I'm back from a MAJOR blog hiatus!! Where does the time go?! Seriously, I think it was summer just last week and tomorrow is Halloween. HALLOWEEN! Insane. I'm here today to share how I keep my reading groups organized and I don't have to remind my students what group they are in...because one less thing for me to have to remind my kids during the day, the better.

I have a reading group board right next to my small group table.

If we zoom in on one of my groups we see a sticky note. On the sticky note I write the task that the students should do independently and the next time we will meet. Again, so they don't have to ask me what their job is! If you notice, there are no sticky notes on group 1 or 2. These groups are still knee deep in guided reading so we do all of our work together at this point!

Right now I have one book club happening and these students get to write their own task and choose their meeting date! This takes some practice, but I tell ya what, they LOVE it. By the end of the year, I usually have 3 groups who get to write their own tasks. (I keep the extra six up there in case we ever do partner book clubs or we need different strategy groups,)

Right below my reading group board I keep my file boxes full of our books for the next couple of days. (Looks like group 1 got off easy this week ;) ).

3 reasons I love my reading group board:

1. The kids always know what group they are in.

2. The students always know what their job is and when it is due.

3. Eventually, it allows for independence in choosing reading assignments when working in book clubs.

Also, I finally got around to publishing some Common Core "I Can..." statement cards on TpT. So head on over to my store to check them out!

Hi friends! What a whirlwind this school year has been! I feel like I haven't had more than a few moments to catch my breath. We are implementing all sorts of new things that I'm trying to get all adjusted to and comfortable with. I'ts all kinds of fun though! I've had some opportunities to do some fun stuff too.
Last week we read the book "The Great Chase". We talked about making predictions and asking questions while we read.

It is a stinking cute book if I do say myself!

After we finished reading it we did a little interactive writing.

Then the kiddies got to make puppets to retell the story. They copied our interactive writing activity on the back of their lunch sack puppets.

Then they decorated their little frog characters {the main character is a little frog}. And then they used their puppets to retell the story with their reading partner! It was So. Much. Fun.

Speaking of reading partners...I just put up a fun partner reading resource on TpT!

Check it out!

Happy Monday to all!

Holy cow you guys! I've been dog paddling to keep up with everything since school started two weeks ago! I've been slacking on this little blog of mine, but I knew I had to give my new students ALL of my effort, attention, and energy. I knew if I was drafting blog posts and creating new products to sell, I would be slacking on the little ones who need me most of all. But I'm finally back into my daily routine of ~~falling asleep on the couch around 9 PM~~ school and home. So that being said, we are having our Curriculum Info night tomorrow night! I love getting to know the parents in my room better and explaining all the fun we have in 2nd grade. I always have a powerpoint with info about me, our routines and procedures, and all of our learning objectives. This year I'm trying something new. I'm giving all of the parents a quick little survey to fill out to "help me, help them"! I'm hoping to gain a little more insight and communicate to all of the parents that we are on the same team! And the great news...I'm sharing it with you all! So click on the photo and hopefully you can find some use for it in your life!

Keep drinking that caffeine!!

I'm joining the fun of Teacher Week! I love this, especially because today was my first day back! Today I'm going to talk about me and some of the things I love the most in life!

1. I spend most of my time with this guy. His name is Robert. And he makes me laugh...All. The. Time.

2. I bought my first house this summer. And I spent most of my free time "flipping" it. It definitely needed some love. It still needs some love but I'm so happy with my progress!

Before:

After:

3. When I'm not at school you can find me taking photos for my photography business Not So Plain Jane Photography. I love capturing people at special times in their lives. And I especially love sharing the photos with them!

4. I am OBSESSED with thrift stores. I've been going to thrift stores and garage sales since I was 10 years old. I make trips with my mom at least once a week; usually more!

5. And to go along with my thrifting habit I love to fix up furniture and use it for new things. For example I fixed up this old toy chest and gave it to my sister as a wedding gift to use as a garden bench!

6. Speaking of sisters, I have two of them, and they are my best friends. One is 2 years older and the other is 7 years younger.

7. I am a die-hard MIZZOU fan. (That stands for the University of Missouri). I do love me some Tiger stripes!

8. After a long day, I love me some chips, salsa, and a margarita on the rocks! Yum-o!

9. I have a ridiculous nail polish collection. Love a fresh coat of paint!

10. I am so excited for a new school year!!

HAPPY TEACHER WEEK!!!

HURRY!!! Go grab this free welcome banner!

Get it here!!!

