Mrs. McCumbee's Class

Free 32 Pages Fairy Tale Unit Download

2012-02-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

In the spring, I always do a unit on fairy tales and my students really enjoy it. During this time we talk about the elements that make it a fairy tale, we compare and contrast popular fair tales and do Reader's Theater with fracture fairy tales. I am so excited to begin our fairy tale unit this year and so I thought I would share a wonderful download from my friends at Primary Education Oasis. If you would like a copy of this 32 page unit. Click on the picture below and head on over to PEO to download your free copy!

And The Winners Are.....

2012-02-17T10:49:00.001-08:00

Thank you to everyone who participated in our giveaway. I have randomly chosen ten winners and they are as follows. If you were chosen as a winner you will receive your novel guide by email soon. :)

Kylie

Meredith

Ozie

Rachel

Lisa

Sandy

First Grade Delight

Pam

The Polkadot Owl

Ashley

Thank you to everyone who participated. If you did not win a novel guide and you wanted one. I recommend buying one from Pieces of learning. You won't be sorry you did!

Only a few hours left!

2012-02-16T12:27:00.000-08:00

Hey friends, tonight I will draw 10 names to win a novel guide from Pieces Of Learning. If you have not already entered into this drawing please see the post below about how to get your free unit.This unit will be sent to you via your email address. Trust me this is a great resource!

Building Fluency With Poetry

2012-02-14T16:53:00.009-08:00

This week I have had so much fun teaching my guided reading groups. Several of my guided reading groups are reading chapter books and one of them is working mainly on fluency. Typically, I struggle to manage having three different chapter books going at one time. My biggest issue was I felt like students were forgetting what they had read by the time I was able to meet with their group again. One of my teamies on second grade suggested I have each group read a two chapters a week for homework and together we will read two chapters in our guided reading groups. This has finally worked out and I am feeling good about it.

My fluency group is working on using poetry to build fluency. At the beginning of the year I had students doing the Great Poetry Race but I wanted to integrate this more with the skills I was teaching. After searching the internet for a resource I came across Primary Education Oasis who has a downloadable book with a poem for each week of the year. Each poem comes with activities to do with it. I was so excited about this book that I revamped my whole group. This week I made each of my students a poetry notebook. Now when we meet they bring their notebook to the group. I meet with my fluency group each day. On Monday, I read the poem to them and have them create a mental image. Then we choral read, whisper read and clap to the beat of the poem. After we meet students glue their poem in their book and illustrate a picture to go with it. This week I gave them a quick lesson on what these pictures should look like. Together we made a rubric anchor chart. Then I took a picture of the chart and glued it in their book so they could always look at it when they were illustrating.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I use the activities from the poetry lesson I bought. The thing I love about these lessons is that students use the poem to work on story elements, grammar, phonics and much more. On Friday students present their poem to the class in our Poetry Cafe.

To bring in the home element students take home their poetry book each night and read it to their families. Every person they read it to signs their name on the next page. I ask students to read it to at least 10 people. The student with the most signatures wins a lunch date with a friend.

I also leave the poem in our fluency center. During Daily Five students record themselves reading the poem on a tape and then listen to it. My kids love hearing themselves on tape!

Click here to download a free sample of this lesson book.

Novel Guides and a GIVEAWAY!

2012-02-10T16:50:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks have been so crazy for me with the National Boards due date approaching quickly. I spend multiple hours everyday editing and rewriting entries. I can't wait to mail that pretty little box next month. Since I have had NO time to plan, I am grateful that I am able to pull out my Pieces of Learning novel guides and teach great units.

My teamie recently introduced me to a great book called Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. I just adore this book! It has wonderful imagery and is great for teaching inferential skills. Luckily, I was able to find a novel guide for this book on the Pieces of Learning website. One of the activities my students did yesterday was write poems about the characters. I was so impressed at how much they were able to tell me about the characters in their poems.

Since it's no secret how much I love Pieces of Learning, I contacted them and asked if they be willing to host a giveaway and since they are so supportive of teachers they agreed! Pieces of Learning is going to give a novel guide away to TEN different readers, all you have to do to be entered in this drawing is visit their website and decide which novel guide you would like to have. Then, come back to my blog and leave a comment with the name of the novel guide you would like and your email address. Next Thursday, I will use the random generator to select ten lucky readers. The great thing about these novel guides is you can download them automatically.

100th Day of School

2012-02-06T13:36:00.000-08:00

Hey friends, today we celebrated the 100th Day of School. It feels great to only have 80 days left! The last several years I have despereatley wanted to find a way to celebrate the 100th Day of School in a more meaningful way. I didn't want to have the students draw 100 pictures or make a 100's Day hat (although I have done both in the past) so I began researching words that relate to 100 and I found the term "googol".

A googol refers to a number with a 1 and 100 zeros behind it. My kids were thrilled to learn about a googol and a googolplex. We did lots of neat activities to go with this term. If you are intereste in my unit you can purchase it on TPT, but I thought just for fun I would give away 2 copies to the first two people who comment.

An Interview With the Author of No More "I'm Done!"- Jennifer Jacobson

2012-01-15T13:08:00.000-08:00

Just like many other teachers, sometimes I find myself in a "teaching funk". I struggle to come up with new and exciting lessons to teach and get frustrated with the same ole same ole. I wanted to let my fellow bloggers know, if you are feeling that way about writing, there is a great resources out there to help you.

Last year, I purchased Jennifer Jacobson's book, No More "I'm Done!" and I thoroughly enjoy it. It is the number one book that I pull out every time I am looking for inspiration. Jennifer's book has writing mini lessons for the entire year as well as a guide on how to run Writer's Workshop successfully. Often times you find books that have mini lessons but you have to get a million different books that you don't own to teach these lessons. Jennifer's book uses books that are readily available to teachers. Since I love Jennifer's work so much I asked her if I could interview her for my blog and thankfully she said "yes".

The great thing about this book is that you can view it online for free (although I promise you will want your own copy). Also many other teaching blogs have great resources to go along with it.

Not only does Jennifer have wonderful books for teachers, she also created many wonderful books for students. When I told my students that I was interviewing the author of Andy Shane, they were so excited and wanted to ask her some questions too!

Read the interview below:

Your Favorite?

Children’s book? Charlotte's Web

Author? E.B. White

Website? Teachingbooks.net

Quote? "And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." Anais Nin

Television show? Modern Family

What book are you reading now? The Lemonade Crime by Jacqueline Davies (children's book)

Are any of your characters inspired by small moments in your life? Yes, Winnie was inspired by memory of my father teaching me a ballet step. (He was a basketball coach so this was an unexpected, but delightful moment.)

How do you go from writing a book to publishing your first piece? My first published piece was a children's picture book, and the road to publishing a picture book can take time. A Net of Stars was accepted seven years after I began writing for children, which was average then. (Now it takes an average of nine years to publish a first picture book, but picture books are the hardest form to get accepted.) Belonging to a community of writers was probably one of the most helpful aspects of this process. Other writers critiqued my work, shared their writing expertise and knowledge of the industry, and gave me a wonderful secondary reason to attend conferences, retreats, and librarian conventions (where I met editors).

Publishing a professional book for teachers is a slightly different process. I presented the idea of No More "I'm Done!" to an editor at Stenhouse, who in turn sent the proposal to a panel of educators. (The proposal included an outline, the introduction and a sample chapter.) These educators weighed in on the merit and originality of my work, as well as my writing style and voice. Once the proposal was accepted, I wrote the book. Because I had been speaking on the topic for many years, I knew that I had enough content and experience to write a book-length piece.

What are some writing websites that you have found particularly beneficial for teachers? writingfix.com; proteacher.net;

How did you come up with the idea for No More “I’m Done”? I often had teachers say to me, "I love the philosophy of writer's workshop, but how do you get started? How do you manage it?" While answering these questions, I realized that the success of writer's workshop depends, in large part, on the independence of our young writers. Yet, time and time again I noticed that we primary teachers (with the very best of intentions) actually train our students to be dependent rather than independent! This book gave me the opportunity to discuss the "hows" of Writer's Worksop and the practices that build independence.

I know you addressed this in your book, but for the blog followers who have not read it yet: What do you do about students who are still unable to come up with writing ideas? Instead of providing them with prompts, we need to teach students how to come up with their own ideas. Here are some of the ways I suggest. Students can:

Create memory maps by drawing a setting they know well and placing an x in each spot that tells a story.

Look at a topic grid with simple words such as: "afraid, surprised, ouch."

Notice the connections they make when I'm reading a story or when they are listening to a classmate read his or her work in author's chair

Use a picture file (kept in the Writing Center)

In your book you write about how some students only write about their “virtual world” how can teachers steer children away from violence, video games and TV within their writing?

Particularly by listening to our students, we can help them to see that their everyday experiences: a trip to the grocery store or laundromat; a surprise visit from a neighbor or relative; a lost item, or a time when they were injured make compelling stories that everyone loves and can relate to. Reading mentor texts such as Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems (a trip to the laundromat) or my own Andy Shane and the Very Bossy Dolores Starbuckle (being tattled on) can help reinforce this point.

Are you working on any other books for teachers? Yes, I'm working on a similar book for teachers in grades 3-8.

Questions from my students:

What book of yours is your favorite? Charlotte's Web

Does Andy Shane have a best friend? Believe it or not, Dolores is his best friend!

What is your favorite genre of books to read? Realistic fiction

How do you come up with story ideas? Many of my stories (especially the Andy Shane Books) come from memories (or small moments) in my childhood. But I also find ideas by asking "What if?" For example, Small as an Elephant came from the question: What would happen if a young boy was left in a campground to fend for himself?

The Wild Christmas Reindeer

2011-12-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

My second graders have been learning about reindeer the last few weeks and they love it! My students enjoy non-fiction units of study, and they always look forward to creating a final product. I am still working on an idea for our final reindeer product, so if you have any ideas I;d love to hear them.

The first week we did a non-fiction unit on reindeer and we read Remarkable Reindeer wich is a really great book. The second week we did a fiction unit on reindeer and we read The Wild Christmas Reindeer. To download a copy of some of the sheets I created click on the link below.

