Colorful Owl Newsletter Templates - Digital Download

I have fabulous teacher friends. Abso-stinkin-lutely fabulous teacher friends, y'all.

Last week I had some of them over to my house for a mini Back-to-School bash. It was nice to get together, chat, and help ourselves prepare for our first week back to school (without kids). Plus, I enjoyed getting to show off our new home to some of my friends. We're still in that excited phase!

One of my good teacher friends is someone that I met last year. She didn't grow up in the same area that I did (she used to live in England - she's cool like that), so I don't know much about her. What I do know: she's AMAZING at her job and she's downright hilaaaaaarious! She's also one of those people who is just GOOD. Good, good people.

She actually requested this product from me - editable school newsletter templates. But, not just any newsletter templates - owl newsletter templates.

Here's her OWL!!!!

{Click here to download Colorful Owl Editable Newsletter Templates.}

These actually turned out GREAT! Some day, when I have more time (ha!), I would love to create some seasonal newsletters to throw into this packet. *sigh* We'll see if this happens! ;)

For now, this product is perfect for ANY teacher. The digital download comes with a variety of editable newsletter templates. To be exact, there are four templates to choose from and you can easily edit the content of the newsletter in Microsoft Word. I've even positioned the text boxes for you.

Happy, happy start to the school year! Keep hanging in there!

Enjoy!!

Classroom Library Readbox Labels - Free Download

Hey there!

I feel so lost in the mix and CRAZY right now! I've headed back up to school this week and I've been working like crazy in my classroom. I even recruited a classroom helper, my 10 year old sister. :)

It's been a lot of fun, but just like last year, I'm just ready to get the classroom decor and organization done so that I can begin preparing for my first day of school, August 27.

As I'm making things for my own classroom, I'm always keeping you all in mind. I have some Chevron print classroom labels in the works (mine are done, but yours aren't) that I plan on sharing soon. But, FIRST, I have some classroom library Readbox labels to share.

Classroom Library Readbox Labels - Free Download

I first saw this idea on...Pinterest!

I thought it was adorable and that it would work perfectly for sprucing up my classroom library a tad. So, these done and uploaded AND FREE to you!!!

I hope to be back soon with pictures of my classroom this year and more downloadable products for YOUR classroom. Stay busy, my friends! It's ALMOST here!

Enjoy!!

4th of July SALE - TeachersPayTeachers Store Sale

Well, we have mostly finished moving into our new home now!!! This is the second summer in a row that we've moved (note: in Texas) in the middle of summer. It is HOT!!

We're really looking forward to having the move 100% complete so that we can get settled in our new home. I'm so thankful that this week is the 4th of July! I love it because often it gives us a break in the middle of the week.

This year, it's also giving you a DISCOUNT in my TpT store!! Woohoo!!!

I know that many of you out there are probably already trying to prepare yourselves for next year just like I am. There really isn't much downtime for teachers; I don't care what anyone says!

Summer is lovely, yes, but we inevitably end up planning for school at some point.

So, for those of you who are planning and prepping, make sure you hop on over to my TpT store! I'm hosting a 20% off sale on ALL products, including the new 5th grade High Frequency Word Wall download.

{Click here to get 20% off This Little Teacher products.}

The sale will start tomorrow, July 3 and go through Saturday, July 6! 20% off STORE WIDE!!!

Enjoy & have a safe & happy 4th of July!

God bless America!!!

5th Grade High Frequency Word Wall Letters & Words - Digital Download

Last year, when I taught 3rd grade, one of my biggest frustrations was my high frequency word wall. The only space large enough in my room was high up on the wall above my classroom door. Whomp, whomp!

It really made my high frequency word wall difficult to maintain and something that was put on the back-burner, unfortunately. This year, because I'm moving to 5th grade, I'm excited to say that I'll have magnetic doors in my new room!

The doors cover closets that sit on one side of the room, making them large enough to be the home of my high frequency word wall. Yay for easy management! The plan is to print my word cards, laminate them, and then stick magnets to the back of them -- also making them easy to remove from the "walls" during state testing, where we can't display ANY resources.

{Click here to download this 5th Grade High Frequency Word Wall Packet.} 

Naturally, they have chevron print on them.

