Back to School With Books // What to Read Week 1

The first 2 weeks of school are probably some of the most important days of the entire school year. 

They are days when you create a positive environment.

They are days when you form a class family.

They are days when you teach the rules and procedures.

They are days when you set the foundation for the year.

Many of the things I mentioned above are taught with books.

I wanted to share with you the lessons and ideas I use along with the books I use in the first 2 weeks.

Let's start off with a few of the books I use week 1.

We also read a few math related books the first week. 

Next up are books I use to teach rules and appropriate behaviors.

The kids LOVE David so much that I incorporate this mini unit into the week.

David helps me to teach rules!

{Click on the picture to find it in my store}

There are several crafts we do together, a whole group lesson on rules, a class book, poem and a writing response. They love it because it's all based off of their favorite character!

Week 2 is all about fariytales. Here are the ones I select to discuss.

I honestly hopes this bring life to some ideas for your first week.

I would love to answer any questions you have about activities or read alouds!

Happy planning!

First Week 5 Minute Assessments {Flashback Friday}

What teacher doesn't want to get a little ahead of the game?

I like to soak every ounce of summer in but there is always something inside of me too that loves venturing back up to  my classroom to prep for the new year. 

Speaking of prepping, I wanted to flashback to a post I shared last year that has some FABULOUS first week assessments that will give you a great idea of what your babies are capable of right away!

-----------------------------------------------

It's August!

The month when school resumes.

The month when summer is over.

If I've made you sad I have something to uplift your spirits!

Today I am sharing with you a collection of back to school simple daily assessments for the first week.

Don't you just dread those days when you have NO idea about what your students can and can't do.

Talk about frightening!

This packet contains all the assessments you need to figure out what your firsties can and can't do.

Included are the following:
*I Can...draw a picture of me.
*I Can...write my name.
*I Can...write my alphabet.
*I Can...match uppercase and lowercase letters.
*I Can...hear beginning sounds.
*I Can...write my numbers.
*I Can...can the objects.

My recommendation is to knock out one or two a day that first week, before you even begin to teach anything at all. 

Check out my TpT Store for even more freebies I didn't have the chance to share OR just click on the freebies tab at the top of my blog page!

Save Some Time--Number Your Students

As a teacher it sometimes seems overwhelming with all that we have to keep up with!

Paperwork.

Grades.

Planning.

I wanted to share with you one system I have put into place to help my classroom run a little more smoothly.

Each year I take my roster and assign a specific number to each student.
I deem this as their "magic number" and it sticks with them the entire year.

I tend to put numbers on many things in my classroom.

Not only does this make ordering things such as papers, grades etc. easier, it also makes my beginning of year prep easier! It is a great time saver for me when I am getting things set for the start of school.

When you write numbers on things instead of students names, many of these things become reusable for the next year!!! 
#timesaver101

Here are a few of the things I choose to put numbers on instead of student names:

Book Boxes

Classroom Job Chart

Student Mailboxes 

Dismissal Card Holder

If you don't already assign each student a number, it's a really simple thing to do.
Try it out this year, I guarantee it will save you time in some sort of fashion!

Organize Your Sight Words

So I saw this cute caddy at Michael's on sale before school let out and knew I HAD to have it.

After spending the summer in Africa then creating my heart away, I figured out what to use it for!

Organizing my sight word flashcards and word wall magnets!

First things first, everything needed to be color coded.

So I trashed all my old flashcards and bought new colorful index cards. 

Then I decided to break down the list given to us by our district.

I chose which words I wanted to introduce for each week throughout the school week.

I typed them up and printed them out. 

{Find the template HERE to download for FREE}

Note: uploading to Google docs so that the template is editable will not support the fonts I used

I wrote the words on index cards to match the colored paper and put them into the corresponding box from inside the caddy. 

This caddy holds them all!

I just placed my papers into plastic sleeves and laid them on top of the colored boxes. 

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw this idea several days ago.

If you don't follow me, I highly recommend it. 

I do not blog about every single idea but I do TRY to post pictures of them!

Click on this photo below to follow me on IG {fortheloveoffirstgrade}

Back to School with Learning through Literacy

Who says teachers get summer's off?

Because this teacher right here may not have set foot in the school, but I sure did wear this computer out! I've spent all summer creating and putting together things for my firsties that I haven't even met!

My HUGE labor of love this summer was creating monthly literacy activities and centers.

Meet Learning through Literacy

Learning through Literacy focuses on skills taught throughout the 1st grade year.

I know students learn best when they get to practice what they are taught, after it "sinks in". 

So my goal was to create a literacy activity my students could practice successfully on their own. 

Each month's pack includes an activity for the following categories:

 phonics, word work, grammar, writing, & sight words

Within each month, the skill in each category changes.

For example, in November the phonics skill is blends but in December the phonics skill is digraphs.

This is true for each category. 

I like to be able to tell whether or not my students need help in their center work as it lets me know if they have mastered the skill, are progressing in the skill, or need to be retaught the skill. 

So, I made a recording sheet to accompany each activity. 

Here is a peek into the 5 activities for the month of September. 

Recognizing consonants in CVC words
Reading CVC words
Rhyming words 
Simple sentences
Sight Words

Here is a peek into the 5 activities for the month of October. 

