Showing posts with label freebies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freebies. Show all posts

Blog launch Giveaway!

31 July 2016


Welcome to our blog! We are just two teachers trying to design innovative lessons for our kiddos.  We like to collaborate and develop high engaging lessons with teachers around the country.  We promise to present you with great ideas from us and other great teachers!   Join in our giveaway with bundles of wonderful work from other AMAZING teachers!  




Kindergarten- first grade recourse bundle 

1. A teachable teacher - Short Vowel All-in-One Reading Passages Set #2
2. Mrs. Henry in First - First Grade Math Riddles 
3. Red Sister Squad - Preschool/Kindergarden summer skills packet 
4. A smiling teacher - Pattern Block Station
5. First Grade Roars- Back to School Pack- Bundle
6. Lesson plans & Computers - B2S Writing Prompts and templates 
7. Lindsey Paulson - August Poems that Pop
8. Hey hey first grade- Student goal sheets 
9. Kinder Teamwork- Engage Ny Math letters and games: First Grade Module 1
10. Erin Eberhart- Gingerbread man loose in school back to school mini unit 
11. Male Kindergarten Teacher- Addition Fact Fluency to 5 and Subtraction Fact Fluency to 5
12. Kinders and Coffee- A year of class created books


Second-third grade recourse bundle

1. The Friendly Teacher - Text Evidence Paragraph of the Day- September! 
2. Red Sister Squad - October Close reads -Lexiled
3. The Scoop in Second Grade-  Primary Print Alphabet Line and Number Line Bundle.
4. Creative teacher Resources- 4 digit addition and subtraction scoot
5. Teaching in the heart of Florida- Multiplication True or False? Prove it! Task Cards
6. A tall drink of Water- Rewards Coupons
7. Third Grade Giggles- Making inferences, activities, posters, graphic organizers, and task cards 
8. Setting the Standard- Fourth grade interactive notebook Engage Ny York
9. Mrs. D's Corner- Editable Parent handbook dual tab flip book
10. Lucky Little Learners- Editable brag tags 
11. Tickled Pink in Primary- Addition math facts fluency and fitness brain breaks bundle 
12. Light Bulbs and Laughters - Emoji Student Self-Assessment Tools
13. Sailing into Second- Back to school forms editable 




Come back for Freebiees all week long!! Monday's Freebiee......

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-strategies-Posters-2700718


Tuesday's Freebiee is......

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Fraction-task-cards-2360449

Wednesday's freebiee......

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Labor-Day-Lexile-Readers-2626584


Thursday's freebies is an AWESOME game to get your kids up and moving!!! Math plus clue!!! 
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Area-and-perimeter-clue-game-2549748






Enjoy and come back tomorrow for a different FREEBIEE


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How do you differentiate reading passages?-Lexile

29 July 2016

Differentiating can be extremely difficult when you have a class full of a wide variety of strengths and weaknesses.  On the first few weeks of school we spend hours of time getting to know each child and trying to place each child in a small reading group.  We spend so much time forming these groups so each of our students are able to succeed.  Now that we have each student in a group or we have developed this time to differentiate - what do we do now!?  Am I right!?  

We know one book or one passage may be perfect for one group however is the same passage going to be appropriate for our last group?  ABSOLUTELY NOT!!  But who has the time or the money to go searching for the perfect set of materials for each group??

 So as teachers, how are we going to make sure we are putting appropriate reading material in the hands of our students?  

I have your answer!!! LEXILED PASSAGES!!  Lexile is a measuring tool to help teachers and students choose good fit reading material.  To learn more about lexile visit our blog post about lexile specifically.  This post has a TON of great FREEEEE recourses to pull from as well! 

So where do we get these glorious lexiled passages????  



We have started monthly themed Lexiled readers which included text dependent questions for close reading as well! 


Another VERY important addition to these packages are compare and contrasting two text writing prompts!  Included are three writing prompts that force students to go back into two different texts to compare and contrast different topics!  



Comparing and Contrasting texts is a major standard starting in third and fourth grade.  With these lexiled readers you can not only give your students the capability to close read appropriate text but to also develop skills to compare and contrast between two text!

Check out our September and October lexiled bundles!!



September Bundle 


October Bundle 



Let us know how you differentiate your reading material!






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3 reasons why you should have a class Instagram

17 July 2016

 Having a classroom Instagram is such a powerful tool for a multitude of reasons!  In my classroom we have an "Instagrammer" of the day.  (I have heard of people having "Instagrammer" of the week). In the beginning of the year I teach the first child how to use Instagram. I also show this video to my kiddos.  It briefly describes how to use Instagram.  




