GIveaway!

Head on over to Mrs. Randall's Learning Library for a great giveaway :)

Math Work Stations - Chapter 3!

I can't wait for this week's installment of the Math Work Stations blog party! It's being hosted by Mrs. Parker... be sure to check out her site this week for great ideas:




If you need to read up on the chapter, you can do so online by clicking here! :-)

New Storytown TpT Item!

One thing on my To-Do list is finished! :-) Only 73 more to go.... (it seems)

In order to make my planning of Storytown activities easier (at a glance), I created the following resource. It's a pack of 30 pages, one for each lesson. Each page has the lesson's phonics focus, spelling words, high frequency words, and vocab words! There's also an icon that coordinates with the week's Main Selection :-)

Here is a peek at a couple of pages... click on the first pic to vist my TpT store to purchase!

Now, onto the next item on the To-Do list! :-)

Help me with... 2 things!

I've got some quick questions for you guys!

1) When creating units/activities to offer to other people, how do you  get some pages to be 'landscape' and others 'portrait' in the same file?? I'm pretty computer savvy, but this has baffled me. I haven't googled it yet... I thought I'd ask some real experts first! ;)

2) I'm wanting to make my read aloud time purposeful next year, and I think that I want to do that by focusing on author studies. What are your favorite authors to study with first graders??? I'm looking forward to using my creative side to make some great activities to put out there in Blog-Land!

Thanks in advance for your advice... I admire you guys so much!

Math Party - Week 1!

My, oh my... this is just the type of party I needed this summer!! My first grade team is changing a lot (going from 3 teachers to 5... losing one due to a new baby, so 3/5 teachers will be new to the team!), and with that change, we're switching up our math block also! I'm SUPER PUMPED! I love reading and all, but math is what really gets me excited because I can see my firsties really start exploring and discovering truths for themselves!


Several fab blog ladies are hosting a math party all about Debbie Diller's new book on Math Work Stations, so this will be giving me all sorts of inspiration to get my tush in gear this summer!


Today's Day 1 of the party... head over to Mrs. Wills' Kindergarten to read all about it:







As for my own room, I have to hang my head in SHAME as I answer the following questions:

- Materials used by the teacher first, then placed in the station: no
- Materials do not change weekly, but rather changed to reflect the students learning objectives:  Umm... I put out centers/stations when I can. But we often don't have time.
- All students go to stations daily:  Once again....no :( Only when time allows.
- Materials are differentiated: Nope.
- The teacher observes work or meets with differentiated math groups: When we have extra time, I'll pull back the kiddos that need reinforcement.

Now do you see that I mean?? I have SO MUCH work to do! My team is full of a bunch of rule-followers, and I am the queen of following rules. When we're given a curriculum to follow (in our case, it's Growing with Math), I follow it with fidelity. Well.... no more, I say!! I am going to teach my kiddos what they need to know in a way that helps them learn it best and put their new knowledge into practice!

So... please please please keep posting your GREAT ideas about math stations - I have lots to learn! Currently, my materials are in big tubs hidden behind curtains that only I can get to:
  

I am looking forward to seeing how I can best serve my little learners next year... be sure to check out the PARTY so you can add your ideas, too!! :-)

Making Words *Sneak Peek*

So... I'm getting a good start on my Summer To-Do List, how about you??? :-)

Here's what I'm in the process of making today - but I think I'm winding down and needing to run errands, and I'll have to finish it tomorrow. But, I wanted to make sure you were on the lookout for the finished product!

Making Words: All Year Long! I will have 12 sets of making words cards that spell out a phrase that coordinates with the month it fits in (for example, August - Cooling Popsicles w/ popsicle graphics and September - Back to School w/ chalkboard graphics). There is also a recording sheet and silly sentence/picture page for each month. Anything else that would make this packet fantastic? Let me know and I'll see if I can throw it in there!

Here is a peek at August's activities:

Get on the Bus!!

                    

How many of you have a co-worker (or 2...) that have such a negative vibe that it oftentimes brings you down, too?? No fun!!! Well, have I got the book for you :-)

Our principal invites us to do a book study every year, and we follow that theme throughout the school year. We've done such studies as:

The Leader in Me by Stephen Covey

How Full is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath

FISH! by Stephen Lundin

Whale Done! by Ken Blanchard

 

This year, our Principal decided to have us read our book over the summer so we can truly kick off the year with all of our new good ideas in place! I'm reading The Energy Bus right now, and when I'm finished, I will pass it along to one of my co-workers, and so on... by mid-August when we come back for school, we should have all read the book! I'm about half-way finished with it right now, but let me tell you - it's such an eye-opener! The power of positive thinking is truly remarkable. Now, I've heard most of this stuff before, but it's nice to be reminded every once in a while :)

If you want some light, fun, professional reading for the summer, check it out! You won't be sorry :-)