Fudge-A-Mania Part 2

2011-11-29T16:35:00.000-08:00

Today during our enrichment time I met with my novel study group to begin chapter one of Fudge-A-Mania. One thing I love about this novel guide is that it does a great job of activating prior knowledge before teaching any concepts. Today the students completed two sentence starters before beginning chapter one. The first sentence starter was, "When a family member gets married..." and the second one was, "One reason to pretend to faint...".
I was impressed at how these simple sentence starters really got students thinking about their own life. One of the students wrote "When a family member gets married I go to their house that day and stay there until the wedding." This student has clearly recalled a time that she was either in a wedding or someone in her immediate family had just gotten married.

After we shared the sentence starters, I had the students read chapter one independently. They were so excited to begin reading. It was like it was Christmas. I think that this unit has really helped build interest in the story.

Math Workshop- Missing Addends

2011-11-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

This week in math class we are learning about missing addends, and the students are super excited! I started my lesson today by reviewing the addition properties. Then, I gave students a word problem that had the start and the result but the change was unknown. I had students discuss how they would solve the problem given since their was a missing addend. They gave examples like: addition, open number line and doing the inverse operation.

After that, I taught students how to play the game Salute. In this game, students work in groups of three. Each group has a deck of playing cards (remove all cards that are not numbers). Then the dealer places the stack of cards on the floor and gives the other players one card each. The players must not look at their own card because their card will be the missing addend. When the dealer says "salute", the two players pick up their cards and place them on their forehead with the number facing out. Then the dealer says the total of the two cards. Each player must look at the others person's number to figure out what card they have.

My students LOVED this game and it really helped make missing addends concrete. I differentiated this game by having four people in a group (one dealer and three players). Tomorrow we are going to do the same game, but with number cards up to 100. I stopped by Lowes last night and grabbed a bunch of those paint sample cards to make this game. I asked the cashier at the register if he minded and he said, "They are free take as many as you need". Score!

Cyber Monday Sale

2011-11-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

Cyber Monday Sale!

I will be participating in Cyber Monday tomorrow on TPT! Everything in my store will be 20 % off and then if you add the promo code CMS28 at checkout you will receive another 10% off everything you purchase! Happy Shopping!

Frog Research

2011-11-16T15:40:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, our tadpoles arrived and my class has been so excited having them in our room. We have set up a lamp over their tank and the tadpoles really go crazy when we turn the lamp on. The quickly swim to get closer to the light.

My students voted on naming the tadpoles and the class agreed on Mario and Giggly Puff. This week we have been doing frog research projects to go along with our All About unit and my kids are so excited. One of my students told his partner, "This is so much fun!" His partner said "I know, I haven't done this in so long!" I love to see students excited about learning.

I explained to the class that they are frog scientist and that they will become the expert on their frogs. Then, they would create a product that displays what they had learned about their frogs. Today was the first day that they were in the creative phase of this project. Yesterday was their research day and tomorrow we will continue our projects. I am so excited to see how the finished product ends up.

Fudge-A-Mania Novel Study

2011-11-14T16:32:00.000-08:00

This week I have started a Fudge-A-Mania novel study with my gifted reading students. Today was our first day and I am so excited at how it went. I purchased my Literature Guide from Pieces of Learning and it came with everything I needed to get started. The one thing I really liked about this literature guide as appose to some of the others that I have purchased is that the activities included were things I had learned about in my graduate program. Whenever I create a lesson, I always try to include activities that are researched based.

Before I began the lesson I made each of my students a folder to hold all of their supplies for this novel study. I also made each student a journal so that they could have a place to do their reader's response activities in. My students were thrilled when I showed them their journals.

Today I had the students work with a partner to do the first activity. The guide included a sheet with 40 or so words that the students would see once they began reading. We said these words out loud together and then the students worked together to cut apart the words and place them into groups. The way they grouped the words were up to them. The only rule was that each group must have at least three words in it. Then the students created labels for the groups they made. I was so impressed at how the students had chose to group the words.

Tomorrow I am going to have students try to look at all of their groups and see if there are any groups that can be combined.

I think this is a great before reading activity for students because it created a lot of excited about what the book might be about. None of my students have ever read a Judy Blume book before so I can't wait to explore this book with them.

Author's Purpose

2011-11-13T15:32:00.000-08:00

I have had so much fun the last few weeks teaching my students about authors purpose. I never anticipated that they would be so fascinated with the lessons. My students especially love persuasion. I have tied this in with advertisements and how tricky they can be sometimes. This week I had my students play a game on the internet about advertisement awareness and since this went alongside of our technology goals, I thought it would be great to tie in with persuasion.

First, I had students look at the website and identify the different ways that cereal companies use gimmicks to persuade buyers. We discussed how most of the time it will have a spokes character, some catchy saying on the box and a toy or game included. Then, I had students work with a partner to create their very own cereal using some of these gimmicks. I was really surprised at how well they understood the advertisement gimmicks. I also have the full author's purpose unit for sale on TPT if you are interested.

Halloween Freebie

2011-10-10T16:42:00.000-07:00

I have been all jazzed up for Halloween lately so I decided to ditch the grammar books and create my own I Have Who Has main idea / details game for Halloween. I have already played this game with my students and they loved it! Not only was it a great way to practice main idea and details (which can be incredibly tricky for second graders) but it is also a great lesson to teach listening and speaking skills. I have all of my students bring their chairs to the center of the class and we make one big circle. After we review the roles of a listener and speaker we start the game. I try not to take part in the game at all. I allow the students to speak up if they can not hear and ask the speaker to please repeat the question. I also try to record notes about the positive and negative behaviors I observe and then we talk about them after we play the game. I have also extended this lesson by having students create their own I Have Who Has cards based off of main ideas and details. Whenever we get ready to play the games they kids get very excited. I have added this game to my TPT store for free, so if you would like to download it head on over and pick up a copy. This is my first time using TPT so if it does not work properly please let me know.

Catching Up

2011-10-10T15:37:00.000-07:00

Well I finally have a few minutes tonight that aren't dedicated to National Boards. I feel like I haven't written a post in months. Tomorrow I am filming my first entry and I am terribly nervous. I have already written entry four and the majority of entry three. So far the process has been interesting and I am so thankful for my friends who are already certified, because without them there is no way I could do this.

This is also my fourth full week of math workshop and I love it. The students are always very excited to come to math class and they are working really well independently. Today i was able to pull my first small group with not one interruption! Go Me! Next week I move from place value to estimation, so I'm a little stressed about changing the games within my centers and training the students with them. I wonder how most of you are doing it. Do you always keep the same games within your workshop or do you switch them all when you move on to a new skill? I am thinking I will keep a few and add a few.

If you haven't visited Me and My Gang in while we are "brewing" up some neat things for Halloween so stay tuned.

Math Workshop

2011-09-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to start math workshop next week. So far I have introduced my students to the extra centers and to their math journal but they have not got to actually do workshop yet. This year I am teaching the gifted math class and so our school AIG teacher is working with me to implement workshop in my room. I have not read Math Work Stations yet but I am hoping to over the weekend. I am so blessed to work with teachers who are willing to step outside of their room to help another teacher. Team work is what it's all about.

Math Journal

This section holds the students math journal as well as the math prompt

The second shelf has the game for the unit we are working on (this week is place value)

It also has a Guinness Book of World Records math station.

Because I have 26 students in this class, I separated my centers into six groups. This week the stations are: SMART board, Digit Detective, math journal, math with teacher, Reading about math and Study Ladder.

Using Stamps in the Classroom

2011-09-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I ordered some teacher stamps for my classroom and I am so excited because they finally came in this week. Every morning I have my students write down their homework in their agenda's and I initial below that I have seen it Well this year, I wanted something to make this a little faster... in comes my stamps! I ordered a stamp that replicates my signature so now every morning I just walk by and stamp their agendas. I am so happy with how it turned out.

I also ordered a stamp for my library because I got a grant last year from Donors Choose for $800 worth of books! So then I needed to make sure those precious books never left my sight. Instead of writing my name in all those books, I had a stamp designed with my name on it. Now I just stamp all my new books.

Finally, I ordered a stamp that was just plain cute. I have not decided how I would use it other than at the bottom of letters to parents and things like that but I could not help but order this stamp because it was so cute.

If you are interested in ordering stamps for your classroom head on over to Simply Stamps, they can design anything you like. I was so impressed with how fast they were able to create special stamps just for me.

National Boards and Graduate Programs

2011-09-12T12:36:00.000-07:00

I have recieved a lot of emails lately from readers who want to know more about National Boards and my process as well about my thoughts on a graduate program so I thought I would write a post about it. So far the National Board process has been wonderful. I work in a district that does not pay you to complete the process however they did a few years back. I wish I would have been eligible to begin boards when they were still paying for it. I have mapped out a timeline of when to complete each entry and I have had several friends who are very supportive and read my entries for me. I am lucky because I have so many friends from my reading program that are able to help as well as another teacher on my grade level who recently became certified. If you are thinking about starting boards I really recommend it. So far the process has been seamless, although I have not started video tapping anything yet (this is the scary part for me). My advice to those of you who are thinking about beginning the process is to visit the National Boards website and read over each option. Then make a timeline for each entry and when you would like to complete it. I have been overwhelmed with the amount of readers who have said they would help me through this process.

As far as the graduate program is concerned, the hardest part about the application process in my eyes was the testing. I had to take both the GRE and the MAT and I am a terrible test taker. If you are looking for some help in those areas here are some helpful places to start gmat prep and veritas prep. Also I went to the bookstore and bought every thing I could think of to study with. I bought vocabulary cards (so not helpful or worth your money) and many practice workbooks. I am terrible at math so everyday I took a practice test. My poor husband! He spent many hours tutoring me.

I thoroughly enjoyed my reading program, I feel like I learned a lot about the research behind strategies and I made lots of friends. If you are debating getting a masters, I would say go for it. I am so glad I did!
I hope this answers some of our questions, and doesn't bore the rest of you too much! Once again thanks for reading.

