Trick or FREEBIE: A Treat of a Blog Hop!

The wonderful ladies and I from A-Classy Collaboration are having a treat filled blog hop starting today and lasting until Halloween!

My treat for you today is my October Word Work pack of activities!  Included are three different spelling and vocabulary activities that will promote learning all while celebrating the Halloween season!

One of the things I love about these activities is that they can be used over and over with new spelling words and vocabulary lists.  It is geared towards intermediate grades but some of your little kiddos might enjoy the enrichment as well!  Included are three different activities: Candy Corn Clues, Spell Recipe, and Witch's Hat.  Click on the any of the images to grab your freebie!

I hope you enjoy this little treat!  Don't forget to head on over to A-Classy Collaboration to see what all the other lovely ladies are giving away this week!

Word Nerds Chapter 8: Learning Through Assessment

** AAAHHHH I just saw that this didn't post this morning!?! :o(  I'm sorry y'all!  I've been in my room all day and this is the first time I've been on the computer.  Thanks for hanging in there! **

This is it!   This is the last chapter :o(  I'm kind of sad to see it end...  This book had some amazing ideas and I cannot wait to implement them into my classroom this year!  Next week I will finish up with the Epilogue and have a Vocabulary Linky Party so EVERYONE, yes even you, can link up all your vocabulary ideas or freebies so we can all grow together as Word Nerds!

One of my very favorite bloggers and lunch date ladies, Tamara from Mrs. Russell's Room, will be your host for this chapter!  Click on the image below to head on over to her blog and check out her thoughts and ideas on chapter 8!


Here is my quick run down of learning through assessments:

• "Assessment is one of the first steps, one of the last steps, and part of everything we do in between." - AMEN!  Assessment does not mean a test at the end and let's see how we fared.  It will never go as good as it could have if you had monitored your student's learning all the way through.
• How to plan for vocabulary assessment: think about the goals and purposes of the assessment, use authentic measures of vocabulary progress, plan for ways to assess depth of understanding, and be aware of comprehension connections. 
• LOVED how they laid out their Vocabulary Cycle Plan with related assessment and time frames!  Exactly what I have been wanting the whole book :o)

Formative vs. Summative Assessments:

• "Formative assessment is a plan to gather day-today information about learners, what they are learning, and what they need to learn."  I felt like this summed it up nicely!
• LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the metaphor about the soup!  "When the cook tastes the soup, that's formative; when the guests taste the soup, that's summative."  Did I mention how much I LOVE this metaphor???
• Different assessment strategies: thumbs up/thumbs down, observation, analyzing student work, teacher questioning, and student-generated questions.
• Give practice tests so students don't stress on the actually graded test because that's the first time they hear the word "test."
• Also, let student's create their own vocabulary test so they get a better understanding of applying their words.

I have had a blast hosting this book study and have learned SO MUCH from not only this book but y'all too!  I appreciate all of our hosts along the way and everyone else who jumped on the bandwagon and linked up as well!  Check back next week for Vocabulary Freebies Linky to build up your arsenal.  Have a great vocab idea?  LINK IT UP!  Don't forget the check out Tamara's blog and link up your thoughts and ideas down below!  Thank you all again, it has been a tremendous experience and I have loved every minute of it :o)

Must Have Monday Made It (LOTS of goodies!)

Happy Monday y'all!  As you are reading this I am finally in my classroom trying to get my room together before we move into our house on Wednesday.  YAY!!!  I wanted to let y'all know that Must Have Mondays will change to the LAST MONDAY of every month now that we are all getting back into our classrooms.  So the next time you will link up will be August 26 and  I want to know what was a must have for the month of August or just anything you couldn't live without!

I asked my husband what was something that I couldn't live without and he instantly laughed and said, "Bins."  Dead serious, no joke, bins.  And if you're a teacher, you know the obsession well.  I have had bins from Really Good Stuff for the past five years and they have served me well.  They are just now starting to crack under the strain of kids handling them and heavy books like Harry Potter.  The ones that hold the smaller chapter books are still going strong though!  That being said, I HAD to get more bins ;o)

I bought a few from the Dollar Tree (the mecca) but I will also be buying a set of the skinny book bins for individual students and as much as I have loved my RGS bins, they are not the same price they were 5 years ago... by like A LOT.  So this poor teacher had to go a hunting and found this wonderful post from Ms. Fultz's Corner.  She compares the book bins from Steps to Literacy vs. Really Good Stuff (literally side by side) and I now know which one I'll be buying.  DEFINITELY WORTH THE READ!

