Daily 5 Math

I was so excited to start my own version of First Grade-Common Core-Daily 5 Math (that's a mouth full!) at the beginning of third quarter!  I aligned four work stations to first grade common core: (1) Numbers & Operations in Base 10, (2) Operations & Algebraic Thinking, (3) Geometry, (4) Measurement & Data.  The fifth work station is called "Reading Math." Students read books and poems about math and complete related activites. It has worked great so far. Students are getting meaningful practice and review each time they go to work stations. It has given me the opportunity to work with individual students and small groups. I would love to hear from other primary teachers who have math work stations/small group-guided math or use Daily 5 Math. Our Daily 5 Math ROCKS!!! I'm just saying...

Waiting (not to patiently) for Spring

I don't know about you, but I have had enough winter and am ready for spring. I want to put away sweaters and courduroys and exchange them for short sleeves and capris. Since it's not quite warm enough to change clothes, I put away the "winter" clip art and got out the "spring stuff." I made "Hop to 100," a place value game for 1.NBT.2. I used different colored pom-poms for markers. Thanks to my wonderful assistant, Donna B., for the pom-pom suggestion! The graphics are from www.jessicaweible.com and the fonts are from www.kevinandamanda.com.  Click here to download. Hopefully, spring is just around the corner. I'm just saying...

To See or Not to See!

Would the groundhog see it's shadow? The vote was unanimous-we all voted for an early spring! We celebrated Groundhog Day with the cutest snack made by a wonderful parent volunteer. I hope she is thinking Valentines. I'm just saying....

Adding "Bling" to Your Writing!

 Need a quick graphic organizer that your students already have "on hand?"  We begin the year with five sentences-a hook, three details, and a closing.  Later in the year, we add some "BLING" to our writing.  After each detail sentence, we add a descriptive "Bling" sentence.  For each "Bling sentence" we add a sparkly ring to our "handy" graphic organizer. This is a great way to organize a paper.  I'm just saying...

The "Coolest" Animals on Earth

We have begun our non-fiction unit on Polar Animals. We read, Poles Apart-Life at the Ends of the Earth, by Dr. Mark Norman, and began a graphic organizer comparing the North and South Poles.

     

   

Wee Read

On the second Saturday of each month, I host "Wee Read," a book club for K-2 students and their parents. We meet at 10:00 AM in the children's section at Edward McKay's Used Books, in Winston-Salem, NC.

My goals with “Wee Read” are to share quality literature, model effective reading strategies, and provide parents with information that can be used at home to help their children become successful readers.  Thanks to our PTA at Ward Elementary, each child who attends takes home a free book. On Saturday, they took home non-fiction books.

This month, we talked about the difference between fiction and non-fiction books. We read and discussed, Penguins, by Gail Gibbons. The children labeled a "Parts of a Penguin" diagram, waddled like penguins, and made floating penguins. A good time was had by all!  I'm Just Saying...

Winter Mug Exchange

Every year we do a winter mug exchange before we leave for the holidays. Each child brings a holiday mug stuffed with goodies. We number the mugs as they are brought in to class. Students draw numbers to find out which mug they get to take home. After each child receives a mug, they get to check out their surprises. It is so much fun to watch. It is like Christmas morning. After all of the excitement, we settle down for hot cocoa and a holiday story. Click here for a sample of the letter I send home about the mug exchange. I love the holidays! I'm just saying...