In fact, before redoing my blog design, I designed these. I was so happy with the way they came out that I decided to go ahead and use the same patterns for the blog design. :)

These 5th grade high frequency words are words that I developed after looking at endless lists. I felt these words best suited the needs of all types of learners. Below, I've included images of the enlarged word lists so you can see what words are included in this packet to make sure they're suitable for you and your students, as well.

I'm so happy to have one thing checked off of my To Do List for school and hopefully, after purchasing these, you will be too!

Continue to enjoy your summer, ladies & gentlemen! It'll be gone before we know it...

Reading Comprehension Skill Reference Sheet - Digital Download

State testing is over for my third graders...thank goodness!

Today we have the day off because it was reserved as a Bad Weather Make Up Day. It's truly been wonderful because I'm getting so many things done.

Not only things for school, but many things around the house that just need to get done. Plus, I got to sleep in and I really, really needed that! :)

One of the many things that I've checked off of my to do list today is the new product I just listed. I created some Reading Comprehension Skill References Sheets for my students and yours! I wish that I would have thought to create these earlier in the year, but I suppose I can't think of everything my first year, huh?

I got this idea from some after school tutoring that I've started doing. In Texas, our 5th graders get multiple opportunities to pass the state assessment, STAAR, and those make up tests are quickly approaching.

I started this tutoring group just this past week on Thursday. It's really nice because the 5th grade teachers provide everyone tutoring with the materials that you need and you just open your folder, pull out your materials, and get started. One of the materials that was handed over to us was a reference sheet.

On the reference sheet, there are a variety of reading comprehension skills that are briefly defined and explained. I asked one of the 5th grade teachers about it and she said that they originally found the pages online and then revamped them to fit their needs.

{Click here to download Reading Comprehension Skill Reference Sheets.}

So, I thought that would be a good idea for my students, too. This version of the reference sheet is a little more simplified because it is geared more toward my third grade students than any others, but I hope that teachers in grades 2 - 5 will find it helpful in their classrooms.

To download the files, please just click the image or link above and you'll be lead to my TpT store. :)

I hope you're all having a fabulous start to your week!

Summer's not far...

STAAR Wars Bulletin Board Designs - Texas Standardized Testing

It's April and the STAAR test is right. around. the. corner. My students have been working so, so very hard this year and while I'm nervous about their performance on the state assessment, I'm ready for them to show off their knowledge!

Since I teach third graders, we'll be testing on April 23 & 24. We have two weeks before the test. Two weeks for my partner and I to remind our students just HOW smart they are, just HOW much they've learned this year, just HOW much they can do completely on their own! We're all about boosting self confidence over the next couple of weeks and we have several things up our sleeves in order to make that happen...

I'm starting off slow, though, and I'm showing you one of those things first.

{I hope to be able to show you the other in time for testing in case you'd like to use it in some way for your kids, but we'll see how quick we can get it done!}

So, first are the STAAR WARS bulletin boards we have created! This theme has been floating around throughout many different places, but we chose to rock this theme when 5th grade teachers on our campus let us order some shirts they had designed that were STAAR WARS-themed.

Here are some larger images if you'd like to see each in more detail. We used the tagline, "May the skills be with you" and posted strategies (for math AND reading) in each of the bursts!

The only "negative" critique we got from our students is that, "Luke has BLOND hair!" Duh! What were we thinking?! {We're totally not Star Wars people; we had NO clue.}

We took the shirt idea and decided that since our boards were facing each other, we could, in some way, make it look like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker were "fighting" across our hallway.

I'm a little unsure of whether or not we achieved that completely, but regardless, our kids have loved the bulletin boards! We're all about making our kids happy because that's what helps them become successful! :)

In case you'd like to design a STAAR WARS bulletin board of your own, I'm supplying you with the letters and some taglines to attach to your bulletin board...for free! As far as Darth and Luke go, well, I may or may not have "free-handed".

