WHAT?! WHAT?! How in the world is it the end of October already!! Crazy....so what a better way to end the month then to link up with Doodlebugs Teaching for their weekly link up!

Ok, what a week!! End of the marking period today, Halloween tomorrow, parent teacher conferences on Monday, whewwww....makes me tired thinking about all of it!

So today (Friday) was crazy hair day. We don't dress up in Halloween costumes, but I guess this is our schools' equivalency, so the first pic is how my hair looked when I got to school (yep it's purple normally--for now anyway) and the bottom picture is 10 minutes later after I added some spiders and festive garland :)

This kid. She is something else. She is my youngest of 4 kids. I'll just say she has my heart and she knows it!! Somehow she gets away with everything...even eating crushed cheerios on the bleachers :/

Ok, so on Wednesday I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to switch up my seating arrangement. So I teacher literacy to two different groups of kiddos. My morning group currently has 14 kiddos in it. My original arrangement was desks in groups of 4 or 5, but that just wasn't working with the 14 kiddos I had. So the 'inner circle' in the front of the room is able to have all 14 kiddos there. They are still able to collaborate and talk with the peers on their side of the room (left, right, or back).

I created the above freebie for my partner that teaches the math to our kiddos. Feel free to go snatch it up ------>HERE. Our kiddos really struggle with the concept of before and after, so thus this freebie was created!

My kiddos reading with spiders and their ROCKIN' readers glasses. They LOVED this---gotta love Target dollar spot!!

Have a great week :D

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Momma with a Teaching Mission

Ok, so as teachers there are things we love to teach. For me, it's math. It just makes me happy. As a student, I just got it. Math was real. I understood it. I LOVED it. I would beg my parents to give me more problems to practice. So as a teacher, I just love seeing my kiddos get a concept they have been struggling with!

Dun, dun, dun......but, my dilemma is that I am not teaching math this year. Our entire school is departmentalized and I am a literacy teacher. Now I love reading, and I take it as a huge compliment that my administrators gave me the kiddos they did, in hopes I could make some progress with them, but I just miss the math!!

So, my teammate, who teaches my kiddos math, has been having some trouble with them identifying what comes before and after numbers up to 20. So being that I love creating products, and she needed a little something.

So, I created an I have, who has game. My partner has used my I have, who has games before and loves the engagement, so I made it for her! You can snatch it up HERE.

We have an upcoming meeting in December to reflect on our instructional design this year. This year has been a true learning experience this far (one marking period in), especially in comparison to the way we taught last year (I had 5 rotations, and was able to teach ALL the first graders--97 kiddos). Anyway, I'll keep you posted, but enjoy the freebie! Happy November :)

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Momma with a Teaching Mission

Welcome! Welcome! Who doesn't L.O.V.E. a great blog hop, and THIS is a GREAT one!! We have many tricks and treats in store, so make sure you don't miss a stop on the hop! 

So first a little bit about me! My name is Melanie and I am a 1st grade teaching in Western Maryland. We are about finished the first marking period and have currently been working on report cards here where I am.

Now for the fun! 

One of the tricks I use as a classroom tool in my class is my "Secret Student". I write all my students names on popsicle sticks and house them in a small container that has magnets that is very close to my document camera. At the beginning of each day, I choose a popsicle stick, and place it face down. Throughout the day, I remind my students, "Remember I am watching the secret student, hopefully they are doing a nice job." At the end of the day, if the student has done a nice job all day- I do the "REVEALING OF THE SECRET STUDENT"--they love the suspense. Normally somehow I will reveal by writing out the number of letters and let the students guess letters (somewhat like hangman). If the secret student has not done a nice job, then I just say, "Oh my, the secret student hasn't done a nice job today, hopefully tomorrow's secret student will do a nice job."  If they are the secret student and do a nice job, I let them pick a prize from my prize jar. 

Now who doesn't love freebies and giveaways!! I know you do :) So my freebie will ONLY be free from October 24th through 31st. After that it will go back to being a paid product! You can snatch your freebie up by clicking this picture:

 These no prep printables are perfect for my beginning readers. It helps them to work on decoding the words, AND comprehending what they are thinking by drawing it! 

My kiddos beg for more of these during word work! I try to switch it up, so they get work on one or two a week.You can find it by clicking on the picture or clicking HERE!

Ok, I am SUPER excited about this giveaway!! I am giving away my Rockin' Readers for November! You can check it out by clicking on the image below.

 The whole thought process behind this product was this. My kids weren't succeeding. Our school has a phonics program that works really well for a lot of kids. My classroom of kiddos just aren't consistently succeeding with this program. So one of the administrators in our county came in and did a sample lesson, BOOM--the idea of Reading Rockstars was born!

From starting out introducing 4-5 words a week, then meeting daily for about 5-7 minutes to review them, by the end of the week, my kiddos are feeling confident and successful and can read these sentences!

 You can enter to wish November's Rocking Readers below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Now, make sure to trick and treat to the next blogger!! There are so many goodies in store for you!!

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Momma with a Teaching Mission

Happy Fall Y'all! I swear, I never get tired of saying that :) I am joining up with the fabulous crew from The Elementary Entourage and am so excited for...

Ok, so be honest, have you already been eating Halloween candy? I have (guilty!)! Of course I have an excuse :) It was on sale at CVS, so I felt like I had to get it!! And of course the hubs and I have eaten it all!

