Back to School Sale!

The Corners of My New Classroom

Well I have been so busy these last few weeks setting up my new classroom. I am at a new school this year and a new classroom, which just happens to be a portable trailer. We have space limitations at my new school and for now, our first grade team are in the trailers. There seem to be pluses and minuses to teaching in a portable, especially when space is concerned. There are definite limitations when setting up a classroom in a space that is smaller than a normal classroom, and organization is a must! I would consider myself a fairly organized person, but without the office space of my last classroom, everything had to have a home, and be returned to that home. I have posted some pictures below of the end result.

 This first shot is what you see when entering
the classroom.  I like having my students in
table groups, however with the limited space
all I could manage is three groups of six. In the far back corner is my U shaped table and two bookcases filled with organizational supplies. In the far back left corner are my student computers and my Rock, Roll and Read AR goal chart.

This picture is from the same vantage point. One of the nice features of being in a portable is all of the furniture is also portable and so its easier to create the different kinds of teaching spaces. On either side of my Activboard I have my word wall and at the top is my ABC letter cards. I have posted some close ups later on in the blog.

This view is the opposite side of the room.  To the right I have my behavior and job clip charts hanging. On the white board I have posted my workstation rotation chart, and the headings for my essential questions and standards. Above the board are number cards with ten frames.

This is a close up of one side of the word wall and my ABC strip.

 This is the other half of my word wall. Since I am working in a smaller space I felt that the best option was to split up my word wall into two sections. By doing this I was able to maximize my use of any available wall space without making my classroom appear too crowded.

This is a closer view of my behavior system and job chart. If you haven't already noticed I have a jungle theme in my classroom.

This is right next to the door as you enter the room. I have student cubbies each numbered and I have book bins for each student on top of the cubbies, which is something I have taken from the Daily 5.














This is my classroom library, listening station, calendar space. It is probably my favorite part of my classroom because I do a lot of teaching in this area. So much can be accomplished during a morning meeting or short mini-lesson. I am also super excited about my easel (IKEA) it is the perfect size for this space and to hold all of my chart paper and anchor charts! Not to mention my rug, which came out of storage.  Thanks for checking out my classroom. Most of my charts, posters, goal charts, calendar set, ABC cards, number cards, ect.. is available for purchase in our TPT store there are also some awesome freebies so be sure to take a peek!

Rock, Roll and Read: How to promote and track Accelerator Reader in your classroom!

We created a fun and creative way to motivate and track our students, we are calling it Rock, Roll and Read!

The essence of the system is an anchor chart or graph where each student has their own tracking piece. In our case we went with a rock & roll theme and created stars for our tracking pieces. At the beginning of each nine week period the student chooses an AR point goal in which they hope to attain. It is then up to them to read, take AR tests and accumulate points. Each Friday, we'll be monitoring their progress and moving their stars towards the 100% goal CD.

The packet includes four mini goal markers, 15%, 25%, 50% and 75%. We have included recording sheets, certificates for reaching the goal, tracking pieces and bookmarks.

We have included a free poster to use at the top of your anchor chart. Enjoy and happy reading!

Click here to get the free poster

Word Problem of the Day - Increasing Problem Solving Skills

With the change to Common Core Math in our state, I needed a daily math program that would encourage my students to think about math in a different way. Similarly with my Math Strategies Handouts, students need to focus on how and why they work the problem instead of, " I don't know, I just added the numbers together." On state testing they will be asked to explain their work, so in preparation for that I made a daily sheet that would require the students to think about the 'hows and whys' in answering the problem they way they did. The repetitive nature of the sheet click here to see the productwill be familiar and this process hopefully will help them think outside the box.

This addition/subtraction packet is Part 1. I begin the year by reviewing Number Sense and Algebraic Operations with addition and subtraction. Part 2 will be multiplication/division and Part 3 will be Fractions, with Measurement and Geometry after the first of the year.

