CAFE Cards: Fluency

Here are my CAFE cards for "Fluency." Yay :)

CAFE Cards: Accuracy

Finally got to making the rest of my CAFE cards. Here are the cards for the "Accuracy" category.

Binder Dividers

I've been working on my Teaching Binder for a while now, and I've made some divider pages for it. My main problem with a lot of the ones I've found is how much INK they use! These are simple enough, and use only a little ink - but I still get to use my color scheme :)

Number of the Day

So I love the idea of having a "Number of the Day" to give students some practice. I combined some of the ones I have seen on Pinterest. I ended up making it the size of PowerPoint slide, so that it will fill my Smart Board. I will use it in PowerPoint so that I can type a new number each day, and have students fill out the information on wither a slip of paper or in their math notebooks. Anyway, here it is.

Teacher Week: Meet the Teacher

So, I am linking up to...

Yay! Monday's topic is "Meet the Teacher." So I will be sharing a little bit about myself.

1. My name is Cara Heusel, and I am 22 years old (fresh outta college).

Here's me:

2. I am the oldest of four children (and the only girl!)

3. I am a first year teacher this year! I will be teaching third grade as replacement for a woman who just had a baby. I'm hoping this will lead to something more permanent down the line, because I LOVE the school. It's where I did my student teaching. I am super passionate about teaching and thrilled to be getting started. I have been planning and creating all summer :)

4. I looove to read, and I'm a slight Harry Potter nut :)

5. I adore children's books, and I secretly wish my classroom could look like "Shop Around the Corner" from You've Got Mail.

6. My mom is a photographer, which has given me some great experience with Photoshop. I've created my own materials for the classroom!

This is me and my youngest brother, when I can home

from college for the first time, taken by my mom of course.

7. I drink way more soda than is healthy. Cherry Coke is my drug.

8. My favorite shows include: Modern Family, Suits, Newsroom, & Downton Abbey.
    I highly recommend each of these!

9. If I wasn't going to be a teacher I would either be a: children's librarian, book shop owner, florist, or baker.

10. I am Pinterest obsessed. I now have over 2,000 followers!

Check me out!

11. I need sleep. And food. I am not a pleasant person when tired and/or hungry.

12. I've never had a blog before. I know it is probably a bad idea to try to start one my first year of teaching, but I figured - why not?

Peer Editing "TAG"

Another Anchor Chart! Inspiration from here.

Easy way to guide students in peer editing to make sure things stay positive and productive!

Book Talk Thursday: Matilda

So I thought I would join another Linky. Today I am linking up with Reading Toward the Stars to share a book that I have been reading.

I actually just finished Matilda (not for the first time!) by Roald Dahl. This book was a favorite of mine as a kid, and I loved it just as much this time around. As a soon-to-be 3rd grade teacher, I definitely want to sneak this one into the curriculum. I have just always loved the way that Dahl empowers kids to read and value their minds.

I've also found some great resources for the book, which I plan to use.
I was especially grateful for the questions and discussion topics available here and here.

Incidentally, I also LOVE the movie version, and I've been dying to get to the Broadway show.
The movie can be used to draw comparisons in the classroom.

Enjoy!

Changing Paragraphs

Another anchor chart. This time, my inspiration came from here.

I think this one is such a great reference for students who constantly write their stories as one loooong paragraph!

Conversational Moves

Another anchor chart!

I am IN LOVE with this post by Life in 4B.
This anchor chart is my own version (green, blue, and [of course] polka dotted) of one the anchor charts in this post. I just love the idea of giving students the language that they need to participate in class discussions in a ways that is effective and productive!

Workshop Wednesday - Getting My Writing Workshop Started

One thing that I use in my classroom, pretty much everyday, is a writer's notebook. In the beginning of the year, I have students bring in photos, pictures, and other mementos - and I supply scrapbook paper - for them to decorate these important items.

One thing I do to stress the importance of the writer's notebook is show them mine. I actually had to make one as an assignment as an undergrad, and I'm glad that I was forced to do it. You can see the front cover and back cover of mine below. Mine is getting a bit beat up, and the colors in the black & white photos have faded to blue a bit. But you get the idea.

I also glued a ribbon into the back of mine to use as a bookmark, which I will do for them, as well.

I also share an entry with my students. The first entry that I did was a list. It is titled, "Random Things That Make Me Smile." I read the list to my students and then explain that in my writer's notebook, I use this list to brainstorm ideas for writing topics. Sometimes writing about small, simple things can lead to really powerful stories.

This is just one thing I do to set the tone for my Writer's Workshop early on in the year.

Linky - Currently August

Ahh! My first Linky!