School's Just Around the Corner

I've been working hard to get ready for the upcoming year. Do you ever feel that the more you accomplish the longer your list becomes?  That's about where I'm at!  😏

I find that it helps to bite the bullet and purchase what others have put together. This year, I'm excited about my new readers notebook. 

I got this from Kristine Nannini's store. It is AWESOME!!  I'm adding a couple things in to help cement all our daily 5 work. 

There use a fluency tab as well, I just need to add an accuracy and expand vocabulary tab. I will be adding a FREEBIE soon, if you'd like to add them to yours as well. Good luck as you start, or prepare to start!

Blessings!

Rachel

Close Reading

So I may be behind the times, but I am finding SO many great ideas for including "Close Reading" in my classroom.  This is something that I want to do much more of next year.  I have just begun this week, as my PLC is focusing on teaching Main Idea in our classrooms.  

I LOVE my PLC this year.  We are a group of 3rd and 4th grade teachers, with 1 special ed teacher, and 1 title teacher.  We take every 2 weeks to focus on a new concept in our classrooms.  We have done inferring, compare and contrast, cause and effect and now we are doing main idea.  We take turns coming up with a pre and a post test for the different concepts.  We discuss student data before and after.  We discuss teaching strategies before and after and we pass along great ideas on delivery.  This has helped me SO much in my teaching!

Ok, that was a side bar...  Back to Close Reading.  J

Here is something I am going to try to incorporate before testing comes upon us.  It is close reading with figurative language. Click here. 

This next resource I used a couple of weeks ago, and I really liked it.  It helped reinforce finding answers in the text and PROVING it!  My students do not always underline, or highlight, where they have found their answers.  This forces them to!

Click here to check it out!

I am excited about this next one, because it is a SPRING FREEBIE!  I am going to download and use it ASAP!  J  I love finding things when I can use them right away instead of having to wait for that time of year to roll around again.  J  Click here to check it out!

MISS NELSON IS MISSING Close Reading FREEBIE!  Enough Said!  J  Check itout here!  J

So….. are you completely unaware of Close Reading?  Maybe you have heard this new BUZZ WORD, but still have some confusion?  Here is agreat resource that lays it out nicely!  J

Here is the initial piece that got me hooked on this concept.  Even though it is in the Common Core Standards, I have not specifically used this type of strategy or lingo in my room.  I am going to now rectify this!  J  So checkout this resource.  It’s SO good!

I am also printing this one off immediately!  I wish I had it a month ago when my focus was on Compare and Contrast!  Check it out! 

Here is another one that needs to be downloaded RIGHT AWAY!  THis will help you in the planning process for small groups.  It "takes all the rocket science out of it".  It's laid out so clearly, it's easy to plan for any small group using the close read strategy!  Check it out here

Well, I could probably add another 10 resources, but I won’t overwhelm you, as I am feeling that way.  Does it ever end, that feeling of being overwhelmed when you’re a teacher?  Yes!  JUNE! JULY! AUGUST!  J

Blessings!

Rachel

Thrilled in Third

SPRING FEVER!!

It is getting closer to April and I am super excited for the nice weather!  We had a taunting of good weather a couple of weeks ago, so getting back down to the 20's has not been fun!  :(

Testing is right around the corner, so I am working feverishly to get my kiddo's ready for that big day!  I found this cool gimmic on TPT.  It's called Game Day Test Prep.  I am going to be starting that in the next couple of weeks to get my students prepared.  I LOVE it!  Totally worth the purchase!

We also have an intervention time that is intentional, purposeful and specific to the needs of the students in our classroom.  We call it W.I.N. time.  I know that I have written about this before, but it is SO powerful for my students!  They get 6-8 days of purposeful practice on concepts that they are struggling on.  Researchers say it takes 6-7 times of practice on the same concept for some of your struggling students to "get it".  This is a way that I am giving them that time in my class. 

This weekend I have finished another unit for our W.I.N. time.  It is on answering word problems.  How fitting for the testing season, right?  :)

It is free for the next 24 HOURS and then it will go to it's regular price.  So stop by and check it out at my TPT store!  :)

We are almost to the counting down stage of the year, I hope it is all going well for you and that you have found some useful tools today!

Blessings,

Rachel

Thrilled in Third

Fractions on my Mind

We are busy getting our kiddos ready for our end of the year exam.  I'm amazed at the progress they've shown through the year, but there are always things that we need work on.  One thing that several of our kiddos need help with fractions of a group.  We have an intervention time that we rotate every 2 weeks.  So this week, fractions of a group is on the menu!  :)

I have created a fun plan for helping them wrap their heads around this concept.  It is set up using a gradual release of responsibility:

Day 1 - Pretest/Teach/Launch/Review

Day 2 - Model

Day 3 - Practice Together

Day 4 - Practice Together

Day 5 - Independent Practice

Day 6 - Independent Practice

Day 7 - Review and Test

Throughout these 7-9 days, I have compiled videos and lessons, pre/post-tests, as well as a Smarties fraction activity and a Froggy Fraction Fun Task Card activity for you to work on with your kiddos.

I hope you'll check it out and find it useful in your room!  Click here for the plans.

Thanks so much!

Rachel,

and as always,

I am Thrilled in Third!  J

One Hour of Code - Coding with Anna and Elsa

Friday my class joined the nationwide event - One Hour of Code. Things like this are a little scary for me, outside my realm of knowledge. I learned right along with them and felt just as captivated as they were. 

In this program/game/tutorial you write the code to make Anna and Elsa move, making snowflakes, passing levels as you go. http://code.org/learn 

This 1 hour trial gave me the confidence to attempt a little more in depth coding with students on scratch Ed. 

If you're on the fence with this new craze, you have to try it!!  I believe things like this are the future of education. It's important to keep up with the ever changing technology and generation. 

Try it!!

Rachel - Thrilled in Third

CHRISTMAS FREEBIE

I just LOVE the holidays!  Not just because we get some time off, but because of all the hope, excitement, anticipation that leads up to Christmas.  In the spirit of the season, I am posting this changing the price of this item to be FREE!!  It won't be free forever, so get it while you can!!  

Check out this Freebie for the Holiday season.  Students practice their math and writing skills by looking through store ads and picking out somethings for Christmas.  They list the item and price of the item.  After they have listed some items they add up the total.  Then they write a letter to Santa asking him for all or some of the items they found in the ad.   

Get it HERE!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Rachel - Thrilled in Third

Kahoot! It's a HOOT!

I have begun to check off the list of things I want to use in my classroom that I got from the TIES (technology) conference.  One of those things is Kahoot!  I have set up a couple of Kahoot! quizzes.  It is like the trivia games you might play at places like Buffalo Wild Wings.  

Students have their own device and answer a question.  They get more points for being the first ones to answer and points for getting it correct.  There is that element of competition that make for a fun quiz, exit slip, or review game.

Check it out and set up your free account today!  

Click here to set up your account.

I hope you find this useful for your room too!

Rachel