Winter Break!!!! 2021

Congratulations!!!!!!  We did it!  Go RELAX!   Go ENJOY your family!  You have MORE than earned this break! 

I am NOT going to share self care tips...U know U!  Do what makes you happy!  Me, I will be in Nashville with my husband living it up for the first weekend.  I then will spend the holiday at home with my family and my Aunt from Ohio.  

So while you are relaxing and enjoying your time take a peek at FEW of my FAVORITE things! 

Feel free to try them out! 

Basically my plan for winter break! 

If you decide to do a little shopping over break don't forget about these discounts just for TEACHERS!
Thank you Deal Hack for putting them together!

If you are looking for a little adventure away from home, check out FREE Events around Charlotte! 

Need a meal?  An easy one that will WOW your family and friends????

This is spot on as good at Olive Garden's Baked Ziti! 

I add sweet Italian sausage to mine!

I will be making this cutie!  So adorable & easy! 

Lily and I will be heading to the movies to watch SPENCER! (I am a HUGE Princess Diana fan!)

And we are planning on a few of these Holiday Treats...#15 for sure!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and enjoy every second of break!  If you do anything from my favorite things list keep me posted.  I would LOVE to hear what you think!  

Data Binders

Reindeer Science was SOOOO FUN this week!  I had a wonderful time and I sure hope the kiddos did too!  I am looking forward to my next rotation next week!  I adore this picture that Mrs. Derberry sent me!  

This week on the blog, I wanted to touch base with you about Data Binders.  I know, I know...it seems like just another thing but helping students own their data is such a powerful motivator! 🙌🏻 🙌🏻 

Even if you don't go the binder route, I encourage you to be open with your students about why you are pulling them outside the classroom to test. 

I always started testing "season" with the reasons why we were altering our routine and why I needed them to work independently.  This helped tons with management and buy in.  I also would randomly shout out students that made growth.  It really made testing relevant for the students and helped to encourage them to do their best. 

Each Friday, after our spelling test we updated our data binders.  We also set goals for the next week.  Got the students thinking about their data, planning and writing! (It was also a great time for me to meet individually with students for conferencing.) 

Below I am going to share some ideas that will allow you to start some student lead data tracking in your classrooms! 

Love this video about how a teacher set up her data binders.  She shares things that worked and things that didn't.  

Here is the book that she shared about in the video.

I also came across this FREE file for Dibels 8th Edition.  This is something that I would defiantly have my students fill out with me and then discuss. 

Achieve the Core has a great post about using data binders to increase student independence!  Check it out below. 

And I LOVE the title of this post!  

Whose data is it?

Such a powerful question.  Students NEED to have ownership of their data so that it can be then channeled into goals for them.  

Adrienne Wiggins has a killer post about how she uses her data binders to increase her student's scores. 

Know that there is no right way or wrong way to do this.  Just work to get your kiddos involved with their data.  Help them to set goals for themselves and celebrate those goals when they reach them. 

It is that simple! 

Decodable Comics

Happy December!  I am so excited for all the holiday fun that we will have going on at PVES!  Thank you advance for helping to keep the magic alive for our students.  

It is no secret that I LOVE tiktok...& I found something really awesome and I thought your kiddos would totally enjoy using them during small group or even during centers!

You can follow her over on the TT @farmerlovesphonics!

Here is more information on the site: 

You will find FREE comics that you can download for your students and they have printable templates where students can write their own comics. SOOOO fun for centers and writing lessons! 

The decodable comics are organized by phases that are based on the phonics progression of learning. 

Here is a preview of the templates!  I think the kiddos would LOVE to be able write their own after reading a few of the comics themselves.

Another one of my FAVORITE educational tiktoks is Lemon Tree Literacy!  Ms. Jordyn has TONS of Science of Reading videos to watch.  Lots of small group activities...I could watch her forever!!!  (She is on Instagram too...click the REELS for the videos.) 

Remember "Rainbow Writing" whelp...you can still do it!  Just have your kiddos rainbow the sounds they hear in the words.  Check out @learningwithheidi on tiktok or check out the video below!

I made a few sheets that you can use to go along with this center!  Grab them HERE!

Have fun exploring tiktok!!!!!

Vision Boards in the Classroom

Hi All!  We are SOOOO close to Fall Break!  I know you all are looking forward to some family time and a much needed break.  I have LOVED coming into your classrooms and seeing your Gratitude Pumpkins.  I hope you and your kiddos enjoyed that extra time together on Fridays sharing about what you are all grateful for. 

Since next week is a VERY short week, I thought I would share an idea that I came across a few weeks ago.  It has really stuck with me.  

Vision Boards!  And how we can use them in the classroom!  I love the idea of students creating these boards as we start a new school year or just after New Years or ANYTIME.  I think they are wonderful for refocusing and goal setting.  

This video is a great explanation of what a VISION Board is!

Top 10 Benefits of Having a Vision Board

• Creates Better Intentions. No matter what you put on your vision board, you must have the intention to achieve it. ...
• Makes Your Dreams Clear. ...
• Improves Creativity. ...
• Provides Motivation. ...
• Enhances Productivity. ...
• Provides Focus. ...
• Boosts Chances of Success. ...
• Makes You Happier...

