Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

Formative Assessment Sheet - Christmas FREEBIE Edition!

I've taken a popular download from my store and created the remix...Christmas style!   My Formative Assessment Sheet puts your Do Now, your checks for understanding AND your Ticket Out (or Exit Slip) all in one place for you to quickly monitor which students are feeling successful and find those that need a bit of reteaching.  It's quick, efficient and organized authentic data at your fingertips!

(Click on the image for your Google Doc. FREEBIE!)

The upper-left box has space for students to record answers to a "Do Now" activity that would be ready for them to tackle as soon as they sit down.  Then there are two spots for "Stop, Think & Share" where students can record thoughts about a topic of reading or discussion, answer a question, reflect on an activity, etc.  They can then share with a partner, small group or whole class.  The last box on the bottom right is a Ticket Out spot.  Students can record an answer to the last follow-up question of the class, list a few things they have learned, or ask a question about something they would still like to know.  Then, this whole sheet would be their "Ticket Out the Door" - handed to you as they leave.

Bonus: If they know that you will be seeing each of these at the end of the period - as well monitoring them while they are working during class - they are much more willing to stay on task! :)

Now you have a chance to go through the papers and really see who is getting it!  Hand back the next day or save in their folders - it's up to you how you use them, but the information you can get from these little sheets is very helpful in planning the next day's lessons and/or interventions.

A Letter From Santa - FREEBIE

I used to LOVE Mad Libs when I was a kid.  One of my favorite, really vivid memories of 5th grade is being in class when our teacher would review parts of speech with us by using them.  He would call out a part of speech and hands would shoot up in the air to take a turn contributing a word to the collaborative effort of completing what we hoped would be a hilarious story when we finished.  The best part was watching our teacher's face as he considered how the words given by us would alter the meanings of the story.  He would giggle to himself and nod, and sometimes, if he REALLY liked where the story was going, he would whisper, just loudly enough for us to hear, "Oh...this is going to be so good!"  The suspense was just this side of agonizing to a bunch of 9 and 10 year old kiddos waiting for the biggest laugh ever!  Then, when all of the blanks were filled in, he read it...as dramatically as he could, and we would laugh and beg to do another one.  Not a bad way to review some grammar!

For a Christmas time activity that I hope will bring your students the gift of laughter, I am giving you my first attempt of writing my own Mad Lib as a FREEBIE.  In this example, Santa is writing back to a child that seems to have made his/her way to the naughty list.

(Click image to view and download your copy)

Enjoy!

UPDATE: If your classes enjoyed Santa's Letter, I do have three more Festive Fill-ins available at my store, PLUS my Grammar At a Glance to help your students with choosing the correct parts of speech for each passage:

(Click the image to check it out.)

Happy Holidays!

Thankful for the Liebtser Award - and Friday Favorites

I was so excited to find out this week that my blog has been nominated for the Liebster Award by two fantastic bloggers!  This award is given to up and coming bloggers with fewer than 200 followers in recognition of their efforts and to provide support to keep on blogging.  To me, the best part is that it's given by other bloggers, and once you receive it, you are asked to pay it forward by finding other deserving blogs and sharing the award with them.  A big "Thank you!" goes out to both Michalene Mills of The Teacher in Me and Mrs. Adler of  Teaching Junkie for noticing my blog and giving me the chance to connect with so many great teacher-bloggers.  I really appreciate it.

Here are the rules for the Liebster Award…

1. You must post 11 random things about yourself.

2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you.

3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.

4. Choose 11 other blogs with fewer than 200 followers to nominate and link them in your post.

5. You cannot “tag back” the other blog, but leave a comment on this post with the URL of your Liebster post so I can learn more about you & see whom you nominate.

So...here we go:

11 Random Things About Me

1. I am left handed, and meeting other left handed people makes me smile.

2. I have a 5 year old son who is the light of my life.

3. I love sushi.

4. I thought for the longest time that my son loved it when I sang to him.  That is, until he was old enough to ask me to stop because I was hurting his ears.

5. I'm a Leo.

6. Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the entire year.

7. My husband and I went to Disney World for our honeymoon...15 years ago. :)

8. I adore Food TV and The Cooking Channel.

9. I have been teaching ELA in middle school for 14 years.  I took a leave of absence for this school year to be home for my son as he started Kindergarten...and although I miss my kids and my classroom, I just love being present for my Lil' Man and watching him grow every day!  I'm very lucky.

10. The best trip that I have ever taken was the Alaskan Cruise we went on for my 30th birthday.

11. I am a little nervous around terrified of clowns...kind of a bummer because my kid loves them.

Questions from The Teacher in Me:

1.  How long have you been teaching?  14 years
2.  Do you have a TpT or Teacher's Notebook Store? Link?  Yes, I do.  My links are:

TpT: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Stephanie-Hulbert-From-Middle-School-Matters-Blog

and

Teachers Notebook: http://www.teachersnotebook.com/shop/MiddleSchoolMattersBlog

3.  What is your hobby if you have one? I love cooking, reading and hiking.
4.  What grade level do you teach or have taught? I have taught 6th, 7th and 8th grades.
5.  Favorite Season? I love everything about Fall!
6.  Favorite Food? Cheesecake
7.  Favorite Christmas song? "The Best Gift" sung by Barbra Streisand - It makes me think of my son, who was born the week before Christmas.
8.  Favorite subject to teach? ELA
9.  Do you have a Smartboard? Yes
10.  Favorite blog? One of my new favorite finds is a blog called An Educator's Life - created by Mr. Hughes.
11.  Favorite place to go on vacation? Hands down...Ogunquit, Maine.

