End of the Year Ideas Pinterest Boards

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Are you nearing the end of the school year?  We are almost there!!  It is fun to do something different when you get all the testing over with just to re-energize your class and keep it interesting.  

I have been collecting some ideas from Pinterest for some great end of the year activities and I thought it would be great if we share our boards so we can collect even more fun ideas!  

This has got to be one of the cutest ideas!!  The Angry Birds!  It was created by April over at Wolfelicous blog.  Each day a student pops a balloon and the class gets to do the activity listed inside.  Now that will keep students motivated to come back each day.  :)

My next idea to spotlight is coming from Miss DeCarbo from Sugar and Spice.  This is really a twist on the balloon idea and uses QR codes instead for those of you ready to jump into the QR code craze!  I am wanting to try these QR code ideas.  

This book of advice will make a fun writing activity for students at the end of the year.  It comes from Kelly Ehmer.  I think it would be so much fun to read what students think is important for the next year's students to know!

I really like this collaborative board pinned by Rosanne Bito.  It's bright and colorful and everyone can contribute to it.  Plus, I like the count down in the middle.

These are just a few of the fun end of the year ideas that I have found.  Follow my End of the Year Activities Pinterest board by clicking here.  

Then leave the link to your end of the year idea board in your comment below so I can follow yours too!  I love seeing what you find- there is so much out there to be discovered!

Field Day Fun!

                                                       The fun from Field Day!!

Today was our day for Field Day!!  What fun!  We used to do a field day that was all competition.  Then points were added together to determine first, second, and third grade places and those students got special ribbons.  Everyone got a participation ribbon.  Then with staff changes we turned field day into a day of all non-competitive events and everyone got participation ribbons.  But there was no recognition for individuals since nothing was competitive.

Now we have had more staff changes and have switched field day again!  We have several events that are non-competitive like tug-of-war & 4 square.  But we also have competitions too so those kids can be recognized for their talents.  And we have added some inflatables!!!  What an incredibly fun day!!

We had the bounce house, slide, and bungee run.  Needless to say, the kids had an absolute blast!  The weather was wonderful-warm and breezy.  And I think there was something for everyone- games to compete for fun, competitions, and inflatables for fun only and no competition.  

How do you do field day?  I really like the way we do it now.  I didn't like doing away with competitions entirely.  Those students deserve to shine in those areas too.  But I also like that now we have some fun competitions for those that don't feel as successful at that.  And of course, who wouldn't like just a day to play on inflatables????

RTI Reading Intervention Plans and Mother's Day

Oh My!  We only have 7 days of school left!!  I have a lot to get done in these 7 school days.  First I still have 3 days of RTI to complete...whew, it has been a long cycle this time.  When students are absent or we miss school for snow days, the RTI days must be made up.  So I have 2 students left to get finished that have had absences.  

Then my youngest son graduates this week!!!  Whoo hooo for him!  It seems that it was just yesterday that he was a little baby.  And now he is graduating.  We have his baccalaureate this week plus his graduation ceremony.  

Tomorrow is Mother's Day!  My family has a lot going on this month so we are celebrating it all tomorrow:  Mother's Day, my youngest's graduation, my oldest son's birthday, my parent's anniversary, and my brother's birthday!  Wow, one big celebration tomorrow!

Next week is our huge, all day long RTI decision meeting.  I have graphs to go over and data to input into data graphs for the team to have.  We use data to drive our decisions on whether students should continue in RTI and on what tier if they continue to stay in it.  I am beginning to feel a bit stressed on how all this will get accomplished!

Okay, now back to RTI...  :)  We will finish up our last cycle on Wednesday.  If you download the plans, the resources I am using are hyperlinked for you so you can find them on TpT.  

Happy Mother's Day to my mom!!  This is her for her senior graduation picture.  Isn't she cute?  Loving those cat-eye glasses!!

