The "Blink and you Might Miss'em" Moments of the Week

This past week has been a busy one in our household.  I find that there are not many weeks that are real slow going with three kiddos that are always raring to go.  The funny thing is, the only things we really had scheduled were a much-needed visit with my friend, Maria and her sweet girls, swimming lessons, and an overnight trip to visit Grandma Beers in Columbus!  

No camps, no practices, no games, just a week to enjoy the fun of summer.  But just like that, "Blink and you Might Miss'em" things happened.  I am grateful that I didn't do much blinking this week, or I might have missed them.

Here is the first...because there were no practices, I was able to take my daughter, Lilah, to swimming lessons this week.  Just her and me.  Here is what happened...

In our house this is a BIG deal!  She can officially swim.  As a mom of three kiddos, that is a bit of a relief because she is safe in the pool, and importantly for her, she can play and have fun with her swimming friends.  I was convinced for a while that she might just spend the rest of her life in the strapped-in safety of a puddle jumper, frolicking in the knee-deep water, fearful of getting her face wet.  Not that it bothered me, but knowing how to swim is a bit of a rite of passage.   There are water parks, swim parties, and other events that I know she will want to take part in in her future.  Being fearful of water can be tricky for one that wants to participate in those things!  I am thrilled that I was able to sit on the side of the pool and watch her feel confident enough to tackle this life skill this week!  Way to go, Little Lady!

Here is my other "Blink and you Might Miss'em" moment of the week...

This may just look like a kiddo in a stroller, which it is!!! However, I looked down from my run this morning to see that those sweet little feet that love to go on runs with me each day can now touch the foot rest!  When did this happen?! Those feet were just barely hanging off of the end of the seat a few short months ago, and now they can rest comfortably in the stroller like a BIG KID?!  I seriously blinked and this 16 month old is well, getting BIG! 

As a teacher-coach-mom I know that these moments happen all of the time!  It occurs with students grasping something that they hadn't the day before, in sports when a kid can master a skill they couldn't master the last practice, and with our own children each and every day just because they are growing a day older!  So just a little reminder, that I have to remind myself of often...some days can be long, full of stuff, and exhausting at times, but some days or weeks you just need to put on the brakes and be a little extra aware because if we blink, we might overlook moments we are certain we don't want to miss!  

Happy Summer!  Hope you are catching some of those AWESOME moments, too!

Do you have reading pals? Interactive Notebooks for Reading Pals...Summer Stock Up on this perfect tool!

Each year my sixth graders are teamed up with the first graders as a way to connect our diverse groups of learners.  The idea began about six years ago when I realized that many of my sixth graders needed practice to enhance fluency, and my first grade teaching pal, Mrs. Eshman, had students that really needed practice listening to reading.  We decided it was the perfect match!  We brought the students to the cafeteria with books in hand, paired them up, and prepared for them to sit together and read.

My 6th graders have always loved reading with their reading buddies.  It is a treat each week to see a special little person that looks just as forward to spending time with them.   For the first few weeks it is a novelty and everyone seems to be on their best behavior, but as the first weeks of school turn into months, focus eases up and merely reading is no longer an activity that keeps everyone’s attention. 

Over the last few years I have found that the reading time seems to go very quickly and my sixth graders are trying to find the best way to fill up the rest of their time.  The little ones can get off task easily, which can be a challenge for my sixth graders to manage.  In addition, my sixth graders that are supposed to be the role models can have issues of their own at times.  Despite teacher re-direction, the time wasn’t being utilized the way we had envisioned.

After one week of far too much re-focusing of our students, we began planning and coordinating what was read from that point on.  It was ideal.  The sixth graders were armed with more than a book, and wanted to take ownership over not just reading, but also helping their first grade pal develop a skill.

Teachers are busy and have minimal time for extras, and so this interactive notebook was born.  Instead of having to plan each week for reading pals, this is the tool that will allow your older and younger students to thrive when working together.  The work is done for you!  Simply print, grab student book boxes/baskets, cut, glue, and go!  Your students will be more than excited to work together and there is enough fun to keep your reading pals engaged.  There is nothing like seeing the older students guiding the younger learners.

Check out this tool in action and grab this sampler...any summer time you had scheduled to plan for reading pals is no longer needed.  Grab this sampler and get back to some fun in the sun!

Here is a pic of one of the activities that helps the old pal and younger pal get to know each other.  It leads into the perfect tool to enhance understanding of compare and contrast and Venn diagrams.

Here is the entire Reading Pals Interactive Notebook Tool Kit for Grades 1-6.

Relaxed yet? Time to get ready for another school year!!!

The year is barely over, but for some reason your brain is already bypassing summer and heading into the planning of next school year.  Why in the world does this happen EVERY STINKIN'YEAR?!?!  

...because we are teachers and that is how we operate, the year ends and all we can do is think about: what we will do to make our students learn the content better, how we will make that tricky lesson go smoother, and what new tool we will find to organize and make life easier.  Tell me I am not the only one!