Questions from Teaching Junkie:

1.  How long have you been teaching? 14 years

2.  What is your most disgusting habit? This made me laugh out loud!  Between teaching in middle school for 14 years and having a 5 year old son...I've seen disgusting habits!  To be honest, mine seem to pale in comparison. Lol I guess one of the worst things I do, at least in my husbands opinion, is wait until we're in the car to go somewhere to paint my nails while he drives.  It's not the nails that's a problem, but the smell of the polish in the car that he can't stand.  I've tried to be better, especially with our little guy in the car, but every once in a while...a girl just runs out of time! :)

3.  How much time do you spend in one week blogging or looking at other people's blogs?  Having taken this year off, I try to do my blogging while my son is at school.  It's been taking a lot of time lately, as I've been learning so many things about blogging and social media.  I hope that I can get things down so that I can still write quality posts and create quality materials for my stores once I return to my classroom next fall.  I'm going to need to be a little quicker!

4.  What is your proudest accomplishment?  Hands down...becoming a mom.  For my husband and I, it was not an easy road, but every challenge we faced brought us closer together, and now that we have our son...we know for certain we are truly blessed.

5.  Favorite beverage?  Pumpkin White Chocolate coffee from Dunkin' - I love me some DD!

6.  Teaching tool you couldn't live without? SMARTBoard

7.  What is your favorite snack? Right now, it's pistachios. 

8.  If you could change one thing about your school, what would it be?  Not just in my school, but in education in general, it's the intense focus on numbers and test scores.  Let's not forget that we are working with children...not widgets in a factory.

9.  What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?  Play with my son AND plan "Friday Family Fun Night" for us each week.  All three of us really look forward to crazy things to do to start our weekend.  The favorite of the house right now is Backwards Night.  I mean, who doesn't like dessert before dinner?

 

10.  Why do you blog?  I have always dreamed of being a writer, and blogging allows me to share my writing with such a large audience.  The bonus was when I figured out I could combine my teaching experience with writing - two of my biggest loves - and it's been a win-win from there!

11.  Do your students or friends have a nickname for you?  Yes...and I'm sure some that I don't even know about.  What is it? Giggles is one I've had for a long time.  I laugh.  Loudly.  A lot.  People tend to know I'm near, even if they can't see me...because the giggle is pretty recognizable (or so I've been told.) :)

That was fun!!  Now, it's my turn to share the Liebster love!  I'm considering this my Friday favorites for the week, as I am so happy to share with you just some of the blogs that inspire me.  I hope that you take the time to check them out, too.

And...the nominees are:
 An Educator's Life
 Bayside Teacher
 Being Inspired
 Effective Teaching Articles
 Mr. Giso's Room to Read
 Right Down the Middle
 Shutters & Scribbles
 Teacher's Take-Out
 Wild About Fifth Grade

Questions for My Nominated Blogs:
1. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
2. If you happened to find a $100 bill laying on the ground, with no way of finding who lost it, what would you do with it?
3. What is your favorite comfort food?
4. What inspired you to become a teacher?
5. What is your favorite part of the school day?
6. On the weekends, when do you most generally do your school work?
7. Coffee OR tea?
8. Tropical sandy beach vacation OR snowy mountain skiing get away?
9. What extracurricular activities have you advised for your school?
10. What kind of car do you drive?
11.  What advice would you give to new teachers just entering the field?

Thank you once again for nominating my blog.  I look forward to meeting many more wonderful people - from whom I will surely learn and with whom I will gladly share!

Classroom Management Magic - Making Review Fun

This time of year can be wonderful, magical and full of fun.  Children seem to ooze with excitement; walking into my son's Kindergarten classroom, the energy is honestly palpable!  Our younger, elementary friends are not the only ones who may seem to have a little trouble focusing on the necessary tasks at hand during the school day.  Between concerts, and snow days, and professional development days, and vacation days...not to mention the extras that go on outside of school this time of year in December, Middle School can quite easily become Crazy Town in the days nearing Holiday Break.  Though these are mostly the best of times - they can also be the most challenging of times, especially when we know that CCSS and benchmarks wait for no one...not even a distracted child.   This is when, much like Santa and his magic toy bag, if you have a few tricks to pull from your sleeve to harness the energy and keep the kiddies focused, everyone will be that much happier to prepare for things like... any assessments you may be giving in December. ;-)

My Winter Tic Tac Toe Review is one such activity that is an easy game to set up, and provides not only for a creative review, but a chance for you to gather some formative assessment data for your students as you check questions and answers and observe game play.  I'm always looking for quick review activities that require students to process and internalize new information. This version of Tic Tac Toe is perfect because students must first create their own open-ended questions and answers to those questions - which require details for support - before they can play. Students then work together, quizzing each other, as they move their way to a Tic Tac Toe.