Cricut Versus Silhouette

2011-09-05T16:33:00.000-07:00

I need you help. I have been looking around at Cricut machines and silhouettes and I wondered which one is the best one to buy. I love all the items that you can make using vinyl and that wil probably be the biggest reason I want one. I also love the the silhouettes heat transfers, because I can make shirts for my husbands team., but I wanted to know if any of you have one and what you use it for? What problems have you noticed and where did you buy it?

My Top Ten and a Surprise for all of my Readers

2011-09-04T12:17:00.000-07:00

Yay! I am a top 10 blog thanks to First Grade Blue Skies (who I secretly stalk way too much)

So I figured I would join in on the party. Yesterday I mentioned my new favorite blog Henderson Party of Eight. So I guess that leaves me with nine more wonderful blogs to mention.

Well the first blog I ever read was Kelly Korner. I am sure that many of you have read her blog before I consider her Oprah of the blog world :) If you have not checked out her blog it is very inspirational.

The first teaching blog that I ever visited was One Extra Degree and I still stalk it today!

I love Mrs. Jump because she is an inspiration to me as a teacher

Of course MMG rocks!

We have so many wonderful authors who make it special.

*I also have one more special surprise to all my readers from Linda at FoodPhyte.

Linda is offering all of my readers (who participated in the blog giveaway only) free shipping on any items you purchase through September using the code: MCCUMBFREE

I just ordered two aprons myself! Please check her wonderful shop out and order yourself a nice gift. You deserve it!

My Favorite Blog

2011-09-03T07:40:00.000-07:00

Today I thought I would link up with Kelly's Korner, who is hosting a Linky Party about your favorite blog. This morning I found a wonderful blog that I would like to share with my readers. The blog is called Henderson Party of Eight and it is a wonderful story about a family's process through adoption.

As a teacher this blog had many implications for me. It led me to think about all the different students in my class and how they all have their own journey's and their own needs. Sometimes it is so easy to get wrapped up in your own world or as one of my favorite songs calls it "Population Me".

Every morning, I wake up and ask that God allows me to see each of my students through his eyes. I want to love them the way he loves them , I want to know their needs the way he does and I want to see the gifts that he has placed in them. I am inspire by the stories I have read this morning and I know that God will use this blog to move in others lives as well. I hope that you will check it out for yourself.

AND THE WINNER IS...

2011-09-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

I have had so much fun hosting this giveway! This giveaway is my favorite of all! and I know the new owner of one of these precious aprons is going to be so excited!

Drum roll please....

and the winner is....

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:4Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Congratulations Christine, please email me your address and which apron you would like shipped to you. Once again if you have not visited FoodPhyte please do their stuff rocks!

Apron Giveaway

2011-08-30T16:18:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the last day to enter the apron giveaway. I will announce the winner tomorrow night. I was on FoodPhyte's website again today because I am going to purchase an apron, but I can not choose which one. Here are my top three choices: I'd love to know what you think.

ONE

TWO

THREE

I tried to get my husbands opinion and he chose this one:

Now I am REALLY confused.

Don't forget to visit the FoodPhyte website and choose your favorite.

Reader's Workshop (Daily Five and Literary Cafe)

2011-08-26T13:38:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of Summer I wrote several posts about how to start reader's workshop. I am excited to say that I have figured out a great way to implement both the Daily Five and the Literary Cafe into my literacy block. In my school we are given a 1 hour block to teach literacy, I would love to of had more time but I created a schedule to work around that time allotment that _ thought I would share in case some of you were hopping to add the cafe and Daily Five into your literacy block. If I had more time I would have done one more mini lesson and one more round of Daily Five.

Monday
9:35-9:50- ACCURACY (Mini) Lesson – introduce spelling pattern, do spelling word sort.

9:50- 10:00- 1st Daily 5 Choice

10:00- 10:15 VOCABULARY (Mini) Lesson - Introduce vocab From the book using power point or webs

10:15-10:30-2nd Daily 5 Choice

10:30- 10:35 – wrap up- students share reading success

Tuesday
9:35-9:50- ACCURACY (Mini) Lesson - READ ALOUD

9:50- 10:00- 1st Daily 5 Choice

10:00- 10:15 VOCABULARY (Mini) Lesson

10:15-10:30-2nd Daily 5 Choice

10:30- 10:35 – wrap up- students share reading success

Wednesday
9:35-9:50- Fluency (Mini) Lesson - READ ALOUD

9:50- 10:00- 1st Daily 5 Choice

10:00- 10:15 Comprehension(Mini) Lesson

10:15-10:30-2nd Daily 5 Choice

10:30- 10:35 – wrap up- students share reading success

Thursday

9:35-9:50- Fluency (Mini) Lesson - READ ALOUD

9:50- 10:00- 1st Daily 5 Choice

10:00- 10:15 Comprehension(Mini) lesson

10:15-10:30-2nd Daily 5 Choice

10:30- 10:35 – wrap up- students share reading success

Friday

9:35-9:50- Fluency (Mini) Lesson - READ ALOUD

9:50- 10:00- 1st Daily 5 Choice

10:00- 10:15 Comprehension (Mini) Lesson

10:15-10:30-2nd Daily 5 Choice

10:30- 10:35 – wrap up- students share reading success

The Cutest Giveaway Ever!

2011-08-17T11:43:00.000-07:00

Listen up teachers... I have the cutest giveaway to offer my followers. I am very excited to offer one follower an apron from FoodPhyte

To be entered in this giveaway:

You have to be a follower of my two blogs, mrsmccumbeesclass.blogspot.com and meanmygang.blogspot.com and leave me one comment telling me that you follow both blogs.
You also have to visit FoodPhyte's Etsy shop and choose your favorite apron, then return to this blog and leave a seperate comment telling me what you would carry in your apron! This could get interesting, be creative as possible.

Also, once you receive your apron, the winner must include a picture of the apron in action (either in an email or post)! We want to see that beautiful creation at work!

So what will you win? The owner of FoodPhyte is giving you a choice between two of her NEW creations. Once the winner is selected you will choose which one you love! How simple is that. This giveaway will end August 31,20011

Jungle Theme

2011-08-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

At the end of last year, I ordered vinyl folders for my students because I was tired of replacing the cheap ones. Well, they came in this week and I am really excited. I didn't know what I wanted to put in the front cover, but I knew I wanted a jungle /zebra theme. After looking for jungle folders, I couldn't find the one I wanted so I decided to make my own. I bought the clip art from scrap Orchard. If you have not visited their website. It is a must!

Student Take-Home Jungle Theme Folder

Student Take-Home Jungle Theme Folder Rules

Student Desk Name Plates

Random Posting

2011-08-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy in my class the last two weeks, and working on the Me and My Gang blogs that I have been MIA. I am hoping that I will be back to normal after a few weeks. I did want to share some of the projects I have been working on though.

I wanted to create a hall pass for my students to carry with them to the nurse and library. I already had this letter in my room, so I glued some ribbon to it and puffy painted it now it is all set. I placed it below my whoo is where board.

Mrs. Schroeder and I spent an hour or so yesterday getting our back to school bulletin board ready. I think it came out really cute. If you want to know more about how we made it, you can visit her blog to find out how. I know it is not a real good picture, but Mrs. Schroeder is working on a post that includes more pictures. My room is on the left and her room is on the right.

In addition to all of this, I am trying to get my one of my entries completed for National Board. It was my goal to have one entry finished before school started, but I am way behind!

Calling ALL K-3 Teachers to Me and My Gang!

2011-08-11T12:59:00.000-07:00

We are looking for authors for K, 1st , 2nd and 3rd grade lounges on Me and My Gang. If you are interested please see below!

     Hey GANG! We have had such and amazing response to Me and My Gang we are going to open it up to other grade levels. The cool thing is...you will finally be able to hang out in the lounge.
Your own Grade Level Lounge!

     Each grade will have their own page and their own authors. This is an incredible opportunity for us to collaborate like never before! In order to be granted author permission you must be a follow the following 3 blogs. Once you have done that head to Me and My Gang and click on your grade level lounge at the top of the page. There you will find an email link under contacts. Please be sure that you are sending your email to the correct grade level. Example: If you are in first grade be sure that you are sending your response to firstgradeteamies@yahoo.com.

     If you would like your blog button to be added to one of the lounges please email the correct blog and we will post your button as well.

A Shout out to the original GANG...no worries, the 2nd grade page of Me and My Gang will still remain the same but you will have access to all of the other grade levels too. It is going to a wonderful way to find differentiated activities for all learners.

This is just the beginning of the Teamie Fun for this school year. We have something else brewing:) Stay tuned!

A Tour Of My Classroom

2011-08-09T16:11:00.000-07:00

I am really excited about how my classroom is coming along so I thought I would share the pictures as I promised yesterday. I have spent all summer dreaming about how I could make my reading center better. I love reading and the reading center is always my favorite part of a classroom.

This is my NEW reading area!

Here are the Daily Five bags

my Mother-In-Law embroidered

I number my cubbies

with calendar pieces

My Math Stations

The Rock Star of The Week
Board and Bag

My Messy Desk

Student Desks

The Listening Center

Me And My Gang

2011-08-08T15:01:00.000-07:00

I have had a lot of comments and emails about becoming an author for Me And My Gang, there are limited spots available, but if you are interested in joining our gang please use the email for that blog secondgradeteamies@yahoo.com.
If you left a comment on this blog or the Me And My Gang blog about becoming an author we might have missed it, so please use the email. We are overwhelmed with the teachers who are willing to share their wonderful ideas. Once again, thank you to everyone who has followed the blog or shared their ideas on the blog.

Classroom Treats

2011-08-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

I have been missing from the blogging world this week because I was out of town for my last vacation before school starts. Today I was allowed back in my room to begin the process of putting everything back together. I loved my room last year, but after thinking all summer about how I could add to it, I REALLY love my room this year. Hopefully, tomorrow I will have some pictures up.

While I was traveling home last night, I saw the cutest candy ever! I wanted to incorporate it in my class somehow so I decided I would use them as behavior incentives. I know, I know, you shouldn't use candy but I can't help but give them a treat every now and them, they work so hard and they deserve a little treat. After riding in the car for a while my mother-in-law and I decided we would use the fried egg candy as a reward for "Eggcellent" Daily Five work and the cows (C.O.W.S, Caught One walking silently) would be used for wonderful hallway behavior .