It's Friday again! And I'm so excited to be linking up with Cara, at The First Grade Parade. Hers was one of the first blogs I read, right when I graduated college and started my career as a first grade teacher...I think she's pretty awesome! I spent my morning like this:

So I'm very glad that now I'm doing this:

My Favorite School Pin:

No more interruptions from children needing books taped up! Create your own Book Hospital: A place for students to place all damaged books.

How genius is this?! Thanks to Learning in Wonderland, my student's won't be asking me for tape over and over again to fix a book!

My Favorite DIY Pin:

DIY crate bookshelf made from wooden crates from the craft store (Michaels under $13). Laundry Room.

Naturally I already went to Michael's to price do a little test run of this project. I have a feeling these will be in my living room sometime soon!

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My Favorite Foodie Pin:

BUBBLE PIZZA Preheat oven to 400°. Cut each biscuit into quarters. Place the biscuit pieces in a greased 8 x 8 glass baking dish. Top with sauce and pepperoni, sausage, etc. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove from oven

Oh. My. YUM!

That's all there is to say about that.

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My Favorite Fashion Pin:

Now my collection of 100 scarves doesn't have to be only worn around my neck!

So smart!

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My Favorite Funny Pin:

A little bubbly to celebrate my Target finds? I'll take it!

;)

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Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back tomorrow to celebrate my Liebster Nominations! Happy weekend friends!

Last night, I was going through my closet searching for something to put on and I had one of those "ugh I have nothing to wear!" moments. You know the ones....the ones that take you back to your teenage years when you would get mad at your mom because SOMEHOW it was her fault. Yes, that was the kind of moment I was having. And yes, I do in fact have plenty of clothes to put on everyday. Last night, I was just bored of all my clothes. Then I realized that in the past 2 months....I have not once step foot in a mall, or a clothing store! I've spent all my time making countless trips to the hardware store instead. So to turn my little mood around, I decided to do a little "screen shopping" as I like to call it. I found a few things that I absolutely love!

How cute is this purple dress from The Mint Julep?!

Does this Tribal shirt not look super comfy?

I'm OBSESSED with these ruffle sleeves!!!

And I'm thinking I might have to treat myself with a little back to school gift.....

Happy Shopping Friends!!

Let's rewind back to Christmas time....doing a little gift shopping I had to pop in to the local Anthropologie store, obviously. I fell in love with this super cute ruffle lamp shade. (Unfortunately the lamp shade is no longer on the website....but here is a similar look!)

My heart sank when I saw that $100 dollar price tag. I just couldn't justify spending that much on a lamp shade. So fast forward to summertime. I finally got around to creating my own version of the lamp for a FRACTION of the cost! Yes, I think I spent $8 all together on my version and it turned out pretty darn cute if I say so myself.

So in order to create your own version of this lamp shade you will need:

-a lamp shade of your choice (I picked my lamp up at a garage sale for 5 dollars)

-fabric (I needed half a yard)

-scissors

-glue gun

-well rested fingers :)

Step 1:

Cut your fabric into squares. They don't have to be perfect! Some of mine turned out more like rectangles. They aren't super big or super small either.

Step 2:

Cut the squares into circles.

Step 3:

Put a drop of glue into the middle of the circle and bring up the sides to make a little pouff.

Step 4:

Put a drop of glue on your lamp shade. It doesn't matter where you start, just fill in however you like!

Step 5:
Place your pouff on the drop of glue!

And TA-DA!!! A super easy lampshade that looks awesome! This project was a bit time consuming, but I was able to justify watching a couple episodes of Law and Order while I worked...so I was ok with that!

Now I kind of want to make more in all different color!

And just for a little more fun, if you made it down this far....a freebie for ya!

I use this bookmark to track my students' reading growth. I love it because they never forget their reading level. They love it because they can see how far they've come! At the beginning of the year I let my students decorate it and then I laminate it.

Happy Tuesday!

HAPPY FRIDAY!! Even though in the summer everyday feels like Friday. I still love Friday's in the summer though, because I get to hang out with this cute guy when he's not at work!

But on to the fun topic of this post. I've just posted a freebie in my TpT store. It's a clip chart and graphing activity for how we go home! Even if you already have a clip chart, hopefully you can find the graphing activity to be of some use for you! Click any picture below to head on over and check it out! Enjoy your weekend friends!

BUBBLE PIZZA Preheat oven to 400°. Cut each biscuit into quarters. Place the biscuit pieces in a greased 8 x 8 glass baking dish. Top with sauce and pepperoni, sausage, etc. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes. Remove from oven

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