tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3393307469567894302024-02-02T13:14:41.062-06:00Reading Is ElementaryReading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-58804222027378932982015-08-08T22:07:00.000-05:002015-08-08T22:07:54.411-05:00Currently for AugustI know that I am a little late for Currently this month, but late is better than never! Thanks <a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/2015/08/currently-august-2015.html" target="_blank">Farley</a>!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis2pnzrHhfvqfiWLk6ipKM8lsGt3YWWaS3ExKvOaiXnwR0d08dDrDpywa-s88d7HHo8JL-jWLfBcKVCezSJwoTw-5rnSx6RQcKcVRgapb3X9jtUOFcvlYfUlzs5Z4XDtNtFVBJXTCzSXc/s1600/Currently+Aug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis2pnzrHhfvqfiWLk6ipKM8lsGt3YWWaS3ExKvOaiXnwR0d08dDrDpywa-s88d7HHo8JL-jWLfBcKVCezSJwoTw-5rnSx6RQcKcVRgapb3X9jtUOFcvlYfUlzs5Z4XDtNtFVBJXTCzSXc/s640/Currently+Aug.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Not much to explain with this one.<br />
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I am terrible at reciprocating play dates because I feel like my house is always too messy. I decided to let that be the motivation to have my oldest help me clean, if she wants her friends over. After all, most of it is her mess!<br />
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I know I'm not the only who feels like August hit them like a freight train. Hoping to make it to the pool a couple of more times before school start for me on the 17th.<br />
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My B2S RAK is to put notes in mailboxes. During those tough times of year, testing <strike>which is always </strike> conferences, Curriculum Night, etc, that little reminder of why we do what we do can get us through. Spread the inspiration!Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-60524803935214286062015-03-13T08:38:00.000-05:002015-03-13T08:38:14.573-05:00Sight Word Assessments - Now Editable!I have been working very hard lately, trying to get back into the swing of blogging and creating/updating products for this lil' ole' store of mine. The weather has finally started to turn around here in the burbs and the snow is almost gone.<br />
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I recently made all of my Dolch sight word assessment packs Editable! You can read about this product in my original post <a href="http://readingelementary.blogspot.com/2013/07/sight-word-assessments.html" target="_blank">HERE</a>. That post describes how I use the different parts of the pack. I have added a few things to the product since that post, but basically it boils down to this.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHyxaLSI0E_b5WYODu-JNpKu_AUbCdoAj7uK0XLlVluCODWhusJ8lUnms9lVHIM_K7vXR7pFMYo6KkIpid9RbaqdLpQ3g5jgcHJx_NH3S95-xPeGIvInNB_wQp3tciH9rgrTtHQyzFFow/s1600/Slide1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHyxaLSI0E_b5WYODu-JNpKu_AUbCdoAj7uK0XLlVluCODWhusJ8lUnms9lVHIM_K7vXR7pFMYo6KkIpid9RbaqdLpQ3g5jgcHJx_NH3S95-xPeGIvInNB_wQp3tciH9rgrTtHQyzFFow/s1600/Slide1.JPG" height="246" width="320" /></a></div>
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Each of the packs come with flashcards. There is one blank set of flashcards where you can add your own words.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Omg7kbePvMRIiG8pro9y3heEK3xkkbsqt0TavqlAwqA1fVjT4PyHQQOqCW7CW85OtX1HJatEYQuXCv2zuLyl1OTGy7pYQ36I9V2igk_XOQZW3IT_bwGFFbBJxKA_Cgz9njg-C59bre4/s1600/Slide2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Omg7kbePvMRIiG8pro9y3heEK3xkkbsqt0TavqlAwqA1fVjT4PyHQQOqCW7CW85OtX1HJatEYQuXCv2zuLyl1OTGy7pYQ36I9V2igk_XOQZW3IT_bwGFFbBJxKA_Cgz9njg-C59bre4/s1600/Slide2.JPG" height="247" width="320" /></a></div>
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The word wall pieces are great to use on your white board for some center work or on a bulletin board. There is also a blank page of popcorn for you to add your own words.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_xvPWTfDitPXHW05lzH5j_Wtavg3hgjJNoEr5Jg1nmM6whrmRw-PQ8k2ffYmshmGrkJoJE11ej_tjWh7k4JPBd5YvO3mJhPx5QC0YqaKZnmx8-GG9UoLJ0EwP3vThwmT6sMIlxLmGgVw/s1600/Slide3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_xvPWTfDitPXHW05lzH5j_Wtavg3hgjJNoEr5Jg1nmM6whrmRw-PQ8k2ffYmshmGrkJoJE11ej_tjWh7k4JPBd5YvO3mJhPx5QC0YqaKZnmx8-GG9UoLJ0EwP3vThwmT6sMIlxLmGgVw/s1600/Slide3.JPG" height="247" width="320" /></a></div>
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The bookmarks are used by students to read through in their book boxes. Some teachers (me included) have laminated them and used them to assess. Some even put them on rings to put in their guided reading basket to spot check students on their sight word knowledge. There is a blank form of the bookmarks also editable for you to add extra words.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEOtIjY2u_2rH9_gO_tO2VTKlb7XwG3GDUCGYeqKSMNKJxtedK0QRuMfYA3lv6SeUql38dXs4M6s1Jy2v9Oil3cbJhG6zWPTZer-aVTKZlYF11Js38Ui2DGjNTpU1uKl5i_k9j87No-ug/s1600/Slide4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEOtIjY2u_2rH9_gO_tO2VTKlb7XwG3GDUCGYeqKSMNKJxtedK0QRuMfYA3lv6SeUql38dXs4M6s1Jy2v9Oil3cbJhG6zWPTZer-aVTKZlYF11Js38Ui2DGjNTpU1uKl5i_k9j87No-ug/s1600/Slide4.JPG" height="247" width="320" /></a></div>
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I added this page for those of us who might have a writer's notebook or something like that. This is a great reference with all of the words on one page. Students can use them to refer to when they are writing in journals or during writer's workshop.</div>
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For my other assessment packs I have writer's notebook pages that are cumulative all of the Dolch sight word lists.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2lgJNJUi8j20VKitADrrOt1afbV0XEFHzTams2_4gbNUVK7HTJnA8a6lmI6Wx63dmoPobKcxBzIY1YH9sImwlw8b5gV-Yz5uGqMZbPl2S6a_WJIitJsOgE7Pyw5NTvNMD8NJpVewozg8/s1600/Slide6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2lgJNJUi8j20VKitADrrOt1afbV0XEFHzTams2_4gbNUVK7HTJnA8a6lmI6Wx63dmoPobKcxBzIY1YH9sImwlw8b5gV-Yz5uGqMZbPl2S6a_WJIitJsOgE7Pyw5NTvNMD8NJpVewozg8/s1600/Slide6.JPG" height="247" width="320" /></a></div>
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There are 3 different assessments. One is a quarterly assessment to show progress for each quarter, a trimesterly assessment if you happen to be on trimesters like our district is, and a progress monitoring assessment. Each of these also comes in a blank (not editable) form for you to add your own words.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHoiunDiVctLEjC8GTDQReQT1f38NT1jkJftj2xGauSAnZZrs41crhw_7d4gZMBv4J2b6JUgJpZoZpnvWQ5UWDqhbSbw1NQEL48E5XsEUq7aBEH6VES6rGKoonFIIt4GPg5Y21sP1dlb4/s1600/Slide5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHoiunDiVctLEjC8GTDQReQT1f38NT1jkJftj2xGauSAnZZrs41crhw_7d4gZMBv4J2b6JUgJpZoZpnvWQ5UWDqhbSbw1NQEL48E5XsEUq7aBEH6VES6rGKoonFIIt4GPg5Y21sP1dlb4/s1600/Slide5.JPG" height="247" width="320" /></a></div>
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The certificates are great for the celebration once your students know all of the sight words!</div>
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The above pictures are for the pre-primer pack only, but all of the packs are now editable! Click on the pictures below to be taken to my store to purchase. They will all be 20% off for the next 2 days!</div>
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dolch-Pre-Primer-Sight-Word-Assessment-Pack-Popcorn-Theme-CCSS-Aligned-617669" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuETBHSx-l6bzSo7vnXo5q8wZvUImcrTFv79GtgzQEVGdKvWYuWqC7dslAB_GDZM-JN0cbiRyNfyBqObwMehg9Cr5p13aCp0Q0W0MbqnZJM4E_34cbiOGMKXoX1VMxpEQHcUW8-ukWqz0/s1600/thumbnail+1.jpg" height="151" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dolch-Primer-Sight-Word-Assessment-Pack-Popcorn-Theme-CCSS-Aligned-619553" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv1gaHF-T6238m_iqDCDm1NbGLd2oNVZOMb9AsGFwvXIXE3KE4m9sV_uwd8fcl8wEqALXj2WBobNpZKY62e-0cBjSjNKfYy-h79nZlcvc8MXevwT5rJAvWIql-ijGe_5Am0MNzn7f1a78/s1600/thumbnail+1.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dolch-First-Grade-Sight-Word-Assessment-Pack-Popcorn-Theme-CCSS-Aligned-628866" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV0WizNUGTkYgDMvtbDSzhHAfXoqnorZHoU2gfNjATUh8qBEnRwfd2RuQ64nmfkQFy_M5XiRR0ArK5LxOSTxOjsbhMAZN-BtMbc6g8n7Gr24oM9jfcvkm2v2Rw5Z6oaZb4WpTYT5FrPKA/s1600/thumbnail+1.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dolch-Second-Sight-Word-Assessment-Pack-Popcorn-Theme-CCSS-Aligned-628958" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1ZspRZCQx8rmaZPZRgA66ibOzXIBSdc00qGwEYvrDs3dQ5xqDXUt83pxDnQdwLodbJwi8pnjBk7lsr23B5lyGuPaolhJ79XuNx-aM9hxhYdsKYa-DZcZVhHaRwBpc_UzzkVygL2xcBk/s1600/thumbnail+1.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dolch-Third-Sight-Word-Assessment-Pack-Popcorn-Theme-CCSS-Aligned-628980" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1svb1BRhUuZxqVaVUoyg1UTfVa9wc7h5UKOLb0kz4fuMhm0rDdBAsPREHrq5omO3vODW_UW5brFZ8vpL1tPe-N9v623-zlRTtinyp9mIKwh7C7CZrwmQEwHEKNe86GYJaS7_A0I3TVEA/s1600/thumbnail+1.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dolch-Sight-Word-Assessment-Pack-Popcorn-Theme-BUNDLE-CCSS-Aligned-711273" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WJjwa3ZREmexpR51UGqWAzrcDDro3kjhMAwU8IIC2makiBmfWzSZ2Fw8ngpEFnDSfsK4Uy59TzDST119v_nSV5EuRHco_IYgIDoY3A5lZ3C8A3k_rUCELCbFHjJTke8jZNsGZz8fkzI/s1600/thumbnail+1.jpg" height="151" width="200" /></a></div>
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Now, off to Indiana this weekend for a 6th grade girls basketball tournament. Go Blue Devils!!!<br />
Have a great weekend everyone!Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-29799378681897537522015-03-01T21:15:00.000-06:002015-03-01T21:15:16.975-06:00Currently - MarchFirst post of 2015! I am amazed myself that it has been so long since I have last posted! I am really pumped that I am not going to be in the last 300's of <a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/2015/03/march-currently-2015.html" target="_blank">Farley's</a> Currently this month. Seriously jazzed about that!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_g6Bhf9-WryE_e8ryF3hSiZdztVo7QSpPB5CMn3LsBDIJmWiPoDiNmfBOH_E2Kv55AGUvkVf4uFr-76O050nwVdLXhvRCM9DniuEYMrV5nyK_kR3M3Ow5TeH5p3Xx4nqxltFad8r23Ys/s1600/Currently+March.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_g6Bhf9-WryE_e8ryF3hSiZdztVo7QSpPB5CMn3LsBDIJmWiPoDiNmfBOH_E2Kv55AGUvkVf4uFr-76O050nwVdLXhvRCM9DniuEYMrV5nyK_kR3M3Ow5TeH5p3Xx4nqxltFad8r23Ys/s1600/Currently+March.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<u>Listening</u></div>
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Christina Perri is fast becoming one of my new favorites! I could listen to her voice all day. It is very soothing.</div>
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<u>Loving</u></div>