 

Today I'm also linking up with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It!  I have been a busy little worker bee this week trying to get everything done for my classroom.  Literally.  I mean, I put the sticky squares on the back of the Word Wall blocks already so that all I have to do when I get to school is peel and stick! HAHA!  I just want as much time in my room as possible before I have to leave early to move into the house.

Editable Back to School Packet
I finally got all my Meet the Teacher/Open House and First Week of School goodies compiled into one packet!  Can I just say that I am in love!  It has EVERYTHING that I need and all in one place.  Instead of a bunch of random worksheets in random files and folders I've now got it all in one spot and with super cute fonts, borders, and clip art.  The good thing about blogging and TPT is that is has finally made me look at all my creations and "cute them up."  I know some people don't care about that and that's okay, but I like color in my classroom and this does the job!  If you would like to see what is all included and what others have to say or even to get your own copy click on the image below.

Classroom Supplies Labels
In my classroom I have these plain, beige bins that sit on my rolly cart and house our community supplies.  I wanted to find some cute labels to put on them and then just decided, why not make them myself along with everything else I'm making?  I also wanted to make some for my math centers and supplies but have to wait until I'm in the classroom and see what I have!  To get your set of these 15 premade supplies labels click on the image below.

Blog Binder
I totally stole this idea from Katie at Teacher to the Core!  I mean, how could you not?!  She vamped up her regular binders by putting in fancy scrapbook paper!  Now, usually I just make something on the computer, print it off and slip it in the front, but for my Blogging Binder and TPT Binder I liked this idea a lot better.  She uses fancy transparency paper but I found this really pretty teal/blue cut-out paper that matched my bins and baskets in my soon-to-be craft room.  It came as a 12x12 sheet and I just cut it down to size and slipped it in the front and back pockets and the spine!

Inside is a fantastic blogging calendar made by Gina from Third Grade Tidbits!  I just wish that I had found this before July but it could not have come at a more perfect time!  I have lots of giveaways and collaborative blog and boards happening right now and it has been a LIFESAVER!  Click on the image below to see what all is included in this item.

Word Wall
For the past couple of years I just used a bulletin board with punch out letters as my prefix/suffix word wall.  Now that I am teaching all of the subject though, I need that board!  I have decided to move my word wall to below my white board in the front of the room.  It's perfect because it is such an used space and that area of the floor is where we have our class meetings and mini-lessons so the kids will ALWAYS be looking at it :o)

I made these alphabet squares with 12x12 colored cardstock and trimmed down a 12x12 piece of white cardstock to fit in the middle.  I did trim the edge of the white paper with a black sharpie to help it pop more and match with the letters that had a black trim as well.  Then I created these polka dot letters, printed, cut and glued it all together.  Once I had all 26 done I went to our local Lakeshore and got them laminated!  Might I add that a hurricane was happening outside and I was so terrified that all my hard work would get ruined by water spots and color bleeding but all ended well!

Behavior Management Scale

My last creation of the week was our class Behavior Management Scale.  Our county is big into Marzano these past two years and we wanted to include some sort of scale/clip chart but not necessarily how they do the colors in the primary grades.  So we did numbers, lol!  I know not much of a stretch but the kids use this same scale for their academics so it will be really nice for them to transfer that knowledge and experience into their behavior.  I have it printed, laminated, and rings in place ready to hang today, so I will update this post with a picture when I get it!  There are four different design styles (Big Kids, Little Kids, Bunting Banner, and Numbers) along with editable posters for your rewards, consequences, and ways to move on the scale (all in portrait and landscape).

WHEW!  You made it to the end and deserve a little treat!  Since it is back to school time, I have been giving away some BTS Freebies each day but only for an hour!  If you are not a fan on Facebook DO SO NOW so you can get flash freebie updates.  Check back tomorrow because one of these Back to School items might be up for grabs... HINT! HINT!

Don't forget to link up your last "must have" for the summer and leave some comment love on other's posts!

Word Nerds Ch. 7: Spreading Vocabulary Wings

The authors open the chapter with morphology and immediately introduce the Crystal Ball activity.  I. AM. IN. LOVE.  When you check out our host's posts you'll get a more in depth look at this activity but I will try and sum it up.  All the students are doing is breaking down a word into prefix, root, and suffix.  From there they find the definition of those three parts and then come up with as many words as they can think of that include those specific parts (use that schema!).  What began as breaking down the meaning of one word, essentially turned into the students learning 41 more words!  I always taught morphology in my class but I don't think my kids ever "got it" like these guys did in the book.  Definitely reevaluating how I will be teaching that next year!  And I have to add in that I also adore the Pirate vs. Rascal talk!  I will also be incorporating that into most of my vocab lessons, not just after I read the book!  I'll go into my detail on that topic later, whenever I try it in my class, but I know these ladies are going to tell you all about it and I don't want to spoil it ;o)

Our lovely hosts for this chapter are Shannon from I Run Read Teach and Allison from Eberopolis (who started back to school today!?).

