Mrs. Richardson's Class

Benjamin Franklin

2011-11-29T09:21:00.001-06:00

We have talked and talked, until I'm about blue in the face and SO bored with it, about great American citizens. We focused on Benjamin Franklin for a couple of days. We read a couple of books and talked about his inventions. We also talked about the many things he helped begin in America--fire stations, post offices, police stations, hospitals, etc. Here is a look at some of our writing.

Okay, this one is one of my favorites! Good 'ole Franklin went to the Queen and asked her to hep fund weapons for the war. I'm pretty sure that is ALL that the boys heard and know about Benjamin Franklin! Check our this picture. It makes me giggle! But hey, at least this little one was listening well!

Doesn't Benjamin look a bit like a bunny? I love my kiddos!!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-22T09:06:00.001-06:00

Our curriculum does not even touch Thanksgiving. I decided to sneak some in during our LA block. As I was reading a non-fiction book, I paused for the kids to fill in the word "Mayflower". When NO ONE--and I mean absolutely no one--knew the name of the ship, I knew I had to find other places to squeeze it in. I was heart broken!!

We read a lot of non-fiction pilgrim books and compared and contrasted their lives to ours. We made little pilgrim clothes and gave them a picture to cut out their little head. They turned out pretty cute!

This sweetie thinks she's done with school already, I guess! It made me giggle!

We took some time to talk about what the pilgrims and native americans wore. We made costumes and wore them during our story book parade. We marched with a non-fiction book. This also allowed everyone to participate. It's not a lot of fun when some have to watch.

Fact Families

2011-11-19T08:54:00.000-06:00

Fact families were a tough cookie for my little ones. I added it to our calendar routine so that it is revisited often.

Here's a little peak at what we did with fact families! (I'm now remembering that many of our fact family things I didn't take pictures of...sigh...)

See?, we still need work!
Cara's blog, The First Grade Parade, is definitely one of my favorites!! The fact family turkeys are from her adorable classroom blog! :)

Making 10

2011-11-17T08:45:00.001-06:00

I truly believe having a firm foundation of numeracy is SO important. My class this year is not the strongest in this area. With my kinder class last year, we made number bracelets for EVERY number and wrote a number story for EVERY number. I really feel that this helps out a ton! Next year, I will just rewind and do that. BUT for the time being, we were able to do that with the number 10.

Here is what our number bracelet looked like. Each kid made their own. There is power in this.

As we made them, we also made this chart which we call "The Story of 10".
(note: in kinder, I didn't use + and =, just the "and" and "is")

We practiced telling the story of 10 with a partner.

I HIGHLY recommend this when teaching numeracy. :)

Even or Odd?

2011-11-08T08:34:00.002-06:00

We have been talking about even or odd numbers since the beginning of the school year during our calendar time. I am SO glad that I did this because it really helped when it was time to teach this. We reviewed our daily calendar task, and then created this chart.

The kids then used the colored discs with partners to "partner" up our numbers. Numbers with partners are even, numbers without partners are odd.
Don't we look so excited??? Ha ha!

Magnets

2011-11-01T08:13:00.001-05:00

WOW! I haven't posted since October?! Holy moly! Well, believe me, we have been busy in our little classroom! I'll just catch you up with some pictures of what we have been doing.

Okay, to help keep this organized, I'm going to back date these posts. :)

We did a short unit with magnets. First, each child got their own magnet (whatever I had in the classroom) and they explored with a buddy around the classroom. Boy, oh boy! did they get excited!!
We put a few items in ziploc baggies and used our magnets to discover which items were magnetic and which items were non-magnetic.

We then made theses cute little magnets as we did a picture sort. Magnetic items went on the magnet and non-magnetic items went on the sentence strip way away from the magnet as they repelled.

American Symbols

2011-10-09T20:22:00.002-05:00

[Just realized that this post never got posted! It was supposed to post September 19. Oops! Sharing it now!]

I always enjoy teaching about American symbols and Texas symbols. Since I'm in 1st grade this year, I must say goodbye to Texas symbols. I purchased Deanna Jump's unit this year. It was the first time I had purchased something from TPT. (I'm a Looky Lou. If it's free, I'll take it! Other than that, I just give them drops in their buckets in my mind. :) )

Anyway, it was definitely a well spent $8.50. Look at what came out of it?! Super cute!

