One Minute Reader

Does your school use Read Naturally Live?  My district uses the program for students who need a little extra support in reading. The goal of the program is to develop and support the five essential components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.   

The program combines teacher modeling, repeated reading, and progress monitoring. Students listen, read, retell, answer comprehension questions, and receive immediate feedback on their progress. They can even earn gold ribbons for achieving goals determined by their teacher.  

The company recently released an 'at home' version, One Minute Reader, which is available for the iPad. There are 6 levels ranging from early reader to grade five. The free version offers one free story at each level. You can download the rest of the stories at each level for a small fee.  

Elements of One Minute Reader:

• Timed Cold Read
• Read Along with a Fluent Model
• Practice Reading Independently
• Take a Quiz
• Timed Hot Read

Check it out in the App Store. If you have young readers at home, you may just love this app.  :)

What programs are used by your school district to support students in reading?  I love to hear from you!  :)

April Currently

It's time to link up with Farley for April's Currently...

The Good Wife is a Sunday ritual for me.

I spent the day watching The Bible on television, enjoying the aroma of an Easter ham in the oven, and hanging out with my favorite people in the whole world.  

I can't believe the marking period closes this week, and my report cards will be due soon.

We've had two snowstorms since spring began.  I am so over snow.  Give me sunshine, warm weather, and spring flowers, please. 

Our Spring Break was only one day, Good Friday, due to make up days for a hurricane and a not-so-snowy snow day.  I really need another day of relaxation.  

And finally my advice (which I need to be following myself)... Approach every task with a positive attitude.  It makes life so much more pleasant.  :)

If you haven't linked up with Farley yet, hurry over there and join the fun.  :)

A New TpT Store :)

I am so excited for my bloggy friend, Jen,  from That First Grade Blog who recently opened up a TpT store. She has been working on a Non-Fiction unit with her students and refining a student pack to share with all of you. I got a sneak peak at the final product before it went up for sale.  Lucky me :)  I'll be using it with my little readers, for sure.

Non-Fiction Reading Responses, Grades 1-3

This product very thoughtfully walks students through reading a non-fiction book one step at a time.  Students will learn how to take picture walk, make predictions, activate prior knowledge, complete a KWL chart,  generate questions, determine the topic, main idea, and details of a text, and make comparisons between two non-fiction texts.

If you are looking for non-fiction reading responses, this is the pack for you.  You can visit Jen's blog to read more about the pack and download a freebie *here* or visit Jen's TpT store *here*.  Hurry! It's on sale this weekend.  :)

Happy Easter, sweet friends!

A Bunny and a Blog

Spring break is almost here, and I can hardly contain my excitement. I have one more day of teaching, and then I'll be home with my family for three glorious days. Yep, you read that right. We get three days, 1-2-3. That's Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  The rest of our Spring Break was taken away by a hurricane and a not-so-snowy snowstorm. But I'm choosing to look at the bright side. My daughter, Ashley, will be home from college for the weekend.  :)

Just in time for Easter and your spring gardening, I have a great book to share with you, Tops and Bottoms, by Janet Stevens.  Tops and Bottoms is a funny tale about a lazy bear and a business-savvy hare. This is one clever bunny book!

I love this book for so many reasons.  The illustrations are beautiful and will capture your students' attention immediately. The book flips open from the bottom, which is an unexpected surprise that children love. This story also teaches a valuable lesson. 

Additionally, children will have many opportunities to practice using higher level thinking skills like determining importance and making inferences. This book is also a great launch for studying plants.  And finally, your students will giggle with delight as they catch-on to Hare's sneaky plan.

Speaking of Easter and Spring (and warmer weather please)...I'm linking up with Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge for a fabulous spring linky.  It's time to recognize my all-time favorite blog, Kristin's A Teeny Tiny Teacher. This one blog single-handedly makes me laugh, gives me inspiration, and keeps me anxiously awaiting the next post.  :)  

Here are a few reasons why I follow Kristin's blog...

• She has great teaching ideas. Check out her TpT store.
• She eats junk food (and is proud of it) just like me.
• She blogs about The Bachelor.  I'm a Reality-TV junkie.
• I'm sure if we met, we'd be BFFs :)
• She is super funny.  Sometimes my sides hurt from reading her blog. I'm sure you've already found her.  But if not, go quickly and follow her blog.  :)

Link-up with Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge and show some bloggy love for your favorite blog.

Happy Spring!  Happy Days-Off-School!  Happy Easter!

Bingo Bash

A School-Wide Reading Program

Each year our school offers a school-wide reading incentive program. Students are challenged to read nightly for a specific number of minutes.  Those who participate and return their signed reading logs each month earn privileges and rewards at school.  If you missed my post about Hit the Books, you can read it here.  To earn the privilege of attending the Bingo Bash, students had to complete the reading challenge for the past two months.  

It's Reward Time!

The assembly began in our auditorium with a baseball read-aloud, Mighty Jackie: The Strike Out Queen by Marissa Moss.  

This is a true story of female baseball player, Jackie Mitchell, who made history in 1931 when she struck out two of baseball's greatest athletes, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.  If you haven't read Mighty Jackie, check it out.  This is a gem of a story that will capture the interest of boys and girls alike.   

Let me hear you shout, BINGO!  

Next we moved to the cafe to play a serious game of bingo.  Competition was intense as students played to win tons of great books and posters.  A super time was had by all!

Our next reward is a movie matinee.  Students who complete the challenge will earn a movie, popcorn, and a chance to win their favorite books.  

I'd love to hear what your school does to promote independent reading at home.  We are always looking for fresh new ideas to keep our students motivated to read.

March Currently

It's time to link up with Farley for March's Currently...

Listening:  Shhhh!...don't tell, but I may be addicted Flip This House and a variety of other house renovation shows.  I have Spring Fever already and I'm ready to take on a new home improvement  project.

Dreams Tulum, Mexico

Loving:  My daughter is home for the weekend from college.  She is half-way through her student teaching assignment...High School - History.  I love having her home.  We are going on a little mommy-daughter lunch date today.  :)

Us Weekly

Thinking:  I can't wait for The Bachelor finale.  It's a guilty pleasure, I know, but I watch it and text my other 'reality tv-junkie' friends throughout the show.  Maybe this year we'll have a viewing party.  Is that bad?

Wanting:  I am super hungry for a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting.  I do not NEED a cupcake for sure, but oh boy, I'm craving one.  Praying for the strength to resist.

The Color Run

Needing:  I signed up for my first official Color Run.  I'm not a runner, but I wanna be.  Must. Get. Started.  

Like: Warm weather and sunshine are a must!

Love: Weekends...especially three-day weekends.  I took a personal day Friday.  I love Fridays off...even though we went to get our taxes done, it was still a day off with the Mr.  :)

Hate: I wanted to say, "filing taxes" but that doesn't start with a "W" :(  so I decided to go with "worrying" since I do way to much of that.

March Currently

If you haven't linked up with Farley yet, hop on over and join the fun!  

Blogs by States

Do you ever wonder if there are other bloggers out there from your area?  Diane from Fifth in the Middle is hosting a Blogs by States linky.  This is a great way to meet other bloggy friends that live nearby, so I'm joining in the fun.  

So glad you stopped by for a visit.  :)  Be sure check out Fifth in the Middle and link up!