Show and Tell!

I always loved show and tell as a kid, so when I was asked to participate in a Show and Tell linky with Stephanie from Forever in 5th Grade, I couldn't resist!  I am so excited to share some of the things that were happening in (and out!) of my classroom in January.

How adorable is this response to text?! I found this little gem on Pinterest and blogged about wanting to try it here.  I love the book Snowmen at Night and I'm always looking for ways to help my kiddos make good connections to text.  This little one wrote "If I was a snowman, at night I would play in the park.  In the park I would swing."  We had so much fun with this little project, and tearing the paper is good for their fine motor skills...two birds, one stone!

Next up are these number sense posters my kids worked on in small groups.  They had to represent their number four different ways, then show the number on the number line.  We have spent the last week or so working on "bigger numbers" from 100-120 and my students are feeling very grown up and pleased with themselves.  They worked so hard on their posters and they look great in the hallway!

Number three is what I am most excited about.  See that giant check??  SQUEEEEE!  I wrote a grant over the summer, and my class is going to be awarded nearly $5,000 for a class set of Chromebooks!!!  They actually came around back in November to hand these bad boys out, but of course, that was the one day I was out sick.  They finally made it back to my room just after Christmas break and I was SO EXCITED.  I can't wait to get this technology into the hands of my little ones!

Number four isn't classroom related, but I am darn proud of it, so I'm sharing it.  This cheeseball is my fourth grader, and this is his (FINALLY) finished science fair project.  ALL THE JAZZ HANDS AND PRAISE THE LORD.  Science fair projects are definitely put on Earth to test our patience as parents, ya'll.  Just sayin'. 

Well, that's it for this month!  I can't wait to see all of the amazing things going on in your classrooms! 

January Pick 3!

It's time for a Pinterest Party y'all!

I've linked up with teachers from all over to share my top three Pinterest Picks to use in my classroom in January.  The great thing about Christmas break is having lots of time to lay around in my jammies and read books, watch movies, and play on Pinterest!

My first pick is this super cute little anchor chart on New Years Resolutions.  I have my kiddos write resolutions every year, but I love this little chart for helping them understand what a resolution really is and why it's important.

Click to see the original pin.

My second pick are these super cute little arctic animal crafts!  We always do some research on arctic animals and write reports, and I'm thinking these little guys would really perk up our hallway display!  How cute is that walrus?!

Click to see original pin.

My third pick is this little activity from The First Grade Parade.  I love the Snowmen at Night books, and this looks like the perfect writing activity to go along with it!  Plus the craft is super cute too.  I love activities like this that get my kiddos responding to text.  I'm going to have them make connections and write about where they would go and what they would do if they were a snowman at night.

Click to see original pin.

Those are my picks for January...I hope you saw something you could use! 

Happy teaching!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Happy New Year!

Hello again friends!
I hope you are all enjoying your break and relaxing as much as you can.  We need this time to recharge and refresh.  I have been on a hiatus from all things school related and I'm just now cracking open my laptop for the first time since school let out.  I have been enjoying my time with my little monkeys, making memories and snuggling every chance we get!  We tried something new this year and went to a gingerbread house decorating workshop. It was so much fun (and I didn't have to clean it all up)!  My kiddos were so proud of their creations and probably ate as much candy as they put on their houses.

So, my brain decided to wake up last night as I was trying to fall asleep and I started thinking about the changes I want to make in my classroom this semester.  The biggest thing I want to focus on is my ELA block.  I need to really prioritize my guided reading time and make sure my kiddos are engaged in meaningful activities while I'm working with groups.

In the fall I had my students rotating through stations, inspired by the Daily 5 model.  I didn't follow the Daily 5 completely, my kids chose between Read to Self, Writing, Working with Words, and Listening to Reading.  It was effective, but I felt like we were wasting time transitioning and I want my little learners to start showing more independence and ownership over their learning.

This is what I plan to implement when we go back for the spring semester:

My plan is to let my kids "manage" their learning, but, you know...on a first grade level.  They have three tasks they must complete, and then they can choose from the list of "May Do" activities.  I wrote a grant this summer and was extremely blessed to receive a class set of Chromebooks as a result, so I am able to incorporate a lot of technology into our day.  For the reading "must do" my kids will read a leveled reader on RAZ Kids and take the comprehension quiz.  If you don't have experience with Reading A-Z and RAZ kids, check them out.  Our PTA bought us a subscription and I LOVE it.  My kids are eating it up y'all.  They love choosing their books and earning their stars, and I love that I can monitor their comprehension on the quizzes.  Win-win!

