Hello, Friend!

WOW! I can hardly believe it's actually been almost 3 1/2 years since my last blog post! Way back in 2016, I finally caved to the notion that I was NOT actually Superwoman and began prioritizing and minimizing in order to best meet the needs of my family. That basically meant, my plate was overflowing and something had to go! I had no idea that decision would lead to crickets hanging out here.......until now, BUT......you know what? The break was needed and greatly appreciated.

I also loved first grade, but longed for more...for something different...

.....so I changed grade levels. I taught 2nd, taught fourth (and loved it too), then moved out of the classroom to impact more students through instructional coaching. That brings us to NOW!  Still learning, still growing...

The kids have grown; I've earned a master's degree and nooooow, now.....I'm ready to dive back into A+ Firsties!

While I'm no longer focused solely on 1st grade, I'm still in love with all things literacy, student centered learning and a genuine love of teaching. I hope you'll visit again soon....it's good to be back and we've got a lot of catching up to do!

See you soon!

Digging Deeper…Our NEW Word Wall

So, today I got the chance to take a quick peek inside of my classroom! Now, my creative wheels are in overdrive and I’m growing more excited by the minute! As much as I’ve enjoyed having a little down time, I’m ready to start prepping our learning space.

One of the first things that will be going up in the room this year is our word wall. The best thing about taking a look into the room is seeing the blank slate. It’s a new chance, a new opportunity to do something great…to work with a new batch of kiddos…to grow and change and become better!

Our word wall is going to be one of those things that changes for the better this year!

At the beginning of last year, our word wall looked like this. Each week, the class and I added 5 new words (given that I remembered to print them) to the word wall. To facilitate a little visual “pop” and to help me stay organized…I used neon Astrobrights to run copies of our sight words. I love ROY G. BIV order! I love it so much, I use it to organize things in sequential order by grading periods. Our year is divided into 6 of them. During the 1st 6 weeks, the words were added on pink, then orange in the 2nd 6 weeks, then yellow in the 3rd 6 weeks and so on. This helped me to ‘at a glance’ be able to keep track of when words were introduced throughout the year.

We’ll be using neon again this year, but instead of the focus being on classroom organization…the focus will be on student learning!

 

Word wall headers have been prepped and the Astrobrights are on deck and ready! Our word wall is growing up! It’s maturing and being organized to focus on phonics! You might say….well, duh! But….wait! Let me tell you HOW!

There will be 3 categories of words on our word wall. The first category will be sight words that can be used to generate other words. These words will be copied onto neon cardstock. For instance….take the word drink. You can use the rime to rhyme and create other words like….link, mink, brink, pink, sink, wink, blink, or think. With before…you can use the rime of the second syllable to rhyme and create…chore, score, shore, snore, core, or bore. Get it? Of course you do…YOU rock!

Because these words will be on brightly colored paper, students can use the color, the rime, or the shape of the word to help recall them, use them, or spell them by analogy to create new words.

The second category of words will be those that are the outlaws. The naughty ones….the words that don’t always follow the [phonics] rules and can not be used to generate other words. They will be copied onto white paper. White….like glue, to help them stick in students’ memories! These words will have to be memorized by sight! After copying each of these words and cutting them from white paper, they will also be framed in black.
 

The last category of words, will be vocabulary words. These are the words that may be required in our curriculum’s specificity or words that are important to students but are not a part of traditional sight word lists. They will be copied onto tan/manila paper and cut to the shape of a rectangle…another visual reminder/distinction.

Our word wall will continue to be interactive in the sense that we will USE it! We’ll hang the words together, we’ll play word games, apply movement to our spelling activities…and when that age old question arises… “HOW DO I SPELL…?” We’ll make reference to words that can be manipulated to guide the spelling of others.

One other additional BIG detail…the background of the word wall will be black. LOVE! Black and white is our running class theme, so our word wall will fit right in!

The alphabet line will be hung in ABC order from A………..allllll the waaaaaaaaaay to Z, in ONE single line…so it will quite literally be a word WALL, lol! After hanging the alphabet line close to eye level, sight words will be placed in a vertical line above each letter…about 5 per week…WITH KIDS. Vocabulary will be hung below the letter and changed out according to need throughout the year.

Cutting the words to their shape will be another visual tool to help students remember them. The black background really creates a clean look. I love the way the neon pops! Even the outlaws stand out in their little black leather jackets!

I’ve had word wall on the brain all week and will be excited to get my hands on those golden keys on Monday morning to begin prepping it in the classroom!
 

This is a small shot of what our much bigger word wall will look like and I have to say, I think it’s going to change the way our kids use the word wall in a great way!

