Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Announcing My New Website

Hello Everybody!  I have a new blog at www.247teacher.us.  I guess this is the official announcement.  All of my blogspot posts have been redirected to the new site.  This is so exciting!  It's by Pretty Darn Cute Designs! A totally awesome team of brilliant gals!

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Pin to Win Nelson Mandela and South Africa Unit


Hello Everybody!  The world mourns the loss of the great Nelson Mandela.  I made this unit to help teachers address this current event in their classroom.  As with all my products its listed at 50% off the 48 hours of posting.  My husband wrote the passages.  We have family in South Africa.  Needless-to-say this unit is near and dear to our hearts.  I've never been there so I am not an expert in South African history.  There is so much to share about him.  Yet there are many sensitive topics difficult to address in an elementary classroom.  

I found a nice You Tube video highlighting his life.  In the video you can hear and see live clips of him speaking.  I watched the whole thing--- so I would like to say that the mentions his Christian faith and addresses other sensitive topics not addressed in the passages.  Click here to see it.  Watch it before sharing with any students.  This way you can decide whether or not it is appropriate for your classroom. 

About the product: 
The passages do not include any reference to his passing.  They highlight his life, his work, his impact on the world, and South Africa.  The passages can be used for Close Reading.  I have included each passage with and without border so you can annotate the text.  

The unit has a full answer key, three passages, three pages of questions, one fact page, and Lexile, DRA, and Fountas & Pinnell correlation chart. 

Each of the texts are leveled using Lexile measures. 

Included: 
Full Answer Key
3 Passages
3 Pages of Questions
1 Fact Page
Text Complexity Bands and Associated Ranges Chart with DRA and Fountas & Pinnell leveling correlations.

Titles Are:

Text 1 The History of South African Apartheid: Lexile 860: Word Count 275

Text 2 Nelson Mandela: Lexile 790: Word Count 281

Text 3 Today's South Africa: Lexile 860: Word Count 283



Click here to see the unit on TpT. 
A huge THANK YOU to Educlips for the clipart. 



I will give away this unit to the first FIVE people to pin the 

the image above.  All you have to do is leave your pin url in 

the comment section below and tell me you want it.  




Sunday, November 24, 2013

Response to Intervention


Having served as an Academic/ Instructional Coach for two years I wore the hat of PST Chair. As the sole "Chair" at a Title One school I had my cup full to the brim with graphs, interventions, tracking, collaborating, and so much more. Through meetings, data walls, and professional development--- I shared constantly with my teachers. It is an honor to be able to share this collection of reliable websites with you today. I share this collection because we are constantly learning and growing in the area of RTI. If you want to learn more about Response to Intervention use these reliable sites. 

RTI Action Network




National Center on Response to Intervention



The following video comes from: The National Center for Learning Disabilities
I find this website geared for parents to learn more. It may prove fruitful for any teacher new to RTI and/or teaching. 












Monday, November 18, 2013

Manic Monday Freebie from my Turkey "Fact-ivity" Unit.


Today I'm linking up with Manic Monday to share a freebie from my Turkey "Fact-ivity", Literacy, Math, and More Unit. Don't forget to link up with me for a week of thanking friends and learn a little about what my husband and I have been going through. 


The above pictures are in the FREEBIE. Click here to go straight to it on TpT. 
The below pictures are in the full unit. Click here to see the full 76 page product.

 This preview doesn't even show everything. 

Celebrate Turkeys with this "fact-ivity" craftivity with your big/little ones. In this unit you will find one turkey mini-book, 4 versions of a turkey craft, 25 differentiated math pages, disguise a turkey writing 14 pages (7 "The Great Escape" prompts), literacy pages, and bonus turkey writing pages.

Clickable buttons on the second page for easy navigation. No scrolling needed.

> Turkey Fact-ivity with pre-printed facts on feathers.

> Turkey Fact-ivity with blank feathers for fact fill-ins. Sample facts are provided on student direction sheet. 

> 2 Turkeys with feathers attached for an easy peasy, quick and easy craftivity. (1 with blank feathers and the other with pre-filled fact feathers)

> The Great Escape Writing Fun (7 prompts of disguised turkeys escaping thanksgiving dinner)

> Literacy Fun
* Build words
* Word Sort
* ABC Order
* Turkey themed activity sheet with mixed up letters, word sort, and word search 

> Mini-Book (Contains text from my November Close Reading Unit.) Activity inside aligns to RI.9: to compare differences and similarities between domestic and wild turkeys. 

>Turkey Themed Math (24 Pages)
* 100's Chart: missing number fill in.
* Blank 100's Chart fill in.
* Addition 10+
* Subtraction 10-
* Multiplication 10x
* Multiplication 2x
* Double Digit Addition No Regrouping
* Double Digit Addition with Regrouping
* Double Digit Subtraction No Regrouping
* Double Digit Subtraction with Regrouping
* 3-Digit Addition No Regrouping
* 3-Digit Addition with Regrouping
* 3-Digit Subtraction No Regrouping
* 3-Digit Subtraction with Regrouping
* Write time to the half hour
* Write time to the quarter hour
* Mixed review of time quarter, half, and to the hour
* Count by 1's on turkey feathers
* Count by 2's on turkey feathers
* Count by 5's on turkey feathers
* Count coins nickels and pennies
* Count coins dimes, nickels, and pennies
* Count coins quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies
* Turkey fractions halves, thirds, fourths

> Bonus Turkey Writing (2 prompts with 2 pages each) 
Click the button above to visit Manic Monday at Classroom Freebies to see countless other FANTABULOUS freebies posted by other teachers. 



Click the button above to link up with me for a very thankful week. 
Learn a little about what my husband and I have been going through the past couple weeks. 

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Pin to Win Veteran's Day Worksheets

Hi there! Veteran's Day means so much to me. My husband and I have a rich history with the military. His dad served in the Navy for 22 years. My dad was at Camp Victory in Iraq. Currently I have several cousins stationed across the world. My brother, who is in the Navy, just finished a tour in Japan. I created this unit to honor our family. At first I wasn't going to create anything for Veteran's Day but then I remembered my Memorial Day unit and I just switched the words, reformatted the graphics, and tweaked here and there. Take a look at some pics of my latest creation product to honor this precious holiday. 

Spread over 110 pages you will find differentiated math to include addition, subtraction, multiplication, filling in a 100's chart, making a calendar, counting coins, and more. You will also find activities for foundational skills such as prefixes, suffixes, word sorts, and a building words with dog tags center. Differentiated writing prompts and passages for Close Reading about the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and of course Veteran's Day. One mini-book and one full page book. The full page is in color and black line. A simple glyph, vocabulary cards, and classroom decor will certainly help recognize this significant holiday. 


Having already used these passages I will tell you that they are definitely HIGH INTEREST for boys. The passages come from my May Close Reading Unit and the Veteran's Day Passage comes from my November Close Reading Unit



Pin to win this unit or anything $20 or under from my TpT Store. 
I will choose a winner tomorrow afternoon. 



Thank you to everyone that entered on Google +. 
Melissa H. send me an email at teacher247@icloud.com with your selections.