Tips and Tricks: Reading Questions Card

Some of my students are great at making comments and connections about and to what they are reading, and some students just don't get it at all. The reading question card is a great solution. I have about 8 of these available to kids all the time. That seems to be enough for a class of 24 students. (At the beginning more people want to use them, but after the first week, this is enough!)

On this simple 2 sided laminated card there are lots of the standard reading questions. On one side there are before, during, and after reading questions. On the other side there are questions to link text to self, text to text, and text to the world. (They're the types of question you can find lots of other places online!) I generally believe that this is way more valuable for a life long reader than say, "List the main idea and two supporting details," as our textbook is inclined to do. That is the kind of questions that kids have to be able to answer for high stakes testing, but it's not the kind that's going to make them say, "I felt just like that when my mom moved out." or "This book reminds me of that other book we just read."

My favorite teacher reason for using the Reading Question Card is it eliminates all excuses for why students didn't write something on their school reading log each day. If you can't think of something to write, grab a reading question card!

What tips and tricks do you have for getting reluctant readers and writers moving?

Make It A Pirate Party

So I just hosted my 3 year old's pirate birthday party. Here we are at Make It Monday, and I thought I'd share my tips for how to make a fun party without spending much moolah! As you know you can spend a gazillion dollars on a kid party--whether it's for family, friends, or students. In fact there is even a lot of marketing that says this is what "good" grownups are supposed to do. If it's what you want to do, that's one thing, but if it is a have to, forget it.

Here are some of my best cheap bits.

The menu:

We were going to buy subs and add sails to them, but instead we just made them. It was way less expensive than buying an oversized sub sandwich to serve the same number of people. We added sails from a ship to make it look more thematic!


Goldfish crackers! The birthday boy loved a variety of goldfish crackers, and who wouldn't?


There was also "Shells and Seaweed" pasta salad with spinach noodles and shell pasta.

Daddy made peanut butter cupcakes with a rolo in the middle. I made the little decorations with cheap stickers, frill picks, and index cards. I estimate that we made a decorated 30 cupcakes for less than the price of a half dozen from a cupcake bakery.



The decorations:

The centerpiece was an old chest filled with gold coins and a toy pirate ship covered with pirate finger puppets. We hung jolly roger penants all around the house. ($6 from oriental trading co. for all of it)





Also, because I'm a nerdy teacher, we set pirate picture books all around the house--from the library for free.

Here are some of my/our favorites:

• The Day I Became A Pirate
• Pirates Don't Do Diapers
• Louise, The Adventures Of A Chicken
• Gingerbread Pirates
• Archie And The Pirates

We also had pirate bandanas and eye patches for everyone. (Oriental Trading Co., too)

It wasn't fancy, but it was so fun. May you find fun in the party you host.

Here is the little pirate with his paternal grandparents:

and sword fighting with my dad:




Happy Birthday, Pirate Sam! You have brought so much joy into the past 3 years of my life. My heart is overflowing with love for you today!

Pirate Party Palooza!

Yep, we had Sam's 3rd birthday party yesterday. (Monday is his actual birthday.) It was by far the most low key party we've done in a long time, but it was still really fun. There were lots of things I really wanted to do to add to the event, and I always think I need to make more food, but it was super fun!

Try our slideshow maker at Animoto.

Tomorrow I'm going to offer some of my tips on how to make a fun pirate party on the super cheap!

I'm A Brave Teacher and We're Moving Classrooms!

Everyday I'm a brave teacher. There are some days and weeks that require so much more courage! This is one of those weeks that is amazing on many fronts, but the amount of "stuff" requires huge courage.

On Monday I found out my classroom was being moved. I was not blindsided. I volunteered, but I found out on Monday that we were moving within the week. We've already started the move to a bigger airier classroom, and it's lots of work. Friday is the official move desks, switch lockers, drag boxes, etc. I'm also continuing to teach and grade. And, oh, yeah, I'm having more dental work done tomorrow. Did I mention I'm doing a 3 year old pirate birthday party on Saturday?

It's nuts! I'm surprisingly calm and completely exhausted and it's only Wednesday night!

What are the lessons for me?

• 4th graders can get enthusiastic and ask about a million questions about anything!
• This experience, just like all the others, is not going to be perfect and smooth, it's OK.
• I'm not going to handle the experience or any other perfectly, and I'm still OK.
• I always have a choice to be positive or negative.
• The kindness and generosity of others is always amazing.
• I can let go of stuff to make room for more life.
• There is an end in sight to this very long week.
• I can always practice yoga off the mat--just breath!

I'm sure there are lots more, too, but I'm too brain dead to focus!

I am so a brave teacher with amazing students, and we're moving to Room 14!

What's up in your brave little corner of the universe?

Everyday Math Game Organization

For 5 years now I've tried to figure out how to store my Everyday Math games. I took lots of other people's ideas because they sounded smart and organized, but in the end none of them worked for me. This year I finally has a system that works fairly well for me and my students.

I got lots of the magazine boxes at IKEA. They're plain white. I just write the name of the game, and then I put the game sheets in that box. For some games I have laminated copies of the game sheets or boards. I also place the plain old copied papers in there. Next to the magazine boxes I have lots of little boxes with a pair of dice, a deck of math game cards, and beans for counters.

How do I know the system is working? Kids rarely interrupt me in my small teaching group to ask for directions!

What organizational tips do you have?

Make It Monday: Altoid Tin Upcycling

Welcome to Make It Monday!

When I have a little project that I've made or want to make, I will share them here on Mondays in the future.

Today I'm sharing an ongoing project in this ongoing series. I'm going to share different ways I'm using Altoid tins. I love these things! I shared my first project HERE last summer. I still really like my little box of affirmations.

I've been thinking what else I could do. If you like the box in the photos above, here's how to make your own:

You need: empty Altoid tin, your choice of tissue paper (torn into pieces the size of postage stamps), Mod Podge, a foam brush

1. Apply a layer of Mod Podge on the outside of tin
2. Begin applying layers of tissue paper. (I applied about 4-5 layers)
3. You're done with this part when you like the way it looks!
4. Use scraps of scrapbooking paper or colorful index cards
5. Write journaling prompts for yourself (or your students) on the cards.

Here were some of my prompts:
~What enchanted me today?
~What did I do today that could be enchanting?
~What could I do to feel more enchanted and magical?
~What did I do today that required courage?
~How would I like to enchant others today (or tomorrow)?
~Did I resist being enchanting or enchanted today?
~What do I observe right now in this moment?

I'm sure you can think of lots more that serve you!

I think this would also make a fun little gift--a blank book/journal, a pen (or set of pens) and a tin full of writing prompts! I know I would like to receive such a gift!


Another site with "manly" projects with Altoid tins is HERE. (Love these!)

What are you making these days?

It's All About Perspective

The universe is conspiring in my favor.

(It's conspiring in your favor, too--even if it doesn't seem like it right now!)