Note: "Free-handed" requires quotes because I cut them and drew them without an outline, but I relied heavily on images of both Darth and Luke that I had googled. It really wasn't that difficult, although my teaching partner refused to believe me. My advice though: give it a shot! You CAN do it! :)

Want to create one of your own? Download these STAAR Wars Bulletin Board Letters & Taglines for free from my TeachersPayTeachers store. Enjoy!! :)

Word Study Foldable Templates - Digital Download

Hello, Internet!

It's been quite some time since I last sat down to blog about some products, or about how the school year is going. Spring Break has passed and now we have just 4 weeks before our state assessments. Eek!

As we get closer to the STAAR test, I'm constantly finding new ways to keep my students effectively busy while I pull small groups as often as possible to reinforce skills.

In fact, just this week I'm planning on implementing a new literacy station system. I'm nervous because we're getting our second walk through from the district this week, but I know I need to change things up! We don't have time to waste, so I'm making the switch the same week as their walk through any way. Wish me luck!

I do hope to share more about the new system with you guys. First though, I'd like to make sure that things go as I plan for them to go. If they don't, I might have to make some tweaks before I share it all. This all makes me think: could be an entire TpT download! {{FUN!!}}

Any way, before I get too side-tracked...I initially started this blog post to inform you about a product that I just added to my store today, Word Study Foldable Templates.

{Click here to download Word Study Foldable Templates.}

I initially made one of these foldable templates when I knew I would be out one day last week. It went over so well & was such a valuable activity for my kids that I made even more & decided to sell them.

As you can see in the preview above, the foldable templates are two-pages each and they should be copied front to back. Then, students cut along the dotted edge and start completing their foldable. I have created a foldable template for the following word study skills: homophones, homographs, antonyms, synonyms, suffixes, & prefixes.

While my students completed the Multiple-Meaning Words foldable last week independently, I'm also going to place some of the other skills at literacy stations. Students will easily be able to manage these activities on their own & be quite successful!

If you think this is something that will work in your class, I highly recommend this for Grade 2, Grade 3, or Grade 4 {my students are in the 3rd grade}. Just go to my TpT shop & download!

Enjoy! :)

Prefix & Suffix Task Cards - Digital Download

This weekend I have been on a roll in terms of getting things in my shop - yay! That being said, it still takes time to crank out too many activities at once. I'm pretty picky about what makes the cut. :)

Today I've been working on Prefix & Suffix Task Cards, a great purchase for literacy stations in your classroom. These task cards target grades 2 - 4. Each task card has a multiple-choice question about a word with a prefix or suffix.

Here's a close up of one of the cards...

I LOVE the little robot! Isn't he cute? I thought my students would enjoy that.

The cards are also numbered so that students can easily record their answer choice for each card on the answer document that I've included in this digital download.

Prefixes & Suffixes Task Cards

{Click here to download Prefixes & Suffixes Task Cards.}

My students will be using these at literacy stations in the coming weeks, but these would also be good for early finishers - you know, those students that inevitably finish long before everyone else and sit there without anything incredibly valuable to do?! ;)

I hope to get some more task cards created in the near future, too!

Have a great week,

Compound Word Puzzle Activity - Digital Download

This week we're studying compound words...fun!

My kids really seem to grasp this concept naturally, which is refreshing every once in a while. Too often I feel like my kids are working so, so hard, yet still have so far to go {expectations are CRAZY}!!

All that being said, the week isn't over with. And? Lately things haven't been all that I've hoped they would be. It's been rough!!

Is anyone else in the same boat?

Naturally, I'm sure many are. I'm a teacher. We're all teachers. And this gig is tough most of the time. This week and last have just been especially tough.

More on that later though; I think I'm going to make a freebie to share with you all that will hopefully help you as much as it has helped me {telling too much still, sorry}!

Any way, compound words have been fun so far this week & this Compound Word Puzzle Activity has been perfect at my Word Study Literacy Station!

There are 48 cards that pair together to create 24 compound words. These even have fun puzzle-like qualities that make them fit together perfectly. This digital download also includes a recording sheet for students to write down the words they create.

Compound Word Puzzle Activity

{Click here to download Compound Word Puzzle Activity.}

Many thanks to those of you who've purchased or downloaded lately and left positive feedback. Positive feedback helps TpT sellers so much, so any time you spend doing that is appreciated. I try to always, always leave positive feedback! :)

Vocabulary Word of the Day - Digital Download

By the time a child gets to me in third grade, the biggest problem I face is their lack of vocabulary.

