and adding products to my shopping cart on TeachersPayTeachers all week! Getting ready to spend a chunk of change at the big Teacher Appreciation Week sale!

Five for Friday

Hi! I'll be linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday today. 

I've been loving GRAFFITI WALLS! They are great for review of an ELA domain in second grade. I can see what pieces of information kiddos felt were most important, plus the students absolutely adore any marker writing or Post It writing they get to do! It's an easy, collaborative review, and takes minimal set up. Throw it up during Daily 5 as a Work on Writing choice for the day!

Chalkboard Paint.

Does anyone else LOVE this stuff?

I have this tiny, annoying, yucky chalkboard. I basically only use it for the date and reminders. Chalkboard paint made it so much cuter!

We're finishing up our current read aloud, Wonder by RJ Palacio, this week. Up next? CRENSHAW by Katherine Applegate. We read The One and Only Ivan and my second graders were OBSESSED. Crenshaw is written by the same author and is about a boy whose family has to live in their van for extended periods of time. Crenshaw is the boy's imaginary friend who shows up to support him.

Here is the novel study: Crenshaw

We've been working a lot on extended responses to our guided reading texts this week. It's tough for second graders, but this checklist helps them.

I've been using the differentiated GIANT ANIMALS OF THE WORLD leveled texts from ReadingAZ and my kiddos are really engaged. They are all reading about similar creatures, but at their level. It's awesome. I love ReadingAZ.

Gotta love Lucy.