Short Texts for Prefixes (mid- and re-)

I'm just popping in to share some things with you! 

I love for my students to be able to read vocabulary words in context and infer the meanings, especially when it comes to prefixes and suffixes. In the past I've had some decodable readers that came with our textbook series, so this year I had to improvise and write my own! I was hesitant to share because these short stories aren't the greatest, but they serve their purpose. 

So far I have only written two- one for the prefix mid- and one for the prefix re-. Feel free to grab them for yourself if you think they would be useful for your students! Just click on the link below each passage. 

Nightmare at Midnight

Time for a Redo

If you know of any resources available that would be similar to this that would save me from having to make my own, please let me know! I am no author!! :)

Happy Thursday!

Dear 2015 Me

Browsing through my blog feed I came across a linky from Crystal over at  Kreative in Kinder I just had to participate in- writing a letter to myself for the beginning of next school year.
Some of the letters are pretty hilarious.

Here's mine:

I'm going to put this in my back to school binder and hopefully give myself a bit of perspective in the midst of all the craziness that is the beginning of the school year!  Thanks, Crystal, for such a wonderful idea!

What would yours say? Link up us share!

Happy Thursday!

My Homemade Easel

My goodness, I can’t believe how crazy the last several weeks have been. I always seem to forget just how frazzled I feel during the first weeks of school until things settle down a bit. I crave routine, so I’m feeling much better now that I am slowly getting into a regular schedule. 

When I first moved into my new classroom, the one thing I missed the most was an easel. I knew that I couldn’t teach without an one, so I took matters into my own hands and made my own! I wanted to share this just in case there is anyone else out there who doesn’t have an easel but may want one!

Here is my homemade easel!

I started with a piece of MDF from Lowe’s and had it cut down to the size I wanted. I then bought a sheet of shower board and had it cut to the same size. The shower board can be used as a dry erase surface, so it was the perfect choice to cover the MDF.  I used a tub of vinyl floor adhesive to adhere the shower board to the MDF and painted the other side white. I made a giant mess on the driveway and had a mini panic attack when I couldn't get the adhesive off of my fingers, but I managed to get it on!! 

 

When it dried, I stuck two large Command hooks on the top to hold my chart paper and two smaller hooks to hold my pocket chart.

  

The MDF is pretty heavy, so it’s very stable. I was able to simply lean the board against the wall and it created an instant easel! The shower board creates a dry erase surface and the hooks hold the paper and pocket chart which makes it multi-functional.

 

I also stuck two smaller hooks at the bottom to hang a basket so I had a place to store my markers and other materials.

  

I am in love with my easel! It doesn’t take up much space at all and it’s versatile. The shower board is not magnetic, so I do miss having that ability, but other than that it has worked beautifully!

This was a relatively cheap project. I spent about $100 on all of the materials including the Command hooks (and those babies aren't cheap). It was worth it!! 

I have had a truly amazing first few weeks of school and I love my new group of students! I hope you are having a great beginning of the year! 

I’ll be back soon!