  Click here to visit my character traits page on my website for an anchor chart, articles, and more! Pig the Pug is a Winner! Well, kind of... He actually is kind of a toot! But, can I just say how much I love him anyways?! I use him all the time to solve conflicts between my kids and teach desired character traits. I have five kids! Needless to say, there is always conflict at some point! Enter Pig! This last summer I struggled to find a way to teach my ten and seven year old that it is not okay to quit games just because you are losing. On the flip side, I had to teach the nine year old, it is not nice to rub it in when you win. In Pig the Winner, Pig and Trevor face this very problem! After we all set down and read the book together, we had a family meeting about how we wanted others to treat us during games. It worked! Yay! What else does Pig teach? We all know that one on one time with your kids is a commodity. They want attention and will try anything to get it sometimes! Enter Pig! In Pig the Star, Pig and Trevor are looking fabulous at a photo shoot until Pig feels the need to hog the spotlight. After we giggled our way through the hilarious illustrations (and put the Corgi in a tutu), we had a lot of good feedback on Pig’s behavior and positive ways to get attention at home and school. So even though Pig is selfish and self centered, he always learns a valuable lesson by the end of the book! Use him in your classroom or home to teach desired traits or do a character study in the classroom. Have your kids evaluate his actions to determine his character traits. And as always ask your kids what he learned! Chances are they will recognize their actions in Pig without you having to say a word! Do you have a favorite book where the characters learn a lesson? Tell me about it in the comments below. Teachers friends, check out my teacher pay teacher products by clicking below or leave me a comment on things you’d like to see! 
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  Over the years, I have tried many different procedures to try to save myself time and energy. Most Fridays, I would get home tired and grumpy. My husband or kids would ask me if I wanted to do somethings and here I was.... -> It took time and some trial and error, but I finally found my teacher groove. No one way will work for everyone, but I found these procedures to be effective. So without further ado...  Procedure # 1 “If you want a grade, put your name on it!!!” Inevitably, you have a student or two that NEVER puts his or her name on the paper. I always ask my students at the beginning of the year, "Alright, who wants a free point?" Of course they all do. “Alright, Give a put a ——- (star, smiley face, triangle)next to your name.” If anyone did not put his name on the paper, have him do so then. Some years, I even have a partner check to see if they wrote their names. After a day or two, students will ask me what they should write next to their names. After a week or so, I slowly wean them off this practice. Usually, I don't have any more issues with no names until we get back in January and then I just do this again. ;)
Procedure # 2 Have a mailbox system. Don’t waste your time in the older grades passing out papers! Teach students to pass the out! (If I get any new students, they always get plugged in at the end. It’s too complicated for me to shuffle the numbers each time.) Procedure # 3 Fold graded papers, so that grades are on the inside and students can help you pass them out without breaking FERPA. I have my students fold their papers vertically (or hot dog style). On the outside, they write their name and class number (given to them based on the last name or order in grade book. And yes, this takes a little modeling at first, but it is beyond worth it). When I collect the papers, I call out their numbers. I stack them in number order. This cuts way down on grading time and trying to figure out who didn’t hand their paper in. I have a sticky note nearby to note anyone not finished or anyone absent. Procedure/Tip # 4 Don’t grade everything. And don’t try to grade it all yourself. I rarely grade student papers myself, at least initially! I feel that it is far more productive to have students grade their own papers. They gain instant feedback and can ask for help quicker. I even have them write a quick reflection of something they need to work on or why they think they understood the concept well. (Principals love to see this. This is a great way to get students to take ownership of their own learning.) That’s not to say I didn’t look over it their work. I had to deal with a little bit of cheating at first. But teaching them how to grade it themselves has so many benefits! Procedure #5 Have a place on the board where you consistently write page numbers, titles, or instructions on the board. You will quit getting so many. "What are we doing?" What page are we supposed to be on?" Procedure # 6 Post your objectives for the lesson. This practice comes in handy for many reasons.
Any questions about these procedures? Do you have any procedures you like? Like what you read? Check out my Teacher Pay teacher Store!
 Whenever I am asked what my all time favorite book is I always say... I CAN'T DECIDE!!!! But every time I read this book, Those Darn Squirrels, I hug it. That's right, I admit it, I am a book hugger. And yes, my students always think I am crazy, and my own kids know I am. There are so many reasons to love this book! Besides the entertaining story and hilarious illustrations, the reader sees Mr. Fookwire and the squirrels changes throughout the book. I have had students write about their changes in their journals or even respond to it on blog posts. It's also always interesting and entertaining to ask my students to debate on whether Mr. Fookwire should share the seed or not. Lastly, this is a great STEM read! Both Mr. Fookwire and the squirrels have to be crafty and use their resources to stop the "enemy"! Use this book to inspire your students to defend their own seed. Or use it as an engage piece for a force and motion lesson! Either way. I love this book! Do you have a book that is an absolute must read? Tell me about it below. Or, check out my Squirrelly Context Clues for activity to accompany this book by clicking the image below!   Teaching context clues can be complicated. It’s hard to find text that meet various levels and provide different types of clues to practice. That is why I love using Bilingual books even in monolingual classrooms. My Spanish speakers love leading the way during these lessons and most of my monolingual students don’t know any of the Spanish words! Be sure to pick bilingual books that contain mostly English sentences with one, maybe two, Spanish words in a paragraph. Full sentence translations won’t help your students. And too many Spanish words in a paragraph can also cause confusion. Before I read, I remind students of these strategies:
I really love the Skippyjon Jones series, any of those books are great!!! But here are a few more...
Check out my web page for online games and a video on Context Clues. https://ciaraoneal.weebly.com/context-clues.html If you like what you read here or my site, visit my Teacher Pay Teachers by clicking on the poster below!
  It's that time again!!!! Have you spent way too much money on school supplies???!!!! Me too!!!! Here are some fun reads to help you jump start your classroom culture of tolerance, perseverance, and learning! Nerdy Birdy- Who doesn't have odd quirks? Why try to fit it when you were born to stand out? This fun book with silly illustrations will have your kids laughing but also learning to love themselves for who they are. But will Nerdy Birdy be able to accept others for who they are? Read this book to find out! (Also, are you looking for a fun activity to go with this book for the first day of school? Check out my Nerdy Birdies activity over at Teacher Pay Teachers. If your interested by clicking on the pictures below. ;)
Pirates vs. Cowboys- Okay, I admit I love Pirates. I remember my first year teaching in the States, asking my principal if I could do a Pirate theme. She said she thought it was a little too violent, Avast. I mean alas! Anyways, we have students from all different backgrounds in our rooms. They even speak different languages! It can be challenging to get them to communicate effectively even when they are speaking the same language. When Pirates and Cowboys meet up and start having communication problems, it will take an effective communicator and finding commonalities to prevent a war! Use this with your students to talk about HOW to talk to others. You could create sentence stems and have them use them throughout the year. This book would also be a great lesson in comparison and contrast! Blackout- Blackout is a great book about making the best of surprise situations! What is everyone going to do when the electricity goes out? This "when life gives you lemons" book could be a great writing prompt about how to make positive out unexpected, possibly hard situations! The Word Collector- If you use word walls, you'll love this book! Jerome is a word collector in this colorful picture book. Get your kids excited about vocabulary too! Helpful hint- have your class create actions for each word as you put it up there. Call on word leaders when you need a filler or want to review what a word means. The word leader can point at review words with a fun pointer, a flashlight, or play charades with the words!!! Alright my friends, hope you have a fabulous year. Let me know what you think or click on the image below to check out my Teacher Pay Teacher Store to find lessons, games, activities and more!  |
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