{I took these pictures before we finished putting on the little labels.}

Family Traditions

2011-10-08T09:19:00.006-05:00

We discussed family traditions this week.

(If you are like me, you are thinking, "In OCTOBER?? Why not in November or December??" Well, thanks to the lovely C-Scope {NOT a fan!}, we discussed family traditions during October.)

We read several books such as The Keeping Quilt and The Relatives Came. We brainstormed a list of traditions that everyone's families partake in. I shared my own family traditions, too. Each child then made a quilt square by drawing a picture of their family tradition and presenting it to the class. They really enjoyed this!

We pieced the quilt together. Here is what it looks like!

On another note, our local Target donated 2 class sets of books to our whole grade level. The kids were SUPER excited to get them! Many of our kids don't have huge libraries at home so this will give them something else to read at home.

Thank you, Target!!

Doubles Bingo

2011-10-03T18:24:00.005-05:00

I haven't posted in what seems like forever! All of you teachers who post more than once a week and are still fabulous teachers in their classroom are just SUPER TEACHERS! I don't even have kids at home! Just a wonderful hubby. I applaud you all! :)

This week we are doing doubles addition. I must say, it feels weird to just begin addition with doubles. The person on our team who plans math does an absolutely amazing job!!

Today we watched this video about 5 times. I think I am STILL singing the song. Doubles Rap. It's working, though. The kids were singing it, too. This video only goes up to 5+5, but there is another that goes up to 10+10.

Another teammate gave us these super cute doubles addition cards. (I want to share them with you all, but I want to get her permission first.) I'm not sure if she made them or if she got them from another teacher. We used the cards as we sang along to the song.

I made this doubles bingo game for my kiddos and will put it in my math stations.

You can get it HERE.

Just wanted to share a little bit of what's going on in our classroom! :)

A Little Bit of Science

2011-09-23T21:33:00.003-05:00

This week we talked about properties of objects during our science time. We began by observing some objects. I hid a few objects under a towel, then revealed them for 30 seconds, and then asked the kids to describe what they saw. As they described them, we made this (crooked, awfully plain) chart. We only fit 2 of our objects on the chart.

(that says "loop", not "bop")

After making the chart, I took each category they used to describe the objects and we made a list of all the properties.

Throughout the week we sorted things and explored all of these properties. On one of the daily, the kids each brought in a baggie of different textured items. We did the whole, "put it in a baggie and tell what texture you feel" ordeal.

The next day we made this hand anchor chart to remind us of different textures. The kids each made their own version and labeled it.

I know, I know. Nothing too fabulous!!, but it was fun to teach. I'm a little dead after a long day at school. Also, all credit goes to the fabulous Carlton and CSCOPE at school!

Graphing

2011-09-18T19:51:00.003-05:00

For the last 2 weeks in math we have been discussing graphs. I am quickly learning that I need to assume nothing when it comes to their prior learning experiences. I decided that we would rewind, and review the small things.

I started with Parts of a Graph and Types of Graphs.

We then, slowly, created class graph, analyzed them, and became graphing experts!! Below is a picture of one of our graphs. (Forgot to take pictures of the others! OOPS!)

HERE are my labels if you want to use them to make charts and graphs.

HERE is the assessment I used after week 1. My wonderful teammate made one that we used after week 2.

Reader's Workshop

2011-09-14T20:08:00.004-05:00

I can't believe I'm going to say this. I just might lose all of you. So just prepare yourselves. Go ahead, gasp. I do not like the CAFE system. There. I said it.

Are you still reading? Good! I have told you all before what a big fan of Lucy Calkin's I have become. Her writer's workshop has been an extremely powerful teaching tool for me. A good friend of mine (Shout out to Dawn!) went to a reader's workshop training that was put on by Ms. Calkin's peeps. She called me daily with all of the wonderful things she was learning, being reminded of, and excited to try! I thought it sounded great, but I had just read all about Daily 5 and CAFE. I knew I had to at least give that system a try. Well, I did for the last 3 weeks and it just wasn't working well for me. Maybe it's my group, maybe it's just not my year. But I'm okay with that. TOTALLY okay with that!

