Free Summer Reads Anyone?

If you are like me, you cannot wait to have the time to dive into some good books this summer. I have book lists that I create throughout the school year so I can read the books throughout the summer. I actually have one already checked off my list! This is because I got it for free! I have noticed that each time I purchase a book on my Kindle, Amazon advertises Kindle Unlimited. I decided to take the time to check it out today and this is what I have found.

• You have the opportunity to have a 30 day free subscription.
• You can use your Kindle or the Kindle app on your computer, phone, or iPad.
• You can review many of the books you would like to read before purchasing them.
• You do not have to spend a trillion dollars on books you will never read again.
• Free books...hello! I would love to save my money for other things!

Once you register for your free 30 days Amazon will give you a date of when a monthly automatic payment of $9.99 will be taken out. I made sure to write in my calendar to cancel my membership the day before AND SET AN ALARM!!! However, I may decide I like Kindle Unlimited and keep it. After this I began downloading books I wanted to read or looked like I might be interested in reading. Not every book is available for Kindle Unlimited. I also found that only 10 books at a time can be borrowed. Once you read a book (or decide you do not want it), you return the book and can get another. You might make sure that you do not sign up until you are ready to begin reading. However, you can make your book list now. Here is a list of 10 great books to get you started!

1.) Ditch That Textbook: Free You Teaching and Revolutionize Your Classroom by: Matt Miiler
2.) The Flipped Classroom: The Full Picture by: Jackie Gerstein
3.) The First 10 Minutes: A Classroom Morning Routine That Reaches and Teaches the Whole Child by: Steve Reifman
4.) Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids (and the rest of your class,too!) by: Chris Biffle
5.) Learn Like a PIRATE: Empower Your Students to Collaborate, Lead, and Succeed by: Paul Solarz
6.) Teach Like a PIRATE: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator by: Dave Burgess
7.) Teacher Interviews: How to Get Them and How to Get Hired by: Robert Pollock
8.) How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by: Paul Tough
9.) Teaching: Ultimate Teaching Techniques! - Teach Like A Champion, Grab Your Students' Attention And Engagement, Supercharge Their Learning, and Transform ... Creativity, Productivity, Self Confidence) by: James Harper
10.) 50 Things You Can Do With Google Classroom by: Alice Keeler and Libbi Miller 

HAPPY READING! 

Find my on TPT at: 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Rice-Kristis-Treats

Find me on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ricekrististreats?ref=hl 

Little Critter: Working on the Soft Skills

So much of education is focused on working on the hard skills. By hard skills I mean subject matter, critical thinking, and assessment. Do not get me wrong. These are vital and must be addressed daily and with urgency. However, we often forget the soft skills such as responsibility, appreciation, friendship, and intrinsic motivation. I actually think I found a stuffed animal to help me do both!

My nearly grown son cleaned out his room several weeks ago. We came across a "Little Critter" stuffed animal from when he was younger. He adored the Mercer Meyer books and so did I. I thought maybe my students would enjoy spending some time with Critter as well. I took him to school and explained who Critter was and who he belonged to. Students passed him around while I read a Little Critter book. My students were riveted with him! I explained to my students that Critter and I would be watching the students each day and would find someone he thought had been a good friend, was responsible, and followed procedures. The chosen student could read books with Critter the next day after he/she finished his/her morning work and when they had additional time after other work as well. The student could also pick 2 other students to hang out with Critter. Critter sat on the couch we have in our room until the student was ready. He has also has a box of 12 books that students read to Critter while they are with him. Sooooo...my students were working on hard skills and soft skills at the same time!

Then something crazy happened. Okay, not crazy but unusual. The first student to have Critter asked if he could tell my son thank you for letting him play with Critter. I know! Isn't that the sweetest?! The next great idea came to mind. I had each student write my son a thank you letter after spending the day with Critter. I looked over the letter and assisted the student in making corrections. Then the student made a final draft. The letters were folded and sealed with a sticker the student chose. Again, these students were having the opportunity to work on both soft and hard skills.

Pretty soon the students thought that Critter should be learning as well. He had his own chair and would sit next to the student who had Critter each day. Critter also did seat work, made projects, had computer time, and read many books. I observed as students shared Critter with other students. I watched as they made decisions on the best way for Critter to "learn". Not ONE time did I witness students argue over Critter, treat him roughly, or be distracted by him. While the students were working on soft skills, not a moment of instructional time was taken. This was something I could incorporate into our day while continuing instruction.

How do you incorporate soft skills (social) without interrupting instructional time or hard skills? As a student teacher, I am always looking for new ways to do just that!

