Happy New Year!!! What's Been Going On and Some New Units To Give Away!

Happy New Year! I guess I am a little late for this since it is already January 20th! I have been trying to get myself more organized this year. Ha Ha...I guess I should rephrase that! I am trying to be more organized because it will make my hubby so happy!!! Bigger ha ha because I am not sure I will ever be organized enough for him. :) Seriously though... I am trying and it feels real good. Before I share some of my organizational triumphs I just had to share some photos from our December Rudolph Reading Cafe!!

Every December my second graders practice reading Christmas stories. Then they choose 2 books that they would like to read to the kindergartners. We decorate the classroom like a little cafe,  make cookies ask parents to make cookies, and serve hot coco. On the day of our Rudolph Reading Cafe the students come to school dressed in their holiday best and Santa hats. We have a host and hostess who greet the students; waiters and waitresses who take the book orders, serve the books, and finally serve the cookies and coco; we have readers who actually read to the kinders, and we have photographers to take pictures. I could go on and on, but I will let the pictures give you more details!

Some of the books read.

The menus that the kinders ordered from.

Of course the waiters needed official order pad holders...on loan from Applebee's!!

It was such a fun day and a huge hit with everyone!!

If you are still reading...I feel like I should serve you a cocktail!!! 

Over Christmas break I decided that my Language Arts block needed a little overhaul. I wasn't happy with the amount of time that I was getting to spend with my students in small groups...So I did what any other teacher would do...rearranged my morning. And here is where my husband's eyes lit up!! I organized very neatly into freshly cleaned up storage containers my Daily 5 items that I needed. I created beautiful new labels for them too. My hubby was so impressed that all the tubs matched and were stacked neatly on the counter near the kitchen. I think this may have been the first time he actually was OK with piles of school stuff laying around. I made my rotation schedule and new groups. I planned what I wanted to do for January and WOW ALL DONE!!! Just kidding! It wasn't that easy, but it was enough to get me started for the first day back. I will share more about my schedule and show some photos tomorrow, but I must say the past two weeks have been great. The kids love the new schedule and rotations. I am extremely happy because I am meeting with my kids quite a bit...4 out of the 5 days!! My strugglers are meeting with me 4 days a week and then on 2 of those days they are getting an additional 25 minutes of phonics and fluency practice in a small group too. My very strong readers are meeting with me twice a week for 30 minutes at a time. We currently just finished the Big Wave By Pearl S. Buck. They are creating video book reviews and a What to Do in a Tsunami video!! They are loving the attention and the challenge!!

If you are still reading...I feel like you need a chance for some free units!!

I just uploaded 2 new units...

I will pick a few winners by 7:00 pm pacific time tomorrow! All you have to do is leave your name, email and answer the questions: Do you watch Scandal? Will you see 50 Shades of Grey? Favorite beverage when stressed??

Happy Hump Day tomorrow!!