So I took Dawn's advice and bought Lucy's (yeah, we're on a first name basis now. I mean, I watched her videos online and read her books. Hello!) $10 book. It's not as laid out as her writer's workshop system. (Maybe the reading books really are available, but I can guarantee you that it's not $10!) I have had to spend some extra time reading it. It's a simple read. It gets me excited, and it follows the EXACT model as her writer's workshop.

I read through and picked out my first 10 mini-lessons Monday night and then I started implementing on Tuesday. Ladies (and gents if you are out there), it was HEAVENLY!! Not only did I love the routine, but my kids did, too! It was an easy transition because they were already familiar with it from writer's workshop. Here is a picture of our anchor chart we made during our first mini-lesson. (Readers, like runners, have to warm up. Can you see the little runners leg in the corner?)

We also reviewed work station rules. Why I didn't do this at the beginning of the year, I have no idea! I guess I thought, "Oh, they are in 1st grade. They know how to work in work stations." WRONG!

Don't go to Starbuck's for 2 days. Save your $10. Buy her book. It's well worth it.

Go HERE and check it out!

Also, I would be VERY interested in doing some sort of "book study" on this book and seeing what other mini-lesson ideas you guys get out of her book.

iPod Touch in the Classroom

2011-09-10T07:05:00.004-05:00

While I probably should be posting about what is going on in my classroom, I'm lame sauce and left my camera at home this week. (It was still packed in my suitcase from my labor day trip. It never made it back to my purse. You may be thinking "why didn't you just use your phone?". Well, because I rock the original iphone, the pictures aren't too grand.) So that post about graphing will just have to wait until Monday. I'll share then, promise!

So onto itouches--well, kind of. Let me tell you this first. The only technology I have in my classroom is a teacher computer and document camera. If we want to watch Discovery Education videos, I have to have my 21 firsties gather around my computer screen. I thought bringing my personal computer back and forth to work would help solve this problem, but our school does not have wireless access. I use my SmartBoard software on my personal computer, project it on the white pull down screen, and as the kids point and touch, I stand at the computer and click away. They think it's so cool--poor babies. They have no idea what it REALLY could be!

Classroom computers, oh how I miss them!! Not only were they an instant literacy station or math station, not only did that guarantee me 3 little ones who wouldn't be adding to the noise level, but it was TECHNOLOGY in the classroom of these digital learners.

I approached my principal about getting classroom computers. I learned that the old computer lab was divided into various classroom based on who would use them the most last year. Since I was not there last year, I was not able to get in on that. I was told that the district would not be purchasing computers this year. I was okay with that response because what I REALLY want are itouches to use in my classroom. My principal asked me to get together some information about what they are and how I would use them. She said they may be worth looking into! Those words were enough to get me SUPER excited!!

I was up until 1:10 a.m. last night working on gathering information. I woke up at 6:50 a.m. and my mind just kept going with what I could do with them!! (You know how that is, right??)

So now I turn to you, blog friends! Do you have itouches in your classroom? Do you have a digital learner at home who uses it in a powerful way? I am looking for anything wonderful that you have to share as far as integrating itouches in the classroom.

I heart DonorsChoose!

2011-08-31T20:15:00.006-05:00

Thanks to DonorsChoose and wonderful people who donated to my project, my teaching area went from this:

to this!!!

AHHH!! So much better! I am so thankful for my friends and family who understand the importance of teaching tools in a classroom! Now...if only I could get some itouches! ;) Does anyone know anything about grant writing for those things?

Thanks for "ade"ing me!!

2011-08-27T07:58:00.006-05:00

I have a WONDERFUL new team! They are fun, funny, sweet, and have been helpful during my 1st week at a new school. I saw THIS on Pinterest and knew that I had to do something with it.

I found the cups at HEB in their summer dining area. (Is that what it's called?) I just used small packets of Crystal Light Lemonade for the insides.

They were all very thankful. They just have NO idea how thankful I am that they don't mind me asking "...and how are we going to grade this one? Okay, now where can I find..."

