Glitter Day!

Glitter!  Did I get your attention?

I just added the LAST pack of partner plays to the growing bundle.  It's all grown up now and is officially a fully grown partner play bundle!

The last pack has partner plays that are conversations at school...

The play called "Glitter Day!"... well, it may have been extremely late at night and I may have been just a tad bit tired.  But, with that said...

I LOVE this one.  It's a conversation between a teacher and a very understanding school custodian about the school's use of glitter... all classrooms in one day!  Thank goodness for amazing school custodians who keep our rooms clean and don't mind sweeping up after GLITTER DAY!

The other conversations are:

-Check it Out!  A conversation between a student and the librarian
-Going on a Field Trip  A conversation between a teacher and a bus driver
-What's on the Menu?  A conversation between a lunch lady and a student
-Glitter Day!  See above!
-Visit with the Principal  A conversation between a student and the principal

If you've purchased the bundle, please re-download.  You can also access your exclusive FREE partner play {Birthday Chore Day!} that is only available in the bundle!

I am going to leave the bundle at the current price ($22.00) until midnight tonight.  Then it will increase to the final price of $24, which is still $6.00 less than buying them individually... it's basically buy ten sets get two sets free!

Click the picture to learn more:

And don't forget to check out yesterday's blog post to enter to win Common Core connected reading response tasks for your grade level!  I'm going to give away two sets!  Click the pic below to head over to enter!

Exciting Update on "Partner Plays" Bundle!!!!!!!! {and a SUPER cute freebie!}

I have been having SO much fun working on these partner play fluency packs!

I posted a growing bundle on TpT that was going to stop after six sets... well, I've decided to grow the bundle until it has TEN sets in it!!!!!!  That will be FIFTY partner plays!!!!

There are currently seven sets...

Winter, spring, summer, fall, fairy tales, and science...

That's where the bundle was scheduled to stop.

But I'm having too much fun!

So, I've added "Author Interviews" to the pack and will be adding two more sets of interview plays, as well as a set that is TBD- if you have ideas, leave in the comments!

Here's what I did with mine:

All are laminated with covers on top... I hole punched each set and put a 1-inch binder ring in the top. This way, pairs can grab a set and get to reading!

I'm doing an insect theme for summer school, so I copied "Caterpillar and Butterfly"(from the science pack) at school... and it printed well in black and white!  I'm going to have students pair up to do the plays and then take them home to do with family!  I think they will enjoy that!

So, there you have it!  Exciting announcement about the bundle!  If you've already purchased it, please check out the new plays inside!  If you haven't... there's still time before it reaches full price when all plays are added!

And now... for your super cute freebie.

Like, seriously, the cutest thing EVER.  Please let me know what you think with some feedback!

Use these "Pair Up Partner" cards to pair up your kiddos for anything... maybe even a little partner play reading!!!!!

Happy Thursday!  Be sure to check out my partner plays... remember... growing bundle will have THIRTY by September 1st!  Just click the pic!

BLERG! Fry Phrase Pack Error and a Freebie as a Peace Offering!

How come kids aren't as observant about errors in their own work as they are about errors in ours?  And why couldn't mine have been a little quicker to find it?!

We've only been playing "Roll, Read, Repeat" for DAYS and having so much fun doing it!  See- here we are... having fun!

Then, today, one of my little friends laughed and said, "With three dice, how can I ever roll a 1 or a 2 for this game?  I'll never get to read those phrases!"

So glad for such a smartie... but wishing he'd been a little quicker to come to that conclusion!  Or, even better... wishing I had realized it first!  You know... a week ago!

So, each Roll, Read, Repeat board in all of my Fry packs has been changed to have 16 spaces, numbered 3-18 so that every square can actually be read!  I de-activated them all this afternoon to spare anyone who wanted to purchase them from buying the error packs... but if you downloaded them prior to about 10am today, you have the baddies.  I'm so sorry!!!!!!

I'm SO sorry and beg your forgiveness if you purchased any of them!  I had my kids today just roll 1 dice for a bit to do the #1 and #2, but the rest of the ones I print will have the right number of spaces on them to play the game!

To make up for it, here's a corrected free board from the 5th 100 pack... with 16 spaces!

Tune in tomorrow for the winner of the all six Fry pack giveaway!  Click HERE to enter if you missed it!

More Fluency Fun!

