Books I Need for My Classroom!

I am currently taking courses to get my reading license and eventually my masters in reading.  I have had an amazing professor who starts each class with amazing picture books.  He has the talent to find the most amusing books that kids will love and he recommends great ways to use the books in the classroom! 

Bring back the love of favorite books used for bedtime stories!

This book would be a great mentor text for read to someone.

This would be a great mentor text for making lists.  It also demonstrates teamwork is needed to reach a goal.

Great book for teaching phonics.  It could also be a text to teach word work.

I love Rocket books and now here is an alphabet book to complete the reading and writing collection!

This book encourages writing creatively!

Meet Your Teacher Video

Do you send a welcome letter to your students?  My school sends the letter with teacher announcement and other information.  Last year I decided to add a video about me.  I could virtually give my students a look into my life and how I began my career as a teacher and some of my interests.  I used iMovie and created a movie trailer (short and sweet and it is soooooo easy).  I dug through my baby album and my scrapbooks to put together a video of me for my students.  I just took a picture of those pictures with my ipad.  When my video was published to YouTube, I put the link in SafeShare.TV website.  Then I put that link in the newsletter and I also added a QRcode that parents could scan with any device to see the movie.  I use http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ to create links into QRcodes.  After reflecting upon the beginning of the year, it seemed easy to make connections with my students and it was a way for parents to connect their child with me.  I am hoping it eased some of the nervousness when beginning a new school year.  Here is my video that you can use as an example to get you started on making your own video.  Just click the link below!

Meet Your Teacher iMovie

I also use iMovie trailers for class field trips and family vacations.  For field trips, it really helps make a memory and I see my students remembering what they did and learned.

Field Trip iMovie

Reading is Thinking

In kindergarten, we have covered a few comprehension strategies.  The hardest thing for kinders to do is make meaningful connections that relate to the story they are reading.  I am currently taking classes to get my reading license and I read the book Comprehension Connections.  It is an amazing resource for teaching comprehension strategies.  Here is one way they described to teach meta cognition.  THE READING SALAD.

Skitch app for Field Trips

Use Skitch app to label pictures from field trips and review what information was learned.  Check out our pictures from the local apple orchard!