Hands on Place Value Fun

Hi, there! We’re 10 days in and beginning to dive into our curriculum. We’ve been practicing and practicing and…..practicing routines some more as we get to know one another. In the midst of all of the “getting to know you”, we’ve also begun setting the foundation for lots of working with numbers!

In case you haven’t stopped by in a while (because I haven’t blogged in a while)…last year, I made the jump from 1st to 2nd! Haven taken some time to  become acquainted with all things 2nd…I’m READY to share again! Yay!!! Thanks for following the fun on Instagram and Facebook! It’s going to be our #bestyearyet on the blog too!

The number of assessments we have to give this year has been reduced, PTL!!! Because of this, our procedures for unpacking our standards have moved away from being focused on a single assessment, to being focused on the learning needed to understand the standards. Our unpacking (backwards design) posters will now contain illustrations of the models and representations that we’ll use throughout each unit. This page is hung low on the board because it will be Page 1 of a wall sized flipbook. The next one we make, will be hung right over it….they’ll be left on the wall for the duration of the year for students to lift and look at as a reference tool. The needed vocabulary cards will also move to our classroom word wall, once our unit focus changes.

As we began to show numbers in different forms, students were consistently expanding numbers using only the single digit rather than the number needed to represent its value…..so, enter our handy dandy place value demo cards!

Sometimes, you have to walk a mile in a number’s shoes to truly understand it’s value! Young students need kinesthetic, whole body learning as much as possible. This lesson was just the right fit! Students actually took turns sitting on a giant place value chart (our carpet) to represent numbers in expanded form, then stood to dance along with music before aligning the cards to represent the number in standard form.

I’m usually about all things literacy, but admittedly have been inspired to have a LOT more fun with math this year. Dare I say, I AM enjoying teaching math?! I said it! And meant it…math is fun! Now that I think about it…most of the training I attended this summer was over MATH!

After getting a better grasp on number forms, we also began to play with representing numbers in more than one way using our base-10 blocks. Realizing that you can model a number more than one way and it STILL be the same number was a huge eye opener and students enjoyed manipulating the blocks over and over again to represent BIG numbers!

Concrete models….&

Pictorial models…of BIG numbers! Hands on…music…movement…drawing…equals a firm foundation for comparing and ordering to come! Want to get moving too? Click HERE to grab a set of demo cards for your classroom!

See ya soon!

First Week Jitters

Hellllo……is anybody out there? Can you hear me now…OR are you coming out of a first week coma too!?? I think I might've forgotten how much work goes into the first week of first grade! Don’t laugh….BUT it reminds me of child birth. Only the labor is spread out over an entire week! My bed is still perfectly made from a week ago because I never made it to sleep in it last week! I dropped as soon as I could right onto the couch and found myself waking up there each morning. Thank God for a charged iphone battery and SEVERAL morning alarms!



Now that I’ve regained a little of my senses, I’m checking in with Kacey for a little Five for Friday catching up!


With each passing day, routines and procedures began to take shape. Our first crack at building stamina lasted for a whole whopping 30 seconds! I was flipping cartwheels (in my imagination) by Friday for having built it up to a whole 7 minutes!

I usually draw our anchor charts, but with the sonshine having started his first football season the same time as school, well……ain’t nobody got time for that! Clipart spruced up our anchor chart and to keep them uniform, I’ll be printing pictures for all 5 of them.



I did, however, whip out this little guy over a cup of yogurt Tuesday morning! This chart was definitely the class favorite of the week. We’ve learned that we can do tough stuff without quitting or giving up! There were lots of smiles as we raised our arms to flex our muscles before practicing read to self each day…



By Friday….we had gotten to know each other a little better and were ready to be on our feet for some learning fun. We used Dr. Jean’s Rhythm rhyme to generate a list of rhyming words. These little items came from Lakeshore Learning’s rhyming basket. Each student was given an object to “hide” in their hands. When I gave them the signal “ready…rhyme” they walked around the room to find their matching rhyming partner. 

Learning on our feet? Fun!



Later that day, we also learned how to format our math journals. The sheet of chart paper is laminated. Each day, I’ll write and wipe 4 spiral review topics for students to copy and complete in their math journals. Because this was our intro lesson….we worked through one square at a time. I covered the remaining squares with construction paper so they wouldn’t get overwhelmed. As students begin checking into math writing next week, they will work through all 4 squares at their own pace.

