Yep, more Seesaw...but Google Slides, too! #Freebie

 I'm on fall break. Here in Indiana half of my fall break was summer weather and the other half was just plain rainy and chilly. If you've never been to the midwest this is very typical. We can have multiple seasons in one week...or even one day. I will say the foliage was beautiful This is one of the trees on the primary playground at school. A week ago it was mostly green. This picture does not do it justice! I love watching this tree change every year. 

I also used my fall break to something VERY VERY important! I voted. It was extra special to me because this year is the 100th anniversary of women getting the right to vote! I exercised my right and am thankful for all the women that made it possible for me. 

If you voted show some love in the comments! You do not need to share your personal vote or political beliefs but I love to see other women using their voice. 

I also had some family time with the nephew. He's on fall break, too. We took the time to hang out and make s'mores and watch Hocus Pocus.....twice, lol. He even was my guinea pig for some Seesaw lessons but he loved it. That's what you get though when your aunt is a teacher. 

I also did what many teachers do....I did something 'bad'.....I did something we don't always speak of....I did something that I just felt like I needed to do.....

I. Went. To. School. Over. Break. 

There. I said it. I feel better now! I didn't feel like staying on Friday. I was pooped! So I took some time to go in earlier in the week. I kind of like it though. I get the copier all to myself. I can play my Pandora stations without worrying about underage ears hearing something they shouldn't or my co-workers hearing it go from my 90s rap to country music in a matter of minutes...and I just get a lot done. It was very productive. No regrets!

As I've mentioned in some previous posts, I think, we do OG at my school. It's a great phonics program to work on phonics and fluency. This is the second year I've done it and with the pandemic 'shutdown' I didn't make it as far as I would've like...but I'm really good at those first 100 lessons or so, lol. I'll share another post about OG, resources, and how we implement it for our virtual students. 

When we return from break we will be focusing on the 'H-Brothers' and talking about when to use c and k. We make an anchor chart in class and practice it. 

I decided to make a Seesaw activity for extra practice to reinforce the lesson. There is a video and a word sort for them to do. We use Seesaw in K-2 for our LMS and Grades 3-4 use Google Classroom for now. I made the Seesaw activity and I'm pretty sure the Google Slide will work just as well for those that use GC. 

It's a freebie. I'd appreciate you saving or sharing this on Pinterest or whatever avenue you use to share things you like. I am adding it to the Seesaw community library but they aren't currently approving new activities because they've had an overwhelming number of members/schools joining and are still rolling out updates. I expect that they'll start approving assignments very soon but I still want to share in the meantime. 

Click here to go to TpT to download the freebie. The download has a link for Seesaw and GC. 

Just a Few Hours Left

I finished my Lucia's Neighborhood packet for the Journeys reading series.

 

 

 

I really like customizing my word work for my class. I can choose what we need help with. I also get to specifically target our grammar skill (adjectives this week) and other skills such as alphabetical order.

 

This was created to accompany the Journeys reading series. This is from Unit 1, story 4 Lucia's Neighborhood

Included in this packet:

spelling practice pages
mats to laminate for clay
identifying spelling words
identifying high frequency words
word family pages
alphabetical order practice
word search
spelling pretest template
practice spelling test template
spelling test template
2 vocabulary test templates
1 partner game (spin, read, and cover) 


A few more hours to enter! I've been wanting a pink one so badly!!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

**I'm only 10 followers away on BlogLovin' from 500!!! Please help me make it happen :D**

It's okay to let your firsties play with shot glasses, right?

So last week was a short week. No school on Monday because of Labor Day (woohoo!). I also had an ALL DAY curriculum mapping meeting on Tuesday....so sub plans had to be made. In July I made a doctor's appointment well that was on Thursday....more sub plans had to be made. I don't know about you but my sub plans seem sooooo long because I feel like I have to be so detailed.

So basically I was with the kiddos 2 days last week. The kids part is the fun part of my job and I missed it. It's really more work to not be there than it is to be there.

Anywho.

I think I'm finding my stride with Journey's Reading. Monday is jam packed so I may have to reschedule a computer lab time. :/

I'm really enjoying my word work time and the activities I made to use with Journeys. I finished up my newest one just moments ago.

click here to get it on TpT

It has very similar activites to my sets for What is a Pal? and The Storm. Actually most of them are carbon copies but with the short o vowel, new vocab, and new spelling words. There is a verb worksheet and a noun/verb sorting page. I also made a new partner game like the freebie I posted a few months ago.

(the next picture is not included in the Curious George at School packet but I made a game  like the ones included below especially for the packet. Click the image to learn more about the freebie.

Click here to get this product for free

A run-down of what is included:
spelling practice pages
mats to laminate for clay
identifying spelling words
word family pages
noun/verb sorting
word search
spelling pretest template
practice spelling test template
spelling test template
2 vocabulary test templates
verb worksheet
simple sentence unscramble
2 partner games (spin, read, and cover)

Also on the word work front...it's okay to let your firsties play with shot glasses, right?

So I found these sets of plastic shot glasses at the Dollar Tree the other day. I just knew I could do something with them....and if not I'd have colorful disposable shot glasses.

I used a wet-erase (old school overhead Vis-A-Vis) marker to write on them. I wrote our 6 vocab words for the week on one set. The kids will need to read the word and with each word they read they can add a piece to the stacking tower.

I'm going to test the word work choice out before I make more permanent/pretty labels for the shot glasses. You could also use dry erase but I was afraid that would smudge with their fingers. I may use those circular (yard sale) stickers and affix them to the bottom and write the word. You don't want to stock up on hundreds of shot glasses at the Dollar Tree though..looks weird, lol.

My other idea was to practice spelling with these. I wrote the consonants on blue and the vowel on the pink glasses. Students will need to find the letters to spell the word.

Oh and my dry erase circles came from Amazon this week! I put them on my group table. (Pardon the mess remember, I was gone most of the week) I have some with air bubble that reallllly irritate me but they work great and I can't wait to use them with the kiddos. (They are removable and won't cause damage but I'm not sure how many times you can re-stick them)

Oh and thank you Amy for the amazing feedback. This is a big reason we do what we do!

14 days down... & New Reading Series

Hello blogland. I've missed you. I haven' really had much of a chance to blog or read many blogs (thank heavens for scheduling posts!)

I've finished week 1 of official first grade Journeys. I know from some replies that some of you use it, too. Thoughts? I was just overwhelmed by how much they packed into Monday (Day 1). I mean...wow. Then, all week we are learning about nouns and types of nouns then action words are on the test?! Not 1 noun on the test...yes we do use the weekly reading tests.

Luckily the Journey's pack (mostly word work for  D5) was helpful.

click here to see what it includes

Well, we made it through the week and I even have plans in the works for next week. I've decided that I'm going to take the new reading series with a good attitude and look at it like I (finally) did with Daily 5. I'm going to make it fit my students, not feel pressured to do everything in the book,  and hopefully I'll be able to transition into the different world of Journeys.

This week we'll be reading The Storm. I was so jazzed to do this story. I even won a really cool weather packet from Stephanie from Falling into First. Now the week I'm supposed to teach this is a 4 day week. (Hey, don't worry about me--I will not be petitioning to have school on Monday) So, I have to 'cram' a week of reading into 4 days...well on top of that I'm going to be out of my room a lllll day Wednesday so I can attend a curriculum mapping meeting...and on top that I'm going to be out of school on Thursday because of a doctor's appt I scheduled in July!

 I can't have subs teaching the awesomness I wanted to teach. They won't invent my Miss Cosbyisms, they won't be able to explain it the way I would, they won't be able to impart this knowledge onto my barely trained firsties. (Okay, exaggerate much?!) I think we all feel this way about substitute teachers--even the best one. I'm actually sure they'll do a nice job but having two different subs in a row at the beginning of first grade is rough.

