Teach it With Class

Penny for your thoughts...

2012-03-04T23:16:00.000-05:00

Does anyone ever ask you why you have to do so much work for your class since you “just do the same things every year”? I get this question from time to time and it’s almost impossible to explain. I hope I’m not alone in this.

The best explanation I can give to myself and others is that every year is different. If not for the changes in state and county requirements (***insert big sigh here***) then it’s the children. Every year brings with it a new unique bunch with their own quirks and skills.

I wasn't always a teacher, at one time I did the Monday – Friday 9-5 thing and I was miserable. I knew in the pit of my stomach I wasn’t doing what I was meant to do and I wasn’t where I was meant to be. Thankfully, I figured it out and I’m now proud to call myself a first grade teacher.

You would think now that I’m 4 years into this that I would just pull out what I did last year and be done Ha! Yeah right!

It’s just not that simple. Each class brings new challenges and new joys. Right now the challenge I’m facing with my current class is honesty issues. I have a handful that consistently lie to me about mostly meaningless things. I’m not sure why this is happening and this is a new problem for me. My classroom atmosphere is based on the feeling that we are a family and we are to respect and take care of one another. This break in trust is taking its toll on the entire class...I continue to wonder what I have done differently this year that may have caused this.

This is what has me reflecting on why each year is different and why what worked last year doesn’t always work this year.

What I think it comes down to, is my students are real people with real emotions, feelings, strengths, and weaknesses. They will face challenges this year that they will need my help to overcome. It is my job as their teacher to figure out how to meet them where they are. If I rely on what worked once without stopping to ask myself if it’s still working, then I’m no longer teaching and my students are no longer learning.

Leap On Over {SALE}

2012-02-28T22:17:00.000-05:00

I think we should all start a petition to have February 29th be a national holiday. Who do I need to talk to to get that started :)

I also got to thinking today...I really feel sorry for anyone born on February 29! Is there anyone out there with that birthday???

Tomorrow is the big day! LEAP YEAR SALE! My items will be 20% off and with the TPT promo code L2P9Y you will receive an additional 10% off. 30% off ~ SCORE! Don't miss out...it's a great chance to stock up!

For your convenience I am listing pictures with links to some popular items ~ Just click the picture or click HERE to go straight to my little corner of the world!

What I'm Reading and a Little Writing

2012-02-26T14:39:00.002-05:00

This sweet little book is absolutely perfect for introducing the purpose of a comma. The entire book only has 5 words. The words are rearranged with and without commas to show their purpose. The book is simple, yet I think it could be entertaining and useful across the ages.

The orange doesn't show up very well in this picture, but it is an orange bear.

This pictures show the words separated by a comma.

The Neat Line - Scribbling Through Mother Goose

This is one of my all time favorite books. It could be because it’s related to Mother Goose nursery rhymes and I have soft spot for those.

Don’t be fooled though, there is an entirely different meaning to this book. There are 2 story lines going on, one having to do with popular nursery rhymes and the other having to do with the life of the “neat line”. This line starts out as nothing on the first page and progresses through the story.

The line is on every page and it turns and shapes itself into useful/helpful things. Each nursery rhyme gives new purpose and shape to the line. It’s a supercute book that sparks children’s imagination.

I used it as an introduction a writing lesson. I gave my students a piece of yarn to glue to their writing paper. They were allowed to turn their yarn into anything that they wanted and then write about it. They LOVED this activity. We had snakes, princesses, trees and starfish families. It was so much fun to do and they were so engaged!

Now for an adult book...

I recently read this book (I read all of his books) and I was pleasantly surprised by this one. The story line was different for him and it was not predictable like some of his can be. If you like Nicholas Sparks or love stories you will enjoy this one.

I would love to know what you're reading right now...in class and out!

P.S. - I have sent invites to everyone who expressed interest in the NC Blog Meet Up. If you are interested, please make sure to e-mail me at teachitwithclass@gmail.com

Getting ready for March and a FREEBIE!

2012-02-25T13:32:00.000-05:00

I am adoring this fun bright clip art. It makes me want to break out my spring dresses and spring shoes. If you're getting ready for March you must check these out!

I have posted my newest items to TPT and TN. Items are available in both stores but my links will take you to Teachers Pay Teachers.

March Literacy Centers

March ABC Order

This unit includes 4 weeks worth of March themed ABC order activities.

March Daily Sentence Editing

These booklets are great for morning work or as a warm up for literacy lessons. My students love predictable activities like this. They also love having the printed booklets to take home at the end of the week!

Shamrock Graphing FREEBIE

North Carolina Get Together!

2012-02-21T22:09:00.001-05:00

Thank you for your response to my post about getting together. I would love to meet all of you wonderful inspiring teachers, bloggers and educators. Everyone is welcome. You do not need to have a blog to attend.

Please e-mail me at teachitwithclass@gmail.com saying that you would like the details of the event and I will send you an electronic invite. This will be an easier way for me to keep up with everyone. I am thinking of doing an early dinner instead of lunch. Let me know if that's a huge problem for you.

I want to give a big thanks to Ms. T at Second Grade Math Maniacs for helping me with this!

Friendly Letters to Cereal Box Characters

2012-02-18T18:15:00.000-05:00

I just finished my friendly letter writing unit...

What happens when you add me (pictured below in my favorite chair) and a whole bunch of cereal (pictured below that) together???

THIS

!!!!!!!!

Think outside the box (Ha!) for Friendly Letter Writing.

Teach friendly letter writing to primary students by writing to cereal box characters. You remember your Saturday morning cartoon watching with Snap, Crackle & Pop, Lucky the Leprechaun, Tony the Tiger and many more! When you combine eating cereal with writing to the characters on the box, students won’t put their pencils down.

This unit includes additional cereal and writing activities as I just couldn’t help myself!

My inspiration??? An entire box of Rise Krispies Treats while I worked. Yikes!

Love is...

2012-02-14T20:03:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day

Love is…

...when my dog licks my face.

...when my dad cooks dinner.

...kindness.

...a need.

...when you treat others with respect.

...when someone wants to marry you.

I should have just put a sign outside my door that said “Danger Zone”

Valentine’s Day in 1^st grade is dangerous. All 26 of them showed up today armed and ready. It’s like they all stood at the door as allies loaded with bags of candy. It’s not your typical day. Usually, one student has a birthday or they’ve earned one small treat. The excitement from that is usually enough to throw off an entire day. Valentine’s Day though is not comparable. They all have a bag of candy and they all know that there’s more on its way. Most of them have even had a few pieces before 8:00AM on the bus!

So I decided quickly if I couldn’t beat them…join them. I couldn’t even tell you how many Rice Krispies treats and pieces of candy I had today! Not to mention the hugs! There really isn’t anything like seeing love through the eyes of 1^st graders. I have one little boy who really loves the whole world and everything in it. Literally. Everything makes him happy and he is very dramatic. First thing this morning I said “Brandon today is your day! It’s the day the whole world celebrates love.” He responded with a hug and a squeal. To make matters worse he is about the cutest thing you’ve ever seen.

Daily, he sighs, throws himself at me in a dramatic hug and says “Ms. Fleming you’re the best teacher ever! I love you so much!” We do this at least once a day if not more. This little nugget though just couldn’t take all the love today. He was so overwhelmed. He squealed, he jumped for joy, he was a ball of happy energy. He read every Valentine, hugged every person and made just as big of a deal about the first Valentine that he received as he did the 26^th one he received. Brandon loves love!

