I am in full shopping mode over at the TpT 3 Million Strong Sale!  Every time I get ready to check out, I see something else that catches my eye.  I am amazed at all of the hard work and creativity that teachers all over the world display in their products and resources.  I feel truly blessed to be a part of it all.

I will be back over the weekend to share what fabulous things I picked up and how I plan to use them in my classroom.

In the meantime, check out this picture that's got me so excited:

I'm having the amazingly talented Megan give me a much needed custom makeover!  She just sent me some preview images and I am in love!  The hard part will be choosing from all of her great ideas!

Don't forget that my store will be on sale through the weekend, but the extra 10% off from TpT is only good through Friday!

Headed over to Blog Hoppin to see who else is having a sale!  Happy shopping!

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Brandi

Tomorrow Now is the big day!  My cart is loaded and I'm ready to go for round 1.  I'm going to be strategic and make my big purchases first then use my TpT credits to save a little money on the smaller purchases (Remember to leave feedback to earn those credits).

Just in time for the sale, I've finished up 3 new products that my kiddos are loving!  First is Lucky Money:

 This is a set of activities to reinforce your money unit.  There are 24 task cards where students read and determine how much money a child has; 36 war cards; and a Spin and Total Game where students spin a spinner 6 times to determine how much money they will have.

Next up is a set of capitalization task cards:

This includes 2 sets of 20 task cards--the first set can be differentiated with the recording sheet.  Students can simply write the word that should be capitalized or you can choose the recording sheet where they write the word as well as why it needs to be capitalized.  The second set of cards has students rewrite the sentence with correct capitalization.  It also includes a poster with a reminder of capitalization rules.

The final item my kiddos are loving right now comes from my March Sentence Scramble:

This contains 8 different sentences (4 are St. Patrick's Day themed and 4 are reading themed) that students are to sort then unscramble.  My kiddos love this as part of their literacy work stations (I've even caught them making up their own scrambled sentences on Fun Friday!).

Well, I'm off to keep shopping!  Don't forget that my store will be on sale now through Sunday!

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Brandi

I love this idea that Leaping into Teaching has of reading 10 professional books in the next 10 months.  Honestly, I haven't read that many books in the last few years, but would love to set this goal.

Here are my 10 books that I would like to read in no particular order:

1. The Next Steps in Guided Reading by Jan Richardson
2. Comprehension Connections by Tanny McGregor
3. Whole Brain Teaching for Challenging Kids by Chris Biffle
4. Math Work Stations by Debbie Diller
5. Smarter Charts K-2: Optimizing an Instructional Staple to Create Independent Readers and Writers by Marjorie Martinelli and Kristi Mraz
6. The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller
7. Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller
8. Teach like a PIRATE by Dave Burgess
9. Guided Math by Laney Sammons
10. Craft Lessons/Nonfiction Craft  Lessons by Ralph Fletcher

I'd love to hear about any other must reads.  With spring break and summer on their way I'll hopefully have more time to read.

Also, don't forget about the big TpT sale!  I've put my store on sale Thursday to Sunday.  Click on the picture below to check it out!

graphic from Zip a Dee Doo Dah Designs

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Brandi

I'm sure by now you've heard that TpT is throwing a fabulous sale this Thursday and Friday.  I've marked my entire store off 20%, plus when you add TpT's promo code (TPT3) you can get up to 28% off! 

I'm slowly but surely finishing up some new products that I will have ready in time for the sale.  Here's a sneak peek:

I'm also linking up with Pinkadots Elementary  and Mrs. Beatttie's Classroom where you can see who's throwing a sale:

Is your wishlist full?  Mine is and I'm ready to shop, shop, shop!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Brandi

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!

This week I'll be sharing some of the anchor charts that I've made recently They aren't all from this week, but I hope you don't mind!

I've been very inspired by some of the great ones on Pinterest, and although I am lacking in artistic skills, my kiddos and I had a fun time making these.

 

For word work and spelling, we're working on contractions.  There were a lot of charts on Pinterest and I combined a few of them to come up with this.  My kiddos really understood how to make a contraction after we discussed "the steps" written in pink in the middle.  It took a few rounds for them to remember what letters to "pop" out of the second word, but now they're creating contractions like pros!

In math we're beginning our measurement unit.  We started off by discussing the difference between inches and centimeters.  We finished the week estimating and measuring in inches.

I noticed that my kids' reading responses were starting to get jumbled up in their oral retelling when discussing plot.  We made this anchor chart and discussed how the elements in the beginning set the stage for the action in the middle and how everything comes together in the end.  I'm hoping they will continue to use this chart to remember the important parts to include when summarizing.

This was an anchor chart we made a few weeks ago.  My kiddos loved exploring Author's Purpose.  We read a bunch of nonfiction works and watched some commercials to show persuasive elements.  Every time I say author's purpose now they respond, "easy as pie!"

This was from last week when we were heavy in nonfiction, which we will be continuing for the next few weeks.  After creating this chart, we used sticky notes to find as many of these features in their social studies books and independent reading books.

So, there are some of the things we've been up to.  I love this linky party because I get to spy on so many classrooms to see what everyone's working on.  Can't wait to see what fabulous things have gone on this week!

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Brandi

My district is big on balanced literacy and I'm really trying to "up"  my shared reading game!  

First I googled shared reading to get some basic background info that would help me better implement it.  I searched Wikipedia, EduPlace, ReadWriteThink, and Reading Rockets.   I was also lucky enough to attend a training offered by my district which shared tips and gave us time to plan as a grade level with teachers across the district.

Here's how shared reading works in my classroom:
On Monday, we focus on comprehension including vocabulary, big ideas, and author's purpose.  On Tuesday, we focus on phonics.  On Wednesday, we focus on fluency (phrasing and punctuation).  On Thursday, we focus on word work, including high frequency words and grammar.  On Friday, we illustrate, perform, or respond to the text.

