I'm continuing to work on my library. I have decided to transform the white board in my library space into a CAFE bulletin board. I would like to post all the different skills students explore and work on throughout the year in the areas of comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expand vocabulary. I created my own CAFE headers for a bulletin board that match my book box labels.

I have been preparing for next year and decided to start with my library. I went with mainly primary colors for the baskets and book labels. I leveled my library according to Fountas and Pinnell A-Z. I am teaching third grade so I leveled my baskets from L-Z. I also labeled some baskets according to series name and author if I had a significant amount of that type. I also plan to label these series and author baskets with levels as well to help support students in locating "just right" books.

I have provided a free download of my Fountas and Pinnell labels with a few extra in case there are some letters you want to add. ENJOY!

Leveled Library Labels

                                                                   

 

Summer is a great time to brainstorm new ideas for the classroom. Last year, I started to use a lot of formative assessments with my students in order to check in with their understanding regularly. However, like usual when it comes to teaching, I didn't have a ton of time. I started to look for strategies that were quick. I really liked the idea of an exit ticket, stop and jot, and a system to post student answers. I ended up creating my "Stop and Jot" board! I plan to have students answer a question or problem by recording their responses on a post-it and sticking it to their square. By posting their answers, I will be able to quickly monitor each student's understanding of the lesson or concept. The board can also be used to discuss student's ideas and different strategies to solve a problem. I like the title "Stop and Jot" because I plan to use this a lot during independent reading time where students will have to stop and jot down a response for their book. For example, I could ask them to record a simile or metaphor they found while reading.

I plan to add names or numbers to the squares. HOWEVER…. I don't know which to use. What do you think will be better for a 3rd grade class.. names or numbers? Names are more simple and easier to use at first. However, numbers allow the students more privacy in their responses. Do third graders care whether their answers are opening shared? Thoughts?

 

End of the year blues! I am finishing my first year of teaching in nine days. Of course, just like my students, I am excited for a little bit of a break. However, it is sad to say goodbye to my first class. I plan to create a little going away gift for them. I went in search for a gift idea that would show my students how much I would miss them, represent how much I believe in them, and send them off into the summer ready to have fun. I found this cute idea to buy each student a pair of sunglasses and attach this small, colorful note.