Currently

Hey, folks! Here's my currently for June, and really, that's all I have for this blog post. I'm going to be honest... I've been enjoying my summer and working my part-time job, and haven't really thought about my next blog post. I promise to work up something to post in the not-so-distant future. :) I hope you guys are enjoying your summer break! <drumroll> And now... my Currently!!

Show Me Sunday Linky!

My friends at the 3-6 Free Resources have started a great linky party focusing on great instructional websites. You can grab their badge and participate in the fun!

Check out 3-6 Free Resources!!

 I love having my kids blog on this website. It's safe, easy, and KidBlog accounts are completely free. I'm especially excited to use KidBlogs in the fall because MANY of my bloggy friends also use this. I can't wait to get a collaborative project started!!

 This is relatively new to me as one of my new co-workers recently introduced me to this site. Students can go on and play games that reinforce classroom learning. As students complete the activities and games, they earn points for prizes you set up on your class's Scootpad page. It's going to be fun exploring this site with my students in the fall!

 I love ClassDojo as a part of my classroom management. I've blogged on it before, so you can check out my post here.

  FreeRice is a great way to help your students boost their vocabulary. Students are given a word and they guess the meaning. If they get it right, grains of rice are donated to families who do not have enough food to eat. You can also play using math facts, geography, and other subjects!

 This site allows students to create word clouds to provide a fun and unique way to practice spelling, vocabulary, or even a way to discuss theme or characterization in reading. 

There so many more that I could write about, but I'll go ahead and end it here. I want to go read and see what others have put up. :) Have a wonderful Sunday!

A Little "Light" Reading

One of my favorite blogs to stalk, the Clutter-Free Classroom, is hosting a linky party about our summer reading plans, plus there's a contest for a $15 gift certificate. Woot! I just gotta link up!

Click the pic to go directly to the Linky Party & Contest!

Here's what I'm reading currently:

I am a huge Rick Riordan fan and have read the other Kane Chronicle books, so I had to get this downloaded to my Kindle. This is a great read for upper elementary grades and is FULL of Egyptian history and myth!

I plan on re-reading these two books and begin to map out what Daily 5 is going to look like in my classroom. I'm very excited because I'm going to a district where everyone does D5! It's going to be a great learning experience!

Here are a few I plan on reading this summer:

I really want to beef up my writing instruction next year, and this is a book

I keep seeing in the "blogosphere". It's got to be good!

This is another one I've heard buzz about. I've heard excellent things about Debbie Diller, so I look
forward to learning more about doing small groups more effectively. 

Ok, now it's your turn to link up and share your summer reading plans! Have a faboo Friday!!

Music in the Classroom Link Up

I ran across a post from Jack of All Trades, Beg, Borrow, & Teach! and Special Teaching in Middle about using music and video to help students remember concepts better, so I thought I'd link up because I LOVE using music in the classroom. They each posted some really neat video and music ideas, so go read their blogs when you are finished with mine! ;)

First of all, I love using music simply as background music. There are research-based studies that state music with certain beats per minute actually stimulates thinking and focus. With this in mind, I like to use sites like Pandora or Grooveshark to simply play what I call "thinking music" while students are working. You can search for classical music or (my favorite) Celtic music and create stations on each of these sites.

Now, if you're looking for music/video to actually reinforce instruction,  I love School House Rock. Yeah, I know, it's "old school," but the oldies never die, my friends! Another class-favorite is Teacher & the Rockbots. I've linked up a few videos we've used in class. Enjoy!

We break out the air guitars and rock out to the 50 States song.

This is another fun one the kids enjoy!

An oldie, but a goodie!

Now, it's your turn! Link up and share your favorite learnin' tunes and vids! :) 

Josh

Friday Freebie, BookSource, & My New Classroom!

Happy Friday! I hope you have wonderful plans for the long weekend. As for my wife and I, I think we are "stay-cationing" for the weekend!

I wanted to let you know that I've posted a freebie in my TpT store! You can click the little button over there on the right or follow this link to download my IPICK Bookmarks. I tried to post a nice little picture of them on here, but for whatever reason, they were coming out really blurry. So, just click the link to get your freebie!

Next up... I've been waffling back and forth on how to organize my classroom library because it seems every year I start a system I think will be good only to have it fall apart half way through the school year. I went out in search of blog posts on the subject and one in particular led me to...

http:///classroom.booksource.com

The only problem is... I can't remember which blog it was! If you pointed me to the Classroom Organizer, please comment below so I can give you the accolades you deserve! Update: I figured out who pointed me in the direction of Booksource -- Tiffani from Time4Organization! Check out her blog - lots of great organizational ideas there!

Anyhoot... I just spent the last day or so cataloging 393 books by scanning the bar codes with an iPhone (free app also available for Android) and now I have a spreadsheet with titles & guided reading levels. How cool is that?! What is more, you can create a class roster and have your students check out your books using the online tools! It's definitely worth a look!!

Finally... I got to visit my new classroom the other day! I thought I'd post a few "before" pictures for you guys.

Maybe where my classroom library will be?

Student workstations

Student workstations

I'm thinking is will be my "meeting" area for Morning Meeting and minilessons.

I have a sink! Woot!

Teacher workstation

Cubbies with additional storage up top! Score!

This will be the CAFE menu for Daily 5. 

Presently, my challenge is where I will put my bean bags and other reading furniture I had in my other classroom. I'd love to have a designated reading area, but we may have to get creative with how we do that.

So, I guess that's it for today! Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! Be sure to show your appreciation for our military this weekend! :)