Help Needed

Hello My Dear Friends,
As we ring in 2013 I am committed to renewing my blogging experience. These past two months have been difficult ones for me in terms of time. A move, a long visit from family, a birthday party for my sons, holiday travel, etc. I haven't been able to manage my time very well and this little blog of mine has been hit by all of that.
So, what advice can you give to me. Do you have a blogging schedule?  Maybe you post on particular days or commit one day to a particular topic. What are your secrets. I have so much I want to share and add to my TN store, but I can't seem to manage my time to well.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Cheers to a wonderful 2013 for all of you!

Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

Holiday Sale

Hello My Friends,

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I braved Target Thanksgiving night, but got way to frustrated and left. That's right, I waited in line and then left after being in the store for a few minutes. I went back out tonight and found a few of the toys I was looking for still at the same prices.  Speaking of SALE prices, I am holding a 30% off sale running from 11/24-11/26 in my TN store. But....the folks at Teacher's Notebook are taking an additional 10% off all orders as well. So, that is a savings of 40% at the Leading and Reading store. Many other stores are running sales as well. I know my cart will be filled up pretty quickly.

On another note, I am saying goodbye to my baby boy in the morning and it is breaking my heart. I'm sure he will be fine here at home with my hubby, but I will miss him. I'm heading to Philadelphia until Sunday to join some of my very best friends at my 20th high school reunion (Oh boy! I just showed my age!). I am soooooo looking forward to it, but I already miss the little guy to pieces.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Oh yeah....this week we tried out some fellow bloggers products, and I've been meaning to post pics and blog about them. But, did I tell you that I spent Monday-Wednesday sick in bed? Great way to spend my fall break. So, be sure to check back next week!

One Proud Auntie

Happy Sunday! I woke up this morning a little happier knowing that I get to spend the entire week off with my little guy.  I'm sure we will have lots to blog about as we are checking out some products from fellow bloggers this week. But today I want to share one of the many things that makes me a proud auntie.
About two weeks ago, my sister sent me this picture:

Might seem like its not much, but what if I told you this was the work of my 4 year old niece, Ryan.  That's right.....4 years old! She finished her art project early and her Pre-K teacher thought she would see if Ryan could do it.  Well later that day, I received a voice mail from Ryan telling me what she had learned and that she wanted Aunt Stacy to help her with more Math. I love that she thinks I'm so smart just because I am a teacher. Although when she plays school, she never chooses to be Aunt Stacy.   LOL!

Later that day, I got my Teacher's Notebook newsletter and saw that Annie Moffatt from The Moffatt Girls had two Fall Freebies (Roll, Read and Color Sight Words and the Fall Math Pack). I told my sister about them and just a few minutes later they were printed out and Ryan was hard at work.  Here she is in action!

She called me to tell me that she was coloring the leaves red, brown and gold, then she added "Well its really yellow, but I'm pretended they are golden!." She is sooo darn cute!


Then, earlier this week my sister sent me this video......

These years are so precious, and I am so thankful that Ryan loves learning and is so eager to try new things. I love you with my whole heart little girl...can't wait to see all that lies ahead for you!

Be sure to check out Annie's blog for all of her awesome products!

Finally....If you are still working this week, I have a 3 Day CCSS aligned Reading plan for you to use with Cynthia Rylant's "The Scarecrow." Click below for the FREE 3 Day plan.

My Top 10

Happy Monday! Today I have the day off in honor of Veteran's Day. This day is very important in my family as we are so proud of my father for his service to our country and his time serving in Vietnam. Although yesterday was Veteran's Day, today and every day is a wonderful opportunity to show our gratitude to those who have and are serving our country.


Speaking of gratitude, I am linking up with Storie for her awesome linky party. Click on the button below to check out her blog and the other bloggers who have linked up.

Here is my list.....I wish I could have added more than 10!

