PDSA Acceleration Folders

Do you PDSA in your classroom? Have a board for the whole class to see how they are doing as a group? Have you been charting data with some students still not becoming proficient? Check out the next step in implementing this data tool so individual students ACCELERATE with their own individualized Plan, Do, Study, and Act!!! 

Labels for the folders can be found HERE in either a "Star Student" Theme or "Space" theme!!

These folders are cheap to make and hold all the documentation for individualized goal setting, activities, and progress tracking for math and reading!!

To make the multi-pocket folder for both subjects, just buy two folders with inside clasps.  Turn one folder inside out and connect the prongs through the holes!

Labeling the inside of the folders will help everyone stay organized!

Labels for the folders can be found HERE in either a "Star Student" Theme or "Space" theme!!

In case your school is only beginning to use the Acceleration Folder to correlate with the PDSA boards, I'll give some more examples of what forms go inside each child's folder who has goals for "accelerating" through their learning whether it be because they are struggling or need to be challenged!

The first form is a miniature version of the class's PDSA bulletin board, made instead on a letter size paper perfect for pocketing in the folder!

Labels for the folders can be found HERE in either a "Star Student" Theme or "Space" theme!!

The form will guide the student through their plan (pick one standard to work on), how to "Do" their best with strategies and resources that will help them, "Study" their own graphed grades for progress, and reflect on what went well and how to improve for other lessons! 

Above is a student example of a child who was lucky on the pretest for learning to round, did not show proficiency on the posttest, but was able to earn 100% after filling this out and doing his "Do's" for Conceptual Refinement (a version of RTI or small group reteaching at our school).  The activity log listed as a resource on his PDSA is below.

In the folder should be an activity log to track what differentiated lessons are being done to accelerate the child.  On this form interventions are listed at the bottom to guide the teacher, educational assistant, or tutor through helping the child see if they are able to master the skill!  If the student is still needing additional special education help or advanced services, all the documentation is in this one place to supplement a referral!

How else are these Acceleration Folders helpful?  They are portable so the student can take them with them if they receive instruction outside the regular classroom and can be sent back and forth from home and school to show parents progress.  The pockets can hold assessment samples or easy reinforcement practice such as flashcards or worksheets for students to practice too!

Would you like a sample for free?  Check out the sample student-version of the PDSA board HERE!!  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great school year!!

Balancing Time for Tests FREEBIE!

This year I love my class of serious learners!  They have been motivated to do their best and really show what they know for their grades.  However, there were still problems to discuss during one of our leadership meetings about testing.  I created this visual to go along with our talk . . .

Before using the scale, I put it together.  I cut off the scale from the bottom of our visual (I would probably leave the white on either end of the testing/learning banner to make it easier to tug back-and-forth next time though!). 

Then I cut the slits for the scale to slide through.  

And now, back to the concerns . . . 

 

We show progress at our school by having the students take pretests and comparing them to the posttests.  One of the concerns I noticed were the students taking waaaayyyyyy too long on the pretest because they wanted to do well, even if they hadn't learned the material before.  The scale looked like this when we had our pretest talk. . .

Here it is easier to see that if we only have a certain amount of time at school, and we take a reaaalllyyyy long time on pretests, we don't leave as much time as we may need for learning.

The next example was to encourage the kids not to rush through the pretest either.  Or, I also had some students so confident on the posttests that they would race to be the first ones done instead of double checking for silly mistakes.  The scale looked like this . . .

If they rushed through the pretest, they may not be truly showing what they already know and would be bored with the extra learning instead of just proving they needed a quick review.  Also, if they rushed through their posttest, they would have to spend more time being pulled back for Conceptual Refinement (what our school uses as Response to Intervention (RTI) or reteaching time) even if they knew it but didn't double check their work.

In the end, the kids used the habit of putting 1st things 1st to describe how they should balance their pretest, learning, and posttest time so they wouldn't waste any of their class time. :)

 Thanks for checking it out!  Download the scale for free HERE.  Have a great week!

Teaching the Common Core: Speaking and Listening

Have you heard of the So So Happy characters?  Meet Tribe who can only shout compliments!!

My daughter picked this cute guy for her way of spending her tooth fairy money and once I read the tag, I was hooked!  This organization is fabulous for encouraging children to spread kindness!

Why am I excited to share this as part of my techniques to implement the Common Core?  Check out how he can help students address the Speaking and Listening standards:

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1b Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).

My class really loved giving positive feedback to their presenting peers using Tribe (though he needed several reminders to not SHOUT!!).  Check it out and have fun!!!

Teaching to the Common Core: Rounding to the 100s

Hi all!

I hope the beginning of this school year has been fabulous for you!! My freebie this week is a quick one that I made up to help a few of my students that were having difficulty visualizing what 100s place to round to in math.  

This page was much easier to use than a 1,000 chart with all the numbers and hopefully will be something the kiddos can draw after using the model a few days (yay scaffolding!!). The steps that I helped them to use when rounding was to decide what hundreds their number was between (ie. 247 is between 200 and 300).  Then they would identify the benchmark halfway point (in this case 250).  Then, in the beginning, I would have them mark the place where their number would be such as 247 being slightly to the left of 250 (hint: laminate this or put in a page protector for students to use erasable markers on).  Then they could easily see that because 247 had not been on the benchmark number or closer to 300, the number rounds to 200.  

