Teaching Time in the Primary Grades

Can we say whoa?? It's been a while since I have paid attention to this little ole blog! Life has been crazy and now that we are out of the holiday period, it's time to get back to business. After my break, I'm starting to get a tad jealous of my friends on a year round calendar!

We went back on the 5th and it's been full force every.single.day. 

We started working on time right away. First graders often struggle with this skill, so I wanted to come up with a few different ways to introduce this skill. My anchor charts are usually so ugly, but I feel like they are productive and accomplish the overall goal. I like to complete them with my students and have them fill it certain parts so it's not just something hanging on the wall. I find when they participate in creating the charts,  they take ownership and it sinks it a little bit better. So I created this premade anchor charts that we could fill in together. The kids really enjoyed the graphics and seeing the information in a different way than the typically parker-yellow paper format.  This little packet includes a variety of charts. I used the poster printing function to print and then I just laminated it and boom! DONE! I used a few of the other pages as well and also used them as interactive notebook pages! Kids LOVED them! 

 I know I've said this before, but I love using read aloud to introduce my lessons. I started with this time read aloud. It's great for introducing key vocabulary and it's very kid friendly!

Then we started with our math centers. You can check those out here.

We used centers from my time bundle. The kids LOVED the variety of activities and they are so easy to prep!

This activity was fun to do at my teacher table first. We did a few problems together and then the kiddos completed the rest during math centers. They really loved them. They were engaged in the entire time they were working. They actually asked me to create a second set, so I did! I was shocked! 

ALL of these activities and MORE can be found in my Time Bundle and it's on SALE! Just click the image below!

All About Maps

Hey friends. We are gearing up for Thanksgiving around our house tonight, but I thought I'd take a second to share with you some of the fun we've had in my first grade class!

Teaching maps in the primary setting can be challenging. In my experience, it's a harder concept for the little gals and guys to grasp due to the lovely invention of the GPS. Kids just don't see real maps in use anymore. This year I tried a few new things to really give my lesson that balanced literacy tie.

We have been learning about Maps for three.whole. weeks. There is only so much I feel like we can teach little firsties about maps haha! We started our unit with a Poem and interactive read aloud.  Both of these have the vocabulary that our standards require firsties to know. 

I created this little packet that includes a poem, interactive read aloud, a booklet for shared reading, vocabulary cards, ABC order center, vocabulary printables,  and interactive notebook pages. My kiddos really enjoyed the foldable booklet during shared reading. The booklet is written on a level that they could read. We read this book several times in several different ways. First, we used it for shared reading. Then, the students read it with a partner.  

Here's a peek at a few of the  interactive vocabulary pages

Map Interactive Notebook Pages

Maps Interactive Read Aloud

I bundled my newest maps packet with my older one. You can check out the bundle!

Here's some other great read aloud for maps!

(affiliate links)

    

In math, we are practicing addition and subtraction centers. As a school, we are all working on our math fluency. My kids were not really into the whole flash card routine, so I had to think outside of the box to practice fluency.

I created these little slider cards. The kids LOVED them. I have student a pull the "ladder" up and call out the facts to student b. You could do SO many things with this. I also laminated them and the kiddos used a wipe off marker to record their own answers. 

I also made a little "Lightning Math Center". The kiddos have to try and answer as many questions as FAST as they can using the sand timer. It's amazing what a sand timer does for group of first graders!

The thing I love about this packet is it's super low prep! I printed everything on bright card stock, sent it for lamination and boom! It's done!

I'm typically not a big fan of "task cards" in first grade. But this year I have a group  that can handle them and needs something a little more challenging than what my curriculum currently calls for. I created a few little sets of task cards just for them! They are working well and are easy for them to follow but still give them that challenge that they need.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope everyone has a family filled Thanksgiving! 

All About Shapes and Patterns

The past two weeks we've been diving into shapes! I tell ya, this is not my favorite SOL to teach. Just because it seems to be so easy and there's only so many ways you can describe a shape!!! Maybe that's just me :) 

I had to find some different ways to teach geometric 2d shapes. We used Linda's Product "What Does The SHAPE Say". I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the anchor chart! So CUTE! The kids loved it and I feel like it really help spark their interest in "shapes". We were always saying "What does the SHAPE say" and then that high pitch lithe noise that goes along with it haha. 

The kids really enjoyed this activity. We essentially just built  the  2D shapes with q-tips!  The kids really enjoyed bending the q-tips to create the shapes. Couldn't believe how much fun the kids had with this!

You can get this for free RIGHT HERE!

Next, we learned about sorting shapes by different attributes. Sorting is such a hard concept sometimes because they often only want to sort by color or size. Our standards require that students are able to sort the shapes by color, size, thickness and shape.

I created this little sorting center for my kiddos to get a different approach to sorting shapes. 

You can grab your FREE  copy HERE!! 