Good Fit Books

2011-08-25T20:40:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I allowed my kiddos to "book shop" for their books to use during Read to Self. I realized that they were definitely going to pick books that were too hard. Today I decided to rewind and do a lesson on the importance of things fitting just right. We talked about what it would be like to come to school in mom or dad's clothes. We talked about what it would be like to wear shoes that are too big. We also read Goldilocks and the Three Bears and talked about how she wanted things that were "just right". (Of course this chart was inspired by the many on Pinterest! CHELLO! :) )

We then made this anchor chart as I modeled what it would be like to read a book that was too easy and too hard. They thought it was funny as I read to fast or too slow. I finally feel like my room isn't looking so bland as we are getting things up on the walls!

Oh, we also made this as we moved along in writer's workshop! It's one of my FAVORITE lessons!

3 Ways to Read a Book

2011-08-24T19:25:00.003-05:00

Well, the craziness has begun! I am 3 days into my first week of school. I have a BUSY group this year, but they are sweethearts. I am exhausted today. The last two days were great, but today was just much harder.

Anyway, on to something else! I just did the "3 Ways to Read a Book" lesson from the Daily 5. Of course we made our own anchor chart, but I just don't have the wall space to put up ALL of my anchor charts. I decided to make this instead.

Get it HERE for your own classroom! :)

Parent Communication

2011-08-19T16:07:00.003-05:00

In my last district they were wonderful enough to provide us with parent communication binder supplies. I'm not that fortunate this year. I was enjoying reading the wonderful teacher blogs and came across this post. You MUST check it out! She has great printables for a parent communication binder. I am printing mine out now and will be putting this today on Sunday! (I have declared today and tomorrow teacher project free!)

Adorable, right?

Classroom Pictures...FINALLY!

2011-08-18T21:26:00.005-05:00

I finally am able to post some pictures. I'm not "in love" with my classroom this year, but it's good enough for kiddos to come. We had our meet the teacher tonight and I got to meet 14 of my 22 little munchkins! Our class will definitely be busy this year!! :)

A few things that I'm missing:
work station boards
something for Daily 5 (though I'm doing a hybrid system)

Something to cover that awful looking curtain!! Suggestions??

Writer's Workshop

2011-08-12T16:11:00.000-05:00

I L.O.V.E. writer's workshop. Lucy Calkin's is my writing hero! If you have never taught with her material, check THIS out and beg your admin for her books. Very easy reading and easy to follow. Last year my kinder kids wrote like they never have before. I give all credit to Ms. Lucy! :)

I am working on my writer's workshop folders and thought that I would share with you the documents that I use to create them. The labels for the inside of the folder are in color, but the bigger label for the front of the folder is just on colored cardstock.

Get the cover and inside labels HERE. Happy Writing!! :)

Conduct Form

2011-08-09T08:50:00.000-05:00

Sometimes schools have their own version of behavior logs that are filled out daily. My last school had one that was used school wide. My previous school did not, which led us to creating this.

If my new school doesn't have a form, I think I'll go back to using this. I really like the codes at the bottom. They make it easy to communicate with the parents about why their kiddo may have not made a wise choice. I left the dates blank so that you can write them in if you'd like. :)

Enjoy it HERE!

First Day of School Magnet

2011-08-08T09:43:00.001-05:00

First of all, WOW! I'm not sure where all of these followers came from, but when I saw that I went from 7 to 20 something I was humbled and moved to tears. I am so grateful! Like I have said, if I can just share 1 thing that saves someone else time, mission accomplished!!

I just returned from a wonderful vacation with my awesome husband! 5 days on the river and then a wedding filled with many friends. We had a blast! But now, back to work. I must admit, my mind didn't really stop going the whole time.

I was going through my old files on my hard drive and came across this little booger. I totally forgot I used to do this! I usually just use a clothes pin, add a piece of magnet to the back, and hot glue a circle on the other side. I then let the kids decorate the circle on their first day back using old crayons and old markers. (This then leads a lesson on taking care of our supplies. When they show that they can take care of them, then I dump the new ones in the table bins. It's like Christmas!)

At the end of the day I attach this little ditty to the clothes pin and send it home to be on their refrigerator all year. (I did not make this poem up. I found it online about 2 years ago. I have searched and searched for the source. No luck. If you know of it, please share!!)

