This week's Two for Tuesday is especially for you 3rd and 4th grade teachers!  If you are new to these grade levels or just looking for new ideas on how to teach Place Value these products are perfect for you!


Lesson planning always takes time, and often I felt like I was trying to pull ideas and resources from so many different places. I've done the work for you when it comes to teaching 3.NBT.1 and 4.NBT.1


This product includes FIVE days of detailed lesson plans and everything needed for each lesson.  The lessons build upon one another and include interactive notebook pages, games, cooperative learning, exit tickets, and independent/homework assignments! This is a foundational skill for your third graders and the reason I created a week's worth of plans for your.


In fourth grade this standard focuses on the value of each digit and how it's value compares to the same digit located in a different place value. This product includes ONE day's lesson plan and everything needed to teach the lesson.


I've included a detailed lesson plan, math investigation, anchor chart, interactive notebook pages, cooperative learning structure, independent practice, and a homework sheet.


You can grab your first Math standard's lesson plans this week at 50% off!

If you love these lesson plans please check out and grab similar lesson plan bundles I have created for 3rd and 4th grade at 20% off.




 I'm SUPER excited to share this week's #MondayMadeIt!  This was a week long project that turned out amazing!  We have lived on our house for six years now and as my boys are getting older I am taking my house back!  If you have little kids you know what I mean, you too are tired of the toys all over the place, the kiddie decor, and their "masterpieces" (aka writing on the walls) on every surface.


We purchased our house brand new and still have the builder grade flat paint in several rooms. This paint is not kid friendly!  It shows every dirty hand print, smudge, and food. Did I mention I have THREE BOYS! :)


 I've been busy pinning bathroom ideas for the boys' bathroom for awhile now and finally found a design my hubby also liked. I LOVE the fresh look of wainscotting!  I know your wondering why I went with white with three boys. :) In our half bath we did a white beadboard wainscotting with dark brown, it is actually easier to take a Clorox wipe or Magic Eraser and clean up than the flat paint. 



We choose a light gray paint to go with the white because this is a small bathroom with no natural light.  One day we hope to add a small window above the shower. My hubby did an amazing job with the paneling!  He did get a new nail gun out of this project, so he was pretty excited about that too.


I purchased the shower curtain and hooks first for this project, which is where we got the idea to go with a light gray since the shower curtain has silver stripes.







 Last week Hobby Lobby had all their metals, pictures, and almost everything else on sale for 50% off. We picked up the boat wall hanging, anchor towel bar (not sure what it's actual purpose is, but perfect for the hand towel), and the small blue boat.



We also purchased the frames, oar, and red hooks from Hobby Lobby. I LOVE red and have to have it in every room. Thanks to the boat wall hanging and hooks I was able to throw in some pops of red. 


I picked up navy blue towels at Target and personalized them with some heat transfer vinyl...I'm addicted to that stuff!


A lesson we learned during this project was, don't forget that adding molding will make take up space.  Last night we finally finished and starting putting up the finishing touches. Went to hang they mirror back up and discovered the the molding on the small wall cuts into the space needed for the mirror...oops!  Thankfully my hubby was able to trim down the molding above the toilet to get the mirror to fit.


While at Target I picked up these bathroom accessories. The white trim and gray center were a perfect match for the bathroom.  Since I add vinyl to anything that doesn't move I had to use them as an opportunity to add a little more red. :)

Voila!  I used the same anchor on the towels to help tie all the pieces together.

I LOVE how the boys' bathroom turned out!  During this project my hubby said to me, "How did I know that you weren't going to just relax this summer, and that you were going to start some project?'. He knows me too well.  Now to pin how to remove carpet from the stairs and how to replace the treads.



As I mentioned last week, I always used the summers to prep games and centers for my classroom.  This week I've put my Wild-O games on sale at 20% off just for you!


I used the Decimal Wild-O during our decimals unit to reinforce the skill and their connection to fractions.  Students match the color, image, fraction, or decimal as they play Wild-O (plays like UNO).  You can see below how much students LOVE this game!

 Fraction Wild-O also plays like UNO and is popular among students. I used this game in teams as a guided practice and then placed the game in centers the following week. Students match equivalent fractions and colors as they play.








As an Instructional Coach I am often asked about how to teach Guided Reading to intermediate grades.  After reflecting on this question and talking with several teachers I realized that those asking me for help were former primary teachers and that there were a lot of misconceptions related to guided reading in upper grades. 

Does Guided Reading taught in Primary grades differ from Guided Reading taught in Intermediate grades?

Yes and No. You will still group your students by their instructional needs, but how you meet those needs may look different. You will still meet with your small groups daily (if your schedule allows) and choose a variety of text to help your students become independent readers.

Where do I start?

To create your small guided reading groups you will need to assess your students first.  Your assessment should include a running record or any other type of assessment your district uses to help identify the reading instructional needs of your students. Once you have identified your students reading levels, strengths, and weaknesses you will group them into guided reading groups ranging from 3-6 students.  You should avoid groups larger than 6 to ensure you can provide each individual student with quality instruction and attention.

What materials should I use for my Guided Reading groups?