For the Spelling "must do" I will be putting spelling activities in dry erase pouches for practice.  I am using activities from this pack: Spelling Practice in a Snap.

For Writing my kids work on writing prompts from The Moffat Girls.  They love these because they are seasonal and I love them because they provide support with labeled picture cues and a writing checklist for them to use.

If they finish with these tasks, my kiddos can choose from the "May Do" list.  They can read from their book boxes in a comfy spot, use their Chromebook to go to other literacy sites, or do vocabulary and grammar activities in a pocket chart.

I love the idea of my students moving about the room, taking care of business without my interference.  I will be able to monitor from my table as I do my reading groups, and check their progress on RAZ Kids from my computer when I need to. It's going to take some training, but I figure after Christmas break is the perfect time for it, seeing as we are going to be reviewing rules and routines anyway!  Are you making any big changes in your classroom when you go back?

Thankful Hearts

Happy Thanksgiving break, my teaching peeps!  We made it through November and we are running head first into ALL THINGS CHRISTMAS!  I love this time of year with my kiddos!

Let me recap a bit about my very favorite November activities.  We have started a little tradition in first grade at our school.  Every year our kids work for a good two weeks on a huge writing piece called "Thankful Hearts".  They have to choose a person, place, and thing they are thankful for and write about them, giving three supporting details for each one.  It's a lot of work getting all of the kids through the entire writing process before Thanksgiving break, especially with the amount of sick kids we have had recently!  Totally worth it though- they come out SO CUTE!  We have an author's celebration the day before the break and parents come to hear the kiddos read their writing.  They are so proud of themselves!  Afterwards we have some cookies and juice to celebrate.

My own little sweetie is a first grader this year, so I can show you a few pics of her work: 

Here is her "Thesis Statement"- She is thankful for her sister, her school, and her zebra blankie (in the picture).

This is what she wrote about the place she is thankful for- our school!

She loves the food.  Bless.

These little books make great keepsakes, and I know I will be keeping this one forever!  After our Author's Celebration we watch Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving and make our turkey hats.  I have made these hats every year for 13 years and I have no idea where the pattern came from, but we trace these bad boys by HAND for each kid.  That's love ya'll.

The waddle is the best part!

So, what's coming up for December?  Christmas around the world, Reindeer, and a SALE!

Have you heard about the TPT sale going on net week?  I'm so excited!  I know I have some things stockpiled in my wish list that I have been eyeballing for a while now...it looks like it's time to move them to my cart!

I just finished my December problem solving pack if you are looking for some great math activities for the next month!  My kids do these in pairs during guided math rotations, but you could easily do them whole group or independently.  I have two levels for each problems- one that uses numbers from 1-20 and another that goes up to 50.  Challenge those high flyers people, or they will be bouncing off the walls for the next three weeks!

Here is an example of the easier problem: 

And here is the harder one:

Click here to head on over to my store and check it out!

Spooky Fact Families- Guided Math

Happy October!
I love this time of year with my firsties.  We are finally in the swing of things with our routines and procedures and they are gaining independence.  One of my favorite times of the day is Guided Math. We were working with fact families last week, so I thought I would walk you through my guided math time and share a fun little Halloween themed math lesson at the same time!

We start math with a little warm up and a short (15-20 min) whole group lesson.  I tend to switch back and forth between place value concepts (number of the day type activities) and problem solving for our warm up.  Then we meet as a whole group on the carpet.  For this lesson we made an anchor chart about fact families and practiced creating the equations.  We talked about how Big Papa likes to sit in his chair, so Momma and baby do most of the moving.

After our whole group lesson we break up into small groups and do stations.  My stations are:

1. Teacher Table

2. Technology

3. Independent Work

4. Partner Games

At my table we review the concept I just taught, or a previous concept the group struggled with.  I often use lessons from Kristen Smith's Guided Math lessons, or sometimes I use my own lessons, depending on what my kids need.

At the technology station my kids use their Chrome Books to practice skills on www.HappyNumbers.com.  If you haven't checked out this website, you should!  It's amazing, and free!

During independent work my kids will work on a task at their seat.  Most of the time it is an interactive journal activity (I use Reagan Tunstall's stuff- she's great!), but some days we do a seasonal activity or use a page from our workbooks.  With this lesson my kiddos created a haunted fact family house, and they came out so cute!  I totally stole this idea from the fabulous teacher across the hall from me, and my kids loved it!  Here are a few hanging in the hall.