In watching him, I realized not only how special he felt, but how his reactions made his other classmates feel special too.

In conclusion, it was a wonderful ~~sugar~~ love filled day of ~~fun~~ learning!

Don't forget to check out my giveaway HERE!

Friends Sharing w/ Friends - GIVEAWAY

2012-02-12T19:08:00.000-05:00

I am learning quickly how much fun blog world can be! There are some truly talented, kind and amazing women out there. I am thankful for all of my followers and for each and every comment that has been left either on my blog or TPT store. Ya’ll are AWESOME!

Since ya’ll are so awesome, let me make sure you don’t miss out on these 2 awesome ladies over at Made in the Shade in Second Grade. We’ve teamed up and we’re having a giveaway.

It’s super easy but ALL comments need to be left on Made in the Shade in 2^nd Grade’s blog post.

There will be 4 WINNERS!
(we want you to feel like you have a chance) :)

Leave one comment for each of the things that you do (even if you are not a new follower).

1)Follow (this blog) Randi's Blog - Teach It With Class
2)Follow (my store) Randi's Teachers Pay Teachers Store
3)Follow Made in the Shade in Second Grade's Blog
4)Follow Lisa on TPT (there are so many freebies there it’s unreal)
5)Show us some love by blogging about this giveaway on your blog.

What can you win???

The first 2 winners randomly chosen can choose an educational CD from Have Fun Teaching (see more below) and will get to choose one item from Randi’s TPT store :)

The next 2 winners randomly chosen will win ……..

A $10 gift card to Amazon and our new Out of This World Math and Literacy Activities!

Have you heard of Have Fun Teaching? If you haven’t, head over there now and check it out. Mark is the brains behind this operation and there are so many wonderful resources on his site. He creates some awe-inspiring educational songs that are available on the site and get this – he creates them himself! As if that’s not enough, there are countless free resources that can be downloaded. This dude is talented. Go check him out!

Number Order

2012-02-08T20:40:00.000-05:00

First graders and ordering numbers. Did I just hear a collective sigh? I think so...

I found this amazing online game for practicing number order. The kiddos thinking it's a fun game and really it's my way of seeing if they even have a clue. You can play this on any computer but I like putting it on my classroom Promethean Board so I can see how much of an understanding a student has. The best part is that you can change the levels, numbers and set the timer yourself! You can check it out here-

NUMBER ORDER GAME

A Very Thirty-One Giveaway

2012-02-06T07:15:00.000-05:00

Have you heard of Thirty-One bags? They are awesome, especially for teachers! If you are like me, you are probably somewhat of a bag lady...

I am so excited to say that I have teamed up with my friend Rachelle from What the Teacher Wants to bring you a Thirty-One bag giveaway. It's really easy to enter but you have to place your entry on HER page.

So what are you waiting for? Click the picture below and go enter to win!

2 Lucky winners will receive one of the Thirty-One bags pictured below. The best part? You will get to customize your bag with your name and even pick your design!

I don't want anyone to miss out so make sure you ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY at What the Teacher Wants.

Let's get together North Carolina

2012-02-03T21:01:00.000-05:00

I don't know about you but I am super duper jealous of the blogger meet up that Abby from The Inspired Apple and Michelle from Fabulous in First are having this weekend.

I just know all of these ladies are going to have a fabulous time....so as I sit here and contemplate hopping in my car and driving 10 hours north tonight and realizing that that is a little extreme even given how much I love blog world, I decided to host my own! Now, that I've made this decision, I'm now contemplating whether anyone would even be interested...

So... would any of you lovely ladies be interested in meeting in the Raleigh area let's say in early March?

If you are interested leave a comment below and we can go from there...please don't leave my post hanging out in scary blog land without comments! Yikes...as I hit "publish post" my fingers are crossed...I think this could be so much fun!

Gumballs, Water Balloons & Math

2012-01-31T07:00:00.006-05:00

Thanks for all the love on my new blog look! I'm still so pumped about it. I know it's a little loud but I love it. The colors make me happy. Actually color in general just makes me happy :)

This is how I track who passed each week.
(don't judge my lack of bling - putting a shiny handle on this thing has been on my to-do list since fall)

So I have 26 little ones that I got all riled up today about hibernation and groundhogs. We are "on the edge of our seats" waiting for Phil to tell us if winter is over. Why are we so excited for winter to be over?

Well, I have added a new incentive to my classroom this week because I'm ~~crazy~~ dedicated to student learning. Each week it's a really BIG deal for us to take our "Gumball Math Fact Test” you can get your copy from Made for 1st Grade. In addition to whatever topic we are on in math, each Monday I make fact flash cards for each student and thus begins their week of independent studying. They have finally begun to realize that their success depends on how much time they put into studying their cards. I allow a little time each day for practicing in class and they are allowed to take their cards to and from school and we often partner off and quiz each other.

The tests are taken in order (+1,-1, +2,-2, +3,-3…). Each time a student passes, they get a real gumball (this is a huge deal!) and they move up to the next test to begin studying again. Thankfully, students are beginning to move up in their levels but I’ve noticed them getting stuck on the same test for longer. Thanks to a fellow co-worker who mentioned doing this with her class years ago, I decided I would try it.

I know I just need to spit it out already!

I have added that for each test that each child passes, at our end of the year cookout, I will let the kids throw that many water balloons at ME. Yep. I’m just going to stand there and take it. Needless to say, they are beyond excited about this new incentive.

A few questions…

Do you do timed tests in your class and if yes, how many questions and how much time?

What crazy incentive have you offered your class to reach a goal?

New blog design - please come see!

2012-01-30T06:46:00.000-05:00

If you're reading this then you've seen it!!!!

What do you think? Please leave me a comment telling me. It will make my week & probably Diana's since she's worked so hard for me.

This has been such a fun process that I've shared with Diana from Custom Blog Designs.

She worked so closely with me and was sooo very understanding of my needs, wants and craziness. This seriously talented Blog Designer is amazing and I encourage you to contact her and update your look!

THANK YOU DIANA!!!

Bright Smiles :)

2012-01-27T21:19:00.001-05:00

February is such a ~~busy~~ fun time to be a teacher! There is so much going on. I think every teacher can relate to this time of year.

To help ya'll out (and ourselves of course) Jessica from Tales of a Teacherista and I have teamed up again to bring you this Dental Health mega unit!!!

Click {HERE} to go check it out in my TPT store!

If you missed our Groundhog Day & Hibernation Unit, head over to Jessica's TPT store and check it out!

THANK YOU to all of my new followers. I hope that you are enjoying your Hibernation & Groundhog Freebie! I appreciate each and every one of you.

No Snow? No Problem.

2012-01-25T21:57:00.000-05:00

No snow? No problem.

I’m just sitting here in North Carolina while my students stare at me like I have 3 heads. I keep teaching and talking about snow…but do we have any snow? Nope. Nada.

Of course, that means it’s time to get creative. What better way to get into a snowy mood than with a SNOWBALL FIGHT!?

It’s super easy and is a perfect activity when you have that awkward 5 minutes in your day that you need to fill. You know those few minutes in between which really are not enough time for anything.

