Book Talk Tuesday (Linky)

Thank you so much Deanna for hosting this weekly linky.   I am loving reading about all the great books that everyone is enjoying!  (And getting some new ideas for sure) .

Oh my goodness,  I could not wait to get home today to share about this awesome book that I finished up last week.    I can not say enough good things about it.  It is such a great read.  I was shocked, I laughed, I cried and really felt the struggles through the characters.    I am talking about the book Wonder by R J Palacio

This book is such a gem.   It was written for middle school ages,  but is an emotional and very special story of acceptance of/ and for all people.    Wonder is a book about August,  a fifth grader who is in his first year of public school after being home schooled for many years.   August's face is severely deformed (from birth) but after much discussion and struggle he and his family agree that it is time to try to go to  school.   The chapters of this book are broken down into the voices of different people in the story.    The amazing thing about this book for me is the growth that we see take place in August and the people (adults and children alike) around him.  August just wants to be "normal" and accepted.   One of my favorite quotes from the book is when August is feeling excited and happy for his sister Via after she played the lead in "Our Town",  he said  "I think there should be a rule that everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their life".   I love that!   

 There are so many positive adult role models in this book who are a champion for August.   As a teacher,  it struck me over and over again at the importance of how we treat children with great need.   We must be their champion.    

This book is obviously written for middle school ages (I think it should be a must read for all middle school children in fact. ),  but ALL will enjoy this special story of love and acceptance.     It is just a terrific book about striving to be better to one another and learning from our mistakes.   It is an uplifting read.  

Hurry!  Go get it now!  

Blessings to you, 

Angel  

Let's Talk About Books Linky

I am linking up today with Deanna Jump's Book Talk Tuesday!   

I am so  excited to share about one of my favorite books ever.  I love the book 

The Day the Crayons Quit!  

One of my favorite things every is that my sweet sister sent this to me as a gift for my class last year.  I had not read it before but it has quickly become one of my favorites.    I have the sweetest sis! 

Quick synopsis :  This is the story of Duncan who open up his crayon box and just wants to color.  But when he opens up his box of crayons,  he only finds letters -  all pretty much saying the same thing.  He crayons have had enough.   They all quit.  Red is tired.  Beige is bored.  Pink wants more color time.  Black wants to be used for more than just outlining. Orange and Yellow aren't talking because each one believes he is the true color of the sun.   Peach is naked (we had a good laugh at that)!   The result of all this letter writing is that Duncan begins to be sure to use his crayons to create a great masterpiece and shows that they all have a purpose.    I will never look at my crayons the same way again!  

Besides enjoying a great story,  this book has many great purposes for Readers and Writers Workshop.    Readers will enjoy learning the parts of a book,  what authors and illustrators do and being able to tell about the events of the story.   I also use this to compare adventures and experiences with other text,  like My Crayons Talk.     Writers will enjoy using this text to learn about adding wonderful illustrations,  backgrounds,  outlining,  good color choice, etc. as well as all kinds of other text features - spacing,  punctuation,  etc..    This book can also be used to teach story structure, such as major events and problem/ solution.   

Overall,  it is a great book to share with your class from the first week of school to the last!   

I would love to hear about your favorite kids books and how you use them!   Leave a comment below to share your thoughts!  

Blessings to you all,

Angel  

Why I Love Pete the Cat and How You Can too! (freebie included)

 

Click on the pictures to go to Amazon to get each book!  

Pete the Cat!  Oh he's my favorite!    I hope that you have gotten to know or will come to know and love this adorable cool cat as much as I do!   This series of books are so near and dear to me.  It is absolutely one of the first books that I read to my students.    The reason why is there are so many amazing character lessons to help get our classroom off to a great start to the year.     Because no matter what,  it's all good!   You can hear my students repeatedly throughout the year using the phrasing,  Groovy!,  Did Pete Cry,  goodness no...?      ____ may come and ______ may go.. , but we keep on singing (working) all day long.
 
