Much needed update

It has been a BUSY month! Here are a few things that were going on. I really need to take more pictures! This snowman template was from http://firstgradeblueskies.blogspot.com/

This is something I created for teaching verbs for now and verbs for the past. A highlighter always makes learning more fun!

Yea! we even got a few flurries in Tennessee. By morning... not much snow was left. My daughter still had to dress the part. (gotta love it)


 Back to work... Some more snowman ABC order from here and word works station- making words, sorry I dont remember where I got this from.

Then a little on Penguins from here.  I need to learn to draw, not so cute of a chart, but my kiddos really worked well brainstorming ideas for it. 

I hope to update my blog more and take more pictures in February. Be looking for some freebies soon. It has been AWHILE.

The day has finally come...

I'm estatic today that after 103 days of school, my kiddos finally learned how to work on their own and QUIETLY. Oh, how I missed those days! I only heard my name maybe 50 times instead of 100, small group was only interrupted a handful of times, and the tattling was ALMOST obsolete. What a great day!

It may have had something to do with the new behavior system I started in my room. I have used play money for the last few years, but it didnt seem to work for this group. so, I went back to the card system, changing colors, which I was not for. That seemed to stir the behavior. Finally I went to the clip chart, where they move their clip up or down based on behavior. I used one from Over the MoonBow, check it out here behavior clip chart. I added a little bit of incentives to the colors... if they stay on green they earn a treat from the treasure box (something little- hershey kiss, pencil, eraser, etc..) if they move up to blue they get a treat and a sticker, move up to pink a treat and a color page, and up to purple a treat and extra computer time. On the flip side they lost 5, 10, or 20 minutes of recess. (I believe they still need time to play- they are 6 and 7 years old).  They worked so hard for me to catch them being good and they were fabulous when they went to specials. What a little treat or sticker will do! I am just thrilled to have a great day of teaching!

I would love to hear what behavior system you are using.

Math base ten blocks

As I am working on my observation for math I came up with some pages for the students to practice and you can use as an assessment. Click below to get them.

Observation time

Well it's that time again for my next observation- this one is unannounced though. I have been working on lesson plans all weekend and feel like I have made no progress.

However, as I said on Friday, I have some freebies for you. They include contractions, r-controlled vowels, and  drawing conclusions. Click the picture if you would like them.

Woo Hoo! School is closed

We have some snow here in Tennessee, which means NO SCHOOL! Yea for a four day weekend! Now to work on some school stuff and get my 3 year old's Princess birthday party planned. I am working on a few things to go with our Scott Foresman reading series unit 3.5. You will be able to use them even if you dont have the same reading series. The activities will include: contractions , r-controlled vowels, and drawing conclusions. Be on the lookout for them later this evening or tomorrow. Hope you all are enjoying your extra day off -if you live in TN.

Math Idea

I am working on revisinging my math lesson and came up with a small group activity for my students to do.  I have a Math Talk book called Math Talk (PreK-1)Teaching Concepts & Skills Through Illustrations & Stories by Char Forsten and Torri Richards, which has pictures only  and the students talk about it. You could also use any pictures you find. However, I made a sheet to go along with the picture to help the students get started talking about math. Click the picture below to download for free. 



Snowman Verbs

It has been a while since my last post. My son's 8th birthday was yesterday. I had been working diligently on his Harry Potter part for the last few weeks. It was well worth all the effort. Now to focus on school work again. 

We are teaching verbs for the past and now this week. I made a cute little snowman theme to go with it. click on the picture below to get your free copy.