This week, I used a President's Day poem:

 

We went through reading it multiple times and my kiddos really enjoyed it.  Yesterday, we worked on attending to punctuation.  We started by discussing the different punctuation marks in the poem and what they mean for us as readers.  Next, I put sticky notes with different end marks all throughout the poem:

I then had the kiddos read the poem with the added punctuation.  We worked on making sure questions sound like questions from the beginning of the sentence and not just raising our voice at the end.  We also worked on reading with excitement vs. yelling at the top of our lungs.

Overall, my kids had a blast with this activity and the seemed to really understand how to read while attending to punctuation.  We'll continue to practice this skill in guided and independent reading.

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Brandi

I love 4-day weeks!  An extra day at home with my daughter is always fun!  Here's what the kiddos and I will be up to this week:

Math:
We're beginning our measurement unit.  I plan to do a lot of hands on measuring activities, as well as using pages from Bright Concepts 4 Teacher's Interactive Math Notebook.

Language Arts:
We're reviewing story structure because my kiddos are struggling with being able to tell what happens at the beginning, middle, and end when they're retelling.

Social Studies:
We'll be hitting President's Day hard this week!  I'll be using this President's Day lapbook from Jamie Sears:

Jamie also has a free PowerPoint that gives all of the information you need to complete the lapbook.  You can check that out at her TpT store {HERE}.

I also plan to show my kids parts of this Scholastic video:

Word Study:
We're continuing to work on contractions and will  be using these great activities from Literary Spark:

Work Stations:

We finished our money unit last week so we'll be reviewing it in math work stations.  I'm working on some activities that I'm hoping to finish and post today that the kiddos will be able to use.

For literacy work stations, we're going to focus on summarizing using beginning, middle, and end.

Guided Reading:

I will be starting my guided reading groups this week as well.  I've read Jan Richardson's book and am excited to start this with my kiddos. 

I spent the last 2 weeks doing the DRA2 on my kiddos to get their levels since they hadn't been tested since the beginning of the year (I took over this class in January).  I have some work to do with a few groups, but it's great seeing what strategies they employ and figuring out what they need to become better readers!

I've been pinning like crazy to my Guided Reading board which you can check out {HERE}.  If you have a guided reading board leave the link so I can check it out!

Hope you have a great week!

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Brandi

I'm taking a moment to link up with Molly for her Lucky in Love linky!  I've slacked on blogging because I've been busy creating things for the classroom that I'm hoping to share soon.  I also have forgotten my camera at home the last week or so and haven't snapped many good pics.

Anyway, here's what I'm in love with:

My daughter lost her first tooth this week and she was so excited for the toothfairy to come visit.  She has another loose tooth next to the hole in her mouth that she keeps trying to wiggle!  She's also become obsessed with writing and drawing notes (the one in the picture says "You r special.  I love you.  Love Lauryn").  It's so much fun to see her sound out words!

These are pretty much self explanatory!  I love the Dodgers and the fact that my daughter loves going to games (partly because they have a play area that my dad takes her to but I'll take it!).  We have Disney passes so I try to go at least once a month for a few hours.  It's nice not feeling like we have to do everything!  Between Target, TpT, and Amazon, I'm surprised I have any money.

In my classroom right now I'm loving anchor charts and interactive notebooks and my kiddos are loving them too.  I could not live without my frixion erasable gel pens or my Mr. Sketch markers!

Make sure you stop by to see what everyone loves!

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Brandi

I'm back to link up with Jennifer for Peek at My Week.  This linky party is really keeping me organized and planning in advanced!

Here's what I'll be up to this week:
Math:  We wrapped up 2-digit addition last week, but will be continuously reviewing it in work stations.  We're moving on to money and will be using these Valentine's Money Messages from Lucky Little Learners.

Language Arts: We're exploring author's purpose and I can't wait to make a cute anchor chart like I've seen all over Pinterest.  Here are a few of my favorites:

       V

I've been in an anchor chart pinning mood recently.  You can check out my anchor chart board by clicking {HERE}.

Valentine's Day: We'll be creating this glyph from Aimee Salazar for some fun and data analysis.

Here's to a great week!

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Brandi

Can you believe it's already February!  Here in southern California we've had a very warm January.  While everyone else was experiencing snow-pocalypse and the polar vortex, we were in the mid-70's.  I'm not one who likes winter, but I miss the change of seasons that I saw in college in Massachusetts!

Anyway, I'm linking up with Farley for this month's Currently!

I think I'm taking my daughter to see Frozen the sing along version.  We love the soundtrack and although she won't be able to read the words she wants to see it again.

I took a new position at a new school in January and I'm loving it.  Great staff, admin, and kids!

I've lived with my parents the last 4 years and I think it's time to move.  I worry about my daughter adjusting to being away from them because she's always known having them around.

My BFF from high school had a baby at the end of the December and my bestie from work had a baby at the beginning of December.  I can't wait to cuddle with them.

Needing to exercise....no explanation necessary!

2 truths and a fib:
1. I hate coffee--TRUE!  I know people always think teachers love coffee but I don't.  My grandma gave me a sip as a child after I begged and begged and I swear she put something in it to make it horrible!
2. I was a 2-time softball All-American in college--FIB! I was an All-American once as a freshman.  It seems like ages ago!
3. I've never left the US--sad, but TRUE! I don't even have a passport!  Need to work on expanding my horizons!

Can't wait to read and guess everyone else's 2 truths and a fib!  

Also, don't forget that the Sweet Second Grade Savings is in full swing!  Click on the image below to see all of the great products that some fabulous 2nd grade teachers have marked down to $1!

 

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Brandi