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I gave a presentation on Friday for our district about reading anecdotal notes. I haven't given a presentation outside of my school in a while. It went well! It is a big relief to have it behind me!!</div>
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<u>Thinking</u></div>
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I am some plans and drafts of future posts, and it feels so good to get back to this little ole' blog. I have good reasons for being gone so long, but I truly miss it when I am absent from it!</div>
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<u>Wanting</u></div>
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I love in the burbs of Chicago - need I say more?</div>
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<u>Needing</u></div>
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Umm ....., no it is not Fifty Shades of Grey (been there done that with the whole trilogy - more than once), it is a different series that is similar. It's such a train wreck, and I ask myself why can't I stop reading this!?! There are so many other wonderful books worth your time, Amy! You are better than this!</div>
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<u>Spring Break Plans</u></div>
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Nothing in the works now. I think a "staycation" is just what the doctor ordered.</div>
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Thanks Farley, for hosting this every month! Now go link up!</div>
<br />Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-21448425766235905882014-12-01T22:40:00.000-06:002014-12-01T22:55:02.751-06:00December CurrentlyI know that it has been a while since I have blogged. No excuses, just really busy. I could give you a screen shot of my October and November calendar, but I think it would leave you hyperventilating into a paper bag (which is how I spent much of October and November)!<br />
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A nice way to ease back into blogging is to link up with <a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Farley</a> for December <a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/2014/11/currently-december.html" target="_blank">Currently</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEtaXosZiI5vOTp90S5mM0X3e3SCxN0oOBmAxWN87F7oYZMkRlLqyOpFBVeoWPWCqLF06L_rRiXPmQk5LWD-VgtC5VaaKGuczHh0heeesgRN1PbJS5QF5Z5OtsYMhUJazLanQZw0Ok8MY/s1600/December.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEtaXosZiI5vOTp90S5mM0X3e3SCxN0oOBmAxWN87F7oYZMkRlLqyOpFBVeoWPWCqLF06L_rRiXPmQk5LWD-VgtC5VaaKGuczHh0heeesgRN1PbJS5QF5Z5OtsYMhUJazLanQZw0Ok8MY/s1600/December.jpg" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<u>Listening</u></div>
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I love this station the most on my Pandora! It gives me Adele, the Pitch Perfect soundtrack, and my other eclectic music loves.</div>
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<u>Loving</u></div>
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I don't care how busy I am, I am taking more time to read for pleasure! I recently finished <u>Mockingjay</u> for the second time so I was all set for the movie.</div>
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<u>Thinking</u></div>
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A week off gave me lots of time to organize the next three weeks. I really thought about how to plan out everything that I needed to do. Okay, so I didn't do the one load of laundry, but I swear everything else got done!</div>
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<u>Wanting</u></div>
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I bought lights but they were the really bright LED lights. I don't know about you, but they are blinding! I like soft warm lights. I exchanged them, but haven't put the new set on yet.</div>
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<u>Needing</u></div>
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My youngest turns 8 on December 7th (a date which will live in infamy). I get so caught up in planning for the holiday, that her birthday always sneaks up on me!</div>
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<u>Giving</u></div>
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My oldest daughter has decided to give up birthday presents the last two years in favor of having her friends bring new pajamas which will be donated. The girl has collected about 40-50 pairs of pj's. She plans to donate them to The Pajama Program. You can read about the organization <a href="http://pajamaprogram.org/" target="_blank">here</a>. So proud of her!</div>
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Don't forget about the TpT Cyber Sale! I finally broke down and bought the license for all of the KG fonts. I plan on using the credits from that to pick up some other goodies!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJv5Wme3nL3MNazNt9BWnvSIm6U3GkLa4Wyo1kUsvrR6WISiNb0v72vtkQMWCRLo3RFDuvwckz8nxjcoMrTOsjq2A8n6byjKbWvM8NDKv4XQcO_RnnIg9boMZ7DheauO99YLo8tAu5ey4/s1600/TpTCyberMondaySalebuttonforyourblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJv5Wme3nL3MNazNt9BWnvSIm6U3GkLa4Wyo1kUsvrR6WISiNb0v72vtkQMWCRLo3RFDuvwckz8nxjcoMrTOsjq2A8n6byjKbWvM8NDKv4XQcO_RnnIg9boMZ7DheauO99YLo8tAu5ey4/s1600/TpTCyberMondaySalebuttonforyourblog.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-42031624188472845012014-09-15T22:04:00.002-05:002014-09-15T22:09:18.268-05:00New Look!<div style="text-align: center;">
Okay, so raise your hand if you've ever had blog envy.</div>
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C'mon be honest.</div>
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Yeah, you there in the back - is your hand raised?</div>
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Well, I have! I see these beautiful, simple yet well-designed blogs and I want one for myself! However, I am not a big time blogger and I don't want to pay a designer to do it for me. <strike>Some may call it cheap</strike>, I call it being thrifty! So my big project this summer (and yes, it took most of the summer), was to design my own blog. I took it step by step.</div>
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Here is the new and improved Reading Is Elementary!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDshPjI3v8-2954skDYWTWtNgZk8CWVWzxRMiGk8rfyE3INjJ7EZPCufAMB1MU2MFKm9Qlce_WJufgaWhg4XcbJB0jR6V53Wr91aniNFlw5mJFyefzQycqY34faoWnZFouCGRy3HKo7s4/s1600/blog+button+new.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDshPjI3v8-2954skDYWTWtNgZk8CWVWzxRMiGk8rfyE3INjJ7EZPCufAMB1MU2MFKm9Qlce_WJufgaWhg4XcbJB0jR6V53Wr91aniNFlw5mJFyefzQycqY34faoWnZFouCGRy3HKo7s4/s1600/blog+button+new.png" /></a></div>
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My first step was to choose a color scheme. I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but my favorite color is brown. I knew that I wanted to have brown be the focus of color for the blog. If you just type in color schemes into Pinterest, you will see so many choices, it will knock your socks off. Here is a link to my<a href="http://www.pinterest.com/asteed33/blog-design-colors/" target="_blank"> Pinterest board</a> on all of the color schemes I looked at. Here was my winner:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6xLhMxZ8lgz3YTEI_bjJlak1I23SyzbKpA_gJbL5XrC5PI_fNE4pirW6HSaMUpo4hSeGWE92S4nMWsw8_2CY2X2IXRM_W6iARfJ7yT2qzUemg2SwVW1lLzz5T9P4jQzOTTxCH6uOx3Q/s1600/100lc_colorboard_041509.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6xLhMxZ8lgz3YTEI_bjJlak1I23SyzbKpA_gJbL5XrC5PI_fNE4pirW6HSaMUpo4hSeGWE92S4nMWsw8_2CY2X2IXRM_W6iARfJ7yT2qzUemg2SwVW1lLzz5T9P4jQzOTTxCH6uOx3Q/s1600/100lc_colorboard_041509.png" height="640" width="427" /></a></div>
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This was the start. I loved the combination of bright colors with the brown and stone colors.</div>
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Then I went and read my Bloglovin feed and perused through so many different blogs to get an idea of what I liked and what I didn't like. I love the simplicity of some of the latest designs, so I knew that was the style that I was going for.</div>
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Next, Google became my best friend! I would literally type into my search engine, "How do I bring my header down from the top of my blog?" I would research every little thing I wanted step by step. Then I would try it out on the test blog that I have that is not view-able to the public. I wrote down every step that I did with links to websites and videos that I used. I remember how the hubs teased me because I got so excited when I figured out how to round the corners of the top of my blog! I believe his exact words were, "Whew, now I can sleep. That was keeping me up nights!" Mr. Comedian!</div>
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Then right before school started, I finished! I have been so busy that I didn't have time to put the whole thing together in one sitting. Then, I didn't care anymore and big, fat did it anyway! I started on Saturday and then stopped to go to a softball game and then a football game. Came home and finished up.</div>
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I still have some finishing touches. For some reason, the same code that worked on my test blog for my signature post and post divider is not working on my real blog. That has me stumped! I will, however, persevere and not give up! </div>
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All that hard work. I think it is something to celebrate, don't you? My store will be 20% off until Wednesday to celebrate! I am excited and exhausted! I am proud and a little ashamed that I know so much about HTML and CSS codes now!</div>
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Thanks for stopping by!</div>
Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-49920644407642253142014-09-14T11:54:00.001-05:002014-09-14T11:54:47.666-05:00Sunday LettersI have been reading this gal's blog pretty much since the beginning, and I think she is wonderful. I am linking up with Michelle at <a href="http://bigtimeliteracy.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Big Time Literacy</a> this week for the first time with this incredible creative linky. It's called:<br />
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<a href="http://bigtimeliteracy.blogspot.com/2014/09/sunday-letters.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivXw9ODtRIQJj-TaQMgSkT7zKyEFJXs9kCeLc0OW30x_IPC5tm9g_fWvelQ3JpayIl5aFu_ChcWlgOQh4VLFwjrsx9pc3CR8I8TzH3C2zulnH4xb6x6xU8mWb9AmLaQbS_sq2JVaQ3pzo/s1600/Sunday+Letters.png" /></a></div>
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So let's get started!</div>