Any and all text types!  Before meeting with each of your groups select texts that are on your students instructional reading level. Many teachers restrict themselves to only choosing picture books or chapter books for guided reading groups.  Guiding students through passages, poems, recipes, online articles, newspapers, task cards, magazines, or letters/emails within the small group setting will help expose your students to a variety of rich texts, content, and text structures. A misconception many teachers have is that you must read the text cover to cover or in it's entirety. When selecting your text you may just want to focus on a chapter or two of a novel, a few lines or stanzas of a poem, a paragraph in a passage, or a section of a large article.  The resources for guided reading groups are endless! If it contains text...use it!

 I have my text, now what?

Now you will plan your purpose and focus for using this particular text with your guided reading group.  There are hundreds of guided reading lesson plan templates out there on Google, TpT, and other educational websites. I suggest finding a template that works for you. Almost all of the templates help you plan the following:
Purpose: How will this text challenge your readers? How will it help them with comprehension skills?
Teaching Points: What skill/standard will you focus on?
(decoding/vocabulary/fluency/comprehension)
Before Reading Discussion/Activity: Introduction, Preview, New Vocabulary
During Reading: Plan prompts and questions, model a strategy, etc.
After Reading Discussion/Activity: Teaching points, students reflection, etc.

What do I have students do when I meet with them?

Read!
Your guided reading lesson for Early and Transitional Readers will look slightly different than your lesson with your Fluent Readers.
Please note that these are suggested times, some groups may meet longer than others.

   

My students are supposed to SILENTLY READ!?!

 Yes! That DOES say your students are to SILENTLY READ when you have them at the guided reading table! The purpose of Guided Reading in the intermediate grades is to help create solid independent readers. During your Strategy Reminder/Purpose/Objective you will give your students a focus for their reading. For example the focus might be actions by the main character that help you identify the theme of the text. As students are silently reading they are looking for those actions within the text and/or jotting them down on a sticky note. 

What is my role when students are silently reading?

You will call on individual students to whisper read aloud to you as the rest of the group continues to silently read. As the student reads aloud to you you are making notes about the strategies the student is using (rereading, context clues, etc.). You might also reinforce strategies previously taught to help your student with decoding or engage in a discussion to assist in constructing meaning of the text. You might also complete a running record for progress monitoring purposes on a student while the rest of the group reads silently.

If you are a visual person like me I HIGHLY recommend purchasing Jan Richardson's Next Step Guided Reading in Action Videos. This product includes videos and a teaching guided for each video. She models a transitional and fluent reading group. I used these videos during my Guided Reading PD this year, my teachers learned a lot from each clip.

Other questions from teachers about Guided Reading in the intermediate grades I often get are, "What are the rest of my students doing when I'm with a group?" and "How often should I meet with each group?".  I hope you stop by next week to read my response and management ideas for each of these questions next week. :) Read it HERE.

If you would like a copy of the handouts I provided my teachers with for our Guided Reading PD I have uploaded them to my TpT store for FREE.



If you have a specific question about Guided Reading in the Intermediate Classroom please feel free to leave it in the comments and I will be happy to answer it in next week's post. :)
 


Let's face it, summer is the time of year teachers plan and prep near the pool. I loved using my summer to prepare games, centers, and decor for my classroom. I always felt accomplished and better prepared for the upcoming school year.

To help you prepare for the new school year I am putting my Fractions and Equivalent Fractions File Folder games on sale at 50% off! Students LOVE playing games, and they still haven't discovered that we LOVE watching them play educational games.
Fractions are often a scary concept for students so what is better way to help take the fear of fractions away than with a few games. Each game includes 24 task cards, game board (color and BW), answer key, directions, and labels for your file folder.
While you are prepping these games grab my FREEBIE Math Review File Folder Game too!





I can not believe that I am FINALLY on summer break!  After Spring Break I felt like the end of the school year was never going to come.  Friday was my last day and I am looking forward to completing all of my summer projects, well at least most of them. :)

 Last Monday I had the privelage of giving away 3,000 books!  Our school district provides a FREE Book Fair for all K-5 students.  With the help of Scholastic our students get to take home FIVE brand new books!  It's a lot of work, but worth it all when I get to see how happy the kids are when they own books that they enjoy!



Like most of my project ideas I decided I needed a shirt for my favorite day as an Instructional Coach at the last minute. I pulled out my Cricut, found the following clip art and attempted to make myself a shirt.  I am LOVING heat transfer vinyl and will warn you now that you will most likely see LOTS of #MondayMadeIt projects with it!

Due to the detail in the original image, this shirt took forever and didn't turn out how I had planned. Either way I love the end result and received lots of compliments on it from students and teachers.


I made these t-shirts for my boys teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week. They loved them!

My friend wanted to add a decal to her husband's Yeti like cup for Father's Day. He is a huge NC State fan so I made him the NC wolf logo. I can't wait to hear about his reaction once he receives his gift!


My friend also wanted some add personalization to her dad's cups for Father's Day and requested these images.  I LOVE layering vinyl, even though it can be tricky at times. :)


My final craft vinyl project are these wine tumblers I made for my boys teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week.  They say, "Keep your Apple, I'd rather have WINE". I included a gift card in each cup to help them fill their cups up.


Back to Top