The Daily 5: Chapter 2 and FREEBIE

The second chapter of The Daily 5 is what excites me so much and makes me nervous all at the same time. The two sisters write that they are strong believers that when students are told the PURPOSE behind something and are given a CHOICE of what they will do that they will be MOTIVATED to do it.

That makes complete sense. Adults are that way and so of course, so are our kiddos! I think it is great that the kids will know the purpose behind what they are doing. I want them to see the importance (or as the sisters said, URGENCY) behind becoming a good reader and writer. I also want them to understand deeply the connection between that importance and how the Daily 5 is helping them to achieve that. I have been looking at some of the launch schedules out there in the bloggy world and love love love it! I can't wait to study more on these later as I begin to plan my own launch and dig deeper into each component of the Daily 5.

Right now I am focusing on how I will allow my kids to make their Daily 5 choice. I want this to be done in a way that can:
1. Easily become a routine
2. Display clearly what choice they have made for the day
3. Ensures that they visit each component throughout the week
4. Displays for me what order they are doing the components in throughout the week
5. Can be independently done by the students

Of course pinterest has a gazillion wonderful ideas and then there is also the check-in chart provided by the two sisters. I purchased a pocket (below)that has a title pocket, 5 pockets down and 7 pockets across.

I am juggling a couple different ideas right now. 

Idea Numero Uno

I will put each child's picture in one pocket. They also will all have 5 different colored popsicle sticks, each representing a different Daily 5 component. For example, Listen to Reading- red popsicle stick, Word Work- blue popsicle stick, Read to Someone- yellow popsicle stick, Read to Self- purple, Work on Writing-green. On Monday the students will choose one of their sticks to put in their pocket in order to make their choice for the day. At the end of the day that stick will not be removed from their pocket. It should be (if this works) pushed to the left side of their pocket. On Tuesday they would choose one of their remaining sticks and put it to the right of the monday stick. This would continue throughout the week.

Idea Numero Dos

These cards which are about 3"x4" would be put in the first column of the pocket chart.

For this idea the popsicle stick colors would stand for each day of the week and every stick would be labeled with the name of the student who it belonged to. For example a student named Adam would have A red Monday stick, a blue Tuesday stick, a yellow Wednesday stick, a purple Thursday stick and a green Friday stick. All of his sticks would be an "Adam" label on it. Column 2 of the pocket chart would hold students Monday choice, column 3 tuesday and so on. On Monday the students would put their monday stick in the pocket beside the choice the would like to make. On Tuesday they would do the same only in the third column and with their Tuesday stick. 

Lots to think about! But I am hoping one of the two of these ideas will work! What do you plan to do? How do you monitor if students have visited all components? 

If you would like the mini daily 5 cards that match the posters that I made feel free to download those here. 

Also you can still link up with the Daily 5 book study. This will be my first year implementing and I am so super excited to read all of these wonderful ideas. Find them or link up at Primary Graffiti!

See ya soon! 

Dee Dee 

Daily 5 Posters (Free Download)

Hey hey! I got my wonderful clipart from Melonheadz Illustrating today! I love here stuff, it's stink in' adorable! Here are the Daily 5 posters that I made to go along with my primary color theme. Feel free to download here and leave me a comment if you do, i'd love to network with some other blog-readin' teachers!

Don't forget to link up at Lory's Page! 

I'm working to get things the majority of the way ready in my classroom this week and next because I start a class in July so I'm crafting away tonight then probably reading some more on The Daily 5 since I finished all three Fifty Shades books (eek!)

Have a good night! 

Dee Dee 

The Daily 5 Linky Party!

Last year I was right there with Lindsey over at The Teacher Wife. I did guided reading during my literacy block and felt like although the kids were successful and became strong readers, I was working like a crazy person. I couldn't sleep at night and constantly worked longggg hours in order to be prepared for my literacy block with my kiddos.

This is why I am super excited about the Daily 5! I am reading the book currently and plan to implement it into my classroom next year.

I'm on page 40 or so right now and loving every single page!

I'll admit, although I can't wait to implement it,  I am a little bit aprehensive about a few things. It makes me nervous to not be checking up on the students' work all of the time, to let them choose which Daily 5 activity they will go to each day, I also am nervous about the 5 mini lessons throughout the block. But, I am ready to try! This is obviously a system that works if you put full faith into it and train yourself along with the kids!

I am VERY excited about the idea of the students becoming strong independent readers, engaging in reading with each other and choosing to be active and engaged readers!

