Johnny Appleseed and Scarecrows

Wow, it's been a while! School has been super busy of course. Here are some updates from our class:

We made the Johnny Appleseeds posted by Kerri over at Teacher Bits and Bobs. I love this project! It gave the kids such a confidence boost when they saw how nice their drawings looked! I modified the tissue paper to be just torn construction paper and it worked out just fine!

We also read stories about scarecrows and created this TLC project. It was fun and gave the kids the opportunity to do fringe cutting on the straw! I love to see how each scarecrow has its own personality! So cute :)

 I have done a few of the TLC projects from the Fall book and so far... I'm loving it! We did the Columbus Day project last week and I can already see a HUGE improvement in their work. They are more careful with their cutting, they know words like horizontal and vertical, and they are better at following step-by-step directions. I have the Winter and Spring books on my wish list for my birthday and Christmas, so hopefully I'll have a complete set soon :)

In other news, I am thinking about starting a blog/website that banks "Higher Order Thinking" questions for some of the most common children's books we use. Our school is BIG on using higher order thinking and a few of our staff members were mentioning how there is no resource for these questions. Coming up with those synthesis, analysis, and evaluation questions is challenging, and every teacher shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel for each book they do.
Good idea or is there something just like that already out there?

Apples!

We have been hard at work for the first month of school! We have been discussing apples! We made applesauce together in a crockpot, made apple cupcakes and did an apple labeling project!

The room was SILENT while they were cutting... it was awesome :)

Showing off our work!

Getting the labels on!

Cute apples!

I remember doing this art project in school when I was little. I made the templates myself and had the kids cut them out. They had to make their own stem, leaf and seeds, then label their apple parts. 

We are also making the step-by-step Johnny Appleseeds shared by Kerri at Teacher Bits and Bobs. We made the trees today and we'll be drawing ol' Johnny tomorrow. I'll add more pictures this weekend :)

Rules Coloring Pages

I hope everyone had a great first week back! We had lots of fun in first grade and we're getting into the swing of the new schedule and activities.

I wanted to share some coloring/writing pages I made for the first week of school. This is my first year trying Whole Brain Teaching, but so far I'm liking it! I introduced the 5 rules on the first day of school and most of the kids already have it memorized! I was pretty impressed! We even got a chance to teach the 3rd grade class our rules (since they were having a little trouble). I made these coloring pages as my Morning Work for the first week of school. My kids loved being able to recognize the rules and had lots of fun writing and coloring! It was also nice for me to see their "on their own" handwriting.

Click on the thumbnail to see it in my TpT store!

Our school is also picking up AVID this year for the first time, so I'm trying to incorporate some of that into my WBT. I use the "Hands and Eyes" command but explained it as "SLANT"... without using the word "slant". I think Hands and Eyes is much easier for a primary classroom, so we'll see how this works out. 

I've taught the "Teach/Okay" before, but tomorrow we will chart exactly what it means and practice using it with a Read Aloud. I'm going to assign partner A and B (or peanut butter and jelly, depending on how creative/silly I'm feeling at the time) and let them practice the Teach/Okay and Switch commands a lot. 

Anyone have any more tips for using WBT in a first grade classroom? I'm curious to hear which pieces you use and how you use them in your classroom!

Student Check-in Board

As we continue to venture around my room, here is my student check-in board! 

First thing my kids do when they walk in the door is move their magnet from the Home side to the School side. This is my way of checking attendance. After everyone is in the door, I walk over and say things like "I see that Simon isn't here. Is that true?" then all the kids look around and giggle and say No! Simon is right there!! Then I ask Simon to come check in :)

I like this method because I can eventually have my Teacher's Assistant check attendance for me and it's really cute when they need to ask someone else to come check in. I do a basic Home/School board (versus a Hot/Cold lunch board) because all but 2 kids in my class buy hot lunch each day. So I basically never have to count :) We are also the very last class through the lunch line, so it never hurts to round up a few just in case!

