Just Perfect {empowering your kids}

Y'all know I'm all about anything girly.  Even more than that, I love love love anything that empowers and strengthens our next generation of girls so when I heard about this new book, I knew I had to have it.

Just Perfect by Kimberly Mohns Roberts is a cute little story about a mother who has the perfect responses to her daughter's bodily concerns.  It's a call and response storyline that follows each "Mama, I don't like my ____" with the reassurance from her mom that "Your ____ is perfect for..."  It's a sweet, encouraging story for anyone who has decided to actively teach body confidence to their children, daughters specifically.

At school, this would be a great addition to the classroom library.  It may not be appropriate for a read-aloud in the younger grades - only because not all little girls have had these questionable thoughts yet.  I would hate to put that terminology in their mouths if they are anything like my daughter who can look like she survived a whirlwind, look in the mirror and say, "Mommy!  I'm not cute!  I'm beautiful!"  I mean, right?!  That is confidence I don't need to touch until it wavers.  Unfortunately I know that some little girls start putting unfair amounts of comparison and self-worth on their appearance at an early age and this would be a great resource to be able to pull if a situation came up.

For an older classroom, even middle or high school students, I would totally use this as a read-aloud. Big kids like picture books, too, they just never have the chance to read them!  It would be a great discussion starter for students to be able to encourage each other in the strengths they see in their classmates or a wonderful springboard into an assignment on self-reflection.  I would also totally use this for a Girls on the Run lesson or in any type of counseling capacity.

The best part about this project is that it's Kimberly's story.  Not only did she come through anxiety, depression and attempted suicide but she wrote this story to empower her two daughters and the next generation of girls.  She's giving back 5% of the book profits to organizations that also support children, help them gain confidence and provide other resources as needed.  If you don't have kids or a classroom of your own, you can purchase one through her website and have it donated to a charity that can use it as a resource.  How great is that?!

This is a real, true woman who encourages others whenever she can.  Follow her on Instagram at momvscareer for more stinkin cute pics and encouragement like this:

While we're at it, did you know that there are other amazing resources out there to help you build your students' self-confidence?!

Dove has videos and lesson plans available for teachers.  Don't know where to start with an issue with one of your students?!  You're still capable of helping.  Just download the activity guides.  Your words are right there.

For younger girls - like your impressionable little kinders - I am loving this commercial by Barbie.  Like, one of my favorites of all time.

You could show it in class and let your students discuss it.  Use it to freshen up your Community Helpers unit and help your students learn not only what each career is but that each career is attainable for all of them!

Also, Disney Princesses.  That's right.  I have a 3 year old daughter, what else did you think we talked about around here all day?!

{click for video}

"For every girl who dreams big, there's a princess to show her it's possible."  I love this whole angle.  Our littlest girls won't understand some of the heavier hitting concepts.  But if my 3 year old can use Mulan's bravery as inspiration to keep trying during swimming lessons when she's terrified to put her face in the water, who are we to tell Disney that this is silly?  This is genius!

Let's use whatever our kids know, what's age appropriate and what makes sense in their worlds.  Empower them.  Give them examples.  Read them books.  Teach them lessons.  Whatever will work for your littles...use it.  What other resources do you love?!

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September Homework Calendar

Happy September...it's finally Little Glamour Baby month!!!  I don't think I ever seriously thought that my stomach could get this big...

And while I wait for my little miracle, I also have a fun gift for you!  I volunteered to do our team's homework calendar this year and once I sat down to start writing it up, I figured I may as well make it good...and cute...and meet Common Core objectives.  And if it's going to be that good, I may as well share it, right?!  ;)

I only have September done for now because I've been at the computer all day & need to start helping my husband with the housework.  :)  Since I'm technically a week late, it's yours for free!  Either send it as is or just white out last week before making the copies if you don't want to send it with homework tasks for past dates.

{click to download}

We aren't sending ours home until this week after our Curriculum Night {Open House} which is why I didn't get it to you sooner.  I also assigned our weekly sight words in the Sunday column but didn't want that to prevent any of you from using it because I know our words {and holiday breaks} are likely not the same for the year.  You can always write yours in before copying, though!

I'm hoping to get the rest of the year put together soon so I get the whole packet to you soon.  However, that is all up in the air for now.  This baby is due on Monday...like, 2 days from now...so while I would love to get it put together & make it available soon...just stay tuned & don't get upset if it only comes out month to month, okay?!  ;)

5 {easy} ways to develop early reading skills

When I was asked to write a guest post at What to Expect I laughed out loud. Hello! This is my first pregnancy. I have NO idea what to expect and certainly don't have any pearls of wisdom to share with other pregnant ladies!  Luckily, they were looking for a post on academics. Whew!  THAT I can do!

