Quick & Easy Fluency Practice

Good Morning Everyone, 

I'm so excited to link up (AGAIN) with some F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S bloggers in yet another amazing Bright Ideas Blog Hop! 

This is such a great way to get, well, BRIGHT ideas!

This month's BRIGHT idea is one that I use all year round. It is also a great tool to use in any classroom and at any grade level.

I call it: Fluency Fun!

It is a quick and easy way to practice fluency with your students. Take a short text that the student is not familiar with. Read it aloud to the student. You will need to read it a little slower than usual for this activity. As you read, time yourself. Once the passage is complete, ask the student to read the same passage aloud, while trying to beat your time! Repeat this activity a few times. Always be sure to make the goal attainable for the student and always be sure to up the ante! 

Be sure to make it interesting!

You can give the student a sticker or small prize when he/she beats your time.

You can make an announcement and/or display his/her triumph!

You can choose funny passages and/or write funny passages with the student.

The possibilities are endless! Just have fun with it!

This little trick really DOES help improve fluency skills and the kiddies love it because it's competitive and fun and one-on-one with their favorite person at school: YOU!

I hope you enjoyed this BRIGHT idea! Please consider joining me on Facebook, Instagram, and my Teacher Store.

For more bright ideas from over 150 different bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic that interests you. Thanks for visiting!

Until next time...

An InLinkz Link-up

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Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Hello Dear Friends,

It's been a while since I last posted. Life always gets so crazy and before you know it, weeks have gone by! I have to admit, despite the fact that it SNOWED last Friday, I think, and I stress the word THINK, that Spring has finally arrived! Regardless, the kiddies and I have decided that Spring has Sprung and we went allllllllll out! I made these little babies  back in February and have been looking forward to making them with the kiddies ever since! 

Yes, I'm talking about Animal Umbrellas!!! 

We had so much fun! 

First, we read my credibly acclaimed story on the Smartboard. I don't tell the kiddies that I make the stories and constantly use the statement: "The author..." I love it! It's my little secret! I am faaaarrrrr from being an author, but the kiddies sure get a kick out of my stories. 

I just love creating them because they are tailor-made for my themes and craftivities. I also like to add a little grammar lesson so I always create a mini focus to the story. This time, we were working on using the past tense in writing. Of course, I include task cards for various grammar activities, as well. 

We read the stories on the SmartBoard and I like to keep it interactive by having the students come up and circle things. It could be as simple as circling all the capitals on the page to circling all the clues that help us understand that the story is in the past tense!

I even upload it to our class Ipads so that the students can refer back to it whenever they may need. It's great for students who are absent on the day of the read aloud and for those who need a little reminder. 

They also love to go back and read our stories when they get time on the Ipad. :)

It's also a nice tool to have when introducing the story again for shared reading or reading response. I like to encourage my students to reread books and stories. I love how their previous exposure to the text gives them the confidence they need to read with more fluency, expression, and intonation. I use the shared reading and/or reading response portion of the activity to promote rereading, by doing so myself.  

Nothing wrong with reading a good book again! 

I love the shared reading activity because then I make my kiddies apply the grammar lesson themselves!

Take a look!

This is where MORE rereading comes into play AND this is where I get to see who grasped the grammar lesson during the whole class instruction. Loooove it! Oh, and the illustrating gives me a good idea of the comprehension too!

In the midst of all this learning, we write a story too! This whole process (i.e. read aloud, grammar, shared reading, and writer's workshop) takes up a few days. 

Here is what our finished product looks like!

Oh, of course, I almost forgot! Our Rainy Day Anchor Chart!

Love filling these out with the kiddies! 

This one was actually MADE by my students! They sure had fun with that!

Until next time...

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Crazy Eggs

Hi Everyone,

I am beyond excited right now! I have a 4 day weekend AND a pedagogical day to plan and prep! I'm also psyched about my unit updates! I will be uploading three updates over the weekend. Oh, boy do I ever cringe when I open some of my older packs! It's fun to update as your grow as a teacher and as a seller. I just loooooove my new clip art and wonder how I ever lived without it! Okay, maybe not "lived" without it, but how did I ever CREATE without it! I have a bit of a graphics obsession! Scarppindoodles, Just so Scrappy, Krista Walden, Pink Cat Studios, I love em' all!

I shall blog about my updates this weekend, so stay tune! 

For now, I'd like to share what I did with the kiddies this week! We had great fun reading all about friendship and writing about some Crazy Eggs.

Seriously, these kids make me look good! Their art is far better than mine! Hehe!

We began the lesson by reading the following little read aloud. I love showing it on the Smartboard, and now I've also gotten into the habit of reading it to them on the Ipad. They LOOOOVE that! You can also print a hard copy to keep in the classroom library!

Click on the picture to learn more about this read aloud pack.