A word isn't considered to be "in your vocabulary" unless it's used in both written and spoken language. I talk about this with my kids constantly. I stress the importance of building your vocabulary & always do my best to use rich vocabulary to explicitly state my points. Then, I often face questions like, "What does this word mean?" *start important discussion about vocabulary again*

As I sat one weekend thinking about how on Earth I could help build my kids' vocabulary, this idea came to mind.

Vocabulary Word of the Day

{Click to download Vocabulary Word of the Day.}

No, it doesn't automatically mean that this vocabulary will become a part of each child's written & spoken vocabulary, but it exposes them to words they might have not heard before. It opens up in depth discussion about "big words" with deep meanings & gives you, the teacher, the opportunity to help a child build their vocabulary.

This digital download includes a cover page so that you can also create a vocabulary "book," or perhaps label a vocabulary spiral, whatever works best.

This vocabulary builder has children explore the number of syllables of a word, antonyms & synonyms for a word, guide words from a dictionary, parts of speech, and of course, definitions. Frequent or daily exposure to new words will help your students become more familiar with rich vocabulary, and this download will help you do that for your students!

Reading Strategy Posters - Free Download

At this point in the year, we have touched on nearly every reading comprehension strategy at least ONCE (if not more). Now, we're truly focusing on mastery of these skills throughout various texts, which can be challenging for students.

I feel like my students learn best when I try to make a personal connection to their life. If I can talk about something that's relevant to their interests, they're usually all ears & willing to hear me out & work hard.

So...introducing...Reading Strategy Posters for BOYS & GIRLS!

Ladies & gentlemen, you will LOVE these for your classroom, just as much as I KNOW my students are going to LOVE them (and FREAK out) when I show them these tomorrow.

Pretty, Pretty Princess Reading Strategy Poster - Free Download

Playstation Controller Reading Strategy Poster - Free Download

The best part...in case you hadn't noticed...?  They're FREE for you guys!!!

Click over to my TpT shop to download FREE Reading Strategy Posters!  :)

Author's Purpose Assessment - Digital Download

Last week we covered Author's Purpose thoroughly. I posted about three books you should use to teach author's purpose, too!

In that same post, I shared an Author's Purpose poster freebie for you to use in your classroom. Now, I'm back with another Author's Purpose resource for your classroom!

This one is for assessment. I needed something that I felt was just as thorough as the lessons I used to teach author's purpose, which is exactly what I have for you...

Author's Purpose Assessment - Digital Download

This assessment is a 3 page multiple-choice assessment with varied degrees of questioning. It will definitely save you some time!

Enjoy!!!

Author's Purpose PIE Poster - Free Download

This week in my class we are discussing Author's Purpose.

We are using the PIE acronym to help us remember the different reasons that authors write various texts. I broke down each purpose into one day.

So far, I feel like this has worked out really, really well for me & my students. Monday we didn't have school, but below I'm listing a breakdown of how I taught Author's Purpose this week.

Tuesday - To Persuade

We read Earrings By: Judith Viorst & discussed how the character in this story desperately tried to persuade her parents to let her get pierced ears. The students were even able to make text-to-self connections as they admitted they knew exactly how to persuade their parents!

I had one student say, "I know if I can't persuade my mom to get me something, I can talk to my grandma!"

It was really too funny!!!





Wednesday - To Inform

We read How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World By: Marjorie Priceman.

We discussed how some texts are written to teach us how to do things, or to share information & knowledge with us (even though sometimes we already know about the topic the author has written about).

This book talks about someone going through so much trouble just to make an apple pie.

One of my students said, "You mean she did ALL that for an apple pie?!"




Note: With both of the above stories, I helped my students identify that the author's purpose wasn't to persuade or inform; it was actually to entertain. We talked in depth about how each story taught us about a process (persuasion & informing) so that we understood what those things were in order to identify the author's purpose in other text, however!

Thursday - To Entertain

On Thursday we read a story that my students were very familiar with, Click Clack Moo Cows that Type By: Doreen Cronin.