Today I worked with my intervention group on the 4th 100 HF word Fry Phrases.  We had so much fun!

We played one of the games from my 4th Fry Phrase pack- "Say it like a...".  They had to spin a spinner and read a phrase as a character- pirate, princess, teacher, kid, mouse, giant, witch, farmer.  They LOVED it and I was cracking up!

Check us out...  These ladies used a pencil and paper clip for their spinner.

I happened to have a plastic casing for spinners... so these boys were the lucky ones who got to use that!

I LOVED hearing this group of three boys do "Teacher" and "Princess" voices!  Hahaha!  This was such a feel good and fun activity... after a week of temps too low to have outdoor recess, everyone's going a little stir crazy.  This was a fun way to work this morning!

And I just put the finishing touches on a pack for the 1st 100 HF word Fry Phrases.  This one has the "BUMP" style game too and a game called "Watch Out for Mr. Wolf" that features some Three Little Piggish elements... sure to delight 1st and 2nd graders who are so familiar with every version of that story!

 Find it on TpT

I've also put a bundle pack of all four of the Fry Phrase packs on TpT.  It's $12.00... so essentially one is free since they are $4 each and there are 4 in the pack!

 Check out the BUNDLE on TpT

Tune in *hopefully* tomorrow for some product Dos and Don'ts as part of my little soapbox series!  I say *hopefully* because, well, it's Friday... and a week without outdoor recess has made this teacher crazy too!

Last question... would anyone want Fry Phrase packs for the 5th and 6th hundred words?  Not sure if I'm going to work on that right now... I'm "Fry Phrased Out"!  But, if others would like them, I might start sooner that I thought!

Most Fluency Phrases, Pics, and a Winner!

We played the game "Roll, Read, Repeat" today and my kiddos had so much fun!  One came up to me after and said, "Mrs. Bainbridge... I actually liked that game"!  As if she usually doesn't like the fun things we do... Haha!

Check us out...

If you didn't get your free game board with 18 fluency phrases on it, click here to get it!

So, tonight I added a 2nd Fry Fluency Phrases pack to TpT.  This one is for the 2nd 100 words and also has the "Roll, Read, Repeat" game but has a different 2nd game inside.  The new game is called "First to 20" and I think the kiddos will love it!  They have to "LOCK" down stacks of five phrases... and cross their fingers they don't draw a card that unlocks their locked stack!

Find it on TpT

And last... a winner!  Thanks to everyone who commented yesterday that you enjoyed the freebie!  The winner is #11 Brenda @ Primary Inspired.  I'll be e-mailing you so you can choose whether you'd like the 2nd 100 set or the 3rd!

I hope to have more finished this weekend... we'll see what happens!

Fry Fluency Phrases #3 and a Freebie!

Do you use Fry Phrases in your classroom?  I'm currently using them with a reading intervention group and I'm loving it!

I love Fry Phrases because they take sight words and put them in a context.  I am always amazed at students who can fly through sight word assessments but miss basic words when reading a text.  Fry Phrases take those high-frequency words and put them in a context so that students have an opportunity to connect and transfer their reading skills.

We're currently working on the third set of fluency phrases, so that's the pack that I just put up on TpT and you can have one of the games for free!

The pack has assessment and graphing pages (perfect for RTI!), a "BUMP" style game for practicing the phrases, another game called "BUMMER DUDE!" which is one of my signature sayings, and directions for turning "BUMMER DUDE!" into a fun dice game!  This current pack is made for my 3rd graders who need extra support... so I'm thinking that 3rd and 4th graders would benefit the most, but I had some 2nd graders last year who would have loved the challenge!  PS- every font that I used is one that I made!  :)  Yay!

 Find it on TpT!

Anywho- you can click the image below for one of the "BUMP" style game boards.  The pack has 5 of the games, which I called "ROLL, READ, REPEAT".  If you don't know how to play "BUMP", students need 10 "markers" like Unifix cubes or BINGO chips.  Each player rolls three dice, adds to find the sum, and then reads that spot on the board.  If they are correct, they put their piece there.  If another student rolls that number, they can knock the other student off!  BUT... if a student rolls the same number twice (while their marker is still on the spot) they can put a 2nd marker on there and then the space is locked and no one can bump them off!

The winner is the player who uses all of their pieces first!