You will need a small scrap piece of paper for each student and each student will need a textbook. I usually use the basal so everyone is familiar with the story/words.

Tell students to look in their story/book and to write 1 word on their paper that they don’t know. When they’re done and staring at you for their next direction, have them hold their paper up then crumple it up into a SNOWBALL! After the initial shock and excitement, let them throw it at YOU.

I know you’re wondering where the educational aspect is in all of this…well, after all the snowballs have been thrown, each student finds one, opens it and reads it out loud. You can repeat this for as many times as you have time for. Depending on how much time we have, I will have students write one sentence instead of one word.

Here’s the tricky part J No matter what, you will always be 1 snowball short. Somehow, someway one snowball will be thrown never to be found again L I try to make 1 or 2 of my own and throw them in to limit the devastation for that one child who is snowball-less when it’s time to collect them (look at me making up my own word -give me a blog and watch out!).

You can check out this mess in action below-

Disclaimer: this picture is blurry and will ALWAYS be blurry when taken by a 6 year old J

This is me protecting myself as snowballs are ~~thrown with all their might~~ tossed at me.

Hibernation, Groundhog's Day and a Freebie!

2012-01-18T20:26:00.000-05:00

Say "HELLO" and maybe even "GOODBYE" to winter with this HUGE Hibernation and Groundhog Day unit!

I've teamed up with Jessica from Tales of a Teacherista to create this mega unit. Head over to Jessica's TPT store and check it out.

We're not done yet though...if you would like a 10 page freebie not included in the unit, here's what you can do:

1) Follow my blog and leave a comment on this post with your e-mail address so I can send it to you

2) If you already follow my blog, then head over and follow my TPT store and leave a comment on this post with your e-mail address and I will send it to you

Randi's TPT Store

Jessica's TPT Store

Head over and follow Jessica's blog if you don't already, it's a blog you won't want to miss!

Check these ladies out!

2012-01-16T19:05:00.000-05:00

Teaching First is celebrating 200 followers with a huge giveaway. Go HERE to enter this mega giveaway. Great work ladies!

You can check out all the fabulous bloggers that she has teamed up with below!

Ms. Preppy

Sassy in Second

Rowdy in First Grade

Loving & Learning in pre-k

TPT Sale!

2012-01-15T07:11:00.000-05:00

I decided to put EVERYTHING in my Teachers Pay Teachers store on sale Sunday, January 15 & Monday January 16. I want to do this as a "THANK YOU" to my followers for their support and all the kind words and e-mails! Enjoy!

Clipboards, Highlighters & Dice~Oh My!

2012-01-14T06:19:00.000-05:00

This is my newest unit posted to my TPT store ~ You can check it out HERE.

As I post this unit I feel so anxious just thinking about it. I'm going to have my hands full for the next 4-8 weeks! My (dear, amazing, awesome, wonderful, sweet, kind and loving) full time classroom assistant is going to be out until an unknown date :(

I have 26 little ones....1:26 just doesn't seem fair...so yes, Clipboards, Highlighters & Dice~Oh My!

I pray for her speedy recovery. The good news is, she will be coming back to us..... I do mean this with my whole heart. However, we are sure going to miss her. She is the reason our procedures and routines run so smoothly. She is rockin' out behind the scenes so that I can actually teach my children which is where my heart is. When she's not doing that she's helping the children and they adore her. For real ya'll she's amazing.

I know how lucky I am to even have a full time assistant so I plan to just grin and bear it. In the meantime though I created this unit to help me function. It's full of activities using clipboards, highlighters and dice. It's been my experience that given one of the above mentioned items and a task, my students are UNSTOPPABLE! I really can't handle giving "busy work" out and this is not that. These are independent activities that will keep them engaged in their given task and I'm hoping quiet too! I have a chatty chatty bunch this year. I'm pretty sure this packet is what I will turn to time and time again for independent work and literacy stations.

I would love to hear about your class sizes and if you have any other adult help in your classrooms...plus I heart comments.

Owl Love You Forever

2012-01-13T00:05:00.001-05:00

Get a jump start on February! You can check out "Owl Love You Forever" ~HERE~

How adorable are these owls right?

CLICK HERE

Do you play the teacher card?

2012-01-11T19:46:00.000-05:00

Do you play the teacher card?

You know what I'm talking about, it's the one that gets people talking and often gets us FREEBIES! When I first started teaching, I didn't realize how powerful this card could be. Quickly, this began to change.

At first, I would happen to mention at retail places that I was a teacher that's why I buy things in quantities of 25. What I noticed was many people would immediately loosen up and start talking to me. Let me stop here and explain something...

I am from up north (Ohio). I have lived in NC now for almost 8 years. Let me just say, my personality, can be somewhat too much for people. I move fast, I talk fast and I'm always in a rush to move on to my next task. This I feel is an admirable trait. I also happen to get through life on sarcasm which may or may not be an admirable trait...moving on...

I've found though, that sometimes I just end up confusing people. So, after 8 years, I think I've found a small talk happy medium. The teacher card though can get anyone talking. There are a few things that people say that come up again and again

People tell me they could never do what I do
People tell me horror stories about current teachers of their children and how wrong that teacher is and what do I think? Um...awkward
Of course I get the "you have 3 months off so whatever your worried about now doesn't matter" ~ that usually ends that conversation :)
The best reaction though is people who will go out of their way to help simply because I teach

I have received free carpets, limitless paint stir sticks from paint counters, free recyclable bags, free glue, free paper, crayons, countless "extra" discounts, free painting services and so much more over the years.

It always warms my heart to see how my profession touches not only children, but adults as well. To me, it means that at some time, somewhere a teacher made a difference to them. I hope I can be that teacher to some of my students.

So, thank you for all of you who go out of your way to help a teacher out!

Now teachers, when and where do you play the teacher card?

Skip Counting Freebie

2012-01-09T19:55:00.000-05:00

Check out my newest Skip Counting Freebie. I went to pull out my math tubs this week and realized I didn't have any basic skip counting activities. Off to the computer I went. I hope you can find this useful and can pull it out anytime of the year!

Last Chance Giveaway!

2012-01-08T15:41:00.000-05:00

Last Chance for my GIVEAWAY! You can win products from my TPT Store . There will be 3 winners!

Go HERE to enter....it's super easy I promise! I will end this giveaway at 9:00 tonight.

Questioning Comprehension Unit

2012-01-07T00:42:00.000-05:00

I just finished this huge unit on Questioning (a complete comprehension unit) and posted to TPT. Included are detailed mini lessons that will help you teach and better understand how to move from "thin" to "thick" questions.

I am in love with comprehension this year! It's kind of my baby! I have always struggled with teaching units of comprehension because the resources are so scattered. In addition to that, I have found that there is just enough available to teach the skill and then never ever return to it. ~ Well, not anymore! Head on over and check it out HERE

If you missed my Visualizing (a complete comprehension unit), you can check it out HERE.

Pigeon Reaches Celebrity Status

2012-01-06T00:50:00.000-05:00

I have a quick story I wanted to share about my day...

I was walking my class to Art. Everything was going as planned and we were even on time for once! Then all of a sudden almost all 24 of my students seemed to begin talking and shouting at once. There was jumping and pointing and overall chaos!

Would you like to know what caused this hallway celebration?

