Food For Thought

I haven't posted in a while, but I don't have tons of time so here's a quickie.   We started blends and digraphs last week.  After an "I don't think they had any idea what I was talking about" lesson, I wanted to find a way to explain it to them so that it "clicks" and speaks to them on their level.  My brilliant husband came up with the idea to compare blends to milk and cereal and digraphs to chocolate milk.  Lost?  Let me explain...

A blend is two or more letters that go together (we say them fast together), but we can still pick apart their individual sounds.  Similarly, milk and cereal go together, but we can still separate the milk from the cereal.

A digraph is two or more letters that when combined make a completely different sound.  You cannot hear their individual sounds.  When chocolate syrup and milk are mixed together, they make something different.  You cannot pick out the syrup or the milk once they've been combined.  

I brought in the different ingredients and used the analogy there in front of them.  TA-DAH!  They really seemed to understand after having that concrete example to go by! Way to go, husband!  He's always been smarter than me, but now he's starting to out-creative me, too!  Jerk! 

Here's the little anchor chart we made as a class...not my finest work, but it's something to go by!  I also included a fun chart we made after reading Dishy Washy and brainstorming all of the digraphs we found.  I've created monsters. They can't STOP pointing out blends and digraphs...even at the most inopportune times (i.e calendar math..."Mrs. Guillo!  Thursday has a 'th' digraph!").  But if they're going to interrupt a lesson, I'd rather them interrupt me with those thoughtful comments :)  I'm proud of their hard work these last few weeks.  I feel like we're really starting to make some big progress these days...getting away from the 'beginning of the school year' feel and really into the heart of the year!  Yippee!

You may be wondering, "Why is her chart cut all weird like that?"  I'd like to tell you that it was because I was 'going green' and used that part for something else, but I'd just be covering up the fact that I totally butchered the cat's tail, so I had to draw another one and cut the original off :)

Christmas Came Early

I created this over the summer and since I'm wide awake, I figured I might as well share it now so that you can print, laminate, and cut when you have the time and have it ready for December!  I created a game using a calendar as the game board itself.  The question cards emphasize calendar knowledge/skills.  The first one to "ring in the new year" is the winner!  I have NOT used this yet, so there is always room for error, but I think it will be fun!

If I have enough interest from my followers, I might create a few more with different months/themes.  What do ya'll think?

Also, if you like reading my blog, would you become a follower and/or recommend it to others?  I want to build a big follower base.  The more followers, the more giveaways, so bring 'em on!

Here's the game:

So when Christmas rolls around, don't say I never gave you anything! :)

I've Got the Power(point)!

So I was lying in bed this morning and I had an idea for my literacy centers.  I decided I would make a PowerPoint presentation to help manage the rotations and hopefully provide a silent cue for the transitions.  I used the same icons as the labels I have in my classroom, for consistency's sake.  And although I have their names in a pocket chart in my classroom already, I decided to use their numbers and put them on the slides as well, just as one more reminder of where they need to be.  

I decided to have each slide display what group should  be with me at guided reading, and where everyone else should be.  I have it set to automatically switch slides after 18 minutes so that I don't have to do a thing!  Then there is a different chime that occurs after a one and a half minute delay, and the words on the slide blink.  This will indicate that they should be finished with their transitions and beginning the next center.  I like having the buffer time to ensure that they clean up correctly and have time to get where they're going...but not too much time ;)  I have the whole slide show set up so that I don't have to touch a thing once I get it started!  It will (hopefully) be a great tool to have to keep me focused on my kiddos and their reading and the kiddos focused on their jobs.  I can't wait to try this!  

Click here to see the PowerPoint!

By the way...

Here's an explanation of how my literacy centers work.  Each student goes to two centers a day.  They start out at one and it lasts about 2 of my guided reading groups.  Then they switch with the center whose icon is right next to it for the last two rotations.  Of course, during part of that time, they will be pulled back for their own guided reading time, so that averages them at each center for about 30 minutes.  During those centers, they have some sort of work that they have to complete in order to keep them accountable.  They turn this work in at a designated spot in their center folders.  I check it every day and they have a sticker chart where they will get a "happy" or "saddy" depending on the quality of work turned in.  When their chart is filled up with mostly "happies," they get to pick out of the treasure box.