Not gonna lie, I love making these packs. I always want a specific story and I like to work on a particular grammar skill during the reading portion of the activity. Makes for a much more meaningful learning experience. I purposefully included a lot of proper nouns in this one because that's what we were learning about in grammar this week! We also write a reading response, about the story. This time the meaning was about how we should not judge people and just because someone changes on the outside, doesn't mean they've changed on the inside. Poor little spotted egg in the middle (Shelly) had a real hard time with her friends for a while! Have no fear, they resolved everything and became the greatest of friends at the end!

After our extensive lesson on friendship and proper nouns, we wrote some pretty creative stories of our own! I used my templates from my Crazy Eggs Craftivity and, as always, the kiddies did an awesome job. They never cease to amaze me. 

Click on the picture to learn more about this read aloud pack.

This afternoon, I decided to let my sweethearts have a nice little treat (they had earned it after all). We decorated some Easter/Spring cookies and had ourselves a small feast (filled with sugar and all things yummy, of course!). I was very clear on the fact that everything is okay, in MODERATION. Cookies and frosting included! We are a healthy school and I want them to understand the importance of balance and portion control. :)

Wishing you all a wonderful Easter with your family and friends!

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Cotton Tail...

Happy Saturday Everyone,

I am pleased to inform all of you that the weather here has improved and we are seeing a lot of sunshine and some milder temperatures! Now if we could just skip the whole, snow melting, garbage appearing, and weird smell phase of Spring, I would be most content. 

Although parts of our school board received a Snow Day this week and our kiddies had to get all bundled up for recess again, our classroom sure began to look like Spring. 

These kids just know how to produce quality work! I can't stop reading their stories and looking at the bulletin board! They are just so darn awesome! I especially love to see the kiddies go up to the display and read their classmates' stories. They often even call over a friend and tell them to read another student's work because, and I quote,

 "This is sooooo funny" or "This is a nice story, he/she did a great job."

 This week we read a book called "The Pretty Pretty Bunny" and wrote a class reading response on chart paper. Our school has a data team and this year we have decided to focus our meetings on reading response results and how to use these results to better understand what the students needs are in this specific area. Then, we discuss how to teach them in a meaningful way in order to help them improve this very important skill. At our last meeting, we decided to complete one class wide reading response every two weeks (modelling is key!). We also agreed to look at a student reading response sample and discuss, as a class, how to improve it. So far, this has really benefited the students and we have seen growth and improvement. After the class reading response, we got our writing on!

The kiddies loved writing about "If I Were a Bunny..." 

You can check out my Craftivity HERE!

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be the Easter Bunny? Well, now you can! Your students will love writing all about their adventures as bunnies and they will love "dressing" themselves up as bunnies too (craft)! This 30 page pack includes:

- templates to create the craft
- 3 spelling helpers
- 6 writing stationary templates (3 with titles/3 without titles)
- 1 acrostic poem
- 1 syllable bunny hop game/activity with recording sheet)
- 1 Draw a Bunny poem and recording sheet (to draw the bunny)

You can also grab it in a bundle: Easter Bundle (Literature Centers & Craftivity Pack)

Check out my Easter Literature Center Pack

Spring has sprung and Easter is on the way! Time to celebrate and teach your kiddies all about Easter vocabulary. Students will participate in various literacy centers and writer's workshop activities that will consistently expose them to the same twenty Easter vocabulary words. Thus, ensuring that upon completion of these centers, students will be able to recognize and write Easter theme words. The use of Easter graphics and a variety of colorful clipart will engage your students and create a fun and meaningful experience.

This package includes:

- 7 center menus
- memory game (same 20 theme words and recording sheet)
- bingo game (same 20 theme words and recording sheet)
- word search (same 20 theme words)
- long vowel sorting game (includes recording sheet)
- short vowel matching game
- Easter acrostic poem
- 6 Easter writing stationary papers
- word wall including the same 20 words that are components of each station

On Monday, the kiddies and I are going to read my Crazy Eggs Read Aloud.

Time to practice fluency, vocabulary, and grammar with this fun and colorful read aloud. Students will love learning all about Shelly, Eggy, and Yoke, as well as illustrating their own story and creating their own Egg Person! This 27 page package includes:

- 6 page color read aloud story
- black and white copy of the story for students to read and illustrate
- detailed descriptions about the process of shared reading and reading response
- 8 task cards (tasks for students to do with their copy of the story, including grammar activities and a blank card for you to fill in)
- reading response sheet
- Egg Person activity sheets

After we read the story, we are going to write about Crazy Eggs!

Easter is on its way and spring is blooming! Want a wonderful, unique way to celebrate this Holiday? Look no further! This vibrant, fun, and creative activity will have your students learning and smiling. This 54 page pack includes:

- templates to create a variety of Crazy Eggs
- 6 black and white writing stationary (3 with titles, 3 without)
- ABC order activity with color graphics and black and white recording sheet
- Dictionary Fun activity with color graphics and black and white recording sheet
- Writing prompt activity with color graphics and black and white recording sheet
- Crazy Eggs acrostic poem
- I have, Who has activity with color graphics and black and white recording sheet

Finally, I figured that since the Read Aloud and the Craftivity go hand in hand, why not create a bundle. So Voila! Crazy Eggs Easter Craftivity & Read Aloud Bundle.