There are 50 addition/subtraction problems in the packet. They begin fairly straight forward and basic and increase with difficulty into multi-step problems.

The multiplication/division packet should be available by the end of September. We'll keep you posted!

click here to see the product

T-Minus 10 days, but who's counting!

Well, Sydney and I have 10 days left before our pre-planning begins. Seems like our summer just flew by. We have just completed an AR unit that is already posted on TPT, but we are waiting to post pictures on the blog until we can get our anchors charts up to show how we are using  Accelerator Reader in our classrooms. Sydney is at a new school this year and hence a new classroom. It's much like moving into a new house, not everything fits like it did in the old one. She has been busy coming up with a new color scheme for her room, pictures will follow with that as well.  To those of you that will also begin August 1st, enjoy your last days of summer!

No, I Didn't Do My Homework!

I found this  idea on Pinterest, from Teach-Bake-Love regarding students not doing their homework. I have done different things in the past and thought I would make up a sheet for each student in a binder appropriately labeled, No, I Didn't Do My Homework to see if this system worked better than what I have done in the past. What I liked about the binder system, is that it makes the student accountable and it requires a written reason for not doing the work. It also shows the student how many times they have not done their homework and it is a good resource to show parents at conferences. In downloading the file, TPT told me that the graphics were too large for me to show thumbnail pictures in color, they seem to be coming up in black, however there should not be a problem in downloading the file. Enjoy!

click here to see packet.

How to fill a Classroom Bucket; K-5 Interactive Unit

We just finished our How To Fill A Classroom Bucket pack. This mini-unit is designed to go along with the book Have You Filled A Bucket Today?  by Carol McCloud. We created this unit so it could be used in a variety of grade levels from kindergarten to fifth. With this in mind there is a primary and intermediate response page for the activities. We have used this book in our classrooms (first and third) for several years and decided to create this unit out of a need we felt for activities that were student centered and more in depth. This packet is intended for the first few days of school or whenever you feel the need for classroom community building. It includes a writing/art activity with templates, a classroom book activity, a primary anchor chart activity, intermediate independent work, scenario task cards with a primary and intermediate response page, and certificates to reward classroom behavior.
We hope you find the activities fun and engaging at the same time, Enjoy!

click here to see the unit

Addition Strategies Freebie

This is the addition page (freebie) from my Math Strategies packet. I have found that if I hand these strategies out to my parents at Back to School Night, it decreases the amount of questions I get throughout the year. Most  parents learned the traditional approach to Math, the algorithm. However with Common Core our emphasis is the process in which the answer is obtained and an understanding of how the student got the answer. It is a deeper way of thinking than just re-grouping. I teach a variety of different strategies  in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The students can look at any particular problem and because they know the different strategies they can successfully answer the problem. By handing these to the parents, beforehand they will know how to help their children at home, rather than diverting to what they are familiar with.

If you are interested in this Freebie  go to our TPT store and download it for free. The complete Math Strategies packet is available there as well.

Fun with Blends and a Freebie!

I just completed my Fun with Blends Unit and loaded it to our TPT store. I have found that traditional phonics programs don't always work for every student and it can be difficult to find practice pages for all of the blends you need to teach. I decided this year to create my own file with plenty of activities and resources to assist in teaching all of the blends. I also created an additional blend resource for creating sentences using the blend words along with other decodable words. I even decided to offer part of this sentence unit as a freebie! Be sure to check out these fantastic resources for teaching blends in our TPT store and stay tuned as my next goal is a similar set of resources for Digraphs! I'm still learning how all of this technology stuff works so please visit our store for the freebie or leave a comment if you know how to create links! 

 

Welcome

Welcome to our blog! We are first and third grade teachers who live and work in Florida's Northwest Panhandle. As a mother and daughter we are always exchanging educational ideas and thoughts to improve our classes and challenge our students. We love creating things for our classes specifically those that tie in children's literature and art. We hope you will stop by often to see what we have been up to.