Introducing this activity whole group allowed  me to see who has trouble copying too. Now, I know how many students I will need to provide a copy to glue into their journal.



….and you know that last post? The one about the room set up? How happy I was with the finished product? Perfect plan…..? Ha! You know what happened the minute the kids showed up, right? Yep! I found out what really worked and what really did not! Kids know best…..and every afternoon, I tweaked things until we got to a format that will work best for all of us.

There’ll be no riding dead horses for us. What doesn’t work, gets tweaked until it does! 

I think this one is a winner!

Lesson plans included lots of Kindergarten review and time for getting to know one another.

Today was a day of rest….tomorrow, it’ll be time to prep for week 2! As we get ready to move full speed ahead, I thought it might be a good time for a little pick me up! A little something to help get energized….How about a fun Give Away? I can’t send you a caffeine boost, but I can help with adding a little fun to those fingertips as they work to mold little firsties!



The first week is a wrap! Enter below to have a little fun and win some Jamberry nail wraps from my teaching bud, Dani! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Five for Friday~A Whole Lotta Random

Hi, Friends! How are ya? I’m dropping in to share a whole lotta randomness from this past week. I’ve got to blog quickly because my daughter is giving me the side eye for missing part of yet another Avengers movie! We’re watching Captain America and I think…..I think, now I can finally put all the pieces to all of the avengers back stories together….I think. I KNOW she can! Can you say obsessed?

One of the most exciting things about this week was releasing our butterflies! 5 of our 6 little friends made it safely from caterpillar to butterfly in our care. Unfortunately, we had to have a conversation about life and death because one of them did not make it. The kids handled it really well and celebrated by releasing the little ones that survived. As each one left the net, they squealed with excitement!

After releasing our new little painted ladies, it was time to begin a new round of station activities! {I’ll be back to share a little more about those later!} 

Do you use poetry journals in your classroom? One way, we use poetry throughout the year is by keeping a poetry journal at word work. We use lots of different poetry resources for sight words, phonics, and seasonal themes. Poems change about every 2 weeks-ish. How do I keep track of who has added a poem to their journal and who hasn’t? See the little number in the top corner? Those are students’ classroom numbers. Every time a new poem is put into stations, I number them. Students are only allowed to get the one with their number on it. Soooooooo, the numbers that are left…..{naughty, naughty} tell me exactly who has not added a new poem to their journal!

Most of my students enjoy working with their poetry journal because when they do, they also get to share it from the author’s chair as part of our transition for the next mini-lesson! Only 2 students are allowed at any 1 activity in stations so it doesn't take long at all.

Our first attempt at planting was an epic FAIL! We grew butterflies, like bosses….BUT bean plants….not so much! As we continued with non-standard measurement, we incorporated a little writing in math with our own versions of Jack and the Beanstalk. Students wrote to retell the story and make comparisons to different things that the beanstalk could grow to be bigger than. We squeezed in one more attempt at growing our own little beanstalks while students wrote their stories. Can you please bow your head now and say a quick word of prayer for our plants? We NEED all the help we can get! 

Whew! Thanks! =)

We also explored choosing appropriate units of measurement with a little measurement stations activity. This is what we doodled to use as our recording sheet. Yep! We doodle a lot! {LOVE!}  After listening and following directions to create our recording sheets, student groups were given 10 minutes at each station to choose a classroom item to measure and record the number of units used, the name of the unit and illustrate. 4 tables, 4 units of measurement, 4 windows on our foldable. Students ONLY opened the window for the specific station they were visiting in order to record their work. For example, while at Table 4, they measured using pencils as their unit and only flap 4 was open to write and draw inside of. 

Telling students how much time they have is a great motivator to keep it movin’ without a lot of lag time. Displaying the timer helps them to see the time winding down and monitor their own progress without hounding them too much. Self management…yep, I can get with that!

What’s that they're measuring, you say? Oh, just one of the best transition tools on the planet! That’s our rain stick. Not being one to actually measure much in real life, I ordered it thinking it would be much smaller. Boy was I surprised!! Care to guess how many unifix cubes it took to measure its length? Yeah, they could’ve used a bigger unit of measurement, but where would the fun in that be? Stay tuned….

….more measurement mania to come!

Five for Friday~Happy New Year!

