Independent reading is always my favorite part of the day as a teacher. It’s a meaningful activity that your class can do every day. Once the kids have the routine down, it’s a great time for you to pull a guided reading group or do a running record, etc.

 

At the beginning, I set these expectations:

1. Everyone picks out 4 books to read and sits at their seat.

2. Don’t open the books until the teacher starts the timer. If you’re a student waiting for others to get their books, look at the cover and back of your books.

3. The teacher sets the timer for 7 minutes the first time (or whatever time you think your class can handle to start). I usually start with 7 minutes. Then, I work up to 10, 15, and 20 minutes as the kids improve at being able to sit and read for that length of time.

4. You can say “go” or “ready, set, read,” or whatever you’d like as they get started and you set the timer.

5. There is no talking during this time, but they’re more than welcome to whisper read.

6. If they finish their books, they need to reread until the timer goes off.

Later, once I start adding more time, I allow the kids to trade books with others at their table, as long as they trade without talking. You’ll probably need to model all of these tasks until the students understand what’s expected.

Also, a few weeks later, once they’re doing well with the independent reading routine, I give them a couple of minutes to talk about their books with a partner after the timer goes off.

Hopefully this time of day ranks near the top for you as well!

~Carrie

 

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Have you ever made a photo book on an online site?  It’s basically a hardcover book with pages filled with your photos. I rarely get my 4 x 6’s processed anymore. But, I still love holding the photos in my hands sometimes, so that’s what I love about photo books. I’ve gotten in the habit of making one of my family about every six months. I label the spine with “Spring/Summer 2013”, etc.

I also love giving them as gifts. It’s a nice, personal birthday or Christmas gift. In the above picture, the four books on the left are some of the photo books I’ve made online, while all the albums on the right are from the past.

The top 3 reasons I love making online photo books:

1. They take up less room than regular photo albums (see above picture).

2. You can make some photos small and some large. Sometimes if you have a picture of a whole room, it looks great when it takes up a whole page. And if you have a close-up of someone, you can make that 1 of 4 pictures on a page, etc. The large picture in the book below is my husband and daughter flying a kite.

3. You can put pictures side by side that show growth really easily.  One of my favorites is the page below where it shows a picture of me holding my son when he was about three days old and then a picture right beside it with me holding him when he was about a year old.

The two sites I’ve used the most are Shutterfly and Snapfish. I’ve used them because I’ve been able to score a lot of free books by collecting points through My Coke Rewards, Pampers Points, and other reward programs. Also, sometimes Snapfish, Shutterfly, and other photo book companies will send you codes to make free books. If you get a code from them, you just usually have to pay shipping, which averages around $7 per book. Even if you have to pay full price, I think it’s worth it to make these books!

~Carrie

 

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Ding dong! We love having a “No Soliciting” sign near our door. It saves us time answering the door and talking to solicitors. It also comes in handy if you have a baby who may wake up with the sound of a doorbell or a dog barking to the sound of the bell. I hope you enjoy this free printable!

 

I “laminated” it by attaching a piece of wide clear tape to both the front and back of the little sign.

Download the “No Soliciting” sign here

Directions:
1. Cut out your sign.
2. Laminate or attach clear tape to both the front and back of the sign. I used the clear tape and it worked well. I just had to trim it a bit.
3. Hang the sign up by your doorbell using rolled duct tape, sticky tack, or whatever you think will work to keep it attached.
4. Enjoy!

~Carrie

p.s. if someone can confirm in the comments that the download works, that would be great! Thanks!

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If I were to ever vote for “Top Toy” my vote would go with Magna-Tiles (squares and triangles with magnets on the sides that attach together).

Here are 10 reasons why they’re one of the top toys in our house.

1. Both of my kids have played with them almost every day for over two years.

2. The tiles are sturdy.

3. So many things can be done with them. They can be laid flat to create roads or dance floors or they can be built up vertically. It’s fun to drive cars on them or make houses for animals. There are so many options for creative and educational play.

4. They’re perfect for both girls and boys.

5. Friends who come over seem to enjoy playing with them.

 

6. Sometimes their creations break and kids will get upset. But, maybe it’s also a good lesson on dealing with life’s frustrations at a young age.

7. They’re easy to clean up because you stack them on top of each other.

8. They are pricey. But, they’re worth it because of the hours and hours that kids play independently with them.

9. They’re a great birthday or Christmas gift. If grandparents are wondering what to get your child and they’re willing to spend $50-$100, these would be great! Amazon is a good place to start in terms of finding them online. But, I’m sure other sites have them too. Just make sure they’re the actual “Magna-Tile” brand.

10. If I am blessed with grandkids, I have a feeling they’ll be playing with these same Magna-Tiles!

What toy(s) do you have now that you have a feeling future generations will be playing with? What are your experiences with Magna-Tiles?

~Carrie

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This is a slide I made in honor of Back to School (dedicated to everyone).
~Carrie