The clipart is all from DJ Inkers. The little kids I cut out from a border, laminated, p-touched a name on, and put a magnet on the back. So far they are working out just swell, but I'm afraid that the kids will fall off and into the trash can (which sit right underneath!). I need a little "kid catcher" so that we don't lose anyone! 

If kids came to the "Meet the Teacher" night, I let them pick their kid. Otherwise I just randomly chose. They are super fun and I even saw students picking out their magnet on the borders I have up on my windows! 

Reading Incentive Board

Today I wanted to share my reading incentive board:

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The idea is originally from Pinterest, of course, but here is the source: The Teacher Wife 

I was pondering ways to get my kids to read more at home (very few do in our area) and randomly searched "reading incentive" on Pinterest... and voila! 

I didn't want to go with the candy theme, so I thought for a long time about what to put here. As you can see, I modified a Dr. Seuss quote. I love this quote and wanted to use it in my room somehow and it just worked! 

I am SUPER excited to try this out!! I ordered the dogtags from the etsy store she recommended. I couldn't find the metal stamps she used so I bought some on Amazon... they didn't work so well. I think I'm going to just P-Touch some labels to stick on there (not THAT special, I know, but how else can I get names on their in a cool/unique way? My mom suggested I buy an engraver pen, but I'm kinda sadface with money). 

I sent home a reading log last Friday and explained the system - every 100 minutes you read you get a bead on your dogtag! The kids were SO excited. They told me how they were going to read all week long and read to their brothers and mothers and grandmas and dogs and everyone! I even told them they could shoot for 200 minutes a week! Then they would get TWO beads (they were amazed). 

I'm especially excited about this system because reading logs at my school generally don't work out. They never come back, they never get done, and they never get signed. I'm really hoping this system is the cure! :)

My Classroom After Days 1 & 2 part 1

I went into school yesterday to clean things up from the first two days and to get some more things ready. Here are some updated pictures of my room! 

Front of the room with calendar stuff

View of the cubbies and sink area

View from the front looking out

Writing center and library

View of the computers and bulletin boards

 I want to go over more parts of my room more specifically, but I'm saving that for tomorrow and the rest of this week :) Let me know if you have any questions! I'm excited for our first "real" week of school!!

First Week Done!

Phew! Thursday was the first day of school for us. I must admit, I have the BEST class!! I am so excited for this year!

We started off by putting TONS of school supplies away--I feel like I got way more stuff this year than last year! I thought I was doing fine with storage but now I need to find a place for 15 big boxes of Goldfish :)

I introduced some aspects of Whole Brain Teaching and so far it's going well (if you haven't checked it out, do so!)! The kids are responding well to the Class/Yes system and we are working on learning the Five Rules. Anyone have any tips for making this stick (other than repetition)? I currently have 28 kids (holy cow!) and I'm having them all sit on the carpet and follow my lead with the rules. After going through them once with them mirroring me, I play a little charades type game where I do the hand signals and see if anyone can tell me the rule that goes with it. I'm really trying to get all 28 kids to participate all the time, but it's difficult! We will keep practicing every day.

I need to take pictures of my classroom now that school has started. I ended up moving a bunch of things around a few days before school started (I got a bigger desk!) and it's working out great so far! I love my big guided reading table--I almost didn't have one because I convinced myself it was too big for my space, but I MADE space for it. So worth it!

The last two days were a blur, but I got all of my student photos done and measured their heights! Phew! We are going to hit it hard on Tuesday and begin core curriculum.

As a second year teacher, I'm seeing my class from last year around the school and it makes me a little sad. I'm not their teacher anymore. I had a few kids really disappointed I wasn't teaching the 1/2 split again because they wanted to stay with me a second year. I caught a few glances from across the playground and it makes me realize what teachers are always talking about when they mention the impact they have on students. I have a few kids that had a rough year and I'm glad that I could help them along the way. I'm really looking forward to having kids come back to say Hi as they grow up.