 





 

Head on over to their blogs to learn more about morphology, using children's literature (they name specific books!) as a way to teach different forms of vocabulary, and so much more!  Don't forget to link up your thoughts and ideas below as well!

 

 

Word Nerds Ch. 6 - Celebrate to Validate!

Y'all I cannot get over how many good ideas are in this book!  I can't wait to do them all!  As I read I try and go back to past classes and think, "Oh yea, they would have LOVED that one."  or "They would have done so much better had I done this with them."  Anyone else do that???

Our lovely host for this chapter is Jen from Teaching, Life, and Everything in Between!

 

Here are some goodies (and of course my thoughts) from this chapter!  There are a lot of good party ideas and I thought to myself what a party means to my class.  Usually we have a compliment party (After they receive a certain amount of compliments from people around the school as a whole class) and it is a movie and popcorn, or maybe an ice cream party.  We also have a dance party if everyone brought their homework in on Friday!  Just a quick 4 minute song and the kids just rock out.  Occasionally I will let them pick the song and find the edited version, lol.  We also play "Sparkle Bang" right before a spelling test (it's kind of like Around the World) and the kids beg for it every Friday.

As I was reading I could only think of how motivating these "parties" would be for my kids to study more at home.  It is 5th grade and being "cool" is in full effect.  They don't want to be embarrassed by not knowing something and if they know there will be a party at the end where they can show off their stuff, they're going to work really hard all week!  Can you say LIGHTBULB???  If it works for homework and spelling, how have I never thought to do it for vocabulary?!  So while reading this I had a moment of epic failure and then turned it around real quick because now I have a huge source of good ideas that I will implement this coming year!  Here are some of the goodies they mention:

Block Party/Welcome, Words! (You get cookies!)

Toasting Party

Celebrating Velcro Words

Jeopardy! Party

Deal or No Deal Party (loving the game shows!)

Charades or Show Me Party

Dance Party

Luau Party

American Idol Party

Art Show Party

Holiday Parties (Fall Festival, Thanksgiving, Winter Holiday, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day)

 

 

If you want to get in depth detail of each party, don't forget you can look at the book free online at the publisher's website!  Also, head on over to Jen's blog and check out her summary and thoughts and ideas!  Don't forget to link up your thought as well down below!

Word Nerds Ch. 5: Active Vocabulary Practice

Oh my gosh!  This book is a glorious wealth of ideas and information and is such a find!  Chapter 5 alone has so many goodies!  I'm at the point now where I'm trying to figure out how to fit all the ideas I've been writing down in my Teaching Ideas Journal into my vocabulary instruction.  I need to just slow down and realize I can't do EVERYTHING EVERYDAY, lol, no matter how fun it seems.  I'm also really excited to transfer all of these ideas to Science, Social Studies, and Math!

This week the lovely ladies Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper and Jen from Diving into Learning will be your hosts for the chapter!  Click on their buttons below to find out what they have to say about active vocabulary practice in the classroom.  Holly is an intermediate teacher and Jen is a primary teacher :o)

 

 

 

Chapter 5 was all about practice!  You know when your kids practice their multiplication facts or spelling words.  It obvious when it comes time for their test and they still don't know any more than what you taught them the first day.  They have to practice!  Usually we have SO much to do that we rely on parent involvement to help with this.  For the most part that works but not always and not necessarily because parents don't care but because life happens, three jobs happens, going back to school themselves happens, etc.

This chapter includes numerous ways to practice in your classroom as a whole group, small group, or as individuals.  Because there are so many great ones and we have two fabulous hosts, I'm just going to tell you my favorite from each!

Whole Group: Chain Link
We have something very similar in our Word Work station as a worksheet and I can't believe I never thought to put it to kinesthetic use!  Every student has a vocabulary word (lanyard).  The teacher will call up one student and they will stand at the front of the room.  Now all the other kids are trying to figure out a connection from their word to the word up front.  Say the student standing up front has the word port, well another student with reflection raises their hand.  They would say, "My word is reflection and at a port, you can see the reflection of boats in the water."  That child will then go up and link arms with port.  Now students have the opportunity to think if they can come up with a connection to port OR reflection (they can link up on either side).  This is a very higher order thinking game and should be done at the end of your vocabulary cycle after lots and lots of practice.  This is one of the only times we do not let them use their vocabulary journals to reference back to because this isn't supposed to be the literal definition but the application.

