Surviving Brick Johnson

When we get back from the Holiday Break my 5th Graders and I are going to be reading Surviving Brick Johnson by Laurie Myers. To view our Padlet Wall where we will be posting our predictions, connections, "aha's", etc. scan the QR Code below.

                                 

 

Phonological Awareness Using the SMART Board

My kiddos love this quick and fun activity and it is extremely beneficial for building phonological awareness.
I open up a blank SMART document then write one CVC (consonant/vowel/consonant) word. I highlight one letter of the CVC word then call on a kiddo to substitute another letter for the highlighted letter. They then write a new word and highlight a letter and on and on. The students take turns and try to make the words longer. You can find several activities similar to this on Pinterest by searching WORD LADDERS. Disclaimer: I have some shorties in my group so we tend to write a lot of words near the bottom and they LOVE to play with colors and fonts.
Again, the kids love it and it requires NO prep, yet reinforces phonological awareness...I'd say that's a win-win!

Padlet

My little ones have been using Padlet A LOT! We use it to post answers to discussion topics, sort words and sounds, to make predictions about texts, etc. Here is just one quick example of how one of my groups posted and sorted words with short vowel sounds.  I created this image in ppt. then used it as my wallpaper for a new Padlet. More posts to come as to how we are utilizing Padlet in our lessons.

Created with Padlet

Nearpod

Here are two of my second graders, Brianna and Luke, making predictions about our new book Allie and the Everything Sandwich using the app Nearpod.

Click HERE to read a VERY interesting article on Dyslexia in the General Education Classroom. 

Texas Bluebonnet Reading List 2014-2015

The Texas Bluebonnet Committee and The Texas Library Association sponsor The Texas Bluebonnet Award Reading List for Grades 3-6 solely to encourage free voluntary reading. Check out this year's books, there are so many extraordinary ones to choose from!

Below is a Thinglink I created with links to The Texas Bluebonnet Award website, book trailers, and author sites. The Texas Bluebonnet Award Website has the full list of books and is chock full of links, activities, and enrichment ideas for each of the books so be sure to check it out!  

Read for the Record

This year's Read for the Record book is Bunny Cakes by Rosemary Wells. Pledge to read with millions of others across the country on October 21st and/or donate to the campaign and support literacy here.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!

I am so excited about the upcoming school year and all of the fabulous learning that is going to take place! Summer has been amazing but I am eager to get back to Bulverde Creek and see all of my little green beans! It's gonna be a great year!