Also, to keep them busy with purposeful and productive activities the whole time, I copied an idea from Renee Edwards, a great teacher who provided an inservice for us this summer.  I created a task chart like this:

Then I prioritized the activities for them to do in that corner.  Of course, the items in box 1 and 2 are the ones I want they to finish and turn in by the end of centers.  Numbers 3, 4, and 5 are less important, but still equally as purposeful.  They might be things like targeted literacy games, activities they've previously done for review, or other activities that don't require a written answer. This way, students who work quickly will have an itemized list of what to do next and keep busy.  The students who take longer to work have the time they need and they know what to work on first to make sure they have the most important work done in time.  What a great management tool!

ADvertisements Will ADD To Our Writing Center!

So, it's Tuesday, which means two things...Monday is past us (yippee!)... and coupon/junk mail day.  I still get kind of excited when I see the big wad of coupons in our box.  I keep thinking maybe I'll find a "golden ticket" of a deal...but always to no avail.  

Today's junk mail.

 So every week they go to waste.  But wasted no more!  Today I decided to cut out some of the better pictures from each ad to make a stash of  usable magazine pics. for future literacy center activities.  I'm thinking they could glue a picture in the middle and make a web of adjectives to describe them (there were lots of food pics which seemed to naturally lend itself to this).  Or they could use the pictures as writing prompts, sentence starters, etc.  Anyway, this inspired me to start an envelope that I can keep pictures in  as I cut them out (I'm thinking I could watch TV while I clip them).

I love the CONCEPT of all the cute "let students cut out pictures from magazine" activities, but A) there are so many inappropriate pictures in magazines that I don't want my first graders to come across, and B) first graders are SO messy and I personally don't ever feel like dealing with magazine scraps in every nook and cranny of my classroom.  So if I just clip along the way, I can establish a good stash to have "on the ready" whenever I want them to do this type of work!  I'm looking forward to putting them to good use!  

Anyone else have any brilliant early childhood ideas for ads/magazine clips?

And for a funny teacher story...I definitely had a teacher "first!"  Today as I was teaching away, I started choking in the middle of a sentence...something had caught my throat. A student had the most disgusted look on her face and said, "Um...a fly just flew in your mouth!" HAHAHA!!! That sucker flew right into my wind pipe while I was teaching!! So before they went to activity today, we read "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly"  in honor of our "event."  And that, folks, is one of the reasons why I love teaching.  No two days are alike, and there is never a dull moment!  

HAPPY TUESDAY!

Rollin' Right Through the School Year!

The third week of school has begun and we're diving into literacy corners!  I am changing the way I do corners/centers/rotations/whatever you want to call them.  I'm adding more corners and I'm really excited about the way these will keep my students engaged and focused on fun, quality assignments that will support my instruction!  Here's a game I made for my "word work" corner.  All you need is a dice and a copy of THIS document I made!

We have talked about two word families so far: -at and -op.  So I created this activity to help them practice changing out different onsets with the -at and -op rimes.  The student will roll the dice, and the number they land on will determine what onset they use.  They will then write it down next to the rime for #s 1-10 and see how many new words they have created!  I hope this works well!  Looking forward to it.  OH and by the way, I have extra large foam dice which I bought years ago to cut down on the noise when they roll the dice on their desks.  But I plan on incorporating THIS great idea I found on Pinterest to eliminate those boogers from tossing the dice all over the room and arguing with me that it was an "accident." Not that I'm bitter or anything ;)

A Very Pinteresting Classroom!

Well, it's been a long time!  I'm sure you couldn't possibly imagine why!!

I survived all of the professional development and the first week of school.  I looooove my class, although with each group comes its own challenges!  This year we have a SURPLUS of first graders!  My class kept growing as the week went on (I'm up to 22).  I know that isn't a HUGE number of students for many of you teacher folk, but for our district that is big!  We only have 20 backpack hooks in our rooms, and I kept having to get desks from our storage to add to my room!  I won't go into the details and whine about how some of my desks don't match the others and how I had to go back to the store a million times to get more supplies as my class size grew.  Bottom line is, we're past the first week, and things go a little smoother every day!

