Quote of the Week

Resource Round-Up: Fine Motor Skills

A handful of my kiddos always struggle with handwriting, and especially for the younger students, it often ties directly into their motor skills and their ability to hold a pencil properly.

So here are some resources that can help build fine motor skills, and in turn, help students develop their handwriting:

1.  Fine Motor Skill Activities from Mom's Library

2.  20 Fine Motor Activities for Kids from A-Fun-Day

  

3.  10 Things Kids Love When Working on Fine Motor Skills from Frogs & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails

What are your favorite fine motor activities?

Fall Word Family Leaves: A Fun Game & Literacy Center Idea

Autumn is officially here!  And it just might be my favorite time of year. 

The air gets crisp.  The leaves turn into a rainbow of reds, browns, and tans.  Football.  Hot chocolate. Curling up under a blanket with a good book... there is just so much to love!

To help celebrate fall in my classroom, I created a new literacy center: Word Family Leaves.

Students get to search through piles of leaves to find their word family words and record them on their sheet. 

My second grade kiddos played the game today and LOVED it.  (I do not point out, however, that they are essentially practicing a chore they may have to help out with in the next few weeks.)

If you're interested, Word Family Leaves is available in my TPT store.  You can access it here: Word Family Leaves.

Quote of the Week

Resource Round-Up: School and Classroom Newspapers

Starting a school or classroom newspaper?  Need to market your newspaper better?

Here are some resources to help you get on your way:

1) Creating a Classroom Newspaper
*Directions to get a classroom newspaper started

2) Cultivating Ideas for High School Newspapers
*A list of 20 prompts to get you started

3) High School Newspaper Ideas
*Even more prompts to get you started

4) Newspaper Templates
*Many to choose from

5) Educational Buzzwords to Use When Promoting Newspaper Programs
*Sometimes buzzwords can be helpful!

Do you have a classroom newspaper or help run a school newspaper?  I'd love to hear about it!

Quote of the Week

Friday Freebie: Parent Communication Log

Here is the contact log I'll be using this year for tracking my communication with students' parents:

It's simple, but it gets the job done.  You can download it here: Parent Communication Log

Enjoy!

Quote of the Week

Resource Round-Up: Daily 5 & K-2 Literacy Resources

The Daily 5 is a system created by the Two Sisters (Gail Boushey & Joan Moser) that helps build literacy independence in students.  If you haven't heard about it yet, I recommend asking around to see if a friend or colleague has it or purchasing it: The Daily Five. 

The structure of the Daily 5 system makes it easily adaptable to many reading programs.  If you're using the Daily 5 or just thinking about it, here are some resources to help get you and your kiddos on their way:

An InLinkz Link-up

And, here are some beginning of the year K-2 literacy resources:

K-2 Literacy Resources

1.	Letter Recognition RTI Packet	19.	Find Someone Who Game with Picture Clues	37.	Opinion Writing Packet for 1st - 3rd
2.	Aug & Sept 1st Grade Common Core Writing Prompts	20.	DIBELS-Onset Rime-Level 1-Real or Nonsense?	38.	Fall Journal Packet for Primary Grades
3.	2nd Grade Common Core RTI Reading Assessments	21.	Letter Writing Unit	39.	Halloween Journal Pack for Primary Grades
4.	Sight Word / Word Work Activity Pack	22.	The Alphabet Tree Activity	40.	Letter Naming Fluency Roll and Read
5.	Back to School With Quentin ELA Bundle	23.	Falling Into Math	41.	Building Letter Naming Fluency
6.	Houghton Mifflin Reading Focus Wall Theme 1	24.	Visualize the 6 Traits of Writing as a House	42.	Bundle: Interactive Books: Fall; Spring; Farms
7.	iPod Sight Words~QR Codes reveal fluency sentence	25.	Parts of Speech Mini-Posters/Visual Aids	43.	Kindergarten Treasures Sight Word readers and more
8.	We Love Camping Write the Room	26.	Alphabet Opinion Writing	44.	Kelly Wilson (Kelly's Classroom)
9.	Literacy Center Task Cards	27.	Common Core Opinion Writing Graphic Organizers	45.	Robot Fun Writing Paper Pack!
10.	A Peach for the Teach: Multi-Age Elementary	28.	Months and Seasons Write the Room	46.	Scott Foresman Reading Street- 1st Grade Word Wall
11.	Fall Picture Word Flashcards, HF Word Cards and Activities	29.	Running Records Made Easy!	47.	Morning Brain Train 1st Month in K
12.	A Year of Poems	30.	Reversing Reversals Primary	48.	Watch and Write Color Words
13.	Wheels on the Bus Poetry & Math Data Cards	31.	Kindergarten Scott Foresman Find-Trace-Write	49.	Pkonics Chants and Tricks
14.	Back to School Poster Activity (writing prompts)	32.	Word Families Task Cards	50.	Creative Writing for Reluctant Writers
15.	Kindergarten Common Core Reading Readiness Packet	33.	Kindergarten Alphabet and Phonics Bundle	51.	Character Study Worsheets
16.	The Kinder-Garden	34.	Verbs Verbs Verbs - present, past & future tenses	52.	Sweet Tooth Crush (ch, ck, sh, th, wh) Games
17.	Intervention ToolKit! 7 different resources	35.	Read at Home Journal	53.	Rhyming Smileys
18.	Monthly Homework Packets: Extend Literacy at Home	36.	Reading Strategy Bundle

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Enjoy!