We read Pete the Cat I Love my White Shoes first thing and then we go on a tour of the school to see if we can find him.  He has "left" various colored shoes with information on them for us to follow his trail as we learn about the different parts of the school.    The shoes lead us back to the classroom where Pete has left us a treat (a bag of skittles usually) and a note.  We then read the book Pete the Cat Rockin' in My School Shoes and talk about the different parts of the school that we saw guessing what it was that Pete saw.  Click here to get this really cute set:   Pete the Cat School Tour!

As we begin to create our class rules,  we talk about how Pete handled struggles in his day.  Did Pete cry?...  what could we do if something happens,  etc...  It is amazing to me how they always pick up so quickly on how to make a better choice because of their Pete connections.

I use Pete everywhere throughout my classroom.   I have two different sets of Pete Classroom decor in my TpT store if you are interested.   The newest is with some awesome primary color backgrounds.  So cute..     I have so many Pete themed products that encourage my students to always do their best and to make it a groovy day.      Here are some of my favorites.  Click the pictures to find them in my store.  I hope that you like them too!

That Cute Cat Classroom Decor in Primary Colors :

This is on sale for the next 48 hours in my TpT store!  

My Original Pete the Cat Classroom Bundle ( Be sure to read the details to see all the great items that are in this bundle!  )

                                   

One of my favorite activities at the beginning of the year is learning to know the difference between a letter,  a word and a sentence.  I created this activity to help my students get a much better grasp on it.   I introduce it as a small group activity and then it moves to my pocket chart center and we add a response sheet to help students stay accountable and help me to quickly know if they are understanding the difference between a letter, a word and a sentence.   I have heard such great positive feedback on this activity!    Is It a Letter, Word or Sentence Sort?

                     

                             

I have so many other ways that I use Pete throughout the year!  Be sure follow my blog and FB  page to stay updated on the latest things going on in my groovy room!

I want to thank you for following my blog and keeping up with what's going on  in my world.  Here is a wonderful set of Pete the Cat Thank You cards and a To Do List to help you stay organized.  

              

Enjoy!  

I would love to hear who you use Pete with your kiddos and any questions, suggestions or ideas you have!

Blessings to you all,
Angel

Top Ten Things I Want to Do This Summer

I'm linkin' up with Deanna Jump for her Ten Things I Want to do This Summer  linky party! 

1.  SPEND TIME WITH FAMILY        I am so excited to be able to spend more time with my family this summer.   For the first time in 7 years,  I am NOT teaching summer school and am looking forward to just being able to be home and be wife/mom.   I am going to cook more,  keep a cleaner house (lol) and be more available to my boys.   My oldest son is moving to OK to continue school there,  my middle son graduated this year and the youngest is 16.  Time has gone by so fast.  I want to be able to enjoy just a little extra time with each one of them.   My sweetie and I also need some time together. He has a very high stress job and we need some just fun down time together.   I can't wait.    

            

   

My crazy and silly men!  

2.  BLOG/  WORK ON TPT STORE        Of course,  I rarely am not thinking about my Kindergarten kiddos and how to create/ improve my teaching activities or ideas.  I love teaching so very much and it is at the core of my heart.    I am wanting to really begin to blog and share ideas at least once a week and to work on creating and adding new products to my TPT store.   I have had such great feedback on the products that I have created and shared and so I want to do more.  It is really a creative outlet for me.    I have some ideas for some great giveaways and would love to hear what you might be looking for/ needing from me.     You can take a look at all my products here

          

3. READ, READ, AND READ SOME MORE     I love to read and for some reason this school year I have really not done much.  I think I as I am getting older,  I just start to fall asleep as soon as I start reading.   :  )      Here are some of the just for fun books that I want to read :    

Bridge to Haven 

          

I love Francine Rivers and can't wait to read this book.  I also want to reread  Redeeming Love.  So encouraging and uplifting.    

As far as professional books,  I want to read: 

Classroom Discussions:  Using Math Talk to Help Students Learn.    

This is an area where I really want to grow.  I feel very confident in teaching Readers and Writers Workshop,  but sometime's this is how I feel when it comes to teaching math!   