The Pigeon....you know him...little blue guy...wants to drive the bus...yep that one!

Our media center is surrounded by windows and at some point over the break the media coordinator put a plush pigeon on the bookshelf. This is what my students saw! Apparently, he's like a celebrity in my room!

If anyone knows how I can get an adult Pigeon costume..I'm in! I can't seem to find one.

I first introduced the Pigeon this year using my Needs & Wants unit.

Snowman Sequencing FREEBIE

2012-01-04T07:23:00.000-05:00

I created this adorable little center activity for a friend who teaches Kindergarten.

This activity will build a snowman 1 card at a time. Each card adds another element (scarf, arms...). There are 8 cards total with a design your own snowman follow-up sheet.

If you like what you see, I ask that you please consider following my TPT store. New followers make me ridiculously happy!

Snowman Sequencing Activity

Follow my TPT store HERE

Don't forget to enter my easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy GIVEAWAY ~HERE~

Rime FREEBIE!

2012-01-03T07:04:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to reality ya’ll!
For most of us, Christmas break just came to a screeching halt!

Here is a fun little freebie to soften the blow.

I created this FREEBIE to help my students begin to see spelling patterns in words. We will soon be heading into the scary world of long vowels and seeing these patterns will become essential to their success.

Rime Matching Practice

I also thought I would share this little educational tid-bit with you about the difference between "rhyme" and "rime". The main difference between a rhyme and a rime is that rhymes are always auditory and rimes always have the same ending spelling.

Have a wonderful day!

I can find 100 numbers!

2012-01-02T16:39:00.000-05:00

The 100th Day of School is just around the corner...are you ready?

Every year I blow up 100 balloons (with a pump of course) first thing in the morning and it's always a great start to the day. Students arrive at their desks to find "100" written with a Twizzler and 2 cookies!

I love to embrace this crazy made up holiday with as many fun activities as possible. Another activity I always do is tape 100 colored numbers around the room. Then, I give each student a 100's board and the hunt begins. They search around the room for each number, find it on their 100's board and color it the correct color. The first student to correctly find and color 100 numbers wins! This activity is great because you can start and stop throughout the day and for my first graders, it usually takes awhile to complete. Of course, this year I had to spice up my numbers a bit.

You can find this activity HERE

2012 Giveaway!

2012-01-01T11:14:00.000-05:00

Let's start the New Year off right....with a GIVEAWAY!!!

I don't like complicated things and I know we are all short on time so this will be simple.

Go to my Teach It With Class Facebook Page and click LIKE. Then leave me a comment telling me which item from my TPT store you would like to win! That's is....it's that simple. Giveaway will end Sunday, January 8, 2012! I will randomly select 3 winners who will win the item that they said they would like in their comment!

You can visit my Facebook Page HERE

You can visit my TPT Store HERE

Thank you to all of my followers and customers in 2011! I am humbled by your support and kind words. THANK YOU!

STOP Writing!

2011-12-31T13:47:00.000-05:00

STOP Writing....well not really. Read on!

Do your children have trouble understanding where to stop a sentence? Do they think punctuation is just a fun decoration for their papers? Well, I'll admit it, my children are a little confused. It's so difficult to explain when a complete thought stops and needs punctuation. Then, there is always the problem of those who do get it but forget to do it! Sheesh! Well this fun free simple activity should get your class excited about periods!

With any type of writing you would simple replace all the periods with paper periods from the hole punch!

Have students complete a writing assignment after you model and stress the proper use of punctuation. Your students will be very excited to glue their "periods" or "stoppers" on their paper when they're done! After, I like to compile the pages in a class book. This helps students see the patterns with the periods and fortunately some of the problems. I have children that begin to see that ALL of their periods are at the end of each line (not the sentence), I have had them recognize that they only have 1 loooong sentence with 1 period and others see that they have waaaay too many periods.

*I used my 3 hold punch with different colored paper and then emptied it and I had plenty of 'periods'

*This activity was done with my Needs & Wants unit using the Pigeon books by Mo Willems

If you try this in your classroom, I would love to hear how it goes. I heart comments!

Visualizing for Comprehension

2011-12-30T19:04:00.000-05:00

For a student to be considered a good reader they must go beyond decoding words. Without comprehension, students who are fluent decoders are just “barking at the print.” It is when students are able to understand what they have read that they can be considered good readers. One strategy of a good reader is visualizing. Good readers do this without even realizing they do it. The question then, is how do you teach this skill?

Here are some pictures from my visualizing unit that will help YOU visualize ways to teach this tricky comprehension skill!

Students fill in the center of the Bubble Map based on the adjective phrases in the outside bubbles.

I used the book Snowmen All Year to help students visualize how the setting changes in a text. In the frame I placed lines directly from the text and then drew a matching picture of the setting being described. It is important to teach students that the text actually does describe what is happening. Often, the students rely only on pictures and fail to make the comprehension connection with the text.

Here's a closer look~

"and at my birthday party we would celebrate his too"

Another Thinking Map you could use to apply the same skill~

This Bridge Map shows easily how the text taken directly from the book matches the picture below it.

My new unit is full of lessons to not only teach visualizing in your classroom but it contains enough to continue to practice and re-visit these skills.

You can check it out HERE

This is the book I used to teach visualizing the setting.

Christmas Plurals FREEBIE

2011-11-29T23:31:00.000-05:00

One of the most difficult parts of learning to speak English is the correct pronunciation of plural nouns and verbs. Many of my ESL children have a lot of trouble understanding when to add "S" to the end of a word. Verbally, they seem to hear it and be able to tell me what it should be....but to get them to write it on paper is something I have yet to figure out (suggestions welcome).

I have created this Christmas Plurals activity to help them visualize adding an "S" to a word to show more than one.

You can grab your FREE copy ~HERE~

Cyber Monday Sale

2011-11-27T12:06:00.000-05:00

I'm jumping on the CYBER train and throwing a TPT sale!

CYBER MONDAY SALE

Use promo Code: CMS28

You will receive 30% off of EVERYTHING in my TPT Store

Happy Holidays!

FREEBIE - 'Tis the season

2011-11-19T16:12:00.000-05:00

'Tis the season

I hope everyone is enjoying this last weekend before the official holiday season kicks off! In order to keep myself on track, I created some fun To Do Lists. Nothing makes me feel better than crossing something off of my To Do List! When I am done with everything on the list it becomes my "Ta Da List"! I figure that with a super cute list, I may be more motivated! Here's hoping...

You can grab 10 FREE different designs ~HERE~

Skip Counting

2011-11-14T23:53:00.000-05:00

This year, I think my students have finally mastered SKIP COUNTING...ok...so maybe at least a few of them have.

I tried really hard to make the unit relevant. For counting by 2's I used pieces of numbered paper with 2 turkeys on each paper. This really helped with understanding that there are really 2 objects to be counted. It's not just Ms. Fleming forgetting to say every other number!

For 5's we used hand print turkeys (adorable!). Shout out to First Grader at Last for this awesome idea!

For 10's, I divided the class in groups and each group glued 10 fall leaves on each paper. I did this ~~ugly~~ um...not really thought out bulletin board to show off our hard work and BAM, they are finally getting it! To really achieve understanding of the concept, we practiced all of this in relation to a 100's board.