If you download the file and enjoy it... if you let me know in a comment, I'll choose one to win my whole new pack tomorrow!  :)

Easi Speak Microphone Review & GIVEAWAY!

The wonderful folks at Learning Resources recently sent me a box:

We've been using the Easi Speak voice recorder this week and, let me tell you... it IS super easy!

We've also been working on persuasive writing, so my students have written some pieces to try and persuade you to purchase one of these for your classroom.

Carter and Chris- You should buy an Easi Speak recorder for your class.  You don't have to buy batteries.  You can listen to yourself, you can do your spelling words and record yourself if you do.  Now you know about the microphone.

Megan and Caylie-  You should buy an Easi Speak recorder for your class because you can listen to how fluent and accurate you are.  You don't need to buy batteries because you can charge it on your computer.  Now you know how to use the Easi Speak recorder and you should buy it!

Preston and Rainie-  You should buy an Easi Speak recorder for your class because you don't have to buy batteries- you just charge it on your computer.  You record your voice and listen to see if you are fluent and accurate.  Your kids will like it because they can hold a microphone.  You can do your spelling words with the Easi Speak recorder.  Now you should buy the Easi Speak recorder.

Hayley and Maddie-  You should buy an Easi Speak recorder for your class.  You should buy it for your class because you can listen and see if you were a fluent reader.  You can charge it on your computer.  Since you can charge it on your computer you don't need to buy batteries.  Not buying batteries means saving money.  If you use it, you won't drop it because it has a little necklace you wear when you use it.  You should buy it!  Now you can decide if you want to buy it!

Jack and Max-  You should buy an Easi Speak recorder for your class because you can record yourself read a book.  You can record yourself do spelling.  It is the best thing ever.  So you should get it for your kids.  You can record anything- even yourself and you do not have to get batteries.  You know it will be fun for you and your kids.  We told you how fun it is!

Holli and Dani-  You should buy an Easi Speak recorder for your class.  You can listen to your fluency and accuracy.  It doesn't run on batteries, it charges on your computer.  And that's why we want you to buy the Easi Speak recorder.

Emily and Kinsey-  You should buy an Easi Speak recorder for your class because it's little and doesn't take up that much space.  You can record and listen to see if you had enough fluency.  And you don't need batteries because it charges on the computer.  You can write your spelling words without looking at your list and then record that word and listen to see if you got it correct.  Now you know why we are persuading you to buy it.

Jackson and Luke-  You should buy an Easi Speak recorder for your class.  It is recharged in your computer.  It is small and doesn't take up a lot of space.  It is so easy to use!  You can listen to your fluent reading too.  This is why you should buy an Easi Speak recorder.

And if that doesn't convince you, check out this sweetie who practiced his reading fluency by reading old poems from his poetry notebook... that cute little first grade voice is enough to make a teacher's heart melt!

So, you heard why my kiddos love the Easi Share recorder- here's what I like as a teacher:

*It really is super easy!  Red means record, greens means play, arrow means go to the next track.

*I LOVE the battery thing!  My kiddos were actually the ones who pointed it out to me when we were talking about reasons you should get one.  I have so many other devices in my classroom that I am constantly replacing batteries in.  I sooo appreciate that this doesn't have any!

*I love that my students are critically examining their reading.  They came up with the whole "fluency and accuracy" thing they wrote about above- not me.  And I think that's awesome.

*I, as a teacher, could record things on there for them- books, directions, messages... I haven't tried it yet, but it's definitely a possibility!

*The audio quality is great!
*Love the "necklace" to help with taking care and not dropping, etc...
*Because it's a "microphone"... it's a HUGE deal.  Extremely motivating!

You can learn all the technical info at Learning Resources website by clicking the image below.

So, are you convinced?  If you'd like a chance to win one, leave a comment below telling me how you would use this in your classroom.  I'll choose a winner at random this weekend and you will get one for FREE from Learning Resources!

Feel free to spread the word on your blog or blog FB page too- I know you'll be so happy to get one of these in your hot little hands!

Want more info on the Easi Speak?  Check out these links!
https://www.facebook.com/learningresources

http://twitter.com/#!/learninghandson

http://www.youtube.com/user/LearningResourcesInc

http://pinterest.com/learninghandson/

Fab Target Finds for Valentine's Day!

Oh Target. You are a teacher's dream!