Last year, my kids saw this play at a theatre as second graders. :)

As we read this story, we discussed how its sole purpose was to entertain us.

The cows in the story were trying to persuade the farmer, but the author originally wrote this story to make us, as readers, laugh.

{Click here to download this FREE Author's Purpose PIE Poster.}

Because we've been talking about this in depth, I also decided to make this FREE Author's Purpose PIE Poster for you to download. This is EXACTLY how I've taught my kids to identify the author's purpose. Of course, I've even made NEW Author's Purpose Anchor Charts that I'll have to post at a later date. Darn...still haven't gotten in the habit of taking my camera to school!

Prefixes & Suffixes Checkers - Free Download

I always, always stress myself out about Literacy Station activities.

I know that there are endless resources to use, but I want to make sure that what my students spend their time doing is of the best quality possible (for me, the time, etc.) and that they're having fun while working, too!

Prefixes and Suffixes Checkers was not my original idea. It was one of those things that I saw on Pinterest and then I carried my own version of it into my own classroom. The original version that I found had words that didn't fit well with our curriculum at the time.

So...

Prefix and Suffix Checkers

Free Download!!!

This concept takes a classic game that nearly every one of my students knows how to play and makes them think a little harder (or a lot...shhh!) while they play. The best part? I got the Checkers board games for this from the Dollar Store!

You download the Prefix and Suffix Checkers template from my TeachersPayTeachers store, cut out the squares, and attach them to the checkers board (I just used folded tape; I don't worry about ruining the $1 boards).

Go ahead, get started with letting your students have fun while secretly learning. I won't tell them a THING! ;)

Making Inferences with Poetry - Free Download

This year on our campus we hosted a Literacy Night  - truly a lot of fun!

Literacy Night for us this year was an entire night (5:30 - 7:00 p.m.) of planned activities for students to do.  The Literacy Committee started off choosing a date and theme.  Then, each grade level selected an activity to prepare for students.

Our theme this year was "Winter Wonderland!"

The activities that each grade level chose didn't have to relate to the theme, but the decorations for the entire event related to that. There was a large mural that had been painted on cloth and displayed outside. Icicle lights hung from the breezeway covers outside. It was such a NEAT theme & I wish I had taken pictures to share!!

The activity I planned for the students was making inferences through poetry. I had already received some poetry from the Literacy Specialist that I worked with at the end of last year during my long term sub position, and then I Googled & found more online.

{Click here to download FREE Inference Poetry.}

AngelFire.com has oodles of making inferences poems! I chose four of them for Literacy Night and "prettied" them up with fancy fonts. Then, I printed them on thick, colored card stock & laminated them. I made a set of 4 for each poem & scattered them across the table so that each was readily accessible by different children throughout the night.

Students read the poem & inferred what it's talking about. There are many different topics - from a tongue to a magic wand. Some of them are pretty funny, too! The kids really enjoyed them!

Hope you're all having a restful, merry Winter Break away from school. I'm so thankful for this time with my family!!

Dictionary Guide Words Cut & Paste Activity - Digital Download

Recently we've been working on building dictionary skills in our classroom. Can you say tough?

I never remember thinking that it was difficult to use a dictionary when I was younger. Then again, I don't actually remember being taught how to use one. It's likely that I was, but it's also likely I just learned it because I was curious. (I'm definitely a hands-on, kinesthetic self-learner in many ways. Not in a snobbish way; I'm just naturally curious slash nosey.)

I also wasn't totally and completely surrounded my technology as a child, like the generation that I'm teaching.

Guide words seem to be what my kids are most hung up on & what they need the most exposure to. Because of that, I decided to make up an activity that forced them to really think about guide words...not just flip through a dictionary until they found a word.

{Click here to download Dictionary Guide Words Cut & Paste Sort Activity.}

This activity is PER-FECT.

This entire download includes letters A-Z and each page has overlapping of letters so that students have to determine which 'A page' a word goes on (etc.).

My kids worked on this at a literacy station last week and they loved it. I was also being observed that day and this activity was brought up later as a 'great idea!' Whoooooooop!!!

So, what do you think? Usable in your classroom? Have any suggestions -- I'm all ears!