4.  CLASSROOM PROJECTS      I learned that I will be switching to a larger classroom next year (doubling the size I had).  WOOHOO!    I will be working on creating a super engaging environment.  One of the things I have done to start has been doing some trash to treasure hunting (i.e. dumpster diving).   Here are just a few of the things that I have found for FREE in my journeys.  I just can't wait to repurpose them.      I will post pictures as I get projects done.  It's going to be fun.  I am sure that I will be able to fill all that space or at least have great fun trying.  

5.    FOCUS ON HEALTH     I want to really be able to do some personal work this summer on my health.  At this point in my life,  I really want to focus on being strong and being flexible physically.  I want to kick my sugar addiction ( I got off all pop last summer)  and do some research and work on eating healthier as well as getting in more exercise.  I am not a big fan of exercise,  but really have started to feel the drain. I know it's the right thing to do.   Maybe I can find some of you who would want to work on it together.  

6.  GO TO THE THEATRE   Here in KC,  we have a wonderful theatre called the Starlight Theatre and their summer shows are looking to be awesome.  Now if I can talk my sweetie into joining me a few nights,  it would be perfect .    I am hoping to see THE WIZARD OF OZ,   THE BLUE MAN GROUP,   JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT & WE WILL ROCK YOU.    I absolutely love the theatre and it is always a good time.  

   

7.   HEADING SOUTH    It's one of the most beautiful places on God's green earth.   I grew up in a small town in ARKANSAS and am hoping to get to spend a few weekends with family,  especially my mom and sisters.  My boys tell me I never laugh like I do when I am with my sisters.    I have to admit that sometimes we get a little out there,  but it's so much fun.     They just crack me up and I have a new nephew to squeeze and love on along with many many more nieces,  nephews and even grandnieces and grandnephews.   

      

8.  GARDEN MORE       Okay so this will be a tricky one.  I absolutely do not have a green thumb,  but I so enjoy pretty flowers and landscaping.  I want to really work on this.  I have a few pinterest ideas and have been researching how to plant,  water,  etc… in containers.   So  we will see how this goes.  I have actually kept 4 pots of beautiful thriving flowers growing for about a month now.  That's about 3 weeks longer than ever before.    I'll keep you posted.   

   

         

This has been so true for me!  I have learned many many things, but seem to keep making them.    LOL 

9.   CLEAN EVERY ROOM IN MY HOUSE ONE BY ONE DECLUTTERING AS I GO.        

  Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!       

10.  WATCH MOVIES   -   I really want to catch up on a lot of movies that I have missed this past year.    Here are just a few:    

                                                 

        

         

I know,  I know  but I really want to see it!  We love the Muppets!    

I hope that you enjoy your summer and that it is filled with lots of opportunities to love,  to laugh,  to listen and to learn.      I would love to hear what your plans are for this summer as well.  Who knows,  you may give me some inspiration.  Please share in the comments what you are going to be up to.  

Blessings to you all, 

Angel  

Five for Friday - Woohoo!

Woohoo!   It is Friday and I am so excited for a nice quiet evening at home by myself.  The boys all had different things going on and my dear sweet husband went to hang out with the two oldest!   AHHHHHH!!!  I love the quiet!   I am excited to share some of my favorite things from this week, a lot about How to Writing in Kindergarten!    My kiddos this year LOVE Writers Workshop and are now writing for at least 30 minutes at a time and  (MOST)  are actively engaging in meaningful writing the whole time.  They are amazing me!   

HOW TO WRITING Intro Day 1 -   We have begun our 4th Unit of Study this week week in Kindergarten and it is all about How To!   It has been really cool to see the light go on with my students this week as they are beginning to see themselves as teachers.   We had to start this How to Unit  with How to Build a Snowman since we have been off for Winter Break and have had crazy snowy weather so of course we all had schema!   We walked through each step using those important words : First, Next, Then & Last, discussing as we went and evening acting it out!   (I am in no way an artist, so please don't laugh!!  Okay,  we do laugh at my drawings!  LOL) 

