Summer School Plans

I had a wonderful week off..... and I'm back.... at summer school. 

:) 

It's really a pretty good gig. Only a half day and we are allowed to create our curriculum. 

I am working with second graders this year and I have paired with another teacher since we have such a large group of second graders. She does math and I do reading... then we switch... 

We grouped them as close to their English ability levels (according to WIDA) as we could - so that we could differentiate as much as possible in the three weeks we have with them. 

So - here are my plans, some screenshots of the amazing ELL resources from readingatoz.com, and some websites and an app I will be using this week as we learn about....

SHARKS! 

Here is a screen shot of one of the Sharks books, and the ELL resources that accompany it!
I loved that I could choose books that aligned with my children's proficiency levels and matched up to their WIDA scores! This made planning so much easier! This will definitely be a purchase I am adding for next year!
:) 

A great website : Discovery Kids - Sharks in Slow-Motion

Shark App

We made vocabulary books from the ELL teacher resources section ... the kids loved them! (of course I printed them out in color.... my EL babies need any and all help they can get!)

Motion in the Ocean, Teddy Bear Picnic, and a Freebie

How do you like that for a title? :) 

Motion in the Ocean....

My group of kiddos is learning about ocean animals this week. 

So - I pulled some great readers from 

reading a to z

Two of these are available in the animated version on raz-kids. The Coral Reefs book is multi-level which will be helpful for my 'more capable' ones. 

We are also visiting National Geographic's website to do some animal research! Have you seen the kids site? 

We <3 it="" p="">

Many animals have short video or audio clips so the children can see the animals in their habitat! And... MAPS! So neat!

Here is a screen shot of the Kids: Animals and Pets: All home page. 

I like that it is organized by wildlife or habitat...

And you can print out fact cards for the kids to use later (or put into a book like we did with our animals unit....) 

Teddy Bear Picnic ...

FINALLY got something done... This unit came about when I learned a new little trick in PowerPoint...  Thanks to my friend at Funky Fresh Firsties...

You can fill a shape - with a picture! WHAT? 

I know - mind. blown. 

So I started playing around with that - and before I know it - I had a patterning and graphing unit in the works! 

Here is a preview...

And last... 

A FREEBIE! :) 

Click on FREEBIE - or either picture to download the file from my dropbox. 

Nothing special - just something I made so that my kiddos could write down their 'facts' that we are learning from our books and websites. :) 

And the super cute clip-art is from Nikki at Melonheadz! :) 

Have a great night friends! 

Working My Fingers to the Bone and Channeling My Inner Betsy Ross

I am teaching ESOL summer school and I have been planning for that this weekend. 

I love teaching summer school..

I know... weird... 

I enjoy the shorter days and the ability to work on what my kids NEED. 

NOT what the CCGPS thinks they need.

This year we broke up our summer school classes by their WIDA scores (English ability) in order to better meet their needs. We are only serving 2nd - 5th, but we have 5 groups! I am teaching the 'basic' 2nd graders for the next three weeks. These guys are all new to English (some very new... like have been here a month...) while others need the speaking practice. Even though I am serving the beginning group - their needs are still very diverse! 

One student knows his alphabet, but has no clue what sounds the letters make. 

Another - can't blend.. or segment..

Third - refuses to speak... (I get that, but still....)

I have five kiddos in all this year and I am trying to work out some small group reading rotations like I did in first grade. Two of the five need some intensive instruction with me, while the other three can work somewhat independently. 

{Yes - I am looking at this through a literacy lens... that is what my specialty is...}

I need to work more speaking into our day...

Anywho... 

Here are some of the resources I will be using for the next week. :) 

The Stars and Stripes reader is from reading a to z. If you haven't used them - I HIGHLY recommend that site. They have been one of my go to sites for the last 7 years. 

{P.S. - Flag Day is this week}

My other resource will be a glyph from the glyph girls. :) I love them...

click on either picture and it will take you to the websites. 

We will make an ABC book using the American Symbols - I took this idea from my ABC posters in my classroom. Unfortunately... Summer School is NOT at my school, so I won't be taking my alphabet off the wall. We will recreate it instead. :)

I will also use Teacher To the Core's American Symbols Unit to help with my Alphabet project and the reading comprehension/fluency aspect of WIDA standards.

Hmmmm.... I wonder if there is a 'How It's Made' on American Flags? ;)
Have a great night y'all!

