Snow Day (Or Ice Day....Either Way It's a Day to Play!)

We had our first "snow" day today. Although, it was more like an ice day.  But, HEY!, I'll take a day off either way.  Knowing how crazy it can be when we go back, it is always nice to have a little writing activity for the children to do.  Here is a FREEBIE for you to grab and use!

Snow Day Writing FREEBIE!

Enjoy!  

Valentine's Day Math Unit and Freebie!

It's hard to believe that Valentine's Day is right around the corner! It can be such a fun day, IF you are organized and have enough to keep those students engaged. Our principal was always great about giving the students to have some time to exchange Valentine's with one another. To make it a fun DAY, I always tried to plan activities that were based on our learned skill. 

Word problems seem to be difficult for students, so what better way to gain more practice than to do a cute math lesson?! Better yet, this is FREE on my TPT store!
Valentine's Day Math FREEBIE!

 If you would like to purchase the unit, it is also on my TPT store:
Valentine's Day Math Unit

Greek and Latin Roots

One of my favorite skills to teach are Latin and Greek roots. After having my daughter take etymology, I wished that I had that when I was in school! Wow! My eyes were opened through studying with her.  

Fourth and fifth graders need to be taught Greek and Latin roots so they can build their understanding of words and the history of words. Students increase their ability to decipher unfamiliar words, improve their spelling capabilities, allowing for students to be better with vocabulary, have stronger word attack strategies and be stronger readers.

This is a graphic organizer booklet that I use for Latin, Greek, and Anglo Saxon roots. 

Students are usually familiar with Anglo Saxon roots, however often they do not know that they are Anglo Saxon. So, reviewing is a good way to start before jumping into Latin roots.  You can find this on my TPT store at A Southern Classroom.

Another way to teach these roots is to use index cards. Green cards for Greek, lavender for Latin, yellow for Anglo Saxon, and pink for Prefixes.

Anglo Saxon Prefixes

Latin Roots - A "L" is placed on the right side, with the definition of the word on the left.
Examples of words that have the root in it are then below.

Index cards on a ring for quick reference.

I do like this idea, however since I am working with Tier 3 students and have a very limited amount of time, I have found this to be a little more time consuming. Plus, it does take some organization. When you have limited space as I do in my "classroom", it is difficult to be organized. 

My little classroom.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! A three day weekend is around the corner!

My Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Back in the spring, I started a Teachers Pay Teachers store. I was doing great making new curriculum for the reading centers. However, with the move, I had to stop. There just was not enough time, or energy to keep up. Now that the holidays are over, there are not any more boxes to unpack, and it seems that the kids (and husband) are functioning and surviving, I am going to start my store back up.
Since I am now an instructional specialist, I have had to come up with a few forms to keep myself organized. Here is a sheet that I use for conferences with parents. It really helps keep all the information in one place, allowing me to not shuffle around during the conference. The best part is, it is FREE!!

RTI Conference Sheet


Check out my store at:
A Southern Classroom

New Beginnings

Hello! Welcome to my blog! I plan on sharing information that you can use in your classroom. As educators, we do not have time to search for good resources, so we need to share! If at any time you have something to share, post it.  Everyone will be very thankful!

I am an educator of 10 years, who has taught in Virginia and Tennessee, both west and middle. I currently went to from the classroom to being an interventionist, an uncharted territory for me. However, I absolutely love it! The school that I work at is amazing, the people who work there love their job and the children. God truly was looking out for me when he gave me this position. I only hope that I can be the educator that I am needed to be to the students that have been placed before me.