Hello 2015!

Well somehow I thought I was getting off on the right foot with blogging at the beginning of the year but I really fell off the deep end after 10 whole days! I will try to be better about updating the blog here in the new year! I update the class Facebook quite often so I will try to share more than just pictures here!

10 Big Days!

We made it to ten days of school! The kids are really in a good routine and we are busy learning! 

Race to 30 Game! 

Number Bingo

Using the nice weather to write our numbers!

This week we are continue working on numbers to 30. We have practiced counting, reading and writing our numbers as well as representing our numbers! So far we can represent numbers with a picture, tally marks, and word form. We will continue to represent numbers all year using other forms too!

A parent sent me this from the car rider line :) Such nice weather that we like to practice spelling outside!

We started our first spelling list this year by working on short a. Our first spelling test is tomorrow! Don't forget to practice to the spelling sentence! It is graded on spelling, capitalization, and punctuation! 

We have been busy in reader's and writer's workshop! The kids have done really well learning the procedures of workshop time and have increased their reading and writing minutes from the first day of school!

Tonight is Back to School Night! It starts at 6 pm in the cafeteria! I hope to see all of you there! Each kid will receive glen gold if someone will be able to come :)

First Two Days Back!

Last Friday was our first day back and it was a great day! The kids came in and were excited to be back at school! We started the day with a little introduction game and we practiced saying everyone's names. 

We went over a few procedures and talked about expectations in different areas of the building. Then before we knew it, it was time for lunch! Yes, we eat lunch at 10am! It seems very early but let me tell you...I had multiple kids ask when it was time for lunch by 9! Also, starting next week, the school will be providing an afternoon snack for the kids.

We read several books, including Elmer and Splat the Cat! 

Today the kids came back to school ready to start our first full week. We went over the classroom rules and I introduced them to Class Dojo...not sure what that is? Ask your child! Or you can check the Parent Handbook I sent home today. I will also go over it a little more in-depth at Back to School Night which is August 14th at 6pm.

We started Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop this morning and the kids worked great! They read quietly for 4 minutes which is great for the first day. We talked about how our brains need to exercise in order to build up that stamina! Hopefully by the end of the week, we can spend 10 minutes reading! They also did great writing! They spent almost 10 minutes working on their pictures as well as writing a story to go with it.

During math we were introduced to calendar time and we practiced counting our numbers to 20 by watching this fun video:

This week we will practice reading, counting, and writing numbers to 30.

If you need an extra copy of the Parent Handbook, click the link at the top of the page, and if you need to see the supply list, here it is:

Make sure to bookmark this blog to come back often and check out what we're up to!

Back to School 2014

A new school year is quickly approaching! Teachers report back next Wednesday and our students' first day is on Friday! I have been busy getting my room ready over summer vacation because I have decided that after 7 years I was ready to clear out my jungle theme!

I have been putting in the hours turning this...

into this...

I bought a gray rug from Lowe's for $18 and five colors of duct wannabe duct tape. (I do not recommend buying the 3M tape that fakes you out and poses as duct tape. I have a feeling it won't make it past the first week.) I am really excited to have this rug because all the kids will know exactly where to sit!

This little corner is definitely where it's at! I have my birthday display above my reader's workshop board. I have my calendar display covering up my chalkboard (hope all the tape lasts!) which is next to my Lakeshore reading chart. This chart holds the reading strategy, word wall words, and spelling words. My students use this chart all the time!

I recovered my pink leopard chair and I can't wait to sit in this everyday!

I am so glad I moved my guided reading area across the room! I am now away from my giant bookshelf which always became the place to stuff/stack/hide things. Now I just have one shelf by me but it is full of my guided reading essentials. I also love the dry erase board behind my chair as well as my new blend posters! I have some word solving posters on the yellow board and I will be hanging up reading strategies above those soon!

This year I am moving to a form of the Daily 5 and I am so excited to start a writing center! The pink poster in the corner will have writing reminders and the ribbons on the cabinets will house monthly words for students to reference. Under the table (they're hard to see) are my new stools from Ikea!

A little Pinterest inspiration! I made these little pencils out of felt, ribbon, hot glue, and iron-on letters!

So many books! But I just love that bulletin board!

