Guided Reading

So, I was doing some research because I left my scoring sheet at school for Fountas and Pinnell reading level assessments.  I did find this little gem of information on the Fountas and Pinnell website(taken from http://www.fountasandpinnellleveledbooks.com/aboutleveledtexts.aspx):

     I look at many of these things while I am leading a guided reading group with my students but I feel that it was a nice reminded for teachers of what some best practices are when teach in guided reading groups.  I am a BIG fan of guided reading groups.  I have guided reading groups with my students I pull out and co-teach with.  I highly suggest guided reading groups.  You will see more growth with students when they are you use guided reading groups because you are differentiating the text off of the students needs and strengths.  Students also will feel more engaged because the text will not be too easy or too hard for them to comprehend.  I have found my students with learning disabilities to enjoy the text more and be more willing to talk if the book is a "good fit."  Books you are reading in a guided reading group are usually not appropriate for students to read on their own free time, these are books that are at the students instructional reading level.
    If you want more information about guided reading groups check out Fountas and Pinnell's website or read Scholastic's What is Guided Reading?.

Teachers Pay Teachers Store

   Need some Math or ELA activities?  Check out my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.  I am slowly building activities I have created.  Creating activities and worksheets is a fun activity for me.  I can create activities based off of what I know my students need to learn and share my products with the teaching community.  I focus a lot on basic math facts, math recovery, reading, writing and phonics.
    Check out some of my products on my store page at Exceptional Education Station.  If you have any requests, let me know.
    I love Teachers Pay Teachers.  There are so many resources and a lot of great people sharing their ideas and items they created on TPT.  It is a great site.

Photo Peach, FotoFlexer, and Picasa

Today I tried out PhotoPeach, Picasa, and FotoFlexer.  I really enjoyed using all of them.  Here is my review on the first time of using them:

 FotoFlexer- Very nice web based photo editing tool.  I liked that it had so many tools and options to use to edit pictures.  I think the all animated stickers of FotoFlexer sets it apart from Picasa.  FotoFlexer can be used for professional use or for students.  I could see students liking it more because of the animated stickers and the glitter words but it was very nice.  It is also very convenient that it is connected to Facebook.  I had easy access to my pictures.

  **Use of it in the classroom- I think I may have students use this to create or find a picture of a character from a story we read and do a character study. 

Picasa-  I like that it is linked to my Google account and I can use it offline.  A wonderful upside of Picasa was that I can back up my photos that I edit.  A feature of Picasa is that it has a button to easily share my pictures on my Google Plus account.  I think Picasa is more professional looking than FotoFlexer.  It has a lot of tools but not many of the fun tools that students would really enjoy like FotoFlexer(i.e., the stickers and the glitter words).  

**Use of Picasa in the classroom-  Great tool for editing pictures and students work will be automatically backed up onto Picasa.    

Photo Peach- This is a nice program to share slides.  I like that I can bring in pictures I saved on my computer very easily.  I used a picture I edited on FotoFlexer and on Picasa.  I liked the quiz that I could insert into the slide. 

 It reminded me of Kahoot.  It would be nice if the kids could interact with the PhotoPeach slide like they do with Kahoot.  I did not like that my animated pieces of my FotoFlexer did not work in the slide. :)  Another upside of PhotoPeach....MUSIC!  Everyone needs a little music in their slides once and a while.  You can upload your own music or MP3 file, or you can use the music provided by PhotoPeach.

**Use of Photo Peach in the classroom- Students can share the development of a project.  Students and teachers can create quizzes on content they read or shared on Photo Peach.  It would be a great tool to wrap up what the kids did all year.  You could make a classroom Photo Peach or each student can make their own.  Since you can download your Photo Peach slideshows, you could blend all of your students PhotoPeach projects in iMovie to play continuously.

Here is a link to my my Photo Peach slide that has the picture I used in FotoFlexer and Picasa:  Petey and Chase Picture Editing Video  The first picture is the original.

****Use at home for parents/guardians-  Document yourself and your child doing something together.  Have your child edit the photos and write about what they did with you.  Then, have them type their writing onto the pictures they are editing.  This will help your child identify the main idea and important parts of each picture.

I used Picasa for this comic book fun!
It was easay to upload because Picasa and Blogger are both connected to Google.

    After they have edited their pictures on either FotoFlexer or Picasa have create a slideshow on Photo Peach(maybe even put a quiz in there. :)).  You could have your child e-mail to a family member or a friend.  If you have a family webpage, they could even upload it on there...or you can send it to me.  I would love to see what you and your child are doing at home.

My fiance and I after watching a 3D movie.

Hello!  My name is Miss Breneman and welcome to my page.  I teach students with learning disabilities in grades 2-4 at Albion Community School.  I am a lover of technology, co-teaching, creativity, motivating my students, and being apart of my community.  

                               

                                         To the left of the rainbow is where I teach.  :)

 Outside of school, I enjoy spending time with my fiance, my 5 cats and 2 dogs, writing, reading books and article, playing video games, watching movies, listening to music, singing, going for walks, and finding great deals on things myself or others want and need. 

Hercules enjoys sitting right on top of me!

I am excited to be teaching.  I am a lifelong learner and I want to share the joy of learning with my students.  There are may different ways for people to learn and apply what they learned and I want to engage students in their learning.  This is the space where I will share my experience and some of my students work with you.