Print it on colored paper, or let the kiddos color it. Enjoy it HERE!

Beginning of the Year Checklist

2011-08-03T07:53:00.002-05:00

I'm a list maker. I've seen a notepad before that says "I love lists!". I'm pretty sure I need it! As I have said before, I can't get into my classroom just yet. I decided to make a checklist of all the procedures that I will need to teach during the beginning of the year. Of course these will not all be taught during the first day or even the first week of school. Some will come up naturally and others I will have to bring up. I do NOT mind spending the time to establish procedures and expectations. It saves me SOOOO much time during the rest of the year.

HERE is my checklist for you to use!

Can you think of anything else to add??

Reading Glasses

2011-08-02T08:47:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I'm a bit of a nerd. My husband smiles, shakes his head, and goes on. I'm so blessed that he loves me and puts up with my dorkiness!

I found the glasses at Hobby Lobby for $0.79. I knew I had to have them. I love pink and this pair of glasses just looked too cute! They are styrofoam so I'm sure they won't lost forever. But hey! for $0.79, I was willing to take a risk!

I decided that I would wear them during guided reading time. I also found similar pairs for the kids in a package of 6. They are going to be our "reading glasses" as we read together. I think they'll be a hit! I definitely think we're going to have to have a "how we care for our glasses" mini-lesson so that they will make it the whole year. :) I can't wait to use them!!

Sweet Choices

2011-08-01T07:47:00.004-05:00

Thanks to Pinterest, I saw this idea from First Grader...At Last!

I thought it was a great idea! In the past, we did "Rays of Sunshine". Anytime the class would have wonderful behavior in the classroom, or would receive appreciations from another teacher or administration person, they would earn a ray of sunshine. When the sun was filled, we would celebrate with a popcorn party. It worked wonderfully! After seeing this idea, I liked how much less space it took up. (Space is one thing I do not have a ton of in my new classroom!) I tweaked First Grader's idea and made this!

(Yes, the cupcakes are missing. My printer is out of color ink and I have not made it to Target yet.) The cupcakes in the document are thanks to my wonderful DJ Inkers clipart, as well as the font. The cupcakes will have a small piece of magnet on the back to attach them to the cookie sheet. As for the cookie sheet, I picked it up at a thrift store while on vacation. I HEART thrifting! It was a little yucky looking so I just sprayed it white.

You can find the cupcakes and words for this project HERE. Enjoy!

Journal Covers

2011-07-29T07:43:00.008-05:00

I'm really big on the kids journaling about their learning experiences. In our class, we each have a math journal and a science journal. We also have a class math journal, which is just a 1/2 chart that I have covered and made all pretty.

As I'm trying to work ahead, I was sprucing up my journal covers for the kiddos and thought that I would share them with you! I do everything in black and white, then copy it on colored paper or let the kids color them. I use the large construction paper and put manilla in the middle with whatever color pops into mind for the outside cover. I then glue these bad boys on the outside. I hope you can use them!

Math Journal Cover HERE:

Science Journal Cover HERE:

10 Black Dots Class Book

2011-07-28T07:21:00.007-05:00

I have started planning my first week back at school. With starting in a new district and having to learn new procedures, I figured if I do as much as I can ahead of time, it will help me out!

One of my favorite things to do during the first week back is to read aloud 10 Black Dots by Donald Crews and make a class book.

The kids work in partners to complete this activity. Partnerships are SO powerful. The kids can really learn a great deal from working with other students. I learned this when I taught dual language. It was hard for me to get used to, but once I did, I really embraced it. I missed that last year so I'm going to pair my kids up this year.

After reading aloud the book, I cut this document into strips and each pair gets a strip, a number to complete a sentence, and the corresponding number of dots. Yes, there will be more than one page of each number.

We talk about how it's important for their words to match their picture, also. They then create a picture using the black dots provided. (I usually punch out the black dots with the 1 inch circle punch I have. You can also use the dot sticks sold in stores and color them black with a sharpie.)

The completed project is so cute! I have kept mine from my first class. Last year's class didn't get to make one, but the book was available for them to read, along with the other class books. They enjoyed it!

I hope you can use this! HERE is the sentence strip! HERE is the class book cover!

