The Daily 5 Book Study 2nd Edition

Chapters 1-2

I'm linking up with the wonderful ladies from Freebielicious to share thoughts on the 2nd edition of the Daily 5.  If there was one thing I loved about my first of teaching, it would be the Daily 5.  If there was one thing I felt 100% CONFIDENT implementing in my classroom, it's Daily 5!  

Although I was a late hire to the district (2 weeks before school, yikes!), I already knew from reading blogs that I wanted to try the Daily 5.  Sure, the first few weeks put some pressure on me to enforce the behavior I expected from the kiddos, but the hard work in the beginning totally pays off!  Like the Sisters say, "Practice these skills until habits form".

So the Sisters have put out their 2nd edition of the Daily 5 and I think they have loosened the reins on a few things.  Here are my top 3 new ideas I love from Chapters 1 and 2!

1.  Daily 5 doesn't have to be 5 rotations every day.  I had a lot of trouble squeezing in all 5 rotations in my ELA block.  In fact, I frequently let it run into our Science time.  If you know your time is AUTHENTIC and MEANINGFUL, then don't stress about getting it all in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.  Trust and respect the students' abilities to be independent readers and writers.  More than likely, if you provide students with authentic activities and build stamina, they will be independent readers and writers.  But remember to PRACTICE BEHAVIORS you want to see and BUILD STAMINA, which will probably vary from student to student.  My higher students may end up with an independent reading stamina of 10-12 minutes, while my struggling students might top out at 7 minutes.  And that's okay!  I love how the Sisters gave examples of bringing those struggling students back to them to review skills and give them reminders that they CAN DO IT!

 

 

 

 

3.  Accountability runs both ways during the Daily 5.  Students and teachers alike have to be held accountable.  Teachers need to show and guide students to participate in Daily 5, while students are held accountable in the choices they make, like where to sit during Read to Self.  This was a tough one for me last year.  I think the maturity of a student and their decision-making skills plays a big part in Daily 5.  Honestly, one of my highest students had the most trouble because she just wasn't at the maturity level of some of the other kiddos.  this year, I know I will need to practice and practice on the behaviors I want to see.  And then practice some more every so often. 

I created this little self-assessment for those students who have a hard time taking a look at their own behavior.  Use Rate Your Reading for a quick questionnaire after Read to Self or really any time a student has some independent reading time.

Rate Your Reading

 

 If you have the book, join our book study!!  Every Friday the Freebielicious ladies will be covering 2 chapters.  Have a great week!!

 

Get Your Organization On!

 

Today was the big day.  And by big I mean exhausting.  My desks and chairs and stuff and more stuff took a stroll down the hallway to my new, big classroom!  A room that isn't shaped like the letter 'V'!  I'm totally spoiled now. :)  So I had a hard time leaving it a big hot mess, but I managed.  To make up for it, I finally finished my first paid TPT product, a bright and cheery teacher planner!

Thank goodness this baby is done!  You can check it out at my TPT store here:  Teacher Planner

My next project is nearing the finishing stages.  It's called World Traveler, and is a Close Reading pack that covers areas of North America, like the Grand Canyon, Great Plains, and Pacific Ocean.  So excited about this one, its been a lot of fun to create. :)  Time to run, my ice cream bowl is lonely.

 

Top Ten Things I Want To Do This Summer

My Summer Bucket List

One week of summer has past and I'm already feeling panicked that its flying by!  To help me get a little organized (my husband would be sooo proud), I'm linking up with Mrs. Jump's Class and sharing my Ten Things I Want To Do This Summer!! 






Without further ado, here are my top ten to-do's!!!

10.  Try new recipes.  It's hard to make sure I get all my baking in during the school year with being exhausted by 4:00 and all....so here is my latest yummy recipe.  I made it yesterday for a family dinner and it was delicious!  I even swapped the heavy cream for a lighter half and half.  It was creamy and fruity, perfect for summer.  Here's the link I found on Pinterest

Six Sisters Stuff Berries and Cream Trifle
 





9. Clean my house!!!  I have dust in every corner!  I solemnly swear to get my 'Mr. Clean' on.

8.  Attend church regularly.  I always need to work on this.  Sunday mornings arrive and I move too slowly.

7.  More sprinkler time with my two cuties!

6. Visit the Zoo!  The Sedgewick County Zoo in Wichita is excellent, I mean who can pass up on feeding leaves to giraffes???