HOW TO WRITING  Intro Day 2 -  In our district we have been very fortunate to not only have done Matt Glover book studies but also have had HIM in our building and have gotten to see him at work up close and personal.    Our Units of Study follow a lot of his ideas, so for this day we spent a great deal of our Writers Workshop becoming familiar with "real"  How to Books.     Some of my favorite are by Inez Snyder  - APPLES TO APPLESAUCE ,   WAX TO CRAYON,   TOMATOES TO CATSUP,  & MILK TO ICE CREAM.    We also read some books by Edana Eckart  -   I CAN RIDE A BIKE,   I LIKE TO SKATEBOARD,   &  I CAN PLAY SOCCER.   We also read some Fiction texts including PANCAKES FOR BREAKFAST  & CHARLIE NEEDS A CLOAK by Tomie DePaolo.    This was a great day of immersion and we spent a lot of turn and talk time telling our PBJ partners what we were noticing about these books and how and what they taught us.   It was a great day of learning. 

            

HOW TO WRITING  Intro Day 3 -  (this was our day today, since we only really had a 3  1/2 day week)     Today I felt like a lightbulb went off  and I got that big teacher grin that happens when things align.   Being the first week back,  we had to have a fire drill but because of the weather we were doing a talk through with our kids and ALL OF A SUDDEN…..  I thought why not do a How To Writing about How to Do a Fire Drill.   Walllaaahh!  

First we read FIRE DRILL by Paul DuBois Jacobs.  Then we completed our  How To Do a Fire Drill.  (It probably should have a better title -  What To Do In A Fire,  but….   it was just a practice and a quick thought! )  It was a great launch into our discussion about things that we all know how to do.     It is nothing fancy at all (seriously) ,  but my students really are getting good at using those How To words and thinking about the steps.       I was just excited that the stars aligned and we got it done!  Good discussion.    After this,  we had begun to talk about all the things we knew how to do - (I kinda blew my 10-15 min. focus lesson time,  but…   the students were really pretty engaged. )     As they went back to write,  they took an organizer back with them to write down things they knew how to do!  I was surprised at how many things they could think of (but that's what happens with good discussion,  huh?? )   

This is from Kim Adsit's How to Writing packet.  You can click on the picture to get it!   It's a good one.  I do not follow all her ideas.  I use a lot of Deanna Jumps Writing materials and pick things up everywhere that I think will fit purposefully in our Units of study.   It's a Hodge Podge,  but it works!!  That's all for How to Writing this week!   Can you feel my excitement? 

       

During Readers Workshop this week we have been working on text to text connections!!    K.RL.9  With prompting and support,  comparing and contrasting the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories.   I used the two books above to work on this standard some more.   This has been a hard one for a lot of my students and so we have needed a lot of prompting and support!!  (ME TOO! )    We created an anchor chart (sorry I forgot to take a picture) comparing the stories,  first retelling what the key details were in each story and then discovering how the experiences of Oliver and Grace were alike.   I was impressed with how quickly some of them understood that" both were told they couldn't do something and then in the end they proved they could."  "They both experience a lot of different feelings".  "They both have families that love them very much." One of my students picked up on how disappointed Oliver was that he didn't win the talent show and they thought he was hoping that everyone would stop calling him a sissy if he did.   (That was deep)!   These are two great books for comparing and contrasting adventures and experiences.   I am working on developing a post about this standard with lots of great examples because I have not been able to find (online anyway) other great familiar to us books with great adventures and experiences.   A couple of others I have thought of are …  WHEN SOPHIE GETS ANGRY… REALLY, REALLY ANGRY… by Molly Bang   & I WAS SO MAD by Mercer Mayer;   JULIUS THE BABY OF THE WORLD by Kevin Henkes  &  MY ROTTEN RED HEADED OLDER BROTHER by Patricia Polacco.   These are some great ones.  Keep checking back and I will post about that standard soon!  

The other thing that I  have loved is watching my kiddos play Teen Tangle.   This is an Everyday Math game that I have adapted.  They ask for it all the time.  It is so funny to watch them play!    They get contorted in some of the craziest ways BUT ..  they know their teen numbers!     You can take a look at this TRICKY TEENS post to see what's included in my Tricky Teens packet.  It's a good one!  You also can find it at my TpT store.  Click on the picture.  

Here's a couple of pics of my students playing!   They crack me up. 

 I hate to have to blur faces because they are such cutie pies!  

Thank you for letting me share today and I hope that each one of you has a blessed weekend!   Angel