We practiced even more with my Thanksgiving Skip Counting station.

I am curious, is this a skill your first graders pick up easily or do they come to you already knowing it?

Harrison Ford wants you to read...

2011-11-11T00:40:00.000-05:00

Does your school library ever clean and giveaway goodies???

Well...mine does.

A fellow teacher of mine snatched this ~~enormous framed poster~~ goody up when that clean out time came. Myself and another coworker teased her about this. We both left her room laughing about her treasure. Well, low and behold a few months later this teacher has retired from our school. I go into her old room today and there he is....Harrison Ford...loud and proud hanging on the wall in the classroom!

The copyright on the poster reads 1990 (yes, I had to get up close and check).

I have nothing against celebrities promoting reading, it just strikes me as funny since (21 years later) Harrison Ford does NOT look like this anymore!

There you have my randomness for the day!

First 5 Get it FREE

2011-11-08T21:40:00.000-05:00

So, I'm sitting at 197 followers (I can't even believe that 197 random strangers want to give my little corner of the world the time of day) but........sheesh 200 would just make my night!

So, I thought I would try to get some action. The first 5 people to comment will receive my "Pumpkin Pie in a Cup" mini pack FREE.

On your mark....get set...GO!

Click HERE to get this activity if sadly you're not one of the first 5 to comment :(

Response Log Freebie

2011-11-06T11:28:00.000-05:00

I created this FREE response log to go with my Needs & Wants Unit. This could be used for any of the pigeon books by Mo Willems.

Click HERE to grab your free copy!

I can never seem to find a response log that fits my needs. They always seem to easy or too hard. So, I created a variety of my own. I just posted the Reading and Responding to Text Packet to my TPT and TN store. This packet is full of response logs for all levels!

3 Winners

2011-10-30T20:59:00.000-04:00

Ladies, check your e-mail :)

Last Chance Giveaway!

2011-10-30T10:44:00.000-04:00

My giveaway ends tonight!!!! Enter NOW!

Go ~HERE~ and enter to win for my giveaway! There will be 3 winners and it's super easy to enter! You could win a $10.00 Scrappin Doodles Gift Certificate, my favorite Thanksgiving book "Turk and Runt: A Thanksgiving Comedy" or any 3 items from my store!!!

My Bat Hat!

2011-10-27T22:49:00.000-04:00

A few years back on a trip in the mountains of West Virginia, I found a bat hat! I use it every year around this time and the children love it. This year, I have found a Turkey hat. I can't wait for November!

Don't forget to check out my giveaway ~HERE~

Verb Rap Song

2011-10-26T00:45:00.000-04:00

I have attached a link to a great song to use when teaching action verbs! My children are addicted to this song. Be prepared though...you won't be able to get it out of your head either!

VERB RAP SONG

Giveaway Reminder

2011-10-25T22:22:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to go ~HERE~ and enter to win for my giveaway! There will be 3 winners and it's super easy to enter! You could win a $10.00 Scrappin Doodles Gift Certificate, my favorite Thanksgiving book "Turk and Runt: A Thanksgiving Comedy" or any 3 items from my store!!!

Click ~HERE~ to go to the blog post and enter.

Good Luck!

2011-10-23T21:56:00.000-04:00

I just finished this Needs & Wants packet for November. In case you don't know, I am in love with the Pigeon from the Mo Willems series. I absolutely can't wait to introduce this crazy character to my new students. So, I figured what better way to teach teach the difference between wants and needs than from the Pigeon? The Pigeon wants a hotdog but does he need a hotdog?

This packet will help your children understand that people often want much more than they need. As a result, we must make choices about what we need and what we can afford.

You can check out the packets at my TPT store or my TN store.

It's Giveaway Time! 3 Winners

2011-10-22T21:49:00.000-04:00

It's Giveaway Time!

A couple of clicks and you will be entered to win! There will be 3 winners and the winners will be announced Sunday, October 30th

There are 3 ways to enter...and there will be 3 winners!

1) Become a follower of my TPT store and leave a comment saying you are now a follower.

2) Become a follower of my Teachers Notebook store and leave a comment saying you are now a follower.

3) Blog about my giveaway or just my blog in general on your blog! (I added this one because this would just make me super duper excited to be thought of in the amazing blog world :)

The first winner will receive a $10.00 Scrappin Doodles Gift Certificate

The second winner will receive a copy of my favorite Thanksgiving Book "Turk and Runt: A Thanksgiving Comedy" by Lisa Wheeler

The third winner will receive any 3 items of their choice from my Teachers Notebook store or TPT.

Gingerbread Man Freebie

2011-10-22T17:32:00.000-04:00

The holidays are right around the corner!

I've been getting in the holiday spirit by getting my Gingerbread Man units ready. I am posting a Gingerbread Man freebie to get you excited too! Go grab your freebie, December will be here before you know it!

Teachers Notebook Store or TPT

If you like what you see, please become a follower!

Our Adjectives Runneth Over!

2011-10-20T21:55:00.000-04:00

Let's Get Poppin With Adjectives! That's just what we did in my room last week. Thanks to Babbling Abby at The Inspired Apple and this fabulous unit. My students had a blast with adjectives. Below is a picture of my bulletin board of our Adjective Writing and Popcorn Adjective craft.

We completed the poster below as a whole group coming up with adjectives based on our 5 senses to use later for writing. Our adjectives runneth over!

Digraph Practice

2011-10-17T21:18:00.000-04:00

After looking long and hard for activities to practice "wh", "sh", "th" and "ch" I found that many words are not represented with a good visual when learning these sounds. Since I have a high ESL population, I felt that the visual to match the digraph was essential....so of course, I made my own!

You can find it ~HERE~ or ~HERE~

We Are Family

2011-10-16T09:35:00.000-04:00

I was singing the entire time that I made this fun activity! It's great practice whole group or for stations for word families. You can check it out ~HERE~ or ~HERE~. Show some love and become a follower!

Love Your Word Wall

2011-10-14T21:39:00.000-04:00

You can grab a printable copy of this post for FREE ~HERE~ at my new TPT store.

In my class, we love our word wall. No, really. We love our word wall. In the sneaky way that only teachers can do, I’ve convinced my class of how important our Word Wall, Word Study Words & Word Families are.

After reading this, I realize you’ll think I’m loco (crazy in Spanish) but I promise it’s worth going a little loco to get the kiddos on board.

Each week I introduce 5 new sight words on our “Word Study”. This is the hook. These pesky words “talk” to me ALL day looong. Or so that’s what I tell the children J Obviously, words don’t talk, but my children think that they do. What are they talking about? Well, they want to go home. Their home is our classroom Word Wall. The problem is, they are not allowed to go home until my students learn them.

So all week long, we use these words in every way possible so that at the end of the week we can take our test and send them home. This is where I take it to the extreme. At random times during the day, I will talk back to the word wall words. Yep! All by myself I carry on a one sided conversation. I act frustrated as I tell them “Yes, yes, I know we’re working on you…yes, we will let you go home…no, hush so I can teach!” Or maybe I will suddenly stop teaching, point at the Word Study and say “That’s enough from you “want” (calling out a specific word) please be quiet!”

The children will tell you that they hear the words too. Just nod in sympathy and say “I know they are pesky words which one is the loudest?” Then they have to tell you the word (thus having to actually know the word (tricky I know). Have some children go touch that word when you ask.

