Literacy Stations

Now that we are into our fifth week of school (can you believe it?) the kids have been hard at work in independant literacy stations. Monday through Thursday the kids visit three stations a day. They don't all visit the same ones; just stations that fit their needs. This is also when I conduct guided reading, which is 15 minutes in like-ability small groupings. I meet with all six groups during the week, some more than others and we focus on one skill per day (comprehension, phonics, fluency, etc).

While I meet with guided reading groups, the other children, in their groups, work at several different areas around the room. Computers and the reading corner are big favorites! Starfall and Spelling City are the two sites I use most. Spelling City will be introduced soon! The reading corner is great because the kids get to choose from lots of different books and there are some comfy spots to enjoy a book.

The children also work on the week's word wall words and phonics sounds. The also visit the listening center to follow along in a book as they listen to it on tape. Other stations come and go, depending on what is needed. Matching games are great because I have several choices (we have focused on rhyming words lately).

Magnetic words is great because kids can practice making words of all types: names, spelling words, word wall words, color words, etc.

To keep the students on track and aware of their time, a timer is placed on the screen and uses chimes to alert them when their time is almost up and when they need to clean up and switch. So far, they have done a great job managing their time and working together.

Literacy Stations

Now that we are into our fifth week of school (can you believe it?) the kids have been hard at work in independant literacy stations. Monday through Thursday the kids visit three stations a day. They don't all visit the same ones; just stations that fit their needs. This is also when I conduct guided reading, which is 15 minutes in like-ability small groupings. I meet with all six groups during the week, some more than others and we focus on one skill per day (comprehension, phonics, fluency, etc).

While I meet with guided reading groups, the other children, in their groups, work at several different areas around the room. Computers and the reading corner are big favorites! Starfall and Spelling City are the two sites I use most. Spelling City will be introduced soon! The reading corner is great because the kids get to choose from lots of different books and there are some comfy spots to enjoy a book.

The children also work on the week's word wall words and phonics sounds. The also visit the listening center to follow along in a book as they listen to it on tape. Other stations come and go, depending on what is needed. Matching games are great because I have several choices (we have focused on rhyming words lately).

Magnetic words is great because kids can practice making words of all types: names, spelling words, word wall words, color words, etc.

To keep the students on track and aware of their time, a timer is placed on the screen and uses chimes to alert them when their time is almost up and when they need to clean up and switch. So far, they have done a great job managing their time and working together.

Patriot Day

Today was Patriot Day and all the kids and staff wore red, white, and blue. We talked about September 11th and what happened and viewed a slideshow of some pictures with both happy and sad ones. September 11th can be a difficult concept for such young and happy kids to understand but they asked lots of great questions to try to understand what happened and why. They made some good connections with other events that they can relate to. We made mini American Flags that we carried out during our silent dismissal and enjoyed singing God Bless the USA.

Here are some of the kids making their flags:

Here are the finished projects, right before dismissal:

Here are some of the kids waving their flags as they leave:

Patriot Day

Today was Patriot Day and all the kids and staff wore red, white, and blue. We talked about September 11th and what happened and viewed a slideshow of some pictures with both happy and sad ones. September 11th can be a difficult concept for such young and happy kids to understand but they asked lots of great questions to try to understand what happened and why. They made some good connections with other events that they can relate to. We made mini American Flags that we carried out during our silent dismissal and enjoyed singing God Bless the USA.

Here are some of the kids making their flags:

Here are the finished projects, right before dismissal:

Here are some of the kids waving their flags as they leave:

Writer's Workshop

Writer's Workshop is a 30 minute time block in the morning where the students work on improving their writing. First we meet on the carpet and start with a mini lesson. Mini lessons are 5-10 minute lessons on one specific topic. These lessons are meant to be used in their writing a little at a time. These lessons can also be repeated throughout the year to help create consistent writing habits. This week we worked a lot on including capital letters and periods.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQVNL3F67Q8[/youtube]

After the mini lesson, the kids all go back to their seats and write in their Writer's Notebooks. During the first week of school, the kids created heart maps. These maps list ideas that are close to each child's heart. If a child is unsure of what to write about that day, he can look at his heart map to get an idea.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKKqqLLwlxU[/youtube]

While the kids are writing, I am conferencing with a small group about a common topic I have noticed or with just one child on one piece of their writing. Most conferences focus on one skill or topic. A conference will take place before a child is ready to publish a piece of writing so that it is a piece he can be proud of.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brSWT8dMC2E[/youtube]

Finally, at the end of Writer's Workshop, we share our writing. We can share several ways. One person at a time can share (usually 3-5 students), partner share, or small-group share. This gives all the children a chance to share what they are writing. They may not get a chance to share everyday, but during the week they will have most likely shared at least once.

