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!

Currently and Five for Friday

Can you believe May is already here? I'm in shock! We don't get out until mid-June, but May still symbolizes the end of the year because this is testing month. We actually only have one more full week of instruction before SOLs begin May 16. Once SOLs begin, I don't pull kids anymore. Craziness!

Anyway, with the beginning of the month comes Farley's Currently (which you know I have to join). Plus, it's Friday, so I'm going to do my Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching. Hey, I'm home for the day, so I've got time for this!

I'm pretty sure I can explain everything in my Five for Friday, so it will be mixed in there. I'm going to do this a little backwards this week.

1. I've been fighting a sinus infection since last Friday, but I'm stubborn and had put off going to the doctor. Then I started to lose my voice on Wednesday. By yesterday, I could barely speak over a whisper, so I left at lunch and went to the doctor. Last night was so miserable that my hubby actually slept in the guest room (sorry, sweetie!). Today, I started the steroids and am hoping everything's back to normal by Sunday. Why Sunday? I sing with our church's praise team occasionally. A few months ago, one of my friends asked me to fill in this Sunday because the lead for their group was going to be out. I was happy to agree to it. Well, I went to practice on Wednesday to make sure I knew what was going on in hopes that my voice was back. We'll see though. There are other singers, but they kind of need me to help lead some of the songs. Prayers that it comes back quickly!

2. Some of you know I've been doing Insanity. It's a 60 day challenge, and next Saturday is supposed to be the end. However, I haven't been able to keep up with it this week because I can barely breathe. I tried last Sunday on the "easy" day and had to pause the video. So I've missed 3 workouts this week. It's frustrating to be this close to the end and have to stop. Maybe I can work my way through it today, but I probably shouldn't. Grrr....

3. I did some TPT work this week! First, I updated my Candy Awards and am so proud of the new look!

TN or TPT

Then I worked on my camping themed literacy centers some more, but I will have to finish them next week. I come up with all of the sentences, and that takes a LOT of time. So far, I have 2 1/2 of the 8 centers completed. I start with the hardest and work my way down, so Main Idea, Cause and Effect, and Fact and Opinion are almost done. I'm changing Drawing Conclusions to context clues this time, and then I'll have Synonyms, Antonyms, Guide Words, and S'more Suffixes.

4. I participated in my first #teachertalktuesday linky on instagram this week! This is the main idea center from my Spring Literacy Centers. I always have four main ideas and three details to match. Students have to sort them. I did this with one of the third grade classes that I push into, and they loved it! We did the black and white version (I have a color option I laminate for centers), and the kids enjoyed coloring in the pictures after they glued.

5. Last weekend, we spent most of Saturday sorting tons of bags and things for our yard sale we're doing tomorrow. We head to Steven's parents for it because they live in a bigger neighborhood that does a community yard sale in the spring and fall. We'll be pricing and all that fun stuff tonight. If you live in the Richmond area, come out to Summer Walk Parkway in Mechanicsville and check out our stuff!

Now I'm going to attempt to get off the couch and do a little bit of cleaning. Our house desperately needs vacuuming, and laundry has piled up again. I feel like I just finished laundry...

Snowmen and a penguin!

Okay, I said this would be up and ready to go, and it is! I uploaded it to my TpT store yesterday morning and even took a picture of some of the completed snowmen! I wanted to take pictures of the kids actually doing the activity, but I forgot. Oh well. Baby steps. This packet is in my store for $2. It includes 5 main ideas, and each has 3 supporting details. All are snow-related. They are geared for upper elementary grades and are meant to be a little tricky (not too hard, but they aren't all obvious choices). I did this with 4th and 5th graders yesterday. The 4th grade class got them all right eventually after reading VERY carefully and debating over the BEST choice. 5th grade pretty much breezed through it (both classes were the lowest in their grade level). 

When I prepared the activity, I cut all of the pieces into squares (there's only 5 sheets, so I did them all at once) and put them in ziploc bags. Then I gave the bags to small groups and had them work together to match the cards. They had to match EVERYTHING first to make sure it was correct. Then they cut out all of the pieces and glued them together. You could have students color them and hang them up if you wanted! Mine really wanted to write their names on the brim and decorate them, but I only have 30 minutes. Without coloring, this activity fits PERFECTLY into a 30 minute block, at least for 4th and 5th grade.

I also wanted to update my door for the rest of winter, so I went to Pinterest and looked around. Then I stumbled upon this from Mrs. Ussery's Third Grade Class:

How flippin' adorable, right? I HAD to make my own. Unfortunately our walls have not been painted ANY nice colors, so mine doesn't look quite as cute in its surroundings. It was funny, however, as we were working on putting up the pieces to hear what people thought it would be. When we added the belly, they thought snowman. Then we added the whites of the eyes and the red strip for the scarf. That made it look a LOT like a ballgown. I think our cute little penguin is going to stay with us up to Spring Break. I'm thinking of adding hearts next month and then changing out the hat and scarf for green (maybe a top hat?) during March.