5.  Move Classrooms!  My future first graders will be visiting me in a new classroom this year.  I am ecstatic since my last room was practically shaped like the letter 'v'.  The movement was all sorts of wrong.  This room is bigger and I am going to enjoy adding to my ocean decor!

4.  Create more TPT products.  I am a newbie to the TPT world and have only created a handful of products.  BUT I am slowly getting addicted. :) Here's a pic of my Teacher Planner pack that is almost finished.....

3.  Read more!!  I am almost done with the newest Nicholas Sparks novel.

2.  Hawaii with my husband and his family!!!  I know, I can't believe I'm saying it, but it's true!  Here's where we will be staying.  GORGEOUS!!

 1.  More family time!  A Kansas City Royals family day game is on our list!


Wish everyone safe travels and fun times this summer!!!!
  

What a Year!!


The school year is over and summer is here!  My girls are excited to play out in the Kansas sunshine and my husband and I are ready for some relaxation. :) We may spend some time here.

 I had a fantastic first year of teaching first grade.  I consider myself pretty lucky to have spent the year with a class of awesome kiddos and colleagues that made me feel so welcome!  Here's a pic of my fantastic teacher buds at our 'Fun Day' last day of school.  Pardon our 'just hauled butt through the rain' look.  It's actually a 'principal just slaughtered us with water balloons' look.  But...don't worry, his name will be on plenty for next year!! 

I didn't shed any tears, though I wanted to with a few kids.  And they loved my summer gift to them!  I made eleven rainbow loom bracelets with a cute gift tag.  Yes 11.  If you have a middle school daughter or niece that could pop these out in an hour, please do that.  This took me forever!  I even tried to pay my own daughter, our loom expert.  But, no luck.  So I now have loom arthritis in my hands, I guess I'll live.  Here are the labels if you're interested!

Rainbow Summer Gift Tags



           

                                              







And  to help kick off the summer, here is a Father's Day freebie!!  I had a lot of fun creating the poem in this craftivity pack.  My husband may or may not have helped with my baseball rhyming words.  Aren't Dads great???  Hope you enjoy!  Here's the link:

A Grand Slam for Dad

Welcome to My Blog!

Happy Blog Birthday To Me!!

...plus a freebie or two!

Welcome to the blog world, Mrs. Baker's Dozen!!!  I'm so excited to begin this journey.  As if this whole extravaganza wasn't enough, I'm also in the final stretch of first grade.  We have O.N.E. day left.  Yes one.  I am currently looking for a diet pepsi IV hookup to get me through the next 24 hours.  End of school chaos may be the worst kind of chaos.  Right after Christmas break chaos and snow day chaos.  

Let's all deal with this in the best way possible....in the form of FREEBIES!!  This spectacular word turns a frown upside down, am I right??  I have two to share with you today, two packs of goodness that gave me the steam I needed over the past two weeks.  

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Creating-Super-Readers-A-Parents-Resource-1245201

 

The first freebie is a parent's resource for helping their kiddos with reading.  One student inspired me to create this.  After a year of progress with her reading, I just hated to see losing all the improvement we've made.  Sooo *crossing fingers* hopefully parents will use this pack of strategies and games to help review over summer break.

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mother-of-Mine-1245290

The other freebie is something you can totally use next year for Mother's Day.  It includes an original poem, mini-books, synonym practice, sentence scramble and a yummy craftivity!  This is perfect to use during Daily 5 for Word Work, Read To Someone, and Read to Self.  Here's a few pics of the Mother's Day pack, in action.

I am so very excited to share ideas and create new friends through this blog!  Follow me for more goodies! Thanks for the love!