This blog has a great post about Vision Boards and kids!  She suggests the idea of HOPES and DREAMS! Carrie Elle has some FREE printable templates too!

This video will help you introduce the idea of a vision board to your kiddos! 

This book on Goal Setting would be a great addition to your lesson on vision boards! 

I created a vision board on a recent retreat I attended and it has a BIG part of keeping me on track! 

Here are some FREE Templates that you can print and use with your kiddos! 

Check out these FREEbie from TPT!

 

StudyALLKnight has a great post about creating a Vision Board Book that your kiddos can add to all year long. 

I thought this would be an amazing idea to bring into our classrooms!  I made a digital vision board for you to use with your kiddos! (Click to grab a copy!)

But know that a simple piece of paper would work too.  I also thought that framing these boards or having them displayed in your classrooms would be powerful! 

Here are a few other ideas:

• $ Store usually has frames & you can use the cardboard inside as the base. 
• You could laminate them for students and then create a display in the classroom.
• You could give them a small binder and put the vision board on the outside in the sleeve on the front. Keep all their vision writing inside. 
• Use this idea for your Enrichment Kiddos in Patriot Block.
• Create a vision board for you classroom!
• Create vision boards just after MOY to help your students set some academic goals. 

 

SEL Resources

Hi All! I hope you all had a much needed and relaxing day off.  This school year has been more than a challenge with academics and data.  We need to be looking at our students in all areas.  That includes their social emotional learning, in fact, that needs to be a top priority.  Without it, the academic stuff will never stick.  

I know we have breakfast in the classroom and our busses are late but I encourage you to work to get as much morning meeting time in with your kiddos.  They NEED that time. 

You do not have to wait until every students is done eating before you start morning meeting.  They can also join in when they get in from the buses.  They need time to share and connect with you and each other every morning.  School is a safe place for so many of our students.   

This week on the blog, I thought I would share some resources for Social Emotional Learning.  

What is Social Emotional learning?  It is the ability to understand & manage emotions, set and achieve goals, feel and show empathy for others & build relationships. All of these skills can be supported in the classroom through morning meeting, books, games, and social stories. 

We know our students will hear about the events that happened at the high school and we need to be prepared to listen and support them as they go through this difficult time.  

I know we have been using our SEL Slides this year but I wanted to share some more resources to help support you! 

I love this video and how it explains the importance of SEL in school, work and life!

Think about your class and your past classes.  Look over this poster.  Many of the "behaviors" that we see in our classrooms stem from poor Social Emotional Skills. 

Don't forget that we have tons of social stories pre recorded on our Park View Info site!  

Identifying the behavior and finding the social emotional skill/story that supports it will allow you to plan out a systematic way to address the behavior and provide support to the student. 

Love this list of SEL books!  There are so many good ones to add to your morning meeting or interactive read aloud! Click the image to head to Nourishing my Scholar and read about each of the books.  

During your morning meetings, don't forget about those morning check ins!   Here is a simple way to check in with your kiddos from Playful in Primary!

The Pathway to Success is filled with 25 ways to support social emotional learning in your classroom!!!!  So many goodies!  Love the journaling, the breathing cards & the focus on positive self talk. Click the image! 

Spend some time watching this video and making connections to executive function. Listening to these kiddos is sooooo powerful! Edutopia did it again! 

For those of you that participated in our Conscious Discipline book study,  I love the Brain Smart Start!  The focus on being safe and disengaging stress through breathing is so powerful! 

Setting up a safe spot in your classroom can be super helpful to students struggling with Social Emotional Learning.  I love how this post has a goal of leading the students back to the class. 

So, as you begin to think about plans for next week, be sure that you are thinking about SEL and what you can do to support all our students.  Thank you in advance for everything that you do and will do for our students!  

Opinion Writing

Hi All!  Happy November!   I can't believe we are already a week into the month. I know we have had discussions in PLC this past week about writing and how we can get some explicit instruction in the writing process. 

I thought it would be helpful to provide you with some resources to support writing in the classroom for Opinion Writing! 

Kinder: Shared Writing: Create a list of ways in which a family member takes care of them or they care of a family member.  

Create a big book with one page per child.  Each child finishes the sentence that you wrote on the page. “I like to ___ with my family(or family member). The child illustrates the page and write the word to fill in the blank.

First: W.1 Opinion: In your opinion what makes you special and unique?

Second: W.1 Opinion:  Write an opinion piece about  a component of this text set.

Third: W.1 Opinion: After reading the books in this text set, write an opinion piece telling which book is your favorite and why.

Resources for Opinion Writing!

Begin by introducing Fact or Opinion

.   

 

 

Once students have an understanding of what an opinion is they can begin to develop writing ideas that support their opinions about different topics. 

I LOVE these videos all about opinion writing!  These will be super helpful in breaking down the process for students. 

This anchor chart is helpful in allowing students to see the structure required for this type of writing. 

Sheets & Prompts to practice with!

  

This blogpost is filled with text that help to teach opinion writing through picture books. Head over to We Are Teachers to see their list too! 

Be sure to grab the FREE sheets that go along with this one! 

Love this text too especially because it is on EPIC Books!

Your kiddos will be totally engaged in this writing activity!

Hope these resources are helpful!  Know that during your content block, you can teach to this writing genre but center it around a topic related to Science or Social Studies.