More Word Study Games~Freebies!

Since the first set of word study games I posted seemed to be popular, here are the games for the next four Words Their Way lessons. Of course you don't have to use these with Words Their Way if you don't use that program. Enjoy!

Click Here to download!


UPDATE:  I have had many requests for these games so I will be uploading them to TPT. Click HERE to go to my store.

What a Week!

Well, if I do say so myself.... What a freakin' week!

Blog Hoppin' Teacher Week posts. CHECK
Earthquake. CHECK
Hurricane. CHECK
Welcome letters sent. CHECK
Laminated EVERY piece of paper in my room. CHECK
Whole-body aches. CHECK
Broken all 10 of the nails I spent all summer growing. CHECK
Complete LOSS of my mind. CHECK

I am SPENT and I don't even have kids to worry about yet! Thankfully my room is pretty much complete save for bulletin boards. Monday starts the week teachers must report back to school and I always have a mini-heart attack when I see our required meetings for the week. I seriously cannot fathom how some teachers are able to only come in during teacher week and get everything set up when we have all this STUFF to do! Hats off if you are one of those peeps cause I've been working on it for 3 weeks and its still not done. And I am extremely efficient too (or so I've been told).

I must say, thank goodness for Blog Hoppin' Teacher Week because I got so many drops in my metaphorical bucket I was always feelin' good! Thank you to all of you who commented or became new followers this past week because you seriously have validated my nonsense ramblings! At one point I was afraid that I was the only one who thought I was funny (that happens to me ALOT).... Please know that my mental health has grown exponentially upon discovering teacher blog land and I can't imagine a day without my internet teacher friends and the support and laughter they give to me! THANK YOU!

And just in case you haven't laughed yet today, here is a picture of me dressed up as my favorite book character, Elmer the Elephant!

Free For All Friday!

I'd like to share some games I made for word study with my tutoring students this summer. The lesson number correlates to the Words Their Way program. This freebie has 4 games and they are perfect to paste together and laminate, turn into a file folder game, or to keep in a binder. Click the link below the image to download all 4 games featuring vowels e and i. Also, don't forget to check out all the other great freebies at Blog Hoppin'!

Get it here!

UPDATE -  I have had many requests for these games so I have started to upload them to TPT. Click HERE to go to my store.

Three for Thursday

It's day 4 of teacher week!

My favorite font is hands-down...

I discovered it through a favorite fonts linky party. You can get it here!


My favorite online resource is.....

Duh. Pinterest. I know it's not technically a teaching resource, but I've found so many amazing things there that I can't resist choosing it as my favorite!


And I can't choose a favorite blog so here are a few of my daily reads...

REAL Classroom Pictures!

OK. I worked my hiney off today and have some classroom photos to share with you. I'm still nowhere near finished and haven't even begun to think about bulletin boards yet but I'm excited to share my progress!

My new job chart. I will laminate pictures of my students faces and use velcro to attach and move weekly.

I used a flamingo shower curtain I found at Target as a backdrop here. This will probably be something literacy based since it is near my listening center and guided reading table.

Classroom Library

More of the literacy area. Not sure what to put on the bulletin board. I hung all my past years' class photos up top. The last one is empty cause it is waiting for the newbies to come!

More soon-to-be library space

 Kids cubbies and storage

Letters came from Michaels. They are hanging over the leveled take home library and student mailboxes.

Where it all goes down Wednesday

     So today for Teacher Week I was SUPPOSED to show you pictures of my classroom. So I went into school today and took my nice new camera and intended to get a whole lot done so I had something new to show you. BUT.... after being there for about an hour and getting a few small things accomplished but mostly making a big ol' mess, we had an EARTHQUAKE. Yep. 5.8 on the Richter Scale centered about 30 miles from my school. My school is near a rock quarry so we are used to feeling some minor shakes when they do blasting from time to time. This shook for a good minute or so, and I thought my Promethean projector was going to snap off. We all remembered our training and ran to stand in the doorways (but I think that was mainly to see what other people were doing). About 45 mins later the buildings were evacuated and we can't go back until risk management inspects the building. When it was all said and done, it was scary but more a minor inconvenience than anything else. No one was injured and our building seemed fine with no visible damage. Some older buildings in the area, including the National Cathedral and the Smithsonian Castle in Washington D.C. did have some damage.