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Dear September,</div>
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In the past, you have always kind of hit me like a Mack Truck. With all of the testing that is needed before I get my program up and running, to the hectic schedules that both of my daughters have, you always keep my struggling to catch up! I feel like this year I am ready for you. This has me a little concerned that you may have something else up your sleeve. Please take it easy on me if you can.</div>
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Anxiously Awaiting,</div>
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Amy</div>
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Dear Fellow Cheer Coaches,</div>
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I have had so much fun with you all and our squad of 16 second graders so far this year. I am by far convinced that we have the cutest batch of little "Bears" around! Thanks for making this experience so much fun!</div>
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Let's go Bears!</div>
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Amy</div>
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Dear Theo James (the actor),</div>
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I loved the way you played the character Four in Divergent, and I am looking forward to seeing the rest of the trilogy. I now want to see pretty much everything you have ever acted in. It also doesn't hurt that you are easy on the eyes. You sing, dance, and have a great sense of humor. My kind of guy!</div>
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Your stalker (but not in a bad way),</div>
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Amy</div>
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Dear Hubby,</div>
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Thank you for being understanding with this crazy fall schedule that we always seem to have. Thank you for understanding when the dishes aren't done or I am behind on laundry (let's face it, that is all the time). If we have a dirty house and happy family, I am okay with that!</div>
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Love,</div>
Amy<br />
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Dear Lilah,<br />
You have been with our family since December and I have since come to understand that I am your favorite person in the house. I understand that you will follow me everywhere around the house, lay right outside the door when I am in the bathroom, and constantly try to sit in my lap. I love you too, <strike>but you could sometimes love on someone else</strike> don't change a thing!<br />
Love,<br />
Your Mama<br />
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This is so fun! Thanks Michelle for these great reflections on the week!Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-13774744660853039992014-08-21T20:34:00.000-05:002014-08-21T20:51:16.521-05:00Blasting Off To a Great Year!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
You made it! This is the last stop for . . . . . . . . .</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tMmZG_hfWEhJ1MBAOz9NAL883zZy0TAN4htdqzEkrkEOl1OzoCTleFvfqaUjGpAX9-QA7Il_KHzs4x_ovGuFG00IZRwhboBYrhyphenhyphen5U1dZADnt3BGcTLAzv2AgKUNuoKs5SnyRUdn6qeE/s1600/BTS+Blog+Hop+Header.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6tMmZG_hfWEhJ1MBAOz9NAL883zZy0TAN4htdqzEkrkEOl1OzoCTleFvfqaUjGpAX9-QA7Il_KHzs4x_ovGuFG00IZRwhboBYrhyphenhyphen5U1dZADnt3BGcTLAzv2AgKUNuoKs5SnyRUdn6qeE/s1600/BTS+Blog+Hop+Header.png" height="304" width="320" /></a></div>
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I know that you have all heard the saying, "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words." This can literally be true when you work with children. One of my duties is to push into our kindergarten classrooms at the beginning of the year. I help the teachers start to establish some of the elements of Daily 5. </div>
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Right away, we talk about how reading is so important. I speak for about 10 seconds before a little one <strike>blurts out</strike> kindly informs me that they don't know how to read. Are you nodding your heads? Has this happened to you?</div>
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If you are familiar with "The Sisters," they make a point of teaching these beginning readers that reading the words is only one way to read a book. There are actually 3 ways to read a book: Read the words, Read the pictures, Retell the story. I am going to tell you about one book that I use to model READ THE PICTURES.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_BQ8-kinbcTCe7DDv3c9T4MWQx7f2V-P1W6FXDXUDRAhxJKjMrFNIFg2IKsYpsuO_MPIEGSD_1P6PZjLr30LGKNqnhwYLKNJlw5cxHxeEtE7TBZ9TIu2MYHfAyO3k3jo5loWU3T22hKw/s1600/615sXV4DjSL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_BQ8-kinbcTCe7DDv3c9T4MWQx7f2V-P1W6FXDXUDRAhxJKjMrFNIFg2IKsYpsuO_MPIEGSD_1P6PZjLr30LGKNqnhwYLKNJlw5cxHxeEtE7TBZ9TIu2MYHfAyO3k3jo5loWU3T22hKw/s1600/615sXV4DjSL.jpg" height="320" width="270" /></a></div>
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I first tell the students that I am going to show them how to read this book, but I am not going to read any words except for the title and author. There is usually a little one who asks, "How will we know what's going on in the story?" I usually say something profound like, "Wow, you're right!" or "Good thinking, I wonder that too!" I end by saying, "Let's just look at the pictures in the story and see what is going on."</div>
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As I "read" the book, I basically give a commentary of what the pictures tell me. I use the words, "I can read here that . . . . . . . ." I deliberately use the word READ often so they get used to knowing that you can read pictures. </div>
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Below, you can see some of the wonderful illustrations by Molly Bang that lend itself so well to talking about them. It is very clear what is going on and how Sophie is feeling.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismqZ047PFEyDdHCm3Ldvtk2tkWLTB7WW6gU1vEPJmSF6XG6I2YShDf_sTgUb7QZieIQ1n3tNisoYjp7lU_PgM_ecty-UYCSc-oLvAIMFVrV8scovdEuexFM39R2cBjWGkTuXdrkbzt8A/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismqZ047PFEyDdHCm3Ldvtk2tkWLTB7WW6gU1vEPJmSF6XG6I2YShDf_sTgUb7QZieIQ1n3tNisoYjp7lU_PgM_ecty-UYCSc-oLvAIMFVrV8scovdEuexFM39R2cBjWGkTuXdrkbzt8A/s1600/download.jpg" height="356" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is a page from the beginning. You can see here what might have made Sophie angry. I make sure that I stick with describing the picture. Often the students are one step ahead of me (not shocking). Our conversations go something like this:</div>
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Student - She's mad!</div>
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Me - Why do you say that?</div>
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Student - Look at the way the word coming out of her mouth is written. It's all pointy!</div>
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Me - Very good thinking! It does look like it is written in an angry way.</div>
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And so on goes our conversation through the book. The illustrations when she is mad are all outlined in red. As she calms, the outlines turn to orange, then purple. The pictures are so natural to read that the words are really not necessary to read this book. Here are some other pictures from the book.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6mRtlCd3s4hEmTSrpUrFCWq29DKoFrKyL4DtdPPFmc7HyG6IcoqF9o1OUqNgGj9zL6vuJi_n4TlUZIeBYSBbEnUqRCBKRfOS2bFkk8NjVmiJRK9iD0Vc6gkYCQk3ZYQyFBbsfsqj_dA/s1600/Sophie1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG6mRtlCd3s4hEmTSrpUrFCWq29DKoFrKyL4DtdPPFmc7HyG6IcoqF9o1OUqNgGj9zL6vuJi_n4TlUZIeBYSBbEnUqRCBKRfOS2bFkk8NjVmiJRK9iD0Vc6gkYCQk3ZYQyFBbsfsqj_dA/s1600/Sophie1.jpg" height="376" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is a great book to model READ THE PICTURES. It is also a great book to use for older kids to work on inference skills.</div>
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There you have it! Happy back to School! I hope your year flies high! And Remember:</div>
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Here is your link back to the beginning of our hop to Andrea at Reading Toward the Stars! Thanks for stopping by!</div>
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<a href="http://www.readingtowardthestars.com/2014/08/blasting-off-to-great-year-blog-hop.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMr72jfi5-ZNKj-IqKwW2Pfjt6DqZcSPGaLEZ2olVfd4aFLtVdGom_4BKlxqBvPPGfwH_f_vyV_KPj3KkKlnzzZF0N-X5RsHZQx0HYHNj3GfpDp1iiRCCKFBrjQNt0ARJVBnWrgTzKGLU/s1600/Next+Stop+Button+(2).png" height="140" width="320" /></a></div>
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Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-15677148621196394122014-06-19T21:07:00.001-05:002014-06-19T21:08:03.939-05:00Still Here!Yes, it truly is me......blogging. I kind of can't believe it myself! When I looked at my last post, I was horrified to see that it was from late February. I am thoroughly disgusted and ashamed of myself! Well, kind of. I was quite the busy beaver!<br />
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Anyhoo, I am here and back and ready to get back in the blogging realm. As busy as I have been, I have truly missed my little life here in blogger land!<br />
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I am on summer vacation now. We ended on June 10th. This gives me more time. Time to do what, I have no idea, but t-i-m-e people! So excited!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2-ZXhaOJb0ZfZriI_jiRww7Xzbcb8eduWVIDwky4R-nLkHNAuUT5Yyuhq-NCXPWPJgLktSpiPRlvng3iSJqboxb1K7FZceEioZP7wkIyr552A-rpy0OHXAtqgDHOCKF-WIAIcdOe2V5s/s1600/summer+vacation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2-ZXhaOJb0ZfZriI_jiRww7Xzbcb8eduWVIDwky4R-nLkHNAuUT5Yyuhq-NCXPWPJgLktSpiPRlvng3iSJqboxb1K7FZceEioZP7wkIyr552A-rpy0OHXAtqgDHOCKF-WIAIcdOe2V5s/s1600/summer+vacation.jpg" height="280" width="400" /></a></div>
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I have been working on some new projects for TpT and my home and classroom. I know that all of you probably have your summer bucket lists too.</div>
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Keeping it short today. I just wanted to make sure that you knew I was still alive and kicking. All's good (just really wet the last couple of days)!</div>