DonorsChoose

2011-07-27T11:22:00.005-05:00

{I must admit, sometimes I feel like a goofball posting on here because there are only 4 followers. I can count them on one hand. But one day, maybe one day, something I do or say will just light a little spark in someone world and make their day or bring a smile to their face.}

I heard about DonorsChoose through the wonderful blog world. I did research, thought about it, thought about my new school and the lack of resources that I am going to work with, and decided to give it a shot. I posted my project and have received partial funding already. Praise God!

If 1 of the 4 of you, or more, haven't used the website, I highly recommend it!! Today I was over at Herding Kats in Kindergarten (hilarious title by the way), and she is offering $10 gift cards to be used on DonorsChoose's website. If you have a project going, hop on over to Herding Kats and enter the giveaway! What do you have to loose?

Book Making

2011-07-26T09:39:00.004-05:00

Have you checked out Tommie's Tools?

If not, you should! She's a sweetheart who has taught for years and now is passionate about helping teachers grow. She had a giveaway and I was one of the few lucky winners!! HOORAY!! Go check her out to see what I had to say about book making in the classroom.

DeBug System

2011-07-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

Everyone has a different "let's not tattletale" system. Some have tattling turtle, or a picture of the President and students "tell it to the president", etc. I have never used anything like that because my first year teaching I was introduced to The DeBug System. I'm not sure if it's from some training that happened ages ago or what, but I. LOVE. IT.

Here are the steps.
At the beginning of the year, we do a lot of roll playing as we talk through this system. I have used it with both Kindergarten and 1st Grade. It has worked wonderfully. I have had to train myself, also. I make sure and ask, "Have you used the DeBug?" It teaches the kids how to problem solve when someone or something is "buggin' " them. We also talk about the times when they can skip straight to "Get an Adult's Help." Again, lots of role playing and modeling. It takes a couple of weeks, but the time pays off! With a few exceptions, I do not have a ton of tattling. I attach this document to the outside of their folder that goes home with them daily. Parents are made aware at the beginning of the year when we discuss expectations. They love it and use it at home often. They also are able to use it when discussing the day with their child.

I HIGHLY recommend the DeBug. I'm going to give you my print out that I use. I hope you decide to give it a try this year!

HERE you go!

Punch Cards

2011-07-22T06:02:00.001-05:00

One way that I reward wise choices is by giving the kids a "punch". Of course it's not a real punch! I use a hole punch and make a hole in their punch card. I got this wonderful idea from a wonderful co-worker at my old school. If the kid was on "green" (This was using my old behavior chart. Green was the best.) then they would get a punch. After their card was filled, they earned a trip to the treasure box. The 2nd semester, I would let a kid give the punches at the end of the day. It worked well and they were always SO excited to get their punch. Later, they would start counting down and announcing how many more they had until it was filled. When someone's got filled, I always cupped my hand around my mouth and said, "dun-dun-dun!! CONGRATULATIONS!! _______ has filled their punch card!" We do A LOT of celebrating in our class. It's wonderful!

HERE is my punch card. I hope you can use it! :)

Colorful Word Families

2011-07-21T15:42:00.006-05:00

With more inspiration from Pinterest, I made word family cards using paint swatches. My local home improvement store did not have the kind with the square cut out, so I just picked out the square shaped ones.

This project isn't completely finished. :( I need my magnets and magnetic letters to show you what I'd like to do with it. Instead of just leaving them free, I am going to put magnet on the back of each card and place them in my Magnetic Letters work station. Then the kids can choose whichever word card they would like, place it on the board, and then use the magnetic letters to build words. When you're classroom looks like this....

it's hard to complete projects. Yep, that's about half of my classroom. The other fourth is packed and the other fourth is at my new school already. So, that being said, I just did as much as I could. The rest will have to wait a couple of weeks. (I'm beginning to get the itch to get back in my classroom. The time can't come soon enough!!)

I also made a data sheet to go with the station if you like that sort of thing. Below is an image.

Get it HERE! Enjoy!

Read Around the Room

2011-07-20T06:23:00.004-05:00

My class last year LOVED write around the room. In my writing station I would place a basket with cute notepads from, none other than, Target $1 spot, and the kids would choose a notepad, walk around the room, and make a list of words they could read throughout the classroom. They ATE IT UP! I have tried doing read around the room with a pointer, but it never ended well. I saw this on Pinterest and liked the can of paint sticks with letters. I thought, "hmmm.....maybe that will give them more direction as they read around the room."