     ANYWHOO... Since I don't have any new pictures of my room, I'm going to show you pictures of what I did instead of working in the classroom.

A friend saw my crayon rolls and asked if I would make her a crayon portfolio like this for her daughter. I found a free pattern here and changed it up a bit to get more crayon pockets.

I didn't have any crayons at home so I put in the color pencils just for the purposes of the photo but it was an epic fail. It holds 16 crayons and computer-size paper cut in half.

This I didn't make but I thought it was worth posting. My cousin is famous across the family for her aprons so I asked her to make me a craft apron for school. I love the bird pattern and the colors. Very my style.

AND if you MUST see pictures of my room, you can check out these posts!

Go to Blog Hoppin' to see who else linked up with pictures of their classroom. I have to say that this is my favorite day of Teacher Week and I'm sorely upset with myself about not living up to my own expectations, but I can't wait to snoop on other people's classrooms!

Teacher Talk Tuesday

Today I’m going to list some of the things I wish I had been told as a new teacher….

❤ No one can do it all. There will always be those teachers in your building who seem like Wonder Woman. Don’t judge your success based on the efforts of others but on the achievements of your students.

❤ Organize your life, your brain will thank you for it. I know there are plenty of teachers who are great at what they do and can do it even if they have piles teetering all over the room, but I am not one of them. And as a new teacher, your world needs to be manageable. So find a system that works for you and stick to it. Duplicating the procedures of others isn’t necessarily going to be the best fit for you, and that’s OK.

❤ Don’t lose sight of your vision and purpose. When you are up to your eyeballs in paper work, data, parents, meetings, and professional development it is easy to forget why you chose this profession.  I have to constantly remind myself of what is truly important, and that all these little annoyances are meant to help me reach my goals as a successful teacher, even if they don’t seem like it.

❤ Be open to change. It never fails…. Educational policy always changes just as soon as you think you’ve got a handle on it. Take it in strides and save your stress for the things you CAN change.

❤ Your professional team can make or break you. Make good working relationships with those around you, and use those relationships to your benefit. Understand that everyone has something to offer (even those fresh out of college) and that knowledge is meant to be shared. You are part of a village that is responsible for nurturing your students. It takes everyone to make the ship sail, and only takes one bad attitude to sink it.

See other new teacher advice at Blog Hoppin'

Meet the Teacher Monday

About Me...
I'm your average flamingo-obsessed second grade teacher. I've got akward down to a science and am constantly running into things. My equilibrium must be out of whack. My father is the same way so it must run in the family. Speaking of father, my parents are in China right now and I am extremely jealous. Ancient China is on my social studies curriculum. I sent them with a list of mandatory items they must buy and pictures to take!

Teaching History...
I have been teaching 2nd grade for 4 years, and going on my 5th year. Eventually I would like to try another grade level, but second grade is dabomb.com for me. This year I'm taking on team lead and a little nervous about it but I think it will definitely be interesting!

What you Might not Know...
I decided I wanted to be a teacher when I was in 9th grade. My church did a Saturday program for needy kids in our area who needed help at school. The teens volunteered to help tutor (and most importantly, LOVE) these children. Every Saturday, drivers would go house-to-house to pick up the children and bring them to our building where we fed them breakfast, did a Morning meeting, and broke off into pairs or groups for reading, writing, and social practice. I volunteered for that program all 4 years of high school and it is how I discovered my love for teaching young children. Most of all, it is where I learned that the best teachers teach from a place of love. After all, who needs love more than your troublemakers?

Want to join the party? Link up at Blog Hoppin'!

Open House Letter

Hi friends! Not to worry... the pillows were successfully recovered and the bunny slippers put through the washer. All is well again. Anyhoooooo. I just wanted to share the letter I send to my kids and families when I get my list. Each year the letter has evolved and become more child friendly. A couple years ago, I decided to add a picture of myself so the kids could recognize/remember me at Open House, especially if they've seen me at school but didn't know my name. The picture made a BIG difference. The shy kids seemed less nervous at Open House, and since I had already shared some information about myself, they were more willing to open up to me. The parents also appreciated being able to put a face (one they see so often at PTO events) to the name on their child's list. So here it is!

