Five for Friday: BACK TO SCHOOL

Well friends!  I hope everyone is surviving the back to school grind!  I have been exhausted since school started and my little blog has been neglected for sure.  I hope that some of you out there are fortunate enough to have air conditioning in your school because I am not that lucky.  It is so hard for little kiddos to learn when they are melting:)  I have my fingers crossed it cools down.


1.  Tonight I was shopping at a local toy store for a birthday present and of course I found a few things for myself as well.  I am really excited out this find!!  You use a pen to pull the beads up to form the letter.  It really has a strong pull that will help my kinders follow through with letter formation.

 

2.  My sweet little girl turned the big 13 on Monday.  She is now officially a teen but not much has changed.  She still has her headphones on constantly and bops along in her own world.

Isn't she beautiful?

3.  As an interventionist, I have the pleasure of assisting teachers with not only academic problems but behavioral issues as well.  Unfortunately one of my students has fallen apart since returning back to school.  I created these forms last night to try and assist the teacher with managing the behaviors within the classroom setting.

 

I based this on an interventions one of my teaching buddies did last year with the same kiddo.  The student starts out the day with all of his X's for both the morning and afternoon blocks.  If all AM checks are still there by lunch then 5 minutes of Ipad time is earned.  After lunch, the whole process starts again.  If the student had a bad morning it doesn't matter because after lunch it is a clean slate.  

4.   Today was my day to post on Teaching Blog Round Up!  I was glad that I had a scheduled day to post so that it forced me to push through my back to school fog.  If you are interested in reading about vocabulary tiers then you will definitely want to check out my post and grab your freebie.

5.  I was very excited to actually get to read with some of my kiddos today!  I love listening to kids read.  Today the kids used LED finger lights to track text as they read!  It was so fun!!  The kids loved it and I must admit so did I.  

 

So that is my week in a nutshell:)  

I can't wait to read everyone's Five for Friday posts!!  

Until next time,

TPT SALE

I am so excited for the sale Sunday and Monday!!  I have items on my wishlist that I have been waiting to buy ALL summer.  Will I empty out my wishlist?  Probably not because it is kinda long:)

I am linking up with some of my firstie friends in celebration of the sale!!  Hopefully you get a chance to check out their great products and purchase a few of their goodies for your own:)

Here are a few products that you should check out!

Do you need a back to school pack?  

Be sure you check out Nicole Lanier's Back to School Literacy and Math Activities for 1st grade.

I just discovered this pack from LMN Tree myself!!  I love me a beginning of the year easy reader for my at risk kiddos!  Especially when it comes in three different levels.

Since I do most of my work in small group, I was pumped when I found these questions from Spotted in First Grade to utilize when reading: 20 before, 20 during, & 20 after.

Make sure you check out the other fan-tab-u-lous products from my Firstie Friends!!
Don't forget the code!  B2S13

Let's talk about me Monday!

 

I am very excited to link up with Blog Hoppin' for Teacher Week 13! 

 

Let's talk about me, Monday!!

 

Today I spent the afternoon in my classroom doing my best to attempt to organize myself so that I can be more efficient this school year.  I get so frustrated with myself at the end of the year when I pack up my room and I realize that I did not utilize great teaching materials because I forgot I owned them:( 

So here goes......

1.  I currently live in the same small town in Ohio where I grew up but I work in a "village" about a half hour from my house.

2.  I have two beautiful children that are the lights of my life:)  along with my hubby of course!

3.  I am a tv addict and my DVR is one of my besties!  I am a sucker for crime dramas like The Bridge & The Following.  My hubby gets me addicted to sci fi shows like Haven & Falling Skies. And of course one of my absolute favs is Shameless.

4.  I am currently addicted to pull and peel Twizzlers and was very upset today when Wal-Mart only had watermelon flavored:(   I have a horrible sweet tooth.

5.  A few weeks ago, I caved and bought myself a laminator and I am in LOVE!  So is my little guy:)  He wants me to laminate all the time.

6.  I have a slight book addiction and my classroom library is overflowing.

7.  I am embarrassed to admit how much I love my new Toyota Sienna.  I was adamant that I would never own a minivan.  (never say never)

8.  My IPhone playlist currently includes:  Matchbox Twenty, Maroon 5, Mumford & Sons, Adele, Fun!, & Bruno Mars.

9.  In my mind, I am thirty pounds thinner.........but that does not explain why my pants don't fit.  A girl can hope right?

10.  I love to laugh and luckily with a tween and a toddler I have many opportunities:)

I hope you learned a little about me. 