<br />Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-25357181439484408342014-02-26T08:00:00.000-06:002014-02-26T08:00:00.424-06:00Goodreads GoalYou may remember that I am a member and a lover of the website Goodreads. You can read about that post <a href="http://readingelementary.blogspot.com/2013/07/frankie-pickle-and-closet-of-doom.html" target="_blank">here</a>. You may also remember that I told you that Goodreads has a yearly challenge where you can pledge to read a certain number of books. You may also also remember that I failed to meet my goal of 52 books in the year 2013 (seriously think I had half, either way, I've blocked it out of my memory already).<br />
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I doesn't seem that I am a very fast learner, because here I am again this year with the same goal. I am even going to put the Goodreads widget back on my sidebar (shame made me take it down before). It may help keep me on track!</div>
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If you are a Goodreads member, look me up and be my Goodreads friend! I don't belong to many groups, and have never written a review yet, but I love to look at the feeds and see what everyone is reading.</div>
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Wish me luck!</div>
Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-74176948804363131242014-02-24T21:17:00.000-06:002014-02-24T21:17:44.793-06:00Sahara SpecialI love this new linky I just found from another blog I <strike>stalk</strike> read. The linky is called <a href="http://www.teachingmaddeness.com/2014/02/must-read-monday-linky-compound-words.html" target="_blank">Must-Read Monday</a> from Amanda's blog <a href="http://www.teachingmaddeness.com/" target="_blank">Teaching Madness</a>.<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTXN6Mek1ovuK0RTdv95zr67Q1owmnGX-I8JGG9zR0HIHDKEFYbYdpDAc1bF0wM34hMFfUMBPbC7v1df4P-Lj7h1dqNnzR0gdV3sslJcrShxB02XwN-nAQThHtbpQNRqu4z73pZxX6Pww/s1600/Must-Read_Monday_Linky_Button.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTXN6Mek1ovuK0RTdv95zr67Q1owmnGX-I8JGG9zR0HIHDKEFYbYdpDAc1bF0wM34hMFfUMBPbC7v1df4P-Lj7h1dqNnzR0gdV3sslJcrShxB02XwN-nAQThHtbpQNRqu4z73pZxX6Pww/s1600/Must-Read_Monday_Linky_Button.png" height="200" width="198" /></a></div>
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I know that I have shared with you that I really love books on tape. I borrow them from my local library and then download through my phone through a wonderful app called <a href="http://omc.overdrive.com/" target="_blank">Overdrive</a>. Many of your local libraries use some sort of media console for their audio and e-books. </div>
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So, the book that I finished recently was called Sahara Special by Esme Raji Codell. It was a Rebeca Caudill Nominee here in Illinois in 2006.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYeFgr5_CwzyGI5JJag-EKy1rwtvzV02T7_T-wrjBQyiI7tqv26fOBe9fQZ-vSv98usyX8cQAtEirVDouAYVchbFcQNBZ0CstNi5a2CNwxlBJYzmHhpgRTnkHwsoJXMzGr4g1PJMcaXP0/s1600/Sahara.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYeFgr5_CwzyGI5JJag-EKy1rwtvzV02T7_T-wrjBQyiI7tqv26fOBe9fQZ-vSv98usyX8cQAtEirVDouAYVchbFcQNBZ0CstNi5a2CNwxlBJYzmHhpgRTnkHwsoJXMzGr4g1PJMcaXP0/s1600/Sahara.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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It is a wonderful book about a teacher who has made a huge difference in an inner city girl's life as she is going through the separation/divorce of her parents. It is a very touching book that has you rooting for the main character Sahara every step of the way. There are a few choice words in the book, so you would want to read it with mature upper elementary or middle school students. I think that this would be a great book for character study. The characters, major and minor, behave in some unexpected ways that would be great for analyzing the motivations behind their actions.</div>
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Thanks Amanda for providing us book lovers with ways to talk about what we are reading!</div>
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Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-91598433010118977272014-02-18T12:42:00.000-06:002014-02-18T12:42:00.543-06:00February CurrentlyI know what you are thinking, "What is she doing? She is going to be the very last person to link up for '<a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/2014/01/currently-february.html" target="_blank">Currently</a>' this month. What's the point?" I know that this is assuring myself a spot in the Slacker Hall of Fame, but late is better than never. Who knows, maybe I wanted to be the last person to link up (can't say I don't have goals).<br />
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I like listening to books on tape, CD, playaway or whatever. Let's face it, it doesn't matter what age we are, we still love to be read to. I have always been a fan of Dean Koontz. <u>Lightning</u> was one of my absolute favorites by him. I download most of the books on my phone from the local library and listen to them on my commute or while up in my new office (more on that).</div>
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Loving</div>
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We have a 4 bedroom house. Each of the girls have their own room, our room, and then a guest room. The guest room used to have a queen size bed in it. It was always my hot spot for dumping things. More and more, anyone who visits us is a singleton, so why the need for the double bed? Enter my wonderful mom who suggested I put in a day bed and make the rest of the room my office. She. Is. Brilliant! I don't have any before pictures, but here are some afters. I am not done (walls need more color), but you get the idea.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_RHFGkgbPRCBwRDWljGYovqkp67ePDdFeafuZj42_c-foCIvldHcWuY3TxsUgcAU466PgqLxWVZZP3Mt8XWZ_dXIqgrCS-q6flskENlQddsbonzLODFHh3eiydpPt1e_J133Mai7z38c/s1600/IMG_1589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_RHFGkgbPRCBwRDWljGYovqkp67ePDdFeafuZj42_c-foCIvldHcWuY3TxsUgcAU466PgqLxWVZZP3Mt8XWZ_dXIqgrCS-q6flskENlQddsbonzLODFHh3eiydpPt1e_J133Mai7z38c/s1600/IMG_1589.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Thinking</div>
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We have 2 more weeks of our school wide Fountas and Pinnell testing. I feel like I am drowning in data.........in a good way.</div>
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Wanting</div>
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Don't think I need to comment!</div>
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Needing</div>
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Love having Lilah around. She is really starting to settle in, she's getting used to her crate, and knock on wood, we have not had an accident in the house in a month. HOWEVER, I am having a problem with all of the dog hair on my dress clothes. I use the little rolls of tape on a handle (don't know what they are called), but it is not good enough. Her hair is short and coarse, so it really grabs a hold of my dress clothes and won't let go. Any ideas are welcome!</div>
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2 Truths and a Fib</div>
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Yes, I could do the limbo on roller skates. I am not sure what the current world record is, but my best was</div>
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8 inches. I looked a lot like this:</div>
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I do have an aunt named Betty Crocker!</div>
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The last is the fib. I did enter the Miss Macomb pageant while in college. Most embarrassing moment of my life was when they called my contestant number as the winner, but someone else's name. For a whole 2 minutes I shared the title with the other girls until the judges confirmed it was not me who won, it was her. I like to think of those moments as character building. I built A LOT of character that day! :)</div>
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Thanks for reading!</div>
Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-67544601361711294412014-02-15T10:02:00.000-06:002014-02-15T10:02:47.899-06:00Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!Thanks for all who helped me to celebrate my birthday! The raffle ended late last night, and we have a winner! Drum roll please................<br />
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<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/545ced1/" id="rc-545ced1" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script><br />
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Check your email Megan, and enjoy!<br />
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I also have another winner for Wendy. I asked for anyone to comment on the best or most unique birthday present that they had received. I would say a trip to Mexico qualifies as pretty good! (Plus, she was the only one who commented with a birthday present! She pretty much had it wrapped up!) :) Look for an email to come from me today for your choice of an item from my store.<br />
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Thanks all! Now off to an elementary girls basketball game. Seriously the best part (and best chuckle) of my day!Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-59907461969681282612014-02-11T12:43:00.000-06:002014-02-11T12:43:38.036-06:00Birthday Celebration!I posted a few days back about my belated Birthday celebration that I am having. I promised something fun everyday this week. Then our Internet provider decided it was a good day to work on the lines near our house last night. So, no fun celebration yesterday!<br />
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I am making up for it today! Today until Thursday, my TpT shop will be 20% off. Stop by and pick up some of those items you have on your wish list!<br />
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Secondly, comment on this post about the most unique or best birthday present you have ever received. One comment will be chosen to pick an item of choice from my store ($10.00 or less) for free. Please don't forget to give your email in the comment, so I can get back to you.<br />
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If you haven't entered the birthday raffle, here it is! Enter now for a chance to win a $25.00 TpT gift certificate. Raffle ends on Valentine's Day!<br />
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<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/545ced1/" id="rc-545ced1" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script>Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-30410570752450459462014-02-09T23:55:00.000-06:002014-02-10T12:25:45.145-06:00Five For Sunterday? And A Giveaway!!I have been so involved in watching the Olympics that I kind of forgot about anything else (grooming, eating). So, I'm a little late in doing this week's <a href="http://www.doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Five for Friday</a>, but I have a lot of fun things coming up.<br />