{click for the article}

I wrote up my tips for developing early literacy skills at home with toddlers and pre-schoolers but think it is totally applicable for young readers, too. I'm going to send the list home with my families so they have an easy place to start the conversations of literacy at home.  Please pass along the link or print it out for your open house if you find it beneficial as well!

Kindergarten Readiness. Is there a skill set to measure?!

As I was browsing Pinterest last night, looking for good mommy-daughter ideas & tips on being a super fun mom, I came across this list of 71 Things Your Child Needs to Know before entering Kindergarten.

Out of curiosity, I read it.  But I'm not so sure this is a list I'd pass around to rising kinder parents.  There were some good skills to practice like asking for help, transitioning between activities, interacting with others and showing meaning through pictures.

As far as academics are concerned, this list suggests that children should be able to recognize & match all 52 letters {26 capital & 26 lowercase}, identify numbers 1-10 and count to 20.  It also suggests that children should be able to demonstrate skills requiring prior knowledge in color, shape & size.

I don't know about you, but that is not the norm in my classroom.

As a child's first teacher, I have to say that one of the biggest missing links in our education system is the lack of benchmark for kindergarten readiness.  Should they have alphabetic knowledge?  Should they be able to recognize or write their own name?  Should they able to count and work with amounts?  Or all these all skills that we as kindergarten teachers are expected to teach them?  It used to be that kindergarten was the place we taught the basics and if our kids didn't come in knowing anything, we opened our arms for a welcoming hug, gave them a smile and were thilled to start with a blank slate, imparting as much knowledge as we could from day 1.  At the end of the year when those children demonstrated growth and were able to read simple sentences, we would marvel {and probably cry} at how much they had learned and the progress they had made in our classrooms.

Currently, if we don't take those blank-slate children through multiple reading levels where they are using higher level strategies, reading blends & dipthongs and comprehending books with 100+ words independently, they don't meet our EOY {end of year} benchmarks.  Do our policymakers and government officials really know what that means?  It means they fail.  It means that all of their progress of learning letters and sounds, learning to decode and break apart words, blending sounds together, identifying high frequency words, pulling meaning from picture & context clues and choosing appropriate reading strategies to figure out new words is not enough.  That regardless of all of the work they did, coming to school excited to learn everything, it is not good enough for us.  While we may not be able to do anything about our report cards or test scores, I refuse to reflect that value system onto my kids.  What they accomplish in a year is incredible and deserved to be recognized, regardless of where that year's growth falls on the very wide spectrum of scores.

The problem is that we don't have a level playing field.  We have kids come in who already exhibit reading skills sitting next to peers who have never picked up a pencil, book or pair of scissors.  With Common Core, emphasis on test scores and competition in education pushing benchmarks higher and higher with each coming school year, we are so focused on an ending point that we are forgetting where our children are starting from.  And I don't mean the BOY {beginning of year} assessments that most elementary teachers are required to give each fall.  I mean where they're really starting from.  As in, Day 1 of Kindergarten.  The only requirement to enter kindergarten is a child's age.  That leaves everything else - all skill levels - wide open.

Now, please don't misunderstand me.  I am not at all trying to say that my job should be made easier or make this about the work load of teachers.  In a flat-out, patting myself on the back gesture, I know that I kick you-know-what at this job because I work that same body part off day after day to jump through hoops, finish paperwork, read about new policies and implement new programs.  Once I finally have that check-list narrowed down {because it's never ending} I use whatever time I have left at home, after spending some time with my family, to actually plan lessons and activities for the classroom.  And I love my kids.  And I love teaching my kids.  It's just feels as though we've lost that as the focus in the mumble jumble of everything else.  If we really want to measure the growth of our children, we need to know where they're starting and think about doing something to level the playing field.

Maybe that means investing more money into pre-K programs.  Maybe it means implementing classes to teach parents how to work with their children at home.  As a teacher, I'll start using academic vocabulary with my daughter the day that she's born because it just comes naturally to me to talk about colors and communicate even in the most mundane daily activities.  But we all know that's not the case with parents across the board.  And it doesn't make them bad parents and it isn't their fault.  {Please hear me here.}  But we can't expect all children to come to kindergarten with a background of academics if we don't show parents how to start those conversations at home.

It's been made apparent that our opinions don't count for much at the district, state and national levels but luckily, some of our parents still value our experience and knowledge.  So, like with much of everything else we'll face this school year, it has to begin with us.  What do you think is missing?  What do you think is important for students to know when they enter your classroom?  And if you have simple strategies on how families can do that at home, feel free to list them!  Let's come up with our own list - for we truly are the experts - that we can pass out to your rising kindergarten families.

