Another Throwback Thursday {Organization Style}

Time for a little throwback on this Thursday morning! Since we are all pretty much counting down until we get to go back to work (ha---totally kidding!!!) I thought I would revisit a post about how I organize student work...from how I display what is done each day to how they pick it up and turn it in. Hope it gives birth to some new ideas for your classroom!

 

 

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Original Post: January 2013

In our classroom, everything has to have a "home".  A bin for this and a basket for that.  Before teaching, I never thought I would be so *googly eyed* over colorful storage containers?! Crazy right...or are you the same way?

Last year was my first year of teaching and I HAD to come up with some genius way of organizing how students pick up papers, turn in the papers, and know what to pick up next.  I didn't want one BIG bin for them to turn in their papers...because to me, sorting=death! There are so many more things I would rather do than sort papers, are you with me!?

After one expensive bank account depriving trip to Lakeshore, I came up with (what I consider) my genius plan!

Here are the 3 things you will need:

 

1. colored stackable sorting trays      2. magnetic colored pockets      3. colored trays

                                                 

Each day we have 3-4 jobs.  This is what I call their skill work or practice pages.

Job 1 is red.

Job 2 is yellow.

Job 3 is green.

Job 4 is blue.

Each morning, I display what the students will be working on in the magnetic pockets next to our calendar.  This gives them an idea of the work they will be completing that day.

Each job they are to complete can be found in the colored tray, each tray holding a different set of papers. This is where the students will pick their papers up from.  They then return to their desk to work on it. 

When they are finished, they will turn their papers into the colored stackable sorting trays and head back over the the colored trays to pick up their next job.

*** What makes this system uber-important are the color codes. Most of the time the color codes help the students answer their own questions.  If they forgot what job they are on, they can look up at the magnetic pockets to find what paper they just completed.  Whatever color the pocket is would be the same color stackable tray they would turn it into.

This system takes a bit of training at the beginning of the year.  But around mid-year, the students are able to move from one job to the next at their own pace. I rarely get the following questions: "What do I do now?   Where do I turn this in?  Where do I get my paper from?"  I promise you, the training is SOOOOO worth it! And the best part is, everything is already sorted for you! {PTL}!!!!!

How do you manage tasks like these in your classroom? I would love to have some other ideas to play with or try to incorporate into mine!

A Summer Full of Getaways

This summer has been full of adventure for me (hence my absence the past few week). I know you've been *dying* to know where I've been...so here is what I have been up to the last month!

 

After a week off from work, my mom, myself, my grandma, and second cousin took an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle.  We visited Juneau, Skagway, Ketchikan, and Victoria B.C.

 

Here's a few pictures of the beautiful scenery:

 

 

 

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Ever since our honeymoon 3 years ago, the hubs and I have taken a summer vacation each year (for both of our sanity). The past 3 years we have been on cruises to the Caribbean. 2 years ago, one of the ports we visited was in Grand Cayman. We feel in love and decided to spend a week there this summer.

 

 Now that we are back and in the reality of the countdown of back to school, I promise I will be back in my "blogging mode" and visit you with posts more frequently! Hope you are enjoying your summer as much as I have!

 

 

 

Summer Planning Giveaway {Stop B-3}

Hi y'all! Thanks for stopping by I'm Lovin' Lit's scavenger hunt. I'm Lindsay, a 1st grade teacher in Texas who likes to create products for myself and my kiddos to use in the classroom that enhance my teaching and their learning!

 

Grab my secret word below and be sure to follow my blog with Google and Bloglovin' by clicking the buttons on the right.

 

I have donated my Glitz & Grammar Anchor Charts.

 

  

I am an anchor chart *fanatic*!!! I often create a chart when introducing a topic or skill and then hang it up in the classroom for students to "anchor" their learning to or refer back to when completing classwork, during discussions, etc.  It makes me one happy teacher when I see them glance in the direction of a chart to problem solve by themselves instead of running to ask me! Check out my blog post to read more about them {HERE}.

 

 

 Something else I have recently created that you may like is a new behavior management system. This system uses a clip chart to track behavior and a ticket system to reward behavior. It comes in 2 different themes. Click on the link {HERE} to read more about it or click on the picture to view it in my TpT store!

 

 

 

Have fun on the rest of the scavenger hunt and have fun planning the beginning of your school year!

 

 

Currently in July

WHY? Why does it have to be July already!? I swear, summer goes by quicker than any other time of year (tear). Sometimes I wish I wasn't constantly on the go and could sit on my behind on the couch all day so at least it would seem to go by slower.

 

Even though it's not quite July yet, I'm linking up early because this girl will be on a plane July 1st!

 

 

Listening: As much as I love him, I swear, this man is on his phone talking more than any woman I know! Is it sad sometimes I get jealous of his phone...pfff!

Loving: You may or may not know the hubs if a fire fighter. The people he works with make up our second family and it is always so much fun to get altogether and go out with our second fam. Cheers to tonight!

Thinking: Read opening statement.

Wanting: Oh my word! Texas humidity is at it's worst in the early morning. Whew! Once you step outside, it's like you've entered a sauna. And within 5 minutes, you are in a steam shower. Calgon, take me away!

Needing: Whoop! Hubs and I are leaving (on a jet plane----the song's in my head now) next Monday! We are headed to Grand Cayman for a weeeeeek! I cannot wait to lay on the beach, snorkel, and escape the humidity.