Random Thoughts

Guess what?!? I got rid of another table! (I know y'all love my table drama) So now I only have one rectangle table with no legs to pawn off on someone available for a good home. I'm sure this is a craze other places as well but I haven't noticed on my blog stalking any other tables without legs yet... Many teachers at my school, mainly primary grades, remove the adjustable legs from tables and even desks to make center tables at the perfect height for sitting on the floor. But they usually store the legs in the closet or a cabinet. These table legs are 100% MIA. Personally, I don't love it or hate it. What do you think? My plan this year is to lower the legs and use the ever-so-popular crate seats at my listening center. This year our principal has declared war on carpets and says that no additional carpets not bought with school money are allowed in the building. The only way I would have my kids sitting on the floor at one of those tables would be with a carpet to define the area. School is home to so many of our kids that I hate to see it become so sterile.

     Also in room news, I completed my library area, hung a few posters, and started making my new job chart I am super excited about. I totally blog-lifted it from Second Grade is Splendid. To be fair, I did warn her in the comments that I was obsessed with her job chart. I giggled like crazy every time I had to cut off one of the clipart people's heads. I'll post a picture once I get it completed.

     Ugh. and on another SUPER random note, I just noticed that it just decided to rain sideways in a sudden downpour and all of my cute new porch swing cushions are getting blown into the street. Excuse me, I need to go run in the rain down my street in my bunny slippers, hair rollers and housecoat to collect my wayward pillows!

Win a FREE Blog Design

Kelly's Avenue Designs is giving away a total Blog Makeover! It is a $40 value and priceless for those of you just getting started (or if you're like me who did everything themselves and wants a more professional look). I'd love to see what someone (with actual blog design talent) can do with my flamingos! I haven't seen any other flamingo blogs, but if you know of any let me know!

Quick Tip

I don't know if anyone else has this issue but here's a quick tip that may help someone out in setting up their room....

Over the summer, our floors are stripped and waxed throughout the entire building. When we come in to set up our rooms the floors are sparkling and beautiful! BUT the admin always says absolutely do not move the furniture! What they really mean is "don't you dare drag those desks and tables across my floors!" As long as there is another teacher within shouting distance, we don't usually have a problem. But there are always times when a certain teammate is preggers and can't lift a darn thing :) no one is available. So here comes the neat trick...

I discovered a few years ago that mouse pads work just as good as those fancy furniture sliding movers thingies. We are lucky enough to have 5 student computers in each room so I snag those and go to work. I just turn the pad upside down so the smooth side is against the floor and the grippy side goes under each table leg. And voila! Huge reading table? No problem. Bulky teacher desk? Piece of cake!

Classroom Pictures

I worked in my room all day Friday, Monday, and today so I decided it is probably time for a photo update. I'm still nowhere near to being done but things are coming together and I'm getting a pretty good feel for how things will function this year.

View from the doorway. I got rid of 3 of the 6 extra tables I had and the last three are right by the door for easy removal when I find someone who will take them from me.

It's still messy but the shelf with the blue tubs is where the math manipulatives will go, and the pastel color shelving is for Work on Words.

My lovely built-in shelving that will be soon covered by my amazing flamingo curtains (as soon as I get them fire-treated.) I'm also trying to get rid of my overhead projector so it is parked close to the door.

This will be my library area. The library is always the last thing I do room wise because it takes a lot of time and I want to be sure the library is exactly where I want it before I unpack all those books.

My "literacy area"... So here we have the guided reading table in an L-shape with my teacher desk, two bookshelves of guided reading and Literacy Lessons books/materials, and the (soon to be) listening center in the corner. The movable wall is magnetic so it may become my word wall. Not sure yet.

My "special" read-alouds, seasonal books, and content area books. I also shelve some of my favorite authors and pull those out when we do author studies. I also unpacked and filled the poster drawers beneath this shelving today.

I heart my Promethean board. It makes life so much easier.

Paper storage. Don't you just love the construction paper holder my contractor friend made for me?

