Five for Friday Time

Hey all! Trying to get back in the swing of things here. Joining up with Doodle Bugs for her famous

Here's what's been going on in my neck of the woods:

There is an assessment frenzy happening here. We got rid of one test and now a greater monster approaches...the FSA (Florida Standards Assessment). More than before it seems the pressure is on yet no one really knows what to expect...not even the top dogs! My district also implemented running records for all 3rd grade students. I am using the DRA2 (anyone familiar with that one?). It is quite involved and it takes so long to administer per student. I hate taking so much instructional time away from the class. I'm happy to have Daily 5 going strong. At least I know the kids are engaged in meaningful work. I would love to hear your advice or experience with administering running records.

Open House came and went and I never got a chance to share. (I was thrilled to see that my BFF, Denise, over at Sunny Days in Second Grade used one of my ideas. Check out her post HERE.)

For this activity, students complete the "Welcome to My Class" form. Here are some from my class:

 After the kids leave, I put out the "Good Morning" form for parents to complete during Open House. The kids are so excited to see these on their desks in the morning. I had some pretty creative parents fill these out this year:

 I also have parents decorate the back of a bookmark their child decorated earlier in the day. I laminate and tie the ribbon on when I get home so this is what the kids see in the morning. They just love to use these special bookmarks all year long.

 You can check out this product HERE at my TpT store.

 Over the summer, I worked on these:

 My students have a had blast acting out their reading! They make a fun brain break, too!

The fiction set can be found HERE and the nonfiction set is HERE.

Fall is my favorite season! The colors. The holidays. The (somewhat) cooler weather. Here are some books I like to share with my students even though our leaves aren't changing:

Margaret Wise Brown's The Little Scarecrow Boy is an old favorite. The scarecrow boy wants to learn to scare the crows like his father, but his father tells him he has to stay home, grow, and practice his fierce faces. I love how the boy makes his father proud at the end. This makes a nice read aloud and is perfect for story elements. Students can practice their own "fierce faces".

Look at these illustrations! The colors are so beautiful!

Another scarecrow favorite is The Scarecrow's Dance by Jane Yolen. 

In this story, a scarecrow decides to dance away the night. He finds himself at a house where he watches a boy saying prayers for the fall harvest. He decides to return to his post and do what he was meant to. I LOVE LOVE the illustrations. (The artist also illustrated the Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane...one of my all time favorites!!) Use this story as mentor text for word choice and similes.