Back to School Night, Clouds, and Asking Sentences

So much has been going on outside of school that I haven't had time to post for a while!

 I've been hanging out with my beautiful niece Abby :)

We had back to school night which I previously mentioned and these are how the students desks came out...they looked great and all of the parents had to guess which one belonged to their child.

This week we learned about the different types of clouds and the students got to make a shape using paint for their cumulous clouds after reading It Looked Like Spilt Milk and they had to write about the shape in their cloud.  This was one of my favorites...a more literal approach...but great writing!

One of my favorite lessons from this past week was teaching about asking and telling sentences.  After talking about asking sentence words (like who, what, when, where, why, how, did, does, are) I asked the students what person has to ask a lot of questions for a living.  Their answer: reporters...bingo!  So then I told them that they would have to be reporters and they would be asking celebrities questions to get to know about the celebrity a bit more.  So then all of the students went back to their seats and I told them to close their eyes so I could put the picture of the celebrity on the board (they were all guessing who it was and were excited).  So our first celebrity that they wrote questions to this week was....
Justin Bieber!!

They loved it and they did such a great job of coming up with creating questions (Why did you break up with Selena Gomez?) and adding their question marks to the end!  I'm going to continue this activity every week by putting a picture of a celebrity on the file cabinet in the back and they have to write questions to them in a center and then if they finish their work early.  Next week will be...Harry Potter!

In math, we have been learning about pennies and nickels and counting combinations of coins.  I just created this file for our math BUILD centers where students have to count the coins in each piggy bank and record how much money there is.

You can pick it up here on google docs.

New Niece is here and back to school night!

Haven't posted in a while--things have been so hectic with school and my sis getting ready to have her baby and then finally...yesterday...at 6:01 PM...my little beautiful niece Abigail was born!!!!! She is absolutely precious and I'm in love!!!

I wish that I was able to spend some time with her tonight but I'm feeling a lil under the weather and I have to prepare for back to school night tomorrow.  

Speaking of back to school night--I'm so excited! I love to meet all of the parents and for them to come in to see where their children spend most of their day.  

I wanted my class to leave something fun for their parents on their desks, so we first talked about how we like and dislike certain things that make people know who we are when they hear it.  For example, my whole class knows that I DESPISE spiders because on the first day of school there was a spider and I was very frightened and I told them I didn't like spiders and so if they were to guess who a person was based on just knowing they don't like spiders, they would be able to guess it was me.  

Anyyyyways....so they came up with different clues that they can leave their parents and they did an awesome job with it!  I will take pictures of the work tomorrow to upload.

This is what the file looks like that I made:

Math Stations Start Tomorrow!

I'm so excited to start math stations tomorrow because it is the first time that I am trying it out!  I'm going to be implementing the B.U.I.L.D. math stations, but I changed the names around a little.
B = Buddy Games
U = Understanding Manipulatives
I = Independent Work (journals & books)
L = Learn with Me! (guided math work with teacher)
D = Do it Yourself! 

I created a math journal page that students will get to put into their math journals each day that they are in the "I" station.  

You can pick up the math journal page here!

This week we are learning about number lines and number grids so here is what I'm planning on doing in our BUILD centers:

B = Top It (we did comparing numbers last week, so students will practice this skill) and Monster Squeeze (comparing numbers); Roll to 100 (introduced at the end of the week)

U = Students will roll a dice and hop on the number line forwards and backwards

I = Number of the Day and Numbers Before and After worksheet

L = Guided practice with me

D = Students will make their own number lines (on a sentence strip) and 100 grid.  

I'll post pictures of the work at the end of the week!

Here are two freebies for rolling and hopping on the number line and number grid...just click on the pictures!

All About Me Book Freebie!

Freebie time!! I just created an All About Me book to do with my class this week and I wanted to share it with all of you!

Click here to download it for free!

 

 

 

Go on over to 2nd Grade Pad to check out their linky party with tons of fabulous freebies!!

Whole Brain Teaching....looooooove! (and giveaway)

This year I decided to try out whole brain teaching with my class after researching a ton about it this summer.
What is Whole Brain Teaching?  WBT is a way to engage students in every lesson and is a great form of classroom management.  WBT connects hand movements with voice commands so that tactile, visual, and auditory learners are all being reached during lessons. 

There are different aspects to WBT:

-5 Rules -- Students recite the 5 rules every day using different hand movements and voices.

