A few months back I was contacted by Mommypage and asked to do an interview. Of course I was very excited. I enjoy doing interviews like these because it gives me a chance to talk about all the wonderful things that happen in the blog world and to mention some of my favorite companies.

Last week I was talking with my principal and we were talking about the importance of having an academic words word wall. I have always had a word wall, but normally I come up with these words based on the lessons I teach. This year, I decided to do this differently. Instead of teaching and then coming up with vocabulary, I referred to the common core suggested vocabulary and created my word wall. Of course, I will not introduce these words until I teach the lesson. The reason I like doing it this way is because it helps ensure that I use the common core terminology when teaching and do not leave out any terms. If you would like your own copy of the 4th grade math vocabulary word wall words follow the link to my TPT store. The unit is 20 pages and only cost $3.

The first five people to leave a comment saying that they follow my TPT account will get a copy for free.

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.

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!