School Supply LOVE

School supplies… you can never have enough, can you?? If you’re anything like me, you start making your list of necessary supplies to order/buy for the following year about February :) And, even with your careful and complete planning, come October, you realize you still need MORE!

Well, here is where the wonderful people of MPM School Supplies {www.mpmschoolsupplies.com}! They are here for us ALL YEAR at wonderful prices! No need to wait for the one-day only sales over the summer to stock up on what you need… get it now! Their selection is wide and varied, their email reps are super polite, and the shipping is crazy fast!

Here are some of the great finds I selected from their website to help both myself and my kiddos out for the rest of the school year:

My kiddos are LOVING their fun Friday activities from this book that correlate with our phonics focus for the week… it’s an educational I-Spy!

These a.dor.a.ble little markers are just the right size for my firsties’ hands when they earn the reward of getting to write with fun supplies for the day!

We all know the importance of these suckers!

I am enjoying getting to use some brand-spanking new markers when creating fun posters and signs for my classroom… and the best part? There are some smelly markers in here, too!!

If you don’t want to wait any longer for the supplies you need NOW – maybe for those holiday crafts you’ve got planned for the next few weeks – then here’s a deal that’ll tickle your fancy! Visit the MPM School Supplies' easy-to-navigate site and shop away… and save a little moolah, too! Use this link and save 10% if you’re one of the first 10 of my readers to shop!

Have fun and I can’t wait to see what you’ve purchased!



Just one kid...

Ever notice how just ONE kiddo can make all the difference in the world on how smoothly {or not} your class runs?? Well, today TWO of my big ticket kids were gone, and the rest of my class took full advantage of the quiet, productive work time while I filled out grade cards and did last minute progress monitoring!

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has the same kind of crazy calm day when certain gifts take a day off...

Phonics Language Lacers & BOGO!

First off, thank you for the great suggestions for Math Journal prompts for my sweet kiddos! I have sent some ideas to my principal, and we are awaiting approval for the funds to purchase some!! :-)

A few weeks ago, Lakeshore Learning (oh, how I love that store!) sent me their Phonics Language Lacers to try out with my kiddos!

"Phonics Language Lacers ($19.95) As students lace up our fun, shoe-shaped activity boards, they get hands-on phonics practice! The set includes 15 lacer boards and 15 plastic-tipped laces. Kids just lace up each shoe, building language skills as they match up words to the correct beginning, middle or ending sounds—with corresponding illustrations that ensure successful matching! 5" x 8" lacers come with an answer card for easy self-checking, plus an activity guide."

These cute "shoes" are quite the hit with my small groups in class! I love that they cover a wide range of phonics skills, from basic short vowels to vowel combos and digraphs, etc! {Not to mention... these make a GREAT opportunity to practice the oh-so-important shoe tying skill that so many kids lack!}

Not only is this kit available, but Lakeshore offers a whole line of these lacer items!! Do you need your kids to practice synonyms & antonyms? How about compound words or word families? Well then you're in luck! I'm seriously debating snatching up the rest of these kits - they make tremendously easy ways for kids to show their knowledge and allow me to check their independent work quickly so I know what skills need reinforcement.

If you're interested in any of these, or anything else that Lakeshore offers, take advantage of the great deal they're offering  my readers!

Enjoy a “Buy One, Get One 50% off” from Lakeshore: www.lakeshorelearning.com/bogo 

Happy Shopping!!

First Grade Common Core

You all know that the latest buzzwords in education HAVE to include something about the Common Core Standards :) I'm sure your district is offering lots of PD these days of how to incorporate the new standards, you're probably learning a new report card system reporting grades in the next couple of weeks, and, if you're like me, you're constantly looking for ways to stretch your kids' minds and really engage them in the new rigorous learning expectations!

Look no further, here is a wonderful resource for any classroom teacher, especially those of us lucky enough to teach First Grade!

This book holds many many ideas to teach the First Grade Common Core Standards that are easy to implement in your classroom tomorrow! Click the link or the picture to snag a copy of your own! :)

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday... looking forward to some good football this afternoon!

Help me with... Math Journals!

We had our bi-weekly Common Core First Grade training-meeting-thingy this afternoon, and I came away feeling like I need to be doing SO. MUCH. MORE. with my class in order for them to really succeed with these new standards! Luckily for me, I have an unusually bright group this go 'round, but that just puts even more pressure on me to stretch them even further! :/

So... I'm doing a Math Workshop rotation in my room now (going on week 3) and it's going fine and dandy. I need to do a better job at planning more differentiated lessons for my Teacher Time, but I'll get there :) My gut is telling me I also need to add in a Math Journal time to my day. And that means I need some good daily Math Journal Prompts.

Here lies my problem. WHOSE DO I BUY?!? I surely don't want to make my own when someone else wonderful out there has an incredible product up on Tpt or TN. :-) So who do you recommend? Are you using someone's math journal prompts in your room? Do the kids love them? Are they getting smarter by the day?? Let me know! Leave me a link! Plug your own product shamelessly!! I wanna know what I can do that's the BEST for my firsties.

Thanks! You're the best! Okiloveyoubuhbye!

All 5 I-Charts!

Hello, friends!!

I hope your week has been a wonderful one - mine was pretty darn good! We are now rockin' and rollin' with all 5 parts to the Daily 5 in our room, and the kids are loving it! I am trying to get better at my small group instruction during this time {it is SO HARD for me not to micro-manage the kids working in their stations, even though they're not really bothering anyone and they're doing their jobs!}, so that's my goal for this upcoming week :) I want to focus on my little kiddos who need me at the table with them, not the kids who are on their own around the room!

Anywho, by popular demand, here are the pics of all of my I-charts, as well as the PDF versions of them for you. However, I got pretty specific with the "where we can do this" part of my charts... you can either cut that part off if you like the rest of it, or you can click the link underneath the pics for the Publisher versions so you can tweak them to fit your needs. :) Be sure to thank the 3am Teacher for the great frame graphics in the PDF! Due to her TOU, I cannot leave the frames in the editable version, but you can grab them from her site if you choose!

Please let me know if you download and enjoy this product :)

Download the PDFs here.

Download the editable Publisher files here.

Walk Now for Autism Speaks!

Hey all! I have just registered for the Kansas City Walk Now for Autism Speaks event, and wanted to share with you why :-)

Not only do I have 2 adorable boys with autism in my classroom this year, I also have the sweetest little nephew who was diagnosed with Autism a few years ago.

Tyler's mom set up a team to Walk in Tyler's name, and, of course I had to join! As educators, we know the deep impact that autism can have on a child's life, but watching it impact a family member just makes it so much more "real"... ya know?

Anywho, we are raising funds for the Walk, and if you'd like to donate in support of Autism awareness, please click HERE to visit my donation page. I'll also add a link to the right side of my blog page if you'd like to think about it and come back later!

Thank you so much for any support you're able to offer :)