 

 

-Teach-Ok! -- is a form of Think-Pair-Share, where the teacher says TEACH! and the students respond OK! and then turn to a neighbor to explain to them what was just taught.

 

-Mirror -- students repeat after the teacher

 

-Class-Yes! -- The teacher says class and the students respond yes as a form of quieting the classroom down.  The students have to repeat the pattern (class class class-yes yes yes)

 

-Hands and Eyes -- Students stop what they are doing and clasp their hands together and look at the teacher.

 

-Scoreboard -- Students and teacher compete for points (students try to beat the teacher and if they are following directions, they get points, but if they are not following directions, the teachers get a point)--at the end of the week we count the tally marks and if the students have more points they get extra friday free time.  If not, they lose five minutes of free time.  (My class loves this because it's a great whole-class reward system)

 

 

There are some other aspects of WBT that are great but I wanted to start with the basics for my first year of using it.  My class loves it and they do such a great job with it.  Other teachers like the Class-Yes form of quieting the classroom as well.  I'm also happy that my mentor from last year is also doing it with her class so we can compare notes.  It would be great if the whole school could start WBT because I really think it is effective!  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments!

 

Also...giveaway time!!! I'm going to give away my whole brain teaching posters with the rules for my classroom to the first two people to post in the comments section with their e-mail address and I will send it over to you!

 

You can check out the file here.

 

Let me know if you have any questions or post about your success with WBT!





9/11 in First Grade

Hello!! It has been a while, but I'm here!!! I have to say I am in love with my class -- they are such great students and I really look forward to planning everything to do with them because I know they are just excited for learning as I am excited for teaching.

This past week was September 11th and I spent the day talking with my classroom about 9/11 and Patriot Day.  It makes me feel old when the students in my class were not born when 9/11 happened, yet I remember it as though it was yesterday.

We started our discussion of 9/11 after a read aloud of The Giving Tree on the afternoon of September 10th.  We talked as a class about what it means to help others and who helps us in school, at home, and in our community.  The students automatically came up with police and firemen that help us, which was a great introduction to discussion the heroes of 9/11 for the next day.  I told them that we would be talking tomorrow about something that happened eleven years ago and it changed the United States forever.  I really thought this discussion might be over their heads when I got into 9/11 and Patriot Day, but they were so intrigued that they LOVED it and asked so many questions about what happened and why it happened.  Unfortunately we had to pack up to go home, but I sent a letter home to parents to have them discuss their own experiences with their children regarding 9/11 to prepare for our discussion the next day.

The next morning, the students came into class wearing their red, white, and blue (something I requested for Patriot Day) and we went into the classroom next door to watch a BrainPop, Jr. video on 9/11.  We discussed with the other class about what a terrorist is (said that they do not like our country and want to cause people in our country to be afraid).  And then we discussed heroes of 9/11.

With the other class, we came up with  chart about heroes (A Hero Is, A Hero Can, and A Hero Helps) that the classes came up with together.  Next, we went back to our classroom to write about our hero (either a fire fighter or a police officer).  The students did an awesome job on these writing assignments and made them look beautiful!

(Sorry...I can't get the pictures to flip)

Then we came up with a letter we wanted to write to fire fighters to thank them for saving us.  The students then put their handprints in the shape of the twin towers.  I LOVED this and so did the students...it actually gave me chills while doing this and seeing the twin towers with the handprints because the students weren't alive, yet they are honoring those who risked their lives for our country.

I promised the students that their card would be delivered to some fire fighters and I don't break any promises!...

The firemen loved the card!  

I really think that 9/11 was a successful day and oh yeahhh I forgot...When I ask my class what a patriot is they respond by saying "A Patriot Loves (makes a heart with fingers) Their Country (puts their hands in the air)" and when I ask If they are Patriots, they say "I love (heart with fingers) my country (puts hands in air)"...I'm going to continue doing this throughout the year :)

Some Classroom Photos

Phew!  What a busy past few weeks of getting the classroom ready and such before the school year starts.  Only a few days until my class comes into school and I'm so excited!
Just wanted to post some pictures of my classroom.  I will take some more updated ones and post this week.

Picture Perfect Helpers (Jobs) & Birthdays (I'm going to take their pictures for birthdays to put in the spots on the poster)

My Whiteboard in the front with my noise-o-meter

Hollywords Wall to go with my hollywood theme

My class management clip chart

Math Center -- Manipulatives and BUILD board for centers 

Will Start Posting Again Soon...