I had also taught them the trick of looking at the neighbor to the right and seeing: "If it's 5 or more, round up.  4 or less, stays the same", but they weren't understanding why the saying applied so I definitely wanted to give them a visual they could believe.  Anyway, feel free to download it for free HERE!!!  

Want to have a fabulous game to help them practice rounding to the 10s as well?  Don't forget to check out my Rounding Football Game to help them find the nearest 10 yard line and go for the field goal!

 Thanks for visiting!!

 

Homework Folder or Take Home Binder Cover FREEBIE!!

Wow! What a week!

I hope everyone is off to a great start for the school year!!  I've been really busy so my freebie today is simple but something my students use all year!!  Here are two cover designs for labeling the front of homework portfolios!

Whether you have binders that contain planners, newsletters, and homework folders, or you just send home homework in a regular folder, this is a great cover to remind your students to "bee" leaders!!

Get your free downloads by clicking below and have a fabulous week!!!!

BEE Labels                              SPACE Labels

My Favorite Back To School Books and a FREEBIE!!

Even the Kindergartners are heading back to school!!  Where I live, they get to start a few days later after transition days into the "big school".  We're all in this together though!  

Today I thought I'd share my favorite reads for the first days of school.  Which ones have you read to your kids??

My students this year (3rd grade) still loved the surprise ending of First Day Jitters even though some had heard it before.  A fun story of how we ALL feel about going back to school!

 

 This book was my favorite growing up and kept me going even as an adult.  I'll actually read this book many times during the year and have a few plush Little Blue Engines and toys around the classroom to keep up the encouragement when the kids need to remember "I think I can"!

Because reading is usually hardest for my students (especially because it's an inclusion setting), I offer these inspiring stories.  We also get to discuss how the author is actually writing from her life perspectives and is a successful author even though she struggled in school.
 

 Last but not least, we read this book before an activity that can be used to decorate the bulletin board before open house rolls around.  It uses repetitive lines to describe what is important about little things, and then connects it to the reader being important.  I have the students write their own poems following the format and learn about their talents in the process.  My example would be:

The important thing about Mrs. Montoya is that I am a teacher. 

My first lessons taught came from being a mom, I enjoy learning new things myself, and want to inspire others.

But the most important thing about Mrs. Montoya, is that I am a teacher. :) :) :)

When my own daughter was a Kindergartner starting her first day of school, a resource I wish they would have had was stickers to tell the bus driver which stop she should get off on (she exited one bus stop too early and had her momma going crazy to find her!).  Anyway, my FREEBIE this week are printable shipping labels that can be used for Kinder first days, or for field trips as well.  Hope you enjoy!!

FREE Back to School Notebook Labels and Book Recommendations

Happy Monday!!

My summer is officially over, but it was a great one!!  I have compiled a list of my favorite summer reads for the classroom.  Which ones have you read? :)

My first recommendation I give: 
    and a BONUS 

Cleaning House: a Mom's 12-Month Experiment to Rid Her Home of Youth Entitlement was delightful to read and powerful as well.  Kay Wyma shares her experience in helping her 4 children learn how empowering it is to do things for themselves.  She is candid and has many great tips for helping parents instill confidence in their children by not serving them, but encouraging them to show their young potential.

My next 4 recommendations all get:

While our school had begun to implement The 7 Habits of Happy Kids last year, this summer I was finally able to understand the roots of the that book by reading the original version, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

I also read the accompanying Leader in Me, but found that the pictured 7 Habits was the most helpful because of the strategies and mindset to help me both in my professional as well as my personal life. :)

For my 3rd choice I picked  Instruction for All Students by Paula Rutherford. 

Because I love teaching students by giving them strategies, this book was the perfect find for helping me to help students in all areas of teaching: planning, assessment, differentiation, . . . you name it!  It is well organized and easy to read (as well as highlight, dog-ear, and for adding my post-its!).   

The next two books I will be studying in-depth as I teach from them this next school year. 

I was fortunate enough to get to meet the author, Linda Tognoni, at a workshop this summer.  I must excitedly admit she was able to explain phonics and phonemic awareness in ways that have made the most sense to me in all my former years of teaching (I'll be going into my 10th year this school year).  I can't wait to share the lessons with my students.  Super fabulous!!

And last but not least . . . I have caught on to the CAFE enthusiasm!!!  I have set up my board in my classroom and have my strategy lessons ready so bring on the students!!!  If you haven't heard of The Daily 5, The Math Daily 5, or the CAFE books, I can't recommend them enough!!  These two authors show step-by-step how to set up a literacy classroom that differentiates for the overall success of students by focusing on comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and expanded vocabulary.  Awesome!!

Thanks for reading and on to the freebie!!!  One of the activities on my lesson plans for my first days of school is to organize the incoming school supplies so . . . here are some notebook labels for you to download, print, and immediately use!!  Do you have Avery's 6 count shipping label pages?  These are set up to print, peel, and stick. :)  Enjoy!!

Blue Labels 
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Pink Labels
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