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1. This weekend I spent about an hour and a half loading up Girl Scout Cookies for our local division. This was my first experience with this, and it is amazing how the leaders have this fine-tuned! So, there are about 45-50 troops in our division who took part in cookie selling. Troops come in 15 minutes intervals. They check in and then drive up to the first stop: Thin Mints. They are first because they are the most popular so it is easier to fit them into the cars. Some troops needed 3 cars to pick up all of their cookies! When our volunteering was done, we picked up our cookies. Here is our troop leader, our cookie mom, and me (brown coat, gray boots) with our haul.<br />
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2. Yesterday was our park district's annual Daddy Daughter Dance. The hubs took both of our little ladies out for the evening. Dinner, dancing, and fun with friends. The girls came home exhausted, but had a great time (the hubs too)!<br />
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I know I'm biased, but seriously, how cute are they?</div>
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This one has me concerned about what she will be like in college!</div>
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Little does anyone know that she has on her bright orange and gray tennis shoes on (no joke)!</div>
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3. I am in the process of updating some of my products. I know that I don't have that many yet, and not a lot of variety in them yet. However, after having used them with students, there are some changes I have felt that they needed. If it is anything major, I am letting all my followers know. I am also trying to update graphics. I mean, come on, those Melonheadz graphics just make everything cuter (especially the ones with the missing front teeth)!<br />
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4. We are in the process of Benchmarking (using the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Systems) every student in our building. I know what you are thinking, "Yeah, big deal, we do that too!" The big deal for us is that teachers are doing most of the testing themselves. They received training from our district and now they are trying it in their rooms. Each grade level has a week to test and I "shadow" them the first day to make sure that they have the hang of it. It is a big change for some of our teachers, and I have to say, they are taking it on and doing fabulous. Not only that, but many have said that they are very intrigued by the results that they are getting. I love that they are seeing the value of it, but I am drowning in data!!</div>
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5. Today (February 9th) is my forty something mumble, mumble, grumble birthday. As much as a I hate getting a year older, I love being a year wiser. The experiences from this past year, have taught me a lot. So, in celebration, I am having a giveaway for all of my new and old (just like me) followers. Enter the raffle below for your chance to win a $25.00 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Certificate. Raffle will end at midnight on Friday, February 14th.<br />
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Because I fully believe that a birthday should be a week (if not longer) celebration, I am continuing the celebration all week long. Everyday will be something different, from Flash Freebies to Comment Winners. It will help if you follow me on TPT, Bloglovin', and Facebook!<br />
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Well, time to get ready to tackle the work week!</div>
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Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-4593750344956226512014-01-31T07:00:00.000-06:002014-02-02T22:32:50.338-06:00Loving Literacy Blog Hop - Stop #17<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Valentine's Day is fast approaching! So sorry if I was the first one to tell you that, but it's true! So The Reading Crew got together again and decided to share that lovey-dovey stuff with our followers. Each specialist has picked a book that is either their one of their favorites, or may be a wonderful timely book for this time of year. In addition, they are sharing with you, our readers, some </div>
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I have always been a reader. I frequently tell the students I see, "So many books, so little time." I have favorite authors, books, genres, and I always know what I am going to read next after I have finished a book. Funny thing about me: I can stay up until 2:00 in the morning reading a book, once a finish it, I have to read at least 10 pages into another book before I can go to sleep. I think it is because I must always be reading something. Heaven forbid, I be between books! GASP!<br />
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I love making lists of my favorite authors and what books they have written. I have a notebook that I keep all of that in. I would take a picture of it, but I am afraid you would lose respect and think I was too geeky to continue following my blog. I love buying books. I love going to the library and checking out books (I absolutely love the smell that ALL library books seem to have)! However, I am not a very fast reader. And especially when it comes to non-fiction, I really have to slow down. My friends seem to breeze through books at a rate that leaves me breathless. I continue to plod along at my slow pace. I don't have a slow reading rate or anything, I just take a long time digesting what I read.<br />
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Enter student teaching. I loved all the prep classes in reading in my undergrad from good ole' Western Illinois University (when I went every elementary education major graduated with 18 hours of reading), but the idea of teaching reading scared the bologna out of me. I am a math-minded person. There is right, there is wrong, show your work. That's easy! Reading is so loosey-goosey, too much gray area, yuck! Someone up there (thank you) heard my cries and felt my trepidation, because they gave me about the best cooperating teacher for reading (and pretty much every thing else) a beginning teacher could have. It was clear that teaching reading was her passion, and the students quickly saw that and became passionate about reading too. She was getting her Reading Specialist degree at the time I student taught. I remember thinking, "I could never do that, or even want to do that." I got a job teaching third grade the very next year, and two years after that, I went back to school for my Reading Specialist certificate. <br />
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I've always had a love for literacy and reading, but I feel like my student teaching experience gave me the love for teaching literacy!</div>
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Enough about me, onto the book I chose. I grabbed this book off of the rack at a Scholastic Book Fair sale the one year I was a school librarian. I picked it up for our school, but I stashed one away to buy for my oldest daughter.<br />
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It's a cute story about a young child going to bed, and the monster that is usually under their bed went fishing for the night. The child realizes that they can't fall asleep without the monster, so other monsters try to substitute for missing monster. It was wonderful illustrations with a vocabulary that would be best for a read aloud from grades 2-5.</div>
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The book is fantastic for teaching the reading strategy of visualizing. Normally, I show the pictures to the students as I read to them. For this book, I do not. I purposely wait until we have talked about the monsters and what we think they should look like, and what clues the author put there to help us with those mental pictures.</div>
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/I-Need-My-Monster-Interactive-Read-Aloud-Lesson-w-Writing-Activity-1088890" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwNF7wtzkvZHF0DfUGFDZwHPN-xc22tFad1QZ8T_4ENnxhJl1h0Uo6YZ54aNyxIo84ZD78_FyoPajOB9l65ip9-_FDfAgR4QBiOMwHbI41uQnLYzqE-X3giec6xeTYsyLfD1ggBE3Hsc/s1600/thumbnail+1.jpg" height="640" width="484" /></a></div>
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The lesson starts with a 2 page Interactive Read Aloud Lesson Plan. The lesson plan tells you where to stop in the story and what to talk about with the students.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjYVTzExYTx9E32-oOarbFPcGxo0jzbr1nAT0HNcgttn15NCar-bKlHoRc68sX0pjRoZH7khOYWuIB9YqxSKA9rDJ0JCGVsFlziNiVfoeqZRxP3pl1F9hBt6qy_bgr55nau6-ui-b8LQ/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbjYVTzExYTx9E32-oOarbFPcGxo0jzbr1nAT0HNcgttn15NCar-bKlHoRc68sX0pjRoZH7khOYWuIB9YqxSKA9rDJ0JCGVsFlziNiVfoeqZRxP3pl1F9hBt6qy_bgr55nau6-ui-b8LQ/s1600/2.jpg" height="640" width="484" /></a></div>
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The next part of the product has the students creating their own monster. Then they have to write a piece about their monster describing what it looks like. When the students are done, it is so fun trying to match up each writing piece to the correct monster. You can even make it a game. Some students are very straight-forward in their writing. They describe the physical traits of their monster. Some try to make their piece a little trickier by not stating outright, but using clues that the reader must figure out. All in all, when the students are done, they have had a monstrous good time (pun intended)!</div>
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I hope you enjoy the freebie and leave feedback, especially after you have tried it with your students. You can also spread the love by following me on Bloglovin'. Thanks so much for stopping by!</div>
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<span style="color: #4c1130;">This item was free only for the Loving Literacy Blog Hop Weekend. It is now a paid item in my store. Thanks again for stopping by!</span></div>
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Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-45942909388476919972014-01-30T20:06:00.000-06:002014-01-30T20:06:07.812-06:00Upcoming Blog HopSo, my New Year's guidelines about blogging at least once a week went south real quick didn't it?! That is why I call them guidelines and not resolutions. I have been able to follow some of my other New Year's Guidelines, but blogging once a week is soooo tricky!<br />