I am also joining up with Latoya's Let's Get Acquainted linky.  This week we are answering 3 questions about ourselves:

1.  What made you decide to become a teacher?  I think being a teacher has always been in my blood.  I used to make my little brother play school with me.  I tutored a young boy when I was in high school.  He had some behavior issues that interfered with his learning.  I really enjoyed that.  

2.  What has been your most rewarding experience as a teacher?  Anytime I see start seeing things click for kids and that ahhh haaa moment that the light bulb comes on that they are understanding- I love that!  I also had a student years ago that came to me having trouble reading.  After conferencing with his parents, who were very concerned, we made a plan to help him.  Years later he told his parents that he didn't understand when kids had trouble reading because it was so easy.  They told him how he used to have trouble and how I helped him.  He was shocked and so appreciative to me for helping him.  It is wonderful to hear from students like that years later when they can understand a little better how you have helped them.  

3.  If you were not a teacher, what would you be?  Even though I knew for a long time that I should be a teacher, I thought about other things first.  I always thought it would be so cool to be an astronaut!!  I have always wanted to see what the world would look like from that point of view!  But my heart is in teaching and I can't imagine doing anything else.   

IRI Reading Assessments

Last Wednesday I showed you what reading assessment we use for grades K-3.  You can read about that DRA reading assessment post here.  

We used to use the DRA 2 all the way through grade 5.  And while I really like the DRA 2 and do believe it to be pretty accurate, it can be pretty time consuming for the older grades because all of the comprehension is written.  

We have now switched over to the IRI- Informal Reading Inventory.  There are several different ones to choose from.  This is the one we happen to use.  

In grades K-3, we still have that focus on the students' fluency.  They must pass the oral fluency part of the DRA to be able to complete the remainder of the assessment.  But once students get into older grades, the focus should be shifting more from the fluency to the comprehension.  At our school, we have made a cut off of once they pass a DRA 38 (end of third grade) they then are assessed using the IRI.  The IRI has a fluency component to it, but the students are not timed.  If they pass the fluency part, they are then asked a series of comprehension questions ranging from main idea to inferencing to vocabulary.

  I took all of the IRI reading passages made copies and filed them into hanging files.  This makes assessing so much easier to pull the level you need and the form you need.  Each grade level has 4 different passages or forms to choose from.

This is an example of a grade 4 form B reading passage that a student would read.  The passages that the student reads from are coded so that they do not know what grade level they are reading at.  

As the student reads from their paper, the teacher has a page that looks like this.  You basically do a running record on them and figure their score.  If they pass, you ask the comprehension questions listed at the bottom.  They even write in the answers for you!  Students just answer out loud rather than writing all of their answers down like on the DRA.  I must tell you that this has saved the upper level teachers and myself a huge chunk of time!!  And don't let the one page test fool you, it is not an easy test to pass.  Some of the comprehension questions can be a bit difficult.  I also like the fact that each question is coded to what type of question:  inference, detail, sequence, etc... Then you can go back and analyze the tests to see what type of questions your class as a whole is low in.  

Reading assessments are so important and can give you such important data.  It is critical that we choose a good assessment and then use that data to drive our instruction.  I have already had a teacher come down to get the scores for the students she may be getting next year.  She wants to look over the data over the summer so she knows what her class is going to need right from the start!!!  Yay!

Fabulous Feedback & TpT Sale

The fabulous Christina at Bunting, Books. & Bainbridge is having a feedback linky to honor the wonderful feedback we have gotten on our materials at TpT!  What a great idea!  Be sure to click the picture above to join in the linky.

I received this wonderful feedback from Smiling in Second Grade on my I Am An Expert:  How To Writing Unit.  And what I like about her feedback is she was specific in what she liked and what parts helped her.  And of course she was just so nice!

Check out this I Am An Expert:  How To Writing Unit on TpT

This lovely feedback comes from ekstromj.  Again, it is so nice and helpful to us to hear specifically why you like the materials and how they benefit your students.  

Check out my Spring Literacy Centers on TpT

My last fabulous feedback is courtesy of Teaching With A Mountain View.  If you are a regular visitor to my blog you know that RtI is near and dear to my heart.  I am so happy that this unit is helping her intervention group!