Once I have shown the video and taught the first child how to use the account my job is COMPLETE!  Students take full responsibility at this point.  The next day , or the next week, the previous child helps the new child until he or she feels comfortable!


A class Instagram account builds classroom community!  Once you teach the first student how to use the account, that child teaches the next student!  This makes students feel accountable for understanding and using the account appropriately.  

Students also are searching, throughout the day, for other students who are working successfully and making progress! Students make a caption that trumps on what students in the classroom are doing.  Student later can see these posts and feel a sense of empowerment and also feel supported by classmates!


Having a class Instagram is another way to get parents involved!  With our class Instagram we do not follow anyone. (This way I do not have to mandate appropriate posts)  However other people can follow us- such as parents!  Parents are able to comment, like, and see inside the classroom ALL DAY LONG!  What is better than that! -Also when a child is "Instagrammer" of the day or week that child is about 95% likely to beg their parents to look on the Instagram account that day or at the end of the day outside of class! #buildingrelationships #startingconverstaions 



Having a classroom Instagram brings in technology at it's finest!  Student are learning how to use and app that requires taking pictures, uploading a picture, editing a picture, and adding a caption!  Now we are incorporating writing as well!!  


I hope you are reading to start a class Instagram account and follow us @schrage22








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Getting Parents involved; Password Portal

10 July 2016



How do you get parents involved in your classroom?  I have a GREAT way to get your kiddos begging their parents to get involved!!   It is called the "Password Portal."  



Most of us have a classroom website or some form of online tool we use to communicate with parents and students.  This may be a Facebook page, twitter, Instagram, website, ect. We spend HOURS of time uploading our materials, providing resources, and begging parents and students to use!  I now have a way to not only get your parents and students visiting your site, but also providing conversation and engagement with your classroom content! 


Okay I am ready to tell you!  This year I am going to be adding a new addition to my Website! It is called....


It is called the Password Portal!!... On my website I will have a page dedicated to a password of the day!  This page will include a word, math problem, joke or whatever I come up with!   I have a short blurb on the page to encourage families to talk about the password of the day.  When students come to school the next day they will fill out a Password Portal sheet....If they know the password of course....They write a few sentences of their conversation with their family as well!  Then they will put their sheet in the giveaway bin!  At the end of the week I will pull three "Password Portals" or tickets for a giveaway!! 

This is a GREAT way to get parent, child conversation, as well as getting parents and students to use your website!

The best part is it is ALLLL Free!!  You can get these great sheets here!! 

This is what is in the Freebie...

Three versions of the labels!




and the Password Portal!


This is such a great way to get parents and students excited to come to school and to create conversations at home!!! Don't forget to get the Freebiee Here!














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5 things you have to know about Lexile plus a FREEBIEE

01 April 2016

        Differentiating is a HUGE passion of mine.  I try my very best to make sure each and every one of my students has materials and recourses suitable for them.  Often times we see children not working, not staying on task, and/or having a negative attitude towards school.  Most often than not, this is because the child does not have appropriate tasks to be doing. Whether the work be to difficult or too easy, either way, we MUST place materials that are engaging, enriching, and appropriate for the child as an individual and not the class as a whole.   

        Recently, New Baden Elementary has made a school goal, with lexile scores.  You might be asking yourself right now what are lexile scores!?  -keep reading-  Because of this new goal and our lack of knowledge on lexile scores, our wonderful administrators hired a lexile representative to come to our school and help us dig deeper into these scores and the meaning of lexile.  My most favorite quote of the day was....
This quote just clicked the whole meaning of lexile for me!  The age of the student has nothing to do with the level of books a child should be reading.  Look for books and recourses for  the children as individuals instead of looking for books that are appropriate for the child to be reading at that grade level.   

I have summed up our 8 hour day into 5 essential components to understanding and using lexile scores.

Okay to brief description to lexile:  A measuring tool used to see a child's reading ability. With this being said, lexie is a measuring tool.  It is NOT an assessment.  Our lexile representative put this in great perspective for us.  We use several different assessment tools to test children on their reading abilities.  Lexile is not one of them.  Lexile is a measuring system, much like the metric system or fahrenheit and celsius.      

A child is given a lexile score, however, the child DOES NOT have to stick with books with just that number.  For a child to have independent success with a book, they can chose materials that are 100 points below their score, as well as 50 points above their score.  This allows a bigger selection when picking out "good fit books."  This also allows the child to understand and enjoy what they are reading!
I absolutely loved this part!! Our basal books are are on a lexile roller coster! A text book company puts together stories they see fit for a specific grade level.  AFTERWARDS they approach lexile to link a lexile score to each story. LASTLY, the textbook company networks their textbooks to schools and tries to sell their book.  With that being said, they have the teachers in mind LAST!  For example, we may start off with a higher story, move to a lower story, move to now an even lower level story, then go up a little higher, go back down, SHOOT way up high again, little lower, and so on and so on.    Instead of putting our students on a roller coster we want to gradually increase the lexile level.  