You know, one of the reasons I found this opportunity to dig deeper during word wall time so exciting is because our trainer presented it with the enthusiasm of a kid with a brand new toy! I can only hope to have a fraction of her energy and excitement once we're back at school. If you had never used a word wall before in your life…attending her training would make you want to run out and hang one up as fast as you could!

And guess what? There will be no more having to remember to prep my words for the week because I’ve typed my entire list for the year! No lamination...just print, cut and hang! That’s one little thing that makes a big difference checked off of my list for the entire school year! Check out this little diddy in my TPT store to check it off of your list too!

First grade friends, you can click HERE to grab your list. =) What BIG change are YOU looking forward to this year?

TPT Challenge Accepted! {Makeover Madness}

Just give a product a facelift they said. Add a little something new. Update it! It’ll be easy! Well, one product deleted and completely recreated later…..it was fun and so much more than just a little facelift! =)

I’m so glad I jumped into the TPT Seller Challenge that started this week! At first, I wasn’t sure which product I wanted to tackle first….BUT then, I went to a two day training. In the midst of the training, my creative wheels started turning and I knew EXACTLY what I needed to change…..and quickly! The training was over writer’s workshop with a word wall component. Not just any old run of the mill word wall though…..a new {to our area} word wall system!

Like most of you, my word wall was set up like this at the beginning of the year….in two neat rows, divided between M and N. Well, once upon a time ago….in a PreK training we were advised to hang our word walls horizontally in ONE long alphabetical row from A to Z. Some of us did, space allowing….BUT most of us continued to utilize our word wall in the formation above. It’s worked…it’s been updated to be manipulative. It’s become interactive. NOW….it’s being revolutionized! Which leads me to the product that I made over! Stay with me….I promise we’re going somewhere with this.

Next year, when I go in to set up my word wall…that writing goals chart will have to find a new home because letters WILL be arranged horizontally from A-Z. In addition to adopting the new structure, the background will be black. High frequency words will be posted above the alphabet strip and vocabulary words will be added below the alphabet strip. Different right? There’s more…

With there being two types of high frequency words, differentiation will [visually] come into play. Decodable sight words will be printed on neon paper and cut to the shape of the word. Phonetically irregular words will be printed on white paper and framed in black to the shape of the word. Vocabulary words will be added onto rectangular cut manila paper…below the letter. My classroom “theme” is black and white with pops of color soooo, hearing this started my heart to leaping and gave an educational reason to the color students will be seeing on the word wall.

…and it inspired my makeover item! A couple years ago, I created the little book above as a resource for our writer’s workshop folders. The old one is on the left. The NEW and IMPROVED one is on the right!

Instead of it being sized to fit into one of the side pockets of the folder, its now been edited for hole punching to fit onto the prongs running down the middle of the folder…to use as a resource to record and find spellings of frequently used words.

Notice the difference on the inside?!!! HUGE! THIS will also be how our word wall will look…..so, the book students will use to record new words will be a reflection of the wall we post them on! Lines will help with organization and they will have the alphabet with accompanying symbols to assist as a formation reference. Mind blown! If you can’t tell….I’m a little excited about the upcoming change! We’ve only been out of school for a week and my head is spinning with ideas to begin preparing for the new year!

Sometimes, friends' names can be a little hard to spell. There’s a space for those names and subject specific words at the end of the book.

Makeover…..done!

I just uploaded this cutie to my TPT store and because I’m so excited about how it turned out, I listed it as a forever FREEbie! Click HERE to grab it! Stay tuned…inspiration is flowing. More is in the works to accompany this….

See ya next week, when we continue the challenge by daring to dream……..BIG!

Biographical Research…So Proud!!!

Hi Friends! How are ya? I’m tired, but still floating somewhere around cloud nine…too excited to sleep…soooooo I thought I’d shoo the crickets away from the blog by sharing with YOU! This evening we held our spring open house. While it made for a long day, it was definitely a great one! Watching most of my students bounce in the door ready to tell their parents all about what we’ve been learning made for a filled teacher heart!

There are times when you wonder if your students actually hear anything you’re saying….(like over the course of 2 straight weeks of bad weather and NO RECESS). Tonight proved they’re listening. They’re always listening! The kids did an amazing job of walking their parents through the classroom and explaining how and why we use the things we do. The ONE thing they all had in common was being excited about the research we recently completed.

When the first parent walked in the door asking about Pocahontas, I just smiled. Then the next one walked in wanting to know about Sacagawea and the next one and the next one…..came in asking about the person their kiddo had been researching. I quickly realized my kids had been going home sharing what they’d learned at school. My heart was filled with pride! The smiles on each kid’s face proved they were too!



We have a required list of biographies that we must cover over the course of the year. I address those in whole group. When it comes to “kid work”…I’m a firm believer that choice equals engagement…..so for their small group {biographical} research projects, each student got to explore our online database to choose a person they were interested in.