Check out this Short Vowel Activity Pack at TpT

If you are one of these three people who left me such fabulous TpT feedback, please email me.  I have a surprise for you for taking the time to let me know what was helpful to you!!

You have probably heard that TpT is celebrating all the wonderful teachers out there with a Teacher Appreciation sale!  Whooo Hooo!!  Be sure to remember to use the code to get all of your savings and leave some fabulous feedback too!

Many, many thanks to Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah for making the sign!!!  Click on her name to be taken to her wonderful store!!

During the sale you will want to check out these fabulous stores of my friends and mine.  You can click each picture to be taken to their stores to see their wonderful creations.  Thank you, thank you Bridget for taking the time to make these cute badges!!

RTI Intervention Plans & Memory Makers

It's visual lesson plan time again!  So thankful to Deedee for the chance to link up with her and share my lesson plans.  Be sure you link up too!

I am down to make ups on absences for first graders in RTI.  And about one more regular week for my third grader.  We are getting close to winding RTI down.  Then it will be time to have our big meeting and look at the data to see if students showed improvement and just how much.

These are the resources that I will be using for both of my RTI groups.  Click on either picture to download.  In the download there will be links you can click on to be taken directly to that resource.

We are winding down the school year fast!  I cannot believe just how quickly this year has gone by.  We will be out in just a few short weeks.  

Now is a great time to do some activities that help your students to look back over their year and that they have done!  This Memory Maker Keepsake Booklet makes a great remembrance of the year and something their parents will want to keep.  Each student can make their own memory book of the school year and record:

2 different book covers- one in color & one black and white

Me & My Personality

My Teacher

My Principal

My Best Buds

My Favorite Book

Happy Birthday

My School

Field Trip Time!

2 Who’s Who in My Class- one with labels and one without

My Favorite Project

All About Me

Special Class Memories

Summer Time!

Future Plans

Letter of Advice to Next Year’s Class

What’s For Lunch?

Letter to My Teacher

Autographs Please

  
Not only do the students get to record their memories of who their friends were, what they liked to eat for lunch, where they went on their field trip, etc...  I also included some forward looking pages like their future plans- they record what they want to be, how much money they think they will make, where they will live and so forth.  I also included a letter for them to write to give advice to the next group.  Years later when they go back and read these they will get a good laugh at what they were like when they were little!

Click here or click on the Memory Maker picture above to check this activity out if you think your students might love this end of the year memory book!

Reading Assessment Time

It is that time of year already!  Time for students to prove just how much they have improved their reading skills.  Besides state testing and any other end of the year testing we can put them through it seems.  

At our school we use the DRA 2 assessment kit.  I have found this to be a very reliable and true assessment for our students.  We give this test in December and in April.  

We use the DRA to find students' independent reading level.  They are tested on oral fluency and on comprehension.  The DRA is also our universal screening for RTI.  If students don't make certain benchmarks, they are automatically placed into the RTI cycle to receive reading interventions.  

Grades K and 1 are very easy to assess with the DRA 2 kit.  Grade 2 takes a bit longer, but still does not take up too much time.  For grade 3, it does take longer because students have more on the written comprehension part.  If students struggle with writing or are not very fast at composing their thoughts, it can take a bit of time to complete.  But I think it is well worth it for the information that you get from it. 

These are some of the DRA folders.  Since it is the end of the year, teachers send their folders to me when they finish assessing all of their students.  I keep them and then redistribute them the following year.  The folders hold the tests students pass each year.  There is a place to write in information on the front, inside, and back.  The back of the folder has a graph to show visually where the student is reading independently and where they should be for that time of year for that grade level.  It is a great visual aid to have when showing parents where their child is reading.  

Next week, I will show you what we use for the older grade levels.  We used to use the DRA 2, but have switched to something else that we like better.  

What do you use to assess students or for your universal screening for RTI?  I would love to hear about it!