Tips, tricks, or hints: The one thing I dislike the most is when someone leaves a comment, to which I reply through using email, and they are a "no-reply blogger". In case  you didn't know you were one and want to check simply follow these steps:

1. Go to your blogger profile (on homepage in top right corner)
2. Find the button that says "edit profile" and click it.
3. Find the box that says "show my email address" and make sure it is checked.

Now when you leave comments on blogs, the bloggers will be able to respond to you (especially if you have a question) via email! Ta-da!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

 

 

Making the Move to Bloglovin'

Forget about Bloglovin', what's Google Reader, besides something that is disappearing in a few days??

 

Seriously y'all...am I behind with the times or what!? I never knew there was another way to read my blog reel other than using Blogger Dashboard (shocker I know). Change, who doesn't love change? So, since I am already a step behind I'm jumping on the Bloglovin' bandwagon with a most confused look on my face! I would absolutely have some sort of attack if I woke up July 1 and my list of beloved blogs had....poof....vanished!

 If you don't want that to happen to you, follow the instruction below. Once you have an account created, head on back and follow me by clicking on the button below!

 

 

Click on the button above to follow my blog on Bloglovin!

 

If you haven't signed up yet it's quite simple to do. Follow these steps below:

 

1. Visit bloglovin.com

2. Sign up for an account (it's free!)

3. A request to import your blog reel from Google Reader to Bloglovin' will pop up. Click yes. {All blogs you follow will magically be displayed (similar to Blogger Dashboard)}

Hope this helps to answer any questions!

 

Throwback Thursday {Alliterations}

I've been blogging now for {almost} 1 year and think it's a perfect time to link up with Cara Carroll at The First Grade Parade for a little Throwback Thursday!!

 

 

 Today I'm visiting a post from April 2013 inspired by...you guessed it...Cara! When studying Poetry this year, we spent a week learning Alliterations. This was --by far-- my students favorite type of poetry. They ate it right up! Take a look at our learning below!

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This pass week we focused on alliterations. These, by far, have been my kiddos favorites. I shared some well know alliterations {more like tongue twisters for me since our writing block is at the end of the day when my brain is fried} like "Peter Piper....." and "Sally sells sea shells....".  Of course they had heard of them before but had no idea they go by the big, bad name of alliterations.

Here are a few activities we had fun with this week:

 

We have been learning about adjectives the past six weeks, so this activity from the amazing Cara Carroll, fit perfectly into our plans! Read her post about alliterations {HERE}. Each students came up with an adjective that described them and started with the first letter of their name. Some needed assistance from their peers (who described some of them well...needless to say) and a few came up with theirs on their own.

 

My friend Seth, who says he is selfish, needed a little less than 3 seconds to think of his. Seth is selfish.  Then asks the question "Mrs. Griffith, what does selfish mean?" My answer: "Selfish is when you don't care about anyone but yourself." Seth's reply: "Oh, well that doesn't describe me at all.  But I still like the word!" Needless to say, that's what we wrote on the chart!

 

Here are a few alliterations put into artwork.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another day, I put some magnetic letters in a paper bag and had each student pick a letter. I told them that with this letter, they had to make an alliteration sentence using at least 5 words that started with the letter they picked. Here are a few pieces of their work:

 

"Larry lobster loves lattice and lickerish."

 

"Allgader Alley like Allyson allgader and Allyson allgader like apples."

 

I wanted to leave you with a few good reads for teaching alliteration to your students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Head on over and link up! Can't wait to see some great posts I may have missed!

 

 



MIA and Whole Group Instruction

Summer is in full swing and going by w--a--y too fast! I mean, 3 weeks already!? Last week I was MIA but for a good reason. I took a girls trip with my mom, grandma, and second cousin on an Alaskan cruise!!! I definitely packed way too warm (did you hear about the heat wave). It was in the high 70's and made it to 80 two of the days we were there. So much for escaping the Texas heat for a week...although the humidity was nice to get away from for a few days! Here's a peek of last week!

 

 

I must admit, getting back to reality...rather quickly with a training this morning, was harder than I thought. I really did miss reading my blogs though (tear). Having a weeks worth of reading to catch up on is rough!

 

I'm starting off the week by linking up with The Applicious Teacher for her weekly summer linky party.

 

 

This week focuses on whole group teaching in your classroom. Here's a peek at how I teach whole group style!
 

 

 

 Calendar/Carpet: Our whole group meeting area is called "The Information Hut" or better known as the carpet. After announcements each morning, we meet in this area (I put duct tape on the floor to enclose this space so they have a "box" to sit in). This is where we do read alouds, shared reading, calendar time, Smartboard interactive lessons, etc. We also do a lot of graphing and making anchor charts in this area to record our learning. We spend the majority of the day in this area when we are learning new concepts.

 

 

Desk Groupings: I teach phonics daily and during this time students remain at their individual desks which stay in groups of 4-6. I like to make this whole group learning interactive.  They each get a sock and marker and we write words on our desks after I introduce our sound pattern for the week. I also call students up to share their work on the Smartboard at this time.

 

 

I also have a document camera (ELMO) that is on my desk and can project what is under it onto the Smartboard. I use this for whole group practice and for checking independent practice, normally with math and grammar worksheets.  They love to come up and see their hand writing...to them it's one of the coolest things!

 

Those are the 2 main places where the students or I am located when we are having whole group instructions.  Make sure to head over to The Applicious Teacher's linky to read about other whole group teaching areas through the eyes of other teacher bloggers...and go ahead, link up too!