Conferring

2011-08-03T18:51:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking all summer about how I wanted to confer with my students during Reader's and Writer's Workshop. In the past I have carried around a binder, taken notes, created file folders etc. but I never stuck with any method.

A few days ago I was shopping at Barnes and Noble and ran across a file system that I thought would work for me. Inside the file purse, (that's what I like to call it) there is plenty of room to put a file for each child. I like that it is small yet sturdy. I hope that this year I can take my purse from table to table to conference. I will probably also bring a clipboard too. Not too shabby!

A Big Me And My Gang Announcement!

2011-08-02T16:48:00.000-07:00

ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, BLOG 2nd grade BLOG! The Teamies have a HUGE announcement! We have created a resource blog for all ALL teachers. Head over to...

There you will get to read all about the great news!

Be sure to help us get started by becoming a follower and leaving a comment. Boy our hearts would sure sore if you added our button to your site or blogged about this great resource:)

Student Sign-Out Board

2011-07-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

I saw the idea for a board like this on Pintrest and fell in love with it. I don't know how many times I was in the middle of working with a small group, and someone comes over the loud speaker..."Mrs. McCumbee, I need little Johnny to go home please?" I sit there for what seems like a minute thinking is little Johnny in DI (direct instruction) or is he still in the bathroom. Not that I'm a spaz or anything, but hey it happens.

This little board will be very helpful to me. I love that during fire drills you can quickly assess who is where, or when a child asks to go to the restroom and someone is out they can see who is out and when they come back.

I got the board for $5 at Walkmart and the stickers for $4 at ACMoore I have magnets at school and I am going to use calendar pieces as students numbers. The lines that are drawn on the board will eventually be erased and I will replace them with ribbon (once I find a super cute ribbon).

This is a close up of the stickers. I love all those sparkles!

Teamie Love

2011-07-30T10:40:00.000-07:00

I am linking up with The Schroederpage who is hosting a Who's Your Teamie linky party.

10 Teamie Questions about Mrs. Schroeder (rhymes with gator)!

I took this picture :)

#1 How long have you and your Teamie been teaching together?

We are going into our second year teaching together. I remember the first day I met her, she sat in on my interview and I was terrified. There were several teachers from different grade levels and they were all so sweet. I wanted Mrs. Schroeder to like me because I wanted second grade so bad, but she wasn't even looking my way! I left the interview thinking I was probably going into another grade. But 30 minutes later I got the call and I held my breath and said a quick prayer for second grade and when my principal told me I got the job and I was going into second grade I literally danced around my kitchen and screamed very loud!

#2 What is your Teamie's best quality?

My teamie is business savvy. She thinks outside the box and has great entrepreneur skills. I keep telling her we are going to write books and all ki nds of things together. She is also very crafty, she never lets a paper leave her desk with out some cute clip art and font!

#3 Who will retire first?

Oh boy, I'm pretty sure she will. She has been teaching longer than me.

#4 What makes you two an awesome pair?

We love our job and we are excited to learn more things about teaching. We are both go-geters and we will do anything for our students. On a personal level we laugh all the time and are always up to no good! Our students know we are great friends and if you are in my classroom for more than 30 minutes you will likely see Mrs. Schroeder in my room. We could have our own reality TV show (any takers!).

#5 Do you both have any rituals that get you through the day or a hard time?

Well she introduced me to Chi Lattes which is now my new obsession. We also love to reinvent ourselves. We love teaching but we want to do even more than teach the kiddos in our classroom. We want to support new teachers, share resources with all teachers, and be our students favorite teacher ever!

#6 What is a word that describes your Teamie?

Crafty- She loves to make new things and when she has a vision she can make awesome things.

#7 Is your Teamie in the blog world? If so...what is their blog? (Don't forget to link it:) If not...will this post push them in?

My teamie is in the blog world her blog site is http://schroederpage.blogspot.com/

#8 What is the funniest thing that you and your Teamie had to face at school?

This year we decided to have catch a leprechaun with our classes and we had so much fun. We were trying to record him sneaking into our classroom (he does this every year). After about a 100 takes (because we were dying laughing) and three hours after school we caught him in action. He destroyed our classrooms, left his prints everywhere and even left notes to the students.

#9 Complete this sentence...I would not trade my Teamie for a $1,000 gift card at the Dollar store because...

I will just go in her classroom and take all the supplies I would have bought. I borrow everything! If you want it or need it Mrs. Schroeder has it! But honestly I wouldn't trade my teamie because we get along very well, she loves to share her ideas and she makes me a better teacher.

#10 Add a special tribute to your Teamie:)

I can't wait until we are back in our classrooms drinking Chi Lattes, eating contraband food and driving Junior crazy with our requests. This year we are going to rock it out! We have a great team and this year our little kiddos are going to have a blast with our crazy selves.

Grab the code below:

So EXCITED!

2011-07-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

Friends OLD and NEW...my Teamie and I are so excited about the response from our 2nd grade teaching friends about starting our own GANG. The comments and support have been amazing. Just to let you all know we are ferociously working on something BIG and EXCITING for all of you. Pass the word on to ALL of your 2nd grade friends about sending their info to us or just becoming followers of both blogs. They won't want to miss the chance to sign up with us at Spoiled in 2nd Grade .There is a BIG Surprise in your future. Keep blogging and creating but be sure to keep you eyes peeled for the next big thing from Teamies Team up!

Calling All Second Grade Teachers

2011-07-25T20:47:00.000-07:00

Attention all second grade teachers! My teammie and I want to invite you to join our 2nd grade gang. My Teammie and I have made a separate page on our blogs for second grade blogs. We were talking on the phone this morning about how few second grade blogs are out there and we wanted to create a space to "bookmark" all the awesome second grade blogs. If you teach second grade leave a comment below with your blog address or website address and we will include your button on our second grade blogs page. We will also be creating an awesome blog button for you to proudly display on your blog. In return we are asking that you follow both our blogs and grab our buttons as well. We also created a We Teach Second Grade page on We Teach. Soon we will be posting lots of neat things on there as well. Second Grade Rocks!

ME and MY GANG!

LIKE to HANG in 2nd GRADE!

Classroom Theme Days

2011-07-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

Next week my grade level is meeting to revamp our theme days and units. I hoped to hear from many of you about theme days in your classroom. Last year we did Polar Express Day. I think we are getting a little tired of doing the same thing every year, not to mention that so many other grade levels do something similar. We wanted to keep a themed day for the week before Christmas break, but we want something new. I thought maybe just a winter theme or snow theme of some sort would be cute. When I say themed day I mean the whole day revolves around this idea. We incorporate our math, science and reading around this theme.
We already have a great theme day for Halloween and Spring, but we need to seriously revamp our winter theme. Are there any special things you do in your class other than just a party. Are there books centered around this theme, are their centers, crafts, poetry, writing or any other subject?

New (School) Year Resolution

2011-07-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

I am linking up with Clutter-Free Classroom who is having a linky party about your resolutions for this school year. I love this idea because it great to be reflective and set new goals for yourself. This year I have several resolutions:

1. To try and confer with students everyday during Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop.
Sometimes it can be hard to confer with students and because I am so OCD, when my room is a mess I struggle to fight the urge to straighten up during independent reading time. This year, I will leave the cleaning to my kiddos. I will set aside five minutes to have them clean up before recess and dismissal.

2. To allow time for my students to have conversations with me.
Sometimes I get so caught up teaching that I don't allow students to share things about their personal lives. This year my students always had connections. Connections while I was reading, connections during mini- lessons and connections during presentations. It was so distracting that we even used a signal of two fingers touching to signal that they had a connection, but that it didn't necessarily need to be shared with everyone. This year, I would like to start of the day by talking, discussing our weekends, our homework, sports, family time, tooth loss etc.

3. To bring healthier lunches to school, and stop eating candy during snack time.
Last year, was a year of giving the teacher Snickers (my favorite candy). Although I loved seeing all the Snickers, baked cookies and ice cream it was not healthy! This year, I would like to pack my lunch the night before and put in healthy snacks. I am determined to loose what I gained this year.

I am really looking forward to a great year with a bunch of cute new kiddos!

Target Finds

2011-07-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

I went to my favorite store again and found some cute classroom finds. The first thing I spotted when I walked in the door was this cute bag at the dollar section. I thought it would go great with my Thursday book bags. I bought the journal to go with it because in each of my book bags, I place a journal so the students or parents can write about how much fun they had bringing their bag home.

I also bought some transfers to print out the other themes to place on the book bags. At the end of the school year I had students vote on which themes they would like me to include on the Thursday book bags.

I also bought these project markers to do my anchor charts with. I have heard that they work beautifully. I also use the many colored sharpies.

We have a refrigerator and freezer in our office so i picked up an ice back for the after recess blues.

I also found a money math game that the students will love!

And another little book to add to my spider themed book bags.

I think teachers totally need a percentage off every purchase at Walmart and Target, I mean we keep them in business.

Favorite Childrens/ Young Adult Books Blog Hop

2011-07-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

I have been working hard on creating a list of books for Reader's Workshop this year. There are so many good books to choose from. When I first started this process I searched all the award winning children's books, some of the books listed are great books but others have not been successful with my students. For whatever reason my students did not find them interesting. While I was looking for books to use in my class, I wondered what some of your favorite childhood books were. Please join in on my blog hop to share what books had a lasting impression on you. You can choose to blog about one book and a particular experience, or maybe you want to list several books. Either way, I am excited to see which books you choose and why.
As for my favorites, I have so many; Night, To Kill A Mockingbird and The Diary of Anne Frank.

I also have some favorites that I have read since my school days but are still considered young adult or childrens literature: The Invention of Hugo Cabret, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and The White Darkness

Click on the link below to include the blog hop on the bottom of your post, then paste the code at the bottom of the post.

get the InLinkz code

Looking For A New Blog Design?

2011-07-22T20:34:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for a fresh new blog design, I am really excited to announce that I have opened up the design section of my website. The first blog I designed was for my teammie because I did not have a blog of my own yet. My teammie suggested many times this year that I start my own blog design company, but I had never given it any thought before. I have been making blogs /websites for friends and family for a while, so I decided I would start making them for teachers as well. If you or someone you know is looking for a new blog design or any blog feature please visit my design page to learn more about packages and pricing. I will also be putting together a Blog Design Unit on TPT for those of you who would like to try your hand at creating your own blog design.