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However, I do have a couple of big things coming up. February is my birthday month. My actual birthday is on the 9th. I believe with my whole heart that you should celebrate your birthday for an entire month, and not just one day. I plan to celebrate with my blogging friends and followers, so look for some fun and freebies early in February.<br />
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Secondly, I am fortunate enough to participate in another blog hop starting tomorrow! Here are all the details. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9yD2ThRJ894p4CGu9flyyorKxVKqeU4sfcPwPafa8fXOYt1V4Uzurth5R3YlLvnS3HrHGNTMqXJFgkjvYOjp8U5wVXVSZBKaagb1YVi8nLkvMlmBXWgrbtn0OBlfaPRRX9B287WMybk/s1600/blog+hop+flyer+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr9yD2ThRJ894p4CGu9flyyorKxVKqeU4sfcPwPafa8fXOYt1V4Uzurth5R3YlLvnS3HrHGNTMqXJFgkjvYOjp8U5wVXVSZBKaagb1YVi8nLkvMlmBXWgrbtn0OBlfaPRRX9B287WMybk/s1600/blog+hop+flyer+2.png" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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Each blogger will share why they love literacy so much and share a favorite book of theirs with a freebie. You can start your hop at:<br />
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<a href="http://comprehensionconnection.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMEGa_aTev5eka5dP1kpkxQnNf2_iX2EBcqcVt2KK69glCy_m5SwZr1aQ-TAsZ5fCmRjPFCPElpKwD20dCO0Ke88hwNP2mkhLheTBYrWNkCa8CyZ_Oc2EKc1VwcPG5j9xbqULChvAU0r0/s1600/Comp.+Con.stop1.png" height="176" width="200" /></a></div>
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From there, you get to hop from one blog to the next collecting great teaching techniques and some fabulous freebies.</div>
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See you all soon!</div>
<br />Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-20761534399015382462014-01-07T07:00:00.000-06:002014-01-07T07:00:02.690-06:00Trading Spaces<br />
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Hello there! It is Jessica from <a href="http://www.hangingoutinfirst.blogspot.com/">Hanging Out in First </a>here and I have come to hang out with you today!<br />
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A few of us have gathered together for Trading Spaces Tuesday. That means that we have all swapped places for the day! I want to thank Amy for having me. It is an exciting opportunity to be a guest blogger and to get the opportunity to "meet" all of you!<br />
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I wanted to share a little about guided reading and goal setting with you today. Guided reading is something that I have done with my firsties for quite some time, but goal setting is a completely different story!<br />
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Are you required to have students track their own progress
and learning? Set goals for themselves? This is a newer thing in our
school that they are requiring of everyone. Our upper level teachers
have kinda always done it through learning portfolios and graphing and
what not. But my challenge this year has been to figure out how to get
my firsties to track their own learning and to understand how to set
reasonable goals. Seems like a very difficult task!! Firsties are
still learning that they have control over their learning and that they
need to be responsible for it. To have them responsible for tracking it
is yet another difficult skill to teach them!<br />
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So....here
is what I came up with. This guided reading student goal setting chart
has all of the levels A-Z listed. I simply have students color in the
space that they are starting on (at the beginning of first grade, most
of my kids start around level C or D). Then in my reading conferences
with my students, we discuss where that student should be within the
next month or two (we do it each advisory). This becomes the student's
goal. The next advisory, they color where they are and see if they have
met their goal. Then we set a new goal! I have been using this all
year and it seems to be working. My students have an easy visual of
where they are and they can see if they have met their goal. If they
meet their goal, they get an award during that advisory's assembly!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqLiEezOm27wjxgPYf1Hz6I0RI8WGAXSHcZrdsTuVXPbg6QfpC1ZqDFWQaard7WXfc0qS2c0uvGAC7jARqixbeP-O5hVncf7r9NvIoMxAOm8paSt8JOUghGLQtKYrfLlQeTpVFvGy2XfXB/s1600/guided+reading.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqLiEezOm27wjxgPYf1Hz6I0RI8WGAXSHcZrdsTuVXPbg6QfpC1ZqDFWQaard7WXfc0qS2c0uvGAC7jARqixbeP-O5hVncf7r9NvIoMxAOm8paSt8JOUghGLQtKYrfLlQeTpVFvGy2XfXB/s1600/guided+reading.png" height="247" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Guided-Reading-Student-Goal-Setting-Chart" target="_blank">You can grab it for free here!</a><br />
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This is also a great tracking device for myself. I am able to better track where my students are in their guided reading so that I can pull appropriate materials for them. And I can share it with my students' parents so that they can see their child's progress!<br />
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I hope that you can find ways to use it too!<br />
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Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-28226887033498394812014-01-06T18:20:00.000-06:002014-01-06T18:20:42.854-06:00New Blog and Freebies!Hello all! I know that I am stunning you with how much I have been on blogging land lately, but today it is really important!<br />
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Some of my reading and literacy blogging buddies have started a new collaborative blog about literacy. Today is the launch! This is a great group of ladies, not to mention excellent literacy experts. Take a jump over there to check them out!<br />
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<a href="http://adventuresinliteracyland.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU-Vn96C_KvDHLBPR4lllgsIsDIdPcLfjjk9IqyM1rPi9OdVfMySK0mr6u8aUuUgYqrH1IUCrAeIm4iTjCFYNCu-WU94fcC-VQ3KzMrebhmbFL9l6l3ri7lCbxj4dGqca9iSq61SDKWoc/s1600/Lit+Land+Button.png" /></a></div>
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They are offering up a bunch of freebies this week for the launch. I for one am going to take advantage!</div>
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Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-17362475755834115602014-01-04T21:48:00.002-06:002014-01-04T21:48:43.336-06:00CurrentlyIt is 9:30 here in the Midwest, and the eternal question on every school-age child (and teacher alike) is: Will there be school on Monday due to the extreme, seriously cold temperature coming that day. The high will be -13 degrees! I know that somewhere in the world it is colder, but man!<br />
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I am linking up with <a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Farley</a> for this month's <a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/2013/12/january-currently.html" target="_blank">Currently</a>.<br />
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I must comment on the first one. Listening. My little one listened to the Frozen soundtrack ALL DAY TODAY. The whole time she was practicing a performance that she lured her older sister into, and then performed for the hubs and I later in the evening. The songs are so catchy, and I have been a fan of Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel for a long time.</div>
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Have a great rest of your Saturday and keep your fingers crossed for me and others for a Cold Day on Monday!</div>
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Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-14781686623742646962014-01-03T19:00:00.000-06:002014-01-03T19:00:00.533-06:00Five For FridayIf you have read my past few posts, and especially my <a href="http://readingelementary.blogspot.com/2013/11/november-currently.html" target="_blank">November Currently</a>, then you know we were thinking about getting a dog. Then I read my friend's post about losing his dog, and it was equally touching and funny. I think that sealed the deal with me making up my mind, and I started looking at Pet Finder to find a dog. We were looking at Golden Retriever dogs because that is what we had before. So, today, my <a href="http://www.doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Five For Friday</a> is going to be 5 things about the newest member of our family.<br />
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So upon looking at Pet Finder, I was amazed and saddened by some of the stories about the dogs and their past. We were not looking for a puppy. It just wouldn't be fair to it with the hubs and I both working full time. I didn't look at any more dog profiles once I saw this one. Meet LILAH, the most crazy Golden Retriever, Chow mix you will ever know!</div>
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We called about her and were lucky that the foster parents lived nearby. Within 2 days, she was on her way to meet us. The foster parents had no concerns about our home and left her with us that day! It also happened to be my youngest's 7th birthday (her golden birthday, pun intended)!</div>
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We definitely have had some adjusting to do. She doesn't like it when her humans leave and tends to get a little panicky. Something we found out the hard way when we came home and our home was destroyed! She even chewed on our stairs! We never used baby gates with our children, but have installed 2 since we got Lilah! She can also open the gates we had installed. We took her to the vet and then brought her home to run errands, and this is what we came home to!</div>
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We had to go back to the vet that same day because she had gotten into the chocolate cookies (you know the ones with the Kisses on top). They kept her for a few hours so they could make her throw it all up. Needless to say, we are looking into getting her "crate trained." for her protection, and to avoid any future destruction. </div>
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We also found out the hard way, that she is not spayed like the rescue said that she was. We are going to get it taken care of, but can't right now because she is in heat! It is a big pain in the butt. Thankfully, she keeps the doggie diapers on. And honestly, she looks really cute in them!</div>