This download includes:

Complete Directions

Game Board

18 Game Pieces (Students can cut these out.)

Question/Answer Planning Sheet

...AND a link to a FREEBIE on my blog that can help with easily creating cooperative learning partners that can be used for this activity or any other quick think-pair-share kind of brain break you like to practice in your class.  The key to keeping activities like this from taking too much time to make worth it is having a system already in place to quickly get students working together...you'll find that here.

You can download a preview of this at my TpT Store:

{click image}

and you can also find other activities to help with some fun review that will leave your students asking when they can play again...and not, "When does this class end?!"

Grammar: I have...Who has...?

Common ELA Vocabulary Review Game Pack

ALSO - I'm linking this post to:

Be sure to click and check out other great resources for this crazy time of year...all for $1.99 or less!

Any activities that you like to do this time of year that keep kiddos focused  while having fun?

Please think about sharing below.

Thanks for stopping by!

Collaboration...In More Ways Than One!

Happy Holidays!!  I SO love this time of year...from Thanksgiving right on through to the new year.  It brings with it a little extra happiness, a little more generosity and a lot more kindness.  To start the Season of Giving, here's my first freebie for the holidays:

Click {here} for your copy of this freebie.

Make copies on cardstock, if possible, to make them more sturdy.

3-hole punch them along the top so that they can stay in the front of each student's binder for quick referencing. :)

It's my next theme for making cooperative learning partners quickly and easily.  I explain how to use this tool in both my October Terrifying Twosomes and November Grateful Gabbers posts, but to make it easier I am also including directions here.  Please be sure to click on the October and November links to grab those as well for next year.  Each month I use a different chart for my students to prepare for spontaneous cooperative learning opportunities in class.

How to use:

• Have students write their names on the back of their own paper.  This way, if it's lost, they have a chance to get it back.
• Explain to your class that they are going to have the chance to pick some friends to work with for different activities during class.  For some students, it will be as though you just told them they hit the lottery, so wait for the buzz to die down.  Then explain that when they are finished filling out the cards together (They can't go ahead because there are specific directions.), everyone will have 4 different people to work with as partners at any given time.
• It is very important to remind them about being respectful of the feelings of others, and that no one should feel left out when writing down names.  These are for quick tasks that last only a few minutes at a time, so it may be nice to have 1 or 2 people that you don't know as well on their cards, too.  It's a great way to make new friends! 
• Tell students that they are going to pick 4 different people to work with this month.  Explain that when you call out a picture ("Santa," for example), students have 2 minutes to find a friend.  They must exchange papers, write their own name on the line next to the picture that you call ("Santa"), hand the paper back to it's owner and return to their own seat.  Once they are finished, they need to sit down so that people who are having a hard time finding a partner can see who else is still looking.
• If you have an odd number of students, you can pair the student with an adult in the room OR create a group of 3.
• Once everyone is sitting, call a couple of students to make sure they have each other's name in the same spot. (Student A and Student B are partners.  Student A should have Student B's name on the Santa line.  Student B should have Student A's name on the Santa line.  If you were to call "Santa" now, Student A and Student B would know to quickly find each other, follow your directions and then go back to their seats to continue with the lesson.)
• The 1st time through can be a little tricky if students aren't listening.  I have found that if I wait to call an object until the last second, once I've given directions and everyone is silent and waiting to hear which picture they will be working with, it's much easier.
• Once you've completed the 1st picture, fill out the other 3 in the same way.  Stress that they should have different people on each line. 

Now, when you want students to have a brain break, move around, and share with a peer, all you have to do is tell them to find their "Santa" and they will be able to work with someone they've already chosen ahead of time.  Then, when you assign groups for a different kind of task and you hear complaints that they are not picking who they work with, you can remind them that they work with people they choose all of the time!



Another example of collaboration that is VERY exciting is the super Cyber Monday and Bonus Tuesday SALE going on at Teachers Pay Teachers!

Graphics by: Charlotte’s Clips

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Charlottes-Clips

I'm sure you have heard of this fantastic opportunity for teachers to share amazing resources with others at an incredible bargain.  With the additional 10% off that TpT is adding in, my store and many, many others are able to give you up to 28% off your purchases for the next two days.  Stop by, take a look and spread the word that there is some great shopping to be had at TpT!! :)

Thank you, as always, for your support!

Thanksgiving Bookmarks - FREEBIE

“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” 

― Marcel Proust

I love this quote!  Often we forget that, in the stresses of everyday, we are lucky to have the family, friends, coworkers, students...special people in our lives...who are able to make our hearts smile by just being near.  I am so thankful for my "charming gardeners" and their influence on my life.  

For Thanksgiving, why not share with our students some quotes that may serve as reminders about the significance  of an attitude of gratitude, not just for this week, but everyday?  These bookmarks are more than just a reminder of the last page they read, but a visual cue to be thankful for the little things...which they will find someday to be the most important.

(Click the image for this Thanksgiving freebie.)

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!