Where does the summer go? Feels like I just put everything away in my classroom and now it’s time to get it all out. Beach memories will make it be ok! So now it’s time to think about the data! Don’t panic! www.carsondellosa.com  is here to help! There is a wonderful resource to help with getting and keeping the math data – Math Instant Assessments for Data Tracking . Sounds like a mouth full of a title, but it’s packed a lot into the almost 100 pages. Wonderfully aligned with the CCS. It is divided into the five domains for math – counting and cardinality, operations and algebraic thinking, number operations in base ten, measurement and data, and geometry. That way you can concentrate on the area you need. The book gives you lots of information too about the assessments, types of assessments and how to use it and the different components in it. It has exit tickets, unit tests, traditional assessments and prompt cards. This will be awesome to use to help form sma...

Interactive Word Study http://www.carsondellosa.com/products/104946--Word-Study-Resource-Book-104946#/?book media type=f389e45b92884d48844baaf09d49e3c5 Carson-Dellosa sent me a GREAT back to school package! I couldn’t believe my luck when I opened it up! I was wanting to do more of this in the upcoming school year- did they read my mind? My kinders LOVED doing interactive math journals last year. I knew I needed to do more with ELA. They answered my prayers. 😊 Interactive Notebooks Word Study is the latest book from CD Publishing on my bookshelf. It covers TONS! From sight words to phonics (and not just general phonics!) to syllabication patterns to word parts. OH MY! I thought it was just going to be sight words, but happily so much more! Then when I saw that, I thought – oh, we could divide the notebook into sections. GUESS WHAT? They have tabs that you can run off and use. I’m thinking bright colored paper for that (wink, wink). That also tells you about the last s...

Are you thinking about it? Has it crept into your thoughts? Did you start dreaming about it yet? Did you start shopping?  Do I mention it? Back to school! LOL I have done a few projects. I have done some thinking. I have also realized I do MUCH better with a schedule! We are empty nesters this summer. First summer in 23 years. It is so quiet! It is so peaceful. I have totally relaxed and enjoyed the quiet.   We know that July is the Saturday of the weekend. It is early July – so it is still morning time. Here’s hoping that I can get some more things done on the to do list! Well, since we started talking about BTS, let me tell you about @carson-dellosa’s AIM HIGH collection! So perfect for working with growth mindset! The colors are beautiful. They are bright yet subtle all at once. The mini bulletin board set has TONS! It has a header, inspirational arrows, blank arrows, targets in different sizes, and student pieces. I don’t know if I would consider that mini. That i...

This is a great resource from Carson Dellosa. I'm not sure with that I will be able to start out the year using it with all of my students. Many of my students do not have school experience when they start kindergarten. The first chapter is numbers 1-100. Many of them are not ready for that. We get there, but not right away. Mind you, some of them are! I will be able to use it right away with them.  I am thinking that this will be a great resource to use with my guided math groups. It will be a great way to group students who need additional help in a particular area. There are five chapters - 1: Counting and Writing Numbers; 2- Working with Numbers; 3- Adding and Subtracting; 4- Measurement and Data; and 5- Geometry. They all sound familiar don't they?? lol I like that there are pre, post, mid and final tests. That is so useful to make sure that they are still using the skills that have been taught. There is also an answer key! I did double check myself on something...

Soar With a New Mindset This new mini bulletin board set from @CDPub is great! How cute a bulletin board is this. Well, not the picture itself. The set! The picture is BAD! I know! It's the end of the year and things are coming down, not going up. I'm planning a neat one for the fall with this set. Everyone else starts thinking about the fall at the end of the year, correct? ;-) I have a small bulletin board that this will be perfect for- not too much but very helpful!  What a great way this will be to introduce growth mindset to the new kindergartners. We can make hot air balloons (or get the Soaring To Success set from CD) for each kid and watch them SOAR to new heights as they learn new things! We will be able to discuss how, why and what to do to keep moving forward. This is going to be great!  Start planning for next year. Don't let this great value go to waste! I love that it shows both growth and fixed mindsets. We need that starting point. They need to se...

We all need the data!  Carson-Dellosa has a new resource for us! Language Arts Instant Assessments for Data Tracking! Sounds like a lot - and it is! We may not always want to assess, but it is part of the job. This resource gives us different and helpful ways to get that data. I think it might even be easy- shhhh don’t tell the administrators that! These assessments can be used in many different ways- pre/posttest, exit tickets and even during small group lessons. It includes different formats that can be used in different ways. More bang for your buck! It covers reading literature, informational texts, foundational skills, writing, conventions and vocab. The students love showing what they know – there are two of these so you don’t need to come up with a pre-and posttest. They did this for us! Exit tickets – I was really wondering about this one when I first saw it. We might be able to do some of these now at this point of the year, but not earlier. The more I looked ...

Stickers and notepads! A teacher’s favorite things! These cute fall resources from Carson Dellosa are perfect for so many things! Not just the obvious. We know we can put stickers on papers as we grade them. We know we can write notes home about how great our students are on the notepads. We can also use them in other ways. We can use the stickers in a rebus sentence or story for our beginner writers. We can use them as counters in ten frames to make a matching center. We can use them to make patterns. They are a great quick way to get a picture in a center activity. The notepads can be used the same way. Each student could get one and write a sentence for a class book. The paper is already done for you. You could use the notepad to make matching pieces for an alphabet game, beginning sounds game, matching numbers to sets, matching numbers to ten frames. The list goes on as far as you need it. These are great quality products from Carson Dellosa. So cute for this time of the year! As ...