Spring Cleaning Sale!

{image courtesy the uber-talented Krista Wallden}

So a bunch of my favorite bloggers and I are holding a Spring Cleaning Sale in our stores this weekend!  What a treat!  Spring Cleaning you’ll actually enjoy!  My cart is loaded and ready to go, but in case you need some ideas, I have quite a few new things in my store just in time for spring!

Take a look-see:

{Click the picture to grab it from TpT}

Have you read this sweet book?  It’s an absolutely darling story about two friends that meet as a caterpillar and goosling, and what happens to their friendship as they grow and change.  It’s really about what it means to be a true friend, but it’s an excellent book to use to start out your Butterfly Life Cycle unit.  I also love it for predicting and inferring.

Buy the book here.

{Click the picture to grab it from TpT}

Mossy is one of Jan Brett’s newest books.  I gobble up her books because of the adorable storylines and BEAUTIFUL illustrations.  I also love, love, love how the illustrations that adorn the borders of her page show what is going on elsewhere in the story.  It’s a wonderful added element when questioning during reading.  “Mossy” is about a beautiful turtle who grows a garden on her shell, just when she meets a handsome companion she is taken from the pond to be put in a museum.  Another great book for predicting, as well as opinions. 

Scoop up the book here.

{Click the picture to grab it from TpT}

My Miss Rumphius unit has gotten a make-over!  I’ve mentioned about a million times that this is my favorite book in the whole wide world.  It’s a truly beautiful story for any time of the year, but I love to use it for Earth Day because the message is all about making the world more beautiful.  We spend a lot of time around Earth Day talking about the 3 Rs, pollution, energy and resources {with good reason!!!!}, but I also want to teach my kiddos that it’s our responsibility to do things in our life that will make the world a more beautiful place.  Being kind and compassionate and responsible to each other and our planet is just as important as recycling.  This book serves this purpose perfectly.

Please, please, please buy this book here!

Of course if I’ve piqued your interest, or you’re already a fan of these 3 books, I’ve bundled them to save you time and money!

{Click the picture to grab it from TpT}

{Click the picture to grab them from TpT}

My “Think Spring” E/LA Centers are my first go at reading and language centers, but I think I did a pretty good job!  The centers are common core aligned to 2nd grade, but a few of the centers are aligned to 1st and 3rd as well!

There are centers on:
*Plural vs. Possessive Nouns {a skill my little guys and gals are STILL having so much trouble with…time to break out this center in my own room!}
*Irregular Past-Tense Verbs
*Reflexive Pronouns
*Improving Sentences {think adding details}…this one has been a huge hit in my room so far!}

I’ve also been getting TONS of use out of my Spring Comprehension Passages!







I use these in my RTI groups as well as for homework.  My class has gotten so much better at answering open-ended questions and going back into the text.  Definitely the product OF MY OWN that I’ve gotten the most use out of.

Check them out by clicking any of the pictures above.  There is also a freebie if you download the preview.  Score!

I’m also hammering away at an Earth Day mini-unit that I’m trying my darnedest to finish in time for the sale, except I keep getting the side-eye from my hubby {we’re out of town visiting MY family and I’m not being the best host…so we’ll see!}

Happy Shopping!

Halle

Write About It Wednesday: Student Portfolios

Hello there!

It’s about that time Kate and I get together for another Write About It Wednesday!  If you’re new to this series check our our previous posts here and here.

This Wednesday’s topic is Student Portfolios.

I have to admit that this particular topic had me confused for years as a teacher.  At my school we have student portfolios that move with our students from year to year and they must contain three writing samples from each grade.  For the portfolios that follow students, I use The Teacher Wife’s Friends Assessment.  I give it to my class 3x a year, and after scoring it with a rubric I make, it goes straight into their student portfolios. With the exception of these portfolios, there are no other guidelines for writing portfolios in our school. 

This gives me anxiety.

Do I keep every writing they ever do?
Do I send every writing home as soon as I read it or score it?
Do I hold on to sloppy copies?
What about that writing we did about that assembly that I never really looked at or reviewed or went over or collected?  Does that go in a portfolio?
Where are my Snickers bars?