There you have it! My Easter Extravaganza! Hehe!

Have a fabulous weekend AND a great four day Easter week with the kiddies!

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Let's Paint the Classroom GREEN!

Hi Sweet Friends,

It's Spring Break and I am Happy! It's almost time for St Patrick's Day and that makes me even happier! 

I love this holiday and us Montrealers really go all out for St Patty's Day!

I just thought I would share some of my St Patrick's Day units that I posted back in early February!

This 56 pages package includes:

- St Patrick's Day word wall
- 9 center menus
- color word cards for various centers
- bingo center
- memory game center (with black and white recording sheet)
- spelling center (with black and white recording sheet)
- ABC order center (with black and white recording sheet)
- dictionary center (with black and white recording sheet)
- word scramble center (with black and white recording sheet)
- create a sentence center (with black and white recording sheet)
- St Patrick's Day word search
- 6 writing stationary templates (3 with titles and three without)
- 3 word wall games (with black and white recording sheets)
- shamrock pattern worksheet
- three wishes worksheet

CHECK IT OUT HERE!

This little guy is my favorite! The kiddies will write all about how he got STUCK!

This 27 page pack includes:

- 2 spelling helpers
- templates to create the craft
- 8 writing stationary templates (4 with titles and 4 without)
- 2 acrostic poems (Stuck & Leprechaun)
- 1 reading comprehension
- 1 "Draw a Leprechaun" activity

 You can grab my little friend RIGHT OVER HERE!

Of course, if you wish to get a packaged deal you can snag the Bundle right over HERE!

Today, I decided to prepare for my kiddies and made a Read Aloud to go along with my little leprechaun! 

This 28 page package includes:

- 7 page color read aloud story
- black and white copy of the story for students to read and illustrate
- detailed descriptions about the process of shared reading and reading response
- 8 task cards (tasks for students to do with their copy of the story, including grammar activities)
- reading response sheet
- Shamrock Person activity sheets

CHECK IT OUT HERE!

Until next time...

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It's a Love'Bot Craftivity!

Hello Again Everyone,

I'm back for a second day in a row! Woot! Woot! It's worth celebrating since report cards are looming and I probably will disappear under a rock for a few days/weeks (let's hope it's not for too long). I did improve my method for making things a tad easier during report card season but let's face it, it's NEVER easy, regardless of how organized and prepared we are. 

Today, I wanted to share my kiddies work. They are so awesome and make me so happy! We made some Love'Bots AND learned some new grammar concepts with this theme. 

Last term, my students filled out a self evaluation. One of the components of this evaluation asked the students to write about themes and topics they would like to learn about. My kiddies wrote many interesting and fun ideas, one of them being ROBOTS. Now I am no science expert nor a mechanical engineer and the students do learn about robotics in science (not my department), so I decided to make it a Valentine's Day themed Robot. Needless to say, just like almost everything else, they took the idea and flew with it. They are so good like that, they are enthusiastic about EVERYTHING!

We started off with an anchor chart! I'm obsessed! I know it's not new but I never thought to use one before! What I love about it, is that the kiddies have a visual to help them come up with words AND a lucky winner gets to take the chart home! I apologize, I forgot to take a picture of the completed chart (I often do that!). Here is our class Love'Bot...

I know he's cute when my friend Val over at All Students Can Shine tells me she wants to marry him!

We filled it out with things we love and then got to work on our own Love'Bots!

I love them... Which works out well since Valentine's Day is all about LOVE! 

The students had to fill out an "I LOVE" sheet and place it inside the robot's "belly" to make him "work."

I love how this cutie wrote that he likes to eat "stake" too cute AND that he loves to hug Ms. Nicole :)

After we made our Bot's we went to the SmartBoard room and read a Read Aloud about Love'Bot. 

Here is a little preview of the story!

We looked at various words such as, adjectives, verbs, and nouns. The students circled the words on the Smartboard. We had great fun! Then we went back to class, and as a class read the story again. After each paragraph we stopped and underlined specific words (ie. verbs, adjectives, and nouns). This was spread out over a course of three lessons, with each lesson focusing on one type of word. Each time, we read the text again. This helped the students familiarize themselves with the words and the story. They were also asked to illustrate the story. Finally, we completed a reading response about this story. We read it again on the SmartBoard and then looked at the meaning, structures and features, and the students made connections to the text. It was such a great activity, which had initially turned out to be a total flop! I may have made an assumption that the students were VERY familiar with verbs, adjectives, and nouns when in reality they only had a basic knowledge of these concepts. I initially, gave the students task cards and they had to find the words themselves. It really did not go well and I found myself feeling like the world's worst teacher but when I revisited the lesson the next day and completed the entire activity as a class, it went MUCH better! Crisis averted! Hehe!

Here is a little sneak peak at my kiddies great work...

You can grab a copy of the Love'Bot Craftivity at my TEACHER STORE.

You can grab a copy of the Love'Bot Read Aloud at my TEACHER STORE.

Happy Love Day!

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