We use read alouds in EVERY subject, every single day! While I think it is important to use read alouds, I often can only find a few books on the topic verses enough for 10 days. So I made my printable books to give my kiddos exposure to different types of print.

We used my printable Shape Book. This packet comes with some printables to link literacy to math. I'm all about using cross circular items!!

Since I just posted this book, it's on SALE until tomorrow :) Check it out right here!

 Pattern Math Centers

We are now diving into patterns.  The kids are loving making their own patterns. At first, we just used the cards to create our own patterns. But the cards would fall and they'd lose them. I feel like the kidods just needed some guidelines. So I laminated a sentence strip and applied velcro! Ohhh my goodness! What difference this made! They were actually making patterns, touching them, and then labeling them with a expo marker! I was in love! Something so simply yet made SUCH a difference. 

You can check the cards and much more out right here! My Pattern Kit is also on sale! 

Guided Math Made Easy

Hey friends! We just finished week 5! Can't believe it's already half way through the first grading period! My life has been so full of meetings, planning, meetings, trainings, meetings..did I say MEETINGS?!? I am certainly glad the weekend is here :)

This week, I kicked off formal data collection in guided math. 

I used my Guided Math Binder to document all of my assessments and observations. This way I could easily jot my notes down and form my groups based on the data. I'm  not the most organized person so this is SO helpful for me.  I just separated my data by skill or SOL (our standards in VA). It was so helpful come conference time to when I was asked directly how a student was doing on a specific skill. I using this resource to help me analyze my data so that I can pinpoint exactly where my students weaknesses are. 

Implementing Guided Math in the Beginning of the Year

We started our guided math routine off very simple. I introduced our guided math routing with Reagan's Guided Math Posters. We discussed the word stamina and how we were building up to be bale to work for longer periods of time. I have four tables in my classroom. Each table got a hands on activity to complete for just 8 minutes. Each activity was introduced to the entire group.  I used very simple activities. I wanted my students to get the hang on working in a group with activities that they could pretty much do on their own. We started off with  math tubs filled with Skip Counting Puzzles, Place Value Work Mats, Math Interactive Notebook, and Math Literacy. These activities are easy to prepare and simple for the kiddos to pick up to get the hang of working in groups.  I allowed the kids to work in 8 minute rotations, teaching them that when the timer goes off, we began to clean up.

This worked SO well for my kiddos. They enjoyed fun, engaging activities that were not so much prep work. It was a teacher lifesaver :) Each week, we've built up our time and are now completing 13 minute rotations. I've begun to pull my students that need a little extra help with the skill we are working on. The great thing about guided math, is that we will continue working on previously taught skills for the year. 

 It's very important to practice routines while using meaningful activities. Students should be expected to do real life learning while understanding and developing the sense of the classroom. 

Our first SOL or objective was counting to  50. My students were able to demonstrate how to count to 50. 

We used these interactive notebook pages to practice counting, place value and skip counting. 

You can check out this notebook right here! AND It's on SALE :) 

Happy Teaching! 

Back To School Rush

Hey friends. I'm kinda of *stressing out*. We officially go back August 20th...that's not that long way, so I should be enjoying the last few weeks of summer...right?!?! Well, I would be, but my entire classroom is in boxes..on our STAGE!! They had to do some work in and around my classroom, so I had to pack everything up! And I'm totally worried about not having enough time to get it ready..but I gotta quit stressing' and hand it over to God. That's my plan. I'll let you know how that works haha!

So in the meantime, I've been working on things from home that I know I'll need. One classroom management system I wanted to implement is checkpoint take home folders.  In our district, we give checkpoints for Math, Science and Social Studies. I wanted an easy way to document that parents were aware of these scores.  I made these little folders for each student so that I had a quick and easy way to send home grades.  I added these to an existing product, my Classroom Forms Mega Binder. The ones shown use SOL's, but if you are not in VA, I've included a blank one to fit your needs :)

Grading System and Documentation 

Check out my Classroom Forms Mega Binder!

Classroom Decor  

My next little project is a little cosmetic surgery to my old "catch all" bin :) I just used Chevron Duct Tape that I found at Target for $1.99 in the Back To School section!!

After that, I redid my table caddies. I found these little dolls at Wal Mart for $3.00!!! I use so many of Erica's Chevron resources, so I just used a little washi tape and her Bright-Chevron-Table-Signs! I LOVE how they turned out! 

You can check out Erica's Labels Right Here!!!

Now I'm on a mission to add to me ever so growing center  collection! 

I'm lovin' my  latest creation--Back To School Literacy and Math Fun! It's loaded! This one shown is an ABC Order activity! My kiddos always love these! 

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I gave my Place Value Centers a little face lift!

I was cutting these out and my little one said he wanted to put them together--I was kinda of shocked..but I said "sure, go right on ahead"!!! He loved them! 

My little Trixie girl decided to get in the action! 

Trixie girl is holding down the fort with our Place Value Centers. 

Thanks for stopping by!