Guided Reading S.O.S. (& a Freebie)!

Happy Tuesday!

I'm sending out a S.O.S. for Guided Reading!

I'd love to spend some time reading your blogs and shopping in your stores, so please leave a link in the comments if you can help!

I'm presenting a super-quick PD next week and featuring a variety of "low-lift" (a.k.a.: low maintenance) independent stations to use during Guided Reading.

The audience is a mixture of new/veteran teachers K-4th, but I'm definitely gearing the activities towards K-2. 

When I think of "low-lift," I think of incorporating materials that teachers may already have. Probably not a lot of PLC (printing, laminating, cutting)...although I want to offer to start a PLC (clever, huh?) to continue the conversation with interested teachers.

I'd also like to share ideas for stations involving writing, phonemic awareness, phonics, sight words, and even independent reading.

I'm just now gathering ideas, but would love to add some of yours!

Thanks in advance for any help :)

I'm throwing back to a post from spring featuring a freebie that goes with one of my favorite stations!

Catch-Up & a Freebie!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Whew! What a week! 

I took a week off from blogging and I really missed it. 

Last weekend, we had a visit in Florida. I made a new friend:

The sand crabs were out in the morning - they are FAST! I'm sad to report that they can run faster than me - no joke! 

Maybe because of this?

Oh. My. It was good!

We received some very sad news while we were there. I definitely coped with lots of tears, hugs, walks on the beach, and chocolate. We waited all week to hear about travel plans to go back to our hometown, however we just learned we won't be traveling for another 2 weeks. Thank you to everyone who reached out - it's so appreciated during this difficult time ♥

Our last day is June 16th...we have 2 weeks left full of learning and testing, then a week of more "fun" activities with a field trip, field day, and the ascension ceremony. Home stretch!

Here's a few fun pictures from the past week:

I posted this on my Instagram - my student yelled this out during the NWEA, lol!

I stopped by our amazing Kindergarten Science teacher's room to scoop 

up some littles for testing, but instead I joined their fun! They were 

learning about soil layers and recreated them with a salsa recipe! 

How awesome is that? 

I found out that one of my students CUT CLASS and took this bag of pennies to the Book Fair! He was in line to purchase a science book 

when he was "caught." I was holding back giggles as we talked about 

the seriousness of not being in our assigned area and how we were so worried about him. This is my "Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!" 

student - I absolutely adore him!

My Power Hour students f-i-n-a-l-l-y earned their Playdough Party! 

To be honest, I wasn't sure it was ever going to happen. I forgot to snap a photo of our gem jar, but it's finally filled up to the "party" line (a piece of zebra tape on the side, haha). This is a group full of big personalities and we definitely needed to find something to celebrate ;)

The Playdough Party consists of six stations indicated by 6 red bins spread out around the room. Each bin contains playdough, tools, and my 

Sculpt It Pages:

I have this party every single year and plan on continuing it - 

my students ♥ it! Here's a throwback freebie to get started!

How do you celebrate accomplishments in the classroom?

Please leave a comment to share - thanks!! Jen