Hi, Friends! Happy New Year! Have you taken some time to rest? Actually enjoyed the time off?  As I wake to enjoy this final Friday of vacation, I’m linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for the very first Five for Friday of the year…


I’ve actually forced myself to rest throughout this break, so this’ll be a great way to kick start my teacher brain and begin to prepare for the new semester. I don’t know what it is about the spring semester of 1st grade, but I absolutely LOVE it! I suppose it may have a little to do with how much the kiddos have matured over the first semester. It’s truly an amazing time of reflection AND planning to finish the year as strong as possible.

Anywho…..let’s get on with it, shall we! {Sigh……smile.} Alrighty, well….we’ve been out of school for two weeks, soooo I pulled a few random moments of awesomeness to share with you from before the break.



If you’ve followed my little blog for even a minute, you know how much we love to doodle in Room 159. We use anchor charts a lot, but there’s not always room to create and keep them all, so some we put together on our handy dandy whiteboard. We used this super sneaky guy to introduce long vowel patterns.



This is another example of our ‘smart art’. This little cutie glued his flap book down backwards, BUT his examples of cause and effect are all matched correctly….looks like a winner to me! Causes are on the outside….effects, glued underneath on the inside.



Smart art + kiddo discussions in small groups = comprehension made fun! (Please forgive the naughty camera strap that made it into that photo!)



The ONE thing that I did work on over the break is our morning work. Every morning, my kiddos walk into a calm atmosphere of low lights, soft music, and instructions prepared on the whiteboard. The structure of our routine is consistent, but the tasks change each morning. I like finding little sneaky ways to get them reading all day long….without them knowing it! After all, we are learning to read for a purpose, right?

Unpack. Put your things away. Read a good fit book. Follow the directions on the board. When the long hand on the clock touches the 11, everyone should be at their desks completing the task of the day. That’s our morning routine. Every.Single.Day. Students have a journal in their book box that is just for morning work…and if they should need extra time to complete it, they know they can continue working on it the next morning. Quick…spiral review and no time wasted. Learning begins the minute we walk in the door.



This is an example of a reflection being completed. I love our morning work routine because students are also learning responsibility. They must read the directions, manage their time, and organize their journal. The tasks increase in difficulty as we move through the year. Most are reflections on “good fit” books, others….like this one are math applications. Cross curricular connections are made through writing about science and social studies topics too. And the best {teacher} part? I don’t have to make one single copy for morning work! Nada. Zilch. Zero….I come in, cue the computer and we’re off on our journey for the day! *LOVE*!!!


Interested in giving it a try? Click any of the pictures below to grab a sample.  These would also be great to print and use as task cards for early finishers! Now, that January’s set is all wrapped up, I’m looking ahead to February. Any suggestions for skills? Leave a comment below…

Grades and lesson plans are calling! Laters Gators! =)

Five for Friday~Smart Art

Hi, peeps! How are ya? It’s an UN-TX-like 20 something degrees in our neck of the woods today! Brrrrrr…….What’s the temperature like where you are? Please send warm thoughts our way! It actually FEELS like winter and I’m not quite sure what to make of it, but I know I don’t like it! Ha! Bring on the sunshine! While we wish for warmer weather, I thought I’d catch up with the awesome Kacey over at DoodleBugs Teaching for a Five for Friday {..ahem, late Saturday} post!



Our Daily 5 routines usually run Monday – Thursday. Fridays are run a little differently. We give numerical grades on our students report cards, which require assessments. We collect grades in a number of different ways. This quick post will outline what a typical Friday in our room looks like.

Just after our morning recess, students gather at the carpet and begin selecting partners to ‘Read to Someone’. They find a place in the room with a copy of our story of the week to read and discuss. After they have completed their individual discussions throughout the room, we meet together and discuss the comprehension strategy we practiced throughout the week. Our main story, generally, comes from our reading series. Sometimes we pull stories for Reading A-Z. Other pieces of authentic literature are pulled in throughout the week and used to make connections to it or replace it, if the selection in our book isn’t a good one for the skill we’re focusing on.

Once this discussion is complete, we complete a comprehension and related phonics assessment.

Afterwards,……it’s time for Smart Art! We work together to extend what we’ve learned. This is also the time that requires students to have completed their ‘Must Do’ stations activity for the week. No ‘Must Do’, No Smart Art…..you can read about our ‘Must Do/Can Do’s’ HERE.



