Five for Fraturday: May 16/17

Wow, it's been a while since I've done a Five for Friday, but I'm going to try and pull one together here!

May filled up quickly, especially weekends! Last Saturday we had a baby shower for my sister-in-law. She's having a boy and is doing a nautical theme in the nursery (right up my alley!), so I had to order these precious cupcakes for the shower. A high schooler from our former church made them! She's already building herself quite the little business, and I will probably be ordering from her again!

Oh, and a certain little boy's presence was also requested, so I have to share a cute pic of my silly boy!

We were supposed to start testing Monday, but there was a power surge over the weekend that knocked  out our network for a good chunk of the morning. Since all of our testing is now online, that really messed things up, so I wasn't able to test any of my kids that day. Instead, I helped our Guidance Counselor get video clips to put together a little test-taking video to the song "Happy". It turned out really cute! Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of it, but I can link you to a similar one on Youtube!

It was a long day because that night was our Title I Fun Night, and I had 16 of my 28 students show! I would call it a successful night. We decorated cookies, played games, and made bookmarks to take home. Then we ended the evening with some Wizard of Oz since that was our big theme back in March for Reading Month. It was interesting because most of the kids had never seen it before!

Tuesday began the testing madness! In the past 4 days of testing alone, I have managed to read one "grown-up" book, a kid's book, and I started a new one. Oh, and I finished the last 20-ish crossword puzzles in my book. Glad I have quite a few new books to read through because we still have 3 weeks of testing left!

This was just the reading from Friday! Any book suggestions? I've got Riding Freedom, The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda, and The Fault in Our Stars lined up to read after I finish Prisoner B-3087.

At home, we've been getting ready for our annual yard sale. We were blessed with SO many hand-me-down clothes for Keagan that he couldn't possibly wear them all. Some of our Spring Break was dedicated to narrowing the clothes down to one storage bag for each size.

We picked our favorites and put the rest in yard sale boxes. I'm happy to say that we were able to get 5 boxes down to 3 this morning! Becky was taking the rest to her neighborhood to see if more would sell, then we'll take what's left to Goodwill. I love cleaning out the clutter!

Five for Friday

It's time to link up again for the last day of May! Tomorrow begins my birthday month, anniversary month, the end of school, AND later in the month vacation! But first, let's focus on what has been going on this past week.

Today was basically the last day of testing (two more classes for math). Praise God!! I haven't had much of anything else going on at school the past two weeks because I have either been sitting outside of testing sessions helping monitor bathrooms/offer help when needed OR I was testing a small group/individual. Of course, I could have spent my time more wisely when I was outside of the testing sessions, but I did catch up on reading blogs!

I did, however, take a little bit of time to start working on my summer literacy centers. I still have a LOT of work to do, but I'm hoping to get them finished by the end of next week. Maybe teachers who are in school as long as I am can use them for the last week. Or maybe they'd be perfect for summer school. OR for those of you who are already out and will be back to school in August, you can use them then! Here's a sneak peak. I'm using Krista's clipart again. I just love it!

We were actually able to get little man back from the beach, although I think he's going through Pawpaw withdrawals. I can't blame him after spending an entire week having a blast there and then coming back home where there's no pool or beach. At least we'll be able to make plenty of day trips since Steven and I will both be home all summer.

 

 Since Monday was Memorial Day and we had it off, we went to a cookout with some friends. The kids had a blast, and Keagan was no exception.

This weekend, we're going to the wedding of a very good friend. Sarah Jo was my college roommate, but she is also the reason that Steven and I even met. They were high school show choir partners here in Virginia, and he actually had a little bit of a crush on her (which is the reason he made a trip to GA in the first place, but that's another story for another day - maybe on our anniversary!). Anyway, being that we were roomies for 3 years, there are a lot of inside jokes. One big joke had to do with going camping on your honeymoon. Well, guess where's she's going for her honeymoon? Bonnaroo - in a tent! We decided we HAD to do something as a joke for her. So I used my creating powers and whipped up some fun little "fortune cookie" quotes. Then I added "in a tent" to the end of each of them. Here's a preview (and I'm assuming she doesn't read this blog, but I guess I am taking a chance).

Next week, I should have at least a few pictures because we'll be back to doing something (although I'm done pulling groups for the year). It's time to do more running records, and then we have Field Day Thursday and Friday. Do you split field day between upper and lower grades? 