Until next time,

Back to School Blogger Exchange: Show Us What You Got!

I am so excited to have linked up with Covered in Glitter and Glue and Katie from Adventures of Ms. Smith for their Back to School Blogger Exchange. 


I was lucky enough to be paired with Traci from The Bender Bunch!!  I was very excited to receive my package full of goodies.  Traci loaded me up with a little bit of everything to start my year.  My absolute FAV item is my name done with Scrabble tiles.  Can you say adorable??? 

She also got me a few adorable owl goodies, pens, pencils, pedicure items, and my personal addiction--COKE.

Everything came in an adorable container that I already have at school!  I have an idea up my sleeve on how I plan to use it.

Thanks so much to Covered in Glitter and Glue and The Adventures of Ms. Smith for hosting this awesome link up!  It was so much fun.  I loved not only getting my package but getting to know a fellow sped blogger a crossed the country.  I also totally loved bargain shopping for goodies:)

Until next time,

PHONICS FRIDAY!! ERR.......SATURDAY--LETTERS & SOUNDS

The countdown has begun!  Five more days until work begins!!  I am definitely frazzled and I am trying to get everything aka summer projects completed before the daily grind starts.  (I am thinking now that less napping with my little guy would have been wise but he is not going to want me to cuddle with him forever right?)  I had every intention of getting my Phonics Friday post complete on Friday but alas I was totally exhausted after working on my house all day but I did create a little freebie for everyone!

As you may know if you read my blog, my school uses Fundations to teach phonics and spelling K-2.  I personally love the program and have seen wonderful results but I am sure other programs work great as well.

As an intervention specialist, I work with multiple grade levels targeting kiddos with academic need (most on IEPs).  I am a firm believer in PREVENTION!!  Therefore, targeting at risk kids in Kindergarten when the academic gap is the smallest is HUGE!  I am sure that I am preaching to the choir:)

One of the tools that I use at the beginning of the year to target letter and sound practice is an alphabet chart.  I made one on Boardmaker a few years ago but I decided to update it with some of my new clip art.  (I may need to join clip art anonymous because I have a severe problem.)

This alphabet chart follows the keywords of the Fundations program.  I work hard at trying to stay consistent even though I do color outside the lines a lot if that makes sense.  I have a hard time following a manual.

I made three different versions of the chart.  This one just has pictures that correlate with the sound.

This chart includes the letter, picture, and keyword.

 This chart includes only the letter and picture clue.

These charts can be used in so many ways. 

 I use them in small group for drill in practice.  

One option is to say what says /t/? and the students point to the Tt or top.

Another option is to do I spy a letter that says..........

Or you could choose to have the students chorally review all the letters and sounds as a warm up activity before beginning the small group activity.

I made these charts in black and white so that coloring could also be an option.

If you would like to grab this FREEBIE please click here.

I would love to know how you teach letters and sounds!  Please feel free to share because I am always looking for new strategies, tools, and ideas!


Until next time,

August Currently....with B/D Reversals sprinkled in:)

What it is August already???  How did that happen!!!  I am not ready for school to start yet.  I don't know about everyone else.  I feel like I have so much I still need to get done before I start back to work.  So instead of freaking out I am linking up with Farley for her August Currently!!

 

LISTENING-- Disney Junior is a morning time ritual in our house.  Little Einstein's was my little guy's choice of the day.

LOVING--My bedroom is now "pewter".  I have a hard time veering from tan so going a dark gray was scary but I love it.  I always drink in all the snuggles I can get:)


THINKING--Summer is going to be over in a blink.  There is so much I wanted to get done before the daily grind starts again!!!

WANTING--A few more weeks............NUF said:)

NEEDING--At some point in my life I will learn to finish one project before I start another but unfortunately it has not happened yet.

My must haves are simple: 

1.  I need lots of mechanical pencils because
     I am constantly misplacing them and I love them:)

2.  My mission this year is to organize myself
     so I got myself an Erin Condren planner.

3.  I have loved Mr. Sketch markers since I was a kid.
     What could be better than a sweet smelling marker?

Since I am straying from my usual PHONICS FRIDAY post.  I am going to share a fun video I discovered today on Pinterest.  I get so frustrated every year when intervening with students who struggle with b and d reversals and it seems like nothing I do makes it any easier for the students who can't differentiate between those tricky letters.  I am definitely going to give this video a GO this school year!  I love ME a catchy tune:)


                                               

P.S.  You will want to check out a great giveaway going on over at 

Mrs. Shipley's Fabulous Firsties. 

Win a ton of great products PLUS a TPT gift certificate!!