How I Use Post-It Notes in My Class

2011-07-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

Create, Teach, Share is hosting a linky party about how teachers use Post-It notes in their classroom, and since I adore Post-It's I thought I would join in on the fun. One way I use Post-It notes in my class is to teach QAR (Question Answer Relationship) and comprehension. After going over the types of questions, I have students use the sticky notes to come up with their own QAR question types. This allows me to see if students really understand the question types, it is one thing to see recognize the question types and it is a whole other to apply what you know and create your own questions. After the students have each came up with six of their own questions, they swap papers with their neighbor and flip the sticky note up and answer the question.

Another way I use Post-It notes, is when I am doing a mini lesson. For example, this week at our summer book club meeting, I was taught the Read, Cover, Remember strategy. I had students monitor their comprehension by reading a page, covering it with their hands and then writing in their own words on the Post-It what the gist of the page was. My students really loved this strategy and it was helpful to see who could do a whole page at a time, and who could only do a paragraph.

Our New DIY Blog!

A Shout-Out To All The College-Goers

2011-07-21T14:51:00.000-07:00

This week is my little brothers birthday and I'm bitter sweet about it. He is attending his first year at college so far from home (CA) and I am really going to hate it when he boards the plane in a few weeks. It kinda brings me back to my days in college. I am a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Go 49ers!). I've received several emails from fellow NC bloggers, and I love speaking with each of you. I loved college and I can't wait to begin a new program. I have been working hard to save up for my Ph.D and came across a great tool that I will be taking advantage of, we all know that college is outrageous! Instead of buying all of my books and then hoping the school will buy them back at 1/3 of the cost, I will be renting my books. I found a great website that can help you save up to 90% on textbooks and the best part is that every textbook you rent they will donate money to Operation Smile. If you are interested in learning more head on over to http://www.campusbookrentals.com/ to learn more.

New Classroom Finds

2011-07-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to Walmart and found a lamp that will match my room perfectly. I got the lamp shade for $5 and the base for $5. I am really excited to see it in my classroom. Speaking of classroom items, I am so blessed because I have the most talented mother ever! She is always making the cutest stuff for my classroom. This week she made me two pillows to go on my bench and she even found the table in the picture for me and painted it. I am beyond ready to get back in my room and start crafting. Thanks mom!

What I Am In Love With

2011-07-20T18:59:00.000-07:00

First Grade Blue Skies is hosting a what are you in love with linky party, so I thought I would add my favorites.

I REALLY want a gumball machine for my classroom. I can't help it! i know its not educational, and I know they should not be given candy. But it is super cute, and i can think of lots of themes to go with it!

I am in love with the way these crayons are sorted! I have already started collecting cans to paint. How cute is this?

This year I am going to create a system just like this so I can see where my students are at all times with one quick glance. I LOVE this!

I have already started collecting tuna cans for this project...so cute!

These are some projects I have in store for the last few weeks of summer. I am really excited to get back in my classroom and let the creativity flow again.

Attribution: The pictures above are not my own I found them on Pintrest and Sams club

Free Year At A Glance Map

2011-07-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

I have been working on mapping my year out in my mind, and then I decided I would put it on paper. I mapped out everything- writer's workshop, science, social studies, The Phonics Dance, spelling, grammar and more.

If you would like to see a copy of this plan, leave a comment with your email, and I would love to send you what I have. I know seeing other teacher's ideas help you plan your own.

Summer Book Club/ Reader's Workshop

2011-07-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I met with my students again at the library and decided I make each book club meeting just like reader's workshop. Those of you who have been a follower of mine, know I have never taught reader's workshop, and next year is my first try at it. I figured the summer would be perfect time to try my hand at mini lessons, and conferring.

I started our session off by having everyone share the books they had been reading this summer and then we listed reading strategies they had learned this year (previewing, summarizing, predicting etc.). then I told them I was going to add one more strategy to their tool bag.

I placed a cup full of thinking clouds on the table. I showed each cloud to the students and explained what each meant and then I modeled what it meant to have metacognition. I began by reading a book to the students and every time I made a connection, visualised or wondered I would hold up the corresponding cloud and began to whisper my thoughts. I explained to them when they hear me whisper, they are hearing my thoughts. The lesson went really well.

When I conferred with one of the students I asked her about her strengths and weaknesses as a reader, she told me she was good at fluency, but that she struggled to retain comprehension. I showed her a strategy called "read, cover, remember" to help her set her pace and test her comprehension as she goes instead of at the end of the story when it is too late. All in all, the lessons went great and I am excited I was able to try reader's workshop before school started.

And The Winner is...?

2011-07-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Rebecca! Please contact me so that I can get your information and send you your gift card.

Thanks again to everyone who follows or reads my blog.

My Teacher Always Says linky Party.

2011-07-15T08:29:00.000-07:00

I'm joining in with Mrs.Bainbridge's Class, for the My Teacher Always Says Linky Party. At the beginning of the year I kept telling my students how they are so well behaved and how I brag about them to the teachers at planning. My students loved this, and began to think of themselves as "angels" and so when we would write stories or talk about each other they would always say, "You forgot to write about your angels." When they would write or speak they never said class or students or second grade, only "angels". One students even wrote the cutest poem to me. It said, "Even if we were bees, and we would sting, you will still call us angels".

Another thing I would talk about with my class is reading with intonation. It was a word I apparently used a lot because one day when my students were doing fluency checks orally one of my students began to speed read. Another student quickly said, "that is not good reading, you don't have any intonation!" Kids are so sweet! :)

Phonological Awareness Activities

2011-07-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

The last two days, I attended a reading workshop and I really enjoyed it. Most of you know I love reading and so maybe I'm a geek in that way, but I thought I would share some things I learned. You may already do some of this already.

One of the things we talked about was how to teach children that words are made up of individual sounds, and that those sounds go together to make one word. So a cute way to show them this idea would be to print pictures of animals and then cut them like the example above. In centers, students can push the picture and say the sound. For students who are proficient with this, give them the picture and have them cut the picture for the sounds they hear.

Another cute idea I seen to teach phonological awarness is to place two cups inside each other. On the example above I have lower case letters and on the other cup I have capital letters. Then, students rotate the cup until the have a match. I also thought you could use this to teach onset and rime (a great resource for the most common rimes is walke.com). On one cup you could place (m) and on the other cup (op). You could use this with math or any other subject.
The second picture is of a stick and at the end a hairbow. You can have students use the stick to show phoneme segmentation and blending. For example, you ask the child to tell you the sounds they hear in map. The child holds the stick at her shoulder and says /m/, then she slides it to her elbow and say /a/ and then to her wrist and says /p/, finally with one sweeping motion she blends the word together "map".

Trash To Treasure

2011-07-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

I am linking up with Oh' Boy Fourth Grade because they are hosting an awesome linky party called Trash To Treasure! This is right up my alley because my mom and I spend most weekends shopping for classroom finds. My best Trash To Treasure find is my classroom couches.

BEFORE

Yikes! Those are gross! A few months ago my mom and I found some pitiful, stained orange couches at a thrift store. After bargaining with the owner I got two orange couches for $25. Then my mom who is a wonderful sewer helped me strip the couches down to the frame. We sanded the wood frame down and painted it white. We searched over 100 miles for fabric to fit my classroom perfectly. In Wilmington, NC we found the perfect fabric for $73. My mom spent the rest of the week working on her sewing machine. Five days later we had two beautiful couches. If you could see tyhe couches in real life there is a lot of time and detail put into the. My mom made the cushions so they can unzip and be washed. We also found the table in the corner from a church who was giving it away and we painted it pink, it was multi colored before that.

AFTER

* The Book Nook letters I bought at AC Moore and I wrapped in newspaper.

On another shopping spree at Goodwill my mom purchased a $20 white bookshelf for my classroom. When I got it, I knocked out three of the shelves and painted it pink (it's my favorite color!). I moved it into my classroom, but it was too tall so I decided to lay it on its sides. Now it is the perfect place for students to buddy read! Sadly, I do not have a before picture.

We also built the benches below for my class using scrap wood my dad found on a job. We are pretty crafty people!

Visit Oh' Boy Fourth Grade and link up!

Ten Things To Know About Me

2011-07-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

1. I love the Lord with all my heart! I could talk for hours about his mercy and all he has done for me. I could listen to KLOVE for hours on end.

2. I am absolutely obsessed with sushi! My favorite is the the Dragon Roll. I only eat it on Wednesdays and Sundays because on those days it's half off at my favorite restaurant .

3. I married my high school sweetheart and we have been together for 11 years now and although it may sound trite, he truly is my best friend.

4. My husband is a professional racecar driver, so I get to go to lots of cool places (and I'm pretty excited because our new corporate teammate is Patrick Dempsy! Below is a picture of our teammates Patrick and Sam and the second picture is of my husband and I).

5. I love teaching and I couldn't imagine doing anything else. Three months after I graduated high school I became a substitute teacher, and then three years after that I got my first teaching job. My long term goals are to be a reading professor... and then eventually the Superintendent (You can never dream too big, right?).

6. I love fishing and when I'm not teaching, I'm at the beach from sunrise to sunset reeling in fish!

7. I have two beautiful sisters and two handsome brothers. My brother attends college in California and my sisters work in the medical field in NC.

8. I am Portuguese. My mother came to America in her teens. My grandparents still do not speak English. I have never been to Portugal, but I would love to go someday.

9. I love research and school. When I'm not blogging I do lots of research, some of my reviews have even been published. I figured I better get a start on publishing because as a professor, its publish or perish!

10. I miss my students badly. You would think I would enjoy summer, but I miss seeing those faces every morning. I feel like they are family now. P.S their parents are pretty awesome too.