Freebie Friday

Hi everyone! Today is the last day of Blog Hoppin's Teacher Week!

Today I wanted to share my classroom rules. I saw the design on Pinterest a while ago but changed to pictures and words to match Whole Brain Teaching. I've never tried WBT before but I hear only good things and I wanted to give it a shot this year!

Click on the picture to check it out at my TpT store!

On another note, I spent a LONG day in my classroom yesterday and I'm feeling much better about the setup. I'll post more pictures maybe this weekend after I finish putting some more things away! 

Does anyone out there use Handwriting Without Tears? I really want a class set of double lined chalkboards but our district only provided ONE board for each 1st grade class. I'm trying to think creatively about how I can make a class set but it comes out kind of expensive any way I think about it... Anyone out there have tips or suggestions? Here are the boards I'm trying to recreate: 

I might have to give up and have them only practice in their workbooks... but I would love for them to have chalkboards to practice even more!

EDIT:: I talked with my principal today about these boards and we might be able to get a set! So no more stress for me, phew! I'd still love to hear any feedback from people who use HWT. This year will be the first year grades 1 and 2 will be doing it (used to be just K). I've heard lots of good things so far!!

It's the last day to link up! 

Therapeutic Thursday

Hi everyone! Today is Therapeutic Thursday!

I am sort of an anxious person and I easily get stressed out and worry about the littlest things! I know it probably isn't the healthiest, but I'm very concerned about the way things are and how things go.

When I'm feeling stressed or overwhelmed I love going to Starbucks. I feel like it's a little treat that I deserve and it makes me feel better! Chai tea lattes and black tea lemonades are my favorite :)

(not my pictures)

This is really weird but I also de-stress by listening to really loud (rap) music in the car on the way to school... while drinking Red Bull.

And of course, I relax when I come home by getting into my pajamas right away and vegging out in front of the computer or the TV!

How do you relax after a stressful day? Link up with Blog Hoppin!

Where I Teach Wednesday

Today for Teacher Week it's Where I Teach Wednesday!

I already posted a few pictures of my classroom here, but here they are again (a bit more organized):

I teach at a really small school in Seattle. We are grades K-6 and I think we have about 11 teachers/classrooms! I love having a small staff--you really get to know everyone! You also get to know the kids really well (some teachers have kids two-three years in a row because of splits!). My building has a pod design with four classrooms opening up to a small centrum area. We use this for small group work or testing. It's great! Also, two adjacent rooms in a pod open up into one big classroom. Our pod hasn't done this, but I know this year our 2 half-day K's are sharing one huge room. Should be interesting! The only downside to this is that we have this HUGE wall made of carpet... I have to use velcro to stick everything to the wall!

Here are a few more pictures. I should probably take more recent ones, but not that much has changed!

I'm proud of my new room and I'm excited to see my new students! Last year I didn't really get a chance to set up this room the way I wanted, so I'm feeling really refreshed!

Head over to Blog Hoppin' to link up!

Technology Tip Tuesday

Hi there! Today is Technology Tuesday!!

My technology tip for today actually came from Ladybug's Teacher Files:

Make your printables in PowerPoint.

This tech tip has saved me so much time and frustration! I make everything in PowerPoint now, from worksheets to classroom decor! It is so much easier to move pictures, boxes, and text around! I also love how PP tells you when things are aligned in the center or in relation to other objects on the page. Amazing! If you haven't switched from Word to PP, you really should!!

I wish I had more tech tips for teachers (I think of myself as pretty tech savvy!) but I can't think of anything that I do technology-wise that other people don't! We don't have SmartBoards at our school (I WISH!!!) but I'm sure if I had one I could do amazing things with it :)

Head over to Blog Hoppin'! to link up!!

Teacher Week - Must-Haves Monday

Hi everyone! I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' for their Teacher Week link party!