Testing, testing...

I feel like I've been pretty MIA for the most part, but there hasn't been much to say. We're most of the way through testing, but there's one more week to go. Reading SOLs are over, and I'm nervous about the outcomes. They definitely increased the rigor this year! I'm just hoping our school did enough to not be under review. I hate to think of it that way, but I know our math dropped significantly last year after they increased the rigor, and it's just scary! I know most of my kiddos did their best, though, and that's all I can ask.

After this week's testing (math), I will start helping with final running records for the year. I love being able to see how far my kids have progressed! Of course, I've been doing them throughout the year for mine since they were already behind. But I haven't done many since March, so it will be nice to see where they end up.

Also, if you haven't already gone to TN and donated a minimum of $20 to help Moore, OK, I HIGHLY recommend it! I donated this morning, and there are over 500 products that came with the bundle! You have until May 28 to participate. And don't forget: 100% of the proceeds go toward helping Moore, OK. The products you are receiving have been donated by over 300 different sellers. It may take me all summer to go through the amazing items! Good thing I don't have to download and sort through every single one that way. My computer wouldn't have enough storage!

Giveaway updates during testing

We're more than halfway through the week, and testing started today. That means I am sitting in the center area helping make sure only one person is in the bathroom at a time. Fun stuff! At least I have a computer to keep me entertained. Anyway, as I was catching up on blogs, I ran across this great giveaway! We're on day four. Go check them out!

Kristin is also having her 400 follower giveaway! Lots of great bloggers are giving away winner's choice from their store.

Tried it Tuesday - Question Strategy

This is my last week of "teaching", so I'm hoping it will be easier to blog starting very soon. However, I don't know what I will blog about because it will be testing, testing, testing for the next three weeks. Then we'll be doing running records and packing up the class.

Anyway, I wanted to participate in Holly's Tried it Tuesday, and I figured a testing strategy would be the perfect "tried-it" to link up with.


Most of us use strategies like "Slash the Trash", "Plug it in", "Prove/Highlight your Answers", "Stop and Jot", etc., but I have a different one you may not do that I want to share today. I don't know about you, but we always have a few questions that look something like this:
Which question is answered in paragraph 3?

• Why do chickens lay eggs?
• Is it safe for a chicken to cross the road?
• Why do we care about a chicken crossing a road?
• What does this have to do with chickens?

The question should be an easy one to get right, but they are always difficult for my students because it takes so much effort. I use what I have started calling the "question strategy" as a sure-fire way to get these questions right every time. It's simple, really. Students have to go back to paragraph 3 (or whatever) and physically write "no" beside the question if they can't find it in that paragraph OR write the answer to the question beside the correct one. They should only have 1 answer. This also works for the opposites (Which question is NOT answered in paragraph 3?), but they should have 3 answers and one "no". Sometimes the kids get annoyed with me for making them do it, but they always get it right if they follow my advice!

I hope this helps some of you, although I know most of you are already through with testing. Those who are like me and are just beginning, good luck! We start Thursday. Eek!

Five for Friday, late again, but I have a freebie!

I'm late again. I know! I almost didn't even link up this week because it was literally the most boring week of teaching I may have ever had. Pretty much all I did was test for our third nine week benchmarks. And then in about 4 weeks, I will do it all over again for the actual SOL tests - for three weeks. Then I'm done (except for helping with running records) for the last two weeks of school.

Anyway, I may not be able to come up with five things, but here was my week (without picture because Steven had my camera all week, and what pictures could I have taken from testing, anyway?):

Monday feels SO long ago, but I did actually get to pull groups and push into classes! With most of my groups, I reviewed making a brain plop since they were preparing for tests. Do you do these with your kids? I try to get them to the point where they know EXACTLY what to do with the scrap paper on the day of the test since I can't tell them what to write. I've done one for math for years (make a multiplication chart, place value chart, and list ANY measurement conversions that you can remember), but last year was the first time I had them start making one for reading. I even posted it as my first freebie on my TPT store last year. You can still get it for free here. I know a lot of you are beginning state testing, so please feel free to pass it around to whoever you can think of!

I have been trying to read this book since before spring break and just never had the time.

