November Currently and Centers

November is here!  I'm so excited!  It is going to be such a short month!  I'm loving that we don't have  a full week of school the whole month!  Last week we missed two days due to Sandy.  We were all VERY lucky around here and didn't have any damage (some folks had temporary power outages).  Next week we have four days as we have Election Day off (they use the schools for voting) and it's my fiance's birthday!  The following week we have Veteran's Day off and then we have two days the week after so that gives us  FIVE days off for Thanksgiving!  Wahoo!  I'm linking up with Farley from Oh Boy 4th Grade for November's Currently...

This past week we were finally able to fit in the AWESOME Fall Math Work centers from Kimberly at Funky First Grade Fun.

We had SO MUCH FUN!  These work stations include: telling time to the hour and half hour, clothespin addition, clothespin subtraction, addtion +1, subtraction -1 and place value match!  My first graders LOVED the addition +1 game!  My third graders loved the telling time and place value match games and begged to play again and again!  This week I am going to let my firsties play the telling time game (with just the hour cards as we just introduced it to them on Wednesday).  I highly recommend these work stations!  Your kiddos will LOVE them!  Pick up a copy for next year (just click on the picture above to go directly to Kimberly's TpT store)!

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been working on labeling with my firsties and they are starting to get very good at it.  Labeling has been wonderful for improving their vocabulary, language, and reading skills.  This month I'm going to try to work on their writing skills.  I thought I'd share another labeling freebie with you.  If you'd like a copy, just click on the picture below.

Have a great rest of the weekend!  One EXTRA hour of sleep tonight!  I LOVE it!

State Testing and a Freebie!

So we have been completing our state tests for three weeks now.  Okay, not EVERYONE has been testing for three weeks, each grade level has completed their test over the period of a week.  Fifth grade was first, then fourth grade and finally third grade this week.  It has been CHAOS people!  The first two weeks meant that I had to relocate to other locations around the school with my kiddos so my roomie could test her students in our room.  Sounds simple right?  Mmmm yeah, not so much when every other special education teacher, reading specialist and other various interventionists have to do the same thing!  We didn't thrive...but we survived!  Now it's my turn to test one of my students in our room and the poor kiddo has just been in tears because it's the reading portion of the assessment and he's currently reading on a first grade level (he's in third grade).  I felt so,so bad!  He wanted help so badly but my hands were tied...absolutely no help or the test is invalid.  Ohhh and did I tell you the very humorous (perhaps more like ironic), name of our state tests?  They are called the NECAPs!  Yeah like you've been hit in the kneecap and are now incapacitated!  Does anyone at the state level EVER put any thought into the names of these tests?  I'm so happy that we will be finishing up the reading portion tomorrow and moving on to the first math section which my kiddo should do okay with {fingers crossed}.

With all this testing I have missed seeing some of my students.  Boo!  So I am trying to squeeze in as much as possible when I do have them (okay I ALWAYS try to squeeze in WAY to much)!  I have been working in a little labeling practice for my firsties because they need it for the language and reading skills that it provides (not to mention cutting and gluing practice).  I have started to make my own labeling sheets and have one to share with  you today!  Just click on the picture below to download this from Google docs.   I hope your kids enjoy it!

I'll be back soon {hopefully} to review this Fall unit from Kimberly at Funky First Grade Fun.

Check out the fantastic giveaways Tessa is having at her blog by clicking on her button!

My Erin Condren Planner and Dolch Sight Word Assessment Freebies

Look what was on my doorstep when I got home last Saturday night!!!

I AM IN LOVE!!!!!

I won this AMAZING planner from Katherine at Yay Third Grade! Thanks so much Katherine!!!!!

Last year I bought the life planner which is awesome but I think this planner is even better!  It has monthly calendar pages, lesson plan pages, a place for seating charts, a folder for loose papers, a small clear pouch that seals for small things like sticky notes and my VERY favorite....labels for just about every kind of meeting that there is!  It is organization at it's best!  And I got FREE COLORED PENS people!  You have no idea how much I LOVE color coding!  This will help to keep me organized for sure!

This week we are administering DIBELS assessments to our Kinders and First Graders and AIMSWEB oral reading fluency and math assessments to all of our students (Kindergarten through Fifth grade).  In addition, most classroom teachers are administering Dolch sight word assessments, curriculum based spelling tests, reading benchmark tests and taking writing samples.  Whew!  The list is exhaustive!  I'm sure all of you can relate!

In our school it is expected that first grade students will master all 220 Dolch words by the end of the year (yes really...lol).  For several years we have been administering this assessment using single lists of words (there are eleven lists, each containing 20 words).  We assess five times during the school year (once at the beginning, once at the end of each marking term and once at the end of the year).

This year I have several students who have orthographic processing difficulties (i.e., they have difficulty remembering symbols - letters and numbers).  I had these same students last year and I knew that they could identify some of these words but the list format was not working for them so I created a powerpoint presentation to assess their sight word recall.  Each slide is displayed for three seconds (the amount of time we allow a student to identify a word) before moving on to the next word. In addition, every 20th word slides down to signal to the examiner the end of "that particular list."  Clear as mud?  I found that this presentation was much more effective for my students!  It held their attention and they didn't have to manipulate the lists.  If you are interested in trying this out with your students please feel free to click on the pictures to download your own Dolch Word assessment presentation and recording sheet.  If you prefer, I have also included a copy of the lists in print format.  (I copy the lists on cardstock, laminate, cut and bind with a metal book ring).
I'd really LOVE to know what you think!

New blog design reveal and the promised freebie!!!!

Hi everyone!  I'm FINALLY back!  Sorry it's been so long since I've posted...it's been a super busy summer but I think I'm finally getting back on track!

How do you like the new blog design?  I love it!  Kristin did an amazing job didn't she?

She even created a pug who looks just like my little guy!  Can you tell how much I love him (I just HAD to have him on my blog). Kristin was great to work with and I HIGHLY recommend her!

I also have the freebie I promised.  It's just a little monster themed roll and color activity.  I hope you all enjoy it!

I hope to post on a more regular basis!  Thanks for hanging in with me!  You all rock! (Wow all 51 of you!  When and how did that happen???  You all are SERIOUSLY awesome)!  I hope you are enjoying your summer