I have seen so many awesome Daily 5 posters out there, but I wanted some to match my primary colors classroom. I will have uploaded ASAP!

Come and join this Linky Party at Lory's Page!

The First Grade Sweet Life

I have been excited about planning a theme for my classroom since about... oh.... October of last year. Last year being my first year of teaching I felt like it was all I could do to make sure I had a handle on teaching the curriculum. So summer has been in my sights for a while and here it is! Woo Hoo!

My theme for next year is going to be a Sweet Shop and I can't wait. I am using primary colors plus green and black. In addition with my solid colors I plan to use ALOT of chevron because well.. I'm obsessed right now and polka dots because, who doesn't love a polka dot?

I found ideas all over pinterest and teacher blogs. I also found some ideas for this theme at this website. Almost all of the clipart using is from Melonheadz. I love it!

I typed up my to do list (had to make it cutesy since I am going to look at it like every-single-day this summer) and I have been rollin' it out ever since.



 Did I mention that I live away from most of my family, have a husband in dental school and zero kiddos? Anywho, I have really enjoyed making all of these themed materials. I am trying to incorporate this theme into areas of my classroom that I know we will be using daily and not just adding in a ton of meaningless details.

Here's some of what I have made so far...

Hall Passes

CANDY Binder  It was inspired by Michelle at Fabulous in First and her Go Book materials and tutorial. It is  AWESOME Tutorial you should watch it :) I found the idea for the CANDY words at Teacher's Clubhouse (More about this later).

Table Signs 

Today's Scoop--These will be hung above the learning targets.

Take Out -- Labeling my student mailboxes (not quite sweet shop, but close right?)

Will be hung on a WOW Work border

Poster for the classroom library. I plan to copy covers of books we have read aloud as a group and hang them around this poster. 

The postcard that I will be sending to all of my kiddos in July!

If you would like copies of any of the materials above I would be happy to email them to you. Just shoot me an email at diedremdphillips@gmail.com 

Happy Summer Y'all! I'm headed to school tomorrow for a little bit to take on the Clutter Free Classroom challenge from clutterfreeclassrom.blogspot.com. 

Faith in School. I Discovered, It's a Must For Me.

I was struggling the first couple of months as a first year teacher. I was questioning everything and feeling like I was facing problems that I wanted to fix, but couldn't possibly "fix" it.

I am still running around like crazy now, please don't mistake me. I am flat out tired. But, about a month ago I made a suggestion to another teacher and I tell you it may have been the best idea I have had all year. We began a prayer group at school. We meet once a week to pray for our kids, our school, the community, and other things that are going on in our lives. It such a good reminder to me of why I come to school every day. I love kids, I have a huge hope for their future and I want them to all feel loved by me and to know they are loved by God.

I work in the public school system so I can't just tell my students flat out that God loves them. But I can pray for them everyday and I do. I worry a lot about my kids and I figured out that I can't carry all of their weights for them. I am trying very hard (sometimes not so successfully) to pray for them and either act on the prayer if I feel like God is telling me to or to just give the concern to God. Like I said, I am struggling with it, but I sure am trying.

My Tuesday morning are so wonderful. We have cried and laughed and prayed a whole heck of a lot. I'd love to pray for you and your kids too, just let me know.

Last week I shared a devotional from the wonderful site, www.teacherdevotions.com about Joy. I posted it below. Take a look at the website, it is good stuff for teachers.

'TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOYOUS

Hebrews 3:6 “But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast. [7] So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, [8] do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, . .' "

December is a busy time for teachers. We often find ourselves in the middle of preparing for Christmas programs, ending units of study, decorating, and doing our personal shopping. The joy of Christmas is often lost in the hustle and bustle of fulfilling each day's goals. The holiday season can be tough on us both physically and emotionally .

The older I become the more I know there are very few “perfect" days. Each season brings it joys and its sorrows. The key to a joyous season is to find the gift in every event and enjoy the moments. Learn to "Go with the flow;" or "Roll with the punches." Choose your battles. Forgive easily and often. Let go of expectations and choose to be grateful for each gift no matter how small. Choose to be happy! Choose peace with your fellowman.

God has given us promises in The Bible that offers courage and hope. We are told how God is intimately involved with the details of our lives. He even knows when the common sparrow falls. But we have the choice to believe God’s report or not to believe it. Without courage and hope we wander aimlessly like the Children of Israel in the desert never really going forward and never finding our promised rest.