While I am just embarking on the nutty task of helping my own kiddos prevent the "summer slide" my mind is already focusing on what is to come in my future.  I will be home one more school year with my littlest, and then I plan to head back to the classroom where I will put all of my lessons back to good use.  I think my son will be relieved that he no longer has to put up with being my lesson/activity guinea pig.  While I will be excited to get back to the classroom, I have loved this time with my kiddos, and refining all of my classroom tools has been an awesome perk!

So while I know your brain is going one billion miles an hour in preparation for next year, take a break and check this out...I have teamed up with Educents with some instant downloads for you! It includes a full years worth of activities for your 4th, 5th, and 6th classroom!  So exciting because it's stuff for now, in a few months from now, and all the way through the end of the school year!  Check it out below!  

www.educents.com/4th-6th-curriculum-bundle.html#joethecat

The three products I have included will surely be loved by your students!  Take a peek...

This 32-page novel unit is an essential tool for on-level third graders, but works perfect for intervention in upper elementary.

I utilized my Boxcar Children novel unit with my intervention students-6th grade students reading between 4th-5th grade.  It was the perfect tool to focus on the mystery genre and keep them encouraged about the reading process.   This crew needed both fluency and comprehension work, so we read aloud, answered the reader response questions independently, checked our answers as a group, then read the next chapter independently.  It was the perfect way to navigate through this text.

I was inspired to create this close reading informational text bundle when my son began quizzing me over his NFL and MLB cards.  He is a fact kid.  This fun pack includes 9-one page informational text passages with text-dependent questions, graphic organizers to support informational text, and answer keys.  Some of my students tend to struggle with nonfiction and this was a way that I could really reach my struggling male readers.  They want to talk about athletes all day and this is the tool that allows them to do just that, but also work on their reading comprehension.

 

Journaling is an essential within my classroom.  It is a practice we focus on once a week.  I have also found that after state testing, students can get uninspired to write.  They feel as though their work for the year is complete.  I created this tool as a means of keeping my students motivated to write through the end of the year by thinking about the summer fun that lies ahead.  

Here is a sample prompt:

Students will keep working when they are inspired, so make sure they have those inspirational tools!  Here are a few pics of my students engaged and journaling in their writer's notebooks....

So here are the details...for a limited time it is $15.99 from Educents which is about 79% off - if purchased separately would be $74!  21 instant downloads with 38 different products sold separately! And almost 600 pages of materials you can use all year... it's hard to go wrong!

If you want to take a little break from your all of the planning in your mind, grab this bundle!

You can also take peek at some of the other products included in the bundle at any of the links below!

An InLinkz Link-up

The kids are home ALL day...now what do I do? AND...brother and sister reading pals...

As teachers we are used to having structure.  Our day is organized just so from the moment we wake up until the instant our heads fall to the pillow-usually due to exhaustion!  I don't know about you, but I thrive with structure and so do my kids.  So these first few days out of school can be tricky, to say the least.

My kiddos ended their school year gradually.  My daughter finished up first allowing for us to have a week to transition back to the three of us (my littlest, my daughter, and me.)  Then my son, Brennan, finished his second grade year last Thursday, giving us a bit of time to adjust into everyone being home.

Friday was a breeze!  The kids were happy to see one another and spend time playing, but then Monday afternoon hit and I knew from that very moment, a routine needed to be put into place.  I wouldn't make it through summer without one.

Here is ours:

5:45-6:30AM-I wake up and run! 
6:45AM-kiddos begin to trickle onto the couch for some cartoons
7:30AM-breakfast
8-9:00AM-get dressed
9:00-11:30AM-oldest has basketball/baseball/football camp-we head to the park/library
11:30AM-pick-up and lunch
12:30-1:30PM-playtime without hurting one another
1:30-3:30-naptime for littlest and reading/math time for 5 and 8 year olds
4:00PM-more outside time
5:00-6:00PM-dinner outside, if possible
6:00-8:30PM-baseball games/baseball practice/swim lessons/outside time
8:30-9:00PM-bathtime/showers/shows/books and littlest goes to bed
9:00-9:30PM-shows for big kids and then bed

REPEAT!

Certainly things change with adventures to places, days with no camp, and when we hang out with friends, but this is a pretty good schedule for my family.

Here are a few things we have tackled in our few short days altogether:
bookmark-making, Perler Beads, Pipsqueaks with the littlest, and a tea party!

      

             

I know summer has just started and there are a bazillion other things we will tackle!  The fun has just begun!

As a teacher-mom, I try to inspire my kiddos at home as much as at school!  Therefore, reading is BIG in our house!  As a reading teacher I am sure to keep books everywhere...baskets here, bookshelves there, book buckets over there! My oldest has taken on the task of reading a great deal to his almost kindergarten sister and one year old brother.  It makes my heart melt.  So much so, I have had him take on some reading buddy stuff and he has created an interactive notebook to work on with his sister.

This is a tool that is used with our reading pals at school, but is perfect for sharing about authors, illustrators, main characters, etc.  Here is the start...she is going to be a whiz when kindergarten starts!

I will keep you posted as it fills up with brother sister reading pal fun!  Who knew such authentic reading could take place on vacation!  Happy Summer!