And of course I am so very thankful for being part of this thing we call blogging! I've "met" so many fantastic educators and I am proud to call each one of you a colleague. To show my gratitude, I have uploaded a FREE 3-Day CCSS aligned close reading lesson plan using Cynthia Rylant's book Scarecrow. Click the link below for your FREE 3 day plan.

That's it for now! Off to spend the day with the little guy....

CCSS & Close Reading Lesson Plan

Wow! It has been a LONG few weeks. I am so sad to see my parents leave, but it has been great having them here and I decided that when they were here I was committing my time to them once I was home from school. Therefore.....no blogging was happening! But I have missed  you:)

My little guy was soooo stinkin cute on Halloween. Here is a pic of him at his school story book parade. Does he make a cute Diego or what????

On another note....here is a lesson you may be able to use:


Our district is in full implementation of CCSS for Grades K-1, and are implementing key shifts to implementation in Grades 2-5 this year. As the Reading Coach, I have been offered some awesome trainings that I then deliver back at my school. Earlier this year, we trained our staff on Shift Number One: Selecting Complex Text and coming up we will focus on Shift Number Two: Text Dependent Questions.

One thing we emphasize is that  ELA Standards #1 and #10 as "Power Standards" because they are present in just about every lesson.  We are implementing a 3 Day "Close Reading" model where we use Text Dependent questions to read and revisit a complex text and end with a Performance Task.

This past week I had a few other reading coaches visit with me and I wanted to share the lesson that we created for 1st Grade. Perhaps some of you can implement it and give me some feedback.

We used the book Scarecrow by Cynthia Rylant. I just love that book at this time of year, but usually use it to teach about using descriptive words in Writing. But this time we focused on character development and setting impact. The questions we asked were focused on identifying the words the author uses to describe the character and setting and also how the illustrator's pictures add to the meaning.

Click on the images below to learn more about the book, the 3-Day lesson plan and the performance task.

Quick Post

Hello My Friends,
I feel like I have neglected my blog. But, my parents have been in town so every moment I am not at school I've been spending time with them. We've been having a blast. They are leaving on Saturday so we are trying to get some fun in before they go.
I am very excited for Halloween and to take my little guy trick-or-treating.  He is the cutest "Diego" ever- he even has his own "baby Jaguar" to tag along with him. I am currently running a "Halloween Sale" at my TN store. Check it out for some discounted items. Click on the pic below to take you there!

Have an awesome week!

I've Been Boo'd and some FREE items!

Happy Thursday!
Today is my Friday....no school tomorrow. But, my day will begin with a visit to the dentist for my almost 3 year old. I might be wishing that I was pulling my own teeth out after that visit- LOL!

So, this week I have been Boo'd TIMES 2!  How fun is that. Check it out- today I'm responding to the first "BOO!" (Is that how you would say it? )The first one came from Latoya over at Flying into First- check her out if you haven't already done so!  Her blog is growing so very fast!

I am passing it along to three other bloggers as per the rules (1 blogger with more followers, 1 with less and 1 one with about the same). Ladies- because I've "boo'd" you, visit my TN store and pick out an item of your choice. Let me know what you would like.....Here they are:

Check out the latest blog post where Ms. White highlights her FREEBIES from this time last year. You will love the "Going Batty" craft project....my son will be doing this one!
Check out Ms. Cypher's journey with Whole Brain Teaching!
Be sure to check out my latest FREEBIE- Halloween Writing Papers and Halloween Writing Prompts- I added the prompts for those of you that already downloaded just the papers!

Have a Great Night!

A Halloween Freebie

Hello My Friends, 
How has a week gone by and I have not posted a thing?  Even worse....I have missed so many of your posts. So, I am going to make up for it by offering some Halloween Themed Writing Paper to you! Just click on the pic below for the free download! 

 I have been busy getting ready for my parents to visit from Pennsylvania. We are excited to have them stay with us for the next several weeks. The little guy can't wait to see his grandparents and their dog that is joining them! We spent the day at Chuck E Cheese for one of Frankie's classmates 3rd birthday party. He had a blast and slept for 3.5 hours when he got home. So, that is going to make for a very LONG evening for mommy and daddy. 