Small Group: Vocabulary Board Games
Pretty self explanatory but on edhelper.com they have board game templates that she used and she printed them off, glued them on file folders and laminated!  You can reuse these with any vocab cycle!  I would probably have one group of cards that are my vocabulary words and another that is a task (eg. come up with a 7up sentence, what is a synonym for this word?, etc.).  If you get it right (your teammates will let you know) then move ahead however many pieces the dice tell you, if not stay where you are and try again with your same cards.

Individual: Word Illustrations
Essentially for this activity, students will illustrate their vocabulary words by combining the word and the meaning into a drawing.  One of my favorite examples was a little girl who had the word era and drew three women, one for each letter.  The e was a picture of a woman wearing a long dress and big puffy hair, the r into a woman wearing a shorter dress and high heels, and the a into a girl wearing her hair in a ponytail with jeans and a T-shirt.  She explained that this shows how clothes and hairstyles have changed in different eras... LOVE!!!

Those are just a FEW of the goodies that are found in this book!  Link up below with your thoughts and ideas from chapter 5 and don't forget to check out Holly's and Jen's blogs for their summaries!

Word Nerds Ch. 4: Squeezing the Juicy Words - Adding Synonyms & Antonyms

Today we are exploring our Word Nerds Book Study Chapter 4: Squeezing the Juicy Words - Adding Synonyms and Antonyms.  Doesn't the title just make you want to delve right in?!  Our lovely host for this chapter is a fellow Texan, Kelly from Koonce's Korner!  I just love her and love her blog :o)  So cute, the both of them!  Click on the image below to head on over and see what she has to say about Chapter 4 and synonyms and antonyms.

Here is my quick run down of Chapter 4!

Thoughts and Ideas:

• LOVED how they used the dictionary and thesaurus as a constant resource!  My kids use them, but as a last resort.  They dread having to open a BIG book, haha, but hopefully it will just become second nature to them now.
• I'm also really liking how they keep referencing the Common Core Standards.  I don't know about y'all but in our county (at least for grades 3-12) it is all new and will be rolled out next year.  So any little bit can help and it's always nice to know that should my methods ever be called into question, I have the proof to back it up!
• "Velcro Words" = words that will stick to your brain (totally stealing this).
• "Juicy Words" = impressive synonyms or antonyms (we call them Jeopardy Words in my room but same concept).
• Code Switching - so important!  Some of my kiddos don't have the most supportive home life and the kids in their neighborhood might make fun of them for using big words or think that my student is acting "uppity."  As sad as that is, it's a fact of life.  With Code Switching, we are teaching our kids when it is appropriate to use those Jeopardy Words.  Now some might be able to share their words at home and their families will foster that conversation more but same might not.  Great tool!
• I always worried with non-examples.  I had students that would get confused and misinterpret their vocabulary word but after reading this chapter I think it was more of the way I taught.  I need to delve deeper into my non-examples so students really understand the breakdown of their vocabulary word.  This one was all on me and I hope to do better next year!
• The lanyards!!!  I have been waiting for this part since I got the book and saw the students on the cover, haha!  Even though I teach intermediate, I really liked what they did in the primary classroom with the lanyards.  I thought that was a brilliant idea for students to line up by synonyms or antonyms, taking it a step further and switching, etc.  I am TOTALLY doing that this year!  If you need lanyards (like this girl) I found that Oriental Trading has a TON to choose from for a fair price.  Some are just lanyards and some have a badge attached so you might need to go exploring to find what you're looking for here.

Well that's all I've got on this chapter!  Don't forget to check out Kelly's blog above and link up your thoughts and ideas on Chapter 4 as well :o)

Word Nerds Chapter 3 Part 2 and Bloglovin Winners!

I know, I know.  I'm SUPER behind on this post.  It was due last Thursday but the craziness with trying to get this house, getting all of our paper work in order and just trying to get the other stuff in my life done has been hectic to say the least.  Better late than never!

This chapter was all about introducing your vocabulary and I have to admit that there were few similarities in what I do and what these ladies do : /  Not to say what I've been doing is wrong, but it was interesting to see the different methods of implementation.  Our vocabulary cycles usually only last five days: give the words on Monday and test on Friday.  Yes, very old school, I know.  The idea of focusing on words for ten days would be great!  I'm definitely going to have to bring this up to my team at our next meeting!