We worked on this over the course of the last 4 weeks. I guess you really do grow to love something that takes you a whole month to complete! I precut the foldable. We completed 1 section each week during visits to the computer lab and during writer’s workshop. Students were split into 9 small groups of no more than 3. Each group was guided by a student leader.



Students took notes on a plain sheet of printer paper. From their notes, they recorded 3 facts they learned….



…then recorded life span dates and created a timeline of 4 important life events in sequential order.



After illustrating the 4 important life events, students wrote a short booklet [using the events on the timeline] to write about the person’s life.



Cite our sources? Yep! 1st graders can do that! Luckily, our research database has an option for students to click and the correct format for the citation pops right up on the screen! Students click it and its immediately available for them to copy neatly. We use www.pebblego.com for online research.



Have you ever seen kiddos so engaged in the computer lab…..away from the computers?!!! They absolutely loved learning about real people! This afternoon bottoms were bouncing into the share chair ready teach friends. Those that came to open house had a second opportunity by sharing with their parents!

Seeing parents just as excited as the kids about what we’d been learning was an added plus!!! My littles amaze me a little more every day! Have I mentioned how much I love my class?



Click the pic above to get a closer look at our little project! After having some giveaway fun on Facebook, a sweet friend suggested creating a second version for older kiddos without primary lines, so this product has grown and now includes two versions. One with primary lines for firsties and one with wide-ruled lines for older kiddos. Check it out and happy researching!

I think I can head to bed now. There’s more fun to be had tomorrow and THEN…….we’re off for spring break!

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

I confess….

….I love structure! I love knowing what to expect. I love knowing what is expected of me….and why it’s important. Can I let you in on a little secret? Your students do too!

My favorite thing to teach? Literacy!!!! All day….every day! It’s the heartbeat of our classroom. If you’ve read my little blog for any period of time, you know that I’ve written several posts about my love for The Daily 5. Can I let you in on another little secret? I didn’t like it when I first heard of it! {GASP!!!} I know….. My first impression was Whaaaat?! You mean just let my kids choose what they want to do?

And then, rather than argue the point of something I really wasn’t informed about……I read the book! The more I read, the more intrigued I got. The more I read, I realized…I was already doing many of the things mentioned…just called by a different name or organized differently. What I grew to love the most was the intentional building of principled habits instead of managing student behavior.

Does your school model PBIS or CHAMPS? Again…..principled, preventative, positive habits that teach students to SELF MANAGE! Holla!!! If my students can self manage, if they can make positive choices that will impact their learning…..what’s not to like?

BUT Daily 5 is NOT balanced literacy! I KNOW! Ha!

By definition, balanced literacy is a method of teaching reading in which phonics and whole language approaches are BOTH used to maximize student learning. Bloop! That’s it…in a nutshell. 

The Daily 5 is a positive approach to classroom management that fosters literacy. Balanced Literacy is managed by Daily 5. It’s the structure…the “how to”. It’s the building of muscle memory, so you can address the components of balanced literacy with minimal interruption. The two don't compete with each other, they compliment each other.

{source:  http://pirate.shu.edu/~jamesjan/literacy.htm}

…and can we keep it all the way real? You simply can not teach a class that you can not manage. Building relationships and routines has to take place before you can even think of diving into teaching anything, including balanced literacy. Balanced literacy is not a new concept to early childhood teachers. It’s what we do!

In 1st grade, it may look a little like this….



The components are all connected….




…and have to be interesting and FUN!

Though the components are the same and should all be integrated, it will look a little different in each classroom because it is driven by assessment and reflecting on student needs.

{Source:  www.ascd.org/differentiatedclassroom.com}

While balanced literacy will be your all encompassing umbrella, differentiation of activities for students to complete independently will allow you to meet with small groups. Getting to small group is the BIG goal of your literacy block because its at the guided reading table that the most important work begins!







Ask any of my students what their favorite time of day was and they’ll gladly tell you…… “Daily 5” time. Whether you call it stations, centers or reading….what’s important is students knowing they’re working to become better readers and writers. Love structure? Yep…..I confess. I do. Love balanced literacy? Yep! I do. Would I want to teach without building principled habits? Absolutely not! Will I teach BOTH as we begin the school year? YES! 

Taking the time during those first 20 days of school to instill a classroom community that will foster successful literate kiddos is a no brainer! We’ve gotta do it, peeps! It’s honestly, what I’m looking forward to the most! And Week 5, when it all comes together is such a beautiful thing!

So the next time someone tells you Daily 5 is not balanced literacy….just smile and ask them if they’ve read the book…….it’s always a great time to learn something new.