This holiday season may seem like a season of stress, bad memories, or over commitment. The Spirit of God stands beside you to offer you courage and hope to find joy in all your daily activities. Count your blessings; name them one by one. Send thank you notes to parents, fellow teachers, school leaders or staff who have been supportive this semester. Do something unexpected for someone you love. Take some time to relax and praise God for all his goodness and blessings during this past year. These things will help to melt away the heaviness of duty. It doesn't take a lot of time, but it can lift your spirit to new heights. The Children of Israel rejected the good report and chose unbelief, fear, doubt, and anger toward God and the leader He gave them. They believed the false report. They lost their courage and hope, and they never saw the promised land. They never entered into the joy that God had set before them.

Choose a Merry Christmas season this year! Smile a lot. Give thanks a lot. If funds are tight, give gifts of appreciation rather than expense. Sometimes a personal card is valuable enough to save for years. A handmade gift can speak volumes of your love and care for someone. Seek to find the sunshine in every rain cloud. Remember, that in God’s timing He can and will make all things beautiful if you will cling to courage and hope in Christ--because God said it--that makes it true!

DEAR GOD,I CHOOSE JOY THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON. HELP MY ATTITUDE TO BE A REFLECTION OF YOUR LOVE. ALLOW ME TO VALUE AND REFLECT YOUR GIFT OF LOVE TO ME. I WANT TO GIVE YOUR LOVE OUT TO OTHERS THROUGH GRATEFUL AND ENCOURAGING WORDS. TEACH ME TO HAVE FUN AS I FULFILL MY DAILY REQUIREMENTS. I WANT TO BRING JOY TO THE LIVES OF MY STUDENTS AND COWORKERS.

Wyrick, Elderine (2002-2011). "Tis the Season To Be Joyous" in Polishing the Apple, www.teacherdevotion.com.

See? Good stuff right? I love my job. I love being with my kids and for the times when my patience/energy/creativity seems to be slackin' I am making the choice to pray.

Talk to ya soon,

Dee Dee

Fonzi says, "ay!" (Free DL)

We have learned the v-c-e rule for a, i, o and u thanks to the bossy e unit I purchased from The Teacher Wife and we are now moving on to -ay. I was trying to think how I could make this a little more interest and memorable for the kids. Finally (seriously I probably spend wayyy to much time brainstorming on these things) I decided to reference one of my favorite shows as a kids, "Happy Days".

I absolutely loved watching Nick at Nite as a kid. My bedtime shows were I Love Lucy, Laverne and Shirly, The Jeffersons, The Facts of Life and of course Happy Days. Sadly Nick at Nite now considered Goerge Lopez to be the classic show for Nick at Nite.

Anywho, Author Fonzarelli was a favorite of mine and now he his doing a fan-tab-ulous job of helping me teach ay. His opening line was always, "Ay!" (please imagine a New York/Italian accent). I showed my kids a brief clip of him saying it (be sure to preview ahead of time, not all words from Happy Days are completely school appropriate) and then we brainstormed words that had that sound in them.

We are so lucky at my school to have a poster printer! It's awesome and hopefully my principal isn't going to tell me to lay off the printing... eek! I created this -ay Fonzi poster and I can't wait to share it with the kids tomorrow.

They are crackin' me up walking around with thier thumbs up saying, "ay!" for hello. So glad I could revive Happy Days. Feel free to download it below, display on your active board or print.

Free -ay poster here

Also, I'd love to know if you have any suggestions for other ways to teach some of the long vowel tricks of the trade. Let me know what ya think if you decide to grab a copy!

Talk to ya soon,

Dee Dee

I've Got Some Questions... About Penguins!

We are all about using comprehension strategies this year. I have been trying to spice them up a little bit for the kiddos so that they have fun with it and enjoy learning about using them. Otherwise the words metagcognition, schema, questioning and inferring get a little over whelming for my firsties.

Right now we are working on asking questions before, during and after a text. I wanted to mix in a little winter fun so we are going to be making a Penguin Book of Questions and Answers complete. I am really excited about it and I think the kids will love it all including getting to make their very own penguin.

Although things never seem to go exactly like I plan, I am hoping this one will be a hit! Feel free to download it below and if you do let me know how it goes! I'll add pictures at the end of this week and show you how our finished product turns out.

Penguin Questioning

Happy rainy Sunday! I am about to settle in with "Once Upon A Time" and "Desperate Housewives" obsessed!

Talk to ya soon!

Dee Dee