Ok, so let's talk about some tricks! I had my 1st formal observation of the year this week--it was Monday in fact (like really, who signs up to get observed on a Monday---yep this girl!). So with being a literacy teacher in 1st grade, I teach reading, writing, and small group to the 2 lowest classes of 1st graders. I absolutely LOVE it, but I really struggled with planning my lesson and incorporating all the things that "the Charlotte Danielson" model distinguishes me as a decent teacher.

Anyway, with talking to my special ed teacher, she told me about a website that she heard about at a special ed conference. The website is www.tarheelreader.org. You can go on that website and students can choose books to read by other students (or the computer will read it to them). You can even go on there and the students can create their own online books! Now my kiddos aren't able to do THAT yet, maybe your student are!! Here are some pictures from my lesson that my principal took!

The kids loved it and I did pretty well on my observation too!

Now a treat for you!! So with teaching the lower students, I have noticed one thing in common between them-- The phonics program we teach is not working for them. So after speaking with one of the district administrators, she came in and modeled a very simplistic and quick way to build their confidence as readers. So the idea of ROCKIN' READERS was born!

Now you can use flashcards and they would work just as well, but in the pack I have also included word work and printables to go with the words you are working on to reinforce it for the student.

 I knew there were struggling readers in every grade level. So my administration had me show this simple idea to the K and 2nd grade literacy teachers that have the lower level students as well. So I figured there were other students in other school and states that were frustrated and had no confidence, so I put it up on TpT. I love this product and believe in it! So far out of the 13 words I have introduced to the 13 students in my class 11 out of the 13 students have been able to successfully and independently recognize and read all 13 of the words. Now that is AMAZING for those kids :)

So this freebie is just for you in time for Halloween! You can find it by clicking on the image.

I am also having a sale Friday October 16th through Sunday October 18th, to celebrate the 3 day week, my observation being a success, AND reaching 1400 followers on TpT-- so make sure to stop by!

Make sure to hop along and get all the other tricks and treats!! Happy Treating :)

An InLinkz Link-up

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Momma with a Teaching Mission

Hello Hello! I am linking up with the amazing Rachael from The Classroom Game Nook for the monthly linky 10 on 10. You share 10 pictures on the 10th of each month with what's going on in your life!

So if you don't know about GO NOODLE you gotta go check it out! It is fabulous for BRAIN BREAKS or it even has INDOOR Recess Mixes. My kiddos just LOVE it, and so do I!

This week, we read Strega Nona, and I found this cute little retelling activity on Better Lesson, its a website where you can search for reading and math lessons by the common core standard.

SO last Sunday, it was pouring down rain. My husband wanted to go to an archery store (with bow season getting ready to start), we go to leave, the van won't start. So, my dear husband spent about 40 mins starting in the rain trying to fix the battery issue (which ended up beginning the starter needed replaced.) I had to call my father-in-law to come get us :(

If you follow me on Instagram (@ebersmel), you would have saw this post. So I'm a Target addict, and I love all their stuff, but especially their home decor. I just had to have 2 of their coffee mugs with me initials :)

I love the fact that on my drive home, I pass many fields, which are filled with cows. It's such a great reminder of all the important things in life. And to just take one day at a time.

This kid. She plays out like no kid I've ever seen. And God love her, she needs her naps. Without them she is one SUPER.HOT.MESS. This was a Saturday she didn't get her normal nap in, so she was out like a light on the way home from the grocery store.

Ok, so I am a first grade teacher. This year our kids are grouped by ability. I teach literacy all day long to two different groups of kiddos. My school district follows Wilson Fundations phonics program, which works for many students. However, my lowest group of kiddos, they are NOT phonics readers. So I created this more WHOLE language activity, you can find the FREE Halloween version HERE. Those 13 kiddos in that low group are reading the words I've introduced and feeling successful!

Just the fall season makes me happy. But I LOVE the fall inspired coffee drinks at Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts! My kind of fabulous!

My momma. She's my bff, my rock, and also the person who drives me the craziest! LOL :) But I love her! Here we were trying to find a parking spot in traffic for my older daughter's parade. My mom drives super slow, so finally I had to take over and drive!

This is my youngest son. He loves playing flag football, and I absolutely LOVE watching him :)

Make sure to check back next month for 10 more pictures about what's happening :) And head over to Rachael's blog to read more blogger's 10 on 10!

Wishing you a fab October!

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Momma with a Teaching Mission

Hi Friends!!

I am linking up with some super fab friends! I am linking up with Pawsitively Teaching and Inspired Owl's Corner for a fun linky!

So after spending hours scouring Pinterest for some awesome October picks, here are my 3 favs I found :)

So with October being a month full of wonderful things, the thing kids most look forward to is Halloween, so with that being said, here is one I found...

 Click on image to view original Pinterest link! So this website has so many cool ideas and crafty things for kiddos around Halloween!
The next image I found on Pinterest was from a fellow teacher blogger, Mrs. Mayas' Kindergarten.

Click on image to view original Pinterest link! I love the idea of taking a class poll and perhaps graphing about it!!

The 3rd thing I found that I LOVE is a product created by Keeping up with Mrs. Harris

She creates amazing lapbooks, if you aren't already following her TpT, head over there and check out her amazing products!!

Now it's your turn! We would love for you to link up and share your top 3 Pinterest finds for October! This linky is hosted on the 3rd of each month-so come join in on the fun!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Momma with a Teaching Mission