This week, students were separated into mixed ability groups to read and identify examples of cause and effect for a specific season of the year. Each group was led by a student. I explained the requirements of the group work to the 4 leaders. The 4 leaders explained it to each of their groups.



After the groups met and completed their discussions, we moved to our desks to prepare our smart art. Each student labeled the front of their foldable. We discussed cause and effect as one event that causes another to happen. Why it happened and what happened.


….then the leader of each group selected two friends to present for their group. 1 friend gave the cause, the other presented the effect and I recorded it on the board. Students then returned to their groups to write the example agreed upon by their group. They also created a symbol to represent their respective season.



Still learning…(always learning)….but in a way that’s interactive, fun and creative. We don’t use our desks a whole lot either. You’ll notice, we work on the floor quite a bit. Why be cooped up in a chair all day, when you can stretch out and get comfy? And because, we generally do this after completing assessments, we’ve already been sitting for long enough.



Here’s what our finished smart art for the week looked like! Like? Winter. Spring. Summer. Fall. I love them ALL! Do you think my kids have picked up on the fact that I like doodle frames? Ha!

Could I use this for a grade too? Yep! Sure could did!  =)



After grabbing the FREEBIE to mark must do’s in her stations, my sister from another mother asked for a cupcake to mark her remaining  tubs as ‘desserts’. I thought you might be able to use them too, so here ya go! If you like 'em, click 'em…they’re all yours!

What creative ways do you use to assess student understanding? Do tell…..=)

A Closer Look~Guided Reading Groups

Hi-ya, peeps! How are ya? We’ve spent a relaxing Saturday at home, with the exception of a quick outing to spend a little Kohl’s cash. It would’ve expired tomorrow and I didn’t want to let it go to waste…waste not, want not, right?

We’ve been busily establishing routines for guided reading over the last couple of weeks. It’s hard to believe that we’re almost at the END of October already! It took 5 weeks to get our station routines in place….all to be able to successfully meet in small groups. Wellll, NOW all the pieces of our day are in place! Let’s take a closer look….at small groups!


 
Participating in FREEBIELICIOUS' book study of The Next Step in Guided Reading by Jan Richardson last summer was some of the best PD I’ve ever had! I’m always curious, always looking for new ways to improve how I work with my kiddos. I leave each day thinking….what can I do to make it better tomorrow? Reading this book has helped me to focus on research based techniques to guide my firsties along their reading journey.  It’s been so exciting to launch  guided reading! They’re ALREADY showing growth!

Each day, our guided reading table is [mostly] clear. Ha! Vowels are on the table as a reference and to serve as a management piece. To avoid… “that’s MY seat” arguments, each student sits at the exact same vowel each and every time they come to the table. We’ve been using whiteboards at small group, BUT you’ll find out a little further down why they’re getting ready to go away.



My lesson plans are always handy. One…because the prompts and teaching points for each group are highlighted on them and two…because I need doodle paper. Once at the guided reading table, I transform into a doodling, anecdotal note taking, listening, prompting, guiding, questioning, running record taking octopus! OR…at least that’s what it feels like trying to do so many things at once!

The little chart at the bottom is an example of how I rotate my groups to meet for guided reading. In a perfect world, I’d meet with all of them every day. The students who have the greatest level of need are seen most often. 3 rotations at about 20 minutes-ish each + a mini-lesson in between each rotation adds up to our 2 hour literacy block being packed from start to finish. Did I mention we have enrichment during this time too? Thank heaven for a supportive principal and 2 awesome grade level helpers that assist during this time so that intervention and enrichment do not equal interruptions to our literacy block routines that we’ve worked so hard to build.



Students bring their book boxes to the table and place them neatly in between themselves and the friend sitting next to them. By doing this, they create a private area to review 3 sight words each day. Because they are divided by their book boxes, there is less of a temptation to copy from their neighbors’ boards instead of using their own visual memory to write the words we review to start each lesson.

Our lessons begin and end with writing sight words. What we have quickly discovered is handing them out, putting them away and taking them out again is annoying! After talking with another teacher on my team, we discovered we weren’t the only ones who thought so. She solved this problem by attaching laminated strips of writing paper to her guided reading table. *LOVE*! I’ll be stopping by school for a few minutes tomorrow to do the same. I’ve seen pins showing teachers using placemats as their whiteboards, but wanted something permanent, that I won’t have to move.