Excuse my eternally messy desk. I made that chevron pennant because even though my name is short, the Mrs. is the hard part! Since the kids write my name so much I thought it'd be handy to have.

My tissue poms and fabric pennants are what started this vision. I bought the tissue poms but I made the pennants! I love them!!

A quick close-up of my calendar.You can download the tally page, weather graph, and hundreds charts from my Google Drive.

My group leader frames! I bought 5 of these a while back and I found one more at Michael's today. It will have to do until my mom can bring me another one since Ikea is 2 hours away...and let's face it, a $1 frame isn't worth the drive, no matter how bad this will annoy me! Also, you can get these signs for free in my TPT shop here.

It's so bright and fun! I am loving the progress so far! I have a little more to do, mostly just straightening up but I am so happy to have finally decided to change themes!

My mom (who lives in California) was in town for three weeks earlier this summer and she helped me do a few things in my room. She created the chevron bulletin board which I LOVE! She also created the bulletin board in the hallway where I display student work. 

To create this masterpiece, we browsed Pinterest for some cute chalkboard welcome signs and a ribbon banner. Then we measured the width of my bulletin board and tore some black butcher paper to the correct size and taped it to my white board. Then we used my projector to shine it on the paper and my mom traced the welcome sign in chalk. She filled in the letters with different patterns. She did the same thing for the year banner at the top. My name, room number, grade, and pennants in the corners are all freehand drawings. I sprayed the chalk drawings with some hairspray to help hold it on all year. We'll see how that goes! Did I mention my mom was an art teacher for 15 years? Love when she can help in my room :)

I plan on getting everything ready hopefully this Friday because Tuesday night the first grade has "Meet the Teacher Night!"

The next thing on my list is a blog makeover! Hopefully I will get to that soon...but my to-do list is still kind of long! 

Delicious Shapes

Today we wrapped up our solid shapes unit by sorting some delicious treats! The kids did great seeing the shapes and then did even better eating the shapes!

We also welcomed a new friend Jason! We are very glad to have him with us!

Shape Monsters

This week we have been learning about plane shapes and today we created shape monsters! After they made their monsters they wrote several sentences describing the shapes they used. They turned out so cute....I mean scary ;)

Have a great weekend!

Scarecrows on Guard

Today we read There was an Old Lady who Swallowed Some Leaves. She swallows all the parts needed to make a scarecrow. Afterwards we created our own scarecrows! This was a good activity to practice good listening skills!

Gianna's on the left and Angelo's on the right

We also practiced writing numbers in expanded form. Then we placed our number cards of sweet treats in order from smallest to largest which was a good skill to practice.

Reminder...Wednesday is the big 1st grade feast! Please send in either fruits, veggies, cheese, or juice!

Place Value Rotations

As we wrap up basic place value this week we did rotations using school supplies! Each station had a group of objects (pencils, popsicle sticks, links, etc). First the students had to make groups of tens and ones. Then they had to record on their sheet those numbers and come up with the total amount. They did a great job creating the groups of ten and counting them!

 We have worked really hard this week on working as a group and working together. There may be a few arguments here and there but we are doing much better to become cooperatives groups!

Rainbows & Pigs

Today during math while working on place value, the students did rotations using colors of the rainbow. At each colored station they were to show a number using place value pictures, the tens and ones in the number, and the number in expanded form.

During reading Mrs. Perry came to visit while we read three stories and tried to determine the author's purpose. We read The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig, Pigs, and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. The kids had a trifold to check off the traits the three books had. Then we built this chart to show our learning. 

We also read At Home in the Ocean and each group completed a poster showing that this story is meant to inform us.

Up to Speed

Well we have been in school for 66 days now! In those 66 days a lot has happened! I mentioned back in July that Miss Szabo would be starting the year while I was still on maternity leave. Well Mrs. Ayers also taught for a few weeks when Miss Szabo got a job at Garden City. I have been back since fall break and I really think the kids have adjusted pretty well!

My first week back we went to Eagle Creek and learned a lot about Indiana insects and animals. 

We have spent a lot of time working on addition and subtraction.

  

This week we started working on place value. 

Today we read three books to determine the author's purpose for writing.

That pretty much brings us up to date now! I hope to be back to blogging more often now that I have settled into a normal routine! Be sure to check back often!