Supermarket Saturday Linky Party: Fall Resources

I have the perfect learning resource to share with you this week if you are in need of high-interest reads for CLOSE READING.  While this is not FALL-only, it is the perfect tool to utilize during this time of year, especially if you have students that are obsessed with sports and learning about athletes.

Every year one of the questions that I ask students on our first days of school Interest Inventory is "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  I can honestly say that a solid 75% of my boys say they want to be "a professional football player or NBA star."  I am not a dream dasher, and I refuse to tell them they won't become what they are dreaming about, however, it is essential for them to understand that one does not become an NFL superstar on a whim!  ...and so I created this resource.

This All About Athletes: Informational Close Reading Fun Pack is crammed with passages that your student-athletes will love tackling.  This 35-page NO PREP Close Reading Informational Text BUNDLE is the perfect reading tool for your upper elementary or middle school students working to enhance comprehension with high-interest informational passages about current athletes. Inspired by my son-who is obsessed with all things NFL and NBA, this BUNDLE is sure to motivate your male hard-to-inspire readers!!!

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Girl Scouts, anyone?

So coaching soccer just finished for the fall last night and I embark on my next challenge in motherhood...girl scout troop leader!  Has anyone else out there taken the plunge into this land of promises, laws, petals, pledges, and adventures?!  Holy Moses!

It all started a few months ago when my running buddy texted me...

Rachel: Is Lilah doing Girl Scouts?  The meeting is tonight at 7PM.
Me: No!  We aren't signing up for one more activity at our house right now!
Me (after 5 minutes of reflecting on the fact that my daughter loves crafts, playing with friends, and adventures): We will meet at your house and walk to the school together.

After the meeting...
Me: A few hours ago we were having nothing to do with girl scouts...
Rachel:  Now you are a troop leader!  HAHA

DANG IT!!!

Tonight...17-five-year olds are heading into our elementary school art room and ready to begin their little journey, and take on the task of earning their Daisy petals over the course of the next ten months.  I have to say that a cafeteria full of rowdy 6th graders is a bit less intimidating to me than a bundle of chatty kindergartners. Do any of my middle school friends feel the same way?

Like any seasoned teacher, I walk into this adventure with lots of preparation, mounds of art supplies, sacks of snacks, and a bag of candy in case things go awry!  I have purchased some crazy binder from Amazon, taken a trip to the Girl Scout store of which I had no idea existed, spent lots of time on Pinterest, and I believe I am as ready for this as I will ever be.  Here is a look at our night...

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Supermarket Saturday Linky Party-Halloween Resources

If you are looking for an upper elementary to middle school weekly linky, you have come to the right place.  As teachers we are always looking for seasonal resources to utilize in our classrooms and they can be tricky to find-especially for time-strapped teachers.  So, be sure to stop by my blog every Saturday to find the best tools to implement right away in your language arts classroom.

I know that it has been a really busy week...you likely just finished report cards for the end of the first quarter, are exhausted due to writing the most thought-provoking comments, you have had more preparation for fall conferences, and on top of it all, you are heading into a week filled with out-of-control enthusiastic kiddos that can't wait to dress-up, and head out for a Friday night filled to the brim with candy collecting!  You get to be reminded of costumes for the entire week and candy is already coming out of students' ears!  Am I right?

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Five for FRIDAY Linky

I have not done this in a while, but as this is my most favorite time of year, I thought it would be the perfect time to share...here is a peek at my week!  Hope you are as excited for Friday as I am!

 

This past weekend we headed to this great place called Shaw Farm.  It is the ideal place to take a family in Cincinnati.  Fall makes me obsessed with all things on a farm.  My littlest is obsessed with tractors and my oldest wanted to pick out their own pumpkins. This place has a 3-acre corn maze that my oldest and I will be heading back to take on.  It is about a 3-mile challenge that is is ready to tackle.  I can't wait! 

 

To go along with my loving all things pumpkin, here is a close reading freebie you might like to snag. This 7-page pack includes word work and close reading tools to help your students understand pumpkin harvesting.  A timely resource!

 

I don't know what homework time looks like at your house, but I captured this pic of my three kiddos getting down to business after school.  My littlest is obsessed with coloring, so he is happy to hang with them for a little while, until the Twistables start flying and he decides to start standing in chairs.  It was a moment that made me smile, so I snapped it.

 

 I finally finished this unit this week.  If you are looking for an amazing novel to teach your kids about writing memoirs...this is an awesome book.  Gary Paulsen is an amazing storyteller and will have your kids engaged from the first chapter.  This novel unit is the perfect tool to go right along with it!

Tonight is our homecoming parade for our town!  My kiddos are very excited to wear their uniforms to school, walk in the parade throwing candy, and attend the varsity game.  My son gets to be a part of the player tunnel and my daughter gets to cheer with the varsity cheerleaders for the first quarter.  Life for them is good!

Hope you had a great week!

Harvest of FREEBIES Blog Hop

Thanks for hopping over...

Fall is absolutely my favorite time of year!  I love the cool, crisp mornings that heat up in the afternoons, the fun of all of the Halloween festivities, the anticipation of my children's costume choices, and everything PUMPKIN!  I know many others who share this same sentiment about fall as well.  With this love of fall, the harvest season, we have decided to create a blog hop to share a "Harvest of Freebies" for you to take back to your classroom.  I have created TWO freebies for you to utilize with your upper elementary to middle school students...

The first, Pumpkin Harvesting, is an informational close reading text with word work and reader response questions.  I utilize close reading passages with my students that are struggling with comprehension and having challenges going back into a reading selection to cite evidence to determine correct responses.  While we work on these skills throughout the year, I am always in need of high-interest passages that I can use for whole class, small group, or independent practice.

This Pumpkin Harvesting Close Reading FREEBIE will help your students:

1. better understand/reinforce CLOSE READING strategies
2. identify how to harvest pumpkins
3. determine the meaning of unknown words using context clues
4. cite evidence from the one-page text to support responses. 

 Click the image to grab FREEBIE #1:

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