I ran into my friend Kelly over the holidays and she told me that she wished like crazy that I would post again since it has really been ages since I've posted anything of substance on this blog. She's right, of course. The start of the school year really kicked my behind...new grade level, new partner, lots of changes at my school and in the district...I'm still not sure about my bearings, but I was able to pull myself together at least enough to fool the masses into believing that my head was screwed on straight. So here's to 2013...and here's to Word Work and what you can do with your Wo ..read more

Oh...those Collaboration Cuties Amanda and Stacia don't disappoint, even over the holidays!  They are having a linky partay where everyone shares their favorite "winter book." From the onset of my Readers Workshop, I share a book entitled Tracks in the Snow, by Wong Herbert Yee.  While this book isn't phenomenally engaging for my thirdies, it does serve as the foundation for my students to leave their own "tracks in the snow" while reading. I teach my students how to question the text, make notes on unfamiliar words, and take general notes using sticky notes and placing these ..read more

Right before the holidays, my students and I had so much to celebrate...Christmas (of course!), the completion of our Writers Workshop Unit of Study (Informational Texts) and having four of my little honeys exiting their Tier Two intervention for reading. Now, the exiting part might not seem really big to you, but to a kiddo who has always been considered "low" in terms of reading, this is a pretty ginormous thing! So...when we return from the holidays, where do we go from here in terms of these readers who are finally considered "at level?" We are continuing our journey together in the R ..read more

I'm always on the lookout for great apps...and great apps that allow four kiddos to play and learn at the same time...KILLER! I've been a huge fan of Operation Math.  With a secret agent code-cracking format, Operation Math is an awesome and engaging place to practice math facts for students at the elementary level. Just when it couldn't get any better, the same folks at Spinlight come out with a new app, Code Squad! The format is a bit different.  We're still practicing our facts, but with four agents seated around a single iPad, more kids are touched and the practice beco ..read more

Got levels?  For those of us who level books in our classrooms to best meet the needs of our readers at their independent and instructional levels, we tend to rely on a few sources to help us level the trade books found in our classrooms and school libraries.  As a fourth grade teacher, I was constantly running to www.lexile.com in order to find Lexile levels for the chapter books that I was using in my book clubs and guided reading groups. Lucky for me (and for those of you who level), the Level It app has made a solid and very useful appearance!  This app was desig ..read more

Oh yeah...I love this linky party.  It usually results in me amblin' on over to Amazon to get me a book or ten, but...no apologies...I. LOVE. BOOKS.  Period. Amanda and Stacia over at Collaboration Cuties have been giving us all a great spot to check out new books and I am fresh off of a Lucy Calkins Reading and Writing Project week in NYC, so I am inspired.  On fire even. The question is...which book do I share out?  There are just so danged many! After much thought and deliberation, I decided on this beaut: Being able to truly conceptualize large numbers is very d ..read more

Woo hoo!  It's Monday Made It time and I'm in NYC!  Holy cow!  Can't believe it!  Really.  I.  Can't.  Believe.  It. I have the fabulous opportunity to learn from the best of the best...Lucy Calkins...at Teachers College.  The August Writer's Institute looks like it is going to be the bomb-diggity!  I'm looking forward to so much new learning...my head is swimming already! (In honor of the wonderliscious time that I am sure to have in NYC , I plan on putting out a boatload of ideas that I have for mentor texts.  Do check back throughou ..read more

What a weird question, right?  If you've used instaGrok, then you know the answer to this and you can Grok with the best of them. If this sounds as foreign to you as Klingon, then you have to join us in the world of instaGrok. This web delivered app is an AMAZING way to help your students get a clearer view of what their research could/should look like. CCSS plainly states that we are no longer teaching our students to write long, drawn out research papers.  The focus has now changed to "research on the fly."  instaGrok supports such standards and provides students with ..read more

Happy last Monday in July y'all!  I just spent the last week in New Orleans, Nashville and Memphis and I noticed a ton of signs that advertised school starting on August 1st.  HOLY COW!  I would definitely not be ready for that!  (For all of my southern friends who are starting school on Thursday, my hat's off to you!) While I'm at it, here's a picture of my son down in the French Quarter.  He's painting a door that is being sent to Nelson Mandela: It's time to link up with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics for her... Yeah...I've been a slacker...but I'm up and ru ..read more

Finally...I'm on Bloglovin!  And I must say, I'm lovin' it!  Special thanks to Melissa at Common Core and So Much More for her wonderful tutorial on how to change the basic button over to her super-cute button!  I love it! If you are looking at changing up your Bloglovin' button, I'd highly recommend checking this out: Hope you are having a wonderful day!  And if you aren't following my blog on Bloglovin', WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?  Get on board already! Nikki ..read more