5 For Friday and a Freebie!

It has been forever since I have done a 5 for Friday post!  This week I am linking up and I thought I would share some of my favorite websites that I use in my classroom.

1. Kathy Ferrara – The Story Lady
Oh my, how much do my second graders love The Story Lady on YouTube?!? She has the greatest personality and the cutest dog!  She reads great books and ends every video with a positive affirmation. After searching for her site a couple times each week, I finally bookmarked her channel. Check it out if you teach at the primary level!



2. Go Noodle
Go Noodle is my go to site on those days!  Those days when you I mean your kids just need a break for a minute.  I have kids that need to move this year, but they also need to learn how to slow down.  This great site provides instant brain breaks with the motivation of using an avatar that grows by spending minutes doing activities.  There are Olympians who teach the kids how to do a sports event, Zumba and YouTube dance videos (all safely linked), yoga, and slow breathing exercises.  The kids love it and need it!

3. XtraMath
Oh how I love this site!  With the Common CORE, we are all working so hard on increasing fact fluency.  It can get old really quick.  XtraMath has been an easy way to practice fluency and monitor the growth of your students.  It has great reports to print out, is easy for students to log into and the best…it’s FREE!  Hopefully it will stay that way! My colleagues have been asking for online services that do the same thing and cost a bundle – but this one doesn’t cost anything!

4. Stickers and Charts
I have never been a big user of sticker charts and have used behavior charts sparingly, but this year, I have found the need to use visual reminders of things like homework completion.  I was spending a bit of my own money on sticker charts that just ended up in the garbage because the kids didn’t want to keep them. I checked out an old reliable site that I used a couple years ago when I needed a resource for behavior charts.  Stickers and Charts provides chart with all sorts themes and even charts that you can customize online. Love it!



5. ABCYA.com
Oh, I just love this site! This site has games and activities for many subject areas and skills and is organized by grade.  Forget put a links page on your website – this is all your kids need. My students use these activities to practice math fluency and language arts skills.  There is a really cute refrigerator with magnets and a fun, kid-friendly version of Wordle.

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A couple weeks I posted about my ever-growing stack hoard collection of professional books and how I wanted to make it a goal to read them.  Thus, the  "10 Professional Books" Challenge started! The beauty of this challenge is that you can read any book that supports you professionally. Here are the details:

Are you with me?  If you are, grab a button and click here to join the linky with the book you are planning to read for the month!

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Click here to join in the Linky any time this month!

I am reading:

Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement

by

Lucy Calkins, Mary Ehrenworth and Christopher Lehman

I have had this book in my collection for about a year now and have even read sections of it.  However, I have not read the whole book or truly processed it.  I love anything by Lucy Calkins as a literacy person and we are all so deep in the Common CORE right now that I think this would be a wonderful book to read.  I am also working on a research project that looks at the Common CORE for ELA through a genealogical perspective, tracing the roots of the Common CORE and how it is being lived by teachers. This book provides so much wonderful information for this project.

I hope that you will dust off those professional book and join me on this professional journey!

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Finally…the Freebie! Click to go a free sample of my newest product: Sticky Note Reading Response Boards.

Have a fantastic weekend!

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