First 20 Days of Reader’s Workshop

Officially one week until I report back to duty! I am actually getting really excited. I don’t know very much of what to expect being in a new school, and in a new grade, but I’m not the only one. The rest of the third grade teachers will be learning with me. That is very comforting! Anyway, I know I post A LOT about Reader’s Workshop. I guess that’s because it’s one of the only things I get to keep (mostly) the same in my transition to third grade. I am using the same back-to-school lesson plans this year that I used the last 2 years in first grade. That’s because the first 20 days or so are all about teaching procedures. The kids will learn how I run my Reader’s Workshop, what they will be expected to do, and we will talk a lot about reading and what good readers do. So even though the rest of my day is completely unprepared right now, I am good to go for Reader’s Workshop. I revamped my lessons plans and now have all 20 lesson plans in one product at my TpT store. It’s only $3…Check it out!

I have been posting these lessons week-by-week for awhile, so if you have already purchased one of the weeks, you do not need to purchase the 20 days packet. You will want to keep buying the weekly packets. There are 4 weekly packets. The first packet is my free download if you want to take a peek!

Classroom Library Series #1, new RW mini lessons posted!

Happy Saturday everyone! It is gorgeous in Peru, Indiana today. A perfect day for my teacher buddy Caley to get hitched!

So I am really excited about my new classroom library! I spent a lot of time yesterday getting my boxes together for my new bookshelves from this post. I still have some more work today but I got step one done (which was hopefully the biggest step)! So here is what inspired me to update my classroom library this year:

The Problem:

This will be my fourth year teaching, and every year my library seems to double in size. And every year when I go back to school shopping I am guilty of buying about 5 new book tubs from Dollar Tree, Dollar General, or Target. And every year I stuff them to the max and they break or get misshapen. This year I decided to stop that habit and come up with a new solution. Some of my tubs are still in good shape, but they are all different colors- mostly neons and bright colors. This year I am sticking to a different color scheme. One thing I decided on was to go with either all black or all white book tubs. I want all matching, simple, and clean. But my problem is that I am FRUGAL! Especially with my teaching stuff. If there is a tub at DG for $1 why spend $5 at Really Good Stuff? (because they will last longer, duh!)

The Solution:

Well, I am sticking to my frugal ways! An idea popped into my head one day when I received an order from Scholastic. The cardboard shipping box that my books came in was the same size as most of my book tubs. (Light bulb!) I asked my fellow teachers to save boxes for me the last few months of school, and I came up with 30 boxes! I currently have about 20 tubs, so this way I can spread the books out so they don’t ruin the box so quickly.

Another Problem:

How do I get these boxes completely black or white? I thought about covering them in contact paper (too expensive), wall paper (not strong enough), and then decided to try spray paint. I went ahead and decided on black, and after two boxes, I threw in the can. The can was already empty, the boxes were messy, my index finger was numb and black. I was not feeling it.

Another Solution:

I was frustrated that I had 30 28 boxes in my garage and no plan. Then my husband came up with the solution. At first I thought it would be too much work, but then what sold me was the fact that it would be completely F-R-E-E! His idea was to use the big rolls of butcher paper at school and laminate it. Then wrap it like a present. I was a little nervous that it would look a little sloppy, but after the first one that I tried I knew it would be perfect!

Tomorrow I will have pictures and a step by step of how to make these completely free book tubs! I love how they turned out, and know my room will look great with the uniform look. Stay tuned!

But before you go, I just posted my third packet of Back to School Reader’s Workshop Mini Lessons. If you haven’t seen my other two packets be sure to grab those as well in my TpT store! The third packet has 5 lessons on procedures, skills, and reading strategies.

Have a wonderful weekend!

RW Vocab Matching Center

One of my back to school goals is to get some fresh, new centers ready for my third graders. I have always enjoyed centers that you can leave out for many many weeks without the kids getting bored. Matching games are something that my kids have always enjoyed, and once you teach how to play the game, you can change out the skills and topics very easily.

When we go back to school, we all know you can’t just jump into centers. You have to teach procedures first with lots and lots of modeling. I always start teaching centers with easy activities or games that everyone can understand. That way they aren’t focusing as much on learning how to do the activity, but learning how to go to centers, how to work with others, how to clean up, how to rotate, and so on. This took my first graders a good month of practice before I gave them challenging activities. I am hoping my third graders will catch on a little faster, but I don’t see any reason to rush this at the beginning of the year.

On my to-do list is to come up with those easy, “everyone understands how to do it” activities that I can use while I teach through my center procedures. However, instead of using linking cubes, coloring, and puzzles (like I got away with in first grade) I would like to try some review skills and centers that they have guaranteed been exposed to before (matching games, memory, word searches, magnetic letters, etc...) That way we can start right away with learning centers to be task-oriented and not just “play time”.