What kind of folder do I use?
Should it have pockets?
What about a file folder?
What if the papers fall out?
Where are my Reese’s?

I could go on and on.

The truth is, at least in place where there are no set rules, that you should do what works for you.  Despite the lack of writing curriculum or guidelines in my school, I have taken the time to educate myself on Writer’s Workshop.  And through various workshops and readings, {plus 4 years of trial and error} I’ve figured out a few things:

*It is important to hold on to important writings. {In my case these are Common Core Aligned and have been edited or revised in some way.  I shoot for about 1 a month}.
*It is important that the writings in the portfolios show growth.
*It is important that writing portfolios are easy to organize

and this is the kicker…

*it is important that STUDENTS CAN ACCESS THEIR PORTFOLIOS easily or at any given time.

It’s important for students to be able to read over past writings to be able to evaluate their own work as they grow as well as for self-reflection.  They love to see how far they’ve come.  They love to see how they would take a writing from earlier in the year and “make it better”.  In fact, that’s something we will do before the year is up!
I’ve tried quite a few systems throughout the years and while they all had their pros and cons, ultimately they weren’t working.

Then I saw this pin:

{Click picture for source}

I was inspired!!!! 

I loved how the magazines {in this case} were easy to get to but didn’t take up valuable shelf space and I liked how you could immediately see what was inside {as opposed to rifling through a file folder}.

So this is what I ended up with:







How I did it is pretty self-explanatory, but allow me to explain anyway!  I staggered command hooks underneath my board.  I gave each student a portfolio cover and a sheet protector.  Then I handed back their work  {we didn’t start these portfolios until around Christmas time}, and they inserted it back to back {in order}.  I called them by group to hang up their portfolios.  Now they add it as they get it back, or I do it, or whoever has the job of teacher’s assistant.  It’s so easy!

But the best part is that they can access their portfolios at any time!  Many students choose to read their work during Daily 5, and they even read each others!  It’s pretty awesome!

Since I took the pictures above, I’ve added key rings for easy page flipping {without getting anything out of order}.

{“Apple” Writing here}

{“Community” Writing here}

{“Other Reindeer” Writing here}

I can honestly say that giving my students easy access to their writing portfolios {as well as encouraging them to read them!} has changed my writing program for the better this year. 

I hope I’ve inspired you to make your portfolios easy to access!  Not to mention the display looks adorable in the classroom!  We get compliments on our hanging portfolios all the time!

I’ve uploaded a copy of the portfolio cover I used to Google Docs.  You can grab it for free by clicking the picture:

{Yours will not have our blog button on it! Promise}

We’d love to hear how you manage portfolios in your classroom!  Feel free to link up with any writing portfolio tip {it can even be an old post!}

If you link up please keep the following guidelines in mind:

*be a follower of both of our blogs.
*use the provided button {just save the image above and link it back here, or provide a link in the picture caption}.
*link to a post related to today’s topic.
*make sure you link to the specific post and not just your blog.

You can also leave a tip in the comments as well!  While your there, let us know of any topics you’d like featured in future “Write About It Wednesdays”.  We’d love some suggestions!

Click here to read Kate’s post on portfolios.  I can’t wait to read what she has to say.  {She always says the BEST stuff!}


Happy Writing!

Halle

Noun Linky

I’m linking up with Mrs. Reed over at Flying Into First Grade so I can get in on her adorable weekly linky!  I haven’t been able to link up the past few weeks because I’ve been sick and haven’t had the energy to put a blog post together.

The bad news is that I’m STILL sick.  {I’m convinced it’s bronchitis}.
The good news is that this linky didn’t take too much of my energy.

This week’s theme is all about the nouns.  That’s right, I’m gonna share my favorite person, place, thing, and animal.

I don’t have pictures to offer you today, but if you’re a new follower and super interested in what my favorite person looks like, you can find a good picture of him here.  And if you’re just dying to know who my Georgie Girl is, click here {same post}.  The other two are pretty easy to imagine :)






Send some good vibes my way that I’m back to my former self soon, and go link up with Mrs. Reed here.

Have a good night :)

Halle