I loved the idea of the sentence and word prediction and the vocabulary journals.  I already know that I will have to work hard at not giving them the answer right away during the prediction process, lol.  My question is, what do you do with those low babies that absorb the first thing they hear and they stick with it?  I'm guessing the ten days will be enough time to rewire their brains, haha.  I also LOVED how she essentially taught social studies while introducing the vocabulary words!

That's it for this chapter, it was pretty short and sweet!  There are lots of ideas I plan on implementing and I would like to keep some of my old goodies as well, but if I'm extending my vocabulary cycle to ten days then there is time to fit it in in other places.  How do you introduce your vocabulary?  By clicking on the image above you link up and see what others have to say about their vocabulary introduction!

Now for the good stuff, my Bloglovin giveaway winners!!!!

Congratulations to Andre and Emily!  Emily was also a winner for my 300 follower giveaway!  Buy a lotto ticket girl!  Thank you to everyone who followed me on Bloglovin and all your support!  I have found so many fun blogs to follow throughout this giveaway and I love my daily Bloglovin feed.  So fun!

 



Word Nerds Chapter 3: Making Introductions

Hey y'all!  I do not have my post ready yet for Chapter 3 (ugh, I know?!) but we had some CrAzY stuff happen the last couple of days and hopefully I will be able to share the good news with you tomorrow, along with all my 300 Follower Giveaway Winners, on my Five for Friday post.  So fingers crossed!

BUT there are some wonderful ladies out there who have prepared a fabulous summary for you today!

Joy from Joy in the Journey and Kaitlyn from Smiles and Sunshine
 

 

Head on over to both of their blogs and see how they introduce their vocabulary.  Go ahead and stalk look at the rest of their blogs because they're super cute!  I was very excited (still am) about this chapter seeing as how this is where it will all start come August!  I love to see the different ideas people use!  Don't forget to link up your post if you are joining us as well :o)

 

 

 

Word Nerds Chapter 2: Classrooms that Foster Word Confidence

A little housekeeping before we get into our book study...  I know everyone has seen the news about GFC going away and the switch to Bloglovin'.  Well I'm doing it!  I'm taking the plunge!  I would appreciate if you already follow me (or you want to!) to please begin following me on Bloglovin' :o)  Okay, now that that is out of the way, onto our book study!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

 

Our Word Nerds Book Study continues with Chapter 2: Classrooms that Foster Word Confidence!  The chapter takes you through both a primary and intermediate classroom and shows you how two different teacher foster word confidence in their daily routines.

 

Our two lovely hosts for this book study today are...
 

Raye from The Caffeinated Teacher and Misty from Think, Wonder, & Teach.  Click on their button below to check out their posts.

 

 

 

I'm going to give you just a brief run down of my thoughts on this chapter but will leave the bulk of the information to the wonderful ladies above!

 

Thoughts and feelings!

• I was definitely intrigued by the idea of having kids practice getting excited and then immediately stopping to come back to the lesson.  I never thought about that approach because my first couple of years my kids had no trouble with that area whereas last year's students could not come back quickly after getting excited or going off for an activity.  Definitely be doing this next year!
• Loved the concept of a teacher-convenient classroom vs. student-convenient classroom.  After reading the descriptions I really thought about my classroom and, thankfully, realized it was student-convenient!
• The choosing vocabulary words went right along with my other book study on building mathematical comprehension!  Use words from the content you choose, words from your standards, and words that the students will see in other subject areas but need to know to be able to decode questions and what not later (Tier 2 words).  LOVED the metaphor of "Goldilocks" vocabulary words - just right for the students in front of us.  Don't we all know how that changes from year to year!
• I'm totally going to start calling it a Vocabulary Cycle as opposed to a unit!  It's so true!  With a unit, it ends and the student's never retain it, but a cycle continually repeats itself and the students will need to recall the words throughout the year and their life!
• Whenever I introduce vocabulary I always like to use a Prezi presentation with a kid friendly definition and a visual, but I really like their idea of the Vocabulary Planner to help me sort out all the information I need.  I would also like to go to some sort of Vocabulary Notebook.  Does anyone do this in their classroom?  Thoughts?  Ideas?  Problems?

There you go folks, the writing in the margins so to speak!  You should see my book, lol.  It's all sorts of highlighted and written on with doodles and notes.  I'm thinking of bringing into the classroom to show my kids how I text code as I read and they can too!  Don't forget to check out Raye and Misty for their amazing insight to this wonderful book!  Head on back later today for Day 3 of my 300 Follower "Fun in the Sun" Giveaway!  If you haven't entered for Day 1 or 2 yet... WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?  There are so many wonderful goodies from some extraordinary bloggers :o)