The Laces Club and a giveaway

Do you have students who come to school in shoes they cannot tie? Are they distracted on the rug, focusing on their laces instead of your lesson? Are you and the students who can tie getting tired of tying laces for others?

I had the above problems until I created the The Laces Club!  One little boy this year was particularly inept at shoe-tying, yet he was sent every day in shoes with laces. If he was one of the kids who walked around not minding his floppy strings, perhaps things wouldn't have come to a head. BUT, this young man would ask me, other students, volunteer moms, even other teachers MULTIPLE times a day and DURING LESSONS! He just could not do ANYTHING else until his shoes were tied. I was going NUTS so even though shoe-tying is not a standard, I felt this was a life skill that needed to be addressed.

I did not spend a lot of class time but the kids were so motivated they spent their free time practicing.

What to do:

1. Demonstrate how to tie shoes (a document camera gives a nice close-up.)

2. Read the included poem together several times.

3. Explain that anyone who can show that they can tie their shoes will get a certificate to take home and a badge to put on our bulletin board display. This was a great ego boost for a few children who don't usually excel academically but were one of the first to get up on the board.

I had a shoe-tying book from when my kids were little

 but so many kids were motivated to practice I made extra practice boards.

These practice materials were available for early finishers or recess use. I was lucky enough to have parent helpers available to "test" the students who were ready. I also was often asked during recess duty. Seeing names go up motivated others to keep practicing so they could join. Club members became the experts, helping their classmates to learn. Watching them encourage each other out at recess was absolutely adorable!

My question for you is which method of shoe-tying do you use? Bunny ears or the traditional? Have you heard of the Ian knot? I found this video and showed it to my 5th grader and he thought it was SO much faster he now uses it daily!

I was thinking of making some real practice shoes available this year.  I could continue to feed my chevron addiction...

or it might be cute to match the theme if you have one.

I put these materials together for only $2.50 in my store. If you'd like to win a copy enter below.  

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If you didn't enter my Daily Editing Word Problems giveaway it only has 2 more days so click here to go enter.
 

Daily Editing Word Problems Update and Giveaway!

I have finally finished updating my Daily Editing Word Problems to align with the Common Core! Phew, that took FOREVER but now I am set for the ENTIRE YEAR!

I also made two major improvements:
1. The whole week is now on one page.
2. There is now an answer key!

I have posted before that my students complete this as morning work but it could also be used as a math warm-up. In the last few years I have used these in conjunction with a calendar page (Cara's and my own version) and as a stand alone in a math notebook. Both ways worked great, just depends how much time you have. Here are some cute pics from years past:

 The first half of the year we circle sight words, add punctuation and capitalization, and solve the math problem. We discuss the key words, draw a picture, and write a number sentence if applicable.

The second half of the year we do all the above but I have also added spelling errors to correct.

The kids LOVE getting picked to share their work under the document camera and I LOVE that I have a roomful of confident kiddos able to explain how they knew how to solve the problem. They also get wise and know I'll call for a second person to share if they can explain an alternative way to arrive at the answer or use a different tool (number line, ten frame, 120 chart, etc.) Can you say Standards for Mathematical Practice? And I was doing it before I even heard about the good ole Common Core Standards!

If you have bought these previously, the awesome news is that you can go to your TpT purchases page and download this major update for FREE! If not, this Daily Editing Word Problems {Common Core} pack for the WHOLE YEAR is available in my TpT shop.

I am going to give this updated pack to a loyal follower so enter below!

I have one week until I go back. Yikes, why does summer always go by so fast!

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And the winner is....

Congratulations to Amy Zuniga on winning a FREE copy of my new Editable Chevron Teacher Binder and Calendar pack!

Click HERE if you are interested in buying a copy for yourself.

Editable Chevron Binder and Calendar

Are you hooked on chevron like I am? I decided to make my teacher binder in the chevron theme this year. I was feeling the yellow and black this year. I like to change it up, last year I had a blue theme going.

I love having everything I need in one place. This year I am trying Avery Index Maker dividers. They stick out farther than regular dividers AND have a clear page protector. That way I can insert my pretty chevron title pages that make me happy.

I wanted the index to stick out farther because I have sub dividers in both my Grades and Guided Reading sections. I love these Avery Style Edge dividers.

Once I got creating I decided I needed a matching calendar.

I wanted maximum space to write to I left off the weekend but added a weekly planning box to keep track of the theme or unit.

I like one vertical page so I can look at it quickly and not have to turn the binder to the side.

I use these 8 dividers:
Lesson Plans-I made my own template and type my plans every week. Click HERE for a free copy. I left it a word doc so you can edit it but be warned the formatting and fonts could be off and need some adjusting.

Calendar-I use this to jot down special events, meetings, changes in schedule, etc.

Standards-I refer to my Common Core Assessment Checklists often.

Grades-I use the cluster pages form my CCSS Checklists and I made some similar ones for Science,   Social Studies, etc.

Guided Reading-I have dividers for each reading group, sight words, and reading levels.

Field Trips-I keep masters of permission slips and notes about planning here.

Student Info-I like to start the year with a quick glance of who is in RSP (Resource Specialist Program), Speech, has medical issues I should be aware of, etc.  I shared this form last year but updated so click HERE to download.

Meetings-I keep staff, committee, and grade level notes here.

I find this all-in-one binder system works the best for me.

I put this Editable Chevron Teacher Binder and Calendar pack on TpT this morning. I  included the pages I used plus 23 chevron pages that you can edit to add your own titles. Want to pick a different color for your cover? No problem, just add a text box. Don't like the font? No problem, add a text box. Want to add events to the calendar before you print? No problem, add a text box! I spent many, many, many hours on this so I think it is a steal at $4!

I'd like to give a copy away to say thank you for following me.  Enter below and good luck! The only thing I need to add to my binder is a pencil pouch with my favorite pens, pencils, a highlighter, and a small calculator. Do you get the same thrill from office supplies? I think all teachers do, right?
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Exciting Find!

I bought something from MPM School Supplies that I am pretty excited to start using with my class.

My plan is to put these stopwatches in my Sight Word Center with my Sight Word Superstars lists.

Partners will time each other while they practice reading the list they are on within 20 seconds.

These stopwatches are AWESOME. They are so easy to use. Green for go, red for stop, yellow to clear. The kids are going to be SO excited to use them!

My students seriously BEG me for their turn to be timed to pass a level. You can read all about my Sight Word Superstars program in this old post.

I am happy to say I have gotten tons of great feedback on this product. Click  HERE if you'd like to check it out.

The school supply sales are starting and reality is creeping in. I go back August 8th. You?

Congrats to Ellen Zississ! She won my giveaway for Silhouette sticker paper.