A little HALLOWEEN Freebie

Is anyone else feeling the pressure this year? Some weeks I feel like I have it together and other weeks I think I'm loosing my mind. ( That happens to teachers-right?!) I often wonder how everyone else keeps it all straight. This year I have completely relied on my smart phone to remind me of everything going on, from meetings to reminders to tell my co-workers. Please tell me some of you do the same thing :).

I needed a little shopping time this weekend and ended up at the Dollar Tree TWICE today. My daughter went with me and when I came back with all kinds of goodies, my son wanted to go. So being the good mommy I am, I took him. Here are some things I found to use in my classroom.

I saw these cute trick or treat bags and knew I needed to do something with them. So I thought to make it into a cute eyeball toss game. The kiddos can toss the plastic eyeballs into the bag and count by 10's as they do so. I also got the eyeballs and plastic web bowl at the Dollar Tree.

 

Puppets for $1... I had to have them!!

My daughter modeling each puppet- she loves to create her own stories with them.

 

 

I made a weekly dinner menu using a picture frame, which you all have probably seen on Pinterest, and my daughter loves to write on it because it writes so smooth and erases easily. So I picked up some more frames for $1 and made these trace and write Halloween words for Writing Station. 

 

 

Click above for the writing pages.

 

 

Let me know what your kiddos think if you use them. Thanks!!

 

Chapter 1: Storytelling

And the book study is on its way.... Each week I'm going to give you my insight into each chapter.

 

Chapter1: Storytelling

 

How many of you have a "storytelling" time in your schedule? I had never thought about it until I read this book. DUH!? Of course students need to be able to tell a story before they can ever write one. I love how this chapter talked about the importance of every child has a story to tell.

 

Here are some key points:

 

*First Day- Read a book and then model telling a story.  Do not tell a story on the same topic as the book just read. Students will think their story has to relate to the book and it will not be personal anymore. Choose a few students to tell a story.

 

* have a basket with students names on clothespins to choose who gets to tell the story. Maybe something similar to below (remind students how to listen to the storyteller)



 

* Seat of honor for who is telling the story (make sure they are higher than you)

 

I think these are cute!! I love Pinterest

 

* Clipboard (with conference notes) to jot down the story told. Click below for a Freebie

 

 

* As students tell their story, rephrase their story to them so they can hear the language. "I understand...." Even hold up fingers through parts of their story to help with sequencing their story.

 

Students can participate in discussion with the storyteller by:

1. Saying what you understand "I understand..."

2. Asking a question to the storyteller

 

I hope this was helpful :) Please leave a comment or question.

 



What's my address and phone number

Quick update about the craziness going on around my house. My husband and I have been very busy making my 4 year old daughter a cottage bed.

I need to add some planter boxes to the front to put her stuffed animals in, but oh so cute!!!

Beause all this house stuff going on, I thought what a great time to give you a FREEBIE. How many of your students do NOT know their address or phone number? Yep, I hear ya! So I thought what better way to get some Daily 5 writing in or Literacy writing station.

click the picture for a freebie!

Hope you like it... Leave me a comment on your thoughts! Dont forget to follow my blog :)

Vacation with a Freebie

Sorry for the MIA these last few weeks. This is the part I love about being a teacher... summer break. I dont get the full quality family time or "me" time during the school year, most of you know what I mean, so I make up for it on summer break. Anyways, we went to Florida and stayed with my mom (outside Orlando), then to Magic Kingdom, left for Panama City Beach for a few days and arrived back in Tennessee yesterday. What a great 10 days!!!

my kids on the beach

I dont know about anyone else, but we are already starting our Professional Development days next week. Geez, can you believe it! Anyways, I am excited to see all my teacher friends, but once these days start, its hard to turn my brain off from teacher mode. Sure glad I already read one book this summer. I wanted to see The Lucky One, but had to read the book first. I should have done it the other way, definitely would have enjoyed the movie more if I didnt compare it to the book the whole time. Books are always better!

On that note.....one of my favorite books to teach with is I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont and Illustrated by David Catrow. I love the pictures and the rhyming of this book is amazing that the students want to read it over and over. Great for predications.