Our fourth station is partner games.  My kids LOVE working with partners and I love that they are working together and learning while "playing".  We spent a lot of time at the beginning of the year modeling what this should look like, and practicing "math talk".  We discussed how Mrs. Piña has magical powers and even from my table I can tell the difference between "math talking" and "recess talking".  Here are some of my cuties playing games from Kristen Smith's October Math Stations pack.

The kids spend about 15 minutes in each station and then we wrap up.  I like to pull everyone back to the carpet and we talk about what we learned and practiced that day.  It gives a sense of closure to my math block and allows my kiddos to reflect on what went well and where we need more work.  All in all, it's a very productive 90 minute block, and my students are engaged the whole time.

What does your math block look like?

APPLES!

Hello friends!  I can't believe it is already half way through October!  Time is just flying by, and I am doing a terrible job of keeping up with this little blog.  I need some sort of time management intervention!

Every year we  celebrate Johnny Appleseed's birthday during the last week of September.  We call it Apple Week and our kids LOVE it.  We have so much fun!  We use resources from A Year of Many Firsts for guided reading and A Day in First Grade as well.  I love that both of these ladies focus on rich vocabulary, real photographs that build background and schema, and integrating science into every part of the school day.  I rely on resources from both of these ladies constantly!

Here is a small peek into some of the activities we did for Johnny Appleseed's birthday!
First, we got our applesauce started.  I had a fabulous parent peel, slice, and dice ten apples for me.  We put them in the crock pot with a cup of water and a cup of sugar.  Then we added a few shakes of cinnamon and we were all set!  It cooked all day and made our classroom smell heavenly!

After we got the applesauce started we sampled different colored apple slices and graphed our favorites.

We followed up with a quick little craft for our hallway display.  I just had the kids cut out a picture of an apple and layer tissue paper squares on it.  They always look cute outside our door!

We spent the rest of the day reading about Johnny Appleseed and writing about how he was a good citizen.  By the time the kids came back from specials the applesauce was ready!

The kiddos snacked on their applesauce and a few other appley treats that our parents sent in before we went home.  We were able to get out our science journals and record the properties of our applesauce while we ate.  All in all, we had a great day!

The Daily Folder Dilemma

I don't know about you all, but every year the whole Daily Folder thing makes me crazy.  It seems like within the first nine weeks I'm already replacing folders or duct taping them back together.  All of the important papers are flying out all over the place and homework seems to disappear.  I was determined to fix that once and for all this year....so, voila!  

Now, I know I am not the first teacher in the world to try out the whole binder concept.  I've seen the STAR binders, the BEE binders, and all of those super cute ideas.  It was just that none of them had exactly what I wanted, so I decided that I would make up my own.

In the front of the binder I have three plastic page covers.  In the first one I put our weekly newsletter.  On the back of the newsletter each week I print one of these handy little literacy handouts for parents.  They are a freebie from Primary Punch and I LOVE them!  In the next page protector I have my homework procedures for reading, math, and spelling.

Behind that I have the kid's login information for Xtramath.  If you haven't checked out xtramath.org, it is a fabulous (FREE!) tool for math fact practice.  It tracks your students progress and introduces new facts as they master the ones they are working on.  We use it almost daily in the classroom and I encourage parents to use it at home as well.  Next, on the green paper, I have our sight word list for the year.  I assessed my kiddos early in the year and checked off the ones they knew so the parents would know what they still needed to practice.

Next up are the dividers.  Behind the first two dividers are my spelling lists and challenge lists for the ENTIRE YEAR.  I got them from Sailing Through 1st Grade, and they go along with the Open Court Imagine It series.  Now each week I just tell my parents what lesson we are on in the newsletter and they can find the appropriate list themselves.  One less thing to type out in the ol' newsletter!

After that I have my reading and math homework...again, for the WHOLE YEAR.  No more passing out papers weekly, then collecting them again on Friday.  I use the Comprehension Notebook and  Daily Math Notebook from Jodi Southard.  

I love that both of these resources are broken up into one daily task for each day of the week.  It's a great reinforcement tool for those comprehension and problem solving standards and the format for each week is the same, so my kids know what to expect.  This helps them become independent and successful.

I'm super excited about my binders for this year and I'm hoping they hold up all year.  If not, I guess I will have to bust out with my cute pineapple duct tape and do some binder surgery.  So far my parents are loving it, and I am loving not having to run back and forth to the copy machine to get ready for the new week!