As if all of the above isn’t enough, I take it a little further. The words want to go home and I pretend that sometimes they are trying to escape. I will randomly loosen the tape on one of the words so it will fall off the board during the day. When this happens, the children think it’s hilarious that a word is trying to “escape” and go home before we’ve learned it! We of course use that word by name as we tape it back up. Occasionally, I will take all the words off the Word Study and tape them in a path to the word wall (on the floor, student desk etc). The children walk in and have to tape the words back to our Word Study since they were trying to escape (reading them as they do). We take our test on Friday and then start the whole silly process over again on Monday.

To make the connection to our Word Families, I have the Carson Dellosa posters on another wall. Since “in” lives on our Word Wall, its family lives on our Word Family wall (pin, fin, sin etc). I tell them this so they can begin to see the words inside of words as it all comes together in their brains. The best part of our Word Family wall is that I’ve taught the kids to point to our Word Family wall and sing “We are family…” (Yes, you know you’re singing it in your head now) as they point and do a little bouncy move I made up to go with it.

I always talk about the words in our room and how helpful they are and how much I love them. This encourages the children to love them too. I have the children actually hug our word wall in appreciation because it’s so helpful to us. After completing a writing assignment where a child has used the word wall to spell, I will say “Just go give the Word Wall a big hug. It helped you so much on this paper!”

In conclusion, if you’ve entertained me this long, this process really doesn’t take any extra time in my day, it’s something that can easily be thrown in and bridges the gap between words we study each week, where they go from there and why we have word families. I would love to hear thoughts and feedback.

*Thanks!

Randi

Grab your FREE printable copy ~HERE~ at my new TPT store. Also check out my new word family lesson ~We Are Family~

Free Owl Labels

2011-10-11T19:32:00.000-04:00

Recently I posted classroom pictures. I thought I would share some of the labels I made for my classroom this year. I have a subtle owl theme going on in the room. Hopefully someone can enjoy these labels! If you download please leave a comment :)

Owl Library Labels Free

Owl Supply Labels

Schema Poster Freebie

2011-10-11T06:57:00.000-04:00

Grab this free schema bubble ~HERE~ or ~HERE~

Have a fabulous day!

November Write the Room

2011-10-10T22:33:00.000-04:00

Fall is my favorite season and I don't want to waste a minute! I created this fun fall themed "Write the Room" packet to go with the season.

November Write the Room at my new TPT store (yes, I just jumped on that wagon)!

I have a large supply of clipboards that I allow students to take and use as they work. They love being able to find a spot in the room to work and clipboards are kind of a big deal to them! This is just one more activity they can use them with!

Be Thankful for Syllables

2011-10-09T20:55:00.000-04:00

I created a practice/review item for my class for syllables. My class has picked up on my love for anything with a theme! This item is available for purchase in my new Teacher's Notebook store!!! Show some love and head on over and check it out!

Click below to check out this activity!

Be Thankful for Syllables

Crockpot Applesauce

2011-10-02T08:52:00.000-04:00

Crock-pot Applesauce

We finished the month of September with lots of fun apple activities! The biggest hit was our homemade crokcpot applesauce! I broke the class into groups and gave each group a responsibility. We began early in the morning and had to painfully wait for our applesauce to cook.....if I had a nickel for every time I was asked "Is it ready yet?" I would be rich. In hindsight, the biggest lesson learned was that good things in life are worth waiting for! Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the world!!!

Classroom Pictures (finally!!!)

2011-10-01T17:38:00.000-04:00

Finally, I have uploaded pictures of my classroom from from August!!! If you have any questions, leave a message or e-mail me.

5 Little Pumkins Freebie

2011-07-30T07:29:00.000-04:00

Fall is just around the corner! Well at least I hope it is with this crazy heat taking over my life!

This is one of my favorite pumpkin activities. I love to use it as a skit in class giving each person a part. During the last line where the pumpkins roll out of sight...I let ALL the students roll around on the ground. They love it and keeps them hanging on until the end! Enjoy!

Click HERE for your free printable!

Fancy Nancy Poster

2011-07-29T07:35:00.000-04:00

I first saw this fabulous (a fancy word for great) idea from Fun in First Grade.

I made a "Fancy Words" poster that I plan to use to make our writing more exciting and hopefully our vocabulary too! Each week we will read a Fancy Nancy book and pick a word to add to the outside of a library pocket (example: good) then we will come up with words that are better to use than "good" (fabulous, wonderful, amazing, fantastic...). The boring word will be written on the outside and the new words will be placed on paper strips inside the pockets. When students are writing and want to use the word "good" they will (I hope anyway) go to the pocket and pick a "fancier" word. I think it will also help them that the new word will be spelled for them and they won't hesitate to use it. I would love to hear any feedback on anyone who has tried this before.

Birthday Pocket Chart Freebie

2011-07-27T09:04:00.000-04:00

Kids love their birthday more than anything else! They will tell you every day of the year when their birthday is! I made this pocket chart activity so students can celebrate their birthday whenever this activity is out! It’s great for literacy & number sense!

Click HERE for this freebie!

Candy Containers

2011-07-26T09:40:00.000-04:00

It's so nice to be able to get to some of the fun stuff!!!

I first saw this idea from Pinterest. You can see the Tootsie Roll container at [RE] Beautify. I am having trouble finding the Hershey container though! I am sorry because I think these are adorable. If you created this than please let me know.

These were simple and fun to make. I purchased the containers from the dollar section at Target. I used Mod Podge to seal it all on.

Apple Picking Freebie

2011-07-25T08:56:00.000-04:00

Enjoy this pocket chart freebie! Happy Monday!

Click HERE for your Free Apple Picking Pocket Chart activity.

Why I teach...

2011-07-22T22:37:00.000-04:00

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.

One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, “What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?” He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.”

To stress his point he said to another guest; “You’re a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?”

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honest and frankness replied, “You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, and then began…) “Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can’t make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental…

“You want to know what I make?” (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.)

I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them criticize.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them to write and then I make them write.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math.

I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my student feel safe.

I make my students stand for the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, because we live in the United States of America.

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.

(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.) “Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant…You want to know what I make?”

“I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make?”
Taylor Mali

Growing Brain! So funny...

2011-07-16T21:21:00.000-04:00

I just came across a blog idea I think is hilarious and amazing! Head over to First Grade to the Core to check out her "growing brain". It will take 1 minute and I promise you'll love it!

Freebie

2011-07-15T21:38:00.000-04:00

Here is a quick freebie I put together. I think it's more of a K level activity but I may need it at the beginning of the year for some of my non-readers.

Click below for your free download.

Click HERE for free download.

Your Next Read

2011-07-11T15:34:00.000-04:00

I found an interesting website today while searching for some books. It's called Your Next Read. It easily finds books that you are looking for by typing in an author or title BUT...it takes it a step further. It takes the book you choose and it gives you a fun little map of other books that relate in some way to the book you picked. Here is a sample I ran for "Pete the Cat". Next to it are books that are related to it in some way.

Click HERE to go to the website.

I think this will help a lot when planning lessons and trying to find just the perfect book for a topic!

Linky Pinterest PARTY!

2011-07-07T19:08:00.000-04:00

There's a linky party starting! Whooohooo...jump on board this train and let's get organized!