Thanks for listening to my rambling and please do chime in with your thoughts.  For now, I'm back to Pinterest to make some Dunkaroo dip to snack on while I spray paint frames for baby girl's nursery.  :)

2nd grade Common Core help.

More Common Core help for you & your parents!  The Kindergarten & 1st grade handouts I made for parent-teacher conferences have been so popular that I've been asked to create the same thing for 2nd grade.  And they are ready...just in time for 4th quarter to begin!

I originally planned on only using these at conferences after 1st quarter but they've been so helpful for my families that I ended up printing them out and sending them home with report cards at the end of every quarter!  Just highlight the skills that each student needs to practice {which is a super easy way to make this differentiated and personal for each student's learning} and send it home!

Your parents will thank you for breaking down the Common Core and making all of our confusing teacher lingo easy to understand!!  ;)  And if you've already used the K set, please share the link with your friends & coworkers!!

Get the Kindergarten handouts {here}.

Get the 1st grade handouts {here}.

Get the new 2nd grade math & literacy handouts {here}!

top tips from an O.T.

You know those teachers who really love their job?  I mean the ones who love kids so much they'll help students who aren't even in their classrooms?  Or on their caseloads?  Or kids they've never even met?

I know one.  And I can't tell you who she is because it's a secret.  ;)  But I picked her O.T. brain to get some help for a few of my students who are really struggling.  I knew from the 1st week of school that these were special cases and extra practice wasn't going to be enough to help them out.  But while I wait to jump through the hoops of proper paperwork, timing and interventions {force smile here} I slyly took matters into my own hands.

And I'm bringing my new knowledge to you!  If you have a student who struggles with any fine motor grips, cutting with scissors, copying from the board, writing letters, coloring a picture, picking things up, zipping zippers or even tracing...tune in!

Some of the activities you're going to see are from Handwriting Without Tears.  But fear not if this program is not available to you.  I will also provide ways to DIY HWT.  {how's that for a teaching acronym?!}

{2 inch binder}
Or an easel...or taping the paper to the wall or a cabinet.  The idea here is to focus more energy on the muscles.  The binder helps with pencil grip because it forces their wrist back and they can't be so loosey goosey or it'll slide.  Using an easel or writing on the wall {or the board!} builds muscle strength.

{playdoh mats}
Be sure they understand proper letter formation even if they can't actually write them yet. Previously I've used any laminated letter card {bubble letters work best} and the tiny tubs of playdoh.  These are larger but what I really like are the arrows to provide some direction.  You could also use a smiley face, star or sticker to show your students where to start.

This alphabet set from 1+1+1= 1 is fabulous and here's a {free} Sight Word set so all your kids can choose this activity or you can make a differentiated playdoh center!

{silly putty}
Silly putty, slime, anything gooey will do, you just want to make sure it isn't too liquidy.  It appears to be regular silly putty but...

A-ha!  It is actually a {pinching practice} treasure hunt!  Your kids use their finger tips to dig {and pinch} and use their fine motor muscles to dig out the gems, fish, jewels...whatever little plastic pieces you choose to hide.

{pop toobs}
Sometimes you can find these at the dollar store or in random toy sections.  They're basically just pieces of plastic that you can stretch out {build shoulder and bicep muscles} then squeeze back together.  They also make a whistling noise if you swing them around your head...but maybe don't tell your kids that while you're working.  ;)

{note: when searching for this item please type "Slinky Pop Toobs" and be aware of Google images.}

{tweezers}
Tweezers & tongs of various sizes are great for fine motor practice.  They can pick up beads, crayons, pop cubes...virtually anything.  I start with bigger tongs and bigger objects then move to smaller tongs or tweezers and smaller objects as the kids improve.  The spots at the ends are for finger placement guidance.

{big dots}

This is a strategy you can use quickly & easily.  Some kids just have trouble staying on a line whether it's walking, tracing or cutting.  You can trace over the lines with a thick marker or add big dots along the way.  When I wanted my student to cut out the Native American headband we made for Thanksgiving, just colored some black dots along the line I wanted cut.  You will be shocked how such a simple, 2 second modification better directs scissors.

{wiki sticks}
Wiki Sticks are basically wax coated pipe cleaners.  The wax allows them to stick together or stick to plastic but not be so gooey that they make a big mess.  I use glossy letter cards but you can print any letter card and laminate them.  It will work just as well.  Bend the wiki sticks to lay on top of the letter then use your finger to practice tracing over the wiki stick for extra directional practice {which is important for letter writing if that skill isn't strong yet}.