*on a side note.. I am also a terrible speller, so don't hold it against me :)

Creating Games For Your Class

2011-07-09T09:40:00.000-07:00

Lets face it, teachers spend way to much money on their classrooms! Last night, I was thinking about how I wanted to vamp up my word study centers for next year. So I tried to create some board games. Once I got started it was very easy. I looked online for free game board templates and saved them to my computer. I brought those images into Photoshop and began working. Once I opened the board game as my background, I could type on each square. The game I created last night was for initial consonants. I created a spinner out of pre cut scrapbook cardstock and on it I wrote: st, br, cl, th and tw. Then on the spaces on my game board I typed: ope, ought, ing, op, etc. I printed the game out and glued it to a folder. After I glued it to the folder I laminated it. Then, I saved the file as an image was able to send it to SMART Notebook and make an interactive SMART Board game as well. Now, I have a board game and a SMART Board game. I would like to make games for each of the spelling patterns I teach.

200 Followers Giveaway!

2011-07-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

I want to say thank you to all of my followers, I really enjoy blogging and I have learned so much from each of you fabulous teachers. Since I have reached 200 followers, I thought I would host a giveaway for a $10 gift card to Starbucks. All you have to do to enter the giveaway is be a follower of my blog and leave a comment saying so. It's that easy! Blogging about my giveaway will give you an extra entry. I will use the random generator to select a winner Next Friday, July 15th.
Once again thanks for reading my blog, commenting on it and answering my many questions. Teachers are rock stars!

Daily Five Choices

2011-07-08T09:25:00.000-07:00

My students love Daily Five time and I have tried to include lots of things to that are educational and fun. Each Daily Five station has a supply table within the room that students can choose which items they want to use for the day.

Listening To Reading

I always include a directions sheet (which is the purple stand you see in the back * I got it for FREE from Highlights Magazine) crayons, pencils, a copy of the text and a comprehension type sheet. In the picture you see below we were learning about poetry. The poem is a Shel Silverstein poem and the students can actually hear him reading it. then they had their own copy of the poem to add to their poetry book. The directions asked students to think about the imagery that the poet used and try to create their own poem.

Word Work

Each week I have 6 regular spelling lists mounted and laminated and 6 challenge spelling word lists. I make these list the size of a bookmark so students can grab their list and bring it to their "Word Work" station. I store my lists in a magnetic container I found at the Dollar Store.

At the beginning of the year I ask my parents to donate all kinds of things that they have at home that they are not using to place in my "Word Work" center. I ask for any old keyboards, and then I cut the cords off. Students love to type their spelling list on these.

I also buy Crayola window markers, letter stamps, letter pasta, Play Dough, gel pens, black paper and any other supplies that students love to work with.This year I have also created Smartboard games that work with the spelling pattern of the week.

Read To Self / Read With a Partner

For my "Read to Self" or "Read with a Partner" I have supplies placed near the library for them to use. I have whisper phones, book marks, stick notes and boys and girl pointers. This is a picture of the pointers my girls use while they are reading. I found these in the party supplies section at Hobby Lobby. The boys use monster claws to trace while they are reading.

Writing

At the writing table I have a book I found at the Dollar Store that has baby names. Students use this book when they are trying to think of characters to create for their story. I also have dictionaries, thesauruses, lots of different types of papers, pencils, pencils, markers, glue, crayons, scissors and a laminated writing tool kit. The picture above shows how I spotlight good writing. I try to rotate this everyday. The kids love it and they always come straight in the class to see which piece is published today.

Are there any cute supplies you use during Daily Five ?

My Favorite Books

2011-07-07T17:44:00.000-07:00

I am joining up with Runde's Room and her favorite book linky party/blog hop. I absolutely adore reading and if you ask my students what my favorite thing to do is they will say "READ". I have so many favorite books!

My favorite book to read to my students is Chowder. I love this book because I have an English Bulldog and it is nice to share a little bit about my life with the students. I also like to read to them Diary of a Wombat and Have You Filled A Bucket Today?

My favorite books to read while I am relaxing are: Heaven is For Real, I think this is one of the best books I have ever read. I also like The Year of Magical Thinking and Racing In The Rain.

My favorite professional reads are: the Daily Five, No More I'm Done, and The Cafe

I Need Help!

2011-07-06T19:34:00.001-07:00

I have been trying to build my own blog background using Photoshop Elements and I think it looks pretty cute, but I am unable to put the backgrounds on my blog. Some questions I have are:

1. After I have saved and uploaded my Photoshop image to Photobucket and copied the direct link, I have no idea where to put it in my HTML code. Most of the blogs I have read say to find the part of the HTML that says body{ background:$bgcolor; but I am unable to find this on my html. I even used the CTRL F code and it was not found.
2. Those of you who have images on the sidebar where it says followers or blogs I follow, How did you upload those images?
I have a lot of fun making the templates, but I have not been able to put them on my blog. Any help would be super!

Cricut Cutting Machine Giveaway

2011-06-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

Print Candee has some awesome giveaways going on, they also have a free $3.50 to spend on the website! I bought bright frames to use when I'm doing digital scrapbooking. Check out the details for their giveaway below:

Cricut Cutting Machine Giveaway

Print Candee is giving away a Cricut Paper Cutter & Extra Cartridge (Over $100 in value). Go check it out, along with their other giveaways!

200 Launch Week Giveaway!

Print Candee just launched their new website! To celebrate, they are having a week full of giveaways, totalling in over $200 worth of prizes! Go check them out and make sure to enter to win!

Student-Led Conferences

2011-06-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

I have been doing some research on conferences for next year, and I keep reading literature about student-led conferences; although I have done a version of student-led conferences, I have never done it completely. Since I have had a lot of free time on my hands, I decided to make a form for students to complete before they begin their conference. What I really like about this form is that after students rate how they think they are doing, they then choose a statement from each section to be added to their goals for the semester. I love this because it helps students to be reflective and self-directed. If you would like a editable copy of the form please leave a comment with your email and I will send it over. I would put it on Google Docs but my computer does not want to work with me today :) I hope you find this form useful. Also, if you have done student-led conferences I would love to know what you did, how it went and what advice you may have.

Love You Truly

2011-06-26T09:25:00.000-07:00

Every few days, when I go to the mailbox, I find letters from my students. Of course this makes my day! Teachers get so little recognition for what they do from adults, but as far as children are concerned, we get lots of recognition. I thought I would share some of my sweet letters:

Yikes! Here I go.. wish me luck!

2011-06-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

attribution: BN.com

     The main reason I started blogging was to grow professionally, but there were other reasons as well. Those reasons being to document my days in the classroom, as well as provide resources for other teachers. In light of these things, I decided I would document my process through National Boards. I know that this may not be interesting to many readers, but I am sure that there are some who are going through the process with me or plan to do it someday.
     My hope is that documenting the process will help other teacher seeking certification who are as anxious as I am. It's my way of paying it forward to those who have encouraged me along the way. Before I begin, I want to give a shout out to three wonderful teachers who have inspired me to begin this process, Mrs. Fox, Mrs. Conklin, Mrs. Hicks and Mrs. Hewett. Without the four of you there is no telling if I would have ever build up enough courage to started this process. Let me start by by saying that this year, I drove my colleagues nuts about their experience taking National Boards. Before school would start we would sit in my "book nook" and talk about it. I would interrupt their lunch to ask them even more questions and now that school is out, I just go to their house during their 31 Party and aggravate them (sorry Foxy :) ) I am grateful to have such great friends to help support me. In teaching it is easy to be competitive with scores, bulletin boards, accomplishments etc. but in my circle, we are each others biggest supporters. Information about educational leadership programs is available for teachers who are looking to advance their knowledge in school leadership fields. Professional development is an important aspect of our field.
     So far I have read, The Teacher's Guide To National Board Certification by Adrienne Mack-Kirschner (which has been a big help) and spent hours reading ProTeacher Iris Room message board (thanks Mrs. Mc @little literacy learners for that tip). I copied my teaching license and sent it in to make sure that I am eligible before I invest too much money or time. I have also looked at Entry 4 and began making a list of my accomplishments. For those of you who have not started the process, Entry 4 is all about documenting you accomplishments and how those accomplishments have had impact on your students learning. That has been difficult for me. I can rattle off my accomplishments, but to be honest its hard to make a strong connection between them and student learning. I know there is a connection ... but I'm drawing a blank :) I hope that my journaling about this process is helpful to others as well.

Summer Book Club

2011-06-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

Thursday, we met for our first book club meeting at the library. I was really surprised at how many of my angels came out. I was so excited to see them. Some of the students brought friends and family...the more the merrier. We started off our meeting by talking about our summer and how much we had missed each other, then we discussed what we had been reading so far.

Each student was given a book passport and a stamp to stamp how many minutes they were reading each day in between the times that we will meet. We named our book club the "Judy Moody Book Club". We decided we would read several Judy Moody books together and some independently then at the end of the summer we would go watch the movie together.

Next, I introduced students to the library and showed them each section. We worked on getting them library cards if they did not already have one. For the first 15 minutes or so, students browsed the library for one chapter book and one easy read. Then for the next 45 minutes, I sat with children and listen to them read. I couldn't help but conference with them. The final hour of our book club, we listened to a story teller tell three wonderful stories. The children loved her. I have to admit she was really good! Altogether our meeting lasted two hours and then we gave hugs and made promises to read until next time.

Missing My Students

2011-06-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I miss my students so much. I keep getting letters in the mail from them, phone calls and emails and it breaks my heart. I decided the only way to get us through the summer is to plan a summer book club, so starting tomorrow we are going to meet at the library and share our favorite books. The worse part about teaching is seeing you babies move to a new grade, and yet its also the best part because you know you helped get them there. Talk about bittersweet. Any ideas on how we can make our summer book club memorable and fun?

Daily Five and "Just Right" books

2011-06-20T15:55:00.000-07:00

During the last few teacher workdays, I spent most of my time labeling my student library books. My school uses Running Records as our reading assessment and we also use SRI. However, because we have switched to the Common Core our principal said that we would be moving more towards the Fountas and Pinnell Guided Reading levels instead of Lexile levels or a RR levels. Because of this, I decided I would use the Fountas and Pinnell Guided reading level and color code my books. Graduate schools online are an option for busy teachers who are looking to take a course or two during the summer months or school year. Many teachers find masters degrees in reading to be valuable since teaching reading is such a huge part of our jobs.