Visit The Teacher's Lane to link up and see what all the fuss is about!

Lindsey at The Teacher Wife got me hooked and we all know how amazing she is so...what are you waiting for?

If you haven't started your Pinterest page leave your e-mail address and I will send you an invite to get started.

If you've already started than you can follow me HERE.

Consider yourself warned...Pinterest!

2011-07-06T16:47:00.000-04:00

(one of my recent pins!!!)

Lindsey @ The Teacher Wife has just gotten me hooked on Pinterest!! This place is amazing and it's my new addiction. I believe it may be the be all end all of organizing the internet!!!

You must have an invite to get started and I would love to do this for you...but consider yourself warned! Soon we will just be one big happy pinterest family!

You can email me @ randifleming1234@gmail.com or add a comment on this post with your email.

You can read all about it from some amazing bloggers

here (The Teacher Wife)

here (What the Teacher Wants)

and here (Pencils, Glue, & Tying Shoes)!

Watch This Video

2011-07-04T14:15:00.000-04:00

I went to an awesome training about 2 weeks ago. They played this video from YouTube. It really got me thinking about my role as a teacher. Teachers are no longer the main source of knowledge...we are the filter. Watch this video I promise you'll enjoy it! I would love to hear your thoughts too! Happy 4th!

Summer Project

2011-07-03T13:12:00.000-04:00

Summer is a time for...PROJECTS! My handsome man made these student mailboxes for me yesterday! I still have to paint them but I was so excited that I wanted to share with my blogger friends who could really appreciate this! Thanks for looking and have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Blog Nomination

2011-06-29T10:11:00.000-04:00

I received an e-mail today saying that my blog was nominated for Really Good Stuff's Classroom Blog Contest. This is super exciting! I am very surprised and honored! Thank you! There are some amazing blogs up for nomination, and there are many on the list who deserve to win. Voting begins July 1st!

Winner!

2011-06-29T09:56:00.000-04:00

Easy Giveaway Reminder

2011-06-28T15:58:00.000-04:00

My giveaway ends tonight! All you have to do is leave a comment that you're a follower (on the original post - not this post)!!! Yes, it's that simple. You could win a FREE copy of "The Book Whisperer"!

Vote - RtI Training

2011-06-23T22:51:00.000-04:00

I've spent the last two days in a training learning how to implement RtI in my school. This is new to our county and I am wondering if any of my blogger friends are required to use RtI in their school. I would also love to hear any feedback you have! Just leave a comment. Now, help a girl out and vote!

BOOK GIVEAWAY!!!

2011-06-22T21:33:00.000-04:00

Oh Happy Day Blogger Friends!!! I'm having a GIVEAWAY to celebrate my blog success of 105 followers! I missed 100 so why not celebrate 105?!?

This is going to be an easy one!

~All you have to do is follow me and leave a comment on this post saying that you are a current follower or a new follower!

The winner will receive a copy of the book "The Book Whisperer".
The WINNER will be announced Tuesday, June 28.

Good luck & may the best blogger win :)

Candy Rewards

2011-06-22T19:03:00.000-04:00

I went to a graduation party this weekend and they had a "candy bar"! How cute is that? I wasn't able to snap a picture before the kids and adults attacked the table (literally), but I did find this one online...

(source)

So it got me thinking...in my classroom I use Tootsie Rolls and Skittles for small rewards. I call Skittles "Smart Skittles" and Tootsie Rolls "Thankful Tootsies". I give one Smart Skittle out randomly during the day for answers to tough questions and just generally smart observations. I give "Thankful Tootsies" out for students who do thoughtful things for other students when they think nobody is looking (if someone picks up another student's pencil, helps them tie their shoe, says excuse me etc).

After seeing all the fun colorful candy at the candy bar I started thinking about what other catchy reward phrases similar to the above that I could use. Other candies that I thought would work well would be M&M's, Dots, Mike & Ike's, and Lemon Heads.
So, do any of my fabulous blogger friends have any ideas? What are you using in your classroom?

Writing...help

2011-06-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

My summer has officially begun! Woohoooo! Today is the first full day! On another exciting note, I see that I now have 98 followers! Of course this is cause for celebration and what better way to celebrate than with a giveaway! Stay tuned for giveaway details!

For now though, I need some advice. As I sprung out of bed this morning, I started thinking about writing for next year. This is where you come in...

I would love hear what you use in your classroom for writing instruction. The program/structure to follow has always been a challenge at my school and I would love to know what other first grade classrooms are using! Thank you!

From the mouths of babes!

2011-06-06T20:54:00.000-04:00

While explaining to the class how we were going to move all the tables and chairs into one corner of our room for the end of the year...

Sara: "Ms. Fleming, how are you going to make them all fit into the corner?"

Me (teasing) : "Well, I have a whole bag of tricks that you guys don't know anything about!"

Jose from across the room reading a book says: "Hey! I have one of those too!"

Me: Jose - What do you have?

Jose: "A bag of tricks! - I use them for my Bayblades!"

Too cute! I am sure going to miss these moments with my kiddos!

Summer Reading

2011-06-03T18:11:00.000-04:00

I received this book yesterday from an end of the year party and so far it's amazing. The author is a real live teacher and she isn't sugar coating the day to day realities! I am a few chapters in and have laughed out loud a lot :) She is very real and very sarcastic. If you have a sarcastic sense of humor I think this would be an enjoyable book for you!

Available HERE

Relay for Life 2011

2011-05-24T20:25:00.000-04:00

Brogden Primary School spent the last few months raising money for Relay for Life. Students and staff came together to raise money for an amazing cause! We were able to raise over $5,500 through bake sales, hat days, a student dance and a staff breakfast! Our school booth also won for best booth at the Relay for Life site!!! A huge thanks to Jennifer Malpass who was in charge of ALL the events! Way to go BPS staff!

My own personal reason for being there...my mom!

Mike Rowe

2011-05-18T23:24:00.000-04:00

As teachers, we make all other professions possible...AND who doesn't love some Mike Rowe!!!

His perspective on jobs and the way the world views "dirty jobs" is interesting.

Crazy Animals

2011-05-17T19:29:00.000-04:00

Our animal unit has begun! My toes were a big hit and it turns out certain types of pigeons DO indeed drink milk....more on that later :)

Here is a FREE animal math station for you to enjoy. Students will put the animals in order from least to greatest and then record their numbers.

Click to download

Crazy Animals

Funky First Grade Fun ~ Giveaway!

2011-05-16T21:09:00.000-04:00

Another fabulous giveaway! Thank you Kimberly at Funky First Grade! Go check our her amazing blog and enter to win a $20.00 Target Gift Card or an amazing item from her TPT store.

Giveaway from Fantastic First!

2011-05-16T19:33:00.000-04:00

Miss Griffin from Fantastic First is having a GIVEAWAY!!! Go check out her blog and enter to win a stamp from Sweet Papery! I know I can't resist a stamp....especially the self inking kind for checking papers!

Thank you Miss Griffin!

Fantastic First

If I ran the ZOO!