P.S. Happy ItsAlmostChristmasBreakWeeeeeeek!!!

15% OFF SALE in My TeachersPayTeachers Store!

It's the Holiday Season, my favorite time of the year & I want each of my customers to know how much I truly appreciate their support!

Every penny that is "given" to my TeachersPayTeachers store goes right back into my classroom & helps purchase something for my {sweet!} kiddos!

Thank you to each & every single one of you for reading, purchasing, or just flat out supporting from far away. I've truly enjoyed branching out into the TpT community & sharing my creations with others that are just as passionate about this career as I am. Thank you for making it fun & worth sharing!!!

Happy Holidays! Come visit my store for 15% off from December 20 - 23, 2012! :)

Merry, merry Christmas & a happy New Year!!!

P.S. TpT is donating 10% of all sales TODAY to the Sandy Hook Elementary fund!

Spelling Homework Menus - Digital Download

When I first started teaching this year, a big struggle of mine was keeping up with homework. No, not grading it...creating it!

Yes, every week I was creating a new homework activity and striving to find a way to differentiate and reach both my GT students and my lower students. Turns out, that's downright exhausting and homework menus are much simpler to handle!

I use the same homework menu for my class each week. I've found the one that I feel my students enjoy and benefit from the most and I make bulk copies to be divided up through the weeks.

If you give Spelling homework, I highly recommend these. They're a great seller in my TeachersPayTeachers store & my Spelling Homework Menu Packet offers 3 different options!

Look, I even did the hard part for ya...making them! ;)

{Click here to download Multiple Spelling Homework Menus!}

How do you handle homework for your classroom? Do you like these as an option?

Who Owns This Bag? Inference Activity - Digital Download

Making inferences is such a BIG part of Third Grade!

Unfortunately, it can be one of the biggest challenges for students. One thing that has helped develop this skill for my students is this inference activity called Who Owns This Bag?

I used this as a literacy station in my classroom. As the teacher, you must outline what items are inside each bag.  Then, the students must use their background knowledge and the clues that you have given them to determine who owns the bag.

{Click here to download Who Owns This Bag? Inference Activity!}

It's really a lot of fun and it's easy to personalize for your students. If you have kids that are interested in gaming, make one of the bags belong to a gamer. Have a lot of basketball or soccer fans in your class? Customize the baggage to them by including items related to that sport!

This activity not only makes inferring fun for students, but it helps them understand how easy making inferences can be if you just use the clues that you've been given.

Do you use any ideas similar to this in your classroom? Students can truly make inferences about nearly anything!!

Homographs Matching Activity & Anchor Chart - Digital Download

This year I've really enjoyed making anchor charts to hang on the walls in my classroom!

It's taken a lot of time to make each one, but it's completely worth it. Each time I create a new anchor chart, the kids thoroughly enjoy them! Therefore, so do I.

And guys?

My kids regularly reference them.

It's such a good thing to ask my students a question, or have them completing an activity, and see them turn around, look at the chart behind them, and confidently go on about their way. It makes me feel so good; them the same.  Win, win.  :)

Recently, we've heavily discussed homonyms. This can be very confusing for students and generally makes them have to (really!) think before they answer.  I like to create catchy, memorable anchor charts, too, because I want my students to be able to visualize them even when they're not there.

Homographs Anchor Chart

Thought process behind this anchor chart :: I teach my students that homographs, as represented by a graph, are things that you can see the similarities in (spelling), like a graph.

{Click here to see other Anchor Charts I've made for my classroom!}

I have to admit; not only are they a helpful classroom resource, but they also pretty up my "window wall" (wall of windows). That makes me think...I should get a picture of ALL anchor charts together on the window wall. I even recently (you're going to think I'm nuts!) divided up the sections into Word Study anchor charts & Reading/Comprehension Skills anchor charts. Crazy? Maybe. But, it makes it easier for my students to reference. :)

Because of these confusing word relationships, I've created so many matching, sorting, hands-on activities for my students to constantly work with. Here's one:

Homographs & Homophones Word Sorting Activity & Activity Page

{Click here to download the Homonyms Word Sort Activity.}

Tell me: what do you find most challenging for your students to differentiate between?