I got the idea of course from the wonderful Beth Newingham, if you want to check it out, here is the website http://hill.troy.k12.mi.us/staff/bnewingham/myweb3/ . This website will also help explain how the colors match up with the Fountas and Pinnell Guided Reading levels.
I went to the Dollar Store and found stickers that are generally used to label prices on items. I bought about 8 packs. After I began labeling my books an idea struck me. I was thinking about how I was going to require students to read only "Just Right" books during Read to Self or Buddy Reading. My students generally use cereal boxes to store their "Just Right" books in. I wondered how I would hold students accountable for reading "Just Right" books an idea came to mind. I went online to Oriental Trading and purchased color totes for each student. I chose the set of bags that had a variety of different colors. My idea was that after I knew each child's "Just Right" level, I would give them a colored tote to put their Daily Five books in and the color of their bag would be the same as their "Just Right" color. That way when I am doing reading conferences with students I can easily see if the student's label on their book matches their book bag color. As students "Just Right" level changes, I will replace their tote with the corresponding color.

National Boards

2011-06-19T18:27:00.000-07:00

This post is for all my National Board Certified teachers. I REALLY want to begin my National Boards over the summer. I have looked at all the information and I am excited to get started. I have heard many things about how hard the papers are and how much harder the test is, but I really want to do it anyway. I would love to hear from you if you have taken your boards, if you are taking you boards or if you have any suggestions, comments or thoughts.
What was the hardest part for you? How can I make my life easier as I begin this process? What areas did you choose to get your certification in?

And The Winner is...?

2011-06-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Jo! Please contact me by Monday, June 20th so that I can get your information and send you your beautiful basket.

Thanks to everyone who became a follower of both mine and The Schroeder Page. We love you all!

A Second Look at the Idea of Weekly Spelling Lists

2011-06-11T11:03:00.000-07:00

For the last several months, I have been racking my brain about how I wanted my spelling homework to be next year. I am someone who believes that spelling tests are not backed by sound research and therefore I have a hard time justifying giving weekly spelling list. In the past I have tried individual lists, regular and challenge word lists and modified lists, but I have still not been satisfied. I fee that in education sometimes we do things because it is what we have always done, and that how it has been for me with spelling until now. A while back I came across a post by Beth Newingham http://blogs.scholastic.com/top_teaching/2010/10/my-november-top-ten-list-word-study-in-action.html and it changed the way I thought about spelling. At first I was overwhelmed at all the work she had put into her spelling lesson. But like her, I agreed that having students memorize a spelling list is a waste of time. We have to teach students the patterns and help them apply those patterns in their writing. After reading her post I pulled out all of my spelling materials. I printed off her free spelling test sheet and her high frequency words. I even printed off a copy of her 3rd grade word study unit for the year. Then, I began creating my own second grade word study unit for next year.

This year my school used Reading Street as their basal reader, but next year we are switching to a workshop method. I did not want to recreate all of my spelling materials (like my laminated spelling lists) so I decided that during Daily Five my students will use these list to do word study and the spelling list will go home with them to practice along with a letter to the parents each week about the spelling pattern we are learning about. However on Friday students will be tested on the assigned pattern words and “New Pattern Words" (which they have never seen) to see if they had learned the pattern or memorized the word. I am also going to give them the five high frequency words as well.

At the beginning of the year for the first two weeks I am going to give every child the first 100-300 High Frequency word list and the words they do not know I will add to their words to learn list. These are the words I will require that students memorize because they are hard to decode. Then, I will administer the Words Their Way spelling inventory and use that information to find out what lessons I can skip.

I feel that this program is a little more accountable. One because the (parent) letters that I have created for each focus (30) really explains to the parents what the focus of the week is and the patterns or rules that apply. It also gives the parents strategies for helping their students learn the list that is not based off of memory but rather immersion. Another reason I like this program better is because when students are unable to spell a word using that pattern it does not just vanish, I record patterns that are problematic and work with them during small groups.

CLICK HERE FOR A FREE DOWNLOAD OF MY YEAR MAP

Wordless Wednesday- Poetry

2011-06-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

A Tisket A Tasket ... Behavior Management in a Basket.. GIVEAWAY

2011-06-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

Its that time again! My teammie and I have teamed up once again to bring you a wonderful giveaway just in time for you to start planning for next year. We are going to offer one lucky winner a monogrammed teacher basket with lots of behavior management tips inside. The basket includes the behavior management system both my teammie and I use in our classroom. It also includes tips for how to play games to keep your classroom in tip-top shape all year long. All you have to do to be entered in this giveaway is become a follower of both blogs and leave a comment. It is as easy as that! One lucky winner will be drawn Sunday, June 12, 2011. Good luck and thanks for following.

Summer Reading List

2011-06-04T17:20:00.000-07:00

I recently created a post about the books that I read this year, which I thought others would enjoy reading over the summer. Now, I am going to join in on the blog hop and post my summer reading list. I am still reading The Cafe, but after that I hope to pick up a few books that other blog friends have suggested.

Reader's Workshop

2011-06-04T12:16:00.000-07:00

Next year I am going to implement Reader's Workshop in my class, I am a little nervous although my graduate program focused heavily on the workshop method. I have been reading books and websites trying to find a good feel for how I can run my own workshop. I have been doing Writer's Workshop for three years now, and I finally feel like I have a decent grasp on how to work each component of the workshop. Now, I have to figure out how to incorporate both workshops. I am very excited to leave the basal and begin integrating my subject areas into reading.
I would love to hear from those of you who use Reader's Workshop in your class. What does your workshop schedule look like? Are there any websites or books you found particularly helpful when implementing your workshop?

Show Me Your Classroom

2011-06-02T14:09:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy lately with the end of school, that I have not even had time to stalk blogs! Hopefully after this week things will return to normal. Anyway, I have been asked by several of my blog friends to show more pictures of my classroom, because they can't believe how I can fit two couches in my room. I was surprised at how much bigger my classroom seemed after I organized the room differently. I did not post a picture of all the students desks but there are 24 desks broken into three groups. I leave the center of the room open (which you can not see) so that my students can sit there while I am teaching at the Smartboard. You also can not see their cubbies. I would love to see what each of your classrooms look like inside.

On Your Mark, Get Set...Go! BBGW!

2011-05-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hey Blog Friends,

Since we have had a huge response to Blog Buttons Gone Wild... Mrs. Schroeder and I have decided to start the LINKY PARTY now! Please print out your blog button, mount it, and then take a photo of it in the most UNUSUAL place you can think of. Feel free to use Photoshop.

Once you have done that.. head on over and link up at BOTH http://www.mrsmccumbeesclass.blogspot.com and http://www.schroederpage.blogspot.com

Check out NASCAR Driver Chad McCumbee lounging before the drop of the green flag with our buttons. He is standing next to his Modspace Ford, that finished third over the weekend! GO CHAD!

AND THE WINNER IS...

2011-05-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

Thank you all very much for your support and for becoming a follower of my page. Next week, I will be hosting and even bigger giveaway! I hope you will come back to see what it is and participate in our Blog Buttons Gone Wild linky party this Friday!

Gwendolyn, thank you for becoming a follower of my page! I also love that you are a fellow NC teacher. Please send me your address so I can mail you your gift card. :)

Listening Center

2011-05-21T15:11:00.000-07:00

I shared with you last week how much I loved using The Daily Five, and today I wanted to upload a sheet for you to use in your own class. I loved the Listening to Reading portion of The Daily Five, but I felt like that center needed some accountability. I created a sheet for students to complete that matched what students are expected to know for a running record. Now when my students listen to the story, they take one of these sheets and complete it. Sometimes, I allow the students to work in pairs. Other times, I ask that they work independently. I hope you will find it useful. Enjoy!

FREEBIE

Thank you TBA!

2011-05-19T08:02:00.000-07:00

I am so excited... TBA made my day! I woke up this morning and went downstairs to read some blogs. I headed over to TBA as usual and was surprised that Tamara had posted about our linky party next week. I thought her picture was adorable! I was shocked! I am really excited to see where your blog buttons end up. If you are interested in where TBA's button was spotted head on over to their website. You will not be disappointed!

I hope to see all your blog buttons next Friday!

A New Blog On The Block!

2011-05-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

Check out this wonderful new blog called Fantastic First. Miss Griffin is having a really cool giveaway. To learn more head on over to her site.

Cause and Effect

2011-05-18T12:43:00.000-07:00

My second graders are learning about cause and effect this week so I thought I would share what we did today. I read the story If you Give A Moose A Muffin by Laura Numeroff, and we talked about how all the events in the story are cause and effect. After I read the story to them, we looked at each page and identified the cause and the effect. Then, we played a game I created. On one index card I wrote down a cause, and on the other index card I wrote down the effect. I passed out the index cards to the students and had them find their match without talking. The students enjoyed getting out of their seat and I thought it was a good lesson on teamwork as well. After the students found their partner and identified who had the cause card and who had the effect card, they placed them under the right label. Once everyone was finished, we shared our cause and effect cards with the class. Tomorrow I am going to have them make up their own cause and effect cards.

"I'm Thinking..I Got It!"

2011-05-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

When I first started teaching, I struggled a lot with appropriate wait time. I would ask students a question and then as soon as hands went up I would allow students to answer them. Recently I went to a SIOP workshop and I received a strategy book called 99 Ideas and Activities for teaching English Learners with the SIOP Model, by Mary Ellen Vogt and Jana Echevarria. In this book they had the cutest idea! It had a blackline master of two buttons, one button said "I'm Still Thinking" and the other said "I Got It!". My students love these buttons. I had my assistant copy them on red and green card stock and laminate them. I attached them to each students desk and now when I ask the class a question hands do not all fly up in the air at once. They place their hand on the appropriate button. I can easily survey the class for who is still thinking, and the other students are not distracted by the anxious students around them.

Blog Buttons Gone WILD Linky Party!

2011-05-17T13:17:00.000-07:00

http://mrsmccumbeesclass.blogspot.com/Hey Bloggies... My Teamie, Mrs. Schroeder and I are going to host our first of many linky parties! Starting Friday, May 27th we challenge you to attempt "our spin" on Flat Stanley! Start prepping now! Take your blog button, print it out, mount it like the good teacher you are and take a picture with it in the most unusual place you can think of. Come on back to www.mrsmccumbeesclass.blogspot.com and link up.
Head over to www.schroederpage.blogspot.com
Be sure to leave a comment on both sites!