Short Vowels

Reading CVck words

Categorizing Nouns

Simple sentences

Sight Words

Here is a peek into the 5 activities for the month of November. 

Words with Blends
Rhyming Words
Common & Proper Nouns
Sentence Building
Sight Words

Here is a peek into the 5 activities for the month of December.

Words with Digraphs
Compound Words
Verbs
Punctuation 
Sight Words 

Here is a peek into the 5 activities for the month of January. 

Words with Blends & Digraphs
Compound Words
Nouns & Verbs
Alphabetizing Words
Sight Words

Here is a peek into the 5 activities for the month of February. 

Words with CVCe
Contractions
Nouns, Verbs & Adjectives
Punctuating Sentences
Sight Words

Here is a peek into the 5 activities for the month of March.

Words with Adjacent Vowels

Synonyms and Antonyms

Alphabetical Order

Punctuating Sentences

Sight Words 

Here is a peek into the 5 activities for the month of April. 

Words with Dipthongs (oo/ou/ow/oi/oy/au/aw)
Adverbs and Adjectives
Alphabetical Order
Vocabulary and Context Clues
Sight Words

Here is a peek into the 5 activities for the month of May. 

Words with R Controlled Vowels
Prepositions
Alphabetical Order
Building Sentences with Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives
Sight Words

You can grab each one individually or the whole bundle.

If you purchase the bundle, it is 20% off, which means you get 2 month's worth free!

Click on the pictures above and they will take you where you need to go in my TpT store. 

They will all be 20% off through this weekend!

Give Students Jobs in the Classroom!

Before introducing individual classroom jobs over 2 years ago, I only had 2 jobs.

Leader and door holder.

{YAWN}

What!? I know!

Both would change daily. The leader would lead calendar and if they were responsible, I would have them run any errands that popped up during the day. I know you just 'gasped' and I did too! It obviously wasn't a very fair or consistent role. So I finally came to my senses and created a job for each student!

The last 2 years, every student in my class has had a job or a role in the classroom.

 Once thing I have noticed is that it helps a great deal by creating unity and a family-like environment. 

Here is how I have the jobs displayed. 

 That will be there job for the entire week. 

The only thing I have yet to add is a numbered popsicle stick.

Each card will also have a numbered stick next to it. This number coincides with the students' magic number.

On Friday afternoon, I will rotate the sticks so that their new job is ready for when the come Monday.

 

I have made 3 different sets of job cards. 

Safari.

Bright Chevron.

Primary Colors.

Each set contains 30 different jobs for your class.

water patrol.  weather reporter.  line leader.  door holder.  pencil monitor.  caboose.  techi.  light monitor.  trash collector.  lunch counter.  message carrier.  materials manager.  snack assistant.  germanator.  table captains 1-5.  calendar cadet.  security guard.  brain break.  card shark.  vacation.  sub.  stretch leader.  ask me.  well wisher.  librarian.  pet cadet.  

Here is a preview of a few jobs that are in each pack.

{shown is the Bright Chevron pack}

You can find each pack available in my TpT store. 

All 3 will be on sale for the next 3 days!

Click on the pack you would like to purchase for a link to my store!

Do you LOVE Anchor Charts as Much as I do!?!?

Are you down for some anchor chart L-O-V-E?!
I wanted to share with you how I use anchor charts all.the.time in my classroom.

There are 2 different types of anchor charts I use in my teaching:

1) Interactive anchor charts--those made together

2) Introductory anchor charts--those that are pre-made

Interactive anchor charts are those that my students help me construct.

Sometimes we complete them whole group. Other times I make several of the same template and put students in groups. Normally I have a title on them or a few pre-written words, but the rest of the chart is up to them to help me fill out and create based on the lesson. 

We use these in pretty much every subject.

Here are some scenarios from the picture above where we interacted to make class anchor charts:

Insects--our schema and new learning

Bats--what we learned from nonfiction text

Verbs--squares from a verb search

Phonics--digraph word hunts with books

3 Sound of ED--partner word hunts

Things We Can Do--record individual verbs

Incorporating these into any lesson engages students and lets them take ownership of their learning!

Plus they feel like they are getting to "be the teacher"!

Introductory anchor charts are used to just that, introduce a skill, strategy, or concept.

I present these completely pre-made anchor charts in my very first introductory lesson. I keep it and display it so that I can refer to it during any follow up lessons, small group lessons, or for student referencing.

I use these in every subject also.

Here are some scenarios from the picture above where I used anchor charts to introduce material:

Vowel Pairs--list all the pairs

Rhyming Words--define and show examples

Scientist--who they are/what they do

Fiction & Nonfiction--define and add pictures

Reading Strategies--define and add an anchoring mental picture

Grammar--define and add pictures or examples

I feel like I make an anchor chart for everything. My room starts off SO bare but ends up so "charty". 

So in order to save space, I have created printable anchor charts.

These charts are 8 1/2 X 11 (normal sized paper) and don't take up a great deal of space.

Printable Anchor Charts for Reading & Comprehension

Printable Anchor Charts for Grammar

Here are the 2 products for introductory anchor charts that you can just print and use from my TpT store.

They will be on sale for the next 2 days!

Happy Charting!