Hey Y'all...just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be starting to post again about my classroom and lessons in a few weeks.  Things have been so hectic...
I've been organizing all of my materials from the school year (I threw papers into boxes all year and thought I would have all the time in the world this summer to organize...)
I also have been seeing many doctors recently because I haven't been feeling well for quite a while...I've had some tests done and don't get to chat with my gastro doctor for another week, but he told me that the bloodwork came in and I have to go gluten and lactose free...WAIT WHAT?????
Yes...that means I'm going to miss eating these every day:

WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!!!!!!

I'm just hoping that going gluten and lactose free helps me out and I don't feel so sick all the time!

Let me know if you have any food allergies and any suggestions!

I promise that I will post pictures of my classroom in a few weeks when they let us in to set up!

Shopping for the Classroom

I have an addiction.

I admit it and I'm trying to come clean...

...I am...

...addicted to...

...shopping for my classroom!

Seriously, I should upload a picture of the back of my car because I went to 5 different stores on Friday (with coupons, of course) and stocked up on all of the essentials for my classroom and now my car is packed.

I'm linking up with Kristen at Ladybug's Teacher Files for her Summer Shopping Linky Party...check out her page and the wonderful ideas she has there, as well as all of the wonderful ideas that others have posted! (click on the button below to go to the linky party!)
    

I'm switching classrooms for this school year and I'm so excited about the space that I have and what is already in my room, but there were some things that I was missing that I needed to pick up.  Because I got some great deals, I wanted to share them with you to let you know what I got for my classroom in case if it will help you out!

First off, STAPLES has a  card that you can buy for $10 that will take 15% off of every purchase until mid-September, which is definitely worth picking up if you will be buying a lot of supplies.  If you don't have one already, pick up a staples rewards card...definitely worth it, especially if you have ink to recycle because you get money back for it.  Staples changes its deals every week, so the deals that I got are expired...however you should go to the staples website to see what the weekly ad is this week.  The best deals are the ones you get a rebate back on (paper is $1 each and you get $6 back from a rebate!).  

Second stop was at the dollar store (we have a dollar tree by me) and I picked up some binders and tab dividers for, of course, $1 each (where in staples the binders are averaging $6 and tab dividers are about $3).  The dollar store is a GREAT place for find organization bins for the classroom (where I found my center bins for last year).  

Lastly, my FAVORITE FIND for my classroom came from Bed, Bath and Beyond...and you know, we all either get in the mail, newspaper, or can find online those 20% off a single item from BB&B (if you don't have one...go to the website and sign up for e-mail to receive your coupon via e-mail).  My biggest thing that I have to tackle this year is organization and effective use of space.  So I found something at BB&B that will help me with just that! 

So instead of having regular chairs around my U-Shaped table for reading groups, I picked up four of these: 

                                                  

This is a storage box that you can also sit on (up to 300lbs!) -- you can click on the picture to be sent to the website to purchase.  They also fold up so if you need to pack up your room at the end of the school year to be cleaned, they can easily be stored away in a closet!  I'm so excited about this because I think I am going to store my binders in these.  

This week, Michaels is also having a sale on all of their storage items.  

Definitely check all these deals out!  Please leave a comment or link back to what you found for your classroom this summer!

Happy Shopping!

Math Stations: "More Than" Bingo and a Freebie!

For the upcoming school year, I am changing math time in our classroom around to make room for math stations (or math centers).  Last year I focused on whole group instruction a little too much and only had math stations about once every 1-2 weeks.  Not anymore!  I believe that math stations will help with differentiating lessons more (because I can really challenge my higher level students during small group instruction and their stations they are in, while honing in on concepts that my lower level students need more help on) as well as keeping students more engaged during math time.  

So this is what I am going to try out with Math in my schedule:

Mondays: Whole Group Instruction: Introduce a new concept & math game to go along with it (which will be put into one of the math stations)

Tuesdays-Thursdays: 10-15 Minutes Whole Group (review new concept), 30 Minutes Math Stations/Small Groups, 10-15 Minutes Whole Group (review and exit slips to check for knowledge)

Fridays: 10 Minutes Whole Group, (maybe math stations for 20 minutes?), Assessment of concept

*Please note that my math period starts out with calendar, weather, number of the day*

Please let me know if you use math stations/centers in your classroom and how they have worked for you!!

