Holidays are always bittersweet for me. I miss so many of my family members that are no longer here, but I love being with the family that surrounds me now. When you really think about what is important in life, it always comes back to family and loved ones.

I always think about my students also. Past and present. Are they warm and looking forward to a nice family gathering? Do they feel loved and safe in their homes? I know most are having a wonderful holiday, but some I know are feeling frustrated and miss their lunches at school and our tasty snacks, and the feeling that they are safe. To all children, all over the world, I pray that they find a safe and loving place during this season.

Here is my 'Turkey Curtain.' I love making a curtain out of my students' work!


I used this as a center and we made 'at' words. The Turkey on the purple paper was rather difficult for some of mine. I gave them a number, they put the number on the turkey's belly! Then they had to show the number 4 different ways. Most drew the number, tallied the number, wrote the number word, and then make a number sentence such as: 4 red flowers and 2 blue flowers makes 6! It was a cute activity and I am going to make some of these up for the next big holiday coming up!

I was teaching 4th and 5th AIG students when we made this little video. It was Quicktime, but not sure all computers can view it now. I can view it on my Mac, but not on my PC.

Read the post below to get some ideas that you can use in your classroom for Voc Study.

Unless you just buy the pre-made centers from Lakeshore (and I do love that .com) you are probably like me and spend a lot of time making centers that are fun and engaging and MEANINGFUL for your students.

I haven't taught Kinders in quite a while so I have a lot to do!


I like to use little clips in fun themes for my students. It seems they try harder to do the work I want them to do if I make it colorful and fun. I bought lots of different themes at AC Moore recently. They were on sale, which helped a lot! Especially since North Carolina has taken away the $250.00 teacher deduction which we always have had..... Anyway, thank goodness for sales! The monkeys were the most expensive, but I had to have them!

I use the smooth jumbo sized paper clips. 
I glue the paper clip as shown in the picture above. I try to cover up the ends, but if you go too low down, the clips will eventually come out.


The little clips look like this after you have put the two sides together.
You could do the clips like the picture above, but they eventually come apart. You will get more for your money, but most will not stay for the year.

I started out with these stars. Boy are they sparkly! They are also pretty thick, which makes the clips a bit larger than I want, but they are pretty.
I ended up with this pile! My students are going to love these.
Here's the monkey clips. Too cute to pass up. I had to do double sided on the monkeys also since I want the clips to stay on.
I made the sports packet also. These are felt and really nice. Again more expensive, but double sided they will last for quite a few years.
This was a large pack of felt flowers. So colorful. You can see in this picture the clips that I did not get perfectly aligned. (I was getting tired!)
This heart packet had a paper backing that I could glue back on. It still wasn't strong enough though after quite a few times of poking and pulling like a student (might) do, it started coming off.
This is how the hearts turned out. I might save these just for February since I made so many of the others.
I also made Wiggly Sticks as my students called them. I had a few left over from way back when, but the painted craft sticks were so nice I had to make something with them. I made about 25 of the goggly eyed sticks for my students to use as they read in Daily Five.

One more thing.... this is my newest product for TPT. This is a huge pack of beginning sound word cards. 278 large, colorful cards. I needed a pack to use in whole group that was interesting and not just the usual words. My students are a little more sophisticated now and I wanted to use words and pictures that would keep them interested.


The center that goes along with this packet is great to use with the clips above!






Just in case you do not have all the little themed clips, I have different fonts you can laminate and glue onto the jumbo paper clips or use clothes pins.

Ohhh.... this was a long post. Hopefully you made it to the end. Don't forget to go download the 2013 TPT Annual Holiday Freebie Book for K-2 (I have a product included and I am so honored!) Happy December! Pam

2013 TPT Happy Holidays eBook - 50 Freebies! I am honored to be included!

Responding To Text, Common Core, Journal, Summer Reading, Blooms Revised Taxonomy, Questioning, Creativity, Responding to Text, Informational Text.
You know how some things just come about by accident? Well that is how my Responding to Text Journal came about. I knew I needed some way for my students to record their thoughts about their independent reading. I have used index cards for each chapter and just writing in a composition book. Those were all okay, but the index cards got lost and we have so many of the marbled composition books that I knew I needed a change. That's how I came up with this journal.

The inside page is easy peazy though! They do have to write when they started the book, how many pages and chapters the book has, and other important information. This book has a higher Lexile level than I usually allow for silent reading, but we are going to read along with the Audio which will help with their understanding.

On each page students have to answer one of the questions in each box that relates to one of the Blooms Revised Taxonomy levels. This was hard for a few of my students and I let them draw their answers out. At the top they write the chapter they are referring to and the pages. Some books, like the Mary Pope Osborne Magic Tree House books, the chapters are short so they would write the page numbers and spend more time with each chapter.