What’s the BEST thing about meeting in small group? Differentiation! You get to meet students exactly where they are and stretch them as far as their little minds will take them! The pictures above are from my transitional reading group. They’re each reading above grade level…the name of the game for them is comprehension and BIGGER words! After beginning small groups with a sight word review, students are all given a “go” signal at separate times to begin reading softly. Each student quietly reads at their own pace while I listen in and either take running records or address teaching prompts about something previously taught. We do not choral read or partner read at this time. Guided reading is all about using our strategies to decode words and draw meaning from them.

The book each student reads is a leveled text that will work well for the comprehension and word attack skills we’re practicing throughout the week. During our first meeting of the week, I take a quick running record as students read in order to be sure the book they’ve been given is a “good fit”. No forms, no copies….just a quick check in “doodle” format on the back of my lesson plans. These doodles will also help to guide any changes that need to be made in grouping students. We’ve already made a few switcheroos!

Having taught 1st grade for the past 4 years, I’ve always pulled small groups for reading. The difference for me this year, is the inclusion of guided writing. When you know better, you do better…..and share it for the benefit of all!

      

Different book…different group. Same comprehension skill. Same focus, but leveled for their ability. This is the emergent group. They’re reading on grade level. If you take a close look at this friend’s notebook, you’ll see something that was not on the previous friend’s page. With this group, lines have been drawn to help students differentiate between letters and words and to guide the spacing in their sentences. Just a little added support. I provide a sentence. Students echo, then write. The lines help to make sure they have all of the words in their sentence too! =) We’ll use these notebooks for reading reflections, graphic organizers, and other activities as we progress through the year. They will only be used in small group.

The green dot simply serves as a reminder to begin on the left. They'll only be used until routines are committed to memory. I’m very, very visual, so I tend to teach with a lot of visual cues.



I have 4 groups in all. The remaining 2 groups are Pre-A to emergent readers. They’re groups are smaller and they receive additional instruction in phonics. We use Wilson Fundations. They’re books primarily contain repetitive phrases/sentences, are highly predictable, and have a lot of picture support. Students that are in critical need of letter knowledge or phonemic awareness skills remain at the table after their group has been dismissed in order to play games and learn by way of the handy dandy iPad. The best part of it all? Every reader walks away feeling successful!



By the end of our very first small group each week, my lesson plans are no longer neat and tidy. I’ve written in information that will help guide each student through the rest of the week and to help guide planning for the next.



Every thing at the guided reading table serves a purpose. Sticky notes are a must! Expo markers, erasers, pencils, fun pointers, picture sorts, sound boxes, and magnetic letters for word building are always close by. There is an alphabet chart attached to the middle of the table and on the board just behind where I sit {to model word building}. The 3 sticky notes just below the alphabet chart are used as sound boxes! We *LOVE* sticky notes!  Sight words charts for the transitional reading group are being prepared as well. I keep these things in a caddy or little bins that are easily moved out of the way until we need them.



Each guided reading group consists of time to review 3 sight words, quiet reading with teacher prompting, teaching points after reading, a quick discussion (if appropriate) and learning of one new sight word…..TIMES 3 groups!!! Wiping the sweat from your brows yet? We’re not through!

Sound like a lot! It is! BUT it’s my FAVORITE 2 hours of the entire day!!! Think it ends there?

Nope….
 
….last, but not least, I have to look it all over to analyze it before we move forward with our next book. We keep each book and do repeated readings of it over the course of a week. Repeated readings help to build fluency. When I’m looking at each student’s behaviors during guided reading, I’m looking and listening to tell what kind of miscues they’re making and to determine how accurately they’re reading the text. Monitoring accuracy does not equal assessing fluency. That’s different.



On Fridays, we assess our comprehension, turn in our guided reading books and return all of our “good fit” books back to the class library. On Monday….the cycle starts all over again and makes me one happy, happy, happy teacher!
 
Thanks for reading though this quick run of our small group routines! Click the pics below to grab a couple tools to add to your guided reading tool-belt! The pictures can be used for picture sorts of your choice. The lined paper is what I’m heading to school to attach to my table so we don’t have to haul out those pesky whiteboards anymore!

Happy reading! Laters gators!

Clipart courtesy of Dots of Fun