Found this on pinterest... :)

visual plans 3.4.13

This week I am really focusing on the CCGPSRI {Common Core Georgia Performance Standards Reading Informational}

I am doing a lot of non-fiction units with my kiddos, all grade levels. I am using a unit that I have created, I am currently creating, and ones that I have purchased to accomplish this. I am also using reading a to z and raz-kids for my non-fiction literature component. We are focusing on finding details and information in text and creating graphic organizers to help with study skills. 

My 4th and 2nd grades are doing a lot of hands - on this week - which will be great - those two grade levels are my lowest ELL's. I also have Google Earth queued up - so we can look at different landforms. I am also taking my Kinders on a field trip to Washington D.C. {VIRTUAL ONE!}

We are going to visit the monuments! And I am so excited! 

We will also be writing on Friday. WHOOOHOOO! {no - not really} oy vay!

So - here are my plans - {BASIC, BASIC, BASIC}

I linked up with Mrs. Wills Kindergarten for her visual plans linky! Wow - these ladies are awesome!

CCGPS and planning...

So - I have a huge stack of CCGPS frameworks, templates, maps, outlines, yada, yada, yada, sitting next to me on the couch. I have been planning for my K-5 classes since Friday. I'm not doing so good. I'm struggling to find where I can best help my ELL kiddos within these frameworks. I plan on pre-teaching the vocabulary, and doing mini-lessons on the comprehension skills and strategies. I also need to really work in more opinion writing pieces. We have a hard time writing narrative pieces, so I'm a little uneasy about the opinion and persuasive pieces of writing that are found so frequently in the Common Core Standards. 

Anyway - this is what I have - 

The Kinder Framework focuses on day and night and superheroes for the next 9 weeks.

The need to produce an opinion piece of writing and learn the structure of a non-fiction piece of writing, while also focusing on verbs, opposites, sorting, and sequencing. OY VAY!

SO.. My Plan Is...

I have a KWL and brace map prepared for Monday when I will also introduce different vocabulary words using picture cards. I also plan on using these vocabulary cards in a day and night sorting activity.

 (graphics - mycutegraphics and aisne's clip art)

I am going to use the book Getting Dressed from reading a to z - working in the sequencing and routines, but having the students extend to book to bring in the before and after of the book and day and night. For language we will use sentences from the book and pre-made sentence cards to continue working on our vocabulary. 

I need to remember to find my sequencing cards for practice! Some of our discussions will center around what happens during the day and the night, and we will START learning about opinions and formulating opinions using some of our vocabulary cards. 

In the next 8 weeks - I'm going to focus on opposites using many of the level aa and a reading a to z books. The level aa's focus on one topic, where the level a's will compare and contrast the opposites. We will label our non-fiction pictures and review text structure using these a to z books. 

45 minutes....5 days....

I got this! :) 

Happy Monday Y'all!

A few of my favorite things...

In today's post I wanted to highlight a few of my favorite things for my classroom....

Number 1.

My own personal laminator.

I snagged this Scotch laminator last year on Amazon's deal of the day - and I don't know if I could get by without it anymore... Granted - I don't laminate everything with it, but those things that I want to hold up for a long time - definitely go through this thing! (Like my Hope King Halloween Centers) 

I find these super helpful because my kiddos can write on the recording sheets with Vis a Vis pens - eliminating the need for copies and grading... ;) 

Well - the lamination pouches are also on sale today - so I plan on stocking up for the rest of the year. :) 

Number 2

Mr. Sketch Markers 

These were a present from my bloggy buddy Stacy at Funky Fresh Firsties {That I am lucky enough to work with and see everyday!} Yay for friends at work! :) 

I love them

Love them

Love them...

{LOVE THEM}

I almost love them so much, I don't want to use them... but I totally do. :) 

Number 3

My Color Laser Printer

This was a huge Donor's Choose project on multiculturalism that I was awarded last year. 

Since I mostly use reading a to z for my ELL kiddos - being able to print out the books IN COLOR has been really amazing. Call me crazy, but I feel it makes a difference in the attention span when they have those lovely color images in front of them. 

Number 4

Reading A to Z and Raz-Kids

Here is a a link to the freebie trial. There are 6 different sites which are all an amazing support to my curriculum. I have paid for these subscriptions every year that I have been teaching and they are SO worth it.  The Raz-Kids is a recent addition but is probably one of my favorites. 

Number 5

Teachers Pay Teachers

I am so lucky to work in an environment where I am trusted to be a professional and do what is best for my children. I am also lucky that there are SO many amazing educators out there who are willing to share their hard work. I have gotten so many unbelievable things from tpt - paid and free - I couldn't imagine not having it as my go to anymore! 

What are your top 5? Don't forget to check out Teaching Blog Addict's Freebie Friday! There were over 100 free things all in one place last week!