My first back to school review center is focused on vocabulary that we use in Reader’s Workshop. At my district, we have only been using Reader’s Workshop for 2 years now. I went ahead and used it my first year because that was what I was comfortable with out of student teaching. So the majority of my new class will have had Reader’s Workshop vocabulary since first grade. I think the majority will recognize these words that I have put in the matching game, but will have to stop and think to remember their definition. It will probably take a few rounds of playing this game to fully recall all of the definitions and get 100%. Why not use this time to review? It’s better than taking up our precious time throughout the rest of the day!

Grab a copy of my new Reader’s Workshop Vocabulary Matching Center at my TpT store! 

Enjoy!

“My Reader’s Notebook” Printable and Sale!

Wow- it’s been a busy week! I took a bit of time today to sit down and edit my Reader’s Notebook printables. I make my own Reader’s Notebooks instead of buying the premade ones that you can get from those classroom magazines or online. Actually I need to give credit to the amazing parent helper, Debbie, that I had this year. She made them and a whole set for a first year teacher in my grade level. She was the best! But anyway… I wanted to jazz them up a bit because they were lacking fun clip art and fonts. I want the kids to think, “Wow! I get to keep this?!” and not think of it as another writing assignment to do. First, let me tell you how I used Reader’s Notebooks in first grade, and how I plan to use them in third grade.

In first grade I used them as a literacy center. Students would go to the Reader’s Notebook center about once a week. They had to get their notebook from their book box along with one book they have read (important!) and take them to the center’s location. The table was ready with pencils, crayons, and erasers. They would follow the procedures that I modeled, modeled, modeled and would have about 15 minutes to complete one entry. They only had to write 3 sentences and have a picture to go along with it. They always had something to write about because the notebook has a page full of “Story Starters”. They learned to use these to help them come up with something to write about. We also used them occasionally during our Reader’s Workshop Mini Lessons or Independent Reading Time. They are great for recording connections or taking notes. Reader’s Notebooks also help me with informal observations. I conference with students about their entries, and also use them to show parents specific strengths and weaknesses in writing.

In third grade I am excited to use Reader’s Notebooks in a few different ways. I will still use them the same way for note-taking during mini lessons and independent reading time as well as conferencing and parent documentation. I will mostly be changing the procedures for their assignment. They will need to obviously write more than 3 sentences. And I would like to respond back to them after they write. I think it would be fun if they wrote me a letter telling me about their book, and then I write back. I think this would motivate them to complete the assignment. Am I in over my head?? I would definitely like to up the responsibility level this year. My first graders could pick any “story starter” at any time. Some used the same one over and over. I would like to make sure my third graders are trying different “story starters” each week, writing about both fiction and nonfiction books, and using proper grammar and spelling. I think I could still fit it in as a center, but the assignment could be graded this year.

So there’s my brainstorming session for the day. Stop by my Teachers Pay Teachers store to pick up the “My Reader’s Notebook Printable Pack” today! Only $1!!!! Click below!

 

Oh- one more thing! Tomorrow I am off to my favorite place in the entire world- CEDAR POINT!!! I seriously feel like a kid again. I Google-imaged it the other night just to look at pictures of rollercoasters! We are going for OUR 2nd ANNIVERSARY!! My amazing hubby surprised me with the trip. So to spread the love I took 2 dollars off my Back to School Reader’s Workshop Mini Lessons. Get over to TpT and snatch it up! Click below!

Reader’s Workshop Week 2 Procedural Mini Lessons

Just dropping by to let you know I have posted the next 5 lessons of my Reader’s Workshop Procedural Mini Lessons on TpT. If you haven’t downloaded my FIRST 5 FREEBIES you better do that first to check out my format and style. Remember these procedural lessons can be used in any grade. I hope this saves you time when planning for the first weeks of school! Enjoy!

Stay tuned… I will keep posting 5 at a time!

FREEBIE! First 5 Days of Reader’s Workshop

My favorite part of the school day is Reader’s Workshop. The majority of my students would say the same thing. I love the philosophy behind it, and I have seen so many students grow into wonderful readers through it! If you are not currently using the Reader’s Workshop model at your school, you should check out this website. It’s a quick overview so you can see how this model works for any grade level.
I wanted to offer a FREEBIE to get my TpT store started, and to share what my lesson plans look like for RW. The great thing about making lessons for RW is that they can work for any grade level! Every student needs to learn reading strategies and comprehension skills. All you have to do is tweak the questioning and delivery of the lesson to meet the needs of your grade level.
I will be posting every lesson I teach this year, so if you like them please follow me or my TpT store. Click the picture to go to my TpT store now! ENJOY!