Winter Wonders Blog Hop

Welcome to my humble little blog! One year ago today, a group of teacher-bloggers launched the website Adventures in Literacy Land to share tips and tools for effective literacy instruction. I am so excited that I have been able to be a part of this amazing group of ladies!

In honor of reaching our first full year of blogging together we are hosting a Winter Wonders Blog Hop and Birthday Celebration. Join us, if you will, to read a short post by each author, download a free literacy resource, and enter a raffle for a chance to win a Barnes and Nobles gift certificate at the very end!

As an upper grades reading teacher, one of my students' biggest struggles is finding the main idea and supporting details. There are SO many ways to review this skill, so I just wanted to highlight a few of my favorites.

• Have students fill out main idea and details graphic organizers for writing. I like teach this for basic 5 paragraph essays anyway, and then you can expand it to where they come up with three details to support each original detail. They get to practice the skill on their own and also learn a great way to organize their writing.
• Create short "headings" for paragraphs. This is one of my test-taking strategies, but I think it's very beneficial for the students. I emphasize SHORT headings and even explain to my students that it doesn't always have to be a complete sentence. I just want them to understand what key words are important in each section.
• Highlight key words that appear frequently and/or use tally marks for most common words/ideas. This really helps students visualize what the author continues to discuss, and it can also help with multiple choice questions to narrow it down to the best option.
• Let students come up with the main idea or detail when given the opposite. I begin the year giving them the main idea because it's easier to create details about a topic. But about halfway through the year, I switch it up. Then it's great practice for students to focus on key words and ideas to come up with a main idea that really matches all of the details. They really struggle with this one, but it's so important.
• Give students main idea and details to sort into the correct pairs. This is actually the freebie that I prepared for you! I use this a lot in my independent centers, but I like to make sure that each set is similar enough that it's a bit of a challenge to the students. Some of the cards require students to really pay attention and decide what fits best.

Click on the graphic below, but be sure to download soon because it will only be free for 24 hours! Sorry, the time has now expired on the freebie, but you can still purchase it for $2 in my shop!

Hope you enjoy my freebie and the rest of your journey through our blog hop!

Figurative Language Writing for Mother's Day

If you need an idea for Mother's Day in your classroom, I blogged about a sweet writing solution over at Adventures in Literacy Land today. Go check it out!

And don't forget that my giveaway ends on at midnight on May 7!

Main Idea Testing Tip

Man, it was crazy today at school! We had class pictures, and the schedule ended up getting so far behind. I didn't even get to work with my 3rd graders, and I won't have them tomorrow because they'll be on a field trip. The good news was that it gave me more time to work on and finish my progress reports since they go home with report cards tomorrow and I may have completely ignored them over spring break.

I'm actually blogging over at Literacy Land today with a great trick for main idea questions. It's short and simple, just how I like things!

Then be sure to stop by Bex's blog (a fellow Literacy Land blogger) to celebrate her recent milestones with a giveaway! I'm in the winner's choice pack, and I think I'll be entering for a new pencil sharpener as well :-)

Writing Tips: Part 2

I'm blogging over at Adventures in Literacy Land today about the second part of my sentence fluency lesson. If you're looking for tips on teaching writing, you won't want to miss this!

I'm Blogging at Adventures in Literacy Land

It's another snow day for me today (we got 4 inches yesterday and are supposed to get up to 4 more this evening), but I'm blogging over at Adventures in Literacy Land. Click on the button to learn about how I teach Fact and Opinion!

And don't forget to check out yesterday's post to see all of the amazing products linked up for the big snow day sale! That ends at 10 EST tonight.

I may take a nap and then go play in the snow. Or clean. I should probably clean...

Slim Down Saturdays

I've seen this linky around and decided to join in! For those of you who were following along with my Teacher Fitness Thursday that is now cancelled, I would recommend this one.

Since they're on week four and I'm just jumping in, I'll explain some of my past. After having Keagan, I had a LOT of weight to lose. I've lost just shy of 30 pounds and am hanging right around the weight I need to be. Now I'm trying to find ways to keep the weight but lose some of the belly. I've really been struggling with motivation since school started because I'm tired of getting up early and not seeing the results I want to see. This week, I was determined to get back on the horse. It was also a lot easier because I only went to school on Tuesday. Monday will be the real challenge when I have to wake up at 5. If it doesn't seem to work, I'm going to try moving my workout time to the evening, though.

In teacher-related news, I'm blogging about activating prior knowledge today at: