First Day Read Aloud

It has been over a year since I have blogged, but with the beginning of a new school year I am quite excited.  I'm sad to see the summer end, but I am looking forward to start the adventure of another school year.  Although I am excited, I am nervous too.  What will this new school year bring?

My favorite book to ease the students (and myself) back into the new school year is First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg.  If you haven't read it before, I'm sure you will love it!

Sarah Jane the main character is worried about going to a new school. She refuses to get out of bed because she keeps imagining all the bad things that can happen. At the end, you discover that Sarah Jane is actually the teacher.  What a surprising and fun ending!

 

 

What books do you like to read at the beginning of a new school year?

 

Back To School Freebie

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Birthday-Certificate

Let the fun begin!  I start back to school on Tuesday and I am very excited to meet my new students.  I have been busy making some new things for my classroom.  I created birthday certificates to help my students celebrate their special day.  Click on the link to get a copy of this freebie.

Product Recommendations for Teachers

I was thinking it would be great if we could share our favorite products with each other and learn from each other.  I definitely have found a lot of useful products created for teachers on Teachers pay Teachers, but I also have two other products that I use every day in my classroom that I find very beneficial.  Let me state that I don't get any commission for the shout outs for these products.  I just find them so useful that I thought I would share with you.

The first product I love is Nicky's Folders. 

I use these two ways in my classroom. 
The first use I have for them is for the student's home folders.  I have NEVER had to replace a folder for a student due to it falling apart.  These folders are built to last.  I can also personalize them because you can put sheets in the front and back of the folder.  Here is an example of what I put on the back of the folder.  You can see I put all of the word wall words we cover in first grade, a chart to 110 and a numberline so the students can use these as a resource at school or at home.  On the front, I put a page with their name, my name and a Bulldog (our school Mascot).

The 2nd way I use the Nicky's Folders are at my Work on Writing area and my Word Work area for Daily 5.  I put a copy of the activity on the outside of the folder.  My students can look at the front of the folders to see the choices and then once they have made a choice they can go in that folder to get the corresponding paper.

The second product I recommend is planners from School Mate.
When I taught 2nd and 3rd grade we used these more as a traditional planner and we would write the dates of the class activities as we became aware of the dates.

In first grade, my students write in them daily.  This helps me cut down on having to type notes to the parents all the time to keep them updated.  Examples of things we might write are:
1.  Test over coins on Wednesday.
2.  We had a fire drill today.
3.  Tell your parents 3 things you learned about the monarch today.
4.  Reminder - 1/2 day on Friday.
5.  Math homework due on Thursday.  (I don't have set days for homework.)
Parents are required to initial the planner each night.  This helps me know that they are reading the communication from school instead of throwing it away. 

I also keep track of the student's behavior in their planner and write all communication with parents in the planner so I have a record.

I will post some picture this week to give you better visuals.

What is your favorite product?

Correct Letter Formation in Handwriting

Looking for a way to help your students form their letters correctly?

After trying handwriting practice sheets from several different sources, I decided to create my own.  The practice sheets I have created have a dot on each letter.  The students place their pencil on the dot to start their letters.  This is to get them to learn that all letters start at the top.  This product is available in my Teachers pay Teachers store by clicking on the picture.

My Summer Reading Plan

Every teacher dreams that their students will read all summer and that they have instilled a love of reading.  Unfortunately the truth is many of our students don't read all summer long and they return to school reading at a lower level than when they left.  Parents get busy and may not make reading a priority.

Why not doing a lesson on keeping their brains smart over the summer? 
Talk to your students about what they can do over the summer to keep themselves reading.  Help them brainstorm ideas as to where they can get books, magazines, etc.

Ideas: Go to the library, swap books with a friend, shop at garage sales, download on a Kindle or other device . . .

Have your students write a reading plan.  Have them include when they will read, where they will read and how long they will read.

Ask your students to display their poster in a place where they can see it all summer long.  Hopefully, the visual will help them remember their plan.

Here is a FREEBIE poster that you can use with your students.  Just click on the picture.

Father's Day Book/Project

For those of us who are still in school in June, I created this Father's Day Book. I am going to have my students and my own kids make it.  It is available in my TpT store by clicking here.

3 Addends Freebie

I saw a poster like the one on the right on pinterest. What a great visual to show the students ways to make 10.  So I decided to make a poster too and then I created the 3 digit addend freebie to use with it.

My students and I did this yesterday when we were adding three numbers.  I teach the students to look for two numbers that they can add up quickly, like two numbers that equal 10 or a double.  On day one of this lesson, I had the kids circle the two numbers that equaled 10 in the corresponding color or the double.  Some of the students were still having trouble, so I created the freebie on the left to help them.  I had them color the rainbow and then they colored the numbers in each problem that made 10 with the corresponding color.  Yeah!  Everyone got it today!  Click on the picture on the left to download this freebie.  The rainbow prints a tiny bit blurry, but it is fine after they color it.