Ta Da!

Do you SEE this?  Do you see my new blog design!?  I am so in LOVE with it!  

My little blog turns ONE in May, so I thought I would spruce things up and give it a fresh new look.  What do you think??

I worked with Melissa from Designs by Petite Kisses.  I found her here on Etsy.  She was so easy to work with, and really took the time to understand my style and how I wanted my blog to look.  I made a lot of changes along the way, and she was very flexible!  I am SO happy with how it turned out!!  :)

Finally… A Listening Center!

I know that I'm a little late to the game… okay, maybe a LOT late to the game (it's almost May- yikes!), but I finally got a listening center up and running!  I am SO pumped!

I LOVE shopping at Goodwill for children's books.  Look what I scored this week!

13 books, with audio cassette tapes!  TWO BUCKS FOR EACH SET!

Remember those cassette tapes?  I had to explain to my students how these were like CDs from when I was a little kid.  "Back in the olden days, we didn't have iPods…. and we had to have tape players…."

It was a difficult concept for them to grasp.

So, I found a boom-box with a tape deck, and got this listening center rolling!  They LOVE it!  (I wish I had gotten myself in-gear sooner in the year.)

Of course, I had to do lots of demonstrating of how to put the tape in and how to rewind it.  We did lots of practicing of how to operate the tape player, and how to sit elbow, elbow, knee, knee (EEKK), so everyone can see the book.  So far, it's working great!  Eventually, I would love to have my listening center be digital, like Mrs. Stanford's Class's Listening Center.  I love how she has it all organized with the iPods and headphones at a table.

But for now, these old-school tape cassettes will do the trick!  :)

What does your listening center look like?  How many books do you have in your listening center?

Tried it Tuesday- Triple Play!

It has been such a busy week!  Tuesday came and went, so today I'm linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried it Tuesday!

Last summer, I visited a teacher store in Nebraska and found this neat card game.  It's called Triple Play, and my kids love it!  I have a few sets:  Homophones, Synonyms, Antonyms, and Math Vocabulary (not pictured).

The games offer three ways to play: Go Fish, Memory, and Match Maker.  I divided each set into 2 piles, because each set has 25 pairs.  Try playing memory with that!  The cards spread across the whole table!  So I divided them up to make matching more manageable.  Now kids can just grab a bundle and get to work.  My guided reading groups especially like using them as a warm-up activity.

I love that the cards have clear pictures and sentences.  Perfect for my ELL kiddos!

A match from the Synonyms set.

A match from the Homophones set.

Like I said before, I found these at a little teacher store in Nebraska.  I did look online and the ONLY place I could find them was on Amazon.  I actually found many other Triple Play games that I had not seen before!  Click the links below to check out the games.  :)

Antonyms           Homophones          Synonyms

Letter Recognition          Ending Sounds          Letter Sounds

Things We See          Primary Math- Subtraction          Primary Math- Vocabulary

What did you try this week?  I'd love to hear about it!

Until next time,

- Miss Woodward

Wordless Wednesday- April 23

I'm linking up again with Sugar and Spice for Wordless Wednesday.

It's testing week, and this is my quiet, calm room during my 50 minute prep.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job, but I also love the little break I get in the afternoon.

Do you ever just sit and relax during prep (and not actually get work done)?  How do you spend your prep period?  Tell me about it in the comments below!

Until next time,

- Miss Woodward

Five For Friday- April 18

I love Fridays, 'cause I get to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five For Friday!

This week at school was Spirit Week to help us gear up for MCA state tests starting next week (eek!).  Each day had a different theme, so my Five for Friday will feature the FIVE days of our spirit week.  :)

1.  Wacky Hair Day

2.  Pajama Day

(in other words, teachers' favorite day EVER.)

3.  Twins Day

Ms. Boos and I were twins last year, too!

Ms. Eichhorn, Ms. Meredith, and Ms. Tarah were triplets!

4.  Character Day

Viola Swamp visited Miss Woodward's class on Thursday…..

I LOVED Miss Nelson is Missing when I was a kid!

Camilla Cream (A Bad Case of Stripes), Mulan, and Viola Swamp

Ms. Frizzle and Viola Swamp

5.  Sports Day

 Ms. Tarah is rocking her middle school basketball jersey.  Mr. Wolf is wearing a Cedar Rapids Kernels shirt (the Kernels are the Class A team that are part of the Minnesota Twins).  

{{Did I mention Mr. Wolf is a long-term sub at our school now??  He's right down the hall in the middle school science room for the rest of the year!}}

Next week marks the start of our state tests.  Whew!  GET READYYY!

Until next time,

- Miss Woodward

Students READ to ACHIEVE!

This year, students at my school had the opportunity to participate in Read to Achieve.  Read to Achieve is a program sponsored by the NBA to promote reading for kids.  The goal was for each student to read 500 pages by the deadline.  If they did, they had the opportunity to attend the Minnesota Timberwolves game for an after-school field trip!

I had six students participate and reach the goal from my class.  There were over 90 students total from our school!  So Friday after school, we fed the kids dinner, loaded the buses, and headed to the Timberwolves game.  It was a crazy fun time!

The kids could bring some of their own money, so you bet they bought every sugary thing they could get their hands on.  Cotton candy, slushies, candy, pop… you name it.

They were full of Timberwolves spirit!  My students were really good at watching the ball and knowing when teams scored.  Even though we were in the LAST row of the whole stadium.  :)

After the game, the kids got to go down onto the court and shoot a free-throw!

Even though we didn't get back to the school until almost 11:00 pm (where parents were waiting for pick-up), it was a good time had by all!  Go Timberwolves!

Most teams in the NBA support Read to Achieve, so check out the website to see if your local team has a program that your students can participate in!

Until next time,

- Miss Woodward

Wordless Wednesday- April 16

Happy Wednesday!  Tonight, I'm linking up with Sugar and Spice for Wordless Wednesday!

The question that prompted this response?  "What kind of text-to-world connection can you make to the story we just read?"

Yes, they are talking about our lovely Title I teacher, Ms. Mai from Diary of a Grumpy Teacher.  

My students are very observant.  Good connection, kiddos!

Have you had a "kids say the darndest things" moment recently?  

Tell me about it in the comments below!

Until next time,

- Miss Woodward