What a Week! And A Weekly Homework Recording Sheet {Freebie} for Throwback Thursday

OMG! This has been one of the craziest weeks I have had in a long time.

 

First, the hubster went to fix a leaky toilet and found mold in our bathroom. Disgusting! So now we are currently working on redoing our entire bathroom. I'm secretly excited to get an updated bathroom. No more 90's pink and white tile and walls!

 

Then, it is like monsoon season here in Ohio. I'm pretty sure it rained for like a month straight. Our yard flooded multiple times and our basement flooded! :( Luckily, we only had junk on the floor so nothing important got ruined.

 

Also, the hubster has been working tons and I've been stuck at home with the little man for 4 days without internet! It's finally fixed so now I can get back to work on school things. What did we do without internet!?!? I thought I was going to go crazy.

 

Anyways, here is a little something that I have been working on and I'm using it as my throwback Thursday. 

 

I was looking back at how I managed my little one's at-home reading. It worked fine but to be truthful I only looked at the date on their reading log to make sure that they did their homework.

 

For this year, I want to hold them a little more accountable for their reading at home. This homework recording sheet was inspired by my teacher friend at school. It is basically the same one they use in second grade, but I will only have my little ones writing one sentence all year. Where as in second grade they write one more sentence each quarter.

 

On Mondays and Tuesdays, my little ones will be required to read for 10 to 15 minutes then write one sentence about the book they read. Easy Pease Lemon Squeezy.

 

Right now I thought I would have them complete math homework on Wednesdays, but I am pretty sure I am going to change that to something else. I am currently working on something amazing for my classroom that I will add to my TpT store. Which will probably turn into their Wednesday night homework. I just can't finish it until I can get back into the school.

 

Thursdays, I just want my little ones to focus on their spelling/word wall words. I still expect them to practice every night, but this will be their only focus on Thursday nights.

 

I also updated my parent letter that will be sent home the first night when they are required to complete their homework. I think we start school August 21st and I won't send home this homework sheet and the parent letter until September.

 

 

You can click here to get the Homework Recording Sheet.

 

Here is my original post from July 2012

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Reading at Home for Firsties!

The other day I made a July and August checklist hoping to be a little more organized in completing my projects, instead of jumping around from one unfinished project to the next. I'm just so excited that I want to do everything at once! Ahhhhh!

The last couple of days I have been working on getting ready for the first 6 weeks. The first thing I made was a Home Reading Log. I wanted to really keep track of what type of reading my little ones are going to be doing at home. So, I included a spot for the parents to mark which ways they read together and a spot to mark how well their little ones did at the retelling. Hopefully this will work!

I am hopeful that the parents will be honest when marking how well their little one did on the retelling. I made three ways that the parents can evaluate their child.

They can mark:

E - Excellent Retelling

S - Satisfactory Retelling

D - Had Difficulty Retelling

There are 20 spots on the reading log to fill in. Once a student fills up a whole page they will get to place a sticker on an incentive pad that I will have displayed somewhere in the classroom. Once I can get in there to set up I will post pictures!!! Hopefully they finish waxing the floors soon. Eeek!



I also created a parent letter to introduce the home reading log. I tried to explain the different ways they can read together to stress that young readers become confident as readers and fluent by also listening to good readers read. They don't just have to read themselves.

You can get a copy of my Home Reading Log and Parent Letter here as a freebie!

Tell me what you think by leaving me a comment if you take my freebie! I always get excited knowing that other teachers are using my items!

 

 

 

 

Pirate Vs. Princess: A Fiction Book Study Unit...Plus a Buying Bonus!

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O.M.G! It is finally finished! My Pirate Vs. Princess Fiction Book Study Unit is done! 66 whole pages of graphic organizers, writing prompts, math activities, word work centers, and a glyph!



 

 

I have had this unit in my mind for over a year and I did something very similar during student teaching. I just couldn't wait any longer to put my resources all together for others to use.

 

In the past, my students have absolutely loved this unit. Who doesn't like  pirates and fancy things! I can't wait to implement this next school year now that I have a plethora of resources.

 

I plan on spending at least two weeks reading and writing all things pirate and princess. Included in my packet is an outline of what my two weeks may look like. Of course there are more activities, writing prompts, and graphic organizers in the unit plan than I would use, but I always like to have options. You never know what my littles will be like next year. I need to have options!

 

 Here are some of the resources included in the pack:

 

 

I can't wait to make this pirate glyph. Here is a snapshot of what the glyph consists of (plus there is more but it's not pictures). Once I get back into the school and get my hands on some construction paper I will create one.

 

 

This snapshot shows an example of some of the math activities that are included. There is a I Have, Who Has: Pirate Place Value and Roll & Color: Addition and Subtraction boards for princesses and pirates. These will be great to continue the pirate vs. princess theme into math centers.

 I also wanted to send home a letter informing the parents what we are learning and to remind them to wear pirate/fancy clothes for our culminating party! It will be a blast. We will dress like pirates and princesses/princes and eat fancy foods and foods that pirates might eat!

 

 

Here is a snip-it of my Search/Read/Write the Room: Pirate and Princess Style activity. You could either do this as a class or include it in your Daily 5 Word Work Station or Literacy Centers.

 

 

This is just one of the 7 graphic organizers that are included to go along with the suggested read alouds.

 

 

And last but not least, my writing prompts (I'm not sure why the lines look funky, but they don't look like this in the packet). There are 9 different writing prompts that go along with the suggested read alouds. They have the first grade common core writing standard at the top, but they could most definitely be used for 2nd and 3rd grade too.

 

If you just can't wait to get your hands on this unit check it out at my TpT store. It will be on sale for 48 hours! Hip - Hip - Hooray!

 

Plus, If you purchase my new Pirate Vs. Princess Book Study Unit, leave a comment about it here, follow my blog and TpT store, and rate it in my TpT store I will send you one other product of YOUR CHOICE for FREE. Hurry this offer only lasts until next Sunday!

 

So you must do all 5 things:

1. Purchase my Pirate Vs. Princess Unit

2. Leave a Blog Comment (leave me your email address too)

3. Follow my blog

4. Follow my TpT Store

4. Rate your purchase in my TpT store

 

I'm also going to count this post as my Monday Made It. I didn't have a chance to get crafty because I've spent so much time on the computer.

 

 

 

Yours in Teaching, 

Holy Moley! I can check more projects off my to do list! Pretty soon I'm going to have to make a new list. What are some of the summer projects your working on?

These projects I found on pinterest. If you were the originator of these ideas, let me know and I will give you credit! :)

This first project is called Warm and Fuzzies. Loving the name! Just saying warm and fuzzies makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside!

I'm going to use this as a whole class reward. Once the jar is filled the class will get a prize. Maybe a party, ice cream, free choice, etc.

My second project was a pinterest/old lady inspiration. On pinterest it is called Shake It Up. I called it Shake and Find.

I bought the plastic jar at Wal-Mart for $1.79 and the pom poms at Hobby Lobby. Then I made word lists for the first, second, and third HFWs, and a student fill in the blanks sheet. It's pretty simple but gets the job done!

I am going to put 20 words in the jar at a time. It will take the littles some time to find all 20 words. As they find the words, they will write down the word on their paper. This will be a Working with Words activity that will always be a choice for the students when they pick that Daily 5 choice.

You can get a copy of the word lists and student sheets here as a FREEBIE!

Leave me a comment about what you think about my new freebie and what some of your summer projects are!!!

P.S. The giveaway winner will be chosen tonight around 7pm!!!