 Ok...off to stalk some of your blogs to see what I have missed!

Currently and another Freebie!

Happy Friday Friends.
Linking up one more time with Lisa for her Freebie Flashback. Hope you enjoy the Hollywood Themed Daily Five posters.

Be sure to check out the other bloggers who have posted freebies, by heading over to Lisa's blog.

And I'm linking up with Farley tonight for her October Currently. Click on the pic to head on over to her blog.

 Scaredy-Cat, Splat! This one is a favorite of mine. Last year I visited our Kindergarten classes and read this aloud to them. They just loved it and fell in love with Splat- so did I!

Have a great weekend!

A Quick Freebie!

Happy Thursday Everyone! Just a quick post to link up to Lisa's Freebie Flashback party! Here is my Owl Themed Behavior/Incentive Charts. So much you can do with them. Hope you enjoy! And don't forget to check out the other bloggers who linked up!

Now...off to school!

Freebie Flashback!

What a day today was! Our students are dismissed early every Monday for an extended planning time for teachers. Today I did a training on deepening our understanding of rigor and relevance. I am now exhausted!!!

My exhaustion is why I am loving Lisa's linky part over at Learning is Something to Treasure. She is sponsoring the Flashback Freebie linky party. A bunch of bloggers are sure to link up and share a variety of their freebies over the week. Many of you know I have an obsession with owls. So, I am brining your attention back to my very first freebie, which is a set of owl- theme Daily Five posters.
Enjoy!

Don't forget to head over and check out the other freebies. Thanks Lisa for sponsoring!

If you like the Owl Themed Daily Five posters, be sure to check out my Fall Sale- it ends tomorrow!

And finally....don't forget to check out these give-aways! Happy Monday!

Fall Sale and Give Aways

Can you believe it is the last day of September???? Well I am excited for sure.  My favorite month is October and we spent yesterday getting our house ready for the fall!  My little guy sure does love pumpkins (or puntkins) as he calls them.

To celebrate the start of my favorite month, I am running a 30% off sale over at my Teacher's Notebook shop. Click on the pic below to take you there. I just uploaded a Halloween themed reading graphic organizer set and also included a plain version of each organizer for those that prefer to use them that way or so that you can use them after October is over!

And don't forget about this great giveaway! Head over to Amy's blog and be sure to enter. 20 Teacher bloggers have donated prizes and you can also win a $25 LOFT gift card- to start your fall wardrobe!

Don't forget this give away either!

HAPPY SUNDAY!

Freebie and Give Aways

Happy Saturday Everyone! We made our weekend trip to "Monkey Bizness" today. Never heard of it? It is an awesome indoor gym for kids 7 and under. Parents are encouraged to play right along side of their children, which I LOVE- and they have a great coffee shop as well.

This week has been another crazy one!  I held Data Chats with the teachers in Grades 3-5. Here in FL we are required to take the FAIR- Florida Assessment for Instruction in Reading- assessment three times per year. It helps us to know how are children are doing in reading comprehension, fluency and word analysis compared to a norming group across the state. From these chats, we developed a plan for intervention groups. We have one group of kiddos at each grade level whose fluency and word analysis scores are not that low, but reading comprehension needs a boost.

We decided on using Reciprocal Teaching as our strategy for working with our students who need comprehension guidance. I created this graphic organizer for our children to use as they read. Grab your FREE copy here!

What are some interventions that you implement for students struggling with comprehension, fluency or word analysis?
Finally, I am helping my bloggy friend, Amy at What Happens in First Grade celebrate reaching 100 Followers. She has an AWESOME giveaway with products from 20 teacher bloggers. Be sure to check it out and let her know I sent you!

And Finally....Check out Fun in 1st Grade's HUGE HUGE HUGE (did I say it enough) give away!

