I'm a Top 50 Blog + Metacognition Freebie

Can you believe Thanksgiving has already come and gone?  I mean, December is right around the corner! Where is the year going?

 I can't believe it has been almost an entire month since my last blog post.  Sorry, for the hiatus...uh...again. Time is simply flying by. I'm making no promises to be back with any sense of regularity, because...well...we all know how that goes. Right?

Thanksgiving brought about a much needed break.  My stress level has been at an all time high this year.  I have happily spent my nine days off (yes - nine glorious days) relaxing to the fullest. I've been reading, watching movies, shopping the sales, and enjoying scrumptious foods.  All and all, it has been a pretty good week off. Stress free!

To top things off, I recieved a very exciting email.  Guess what?  My little ol' blog was named a Top 50 Elementary Teaching Blog by TeachersCertificationDegrees.com!  Whoo-hoo! I can hardly believe it. 

Here is what they wrote about my blog:

"When a new school year approaches, Texas teacher Amanda considers the arsenal of resources she has to get her through the first trying but exciting week: caffeine, chocolate, a valued team of colleagues and her school tote bag which her husband and high school sweetheart has playfully nicknamed the ‘bag of doom.’ On The Teaching Thief, this fourth-grade educator who confesses a love of borrowing ideas, pens a Fiction Friday feature in which she reviews her beloved children’s literature. She also divulges classroom management advice and ideas for introducing metacognition."

I love, love, LOVE that my bag of doom made the review!  Haha! 

It is such a big deal (to me) to make a list with so many amazing bloggers.  I mean... WOW! I feel very honored and will do my best to live up to this award. In fact, I have been jotting down blog post ideas while lounging on my couch watching TV for several days.  I've got some good stuff coming your way.  I promise.

Till then, I have a freebie for you.  Please let me know if you find it helpful.

Y'all already know about my obsession with Comprehension Connections by Tanny McGregor.  Well, every year I do the introductory lesson on metacogition with the reading salad.  It is a terrific way to introduce the idea of metacognition and gives kids a concrete model to understand such a big idea.  Conviently, Reading Resources has already created resources for this lesson. (For more info, click here.)

Afterwards, I used to keep my "salad bowl" in class to reference throughout the year.  Now, if you are like me, wall space and shelf space are limited in your room.  I needed something to serve as a reminder of the lesson that took up less space.  So, I created this simple metacognition poster to be displayed AFTER teaching the lesson. It serves as a visual reminder of the lesson and how important it is to think while you read. 

Click the image below to grab a free copy of this poster from my TN store.  I hope you find it as useful as I did.

Now, it is time to get back to my reading, TV watching, and general slothfulness. Hehe!

I hope you all enjoy the last of your Thanksgiving break.  Any thoughts on future blog posts, shoot them my way.  My list is growing with ideas, but what would you like to read? I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions. 

Happy Thanksgiving!