Reading Wonders Interactive Notebook

Hi everyone! I've finally gotten a chance to blog about how I incorporated Interactive Notebooks with the 2nd grade Reading Wonders series last school year. 

Halfway through the school year, I finally felt comfortable enough with the curriculum to start implementing the Interactive Notebooks as a way for us to practice the skills. Sometimes I would use them during whole group, small group, or as an independent activity. If the week was crazy, I would sometimes not use them at all. I would pick and choose which activities to use as an Interactive Notebook depending on our schedule and my student's abilities.

First thing, I did was look at the Unit Overview for each week to see which skills I thought could be incorporated as an Interactive Notebook activity.

I decided that Work Work, Vocabulary, Comprehension, and Grammar would be good areas to use an Interactive Notebook for teaching or practice.

To get us started, I made each student a notebook and added tabs for easier organization. Having these colored tabs helped my students quickly find the area of the book that we were working in that day.

I tried two different printing options before I found the one that I liked the best for my class. I felt like printing 2 to a page made items too small for my students and settled on printing at 85%. By printing at 85%, the pages fit perfectly in a composition notebook.

I like including anchor charts for my students to use as a reference. Then if I new anchor charts up on our focus wall, they can use their Interactive Notebooks as a guide.

To help build my students' independence, I kept the weekly phonics and vocabulary activity the same. The only thing that changed was the new phonics patterns and new vocabulary words.

I made different activities to practice the skills found each week for all 4 areas.

 If you're interested in my notebooks, you can click on the pictures below. Units 2, 5 and 6 are coming shortly!

        

 I was also late posting my giveaway winner! So sorry!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy weekend!

Two for Tuesday ~ Phonics Games

Hi everyone! I'm linking up with Cyndie from Chalk One Up for the Teacher for 2 for Tuesday! It's a great day to stock up for upcoming school year since these are only $2!

I've got two of my favorite resources for you guys today.

I have just revised one of my students' favorite phonics games, the Magic E game. I love using games with my students in small groups and as an independent center. This game is perfect if you have students who struggle to read words like can and cane. I have included 32 pairs of words like this. To make this multi-purpose in my classroom, I've also included sorting header cards and a recording sheet.

I'm also marking down my Touch Point Math Posters to $2. Using touch points has been a life saver for some of my students who really struggled with fact fluency! I keep these posters up all year long, and many of my students refer to them frequently.

Make sure you check out some of the other awesome $2 for Tuesday deals!

An InLinkz Link-up

Back 2 School Giveaways

It's getting that time of year where all teachers are prepping for back to school. For me, that means I'm spending so much money in my classroom. But to help you out, the Owl-ways Be Inspired girls have joined together to help you out!

You can enter over at the Owl-ways Be Inspired {here} to win one of these!

But that's not all! While you're there, you can also stop by all of these blogs to enter and win some great stuff!

Before you do that, you'll want to enter here to win a $40 gift card to Target.

a Rafflecopter giveaway Good luck!

Back to School Writing Freebie

Today, I'm blogging over at Owl-ways Be Inspired with a great freebie for you! 

If you're like me and have been scouring every Target's Dollar spot section, this freebie will be perfect for you!

Click {here} to stop by and get your freebie!

Visual Classroom Management Freebies for Back to School

I can't believe back-to-school time is coming up so quickly! I've been thinking about my classroom decor and decided to go a little different route this year. I want to try and use as many actual photos as possible to make things super clear for my students and help with explicitly teaching classroom procedures.

I've made some new visual posters and wanted to share them with all of you.

My first change was with my class rules posters. I have used a modified version of the Whole Brain Teaching rules for the last several years.

I also wanted explicit Voice Level posters for my students.

If you haven't checked out A Day in First Grade's blog post about her morning meeting, it's a must read {here}. I loved how she gave her students three choices for sitting on the carpet. Last year, I had a lot of students who didn't want to sit criss-cross applesauce. I think my students will be much happier with these options.

If you're interested in any of these visuals, you can download them all below for free by clicking on the pictures!

I hope these are helpful in your classrooms!

2 for Tuesday - Alphabet Charts and Fluency Task Cards

While in Vegas, I was super lucky to meet Cyndie from Chalk One Up for the Teacher. She is seriously one of the sweetest ladies ever. If you haven't checked out, her blog you should! She shares fabulous ideas there.

This summer, Cyndie is hosting a 2 for Tuesday link-up. It's a great way for you to score some great products for only $2!

Today, my Clip Chart in Bright Colors is only $2. I used this in my classroom a few years ago. You can click {here} to see all the classroom pictures from that year.

You can purchase this clip chart for $2 {here} or by clicking on the picture below.

I also love using my Short Vowel Phonics Fluency Task Cards with my students. My students think they are so fun and don't even realize they are practicing reading. During small group, I usually have my students read a few cards as a warm-up. They will read the cards to themselves, turn and read to their partner, and then switch.

These are also only $2 today and can be found {here} or by clicking on the picture below.

Don't forget to stop by the link-up and see what other great products are out available for 2 for Tuesday.

An InLinkz Link-up

Vegas Truth

It's time for a little truth about my upcoming Vegas trip for the TpT Conference. Less than a month ago, my family moved from Hawaii to Florida. It has been crazy and hectic. We've slept in an RV, in hotels, in family's homes, and in an empty house on air mattresses. Our household goods won't be delivered for two more weeks. It's been a rough month!

So the truth is I'm not prepared for Vegas at all. I could not be more underprepared. I don't even know if I fall under the introvert or extrovert category anymore. For the last month, I fall into the survival category!

First let me show you what I did today. We're back home visiting family we haven't seen in years. We spent the day at a water park and this obstacle is only ONE of the things we did. It was fun but so exhausting! Just what I should have planned before a big Vegas trip right??

Here's all my evidence of how unprepared I am.

I've been living out of a suitcase for over a month. Every outfit I own is incredibly wrinkled. Please don't hold it against me.

I finally got handouts printed tonight. See how they're not even stapled? 

I also got my name tags printed tonight. But the only badge holder I have was just given to me last week by HR at my new school. One name tag fits in it. Should I just paper clip the other two to my shirt?

Thanks to the awesome water park day, my pedicure looks terrible!

My carry-on bag looks like this.

My iPhone screen just cracked on me, too. :(

I'm super excited for Vegas and the opportunity to meet and reconnect with awesome people, plus the learning. Honestly though, I'm a hot mess right now. Combining all this craziness with my nervousness about meeting and talking to people has gotten me rather stressed out! 

Please tell me I'm not the only one this unorganized?