Writer's Workshop

Writer's Workshop is a 30 minute time block in the morning where the students work on improving their writing. First we meet on the carpet and start with a mini lesson. Mini lessons are 5-10 minute lessons on one specific topic. These lessons are meant to be used in their writing a little at a time. These lessons can also be repeated throughout the year to help create consistent writing habits. This week we worked a lot on including capital letters and periods.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQVNL3F67Q8[/youtube]

After the mini lesson, the kids all go back to their seats and write in their Writer's Notebooks. During the first week of school, the kids created heart maps. These maps list ideas that are close to each child's heart. If a child is unsure of what to write about that day, he can look at his heart map to get an idea.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKKqqLLwlxU[/youtube]

While the kids are writing, I am conferencing with a small group about a common topic I have noticed or with just one child on one piece of their writing. Most conferences focus on one skill or topic. A conference will take place before a child is ready to publish a piece of writing so that it is a piece he can be proud of.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brSWT8dMC2E[/youtube]

Finally, at the end of Writer's Workshop, we share our writing. We can share several ways. One person at a time can share (usually 3-5 students), partner share, or small-group share. This gives all the children a chance to share what they are writing. They may not get a chance to share everyday, but during the week they will have most likely shared at least once.

Our new home!

Welcome to the new home of Mrs. Reed's classroom blog! I hope to have all the old blog posts imported from our old site soon! Don't forget to change your bookmarks to the new address and the new address will be set from the regular class website Mrs. Reed's Virtual Classroom.

Document This!

I have another awesome project posted on Donors Choose that I can't wait to get! I have asked for a document camera, which is kind of like an overhead projector...you know what I'm talking about. Those old boxes with the long neck that shows transparencies on a screen. They are always in someone's view! They are like 100 degrees and blind whoever is trying to write or look at it. Not to mention the big bulky cart that it has to be wheeled around on. How practical?? A document camera is way better because it isn't hot or blinding and all the kids can use it! It also can sit on the corner of my desk which won't be blocking the view of anyone. You also don't have to have those icky transparencies! You can put any piece of paper underneath the lens and it shows the exact same thing on your screen! I can do an activity along with my students or I can show their work on the screen. I am waiting so patiently for this project to get funded, but I am also very antsy!! They are going to love seeing their work large and in sight for everyone to see! Be sure to check out the page by clicking on the link above...passing on the word would be cool too!

The winner of this new-age battle? Definitely the document camera!

Document This!

I have another awesome project posted on Donors Choose that I can't wait to get! I have asked for a document camera, which is kind of like an overhead projector...you know what I'm talking about. Those old boxes with the long neck that shows transparencies on a screen. They are always in someone's view! They are like 100 degrees and blind whoever is trying to write or look at it. Not to mention the big bulky cart that it has to be wheeled around on. How practical?? A document camera is way better because it isn't hot or blinding and all the kids can use it! It also can sit on the corner of my desk which won't be blocking the view of anyone. You also don't have to have those icky transparencies! You can put any piece of paper underneath the lens and it shows the exact same thing on your screen! I can do an activity along with my students or I can show their work on the screen. I am waiting so patiently for this project to get funded, but I am also very antsy!! They are going to love seeing their work large and in sight for everyone to see! Be sure to check out the page by clicking on the link above...passing on the word would be cool too!

The winner of this new-age battle? Definitely the document camera!

1st Day of School

Wednesday was the first day of school for the 2010-2011 year! It was great getting to finally meet all of the new students. There are 24 kids in our class this year and so far we have had a great time getting to know one another!

Our first day, we organized tons of supplies! We split our supplies into our art boxes for the classroom and art bags for art class. All of the pencils were put into a bucket and if I started sharpening now, I'd probably be busy until September! We read two books about starting first grade and they both class pets like us!



Lunch was crazy! Once all 6 classes found their tables, the kids had a good time getting to see each other. The behavior by all the classes was excellent! Recess had to be held inside because of the heat warning. We can't take any chances that someone might get sick! We had library for specials and the kids all learned how to check out their own books. At the end of the day we wrote a letter together telling all about our first day!



Today was busy as well! After some handwriting practice for morning work, we all watched a video about first grade procedures. The video can be found on our Facebook page under the Videos tab. All the kids got to see how to do different procedures like lining up and getting lunch cards correctly. Then we read a great book called Elmer. All the kids got to color their own Elmer Elephants. They look great! Lunch went pretty smoothly today and again the kids were all on their best behavior. Mrs. Deaton's class won the 1st behavior bear, Mr. Manners. However, I think we might win soon! We had to have indoor recess again but the kids had a great time playing Legos, Lincoln Logs, trolls, puppets, dinosaurs, and drawing. We did Calendar for the first time and we have a good goal to learn our months and days of the week so we can tell the date. Gym was for specials and they had fun!


Tomorrow is the last day of the first week and I bet the kids will be completely wore out for the weekend! I overheard a kid saying that they didn't know 1st grade would be so fun. I can't wait for him (and everyone else) to see what all we're going to do and learn the rest of the year!