 Can you say "hoarder?" All these tissues and baby wipes are leftover from last year. I even took a few boxes home over the summer! Shhh! Don't tell.

So that's it for now. I'll probably wait until I get some of the bulletin boards done and the rest of the furniture laid out before posting room photos again. I know you all will be waiting in anticipation!

Thinking Partners Freebie!

One thing I think is mucho importante is developing good oral communication in the classroom. At the start of the year, I train the kids in how to be good thinking partners. I have them pair up and tell each other about something they did over the summer or weekend. The partner has to be able to summarize and retell what their partner did to their partner's satisfaction. I know this seems like a big DUH but I went to a Ron Nash workshop a while back and it was made super clear that the students needed many many many many many opportunities to have this kind of discussion with non-academic content before we expect them to have meaningful discussions about what they are learning. It really does make a difference, I promise!

Usually, I have the "turn to your elbow buddy" or use the partner wheel approach to finding thinking partners, but I wanted another mode for finding good thinking partners so I made this variation of Paula Rutherford's Feathered Friends or Clock Buddies. Students will take their paper around the classroom and ask classmate's to be their thinking partners for specific days. So if Johnny wanted to be partners with Sally, and they both had their Monday box available, Johnny would write Sally's name on his paper and Sally would write Johnny's name on her paper. It would go like this until everyone has every box filled. If it is done right, there should be no overlaps or duplicates. From then on, all I have to do is say, "Today children, I'd like you to sit with your Friday thinking partner on the carpet."

Click here to download

Classroom Photos

Don't have much to report but I did snap a few photos of my unpacking OCD-ness. A few of my teammates were also in the building working the other day and they came in and said, "Even though we are all in an unpacking-frenzy does it surprise you that your room is STILL the neatest?" Nope. Not surprised at all :)

The math box pile.

Stuff that I'll be cramming into the closet.

My itty-bitty closet and more stuff to cram in there.

Furniture and miscellaneous boxes I'm afraid to open.

Can you tell I ran out of boxes when packing? There are about 4 garbage bags worth of things in that corner.

My desk with listening center boxes.

Guided Reading/Language Arts Materials

Classroom library books.

The first thing I unpacked were the office supplies. I've found that unpacking stuff that will be stored in cabinets and drawers first helps. All this stuff ended up in the pull-out drawers but I had to see everything first before I put it away.

So, not that exciting but it's progress!

Random Updates and News

So this post may be a bit schizophrenic but bear with me... I've got a storm of thoughts bubbling around in my brain and have to get them out.

Literacy Lessons Updates:
So today was day two of Literacy Lessons and we discussed the various forms of assessments we would be using on a regular basis with our struggling readers. If you're not familiar with Literacy Lessons, it was created by Marie Clay, a Reading Recovery guru. Basically we will be working one on one with two struggling readers for 30 mins (each) a day on top of all my regular teaching duties. The reading team will really have to step up with sub coverage and whatever it takes to make sure these kids get their individual time every day because we will be working with students who have not responded to multiple and various reading interventions. Literacy Lessons has its own rules and regulations separate from Reading Recovery so I will be a certified instructor at the end of the year. I know the logistics are tough but I am so excited to be a part of this! Tomorrow my assignment is to kidnap (not really don't have a heart attack) two kiddos and practice the testing procedures. Here are the cute gifts I made to give them as a thanks for using their brain over their summer vacation. I stole from was inspired by about 5 million posts on Pinterest (like this one) and recreated it myself.

For the little girl I'm testing:

For the little man I'm testing:

Classroom Updates:
So today I worked in the room for about an hour and managed to sort the boxes by subject. I am OCD when it comes to room organization and there is nothing that IRKS me more than thinking I have found the perfect spot for something and then finding another box a few days later with more of the same item and not having room to store it all together. Today I started unpacking all my miscellaneous "office supplies" like post-its, index cards, and pens. I didn't get any pics today but there's not much progress to see. I'll snap some photos tomorrow.

Fun Crafty News:
I just finished making Mrs. Shepherd's Dr. Seuss shoes for winning my Sneaky Giveaway! I'll try to mail them out tomorrow :) Here is a SNEAKer Peak!

 A favorite Dr. Seuss quote.

The famous last word of the Lorax.