And now I'm onto my real topic for today's post....PINTEREST!!!  It's been a blessing and a curse ever since I registered for this brilliant site.  I've found the best ideas for school and home, but I can't STOP searching and pinning!! Aaaaggggghhhh!!!  So I decided to do a quick post about the things that I have already adopted into my classroom, as inpsired (or flat-out copied straight from) the Pinterest site.  So  here it goes:

I found this cute sign on Pinterest for a "Book Hospital."  I printed it and put it on the front of a crate in my library center for my students to put books that need repair.  This way, they won't "bother" me during my literacy rotations!  It was a brilliant idea! 

While I was on her blog for the Book Hospital printable, I found her post HERE about the "Blurt Chart."  I decided to make my own, but instead of using velcro pieces, I just have my students put an X in the box with a dry erase marker.  3 "strikes" = 1 card pulled in my class.  This way, they learn not to blurt out in class discussions. It's already worked so well!

I also redid my calendar math board with THIS idea.  I hated having to keep up with individual calendar pieces, and I really liked having the cards on rings.  It's a simple, clean board that I can spruce up throughout the year as I want to increase the math content. 

I LOVED this idea that originated HERE.  It's such a simple idea, but I never thought about having all of the things a new student would need in one easy-to-grab baggy.  What a time and stress saver!! Let's be honest...when we get new students, it usually happens with little or no warning and we feel like we're scrambling to take care of them all day!

On the second day of school, I created THIS anchor chart with my students.  It was such a great way to referee all of those extra stories and side commentary they use every day in class discussions!  I am glad that I will have something to reference whenever they get off-task or say something unnecessary!

I also loved THIS idea to make sure students put their names on their papers.  I have a basket of highlighters right next to their turn-in baskets and a sign similar to the one on the cup in this picture.  Brilliant!

One of my favorite management finds (and one of the easiest to make) is THIS little guy for class volume.  I love it because A) It's a nice visual B) It reminds you that there are some times when you can allow the students to whisper while they work C) It takes the "meanness" off of you because you can say things like "Look at our noise-o-meter.  It's saying that right now we need to have no voices, so make sure you look at that while you're working to keep from having to pull a card today!"  Already in the first week of school it's been a handy visual to have and they seem to really respond to it!  I made mine in Microsoft Word, laminated it, and attached velcro circles to each color.  It took all of 5 minutes to make and it's well worth the effort!

And lastly...I saw THIS great math center ideas for coin identification and I happened to find the perfect container yesterday at Dollar Tree.  So...I decided to go ahead and make it to have on hand for when I teach money!  One thing I didn't like about the one on Pinterest is that it had the pictures of the coins right there in plain sight, so it seemed a bit too easy for the students.  I decided to create labels that ONLY had the coin name and value to place in each compartment.

 

Then I made separate labels with the coin pictures (using BUSY TEACHER'S CAFE coin clipart) and placed them on the sides of each compartment so that they can use it to self-check when they are through!  I look forward to using it!

Most of the stuff I've used/made so far is for general classroom management.  But as the year goes on and I get into specific content, I can't wait to make use of Pinterest even more!  I just love it! 

Sprucing Up With More Suess

Just thought I'd share my new literacy center/rotation/corner board that I made this summer.  I am slightly changing the way I do my "corners" based on a professional development I went to recently.  I am adding more of them, so my students will go to 2 a day (each one only once a week, except for guided reading which is daily). So... I decided it was perfect timing to create a new board to go with them!  I'm looking forward to trying this new way of organizing my corners, and I think the signs turned out pretty cute!  I hope everyone is enjoying the last little bit of summer but getting lots done in your classrooms!  It's hard to believe it's that time again!

These are my guided reading groups.  Fish, turtles, foxes, and elephants, as inspired by Dr. Seuss characters.

Sight Words and Spelling Corners

Phonics corner where they will be decoding and encoding words, building words, working with onset/rime, etc.

Library corner where they'll read independently and writing corner.  I chose that picture for the writing corner because my writing area is a 2-person desk right in front of my window and it has red chairs.  Thought it was perfect!

The big book corner will be where they work with big books we've already read and will work on various assignments with those.  The retelling center will have different props, graphic organizers, etc. to help build the comprehension skill of retelling.

Guided reading!  I love this one.

They will read different things from their familiar reading baskets to their buddies in the "buddy reading" corner and listen/follow along with texts on CD in the listening corner.