Blogging about this linky party would totally be appreciated

Everyone loves FREE advertisement...don't they???

Together we will start it off.. be on the look out for our picture on Thursday after school.

Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) - Reading Strategies

2011-05-17T06:25:00.000-07:00

If you have never heard of Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) before, soon it will take over your life. CSR ( created by J.K. Klinger & S. Vaughn) is a researched based strategy that is used to help teach students how to monitor their own comprehension. It is a before, during and after reading strategy. I taught a workshop on CSR a few years ago and I have been using it in my class for a while. I would be more than glad to explain how to use this strategy for those of you who are interested. My students really enjoy CSR and if you would like to know more about it you can also click on this link http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/csr/csr_09.html . All of the materials you see in my pictures are property of the Iris Center and were obtained from the center. If you would like a copy of the materials click on this link http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/csr/csr_11.html

These are the CSR Role Cards that you will need

Here is a picture of all the supplies I need before the students work collaboratively

My students working in their collaborative groups

I love CSR because students work collaboratively and it is student directed. I also love how it teaches students to preview, predict, summarize and monitor their own comprehension. I hope you enjoy this strategy and find success with it within your own classroom.

FREEBIE

2011-05-16T14:05:00.000-07:00

Hey Teaches...I have just entered the wonderful world of blogging and I love it! I decided to start this week off right with a giveaway. I am doing a caffeine giveaway! This includes a $10 gift card to Starbucks. The rules are you must be a follower of my blog and also leave a comment. The giveaway ends on Sunday night May 22. I hope you enjoy my blog and will come back and visit! Happy Blogging!

HOW TO ADD A FAVICON TO YOUR BLOG

2011-05-15T17:38:00.000-07:00

What is a favicon? A favicon is the graphic that is beside the URL in your address bar.
If you would like to change your favicon all you need to do is create a graphic in Photoshop and size it from 16 X 16 pixels up to 32 X 32 pixels and save it as a PNG on you hard drive.
Then, create a post about your favicon. You will need to get the URL that goes with you graphic. You do this by going to your post and right clicking on the image you uploaded.
Then, click on properties and copy the URL address. You will need this later. Next go into your layout page and click on the Edit HTML tab. Scroll down slightly and look for the following code:

Once you find this code you will post the following code in front of it
Finally you will add the URL address for your image inside this code where is says, URL of your image.
I hope this helps. Below is a picture of my favicon :) This favicon does not show up in IE- I'm not sure why .

Blog Button

2011-05-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

After reading a few tutorials I figured out how to make a blog button and it was pretty easy. If you would like help making a button, please leave a comment and I will be glad to walk you through the steps.

Meet the Teacher

2011-05-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

Chad and I Thanksgiving 2010

I thought I would blog today a little bit about who I am, and the goals that I have professionally and personally. Let me start by saying that this is my third year teaching in North Carolina and I have known since I was a child that teaching was my passion. I am 26 years old and I am from Holden Beach, North Carolina. I married my high school sweetheart Chad who races in the NASCAR circuit in 2007. After graduating with my Master's in Reading I took a year off to travel with him and enjoy his success. I have been blessed to travel to many wonderful places and support my husband at what he does best. But after spending that time away from my classroom, I desperately needed to teach again. I went to many interviews looking for the perfect job and finally, I was hired by a wonderful principal. God has always blessed me to work with wonderful teachers, and this school is no exception.

My husband at Driver introductions @ Pocono 2008

Chad and Richard Petty in Victory Lane

My goals as a teacher are to not only change the lives of each and every child I come in contact with, but also to be a resource for other teachers. I can't count the number of new teachers I come in contact with who feel they are drowning because they have no support. After talking with these teachers and listening to their struggles, I have set out to create a blog that helps encourage teachers at all different levels in their career. Although I am clearly a "newbie" teacher I feel that we can all learn from each other. After blog stalking for many months, I found a new level of creativity within myself. There are so many wonderful teacher blogs out there that I follow and they have helped to encourage me to step out and take teaching to a new level.

Anyways, I know I have babbled on... but if even one teacher finds her love for teaching again from something that I have written- then it was a success. Happy Blogging!

Summer Reading List

2011-05-14T11:32:00.001-07:00

I am always trying to find good teaching books to read over the summer and so I thought I would create a post about summer reading books. These are books that I have read this year and I feel are good resources for implementing researched based practices.

No More "I'm Done!" is a really good resources for implementing Writer's Workshop mini lessons. It comes with a years full of good mini lessons.

The Daily Five is something I have used all year in my classroom and my students adore it. It is based off of a series of literecy tasks that students choose from each day. While the students are in their stations, the teacher can meet with small groups.

I just finished reading The Book Whisperer and it really made me think about teaching reading in a different way. I would say the theme of the book is that teachers often spend so much time teaching reading strategies, and they never allow their students time to actually read. After reading this book I allowed for 45 minutes each day for silent reading time. I have seen a lot of growth in my students scores using what I have learned from this book, not to mention how much my kids enjoy reading now.

I am reading The Cafe now and I am excited to use what I have learned in my classroom.

I also borrowed Debbie Miller's Reading With Meaning t read this summer. I am excited to read this because next year I am implementing Reader's Workshop for the first time. If there are any other really good teaching books that you have read please leave a comment. I would love to hear from other teachers about what books have influenced their teaching practices.

The Book Nook

2011-05-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

My classroom has had a lot more visitors than normal thanks to our new couches. Several of the teachers have came by to see the new furniture and take a break. One day this week, before school, one of my teammates stopped by with her coffee and we sat on the couch talking about the year and how things have gone. Foxy (that's my teammatea name) said my new couches reminded her of a coffee shop or a little cafe. In that moment, we had an idea, to name the area "the literary Cafe" this sounded great to us because we were reading The Cafe. I loved this idea! I am all about "theming" things up. After talking with several colleagues about our idea, one of them suggested I name it "The Book Nook". The next morning, I sat my kids down on the carpet and we talked about what names we liked and they agreed that The Book Nook was their favorite. That day after school, I went to the craft store and picked up some white letters to place behind my couches. Then my assistant helped me wrap the letters in newspaper to give them some extra flare. I think they came out really cute!

Poetry Center

2011-05-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

I thought I would share with you my poetry center. This month during our Writer's Workshop time we are learning about how to write poetry. I know that a lot of teachers teach poetry during the Spring so I figured this would be a great time to share how I am using poetry in my centers. I have made copies of several of Shel Silversteins poems for the students. When I bought a few of Shel Silverstein's books they came with a CD narrorated by Shel. I put the CD and a hard copy of the poem out for the students to follow along with. I also provided each student with their own copy to add to their poetry journal. After the students listen to the poem three times and follow along, I have them color the picture and then write their own poem using this poem as a mentors text. The students love this center and I love seeing them excited about poetry.

Can You Find Me?

2011-05-09T17:29:00.000-07:00

This month we have been learning about insects and I got the cutest idea from oneextradegree.blogspot.com . Today we spent the day talking about how insects use camouflage to protect them from other predators. We talked about how the insects may look like leaves on a tree or other things in their habitat. We also talked about how they have certain features that help to scare away predators. After we went did our smartboard lesson I had the students draw and cut out patterns of either a butterfly or a caterpillar. Then, they had to choose something in the classroom to camouflage their insect with. Here are some of the students examples. See if you can find the insects.

Thank You, Mom!

2011-05-09T16:37:00.000-07:00

I have always wanted a set of couches for my classroom, and this week I finally got them! Last weekend my mom and I did our usual girl thing which includes going to every thrift store, antique mall or garage sale within a 60 mile radius. We are pretty crafty people, but its hard to find a project that won't break the bank. Normally we spend hours driving around looking for that special find, but this weekend, I hit the jackpot. The first thrift store we stopped at had a pair of old orange couches. They were disgusting, but I knew my mom would work wonders on them. I offered the cashier $25 for the pair and loaded them in the truck.

Then, after getting them home we tore them apart and used the old orange cushions as a pattern. I found some beautiful fabric for $73, and my mom got to work. After five days of hard work, my mom had made us a beautiful set of couches. The students could hardly contain themselves when I brought them in. I can't believe I only have $100 in the pair. What a steal . We also got the pink table for free from our church and repainted it to fit the decore.

Shhh... The Babies Are Sleeping

2011-05-05T13:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday our caterpillars finally arrived, and my kiddies are very curious about them. Each week I assign a science center and in it the students can explore lots of exciting things. This week, I put some life cycle books, a butterfly Weekly Reader, a few magnifying glasses, and our new babies. The students are so anxious to get to the center that during transition time, I often see them taking the long way to their seat.. hoping to catch a sneak peak.

I love the idea of a science center! I try to coordinate it with things that we are learning about during Readers Workshop. A few weeks ago we read the story Bad Dog Dodger and so I bought a few dog figurines from the Dollar Store and brought in pictures of my dog. I even let them read English Bulldogs for Dummies. Even though this center is always hands on, I try to incorporate either a thinking map or writing piece. This component helps monitor who has been to the center and keeps the students accountable. Do you have any cute science center ideas?

Super Cute Mother's Day Gifts

2011-05-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

If you're like me... Mother's Day ideas are hard to come by. After scouring the Internet for what felt like hours, my teammate found a super cute idea on another blog. we are obsessed with blogging! This project turned out to be perfect because we were able to find scrap lumber and even rope in a photographer to take pictures of our kiddies for FREE! After this project was complete, I may have $10 invested in it! I love a good deal : )

After our assistant's husband cut the wood, we used acrylic paint and watered it down so It would stain the wood. The students chose the colors they wanted their block to be and painted them. They had so much fun getting their hands dirty. Then after the paint dried, the students put dots on the frame using their fingers. Once everything had dried we used decoupage to paste the picture to the wood and protect the picture and paint. The end product was really cute.

The students will wrap their gift in bulletin board paper and make their parents a card. Because we have been learning about poetry, I am thinking I will also send home their poetry journal as part of the gift as well.