 

Here is your freebie since it has been SOOOOOO long since my last post. Students can draw/ paint their favorite part of the story or they can create a painted self portrait.

I love this idea I found on Pinterest

Stay tuned for more to come this summer.

story activities

I just finished our Scott Foresman Reading Series and have 2.5 weeks left of school. Does this happen to anyone else? What do you usually do? Every year we do an Eric Carle week, which includes read alouds and activities to go along with the books: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Grouchy Ladybug, The Very Busy Spider, A House for Hermit Crab, and The Very Lonely Firefly. 

However, to start off my week, I am going to read the story Lunch by Denise Fleming. I have a ton of great activities to do with this story and it is always a great hit. I try to put things into my stations for that day that go along with the book. I will post pictures later on in the week.

On a different note, we took our Orchard Tests (which are language and math on the computer to see what the students know) This is done 3 times a year. I was happy to see that all my students had improved since the beginning of the year, but not as much as I was hoping. The questions on Orchard are a little tricky so I dont base too much on that test, however it sure does make me PANIC. So to make a long story short, I have looked at all the questions that were missed and devised a plan to review those skills for the last few weeks. You can click here to get the whole pack. Click below for a few freebies.

Hope your having a great weekend!

Quick Freebie

I put together a quick worksheet to go along with our math series. We are adding two digit numbers together. The first lesson is over adding multiples of 10 using base ten blocks. So here is a free worksheet to give as an individual practice/ assessment.

Book Character Parade

Here is the template for the book character parade I promised yesterday. Click on the picture below to get it for free.



I have created a long ea  and color adjective packet. This packet contains 12 activities that include:
1- word works activity for each leveled group
1- Valentine's game board
1- game board cards for each leveled group
1- spelling page
1- adjectives page
1- writing page for each leveled group

I hope you like it, check it out at my teacherspayteachers store for FREE here.

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.

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. 



New freebie

It has been a LONG time since my last post. (New Years Resolution...get better at this) I have truely enjoyed my Christmas break with my family. I am now starting on a few things for school. We go back January 3rd and it will be here sooner than I want it to.

I have made a freebie that goes along with our Scott Foresman Reading Series. This is a center activity for the students to work on r-controlled sounds making -ar words. I hope you find it helpful.

Click here

Freebie- ornament word sort -or -ore words

This week in our Scott Foresman book the skill is reading -or and -ore words. I created an activity and worksheet for the students to do at word works station. I cant wait to see how the students like it.

Ornament word sort



Here is a quick freebie. This week we are working on compound words and needed a way to get the kids up and moving. I will give each student a word and they need to find their partner to make a compound christmas word. If you would like it click here.

I knew it was late last night, just noticed I put the wrong year on it. LOL!!!

The Grinch Unit

My kiddos loved The Grinch Unit by Deanna Jumps. Every Friday I do some kind of food project. We made "Who Hash" Mixture- which is just like trial mix. Here are some things we did this week.

Also from Mrs. Jumps unit. Love the text to self and Character change pages!

Click here if you would like the sign

Yes, it is Pajama Day for having 20 compliments

I did put scoopers in to elimenate the "how much" question.

I can't wait to get started this week on our Gingerbread Man Unit! Our Scott Foresman reading series is covering Plot, Summarize, Compound words, and final endings -nk, -ng. I'll share how we tied all this together. Thank you to all you teacher bloggers who inspire me to make teaching FUN!!!

Where has the time gone!

I can't believe it is almost December, this year has flown by. I am trying to get more organized and prepare my kiddos for some fun learning in December. I am using Deanna Jumps Mr. Grinch unit this week. I will post pictures on Friday.

Mr. Grinch

Every Friday we do an art project and cooking craft. My students cant wait to make their own snack. This week to go along with our Grinch unit, we will be making "Who Hash"- mixture of cheerios, raisins, m & m's, dried fruit, marshmellows, etc...

Each month I send home a family project for the students to work on with their parents. They love this. For December we will be decorating a tree using patterns. I found this wonderful idea from here Christmas Tree there is also a printable tree pattern. I cant wait to see how the students do.
Here is the letter I send home. December Project letter home