Comprehension

 The mailman just delivered this handbook for middle school teachers. 

From IRA website...
Middle school is a crucial time to develop the sophisticated reading skills students need to analyze literature and challenging informational texts. This handbook offers 77 simple yet effective strategies to help students develop, refine, and strengthen key comprehension skills they can apply across subject areas.

Another book I need to review before school starts is...

 

Google Docs Question

I just saved a word document in google docs and it didn't save the graphics....so I saved it as a pdf file and all is fine...Is there anyone else who has experienced this problem?  I'm not sure why I happened to check!

Newest Addiction

As if blogging weren't addicting enough...throw in Pinterest .  But I've come to justify it by pinning ideas, blogs, websites that I can always find whether at home, school, or on the road. 

Happy pinning!

Writing Sites

HELP!  I have a writing site  on my class web pages, but there is not much there.  I'm looking for web sites that involve writing that my 4th grade students might find helpful...

Just leave a comment and the site address...thanks in advance.

The graphic below is what I chose for Vista Prints...I sure hope I like them.  Those of you who have used them-does it take awhile for the order to arrive?

Techy Blog

Free Technology for Teachers   may seem a little overwhelming, but sometimes we need something to push us in the technology direction.  Author of the blog, Richard Byrne, was a speaking at NETA (Nebraska's technology conference) and for such a young man (don't forget I've been teaching for 25+ years) he gave out a lot of technology information.  He's a google certified teacher-darn I tried but didn't get accepted- so he teaches using technology every day.  Check it out...you won't be disappointed, if you're the least bit into technology as a teaching tool.

Pat

Web Site Subscription

1.  Spelling City  I have two spelling groups so each group has their words to practice.  I put vocabulary words on my page also and all games, tests, etc are recorded for me to see.
2.  Reading A-Z  I like this site for guided reading books AND it has a lot of choices for me when I'm teaching 5th grade social studies.  I like the quick check quizzes.
3.  Scott Foresman -reading series- this was a one time purchase and I like it because I have access to all worksheets online, and tests are either from the basal or I can decide on which strategy and make a test.  Results from the tests lets me know areas of concern.
4.  Quia-  I can make quizzes of my choice and with a subscription I can keep track of students.  Their matching/word search/cloze games are great on the smartboard.  This site takes the most time, but I can save quizzes, games, etc. and not let them be visible until needed.  I used this for vocabulary until I started using Spelling City.

I'd love to have BrainPop but my school would never spring for the cost :(

I also liked IXL Math, but I'm not teaching math this upcoming school year.

Table organization

I really like this pencil caddy from Really Good Stuff.  I have 4-5 students at a table, so each student gets their own container & the last container is for community sharing of scissors, rulers, etc.

Do you have an organizational tool you REALLY love?

Each week we read a certain genre.  I purchased this rack to display other books in the weekly genre study.  Is there someone out there that does something similar?  Is there something special you do?