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So, in a nutshell, it is much more work than I remembered with our other dog (over 7 years ago). But what my family is getting back from this naughty, yet truly lovable companion, is so much more! I don't think I realized how much she had gotten into my heart until I picked her up from the vet after her chocolate incident. She put both of her front paws on my chest and thoroughly licked my face. The people working at our vet commented on how much she is already attached to us. That made me feel wonderful! She is so sweet, but vicious to her stuffed toys (I've seen the massacre). She is a great napping buddy, and I look forward to the morning wake up call she gives me every morning by jumping up in bed and not so gently nudging me out of my spot (not to let her out, but she wants my spot in the bed)!</div>
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We are very lucky that this wonderful, nutty dog has come into our lives!</div>
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Happy Friday everyone!</div>
Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-62623476234771682312014-01-03T09:42:00.000-06:002014-01-03T09:42:15.640-06:00Resolution TimeI love the new year. I love a fresh start, a clean slate. However, I am realistic about resolutions. I feel like the pirates on Pirates of the Caribbean, they are really more like guidelines. I usually also try not to make more than 3 every year.<br />
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So, here it is time once again, to think about what you want for yourself in 2014. I am linking up with<br />
<a href="http://www.firstgradenest.com/2013/12/making-goals-resolutions-or-2014.html" target="_blank">First Grade Nest</a>. She has a great New Year's resolution linky!<br />
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Okay, here we go!</div>
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Our district has so many new things going on, that teachers are finding it hard to keep up with everything. I would love to ease that burden if I could. I would love to hold a weekly brown bag professional development lunch. If I say weekly, then I am sure that I could keep up with a monthly one.</div>
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I would like to read 4 professional books this year. I have started a couple, but need to finish them.</div>
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In the past two years, I have consistently lost about 20 pounds. I would like to lose the last 10 pounds this year. These are going to be the hard ones. I haven't done anything drastic, just always keeping it in the back of my mind.</div>
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Stay more organized. I hate it when I miss deadlines or miss out on something because of my disorganization. It drives it me crazy. I know that staying organized is all about routine, routine, routine.</div>
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I really, really want to see Walt Disney World during the holidays. I have heard it is just magical (even more than usual)!</div>
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I have never had sushi. I always eat the cooked kind. I believe that is cheating! I need to go with someone who knows what they are doing. I am going to have to ease in.</div>
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I would love to learn how to do Yoga. I don't even know if it is something you can learn, or you just have to do, but I'm intrigued! You may not know this about me, but I don't handle stress well! I feel like this would be a great way for me stay grounded and handle the everyday stresses better.</div>
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I would love to give up my awesome ability to procrastinate! Anyone have a pill for that?</div>
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READ! I recently have taken time to more reading for pleasure, but that is usually at the cost of something else (laundry). My goal is to read 52 books this year. For you math experts that is right: one a week!</div>
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Don't shoot me, but I have never read the book To Kill a Mockingbird or seen the movie It's a Wonderful Life. I would love to do both this year.</div>
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Whew! That is a lot to take on! Okay, who is going to have the linky in June (halfway through the year) to see how we are all doing with our resolutions?</div>
Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-26155894070467513542014-01-02T14:58:00.000-06:002014-01-02T14:58:57.168-06:00Thirteen in 13I am sitting here in my dining room watching the snow fall out the window. We have about 12 inches already, and it is still coming down. But don't worry, it has to get better. The forecast for Monday (the day we go back to school), the high is supposed to be -8! Ugh!<br />
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I am linking up today with<a href="http://www.miss-kindergarten.com/" target="_blank"> Miss Kindergarten</a>, <a href="http://www.dragonfliesinfirst.com/" target="_blank">Dragonflies in First</a>, and <a href="http://www.ateenytinyteacher.com/" target="_blank">A Teeny Tiny Teacher</a> for a look back at 2013. <br />
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It has been a crazy, busy year. Here is what I have been up to.</div>
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I don't really have a favorite article of clothing. Anything comfortable. I have been buying some new clothes lately (lost weight and my pants keep falling down darn it). My new favorite store is Maurices.</div>
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Frozen was so cute! I have always been a Disney fan. Growing up The Little Mermaid and The Lion King were my favorites. This is my new favorite. The music is outstanding! The talented singers really make the movie.</div>
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I am completely addicted to a couple of shows. Right now my favorites are:</div>
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My absolute favorite restaurant is on Maui, but I don't get to go there very often. It is called Mamma's Fish House. My second favorite is The Melting Pot.</div>
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I have been using a new calendar app for the past 4 months. I LOVE it! So much better than Google calendar. After the new version of the iPhone, the calendars on it were not so appealing to me anymore. I love this new one. It is called CalenMob. Try it, you'll love it!</div>
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I have always felt like after 15 years of marriage, you should be able to re-register. Towels are starting to fray and rip, your pots and pans are starting age, and the colors in your house have probably changed. So, I have been eyeing these new dishes for about 3 years. My mom got a great deal this year at Kohl's and bought them for me. I told her that I didn't need them. She said that is what Christmas is about, getting something that you don't need, but want. I love her for that!</div>
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I love this inspirational quote. This seems to be the theme of my resolutions for the new year.</div>
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As you will see in #4 below, we added to our family with our adoption of a Golden-Chow mix named Lilah. So, I am in a doggie honeymoon stage right now. I love this post from my good friend Matt Sutton over at Digital Divide and Conquer about his dog. Made me cry and laugh. I think it was the motivation I needed to actually look for our newest addition.</div>
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<a href="http://digitaldivideandconquer.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-thank-you-note-for-my-dog.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8S1dNJuvKfhl5UEHxUaXMjey9WZMIBXl2J5WzpMTHvLt9wvGmb-zTs00Y09UXxomnCYsQjZn5CG5i2ARTR3_CvVLHWxkmNETFOjAlzr5RRg5RfiHt0Z_rvQBMxilHd1vYuQv46_aEQU8/s1600/9161626041_98a56f14c4_q.jpg" /></a></div>
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This past year has been a great accomplishment for me. I started my Teachers Pay Teachers store and started this little blog of mine. This has been such a wonderful learning experience for me. I think every week, I learn something new. I can't think of a better accomplishment.</div>
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I have way too many pictures that are my favorites, but this is my latest favorite. The newest member of our family (more to come on that later) has not been spayed, so we have resorted to using doggie diapers until we can get it done. They really are kind of cute!</div>
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My husband and I were able to go to Maui in the summer of 2013. It was an amazing trip! This is me at the top of Mt. Haleakala.</div>
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My goal for 2014 is to blog at least once a week. I have other personal goals but I will probably share them in another blog post.</div>
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When I get overwhelmed, this word always seems to bring me back to center and what is important.</div>
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<span style="color: #660000; font-size: x-large;"><b>Happy New Year!</b></span></div>
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Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-75291739018598619822013-12-22T16:58:00.000-06:002013-12-22T16:58:54.377-06:00Christmas QuestionnaireI hope you all are feeling as relaxed as I am. This Sunday is bringing me peace and feeling wonderful catching up on all of the things that have been neglected the last few weeks. <div>
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Today, I am linking up with Michelle over at <a href="http://fabulousinfirst.blogspot.com/2013/12/christmas-questionnaire.html" target="_blank">Fabulous In First</a>. She put together a great little questionnaire about Christmas. Some were very easy to answer, others I had to think about.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4VbYL-5yNtYNfBs-lRnCZSek9fXJ0_cVzMMajGb3X799qR8swCzuWcrkddICA4qFW-AmmMqv8VkVaW1K5nXkMVXxBo2tVGbh75H-_kp0t9Gk2m0ho4lS-vAtmudhE-y1oRMsODxlDLCo/s1600/Questionnaire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4VbYL-5yNtYNfBs-lRnCZSek9fXJ0_cVzMMajGb3X799qR8swCzuWcrkddICA4qFW-AmmMqv8VkVaW1K5nXkMVXxBo2tVGbh75H-_kp0t9Gk2m0ho4lS-vAtmudhE-y1oRMsODxlDLCo/s1600/Questionnaire.jpg" height="308" width="400" /></a></div>
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Hot Chocolate or Eggnog?</div>
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Totally hot chocolate! Especially when I can make the perfect portion in my Keurig. I also bought those little marshmallows that don't get soggy in hot chocolate. Yum!</div>