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In the midst of coming up with math stations for the upcoming school year, I put together a Math "More Than" Bingo game.  

MATH MORE THAN BINGO

Materials Needed

 -Dice (1 per student) 

-Game Board (enough for one per student in center)

-Counters/Markers to cover up spaces.

Directions

 Each student will have a game board and they will need to roll a die and cover 

up the number that is either one more, two more, three more, etc. depending on the

board that they have. When they cover up their entire board they can yell out BINGO!

----------------

This game correlates with common core numbers and operation standards for students to be able to determine numbers that come before or finding a number that is 1 to 10 more than a given number.  

For Grade 1, this game specifically lines up with the standard: 

1.NBT.5. Given a two-digit number, mentally find 10 more or 10 less than the number, without having to count; explain the reasoning used.

You can pick up the 1 More Than and 10 More Than FREEBIE here at TPT

You can also purchase the entire packet of 1 to 10 More Than Bingo here at TPT

Please let me know if you have any math stations/centers ideas on your blogs and post the link in the comments!

I've linked up with Ms. Alley's Class for a linky party about guided math time.  Check out how she runs her math time and how others have who have linked up on her page!

More Vistaprint...!!

It just so happens that yesterday afternoon after I posted about my classroom management cards, I received an e-mail from Vistaprint about all these free things they were just GIVING away!  It's like...THEY KNEW that I posted something and yup I took the bait they were dangling right in front of me.  Oh wait, and I also bought two groupons yesterday (sorry, the deal expired so I can't post a link!) that was $20 for $80 worth of merchandise from Vistaprint...so yes, Vitaprint...I'll be back for more.

Anyways, I got everything for almost free...that's right...just had to pay for shipping! 

This is what I made:

This is a "lawn sign" but I thought that I could either put it on my door, in front of my desk, or I could use it when we go to assemblies or the Halloween parade and we have to hold up a sign for our class.

These are address labels that I thought I could put onto all the students' homework folders so that the parents always know how to get in touch with me or can look up what we're doing in the classroom online.

This is a bumper sticker.  I love how it is patriotic AND it goes with the theme for this year (which is Hollywood...so my class is going to be Ms. Schifano's Superstars)

Notepad paper with my name to write notes home or for myself during meetings.

Magnets!!!  I got them blank because I'm going to try using dry-erase marker on it to write the spelling words for the week or student names for making graphs on the whiteboard.  Last year I went through so many sticky notes where the students were writing their names to put onto a graph we made as a class, so I thought that maybe the magnets would work out.  If that doesn't work, then I want to put it in one of the new literacy centers this year (I have a big file cabinet in my new room, so I want to have the students make their spelling words for the week using magnetic letters on the file cabinet...so maybe I can write directions on these blank magnets?)

Please leave a comment about any Vistaprint ideas that you have or have used in your classroom (leave a link to your blog if you have posted what you've made!).

By the way, check out *Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge's* Linky Party for all Vistaprint ideas!

Now off to get ready to go to my first Yankees game of the summer!

Making Words

I LOVE MAKING WORDS!  I mean, not making new words myself, but the task that the students have to make new words using the letters of one big word!  It was so much fun last year to see all of the words that students came up with that they didn't think that they could spell.  There were also some creative words that they made up (which weren't correctly spelled but they phonetically spelled them out so I had to give them some credit for that!).  For example, I remember last year a girl came up with the word "innit" and I circled it on her paper and she said "Ms. Schifano that can't be wrong because I know 'innit' is a word!" and I asked her to use it in a sentence and she said "I went in it (innit) when I went to school".  So as you can see this activity gets students thinking about words and I encourage them to use the dictionary if they are stuck on spelling.  
I use making words as a literacy center that I keep every week but just rotate the words used.  If I had the time to, I would make 4-5 sets of the letters, laminate, and put into envelopes to be used every week so that the students didn't have to cut out their own words.  Maybe it's something that I can work on during the year, but last year I had great success with having them cut out their own letters (that way, I can staple them and they can take it home and practice when they are done with the center!)

I just re-did my Making Words pages for the upcoming school year to move the letters to be cut out from the top: 

And now the letters are at the bottom and I made it a little prettier.

The letters on this one make "pilgrims"

The letters on this one make "september"

You can pick up all 10 fall/winter themed making words for your own literacy centers here.  

If you have any comments or ideas of words to use for making words, please post them in the comments section--thanks!!

Now taking a break from planning and time to start packing to move!!