To help I've made a unit for The Storm (Unit 1, Story 2)

click here to check it out on TpT

It basically includes the same pages but focused on short i, new spelling words, and new high frequency words. After posting the What is a Pal? unit I went back and added more stuff. Here's a preview of what you'll get (not all inclusive)

Included in this packet:

spelling practice pages
mats to laminate for clay
identifying spelling words
word family pages
noun/possessive noun sorting
word search
practice spelling test template
spelling test template
2 vocabulary test templates
possessive noun worksheet
simple sentence unscramble

Daily 5 is hit or miss in my room now. We're doing Word Work, Read to Self, and Read to Someone. My powerpoint with those three activities seems to be working. I have a few more kiddos than last year (and have already lost 2 and gained 1) so it's been a bit much. We're also a very chatty group. We have to talk after everything...and sometimes during everything. I know it's about routine, consistency, and procedures. I have to remember consistency--we'll have a really good day, or really good morning and I'm less 'strict' then it's total regression. I do take blame....but c'mon kids. Just listen to me! I have a loud voice, I'm tall, I brushed my hair, look at me!!!

Oh, and I got my birthday board hung up after school today!!

click here to read more about it

Routine! and Journeys

Ahhhh! I'm in week 2 of BTS. Right now with our current reading series we have a week of BTS Kindergarten review. Well, my school started on a Tuesday and since I have D5 anchor charts and stamina, procedures to teach, and BTS crafts I've decided to turn it into two weeks. Which is fine, we'll get some extra letter sound practice and what not. HOWEVER--I need routine people. I'm teaching Read to Self and Read to Someone stamina.

Next week we start a real reading story AND spelling. We'll also learn about nouns. Geesh, way to throw ourselves in there, huh?

I needed some word work (one of my fave parts of D5) to go with our new reading series. (Journeys). Here's what I came up with.

click here to get it on TpT 

Here are a few pages from the packet:

These can be used for Word Work, Morning Work, intervention, small groups, RTI, homework, spelling practice, etc. I'm planning on using them during word work time and maybe some morning work.

Teachers Pay Teachers still has a few hours of their back to school sale--I've added this product to my 20% off sale!

I'll be updating my Station Rotation Automation (how I organize my D5 groups) powerpoint very soon! (new graphics and fonts)

Earth Day Freebie

I am not sure who invented these but my kiddos love these hidden word pages. We've done a few and they get so excited when they find the words.

I created an Earth Day hidden word page. I made two versions. Some kids need to know which words they're looking for and some are able to read them and write them without assistance.

Click here to get it for free on TpT.

I'll be doing some other plant lessons and things for Earth Day (I'll probably share on Friday if I link up for Five for Friday). I also have a rep from the county soil and water conservation coming in 2 weeks to do a lesson on worms and composting! I'm excited. :D

Just Pinning It...

Happy Friday! Here is my weekly "Just Pinning It"

1. Anecdotal Note Taking
Clip a sheet of address labels to a clipboard and write notes throughout the day on the labels. At the end of the day add the label to a students anecdotal notes folder/index card/record etc. This is awesome because I reallllllly try to remember these things but never remember them all at the end of the day. You can date them or color code them and save them for their records or for parent conference. 

2. Bulletin Board Background
This year I was going to switch to fabric for a bulletin board of mine. Some of it is kinda costly. I saw this nifty pin about using a cheap flat bed sheet. I plan on making a trip to Walmart and scoping out the color selection!

3.Slap It! Word Game
Use Word Wall Words (or spelling or vocab words or dolch words or fry words). Have kids cut them out and put them on their desks. The teacher calls out a word and the first kiddo to slap it gets that word. Good word work practice.

4.Word Work Freebie (original pin)
These are "I can" cards for word work. Cute. Free. Printable
(original source found here)

5.Tagxedo
www.tagxedo.com

Similar to Wordle but way more options! I think it'd be neat to type in my class list and make one with my kiddos' names