I did some spot checking and asked Why? on a few pages so they would give me more details. This is a learning process though and takes some students longer than others. I do think this will be a good way to have students think about their reading. It doesn't take long, the graphics are cute, and they have a choice of questions.


To keep my students from getting too bored or tired of 'thinking,' I made some graphic type pages where they can have some creative thinking time and draw and design. All in all, my students are enjoying this journal. I think this will be great for over the summer when I want them to read some of the Battle of the Book books or any of the books that are recommended for summer reading.

This journal is on sale in my Teachers Pay Teachers store, Pam-Dalessandro. There is a huge Teacher Appreciation Sale for May 7 and 8th! 28% off in my store and a lot of other stores on the site. 

Thanks as always for viewing my blog and looking at what is going on in my classroom. I am hoping to change grade levels next year. I have taught all grades, except 6th, so am anxious to see where I will be placed. AIG students are wonderful and I have enjoyed this year. It hasn't been easy teaching 4th and 5th grades with a 3rd grade pull in. I want to concentrate on one grade level again, I think that is enough for any of us!

Good luck to everyone on their EOGs and have a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week!

Why I use Study Guides in my classes. I love reading about animals and I have always had students that love reading books about animals. The Informational Narrative, Look To The North: A Wolf Pup Diary by Jean Craighead George is the sweetest nonfiction book that tells the story of three wolf pups as they grow up in the north. Jean Craighead George loved animals and this love comes through in all of her books. The book is beautifully illustrated by Lucia Washburn. The lexile level is 580L. (http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/look-north)

I didn't choose the book because of a certain grade level, I wanted my students to enjoy reading a beautifully illustrated book, with a clear sequence, and one that they could find details in the text to answer questions and new vocabulary words. I don't think anyone is ever too old to read a story with beautiful illustrations. To make sure that my students were receiving the instruction that followed the Common Core, I made a Study Guide. You can download a preview of this study guide at my teacher store on Teachers Pay Teachers.

Student has finished the research section and is now working on connections  to the story.

The Vocabulary section pulls in the vocabulary words that a student might not be familiar with. There is a section at the bottom of this page where students must come up with a word from the text that they think should have been a vocabulary word.

There is a poem with relavent questions to answer and also a section on personification.

My favorite part of the study guide is the front cover. Students draw a new cover and they must use color and details from the text!

Each student uses a dictionary for the Vocabulary section.

Students reference the text to answer the Comprehension Question. Each question has the Revised Blooms level so students know why this question is important.

Each section has the Common Core alignment. You can also see the Revised Blooms Levels above each Comprehension Question.

The Science Research has the Essential Question and give students a chance to learn more about an Arctic animal. I also post urls and videos on Edmodo so students have a starting point for reference.

Finished cover showing the Alpha pup.

Finished Cover. This is before I look over the Study Guide. Students will be given a chance to correct handwriting and grammar mistakes before turning the guide in for grading.

Another sweet cover.

All my students wanted their cover on my blog. They did a great job of using details from the story to make their cover. If you have read the book, you know that Talus is smelling the grizzly and alerting his siblings. The blue flowers are Harebells.

Cover showing originality.

Fast finishers spend time coloring and usually find parts where they might need to erase and start over. Coloring not only gives my students a chance to process the information they learned, it also gives them a chance to check back over their work.

I like the way this student illustrated her vocabulary word. Not only did she draw the harebells she also illustrated that they bloom in July.

I always include a Phonics section. Students in 4th and 5th grade still need phonics instruction, even if it is just reinforcing what they already know.

This is a very creative cover, this student wanted to include the title after drawing so she put it into her moon and clouds.

A lot of pictures I know! My students love seeing their work on my blog. I wish I could show their sweet faces while they are working on these study guides. This guide has 12 pages. This might be daunting if I had given them 12 pages of worksheets. In a nice booklet, they are able to read and study the book without being intimidated by the workload. And I have a product showing their learning and growth.

Study guides can be useful tools teaching the Common Core way. Students are involved, there is a section where they must read a poem to a buddy and then listen while their buddy reads back to them. Students are working independently but can discuss and collaborate as needed. I can monitor, check for understanding and also work individually with a student or with small groups. Students are using the computer and a reference book. They are involved with their learning and delving deeper into the text with the comprehension questions.  This book seems like a nice picture book, but students are learning to infer, evaluate and question the text they are reading.

Let me know if you have any ideas about using Study Guides in your classroom.

As always, thanks for visiting!