I even took it with me on spring break thinking I would surely have some time to read it, but I didn't even read in the car. So I decided to bring it with me to school this week since I would be bored to tears while testing small groups and individuals. I was able to finish it Wednesday night. Such a good book! Now I'm about to start one my mother-in-law passed on to me.

Have any of you ever heard of this book? It's been compared to The Help, so my interest was piqued! I'll have to let you know how it goes. Love that I'm able to read at least a little more for myself with this new job. Usually I have to wait until summer to start ANY books for me. I still have tons of books waiting on my shelf to read, but at least I'm making some headway before summer gets here!

The weather has been PERFECT all week, and I'm so excited that we've been able to grill outside and let Keagan play in our yard some (although the yard needs a lot of work, and we're in search of a playhouse to buy for him). I actually did take a few pictures on my phone while he was playing. The boy could stay out there all day and be perfectly content!

We had small group again Wednesday night, and I was so happy to start back up! I've probably mentioned my group on here before, but I really enjoy the time we spend together. There are four couples (although we actually had another couple come visit the group this week), and we've been together for about 2 years now. All of us have kids 5 and under who enjoy playing together (actually, three of us were pregnant at the same time and had our kids within 6 months of each other).

Here's a picture a month or two after Emmy was born when we got together to hang out

And here they are last Saturday at a little birthday party for Maggie's older brother. Too bad I couldn't get one of all of them looking at the camera!

I always look forward to Wednesday nights with the group! The girls are actually going to have another night out this Tuesday. We're doing one of those painting classes. I'm so excited, and I'll have to make sure I get pictures to share!

Oh, one more thing to add. My sweet bloggy friend, Jivey has reached 300 followers and is having a giveaway! There are prizes for K-1, 2-3, and 4-6, so go enter!

Enjoy your weekend!

Last day of break and a giveaway

I'm loving this beautiful spring weather today, and right now I'm ignoring the fact that I have to wake up early and go back to work tomorrow. Someone did count out the remaining days though: 49. I can do that.

These next two weeks are going to be kind of weird for me because it's time for 3rd nine weeks benchmark tests. Does your school test every nine weeks? It takes up SO much instructional time! I'll be busy helping test students in small groups or individually, so I will barely meet with my groups at all. Did I mention we have about 5 weeks left before SOLs? Eek!

Anyway, I wanted to let you know about a great little giveaway you should check out over at The Frizz in First Grade. I'm offering winner's choice of one item, plus there are 14 other bloggers donating to it. She's so sweet, and I hope you will go check out her blog! I was happy to help out.

It's WAY too pretty of a day to be cooped up inside, so that's all for now (plus I don't have much else to say). Time to enjoy the weather some more with my little man!

Doesn't that happy face just melt your heart?

Long week, testing, and a giveaway

Does anybody else feel like this week is just dragging on? I feel like maybe it's because we've been doing 2nd nine week benchmark tests, but I have been off all week. Today is my last day of testing kids (or maybe one more because I had one absent), and I'm SO tired. Although I'm glad I went ahead and did this now before SOL time rolls around. I know exactly which kids of mine need help with test-taking. I think I almost made a boy cry today when I fussed at him for not using ANY of the strategies I and his classroom teacher have been teaching him. He got a 39, and he's one of my higher readers that I'm looking at possibly releasing later this year. Oh well, I think he needed to hear it. I made sure to tell him I was so upset because I knew he was smart and COULD do it if he tried. It just frustrates me to see them just click and go. 

Speaking of, what kind of strategies do you teach your kids for test-taking? We do a lot of highlighting important information in the passages. I have them go back and find the answer, then they are supposed to highlight it to prove it. Some teachers at my school have students stop and jot for every paragraph. I know I would've HATED that as a kid, so I don't make them, but I know it really works for some kids. I'm actually still sitting with one of my 3rd graders right now because he's stopping and jotting for everything (Rebecca, if you're reading this, he's working hard!). We also teach them to "plug it in" for questions using context clues, etc, and we have them "slash the trash". Those are our major strategies. Any other tips?

Alright, some giveaway news:

If you love Valentine's Day and want some great activities for next week, go check out this giveaway! Four fantastic ladies are giving away items from their stores. Even this Valentine "grinch" (as my hubby has started calling me) is entering the giveaway!

Oh, and don't forget that I'm offering 15% off all the items in my Teacher's Notebook store through tomorrow. Go check it out!