An InLinkz Link-up

Non-Sense Letter Blends

Imagination is one of my favorite things. Maybe that is why I enjoy student teaching in the first grade far more than I ever expected! It also may be the reason I enjoy the concept of nonsense words far more than I should. They are such a terrific idea! Using nonsense words allows me to determine if my students are blending letter sounds. While working with these word the student is not focusing on what the words mean. Later, when the student comes across a word she does not know, she can sound it out and then think about meaning. Dibels testing has students go through a list on nonsense words. I found that a couple of my students struggled with this. One was very focused on the meaning of the made-up word while the other continued to look to me after each word. This student had a lack of confidence. I created nonsense letter blending cards as an activity to work on during RTI. My students loved this and wanted to take it home with them. Why not?

I sent a note home with several cards I had laminated and put together with a book ring. The students simply place their finger under each letter on a bubble and make the sound before moving to the next letter. Next, the student follows the arrow to the nonsense word and speaks the nonsense word using all of the letter sounds.

I am working on nonsense digraph and letter blends that correlate with our reading units. I have other letter blends in my TPT store as well. The reading interventionist in our building came and asked me for these and now uses them for Kindergarten-3rd grade. I hope to have some more picture to show you soon. Until then, how about a quick look at my room just for fun...and to inspire imagination. Enjoy!!!

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My Beginnings

I am so excited! My Teacher's Pay Teachers business is beginning to take off. It is still in the beginning stages but I am learning more and more everyday! My Facebook page is also growing. However, I have yet to conquer the blog. I am mostly hesitant because I am not yet teaching. I hope to have stories to blog about as I begin my student teaching in just two months!

I will begin my student teaching in January. As a Saint Mary-of-the-Woods student I feel well prepared.  However, I am thrilled and terrified at the same time! Getting teaching exams accomplished will take off so much pressure!!! In the meantime, I find it relaxing and enjoyable creating learning and organization materials to someday use in my classroom. I hope others find them useful in the until I can use them myself.

I was first inspired my one of my favorite professors. She teaches language arts in the morning in southwest Indiana and is also the head of the English department at my college. After creating some worksheet and lesson plans, she asked me if I had ever considered Teachers Pay Teachers (TPT). I had never heard of it. After I created a unit plan, she asked if she could use it with her students. I was estatic! I couldn't believe my professor wanted to use MY material. I decided to check out TPT but really had no idea how to start. Then I had another professor encourage me to sell on TPT. It just did not work out at the time.

The following school year I got a full time job as a special education assistant at a local elementary school. Let me tell you, working full time and going to school full time was beyond stressful!...but I digress. One of the special education teachers I worked with continually talked about TPT. Sometimes I would even edit things for her. She was an awesome teacher to work with and I learned an abundant amount of information and teaching skills from her. She also encouraged me to try TPT....so I did. Turns out, she is TPT's famous teacher author with the store The Primary Gal! I have been very blessed to get some basic instructions from this wonderful lady!

Now to conquer the blog.........………

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Upper Elementary Book Study

     I am happy to share with you my newest book study!  This is a short study on Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel.  This study would be great for both public and private school settings.  Wouldn't this be so much fun this autumn?!

 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Hershel-and-the-Hanukkah-Goblins-1353528

Click on the link next to the picture to find this product.

  
     This is a fun study that incorporates vocabulary, sequencing, comprehension, and culture with fantasy.  This study would compliment many of the upcoming holiday lesson plans coming up.  In this packet is included teacher answer keys and an assessment.  The students I have worked with have enjoyed this book and the accompanying activities.

     This following is a sample of the vocabulary pages that accompany this product.  The students are to record context clues that help them decipher what the vocabulary word means.  Next, they can write what the word means based only on information from the context clue.  I would add a time after this for discussion between students and the teacher about what the word means and the dictionary definition. 

     A culture activity is included as well.  Students will learn about what a menorah is and use it for a sequencing lesson.  This product would be perfect for a 4th or 5th grade classroom. It could be used for advanced readers in the 3rd grade or struggling learners in the 6th grade.  Enjoy this learning adventure and let me know what you think!

Organized Daily

This is it!  My very first blog post!!!  Well, as someone producing teaching materials anyway :)

I am so excited to introduce my first product....and it's free!  This is the first page of a daily organizer.  I made this my first creation because I love organization materials.  It makes my life easier, gives me more time to teach, and allows me to focus on my students even more.

  

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Organized-Daily-1350054

The above picture is how I use this product.  I have a future date and made up students on this sheet.  I write each of the items I would like to accomplish during the school day.  Having each of these items crossed off at the end of the day makes me ecstatic!  I also really love the monitoring section.  A goal of mine is to progress monitor all of my students each day.  Sometimes this is not possible so I have a short list of those that must be monitored on that particular day.  The bottom section of this page contains items I need to attend to after the school day is over...er....when the children leave.  If possible, I would try to delegate some copying and laminating tasks to friendly volunteers.  By following the link under the above picture, you can have this item for free!  

I am now working on finishing a more complete product. It will include pages for a monthly calendar, sub plans, classroom procedures, basic school info, discipline, progress monitoring trackers, and much more.  If you have anything in-particular that you would like to see in the coming packet, make sure you comment below.  Enjoy and God Bless!