2011-05-15T16:14:00.000-04:00

I want to thank Deanna Jump for her amazing Zoo Animals unit! We will start our 3 week unit tomorrow using many of her fabulous and creative ideas. I am so excited to start this unit I feel like I have been waiting for Christmas to arrive! In honor of the theme I had my toes painted in a ZEBRA print! I know my kids will love it! They often sit at the carpet when I am in my rocking chair and find it highly amusing to play with my feet, toes, and shoes! There is one every year who always announces when I have changed my toe nail polish color! I heart first grade!

(I apologize for those of you who don't like feet...I understand but just had to share)

End of the Year Parent Letter

2011-05-15T12:18:00.000-04:00

Wow! Time is flying by so fast! The end of the year is almost here. I don’t know about you but I always have mixed emotions at this time. I know my kiddos are ready to move on but I still want them to stay with me! They have grown and changed so much since August. When they come in they seem so young and helpless and now they move about my classroom so independently. It’s a sad and proud feeling all at the same time. Enough of my rambling…here is a letter I found years ago that I like to send home with parents. I left the signature line blank so you can sign your name. There is a separate letter for boys and girls.

Click below for your free end of the year parent letter!

Boy Letter

Girl Letter

Scramble Insect Sentences

2011-04-30T15:23:00.000-04:00

Scrambled Insect Sentences

Click ~HERE~ for the Scrambled Insect Sentence Activity

Rhyme Around the Room

2011-04-30T00:09:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't been around. I have been enjoying SPRING BREAK this week! Sadly, all good things must come to an end....

I created this Rhyme Around the Room activity for our Insects unit that begins Monday. Enjoy!

Click ~HERE~ for the Rhyme Around the Room Activity

Catching Butterflies

2011-04-19T22:00:00.000-04:00

There are so many amazing Spring activities on the blogs right now! I am overwhelmed. I just keep clicking and saving. THANK YOU for all your amazing ideas ladies

Click ~HERE~ for Catching Butterflies

Sing Your Heart Out!

2011-04-16T21:57:00.000-04:00

My students love to sing! I of course did not write these songs (thank you to whoever did)! I show them on the class Promethean Board and that's how we learn them. From there, I print them and place them in a song book in our classroom library. They read/sing them over and over. If I let them, they would sing Christmas songs all year!!! I will add more to my "songs" tab as I spend a little time spicing them up for my blog :)

Click ~HERE~

Busy Busy Bee

2011-04-11T20:24:00.000-04:00

Busy Busy Bee

Click ~HERE~

Spring is here and this is a great activity to keep the kids moving!

This can be used as a station or whole group activity. I plan to hide the "buzz words" (bees) around the room. My students will search for them, read the word and record it on their Tree Map (Thinking Map). I would love some feedback on this idea. I had the thought for girls to search for ladybugs and boys to search for bees...I also think this could be used for other skills. I would be willing to make more if anyone has something they would like to see. Comments welcome!

Things that I love...

2011-04-11T18:30:00.000-04:00

Coke Zero

Basic Old School Plan Book

Inside the Plan Book

If I had a dollar for every time...

2011-04-10T22:40:00.000-04:00

Do you every feel like you repeat yourself ALL DAY LONG? We're teachers so of course we do. Have you ever heard your students "playing teacher"? This is when they pretend they're you and they tell their other friends what to do...you guessed it...saying all the things YOU say to them all day long. Thankfully, I approve of all that I have heard repeated :)

I'm using this post to share with you some of my favorite phrases that get the job done! What are some of yours?

When students forget to raise their hand I say "When I raise my hand..." and they finish with "I show respect"

When I hear students saying not so nice things I say "If you don’t have anything nice to say..." and they finish with "don't say anything at all." This is of course thanks to Thumper from the movie Bambi ~ I show them a clip from the movie when I teach this.

I teach my students to be "problem solvers". So, when they come up to me over and over throughout the day with simple problems about pencils, tissues, paper etc...I look at them and say "Be a problem solver!” I also do a lesson when I teach this where we make a chart of common problems and simple solutions that go with them.

If only I had a dollar for every time I have said this! I would go to the Dollar Tree ~ LOL~ or maybe TPT!!!!

What's My Letter?

2011-04-08T00:04:00.000-04:00

What's My Letter???

My students seem to thrive when I give them a mission! My kids really enjoy this activity whole group and in stations.

Click ~HERE~ to download.

Monster Money

2011-04-07T23:32:00.000-04:00

We had a blast with our "Monster Money" theme last week! I have a few random creations to share below. The overall idea of monsters to my students was hilarious. With the help of some funny monster images from Scrappin Doodles I captured the interest of my students with this theme and everyone had a blast...shhh don't tell them we were learning too :)

Alike and Different Monsters

Click ~HERE~

Monster Money Book

Click ~HERE~

Home Tweet Home

2011-04-03T18:46:00.000-04:00

I have had a lot of family & friends visiting these last few weeks and it inspired my new addition and subtraction station "Home Tweet Home".

Click here to download :)

Things That Make You Go Hmmm...

2011-03-30T21:37:00.000-04:00

Today I went to a presentation from textbook publishers for new Reading/ELA books. These series are all based on NC Core Standards so I am not sure if there will be too many of you who have information on them. If you do though, I would love to hear your thoughts! I have to give the information to each grade level at my school. Thanks in advance for any advice. The choices are...

Journeys from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Reading Street from Pearson Scott Foresman

Treasures from Macmillan McGraw-Hill

Time 4 FUN!

2011-03-29T22:48:00.000-04:00

My awesome co-worker made this for me for my birthday! She hot glued crayons around the edges of a basic clock! The kids really love it.

Check out her blog here.

Organization Linky Party

2011-03-28T17:05:00.000-04:00

My First Linky Party!!!

These are the drawers that I use for daily organization. They were purchased at Wal-mart in the summer of 2010. They have pencil die cuts that have clear labels on them. They are labeled for each day of the week with the last drawer labeled "next week".

The picture below is for monthly/weekly organization. Each drawer has a similar label as above but these are for months. There are only 9 drawers. I combined August & September and May & June. There is not a drawer for July.

These sets of drawers have been the best investment I have made in my classroom!!! I plan to add to them next year to help me organize specific supplies and themes or units that are overflowing with materials.

Word Problem Practice

2011-03-27T22:07:00.000-04:00

Sunday night we meet again :)
My picture won't upload......the link still works!

My class will be reviewing addition and subtraction word problems soon! I have created a practice book for them to work on all week. It was created to be 1/2 a sheet of paper staples as a booklet. I am giving the refresher lesson using the amazing addition and subtraction key words from The Teacher Wife! Thank you! I will give students strips of word problems to glue into their books and show their work. Also, note that we will be learning about plants the same week so the cover and words problems will be plant related. By the end of the week I hope for them to be writing their own problems. Thanks for looking.

Download HERE

Word Problems Set 1
Word Problems Set 2
Word Problems Set 3
Word Problems Set 4
Word Problems Set 5
Word Problems Set 6
Word Problems Set 7

X Marks the Spot!

2011-03-22T23:36:00.000-04:00

For the past 2 weeks my class has been learning about maps. We have finally reached the creative part where we are making our very own islands where we have hidden a treasure! Attached are pages to go along with this activity. First, students use the divided Circle Map to brainstorm their ideas. Next, they will actually make a treasure map (pictures soon!). Then they will write about their make believe island and their hidden treasure. Last, but not least they will hook their header onto their map! Click below for each page

Circle Map

Writing Paper

Page Header

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