I do need opinions though. What do you think I should do about the top? I tried to make a pouf, but it just didn't look good. So I pulled it off. Does it even need anything?

MLK Craftivity, more main idea, and squirrels

Today was back to school for me. Boo! Actually it wasn't bad at all. I just love my time at home with my bed Steven and Keagan!

I did some more main idea practice with my 4th and 5th graders today. No 3rd grade because they needed more time to readjust after break (especially since one of the teachers was out the two weeks before break after she fell and had surgery on her arm AT SCHOOL), but that gave me some extra time to finally make my writing craftivity for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It's so cute, and I love that I finally have my own template for kids to use with other crafts later.

Here's a bigger picture of how the craft looks:

I didn't use colored paper to make mine, but I separated parts where you could print on colored paper for more ease. Since we don't get to do many crafts in my classroom (and I have NO money this year), I only have pink construction paper. But it works to color it just as well if you're broke like me.

*** Okay, hold on! SQUIRREL!! (as Farley would say) ***

I'm watching Mobbed, and the teacher they hired for the kid actors/dancers just screwed up BIG TIME! Is anybody else watching this? A wife is trying to tell her hubby that she's expecting. So right now he's sitting at a table with this "random" girl (child actor) who's mom had to run and check on her son. The wife left him to sign some papers, and they were JUST ABOUT to start this whole dance sequence where they would eventually reveal the sonogram picture. This teacher walks over to talk to the girl and is explaining how she's her welfare worker and she was hired to teach her. 

Whew! Finally back from commercial break. Fortunately the kid listened and has pulled her away. So cute! He's very confused standing in the middle of dancers with baby carriages! I might cry...

*** Sorry, I'm back. I know that's not normal for me, but I couldn't think while watching that and I HAVE to know if anyone else saw it. ***

Anyway, I also made a snowman main idea packet, but my computer at school apparently decided it was time for a break. So it's ready, but I'll have to post it on TpT when I get to school in the morning. It's really cute though, and I'll blog about it this weekend. I plan on using it with my 5th grade class I push into tomorrow, so I'll be sure to bring my camera.

Now it's time to finish watching Mobbed and go to bed!

Halloween main idea, book of the month, and a bundle

Is anyone else just drained? Keagan's been sleeping through the night, but for some reason I feel like I'm completely out of energy. I'm blaming band competition this weekend. Hopefully I can find my energy soon. We're not even halfway through the week, and this weekend includes a football game AND another band competition. Can't wait until November gets here!

As far as my full time job goes, we're in week 2 of pulling students for Title I, and so far things are going well. I have so many kids that I've had to split them into smaller groups, but that made it easier to work with them on their most appropriate level. Fourth grade alone has 3 groups, and the others have two. I push in to classes in the mornings and then pull out mostly in the afternoons.

Third and fourth grade have been working on main idea and supporting details, so I've been trying to find activities to do with them. Yesterday, I made pumpkins with a different main idea listed on each one, and I gave it to my higher group of fourth graders so they could each come up with three supporting details. Then I typed them up (and changed a few to make better supporting details) and put them all into a file. Later, I'm going to give them back the pumpkins and supporting details all cut out, and I'm going to have students sort them to match the correct main idea.

You can download the packet here. I want to print my pumpkins on orange paper, and I'll take pictures to show after they've done it.

Then I also took this packet, my bat research unit (which I added more pages to), and my pumpkin writing craftivity, and I bundled them all together for one big Halloween literacy unit. It's on sale for the rest of this week, but the price will jump up $2 next week!

Oh, and I found a linky that I had to join! Tammy at 123 Teach With Me is hosting a book of the month linky that she'll have each month. For this linky, you need to choose a book that relates to the month in some way.

I have two books this month. One is the book I based my bat unit off, and it's quite old. Actually I realized while searching for the book that it is now out of print. I'm checking mine out from the library, but I think I may buy a copy from Amazon later.

This book is about a huge ball game (sounds like lacrosse, maybe?) between the birds and the beasts. The bat keeps trying to find his place, and both teams end up pushing him away. I remember reading this when I was in school, and it always stuck with me.

Chris Van Allsburg is one of my new favorites, and I found this book in the library last week when I was searching for a book. I haven't planned exactly what I'm going to do with it yet, but I had to check it out before it went missing.  Just a quick synopsis I found online: A witch leaves behind a broom that can't fly anymore, but it can still do chores for the lonely widow who befriends it. But the neighbors think it's evil and want to destroy it. 

I can't wait to see what other books people are posting!