1. Mr. Sketch Scent Markers AND Sharpie Flip Chart Markers !

Our principal buys all teachers a set of Mr. Sketch each year! Amazing, right? I had heard about the Sharpie markers from a coworker and just HAD to try them since I love everything Sharpie. I must say... they rival the Mr. Sketch (except for the smellies!). Love the bullet tip and the bright colors!

2. IKEA EXPEDIT Shelf

Here's a picture of the shelf in my room!

I love my shelf/bench! I saw this idea a LONG time ago and I just love it. I keep my student whiteboards, binders, and lesson materials up in the bins. The shelf is study enough to sit on and the kids love coming up to join me to share. 

3. Scotch Thermal Laminator

I bought this on Amazon's Deal of the Day last year and I am SO thankful! It has saved me when I need to laminate in a pinch, plus I love being able to laminate at home! The laminate is actually a lot nicer (it's thicker) and you can buy the pouches at Sam's Club. I also buy mine at Joann & Michaels with my 40% off coupons (+teacher discount).

Fortunate

I've been working on some crafts for the beginning of school. The first day of school for us isn't until August 30th, so I still have some time! Here's one of the projects I'm currently working on!

Gift boxes for students on Meet the Teacher night! The idea is from Pinterest (of course).

I ordered the fortune cookie boxes from Oriental Trading and I made the labels with a simple Avery label template. I bought some 2x4" address labels from Target (Avery 18163), printed them out, and punched them with a 2" scalloped circle punch (found mine at Michaels).
Here is my inspiration from Pinterest. I know my labels aren't as fancy as hers, but my boxes are smaller and the address labels made them easy to punch and stick on :)

You can download my labels here! Enjoy!
The actual Avery template I downloaded didn't even fit the labels!! So I had to manually resize, move, and convert to pdf. For some reason my background colors weren't printing (even though I have the box to print backgrounds checked), but the pdf version works fine since it's flattened.

I'm on the lookout for an other great "Back to School" crafts and activities for those first few weeks of school!

Updated Classroom

Spent some more time in the classroom these last few weeks and it's finally starting to come together. I'm really happy with how the walls turned out--I had no idea it would make such a difference! The whole room feels brighter and cleaner! I took tons of pictures!

Here's my classroom library. I really have a problem with books. And to think that I started last year with NOTHING. I spend a lot of time at garage sales and Goodwill. Thank you to my mom for scoping out garage sales with me!! My leveled library labels are from Ladybug's Teacher Files. Various other labels are from Lakeshore's Library Label kit, Kindergarten Kindergarten, and Kindertastic. (can you tell that I started the year by reading Kindergarten blogs?)

Classroom Library

Huge Word Wall!!

View into my library (love my rainbow curtain!!!)

View to my desk area

Kids' book boxes

Here's some of my alphabet cards (from Open Court). I added the labels on top (okay okay I know some of those "diphthongs" aren't actually diphthongs... but I needed a nice label to put on top so there!)

My student work display wall. I'm loving how it came out! I put their pictures in the middle of the flowers with their name. This year I used laminated scrapbook paper as a backing instead of just plain construction paper. 

Student work display wall

I'm super pumped about this media cart I found at the district warehouse. It's SO PERFECT for my projector, document camera, DVD player, and laptop! It is so dang handy!!! The backside of it was pretty ugly so I covered it with pretty contact paper I found at Target.

Media cart with contact paper lookin' fab!

Other side of the cart

Here's my "Math Closet". I redid this at the end of last year when we got all of our new curriculum stuff. Our district is using Math in Focus beginning next year, so I had lots of new stuff to store! I used shoe boxes from the Container Store and labels inspired by KinderTastic. I love this closet but most of my colleagues think it's "just sick"  :) 

Math Closet and Daily Schedule

Inside the Math Closet

I am realizing now that I forgot to take a picture of the front of the room and my cubby area, so I'll have to do that next time I go in. Enjoy!