Whole Brain Teaching

So my latest Pinterest stalking has been in regards to Whole Brain Teaching. How many of you out there are using it? Can I get a 10 Finger Woo!!! I'm interested in hearing your experience with it, any advice, tweaks, etc????
Here are some FREEBIES and videos that I have found while stalking around the web. Enjoy!

A Few New Things....

As much as the start to a new school is an overwhelming time for me, I can say that it has been even more of an overwhelming experience for a few of my teacher friends. Due to low enrollment at our school, we lost 3 teacher units, however our Kindergarten numbers are booming and so we added a 6th Kindergarten class. One of my intermediate teacher friends has taken the leap and is going to be teaching Kindergarten after years in 5th and a few weeks in 3rd. 
To help her in getting her new room ready, she asked that I make her a few posters. So I did, and I've listed in my Teacher's Notebook store. Click on any of the pics to take you there.

And don't forget to enter Latoya's Give Away at Flying into First. There are only 5 days left to win a huge lot of prizes.  Tell her I sent you!

Have a great week!

Reading Journal and Give Away

I am so happy it is Saturday. I'm about to go spend an hour or so with my little guy at Barnes and Noble. I love how much he craves books right now.  He woke up this morning saying "I go to the book store!" Fun day ahead of us.
I just uploaded a new item to my TN Store.  I have been working with my 5th grade teachers on creating reading response journals with their students, and this is the result of that. It includes poster reminders for the part of the response journal, thinking stems for the students to refer to and also a scoring rubric.  Check it out!

I am so happy or my new blogging buddy Latoya who has reached 100 Followers. To help her celebrate I have offered my Owl Theme Set and My Circus Theme Set to her give away. Be sure to stop by and show her some love and enter her Give Away.

Here are the pics of the Owl Theme Set and the Circus Set.

Have a great weekend!

Classroom Pictures....Finally!

WOW! These past few weeks have been C-R-A-Z-Y!!! I have been so busy, but finally got a chance to travel around my school and take some pics of a few of our adorable classrooms. You sure will be able to tell we are Thistle Girl and Teacher's Clubhouse customers as well as being Pinterest Inspired.  

So, check out the pics (there are tons!) and show my teachers some love by leaving some comments.

The first group of pics is from my Reading Coach room. I wanted to make it inviting to teachers so that we can use the space to get down to all of our lesson planning and PLC data chats!  I was definitely inspired by Melanie at School Girl Style (can we say "double border" and ribbons!)

Next up.....JUNGLE THEME! So cute, I especially LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the crate seats. How adorable is that fabric??? 

How cute is this Dr. Seuss "Positive Behavior Chart!" I love it!

And how about this teacher's "CRAFT board" courtesy of Kristen at  Ladybug's Teacher Files (I love her!) oh and a few owls to go with it. What could be better???

I've been wanting to make one of these, and want to even more know that I have seen this on a 1st grade teacher's desk. Sorry for the glare!

Ok...you know when you you are overfilled with pride when one of your students ends up surpassing you as the teacher? Well that is how I feel about this next classroom! It belongs to my dear friend, Heidi. Heidi amazes me on a regular basis. She is my go to Kindergarten teacher, and my go to for mom advice!  A few years ago she lost everything in her classroom to a fire. She invested in a teacher-store "Monster Theme" set. And boy was it adorable!  This summer she and I started talking about themes and she told me she wanted to do a Hollywood theme since the time her daughter was in my "Hollywood" 4th grade, but she couldn't spend all of that money again after having to replace so many lost items. I showed her Thistle Girl and Scrappin Doodlesand how cheap she could purchase the graphics for. I then showed her how to make documents in Powerpoint without the frustration of Word. I made her Daily Five posters and a few other items in her class. Then.....I unleashed an animal!!!! Just look at what she did. I can't imagine a classroom that I'd rather be in.  I'm hoping she is still teaching K when my son gets there!  I think my favorite is the golf balls around the "What We're Learning" board to look lights.  Or maybe it is her positive behavior display....Oh boy, to many to name.  So, just take a peek!

Hope you enjoyed the pics!  Happy Wednesday:)