Wanted: Intervention Ideas!

Hey y'all! After 8 red behavior notes today this teacher is ready for a visit with Marge and Rita. Before I head out for Mexican, I need your help! I am leading a session for first and second year teachers soon and I am trying to compile classroom-tested intervention ideas! How do you help your most struggling students? What are some must-have intervention resources? I'll give away my newest unit to one lucky contributor! So, let's hear those fabulous intervention ideas! :


I'll start by sharing how I taught one of my little scholars the number 6. This little fella began kindergarten extremely behind. While he has made great gains (he can hold a pencil now and listen attentively to a story!) he is still working on learning numbers. We have mastered numbers one through 5 so yesterday during my planning time (intervention time doesn't exist at our school) we worked on number 6. Sometimes simple things like paper, index cards, and markers do the trick! 


After showing my sweetie the number six and tracing it using a sandpaper six, I set out these cards. He had to pick up each six and say, "This is number 6." While we were working on identifying the number 6 and not counting quantities of 6, he still struggles with one-to-one correspondence so I threw the quantity cards in too! 

Then we went on a number hunt...first using this paper where he circled all the number 6s and then up and down the hallways. We found number 6 all over our school and he was SO PROUD to show off how smart he was! :) 

Off to Mexican for dinner...I can't wait to read all of your fabulous intervention ideas when I get back! :) 



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Addition and Subtraction Story Sticks [Freebie]

Hi friends! I hope y'all had a marvelous Monday! We had a minimum day with professional development in the afternoon. Not a bad way to start the week :)

Yesterday I decided to drive the hour to the closest PetSmart and buy a class pet. I don't like anything rodent-like, so mice, gerbils, hamsters and guinea pigs were out of the question. Fish are boring and cleaning a tank out is WAY more work than I am interested in. I decided on a hermit crab and picked the biggest one they had. We brought the little guy home, set him on the kitchen counter so I could show my little scholars today. He didn't move much last night but I figured that the little guy was traumatized from being removed from his hermit friends and just trying to adjust to his new life. Well, I woke up this morning and my poor little guy still hadn't moved. Turns out I bought a DEAD hermit crab! Maybe I should take it as a sign that I'm just not meant to have a class pet? Or perhaps I shall use this as an excuse to go to my favorite Mediterranean restaurant that just so happens to be in the same town as PetSmart. Thoughts?

RIP Little Guy

I finally got my St. Patrick's Day unit together! Of everything I created, I must say I am most proud of this one. If you're in the market for a St. Patrick's Day unit and hey, even if you're not...go check it out! There are 7 math activities and 5 literacy activities including a book list and a fun leprechaun trap writing activity! The best part? ITS ON SALE! Click the picture below to check it out :) 


Back to the purpose of this post, I wrote about the addition and subtraction sticks I use in my classroom. We've been working on solving addition and subtraction stories lately and I created them to check for understanding before acting out the problems and writing equations. We used them again today in small groups with some math story mats I created. 


You can grab the addition and subtraction sticks [HERE]!

Off to eat some Thin Mints... PTL its Girl Scout cookie season! :)  
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Addition and Subtraction

Hi there friends! Its only 7pm but I am already lounging in my PJs. There's just something about Sunday nights that make me oh so lazy. So, with my pint of Ben and Jerry's in hand I shall share what we've been doing with addition and subtraction lately.

We started out several weeks ago playing this fun little game to build the fluency of facts within 5. I gave each pair of students 5 pom poms.

 The students took turns "hiding" some of the pom poms while their partner had to figure out how many were missing. I loved observing my students during this activity as I was able to notice the strategies they used for figuring out how many were missing. Some students used their fingers, some tapped the rug, and others were definitely imagining a 5 frame in their heads.  

This past week we have been acting out addition and subtraction stories. I introduced them whole group during math meeting and then began working with our math story mats during small group. Some of my little scholars were still getting confused between add/plus/put together and subtract/minus/take-away. I wanted a quick way to check for understanding so I came up with these little goodies...


As my little scholars listen to the addition and subtraction story, they listen for words that tell them if we're going to be adding or subtracting. Before they "act it out" they use their addition/subtraction stick to show me which sign they'll be using. I found this was especially helpful when writing the equations because they had already identified which sign they'd be using before even beginning! 

I found this fabulous video by none other than Mr. Harry...check it out! 

I will upload the addition/subtraction sticks to TpT tomorrow...its taking FOREVER to load now and if I sit at this computer any longer I will finish this pint of Ben & Jerry's! 

Be back tomorrow! :)

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What's New with Writing [Freebie!]


Hi there friends! Its been a while but I wanted to pop in to share what we've been up to. Aside from finishing up my National Board portfolio, leading professional development for 1st and 2nd year teachers and trying to figure out where I'm going to be teaching next year (more on that later!), things are going well! I have every single Writer's Workshop packet from Deedee Wills and Deanna Jump and let me tell you...they are the best money I have ever spent! They have been such a fabulous resource. Writer's Workshop time has become MY favorite time of the day. I wanted to share some of the work my little scholars have done lately. The majority of my students began kindergarten knowing few letters, if any at all, and many couldn't hold a pencil. It's only February and look at the growth they have made!

"I went tot he park and a fire ant bit me."
This little sweetie had never been to school before and knew not a single letter or number on the first day of school. Do you see the kiddo on the slide in her illustration? LOVE it! 


"My birthday is fixin' to come up and I'm fixin' to be 6 years old."
Can you tell that I teach in the south?


One of my favorite components of Writer's Workshop is sharing our work. Like all little ones, my little scholars are SO PROUD of their work and beg to share every day. While I would LOVE to spend all day writing, y'all know how much we've got to cover so I came up with these nifty cards to keep things rolling. I hand them to 6 students during Writer's Workshop conference time and only students with the card get to share when we gather on the rug. We have a saying in our class, "You get what you get, and you don't get upset!" and every few days or so everyone will have a chance to share.


You can grab the cards [HERE] for free! 

Now tell me...what are some of your Writer's Workshop must-haves? 






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Reunited and it feels so good!


Y'all, where has the year gone? I suppose I should explain my latest blogging hiatus....Well, the March 31st National Board deadline has been looming over me and I have been so stressed with getting all of it together. Then I got quite possibly the BEST.EMAIL.EVER. on Friday. NBPTS is transitioning to electronic submission and the deadline has been extended, so now I get to submit my portfolio between April 1st and May 31st. What a relief! Now I feel like I have time to do other important things like catch up with all my friends in the blogosphere!

 I love this time of the school year...my kiddos are so much more independent and are growing into such fabulous readers and writers. Last week my kiddos learned short e (Read Well teachers long e first) and they are getting so good at decoding CVC words. I introduced blending CVC words with these segmenting and blending cards and they really helped my struggling students. 


We read these words on the pocket chart. 


I have included some CVC fun in our literacy centers to give my kiddos extra practice! Nothing like a good ol' cut and paste...

And I added this to our magnet letter center...

My assistant will be out tomorrow so instead of going to her table for remediation, my kiddos will be playing CVC bingo! I made an I Can chart so they can play independently while I teach small groups.


I uploaded the short e cut and paste and pocket chart cards to TpT. You can grab them [HERE]. You can find the complete CVC pack [HERE].  

I'll be back tomorrow with some Writer's Workshop fun..and freebies, of course! :) 
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