This weekend I hit up my favorite dollar spot and found some awesome items...Now, I did spend a great deal of time adding text to that picture to explain what each thing was and, for some reason, my text isn't appearing and, of course, I couldn't be bothered to SAVE it.

So, I'll have to tell you:
*100th day crowns and bookmarks
*these crazy balloon things for Valentine's Day that are flat but if you hit them, they blow up!
*all sort of craft stuff- big foam hearts, stickers, foam stickers, felt stickers, confetti, paper
*and two little cardboard buckets that were just too cute to pass up!

I LOVE TARGET!!!!!!!

One more thing- if you happened to pick up the 1st grade phonics fluency packet in my Teacher's Notebook store, you should head back in to your account and re-download it. I added a potential parent letter and I added a 2nd file for non-Treasures users that has the phonics skill each week is focusing on, rather than having the weekly story title on each list. I hope that makes sense! The extra file also doesn't say "Treasures" on the cover sheet!
I added a "making change" math center to my store last night. My 2nd graders will be using it to practice making change. I'll give a free copy to the first comment! Leave your e-mail address please! :)Back to school tomorrow! Blog at ya again later in the week, friends!

School leak=Mess!

Fortunately, the leak wasn't in my room... but due to a leak before break, we are having some work done (which I didn't know about) and I went in to work today to find everything from under my sink piled on the floor... my top cabinets open with my stuff all shuffled around... and I'm working hard on "circles of control"... I'm sure you find this quite obvious hard to believe, but I have a hard time letting go of control. So, to find my things a mess was very disturbing to me... but it is out of my control... so I had to suck it up and get over it.

I took a deep breath and, believe it or not, I am now over it. I was looking forward to going in today and then just working on little things at home until going back on the 9th, but now I'll be heading in next week just to make sure my things are put away correctly!

Today I finished a huge undertaking that I've been working on for quite some time. Last year when I started teaching 1st grade, I wasn't really sure what to do with those "automaticity" charts that are pictured every Monday in my Treasure's teacher edition. This summer, I decided I would "quiz" my students on those words each week. Well, I found something similar to what I was looking for online and bought it, but it just wasn't "hitting the spot" like I wanted it to.

A few weeks ago, I made this for the current story we were working on:


and it worked perfectly! So I went ahead and started making them for the rest of the year and today I finished all the previous ones too!

I put it up for sale at my new Teacher's Notebook store, but will send a free copy to the first three people who leave a comment requesting one... be sure to leave your e-mail address! Keep in mind it is for the first grade Treasure's series! :)

If you want to check it out at my store, click the picture below:
All right... blog at ya later! :)

Yes... I'm here... Marygrove, Lions, and Christmas!

This blog has been a ghost town lately!

I have been super swamped, but just wanted to pop on to say that Marygrove College has...

INTERRUPTION!

The Lions just got a touchdown to be a point ahead of Oakland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok. I'm re-focused.

Marygrove has posted two blog posts that I guest blogged for them answering some of the questions I received after last weekend's webinar about having students set and chart their own oral reading fluency growth goals.

I hope you'll go check them out and add any other questions you might have in the comments!

You can HERE to head over.

On a side note, if you're looking for something fun and educational to get your students through the next week of school, check out my freebies for Christmas Around the World over at my website by clicking the text or right HERE!

Gotta go watch the last few seconds of the game... Go LIONS!

It's Monday, Marygrove questions, and a thanks to a friend...

Today was a super busy start to the week!

I've had some people e-mail me with questions from the webinar on oral reading fluency on Saturday. I'm working on a blog post later this week to address some of the questions.

If you tuned in and had any questions, feel free to comment on this post and I'll do my best to answer them when I do that blog entry! Let me just say that the webinar went GREAT! My husband and I enjoyed our time in Detroit... even the tension-filled last few minutes of the Lions game we went to on Sunday! Way to go, Lions!

I did get my bucket filled today by a friend in a neighboring district... Patricia sent me an autographed book from Leslie Helakowski, who is a Michigan author of Big Chickens and Woolbur, among other stories! Thanks for your kindness! My kiddos were so excited when I showed it to them!

I hope everyone has a great week... mine is looking FULL... staff meeting tomorrow, meeting on Wednesday, Christmas music program on school on Thursday... and Friday we're doing crafts and Christmas projects for families all day. I'll post more about that when I have it more organized in my own brain!