Praying!

Tests, Bulletin Boards, and Critters

I am so excited to have posted my first item on Teachers Pay Teachers!  I created a first grade math assessment for the first quarter.  It is aligned with common core and it includes numbers 1-50, addition, subtraction, word problems, least to greatest, representing numbers, tens frames, and comparing numbers. Check it out at my Teachers Pay Teachers Store for FREE!  I still have a lot to learn about creating, posting, and selling items, BUT today, I think I finally broke some ground!

In other news, check out our cute bulletin board!  It is called "Spooky Smiles"!  The children loved making silly/scary faces and getting their pictures taken.  Next, we did some descriptive writing and they described their face.  They worked so hard!

How cute is she?  "My Spooky Smile... It lux like a cat.  I look skery.  My handz are clos to my fais."  I am just so proud.  My kiddos did some awesome writing for this time in the school year!  I just LOVE first grade temporary spelling.  It makes me so proud to see them spell phonetically!

LAST, but certainly not LEAST!  I'd like to call myself a fabulous teacher because I have invited a creepy crawly creature to be our class pet for this week as long as he seems healthy.  I guess I have to admit, our little critter is pretty cute!  Thank goodness for one of my brave little fellas who holds him while I clean out the little cage.  I guess the hard part is getting the LIVING nasty insects in there for him to eat.  My little guy who caught it named him Sonic.

Happy Teaching!

Wonderful Back to School!

I have loved being back to work!  I have been so busy decorating, planning, and creating!  Maybe that can be one excuse why I have been away from my teacher blog for so long! :)

 Does anyone else have a collection like this after summer break?  I always seem to stock up so much!  Even though this is my 5th year as a first grade teacher, I still can't resist a great idea for the classroom.  Not to mention, things to keep my room fresh and organized!

A local library was closing this summer and teachers could get books for free.  To say I went a little *CRAZY* would be a major understatement.  I made multiple trips and even snatched lots of books for my friends and husband who teaches fourth grade!  Here is what I grabbed for myself!  I hope it is normal how excited I get over these types of things. :)

For the first time this year, I finally have an EXTREMELY organized classroom library.  I am just loving it!  I have every book labeled with its AR reading level and put in a basket with the cutest labels I made.  (Pictures to come!)  AND... Are you ready for a great idea? I labeled a clothes pin for each student and when they choose a book from one of the baskets, they clip their clothes pin onto it.  Such a great idea for them to remember exactly where to put it when they are done.  It works great for a forgetful first grader and an OCD teacher! :)

Here is a before picture of my classroom for the 2012/2013 school year:

And NOW for some AFTER pictures after weeks of hard work:

 Here is where I write the weekly learning objectives.

 This is our calendar area.

Another view of the calendar area.

 My Math bulletin board.

My Rules and "Reminders" bulletin board.

The whole view.

AND one of my favorite touches to the room.  I am doing monkeys (and of course leopard print) in my classroom this year... in case you didn't already notice.

I LOVE how my back to school bulletin board turned out!  I can't take all the credit though.  Thank you to my creative friend Ally for letting me borrow her monkeys and idea!  (Don't you just love the green vines?)

  Fun Linky Party!  You Know You Teach ______ When You...

Measurement

Some days I wonder why I am even called a teacher.  Did I do that today?  They don't tell you about all of that "other stuff".  Like today!  It was one of those days.  I would vent more about it, but I am going to keep it classy and just proceed with the kind of stuff most of the world thinks I do! :)  (While repeating "13 more days, 13 more days" in my head over and over again!)

Last week we did a unit on measurement.  Since first grade is big on non-standard units of measuring, we decided to find our height in not only feet and inches, but also paperclips, cubes, glue sticks, and pencils.  First, I let the children trace a partner on a piece of bulletin board paper.  Next, they got to decorate it to make it look "just like" themselves. 

They were so cute and took personalizing their art so seriously.  After they were done creating their masterpiece, we got right to measuring.

I had a worksheet made for them to fill in their answers.  It was a fun math week in room 505!

My Summer Bucket List

Come August I know I will be totally ready to head back to room 505, but right now I am so ready to dive into my summer.  Like I always say, teachers have summers "off" for a reason.  :)  Read on to see "My Summer Bucket List"!


1) Vacation with hubby and family!



2) Read!  Here are some of the books on my shelf!

(That last one: "Storm Track", I received in the mail for FREE and SIGNED by the author herself.  It was a special gift because her husband may or may not have accidentally hit my car in a parking lot.)


3) Float and tan in my backyard pool!  Lucky!



4) Create units and a TPT store.  I am still trying to learn the ropes to all of this! Suggestions?


5) Sleep!  Of course!


6) Give these precious pups some more attention and exercise!

7) Go for more runs!  I enjoy a good run, but come 5:30 after a day with firsties, they tend to be harder to come by.  No excuses this summer! :)

Money, Money, Money

Teaching first graders how to identify pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters and THEN count them in a set... it's a good thing I enjoy what I do so much.  We had a great two week money unit in room 505.  And guess what?  My kids really got it!  In our final days on money there was no hiding my excitement as they were counting all the coin combinations I challenged them to.  Here are some of the various teaching methods/tools I used during our unit.