{magna doodles}
This is my favorite trick and I don't know how it didn't come to me any sooner!  HWT has these awesome wooden pieces {lines and curves} that you can put together to make capital letters.  They have magnets on the back so you can use them on the board.  Super bonus: if you lay them on a magna doodle like this...

and then take off the pieces...THE LETTER IS MAGICALLY FORMED!!!  Okay, I get it...Magna {like magnets} and doodle...the magnet in the "pen" makes the marks.  But I really never thought it through before and now I am soooo stoked!

In case you don't have the HWT pieces, you can do the same thing on any type of magna doodle board.  This one with lines on it is from Lakeshore and I pulled any random magnet to see if it works.  And it DOES.  Now, a lot of plastic magnet letters only have one little magnet on the back so you'll only get one little mark on the board but it is totally worth it to either add a full magnet backing or {easier option} purchase another set like these.  Then students can trace over the marks to practice letter writing.

{lines & curves}
Love those line and curve pieces, right?!  Well...DIY it!  We actually added extra pieces so we could make both capital and lowercase letters.  It's just 2 regular size popsicle sticks, 2 mini popsicle sticks {from any craft store}, 1 full size pipe cleaner and 2 pipe cleaner halves.

Voila!  Capital A & lowercase a, perfectly formed and in proportion.  :)

I do encourage you to check out the HWT website and see about getting a kit for your school.  {no, I am not an affiliate for HWT nor am I getting paid for this post as a promotional supporter, just giving credit where credit is due.}  Start with the free downloads to check it out.  Maybe grant money or Donors Choose could be an option!

I hope these are new tips for you and that you see some improvement in your classrooms!  Feel free to pin this post for future reference and follow my blog so you don't miss a thing!  I'm always searching out secret tricks of the trade!  ;)

Reading Strategies {freebie}

In case you feel like you've been spending, spending, spending trying to get new items for your classroom, I hope a useful freebie will give you some relief.  :)

This is a short little packet I made up to send home with my families.  I am introducing Book Bags this week and these 3 sheets will go home with my students.  The 1st page is a parent letter that you're welcome to use or tweak.  {It's free so it's doesn't matter so much, right?}  The 2nd & 3rd pages have the good stuff.

There's a bookmark with questions parents can ask their students while reading to help your students really think about their reading.  There's also a Reading Strategies star.  I know there are many, many, MANY more reading strategies than the ones I've listed here, but this is geared more toward your earliest readers.  I wanted to give my kids a tool that would empower them to realize they already know a lot of good tips & tricks instead of listing a jillion strategies they might find confusing.

That's it for today friends!  If you download, please consider following.  You know I love to host a nice giveaway every time I hit one of those milestone marks!  ;)

at-home packets.

I spent my weekend writing sight word flash cards, highlighting activities that each kid needs to practice at home and making number cards.  Luckily, this was all work I could do while catching up on Bridezillas and watching reruns of The Cosby Show {for the ten zillionth time}.  Because today was...ta-da!...Parent-Teacher Conferences.

This is the packet I sent home at my conferences...a little varied based on each child's need.

{Reading A-Z books, sight word flash cards for 1st & 2nd quarter and number cards along with my Common Core checklist for parents - now available in Spanish too!}

I previously sent this packet within the first couple weeks of school for my few that were really struggling and not making appropriate growth.

 {tracing capital & lowercase letters and Handwriting Without Tears letter formation cues}

{I can Read It bag - letters or sight words mastered go inside to build confidence - and name from MyMoondrops}

 {cutting practice & Handwriting Without Tears number formation cues}

I also include a pencil, scissors, dry erase marker and crayons along with ABC flashcards {capital on the front & lowercase on the back}.  What do you send with your kids to have them practice at home??

Common Core in parent-friendly language.

Our district has switched to online, narrative report cards this year.  I could write an entire post about that but will move right along to this little gem that it inspired.  ;)  I didn't plan on sharing this but thanks to a few of my Facebook friends {who like getting free stuff as a trade-off for their feedback} they've convinced me you'd want it as well!

The bonus of complicated & confusing report cards is that it forced me to create a fab handout for my parents to take away from our conference.  I basically translated the Common Core standards into activities and wording that any parent would be able to understand.  Now when parents say to you, what's phonological awareness?!  You can say, don't worry, that's just teacherese for letter sounds! and hand them this sheet with activities they can do at home.

{click the link - $2 at TpT}

I printed one for each of my kids & highlighted the areas they are struggling with.  I'm also sending home sight word flashcards, number cards, tracing paper and anything else that might help.  But you could send this on it's own as well!  {just depends on your kids & your available resources}

If you end up using it I'd love to hear the feedback you get from your parents.  Is it helpful?  Does it help them to better understand our teacher-talk of phoneme segmentation, high frequency words, tangrams and collaboration??

I think a lot of parents want to help their children at home, they just don't know how.  So why not teach them too!  ;)