This is how mine turned out! I just used a cute font, printed them on yellow card stock, traced circles around them, cut them out (this part was NOT fun!), and then glued them on. I hope the kids like them! If not, well it only cost me a piece of paper and a bit of ink. The sweet grandpa at the home improvement store gladly handed them over to me!

(Not too sure why it uploaded sideways when it's not saved that way on my computer. Any ideas??)

Bottle Cap Letters

2011-07-19T08:17:00.000-05:00

I really like word work! I have used two different programs for word work and have liked them both. Besides doing formal lessons, word work also is a station (especially if you use Daily 5). I saw on Pinterest that a wise teacher at Michelle's Charm Words, used plastic bottle caps. You know the drill at school. You don't change anything about the process, just the tools being used and it's MAGIC! The kids think it's a new station and are excited all over again!

I recently attended an event at which there were a ton of water bottles being used. My wonderful best friend knew I wanted to save the lids so she asked people for their lids and even held the trash can lid while I dug some out. Wonderful best friend, right? I had to dig while my husband wasn't looking or else he would've been embarrassed! Here is a picture of how mine turned out. Total project time after the collection of the caps was about 15 minutes. Simple!

Behavior Chart

2011-07-19T07:04:00.000-05:00

I had WONDERFUL co-workers last year that I learned so much from! One of them used a behavior chart much like this one. The kids all start out at "Ready to Learn" and then can move either up or down depending on their choices throughout the day. Her system seemed to work well for her. With inspiration from her (Love you Ms. White!) and other's around blog land, I decided to make my own. After all, my other "pin pulling chart" as we called it has been around for 3 years and while it's still truckin', I thought it was looking pretty dingy. I REALLY like how this one turned out. I just used scrapbook paper, card stock, and my printer! The wanted the top and bottom to stand out more than the others so I used scraps that I had in my scrapbook paper box already. There were just the right size. I'll laminate it once I get to school. I hope it inspires you to make something today!

CAFE Posters

2011-07-18T07:33:00.002-05:00

I am beginning at a new school this year. I was given the Daily 5 book and the CAFE book for summer reading. So far, so good. I don't plan to fully implement the Daily 5. I really liked my system and did not have any major problems. I think I'm going to form a hybrid between my normal literacy stations and the Daily 5.

I DO plan on using the CAFE system fully, though. I know there are a ton of these around blog land, but I wanted to make my own. I thought I'd share them with other wonderful teachers, too. I hope you can use them!

CAFE Posters

Pinterest Love!

2011-07-17T09:48:00.008-05:00

I jumped into the Pinterest world long before I decided to begin a teacher blog. Part of me likes it better because I don't have to scroll through so much text. It's because of Pinterest that I have found so many wonderful teacher blogs. I really believe that a huge key to being a successful teacher is collaboration with other teachers--hence the blog. :)

Here are some of my favorites I've found recently.

This "how to keep glue from being clogged" tip from What the Teacher Wants

I also love this simple idea of writing letters on the ends of paint stirrers and using them to find words around the room that begin with that letter. The great idea is from Mrs. Kelly's Kindergarten

I thought I'd share my Pinterest link so you can follow me if you'd like. No shame in following a jillion teachers, right?

Today I'm linking up to The Teacher's Lane.

First Week Read Alouds

2011-07-16T07:18:00.001-05:00

Welcome to my blog!! I have enjoyed the teaching blog world and have been able to use SO many of the ideas that others have shared. I am ready to jump in this little social circle and share my ideas, too! I hope that I may be as helpful as many of YOU have been to me!!

During the first week of school there are SEVERAL books that I read-some of them more than once! I like to read No David and David Goes to School multiple times throughout the first week. We discuss all the things that David did that were not wise choices. We then talk about why we should not make those choices. On Friday, we write our class contract and all sign it. We talk about our promise to each other and what a "contract" is. We hang it in our classroom and it serves as a reminder throughout the year!

Today I'm linking up with Mrs. Saylor's Log.