Reading Response Homework

My school houses grades 2-4. Ever since I started we have only given math and reading homework each night for a total limit of 40 minutes. It increases 10 minutes each grade level. This has been the standard assigned work every night for 4th graders. (30 minutes of reading and about 10 minutes of math) Although I don't think homework should take forever, I do think it should be meaningful if we are going to assign it. That's why this year I made some changes and additions. 

This year, after much discussion with fellow teachers and parents, I decided to start some reading response homework for all my kids once a week. They are required to answer one question in a journal and hand in it by Friday. I correct them over the weekend (or during Spanish on Fridays) and hand them back with a grade and feedback on Monday. 

Students get to choose what question they want to answer from a list based on the genre they are reading. (See the list below.) The reason I don't assign a specific question is because some students don't always read the same genre. Although I encourage that they read the same book at school that they are at home, I would rather them have a balanced literacy "diet", which I teach them about in the beginning of the year. 

Before I started this assignment at home we do several responses together as a class and I model good responses for them. They also have opportunites to do them in class for certain tasks during reading

workshop. The questions are based on Teacher's College Reading Units of Study. The most valuable resources I have used to help them with their reading responses is from Runde's Room TpT resources. Her Building Better Responses has helped my kids know the expectations, set goals and write well written responses to reading. 

You can find my Response Question list and Homework Criteria on TpT. 

Launching My TPT Store

I have finally taken the plunge and uploaded my first resources on TPT. Now don't get me wrong, they are a work in progress as I am new to this. I have so many resources that I have created from scratch that I want to share.

I got the push to do this from a colleague of mine last week. I shared with her an activity that I created and she said "Wow! Did you make this all by yourself? You should sell this stuff!" I had a store all set up, but had never added any resources to it. That was about 2 years ago.

The down side to this is that I don't really have a great computer to use (yet) to make all my documents into beautiful, catchy resources. We are in the process of either getting our old Mac fixed to hold more memory or just buying something new (I am trying to convince my husband on a new one! Wish me luck!:))

That being said, please check out my 2 resources that I uploaded and give me some feedback. My Autumn Observation Journal and Winter Observation Journal are in my store. I know, I know, I didn't add any graphics, but like I said, my computer programs and storage are limited for the moment.

Enjoy! Look back soon for more resources.

Summer projects

I have finally decided to get off my butt and get active on my blog this school year. This summer I spent a lot of time organizing my classroom resources and adding some fun pieces to my classroom (thanks to Pinterest!). I decided my colors are many different shades of green and blue is year. Below are some new items I'm adding to my room to jazz it up. I've become a frequent shopper at Jo-Ann Fabrics. 

Thanks to my husband for savaging these wire spools from work, I was able to paint and cover them with foam and fabric in order to make some cute stools for my reading area. 

My new birthday chart is almost done. Still waiting on my class list and the student birthday dates to finish it. I am going to hang ribbon down each month and add small circles with the student's name and birthday day. I bought wooden letters and stars and had my husbands cut a small piece of wood for the back. After painting them all I used wood glue to put it all together. The month letters are stenciled on with paint from my house. 

I am a technology driven teacher and loved this idea for my job chart. We used to have iPads in my classroom and are getting google chrome books this year (bummer), but I still like the cute idea. I used black poster board and colored the outside with a silver sharpie. I used adhesive pockets and added fun paper to them. Once I decide on the job names I will add them to the front. Then I plan to get the board laminated and cut open the pockets to add an index card with a students name on the top. 

Since camp has been in my classroom, I have not had a chance to get and set-up anything yet. Next week is crunch time. There will be more before and after pictures of my room once I get in there.

Enjoy!

My Very First Post!

I am so excited to be getting started on my very first blog! I love to create and share new ideas for teaching. I hope you enjoy following me and learning through my blogging journey.