Standards-Based Grading....accountibility craze???

So if you have heard the term standards-based grading before, you know it is a multi-layer term, with all the extra baggage! So, of course, teachers are always thinking about and documenting a student's progress (even during breakfast, lunch, sometimes dinner). With the newly coined "standards-based grading" label, we get to provide an extra sheet of explanation to the kiddos and their families. If you haven't already read through the pages and pages of grids with rubrics for every single standard, peruse your district's rubric library, and then check this out:

These are BLANK, yes BLANK (no actual standards included on these templates) templates for you to enter in the standard you are currently assessing. Everyone's criteria is slightly different, or may be an "I can" statement instead of the actual statement. Instead of creating all of my rubrics or "cover sheets" as I like to call them; I am going to use these blank templates to make them as I need them. I will have a full set by the end of the year, that's the good news! 

The other bonus: These templates come fully editable in a google slides doc, along with the editable PDF's. My new favorite thing is using GOOGLE DRIVE for my teacher docs. Super easy and clean for storing all of my important files.

Check out the product here: Blank Standards-Based Grading Templates

Another bonus: here is the FREEBIE version of this doc to check it out before buying the full version: 

Enjoy!

Google Drive & Digital St. Teresa Activity

      So I just discovered the magic of using Google Slides as interactive digital activities....I know, I'm pretty late to the party, but....how amazing, and user friendly! As a tech lover (for my own fun, not always in the classroom), I can't believe I hadn't tapped into this already. Still on my Mother Teresa kick from her canonization last week, I love the idea of going digital with some activities that are accessible to the kiddos. The fun thing about the current generation of students is that they are just born as digital natives, it's like this oddly natural thing for them that they automatically know what to do. Even the kids who may not have a device for every occasion, or at all, they are still totally comfortable.
       I love this activity because it is short & sweet. Three pages of digital activities, some facts & some reflection.

The google slide interface just makes everything so easy! The background is set, the kids can't move it around. The only place the kids can edit or type are the text boxes. And of course, I love the lego Mother/Saint Teresa! It is a "pixel" style picture so the thumbnail previews on the sidebar don't quite do the actual slide justice. If you want to check it out here; Google Drive Digital St. Teresa Activity

Enjoy!

Mother...I mean..Saint...Teresa of Calcutta (I'm never going to get it right)

This past Sunday was a pretty exciting day for all the Mother Teresa appreciators around the world, and especially us Catholics, as she was canonized and made an official "Saint" in the Church. This is HUGE! Mother/Saint Teresa is someone who we knew in OUR TIME, and remember seeing (at least on TV), while she was alive until 1997. Pretty exciting stuff, I have been so excited to celebrate this with my students. She is such an inspiring human being, a really awesome role model. So, you could say I was filled with the Holy Spirit, and got very excited to create some resources to help share her story and message. I really love polaroids (which sadly are not quite popular these days....), so here are some extra large polaroid block figure/pixel quotes pieces:

Here are the dimensions (excuse my fingers from holding the ruler)

If you like these, check them out here: Mother/Saint Teresa Polaroid Quotes

Hope you enjoy, and happy Feast/Canonization!

Block Schedule...Literally...Daily Schedule Design Fun

Ok, this year I really wanted to try out the whole "themed classroom" thing, so I am taking baby steps to get something going, and focusing on a "Lego & Comic" theme. One of the things that my students fixate on daily is the posting of a daily schedule (trust me, they let me know right away if I have not updated it for the day). To keep myself on my toes, and get ahead of the kids who will habitually remind me at 8:16am when we enter the room, I went with a super fun glittery building block style schedule.

It has a block for every subject possible (if you are a school with a million specials, this works). Aaaand the best part, it comes with a whole system for a mini individual personal schedule. So this mini schedule works for my kids who need to see it in front of them. Before I explain how I use it, here it is:

 

So the prep was sliiiiightly time consuming; I printed, laminated, cut out, then added velcro to each block (which is printed on the mini schedule) on the schedule pad, and then cut out each individual mini block and added velcro to those. BUT, so worth it! So each morning, when the kids come in, I have my large class daily schedule updated (obvi), and the kids with the mini schedule come over, pick out the matching mini velcro blocks from a little bin, and put it on their mini schedule. They love it!

 Needless to say, this glittery block schedule has been a hit! Can't wait for more matching products (CCSS aligned I can statements would be amazing......). Until then, check out the product for yourself here:  Glittery Building Block Daily Schedule

Subject & Predicate Lego Style

The best part about starting the year with 2nd graders is refreshing those sentence writing skills! Of course, my current favorite way to practice any skill: Lego style!

This packet includes 5 anchor charts (all lego style), and one activity that can be differentiated to meet the needs of different skill levels. I'm big on cutting and pasting; this activity includes separate strips of subjects and predicates that can be mixed and match to make a complete sentence.

There are also blank strips for students to write their own subjects and predicates. This is a simple activity to practice identifying subjects and predicates. The blank subject and predicate strips can also be used for assessment purposes. Check out the packet here. Enjoy!

The Struggle of the just right (for me) Weekly Lesson Plan Template

It's that time of year when we start to plan for the year and get our organizational materials organized. This is of course ESSENTIAL for teachers. After years of trying out different planners and binders; I found a happy medium by using both. I need to of course have my weekly schedule in front of me in the traditional planner layout; but I also need to have my meetings and attendance, or even a weekly log of behavior chart movement in the same area. I also like to have my objectives laid out nicely so I can keep the language in the front of my mind, and even repeat it to the kids a few days out of the week :-) Here are a few templates that make me happy, and help my week go smoother:

Here is a link to the Weekly Lesson Templates, check them out! Thanks -:)

Tell it in order you Will...Story Structure Activity for CCSS Key Ideas and Details

      Here we go with one of the most fundamental reading skills around; identifying story structure...and basically just being able to recall, or create, a cohesive story. This is a skill that we pretty much use our whole lives, helping us to make sense of just about anything we read. So, during a summer school session, with kiddos who were feeling pretty "summery".....I wanted to capture their attention, but make it worth their while. Hence....STAR WARS LEGOS!!!! Again, my secret attention grabber; anything LEGO! This story structure activity is quite labor intensive (again, had to keep it exciting), but the kids loved it. There is a basic "story mat", or worksheet, and several options of WEAPON FREE (except for a light saber, because, come on, can't have star wars without light sabers) lego figures. The kids can mix and match the character, or object of their choice, draw their own background, and write a super exciting beginning, middle, and end, underneath the flap they choose. Sounds confusing for kids? They are naturals! Here are some examples:

  

Here is a link to the story structure freebie. Here is a link to the actual story structure activity, which is no way affiliated with the Star Wars or Lego Brand; I don't claim any ownership over the characters, just over the labor put into aligning the standards and organizing this activity!