Say it is February in a second grade classroom.  Your basal book has a story lexiled at 500L to be read for that week.  Your kids are doing GREAT with it.  You are high on life and pumped to be sending them to 3rd grade reading successfully at a 500L.  Well the next week your story is leveled at a 150L.  Your kids once again doing great.  The following week our basal shoots us a story at 500L again.  You are thinking they are GOLDEN.  ERRR WRONG!  Most likely your students are going to be struggling with this story because they just finished a book that was 150L.  

There are SOO many FREE lexiled reading recourses out there for you to use!  Here is a list of a few web sites I learned about or use!
Use lexile.com as a free resource as well!  If you have a book and you don't know the lexile level analyze it yourself!  use these EASY steps to lexile any book you need!


I also use this analyzer to lexile my own passages!! Check out my tpt store for various lexiled passages!  

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwR6yLaWx_73SnR3UFp6eHFCX1k/view?usp=sharing

Click the link to get  my Lexiled Earth Day Passages!! For the whole package check out our tpt store!








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5 things you have to know about Lexile plus a FREEBIEE


        Differentiating is a HUGE passion of mine.  I try my very best to make sure each and every one of my students has materials and recourses suitable for them.  Often times we see children not working, not staying on task, and/or having a negative attitude towards school.  Most often than not, this is because the child does not have appropriate tasks to be doing. Whether the work be to difficult or too easy, either way, we MUST place materials that are engaging, enriching, and appropriate for the child as an individual and not the class as a whole.   

        Recently, New Baden Elementary has made a school goal, with lexile scores.  You might be asking yourself right now what are lexile scores!?  -keep reading-  Because of this new goal and our lack of knowledge on lexile scores, our wonderful administrators hired a lexile representative to come to our school and help us dig deeper into these scores and the meaning of lexile.  My most favorite quote of the day was....
This quote just clicked the whole meaning of lexile for me!  The age of the student has nothing to do with the level of books a child should be reading.  Look for books and recourses for  the children as individuals instead of looking for books that are appropriate for the child to be reading at that grade level.   

I have summed up our 8 hour day into 5 essential components to understanding and using lexile scores.

Okay to brief description to lexile:  A measuring tool used to see a child's reading ability. With this being said, lexie is a measuring tool.  It is NOT an assessment.  Our lexile representative put this in great perspective for us.  We use several different assessment tools to test children on their reading abilities.  Lexile is not one of them.  Lexile is a measuring system, much like the metric system or fahrenheit and celsius.      

A child is given a lexile score, however, the child DOES NOT have to stick with books with just that number.  For a child to have independent success with a book, they can chose materials that are 100 points below their score, as well as 50 points above their score.  This allows a bigger selection when picking out "good fit books."  This also allows the child to understand and enjoy what they are reading!
I absolutely loved this part!! Our basal books are are on a lexile roller coster! A text book company puts together stories they see fit for a specific grade level.  AFTERWARDS they approach lexile to link a lexile score to each story. LASTLY, the textbook company networks their textbooks to schools and tries to sell their book.  With that being said, they have the teachers in mind LAST!  For example, we may start off with a higher story, move to a lower story, move to now an even lower level story, then go up a little higher, go back down, SHOOT way up high again, little lower, and so on and so on.    Instead of putting our students on a roller coster we want to gradually increase the lexile level.  

Say it is February in a second grade classroom.  Your basal book has a story lexiled at 500L to be read for that week.  Your kids are doing GREAT with it.  You are high on life and pumped to be sending them to 3rd grade reading successfully at a 500L.  Well the next week your story is leveled at a 150L.  Your kids once again doing great.  The following week our basal shoots us a story at 500L again.  You are thinking they are GOLDEN.  ERRR WRONG!  Most likely your students are going to be struggling with this story because they just finished a book that was 150L.  

There are SOO many FREE lexiled reading recourses out there for you to use!  Here is a list of a few web sites I learned about or use!
Use lexile.com as a free resource as well!  If you have a book and you don't know the lexile level analyze it yourself!  use these EASY steps to lexile any book you need!


I also use this analyzer to lexile my own passages!! Check out my tpt store for various lexiled passages!  

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwR6yLaWx_73SnR3UFp6eHFCX1k/view?usp=sharing

Click the link to get  my Lexiled Earth Day Passages!! For the whole package check out our tpt store!








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