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Does Santa wrap presents are just put them under the tree?</div>
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At our house, Santa brings just one gift. They are never wrapped and they are sitting by the fireplace and stockings (which he also stuffs). The rest of the presents are from Mom and Dad and are underneath our tree in our front room.</div>
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Colored lights or white?</div>
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Actually neither. We have a gold theme in our house, so naturally the tree has gold lights on it. I always stock up on them when I find them because all gold lights are really hard to find!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEDURkvfSrxx-EjI29Lg-ngQHfLzTv0lqUHWjS29moJawCZqHdupejgLoZyP2jVmGpjdQ_-gnlY5lSskhneGrkX7ukFN8ueeJrxCv9Iy8hz7FMW86IWCRkkd6-dRrESF41bjtm4J0TXMc/s1600/IMG_1529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEDURkvfSrxx-EjI29Lg-ngQHfLzTv0lqUHWjS29moJawCZqHdupejgLoZyP2jVmGpjdQ_-gnlY5lSskhneGrkX7ukFN8ueeJrxCv9Iy8hz7FMW86IWCRkkd6-dRrESF41bjtm4J0TXMc/s1600/IMG_1529.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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When do you decorate?</div>
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I usually try to have the hubs bring up the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. Then the girls and I decorate the following weekend with popcorn and Christmas movies.</div>
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Real or Fake tree?</div>
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Fake. Totally much bigger than we really have space for!</div>
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What tops your tree?</div>
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Believe it or not, we don't have a lot of room from the top of the tree to the ceiling. So this year, our tree is topped by Perry the Platypus from Disney's Phineas and Ferb.</div>
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Favorite Christmas memories or Traditions</div>
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My daughters and I decorate our tree every year while watching Christmas movies and eating homemade popcorn. No wonder why those ornaments are a little buttery!</div>
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Do you remember your favorite gift as a child?</div>
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I honestly can't remember a favorite gift. I do remember wanting the game Mouse Trap for one Christmas. I played with it for 1 day before I got tired of all the parts not working the correct way. It was a lot of work to set up everything just right!</div>
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Do you prefer giving or receiving?</div>
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Giving by far. So much that I stress out every year either going overboard on my two girls or trying to find that perfect gift for friends.</div>
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What is your favorite Christmas song?</div>
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"Oh Holy Night" is my favorite Christmas hymn. I love the dynamics and the power of the song. I soloed on this song in high school and it has always stayed with me. I also love "Merry Christmas With Love." Clay Aiken made the song famous, but I prefer the original by Sandy Patti.</div>
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Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum?</div>
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Yuck! I feel the same with Candy Corn during Halloween.</div>
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Favorite Christmas movie</div>
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Elf</div>
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Do you shop online or at stores?</div>
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Both. Big fan of Amazon!</div>
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Photo Cards, letter, or store bought cards?</div>
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Photo cards have been the staple in our house lately. Relatives love to see pictures of the kids. This year though, I will be sending New Year's cards instead of Holiday cards.</div>
Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-6385765883300928802013-12-03T21:32:00.000-06:002013-12-03T21:32:19.330-06:00CurrentlyI look forward each month to linking up with Farley at <a href="http://ohboy3rdgrade.blogspot.com/2013/12/currently-december.html" target="_blank">Oh' Boy Fourth Grade</a>. This always helps me take stock, and reminds me of what is important.<br />
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<u>Listening</u> When I first started this post, the little one (who will be 7 on Saturday) was in her room singing when she was supposed to be sleeping. Her songs are made up and tend to go on and on and on and on ... The hubs and I like to think of them as mini operas. I know that she is content and happy when I hear her singing. I love these moments and I know I will miss them as she grows older!</div>
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<u>Loving</u> I have recently taken more time to read books that are on my list for pleasure. I started reading <u>Alligient</u> by Veronica Roth, the third book in the series. I stopped and started reading the first in the series again <u>Divergent</u>, because I didn't want to miss anything in the third book. I am loving going back and re-discovering it again. I seriously could not put it down the first time! Try it!</div>
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<u>Thinking</u> I am a last minute shopper. Who am I kidding, I am a last minute everything! I have a good portion of my shopping done this year (thank you Amazon)! I seriously love getting the one gift that you know they (whoever they may be) love. Such a great feeling!</div>
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<u>Wanting</u> Okay, after re-reading what I said above, even I threw up in my mouth a little bit. :) There are always those few kiddos who just kind of creep into your heart and camp out. And it is not always the ones that you think it is going to be. Some of them have so much in their world that is already against them, I feel the need to arm them with knowledge and a whole lot of TLC.</div>
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<u>Needing</u> I know that I am not alone in my feelings of being overwhelmed. I find it interesting that as I read the posts from my blogging friends, that many of them say the same thing. It doesn't matter where they are teaching - from coast to coast, there is a lot going on in the world of education. Teachers have a lot on their plates! Nough' said! Take it day by day!</div>
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<u>Favorite Tradition</u> Every year, my daughters and I decorate our tree. I worked at a Hallmark store from age 16 all the way through college. I saved up on the cute Hallmark ornaments that I liked (thank you employee discount). Now my girls have added their own that they have made from their classroom and Girl Scout days. We watch Christmas movies (last couple of years it has been Elf and The Polar Express) and eat popcorn. My grandma always made her popcorn over the stove with lots of butter and salt. I make it just like she did! The hubs usually comes in about half way through and tells us the spots we have missed! Gotta love that!</div>
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I have loved reading my blogging friends posts this month and learning about their favorite traditions! Thanks Farley!</div>
<br />Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339330746956789430.post-25163209176918265442013-12-01T11:14:00.001-06:002013-12-01T11:14:36.627-06:00All Kinds of SalesI hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know that spending time with family was much needed on my end. Those well-deserved breaks seem to come at the exact right moment.<br />
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Quite a hectic November in the Steed household. My husband rolled his ankle a couple of weeks ago. He has a big ole' boot and crutches. The poor guy's foot is about a million shades of purple, from both sides of his ankle down to his toes. It is even purple on the bottom of his foot. Luckily it is not broken, but there is some chipped bone. He is quite the superhero. Even with his bum foot, he was able to carry our Christmas tree up from the basement! Love that guy!!<br />
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Enough about me and my woes, I also have some good news to share! First Teachers Notebook is running a sale. It started November 30th and it runs until December 2nd (always behind the 8 ball). My <a href="http://www.teachersnotebook.com/shop/readingiselementary" target="_blank">whole shop</a> is 20% off. They have some amazing deals going on!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2LiF39xtuTsGou6tMQWRJwmg_oIvtoH0lprCc7vZyskBxOxKqfSZcvIVS_Mw1SBCF72RL34nqg4LZ-Xdslg-CLHCFj0P6_9t4lshM2Le4uDQDF4emNVQQgxDcl1cQq1ot9tevLlu2jg/s1600/tg2013-horizontal.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2LiF39xtuTsGou6tMQWRJwmg_oIvtoH0lprCc7vZyskBxOxKqfSZcvIVS_Mw1SBCF72RL34nqg4LZ-Xdslg-CLHCFj0P6_9t4lshM2Le4uDQDF4emNVQQgxDcl1cQq1ot9tevLlu2jg/s1600/tg2013-horizontal.png" height="183" width="320" /></a></div>
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And last, would you like to take advantage of shopping in your pjs and not leaving the house? Well, fill up your cart at Teachers Pay Teachers! They are having a Cyber Monday Sale on Monday and Tuesday. I already have my wish list prioritized....... do you? Click the picture below to take you to my store!</div>
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<a href="http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Reading-Is-Elementary" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAz3oYukztddHu1XzZxOCdvGui_cu6O-6_SYuEe5lKiBWycLJ1ijAwemwlt6a7C6aijCTZ0KPjdeyKCBTGjJO3kKzHZdhNpXhkM6lhCFHgpI1zDsMmgwudAadpxkKFsJP4j3zlpsIbXKE/s1600/1461701_10151729691050706_1107332514_n.jpg" height="245" width="320" /></a></div>
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Thanks to Jen Jones at Hello Literacy for the cute button!! You can get up to 28% off if you enter the check-out code: CYBER.</div>
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Tomorrow is back to school and the chaos that is December. Are y'all ready to tackle it?</div>
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Reading Is Elementaryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03468245294978842991noreply@blogger.com0