*Does anyone else use this PERFECT coin poem?  The kids love memorizing it and it really helps them to remember the characteristics of each coin!  

*This year I had a new idea!  And it has proven to be something I will definitely do again!  Monday was "penny day", Tuesday was "nickel day", Wednesday was "dime day", and Thursday was "quarter day".  We really dove into studying each coin, talking about it, and memorizing it.  I let the kids carry the coin around with them all day.  They had to keep it in their pockets.  (I asked them to wear clothes with pockets ahead of time!)  It was also a great way to promote responsibility!  The kids worked hard to not lose their coin and knew that at the end of the day I was expecting it back!  On Friday, we did "mystery day".  I randomly distributed a coin to each child.  They had to find someone who had a different coin and then tell that friend all about their coin.  They absolutely loved mystery day!


*Each day we also added details to our coin flip book, depending on which coin we were learning about.

*After the children mastered identifying coins, we started working on counting coins.  I teach the children to use "touch points" when adding up coins.  If you don't know what that is, see the poster below.

Each touch point is worth 5, and first graders are really good at counting by fives! :)

*To implement using touch points we made a game.  First, we folded a large piece of construction paper in half.  Second, I had the kids cut out some sets of coins from math lessons I decided not to use.  (Because I like my idea better!)  Next, we put the appropriate amount of touch points on each coin.  Then, we labeled each set A-I (see below).  

Last, we put the answers on the backside under a taped paper. 

 (This way they can check their work and also not see the other answers before they get to them!)

*Another fun game!  Each child wears a necklace with a coin combination on it.  Next, they find a partner.  Each partner takes a turn and counts the set of coins on the other student's necklace.  

To check their answer, they simply open the coin necklace! Wala!

 

*Oh, and one more thing!  I was sure to leave out some coin flash cards!  Great idea for early finishers!

Earth Day

To celebrate Earth Day we went for a little walk around the school and picked up trash.  The kids were too cute running around with their plastic bags.  We were sure to have a little chat about germs first!  I gave each child a latex free glove and off we went.  

Another Earth Day idea the children loved was turning off the lights during class time.  Anything out of the ordinary excites them!  Not to mention we were helping the Earth!  I love first graders!

Spring and Easter Centers

Thank goodness it is Spring Break!  I was more than ready for a little rest from the hustle and bustle of teaching first grade.  Before we parted ways for a nice week off, we enjoyed some review with our Spring and Easter centers.  The kids enjoyed them, but I think I did EVEN MORE!  I love this time of year in first grade because all of the sudden the kiddos are becoming so much more independent.  Their learning begins to become so evident and it is very exciting.  I loved watching them complete their review centers with great success!  I was actually able to get some things done around the classroom while the kiddos were hard at work.  Here are some of the centers we did this past week:
 
One-  Compound or Not Compound

For this center the children need to place raindrops under "Compound" or "Not Compound" umbrellas.  I have them record their answers on a worksheet to check their work.

Two- Even or Odd Numbers

At this center the children need to determine whether the numbers on the flowers are even or odd.  Next, they place the flower into the egg carton.  If the number is even they place it on the "even" side, and if they number is odd, they place it on the "odd" side.  To make this center you cut flowers out of construction paper, put numbers on them, and glue them to a Popsicle stick.  Next, you cut holes into an egg carton and label one side "even" and one side "odd".

Three- Making Spring Words

The children love this center.  Each umbrella has a small envelope in the back.  The children must open the envelope to pull on some small, lettered raindrops that are within.

After the kiddos pull out the raindrops, they must sort them to find out which Spring word the letters are creating.

Four- Vowel Caterpillars 

At this center the children read the words on the caterpillar feet and determine whether they are short vowel or long vowel words.  They need to sort them accordingly by sticking them onto the magnets on the caterpillars.  So cute!

Five- Easter Egg Trivia (My favorite!)

Within each egg is a review question and the children will take turns opening each egg and reading the question.  This is a great way to review some key vocabulary/math terms, etc.  Some of the questions inside include: Who was the first president of the United States?  What is ten more than 52?  What does it mean to find the sum? etc.  The children record their answers on a worksheet so I can check their work.

What are some centers you do with your class around this time of year?


CREDIT:  These centers were created with the helpfulness of my fabulous first grade team members and of course the wonderful ideas from The Mailbox.

Dental Health

So February is Dental Health month, but we were so busy!  I broke the rules and did a little dental health this week instead.  I absolutely love teaching my children more about dental health by reading this educational (and adorable) book!

Another great read aloud that I always do during this unit also happens to be one of my most favorite books to read to the children.  It is a suspenseful little book and it gets the kiddos real excited about reading, an added plus!

Next each child created their own "Cavity Fighting Shield" to show how he/she will protect their precious smile.

(OK- my Dentist office is totally a house, but as I tell my kids, I am not the art teacher.  BUT, I love to try!)




For a writing activity I had the children sequence the directions of "How to Brush Your Teeth".  We made our own giant size toothbrushes to go with it!