A Trait A Day: Character Traits

Teaching character traits is one of the first skills we cover in reading and it's also one of my favorite things to teach! When I taught this lesson last year, it went great except for one tiny detail. While my kids could identify traits and assign them to certain characters based on actions, dialogue, interactions, etc., they didn't know the meaning of a lot of the traits. That's when I realized that I needed to expose my kids to more vocabulary and increase their knowledge of these words. Thus, A Trait A Day was born.

I can't wait to use this next year! I made this into a mini bulletin board that will hang in my classroom. The display pieces are included in the pack.

I'll change the trait sheets each day and we will study a new trait. I may have them do something with it or include a task in their warm ups. I haven't decided yet. The traits correlate with my Character Comprehension unit and accompany this chart.

Click here to grab a copy! :)

Oh, Snap!

Okay, so if you've been on Instagram, Facebook, or any blogs today, chances are you've noticed something about a scavenger hunt. If you haven't yet, go check out Blog Hoppin' right now! Seriously, y'all this is SOOO fun! :) Hop over to Blog Hoppin' and read all about it! :) I can't wait to start snapping pics...follow me on Instagram and play along! My username is msleslieann01 :)

5 for Friday

{1}Happy 4th of July, y'all! 

{2} Organizing my Pinterest boards...follow me! msleslieann01

{3} Planning out blog posts for here and Southern Belle Inspired :)

{4} Tried the new Ginger Ale drink from Starbucks. Oh my goodness! So good! 

{5} Spending the remainder of the day shopping on TpT...my store (along with lots others!) are on SALE! Click here to shop!

4th of July SALE!

Happy 4th of July, y'all! Before you hit the water, why not shop? I know I will be! My entire store is 20% off today and tomorrow! :) :) Click here to shop! 

I'll be back later today to link up with Doodle Bugs for 5 for Friday. 

Throwback Thursday: Classroom Design from 2011

It's Throwback Thursday! Let's go back to August 2011 and revisit one of my favorite classroom designs :) Maybe you'll see something that you could use in your classroom! :)

I've posted most of these pics already, but for the sake of formality, I'm going to post them all together in one nice and neat entry :) I'm loving seeing everyone else's classroom pictures! I love getting ideas! :)

Meeting area/ Buddy Reading Center

Writing Center

Concept Question Board

Math Focus Board

Front of the room

Sounds Board

Mailboxes

Back corner

Job Chart

Cubbies and Student Work Display

Small group meeting area/word wall/ focus board

part of my desk and the beloved Elmo

Behavior Chart

What I'm Working on Wednesday

Hey y'all! Just stopped by to quickly share with y'all what I'm working on. :) I uploaded my Warm Ups for the Entire Year (5th grade version) on Monday, but after several requests, I've started aligning each activity to the CCSS. Hopefully it will be up soon! If you have already purchased this, don't worry! You can download the revised unit when it is complete.

I'm also working on my newest unit, A Trait A Day. I can't wait to get this completed. It will help so much with my kids learning new vocabulary words. Whenever I taught character traits last year, I noticed that my kids were unfamiliar with a lot of the traits, so I decided to start early on this coming year and increase the students' vocabulary! 

Book Talk Tuesday~ Resource Books

Hey y'all! I wanted to share my all time FAVORITE resource books (I call them "teacher books"). These are books I constantly refer to and use to plan/create lessons. Click each picture to read more about each book :)

If you aren't familiar with Ron Clark, you need to be! Oh my goodness! He is my teaching idol. If I'm ever uninspired or not in a "teaching mood", I pull out his book The End of Molasses Classes and read. I promise you it will change the way you go about teaching. It's now my professional goal to move to Atlanta and teach at the Ron Clark Academy. Let me warn you though: I don't think I've ever picked up the book and did not started crying. The stories are so wonderful and it is amazing how he has helped so many kids. This book is a MUST HAVE for teachers! Click the pic to grab your copy.

Debbie Miller is one of my favorite authors and Reading With Meaning is one of the first resource books I bought. This has some wonderful tips on teaching reading, especially in the younger grades. I used it a ton when I taught 1st.

I also LOVED Debbie Diller 's (not to be confused with Debbie Miller!) Literacy Work Stations and Math Work Stations when I taught first. There are some absolutely wonderful center ideas that are easy to make. The math one helped so much when we implemented Go Math! my last year.

This next book is one I was required to have in college and at the time, I didn't realize what a valuable resource it was. When I got hired as a first grade teacher, I quickly found myself reaching for this book. It helped me find activities to use in my word work center and it includes fantastic lists of words for lots of vowel sounds and patterns. I LOVE this book! 

Anything by Fountas and Pinnell is extraordinary. I love reading how they recommend setting up a classroom and what needs to be included. Love! 

This book is one that I just ordered today after seeing so many people instagram it. Are you on instagram? It's my favorite way to share what I'm working on! Follow me: msleslieann01

Anyways, this book looks great! I'm always up for learning more on close right, aren't you? :)

I read The Book Whisper last summer and while some of it simply doesn't work with my schedule of 3 classes, I did find lots of tips and advice that I used all throughout this past school year. It doesn't just apply to upper grades, though. The message is how to create a love of literature in each of your students. I'm currently reading her other book, Reading in the Wild as part of a book study. 

Check out more great books over at Mrs. Jump's Class!